Banana Chan and Sen-Foong Lim co-designed Van Ryder Games’ The Revenant Society. The RPG is a Project We Love on Kickstarter and a Foward Fund, which means Van Ryder has committed to back other Kickstarters.
In the game, you’re undead, trapped in a history loop, chased by shadows, and stuck until you solve your own murder. There are hundreds of backers, the funding goal has been met, and you can find out more from the pitch page.
Recommended for ages 14 and up due to some gory deaths, The Revenant Society is designed for 2 to 4 players with a GM and sessions lasting 2 to 4 hours.
The RPG’s full title is “Revenants: The Endless Loop Beneath the City”, and it is inspired by Powered by the Apocalypse, which means it uses 2d6 and Moves.
The gifs on the Kickstarter show boards and tokens, giving the game a strong board game but all the text insists on RPG.
In each game, Revenants are trapped in a time loop of the same night (typically midnight to dawn). The game takes place over four of those time loops. They use their Moves to travel around the city, trying to remain unnoticed as they decompose, investigating as they go. Once there is a fixed event, it cannot change. This is a challenge for the GM a.k.a. the Fate Weaver. If the Revenants get to dawn, they reset to the moment of the first “wake up” with their memories of the previous nights intact, but not any acquired items or allies. You use the Loop Board to track your information and which time loop you are in. If you loop too many times, you are trapped, doomed to repeat the same loop forever.
A digital version of the game is available as a PDF, and that’s the Kickstarter pledge reward to people who can support with $20 or more.
The core rulebook in physical form, the PDF but none of the trappings shown off by the campaign is unlocked at $40.
Supporters with $75 will be able to get the Deluxe Box Set, which is the core game, city maps, loop board, map of intrigue, tokens, dice, Watcher figures and all physical stretch goals.
There’s a separate route for retailers to take.
Van Ryder Games suggest March 2024 for all tiers, and the Deluxe Box is by far the most popular so far.
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