Brand new 'hex-n-screen' setting compatible with Undying Sands, Bottled Sea and Hexcrawl Toolbox. An icescape wasteland in the freezing Norths, dotted with crumbling ruins, temples of old and new, and formidable beings bound in the permafrost.
This campaign is for a brand new RPG setting in the Hex-n-Screen format, the last of the original Trilogy. These are gameable universes compacted into cardboard hexes, a Game Master screen, poster hand-out and cloth bag. The concept behind the format is to design complex and flavourful RPG settings without them being presented as books. In this campaign, we bring to life a new setting, the BOREAL FROSTLANDS, while also offering a reprint of its ENNIE-nominated (Best Setting, Best Cartography 2021) predecessor Undying Sands and Bottled Sea. This is to be known as the hex-n-screen original trilogy.
How does theformat work?
Put all hexes in the bag, take one out randomly and place it on the table. That’s where the characters start the adventure. Read the respective description from the GM screen and roleplay it out. Ask playerswhere they want to go next and take another hex from the bag. The map of the setting is formed while players explore it.
YOU CAME HERE (FOOLISHLY) LOOKING FOR LOOT OR GLORY. NOW, TRY NOT TO FREEZE.
Inspired by Arctic lore and the likes of The Thing and The Terror, the Boreal Frostlands are a vast icescape located in the icy North. Its peoples do not have much way of contact with outsiders, and only very reluctantly yield to the notion that there are warmer lands elsewhere. The Frostlands are dotted with ruins, temples both old and new, strange sightings and formidable beings bound in the permafrost– aching for a thaw. Floating in the ice floes at the top of the world, is Iceberg City – where notorious factions struggle for warmth and all compasses point north in a dizzying spiral.
What do you get?
40 punch-out modular hexes in cardboard.
Heavy-duty GM screen containing hex-descriptions, optional rules, tools, random tables, a mini-adventure and a detail of the Iceberg City.
Hand-out poster depicting the Iceberg City and the Permafrost Drilling Platform in heavy paper.
Cloth bag.
Two pamphlet dungeon modules expanding upon locations found in the hexes (strech goals).
Unlike previous sets, the Frostlands unnumbered hexes will be DOUBLE-SIDED depicting either snow plains, ice floes, cold water or mountains. If the GM pulls out one of these, they can toss it in the air to determine which side remains up! The Encounter tables in the GM screen will have different options to match the respective terrain.
ENTERING THE UNDYING SANDS IS EASY. LEAVING, NOT SO MUCH.
Heavily inspired by Antiquity (Ancient Carthage, Egypt, Mesopotamia and the Greco-Roman world) and sprinkled with sci-fi elements from Mad Max and Jodorowsky’s Dune, the Undying Sands are a decaying desert, home once to a formidable civilization, now left fallow to rot beneath the dunes. The Sands are a wasteland of sorts, dotted with crumbling ruins, antiquated temples, lost technology, and pristine natural wonders beyond the reach of most. Lost deep within the desert is the mythical Great City of Sand, where power-hungry factions vie for control.
What do you get?
30 punch-out modular hexes in cardboard.
Heavy-duty GM screen containing hex-descriptions, optional rules, tools, random tables, a mini-adventure and a detail of the Great City of Sand.
Hand-out poster depicting the Great City and the Forgotten Pyramids in heavy paper.
YOU ARRIVED HERE BY CHANCE OR ILL-LUCK. NOW, TRY TO LEAVE.
Inspired by Waterworld, New Weird and a Canticle for Leibowitz, the Bottled Sea is an alternate dimension, where ships and sailors from across history are sucked inadvertently into, through strange wormholes and foul circumstance. Locked in a timeless state, the Sea is a flooded realm of buoyant wastes, coral-reefs of multiversal debris, floating wrecks, and makeshift technology, littered with sunken vestiges of a world that was or could yet be. Four factions with competing agendas vie for control over the Harborage, a suspended port city of rubble and ruin in the very centre of the endless waters.
What do you get?
40 punch-out modular hexes in cardboard.
Heavy-duty GM screen containing hex-descriptions, optional rules, tools, random tables, a mini-adventure and a detail of the Harborage.
Hand-out poster depicting the Harborage city and the Beacon in heavy paper.
Fishing & Diving drop-die poster.
Watercrafts accordion booklet, with stats and rules for 10 watercrafts.
€20,000: the Caves of Thawe pamphlet module is added to the Frostlands set.
€30,000: the Temple of the Penguin God pamphlet module is added to the Frostlands set.
€40,000: we add a GM advice sheet to the Frostlands set containing guidelines for mini-quests to challenge the players and optional rules for setting up the hexes accordingly.
€50,000: if we reach this much, new goals will be unlocked!
Fulfillment will be handled by Flying Cloud and Games Omnivorous. Flying Cloud will make sure all rewards reach North American backers. Games Omnivorous will handle European and Worldwide distribution. The prices below are estimates and may vary, although not significantly. Shipping will be charged after the campaign ends via BackerKit. Additional shipping charges may be applied for add-ons.
Estimated Shipping
NOTE: all shipping quotes include registered tracking. Custom taxes will not be applied to US and EU backers, as we will have two distribution centers in both jurisdictions. However, there might be extra custom fees for ALL OTHER BACKERS, depending on local import regulations.
DIGITAL FULFILMENT: digital files will be made available after physical copies start to ship, and they will be delivered via BackerKit.
ADD-ONS: add-ons will be made available in a post-campaign BackerKit. You will have the opportunity to add an extra set, if you wish so. Shipping will be updated accordingly.
Adriana Oliveira & Andre Novoa are a couple based in Lisbon (Portugal). They like to travel together and imagine weird RPG worlds & adventures whilst at it. They are the ones behind the original Hex-n-Screen concept and will be providing the overall guidelines and text for the Boreal Frostlands.
Kevin Cannon is a cartoonist and illustrator based in Minneapolis (USA). He is known for his incredibly detailed cartography and flavorful drawings. His Cartoon Introduction to Philosophy is a best-seller, and he is a ENNIE-nominee for Best Cartography for his work with the Undying Sands and the Hexcrawl Toolbox. Kevin will produce all illustrations and maps.
lina&nando are the in-house graphic designers of Games Omnivorous. They have an impeccable track record of doing layout and graphic work for multiple projects in the Portuguese arts, theatre and literature scenes. They will oversee production and graphic design for this project.
Brian Yaksha is the twice-ENNIE nominated setting writer known for works such as Rakehell: The Rift of Mar-Milloir, Best Left Buried: Spoils of the Gorgon Coast, and contributions to the Dolmenwood setting. Brian has previously edited on Undying Sands, Bottled Sea and the Hexcrawl Toolbox, and will be in charge of editing all of the text to ensure the Boreal Frostlands is pleasant to read.
