A list of tabletop RPGs with the bombast and post-apocalyptic science fantasy settings of He-Man, She-Ra, Thundercats and other hit 1980s cartoons.

At first glance, classic 1980s Saturday morning cartoons like He-Man, She-Ra, Thundercats, and Thundarr The Barbarian are classic, over-the-top fantasies with tabletop RPG tropes like sword-wielding heroes fighting against evil necromancers and dark wizards. At the same time, though, these franchises are also full of sci-fi tropes such as cyborgs, laser-guns, mutants, and spaceships. Tabletop roleplayers looking to recreate the heavy-metal science fantasy feel of these shows in their games should check out the following RPG systems. Some of them explicitly homage the classic 1980s cartoons mentioned above, some take place in vibrant science fantasy worlds where science and magic blur together, and some might even be part of this balanced breakfast.

The line between fantasy and space opera sci-fi games, books, and shows is a blurry one, with iconic sci-fi tropes showing up in classic works of fantasy media and vice versa. The Dying Earth fantasy stories by Jack Vance take place in a far future Earth where the sun is fading and the world is haunted by ruins of magic, technology, and technology with the trappings of magic. A classic 1980 adventure module for Dungeons & Dragons, "Expedition To The Barrier Peaks," let player and their fantasy adventurer characters explore a crashed spaceship, fight malfunctioning robots, and loot items such as blaster rifles and suits of powered armor. Genre-blending fantasy narratives like these played a big role in shaping the post-apocalyptic doomed science fantasy worlds of cartoon franchises like Masters Of The Universe. That, plus 1980s pop-culture and the desire of toy manufacturers to sell lots of action figures.

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The kitchen-sink settings of shows like He Man And The Masters Of The Universe, where Conan The Barbarian-style sword-swinging warriors could fight alongside cyborg commandos, and evil necromantic overlords could team up with invading alien armies, let toy manufacturers sell toys and action figures with wildly distinct appearances and accessories; characters such as Buzz-Off, King of the Bee People and the three-faced cyborg called Man-E-Faces could only really co-exist in shows such as He-Man. For all these merchandising, awkward morals, and chronological inconsistencies, the over-the-top action and imaginative Elder Scrolls-style science fantasy worldbuilding of these shows had a powerful influence on kids who grew up during the 1980s, some of whom went on to make science fantasy tabletop RPGs like the following:

Gods Of Metal: Ragnarock is a fantasy RPG set in a world inspired by the concept art of heavy metal music albums, video games like Brütal Legend, and a dash of He-Man and other similar 1980s cartoons. Player characters in Gods Of Metal: Ragnarock hail from a grey, colorless, magic-less version of the modern world called Mundania, are summoned to a primordial world of blades and magic called Ragnarock, and are gifted awesome powers by the Gods of Metal, each personifying different aspects of heavy metal concerts. The gameplay of Gods Of Metal: Ragnarock (recently funded on Kickstarter) is centered around the Avatar characters of players kicking the butts of evil with heavy-metal themed abilities; an adventuring party or Band rolls pools of 4-sided dice when undertaking challenges and can call upon several teamwork-themed abilities to help foil the enemies of rock and roll.

For The Honor, a diceless narrative tabletop roleplaying game anthology available on itch.io, takes plays in a setting heavily inspired by the world of She-Ra: And The Princesses Of Power; Rathael, a planet of magic, kingdoms, and mysterious ruins, has been invaded by a hi-tech faction of alien colonizers called the Legion, and only the Princesses of Rathael ("Princess" referring to any RPG hero regardless of gender, sexuality, or orientation) can inspire the fractious kingdoms to rise up and resist their would-be conquerors. Each of the 12 mini-games in For The Honor are designed to recount different episodes in the saga of the Princesses, such as setting out on their heroic journey, crossing paths with a rival or mentor, setting out to rescue and imprisoned friends, negotiating at a ball, falling in love, clashing with an enemy, falling in love with an enemy, etc.

Titansgrave: The Ashes Of Valkana is an adventure setting for the Fantasy AGE roleplaying system of Green Ronin Publishing, based off a Will Wheaton-run RPG campaign partially inspired by the post-apocalyptic science fantasy 1980s cartoon Thundarr The Barbarian. The world of Valkana was ravaged by two different fantasy RPG apocalypses – a massive cataclysm that triggered the collapse of the powerful Saurian Empire, and a devastating world war fought between different factions to claim what remained. Players characters in a Titansgrave: The Ashes Of Valkana campaign adventure through a land where fantasy RPG species such as elves and lizard people co-exist with cyborgs, robots, societies are supported by magical and technological infrastructure, and the ruins of the ancient world are filled with both marvels and terrors.

Numenera, an exploration and adventure-focused RPG created by veteran designer Monte Cook, resolves the clash between science and magic seen in He-Man, She-Ra, Thundercats, and other science fantasy narratives by invoking Arthur C. Clarke's Third Law of science fiction: "any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." The setting of Numenera, called the "Ninth World" by those who live in it, is a far-future Earth covered with the ruins of eight different civilizations, each of which vanished after a mass apocalypse, exodus, or transcendence and left many interesting relics behind.

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Player characters in Numenera, be they rough-and-tumble Glaives, Nanos who manipulate the ambient nano-tech in the air, or skill-mastering Jacks, frequently make a living by scavenging old technology, trinkets, tools and secrets from the ruins of their predecessors, frequently encountering strange lifeforms, uncanny alternate dimensions, and mind-splintering horrors in the process. The "Cypher" rules-light, easy-to-hack roleplaying system used in Numenera lets players create characters by inserting certain nouns, adjectives, and verbs into a descriptive sentence, and resolves challenging actions by having the player roll a twenty-sided die and spend limited resources to increase their chances of success.

These tabletop RPGs inspired by He-Man, She-Ra, and other 1980's Saturday morning cartoons should give anyone plenty of reason to celebrate the fantasies of childhood, and the more nuanced fantasies they might later become. For those looking for a twist to the usual RPG fare, these unique games could provide the spark to take a whole party of players to something at once excitingly new and warmly familiar.

Next: Tabletop RPGs in the “Dungeonpunk” Genre

Sources: Kickstarter - Gods Of Metal Ragnarock, Green Ronin Store – Titansgrave: The Ashes of Valkana, Numenera

A Chicago-based Writer, Author and freelance translator. Looking to prep his readers for the next renaissance or apocalypse, whichever comes first. Write and publishes web fiction under the pseudonym Aldo Salt on Inkshares.com.