Archeterica Imago: the Invitation

The Shadow Play of Conspiracy & Enlightenment

Welcome to the glorious 1800s. At the turn of the century, venerable colonial empires are crumbling and new powers are emerging out of the turmoil of the Great Republican Revolution. Thus, it is the perfect stage for secret societies large and small to pursue their clandestine agendas of conspiracy and enlightenment.

Driven by ambition, curiosity or pure misfortune, enter The Penumbra Theatre, take the leading role in Shadow Play of secret agents, modern-day warlocks, and various unearthly beings. Prepare your inquisitive mind, your trusty muzzle-loaded pistols, don a fabulous long coat accompanied by a tricorne or top hat, and march out to join efforts with some fine co-conspirators.

ARCHETERICA is a Tabletop Roleplaying Game about secret societies and unearthly phenomena in decorations of an alternative Napoleonic era. This is a classless 2D6 game with a focus on dramatic character development and shadow organization activities, produced by a Ukrainian creative team. Archeterica's key features are:

• Player Characters are built by composing Narrative Attributes, Talents, and Burdens that you can make up yourself, creating multifaceted personas with a lot of potential for engaging growth.
• Smart combat mechanics based on dynamic initiative, reactive swordplay involving the choice of various fencing techniques, and employment of a historically accurate arsenal of melee and black powder arms.
• Subtle mystery and pseudoscientific occultism, supported by rich game mechanics and lore, bring a fine unearthly touch to your endeavors. Beware of Mistwalkers and Strangers!
• Balance your character's ambitions and miseries with believable Stress and Trauma systems, and do not hesitate to resort to the Panic charts in any daunting circumstances.
• A rich setting of an alternative early 19th century provides curious scenery for a sophisticated interplay of secret societies and a dubious search for enlightenment. 

Try out game of genteel conspiracy by claiming Quickstart Rules on DrivethruRPG!

Join our exquisite community and participate in games on Discord!

Take a look at an Actual Play of our signature adventure The Good Mayor!

Your Invitation

Archeterica: The Invitation is an introductory set, serving as a fitting entrance to a deep and wide ranging roleplaying game. The Invitation set will enlighten you with knowledge of Introductory Rules and enrich your adventures with three signature ready-to-play Game Scenarios, also providing you with some fine archeteric game accessories.

• Introductory Rules is a handy 50+ page guide on creating exquisite and versatile Player Characters as well as a brief overview of fundamental game mechanics for your own Shadow Play. Introductory Rules expands greatly upon Quickstart in terms of Character Creation options and mechanics for Character Growth (including Stress, Trauma, and Enlightenment).
• Good Mayor is an X-Files-esque adventure for beginners that will introduce you to the dubious interplay of government conspiracy, unearthly revelations, and one fancy dead mayor.
  
  "I went from being a very very shy little thing at first, to absolutely SCREAMING and losing my shit at the plot twists. This may be one of the wackiest scenarios I've ever played. Which is absolutely delightful", - Val from Corkboards & Curiosities. 
   
• Shady Deals in Strange Alleyways is an adventure in the genre of magical realism about amateur sellers of occult literature who dive into the grotesque reality of the lesser-known corners of their home city.
• The Bastinarys is a beginner-friendly adventure about conquering a venerable political prison and its chimerical secrets amidst the fires of the Great Republican Revolution.

Archeterica: The Invitation will be available in Ukrainian and English languages.

~ META INVITATION [13£]
The digital Invitation set includes:

• Introductory Rules PDF
• Three Game Scenarios PDFs 
  [Good Mayor, Shady Deals in Strange Alleyways, The Bastinarys]

~ INVITATION BOXED SET [33£]
The physical set includes:

• Everything from the digital Meta Invitation
• Introductory Rules [softcover]
• Three Game Scenarios [softcover]
  [Good Mayor, Shady Deals in Strange Alleyways, The Bastinarys]
• The Eyewitness 2D6 dice set
• Welcoming Party 20+ Wooden Character Figures
• Gaming accessories: character sheets, canvas-printed Combat Status Chart, etc.
   

~ GRAND INVITATION COLLECTOR'S  SET [66£] 
The Collector's set includes:

• Everything from the Invitation Boxed Set
• The Aurora 2D6 dice set
• The Eyewitness pin
• The Dungeon Monarch Wooden Mistwalker Figure
• Luxury extras: special HQ materials and coating for all gaming accessories
• Your name or the pseudonym of your choosing printed in the section "Honorable Backers" inside the Introductory Rules

All components will be designed and produced in Ukraine, supporting local artists and businesses. 

Digital fulfillment by DrivethruRPG.

Shipping of printed sets will be charged after the Kickstarter campaign. The estimated price is $20-30 for each boxed set with worldwide delivery.

No shipment is available to the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus because of the ongoing military invasion of Ukraine. We demand the aggressor to withdraw troops and admit to their countless war crimes.

Ambitious Goals

Your invaluable support brings us closer to fulfilling our dream and publishing the game that is truly our labor of love. With extra funding, we will go the extra mile to provide you with a rich experience of roleplaying in the world of genteel conspiracy and razor-sharp enlightenment. Thus, we have prepared some Stretch Goals for our campaign: 

The Conspirators

Archeterica is a vast gaming project with a long history. Born in Kyiv, Ukraine in far 2013, this game of genteel conspiracy has since established a vibrant Ukrainian community and is now ready to spread across the world!

The conspirators behind the project are:

• THE IMAGO CULTis a creative team led by Anton Relict, the mad author from Kyiv. The Imago Cult is set to brew deep & complex games for the amusement of demanding minds.

• DYVNA AGENCY is a talented design team from Uzhhorod represented by art director Darya Yehorova and lead designer Marianna Savchur. They strive to bring well-measured and masterfully crafted aesthetics to as many creative projects as possible. 

• OLEKSII SHCHERBAK is a lead artist for Archeterica and a painter, known worldwide for his signature dreamy art style. 

• PANIPAVA LOCALIZATION TEAM represented by the incredibly sharp minds of Dariia Lysiuk, Alice Haida & Marichka Panfiorova, who brought the English translation of Archeterica to you. [panipava.loc@gmail.com]

Special thanks to the editorial team Olena Zvarych (Ukrainian text) and Maksym Kovalenko (English text).

Our Enlightened Playtesters, who endured years of dubious gaming trials:Olexandr & Olexiy Davydov, Pavlo Hoda, Alexander Ilukha, Ihor Khamaza, Roman Kiiatkin, Amina Kkhelufi, Roman Klymenko, Olga Kovalenko, Taras Kovtun, Dmytro Kravchenko, Rebecca Larst, Anna Mazaieva, Anton Obizhaev, Daria Ponomarenko, Annie-Marie Shelest, Oleksii Shytikov, Maksym & Pavlo Tsupko, Eduard Varvarov, Dmytro Vavrischuk, Vlad Vlasov, Anna & Sergey Voytenko, Vlad Zhovtyj  and many others.  

Exceptional gratitude to Penumbra Mastermind Kostiantyn Sakhatskyi, the keeper of the unearthly lore and pioneer-GM.