The 10 Most Anticipated Tabletop RPGs Of 2016 Are....

What are the most anticipated tabletop roleplaying games of 2016? Last week I held a massive poll and collected thousands of votes based on a list of a few dozen nominations submitted by EN World members. The voting took place over a period of a week. This week, I reveal to you what the Top 10 Most Anticipated RPGs of 2016 are, plus four Honorable Mentions which came close but didn't quite make it into the Top 10. In some places, the votes were close, but there were - fortunately - no ties. So, without further ado, I offer you in reverse order the games voted for by you! Note that some of these upcoming games do not have cover art yet, so I may have used older editions or other placeholder images.

Honorable Mentions go to the following upcoming games, all of which secured a good number of votes, but not quite enough to crack the Top 10 (and one of which, I am gratifyingly surprised to see, is my own game!):

Traveller (Mongoose)
Dresden Files Accelerated
No Thank You, Evil
WOIN (What's OLD is NEW)

And the Top 10 Most Anticipated RPGs of 2016 Are....

#10. Delta Green

Arc Dream Publishing held a Kickstarter for this Cthulhu Mythos setting, giving it its own RPG. It describes itself as "Lovecraftian cosmic terror meets the War on Terror."

#9. Paranoia

Mongoose Publishing held a very successful Kickstarter to bring the dark comedy game Paranoia back as a boxed set by James Wallis.

#8. Blue Rose

Green Ronin’s 2005 RPG of romantic fantasy deals with relationships, politics, and social situations. A new edition is coming this year using the Fantasy AGE engine (the system which powers both Dragon Age and the Titansgrave line).

#7. Torg: Eternity

Ulisses Spiele is bringing the 1990s RPG Torg back with Torg: Eternity as a full-colour hardback book. Torg features Storm Knights who fight multi-dimensional invaders.

#6. RuneQuest

Chaosium announced a new version of RuneQuest at Gen Con 2015. This will be the fourth RuneQuest from Chaosium (though there are other versions), and will be based on a foundation of RQ2, with some elements of RQ6. The setting for RuneQuest will, of course, be Glorantha.

#5. Dungeon Crawl Classics Lankhmar Boxed Set

Goodman Games announced that they had a license for Fritz Lieber’s work in 2015, and has already published adventures based on the setting. In 2016 a boxed set is planned.

#4. Robert E. Howard’s CONAN Adventures In An Age Undreamed Of

UK Publisher Modiphius can only be described as prolific. Not a month goes by where they don’t seem to have a new blockbuster Kickstarter, and the Kickstarter for the new Conan RPG is due this month, using Modiphius’ own 2d20 system.

#3. 7th Sea 2nd Edition

John Wick bought the fantasy pirate game 7th Sea from Alderac Entertainment Group in 2015 with the intention of creating a new edition. Wick was the original architect of the game, and now runs a publishing line called John Wick Presents.

#2. Mutant Crawl Classics

From Goodman Games, this boxed set is fully compatible with their popular Dungeon Crawl Classics ruleset. It's apparently in playtesting right now!

#1. Rifts for Savage Worlds

Surprising many, it was announced back in April that Kevin Siembieda's post-apocalyptic multi-genre RIFTS is coming to the Pinnacle Entertainment Group's multi-genre Savage World system. The lead designer and writer on the project is Sean Patrick Fannon. Rifts for Savage Worlds is the #1 most anticipated game of 2016!​

 

[Tyranthraxus]

Just disappointing that its mostly all a rehash of books and settings already out. Yes I know its what apparently we want, its just a shame we dont seem to wanting different and new things.

 

[Jhaelen]

Well, what different and new things are left? Hasn't every conceivable genre, no matter how niche, already been convered by some more or less obscure RPG?

 

[delericho]

One of the disappointing things about the Dungeon Masters Guild is the fact that it's restricted to The Forgotten Realms.

... for now. They've said they plan to open other settings later.

But, really, there are other threads for that conversation.

No, but "5th Edition Dragonlance Campaign Setting by Margaret Weis Publishing" is really a product I'm hoping for.

That's actually more likely if they don't open the setting to DMguild. MWP are much more likely to be interested in taking a formal license for the setting than they are to be willing to support it 'unofficially' via the medium of DMguild (when they'd be competing with any no-name who wants to publish).

Now, if you'd said "Eberron" and "Keith Baker", I might be inclined to agree with you - AFAIK he doesn't have his own reasonably-well-established RPG company with a long history of licensed products.

 

[WackyAnne]

In order to be anticipated, something needs some sort of name recognition to drive the buzz. If WotC, Paizo, or Monte Cook were about the publish some new and exciting game, I'd expect that to make this list. Since none of them are, it's not a surprise that it's a list of reboots and sequels.

Almost nobody was looking forward to the first "Harry Potter" novel, either.

Monte Cooke is, in fact, publishing a new game this year, and it made the Honourable Mentions - No Thank You, Evil. It's a family-friendly RPG, kickstarted last summer with a lavish box set.

 

[delericho]

Monte Cooke is, in fact, publishing a new game this year, and it made the Honourable Mentions - No Thank You, Evil. It's a family-friendly RPG, kickstarted last summer with a lavish box set.

Ah, yes. I'd forgotten about that.

 

[mrm1138]

Monte Cooke is, in fact, publishing a new game this year, and it made the Honourable Mentions - No Thank You, Evil. It's a family-friendly RPG, kickstarted last summer with a lavish box set.

I really want to get the set for my gaming friends who have children of an appropriate age.