One hundred years ago, the elders say, the Cataclysm happened. First it was a blinding light. Then the sound of thunder. In the northern horizon, the giant purple sphere could be seen from thousands of miles. It started to grow in every direction. People tried to run away, hide underground, but there was no time left. Millions perished. All construction turned into dust. The land was now a desert, glowing purple at night, incapable of nurturing life.
The few that survived were changed. Their bodies were not completely human anymore, some having acquired animal features, or even stranger powers. They migrated south to the old iron mines. There, a small group of miners had survived, so down bellow the ground they were. The miners at first fought the newcomers, the "shifted". Little by little they began to recognize the people behind the new faces. Together, they began rebuilding life, underground.
A new society has been born. You call it Safehaven, the underground complex of tunnels and caves of what used to be an old iron mine. Life is complete there, shifters and normies learned to survive on what you can get underground, plenty of fungi, algae and small animals have adapted too. Factions have started to vie for power, protecting their interests and pursueing their own agendas.
But there's one thing where everyone in Safehaven agrees: one day you will return to the surface, find out what really happened, and rebuild what you lost, even though nobody really remembers how it was. Some braves have started to venture outside and you are one of them! Gather your party and supplies and explore the alien surface of a once familiar world!
The Colony is a magical apocalypse hexcrawl. It is a system neutral supplement for old school tabletop role playing games (TTRPGs). The players are descendants of the few survivors, that live on the southern caves, in the community known as Safehaven. They'll explore the devastated landscape for survival and answers, risking being physically and mentally transformed. The terrain is harsh but Safehaven needs to survive and you're gonna make it against what lies in the blasted lands.
The Colony will be a 64 page A5 PDF zine. It will contain:
- a map of the surface world
- 100 keyed hexes
- 8 factions
- mutation rules
- hexploration guidance
Rewards
Supporter - Thank you! This is if you just want to support me and the project without rewards.
Book Reader - The Colony PDF: a 64 page A5 old school hexcrawl zine.
Junior Member - Book Reader + you get to contribute with a NPC
Senior Member - Junior Member + you add your own hex to the map
Crowdfunding will go towards making my first draft into a final product, paying for an editor, reviewer, artists and layout. Usually I do it all by myself but I want this to be special. I also want to spread around to local Brazilian artists and other TTRPG professionals.
Release Timeline
FEBRUARY 2024: Campaign (50% written)
APRIL 2024: Full-text unedited PDF
JUNE 2024: Full release
Who is GaboKerr?
I have been playing TTRPGs for almost three decades now, but only in the last three years I began showing my creations to the world. Zine Month 2024 is a great opportunity to release The Colony.
You can find my other work at Gabriel Kerr - itch.io or Dungeon Masters Guild - (dmsguild.com) or DriveThruRPG.com - Gabriel Kerr Publishing
Extra Credits
reviewer - TBD
editor - TBD
layout - TBD
cover art - TBD
interior art - TBD
crowdfunder page art - Walter Licinio CC-BY 4.0
