The Labyrinth RPG Is Out!

Based on the David Bowie movie with Jim Henson puppets, it has snuck out and is available on Amazon.



"Jim Henson labyrinth - the adventure game contains everything you need to enter the magical world of Jim Henson labyrinth. This beautiful collectors item contains a full epic adventure which can be played both by expert role players using their favorite RPG rules system, and by fans of the labyrinth who are not role players, using the streamlined rules system included in the book! In this book you will find: a full length adventure with over 100 varied scenes full rules for creating characters and adventuring in the labyrinth two custom dice included inside the book! Written by renowned RPG writer Ben Milton, with guest scenes by Alessandro cavatore, Jack Caesar, Patrick Stuart, & matt ward amazing artwork by Ralph Horsley, Johnny fraser-allen & Brian froud! Tools and tables for creating your own adventures within the labyrinth three colored ribbon markers for tracking progress through the adventure full color book mark with rules references and tips high quality cloth cover, the perfect addition to any collector's bookshelf"

Amazon.com: Jim Henson's Labyrinth: The Adv Game: Toys & Games

Buy Jim Henson's Labyrinth: The Adv Game: Board Games - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

 

[FitzTheRuke]

"Based on the David Bowie movie with Jim Henson puppets"

Oh c'mon, with his recent passing you could at least call it "the Terry Jones written film"!

(Of course, the project actually owes everything to Brian Froud.)

 

[MNblockhead]

Won't be able to see my copy until I'm back home in a few days, but based on the look-through videos I'm excited. This is an excellent game for kids, anyone new to TTRPGs, and old grognards like me who like the movie and are looking for a light beer and pretzels game. I'm also impressed with the dedication to designing the book to be easy to run and use at the table. Besides being a gorgeous book, the layout is very well thought out.

The only things I'm unsure about are:

(1) the cut out for the dice seems gimmicky and not very practical.

I can see why it is good in terms of someone wanting to buy the item as a gift. You have everything you need to play the game in the book, including the dice, while avoiding ugly blisterpack packaging. But I don't like dice falling out anytime someone takes it off the shelf and starts flipping through it. Also, I worry that the bottom of the pages will rip when someones finger inadvertently hooks into the open in the page when flipping through the book.

(2) The character sheets that I saw are printed in the book, so it looks like you'll need to find a photo copier.

Maybe there are instructions for quickly making a character by just writing some stats on a piece of paper.

 

[Imaculata]

This looks amazing. I am tempted to get it.

 

[Feepdake]

(2) The character sheets that I saw are printed in the book, so it looks like you'll need to find a photo copier.

You can download them here. Downloads, Errata and FAQs – River Horse

 

[Ravenbrook]

Mazes & Muppets?

 

[ProfessorDetective]

Given the popularity of the Dark Crystal show and that the license for it is held by River Horse, which has made the Dark Crystal board game as well as the Labyrinth board game and the Labyrinth RPG, I suspect there's a decent chance we'll see a Dark Crystal RPG.

Oh... What if they both use the same system...? Goblins vs Skeksis!

 

[Aldarc]

It's the book with the power.

What power?

Given the popularity of the Dark Crystal show and that the license for it is held by River Horse, which has made the Dark Crystal board game as well as the Labyrinth board game and the Labyrinth RPG, I suspect there's a decent chance we'll see a Dark Crystal RPG.

One of the lead designers of this game was Questing Beast, and one of the goals apparently was to give Labyrinth an OSR sort of sensibility. That works. (Though I could also see how a PbtA style game could also work.) But I'm not sure if a similar system or OSR style game would really capture the feel of the Dark Crystal. I would probably go with something more akin to either Burning Wheel/Mouse Guard or Fate/Cortex.

 

[Erich the Fuzzy]

What power?

The power of voodoo.

Now I just need to magic one onto my bookshelf...

 

[MidnightBlue]

Saw this at my FLGS and had to get it, am very impressed.

Ditto...saw it and picked it up yesterday.

 

[Arilyn]

The book is gorgeous.

The game is an introductory RPG, a transition between board games and role playing. The goblin King has stolen something from each of the players, who now have to get through the labyrinth to the Goblin King. There are a ton of locations, and players are not going to see them all in one game. The characters are on a time limit of 13 hours, and events can cause the hours to go by more quickly, or occasionally slow down. Each location also has random elements, and are a mixture of puzzle solving and role playing. There are a lot of really cool locations.

