THE BAD BOOK

The ol’ granddads destroyed the world. We forgot most of their ways but bits and pieces got passed down through the years. We rebuilt the world in a simpler way, when folks used wood and iron, before plas-tech ruined everything. Most folks keep to a pretty simple way of life, because we know that old tech brought nothin’ but ruin. We call this land the Old States, but there ain’t no states, just a few carved-out territories. Most of the land is wild, and everything in it is out to eat ya. Best to find a safe hole to squat in and keep your head down before the next duster rolls in…

DUSTER is a tabletop role-playing game of post-apocalyptic gaspunk adventures in the new west. The game features streamlined gameplay that is easy and quick to learn, paired with an inventive combat system that makes every round engaging and exciting. For the full sell on the core game, visit our previous Kickstarter page. 

ALL BACKERS AT ANY PLEDGE LEVEL WILL RECEIVE THE DUSTER CORE GAME PDF!

THE BAD BOOK contains three new DUSTER expansions, collected together in a new hardcover book and PDF. 

•BAD BLOOD: A terrifying new curse turns humans into crazed killers. Can you find the cure (or escape) in time?

•OLD TIME RELIGION: Most folks stopped believing in god a long, long time ago. But now religions are creeping back into the Old States. Will you help them flourish, or stamp them out once and for all?

•HELL FROZEN OVER: Venture far north of the ice fields into a more hostile wilderness that lethally punishes poor planning and rewards exploration with horrible new creatures.

***You will need the core rules to play these expansions, which is why we are including the core game PDF with any pledge level.***

In addition to this new hardcover book we are also offering the current edition of the core game as a soft case book with new spot UV cover.

“Tales are making the rounds of folks going out of their minds, attacking people for no reason, and nothing will stop them. It seems they’ve been infected by something… something nobody’s seen before. Even worse, these infected folks are spreading rapidly and traveling in large groups. If you see a dust stain on the horizon, best to turn and run the other way.” 

BAD BLOOD is a new expansion that takes place in the southwest of the Old States. It features a new adventure with strong horror/thriller tones.

•2 new player specialties! The wily and deceptive Greaseguts hides in plain sight and seems to wear a new face in every town. The Scrapwit can turn trash into dangerous but unpredictable projectiles. Use your inventions for area control in combat, but remember, there’s always a risk they could be a dud. 

•7 new talents! Expand your character with talents such as Sheriff, which lets you create the three laws you live by and buffs you if you follow them. There are also dynamic new witchery talents like Sixgun Witch that lets you curse bullets for a variety of chaotic effects. 

•New gambling game! We created a new game called Tumble Cup which essentially converts the fun of poker into a dice game full of bluffing and big bets. Tumble Cup is so fun you can play it outside of DUSTER entirely. 

•New spanning time mechanic! Let a chunk of time go by as your characters accomplish something like building influence in a community, developing personal relationships, or just wandering around a bit looking for trouble. You can also use this time to change your character’s specialty. 

•Knife showdowns! Quick draws aren’t just for guns anymore. Characters skilled in blades can call somebody out into the street to settle their business.

•New horse type. We added a new gentle, broken type of horse to the game for more flexibility in getting around. Gentle horses are easier to ride but will accept any rider, so be mindful of where you tie ‘er up! 

•New enemy horde mechanic! Want to attack your players with a terrifying number of enemies but don’t want to turn it into a nightmare slog of turns and unit tracking? The new horde rules capture all the panic and terror of being swarmed by many enemies but if anything the combat is faster than ever. 

•New stories, locations and characters! Expand your DUSTER game world with new lore, including a high stakes Tumble Cup tournament for gamblers with loot to lose.

“They say in The Lost Age one of the first things folks forgot was their gods. It was a time so dark and awful that anything that gave any hope withered and died out. ‘Cept it didn’t. A lot of those gods was just hidden away, kept secret and passed around real sly. Now folks who call themselves Preachers are roamin’ around spreading all sorts of nonsense. And I guess to answer them there are folks called Heretics who want to snuff out the gods once and for all. Maybe you don’t care either way, friend, but if you see a Preacher and a Heretic in the same town, get ready for trouble.”

OLD TIME RELIGION is an expansion centered around the rise of new religions in the Old States. In addition to a ton of wild and weird religions it introduces new social combat mechanics to add depth to your characters.

