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Topic: Anthropomorphic RPGs: the complete list
Started by: James V. West
Started on: 3/22/2003
Board: Indie Game Design


On 3/22/2003 at 6:54pm, James V. West wrote:
Anthropomorphic RPGs: the complete list

For the widest results, I've duplicated this post at both www.indie-rpgs.com and www.rpg.net. Hope no one minds the cross-post.

I'm trying to compile a complete-as-possible list of all anthropomorphic-based RPGs available, either in print or out-of-print, or in electronic format. This is what I have so far:

Ironclaw/Jadeclaw
The World Tree
Justifiers
Albedo
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Furry Pirates
Big Ears, Small Mouse
Bunnies and Burrows

Also, my game The Questing Beast.

I'm fishing for information because I'm working on an idea for an anthropomorphic game and I want to do some serious research into the history of such games. Can anyone help complete this list?

Note: Some games are marginally anthropomorphic. I'm aware that many fantasy games have cat-like races and let you play dragons and all that. What I'm interested in are the *fully* anthro games, like Ironclaw or BESM, or games with a very heavy anthro element.

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On 3/22/2003 at 7:19pm, Rob MacDougall wrote:
RE: Anthropomorphic RPGs: the complete list

Toon?
Gamma World?

(Both probably right on your dividing line between fully and marginally anthropomorphic.)

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On 3/22/2003 at 8:48pm, Simon W wrote:
RE: Anthropomorphic RPGs: the complete list

I've seen a Redwall RPG somewhere, but can't remember where I saw it. My own 'Tales from the Wood' is going to have a separate anthropomorphic/Redwall sourcebook too. I've drafted it, but it's not ready for consumption yet.

Gideon
http://mysite.freeserve.com/lashingsofgingerbeer

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On 3/22/2003 at 9:33pm, M. J. Young wrote:
RE: Anthropomorphic RPGs: the complete list

If Gamma World is in there, so is its parent game, Metamorphosis Alpha. Both allow play as human, mutant human, or mutant animal, as I recall.

--M. J. Young

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On 3/22/2003 at 10:31pm, Simon W wrote:
RE: Anthropomorphic RPGs: the complete list

Just thought I would let you see Tales from the Wood, since I mentioned it in an earlier post.

http://www.angelfire.com/indie/rpgs/Tales_From_The_Wood_-_no_pics.htm

You might like this too

http://www.angelfire.com/indie/rpgs/It_s_A_Dog_s_Life.htm

Not anthropomorphic, but easily made so.

Gideon

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On 3/22/2003 at 11:06pm, James V. West wrote:
RE: Anthropomorphic RPGs: the complete list

Gamma World. Forgot that one. Marginal, but with a pretty strong anthro overtone.

"Tales from the Wood" is cool. "Gamekeeper" and "Player Creature" ha. Do you plan to clean it up and publish it, with artwork and the whole shebang?

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On 3/22/2003 at 11:25pm, Simon W wrote:
RE: Anthropomorphic RPGs: the complete list

James,

Glad you liked it. Tales from the Wood has been on my 'to do list' for years. However, now that I'm gradually getting the hang of this web-thingy, and having got Lashings of Ginger Beer out of my system, yes, the intention is to go all out with Tales from the Wood.
I have artwork for it - its just figuring out how to make it look 'spiffy'. Still, some of you guys can help I'm sure?

By the way, sorry to have hijacked your post a bit. Perhaps I need a new thread for this one?

Gideon
http://www.angelfire.com/indie/rpgs/Tales_From_The_Wood_-_no_pics.htm

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On 3/24/2003 at 1:09am, James V. West wrote:
RE: Anthropomorphic RPGs: the complete list

Updates:

Furry Outlaws
Other Suns
After The Bomb
Critter Commandos (sorta)
Fuzz: The Furry Police

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On 3/24/2003 at 2:26am, Jonathan Walton wrote:
RE: Anthropomorphic RPGs: the complete list

This isn't going to help with your research that much, but Heroes Unlimited and Rifts Lone Star both use "animal mutant" rules adapted from the other Palladium Stuff (TMNT, After the Bomb). Erick Wujick definitely likes them, and they've spread into other gamelines as well.

Rifts Lone Star, actually, is a pretty interesting book in and of itself, as far as anthro games go. It's rather distinctive. Perfect for running "mutant-animal-medical-testee escapes from evil experimental laboratory" stories, though the system is the King of Heartbreakers. Great art too.

Also, a strange sub-genre of anthro games is "Planet of the Apes"-style stuff, so you should probably include Eden Studio's Terra Primate, at least on a technicality.

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On 3/25/2003 at 12:28am, Thomas Tamblyn wrote:
RE: Anthropomorphic RPGs: the complete list

http://www.furrygames.comA company that creates Furry rpgs including the aforementioned furry outlaws but also furry pirates (which had something to do with atlas games too)

The Usagi Yojimbo RPG (http://www.goldrushgames.com/uy.html)

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On 3/25/2003 at 12:45am, Kester Pelagius wrote:
RE: Anthropomorphic RPGs: the complete list

Greetings,

Jonathan Walton wrote: Rifts Lone Star, actually, is a pretty interesting book in and of itself, as far as anthro games go. It's rather distinctive. Perfect for running "mutant-animal-medical-testee escapes from evil experimental laboratory" stories, though the system is the King of Heartbreakers. Great art too.

Also, a strange sub-genre of anthro games is "Planet of the Apes"-style stuff, so you should probably include Eden Studio's Terra Primate, at least on a technicality.


