Midnight Muscadines is a cozy-dark tabletop roleplaying game of dice, playing cards, and magical jams. Magic is waning. Find, collect, and preserve the last sources of magic into highly coveted jams that keep the world’s magic alive.
Take on the role of Marmateers—brave adventurers who venture into the untamed Wildernight to collect midnight muscadines, craft magical jams, and protect the fragile light of Nimm. Through collaborative storytelling and resourceful gameplay, players weave tales of courage and community.
Designed for solo, duet and GM-less play, as much as for a traditional group and GM.
Will you preserve the light, uncover the truths hidden in the shadows, or forever reshape the balance of the world?
Included in the Book:
Dedicated solo rules and an extensive solo toolkit to run your adventures.
180+ pages filled to the brim with whimsical fantasy and dashing adventure!
A dynamic and imaginative magic and item system.
A unique adversary & challenge system, seamlessly blending fists, words, and action.
An expansive setting guide for Nimm, the Wildernight, the Gods, and Great Spirits.
A collection of 52 wondrous ingredients to discover and use in magical jams.
A compendium of 52 creatures and folk containing stat blocks, abilities, and descriptions.
A collection of 2 starter adventures, 5 mysteries, and 5 festivals to quickly jump into the game.
Adventure hooks, rolling tables, and lore around every corner to inspire one-shots and campaigns.
Midnight Muscadines balances grand adventure and drama with a cozy setting imbued with nostalgia for warm summer days and crisp fall evenings. The world is filled with interesting people, places, and creatures that may happily aid you, or voraciously defend themselves.
Play as Marmateers: jam makers, adventurers and explorers with backgrounds as diverse as beekeeping and cartography. Attend festivals, solve local mysteries and gossip, and then strike back out into the unknown of the Wildernight! After all, your most important task is to gather and preserve the world's last source of magic: Midnight Muscadines.
Make a character and post them in the Community tab! (itch.io link)
The jars used by Marmateers, made from highly refined midnight muscadines, power the magical effects of jams.
As players combine up to 4 ingredients, they choose how the descriptions of each ingredient meld together to form a new magical spell.
Players have imaginative control over their magic, and Marmateers using the same two ingredients may have wholly unique spells.
There are 52 ingredients in the core game. Over 270,000 combinations for magical jams!
Conflicts and Challenges are designed to support creative problem-solving, tense arguments and debates, and, occasionally, a good old fight.
Turn your roleplaying actions into dice. Burn cards from your hand to modify your spells or to increase the impact of your actions, magic and items, allowing you to overcome challenges and conflicts and uncover the world's secrets! Dynamic mechanics encourage creativity and storytelling at every turn.
NPCs and Challenges have a Difficulty Rating and Resolve, doing away with Health all together. Roll a number of Successes equal to their Resolve to achieve your goal! But beware, accumulating Setbacks will have narrative and mechanical consequences, as well as allow adversaries to use their abilities against you!
Bog's Garts are mischievous swamp folk that adore misleading travelers with pranks and tricks.
Discover an all-new bestiary filled with creatures that roam the lands of light and shadow, each filled with lore, stats, and abilities, along with a full setting guide for Nimm and the Wildernight.
Barter with secretive Wildering Folk traders, ride upon lumbering Mossbacks, track down deceptive Starstealers, and outwit the pranks and trickery of Bog's Garts.
The hunt for the elusive Midnight Muscadines is never uneventful!
The four remaining shards of the sun are held aloft in massive beacons, holding back the perpetual twilight of the Wildernight. Much of the magic the Marmateers harvest goes to keeping the beacons lit.
Many Marmateers venture across the world as solitary adventurers. Some act as merchants and traders, while others are explorers seeking magic, hidden places, or juicy gossip. A brave few roam the lands looking to lend skills and magic to those in need, while others still run markets and stores, gathering stories from their customers.
The rules of Midnight Muscadines are the same whether you play as a group or solo. The most difficult aspect of playing solo is getting started. A blank page can be intimidating - all the possibilities in the universe are before you. Normally, the GM or an adventure module crafts a hook and opening to bring you and your character into the world, and then sets out story beats as you play. We have written an entire chapter as a toolbox to stand in for many aspects of a Game Mentor, so you can still discover adventures, characters, and complications as they unfold. It will cover taking your first steps as a solo Marmateer, using the core game loop to keep you on track, and diving into the secrets of storytelling to help you craft wondrous tales.
Mentor Prompts and Tables
In addition to the Solo chapter, we have worked with Patrick from The Soloist to build an entire chapter full of tables to help you along in your journey.
Mentor Prompts are a special set of actions (and part of our deck of cards!) to give yourself direction and decide what to do next. Unlike a Decision Oracle that gives you answers to yes or no questions, Mentor Prompts are specific GM-like things to do during your session. Whenever you feel stuck or uncertain of what to do, use a Mentor Prompt. Mentor Prompts can be used when playing solo, duet, GM-less, or with a GM.
