Brian Colin and Creature Curation have a new Vast Grimm project crowdfunding on Kickstarter. Sci-fi horror built on a Mörk Borg chassis, Vast Grimm brings the nasty with parasitic würms and a dying universe, and you can get the ruleset for free here. The new project brings sourcebooks, a starter set, and more for fans of the tabletop roleplaying game. Brian Colin, co-creator of Vast Grimm, spoke with me about the game, its fiction, his recent Kickstarter, and his industrial printer.
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EGG EMBRY (EGG): Thanks for talking with me. You’re doing a new Kickstarter for Vast Grimm, what does it offer?
BRIAN COLIN (BRIAN): For this project, I have moved Vast Grimm to a more modular format. I realized that when I go to play, I don’t want to bring every single book I’ve made with me. So I am breaking books down into a zine format to allow people to pick and choose what they want to bring to the table. It also allows me more control because I will be printing these zines myself.
As for the key components to the campaign, the rules have been broken up into a Crew Member Manual (players), a Netwürk Operator Manual (GMs), and a Threat Registry. The project also includes a Starter Set, new adventure zines, a new fiction zine, a novella, mission patches, and an A5-sized Battle Binderz.
EGG: A Vast Grimm Starter Set?! That’s going to be cool! What’s going to come in the box?
BRIAN: Thanks! It will have the Crew Member Manual, Flesh of My Flesh (a quickstart adventure), Character Generator Sheets, and Character Sheets. Also, the box is oversized, so you can fit other Vast Grimm hardcover books and zines.
EGG: That’s what I need, a box to transport all of my Vast Grimm content! The expanded rules from this campaign, what will they cover?
BRIAN: After having played Vast Grimm so much over the past four years, there have been some rule additions/modifications I’ve wanted to add. Before I go into what is new, I would like to mention that there will be a free PDF of all the rule updates for everyone. I don’t want anyone who owns the core book to feel like they have to buy the Crew Member Manual or Netwürk Operator Manual to keep playing.
When I released Skeleton Crew, I introduced the Tech Stat, which is included. There are new rules for leveling up / XP to encourage campaign-style play. Characters can now join Factions with rules for that. There is new equipment, including Rebreathers, which helps avoid being infected by the würms. Speaking of würm infection, there are rules for removal, and for what happens if you have survived being infected by all six types. Lastly, I have added optional mechanics for weapon inventory. After playing Raptor Ruckus, I liked the mechanic of rolling after each attack to see if the resource has been used. It felt far more Borg-like than tracking inventory.
EGG: You’ve brought author John Baltisberger into Creature Curation as Sr. Narrative Designer. With this campaign, you’re offering fiction. What inspired you to pursue Vast Grimm fiction to augment the universe?
BRIAN: Honestly, we have been sitting on his novella for quite some time. After reading his book Whispers of the Dead Saint, I knew I wanted something similar for Vast Grimm. The way my brain works, I visualize stories like comic book panels, which is often difficult to convey in the written style of Borg books. Having someone on the team who can articulate the gross body-horror setting into prose adds a layer of depth to immerse people into the setting even more.
EGG: Who else are you working with on this campaign?
BRIAN: Walton Wood has been a long-time collaborator as our editor. Vast Grimm co-creator Ross Bradt’s work can be seen in the rule book zines. Then I have a handful of incredible folks tagged for stretch goals, should the campaign do well.
EGG: The press release for this campaign mentions that you’ve brought Vast Grimm in-house, to your company Creature Curation. With that move, what can fans expect, direction-wise?
BRIAN: Directionally, I will keep going on the projected course. Expanding adventures, lore, and rules for the physical releases, but with a deeper focus on growing the community. I want to do my best to get more people excited about the game so that if there is someone who wants to play, they can find a group to game with.
EGG: Recently, you added a digital press to your office and began printing your zines. I got two of those zines from your last campaign and I have to say, your print job was extremely high quality. What from this campaign will you produce in-house as opposed to contracting with another print house?
BRIAN: Thank you, Egg! I am so excited to have the printer. Being able to sit and work while the machine spits out copies of my latest zine is intoxicating. I will be printing all 7 zines, the upgrade toolkit, the character generator sheets, and character sheets. The boxes for the Starter Set and the novella will be printed by other companies in the US. That leaves only the patches and the Battle Binderz to be manufactured overseas.
EGG: We talked not too long ago with Zac Goins about Raptor Ruckus. How did that campaign go?
BRIAN: That went great! With Zac leading the creative team behind it and all the incredible rewards, I was not at all surprised by its level of success. I believe there is so much that can be done with this game, I can’t wait to see what folks do with the 3rd-party license!
EGG: Any chance of a Vast Grimm/Raptor Ruckus crossover giving fans dinosaurs in space?!
BRIAN: That has certainly crossed into my brainwaves, but the very first crossover into the Vast Grimm ‘verse I wanted to see was one in Sqwürmish using the skirmish rules to take on, or more likely run from, the dinosaurs!
EGG: Beyond this project, what else are you working on?
BRIAN: Now that I have the print shop up and running, I am looking at quarterly releases for Vast Grimm so that the rest of the Gate of Infinite Stars adventure series can come out in a timely fashion. We have some big plans to continue growing the community around Vast Grimm with hopes of infecting new players!
I’m working on some art for Raptor Ruckus, as well as some other freelance design projects.
I’ll also be fulfilling Sqwürmish (mentioned above) soon, and we are working on follow-up expansions for Plunderlust. I always seem to be juggling a lot of projects.
EGG: For fans interested in following your work, where can they find you?
BRIAN: The best place would be Creature Curation and sign up for the newsletter, or Patreon. I have a free tier there where you can score something new every month at no cost.
As always, thank you for taking the time to chat with me, Egg!
Interview Wrap-up: Project Links
Thank you to Brian for histime. You can support their project here:
Vast Grimm – Escaping Stasis from Creature Curation
End date: Thursday, October 30 2025
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