MIDGARD: You have decided!

I started a survey a few weeks ago, which is finished now. The results are clear!

MIDGARD is Germany’s first fantasy roleplaying game. I am a big fan and play it on a regular basis, online as well as offline. A few weeks ago I started a survey on Twitter and asked you if you would be interested if Iwrote about Germany’s first fantasy roleplaying game in English from time to time in the future, because MIDGARD is currently only available in German. The survey is finished now and the results are clear.

First a short note: I am a roleplaying podcaster and blogger from Germany and a German native speaker. English is a foreign language and I don’t have a lot of practice writing texts. So my English might sound strange sometimes. Please let me know if you find any terrible mistake.s I will correct them as soon as possible. This procedure is good for improving my English skills.

MIDGARD: Germany’s First Fantasy Roleplaying Game

Germany has an active roleplaying scene and, in addition to many translated roleplaying games, its own creations as well. A kind of „Made in Germany“ I would say, and MIDGARD is the roleplaying game that was first released under this label in 1981. Before that time Jürgen E. Franke, mastermind and creator of MIDGARD, published a rulebook called „Empires of Magira“ in a small self-publishing company. Over time, Germany’s first fantasy roleplaying game developed further. This year, 2020, MIDGARD is available in the 5th edition. In my opinion it is the best edition ever!

As this is the first English language article about MIDGARD, I will give you a very short overview of the history of the game. Obviously, I will write more articles with various topics about MIDGARD in the furture.

1981 – The Year Of Germany’s Fantasy Roleplaying Game

As I have written before, MIDGARD was first published in 1981 based on the fantasy world of Magira. This book was the core rulebook and contained everything you needed to play the game. An additional book was published in 1983 and bore the simple name „MIDGARD 2“. A few years later, in 1985, the second edition was released and it sported two seperate books from the beginning: MIDGARD – Das Fantasy-Rollenspiel and MIDGARD – Schlüssel zum Abenteuer, which, again, were based on the fantasy world Magira. The Publisher was the small German roleplaying game company Verlag für F&SF-Spiele.

The publisher changed in 1989 and KLEE Spiele published the third edition in a box, with only slight revisions compared to the earlier second edition. With the third edition one important thing changed: From now on MIDGARD was based on another fantasy world, which was called Midgard. It was a newcreation of the team behind Germany’s first fantasy roleplaying game, but was also very closely based on Magira.

In 1999 the publishing house changed again and Pegasus Spiele published „MIDGARD – Das Abenteuer beginnt“, a new starter box for Germany’s first fantasy roleplaying game, which was also the beginning of a new edition, the fourth edition. Finally, new products were launched: Among other things „Das Arkanum (magic rulebook) in 2000, „MIDGARD – Das Fantasy-Rollenspiel (core rulebook) in 2001 and „Das Bestiarium“ (monster handbook) in 2003. With the new publisher a whole lot of different books were released and MIDGARD gained a new level of popularity. But in 2006 the game left Pegasus Spiele and found a new home at MIDGARD Press, which was just a label of Verlag für F&SF-Spiele. Yes, Germany’s first fantasy roleplaying game had returned to its original publisher.

After nearly 14 years in existence, the time of the fourth edition came to an end and the brandnew 5th edition was published in 2013. This edition was smarter and more streamlined than the earlier edition, giving it a more modern appearance. The whole book design changed and now all pages of the hardback books are full color, not only black and white. With the 5th edition, Germany’s first fantasy roleplaying game has reached a new level. Today MIDGARD is very popular and has a loyal and active community.

Above: Some pictures of „Der Kodex“, the core rulebook of the 5th edition. What do you think about the book layout? MIDGARD © by Verlag für F&SF-Spiele.

What Comes Next?

I hope you enjoyed the short overview of the history of Germany‘s first fantasy roleplaying game. By the way, MIDGARD will celebrate its 40th anniversary next year. An honorable age for a game! If you have any further questions, please leave a comment.

PS: You may find more articles about MIDGARD in German language here.

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