Polish role-playing games have been in production since the early 1990s. Now there are several games that have been designed in Poland, as well as many translations on the market.

History

Role-playing games A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...

were almost non-existent before the

fall of communism The Revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, was a revolutionary wave that resulted in the end of most communist states in the world. Sometimes this revolutionary wave is also called the Fall of Nations or the Autumn of Natio ...

in the

People's Republic of Poland The Polish People's Republic ( pl, Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa, PRL) was a country in Central Europe that existed from 1947 to 1989 as the predecessor of the modern Republic of Poland. With a population of approximately 37.9 million near ...

. Only a few people were even aware of the existence of

role-playing games A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...

. There were no Polish publishers, no translators and no distributors. The publication of the "Talisman" board game in 1989, and that of several

gamebook A gamebook is a work of printed fiction that allows the reader to participate in the story by making choices. The narrative branches along various paths, typically through the use of numbered paragraphs or pages. Each narrative typically does not ...

s, began to increase interest in similar games, and the first unofficial fan translations of

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

role-playing games began to appear. The major change came in 1993 with the publication of '' Magia i Miecz'' (Magic and Sword), the first Polish magazine about role-playing games. Soon the Polish market began to fill up with both translations and Polish role-playing games, as well as new role-playing magazines (''Złoty Smok'', ''Talizman'', ''Portal''). Currently there are several games designed in Poland on the market, as well as many foreign translations.

Polish games

Among the first Polish role-playing games was '' Kryształy Czasu'' (Crystals of Time), first published in parts of ''Magia i Miecz''. This game is now mostly remembered for its cumbersome rules (based on percentile die) and original

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and drama. ...

world (with orcs being the most civilized of the races). Another early debut was

Andrzej Sapkowski Andrzej Sapkowski (; born 21 June 1948) is a Polish fantasy writer, essayist, translator and a trained economist. He is best known for his six-volume series of books '' The Witcher'', which revolves around the eponymous "witcher," a monster-hunt ...

's ''Oko Yrrhedesa'', a beginner level RPG, based on Advanced Fighting Fantasy by Steve Jackson. These early games opened the gate for other Polish domestic publications of role-playing games, such as '' Neuroshima'' (

post-apocalyptic Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction is a subgenre of speculative fiction in which the Earth's (or another planet's) civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; astro ...

sci-fi Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel univers ...

set in

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

), '' Monastyr'' (

dark fantasy Dark fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy literary, artistic, and cinematic works that incorporate disturbing and frightening themes of fantasy. It often combines fantasy with elements of horror or has a gloomy dark tone or a sense of horror and dr ...

, exploring the issues of

religion Religion is usually defined as a social-cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, tran ...

and

race Race, RACE or "The Race" may refer to: * Race (biology), an informal taxonomic classification within a species, generally within a sub-species * Race (human categorization), classification of humans into groups based on physical traits, and/or s ...

) and '' Dzikie Pola'' (a historical game, set in the 17th century

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Poland and Lithuania rul ...

, portrayed as Polish Golden Age). '' De Profundis'', created by Michal Oracz, is a highly innovative micro-RPG derived from the literary horror forms of H. P. Lovecraft that encouraged players to explore horror themes by consciously blurring the lines between daily reality and dark Lovecraftian fantasies, either solo, in group chat, or by post. Another fantasy role-playing game is based on ''

The Witcher ''The Witcher'' ( pl, Wiedźmin ) is a series of six fantasy novels and 15 short stories written by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski. The series revolves around the eponymous "witcher", Geralt of Rivia. In Sapkowski's works, "witchers" are b ...

'' fantasy world created by bestselling Polish fantasy author,

. '' Crystalicum'', set in a mixed

setting, somewhat resembling

Spelljammer ''Spelljammer'' is a campaign setting originally published for the ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' (2nd edition) role-playing game, which features a fantastic (as opposed to scientific) outer space environment. Subsequent editions have included ' ...

, debuted in late 2000s. Wolsung, a pulp

Steampunk Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction that incorporates retrofuturistic technology and aesthetics inspired by 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery. Steampunk works are often set in an alternative history of the Victorian era ...

RPG has been released in English a couple of years after its Polish release. All of those games have unique mechanics, with ''Neuroshima'' and ''Monastyr'' using the custom 3d20 system, ''Dzikie Polas system being the inspiration for American ''

The Riddle of Steel ''The Riddle of Steel'' (abbreviated as ''TRoS'') is a role-playing game (RPG) created by Jacob Norwood and published by Driftwood Publishing. It is designed for role-playing in a typical sword and sorcery or high fantasy gameworld environment. ...

'', and ''De Profundis'' being essentially systemless. Polish edition of ''

Savage Worlds ''Savage Worlds'' is a role-playing game written by Shane Lacy Hensley and published by Pinnacle Entertainment Group. The game emphasizes speed of play and reduced preparation over realism or detail. The game received the 2003 Origin Gamers' Cho ...

