Wolfenstein TTRPG Coming From Modiphius

Modiphius has announced plans to develop the Wolfenstein video game IP into a tabletop roleplaying game. The game will utilize Modiphius's 2d20 system, with a crowdfunding campaign planned for Fall 2026. Per a press release, the game will specifically focus on Wolfenstein: The New Order and Wolfenstein: The New Colossus.

For those unfamiliar with Wolfenstein, it's set in a world in which the Nazis defeat the Allies in World War II and then use advanced technology to conquer much of the world. Players are typically members of the resistance, stealing various weaponry from the Nazis and then defeating both Nazis and their monstrous science experiments.

Modiphius has a relationship with Bethesda, the owner of Wolfenstein, and makes a series of games based on the Fallout franchise. The Fallout RPG also uses a variation of the 2D20 system as well. Modiphius also develops a series of games based on Bethesda's Elder Scrolls series.

Modiphius has a sign-up page to be informed of when the crowdfunding campaign for the Wolfenstein RPG launches on GameFound.

 

[aramis erak]

Yes, which is exactly why I'm suggesting that an RPG based on Conan, to make it feel like Conan, should focus not on him (or not exclusively) but on the structure and tropes of the stories.

(To more emphasize the titular character, though, it could have been a duet game, like Beowulf, intended for one player, one GM.)

Duke Nukem is going to have the same disconnect: A property about a lone hero aimed squarely at a group.

But, with Conan, it presents the world, not the man. Same for Fallout. Probably the same for Wolfenstein. Fallout and Conan have enough lore that it works, and the show for Fallout is not "Lucy vs the world" but "Lucy grows a team"... so the question I have, is Wolfenstein a broad enough lore base to present the world?

 

[Bill Zebub]

I think the dirty little secret of a lot of game companies, certainly of Modiphius at the time, is that many games aren't really written to be played but to be read and savored by people who have disposable income.

Aliens, The One Ring, Stonetop, Scum & Villainy...

Vaesen might be next on my list.

 

[Bill Zebub]

Duke Nukem is going to have the same disconnect: A property about a lone hero aimed squarely at a group.

I was largely being facetious about Duke Nukem, although somebody should turn the mobs into RPG monsters.

But, with Conan, it presents the world, not the man. Same for Fallout. Probably the same for Wolfenstein. Fallout and Conan have enough lore that it works, and the show for Fallout is not "Lucy vs the world" but "Lucy grows a team"... so the question I have, is Wolfenstein a broad enough lore base to present the world?

I don't think the world & setting was sufficient for Conan. I at least don't find it compellingly interesting/unique as a setting. Not unless I can have Conan-esque adventures in it, and (as I just posted upthread) that doesn't require being "like Conan" to achieve.

 

[bergec]

The bad news is that once the Duke Nukem RPG is announced, it will be fourteen years before it's released.

Man, wasn't that a letdown!

 

[chuckdee]

Let the hate go Bill!

Hey, I get it if you're excited for a particular adaptation, like a Conan RPG, and the latest iteration doesn't do it for you.

But hoo boy, anger, bitterness, hate . . . definitely leads to the fan dark side!

That's not even the latest iteration.

 

[CF07]

Yes, which is exactly why I'm suggesting that an RPG based on Conan, to make it feel like Conan, should focus not on him (or not exclusively) but on the structure and tropes of the stories.

Yeah, stories that vibe like the original ones work. To be clear the Modiphius campaigns and stories did a good job at that. They were often really cool. What I struggled with was how to make the rules work. These days I'd be much more open to swapping the ruleset but at the time I was contemplating playing it, it didn't fit the group I played with.

(To more emphasize the titular character, though, it could have been a duet game, like Beowulf, intended for one player, one GM.)

Duet games are an area that's not been too well explored so far as I know, though I could be totally off. There was a Gumshoe system one I read (but never played) called Night's Black Agents or something like that. It would depend a ton on the player and GM, for sure. The rules need to make the PC much more self-contained and capable than is usual; the vagaries of the dice will hit a solo PC harder than would be the case for an ensemble.

In a lot of ways I think Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser would make for a better match, so two players and a GM. It's got that same pulpy and picaresque vibe (I mean it was based on a novella by Cervantes) but Fafhrd and the Mouser are much more human-scale characters. I ran a lot of duo D&D3.5 back in the day and what I did was use the "gestalt" character idea or action points to make the PCs more capable. (Humans got to use action points whereas elder races like dwarves and elves were gestalt characters.) They often had a sidekick NPC of some sort but the two main PCs were the most important.

 

[CF07]

I was largely being facetious about Duke Nukem, although somebody should turn the mobs into RPG monsters.

I'd love a Deus Ex RPG, but the problem is, well, it's really a solo character experience.

 

[payn]

I'd love a Deus Ex RPG, but the problem is, well, it's really a solo character experience.

Doesnt have to be. There are all kinds of augmented people in the setting.

 

[MichaelSomething]

I think from a prose-craft perspective, Howard is one of the best among his era of pulp writers. But Conan is clearly the person Howard wishes he was and is not a very useful character for trying to figure out what fantasy TTRPG heroes should actual play like -- not least because of the ensemble nature of the hobby. Conan rarely has peers (although he does occasionally; Belit comes to mind), and most of his adversity exists solely to showcase just how awesome he is in the end.

Conan was arguably the biggest single influence on OD&D, and even D&D has never been able to do Conan right.

Sounds like 5E would be the perfect fit for Conan stories; considering how often people complain 5E characters are over powered compared to the monsters!

 

[Reynard]

Sounds like 5E would be the perfect fit for Conan stories; considering how often people complain 5E characters are over powered compared to the monsters!

If I were to design a Conan inspired RPG, one fore mechanic I would build in is having early failures build a pool or other "stat" to succeed later. Liek many, many heroes, Conan often ends up getting kicked around early in a story only to be able to succeed against apparently impossible odds in the finale. One way for a game to emulate that is to grant boons or bennies or inspiration or whatever for those losses, which can then be banked for when the sorceror or giant snake or alien demon comes out.