The Dawn Of ‘ProgCore Fantasy: Dark Age Of Theer’

Welcome to the table,

We live in a world where the landscape of TTRPG seems to evolve constantly. Thanks to the efforts of the kids who survived the “satanic panic,” it grows by leaps and bounds year after year. Due to the hard work of Dimension 20, Critical Role, and the influencers who have come to the table alongside newcomers to the hobby and long time players, its popularity continues to grow.

Even with the flood of warm tidings and newly forged friendships, there often seems to be a shadow of the early days of TTRPG. Some less mindful players and storytellers who hold on to the remnants of darker times when the table was less accessible to everyone.

It’s an uncomfortable truth, but anyone who has spent time on social media platforms, in crowed convention halls, or in the close quarters of the back rooms of gaming stores has more than likely encountered people who have no issue accepting a fantasy world where flying lions with the faces of humanoids exist, but can’t wrap their minds around Orcs that are not based on outdated and often harmful stereotypes.

These are the same kinds of people who think dark elves need to maintain their problematic practices of buying and selling humans or that disabled adventures with mobility aids are somehow nonsense and won’t work in the game. But a wandering person made of sentient mud makes all the sense in the world.

These regressive ideals have been present in the hobby for longer than I’ve been alive and while they are still present today, those who are working to make the space more progressive and accessible to all are doing the good work and are worthy of our attention. One of those groups pushing for a more progressive playing space is the talented team behind ProgCore Fantasy: Dark Age of Theer.

This ambitious Kickstarter campaign is set to deliver a multimedia journey that embraces the spirit of class dark fantasy from the 70s and 80s but filters it through a modern progressive mindset making it welcoming to all.

Backed by a stellar cast and crew from across the pop-culture universe, this project feels groundbreaking in a lot of ways. It is not just trying to provide a system-agnostic game book that enhances your TTRPG table, but also a webwork of peripherals that create a curated sensory experience.

There will be a universal sourcebook filled with tips, advice, and system-agnostic house rules to enhance any fantasy TTRPG system. Included in the sourcebook there will also be an introduction to the world of Theer through stories, adventure hooks, creatures, and magic.

There are plans for a documentary actual play that will feature an amazing cast including Todd Stashwick, Felicia Day, Marc Bernardin, Yuri Lowenthal, and Anjali Bhimani, with a man who I deeply respect and who may love gaming maybe as much as I do, David Nett working as the storyteller.

There are also plans for a Prog Rock Soundtrack with original music produced by Jason Charles Miller, that will capture the spirit of prog-rock and harken to the soundtracks that many of us recall playing during our first Dungeons & Dragons games.

To give the world a sample of what is coming, the ProgCore team has provided samples of the ProgCore Book at this link. The ProgCore Free RPG content on how you can enhance damage and recovery at your table in a more ProgCore dark fantasy way can be found at this link.

ProgCore Fantasy is really working to rekindle the sense of wonder, mystery, and danger from the early days of TTRPGs while discarding outdated prejudices and embracing diverse storytelling perspectives.

You can be a part of this revolutionary journey over at the ProgCore Fantasy: Dark Age of Theer Kickstarter at this link.

Until next time, I really like what the team is doing and think we need more content like this in the TTRPG space.