Borderlands 2’s D&D Spoof Bunkers & Badasses Is Going To Be An Actual RPG

Tiny Tina is bringing the Assault on Dragon Keep to a tabletop near you, by way of Nerdvana games. Come check out Bunkers & Badasses.

Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep is probably the best thing about Borderlands 2–and keep in mind, we’re talking about a game where there are guns that shoot explosive shells and then you also throw them as an explosive any time you reload, and a diamond horse named Butt Stallion. But Assault on Dragon Keep provided some much needed heart to a game, contextualizing the events of the main story through the lens of the series’ toughest teen, Tiny Tina. It’s a story about loss and family, dressed up as a first person shooter, dressed up as a parody of D&D. You help Tiny Tina grieve by playing through a campaign with her (which translates to you shooting skeletons and other things that have been Borderlandsed), and it’s definitely worth playing through, or watching below:

And now, the roleplaying game within a game, Bunkers & Badasses, is dropping the “within a game” part and is being turned into just a plain old tabletop roleplaying game, designed by the same folks who brought you Root. It is one of the most surprising announcements of the year, but a rare welcome surprise in 2020. Treasure it folks. You don’t know when the next non-monkey’s paw surprise is gonna come your way. From what we can tell, the whole thing is a “science-fantasy RPG” that uses d20s in some capacity, but it doesn’t look like it’s a 5th Edition adaptation, which is rare these days when it feels like everyone’s getting in on that action. A few of the screen grabs show what looks like an original system, where you’ll pick a Vault hunter from a different class with separate “paths” to follow, inspired by the skill trees from Borderlands 1 & 2.

It also comes in a deluxe edition that comes with minis, a BM (bunker master) screen, Gun Cards, a special badass die, and an expansion called Butt Stallion’s Hunny Heist, which is all about “gettin smooches and blowin stuff up and talkin about feelings but mainly blowin stuff up”.

It’s a weird way to say that there’s a Borderlands-ish RPG coming out, and frankly, I can’t wait. Check below for pre-order info.

Bunkers & Badasses Science-Fantasy RP Sourcebook – $59.99

Based on the game-within-a-game from Gearbox Entertainment’s Borderlands series, Bunkers & Badasses is tabletop roleplaying unlike anyone’s ever done before!

Within the Sourcebook, you’ll find over 200 pages of skag-shooting, skeleton-looting, treasure-hoarding tabletop action!

Bunkers & Badasses Science-Fantasy RPG Deluxe Edition – $99.99 (limited time offer)

Based on the game-within-a-game from Gearbox Entertainment’s Borderlands series, Bunkers & Badasses is tabletop roleplaying unlike anyone’s ever done before!

Within the Sourcebook, you’ll find over 200 pages of skag-shooting, skeleton-looting, treasure-hoarding tabletop action!

Author: J.R. Zambrano

Bell of Lost Souls Staff Writer and DM, J.R. covers RPGs of all stripes and on occasion eats sandwiches. You can ask him about either at [email protected]