Weird fiction podcast Welcome to Night Vale is getting its own tabletop RPG, and it’s not too far away now – coming to crowdfunding platform Backerkit on October 1. Created by Renegade Game Studios, it promises to provide everything a fan needs “to fully immerse yourself in the world of Night Vale.”
The game will give fans the option to create their own citizen of Night Vale, or use a pre-generated character.
Welcome to Night Vale is a satirical science fiction radio show, which reports the goings on in the fictional small desert town of Night Vale. Sometimes classified as horror, it’s really equal parts comedic and spooky.
The show is known for its clever approach to worldbuilding, keeping fans entertained with a gradual drip feed of absurd information. It’s also known for host Cecil’s casual attitude towards the town’s never-ending parade of nonsensical or ominous occurrences.
The Welcome to Night Vale RPG runs on the Essence20 Roleplaying System, developed by Renegade for its other licensed tabletop RPGs, such as GI Joe, My Little Pony, Power Rangers, and Transformers.
This d20-based system doesn’t stray too far from its inspiration: fans of Dungeons and Dragons 5e will likely pick it up pretty quick.
So far, just over 4,100 people have pledged their support for the project on Backerkit.
I’ve not listened to Welcome to Nightvale for a long time, but I have dipped in and out over the years. While it’s an easy listen, I’ve never quite been grabbed by the story, even though it’s exactly the same kind of weird as my beloved Blaseball (R.I.P.)
For more RPG content, check out our guides to the best horror RPG games, or all the DnD races and DnD classes.