Latest from the Creator
Olivia Ryan
about 1 month ago
How the West Was Weird (and more exciting news!)
Hello, backers— Are you excited for High Noon at Midnight? We know we are! Bruce R. Cordell, the lead designer for this book, has shared a preview of "Hand...
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Kate Evans
5 months ago
Great news about Neon Rain from Cypherspace!
Hey there Cypherpunks and lovely backers!  Design for Neon Rain is complete! Our latest of the genre “white books” will be heading over to editing next month for a deep d...
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Monte Cook Games
6 months ago
It's Time to Redeem Existing Rewards!
Hello wonderful backers, As the title says, if any of the existing products are among your rewards, it's time to redeem them. Here is the list: Any Genre, Any Campaign bundle...
7
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Charles Ryan
6 months ago
Early Rewards Coming and a Progress Update
Hello, backers— Here’s a quick update on the books you funded and some other cool news. We also have a few things to fill you in on regarding existing rewards and the pledge ma...
10
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Monte Cook Games
7 months ago
Pledge Manager Surveys Sending Now
Greetings backers, Thank you very much for supporting Knights of Dust and Neon on BackerKit Crowdfunding. This is a mini-update to let you know that we're opening the pledge m...
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Charles Ryan
8 months ago
Pledge manager is opening soon!
Hi, all! Just wanted to let you know that we've been working hard on the pledge manager setup. It will open early next week. BackerKit starts with a "smoke test," wherein they invite a limited number of backers in first, just to make sure everything's working as intended. Then...
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Hi, all! Just wanted to let you know that we've been working hard on the pledge manager setup. It will open early next week. BackerKit starts with a "smoke test," wherein they invite a limited number of backers in first, just to make sure everything's working as intended. Then they send the invites to the rest of the backers a day or two later. Either way, look for that email next week!

--Charles
user avatar image for Kate Evans
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Did I misss something? Is there any updates on this…when it is going to ship? When PDFs are going to be available?

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I run a game club in my High School, and I like to plan well in advance, and I am wondering if I am going to have access to the PDFs for any of these games by September of 2025. The new school year is when the change over occurs and I don't want to start plotting a Cyberpunk or Weird West game if these books won't be out yet.

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PROJECT UPDATE
Olivia Ryan
CREATOR
about 1 month ago

Project Update: How the West Was Weird (and more exciting news!)

Hello, backers—

Are you excited for High Noon at Midnight? We know we are! Bruce R. Cordell, the lead designer for this book, has shared a preview of "Hand of Fate" from High Noon at Midnight with us, which we’d like to pass on to all of you as well!


How the West Was Weird by Bruce R. Cordell




What if a genre blended classic western tropes and settings with fantasy, horror, science fiction, and action? You’d get dusty saloons haunted by vengeful spirits, gunfights against cyborg outlaws, bounty hunters in spaceships, cowboys wielding magical six-shooters firing banishing rounds, and even weirder stuff.

In other words, you’d get the weird west.

And High Noon at Midnight is packed choc-full of resources to bring the weird west into your game. It includes set-pieces and rules to create your own weird west setting, as well as a fully-realized setting—The Ghost Range—you can use immediately to jump start a campaign. Likewise, three adventures and two cypher shorts give you everything you need to begin a weird west game as soon as you open the book.

And so much other stuff that choosing just one fun thing to highlight here was tough but, I think I’ll go with a preview of the “Hands of Fate” optional rule. It leans into some of the poker themes and related optional rules found in the sourcebook (which also includes additional optional card rules for playing poker, PC skill vs. real poker, evoking poker with dice, and using a deck of cards as a d20).

Hands of Fate

Is life utterly random or ruled by hidden fates? Either way, introducing the Hands of Fate optional rule gives PCs a bit more control over their situation while further investing them in a weird west feel. Here’s how it works.

Dealing Fate’s Hand: At the beginning of each day (usually after players have completed a 10-hour recovery roll), deal each player two cards—this is their personal Hand of Fate cards. The hand doesn’t exist in-world, but is instead a meta resource, to be used by the player for the benefit of their PC (sort of like XP).

Drawing Community Cards: The first time the PCs have an encounter that day, draw three Hand of Fate community cards. These cards are placed face-up on the table where all the players can see; all the players can use these community cards, combined with their personal Hand of Fate cards, to evaluate and eventually play their individual Hands of Fate. After you’ve dealt the first three community cards, draw and place one additional Hand of Fate community card each time a player triggers an intrusion or you intrude, until there are five community cards in total. These cards remain in play until a new day dawns or until all the players have played their individual Hands of Fate.

Playing a Hand of Fate: After the first three Hand of Fate community cards are drawn, a player can, at any time, choose to play their Hand of Fate for the day, using any combination of personal and community cards. Their PC gains the benefit noted for their hand, or a lesser benefit that appears further on in the list .

Royal Flush (an ace, king, queen, jack, and 10 all of the same suit): PC gains 1 benefit below and can be dealt another Hand of Fate for the day.
Straight Flush (five sequential cards, aces high, all of the same suit): PC gains 1 XP (to keep or use like any XP).
Four-of-a-Kind (four cards of the same value): PC can immediately take an action, even if they’ve already acted this round.
Full House (a 3-of-a-kind and a pair): PC replaces a d20 roll (their own or another player’s) with a 20.
Flush (five cards of the same suit): PC can apply three free levels of Effort to any one roll.
Straight (five sequential cards, aces high, in sequence): PC can apply two free levels of Effort to any one roll.
Three-of-a-Kind (three cards of the same value): PC can apply a free level of Effort to any one roll.
Two Pair (four cards, being two of value, twice): PC regains 5 Pool points.
One Pair (two cards of the same value) : PC regains 3 Pool points.
Fold (none of the above hands): PC regains 1 Pool point.

Who's got YOUR back?

Can you escape The Darkest Woods?

The Woods watch you as you wander, lost among the trees.
The Woods don't care.
The Woods see you isolated, lonely, and in terrible danger.
The Woods don't care.
The Woods are ancient (eternal?) and vast (infinite?).
You are small and brief. Hardly worth noting—to the Woods.

Discover why mankind has always feared the wilderness. 

The Darkest Woods
is a standalone TTRPG mega-adventure and setting in the spirit of The Darkest House, usable with any rule system. You can insert The Darkest Woods into any campaign—including the one you're playing right now. The characters drawn into its mysteries don't even have to all come from the same world, campaign, or game system.

Curious about The Darkest Woods, but want to know more about what you're getting yourself into? Download a FREE PREVIEW of The Darkest House on the Darkest Woods campaign page! 🕷️💀🪓🔦

Face The Darkest Woods today!

Thanks again for your support, and we hope to see you deep in the woods soon…
 —Team MCG
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Hi, It has been a few months since the last update. What's the current status of Neon Rain? Thanks.

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