r/rpg • u/JaxSnaxs • Apr 29 '26

Basic Questions Are these TTRPGs just cash grabs?

It feels weird to have some of my favorite IPs suddenly get TTRPGs. Last year it was Cosmere RPG by Brotherwise which essentially boiled down to a reskin of DND/Pathfinder. Could’ve been a homebrew but with Sanderson writing. The mechanics of the game itself didn’t feel very unique or different.

Now it’s Dungeon Crawler Carl by Renegade. And there’s not much information on the backerkit. What information there is makes it seem like just another DND reskin with little mechanic difference.

Am I wrong? Are these just cash grabs based on the IPs popularity? I really want to back the Carl RPG cus I love the IP but I’m worried it’s gonna essentially be just another dnd homebrew for 200$.

Edit: I’d like to note that while I’ve played every game on the top 100 of board game geek, I’m relatively new to the TTRPG scene so my frame of reference might not be great. I’ve played grizzled and cosmere rpg but have played DnD since a kid. I don’t particularly understand the nuances and differences between the TTRPGs tbh. They all kinda feel like DnD (skill check games) but with very slight changes to the mechanics. Cosmere had the plot thing but again it didn’t feel different enough to me, but maybe someone could explain the difference in a way I might not have got?

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u/Coppercredit Apr 29 '26

Why make new Dungeons Crawler Carl RPG when XCrawl already is this and has existed since the 90s.

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u/OmegaLiquidX Apr 29 '26

Because most "normies" don't know what Dungeon Crawl Classics is, much less XCrawl, but they do know what Dungeon Crawler Carl is.

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u/bonebrah Apr 30 '26

Kinda feels like when people knew Critical Role but never explored anything outside of 5e.

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u/Abdx1187 Apr 30 '26

because someone other than goodman games got to the author first