I don't know why but, somewhere between those two paragraphs, I flashed on those old ads from the gaming mags from the late 80s early 90s. Wasn't there some sort of furry expansion game for... for... TWEAKS? TWINKS? Some game with tiny ads.

Also, though it wasn't Traveller, there was a space opera kinda game (going by memory) that advertised with Felinoids and other hairy creatures holding blasters and such(?).

Sigh. That's not as helpful as I thought.

Then again maybe this will stir a memory with someone?


Kind Regards,

Kester Pelagius

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On 3/25/2003 at 12:52am, Simon W wrote:
RE: Anthropomorphic RPGs: the complete list

TWERPS

That wasn't meant to be rude, I was just answering a question!

Gideon
http://www.geocities.com/simonwashbourne/Beyond_Belief.html

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On 3/25/2003 at 5:21pm, bluegargantua wrote:
RE: Anthropomorphic RPGs: the complete list

Kester Pelagius wrote:
Also, though it wasn't Traveller, there was a space opera kinda game (going by memory) that advertised with Felinoids and other hairy creatures holding blasters and such(?).


Almost certainly you're thinking of Albedo.

later
Tom

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On 3/25/2003 at 7:17pm, Jared A. Sorensen wrote:
RE: Anthropomorphic RPGs: the complete list

That's Justifiers, not Albedo. Schworp!

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On 3/25/2003 at 7:21pm, Kester Pelagius wrote:
RE: Anthropomorphic RPGs: the complete list

Greetings Gideon,

Wow!

Gideon wrote: TWERPS


That's it.

*hanging head in shame*

Can't beleive I couldn't think of such a simple name.

Still, I think that one might of had a furry supplment(?).

Speaking of which, if that did, you know GURPS had to of put out a TON of stuff. True, it would probably be reprints, but they still count. Right?


Kind Regards,

Kester Pelagius

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On 3/25/2003 at 7:53pm, Mike Holmes wrote:
RE: Anthropomorphic RPGs: the complete list

Gideon wrote: TWERPS

That's The World's Easiest Role-Playing System by Jeff Dee, for those who are unawares. A spiritual ancestor to his more recent work.

As I recall, the characters weren't well enough defined to say whether they were humans or animals in most cases. They were to simply drawn to tell, and the rules to short to say.

Mike

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On 3/25/2003 at 8:08pm, Jonathan Walton wrote:
RE: Anthropomorphic RPGs: the complete list

The Fudge supplement "Another Fine Mess" falls in the same category as Bunnies and Burrows (non-anthropomorphic animal stories). Supposedly, there's a full Animal Companions supplement coming out sometime from Grey Ghost.

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On 3/26/2003 at 2:13am, James V. West wrote:
RE: Anthropomorphic RPGs: the complete list

Thanks for the input, everyone.

What I want to see is the Captain Carrrot and his Amazing Zoo Crew RPG, complete with bonus points for making bad puns.

I find the furry fandom quite odd. I love animal characters (and crackers), and apparantly so do a lot of others. But it's a rather introverted sub-genre (if "genre" is the right word). Furry fans do role-play, but mostly in online MUCKS. Those that do face-to-face gaming play Ironclaw or The World Tree. Usagi Yojimbo seems to have a lot of popularity too, but I suspect most of those players do not consider themselves "furry fans", so to speak.

Obviously I have a game in mind or I wouldn't be bothering with this kind of research.

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On 3/26/2003 at 5:46am, talysman wrote:
RE: Anthropomorphic RPGs: the complete list

well, speaking of anthropomorphic games I'd like to see, and inspired by the (rather poor) riverworld movie that aired saturday, I'd like to see an adaptation of philip jose farmer's "the stone god awakens". gengineered animals living on a continent-sized tree.

did I mention that already? (checks.) nope. I must have said something almost identical, elsewhere.

hmmm... I don't see that anyone has mentioned Eden Studio's new game based on "planet of the apes". I believe it's called "terra primate" or something very much like that.

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On 3/26/2003 at 3:32pm, Jonathan Walton wrote:
RE: Anthropomorphic RPGs: the complete list

talysman wrote: gengineered animals living on a continent-sized tree.


You mean like Worldtree? But scifi?

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On 3/27/2003 at 1:17pm, Maurice Forrester wrote:
RE: Anthropomorphic RPGs: the complete list

talysman wrote:
hmmm... I don't see that anyone has mentioned Eden Studio's new game based on "planet of the apes". I believe it's called "terra primate" or something very much like that.


Yes, that's the right title. I'm running a "Terra Primate" campaign for my kids and a couple of their friends. The focus is on playing humans in a world of intelligent apes, but you could have the PCs play with apes with only a little work.

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On 3/29/2003 at 10:17am, talysman wrote:
RE: Anthropomorphic RPGs: the complete list

Jonathan Walton wrote:
talysman wrote: gengineered animals living on a continent-sized tree.


You mean like Worldtree? But scifi?


I don't know anything about Worldtree, other than the name (I may have read more details about it, but it slips my mind...) in Philip Jose Farmer's science fiction novel "The Stone God Awakens", the backstory was that future human technology began to focus on gengineering and biotechnology; one of the products of this technology was the art of "growing" a house from a tree, which included biological communications devices and other biotech conveniences.

only, humanity eventually dies out and one of the leftover (sentient) trees gows to cover most of the continent. the conflict of the story was between gengineered animals who lived on the coasts versus the tree and its minion-races ... with the main character being a human who has awakened from a really really long suspended animation. the human character's "statue" had been worshipped as a god by a coastal catlike race, so when he awakens, it is naturally assumed that the god has chosen to come to the aide of the catpeople and defeat the great tree.

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