'' has resulted in some fan-made publication, and some Polish setting books, starting with ''Nemezis'', a dark space opera. In recent years the

Crowdfunding Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and alternative finance. In 2015, over was raised worldwide by cro ...

and self-publishing phenomenon took place in Poland, with polish edition of Apocalypse World being entirely crowdfunded, and lesser-known indie games like ''Woje Miodomiła'', ''Głębia przestrzeni'', ''Idee fixe'', or ''Iron Space'' being self-published by the authors.

Translated games

One of the most popular translated role-playing games is Warhammer Fantasy, which gained a strong following on its first translation, early in 1994, when it became the first role-playing system officially translated into

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin scree ...

. Another one is

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Several different editions of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') fantasy role-playing game have been produced since 1974. The current publisher of ''D&D'', Wizards of the Coast, produces new materials only for the most current edition of the ga ...

(second edition of the game). Other popular translated systems include Call of Cthulhu, many of

White Wolf Publishing White Wolf Publishing was an American roleplaying game and book publisher. The company was founded in 1991 as a merger between Lion Rampant

World of Darkness ''World of Darkness'' is a series of tabletop role-playing games, originally created by Mark Rein-Hagen for White Wolf Publishing. It began as an annual line of five games in 1991–1995, with '' Vampire: The Masquerade'', '' Werewolf: The Apoca ...

games such as Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Vampire: the Masquerade and

Mage: the Ascension ''Mage: The Ascension'' is a role-playing game based in the World of Darkness, and was published by White Wolf Game Studio in 1993. The characters portrayed in the game are referred to as mages, and are capable of feats of magic. Magic in ''Mag ...

, and other RPGs such as

Cyberpunk 2020 ''Cyberpunk'' is a tabletop role-playing game in the dystopian science fiction genre, written by Mike Pondsmith and first published by R. Talsorian Games in 1988. It is typically referred to by its second or fourth edition names, ''Cyberpunk 2 ...

Deadlands ''Deadlands'' is a genre-mixing alternate history role-playing game which combines the Western and horror genres, with some steampunk elements. The original game was written by Shane Lacy Hensley and published by Pinnacle Entertainment Grou ...

Legend of the Five Rings Legend of the Five Rings (often abbreviated ''L5R'') is a fictional setting created by John Zinser, Dave Seay, Ryan Dancey, Dave Williams, DJ Trindle, Matt Wilson and John Wick and first published by a joint venture between Alderac Entertain ...

, 7th Sea,

Fading Suns ''Fading Suns'' is a science fiction space opera role-playing game published by Holistic Design. The setting was also used for a PC game ('' Emperor of the Fading Suns''), a live action role-playing game ('' Passion Play''), and for a space co ...

Earthdawn ''Earthdawn'' is a fantasy role-playing game, originally produced by FASA Corporation, FASA in 1993. In 1999 it was licensed to Living Room Games, which produced the ''Second Edition''. It was licensed to RedBrick Limited, RedBrick in 2003, who ...

Shadowrun ''Shadowrun'' is a science fantasy tabletop role-playing game set in an alternate future in which cybernetics, magic and fantasy creatures co-exist. It combines genres of cyberpunk, urban fantasy and crime, with occasional elements of conspi ...

and Castle Falkenstein. Since the early 2000s,

Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. (TSR). ...

has been available in Polish, and has gained a significant following of its own. The Fourth Edition was released, however due to changes of the licensing, no supplements have been published. Handbooks ar
available on the website
of ISA.

Role-playing fandom

There is a substantial

fandom A fandom is a subculture composed of fans characterized by a feeling of empathy and camaraderie with others who share a common interest. Fans typically are interested in even minor details of the objects of their fandom and spend a significant ...

of role-playing gamers in Poland. Among the largest role-playing and

science fiction convention Science fiction conventions are gatherings of fans of the speculative fiction genre, science fiction. Historically, science fiction conventions had focused primarily on literature, but the purview of many extends to such other avenues of expre ...

s in Poland are

Polcon Polcon is the oldest Polish speculative fiction convention, organized each year in a different place by the local speculative fiction club. The Janusz A. Zajdel Award is awarded during the convention. The first Polcon was held in 1985 in Bła� ...

, Falkon and Pyrkon. Although ''Magia i Miecz'' is no longer in print, there are various

fanzine A fanzine ( blend of '' fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''-zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) for the pleasure of others who share ...

s and

ezine An online magazine is a magazine published on the Internet, through bulletin board systems and other forms of public computer networks. One of the first magazines to convert from a print magazine format to being online only was the computer maga ...

s, as well as many vibrant

message board An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are often longer than one line of text, and are at least temporar ...

s and a

Usenet Usenet () is a worldwide distributed discussion system available on computers. It was developed from the general-purpose UUCP, Unix-to-Unix Copy (UUCP) dial-up network architecture. Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis (computing), Jim Ellis conceived th ...

group (pl.rec.gry.rpg).

References

*
Gry RPG i pochodne w polsce do roku 1995
(RPGs and related games in Poland until 1995) * {{in lang, pl A.Borejko
Czym są gry fabularne i skąd się wzięły?
26-06-2006 (What are RPGs and where do they come from?)