Isekai
Isekai is a Japanese genre with a relatively recent surge in popularity. Literally meaning "different world," isekai stories feature protagonists who are transported into another universe, with different rules, challenges, and opportunities. Often these worlds have fantastical elements, creatures, or magic that the protagonist must adapt to. The story then follows the protagonist as they explore this new world, learn how to navigate it, and apply the knowledge from their previous life in a new context. Isekai is a natural fit for tabletop roleplaying games. A person from our ordinary world transported to a new fantastical universe where they don't know any of the rules is the exact plight of the new RPG player! In fact, it's quite likely the popularity of the isekai genre is based on the entry of roleplaying games into the mainstream. RPGs are in a unique position to leverage the conceit of isekai as a narrative element, using players' status as a non-native to the imaginary world to justify their initial ignorance of its rules and culture and their relative weakness as a starting character. From there, as they learn and grow, they'll gain power and understanding that will help them survive and thrive! Interestingly, one of the earliest roleplaying games, Empire of the Petal Throne, included just such an assumption about new player characters--they were recent arrivals to the setting, and grew in power and influence the more they learned about the culture of the society they had arrived in!
Popular Isekai RPGs
DIE: The Roleplaying Game
DIE RPG is a roleplaying game based on the comic of the same name by Kieron Gillen and Stephanie Hans – and it too has been made by Kieron Gillen and Stephanie Hans! In DIE, you play a group of authentically flawed and desperate real-world people (Personas) who are sucked into a cursed roleplaying game and take on the form of heroes, villains and power players (Paragons). Some of you might want to get back to the real world for whatever’s waiting for you there. Some of you might want to stay in a reality where you can finally get what you want out of life. You all have to agree whether you stay or go, and dead people can’t vote. It can get pretty bloody.
Fabula Ultima
Fabula Ultima is a Tabletop Roleplaying Game inspired by Japanese-style console RPGs, or JRPGs. In Fabula Ultima, you and your friends will tell epic stories of would-be heroes and fearsome villains, set in fantasy worlds brimming with magic, wondrous locations, and uniquely bizarre monsters! This is a game about larger-than-life heroes and tragic antagonists. There is no predetermined plot, scenario, or "adventure", and the heroes' actions, motivations, and objectives will drive the story forward while the Game Master reacts to their choices and places obstacles on their path, often in the form of powerful villains with their own devious agendas, which will change time and time again as the protagonists manage (or fail) to thwart their plans.
Frequently asked questions about Isekai
Isekai Reviews and Actual Plays
Dimension 20 Presents: Never Stop Blowing Up
The employees of a strip mall get sucked into an action movie universe in this actual play series GM'd by Brennan Lee Mulligan.
Goth Jumanji? DIE: The RPG
Dicebreaker plays DIE with Kieron Gillen, author of the game and the comic it's based on, where a gaming group gets sucked into their own fantasy world.
End of the World RPG Series Review
A review of Fantasy Flight's game series where players roll up themselves as characters to face apocalyptic scenarios.