Monte Cook's legendary Ptolus campaign setting, updated for Fifth Edition and the Cypher System.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
The Night of Dissolution Brings this Kickstarter to a Close
almost 4 years ago
– Wed, Jun 08, 2022 at 10:11:30 PM
Greetings delver—
Today we are fulfilling The Night of Dissolution, another mega-adventure (or perhaps mini-campaign) that, like many Ptolus adventures, is laced with urban intrigue, high action, and dangerous delves into the dungeons beneath the city. It that picks up right where the adventures in Chapter 33 of Ptolus: Monte Cook’s City by the Spire leave off and complements the adventures in the main book nicely—but it’s not necessary to have played those adventures to run The Night of Dissolution.
If The Night of Dissolution is among your rewards, check your email for instructions to claim it!
(If you didn’t get the fulfillment email—or if you are missing any rewards—simply log into the MCG Shop using the email address you gave us in BackerKit. Go to My Account—under the Store menu—click on Coupons, and you’ll see coupons for all your available rewards.)
The Night of Dissolution is the final reward of this project, and brings fulfillment of this Kickstarter to an end. We are very proud of Ptolus: Monte Cook’s City by the Spire, and all of the other titles you funded to go with it. We’re equally thankful to you, our backers, for making it all a reality. It’s been roughly a year since Ptolus came out, and in that time we’ve heard from many, many gamers about their adventures and campaigns within this city of adventure. We hope your adventures have been exciting and inspired.
Did You Miss the Old Gods of Appalachia Campaign?
Our most recent Kickstarter campaign was our biggest—in fact, it was one of the biggest RPG Kickstarters ever. The Old Gods of Appalachia Roleplaying Game is a unique game of eldritch horror, set in the hills, hollers, and small towns of some the world’s oldest mountains. With over $2 million in funding, it unlocked a lot of stretch goals. The Kickstarter-exclusive deals include discounts and cool products you’ll never again find.
The Banewarrens Has Fulfilled
about 4 years ago
– Sat, Apr 30, 2022 at 01:58:43 PM
Greetings, delver—
The Banewarrens, a massive 180-page campaign, has fulfilled. If this PDF-only product is among your rewards, you should have recently received an email with redemption instructions. (Don’t see it? Check your spam folder, or find redemption instructions here.)
That leaves us with just one reward remaining: The Night of Dissolution. This is another massive PDF adventure, and it’s now in the proofing phase. We’re aiming to fulfill it next month.
In the meantime, a reminder: The Night of Dissolution is a PDF-only product. All of the physical rewards for this campaign have been fulfilled. If you have any unclaimed physical rewards, please fulfill them now. (Again, you can find instructions here.) As a general rule, we guarantee a reward is available for a full year following its release date, and that point is coming up for Ptolus. The full print run will sell out in the not-too-distant future, so if you haven’t claimed your rewards by then, we may not be able to provide them for you.
Don’t Miss Our Biggest Kickstarter Ever
In the mountains of central Appalachia, blood runs as deep as these hollers and just as dark. Since before our kind wandered into these hills, hearts of unknowable hunger and madness have slumbered beneath them. These are the oldest mountains in the world. How dare we think we can break the skin of a god and dig out its heart without also calling blood and darkness?
The Kickstarter Campaign for the Old Gods of Appalachia Roleplaying Game is on fire. With over 10,000 backers and nearing $1,500,000, it’s one of the most successful RPG Kickstarters ever—and it’s continuing to climb! Check it out now to see what all the excitement is about, and back for some incredible Kickstarter-exclusive products and deals.
And as always, thanks for your support!
—Team MCG
City of Adventure, The Banewarrens, and our Final Rewards
about 4 years ago
– Wed, Mar 30, 2022 at 01:15:50 AM
Greetings, delver—
In our last update, we mentioned that City of Adventure had gone to press. This 96-page softcover book collects the PDF adventures Doctrine of Ghul, The Runeblood Blessing, and Return of the Ebon Hand. The book is now in our warehouses, and we’re ready to start fulfilling it to you!
But wait, that’s not all. Ptolus is indeed a city of adventure, and there’s more adventure on the way: the next title in the pipeline is The Banewarrens. This is a massive adventure, clocking in at a grand total of 180 pages. And it’s not far away; we’re in the final proofing stages now. We’ll begin fulfilling this PDF adventure next month.
The Banes are a collection of the worst, most nightmarish objects, artifacts, and creatures imaginable. Previously sealed away by a powerful saint, these forces of evil have recently been unleashed upon the world. Binding them again will involve delving into the dungeons as well as the streets of Ptolus—but who can the PCs trust?This dynamic mega-adventure pits the PCs against other Ptolus adventurers—some self-serving, some downright evil—in a race to seal the Banes before their horror is unleashed upon the world.
If City of Adventure or The Banewarrens are among your rewards, keep an eye on your email over the next week or two for redemption instructions!
That brings us very close to completing fulfillment of this campaign. Only one title is still in the works: The Night of Dissolution. This PDF is in layout now, and it’s looking like it will total over 100 pages, too—another very hefty adventure. It should be ready to fulfill in May.
