© 2025 Viacom International Inc. Based on characters created by Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman.  Cover art by Freddie E Williams II, with colors by Michael Majestic — after Kevin Eastman. Cover art by Freddie E Williams II, with colors by Michael Majestic — after Kevin Long and Peter Laird.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness RPG Redux Edition

Like many kids in the 1980s, I encountered the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles via the cartoons – and I was instantly hooked. Within a few years, as I came of the ripe old age of 11, I was given a collection of the TMNT graphic novels. My young mind was blown away by the gritty storytelling of the original comics by Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman, so when a buddy of mine offered to trade one of my scifi wargaming books for a role-playing game with “that art you like” I agreed. 

I had played some tabletop wargames and fantasy RPGs with my friends, but this was the first RPG I had ever owned. I read it and absolutely fell in love with the Palladium Books game system. Soon I owned many more games written by Erick Wujcik and Kevin Siembieda, including Ninjas & Superspies, Heroes Unlimited, Rifts, and more. 

Fast forward almost forty years, and after serving in the US Air Force, I decided to go back to university to get my Bachelor’s degree in Design & Production for video games and animated movies. At least that was my cover story. My true heart’s desire was to work on tabletop games so I took courses in narrative design and writing, board game design, information architecture, etc. I was shocked when, before even graduating, I landed the chance to work on the Rifts® for Savage Worlds series of books. Working with the wonderful folks like Shane Hensley at Pinnacle Entertainment Group was awesome. You know what else was awesome? Getting to meet and work with Kevin Siembieda, creator of my favorite RPG worlds and books – heck, the entire Palladium Books Megaverse. 

So, a few years later, when Kevin asked me to join him at Palladium Books as his business partner, I had to accept! After getting over the initial shock (I couldn’t sleep for two days), the first project we discussed was bringing back the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness series of RPG books.

© 2025 Viacom International Inc. Based on characters created by Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman.

These RPG books from my youth allowed fans to live out their own radical adventures either playing as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or as mutant animal heroes of their own creation. Creating new mutant animal heroes and villains is fun and easy using the game’s rules for mutating your base animal (there is a veritable menagerie to choose from) with real-life animal abilities and psychic powers, then training them up as escaped experiments, government agents, or even secretive martial arts warriors. This wider world of mutant animal heroes and villains creates a unique experience for fans of the TMNT, a world of Other Strangeness to explore and role-play in. The Terror Bears, Doctor Feral and his BIO-Spawn minions, Caesar’s Weasels, the Sparrow-Eagles, and other characters and their associated adventures bring this expanded world to life and have become classic fan favorites.

So, when the timing was right, Kevin and I reached out to Paramount’s publishing division. It took the better part of a year, but we were ecstatic to negotiate the return of the TMNT to RPGs – all six of the original books are returning, collected into two full-color hardcover books.

Our key focus on the project was to enhance and update the classic game written by Erick Wujcik and illustrated by TMNT creators Kevin Eastman, Peter Laird, and other Mirage Studios artists so many years ago. Even the new cover art, by Freddie E. Williams II with colors by Michael Majestic, was so similar to the original cover painting by Kevin Eastman that some fans initially thought it was the same cover. Of course, most quickly realized it was a fantastic homage, but it set the right tone for our entire effort.

© 2025 Viacom International Inc. Based on characters created by Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman. Original cover painting by Kevin Eastman, homage cover art by Freddie E Williams II with colors by Michael Majestic.

Our project has been enthusiastically received by TMNT fans old and new. In fact, the news even garnered the attention of Screenrant and Forbes writers who noted how special it is for a beloved role-playing game adaptation to be resurrected decades later by the original creators in concert with Paramount.

The two books include clarified and updated rules, new mutant animals (voted on by the community), modernized gear (so you aren’t stuck in 1985), and comprehensive vehicle creation and combat rules. Erick’s adventures are preserved in all their glory, and fans have gushed over previews of the new clean airy page layouts, color coded headlines, and easy to read tables.

The artwork is awesome — all of the original black and white art is now in glorious full color, including the comic strips that were created by Eastman and Laird especially for the RPG and sourcebooks. We were over the moon when Kevin Eastman said he loved the color work. Plus, we have over two dozen brand new pieces of full-page Tribute art by many legends in the comics and gaming industries, and never-before-seen behind the scenes content as well.

© 2025 Viacom International Inc. Based on characters created by Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman. Art by Kevin Long, colors by Michael Majestic.

Of course, I am not Erick Wujcik (who sadly passed away many years ago), but as we finalized layout and editing on this redux edition of TMNT & Other Strangeness, Kevin Siembieda told me I have done the work of his good friend a great justice. I’m beyond happy to have resurrected a classic game for all of the other kids at heart who have fallen in love with the TMNT. If you get a chance to check out the books, I hope you enjoy them.