Mantic Games' Ghost in the Shell TTRPG Adapts Manga into a Cyberpunk Experience

In this week’s TTRPG Insider issue, we received the opportunity to speak with Mantic Games’ Alessio Cavatore about Ghost in the Shell TTRPG, their attempt to convert the popular Japanese IP set in a cyberpunk future into a new playable format. The game is the second property to adapt Ghost in the Shell into a TTRPG, since Mana Project Studios crowdfunded their own version (based specifically on the ARISE series and using the Blades in the Dark ruleset) in November 2025. So, why should fans care about this particular version?

Ghost in the Shell is particularly noteworthy today, as it is one of the better-known sci-fi anime known in the West. I distinctly remember watching the movie adaptation of it back in college. It even got the attention of director Rupert Sanders, who created a live-action adaptation in 2017 starring Scarlett Johansson (the movie’s not well-liked, for the record). So seeing two TTRPG adaptations of this property within a year is intriguing enough.

The interview was lightly edited for clarity and grammar.

1. What’s the story behind how you got the IP and decided to make a game based on the older setting?

Oh, that’s because I’ve fallen in love with that manga from the moment I first laid my eyes on it when it first came out. I remained a fan of The Ghost in the Shell IP through all of its incarnations, from anime to comic to even live-action movie. However, nothing, in my opinion, beats the original's innovative story. It was groundbreaking sci-fi at the time, definitely seminal in setting the cyberpunk scene in the world of comics. 

That’s why I approached Kodansha about the original manga, and I guess they trusted my passion for the IP. Maybe it helped to show them pictures of the bedroom I grew up in, whose walls are still adorned by a massive, framed The Ghost in the Shell poster?! 

2. How will this game operate mechanically? Is it using a new ruleset or a modified one like what GITS: Arise did?

It’s a bespoke rule system that Zak Barouh and I designed for the RPG. It uses the full range of polyhedral RPG dice (minus the D100, I guess…). The characters, which start as trainee agents in Section 9, are defined by six core Traits and a number of Skills and Setbacks that allow them to specialize, but there are no ‘classes’ per se. 

Each PC also has a Synthesis Conflict matrix, a struggle between two opposite aspects (e.g., career vs family, or humanity vs technology, and so on) that will lead to an inevitable Crisis. Characters can acquire cyber parts, typically by losing limbs and organs to the very deadly, detailed combat system (which features hit locations for the reasons given above!).    

PCs also have a reserve of Ghost Whisper points, which sets them apart from NPCs and gives them the chance to alter the plot. Hacking plays a big part in the mechanics, as well as the chance the characters get to equip themselves before a mission, whether they’re going for stealth and techno-infiltration, or overwhelming firepower - lock and load! 

3. GITS is very cyberpunk-coded. How do you hope to capture the setting's uniqueness in that market?

The one element that stands out as unique to The Ghost in the Shell is that aforementioned Synthesis Conflict, which captures the philosophical (Hegelian?) debate at the core of each of the manga’s characters. 

We also think that the grounded nature of the rules and equipment captures that grittiness of Shirow’s work, where even the main characters don’t feel like superhuman, invincible heroes, but rather consummate if slightly damaged professionals with very obvious and characterful vulnerabilities. 

4. Is this more a tactical or story-oriented game?

I would say it’s a good mix of both, and I have seen the same mission being run in very different ways by two different GMs. One GM and their group were very introspective and there was a lot of role-playing and character development. Subtle hacking and cyberbrain manipulation were employed rather cleverly. Great acting on all sides! 

Another group was pretty much the opposite. The players were mostly into bribing, stabbing, shooting, and blowing their way out of any sticky situations they found themselves in (with the tactical help of course of abundant thermo-optical camouflage!), and the GM obliged.  

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How the TTRPG Fits into Ghost in the Shell’s Story

5. Where does this fit into the lore? Do players need familiarity with the film, anime or manga to enjoy this? 

This is set right in the middle of book 1 of the manga, right after Section 9 is established and Batou is put in charge of training future agents, and (spoiler alert - stop reading now!) before the Major leaves the unit.

Of course, familiarity with the IP in general, and the manga in particular, will enhance your enjoyment of this RPG. It is, after all, a project made by fans for fans. Is it necessary to know the IP? No, I think that just liking sci-fi would be enough to understand the setting, particularly as it deals with themes that are becoming more and more familiar to us all in our everyday lives - like the rise of Artificial Intelligence. I am sure that quite a few people will buy this rulebook without knowing the manga, maybe coming to it from the anime or the live-action movie, and I’m fairly certain that after looking at the artwork in this rulebook, their next book is going to be the manga! 

6. What experience do you hope to offer players?

I would love to offer players the same fun that we had while playtesting the game and the Lost Patriot mission. 

As I said before, some players really brought out their acting skills, and I saw a GM and a player riff wildly about some past interaction between a character and their underworld contacts, reminiscing about ‘the times when he was one of the gang’. It was amazing to witness! Later, they admitted they were partly quoting from an obscure cyberpunk B-movie they both knew, and nobody else around the table did. But it was glorious how they ‘clicked’ and improvised. 

Other great anecdotes are based on the use of weaponry, particularly in conjunction with the ‘explosive dice’ mechanic. Stories of frag grenades bouncing back off riot shields to land right back at the feet of the agent who lobbed it (very Will Coyote…), stories of self-flash banging, of terrorists shot with a .50cal sniper rifle right through a small boat at anchor, decapitations with thermo-optically camouflaged katanas (despite the fact that everyone pointed out that katanas are ‘not very The Ghost in the Shell’, but Andy insisted…).

7. What sort of lore or Easter eggs will the book hold? How involved were the IP owners?

The IP owners, both Kodansha (the publisher), and Masamune Shirow (the author) got to see and approve every single aspect of the project. A complex process, but very rewarding for fanboys like myself, particularly when the feedback on some miniatures came in the form of sketches by Shirow Sensei himself, which made us run around the studio squealing ‘we’re not worthy, we’re not worthy’ in a very Wayne’s World moment.  

8. What are you most excited about in this game?

In all honesty, I cannot wait for the book and miniatures to be finally out! I want to share all my excitement with the public. I love the fact that there is a new anime series coming out this summer, which is also based on the original manga. I watched the latest trailer and it’s so great to be able to scream - look, that scene is the cover of our book! Look, that outfit of the Major is exactly the same outfit as our promotional miniature!!! 

As a long-standing fan of the manga, it’s amazing to see it effectively come alive both on screen and on the tabletop! 

The game officially launches in Summer 2026. You can sign up for its newsletter here.

What are your thoughts? Send any scoops, tips or press releases to [email protected].