Explore the Under-City of the Gaming Shelf with Marrowbreak

It has been a hell of a time in the world of games. As people reckon with the reveal that Wizards of the Coast sent Pinkertons after a Magic: The Gathering leaker, more and more actual plays and streams are releasing massively produced and slick games. We’re excitedly waiting for The Ravening War—Dimension20’s next installment in the A Crown of Candy series—and in the meantime, thoroughly enjoying My First Dungeon’s DIE AP. 

We’ve got an oversized list of new releases and crowdfunding games, and we’re going to skip right to the good stuff. Take a look at some of the incredible tabletop games and projects that are getting out there this month!

New Releases: Rivers of London, Turning Point, Dead After Dinner, Unconquered, The Sundering, The Boundless Library, We 3 Will Meet Again, Pantyhose Models from Mars, When Prophecy Fails, This City Must Burn

In Rivers of London: the Roleplaying Game, players take on the roles of newly recruited members of the London Metropolitan Police Service’s special magic branch, aka “the Folly.” You will solve mysteries, catch criminals, and come to grips with the “demi-monde”—those who have been irreversibly changed by magic.

Turning Point is a short horror/thriller module for one facilitator and one player. The adventure is directly inspired by road thrillers such as Duel (Steven Spielberg), Death Proof (Quentin Tarantino), and Joy Ride (John Dahl).

The aging Patriarch of your family has uncharacteristically invited everyone to dinner. He says he’s made changes to his will that affect you, and he will read it after dinner. Inspired by the films Clue and Knives Out, in Dead After Dinner you’ll tell a story about the death of a grandfather and the familial drama that caused it. (A Descended from the Queen game, you’ll read some instruction cards first, and play consists of drawing and responding to prompt cards.)

Unconquered is a beginner-friendly, rules-light, bronzepunk swords and sorcery and sandals and sci-fi fantasy tabletop adventure role-playing game, inspired by classic pulp serials. Players generate character through a lifepath-style character creation system, at each stage learning more about the infinite Loom they inhabit. Before long, they’ll be undertaking mythic and perilous journeys through a decaying, waning universe of fading Gods, strange realities, and the dizzying remains of strange and wondrous civilizations.

The Sundering: The Nation Beneath Our Feet is a 5e adventure set in a world where gods fell to earth and cut off an entire nation from the continent. It contains a campaign world setting, maps, nine adventure paths/modules, and new dragons, gods, subclasses, and races.

In The Boundless Library, race to explore infinite rooms full of lava rifts and pockets of knotted time to find books for its eldritch patrons, earning favors to become a Boundless being yourself! Bring a pen and paper, a compass, and a good pair of hiking boots. Eternity awaits!

We Three Shall Meet Again is a story game, and the story goes like this: once upon a time, on the edge of a dark forest, three witches were cursed to share one body. They took turns living out days, never meeting, communicating only by Post-it notes and dirty dishes while they searched for a way free.

Pantyhose Models From Mars is 1980s flash meets 1950s camp with just a touch of 1970s glam. So put on your Ray-Bans, grab your Members Only jacket, and mousse up your hair! You’ve got a future to save! Powered by Cezar Capacle’s Push SRD, Pantyhose Models From Mars comes with four character options, four missions, and a lengthy bit of backstory to help you flesh out this world.

When Prophecy Fails is a Descended From the Queen game about a fringe religious movement and how believers face a reality that doesn’t match their worldview. It’s loosely inspired by the classic work of social psychology of the same title.

In The City Must Burn, as a group of revolutionaries, you’ll fight against the machinations of an elite ruling class. With a lightweight, GM-less ruleset, you’ll battle against injustice until tensions boil over and the city is consumed in the bloody Night of Fire. Afterwards, you’ll rebuild what you can from the ashes.

Crowdfunding: Alchemy RPG,Tales From Myriad,Teeth, What Is Light Without Dark, Rōnin, Marrowbreak

Cinematic Virtual Tabletop (VTT) Alchemy RPG is collaborating with gaming industry giants Free League Publishing, Paizo, Chaosium, Modiphius, Magpie Games, and more during its Version One Kickstarter Campaign, offering a huge number of games available to backers as thematic content decks (including fantasy, futures, horror, and modern).

Tales From Myriad is a lighthearted, setting-flexible adventure system that’s focused on quick character creation and uses a 2d6 system plus stat modifiers.

Teeth is a tabletop roleplaying game for 3-6 people about occult criminality and monster-hunting in a cursed corner of 18th-century England.

What Is Light Without Dark is a Good Strong Hands supplement that introduces a variety of new folk to play, new magics to wield, and new realms to explore. Good Strong Hands draws inspiration from movies like The NeverEnding Story, Legend, The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, and Willow. While Reverie is a land of the fantastical, filled with whimsy, it is also beset by this sinister, destructive force. Characters will be constantly tempted by the Void’s corruption, even as they seek to end it.

Rōnin is a rules-lite tabletop RPG set in a mythical, samurai-inspired world. Based on the Mörk Borg system, Rōnin is a game of honor, combat, and adventure. In a world ravaged by an eternal eclipse and overrun by supernatural creatures known as yōkai, players take on the roles of forgotten ronin, shinobi, onmyoji, and more as they seek to restore their honor and defeat the forces of darkness.

Marrowbreak is a team-focused dungeon-heisting system and setting book, set in the fractal depths of something that is trying very, very hard to be a city.

In Other News

• The Awards 2023 are now accepting submissions! Eligibility includes work published from June 1, 2022 through May 31, 2023.
• Monster Gaming is crowdfunding a D&D 5e stat tracker with dice tray, tracker dials, and character sheet display.
• The Indie Groundbreaker Awards are now open for submissions.
• Meeples & Dragons is organizing the third year of Jasper’s Game Week Aussie Edition to raise money for mental health awareness and suicide prevention research.
• MCDM released its shark-themed TTRPG magazine Arcadia last week, with an apt alternate title: Sharkadia.
• Free League Publishing and 20th Century Studios today announced Building Better Worlds, a new expansion for the multiple award-winning Alien The Roleplaying Game. The expansion is now available for pre-order here.

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

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