26 unique mentor prompts for you to discover and use, each with a detailed description. (WIP)
Delve into Midnight Muscadines with the Digital Pack!
Midnight Muscadines PDF
Soloist Journal PDF
Character Sheet PDF
Map of Nimm PDF
Print & Play Card Deck
Everything you need to start playing. Get the print + PDF versions of Midnight Muscadines!
Midnight Muscadines Book (140+ pages, A5 Landscape, full color)
PDF Set:
Midnight Muscadines PDF
Soloist Journal PDF
Character Sheet PDF
Map of Nimm PDF
Print & Play Card Deck
Built for Soloists and Worldbuilding GM's!
The Wanderlustian's Travel Pack adds the Wanderlustian Field Journal, our solo and worldbuilding toolkit journal, and the custom deck of playing cards filled with tables and prompts to facilitate play.
Contents:
Midnight Muscadines Book (140+ pages, A5 Landscape, full color)
Soloist Journal
Midnight Muscadines Card Deck
PDF Set:
Midnight Muscadines PDF
Soloist Journal PDF
Character Sheet PDF
Map of Nimm PDF
Print & Play Card Deck
For the Marmateers striking out into the Wildernight!
A custom deck of cards, filled with tables and prompts to facilitate play!
Pick up another copy of the book!
The soloist and worldbuilding journal, specially designed for Midnight Muscadines.
Made from refined Midnight Muscadines, these magical jam dice will see you through all challenges!
Set of 5 postcards, perfect for the Wanderlustian looking to send a note to friends at home. Each with a different illustration.
A sticker sheet to keep track of the places you've visited. Add them to your character sheet, journal, or Marmateer field kit box.
A pack of 5 bifold character sheets printed on high-quality, uncoated card stock.
I am in love with this game already. I'm a *huge* fan of Lightfall and the Amulet series' and I got goosebumps seeing similarities pop up throughout. I'm also a huge fan of the cozy-dark genre, and I love the highly customizable magic system with the jams, OMG! I'm beyond excited for the future of this game. - Grim Sour Games
Midnight Muscadines is a real breath of fresh air. It can play as rough and tumble or as cozy as you like. I love the setting, a world where the sun has cracked and broken and magic has been all but lost, found only in the darkest grapes. Adventuring away from the light and into the shadows to find these grapes and other ingredients to craft jam to fill the jars that fuel your magic feels like a fairytale. I can not recommend this game highly enough. - Kimber, A Pint of Cthulhu
Just when I start to feel a little jaded, something new and original comes along. Something sweet and bright and brimming with inspiration… …Something like Midnight Muscadines. - Paul Matthews, Tabletop Sentinel
You take Andrew Boyd, Galen Pejeau, and Eric Lazure and ask them to work together on a game jam making a game about jam, and you know you’re going to get something amazing! What I love the most about this game (apart from Andy’s great layout skills and Galen’s beautiful art, obviously) is the setting. It just pulls you right in. It’s so unique, with this nice bittersweet vibe that wants to be expanded. - René-Pier Deshaies-Gélinas, Fari RPGs
Reviews and actual plays are already streaming in! Check out these videos and articles to see how our early players feel about the game. As more are released, we'll add them here.
Sword & Tea - Interview with Andy Boyd about Midnight Muscadines (Video)
A Shot of Cthulhu - A Flip-Thru Review of Midnight Muscadines (Podcast)
A Pint of Cthulhu - Interview with Andy Boyd about Midnight Muscadines
Whatcha Doing - A Podcast Interview with Andy about Midnight Muscadines
Founded in 2021, Pandion Games designs and publishes tabletop roleplaying games that facilitate collaborative storytelling and worldbuilding while de-emphasizing combat. They aim to create roleplaying games that are accessible and inclusive for players of all experience levels, and their games span genres from science fiction and horror, to cozy and slice-of-life.
Their games are consistent bestsellers each quarter on Indie Press Revolution. Waffles for Esther, the first Hints & Hijinx game published, won Honorable Mention at the Indie Groundbreaker Awards in 2023, and Substratum Protocol has been nominated for the Indie Groundbreaker Award for Best Setting.
Their bestselling games are:
Whispers in the Walls: The solo horror journaling game about the knowledge of the walls.
Substratum Protocol: The apocalyptic mystery of scientists delving to the center of the Earth to stop the anomaly.
Badger + Coyote: A duet game of survival and mischief, as players take on the roles of the lovable duo to find adventure.
