Undoing Ruin is a tabletop roleplaying game set in the aftermath of the collapse of a dystopian cyberpunk society caused by an AI uprising and human apathy, cruelty, and exploitation. It is a game meant to be played by 1 Game Runner ("Moderator") and several (typically 3-6) players taking on the role of Androids built to take back the world for humanity from the grasp of several malevolent AI and the robotic legions at their command.

Set 50 years after the collapse of the megacorporation that was responsible for the fall of the old world, Undoing Ruin is set during a time where the tides are starting to turn in the Androids' favor.  The future is starting to look less bleak, and yet the Androids are beginning to wonder: what does a future look like for them when their services as machines of war are no longer needed? What purpose does a tool have once its task is complete, and can they build a world that will not fall into the same cycles of abuse and exploitation as the one that came before it?

As one of the Androids of the Reclamation Initiative, you'll forge bonds with your comrades in arms, do battle with hostile machines and humans alike, navigate complicated relationships with other factions that have different visions for the world to come, and fight for a brighter future. Not just for mankind, but for all.

Undoing Ruin uses a custom 2d6 one-roll system that aims to keep numbers compact to allow even small bonuses to have major impacts. The game also uses a mixed failure/success system to allow for narrative progression and flourishes for both ends of the spectrum.

The system is built from the ground up to allow for extensive and dynamic character customization, with players choosing between three types of Android (Tactical, Engineering, or Coordination) and then being able to freely swap out every other aspect of your character in between missions. Everything from the type of body you're installed into (determining core attributes and health) to what kind of hardware is strapped onto to their Chassis to the software and weapons you utilize can be adjusted as you wish using a pool of points for character customization that increases as you successfully complete missions.

Did you stat yourself out as a run-and-gunner utilizing double automatic weapons and leg modifications that make you extremely difficult to hit but not find that to your liking? No problem, try out any assortment of melee weapons built for tearing down buildings and machines alike, ranging from hammers with explosive payloads to lances with built in drilling capabilities. If using the heaviest and nastiest weapons available isn't your thing, try hacking your enemies from a distance, disabling them outright or using them against their allies by firing their attacks off on your turn or just hopping into their body and taking it over entirely.

Tied into this system of customization are mechanics for tracking how far your Android has diverged from their core Operating System and developed more as a person, with personality quirks that can be utilized in negotiations with other sapient beings. Beyond that lies a method of negotiated conflict resolution with the Moderator that opens up to you more as you become fully developed, or to be put more crudely, "more human." This "Narrative Action" system can be utilized to provide you with your "rule of cool" moments and achieve feats otherwise difficult or impossible to achieve with dice rolls on your terms, as you break the rules of the game itself just as your Android learns to break the rules of your code.

Undoing Ruin is a game about conflict, but it's also a game about identity, self-discovery, and growth, and that aspect is reflected in its progression systems. Find who and what you want to be, both in your chosen loadout and the person your Android becomes over the course of play.

This campaign is meant to aid in the publication of Undoing Ruin's initial print run. As it currently stands the book's digital form is ready to go barring the crediting of crowdfunding backers. 

The following materials are included:

$2500: Quick-Start Guide and Mission Pack
If we hit $2500, I will produce a PDF containing several starter loadouts for player characters as well as a variety of example missions to be utilized as building blocks for campaigns or one-shots, spanning various difficulty levels. This stretch goal requires a little bit of layout work and planning but will be delivered by Q1 or Q2 2025, either alongside the main book or shortly afterwards. This material will become a free download for new buyers after the game becomes available for public purchase.

$3500: Campaign Book
If the campaign raises $3500, I will write up a campaign book with 10 sequential missions meant to be played as the beginning of a campaign or self contained campaign, with greater emphasis on recurring NPCs, available as a PDF.  This stretch goal requires a little bit of layout work and planning but will be delivered by Q1 or Q2 2025, either alongside the main book or shortly afterwards. This material will become a free download for new buyers after the game becomes available for public purchase.

$7500: Rules for Human player characters
If the campaign makes it to $7500, I will write up rules for playing Human characters alongside Androids. This will be a supplemental rulebook provided to backers for free but sold as a separate product to new buyers, unlike the other two stretch goals which will become free downloads once they're available! These mechanics are in an early stage and will require testing, so this will become a long term reward that I hope to have ready by the end of 2025 if the campaign makes it this far.

I'm an aspiring TTRPG developer based out of New Jersey, and an avid player and game runner of TTRPGs whose tenure in the medium goes back 15 years. I have an undergrad in Interactive Multimedia from TCNJ with game design as one of my specializations, and have been working on various independent products for the past ten years. Undoing Ruin is the first of those to reach a place where I feel it's ready to share with the wider world and I'm excited to finally take steps towards doing so!

I first started work on Undoing Ruin in late 2018 though it wasn't until the following summer that the game started to take any sort of shape that resembles what it is now. After an initial dev spring in August through October of 2019, alpha playtesting at Metatopia 2019, and a second sprint from December 2019 through early 2020, much of the last few years has been spent playtesting the game and laying out the book for release.