Against the Gloom

A collaborative fantasy TTRPG for 3-5 players about the joy and power of music, chosen family, and building community in the face of the void.

“In the rising genre of music TTRPGs, Against the Gloom successfully carves out its unique place...Plug in your amp, and let’s sail!” —John Thompson, designer of Gutterpunk

What if our heroes exchanged their battle axes for Stratocasters? And what if lyrics and harmony were actual magic? Play as pirate rockstars touring across a vast and dangerous void—the Gloom—aboard a ramshackle ship propelled by the power of song. Use your favorite songs to create this world, then protect it from the Gloom, one rockin’ gig at a time. With an easy-to-learn d6 system inspired by Yahtzee, you'll harmonize dice values to succeed, earn and spend songs on a collaborative music playlist, and truly unite your band.

This full color, screen reader-friendly game packet includes:

• A set of unique character playbooks: the Thunderwell, the Soulbell, the Brightstring, the Heartkey, and more
• Guide to Against the Gloom's easy-to-learn d6 system inspired by Yahtzee — you'll "harmonize" dice values to succeed, earn and spend songs on a collaborative music playlist, and truly unite your band
• Rules for collectively imagining and building out Anchora to visit and explore as your band sails across the Gloom
• Safety tools and frameworks that support joyful, consent-based storytelling while roleplaying as messy musicians
• Gorgeous illustrations of weird musicians rocking it out in the face of despair, ennui, and self-sabotage
• Short fiction by the game's designer, Dustin Patrick Winter—also a published speculative fiction writer—to set the tone and inspire you