It's been more than three years since The Dragon Prince season three arrived on Netflix and many fans have been eager to return to the world of Xadia during the long break. A recent teaser for season four arrived during Netflix's Geeked Week presentation, but fans who also enjoy tabletop role playing games won't need to wait that long thanks to Tales of Xadia.
Tales of Xadia is a TTPRG powered by the Cortex Prime game system and set in the world of Xadia just after the Battle of the Storm Spire. The system obviously is full of nods to the show, its heroes, and its particular brand of adventure and humor, but it's also a perfect setting for a fantasy adventure whether players are fans of the show or not.
Tales of Xadia is a narrative roleplaying game and TTRPG fans who have only experienced the genre through Dungeons and Dragons will be in for a bit of an adjustment. There are no combat rules - though that doesn't mean the game won't involve small and large battles - and instead the rules are built around the players and the game master (or narrator) working together to tell a compelling story and allow the dice to determine success or failure of in various tests, contests, and challenges. The system has a lot more in common with Tales from the Loop or Kids on Bikes than it does Dungeons and Dragons or Pathfinder.
One of the most appealing parts of the game is its incredibly low barrier to entry. There is a free tools set available on Fandom (the same company that ran DnD Beyond until very recently) that offers players options for building their own characters and managing a dice tray for all of their rolls. Basics rules are also available on the site and there are two full length play test adventures that narrators can use to get their group started if they don't want to home brew their own adventure. The two play test adventures also lead right into the lengthy adventure that is included in the core rule book, so they're a great place to test things out and there's a clear path forward if players are enjoying the game.
Not all characters are magic (just like in the show), but the game obviously features a magic system both for primal magic and for dark magic. The mechanics are easy to follow along with, leave a lot of creativity options open to players, and also offer a very interesting balance of payment and punishment for using dark magic. This is a great connection back to the feel of the show and one if many ways that the Tales of Xadia book really does feel like playing around in a sandbox version of The Dragon Prince.
The Cortex Prime rules aren't terribly complicated, but it will take an experienced TTRPG fan to decipher the full rule book and guide new players through the early games. The system has a few quirks that take a bit of getting used to, especially if players are brand new to TTRPGs or if they're coming off of D20 system and need to rewire their gaming brains away from the popular DnD 5e system.
The low barrier to entry and availability of free digital tools and starting adventures makes Tales of Xadia an easy recommend for any fans of The Dragon Prince or for any TTRPG groups who are just in the market for a new system and setting to experiment with.
Tales of Xadia is available now digitally and as a physical book. Game Rant was provided a digital copy of Tales of Xadia for this review.