Although, it's a first step into role playing, I think veterans will still have fun. It's a great family game, or game for teachers to use.

If River Horse did do Dark Crystal, maybe it could be the next step into a more traditional rpg experience.

I was never a big fan of the Labyrinth movie, but I think I'll have fun with this. A lot of thought went into the design of this game. It's really cool.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

If River Horse did do Dark Crystal, maybe it could be the next step into a more traditional rpg experience.

Their My Little Pony RPG, Tails of Equestria, works well for that as well. My six year old is over the moon for it and it's got an interesting design, using dice of various sizes instead of stats from which bonuses to dice are derived. The lack of d14, d16 and d18 commonly available does mean it doesn't scale well after level five or so, but I suspect the company doesn't think most campaigns will run that long, or will be focused on roleplay over rollplay.

 

[ProfessorDetective]

Their My Little Pony RPG, Tails of Equestria, works well for that as well. My six year old is over the moon for it and it's got an interesting design, using dice of various sizes instead of stats from which bonuses to dice are derived. The lack of d14, d16 and d18 commonly available does mean it doesn't scale well after level five or so, but I suspect the company doesn't think most campaigns will run that long, or will be focused on roleplay over rollplay.

It still surprises me that Hasbro didn't have Wizards do that one in-house. Why license that out when you have an RPG division?

 

[Arilyn]

It still surprises me that Hasbro didn't have Wizards do that one in-house. Why license that out when you have an RPG division?

Wizards doesn't have RPG staff that can move off D&D to work on a brand new game. Can you imagine if WOTC announced their next book as "My Little Pony?" Fans got upset enough over Mercer's book possibly disrupting the D&D schedule.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

It still surprises me that Hasbro didn't have Wizards do that one in-house. Why license that out when you have an RPG division?

It's a mystery. It may be that the divisions don't play well together (different divisions in my company don't always get along) or that River Horse brought a wheelbarrow full of money to their door.

The system in Tails of Equestria isn't one I would have expected WotC to have rolled out and, for that, I'm glad to see it was licensed out. I think the system is still a bit undercooked -- seriously, the jump in power from d12 to d20 is kind of insane -- but it's a great starting point and, I think, will eventually inspire a really great post-stats system.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Wizards doesn't have RPG staff that can move off D&D to work on a brand new game. Can you imagine if WOTC announced their next book as "My Little Pony?" Fans got upset enough over Mercer's book possibly disrupting the D&D schedule.

No, but they know tons of quality freelancers and third party development houses they could have assigned the work to.

 

[Arilyn]

No, but they know tons of quality freelancers and third party development houses they could have assigned the work to.

This must have seen the most cost effective, and least risky. Also, did River Horse go to Hasbro? If so, Hasbro licenses things out regularly, so this probably was just another licensing process from Hasbro's point of view.

 

[Umbran]

No, but they know tons of quality freelancers and third party development houses they could have assigned the work to.

Opportunity cost is a thing. Even assigning it to a third party development house has management overhead.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Opportunity cost is a thing. Even assigning it to a third party development house has management overhead.

Of course.

I think it's mildly surprising that they think that portion of a manager's time (River Horse is pretty productive, putting out stuff out at a rapid clip, so maybe it'd take all of their time) would cost them more than what they'd earn by having it managed (or entirely run) in house.

But, like I said, I like the end result of the process, so no complaints here.

 

[ProfessorDetective]

Wizards doesn't have RPG staff that can move off D&D to work on a brand new game. Can you imagine if WOTC announced their next book as "My Little Pony?" Fans got upset enough over Mercer's book possibly disrupting the D&D schedule.

Those guys read 'disrupting the D&D schedule' as 'not doing Dark Sun'.

But, yeah, MLP should have been another 5e crossover book like MtG and the liveplay settings. Unless figuring out how to get around the setting subrace-locking magic to the unicorns and the usual 'races with flying speeds' can of worms Pegasi could open was THAT big a hurdle.

 

[Arilyn]

Those guys read 'disrupting the D&D schedule' as 'not doing Dark Sun'.

But, yeah, MLP should have been another 5e crossover book like MtG and the liveplay settings. Unless figuring out how to get around the setting subrace-locking magic to the unicorns and the usual 'races with flying speeds' can of worms Pegasi could open was THAT big a hurdle.

Ponies VS. Strahd! Now, I need this!