Behind the Magic is live on Kickstarter!
Play as incompetent heroes on a quest to save the world and as the bard who's along to document the journey
What is Behind the Magic?
Behind the Magic is a fantasy mockumentary game where players tell the story of incompetent heroes on a quest to save the world, which they’ll likely fail. It’s best played embodied, as a larp, though it also works well at the table, over video chat, or staged with audience participation.
During the game, players take turns setting up and acting out scenes in character. These scenes are interspersed with reality-television style "confessionals" with the Bard who is documenting their journey.
Key details:
- For 4-7 players, no facilitator needed
- Plays in 2-3 hours
- No advanced prep needed
- Comedic, farcical tone
This Zine version of Behind the Magic will be 24 pages long, plus a cover, all printed on high quality paper stock. The dimensions will be 5.5" x 8.5" and it will contain everything needed to play the game, including step-by-step instructions. Backers will receive an at-cost print-on-demand code and printing will likely cost an additional $3.50 plus shipping.
The Kickstarter is for the first print run of Behind the Magic in English. The digital version was released in 2018 and System Matters published a German version in 2022. Backers of this Kickstarter will receive a free PDF of the English digital version.
The character art was illustrated by the immensely talented Meghan Dornbrock, for the original digital version of the game.
Praise for Behind the Magic
“Every time I've played Behind the Magic it has been the ideal combination of brilliant, stupid, and adorable. It feels like the perfect D&D session brought to life - a parade of calamity and failure with lots of heart.” Jason Morningstar, Bully Pulpit Games
“Randy’s game “Behind the Magic” is some of the most fun I’ve ever had playing a LARP.” – Jeeyon Shim, Jeeyon Shim Games
“Even in alpha, this game made me laugh until I cried at several points. It's such a delight.” – Ash Kreider, Peach Pants Press
About Randy Lubin
Behind the Magic is designed by Randy Lubin, who lives in San Francisco, California. He is a professional game designer who has published dozens of storytelling games through:
- Diegetic Games - his consumer games studio, which publishes light tabletop RPGs and larps
- Leveraged Play - his foresight games studio, which helps organizations explore the future and explain the present
- Storysynth - his free and open source digital games platform, which empowered non-technical designers to quickly create, share, and play their prompt-driven storytelling games
