I know a lot of wargamers cross over with ttrpgs players. what would you guys like to see out of a potential kow rpg? I think mantic could do a good job expanding the lore and world, really fleshing it out with expansion and module books. There’s a lot of unique units that could be really fun to play like the halfing saucerer (i’m thinking a buff based wizard giving their companions buff food, and throwing damaging food at enemies), ogre templar guards being the ultimate tanks, etc.
I’m thinking of a simple yet flexible d20 system, or maybe a 2d10 system could be cool. There’s a lot of fun locations to set campaigns in like chill, the twin cities for the abyssal dwarves, the abyss, maybe even taking an adventure into the void where the nightstalkers come from.
What would you guys like to see from a ttrpg for pannithor?
Since Mantic is a minatures company and already makes piles of dungeon terrain, accessories and classic dungeon miniatures, I’d actually most like to see a Warhammer Quest style board game/roleplaying game hybrid. I know, Dungeon Saga, but the promise of a Warhammer Quest style supplement was never delivered and I think there is space in the market for a game that is about small dungeon skirmishes that is more miniatures focused from the ground up, but with roleplaying elements.
You could do all your setting development there just as easily (though I don’t care about that) while still selling miniatures, offering something a bit more unique as a game.
Because if I want to roleplay I’ve got loads of options already, and roleplaying in the KoW setting wouldn’t be particularly hard to do, I’d just need a few house rules here and there. But that miniatures focused open ended dungeon skirmish with roleplaying aspects niche has never again been occupied since old WHQ went away.
But perhaps it will never happen because of the changing times and influences on games designers nowadays.
It actually happening, for a start!
There was a liscenced KoW/Pannithor RPG Kickstarter, but Redscar didn’t deliver.
As mentioned, there are already a plethora of RPG rules.
Mechanics that are unique (somehow) and give a KoW feel would certainly be interesting, but not the main thing I would want to see.
Something that makes it easy to run an adventure in Pannithor is what I’d be after.
Gathering all the relevant lore and presenting it in a way a GM can easily adapt.
Pannithor specific classes, a bestiary, place descriptions from an adventurer’s point of view, etc…
You know what? That i can really get down with. Maybe something with a more modular tile set rather than just. A square board. I think gloom haven does that. I remember a game hat had these hexagon puzzle piece tiles that could snap together for a bunch of different missions. You could also give it a heavy diablo style feel with a bunch of loot and treasure cards that give buffs with the monsters leveling up as you dove into harder dungeons.
I’d like something with a semi-random exploration system where you draw tiles and build a dungeon as you go, that also generates challenges, loot and monsters.
To be honest, I could make something like that myself with all the stuff I have from my original Dungeon Saga pledge from back in the day, and I probably should just do it! But I think Mantic have all the things they need to make a game like that already, and it’d give another reason to buy their fun dungeon terrain packs and dungeon monster sets.
As for a KoW RPG, the main thing I’d want out of it is a very “ground level” look at Kings of War, and perhaps an exploration of how magic works in the setting a bit more. I always want magic systems that are a bit unpredictable rather than being the most predictable thing in the game, as it is in Dungeons and Dragons. As two different takes on it, I quite like Dungeon Crawl Classics crazy table based magic system that really feels like magic is a barely controlled force, and I also quite like the Adventures in Middle Earth approach of giving only very limited access to magic in the form of fairly low key abilities to players. The D&D 5e thing of everyone having loads of magic and it being far more reliable and dependable than doing things without magic really annoys me. Like the Knock spell always opens a door without fail, but when a thief tries to do the same there’s always a chance of failure. So magic is more reliable than mundane means. I find that very unsatisfying from a narrative POV because magic should not be the most mundane and reliable thing in a fantasy world - there should always be a risk, or a price for dabbling in the arcane.