Ex Tenebris: A star-spanning gothic investigation TTRPG

Beyond the dark emptiness of space, beyond dreaming, lies the Tenebrium. Only you can unearth its shadowy mysteries, defeat the twisted terrors that lurk there, and keep humanity from becoming prey.

You play a team of investigators, protecting the Republic of Stars from terrifying supernatural threats. You might be a living relic, a sorcerous thanaturge or a fallen detective.

You hunt down horrors in towering hive cities, cathedral-like spaceships and decaying space stations. You fight sorcerers and cults, dark technology from lost civilisations and the slobbering terrors lurking in the nightmare realm of the Tenebrium.

You have few resources and no backup.  Your enemies are numerous and dangerous. And in this job, it’s not just your life, but your very soul on the line.

You alone stand between the people of the republic and the horrors that thirst for their souls. Will you answer the call?

Ex Tenebris is a complete TTRPG containing all the rules, setting and scenarios that you need to embark on adventures amongst the stars.

Guardians against the darkness

You are the Guardians of Moira, a hard-pressed government agency protecting the people of the Republic of Stars. There are 11 archetypes available to play, including:

• The Thanaturge, a sanctioned sorcerer wielding dark forces for good; 
• The Tarnished Badge, an ex-cop, combing the streets for clues;
• The Fallen Angel, a power armoured warrior, armed and ready to combat dread monsters; 
• The Shadow Walker, an augmented spy and manipulator;
• The Relic, an ancient war machine awoken to serve; or 
• The Resurrected, a savant detective brought back from the grave. 

You travel the stars through an ancient extradimensional labyrinth. You hunt down bloodthirsty demons, malevolent undead, dark alien technology, power hungry sorcerers and feral cults.

A star-spanning setting

The Republic of Stars is a young and fragile alliance of planets, beset by enemies. It is a place of towering hive cities, serene agriworlds, asteroid mining colonies, and myriad alien species. 

Its planets are home to countless busy workers, street dealers hustling to get by and spaceborn who live whole lives never setting foot planetside, all ruled by the ruthless nobles of the six Houses.

Cathedral-like ships ply the dark spaces of the Tenebrium, connecting the Republic's planets, protected from the monsters of the void by a blend of science and sorcery.

Ex Tenebris takes inspiration from the grotesque imagery of the Aliens movies, the existential dread of Event Horizon, the mysticism of Dune, the dark gothic setting of Warhammer 40,000, and the weird science/magic fusion of Ninefox Gambit.

How Ex Tenebris plays

Ex Tenebris is an investigation-based game with elements of horror and heroism. You gather clues to solve an occult mystery, ending in a climactic boss fight. 

It uses the brand new Spawned from the Tenebrium system. This builds on games like Brindlewood Bay, Apocalypse Keys and our own award-winning Lovecraftesque but takes the gameplay to a new level. 

Ex Tenebris gives you scenarios that provide everything you need to run the game, from inspiring locations and NPCs to sinister threats and clues. 

The players and GM unravel the mystery together, with the dice determining whose ideas prevail and set the direction for the story. Very little prep is required to run the game.

To resolve challenges you roll 2d10 and add an Action Rating from 1-3. On a 10+ you succeed at what you're doing, and on a 15+ you avoid complications. On a 9 or less, there's a mishap which complicates the situation. Whatever you roll the story moves forward.

Rolled badly? Not a problem. Your characters can bump their rolls up after the dice hit the table, in exchange for filling up their Shadow track. But watch out - when the track is full you gain sinister shadow advances, initially strengthening your character but eventually driving towards terrible tragedy or permanent corruption.

There is plenty of support for rich and satisfying campaign play. Alongside unlocking individual and team advances, you'll uncover sinister conspiracies that unfold over many sessions of play.

Two gorgeous books - and a slipcase set

We are creating two stunning books, beautifully illustrated throughout by the outstanding Juan Ochoa, with professional layout by Nathan Paoletta. Both will be high-quality smyth sewn litho-printed hardcover books, US letter size, roughly 200-250 pages long.

The Core Rulebook contains everything you need to play the game: the setting, rules, and several playable scenarios, and you get the PDF version of BOTH the core rulebook and the campaign book.

The Campaign Book contains additional setting details, a plethora of additional scenarios and extra campaign material to expand your play experience.

The Slipcase Set is a fancy foiled slipcase containing both books, plus an accompanying campaign map by Jog Brogzin.

The Tomes Of Bronze slipcase set adds foiling, spot UV and two marker ribbons to both books, and comes with the campaign map, a special Ex Tenebris bookmark and a letter from Moira commissioning you as a Guardian, signed by the designer, plus you get your name listed in the book credits.

