other literary RPGs?
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Ulfgeir
Hero
And if comics (graphic novels), count as literary, then there is an Atomic Robo rpg from Evil Hat, and I believe 2 different Hellboy rpg. Not to forget Judge Dredd.
Otherwise, isn't there a game based on Peter Pan? And you have at least one D&D 5e compatible game based on Wizard of Oz.
Otherwise, isn't there a game based on Peter Pan? And you have at least one D&D 5e compatible game based on Wizard of Oz.
BigJackBrass
Explorer
And one using Fudge.
latho
Villager
Hi guys!
I thought for my first post I could do something constructive...
A few that came to mind (and are stored in my rpg shelf):
The Expanse (James Corey) - the version I have doesn't even have images from the tv series
Flashing Blades (Alexandre Dumas) - one of FGU's delightful fire-and-forget rpgs from the 80s
A Song Of Ice And Fire Roleplaying (George R.R. Martin) - also according to the books
I thought for my first post I could do something constructive...
A few that came to mind (and are stored in my rpg shelf):
The Expanse (James Corey) - the version I have doesn't even have images from the tv series
Flashing Blades (Alexandre Dumas) - one of FGU's delightful fire-and-forget rpgs from the 80s
A Song Of Ice And Fire Roleplaying (George R.R. Martin) - also according to the books
Cordwainer Fish
Imp. Int. Scout Svc. (Dishon. Ret.)
John Dallman
Hero
Call of Cthulhu works because of Lovecraft's focussed descriptive style and detailed imagination. Imagine horror RPGs based on J G Ballard, Angela Carter, or William S Burroughs . . .
Mannahnin
Scion of Murgen (He/Him)
Space: 1889 has nothing to do with the Burroughs John Carter (A Princess of Mars, etc.) stories, does it? I've never heard of any connection there.
THAT matches my recollection.
It slipped my mind because the Verne/Welles influence is so strong and part of the core, but the way Mars was handled was VERY Burroughs. There’s “wild” and civilized Martians. Their cities are big, there’s canals. They have flying ships thanks to “liftwood”- as opposed to the Terran aether propellers.
FWIW, even though I have several copies of the core rulebook*, I’ve never run Space:1889 as written. Instead, I’ve used the campaign setting to run superheroic games in HERO 4th and M&M 2Ed.
* I think the campaign setting is so well written that I didn’t want to lose it due to deterioration or damage due to use while running games with it. So I’ve bought multiple copies over the years.
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Mannahnin
Scion of Murgen (He/Him)
Could you expand on that? Are there analogues to the red, green (etc) martians?
I expanded a bit in my edited post, above.
The wild and civilized martians are very similar, but the wild ones have gliding membranes and a gland that produces the same anti-gravity chemicals as found in liftwood. This means they’re the only Martians with the power of unassisted flight. They also have fully prehensile feet.
This link gives you more.
Mannahnin
Scion of Murgen (He/Him)
Hmm. None of that seems very similar to Burroughs' martians, other than there being a savage type which raids the others.
Burroughs' Green Martians are much bigger and taller and a different species (hexapedal, even!) from the "civilized" Martians, and have/use no flying technology. Unlike all the smaller Martian races in the John Carter stories (the most common/dominant Red, the reclusive Yellow and reclusive, piratical Black, or the Holy Therns), which all extensively use flying ships.
Having big cities and canals was common speculation predating either author, as I recall.
I was thinking less in terms of physical attributes, but rather the overall cultural dynamics and the flying ships.
Cordwainer Fish
Imp. Int. Scout Svc. (Dishon. Ret.)
Hexapodia as the key insight
Ralif Redhammer
Legend
Grey Seas Are Dreaming Of My Death draws from the works of William Hope Hodgson.
Isn't that last one Over the Edge?
John Dallman
Hero
Don't know - I've only played one session of Over the Edge, and it didn't seem weird enough for William Burroughs, but that could have been the GM.
kronovan
Explorer
Contrary to popular belief, the The Witcher TTRPG is based upon Andrej Sapkowski's Witcher pentalogy and 2 anthologies, and not the CD Project Red videogame series or Netflix TV series. It was an award winning literary series in a number of Euro countries, before it ever got translated to English.
aramis erak
Legend
There is a setting supplement for Pendragon that is specifically Beowulf era Norse: Land of Giants.
A few references to Sinbad - Arabian Sea Tales (Better Games), Mazes and Minotaurs (Ollie LeGrand). M&M is free in PDF, and a genuinely old-school feel, not quite D&D knockoff. Heavily Greek themed.
Several, actually. The two that come to mind are Hong Kong Action Theater (White Wolf) and Feng Shui (and its second ed, Feng Shui 2). I've got FS & FS2, and have run FS2. I don't find it hard to run, but I do find it hard to write adventures for. I've never read HKAT.
Hero System's supplement Ninja Hero is broader in scope, covering a wider range of Martial Arts themes, especially martial-arts focused manga and American style martial arts based supers.
Palladium's Ninjas & Superspies is also wider than the HK subset, but it's one of the few genres that actually works really well in Palladium's system.
There's also a parody game - the original (out of print) Ninja Burger (9th Level) - think HKAT style ninja doing infiltration to make burgers appear on people's flat surfaces - unseen delivery.
The flying ships, the 3 kinds of martians, and a number of other thematic elements...
Unlike Verne, Wells, and Doyle, Borroughs was still under copyright protection in 1987, and so isn't mentioned on the cover, but the DNA of it is definitely included.
The most important being liftwood - which creates the titular Sky Galleons of Mars of the companion boardgame.
The thing about 1889 is that it's not a direct lift from any one of the major authors it pulls from (Verne, Wells, Doyle, Borroughs) but is an admixture. You can't have Carter & Thoris' empire if the Europeans have flown there... but you can have 2 kinds of urban Martians and a type of wild martian... sure, they fly instead of run...
Not to mention that Frank mentioned it in some online discussions in the 90's
Strider1973
Explorer
- There's an Italian 5e version of Norse Mythology, I think, called "Ragnarok" or "Journey to Ragnarok", If I'm not wrong.
- There were back in the old days two excellent supplements, one for Rolemaster and the other one for Gurps, about Robin Hood. Now on drivethrurpg.com there should be a supplement called "Sherwood" or something like that, for 5e and for Pathfinder 1e.
- There's a supplement for the Cypher System rpg called "We are all mad here" that should be based on folklore and popular fairy tales, even though with a twist on mental health, or so it seems to me. I don't own a copy of it, this is just what I've understood reading reviews and watching videos.
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