Worlds To Come

Worlds To Come is the first and only roleplaying game where you learn Hebrew as you play! The Roman Empire has destroyed your people's sacred Temple. Take on the role of powerful Miracle Workers, chosen to repair the world the Romans shattered.

Act on your guiding truth to receive visions that reveal the secrets of Hebrew, the Holy Tongue, and increase your powers. In return, anything you pray for in Hebrew miraculously comes to pass.

But beware—you are not the one who interprets your prayers. Demons seek to twist your words, while angels rise to defend your intentions.

The more you learn of your gifts, the greater you shall grow. Master the Holy Tongue, stay true to the words that guide you, and speak into being the World to Come!

Miracle Workers

Everyone prays. Your prayers actually work.

As a miracle worker, when you call for aid, your words ascend to the heavens, where supernal beings debate their meaning. Angels seek to grant your true intentions, while demons argue for twisted interpretations and nefarious ends.

Good or ill hinge upon your ability to defend the truths you believe in.

Use your miracles to soften the hearts of all who suffer under the Exile. Some people you may meet in your travels:

• Tataba, an elderly medicine woman put out of work by newfangled Greek doctors, who believes that non-Greek medicine is all bogus.
• Yonas ben haSagan, a Judean refugee with a bounty on his head, who believes that the Romans are the enemies of God.
• Magistrate Andromeda Silena, a depressed Roman judge who decides all her cases arbitrarily because the material world is a hopeless mess.
• Champion the Goat, a prideful animal who thinks, "I am a sacrifice fit for God's Altar."

With your prayers, you can rewrite the true words that guide them. Change those words, change their minds, and bend the arc of history towards the World to Come.

Angels and Demons

The fate of the world depends on your ability to communicate your wishes to guardian angels and to defend your meaning against deceitful demons. Will you use your miraculous powers responsibly, or will you allow yourself to become a tool for chaos?

Worlds To Come features 6 angels and 3 demons:

Angels

• Refa'el, the angel of healing
• Gavri'el, the angel of might
• Uri'el, the angel of light
• Micha'el, the Prince of Israel
• Malachei haSharet, the twins of providence
• Metatron, the Godlike scribe

Demons

• Ashmedai, King of the Demons, who loves to lie
• Lilit, the first woman, who loves to abuse unintended meanings
• The Accuser, our heavenly prosecutor, who loves to pick at errors

The Deck of Creation

Worlds To Come is a game of words and truths. As you play, reveal cards from the Deck of Creation containing mystical secrets and ancient words of power. Use these words to craft the prayers that you speak to work miracles.

You will learn to invoke the Holy Tongue, known to the broader world as classical Hebrew and Aramaic. It is, in the game as in real life, the sacred language of Jewish tradition.

Begin with the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet; discover their deeper meanings as described in the actual ancient text called the Sefer Yetzirah, the Book of Creation. Advance to vocabulary and grammar. As you learn to express your prayers more clearly, the demons that seek to twist your words will have less power to bring woe to the world.

The Deck of Creation is an oracle deck containing everything you need to start learning the Holy Tongue from scratch:

• 22 cards describing the Hebrew letters, their sounds, and their Kabbalistic powers
• 56 cards with foundational vocabulary and grammar

You don’t have to advance your mastery of the Holy Tongue beyond the mystical letters to play. But with demons thirsting for gaps in your meaning, you will surely want to learn as much as you can against them.

Roman-Occupied Land of Israel

Worlds To Come is a set in a fantasy world loosely between the Destruction of the Second Temple in 70CE and the Bar Kokhba Rebellion in 132–135CE. It is the world imagined by the Talmud, where magic, miracles, angels, and demons are just as real as Roman persecution. The center of Judaism, the Jerusalem Temple, is in ruins, and the story that binds the Jews together, the Torah, seems proven wrong. As worlds clash, fray, and fracture, the Miracle Workers strive to speak true words that change people’s hearts. 

It is also a world very different from the Talmud’s. Worlds To Come uses history and Jewish textual tradition as inspirations, not demands for historical accuracy. The game does not care about any kind of gender-based oppression that the players at the table aren't interested in exploring. Identity and religion are major themes of the game. The book contains a historically inspired diversity of peoples and practices in the ancient Land of Israel, including:

• Rabbis who claim authority over the Torah
• Romans who wield military power and cultural influence
• Hellenized Jews who seek their fortunes in the new Roman world
• Priests who invoke the ancient rites and privileges of their lineage
• Proto-Christians, an offshoot of the rabbinic faction with a populist message of deliverance
• Nabateans who control the eastern trade routes independent of Rome
• Diaspora Jews who use their wealth to gain influence in the Land

How To Work a Miracle

The drama of a miracle is not resolved through luck or fate. A precisely uttered word, an insightful reading of a person's heart—these are what the future hinges on.

Worlds To Come uses a unique diceless resolution mechanic. Its "magic" system—miracle working—determines success not through random rolls or combat but through debate with angels and demons. The core of every miracle is a Hebrew prayer; anything that you desire can come to pass, as long as you can say it in the Holy Tongue. Its effect will be an interpretation of that prayer. Other players, as angels, argue for interpretations that favor you. Demons advocate for their own twisted readings. At the end of the argument, any interpretation left standing comes to pass.

