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Are you in the mood to punch some Nazis? How about blowing the Third Reich to smithereens? Modiphius sure hopes so. The veteran publisher is hard at work on a Wolfenstein tabletop RPG as we speak, and thanks to the source material, this isn't going to be a grounded fight against fascism; it's a rip-roaring, over-the-top spectacle with absolutely no budget restraints due to the adventure taking place entirely in your imagination.
Based on The New Order and New Colossus video games, it should be quite a departure from the best tabletop RPGs. We're swapping swords 'n' sorcery for resistance fighters and explosions an '80s action movie would be proud of. How's it going to work in practice, though?
This is something I've wondered since the Wolfenstein tabletop RPG was announced with a promise that fans should "get psyched," so I took my questions straight to Modiphius Lead Game Designer Evie Moriarty in the hope we could shed light on the matter. What they had to say took me from "polite interest" into "oh damn, I've gotta try this," so I'd say this revolution has a good chance of taking off. I'd expected tweaks to the company's 2d20 system, for example, but the "I AM PREPARED TO DIE" mechanic that serves as a final, all-or-nothing Hail Mary? Man, that's the good stuff.
Rollicking resistance
The year is 1962, and the events of New Colossus are in the rear-view mirror. Another American revolution is now in full swing, but this time, the resistance is trying to throw off the shackles of Nazi rule in this alternate timeline where they won WW2.
"It's a brand new era we've not seen before, and we're excited about all of the setting material we've created and for people to discover how things go after the events of New Colossus," Moriarty says.
The tricky bit? Translating the franchise's high-octane action from screen to tabletop. Although there are promises of super-charging the company's in-house 2d20 system, recreating the video games' carnage is easier said than done.
"That's been one of the biggest challenges for us," Moriarty tells me. "We've worked hard to make it work. First of all, we've simplified a lot of the core beats of the 2d20 system to make the whole game run faster and in a more streamlined fashion. Second, we've introduced a 'stances' system to let you slip between Mayhem, Tactical and Stealth, and reward you for doing so. It means that the combat doesn't end up with each person doing a specific thing and not interacting with anyone else, but fluidly changing up their approach as needs must, and everyone getting to join in."
It goes without saying that there's a lot of competition right now where tabletop RPGs are concerned, so how does Wolfenstein stand out. Moriarty told me that they think "there's a need right now for the catharsis of high-octane action silliness, and that's something we deliver in spades. It's a game about big over the top super science, but also about resistance and found family and doing what's right in the face of terrible enemies. I think there's something resonant in that."
The team also made sure that there are "non-combat" characters in the game, so everyone has a role (described as how they help the resistance) alongside their approach (e.g. how they kill Nazis). Moriarty promises that "no one will be sat twiddling their thumbs in combat" as a result, with the rules being fast-paced enough that you don't have to wait long for your turn.
Streamlining things in this way is key to the Wolfenstein tabletop RPG, it seems; the 2d20 system's Momentum/Threat mechanics have been overhauled based on community feedback, and now you're dealing with smaller pools of resources whose meaning is clearer.
"We also came up with a new system to let you style your successes," Moriarty says. "It used to be in 2d20 that you had to choose between making your action cooler or banking momentum for later, but now you get both, and you can spend your extra successes to do something "quickly" or "cleverly". It's a simple framework that helps people work out how to use the resources we give them."
Alongside a brand-new activation system that's supposed to help balance encounters, the Wolfenstein RPG is adding an escalation mechanic that heightens the situation at narratively appropriate moments. When combined with a "crisis" system that reduces Threat from the Game Master's pool but twists the story to make things tangibly harder, it's all about giving more tools to players for a more immersive, enjoyable experience.
Chills around the table
Of course, this is far from Modiphius' first foray into adaptations or video game tie-ins; it's worked on everything from Fallout wargames to a Star Trek RPG. This provided some unexpected inspiration for Wolfenstein the Roleplaying Game.
"Oddly enough, one of the key learning experiences for us was Adventures in Ankh-Morpork, our Discworld RPG," says Moriarty. "That was a huge break from tradition from us, embracing a very rules light approach. We weren't interested in just adopting that for 2d20 or Wolfenstein, it wouldn't be appropriate, but it showed to us that there was room to really shake things up. I think that helped us take that step back and really make some core changes to get the game where we wanted it to be. In terms of 2d20 games there's a little bit of everything in there, a greatest hits: the target number system is very similar to the one in Star Trek Adventures; we used the combat system in Dreams and Machines as a starting point, though it changed radically through development; and we looked at the way that the Dishonored RPG played with styles as stats as inspiration for the new styling success system."
Wolfenstein isn't the only video game property Modiphius is adapting right now; it's also making a Warhammer-style XCOM miniatures game.
Still, that doesn't mean there wasn't room for something totally original here. The mechanic that grabbed my attention the most was a peculiar one about taking one last shot at heroism… but with one hell of a cost.
"On your sheet sits a little tick box and next to it the words 'I AM PREPARED TO DIE,'" explains Moriarty. "Once, ever, you can tell the table you're ticking that box. Your character recovers all their health, fills the Momentum pool to maximum, and immediately gets a free upgrade, but from that moment on if they go down, they are dead forever. The chills around the table the first time someone said the words made us all know it was a winner."
Honestly, I love this concept. It lives up to the rambunctious, larger-than-life nature of Wolfenstein but in a tangible way, blending theme and mechanics well. From my conversation with Moriarty, that seems to be one of the most important things to this RPG; making sure its systems are married with the player experience of being the biggest badass around. We'll have to wait and see if the final result matches that pitch, but so far, signs are good.
That same kind of anticipation is true for the Modiphius team, and according to Moriarty, excitement to finally show off their work is high.
"We all know that this is a big change up of the 2d20 system for us, and we're really excited to see how people feel about it when it lands. We're also delighted to have been given such amazing support and input from [New Colossus dev] Machine Games. I really hope everyone else is as excited as we are about this!"
Wolfenstein the Roleplaying Game will come to crowdfunding in Fall 2026.
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