All right folks. Here's the big one.
About a month or so ago I teased another Darkdrifters project I've been working on but was not able to share just yet. I've been working on this in secret for a couple years now, and it's finally (almost) (sorta) ready. Yes, that's right: I am designing a full fledged tabletop roleplaying game based in the world of Darkdrifters. Read on for more details!
Darkdrifters: The Roleplaying Game
The Drift—the land of dreams—is in peril. Nightmares threaten to overtake the infinite demesnes of the Drift. If these nightmares are not slain, they will seep into the prime reality: the one from which all other realities are wrought. Should this infestation remain unhalted, there will be naught left but horror and madness. Only those beings cursed with the ability to traverse the myriad realms of the Drift can hunt and slay the nightmares that dwell inside the dreams of others. These Drifters live by a simple mantra: Protect the Drift. Slay the Nightmare. Free the Mara. Do not go Dark.
In Darkdrifters: The Roleplaying Game, players take on the role of Drifters—people cursed with the ability to Drift and the cat-eyes of a Drifter. As Drifters, the players must delve into the dreams of others and slay their nightmares in order to prevent them from breaching into the prime reality and wreaking havoc, all the while maintaining their own psyche and preventing themselves from going Dark. One player instead takes on the role of the Demesneweaver, a narrator/gamemaster who weaves together the story, creates demesnes for the Drifters to explore, and nightmares for them to slay.
Darkdrifters: The Roleplaying Game uses a simple, dice-less "essence" system to create a collaborative storytelling environment between the Drifters and their Demesneweaver. Create your Drifter and craft your own Memento using special perks and powers. Utilize Rites to delve into dreams, navigate strange worlds, gain insight into dreamers and their strifes, and slay the nightmares that haunt them. Name demesnes you have discovered and record them in your dream-journal for others to explore.
Eager for more? Check out the Darkdrifters discord server to learn more and sign up to playtest the game! The game is not complete just yet, but there is enough material for me to run playtest games for whomever wishes to play. Hopefully fairly soon it may even be possible for players to start Demesneweaving for others. I may even livestream some games with friends, so be on the lookout for that.
Now for the elephant in the room: since I work for Fantasy Flight Game, I'm not actually allowed to sell a tabletop rpg for profit...so...I'm just going to give it away for free. No strings attached; completely free to download, read, and pass around. (Of course, if you wanted to, I dunno, donate to my ko-fi completely independent of that download, now well I can't stop you from doing that, can I?) For real though, it's 100% free. Just check it out!.
This is very much a passion project for me. Even though I won't be making any money off of it, it would mean a lot to me if you spread the word to people you think might enjoy playing or reading it. As always, writing a review of The Key and the Crescent on Goodreads and Amazon is a fantastic way to show your support.
Thank you again for everything, and I hope you join our community on Discord and sign up to playtest Darkdrifters: The Roleplaying Game!
Much love,
Maxine Juniper Newman