Here's an example:

• A miracle worker invokes the letter ש Shin, explaining, "O Creator, with this letter's motherly power over the head, please send this cruel Roman general a vision of her mother's last wishes to soften her heart!" 
• The Accuser challenges: "May it please the Heavenly Court. It must be noted that the letter Shin also rules over fire. This miracle will indeed show the general a motherly vision, but it will only inflame her to greater cruelty. Shin alone cannot soften the heart." 
• The angel Metatron arises to fight back: "Vile Accuser! Can fire not warm as well as burn? The pure intentions of this prayer are clear—a heartwarming vision of motherly love fits the powers of Shin perfectly." And so it comes to pass.

Who Can Play

Who can play? You, miracle worker!

Worlds To Come is a Jewish game for all who want to play it. The game does not require any prior knowledge of Hebrew, Judaism, or Jewish history. The book contains detailed descriptions of the setting, ancient Jewish and Roman culture, two starter adventures, and enough Hebrew to last you a good long while.

Worlds To Come assumes the Miracle Workers have definite, if complex, insider relationships with Judaism. Debates over what Judaism was raged after the Destruction. Characters are designed to have differing takes on why and how Judaism should exist in a post-Temple world. Jewish and non-Jewish players alike will have the most fun with this game if they know why they want to play a Jewish game before sitting down at the table.

For players who are Jewish, I hope you find encouragement or unsettlement as needed from a game that portrays Judaism as always having been a complicated web of practice, peoplehood, and power.

Learning Hebrew

Worlds To Come is the first and only roleplaying game where you learn Hebrew as you play.

• Made with beginners in mind. The Deck of Creation that will ship with this printing contains everything you need to learn how to read Hebrew and start speaking. Blank cards and a dictionary let you advance your mastery of the Holy Tongue even further.
• Zero knowledge required. Begin at the beginning, with the aleph-bet. Learn the 22 letters and how to read Hebrew with the Deck of Creation.
• Start speaking. As soon as you know enough letters, you can draw cards that teach you new vocabulary and grammar.
• Go all the way. Worlds To Come supports Hebrew speakers at all levels, from absolute beginner to advanced Aramaic scholar.

Worlds To Come has been tested with players aged 12 and up. Worlds To Come has facilitated learning in Hebrew classrooms, in synagogues, at special events, and in casual play. The game's designer, Lexi Kohanski, is an award-winning Jewish educator with a combined decade of experience in language acquisition and Torah education.

Contained Within

You play Worlds To Come with a book, a deck, and your imagination. When you make a pledge for a reward tier, you'll get:

• A digest-size rulebook that covers how to play Worlds To Come.
• The Deck of Creation, an oracle deck of Hebrew knowledge and Kabbalistic mysteries.

Contained within Worlds To Come, you will find:

• The only roleplaying system built to learn classical Hebrew and Aramaic
• Rules for battling with angels and demons over the interpretations of prayers
• A fantasy world inspired by the Torah, Talmud, and the historical time period from 70–135CE in Jewish history
• The Deck of Creation. A full-color oracle deck of 78 cards containing mysteries of the Holy Tongue, Hebrew. Also stands alone as a Kabbalistic divination deck.
• Original art by trans comix artist and Judaism Unbound cohost Rena Yehuda Newman
• Two starter adventures complete with settings, NPCs, and builds for the Deck of Creation that function as a mini Hebrew curriculum

Add-Ons

• A sticker pack of game art, featuring angels, demons and more in Rena Yehuda's iconic Jewish papercut style. These stickers are a Kickstarter exclusive!
• Donate a community copy. Not everyone who wants to play can afford to buy a copy of the game. By adding on a community copy donation, you give free PDFs of Worlds To Come and the Deck of Creation to a community member. Community copies will be available for download on the game's webpage when fulfillment begins.
• Another physical copy of the book or deck. Great for groups who need separate copies for the GM and for players, or to give to your favorite rabbi.

Reward Tiers

We're keeping the rewards simple and streamlined.

The Digital Set - $20. A digital copy of the Worlds To Come rulebook and the Deck of Creation. 2 PDFs.

The Physical Set - $50. A physical copy of the Worlds To Come rulebook and the Deck of Creation, plus a digital download key. 1 book, 1 deck, 2 PDFs.

The Deluxe Set - $80. Get everything we have to offer. The Worlds To Come rulebook, signed by the author. Your name listed in the supporter credits. The Deck of Creation. A sticker pack of game art. 1 signed book, 1 deck, 1 sticker pack, 2 PDFs.

The Beit Midrash Set - $250. Six physical copies of Worlds To Come. Offered at a special price for synagogues and communities. Fits perfectly on a shelf in the Beit Midrash or as a play activity for teens. 6 books, 6 decks, 2 PDFs.

If we raise $20k, every tier will also receive the Miracle Worker's Niggun, an original song by Batya Levine written specially for Worlds To Come. Sing it to a miracle worker as they compose their prayers! The Miracle Worker's Niggun is a Kickstarter exclusive that will arrive as a digital download.

