P.T. LaMark’s Files from the Fringe Is Live on Kickstarter
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Something strange has been taking shape behind the scenes at Dice Dungeons for a while now, and today I finally get to share it with everyone.
P.T. LaMark’s Files from the Fringe is officially live on Kickstarter.
This is our newest 5E book, and it takes P.T. LaMark somewhere very different from the creatures we explored in Cryptid Codex. This time we are heading deeper into the unexplained.
I have always loved stories where the characters know something is wrong long before they understand what they are dealing with. A strange light appears over the trees. Someone disappears without explanation. An organization arrives and seems to know more than it should. You find evidence that answers one question and creates three more.
That feeling is at the heart of Files from the Fringe.
There are plenty of monsters in this book, but I did not want Files from the Fringe to become just another collection of stat blocks.
The creatures are part of larger mysteries.
Some are visitors from somewhere else. Others are tied to modern folklore or paranormal reports. A few are much harder to explain. Each one is being built to give Game Masters more than a creature to drop into combat. You will find lore, ideas for how it behaves at the table, and hooks that can turn a strange encounter into something much larger.
But the book goes beyond the monsters... We are also creating secret organizations that can become allies or enemies. There are strange locations that can become the center of an investigation. Player options let characters become part of these stories instead of simply stumbling into them.
The goal is to give you pieces you can pull apart and use however you want.
Bring the Fringe Into Any Campaign
One of the things that has been important to me from the start is making sure this book does not require you to run a modern campaign.
You absolutely can build a game around investigators chasing strange sightings through lonely highways and hidden facilities. That is a huge part of the inspiration.
But you can also take the exact same ideas and drop them into a traditional fantasy world.
A secret government research facility becomes a hidden wizard outpost. An unexplained object falling from the sky becomes something discovered beyond the known planes. A mysterious agency can become an order that has spent centuries hiding truths the rest of the world was never supposed to learn.
You can use one encounter to make your players wonder what they just saw, or you can connect the clues and build an entire campaign around the unknown.
Building on P.T. LaMark’s World
This is also the next step for P.T. LaMark after Cryptid Codex.
That book let us explore folklore and strange creatures through the eyes of someone documenting things that should not exist. Files from the Fringe opens that idea much wider.
LaMark is no longer simply cataloging creatures.
Now there are organizations watching him. There are places that do not make sense. There are visitors whose motives are unclear. There are files that suggest some mysteries have been buried for a very long time.
You do not need Cryptid Codex to use this book. Files from the Fringe is designed to stand completely on its own. If you have followed LaMark before, though, there will be plenty here that feels familiar.
There Is More Than the Book
The Kickstarter is also letting us build out the project beyond the main hardcover.
We have A Rather Close Encounter, a new adventure designed around the same kind of strange mystery at the center of the book. We also have digital maps and VTT tokens for people playing online.
For collectors and people who want the full experience at the table, we have also created custom Files from the Fringe resin dice and The Grey leather journal.
And, as the campaign grows, our stretch goals will let us add even more material to the book.
Come See What Is Waiting on the Fringe
A lot of work has already gone into figuring out what this book should be, and I am really excited to finally let everyone see it.
Kickstarter is always one of my favorite parts of making these projects because the book starts becoming something we are building with all of you. Backers will get to follow the project as it develops and see new creatures, artwork, ideas, and playtest material along the way.
If paranormal mysteries and strange encounters sound like something your table could use, I hope you will check it out.
