Troika! studio launches pre-orders for RPG expansions inspired by Hollow Knight and old school D&D

Melsonian Arts Council is rejecting the oversaturated and uncertain Kickstarter/Backertkit model, in favour of a simpler, more honest system.

We're (Melsonian) releasing two brand-new tabletop RPG expansions via a system of pre-orders, which guarantee that everyone who pays for a book gets their copy, regardless of order numbers.

We've chosen to embrace this simpler method for one major reason: we're tired of wasting everyone’s time pretending that any ideas we bring to the table aren’t going to be made. Instead, we want to present our upcoming projects in the form of pre-orders that will absolutely be delivered, regardless of the outcome of an arbitrary funding goal. 

These two expansions will be made, folks who pre-order will receive them, and they will be available for people who missed the pre-order deadline.

The first of these new expansions is The Perilous Pear & Plum Pies of Pudwick, a new adventure for our weird and wonderful TTRPG, Troika!, written and illustrated by Josh Blincow.

Pudwick is a pointcrawl adventure featuring a map filled with various locations to explore, all connected by a series of pathways. These locations are set in and around a sentient pear tree, which is home to numerous buggy factions, all vying for control over their tiny domains.

From ant empires to ladybird legions, Pudwick proudly wears its Hollow Knight, Minish Cap, and Bug Fables inspirations on its sleeve, presenting an insect world filled with tiny creatures for players to talk to, ally with and fight against.

Pudwick is an expansion that’s suitable for players of all ages and experiences, with tons of opportunity for customisation in the form of several randomised number tables - whose outcomes will substantially change each playthrough.

Witch-War to the Vale of Forbiddiction and Beyond is a series of playable adventures by Ezra Claverie and Andrew Walter, that are compatible with both Old School D&D and other sword-and-sorcery games, as well as Melsonia’s own original tabletop roleplaying game - Crypts of Indormancy.

Featuring a whopping 80,000 words, over 60 monsters and additional rules for witch hunts and criminal trials, this trio of adventures is well worth the asking price when it comes to sheer value.

Set on West Island, a semi-populated land filled with mountains, rainforests and coastlines, all three of these adventures focus on a coven of witches who must be hunted down by the players, in an exhibition that takes them from the settlement of Koa’s Promise, to the haunted ruins of the Vale of Forbiddiction itself.

Along the way, players will learn of the bloody and troubled history of West Island, and how its people have been forced to fight off everything from colonising elves to the living dead. Now, it’s your job to venture into the darkness and try to survive the horrors hiding therein.

Pre-orders for The Perilous Pear & Plum Pies of Pudwick and Witch-War to the Vale of Forbiddiction and Beyond are both currently live on the Melsonia website, and available at a discount from their retail release prices: Witch-War (£40/$53.67), Pudwick (£18/$24.15).

Should Perilous Pear & Plum Pies of Pudwick hit its pre-order goal of 1000 copies before October 7th, then we will produce a set of NPC bug cards - which will be gifted to everyone who pre-ordered for free. 

If the Witch-War to the Vale of Forbiddiction and Beyond expansion receives 1000 pre-orders before October 7th, then everyone who pre-ordered a copy will also get a reprint of Crypts of Indormancy (a title that has remained out of print for years) completely free. 

Either way, everyone who pre-orders either of these expansions will receive their copies when they're ready to ship.