In the meantime, we have some other cool news:
Welcome to Naviri, a peaceful paradise full of promise—and in dire need of heroes! It’s a gorgeous archipelago in which crocs, turtles, humans, and fish-folk trade, travel, and study. And a world of cooperation, science, delight, and celebration.
But like any society, Naviri has its share of dark corners, dark dealings, and dark characters. And far out at sea, the Fold, which for years has kept the great sea monsters at bay, is failing. A new generation of heroes is needed to protect Naviri from these growing threats—and whatever else is waiting to break out of the Fold.
The 416-page Tidal Blades: The Roleplaying Game corebook includes everything you need to explore and adventure in the world of Naviri. Designed entirely in-house here at Monte Cook Games, it’s on Kickstarter now!
The Things that Once Slumbered in the Hills and Hollers Have Begun to Wake…
The woods are thick here, a tangle of ancient trunks and limbs that groan and sway like lungs breathing their last desperate gasps.
But these trees—moss-etched and rife with the hungry mouths of a thousand hungry insects, these broken fingers grasping for the moon-hung sky—these trees are not what you understand as being . . . alive. No, this cursed clutch of branch and shadow is something else entirely, something born of blood and betrayal, nurtured with petty thoughts and poison promises.
You breathe and they breathe. And through them, beneath them, all around them and around you, something else emerges. From all the tales you were told, all the books you read, all times you were told, "Don't go," you expected darkness.
She is light.
Ball lightning come to earth, tendrils touching each tree like a long-lost lover arrived home at last, the earth beneath her cracking deep as it gives itself up to her. Forward she moves, or maybe she moves you, and when she stops or you stop or the world stops, there are no woods, no grove nor ground. There is only her and you and what comes next.
Dazzled, your mind says mother. Your mind says beloved. Your mind says run and retreat and no.
This, this is what you have come for. She is who you have come for.
She lifts her blinding head, one eye black and deep as a coal mine, and she says, "Ask."
What do you do?
Old Gods of Appalachia is a roleplaying game of the Green, the Dark, and things even more ancient. It is set in the Alternate Appalachia of the Old Gods of Appalachia podcast, the eldritch horror anthology that won the 2021 Discover Pods Best Overall Podcast and Best Audio Drama or Fiction Podcast awards.
The Old Gods of Appalachia Roleplaying Game is a complete TTRPG driven by the Cypher System. It's a hefty corebook with everything you need to play, including complete rules; character creation; extensive lore of Alternate Appalachia in the 1920s and 1930s (plus guidance on playing in other time periods); a bestiary of creatures and entities from the Green, the Dark, and elsewhere; magic; equipment; adventures; and more.
The Ebon Hand Returns
over 4 years ago
– Thu, Feb 03, 2022 at 07:13:16 PM
Greetings, delver—
During the Kickstarter campaign, you unlocked several new adventures including Grip of the Ebon Hand. Monte first wrote this adventure for Gen Con back in 2006, to celebrate the launch of the original Ptolus, and our intention was to convert it to 5e and Cypher System for you.
Once work began, however, we realized that wasn’t good enough. While the original adventure is fairly meaty, it draws on a lot of material that’s already in Ptolus. It wouldn’t offer as much new content as we had in mind.
So instead, we developed an all-new adventure for you—Return of the Ebon Hand—that serves as a sort of sequel to the original.
Like The Runeblood Blessing and Doctrine of Ghul, Return of the Ebon Hand is a hefty 32-pages in PDF, and it’s all-new. But don’t worry: we’re still delivering the converted Grip of the Ebon Hand as well. It’s included as a bonus adventure in the PDF—so you’re getting two great scenarios for the price of one!
(You don’t have to have played the first adventure before taking on the Ebon Hand’s return. This new adventure stands on its own just fine.)
In other news, Ptolus: City of Adventure has gone to press. This 96-page softcover compiles those three new adventures—Doctrine of Ghul, The Runeblood Blessing, and Return of the Ebon Hand—into a single volume in print.
Return of the Ebon Hand is fulfilling now. If it’s among your rewards, check your email for redemption instructions. And if you’re getting Ptolus: City of Adventure, look for it to fulfill in a month or so!
Now Gather Round, Family . . .
Curious about our next project?
Long before anything human roamed the Earth, the Appalachians towered tall and menacing. The mountains' might was made a prison and tomb for beings of immeasurable malice and incomprehensible madness. A place to hold them; to keep them, perhaps forever, from dimming the light above.
But time marches inexorably on, and even mountains do not retain their grandeur forever. These hills now lie rounded, the walls of the prison grown thin. Things that slumbered soundlessly for millennia begin to stir and become restless. . .
The Runeblood Blessing is fulfilling now!
over 4 years ago
– Fri, Dec 17, 2021 at 10:24:58 AM
Greetings, delvers—
The Runeblood Blessing in PDF is now fulfilling! If this title is among your rewards, check your email for instructions on how to claim your copy of this Ptolus adventure!
We hope you are enjoying all of your rewards from this campaign. We're hard on work on the remaining rewards and on other projects.
While you are waiting for your remaining rewards, check out Monte's Substack: RPG Design Theories, where he posts about lots of interesting game-related topics.
