A new edition of Devin Nelson’s surreal sci-fi TTRPG of Pale Dot launched on Kickstarter earlier this week, bringing the game to a physical edition for the first time since its initial release last year. It is being produced as a full color perfect bound digest sized book and will be published by Plus One Exp.
We are the Dustlings, sentient beings with a small society just past the cusp of a modest technological revolution, one in which we’ve invented the means to explore what is just beyond our world. As fledgling Cosmonauts we founded The Wondrous Endeavor, an organization that seeks to explore the heavens and our place in it.
Today we embark on a new cosmic journey. Will it bring us closer to the stars or closer to ourselves?
Pale Dot is a collaborative narrative tabletop roleplaying game by Devin Nelson (@devindecibel) for 2-5 players about a crew of non-human cosmonauts venturing beyond their world in search of answers. It is fantastical, surreal, and perhaps very unlike humanity’s own ventures in space exploration, though one thing is universal: leaving home is terrifying, humbling, dangerous, and a catalyst for changing one’s perspective. Inspired by the musings of Carl Sagan and media like Outer Wilds, No Man’s Sky, and Annihilation, Nelson describes its mechanics as descended from improvisational story games like Ross Cowman’s Fall of Magic and Avery Alder’s Dream Askew.
“Watching Carl Sagan’s Cosmos and reading his book Pale Blue Dot were extremely formative and led me to develop my own thoughts on the borders between science, philosophy, and spirituality, said Nelson. “This game exists as a tribute to Sagan and a way to work through my existentialism by way of improv storytelling with friends.”
PALE DOT [PHYSICAL EDITION] FEATURES
- 60 full color pages with art by Si Sweetman, Gannon Reedy, & Devin Nelson
- 5 Setting Elements for players to embody as they author their corner of the narrative
- Instructions for creating your own Cosmonaut and a shared space faring vessel
- 24 strange cosmic locations for the dustlings to visit and explore
- 120 evocative prompts to inspire improvisational scenes
- A companion OST of moody dynamic atmospheric vibes by Devin Nelson
- Stretch goals include commissioning more original art
Backers of the physical version will receive a Wondrous Endeavor Space Program sticker.
The PALE DOT crowdfunding campaign is set to run through March 7.
Images via Devin Nelson and Plus One Exp
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