It's only human to want to inhabit one's favorite stories. As much as fictional worlds can be dangerous and frightening, they can also be alluring in their difference from reality. Escapism is a big reason that people play tabletop roleplaying games. Through these games, people can band together to go on epic adventures and have fantastical experiences that the real world just doesn't offer.
Though there are many TTRPGs out there, they don't always suit the stories that people want to tell or the worlds they want to explore. Sometimes beloved properties are already adapted for gaming purposes, but other times they're just out there waiting for the right developer to bring them to life.
10 Potential: The Grishaverse Is Ready For The Tabletop
The Grishaverse is composed of multiple series of novels by author Leigh Bardugo. This includes the wildly popular Shadow and Bone trilogy that has been adapted by Netflix, the Six of Crows duology, and several more. Inspired by historical Russia and the mythos it held, this world has many aspects that would comfortably sustain a tabletop adaptation.
For instance, there are already predetermined types of Grisha that characters can be, which means the subclass options for a Grisha character are already defined. The adventures, locations, and potential character stories of this world are just waiting for tabletop players to explore them.
9 Already Exists: Dragon Age Had Its Own System Built
Good news for fans of Bioware's Dragon Age series: the tabletop RPG adaptation already exists. Green Ronin Publishing released the official Dragon Age RPG sourcebook in 2010. It received several good reviews and was even featured as a two-part one-shot on Geek and Sundry's Tabletop.
Instead of being built as a variant of a pre-existing TTRPG, Dragon Age is its own unique system requiring three six-sided dice. The character sheet lists eight basic abilities that players can choose to focus on specific aspects of for their character's skills.
8 Potential: The Tortallan Universe Is Established And Expansive
Tortall and the lands around it were created by Tamora Pierce. She has published at least 20 books in this particular setting since 1983, with more on the way. The lore surrounding the Tortallan universe is vast and would provide both players and Game Masters with extensive options as a tabletop roleplaying game. Characters could be sorcerers like the dashing Numair, knights like the brave Alanna, or descendants of the gods like wise Daine. The options are seemingly endless, to the point where it's almost shocking that this world doesn't already have a thriving TTRPG.
7 Already Exists: Fate Leaned Into Urban Fantasy With The Dresden Files
Fate, the TTRPG system using aspects and special six-sided dice known as fudge dice, offers a wide variety of settings. The core system rulebook allows for the game to be set in any world and offers modifiable rules to fit each unique scenario. In 2010, Evil Hat Productions published two sourcebooks for using the Fate system in the universe of Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series.
Though this is urban fantasy rather than traditional or high fantasy, Butcher's unique take on "the real world, but with magic" and Dresden's storyline lend themselves excellently to the gaming table.
6 Potential: The Inheritance Cycle Could Sustain A Prequel Game
When readers are introduced to the world of The Inheritance Cycle in Christopher Paolini's Eragon, that universe's golden age has already ended. Almost all dragons are dead, magic lies only in the hands of the wicked and oppressive, and an epic age of heroism has been reduced to stories and rumors. Why not tell one of those stories?
A dragon-rider-centric roleplaying game set in the decades prior to King Galbatorix's reign would allow players unfettered access to the cooler aspects of this universe without the limitations that its protagonists experience.
5 Already Exists: The Kingkiller Chronicle Game Is On Its Way
Audiences are already excited for the TTRPG based in Temerant, the world from The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. Fans got a brief taste of what Temerant has to offer them at the gaming table when Rothfuss joined the cast of One Shot Podcast for an extended playtest in the summer of 2020.
Though the game itself is still in development, playtesting in such a public forum offered a promising sneak peek into what promises to be an excellent addition to anyone's roster of high-fantasy tabletop roleplaying games.
4 Potential: The Icemark Chronicles Suggest A New Angle On The Classics
Though fantasy realms resembling real-world regions and war with an evil empire are nothing new, Stuart Hill approaches them from a different perspective in his series The Icemark Chronicles. The vampires and wolf-people are loyal allies to the protagonists, not dangers to fear.
The magic system can get far more nightmarish than it first appears, with vast swaths of power stemming from a cold realm of darkness. The stage is already set for the ability to build characters of different races, regions, and skillsets. The relations between different countries in the region offer a pre-existing backdrop for adventurers to go on world-altering quests.
3 Already Exists: Middle Earth Has Been Covered Multiple Times
When it comes to tabletop roleplaying games based on the Lord of the Rings franchise, gamers have their pick of a few. The release of an officially licensed roleplaying game was spurred on by the movie releases in 2002. Cubicle 7's The One Ring, by Francesco Nepitello and Marco Maggi, has seen two versions since its premiere in 2011 and has earned some acclaim in the gaming community.
Early editions of Dungeons and Dragons even borrowed from Tolkien's world, though those aspects eventually received new names and were altered to prevent copyright issues.
2 Potential: Shannara Is Fantasy With A Post-Apocalypse Flavor
The Shannara novel series by Terry Brooks, adapted into The Shannara Chronicles for television, initially presents the audience with a standard high-fantasy world. However, over the course of the story, details begin to come to light and reveal that this is not the fantastical past but a post-apocalyptic future.
Integrating this element and the rest of the series' lore into a tabletop roleplaying game would allow gamers to play in its unique sandbox. They could develop their own stories surrounding this turn to the magical after the end of the world.
1 Already Exists: An Established Developer Brought The Witcher To Tabletop Gaming
In collaboration with CD Projekt Red, R. Talsorian Games launched The Witcher RPG in 2018. R. Talsorian Games was previously known for developing the TTRPG classic Cyberpunk and its sequels. In addition to the main sourcebook, they also offer several expansions and modules for tables to use.
The system runs on six-sided dice and 10-sided dice, which the developer also sells an officially licensed set of. Fans of The Witcher books, video games, and Netflix series can bring the adventures to their tables with the RPG.