Stretch Goals

We are fundraising to publish Worlds To Come and the Deck of Creation as a full-color, beautifully illustrated roleplaying game and deck.

✅ - funded in 18 hours - $7,500 covers:

• Original cover art and Deck of Creation design by Rena Yehuda Newman
• Basic layout for the rulebook
• Editing
• Printing the rulebook in full color
• Printing the Deck of Creation in full color

✅ - unlocked in 36 hours - At $10,000 we will add:

• Playbook art and spot images for digital and print editions

At $15,000 we will add:

• 2–3 panel illustrations
• An illustrated map of the Roman-occupied Land of Israel
• Full professional layout and graphic design for the gamebook

At $20,000 we will:

• Commission singer-songwriter Batya Levine to write and record the Miracle Worker's Niggun, an original song written specially for Worlds To Come.
• This recording will be a Kickstarter exclusive that will be sent to all backers as a digital file, if we meet this stretch goal.

Actual Play

Four actors and creators around my dining room table to play Worlds To Come. They sat down knowing little to no Hebrew. 2 hours later, they're reading words, putting together full sentences, and even correcting their own errors. And they had fun doing it!

We recorded that session for you. This "actual play" of Worlds To Come demonstrates how to play the game, featuring that cast who had little to no prior knowledge of Hebrew. The story we tell follows a young vintner's daughter on the cusp of adulthood who falls in love with a traveling merchant, threatening to upend the social balance of her town. Unbeknownst to the townsfolk, the Miracle Workers (the players) are calling on angels and battling demons to ensure the town's safety—all through learning and invoking the Hebrew language.

Timeline

This project timeline shows the work we've already done to get Worlds To Come ready for this Kickstarter. It also tells you what will come after the Kickstarter funds: we'll get to work editing, illustrating, and laying out the game. Hopefully, our songwriter Batya Levine will also get to write us a song during that time! We estimate that backers will have books and decks in their hands by March 2028.

• 2024 - July 2026: Iterative design, playtesting, drafting
• September - October 2026: Kickstarter
• November 2026 - April 2027: Editing and illustration
• May 2027 - September 2027: Layout
• October 2027 - March 2028: Fulfillment and distribution

Shipping

Shipping and Handling fees will be collected when we get near the shipping date. Backer is responsible for any applicable VAT or import taxes. These will ship out of the USA. The chart below is just a rough estimate of shipping costs based on weight and destination, but since postage, labor and packing material costs are particularly turbulent, these are approximate and subject to change.

USA:  $7-10 for a single book and deck $12-$20 for other tiers  // CANADA and MEXICO: $25 any tier // UK: $30 any tier // EU: $35 any tier // ROW: $40 any tier

We will do our best to get the best rates possible given the scale of our operation! 

The Team

Lexi Kohanski is an award-winning educator and CELTA-certified teacher of foreign languages with 6 years of experience teaching Biblical and Rabbinic Hebrew. She is a lover of tabletop roleplaying games with a background in improvisational theater and performance. In addition, she is a thought leader in the realm of trans Torah with boundary-breaking publications at SVARA and Gashmius Magazine.

Rena Yehuda Newman is a Jewish, transgender writer, educator, independent publisher, and comix artist living and working as a freelance illustrator, magazine editor, storyteller, writer, and educator in the UK and Brooklyn, NY. They cohost the Judaism Unbound podcast and direct the UnYeshiva’s Certificate Program in Unbound Judaism. Rena Yehuda is deeply passionate about communal memory, the power of art and storytelling, and queering the line between the personal and political.

Sean Foer is an editor, writer, designer and video creator in the TTRPG space. Best known for his short-form videos as scene_four, he's also the editor for the award-winning Perils & Princesses and The Haunting of Cliff Cove, as well as playtester, proofreader, and consulting designer for a number of upcoming projects including Prince of Hounds and Infinite Reverie. He lives in Chicago, where he runs a local playtesting group.

Luna P.is a South American graphic designer, specializing in games and editorial. She has contributed to various projects, including dozens of tabletop RPG books and zines, and hopes that one day she will have "designed at least one of every single thing". In her work, she focuses on typography and readability, and the usage of pure CMYK colors. Her interests include researching design styles and techniques throughout history, cooking and language learning.    

Sarah Chandler is the founder and CEO of Shamir Collective where she advises artists, authors, and musicians on self management, fundraising, and long-term planning. As a crowdfunding advisor, she partners with entrepreneurs to weave portals for the next stage of creativity. 

Batya Levine (they/them) uses song as a tool for cultivating healing and resilience in their work as a communal song leader, musician, shaliach tzibur (Jewish prayer leader) and cultural organizer. They believe in the liberatory power of song to untie what is bound within us, and sustain us as we build a more just and beautiful world. Batya is a Co-Founder and the Co-Director of Let My People Sing!. Batya offers song, ritual, and workshops in a variety of communities, and they compose original music made of Ashkenazi yearning, queer heart-medicine, and emunah (faith/trust). Batya is also a lover of the ocean, queer dance parties, and puns.