Here we are, about to launch our fourth crowdfunding campaign for Iron Kingdoms: Requiem. We started with the core of the Iron Kingdoms, ventured to the liminal spaces on their borders and the homes of dwarves and elves, and even enjoyed an excursion into the darkest parts of western Immoren in the Scharde Islands and Cryx. We’re now getting ready to plunge into the deepest, untamed lands in western Immoren: the wilds.

This feels like a bit of a homecoming for me.

In the previous edition of the Iron Kingdoms Roleplaying Game, Iron Kingdoms: Unleashed was the most ambitious project I’d taken on to that date. A sprawling book hundreds of pages long (longer than it probably should have been!), it centered on the idea of “playing as the monster.” Gatorfolk, bog trogs, Tharn—if it enjoyed a bit of cannibalism, it was in the book. Playing the monster was so much the thrust of Unleashed that we slapped it on marketing material, lovingly illustrated and printed on glossy 60-pound paper.

And here we are again, casting our gaze into the wilderness. A little older, maybe a little wiser. It’s been fascinating to work on the Into the Deep Wild for Requiem because this time out, I feel like we’re approaching the inhabitants of western Immoren’s wildernesses more fairly. These aren’t monsters; they’re people with as much variety and complexity as any other culture in the Iron Kingdoms. Yes, gators still eat people, and bog trogs still ambush, but the excellent authors I get to work with have put much time and care into making sure that your characters from Into the Deep Wild have as many options and as much depth as anyone else found in the setting.

Can you still play as the monster? Absolutely. Can you play your gators, bog trogs, croaks, and more any way you want? I certainly hope so.

Keep an eye out for the Into the Deep Wild coming on Kickstarter this week!