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!
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!
