Renegade announces new editions of Transformers, GI Joe, and Power Rangers RPGs, using D&D 5.5E instead of Essence20

Renegade is ending support for its Essence20 game system, in favor of Dungeons & Dragons 5.5E. Today, Renegade announced it was planning on publishing new editions of its Transformers, GI Joe, and Power Rangers RPG systems. However, the new editions will not use the bespoke Essence20 game system created by Renegade. Instead, the new editions will use a modified version of Dungeons & Dragons 5.5E. Renegade will also release Essence20 to 5.5E conversion guides for free on their website at a later date. Update: Renegade said on their Discord that they were ending support for E20 releases because sales were insufficient to continue with the system.

Renegade will release a BackerKit crowdfunding campaign for the new games, with Transformers and GI Joe running first and a Power Rangers BackerKit coming at a later time.

The Essence20 line seems to have been popular for Renegade, as they've been publishing content for all three licensed properties (as well as My Little Pony) since 2022. All three properties are licensed by Hasbro, which of course also owns Wizards of the Coast, the maker of Dungeons & Dragons. One could speculate that Hasbro could have pushed for a change to their big games system, but one could also argue that Renegade is looking to expand their playerbase by switching from a bespoke game system to a system with a massive existing playerbase.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

On the plus side, we have Humblewood AND The Blue Rose Adventurers Guide 5E to cover MLP. Sprinkle some 5.5E magic spells and your all set!!

And Mausritter, outside of the 5E ecosystem.

If my youngest wasn't too grown up and too cool for cute stuff, except when no one's watching, there are lots of good stuff out there to scratch that itch.

 

[DEFCON 1]

I got the Essence20 G.I. Joe book for Christmas and I'm enjoying what I'm reading. I'm also curious how the low-damage / low-HP combat mechanics work.

So the one advantage for me with this 2nd edition being made is hopefully all the other G.I. Joe supplemental books they made for E20 will all drop in price and I can pick them up. I hadn't intended to get them normally because I did not expect to ever actually run the game any time soon so I did not foresee the reason to do so at full price... but if the cost lowers then maybe I can justify it.

 

[mamba]

I get the impulse for the Talisman RPG. Some folks, especially Brits, have really strong feelings around the board game. So doing an RPG of it feels like it would be successful.

well, Cubicle 7 supposedly is working on one… personally I liked the previous system and don’t think tying it to the Talisman IP did it any favors. If there were a standalone version of that game, I’d definitely be interested

 

[Reynard]

And Mausritter, outside of the 5E ecosystem.

If my youngest wasn't too grown up and too cool for cute stuff, except when no one's watching, there are lots of good stuff out there to scratch that itch.

I would go so far as to say there is a epidemic of cute stuff. Nay, a plague.

 

[Alzrius]

So apparently they're abandoning My Little Pony altogether?

 

[Reynard]

So i decided to buy the big bundle because one of my players is actually keen to try GI Joe. I will give it a look.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I would go so far as to say there is a epidemic of cute stuff. Nay, a plague.

What's next, cartoon foxes?

 

[Mark Craddock]

I know nothing about Essence20, not interested in these properties, but 5e was already popular in 2022, or even 2020 if you give them some time to develop their own system.

So while they may be switching due to popularity now, the question then becomes why they created their own system back in 2020/21 instead of using 5e back then already.

E20 streamlined 5E but it just wasn't very good. I think as system inspired by 5E and for 3 IPs that have some very loud fandoms was a lot to take on for what I believe were there first in house RPG releases.

I'm not sure 5.5 will run it better but I do think those crowdsources could do pretty well.
As a 53 year old I hope they can bring younger people to the properties because many of GI Joe & Transformers fans aren't exactly young.

Do to quality issues with Renegade I will probably wait until they hit retail before I give any of then a try though.

 

[Mark Craddock]

They probably want to get these on D&D Beyond. Moving to 5.5 makes that possible.

This could be a real boon to those games. I would think it could be easier to get their stuff on there easier than many because of the license from Hasbro. It would make me look much harder at backing them.

 

[Stormonu]

I thought it was odd that GI Joe and Transformer RPGs weren't done using the 5E rules the first time around.

I did end up liking the E20 system, and I'm keeping the editions I have. The resolution system reminded me of Alternity's, D20 + ability die (Alternity used D20 + difficulty die).