Explore—& try to survive—
the Abandoned Realm,
where death is not the end...

In Danse Macabre by Christopher Pickett and the Stillfleet Studio, you play a Pilgrim, a conscripted peasant, sentenced to traverse the wilderness in pursuit of quintessence—the sole remedy against the curse of undeath. Because in the twilight of the 14th century, death is no longer final: those who die are miraculously and terribly revived, each time with new maleficia—mutations of both the spirit and the flesh.

Your journey unfolds alongside a caravan of fellow exiles, united in the quest for artifacts of a bygone era which hold the keys to your—and your city’s—salvation. There is no magic to save you here, only a rich, realistic, historical setting: to complete your quest, you will travel through the intrigue-filled cosmopolitan cities of the medieval Mediterranean, its mutant-infested wildernesses, and the abandoned ruins of its many broken kingdoms, Christian and Muslim alike.

Danse Macabre: Prima Mors includes a full early version of the game, which is currently in development and being actively playtested. Prima Mors is 64 pages long and features:

• Complete rules
• 6 backgrounds (classes, including Archer, Mendicant, and more)
• 20 maleficia (wild body-horror mutations)
• Full lists of equipment (weapons, armor, useful medieval travel gear
• A beautiful written introduction to the game-world (which is a twisted shadow of our own in 1390 CE)
• An introductory quest
• An ornamental character sheet
• Amazing art (all #HumanMade by the author!)

Danse Macabre uses the highly adaptable Grit System, which was created by Wythe Marschall and also powers the successfully Kickstarted TTRPGs Stillfleet and Blister Critters. The Grit System’s mechanics are simple (your scores are dice) and narrative-focused (powers just happen, leading to epic moments).

In Danse Macabre, the system empowers Pilgrims to explore—and try to survive—a shattered world packed with historical fantasy, religio-political intrigue (warped and remixed by a zombie apocalypse), brutal combat, and hope, even in the darkest of ages.

Danse Macabre combines old school/OSR-inspired gameplay with a grounded—but still fantastic!—medieval setting. Fans of Dungeon Crawl Classics and Mörk Borg will find a familiar “grimdark” medieval flavor, rife with cosmic horror, gritty adventures, and dungeon crawls.

Players of Pendragon and Spire: The City Must Fall will find a politically complex setting where they can play out epic campaigns. For one, the Ottomans have teamed up with the Byzantine rump-state to fight off the armies of anime-level “demoniac” mutants: if you’re a history nerd, is that really a situation you can pass up?

Press? Download the Danse Macabre media kit >

Christopher Pickett (they/them) is an eclectic multidisciplinary artist residing in the heart of Brooklyn, NYC. Their creative pursuits span the realms of illustration, tattooing, and tabletop game design. When not drawing or writing, Christopher studies medievalism. 

Learn more about Christopher Pickett >

Danse Macabre: Prima Mors is the latest publication from the Stillfleet Studio, following the successful crowdfunding campaign for their flagship sci-fi TTRPG, Stillfleet, and its expansion, Qadida: Spy Planet, as well as the utterly unique cartoon eco-apocalypse TTRPG Blister Critters.

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