Monte Cook Games Brings Rebecca Roanhorse’s Between Earth & Sky to the Tabletop

The Between Earth & Sky: the Roleplaying Game campaign is live on Backerkit, where is has already gone beyond its $50.000 target since it’s launch on 15th October. The campaign, based on Rebecca Roanhorse’s Black SunTrilogy of novels, is schduled to run until 14th November 2026.

A world where magic has been outlawed

The game is set in the Meridian, a fantasy world inspired by the cultures and mythologies of the pre-Columbian Americas. Three centuries after the War of the Spear, magic and worship of the gods remain forbidden under a treaty that brought peace to the region. Now the gods are stirring, old magics are resurfacing and the institutions built to keep them at bay are under threat.

Players will make characters from across the Meridian’s distinct peoples and city-states, with some of the options including winged-serpent riders, Teek sea-singers, dreamwalkers and characters who communicate with crows. Their stories are shaped by competing loyalties, political intrigue and the return of powers that many would rather see stay buried.

Prophecy becomes part of play

Powered by Monte Cook Games’ Cypher System, the game adds a fourth element to its character-building sentence: destiny. A character’s descriptor, type and focus establish who they are and what they can do, while their prophetic destiny adds a looming force to their story.

The game also gives each character a personal Divination, while the group shares a larger Prophecy tied to an approaching event. A physical Story Clock tracks the countdown, and the Prophecy Deck offers prompts, goals and twists for players and GMs. The campaign’s adventure book, When Fate Calls Your Name, is planned to include three linked Prophecies for a longer campaign.

That structure is designed to make the setting’s central tension playable, with characters possibly pursuing their own aims while trying to fulfil a shared fate, even when those goals conflict. The rules leave room to accept a prophecy, resist it or discover what either choice will cost.

The novel series behind the game

Rebecca Roanhorse’s Between Earth and Sky is a completed trilogy comprising Black Sun, Fevered Star and Mirrored Heavens. The series, also referred to as the Black Sun trilogy, won the Hugo Award for Best Series in 2025. It draws inspiration from the civilizations of the pre-Columbian Americas and combines celestial omens, political conflict and forbidden magic.

The first novel, Black Sun, begins as the holy city of Tova prepares for a winter-solstice eclipse, an event its Sun Priest regards as a dangerous imbalance. At the same time, the sea captain Xiala is carrying Serapio, a blind and scarred young man whose journey to Tova is bound to a prophecy. The later books follow the upheaval that follows, as gods and political powers return to the foreground and the characters struggle with questions of free will, identity and destiny.

Who is making it?

Monte Cook Games is brigning Native and non-Native designers and artists together. The design team includes MCG senior designer Shanna Germain and Kenna Alexander, designer of Coyote & Crow. The campaign also includes Crossing the Cultural Divide: Gaming in a Culture Other Than Your Own, a guide by Alexander on approaching a game whose cultural basis may be unfamiliar to some players.

Campaign options and delivery

The campaign offers a PDF-only core game pledge at $23 and a standard print-and-PDF edition at $70. A two-book PDF pledge, including the game and When Fate Calls Your Name, is $39; the print-and-PDF version is $109. Higher levels add campaign books and accessories, including the Story Clock and Prophecy Deck.

Monte Cook Games’ current timeline lists the core game for early 2028, followed by When Fate Calls Your Name in summer 2028. It also lists a virtual tabletop edition for Roll20 or Alchemy for late 2028. As with any crowdfunding project, these are planned delivery windows.

Between Earth & Sky: the Roleplaying Gameis currently funding on Backerkit until Saturday 14th November 2026.