Goblin Slayer Gets Meta With a Tabletop Roleplaying Game

Do you like tabletop RPGs? Do you like slaying goblins? Then do we have the game for you! Announced during a flood of new and upcoming releases on their official Twitter account, Yen Press is releasing an official Goblin Slayer tabletop roleplaying game, which is due in February 2022.

NEW TTRPG ANNOUNCEMENT: Goblin Slayer Tabletop Roleplaying Game

Prepare to set out on all sorts of adventures of your own, from exterminating giant rats in the sewers to uncovering legendary hidden treasures—and of course, goblin slaying!

Coming February 2022! pic.twitter.com/QhgAAK0Dlb

— Yen Press (@yenpress) August 20, 2021

It’s very meta of Yen Press to release a Goblin Slayer tabletop game, as part of the world-building involved within the story is that the world is supposedly overseen by different gods, who amuse themselves by playing a tabletop game. Only, they play with actual monsters and adventurers as their pawns. Also, Goblin Slayer’s party partakes in a tabletop game of their own at one point during a moment of peace, though we’re not privy to what this world’s version of a tabletop game is like. Given the story’s subject matter, it begs the question of what the game’s makers are going to do about the elephant in the room: goblins.

Given that the series deals with multiple instances of assault, due to the nature of our goblin antagonists, it’s not hard to see why. This goes doubly for anyone that’s watched the anime instead of or before reading the light novel or manga, as the anime’s first episode delivers a veritable gut punch to anyone who just thought they were watching your run-of-the-mill fantasy anime.

Unlike anime that leans into that subject manner, Goblin Slayer instead shows you the worst of this fantasy world straight up, and then leaves it as common sense for readers to contemplate while the story marches forward. Granted, we see people who have been affected by encounters with goblins, and the goblins themselves, but for the most part a lot of the initial shock factor found at the story’s beginning is less overt.

Goblin in the room aside, Goblin Slayer is a solid fantasy anime, bringing you heartbreaking moments alongside hard-won victories and moments of levity and camaraderie. The fact that it has another piece of merch under its belt is a reason to celebrate. Certainly, more details on the TTRPG are forthcoming, and any experienced dungeon master knows how to work around the delicate subject matter to ensure that their players are comfortable.