Ten New/Upcoming RPGs Worthy of Your Attention in Late 2016

The Extraordinary Adventures of Baron Munchausen Third Edition – Fantasy Flight Games (Late 2016)

You have to give Fantasy Flight Games credit for aiming to bring a relatively obscure roleplaying game (which isn’t really a traditional sort of RPG) back in front of the gaming public. Originally released in 1998, and designed by James Wallis, The Extraordinary Adventures of Baron Munchausen tasks players with one upping each other by way of sharing outlandish tall tales. Fans of Terry Gilliam’s underappreciated classic film should surely keep an eye peeled for this one when it hits in Q4. I can’t say if FFG is going to stick to the mechanics from previous editions but you have to love the fact the sell sheet info is presented as if written by the Baron himself!

From Fantasy Flight:

THE FIRST AND TRUEST PURSUIT of every man—aye, and every woman too—is to attain an undeniable nobility. For though some are cursed by the invisible hands of fate to lie outside the bounds of noble family and noble blood, they need not be forever doomed, for noble deeds and right action are available to everyone. And once those noble deeds have been accomplished, it is only right that others should hear of them, for the improvement of the masses!

Through the aid of my dear friend and scrivener James Wallis and the gentry at Fantasy Flight Games, you and your bosom friends can share the tales of your own noble deeds—I present to you the third edition of my game: The Extraordinary Adventures of Baron Munchausen, being told in a new style of game termed Rôle-Play.

AS I AM A MAN who is known as much for his scrupulous honesty in the retelling of his tales as for his amazing adventures around, across, and in some case through the circumference of the globe, I have been asked by my friends why I should wish to put my name—an old and most distinguished name: according to the family records, there was a Munchausen stowed away upon the Ark—to a game for the telling of extraordinary tales and unlikely anecdotes. My answer is—but, wait.

My oaf of an editor (a so-called Writer of Markets and undoubtedly Polish, by his unnatural thinness and small, malformed nose) is telling me that all of this is already included in my book, and I should simply focus on explaining the major “selling points” of my game. I, for one, refuse to sully my game with such notes of commerce, as despicable as the paper money that has begun to gain popularity in less civilized parts of the world. After all, sirrah, there may be ladies reading, and if you would have me impugn their honor with such crass talk, I’ll show you the skills of the man who successfully dueled the entire regiment of the King’s 12th Hussars, not once, but twice.

Having asserted my superior intellect over the Writer in the Market and sent him in search of another bottle, I shall continue in my own way while he is so helpfully disposed. So, to continue the discussion of my game, which I do hereby dedicate to the two people most important in its development, viz. myself and the Empress of Russia.

The play of my game is simple, and you need nothing more than three or four stout friends, preferably of noble or at least gentle birth; several chairs; a copious supply of drinks from the finest cellar; and some coins to serve as your stakes and to pay the reckoning when all is done. Simply told, you and your friends shall take it in turn to ask each other the story behind some of the most grand and thrilling of your adventures. For instance, the lovely Contessa currently sitting to my left may turn to me, and say, “Dear Baron, we all know of your great adventures, yet there is one of which the full story has always eluded me. Won’t you tell our company of how you righted the Leaning Tower of Pisa?”

To the gracious speech of my most beautiful companion, I immediately respond, “Yes, of course, it’s one of my most famous stories.” And, taking a long draught from my glass, solely to loosen my throat, you see, I immediately launch into the tale. Of course, throughout the story, my companions will interrupt me, each attempting to villainously introduce rogue elements to my story for me to accept or turn aside at my pleasure. But wait again; this d—ned Market Writer is telling me that I cannot simply lay everything out in clear and simple terms. Some things must be saved for what he terms “pre-views,” and he suggests that I save this business of Interruptions and Objections for a future date.

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Jeff McAleer

Founder/Editor-in-chief of The Gaming Gang website and host of The Gaming Gang Dispatch and other TGG media, Jeff tackles any and all sorts of games but has a special fondness for strategy, conflict sims, and roleplaying games. Plus, he's certainly never at a loss for an opinion...

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