AmaZine — ‘Fomoria’ Quickstart Zine Brings So Much To The Table That

Welcome to the table,

For the last few years, one of the most prolific creators in the tabletop role-playing game space has been Tania Herrero, the Bread Wyrm. Crown of Salt was an instant favorite of mine. The White Horse of Lowvale was at the top of my list for the 2025 Gift Guide for Gamers this past holiday season due to its enigmatic antagonists and atmospheric storytelling all bundled up in a small book ready for a one-shot or to serve as a seed for a larger TTRPG campaign.

Due to the pure joy I have experienced in their previous offerings, when Tania announced Fomoria with the launch of their Patreon back in July of 2025, I knew something truly magical was coming. Up to this point, I have yet to be disappointed.

Let’s get into it.

Fomoria, for those unaware, is a folk horror TTRPG that takes place in a strange, inhospitable subterranean landscape. Player characters take the role of the Folk, wayward anthropomorphic humanoids from a surface world they have never seen, and gathered into clans that provide community, protection, and the rules that govern their lives.

It’s a rad concept for a patron, but it has evolved into so much more from there. It was not long after the launch of the Patreon that we learned that the talented Mörk Borg designer Johan Nohr would be joining Herrero to turn Fomoria into a full-blown TTRPG.

We were soon treated to what I was hopeful would happen; the amazing publisher Free League announced they were joining up with Herrero and Nohr to launch the  Kickstarter campaign for Fomoria on April 7, 2026. That the game will be published under the Free League Workshop sublabel for externally developed games.

These developments led to the announcement that there would be a limited run of Zines made for Fomoria. Soon after, a parcel from the Bread Wyrm arrived at my door containing the very Zine that brings us all here today.

I knew it was going to be great, but I was not expecting how packed something touted as a “quickstart” guide was going to be.

The book takes off in a very atmospheric direction. It immediately sets a tone that feels haunting and otherworldly while keeping enough hallmarks of the “known world” that it’s easy to shift your mind into the space with little mental gymnastics.

The rules of play are all present; combat, exploration, and even character creation are contained within these toothy pages.

I was surprised by how many playable characters there were. Each one is a member of the “folk,” various species of anthropomorphic adventurers who dwell in the grimdark below of Fomoria. There is Jotna, one of the wolf folk, Drel, a deer folk, Xylas, a pangolin folk, Ozmah, a raven folk, Kalava, a snake folk, Jorr, a platypus folk, Morroc, a goat folk, and Zhott, a bat folk.

Each species has their own boons, special abilities, attributes unique to them, and feats. They also possess a full loadout of gear and stats, so they are ready to be selected and played without much fuss (other than who gets to play which).

The Fomoria Zine also has an amazing little adventure that could take one or two four-hour sessions, longer if you really drift around in the world and let your players explore. It has some really chilling encounters and haunting horrors to have your players experience.

The zine itself provides so much material and some truly dazzling artwork that would sell a series of TTRPG books on their own. It’s only a precursor to something even larger that has already been funded on Kickstarter; yes, I backed it.

The full TTRPG is set to be just as art-heavy as the zine, with 8 Folk races, 6 clans, 6 Traditions that serve as classes, a multitude of tools, equipment, weapons, tamed beasts, Eldritch Charms, and more.

There is also going to be an extensive bestiary of the deep, going from the Darkness’ Hollowed, the Wretched hags and warlocks, and horrors of the Red Plague, among other spaces. I’m especially interested in seeing the “rules for the Eldritch” and the Eldritch gods that will be showing up in these pages.

Until next time, Herrero has yet to let me down, Free League is an amazing publisher, and at the end of the day, this is the kind of thing I can easily see becoming a fan favorite if not a standard at most TTRPG tables.