What Non-D&D TSR RPGs Needs to be Revived?


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The original Buck Rogers materials are entering the public domain soon, in 2026. Unless the license deal gave the Flint Dille Trust some sort of license to the Buck Rogers in the 25th Century property-- and why would it?-- when the Buck Rogers name and character become public domain, Wizards of the Coast will become the sole proprietor of the game TSR published.
The XXVc game copyright is Dille Family Trust.
XXVc core copyright notice. said:
BUCK ROGERS and XXVc are trademarks used under license from The Dille Family Trust. ©1990 The Dille Family Trust. All Rights Reserved.
ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS and AD&D are trademarks owned by TSR, Inc.
Also, copyright is 70 years in the US. So it exits in 2060.
 

The comic strip was published from 1929–1967. When the comics from 1929 enter the public domain in 2025, only the stuff from 1929 enters the public domain. Anything published later, 1930-1967, is still under copyright. Any characters, plots, character traits, etc that were published in 1930 or later are still under copyright. The game was based on the complete franchise, most of which will still be under copyright for decades to come. It will be another 38 years before the comics published in 1967 enter the public domain. Once that happens, then WotC can publish their game without asking permission. But then anyone could publish a game on the Buck Rogers comics.
the novel, Armageddon 2419 is 1928... but each iteration changed the setting... The XXVc is based upon the later comics.
 

IIRC, Spycraft sold well enough a decade ago, and I think this genre is currently underserved in the gaming market. Anything released may have to allude strongly to Mission Impossible, Bourne, James Bond, etc to entice people, but I don't think that's a bad thing. Just need to have the right kind of advertisement/copy text to let people know what it's all about.

And/or go the Top Secret/SI route with supplements that highlight and expand the gameplay into the specific sub-genres. And ff some of those could be licensed IP to help generate buzz and better solidify what the game supports it in people's minds, then go for it.
Sure, there could definitely be room for a spy game or three on the market. But would they be significantly helped by being "Top Secret/SI" rather than e.g. Spycraft?
 

The only Esper spy rpg I remember, besides the oop Necroscope licensed game, is I Psi for QAGS.
It’s a major element in Aeon Continuum: Trinity. It’s big in The Secret World for Savage World, and Titan Effect (also for Savage Worlds) is entirely about it. All three are quite good, too, and currently active.
 


It’s a major element in Aeon Continuum: Trinity. It’s big in The Secret World for Savage World, and Titan Effect (also for Savage Worlds) is entirely about it. All three are quite good, too, and currently active.
Those seem to be a lot more than just espers. I’m looking for something that is just espers, not four or eight games in one, not superheroes, urban fantasy, fate of humanity, etc. I can probably just kitbash something over a few years myself, but I would’ve liked something that saved me the time. Thanks for the list

I’m surprised that there’s a bunch of very densely packed games in those hyper specific niches, but nothing like Star*Drive which is eight games in one.
 

Titan Effect is entirely modern people with psionics covertly fights would-be secret masters of the world, psionic terrorists, and sundry other trouble.
 


Those seem to be a lot more than just espers. I’m looking for something that is just espers, not four or eight games in one, not superheroes, urban fantasy, fate of humanity, etc. I can probably just kitbash something over a few years myself, but I would’ve liked something that saved me the time. Thanks for the list

I’m surprised that there’s a bunch of very densely packed games in those hyper specific niches, but nothing like Star*Drive which is eight games in one.
Aeon Continuum Trinity is pretty psi-focused, but not necessarily spy-focused, and has a fairly broad range of psionic powers available. Psions come from 8 7 6 7 different clans tribes traditions orders, each specializing in a particular type of power (telepathy, clairsentience, telekinesis, biokinesis, vitakinesis, electrokinesis, teleportation, and quantakinesis) – there are exchange programs around so you can have e.g. some vitakinetic medics in the telekinesis-focused Legions, but that's where their strength lies. The game is fairly open to many different types of campaigns – I'd argue too open, as I would prefer more focus on presenting one aspect in-depth, but you can certainly do psi-spies in it.
 

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