Bring Gotham City to your table with this Batman RPG

Most likely, at some point in our lives, everyone has pretended to be Batman. If not directly the Caped Crusader, then perhaps a member of the Batman Family like Nightwing or Batgirl. There’s also something to be said for taking on the role of one of the rogues gallery like Catwoman or the Joker.

There have been official DC superhero role-playing games in the past. There was also a spinoff from Mayfair Games’ line that focused on Batman released right around the legendary 1989 film. But now there’s one that focuses solely on the Dark Knight and his hometown of Gotham City.

A few years ago, the Monolith edition was released Batman: Gotham City Chronicles The Board Game which allows players to run down the streets of Gotham as iconic heroes and villains. The company was then released Batman: Gotham City Chronicles The Roleplaying Game to allow players a change to create their own characters and stories. Now the company is crowdfunding Batman: Gotham City Chronicles Skyline Edition which combines the two games into one Bat-sized package.

The company provided me with copies of the current issue for review. There are three books about the game; a core rulebook, a guide to Gotham City, and a collection of adventures. PDFs of the game books are available now, but crowdfunding backers can get physical books, miniatures of their favorite characters, and more.

Batman Gotham City Chronicles Roleplaying Game Essential Rules

Basic mechanics of Batman: Gotham City Chronicles The Roleplaying Game will be familiar to anyone who has played it Dungeons & Dragons recently. Taking dramatic actions requires a roll of a d20 with the addition of a modifier from one of the six attributes. Characters have hit points, levels, and other familiar elements.

One of the first changes to the game is the concept of tiered characters. Players can choose to play as normal Gotham citizens, trained vigilantes, or even filled with superheroes. They can also choose to play a familiar character or create their own.

Characters are built by choosing Modes, which function as abilities, feats, and class talents that modify dice rolls. They represent the training and experiences the characters have, whether it’s years investigating crime as a GCPD officer, time spent in a ninja monastery, or exposure to the Joker’s laughing gas and unusual reaction.

The most fascinating rules I’ve read have to do with character ethics scores. Instead of a flat lineup, each character has a number that reflects how they feel about important themes in the comics, like Law and Crime. These numbers can affect dice rolls based on the actions the characters perform.

Batman Gotham City Chronicles Role Playing Game Gotham City Guide

This book details Gotham City as a setting for the game. Gotham is, in its own way, as important a character in the Batman stories as the titular character. This book features famous locations such as Amusement Mile, Arkham Asylum and of course Wayne Manor.

There is also information about organizations fighting for control of the city. Not only enemies like the Cult of Crime and the Court of Owls, but also allies like the Birds of Prey and the Teen Titans. All these can become great rivals even for organized criminal gangs.

Many characters in the Batman universe have taken on new identities or resurrected old ones. The book is about the people who took his cover when Bruce Wayne was unavailable. It also details other identities, such as Robin and Clayface, where many people have taken the name.

I really liked how the information included in this book cited specific issues to provide a connection to the story. It’s also filled with a massive amount of character writing by many famous Gotham faces. It’s nice to see classic characters getting attention as well as newer players like Signal.

There are also some unexpected ones, such as members of The Suicide Squad. I also enjoyed various Batman writings, such as during his Year Zero the oldest era or version seen in The Dark Knight Returns. Seeing these different versions makes it a little easier to place this game in a specific comic book era.

However, I felt like this was the weakest book of the three. There are some odd omissions, such as not having a section on the GCPD or mentioning groups like the Titans and the Outsiders without writing much of the members. And releasing his book without an index full of page references for quick profile searches is a sneaky, Joker-worthy plot.

Batman Gotham City Chronicles Role Playing Game Adventures

The third book offers adventures that allow players to jump into playing the game. They highlight the different ways players can use the rules. Instead of the classic zero-to-hero progression that many RPGs use, the adventures here highlight not only the different levels of play, but also the types of stories that can be told.

There is a built-in snapshot for specific character types, such as members of Birds of Prey or GCPD. There is also a short campaign where players are embroiled in a race against Gotham’s famous criminals as they compete against each other to see who will be crowned the king of crime. The stories do a great job of bringing together these colorful characters that feel like comics.

There’s also a one-on-one single-player story and Master Game featuring the undercover Batman. My favorite of the adventures is a hunt for a kidnapped Bruce Wayne that brings together an odd collection of characters. This story mixes different levels of gameplay to allow ordinary people and street-level superheroes to come together to save the day.

I was surprised that there wasn’t an adventure that allowed players to join the vibrant criminal world of Gotham City. I hope we see something like this in a future expansion. Until then, the folks at Pixel Circus can tell us how such a story might turn out.

Batman: Gotham City Chronicles Skyline Edition is crowdfunding until January 21, 2025.