Old Gods of Appalachia podcast will become an immersive tabletop RPG

Old Gods of Appalachia, a horror anthology podcast, launched in 2019 as a passion project for two Wise, Virginia natives. Cam Collins and Steve Shell wanted a way to honor their roots, but add a dark twist to the mix. The show gained multiple awards and popularity in less than three years. The show is currently number 2 in Apple’s podcast’s fiction category and 5 in science fiction. Now, they want to bring the horror from the holler straight to the tabletop.

Collins and Shell launched a Kickstarter for the Old Gods of Appalachia Roleplaying Game on April 12, then promptly obliterated their funding goal in less than a day. The game promises to take you on an adventure that’ll stretch the limits of your imagination and sanity, all while giving fans an opportunity to dive deeper into the weird, evocative world of the show.

“Our fans have been asking for a TTRPG based in our world for the past two years — essentially since the end of season one,” Cam Collins, co-founder and producer for Old Gods, told Polygon in an email. “It was a frequent enough request that we thought, ‘Why not?'” She added that players can expect a gaming experience that “will draw them into the creepy and beautiful world we strive to create in Old Gods of Appalachia.”

” The place where we grew-up is complex. “It’s an odd amalgamation of cultures which over centuries has been land stolen, settlement and appropriation have become this monolithic of poor, white and uneducated America,” Steve Shell (co-founder) told Polygon. “We know it’s a lot more than that. “We know it can be like that at times and in certain places, but it is also a rich and varied world of folklore. We believe that the episode was an opportunity to create something immersive.

While the team initially set a fundraising goal of $50,000, it cleared that goal within an hour of launching. At press time, the campaign has earned more than $1. 1 million. Shell stated that he had never imagined it would happen.

” “Seeing that number attached to something we made for our house is pretty mindblowing,” he said.

The Cypher System-fueled RPG is being developed by Monte Cook Games — the same developers behind break-out hit Numenera — and will transport players to an alternate Appalachia set in the 1920s and 1930s. It’s a land of ancient mountains, dark woods, and quiet hollers containing “immeasurable malice and incomprehensible madness,” according to a press release from Monte Cook. Collins said that the team was really impressed with the “simplicity and flexibility of the system, how quick we could create characters and start playing, and its focus on storytelling and roleplaying.”

The core rulebook contains all the information you will need, including rules and mechanics as well as character creation instructions. It also provides a deeper dive into Old Gods lore. The book also includes a monster bestiary, magic, equipment, and starter adventures to get your table started exploring the dark and ancient mountains of Appalachia.

Pledge levels start at $25, which includes PDF of the core rulebook and stretches all the way to the premium $265 “Delver in the Dark” level, which includes a limited-edition physical rulebook autographed by the podcast’s producers, early playtest access, a GM campaign journal, GM screen, a dice set, a rolling tray, and more.

You can learn more by visiting the Old Gods of Appalachia Roleplaying Game page on Kickstarter.