Black Armada has a little something for TTRPG fans who enjoy their games with a little inspiration from Warhammer 40K, mixed with sci-fi occult horror. Ex Tenebris, a gothic space tabletop RPG, is currently running its Kickstarter campaign, which has already met its funding goal.
Mixing the grotesque imagery of the Aliens franchise and Dead Space with the existential dread of Event Horizon, Ex Tenebris is a tabletop roleplaying game about a future civilisation living under the constant threat of invasion from a terrifying, nightmare realm of space known as the Tenebrium. The only thing standing between the people and a horde of horrifying, blood-thirsty creatures, are the players, a rag-tag team of criminals, occultists, retired cops and reanimated corpses, otherwise known as the Guardians of Moira.
There are 11 archetypes available to players as they visit various planets and interact with a myriad intergalactic species on their missions for the Republic of Stars’ government. Throughout the game, the player characters will be tempted to utilise powerful instruments of science and sorcery in order to overcome impossible odds. However, there’s always a cost to using these instruments through a gameplay mechanic called Shadow. As the player characters are pushed into increasingly stressful situations, they’ll have the potential to gain more Shadow, which they can use to acquire new abilities, but will eventually drive them down a dark path, resulting in terrible tragedy or even permanent corruption.
Like Black Armada’s own Lovecraftesque, Ex Tenebris is primarily an investigative tabletop RPG wherein players solve a series of mysteries. Though missions may begin with a single question for players to answer, they spiral out into much larger conspiracies riddled with threats and end in climactic boss fights. In Ex Tenebris, players and the game master work to unravel the mystery together, with the GM providing the clues and the players proposing the eventual solution.
As part of the Kickstarter campaign, Black Armada is creating a Core Rulebook and a Campaign Book, both of which will be illustrated throughout by Juan Ochoa, with professional layout by Nathan Paoletta. If you want to spring for something extra, you can also get a slipcase set containing both books, plus an accompanying campaign map by Jog Brogzin. There will also be PDF versions of both books fulfilled through DrivethruRPG.
To get a sense of Ex Tenebris from the Black Armada team themselves, you can check out the stream below. The physical game is expected to be delivered to backers in March 2027, while the PDF versions will be sent out September 2026.
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