Ashes of the Unnamed Gods: A Game of Relics and Ruin

WHY WE ARE MAKING ASHES OF THE UNNAMED GODS

There are some games you design because you have an idea. There are others that you spend years thinking about. And then there are the ones that somehow follow you for most of your life.

Ashes of the Unnamed Gods is one of those games.

We have been roleplaying since we were nine and ten years old. We are now in our late forties and mid-thirties.

That means we have been rolling dice, creating characters, telling stories and exploring imaginary worlds for a combined 65 years.

Over that time, we have played an enormous number of games, explored countless settings and borrowed inspiration from more sources than we could possibly name. We have learned what makes a great adventure, what makes a memorable character, what makes a world feel alive and, perhaps just as importantly, what can make a game frustrating or unnecessarily complicated.

But somewhere amongst all of that, there was always Seyloth. The world existed in fragments. Ideas scribbled down decades ago.

Characters.

Cultures.

Maps.

Ancient histories.

Strange creatures.

Half-remembered stories.

Ideas that were changed, abandoned, rediscovered and changed again. It was simply a world we kept returning to.

The stories became more coherent. The peoples of the world developed their own histories, cultures and conflicts. The rules changed repeatedly as we learned more about what we wanted from a roleplaying game. Eventually, the fragments became something much larger and we realised that we could finally make it real.

A WORLD BUILT FROM A LIFETIME OF ROLEPLAYING

Ashes of the Unnamed Gods draws inspiration from the fantasy games, books, myths and stories that have accompanied us throughout our lives. But it is not intended to recreate any of them.

We wanted to create a world where fantasy cultures had histories that actually mattered.

Where the different peoples of the world had reasons to distrust one another, cooperate with one another, trade with one another and occasionally go to war. Where ancient ruins were not simply places to find treasure, but remnants of events that shaped the world.

Where magic was powerful because it was unusual.

Where a character's heritage could influence their identity without becoming a collection of bonuses to optimise, and where adventurers could uncover something that had been forgotten for centuries and genuinely change the world around them.

At the centre of it all are the Unnamed Gods. They were not gods who created the world to rule over it. They were beings who drifted through eternity until eternity was no longer enough. In their hubris, they created a world upon which they could finally have substance.

They shaped mountains. They gathered seas. They created life. And eventually, they chose mortality. The consequences of that decision are still being felt.

WHY CROWDFUND IT?

This campaign is deliberately modest. We are not trying to turn Ashes of the Unnamed Gods into a huge commercial enterprise. We are not expecting to make a fortune from it.

The game already exists because we wanted to make it. The rules are written. The setting is written. The adventures are written. The artwork is being created. What we are looking for now is a little breathing room.

Anyone who has ever tried to produce something physical knows that life has a habit of finding unexpected ways to make things more complicated. Printing costs change. Packaging costs change. Shipping costs change. Something breaks. Something needs replacing. An unexpected bill appears at precisely the wrong moment. Life loves throwing curveballs.

So rather than trying to build a campaign around enormous stretch goals, endless merchandise or rewards that we cannot realistically fulfil, we want to keep things simple.

The campaign gives us a small buffer. Enough to absorb some of those unexpected costs.

Enough to help us produce the book to the standard we want, and enough to know that the people who have chosen to support this project are helping us bring something that has been part of our lives for thirty-five years into the hands of other players.

AND THAT IS WHAT MATTERS TO US

We don't want Ashes of the Unnamed Gods to be something that simply sits on a shelf. We want people to play it. We want someone to spend an evening arguing with their friends about which character should open the suspicious ancient door. We want someone to discover a favourite character amongst the peoples of Seyloth. We want Storytellers to take the adventures we've written and change them. We want players to create stories that we never anticipated. We want someone, years from now, to tell us about the campaign their group played.

Because that is why we have been roleplaying for thirty-five years. Not because of the dice. Not because of the books. Not even because of the rules. Because of the stories.

FROM OUR TABLE TO YOURS

Ashes of the Unnamed Gods has taken a very long time to arrive. Now we finally have the opportunity to share it.

If you choose to support the campaign, thank you.

Whether you pledge enough for a copy of the game, choose one of the artwork rewards, or simply share the campaign with somebody who might enjoy it, you are helping us take something that began when we were twelve years old and give it a life beyond our own gaming table.

The Unnamed Gods created a world because eternity was not enough.

After thirty-five years of imagining, playing and creating, we think it is finally time for us to let ours out into the world.

Welcome to Seyloth.

Welcome to Ashes of the Unnamed Gods.

Free quick play rules can be found here: https://atru.co.uk/ashes-of-the-unnamed-gods