•2 new player specialties! Play as a Preacher and spread the word of your chosen religion. As with any specialty in DUSTER, you can customize your character in any direction. Are you a Preacher who teaches with patience and kindness, or the sort to kick in doors, guns blazing? Or maybe you’re a Preacher who’s as handy with a wrench as they are with their words. In stark contrast to the Preacher you can choose to play as a Heretic, doomed or destined to crush any religion you come across. Both of these new specialties use a new conviction mechanic that provides the character with buffs based on the work they put into influencing the beliefs of those around them. 

•5+ new talents and 1 new gift! New social combat talents let your character fight without getting their hands dirty. We also added a new gift for the Rambler specialty that lets you interact with these new religious types. Plus a new secret talent that will radically change how players think of radiation exposure...

•New Teke talent and Shades! Use the new Teke talent Conductor to talk with Shades, which are invisible entities that claim to be hundreds of years old. Players can choose to be possessed by Shades, gaining temporary changes to their stats. 

•16 unique religions! We collaborated with some great folks and created a bunch of new religions that range from something you might find in our world today to the utterly strange and even dangerous. Sear your eyes worshipping the Sun, or follow an immortal, irradiated boy even as you die in his presence.

•New lore spanning coast to coast! We have added new quests, locations and characters across the map. New adventure hooks can lead players east or west out of the Wasted Plains.

“The north is a tough place. I thought life was hard down south, and sure, it has its own nasty business here and there. But up here, just taking a wrong turn is liable to be your last mistake. If the cold doesn’t get you, there’s plenty of animals or skegs that will finish the job for ya. The north has its own secrets, too. Forests that seem like nobody ever walked them, and some forests nobody ever walks out of. Be careful up here, pardner, and pack right.”

HELL FROZEN OVER is an expansion that takes players to the far North, what we currently know as Canada and Alaska. It’s an atmosphere of hardcore survival where simply being outside in the cold can sap your life away.

•2 new player specialties! Characters can play as a Beaut, a powerhouse outdoor survival type who might be more resilient to injury. You can also play as an ‘Ermit, a reclusive, esoteric type who prefers the company of critters. The ‘Ermit is also a new type of Witchlike (magic user) that adds depth to the magic systems of the game.

•7 new talents! Increase your chances of survival with the Cast Iron talent that lets you fall farther, wrestle beasts and use broken limbs. There are also more witchery talents to explore such as Tundara, which lets you wield the cold as a deadly weapon. 

•Updated character creation roll tables! We updated the starting inventory roll tables for characters built up north. The north uses a slightly different economy of trading, and these updates reflect that.

•New cold risks! We updated the cold damage system to include frostbite, shiver madness, and deadly flash freezes that are lethal to the poorly prepared. Bandits are more likely to steal your nice coat and gloves than they are the bolts in your bag.

•Dogsleds! There’s really only one way to get around up north and that’s via dogsleds. There are even organized races and risky runs to make deliveries through dangerous territory.

•New dogs! There are dogs in the core game but we added northern dogs, with unique stats for working on a sled team. Northern dogs aren’t pets, they want to work. A quality northern dog is more valuable than any horse down in the south.

•New weather system! The GM can use a deck of regular playing cards to generate the day’s unpredictable weather. Using this system, nobody, not even the GM knows what danger the next day could bring…

•New fast travel system! If the players want to travel a great distance quickly they now can— but it comes with its own significant risks. 

•New witchery system! Use a skull locus or weave locus with rocks and crystals to implement low-key character-created folk magic. 

•Tons to explore! Turns out, Canada and Alaska are HUGE. We added new locations, characters, stories and terrible new monstrous beasts from coast to coast. This expansion adds a serious amount of lore to the game.

These three expansions offer a massive amount of content for players and GMs to enjoy. We’ve collaborated with others more than ever before to create a wealth of new lore for players to discover.

You can add the softcover version of the core game at any time until your pledge is finalized in the pledge manager. 

Add a Fate coin. One of the most fun rolls in a game of DUSTER are Fate rolls, which are essentially a coin flip. Now you can make them a literal coin flip with this very cool etched metal coin.

We are bringing back our favorite DUSTER artists Jay Reynolds and Will Pottorff, who brought the core game to life, and adding Angeline Babcock to the team! 

In addition to our fantastic artists we are collaborating... Everything in our games is created by humans, we don’t use gen-AI for any writing or art. 

These expansions are years in the making and we are very excited to share them with you. We usually only print hardcover editions on our first run, so this is your chance to get the book in this format.