The Dungeons and Dragons movie trailer was a happy surprise for many TTRPG fans. Of course, the optimism is cautious considering Dungeons and Dragons doesn't exactly have the best track record with movies, as Oscar award winning Jeremy Irons can attest to.

Dungeons and Dragons isn't the only TTRPG out there though, far from it. TTRPGs have been around for a long time, and many have worlds just ripe for storytelling potential. From the far reaches of space to the eldritch underbelly of the world, these TTRPGs deserve great adaptations.

Warhammer Fantasy

Warhammer Fantasy two armies clashing

Warhammer Fantasy might not be as popular as its space-faring spinoff, but it's a fantastic world in its own right. Warhammer Fantasy is an over-the-top take on typical fantasy tropes. The familiar races like humans, elves, dwarves, and orcs are amped up to eleven.

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There is a plethora of books and lore to pull stories from. As video games like Vermintide show, it's fun to follow characters in the world who deal with all the dangers around them. The endless Skaven, the spiky hordes of Chaos, and ravenous Ogres would be amazing to see on screen. A fantasy epic on the scale of Warcraft or Lord of the Rings, if done right.

Hunter: The Reckoning

A group of Hunters fighting off monsters

Hunter: The Reckoning follows the struggles of monster hunters in a doomed world. Using the website "hunter-net.org", people who have been "Imbued" share their knowledge and stories about their encounters with the supernatural.  Their enemies are endless, and in-fighting is just as prevalent.

Hunter: The Reckoning is an action-packed period piece set in the early 2000s. It would be a great setting for a supernatural horror story, as the Old World of Darkness is not lacking in monsters. Not to mention, the conflict between the Creeds provides great moral themes for viewers to think about.

Flying Circus

Flying Circus dogfights with dragons

With the massive success of  Top Gun: Maverick, there's a clear market for jet fighter combat and engaging characters. Flying Circus has both in spades, as well as a unique setting. The story follows the mercenary pilot group, Flying Circus, as they fly over the aftermath of a magical war that ravaged the land of Himmilgard.

The tabletop RPG puts an emphasis on character interaction as much as it does air combat. The uniquely fantastical post-apocalypse setting even allows players to have dogfights with ancient dragons. It's as if Harry Potter in Goblet of Fire was in a World War I fighter plane instead of a broom during the fight against the Horntail. Much cooler than an old duster.

Deadlands: The Weird West

Deadlands the Weird West cowboys fighting off zombies

The Weird West is an alternate history where magic is real but was long sealed away by an unknown tribe of Native Americans. However, one vengeful shaman decided to unlock the gates and unleashed magic back into the world, with all the dangers that entailed.

Westerns are a rare sight nowadays, but people do like mashing it with other genres, as shows like Westworld showcase. Taking the classic genre to horror fantasy is a match made in hell, and in the best way possible. Currently, a TV series has been in development limbo since 2014, but fans hope it sees the light of day.

Fear Itself

Fear Itself man looking through bolted door

Fear Itself is a horror RPG with many facets, but the most adaptable story would be The Esoterrorists. In this setting, the Ordo Veritatis act as the Men in Black for supernatural phenomena. The Outer Dark is separated from the human world because of something called the Membrane.

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The membrane is strengthened by mankind's hope and belief in order. However, Esoterrorists create hoaxes and commit brutal, inexplainable crimes to weaken humanity's beliefs. It is up to the Ordo Veritatis to keep humanity blind to the troubles that lay beneath the surface. While a benevolent conspiracy group a la SCP is nothing new, Fear Itself has a far bleaker atmosphere, and is a great framework for hopeless stories.

Lancer

Lancer character cover art

Lancer is a mech pilot RPG with a deep emphasis on narrative gameplay and gritty "mud-and-lasers" type mecha fights. Trillions of people live under the benevolent rule of Union. The player takes control of a mech pilot licensed by one of five major manufacturing corporations, each with their own motivations and fighting styles.

With its many factions, space-faring setting, and giant robots, Lancer is ripe for an animated series adaptation. The artwork of Tom Parkinson Morgan gives the game a colorful and striking visual style. Mecha fans in the west are clamoring for something new, and Lancer's popularity could translate well to a TV show.

Dark Heresy

Dark Heresy inquisitors gearing up to purge

Warhammer 40k is a vast universe with plenty of fun lore. Still, it remains criminally underutilized in mainstream media despite its popularity. If it were to ever receive a proper adaptation, the best start would be in Dark Heresy, a tabletop game focusing on the Inquisition.

Without a doubt, the Imperium's constant fight against its many enemies, both alien and chaos, is one of its biggest draws. The Inquisition is one big spy thriller. While Space Marines fight the Imperiums head-on, the Inquisitors seek to save it from its many, many hidden enemies. Each episode of an Inquisition series could explore a different threat to the Imperium. Think X-Files but the threats can erase planets.

Shadowrun

Shadowrun Trilogy Console Edition Review

Shadowrun combines Cyberpunk and Dungeon Crawler into one odd but exciting package. On December 21, 2012, magic returned to the world. Fascinatingly, all the fantasy races are humans, only "mutated" from the genetic baseline. Orcs, elves, and dwarves are all just different kinds of humans.

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This unique setting is perfect for a plethora of urban cyberpunk fantasy stories. A game where both megacorporations and dragons engage in politicking while "Shadowrunners" run around doing odd jobs is a perfect setpiece. Not to mention, the vastness of the framework means it could be its own cinematic universe.

Call of Cthulhu

A character from Call of Cthulhu

Despite the popularity of the genre, Lovecraftian horror is surprisingly underused. Although movie audiences got to enjoy The Color Out of Space, there are far more eldritch horrors to explore. Call of Cthulhu's IP is the perfect platform for these stories.

Call of Cthulhu as a series would essentially be a much bleaker version of The X-Files. The eldritch horrors are very much real, and there's not so much  "winning" but surviving the terrors they face. The 1920s are the perfect backdrop for the adaptation, and if there was any time for the world to be mad, it would be then.

Vampire: The Masquerade

Key art from Vampire: Masquerade

Vampire: The Masquerade is a setting that desperately needs a movie or series to its name. Its rich lore, seedy setting, and intriguing character drama are perfect for storytelling. In fact, it did get a very short-lived adaptation on Fox called Kindred: The Embraced. The show focused on the political intrigue between clans as they struggled to fight the Beast within.

However, the series had an abrupt end after only 8 episodes. With the main actor Mark Frankel dying in 1996, there was no hope for a revival. However, as shows like What We Do In The Shadows prove, there is a huge market for vampires in the modern day. A serious Game of Thrones-style show about vampire politics would be amazing to see with today's technology.

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