Shadow City Mysteries: The Roleplaying Game is a TTRPG book with an exciting new setting and rules for 5E where you can immerse yourself in a world of dark clockwork noir, where the lines between reality and the supernatural blur!
Six major factions work to bring all available citizens under their auspices. The Society of Ravens are the truly influential among the upper classes, while the Court of Rats organizes every player in the criminal underworld. The Iron Union represents every industrial worker in the city, many with massive iron prosthetics just shy of the power of the weapons they send off to the war, while the Brass Consortium spreads its membership across the “softer” trades, where entertainers are sometimes assassins. The Church of Astra wields tremendous power over the hearts and minds of those that worship, with their strongest priests manifesting miracles of light, but can never fully stamp out the Cult of Tenebrous, whose shadowy powers generate willing devotees among those with nothing to lose.
All of these factions are made possible by the clockwork physics of the color-starved world. Long ago, a great calamity changed the world such that color became a rarity, a sign of the miraculous. One of these miracles was Turnstone, a substance that rotates with no obvious motive force that became the inexhaustible power source of the world once engineers learned to harness it. Nearly every technological innovation in this era of increasing modernity is drawn from this substance, from self-winding arbalests to internally-powered automobiles and tanks, to clockwork prosthetic limbs that work even better than the originals, to the locally-generated electricity that powers the buzzing lights that make it possible to navigate the dark. And the nation’s war machine will not grind to a halt any more than Turnstone will, while there is more of the essential substance buried beneath foreign lands, ready to drive the world to greater and greater heights of engineering marvels.
Wield these clockwork innovations, join a faction, and explore a world where the lines between reality and the supernatural blur and every choice can lead to unexpected consequences.
Unravel intricate mysteries, expose deep conspiracies, and confront the supernatural forces hidden beneath the mundane surfaces of the Shadow City. Your choice of factions and backgrounds shapes the unfolding narrative, providing you with a unique path through the city’s politics every time you play.
You may be a detective solving a crime of passion, a fixer navigating a web of deceit, or a warrior battling eldritch horrors. In Shadow City, each night is a new and unforgettable adventure where nothing is as it seems.
For this project, we're partnering up with The Wanderer's Tome with their project Deadline - A Clockwork Press. If you back both of our campaigns AND we're both funded, you'll get the below cross-collab reward for free!
Our cross-collab reward is an A4-sized case file folder, ideal for organising your adventures in one place. The folder's design showcases ephemera woven with threads of mystery and lore, making it perfect for adding depth to your adventures.
Be sure to visit our collaborator Deadline - A Clockwork Press! Deadline is a news-chronicling and map-making TTRPG where players take on the role of a reporter for the largest news publishing house in the city. Presented in a newspaper format, this game brings a new approach to storytelling and world-building.
Social Stretch Goals: Reaching the following social media goals will unlock an Extra Subclass: Instagram 1500 Followers Twitter 500 Followers Discord 500 Members TikTok 200 Followers YouTube 200 Followers Steam 500 Followers
Play On Words Studios is a Malta-based studio focused on creating high-quality, diverse, and narrative-driven transmedia experiences for players of all backgrounds with original IPs with a twist. Our international team is made up of veterans from across the TTRPG, video game, and multimedia industries. Website / Instagram / Twitter
Creative Director - Christopher Mifsud grew up in a comic book store which sparked a passion that led to a 25-year career in the game industry, where he’s led teams in both video games and TTRPGs. He’s worked on high-profile projects with brands like Disney, Marvel, Star Wars, and more. Website
Lead Game Designer - Stephen Cheney has been a game designer since childhood, starting by cobbling together games from incomplete D&D red boxes. He began freelancing in tabletop game design during college and later transitioned to video game design. A lifelong GM and rule tinkerer, Stephen has worked on many video games professionally. In his spare time, he's an avid maker, especially in woodworking. He'd run more, but his knees aren't what they used to be. Website
Lead Writer/Editor - Brandes Stoddard is a writer and game designer from Atlanta, Georgia, where he lives with his wife Rabbit, two kids, and a cat. He has worked on live-action games, video games, and a wide variety of tabletop games, including D&D, Fantasy AGE, Talisman Fantasy Adventures, and Reign. He also appears on podcast episodes on the Tome Show, covering every edition of D&D. Website / Tribality
Tarot Designer/Sensitivity Reader - Rabbit Stoddard is a writer, bookbinder, intermittent sensitivity reader, and game designer in Atlanta Georgia. Their writing credits include the book for the Mausolea Oracle Deck, Talisman Adventures RPG, and Reign II: Realities. They live with their husband, Brandes, two kiddos, and cat. They like all the things, film noir, and you. Instagram / Website
Artist - Adam Schumpert based in South Carolina, has worked with Fantasy Flight Games, Alderac Entertainment Group, and more. His art has been featured in D&D live shows like Black Dice Society and D4. From sci-fi to fantasy and horror, Adam's work is both expressive and captivating. Instagram / Website
Tarot/Symbol Artist- Luana Zahra a tattoo artist and piercer, began her creative journey at a young age. She draws inspiration from Surrealism, Art Deco, Abstract painting, and Gothic architecture, as well as mythologies and folktales. Starting her tattoo career at 18, Luana finds fulfillment in creating personalized, meaningful designs for her clients. She aims to expand her blackwork style, collaborate internationally, and eventually open her own studio. Instagram
Graphic Designer - Fleur Sciortino is a freelance illustrator and designer who currently works in the Tabletop RPG sector and has previously worked in fields ranging from book and board game publishing, video game development, storyboarding for film, animation, and design agency work. Her work has been published in many international publications and has worked with clients like Chaosium, Penguin Random House and Scholastic.
