# Forgotten Ruin: the RPG tags: #game/rpg/forgotten-ruin ![[Forgotten Ruin - the RPG (cover).jpg]] So, you've always wondered what would happen if a squad of heavily-armed, tactically-minded US Army Rangers got abruptly yeeted into a high-fantasy world teeming with orcs, wizards, and things that go "RAWR" in the night. **Forgotten Ruin: the RPG** is here to answer that question with a resounding volley of automatic weapons fire. Based on the novel series of the same name, this game drops modern military operators into a future Earth that's devolved into a magical, monster-infested hellscape. The mission is simple: survive, adapt, and maybe teach a dragon a thing or two about the business end of an anti-materiel rifle. It's less "chosen one" and more "the one with the most ammunition." At its core, the game runs on the **SUPER6** gaming engine, a system that thankfully doesn't require a degree in theoretical physics to understand. Every action, from sneaking past a goblin sentry to convincing the local elf queen you're not a complete savage, is resolved with a pool of six-sided dice (d6s). Your character's abilities, called Aptitudes and Powers, are rated in dice, expressed as XD (e.g., Shooting 4D). To do something, you grab that many dice, roll 'em, and try to match or beat a Target Number (TN). If you're shooting at an orc, the orc's defense roll becomes your TN—an opposed check. If you're trying to disarm a magical trap, the Observer Controller (OC, or Game Master) sets the TN based on difficulty—an unopposed check. Success isn't just a binary "you did it" or "you failed miserably." The system uses levels of success. Simply meeting the TN is a Normal Success. Beat it by 6, and you've got a Major Success, meaning you did it better, faster, or with more style. Beat it by 12 or more, and that's a Superior Success, where you basically look like a Hollywood action hero. In combat, these levels translate directly to how much damage you inflict. A key twist is the "Threat Bonus" for weapons. A dinky pistol might have a +0 bonus, but a high-powered rifle could have a +2 or +3. This bonus is added _per die kept_ on a successful attack roll, turning a decent hit into a spectacular, monster-mulching one. For example, hitting your target by 4 with a rifle that has a +2 Threat Bonus on 3 dice adds another 6 points to your margin of success, potentially bumping your damage from 1D to 2D. It's a simple way to make sure your M4 carbine feels appropriately more lethal than a pointy stick. It's important to note there appear to be a couple of different tabletop games under the **Forgotten Ruin** banner. The game described here, using the **SUPER6** engine, was the subject of a successful Kickstarter. Another version, **[[Forgotten Ruin - The Adventure Wargame|Forgotten Ruin: the Adventure Wargame]]** published by Modiphius, is a solo/co-op miniatures wargame that uses the "Five X" system (from _Five Parsecs From Home_). While they share the same brutal setting, they are mechanically distinct games. ## References - [Forgotten Ruin RPG - WarGate Books Store](https://wargate.store/collections/forgotten-ruin-rpg) - [Kickstarter Campaign for the RPG - Kickstarter](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/galaxysedge/forgotten-ruin-the-role-playing-game) - [Review of the Adventure Wargame - Woehammer](https://woehammer.com/2025/03/28/game-review-forgotten-ruin-by-modiphius/) - [Announcement of the RPG Kickstarter - Geek Native](https://www.geeknative.com/139828/machine-guns-versus-monsters-forgotten-ruin-gets-an-rpg/ "null")