Aebon, a world reshaped by a cataclysmic event known as the Shattering, serves as the setting for a brand new creature-capture tabletop experience. RocketHawk, the creative team behind the popular actual-play podcast Unbeatable, has launched a crowdfunding campaign for the Brave Horizons Tabletop Roleplaying Game Core Handbook, which introduces a post-apocalyptic, solar-punk landscape populated by magical entities called keytures.
The game shifts the mechanical focus of monster-hunting away from exploitation and toward symbiotic relationships. Players take on the role of keepers, individuals who venture outside the isolated bastions of humanity to forge mystical bonds with these creatures using keystone, a crystalline material infused with the world’s lingering energy. The core rules establish a deep progression track where keytures grow, rank up, and attune to entirely new forms alongside their human partners.
The system relies on an interactive dice-contest mechanic designed to balance narrative agency with classic tactical elements. Keepers and keytures are defined by six distinct stat dice. For keepers, these are Agility, Awareness, Charm, Education, Fortitude, and Strength. Keytures utilise Body, Drive, Strike, Guard, Mind, and Soul. Combat rounds feature direct opposing rolls, such as Strike or Mind against an opponent’s Guard or Soul, with the victor narrating the precise physical or supernatural outcome of the clash.
A central element of play is the Willpower track, a mechanical resource generated by a keyture’s emotional state. Keepers expend Willpower to trigger Resonance, a rule allowing players to recount specific in-game memories to alter mechanical outcomes, such as absorbing lethal damage or boosting offensive power. Additionally, creatures are categorised into 13 elemental affinities, including Alloy, Atmos, Flora, Rot, and Volt, which dictate explicit combat vulnerabilities, resistances, and immunities.
Post-Apocalyptic Progress and Customisation
Set 70 years after the collapse of a pollution-choked cyberpunk era, the game details a world where technology must be salvaged. A robust scrapping system allows keepers to strip down discovered electronics and ancient debris into components. These materials are used to craft items and Mods, such as Thermal Claws, Affinity Grenades, and Repulsion Fields, which augment a keyture’s innate capabilities or provide vital utility for exploration in dangerous wilderness biomes like the Versorch Sandlands.
The handbook provides seven character jobs, each featuring three unique advancement tracks for a total of 21 progression paths. Characters advance from levels 0 to 10 via a milestone progression system, ensuring party parity. For the creatures, advancement relies on Essence Points earned through combat or training. Accumulating sufficient essence allows keytures to undergo attunement, an evolutionary shift providing superior stat dice, fresh passive abilities, and advanced move pools.
Campaign Details and Strict Human Creation
The project includes over four chapters of completed rules, step-by-step character creation guides, 151 individual keytures, and comprehensive advice for running non-player characters across custom adventure territories. The production team has established a firm anti-generative AI policy, explicitly including clauses in all writing and art contracts to ensure that every asset is entirely human-made. Physical rewards are restricted to hardcovers to ensure long-term durability at the gaming table.
Funding options for backers include a digital tier providing the core handbook PDF and form-fillable sheets for approximately £19. Physical backers can secure the standard hardcover book alongside the digital files for around £45, while a limited-tier option signed by the development team is available for roughly £56. A specialised retail bundle features nine physical hardcover books intended for verified brick-and-mortar stores, priced at about £194.
- Pledge $25 (approx. £19): Digital Core Rulebook. Includes a digital PDF copy of the core handbook along with digital, form-fillable keeper sheets designed for online or remote play.
- Pledge $60 (approx. £45): Hardcover Core Rulebook. Provides a physical hardcover copy of the book optimised for at-the-table sessions, plus the digital PDF and digital character sheets.
- Pledge $75 (approx. £56): Signed Hardcover Core Rulebook. A limited-edition physical hardcover copy signed by the author and writing team, including all digital tier rewards.
- Pledge $260 (approx. £194): Retailer Supporter Bundle. Tailored for brick-and-mortar hobby shops within the United States, this tier contains eight physical hardcover copies for resale, one complimentary store demonstration copy, and all digital files, subject to retailer verification.
The Brave Horizons crowdfunding campaign operates on an all-or-nothing funding model, with the project deadline set for Monday, 27 July 2026 at 5:00 PM BST. Digital and standard physical rewards are estimated to ship to backers in October 2027, with the retail bundles scheduled for distribution in December 2027.
