4Minute Read
Aug 20 2026
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Whether you’re fighting evil by moonlight, leveling up solo-style, or piloting a gigantic robot, there’s an anime TTRPG for you.
The ven diagram of people who play tabletop RPGs and people who enjoy anime isn’t quitea circle, but there’s quite a bit of crossover between those two hobbies. And from slaying demons to sailors moon, there are a ton of genres and tropes to explore. If you, like me, have had an anime-inspired game in mind and ready to play for years, there are a couple of perfect game systems out there. So live your world-saving, demon-slaying anime dreams and jump into your perfect anime story isekai-style with these anime-themed RPG systems.
Big Eyes Small Mouth
BESM is the anime-inspired tabletop RPG system. And it’s made to be good for any anime sub-genre. But can’t that be any kind of story? Because anime is a medium and not a genre? It is! This is a very open concept, generic style system. There are a whole bunch of anime-specific tropes, monsters, hero and villain types, etc. And BESM has spent four editions perfecting these.
Obojima
Instead of taking the broad approach to all anime as a medium, Obojimais far more specific and lets players jump into a world inspired by the works of Studio Ghibli and The Legend of Zelda. The adventures may be epic and have high stakes. But they will also have beauty and whimsy. Sword fights may be an important part of your journey, but perhaps a bigger part will be the people you meet and the relationships you nourish along the way.
Mecha vs Kaiju
There are a few rule-sets that end up being utilized in many different RPG systems. It’s because they’re simple, fun, and generic enough that they can be easily re-skinned for many different settings with very little alteration to the core. FATEis one of the most popular of these rule-sets.
I’ve played a FATE-based Pokémon game (would recommend, very fun even if we did make the GM swear off GMing ever again with our antics). But I’m always looking for a different game experience next time, and Mecha vs Kaiju just may be the way to go. You’re familiar with mechas. You’re familiar with kaijus. And you’re probably familiar with the idea of them punching each other thanks to things like Pacific Rim. I don’t know about you, but that sounds like a fantastic game to jump into for a few hours a week.
Anime 5E
Are you the kind of person who has played D&D and wants to expand out to other games, but aren’t sure where to dip your toe in the water? Anime 5E is a sort of happy middle ground. It’s definitely an anime game, but it uses a system a reimagining of “the fifth edition rules of the world’s most popular storytelling game.” Aiming for a happy medium between D&D and BESM, Anime 5E has all of the races, classes, skills, features, and everything else you expect to see on your character sheet. But in an anime setting.
Girl by Moonlight
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Remember the 1999 Sailor Moon tabletop RPG? No? Honestly, that’s okay. It was from a time before tabletop RPGs were accessible and when tons and tons of rules were the goal for some reason. Also, it starts at $433 used on Amazon. Luckily, there are better options now if you want to play that Sailor Moon inspired game, including Girl by Moonlight.
But this isn’t a one-trick-pony sort of game, and it knows that there are different kinds of magical girls; it’s a diverse genre. Do you want to be a heroic Sailor Moon style story? Or a doomed Puella Magic Modoka Magica story? Perhaps you want something a little weirder and a little closer to the periphery of the genre like Paprikaor Serial Experiments Lain? Personally, I want an absolutely bonkers Lain-inspired campaign to play in, and I need to find more people in that niche.
Lancer
Focusing on the mech sub-genre, Lancer is an RPG set in the far future where humanity has spread out into space, and the supposed utopia everyone lives within isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Players pilot unique mechs as ‘lancers’ and have to decide who and what they are fighting for.
The products in this list were carefully curated by a BoLS writer. We may earn a commission when you purchase through links on our site.
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