British Influenced RPGs, Tools and Resources

An ongoing list of British gaming and rpg-themed resources, including random creators.

Sections that need adding include What is British Fantasy, Communities, British Random Creators, Podcasts.

British RPGs - all | resources | gamebooks | british fantasy

British RPG Resources

I'm from the UK and grew up amidst Games Workshop and other British games that contrasted with D&D and other games. Now I'm exploring the British gaming heritage with a list of some resources.

There's also a growing article on Gamebooks, many of which are written by British authors.

May 2024: Added more RPGs and resources. Sept 2023: Added more RPGs and resources and split out sections.

Newer British RPGs (2000ish+)

• Troika! is an experience of a lifetime. A colourful and wonderful one. A rules-light space fantasy game. The rules are innovative and use only d6s, with a free rules text version available.
• Warlock! RPG is a relatively new RPG, which is rules light an emulates the feeling of old-school British rpgs. Heavy influences from Troika, Fighting Fanatasy and WFRP
• Into the Odd (link to remastered version) is set in the Bastion, an industrial city where your "expeditions touch the bizarre, wondors and horrific." And then Electric Bastionland is a science fantasy rpg which expands on Into the Odd and pushes the boundaries of Bastion, the Electric Hub of Mankind. You start with colossal debt, a failed career and treasure as the only way out. There is a Free Edition too.
• Advanced Fighting Fantasy (2E) is a newer version of the RPG based on the adventure gamebooks with the green covers. It cleans up a lot of the game and brings in a magic system from the Sorcery! books.
• Barbarians of Lemuria from Beyond Belief Games, is a fast-paced rpg based on sword and sorcery such as Conan the barbarian, Elric and Thongor.
• Doctor Who from Cubicle 7, with the 2nd edition using the 13th (?) doctor.
• All the Variants of Warhammer 40K. Dark Heresy, Black Crusade, Deathwatch, Rogue Trader, Only War. And the more recent Wrath and Glory.
• What's Old is New (WOIN) which consists of O.L.D. (fantasy), N.E.W. (sci-fi) and N.O.W. (modern action).
• Soulbound from Cubicle 7 for the Age of Sigmar
• English Eerie is a solo journalling game set in rural England

Older British RPGs

• Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay is probably the most important of the British RPGs, providing exploration of the Empire and the Old World in a dark, gritty and humorous setting. Random character generation is a feature. 1st Edition was delightful and atmospheric, but a mess of rules. 2nd Edition WFRP used only the d10 and was a great mix of atmosphere and consistent rules. 3rd Edition was weird. 4th Edition from Cubicle Seven is rules-heavy, true to it's roots with many character options.
• Dragon Warriors was my first proper RPG experience as a player. The original version was a simple RPG with 4 character classes, fast play and atmospheric adventures. It was relaunched in 2008 (link is to Pay What You Want pdf). There are also a number of Dragon Warrior solo adventures by Red Ruin Publishing.
• The Fighting Fantasy series of RPG Games Books were a kind of solo rpg with over 50 books published in a variety of genres. There was also Advanced Fighting Fantasy RPG, of which I have played using the Dungeoneer version in solo play.
• SLA Industries is an RPG from Scottish publisher Nightfall Games. An urban RPG set in cyberpunky horror dystopia. I think (on list to play!). There's also a 2nd Edition (which should be in newer games)
• Maelstrom is a game I looked at in the school library but never played. Set in 16th century England with a fast and simple system.
• List of British RPGs on Wikipedia.
• Judge Dredd has had a few versions, from Games Workshop, Mongoose Publishing and EN Publishing (using WOIN ruleset)

British Style Adventures

• There was a series of D&D (1E) modules written by UK authors (the UK series) that have a different feel to other D&D adventures of the time. These include UK1: Beyond the Crystal Cave, UK2: The Sentinel, UK3: the Gauntlet, UK4: When a Star Falls, UK5 Eyes of the Serpent, UK6: All That Glitters and UK7: ark Clouds Gather.
• The Enemy Within Campaign for WFRP
• Dolmenwood adventures. And an RPG + setting to be published in 2024
• White Dwarf D&D adventures

British Generators and Random Tables Titles

(section needs expanding!)

• Untold Encounters of the Random Kind from Loke BattleMats is a system-neutral series of encounters for City, Wilds and Dungeons with many terrains for each.
• The fantasy generators of Chaos Gen (me) are British-made!

Other Resources

• Other RPGs to include (on next update) include Golden Heroes, Pendragon, Fabled Lands RPGs, Heart: The City Beneath, Swyvers, Dolmenwood, Awfully Cheery Engine, Warpstar, Swords of the Serpentine, Welcome to Grimsbury, 1366 Second Edition, Stellar Adventures (AFF in space)
• UK Games Expo, an annual gaming event in Birmingham which is among the largest in the world.
• Cubicle 7, the games company who have published WFRP 4E, Doctor Who and many other RPGs.
• Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay - Taverns of the Old World has descriptions of grimdark inns!
• SLA Industries
• Modiphius Entertainment
• Pelgrane Press
• Arion Games, publishers of Advanced Fighting Fantasy and Maelstrom, and Stellar Adventures
• Podcasts including the Lone Adventurer, Legend of the Bones.

Finishing Up

I'll see if I can make room for more in the next update. Springing to mind include...

Talisman. Heroquest. Advanced Heroquest, Space Crusade, the Fighting Fantasy Books, Lone Wolf Gamebooks.