Licensed role playing games are a fantastic way to get people into the game. While Dungeons & Dragons is the biggest gateway, games that connect to a fandom can hook new players in ways D&D can’t. Plenty of people not interested in swords and wizards caught the RPG bug from games for Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Doctor Who and more.
Unfortunately, these games often succumb to the realities of licensed products. Once the license term is over, they often fade into forgotten history as new products stop coming out and old products live on in used bookstores and online auction sites. Games for popular IP often fetch handsome prices on the secondary market.
A licensed RPG coming back in its original form is a rare occasion. Usually its easier to license a new game with a new company. That’s why Palladium Books shocked the industry when it announced a Kickstarter for a new edition of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles And Other Strangeness
Palladium published Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles And Other Strangeness in 1985. The game was tied to the original comic books by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. The books featured original artwork by the creators as part of the draw.
The game featured a wild character creation process that gave players several charts to roll on. It was then up to players to make sense of the characters they got. How do I put together a six foot tall otter with Olympic level marksmanship and a love of hang gliding? Role playing games are built on indelible characters and even if they didn’t end up working out, the characters made here often left an impression on young players.
The game was also in the right place at the right time as in 1987, the cartoon and toy line launched and shot the popularity of the concept into orbit. Though the published has claimed it had a negative effect on the game with adult gamers at the time, there were countless kids who picked up this game and got a glimpse into a weirder world. Many of those kids are all grown up and looking to reconnect with the game.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness Redux Edition
Each of the new books collects material from the original line. The books slightly update the material and artwork. The new books are full-color and the gear chapters have been updated for the modern era.
The first book collections two additional titles under its covers. Truckin’ Turtles offers a cross country road trip full of adventure. Turtles Go Hollywood foolows up the road trip with an adventure to stop a mutant from taking over the airwaves through subliminal messages.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Transdimensional Adventures Redux Edition
This book leads off with Transdimensional Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. This book expanded the setting in ways that mirrored the franchise with rules for other dimensions, time travel and even a brief glimpse at one of the first multiverse franchises. It also added a very popular animal type: dinosaurs.
This book includes two more books from the original line, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures offers five adventures accompanied by Eastman and Laird artwork. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Guide To The Universe added a lot of high tech science fiction content including laser guns and other gear.
Kickstarter Rewards
The Kickstarter offers variant covers created by several well known artists. There are also additional reward such as miniatures and themed dice. Many of these rewards are only available now and will not be available through retail channels.
Digital copies are not available through the Kickstarter. Palladium has said their license only extends to a physical reprint at this time. Hopefull, the success of the Kickstarter might allow them to change things for the future.
The Kickstarter ends on Tuesday, November 28th, 2023. Rewards are currently slated for a September 2024 release.
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