Magic Reborn: All Mice Die TTRPG Quickstart

Magic Reborn is the Quickstart adventure for the upcoming fantasy-horror TTRPG All Mice Die (crowdfunding Q3 2027, but the rules for this adventure are already done!). Each backer of this project will be invited to participate in the open beta of the full rules in games run by the creators at the end of summer 2026.

Introduction

Venture forth into a world of adventure that treats your characters as nutritious snacks.  This book gives you all the rules and an adventure you can use to jump in and get started forging your legend as a noble mouse house.  Not only do you get a copy of the adventure (Magic Reborn) and all the rules needed to run it when you pledge, but each reward tier includes a seat at the table to play with the creators in an online campaign at the end of summer 2026.

Inspirations

System & Setting

All Mice Die is a horror-fantasy Tabletop Roleplaying Game built to a “West Marches” style of play.  Single sessions of play are linked to community defined objectives.  The system is inspired by the Old School Renaissance (OSR) and focuses on creativity, group play and making sure you have every edge you can before you pick up a die.  

We keep the fantasy close to home, with the real life location of the game’s setting only a few miles from the creator’s house in Kentucky and featuring many local species as creatures in the adventure.

Product Details

The rules and adventure are complete and have been run over a dozen times.  What is left is presentation, layout and art.  The game engine has been playtested for 3 years, with over 250 games played in the last year alone.  The adventure is laid out on convenient 2 page spreads so you know everything you need to run a locale and only need to flip the page when it is time to move on.

The book contains

• 20 pages of rules with examples tailored for new game masters using the included characters
• 28 pages detailing adventure locales, dangerous predators, cunning critters and magical events and challenges.  
• 6 premade characters (Fighter, Guardian, Rogue, Wizard, Druid and Warlord) with simple 1 page character sheets and evocative art
• 10 handouts for players and GMs to quickly reference everything needed for play on both sides of the screen.

Want to know what your seat at the table will look like? You can watch our Actual Play with Shadows of Archonia!

A Seat at the Table

This adventure gets you into the world of All Mice Die and introduces you to the concept of West Marches play in general, but it does not stop there.  Every pledge comes with an invite to play in the online game I run for my patrons.  This means you can play for a month, at a start time of your choosing, and get to see what the game has to offer without having to corral in a bunch of friends. Better yet, if you have a bunch of friends, have them join the campaign with you!

Being a community open to all requires robust rules and safeguards to make sure our space is an open and welcoming one.  All community members must be over the age of 18 and obey all community guidelines.  West Marches play is all about community and a healthy community is one that keeps the toxic elements out.  If you have more questions about our community, please message PermanentDM on Discord.

Meet the Team

Since you will have the opportunity to play with us, it is especially important that the team introduces themselves.

Gary is a game designer and parent of 3 tiny energetic humans.  The best way you can get to know me is by checking out my Youtube Channel where I talk about concepts in TTRPGs from the perspective of making it easier for people to get behind the screen and running games.

Corinne is a graphic designer with a keen eye for vivid color and a passion for interactive media. Her layout design for the book and the app will be clear, concise, and cohesive—focusing on usability at table and harmony with traditional or digital play. 

Ticia is a software developer for UPS, artist, and former chemist who is developing our West Marches Web App.  She is focusing on making sure the app is usable - not only device agnostic but system agnostic.

Amber is a Videographer/ Editor /Graphics Designer by day, vigilante by night. Part-Time Dungeon Master, and lover of all things nerdy.

Sam is our Project Manager.  From theme parks to hospitals she makes sure everyone has what they need when they need it. A lover of sharp wit and sweet treats, she is here with carrots and sticks to keep us on track.

Other contributors for the project:

Steph has done our class art and is going to be working on our interior accenting art. 

Foxy is working on the user experience for the website, app and discord and helping with community management.

Kris is an attorney and member of the Georgia bar; with 9 years of experience practicing in the fields of business law, intellectual property law, land development, government procurement, and international development aid. He taught English in Japan for 3 years, he was a diplomat for the US Government for 3 years, and a YMCA camp counselor for 7 years. A TTRPG Enthusiast and that helped brainstorm the underlying mechanics for All Mice Die and consulted on the finer points of the business start-up process.

Jessy Cabrera is one of the artists for All Mice Die. He's been a convention artist for a couple of years, and trying to work his way into the tabletop gaming market. His favorite artists are Paul Bonner, Jesper Eijsing, and Frank Frazetta. He takes a lot of inspiration from things like Magic the Gathering, Dungeons and Dragons, and Lord of the Rings. 

"I was really drawn in by the idea of All Mice Die and am very happy to be working with Gary on this game. I can’t wait for everyone to see the cool things we’re working on."

Become Iconic

When you open the rules to Wizard, you don't just see a random wizard, you see Harland, the Iconic Wizard from the playtest.  Fighter, Druid, Warlord and Wizard all had iconic characters from the playtest, but nobody became the Iconic Rogue or Iconic Guardian.  If you want your character to be what someone sees when they open the book to Rogue or Guardian, you can choose to Become Iconic.  For more details check the Become Iconic reward tiers.

No generative AI tools were used in any part of this product.  We are committed to working with real artists and designers.  Paying those humans for the awesome work they do is where the money from Kickstarter goes.

All stretch goals will be included for free to any backers in the Digital Tier or higher.  Both of our stretch goals are designed to make the game easier to interact with and let us share this project with more people.  We are keeping the stretch goals at a minimum for this project so we can make sure we can quickly and efficiently bring you the product and not bite off more than we can chew.

Stretch Goals

Why Kickstarter?

We want to get people into the action as soon as possible and the best way to do that is to present it with awesome art and snappy layout.  Both of which take money to bring to the table.  I’ve put thousands of dollars of my own money into the project and a successful Kickstarter lets me justify spending thousands more to bring the full game to life after the online campaign concludes in 2027.

Shipping

Shipping on the physical product will be collected separately after the campaign is over.  If I can skip that part of the process and hand you the book in person, we can arrange to meet if you are local to Louisville Kentucky or you can say hi at one of the six conventions the team will be attending over the next year including Gencon and PaxU.  The book is pretty lightweight, but we are going to wrap each copy tightly in an attempt to make sure as many as possible arrive in pristine condition.  We expect domestic shipping within the US to be between $10 and $20 with international shipping to be significantly more.  Our product is being printed locally, so that should cut down on one of the biggest delays and risk factors when getting new product to people in a timely fashion.

Timeline

The goal with this timeline is to give estimates on when we believe we can have this product in your hands.  If we can get it done sooner, we will get it to you sooner.  If it takes longer, you will get updates from us along the way explaining what is going on.  We believe in a strong open community and our backers are also our players at the table.  If we don’t communicate and manage expectations, the game, the community and playing at the table just do not work.

• June 2026 - All backers receive a copy of the rules in a simple text-only format.
• July 2026 - Character creation, event registration and campaign discord opens to organize for the online campaign.
• August 2026 - Digital backers receive their full copy of the rules.
• Early September 2026 - All Mice Die, Age of the Oak, online campaign begins
• Late September 2026 - Physical copies arrive to be fulfilled by us and sent to backers

Interviews

https://gmshoe.wordpress.com/2026/05/04/qa-gary-mattingly-all-mice-die/