R. Talsorian Games (RTG) is a designer and publisher of role-playing game books and accessories. Originally based in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

, the company was moved to

Renton, Washington Renton is a city in King County, Washington, United States, and an inner-ring suburb of Seattle. Situated southeast of downtown Seattle, Renton straddles the southeast shore of Lake Washington, at the mouth of the Cedar River. As of the 202 ...

, in 1997. Their titles include the ''

Cyberpunk Cyberpunk is a subgenre of science fiction in a dystopian futuristic setting said to focus on a combination of "low-life and high tech". It features futuristic technological and scientific achievements, such as artificial intelligence and cyberwa ...

'' series and several

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

-related RPG titles. Their major product line today is the

Fuzion ''Fuzion'' is a generic role-playing game system created by the collaboration of R. Talsorian Games and Hero Games. The rights to Fuzion are jointly held by Mike Pondsmith of R. Talsorian Games, along with Steve Peterson and Ray Greer of Hero Ga ...

system. The company's chairman is

Mike Pondsmith Michael Alyn Pondsmith is an American Role-playing game, roleplaying, Board game, board, and video game designer. He founded the publisher R. Talsorian Games in 1982, where he developed a majority of the company's role-playing game lines. Pondsm ...

, usually known as "Maximum Mike" by players, R. Talsorian Games, and members of their online bulletin board. Products include ''

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 ...

'', '' Mekton Zeta'' (an

RPG), '' Castle Falkenstein'' (a

Sorcery Sorcery commonly refers to: * Magic (supernatural), the application of beliefs, rituals or actions employed to manipulate natural or supernatural beings and forces ** Goetia, ''Goetia'', magic involving the evocation of spirits ** Witchcraft, the ...

and

steampunk Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction that incorporates retrofuturistic technology and Applied arts, aesthetics inspired by, but not limited to, 19th-century Industrial Revolution, industrial steam engine, steam-powered machinery. Steampun ...

RPG), '' The Witcher: Role-Playing Game'' (based on a

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

series based on novels by

Andrzej Sapkowski Andrzej Sapkowski (; born 21 June 1948) is a Polish fantasy writer. He is best known for his series of books '' The Witcher'', which revolves around the eponymous monster-hunter, Geralt of Rivia. The saga has been popularized through television ...

and video games by

CD Projekt Red CD Projekt S.A. () is a Polish video game company based in Warsaw, founded in May 1994 by Marcin Iwiński and Michał Kiciński. Iwiński and Kiciński were video game retailers before they founded the company, which initially acted as ...

), '' Teenagers from Outer Space'' (an anime universal setting, the first generic anime

RPG RPG may refer to: Military * Rocket-propelled grenade, a shoulder-launched anti-tank weapon **''Ruchnoi Protivotankoviy Granatomyot'' (Russian: ''Ручной Противотанковый Гранатомёт''), hand-held anti-tank grenade laun ...

until the creation of ''

Big Eyes, Small Mouth ''Big Eyes, Small Mouth'' (''BESM'') is a tabletop role-playing game originally produced by Guardians of Order in 1997 that was designed to simulate the action of anime and manga. The title alludes to the common anime drawing style of character ...

'' using the Tri-Stat system) and several RPGS based on anime such as ''

Bubblegum Crisis is a 1987-1991 Japanese cyberpunk original video animation (OVA) series produced by Youmex and animated by Anime International Company, AIC and Artmic. The series involves the adventures of the Knight Sabers, an all-female group of Mercenar ...

'', ''

Armored Trooper Votoms is a Japanese military science fiction mecha anime series produced by Nippon Sunrise, created and directed by Ryosuke Takahashi and featuring mechanical designs by Kunio Okawara. Following directly in the footsteps of Takahashi's ...

'' and ''

Dragonball Z ''Dragon Ball Z'' (''DBZ'') is a Japanese anime television series produced by Toei Animation. Part of the ''Dragon Ball'' media franchise, it is the sequel to the 1986 ''Dragon Ball'' television series and adapts the latter 325 chapters ...

''. They also produced the short-lived ''

Dream Park ''Dream Park'' is a 1981 sci-fi/murder mystery novel by American writers Larry Niven and Steven Barnes, set in a futuristic amusement park of the same name. It was nominated for the 1982 Locus Award and later expanded into a series of cyberpunk ...

'' RPG based on the setting of the ''

'' novels.

History

The success of his small-press published game ''Mekton'' convinced Mike Pondsmith that he would be able to make a business by designing games, so he founded R. Talsorian Games in 1985, and using this new company he published a second edition of ''

Mekton ''Mekton'' is a role-playing game which centers on the conventions of mecha anime and science fiction (although it can easily enough be adapted to other genres like police drama or high fantasy). It has seen several editions since its introducti ...

'' (1986). The company's second game was '' Teenagers from Outer Space'' (1987). The third published edition of ''Mekton'' was called ''Mekton II'' (1987) and was the company's first game to use their full-fledged

Interlock System The Interlock System is R. Talsorian Games' proprietary role-playing system. History Interlock was a game system by R. Talsorian Games based on a simple system of adding a bonus to a roll on a 10-sided die. '' Mekton II'' (1987) – the third ed ...

. Pondsmith's next game, ''

Cyberpunk 2013 ''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 20 ...

'' (1988), was R. Talsorian's second design to use the Interlock game system. R. Talsorian was one of the first RPG publishers to embrace

desktop publishing Desktop publishing (DTP) is the creation of documents using dedicated software on a personal ("desktop") computer. It was first used almost exclusively for print publications, but now it also assists in the creation of various forms of online co ...

. Its first desktop published books were '' Mekton II'' in 1987, which looked much different from products that R. Talsorian would be putting out just a few years later (such as ''

'' (1989)). ''Cyberpunk'' became wildly popular and received most of the company's attention for much of the rest of its lifespan. After an eight-year hiatus that began with its withdrawal from GenCon in 1998 over a conflict regarding floor space and dealer space, the company began a semi-regular publishing schedule again in 2006. Despite its "major" lines being on hiatus during that period, RTG still supported three licensed anime RPG lines (''Bubblegum Crisis'', ''Armored Trooper VOTOMS'' and ''Dragonball Z'') through its ANimechaniX label and occasionally issued reprints for ''Mekton Z'' and ''Cyberpunk 2020''. On January 4, 2006, R. Talsorian Games founded their first demo team, The Chrome Berets. The Chrome Berets were founded and are supervised by David "Knighthawk" Simpson, creator of Knighthawk’s Cyberpunk Archive, a popular fan site for the game. The purpose of The Chrome Berets is to promote the company and products and playtest upcoming products.

References

External links

R. Talsorian Games Store
{{Cyberpunk (game franchise) Role-playing game publishing companies Companies based in Renton, Washington American companies established in 1985