Demon Slayer-Like Tabletop RPGs About Killing Monsters, Yokai, & Gods

The Yokai folklore-influenced Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba introduced manga and anime fans to an organization of humans who hunt and slay demons with secret techniques, zealous tenacity, and unending style. The following tabletop RPGs systems allow fans of Demon Slayer and other paranormal fantasy works to create their own demon or god hunters, chasing down otherworldly threats to eliminate them and keep the realms of mortals safe.

The monster hunters of urban fantasy and weird fiction tales stand on the threshold between the survivors of horror movies and the monster slayers of myth, such as Beowulf and Heracles – mortal and fragile in the face of powerful beings with uncanny power, but determined to level the playing field with clever tricks, teamwork, powerful tools, and over-the-top martial techniques. The appeal of these monster-slaying narratives (and their monster-slaying tabletop RPG counterparts) for many is how they challenge the idea that the strong crush the weak; everyone loves an underdog story, and a mortal human trying to take down a cruel, supernatural being or callous divinity is perhaps the ultimate underdog tale.

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Many of the RPGs below draw inspiration from Western myths of monster-slaying cultural heroes, but they also pull heavily from Japanese folklore and modern culture, replete with Yokai, local Kami deities, and brash, loud heroes beating down corrupt gods and demon lords. The resulting demon-slaying tabletop RPGs can be over-the-top, dramatic, desperate, and thrilling with the right group of Game Master and players.

Tabletop RPGs Like Demon Slayer – Kamigakari: God Hunters

Steeped in the tropes of modern fantasy anime, Japanese mythology, and a bit of science fiction, Kamigakari: God Hunter is a Japan-published RPG recently translated into English after a successful Kickstarter campaign. As the titular God Hunters, players fight to save the world from Aramitama, dark, soul-devouring gods who take the shape of mythical monsters like Oni and Chimeras and are theoretically capable of destroying the world if not cut down before reaching their prime. Character creation in Kamigakari lets players make God Hunters with wildly different skills, fighting styles, and tricks to match the powers of the Aramitama, whether drawing on the supernatural powers of ancient relics or crafting Regalia from the remains of the foes they face.

Tabletop RPGs Like Demon Slayer – Slayers

The setting of the Slayers RPG system is starkly straightforward in some ways: In an infinite city, boroughs expand out to the horizons, infested with bloodthirsty monsters lurking in the shadows, and mercenary Slayers are hired to destroy these monsters for coin. This simple premise, blending the tropes of Van Helsing-style monster hunters from gothic horror fiction with classic D&D adventures, is strengthened by solid game mechanics that let GMs create city neighborhoods to explore and monsters to slay through daring and tactics. The core character classes in Slayers also stand out for having mechanically distinct ability rules, making each a novel experience to play.

Tabletop RPGs Like Demon Slayer – Broken Worlds

This RPG adaptation of the Kill Six Billion Demons comic uses the Powered By The Apocalypse RPG ruleset to let players tell stories about the heroes and scoundrels who inhabit the corpse-city of Throne at the center of the multiverse. Playbooks like “The Fated,” “The Law,” “The Mentor,” “The Beggar,” and “The Hunger” let players build characters covering archetypes such as Wuxia martial arts masters, sorcerer devils, and Stone Angels with the relentless attitudes of Robocop and Judge DreddKill Six Billion Demons’ rich setting gives GMs many places to visit, stories to tell, and opportunities for players to slay demonic beings and “reach heaven through violence.”

Tabletop RPGs Like Demon Slayer – Karanduun: Make God Bleed

The tabletop RPG Karanduun is set in in the same genre of apocalyptic, philosophical, heavy-metal album, weird-fiction anime that Kill Six Billion Demons inhabits, but it makes itself distinct with an RPG setting built around Filipino culture, mythology, and the legacy of colonialism. The multiverse of Karanduun is slowly dying, dealt a mortal wound after Batala, the Holy Creator, was murdered by a Trinity of usurper gods. The players characters, called Karanduun, are “worthless heroes” determined to fight this multiversal death, using martial arts, spiritual powers, and rabble-rousing to dismantle the oppressive institutions of the Trinity. The straightforward, PBTA-style mechanics of Karanduun are designed to put fiction first and create cinematic gameplay where every player action changes the world for good or ill.

Tabletop RPGs Like Demon Slayer – Yokai Hunters Society

Built on a hack of the Tunnel Goons RPG system and very similar in theme to Demon Slayer, the Yokai Hunters Society tabletop RPG is, as one might expect, about humans who track, hunt, and destroy hostile creatures and spirits from Japanese folklore. The default setting of the game is Meiji-era Japan, a period of history where national programs of technological modernization clashed dramatically with social traditions and lifestyles from the Edo period. In this turbulent time walk the player characters of Yokai Hunters Society, hiding their faces behind theatrical masks and hunting Yokai with guns, blades, and paper talismans.

The mechanics of Yokai Hunters Society’s character creation borrow a lot from Old School Revival RPG design principles, providing players with special dice tables they can use to randomly select starting names, traits, equipment, and pocket currency. The Game Master, in turn, has access to dice tables for generating story prompts, plot hooks, and NPCs on the fly, while a roster of traditional, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba-style Yokai gives them sample foes to pit their players against and a solid basis for creating original antagonists.

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