PAX has brought big Borderlands news to Vault Hunters and tabletop gaming enthusiasts alike. In addition to announcing an analog adaptation of the Borderlands franchise, players who spring for the collector's edition will receive bonus gaming components.
The tabletop game, dubbed Bunkers & Badasses, is based on Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep—one of Borderlands 2's DLC expansions. The expansion is framed as a tabletop RPG session led by Tiny Tina, where the Vault Hunters act as player characters in Bunkers & Badasses, which is the Borderlands universe's equivalent to Dungeons & Dragons. The formerly fictional RPG has been developed by Nerdvana Games, and is currently available for pre-order at a discount.
Just before it announced new skill trees coming to Borderlands 3 in 2020, Gearbox devoted part of its digital showcase to revealing some of the components for the role-playing game. The heart of the game, the Bunkers & Badasses sourcebook, carries a $59.99 price tag. But the deluxe edition will include a battle map, a "Bunkermaster" screen, customized dice, 10 miniatures for player characters, and 50 enemy standees. The deluxe edition will retail at $119.99 upon release, but can be pre-ordered for $99.99 until September 30th.
In the game's introduction, Randy Pitchford assures viewers that the full-color, hardbound sourcebook will be made with the highest quality components, as would the deluxe edition components. Pitchford also detailed some of the content available in the sourcebook, mentioning three specific campaigns. In addition to Assault on Dragon Keep and The Merchant's Quest for the Wizard's Wand, the book will also detail a direct sequel campaign to Assault titled Buttstalion's Honey Heist, as well as irreverent annotations from Tiny Tina.
This isn't the first time Gearbox has collaborated with Nerdvana Games for a Tiny Tina-themed tabletop game. At last year's PAX East, Gearbox revealed a card game titled Tiny Tina's Robot Tea Party.
But Nerdvana may have some stiff competition in the form of another in-universe board game coming to real-life tables. Riot Games is set to release a League of Legends'-themed board game, Tellstones: King's Gambit, though that title's release date has yet to be announced, and it will likely fill a different niche than a pen and paper RPG. While Bunkers & Badasses' precise release date also has yet to be announced, the pre-order page estimates it will arrive in the first quarter of 2021.
There is also plenty of fresh Borderlands content to tide players over, including the aforementioned skill tree update, and the fourth and final DLC for Borderlands 3's season pass, Psycho Krieg and the Fantastic Fustercluck. Krieg's return to Borderlands, will likely prove itself a crowd-pleasing move, even though the psycho is not a playable character in the expansion.
Borderlands 3 is available now for PC, PlayStation 4, Stadia, and Xbox One. The franchise's tabletop adaptation, Bunkers & Badasses, can be pre-ordered now.