Mario: Prince of the Mushroom Kingdom

The Mario games are kind of an awesome source of inspiration for RPGs. Mostly because the games are so iconic and yet resist any attempts to place them in a particular genre. But at the same time, it’s really easy to bend the key elements to fit any of them. Above is a doodle I did of a Koopa Troopa re-conceptualized as space marine in a gritty(ish) Warhammer 40K-like universe. There’s a lot of “Mario: Reinvented” art out there that I hope to share down the line.

For now, here’s a Savage Worlds supplement written by Theron Seckington: The Savage Mushroom Kingdom. From the author:

We all know Mario. Whether we played the original 8-bit NES ourselves or watched older brothers hog all the play time (even though Mom and Dad said “Share!”) we are all familiar with the efforts of the heroic plumber. This is a setting devoted to all those times we yanked the game pack out of the machine to blow on it, all the times the Hammer Brothers knocked us off in World 3, and every time you leaned to the right in your chair in the hopes
that Mario might just jump a little further if you helped.

The Savage Mushroom Kingdom setting is either a somewhat gritty fantasy game or else a very lighthearted wartime game. It has a heavy emphasis on the little guy while heroes like Mario get all the credit.

Another great thing about Mario is that the games have some extremely loyal fans. In fact, I’d say that the Super Mario Wiki is probably the most insane wiki I’ve seen. Well, after Wookiepedia.

And tell me you didn’t think “Goomba” the first time you saw a Myconid in the Monster Manual.

Image Sources: Above – Me, Below – Wizards of the Coast