Andy Boyd is the founder and game designer behind Pandion Games. He has a love for old summer camp nostalgia, and the outdoors in general. Growing up, his love of storytelling grew as he spent many hours playing point and click adventure games. His games draw inspiration from some of his favorite shows and games, such as Gravity Falls, Over the Garden Wall, Hilda, Outer Wilds, Grim Fandango, The Longest Journey, and Psychonauts, to name a few. Andy loves finding just the right mechanics to pair with the different types of stories each of his games explores.
The first book Andy ever published - Storyteller - will always hold a special place in his heart.
The Team Behind Midnight Muscadines
Galen Pejeau - Illustrator An illustrator and occasional designer, Galen is the creator of Crash//Cart and The Facility, co-creator of Stoneburner, Fealty, and illustrator for such indie darlings as Slugblaster, DUSK, HUNT, Substratum Protocol, and Ironsworn: Starforged. You can find his work at nightjargames.itch.io.
Eric Lazure - Editor Working as an editor in Montreal, Eric realized that his skills translated well to TTRPGs. His past projects include Stoneburner, Substratum Protocol and Lordsworn. Always eager to explore possible collaborations, he dreams of working full-time on TTRPGs.
M. Allen Hall - Writer A tabletop game designer and author, M. Allen Hall is best known for his solo roleplaying games Godspark and Endling, and he has published adventures for a wide variety of systems, including D&D, Mörk Borg, and Liminal Horror. You can find his work at www.mallenhall.com.
Patrick Buechner - Writer & Consultant A video game industry veteran turned tabletop game designer and writer, Patrick runs The Soloist, a newsletter about solo and GM-less play, and is the creator other RPG projects. On Midnight Muscadines, Patrick is responsible for writing many of the solo tables.
René-Pier Deshaies-Gélinas - Design Consultant Founder of Fari RPGs, René-Pier designed the Songs and Sagas system that Midnight Muscadines was built upon. He acts as a sounding board for Andy's ideas and for questions related to the Song sand Sagas system.
The estimated cost will depend on your pledge level. Below are estimated ranges based on the three core pledge levels we have available. Some add-ons, such as additional game books, may increase shipping beyond these estimates.
US: $5-$15
CA: $14-$18
Rest of World: $18-$22
International Shipping We ship internationally. However, individuals are responsible for VAT and import taxes for their particular countries. The game and add-ons may be manufactured in the US, EU, and China and are shipped to you from the United States. Pandion Games does not collect, remit, or reimburse for incurred VAT or import taxes.
GSPR and EU Customers
Only the core rulebook and Wanderlustian Journal is available for sale to customers in the EU. If you are an EU backer, and you've added other add-ons, we will remove them from your order and issue a refund minus 15% due to transaction fees.
If this changes in the future, we will email all of our followers with an update.
When will you ship Midnight Muscadines?
We plan to ship the physical products by the end of the year, but we are targeting Q3 2025. The digital version will be sent out to backers after final proofs are approved.
Returning backers know we normally have a fast turnaround time for delivering our games, but Midnight Muscadines is a grand, sweeping game, and we want to ensure everything is polished. The core game writing and rules are complete, but we will need time for prototyping, proof prints, additional artwork, and writing. Printing and shipping times can vary wildly depending on several factors. We will send updates for all major milestones to keep you up to date.
Sustainability
Sustainability is incredibly important to us, and we have taken many steps to ensure we leave as little impact as possible from manufacturing. Below are some critical steps we take to be a sustainable business and for Midnight Muscadines to be a sustainable and eco-friendly production.
Our books are printed on uncoated paper, making them easier to recycle. We are investigating FSC and PEFC certified papers and printing for this project as well.
We identify and use domestic manufacturers when possible, reducing shipping and transit emissions of our products.
We work with EcoEnclose for the product boxes and shipping materials to ensure 100% plastic-free shipping and to reduce plastic in our products as much as possible.
Risks
This campaign is to raise funds to bring Midnight Muscadines to life. We work hard to reduce publishing and fulfillment risks, but we can't eliminate them.
For the game itself, the writing and artwork is mostly complete, and we have proof prints in hand. We operate as a publisher for over 12 games, and have fulfilled two crowdfunding campaigns previously, so we feel confident we can provide fulfillment for this campaign. Packaging and shipping for Midnight Muscadines is already planned and organized, we just need final counts.
We have an established a relationship with a distribution and fulfillment partner, Indie Press Revolution, and will reach out to them immediately if it looks like the campaign will go beyond what we're able to fulfill ourselves in a reasonable time.
Finally, we purposefully did not create any additional physical product stretch goals to keep the complexity of the campaign to a minimum and not delay production and fulfillment.
Tariffs and Unexpected Costs
We have worked with our vendors and our pricing already accounts for the risk of increased tariffs and costs, and have identified cost-saving measures during production we could take if needed. This includes different paper weights, cover weights, binding options and more. We do not expect the need to adjust prices and should be able to absorb any fluctuations.
