(Crowdfund Quest) Colonial Gothic: Revolution Edition

Crowdfund Quest is a daily column that takes us on an expedition into tabletop crowdfunding with a look at a current project in the tabletop gaming world.

“1775. The Revolution is coming. So is something far older, and far less forgiving…”

I originally came across Richard Iorio’s Colonial Gothic TTRPG when it was first released back in 2007. An evocative and well-researched game set in Revolutionary America where Witches never left Salem, Vampires followed the European immigrants across the Atlantic, and secret societies pull strings behind the scenes. Now he’s back with a new edition of the game.

The Shadow Stirs

The world is entering a new age. What Thomas Paine called the Age of Reason. Logic. Mathematics. Science. Most people believe the old superstitions are behind them.

They are wrong.

Colonial Gothic is supernatural horror set in Revolutionary America. You play ordinary people, clerks, soldiers, teachers, midwives, who discover the truth: magic is real, and something ancient moves through the colonies.

History is exactly as recorded. The supernatural is exactly as feared. 

Both are real.

What is Colonial Gothic

Colonial Gothic is a supernatural historical role-playing game set in the American colonial period, from the founding of Roanoke in 1585 to the end of the War of 1812 at the Battle of New Orleans in 1815.

Colonial Gothic gives you everything you need to set your games in this period. With a supernatural twist.

Colonial Gothic has been the standard for historical horror at the table since 2007. The classic 12° edition is still in print, still supported, and still the heart of the game.

So why a new edition?

For years, players have asked for a version that runs on the 20-sided die. Why? It is the system most players already know. The Revolution Edition is that conversion. Same setting. Same 18 years of lore. Same dread. Built for a system you already understand.

This is not a replacement. The classic 12° edition is going nowhere. The Revolution Edition is a new way in. A doorway for those who always wanted to walk these woods but never picked up the dice.

Twenty years of lore, history, and horror carry forward intact.

One world. Two ways in.

The Revolution Edition

Colonial Gothic isn't going anywhere. The 12° system, in print since 2007, remains the heart of the game. This isn't a replacement.

If you've been curious but the 12-sided dice gave you pause, or you've wanted a way in that felt familiar, this version is for you.

20° is Colonial Gothic, built around the 20-sided die and using the same core mechanics that introduced millions to roleplaying.

Now you can walk the shadowed paths of Revolutionary America with a fistful of dice.

Summon your faith. Stifle your fears. Prepare for a battle no one knows is raging.

The enemy does not care which side you are on. They laugh at the flag you walk under.

Are you ready for a war no one knows exists?

HOW IT PLAYS

Colonial Gothic: Revolution Edition runs on the 20-sided die. Roll, add your relevant trait and skill, and meet or beat the target number.

That's it.

What makes it Colonial Gothic is what surrounds that roll. Fear. Sanity. The slow creep of something you cannot explain.

Characters are ordinary people. Competent, capable, and completely unprepared for what the dark holds. The rules are built to reinforce that. Success matters. Failure has weight. And some things in this world cannot be killed by a good roll.

WHAT ABOUT THE 12° VERSION

Still in print, still supported, and will not be replaced. Both games are compatible. What you use in one can be used in the other.

Colonial Gothic already has a deep catalog in print, and I am currently sitting on approximately 15 manuscripts at various stages of development. These manuscripts use both the 12° and 20°systems, and conversion notes will always appear in every book. Colonial Gothic has a future.

This is the complete game. Everything you need to step into 1775 and never come back. Build your character from the ground up. Choose your profession, your abilities, your place in a world on the edge of war. Learn to fight, to cast, to brew, to survive.

The Core Rulebook puts the full weight of Revolutionary America in your hands. The history, the horror, and everything hiding between the two. A hardcover with a matte laminate finish, approximately 270 pages, built to live at the table and take wear. Backers of the physical tier also receive the digital version.

The colonies are not what they appear to be. The Almanack pulls back the curtain on the world your characters live in: the smuggling networks that run beneath legitimate trade, the secret societies pulling strings behind the Revolution, the cults operating in the dark, and the hidden machinery of daily life in 1775.

This is your guidebook to the history, culture, and colonial life everyone needs. Even better, this book is compatible with any edition of Colonial Gothic.

The Almanack is a matching hardcover with a matte laminate finish, approximately 200 pages. A companion volume that works with either edition of Colonial Gothic. Backers of the physical tier also receive the digital version.

Peekskill, New York. A trading village on the Hudson River, growing fat on river commerce and apple harvests. Or it was, until the disappearances began.

First, it was hunters. Then travelers. Now, children are vanishing from their beds in the night, and no one can say why. The woods have gone quiet. Strange figures have been seen moving through the trees after dark. And somewhere above the village, on the bare rock summit of Jacob's Hill, something waits.

A Kickstarter exclusive adventure for Colonial Gothic: Revolution Edition. Included in every tier, physical and digital. Never sold separately.

Angels on the Hill is a perfect-bound softcover, approximately 28 pages. Backers of the physical tier also receive the digital version.

Colonial Gothic: Revolution Edition is currently funding on Kickstarter, with the campaign running until Monday 3rd August 2026.