BOTW-style tabletop RPGs focused on exploration and adventure

The open-world RPG breath of the wild, poetically enough, breathed new life into The Legend of Zelda console game franchise, mesmerizing Nintendo Switch gamers with stunning views of wilderness and ruins that could be explored on foot, horseback, and hang-glider. fans of breath of the wild and its unique aesthetic can take advantage of those thematically and narratively similar tabletop RPGs listed in this article. From the mythical fantasy tactical action of ICON to the community-driven narrative of Ryne, each of these games has a breath of the wildA post-apocalyptic fantasy-style setting filled with ruins of magical technology, along with gameplay cycles centered around exploration, discovery, and scavenging.

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The first one The Legend of Zelda, released in 1986 for the Nintendo Entertainment System, introduced the basic narrative and game cycle both Zelda the game would imitate and build upon; an elf hero in green named Link, a princess named Zelda, an evil overlord named Ganon, and a powerful artifact called the Triforce of Power that needs to be assembled. Curiously, the open-world gameplay of the latest The Legend of Zelda Payment, breath of the wild, listen to the original The Legend of Zelda, which allow players to freely explore the game world and tackle dungeons in any order they choose.

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breath of the wild also broke with earlier trends The Legend of Zelda games, changing mechanics and adding computer RPG mechanics such as crafting items and upgrading weapons. The Classic Fantasy Monsters Seen Earlier Zelda titles were also complemented by gigantic beasts similar to those in the monster hunter franchise and ancient magical robot builds similar to those seen in The shadow of the colossus Where The Last Guardian. All in all, the player kingdom of Hyrule explores in breath of the wild can be described as post-post-apocalyptic – a crumbling wilderness slowly coming back to life after suffering a searing calamity in the distant past. The following tabletop RPGs take place in a “beautifully ruined” world like breath of the wild‘s and even share similar themes of exploration, adventure and rebuilding what has been lost.


Relic has a similar setting to Breath Of The Wild & Shadow Of The Colossus


Tabletop RPG like Legend of Zelda Breath Of The Wild Relic

Relic, a fantasy RPG recently funded on Kickstarter, has the tagline “Battle colossal titans in a world haunted by the past” and openly quotes video games such as monster hunter, The shadow of the colossus, and breath of the wild as main sources of inspiration. The main frame of Relic, a magical wasteland called Windfall, is filled with many perils and wonders – nature spirits called Wildlings, larger divine spirits called Wildhearts, massive magical robots called Sentinels, and darkness-corrupted creatures/machines called Revenants. The players of Relic depict the Titan Hunters exploring the wilderness and protecting their colonies by slaying, hijacking, or negotiating with the towering creatures around them. These heroic endeavors unfold with game rules that simulate the process of moving over land, tracking certain titans, and formulating plans of attack, trickery, or parleys.


ICON is inspired by Breath Of The Wild, Dragon’s Dogma and other JRPGs


RPG like D&D 4th ICON Massif Press

The mythical, 4th J&D– Inspired fantasy RPG called ICON, currently available for playtesting on itch.io, quote The Legend of Zelda Games, Shadow of the Colossus, and the dogma of the dragon as sources of inspiration for its ruin-filled fantasy setting, while certain game features such as its “Limit Break” character class abilities and the airships’ narrative dominance also seem to pay homage to the Final Fantasy franchise. Arden Eld, part of ICON, is a world filled with verdant green nature, scattered settlements and city-states, and massive monster-filled ruins left behind by a long-defunct empire that conquered the world with technology and magic. The characters in ICON’s dungeon raid layers stand at the dawn of a new era, their potential for heroic deeds brings a new era of peace, a new era of imperialism, or something entirely different .


Ryne exudes wild style and is focused on community building


Tabletop RPG like Legend of Zelda Breath Of The Wild Ryne

The playtest version of Ryne, a fantasy RPG “Powered By The Apocalypse” on itch.io, set in a post-apocalyptic fantasy world like ICON and features huge “Titan” entities like Relic Is it that. The focus of Ryne, however, is about building and protecting communities in a world where beings of great size and power reshape the environments in which they roam. Character Playbooks in this system, covering archetypes such as “The Heart”, “The Guide”, or “The Tethered”, have character attributes related to emotions and special “Moves” that affect both individuals and the great cultures that the player character inhabits. Character creation in Ryne also gives players the ability to create unique character species – humanoids with horns, photosynthetic skin, and bioluminescent spots, among other features.

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Courage owes a lot to the early Legend of Zelda games


Tabletop RPG like Legend of Zelda Breath Of The Wild Courage Carta SRD

Of all the tabletop RPGs listed in this article, the single-player role-playing game called Courage owe more conceptually to the previous The Legend of Zelda games than it does for most modern breath of the wild. Currently available on itch.io, Courage uses standard playing cards and handfuls of six-sided/ten-sided dice to recreate the journey and challenges of fantasy games like The Legend of Zelda where a “Hero of Courage” overcomes a great evil. By drawing cards from a deck and consulting the rulebook, players can procedurally create unique “Dungeons” to explore, “Relics” for their PC to acquire, and “Beasts” to defeat; over the course of the game, they chart their CP’s growth and history on a three-fold character sheet.


Two Stand To Fall tells stories similar to the backstory of Breath Of The Wild


Tabletop RPGs like Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild Two Stand To Fall

Two stand to fall is built around the same Carta SRD system that Courage employs, is an indie role-playing game hosted on itch.io and also revolves around a The Legend of Zelda-style quest to save the world from a great evil. contrary to Courage, the opening story of Two stand to fall has many parallels with the backstory of Breath of the Wild: two heroes with an unbreakable bond of affection face a doomsday threat more dangerous than they expected, and one of the heroes sends the other away to save his life as they face danger alone. In a solo game session of Two Stand Two Drop, the player traces the journey of the hero who has been sent away as he crosses the land to find (and hopefully save) his beloved companion to the Link and Zelda; by drawing cards from a deck, players create a map of the lands their hero must traverse and identify a set of “resources” the hero can gather to improve their chances of saving the day.


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Sources: Kickstarter – Relic, itch.io – Courage, itch.io – Ryne, itch.io – Two Stand To Fall

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