Dishonored tabletop game returns to whalepunk role-playing world

A tabletop role-playing game based on Arkane Studios and Bethesda Softworks’ Dishonored franchise is on its way. It’s being developed by London-based Modiphius, which has also created tabletop games based on The Elder Scrolls, Star Trek, and Conan.

The Dishonored roleplaying game is a 300-page hardback book that comes with custom 20-sided dice. Players can take on the role of a pre-made character or create an original character in the Empire of the Isles. This was the expansive world featured in the squalid but beautiful quasi-Victorian settings of Arkane’s fantastical stealth adventures Dishonored and Dishonored 2 as well as various DLC stories.

Modiphius/Bethesda

Players can take part in the kind of stealthy assassination missions that are central to the video games, but they can also play as explorers, couriers, duelists, and inventors, reflecting some of the games’ variety of colorful NPCs. The games’ central characters Emily and Corvo are also playable.

“I’ve been a fan of the Dishonored series since its first trailer gave us a sneak preview of the dark side of the world,” Modiphius co-founder Chris Burch told Polygon in an interview. “The cool mix of odd technologies, whalepunk world and stories of [supernatural presence] the Outsider seemed a great platform for a tabletop RPG.”

He said that the game has been designed for both tabletop RPG aficionados and for newcomers who love the original video games. “We designed the game to be really accessible,” Burch said, “so video game fans who don’t usually play tabletop games will have an easy time of creating their own character, learning the game, and playing through their adventures.”

The Dishonored roleplaying game is coming out this summer priced at $39.99.