Biggest Franchises Without an RPG

[Dioltach]

Friends. Character classes include the Neurotic, the Ditz, the Lover, the Joker, the Scientist and the Socialite.

 

[Vyvyan Basterd]

Men in Black.

This one has been done. I played it at a con a long while back and enjoyed the game enough to buy the really slick-looking book. Then I discovered it was nearly the worst RPG I ever read. The GM at the con made the game fun by basically ignoring what was in the book. I later tried to sell the book on eBay and it wouldn't even go for a dollar and cheap shipping.

 

[MichaelSomething]

What about Twilight?

 

[koga305]

I guess Mass Effect has a (video game) RPG but certainly not a tabletop game. I for one would buy it!

 

[Argyle King]

Halo (though I believe there is a "Spartan" template in one of the GURPS books I have.)

Super Mario

NASCAR

 

[Hand of Evil]

All this time and no Harry Potter, would have thought something would have made itself out by now.

Hunger Games, still early but big franchise without a RPGS.

 

[Richards]

I always thought Dark Angel would have made a decent RPG. Transgenic escapees on the run from Manticore, hiding in the cities, fighting snake cultists, and so on.

Johnathan

 

[SchlieffenPlan]

I would love to translate some of these into West End Games' D6 rules.

 

[MatthewJHanson]

I think that is a property being big can sometimes get in the way of it having an RPG license. The license is likely to be so costly that only a very few companies can afford to do it, and these companies can only license a few such properties at a time. "Smaller" properties are less expensive to licenses, so there's a larger pool of companies that can obtain them.

Look at Margaret Weis having to cancel Marvel Heroic, but taking on Firefly.

 

[TrippyHippy]

I bet they won't make anything like as much money with Firefly than they would have with Marvel Heroic though.

The so-called 'Big Six' licenses, according to RPG historian Shannon Appelcline, are:

Lord of the Rings
Harry Potter
Star Wars
Star Trek
Marvel
DC Comics

Harry Potter won't be happening any time soon due to JK Rowling's aversion to the rpg hobby (she famously tried to deny that she was a fantasy writer, as she thought it was embarrassing to her social circles, so she must view RPGs as the Antichrist of good taste...).

The rest have been taken up by various companies over the years. Personally I would add Doctor Who to that list these days, and maybe Game of Thrones as both are phenomenally successful TV franchises currently.

I really don't know what else to add to the list that truly qualifies as being as big. Avatar could be, I suppose, if it grinds out a few sequels. Top Gear (wherein you play reactionary, politically incorrect, middle aged men who have a puerile fascination for fast cars and hate the environment).