Tabletop publisher Rowan, Rook and Decard has launched a crowdfunding campaign to bring Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Hugo Award-winning novel Children of Time to the gaming table. Designed in direct collaboration with Tchaikovsky himself, the official Children of Time: The Roleplaying Game invites players to construct generation-spanning narratives tracing the twin paths of human ark ships and the uplifted, evolving species waiting on terraformed worlds.
The title combines and refines several acclaimed game mechanics from the publisher’s previous releases. Bringing together the sci-fi worldbuilding and multi-generational focus of Legacy: Life Among The Ruins alongside the fallouts and beats mechanics from Heart: The City Beneath, the system focuses heavily on player agency, turning mechanical failure into dramatic storytelling moments across centuries.
Multi-Generational Mechanics and Play
The game abandons traditional game master structures in favour of a shared narrative model built around long-term Crises. Campaigns cycle through three distinct phases: Speculation, Schemes, and Viewpoint Scenes. During Speculation, the entire group discusses the ongoing narrative without rolling dice. When players zoom into individual character actions, Schemes allow background progress using custom mechanics, while Viewpoint Scenes resolve high-stakes moments using a pool of one to four six-sided dice. When rolling, players choose between three strategic approaches: Reach, Grasp, or Sleight.
To manage the massive scale of an era-defining Crisis, players utilise six flexible play stances that allow anyone at the table to step into responsibilities usually reserved for a game master, such as controlling non-player characters or detailing how environmental events go wrong.
The Slipcase Format and Reward Tiers
Rather than a single rulebook, the core release is split across a three-book slipcase set designed to evoke artefacts from different eras:
- Your Future: A high-gloss prospectus detailing the peak of the Old Empire, housing core rules and a tutorial.
- Your Ship: A textured, well-worn technical manual covering humanity’s ark ship exodus.
- Your World: A vegan-leather-bound naturalistic volume following the evolution and culture of uplifted species over centuries.
The campaign offers several digital and physical backing options. Digital-only backers can secure the core PDF for £30 or opt for the £50 digital bundle, which includes all PDF assets, including the quickstart rulebook. Physical pledge options start at £60 for the three-book slipcase set with complimentary PDFs, while £100 adds the Time Capsule box set containing physical play aids, reference screens, and tokens. For collectors, the £190 tier includes every physical reward created for the run, alongside custom resin dice sets and commemorative metal coins. Retailers can access bulk orders via a dedicated £10 buy-in tier.
Campaign Progress and Delivery Timeline
The campaign has already surpassed its £40,000 funding goal, rapidly unlocking stretch goals, including an original short story by Adrian Tchaikovsky introducing uplifted Pangolins to the quickstart rules, as well as an “Uplift Stowaways” expansion for the ship rulebook at £80,000.
The campaign operates on an all-or-nothing funding model concluding on Tuesday, 11 August 2026 at 4:00 PM BST. Digital PDF previews are scheduled for backer release in January 2027, with physical reward fulfilment estimated to wrap up around September 2027.
