Collin Kelly
Champions of the Earth is an original tabletop roleplaying system built for five players and one GM. The game is designed to evoke teen warrior shows of the 80s and 90s like Sailor Moon, Voltron, and Power Rangers, but also the unique and deeply personal emotional conflicts of being an everyday teenager. Powered by the Op20 System developed specifically for CotE, the game system encourages and rewards deep roleplay, but also teamwork and friendship.
Over the course of a gameplay session, players might confront a bully at school or face the prejudices of their own parents via social combat only to then trigger power suits and call upon their elemental power field to manifest suits of armor and fantastical weapons. When facing overwhelming foes, by shouting their secret creed, players might then summon a giant mecha animal mount to pilot into battle, or combine them together to form the Ultimate Champion to square off against a mecha kaiju dragon—and all without destroying their town or blowing their cover as ordinary teens.
In the game, players build their character, pick a class, a weapon, an animal totem, and unique personal traits that all require roleplay investment to trigger bonuses. Gameplay scales across tiers, using a unique system of interconnecting character sheets with each progressive scale. With a focus on friendship and teamwork, CotE is designed to be a positive, inclusive joyful expression of tabletop gaming with lots of hooks for performative play as the genre explodes in popularity thanks to livestreams and podcasting.