The PDF versions of both books will be fulfilled through DrivethruRPG.

Preview the game

Join us for the Ex Tenebris launch livestream, where we will be playing and talking about the game: 

You can also listen to us play Ex Tenebris on the Black Armada Tales AP podcast. You can find it on Spotify, apple podcasts, castbox, pocket casts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

You can get a FREE quickstart version of Ex Tenebris, which contains the core of the rules, enough setting to get started with, and the fully playable scenario Too Greedily And Too Deep.

Testimonials

"Ex Tenebris is a delicious blend of sci-fi and gothic horror. In addition to a killer grimdark setting, the game manages the seemingly impossible: combining easy-to-use, narrative-forward mechanics with tactical complexity where it matters, all while pushing emergent mystery storytelling in a new direction with maybe the coolest approach I've seen yet." – Jex Thomas, designer of Bump in the Dark. https://jexjthomas.itch.io/

"I loved playing Ex Tenebris, stepping into a space adventure of epic, gothic-detective proportions! Hard recommend this to all my grimdark buddies and those who want to live out a life in the Warhammer-esque universe without being a Space Marine!" – Mira Manga, Author, Writer, Editor and Grimdark Unicorn. https://www.youtube.com/user/miramanga

"Ex Tenebris provides its players with a space-horror mirror of the present, re-framing what's happening around them via satisfying mysteries. It is a most relevant speculative-fiction game for us all, tightly crafted and dark-gothic to the core." – Dr. Evan Torner, co-founder of Analog Game Studies and the Golden Cobra Challenge. https://guyintheblackhat.com

"Becky and Josh are powerhouses of British gaming. I'm excited about Ex Tenebris and I'm looking forward to exploring gothic space" – Graham Walmsley, Game designer, Cthulhu Dark and Cosmic Dark. http://thievesoftime.com/

Rewards

The team

We're delighted to be working with an amazing international team of artists and writers for this project.

Josh Fox (he/him) is the award-winning designer of Lovecraftesque, Last Fleet, Flotsam: Adrift Amongst The Stars and countless smaller games. He is also the business end of Black Armada Games and editor and cast member on the Black Armada Tales AP podcast. Josh loves space, horror and space horror especially the most.

Website: http://blackarmada.com/

Bluesky: @armadajosh

Becky Annison (she/her) is an award-winning game designer of Lovecraftesque and Wreck This Deck and the other half of Black Armada Games. She is a part of the core team for the project contributing numerous scenarios including the campaign length mystery The Veil Thins, exploring who or what seeks to tear away the thin protection between our world and the Tenebrium. 

Website: http://blackarmada.com/

Bluesky: @beckyannison

Juan Ochoa is a straight-dealing, smooth-lined, grit-teethed artist, twainsplit mirror-master-magician-carouser-cavorter, and noted wizard, with knowledge bilingual, exotic, and esoteric, who theoretically does most of his thinking in Español. 
Find his stuff at www.juanochoa.co

Nathan D. Paoletta is an independent game designer, graphic artist and small press publisher. In addition to making games and helping other creators make their games, he's one of the Provosts of the Unwritten Earths Symposium, where he talks about game design. Games... are good!

Andriy Lukin is a logo designer and a comic book creator from Sumy, Ukraine. His logo designs were featured in various TTRPGs, videogames like Friends vs Friends and Dice Legends and comics published by Image Comics, Mad Cave Studios, Shonen Jump+ among others.
Site: andriylukin.com 
Bluesky: @andriylukin.bsky.social

Jog Brogzin is a fantasy artist and mapmaker from Dublin. When his pen touches paper, I become an intrepid explorer of worlds. His clients include RPG publishers, boardgame designers, fantasy authors and folks who just want a map of their world created.

http://jogbrogzin.com

Chirag Asnani is a ttrpg writer, streamer and screenwriter. He co-founded Desis & Dragons, the largest online ttrpg community in India. When he's not running games by the seat of his pants, you can find him doing improv or playing TCGs.

Chirag's scenario is Race the Red Mantle
"It's the most dangerous show in space, as former T-drive pilots race each other in low gravity, ducking in and out of the Tenebrium. But when a plucky team of underdogs starts getting picked off one to one, it's up to the Guardians to uncover the truth of the Red Mantle."

https://chiragasnani.carrd.co/

Bluesky: @chiragasnani.bsky.social

Sarah Doom (she/her) is an award-winning tabletop role-playing game designer, writer, layout artist, and visual artist. Her work includes Bluebeard's Bride, In the Pines, and Velvet Glove.

Sarah's scenario:
"There is a pitch black cathedral created on a scale beyond humanity, vibrating with dark tones and dirges. Come and find the lost son waiting in this ossuary, for his time is come. This is a religion of bones and fathers and sons, in the dark. Can you find him? Should you?"

