Gravity Falls and Night in the Woods inspired this supernatural adventure roleplaying game
Cut-out the cursing.
A new tabletop roleplaying game takes inspiration from the likes of Gravity Falls, Night in the Woods and The Goonies.
Cryptid Creeks is an upcoming tabletop RPG that takes place in a sleepy neighbourhood that has suddenly become inflicted with strange and creepy goings-on. As a group of young investigators called river scouts, players are tasked with solving the mystery behind the events and stopping a curse that’s spreading across the entire town and beyond.
The roleplaying game takes inspiration from classic 1980s adventure film The Goonies – that has a group of kids investigating a map leading to pirate treasure – an animated television series about kids encountering strange occurrences called Gravity Falls and Night in the Woods, an adventure video game about a young adult returning to their childhood hometown and finding that everything’s changed.
In the tabletop RPG, one player takes the role of the Navigator, or games master, who will decide on the curse inflicting the town, before taking control of any characters not created by the players and narrating the story. As the river scouts, the player characters are the only people who are aware that there is something dangerous happening in their town, and therefore must do something to stop it.
The gameplay system for Cryptid Creeks is based on both Brindlewood Bay – created by Jason Cordova – and Powered by the Apocalypse, a system that has been used to create TRPGs such as the Avatar roleplaying game. Players will be able to create their characters using a variety of playbooks which provide players with a collection of special moves that they can use to overcome obstacles. With the full game, players will be able to make their own playbooks too.
Once they’ve created their characters, players will need to investigate the source of the curse and collect enough clues and allies to solve it. As the game progresses, a curse clock will tick through four phases, with each one increasing the effects of the curse and heightening the tension. Players will need to clear the curse before the clock hits zero and the final calamity takes place.
Cryptid Creeks was co-created by Rich Oxenham and Scriv the Bard, with the title being published by Hatchling Games - the company behind Inspirisles, a tabletop RPG that teaches both British and American sign language, and a solo RPG called Dragon Dowser.
The Kickstarter campaign for Cryptid Creeks will launch on September 5th.