Eastern Fantasy Noir Steampunk for D&D 5E?

Are you a fan of Eastern Fantasy Noir Steampunk? I'm not 100% sure what that is, but I do know that Storm Bunny Studios is prepping for a D&D 5E supplement called Mists of Akumal which will be Kickstarted throughout May. Designer Mike Myler has sent me along some exclusive peeks at what they have in store - a 200 page book with new races, land and prefectures, backgrounds, and class options. This preview takes a look at some Martial Arts Feats!

​

They've also sent me previews of some Imperial Dragons, Tsukumogatami (an animated item), and some new backgrounds, race, and class options, which I'll share soon. Lots of images for one little article!

"The year is 3466; monsoons have become more and more common since the roiling, demon-spewing Mists of Akuma fi rst appeared, and the sun’s light grows duller with every day that passes after the end of the War of Kaiyo more than a century ago. A pall of darkness has fallen on Soburin and even its greatest heroes are mired in the petty intrigues and never-ending slights of aggressive clans. Spellswords and mercenaries cross the countryside in search of fortune, leaving the poor and meek to fend for themselves or die in the harsh reality of a broken world where technology has been either abandoned as heresy or perilously embraced."

Here's what the setting contains, according to the quick primer they sent me.

• Scores of beautiful, brand new illustrations from several talented artists to truly depict the unique world of Soburin in all of its dark, gritty glory
• Detailed workings of Sanbaoshi, the capital of Soburin and home to the Imperial Palace of the Masuto Dynasty
• Information on the Star of the North, Chikan, one of the unique scientifi c prefectures of Soburin
• A section on Nagabuki, Gem of the South and one of Soburin’s most traditional states
• The 22 great clans of Soburin, each with statistics for a unique Bengoshi (government agent) and henchman
• Five different imperial dragons and over a dozen oni, fi lling your game with exciting new monsters
• A treasure trove of new class options!
• Bushibot Martial Archetype, Circle of Blight, Circle of Shifting, Clockwork Adept Arcane
• Tradition, College of the Gun, Detective Rogue
• Archetype, Herbalist Rogue Archetype, Mage
• Arcane Tradition, Martial Artist Monastic Tradition,
• Ninja Rogue Archetype, Priest Monastic Tradition, Samurai Sacred Oath, , Shinobibot Archetype,
• Tsukumogami Hunter Ranger Archetype, Wu-Jen Warlock Pacts (with four patrons for every season of Soburin)
• New races for players in Soburin!
• Humans (Soburi, Ceramian, and Ropaeo),
• Bakemono, Enjin, Hengeyokai (of the
• Cat, Dog, Monkey, Rat, Crane, Fox, and
• Spider varieties), Kappa, Mutants, Necroji,
• Oni-Touched, Psonorous, Pyon, Shikome,
• Steametic, Tanuki, Tengu, Umibozu
• Dozens of new feats for spellcasters, warriors, and dedicated martial artists
• Eastern armor and weapons, as well as a retinue of steampunk equipment
• Two new attributes to instill flavor into your game: Dignity and Haitoku

As I mentioned above, I have more stuff to share, but it's a lot for one article. Keep an eye on the news page for more!

SaveSave​

 

[Mike Myler]

I'm not familiar with Storm Bunny. What have they done before this?

Storm Bunny Studios is a tabletop RPG publisher that puts together super slick products (some that I've written).

Their magnum opus is Rhune: Dawn of Twilight, which they funded almost $20,000 for on Kickstarter in 2015. It's a steam-electropunk norse world filled with jötunfolk, gun priests, and a healthy love for vikings. I knew that the book was ready for press so when I thought "who should I publish my awesome 5E campaign setting that has a focus on 'honor' (the Dignity/Haitoku attributes play with that concept) with?" they were my first choice (and I knew SBS was going to be keen to get their feet wet in the world of D&D 5E).

I also know Jason Sonia (the owner of Storm Bunny Studios) personally and he's a pretty solid fellow. He's released the Rhune book to backers and it is gorgeous -- it should be available for the public soon and there'll be a (free) preview for it available on RPGNow.com. It is without a doubt a fine example of top-end third party publishing and I cannot wait to see a physical copy of it. Definitely a partnership I'm excited about!

 

[Mike Myler]

THIS is what D&D's "next major mechanical expansion" should look like.

I mean, I'm unsure about the balance and utility of all the mechanical options they present (that looks like WAY too many feats to me), but I love how every piece of it is dripping with flavor.

Thanks! That is some very high praise!
Hopefully we'll see you as a project backer and you can help us playtest.

