Hi! My partner is really into both tabletop games and norse mythology, and I'm trying to put together a little gift set of obscure TTRPGs they might not have seen before that are Norse-flavored. Any suggestions? Crunch is welcome but not necessary; things you can buy in nice print editions a plus. Thanks!
Sure thing. “Norse-flavoured” is a pretty big target, so I’m going to try and cover as wide a range of approaches as I can – I’m sure some of these will be absolutely nothing like what you’re looking for!
The Day After Ragnarok - A retro post-apoc game in the mode of Fallout, with the twist that the apocalypse in question was literally Ragnarök. Not a stand-alone game, but it’s available in Savage Worlds, Fate Core and HERO System variants, so you can get it for whatever your partner is most comfortable with. Probably the least Norse-flavoured game on this list, in that it merely uses Norse mythology as a jumping-off point rather than attempting to emulate its source material.
Fate of the Norns: Ragnarok - Another Ragnarök-themed game, though this one takes place during rather than after. Much more a traditional sword and sorcery title, this is probably the best option on this list for a fancy gift, as the book’s production values are excellent, though it’s very expensive in print as a result; the fanciest version costs nearly two hundred dollars! Also check out the engraved metal runestones (the game uses runestones in lieu of dice) if you’ve got money to burn.
Ironsworn - A travel/survival focused RPG inspired by the Icelandic sagas, this one supports both traditional many-players-one-GM play and GMless co-op play. Free in PDF, with a very well produced print-on-demand edition available via DriveThruRPG. There are also plans for a print-on-demand card deck accessory, but it’s not yet available at the time of this posting; you can follow the author’s Twitter if you want to be notified when the cards are ready to go.
Mythender - This one takes the “adventure as a series of tactical set-pieces” school of play to its logical yet absurd conclusion and presents a milieu where adventures are literally nothing but a series of boss fights. Imagine a game where everybody is Kratos from God of War and you’ll have the right general idea. As you’ve no doubt gathered, your dealings with Norse gods mostly consist of killing them. Like Ironsworn, it’s free in PDF with a print-on-demand edition via DriveThruRPG.
Sagas of the Icelanders - This one is basically a hard 180 from the preceding item. Short version: it’s a game about exploring social norms – with a particular emphasis on gender roles – in a newly established Icelandic village circa 1000 CE. Almost purely historical, with only the vaguest intimations of the supernatural. Sadly, while the PDF remains available, the physical book has gone out of print, with no plans for reprinting at the time of this posting; you may be able to find it used.
Sagas of Midgard - Given the subject matter, having multiple games called “Sagas of [something]” was probably inevitable! This one’s narrowly focused on playing out Viking raids, built around a very action-movie notion of what Viking raids looked like – which is to say, player characters will die both gloriously and frequently. It’s the sort of game where charging into battle naked, screaming and on fire is just another Saturday night!
I’m also going throw in off-the-main-list recs for Midgard: Viking Legends and Yggdrasill. The first one didn’t make the cut because there’s never been a print edition, and as the publisher has gone out of business, there likely never will be. The second is an off-list rec because it hits the right culture, but the wrong era – it’s a sword and sorcery fantasy game set in mythic Scandinavia around 400–600 CE, while the Viking era is generally reckoned to have begun about two hundred years later. Like Sagas of the Icelanders, the physical version of Yggdrasill is presently out of print, with used copies occasionally turning up on Amazon.
(I just wish you’d asked me sooner. I put this post together as quickly as I could, but given that nearly every listed title is print-on-demand or independently fulfilled, your odds of receiving any of it in time for Christmas are effectively nil.)
