The Monty Python RPG does exactly what it says on the tin

The Monty Python-themed tabletop role-playing game, following a successful crowdfunding campaign in 2022, is available widely today. Formally titled Monty Python’s Cocurricular Mediaeval Reenactment Programme, it is the rare game that does exactly what it says on the tin. It’s just that the tin says “SPAM” on it, and the gubbins smell faintly of coitus and dead birds. If that’s not exactly your cup of tea, then look elsewhere for your merriments. But if you’ve got a pair of coconuts to clap together and are otherwise eager to commit to the bit, it looks like a fine time for the troupe’s most dedicated fans.

The book as a whole feels like part of the Monty Python universe, with all the annotations, ephemera, and defacements that implies. It’s actually quite lavish in its art treatment, with whole pages filled with integrated works from multiple artists. While it holds itself together for the duration, that energy can feel a bit overeager at times — especially when you’re just trying to grapple with the mechanical systems as presented. 

The best bits, though, come in a series of 10 linked quests spread over nearly 60 pages at the back of the book. If you did nothing else but grabbed those and ran with them, the core book would be well worth the $50 price tag given the Sensible Middle Class Edition. Each one is designed to place the players directly inside a Monty Python sketch, some directly inspired by televised episodes or movie scenes and others fashioned from spare parts left lying around at the edges of commercials. 

The meatier engagements, including an island sandbox where you mercilessly pester the French, are well-crafted with plenty of room for characters to get lost in their own storylines. The majority of these scenarios are heaviest on the set-up, clearly hoping to leave plenty of room for players to improvise their way out of a jam using the universe’s own bizarre logic. These would all make excellent one-off adventures using the included pre-generated characters, especially as they’re shot through with lovely set-piece spectacle. Several of them actually require the game master to assume the role of God Almighty, rolling in on a low-hanging cloud to deliver a hasty, and often fairly vague, request.

You can find more on the Exalted Funeral webstore.