An Assassin’s Creed tabletop RPG is on the way
Every roll is permitted.
Stealth-action video game series Assassin’s Creed is being adapted into a tabletop RPG for the first time.
Zombicide and Marvel United studio CMON is behind the upcoming adaptation of developer Ubisoft’s long-running series, in which players control assassins through different historical time periods and locations around the globe.
Since its first instalment in 2008, set in the Holy Land during the 12th century, the Assassin’s Creed franchise has visited Renaissance-era Italy, Revolution-period France, North America during the Civil War, Victorian London and ancient Egypt, Greece and Viking-age Britain, among others. Future entries set in Feudal Japan, the 16th-century Holy Roman Empire and Baghdad during the Islamic Golden Age were revealed last month.
The Assassin’s Creed tabletop RPG will follow the time-hopping structure of the video games, as players enter the Animus in the present day to explore memories of their past ancestors. The video games’ villainous Templars and central MacGuffin, the Pieces of Eden, will also play a role.
Players’ modern-day characters will be known as ‘descendants’, reflecting their connection to notable assassins from the secretive Brotherhood - referred to as ‘ancestors’. Players will be able to create multiple ancestors connected to their descendant, allowing them to jump between different time periods. Leading each scenario will be the RPG’s game master, under the title of the Animus Operator.
The Assassin’s Creed RPG will pull from the lore of both the main entries in the video game series and its various spin-offs, CMON confirmed, covering the historical eras seen across the franchise to date.
Leading the team is Francesco Nepitello, designer of Lord of the Rings RPG The One Ring, with the RPG releasing under CMON’s Guillotine Press label. The studio previously released Zombicide: Chronicles, an RPG based on the undead-filled dungeon-crawler board games.
“The video game’s highly original premise - combining modern-day reality with period adventures, offers such an incredible opportunity for us to bring players a variety of gameplay that is unprecedented in most RPGs,” Nepitello said.
In news that will surprise no-one familiar with CMON, the RPG will also see the release of a set of miniatures, as well as other accessories such as maps and game aids.
The Assassin’s Creed tabletop RPG will be available for pre-order in 2023, offering both a standard edition and deluxe set of books, with a full release date yet to be announced.
While the upcoming RPG is Assassin's Creed's first time behind the DM screen, it's by no means its tabletop debut. A board game, Brotherhood of Venice, was crowdfunded on Kickstarter to the tune of almost £1m in 2018, while Assassin's Creed cards for Magic: The Gathering are due to appear from 2024.