Explore 7th century Scotland in Pictish RPG Carved in Stone

Discover Scotland’s multicultural past with the upcoming roleplaying game, Carved in Stone, which is inspired by Pictish history.

Taking place in the 7th century in Scotland, Carved in Stone is a tabletop roleplaying game that has players becoming members of the Picts, a tribe of people who lived in the country at the time. As a system neutral RPG - meaning that it can be applied to any other existing system that the games master and players want to dive into - Carved in Stone is intended to help its GMs and players to learn more about the culture of the era, as well as be able to tell their own Pictish stories.

Despite popular culture’s perception of Scotland’s history, the country during the 7th century was actually a multicultural, multilingual and socially diverse place. The Pictish people occupied the area before it became a unified country, with five different languages being spoken there - Brythonic (Old Welsh); Old Irish-Gaelic; Old English and Latin - with each of the separate kingdoms having their own laws and customs. Despite the Roman Empire having left the shores of Scotland a century before, its invasion still impacted Pictish culture and heritage. Scotland was also an internationally connected place, with trade routes connected through Europe to as far as Asia.

Carved in Stone is a roleplaying game that seeks to communicate all of the above to its GMs and players, helping them to better understand the cultural melting pot of 7th century Scotland. During their time with Carved in Stone, player characters will find themselves overcoming many challenges, from navigating political strife and differences between the Pictish people, as well as literal obstacles in the very wilderness itself. Player characters will be attempting to discover who they are and what identity they have amongst the Pictish people, as well as what they can give back to their culture.

Carved in Stone was co-created by Brian Tyrrell - the founder of the RPG’s publisher, Dungeons on a Dime - Dr Jeff Sanders, the head of a historical organisation that specialises in Scottish archeology called Dig It!https://www.digitscotland.com/, and Lizy Simonen, an American librarian working for Glasgow’s School Library Outreach.

Apart from Carved in Stone, Dungeons on a Dime is responsible for putting out roleplaying games such as Vice & Virtue, a supplement inspired by fortune-telling, as well as a rules-light RPG also set in Scotland called Scurry.

The Kickstarter campaign for Carved in Stone is live until December 13th, with a pledge of £30 ($40) getting backers a copy of the physical book in November 2022. Alternatively, a digital version of the RPG is available for a pledge of £8 ($10).