 

[Mike Myler]

Storm Bunny just (pdf) delivered their Rhune: Dawn of Twilight campaign setting to Kickstarter backers, and it's really cool stuff. That setting is described as "stormpunk" sort of a Norse/Steampunk based more on electricity than steam. The product is awesome. I have only glanced through it (and followed along on the updates) but what I have seen is top-notch professional level in production quality (can't speak to actual game balance, but nothing has slapped me in the face yet as out of whack, plus it was for Pathfinder not 5e).

So, given the product they delivered for that, I am absolutely interested in this! Their work on Rhune is great and very imaginative. So "Eastern Fantasy Noir Steampunk" sounds like a product right up their alley and something I love to see from 3rd party publishers!

Exactly. EXACTLY.

 

[Xavian Starsider]

Storm Bunny Studios is a tabletop RPG publisher that puts together super slick products (some that I've written).

Their magnum opus is Rhune: Dawn of Twilight, which they funded almost $20,000 for on Kickstarter in 2015. It's a steam-electropunk norse world filled with jötunfolk, gun priests, and a healthy love for vikings. I knew that the book was ready for press so when I thought "who should I publish my awesome 5E campaign setting that has a focus on 'honor' (the Dignity/Haitoku attributes play with that concept) with?" they were my first choice (and I knew SBS was going to be keen to get their feet wet in the world of D&D 5E).

I also know Jason Sonia (the owner of Storm Bunny Studios) personally and he's a pretty solid fellow. He's released the Rhune book to backers and it is gorgeous -- it should be available for the public soon and there'll be a (free) preview for it available on RPGNow.com. It is without a doubt a fine example of top-end third party publishing and I cannot wait to see a physical copy of it. Definitely a partnership I'm excited about!

Thank you for answering. It's helpful to have some idea of the pedigree of a company when there's so many to choose from.

 

[Mike Myler]

I was more interested before I found out it was post-apocalyptic. That's my least favorite flavor of fantasy.

Soburin is where Mists of Akuma is set and while that continent hasn't been ravaged directly, the other major landmasses (far removed by geography and something known as The Great Divide) are the wastelands you are used to not favoring.
The world is dying but Soburin is hanging on and in heavy decline, plagued by the horrors from the battlefields beyond (foreign tsukumogami, mutants, psonorous, and more). With a bit of tweaking you could change the default assumptions of the setting to be more of a Ravenloft-gothic kind of feel (or even dial it back 100 years to BEFORE the apocalypse-level events across The Great Divide happen!), but if it's any consolation technology has become heresy (war machines wake up after 100 years? noooooo) so you could easily play a campaign in Soburin that feels more like the original Rokugan, albeit a good deal darker.

Either way I hope you can mine some good stuff out of the free material we're putting out there in early previews here on EN World and when the Kickstarter launches on April 29th! Thanks for giving things a look!

 

[iltharanos]

I really want to get excited for this, but the date has me scared.

 

[Mike Myler]

I really want to get excited for this, but the date has me scared.

?! What's wrong with Friday April 29th?

Oh, TODAY! Ha!
No, I assure you that this is very much a real project. I don't mess around.

 

[Morrus]

I really want to get excited for this, but the date has me scared.

April Fools is about amusing jokes, not simple lies. It's genuine! I've no idea what the joke would even be, if it wasn't.

 

[Grimjack99]

THIS is what D&D's "next major mechanical expansion" should look like.

I mean, I'm unsure about the balance and utility of all the mechanical options they present (that looks like WAY too many feats to me), but I love how every piece of it is dripping with flavor.

I agree. Just from the blurb, it looks like its everything got a new setting needs.

#1: It must be unique, and fill a niche not present in what's currently available.
#2: It must have a new point of view that hasn't been expressed yet.
#3: It must have enough new material to expand on all the existing classes.
#4: It must have new material and mechanics that reiterates the setting.

I thought there was a fifth rule about pizza, but nope. I'm just hungry. Really looking forward to see more previews. And, pizza too.

hmmmmmmmmm, pizzzza

 

[Mike Myler]

I agree. Just from the blurb, it looks like its everything got a new setting needs.

#1: It must be unique, and fill a niche not present in what's currently available.
#2: It must have a new point of view that hasn't been expressed yet.
#3: It must have enough new material to expand on all the existing classes.
#4: It must have new material and mechanics that reiterates the setting.

I thought there was a fifth rule about pizza, but nope. I'm just hungry. Really looking forward to see more previews. And, pizza too.

hmmmmmmmmm, pizzzza

Thank you sir! I do my very best to make my gaming material as excellent as possible.

It's worth noting that the PDF drafts I sent to Morrus aren't the finals, so they don't have the kami divine domain for clerics. There'll probably be some more additions to the plan along the way too -- earlier today I had the thought, "what if the augmetic I've replaced my samurai's arm with is 100 years old and becomes a tsukumogami?"