When the folks at Exalted Funeral first pitched me on Land of Eem — the role-playing game equivalent of how the Muppets might play Dungeons & Dragons — I was immediately sold. To my pleasant surprise, the review copy held up its lofty, if whimsical, promise. Land of Eem is great in the same way the best cartoons are: wrapping serious themes in a goofy bow that rewards curiosity and social connections. With a big push for TTRPG clubs at schools and libraries, Land of Eem is a great game to bring to a table of players at any age.
Based on the middle grade graphic novel series, Rickety Stitch and the Gelatinous Goo by Eem writers Ben Costa and James Parks, the setting and mechanics of Land of Eem are targeted at players who favor story over combat, as well as younger audiences. The core rules will seem familiar to anyone who’s played D&D. There are base attributes (Vim, Vigor, Knack, and Knowhow) that influence skills, which modify skill checks. Instead of rolling a d20, however, the game utilizes the far superior (at least in this journalist’s humble opinion) d12.
The character and party creation process, along with Land of Eem’s system for players to level up, is where the game truly diverges from its inspiration, D&D. This game is explicit about prioritizing and rewarding creativity, curiosity, and exploration, all while ensuring that the adventurers treat everything they come across as a person with thoughts and feelings — even if they end up having to fight them.
Land of Eem has six classes that cater toward different styles of play, including the classic Bard and Knight-Errant, the exploring Dungeoneer, the supporting Loyal Chum, the magical Gnome, and (my personal favorite) the scoundrel-like Rascal. It also has 16 unique Folk (its term for species) which run the gamut of whimsical little guys. And yes, importantly, you can play a frog person or even a Muppet-looking humanoid.
Character creation emphasizes that building out a well-rounded character with ideals, flaws, personal goals, and relationships to every other party member isn’t just going to make the game better — it’s how your character will level up. Taking from the tradition of story gaming, experience points aren’t gained through killing monsters, but acting on your character traits, developing relationships, meeting new NPCs and exploring new parts of the world.
While all that is needed for the game is the core rulebook (and character sheets which are available for download online) the full Land of Eem set contains a hefty 500-page setting guide, a bestiary, and a hexcrawl map of Eem that give GMs a vast world to put in front of players. The setting guide is brimming with scenarios that would slot perfectly into a Saturday morning cartoon slot, with depth and care that prioritizes the people who already live there. If you’ve been looking for a lighter, story-focused fantasy game to play with the whole family (or even just your friend who loves Adventure Time) this is the game for you.
Land of Eem is available now from Exalted Funeral. The game was previewed using retail product provided by Exalted Funeral. Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These do not influence editorial content, though Vox Media may earn commissions for products purchased via affiliate links. You can find additional information about viraltrendingcontent’s ethics policy here.