See her work at: www.scorcha.net
Support her work at: www.patreon.com/sarahdoom

Eleanor Hingley (she/they) has written for Doctor Who: The RPG, Spire, Heart, Hollows, Aegean, Wrath & Glory, and Diablo: The RPG. She is the social media manager for the UK Tabletop Industry Network and you can find her independently-published TTRPGs here: https://magpie-elle.itch.io/

Eleanor's scenario:
"When a team of Moira agents pursue a demonically-possessed killer into a sunken tower block in Motherlode City, they have no idea what to expect. Divided by a brutal gang war, Zenith Tower is haunted by past tragedies...and by something sealed in the basement a long, long time ago."

Kieron Gillen is a writer and game designer, apparently. He's co-created comics such as The Wicked + the Divine, DIE, The Power Fantasy, Once & Future and more. His work for Marvel includes all the characters you've heard of and quite a few you haven't. As a game designer, he's best known for DIE RPG, from Rowan Rook & Decard.

Kieron's scenario:
"Sacrifice explores Hobarth's Moon, where decades of good harvests are starting to fail, against a backdrop of social unrest, and everyone is taking steps down into the abyss together. It is the logical collision between The Wicker Man and Dark Star."

https://buttondown.email/KieronGillen/

Yoon Ha Lee is a Korean-American sf/f writer. Yoon’s novel NINEFOX GAMBIT won the Locus Award for best first novel, and was a finalist for the Nebula, Hugo, and Clarke awards.His TTRPG Ninefox Gambit RPG, co-authored with Marie Brennan, was a Nebula finalist in game writing. He lives in Louisiana with his family and has not yet been eaten by alto clefs.

Yoon's scenario is Unwoven:
"Haute couture, unhinged parties, and murders spreading through dark rituals combining the textile arts with eldritch forces. A great opportunity for overworked, underdressed paranormal investigators."

http://yoonhalee.com

Tejas is the Creative Lead for Bludgeon - A d20 system that marries crunchy, asynchronous rules with pop-culture inspired Indian fantasy!

Tejas was a finalist for the Diana Jones Emerging Designer in '25.

Tejas's scenario is Ctrl+Alt+Del:
"What Corp. doesn't love a good wage slave? What they don't like are dead ones.

A spate of Tech-Worker deaths has caught Moira's attention. The sole commonality between the deaths: Each was a top performers; prime candidates for promotion that knew how to 'play the game'."

Bludgeon is available here: https://tacticsnchai.itch.io/bludgeon-the-ttrpg

An illustrator and occasional designer of TTRPG’s, Galen has contributed artwork for games such as Slugblaster, HUNT, DUSK, Midnight Muscadines, Substratum Protocol and Stoneburner. His own works include The Facility and the upcoming space age fantasy, Solarcrawl. 

Galen's scenario is The Ghost Ship:

"Austurcus is a word known throughout Human Space, the legendary dreadnought from the early days of the Terran Empire was at the forefront of every campaign in that ruthless polity’s consolidation of power, and then.. It disappeared. The legend lived on though, with every generation depositing another wild-eyed spacer, babbling stories of the famed ghost ship of the Tenebrium.

One week ago, the Austurcus emerged from the dark, four days ago, still images of the ship were confirmed by Moira to be genuine, and yesterday, your team emerged from the Labyrinth upon the nearest moon to the infamous vessel’s last known location.

What mysteries await your team on that dark memory?"

You can find more at: https://nightjargames.itch.io/ 

and see the art happen in real time at: https://bsky.app/profile/nightjargames.bsky.social

Stretch goals?

We have focused all our energy on producing the best possible version of Ex Tenebris. All of our additional writers are on board from day one, and our art budget is ambitious. As such, this is a no stretch goal project. You're getting the stretch version of the game, right away.

Shipping, tariffs and taxes

Shipping, tax and tariffs is a fraught subject and it can get kind of technical, but here's what we're doing about it:

1. US Tariffs: We are not expecting that Ex Tenebris will attract any US tariffs, because printed matter is exempt. We will be sending a large block of stock to our partners in the US to distribute locally, meaning that it won't be caught by the new $80 charges for small packages. Of course tariff policy is currently rapidly changing (see "risks and challenges").
2. EU taxes: We will charge EU taxes after the campaign, and the product will be sent to you with duties already paid, meaning you won't be charged anything upon receipt.
3. Shipping: We don't make any profit on shipping the product to you. We charge shipping when we're ready to fulfil, so that the rate is fair and accurate. Our current estimate of shipping charges is below.

* Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden.

** Excludes Cyprus, Malta and Turkey.