Skies Above is a JRPG-inspired TTRPG which got its first public demos at Tabletop Scotland this weekend. The game, from Lost Haven, is on Kickstarter and nearly halfway funded with three weeks left for backers.
The game features airships and magic, channelling the style and mood of games like Dragon Quest and Secrets of Mana. You can see progress on the crowdfunding pitch page.
Lost Haven’s Andrew Lever is a freelance illustrator by trade, and so it is little surprise to see Skies Above investing in presentation and visual impact. The game will be an A4 hardback with a matte laminate finish and 130mg silk finish interior paper.
Drawing heavy inspiration from the Super Nintendo/Famicom era, the roleplaying game Skies Above presents a vibrant, post-apocalyptic world. It deliberately sidesteps the genre’s typically grim atmosphere in favour of a setting defined by life, intrigue, and abundance. Players will discover a land infused with magic, ancient technologies, and forgotten locales waiting to be explored.
The game world is a lively realm where vast skies conceal countless secrets behind the clouds. Far from a desolate wasteland, this is a land of growth and vitality, encouraging adventurers to seek out its many mysteries. The backdrop is one of hopeful recovery and discovery rather than mere survival against the odds.
Skies Above is designed for three to five players and runs on a dynamic 1d8 exploding dice system, where rolling an 8 allows you to roll again and add the results. The game is led by a Chronicler, who acts as the Game Master, responsible for creating the environment, narrating events, controlling non-player characters, and facilitating the rules.
… players can choose between 9 different Skyfolk when creating their characters. These are the different peoples found through the world. These include the Daeonna, the most adaptive and numerous Skyfolk but with a history tied to the very Breaking of the World. The Pommo who are small but long lived catlike creatures with wings and multiple pompom tipped tails that indicate their age, that in times now long past were thought to be myths. Or the Khoros who are fibrant bird people who adapted to the new state of the world quickly with their ability to glide for prolonged peroids and in the early days of the broken world they carried news, songs and stories from far off lands.
At £15, backers unlock the PDF copy of Skies Above and any of the digital stretch goals that the campaign might secure. The suggested delivery date for this tier is December in 2025.
Then, backers at £40 get the hardcopy of Skies Above and physical stretch goals, in addition to the digital goodies. However, this time around, the physical products have a slated delivery date of April in 2026.
There’s a tier with custom art and a Frog Pin, which is available at £95. There’s also a handmade d8 as well as all the previous tier rewards, but this level is locked to only 20 people.
A special thanks to All Rolled Up for sponsoring Geek Native’s coverage of Tabletop Scotland. You can find them in the trade hall and explore their fantastic range of indie RPGs and high-quality gaming accessories on the All Rolled Up website. You also also win £50 to spend with them.
