Raptor Ruckus RPG

New Files Available in Backerkit
about 1 month ago – Sun, Mar 01, 2026 at 02:15:54 PM

Hello there,

Zac here. Just a quick update to say that things are progressing well, and we've added some more files to your Backerkit downloads!

• Bi-Fold Character Folios | All 6 are done and available for you to print at home! We really like these for introducing players to the game. 
• Character Sheet Expanded | Fillable and non-fillable options in both full color and printer-friendly versions are now finished.
• STL Miniatures | All 9 models have their STLs available for you to download! We've already had several people do test-prints, and they're absolutely stunning. 
• Raptor Ruckus Core Book BETA | Some slight updates, with new artwork and additional details around the hacking mini-game. 
• Pirate Borg Adventures | If you picked up this add-on, these files are available to download. 

Additionally, these files will be available within 24-48 hours:

• GM Screen | In both its full form and with the GM-side broken out into printable A5 pages. 
• Character Sheet | Fillable and non-fillable options in both full color and printer-friendly versions.

Once you have completed your survey and your card is charged, you'll get access to all your current PDFs in the Backerkit downloads. If you added things in Backerkit, your card will be charged tomorrow.

I expect the next drop to be a big one (later this month), with loads of new art, the solo zine, the novel, and a beta version of Fragmentation. Keep scrolling to see a selection of new art/spreads!

Until then, TTFN.

Zac G. & Team Raptor 

PROJECTS WE LOVE

LAUNCHING THIS MONTH!

BIG UPDATE! Pledge Manager & New Items
about 2 months ago – Fri, Feb 13, 2026 at 04:12:51 PM

Hello there,

Zac here. This is a "big deal" update. Stuff you aren't gonna wanna miss. 

I also want to highlight that our fiction author, John Baltisberger, just lost his job to AI. We're working with him to offer a new short story(!), which you can read more about down below, but you can also buy his books and his Kindle/Audible books. I recommend starting with one of these:

• Whispers of the Dead Saint | A novel set in the Mork Borg universe! If you like what John cooks up for Raptor, you're going to dig this series too. A great way to get more of the Dying Lands into your life. 
• No Guilt of Bloodshed | A "spatter western" with a Ukrainian-Jew, soldier of fortune protagonist. I read this last year, and it was easily one of the most grotesque, delightful, supernatural reads of the year. 
• War of Dictates | Wanna dive off the deep end? I'm not really sure most of you should, but for the brave few who want to experience something glorious and horrific, buy this book. Just...you know...don't read this on a full stomach.

Pledge Manager

Okay, so we've pivoted with the Pledge Manager. It will no longer be on Gamefound but instead Backerkit. The details are a bit too gritty to get into, but basically it was the right call for this project, even if it costs significantly more. 

Smoke Tests are going to go out this weekend to a random 5% of you, then hopefully everyone will get access next week. Keep an eye out for an email with the title "Response Needed — Get your reward for Raptor Ruckus".

We aren't collecting money for shipping yet, just FYI.

New Items

Okay, so here's the cool thing. I'm counting FIVE NEW RAPTOR ITEMS in the Pledge Manager, plus a handful of other BORG BUNDLES! 

None of this was on the Kickstarter, so here's a rundown of what you'll catch that's new:

• Walking on Eggshells ($2 eBook) | Our narrative author, John Baltisberger, just lost his job to AI, so we're having him write another story set in our universe, and we're going to give him 100% of the proceeds. John's stuff is awesome, and now's definitely the time to pick it up!
• Fragmentation Expansion Scenarios ($20 print, $10 pdf) | This was a stretch goal! Four incredible set pieces by four talented teams who all got access to the campaign book early, then built out additional scenarios to expand it further! They all did an absolutely stunning job.
• Raptor Ruckus 1: Solo Rules ($12 print, FREE pdf) | Solo Mode enabled! The complete R.A.P.T.O.R. ruleset for single-player playthroughs, plus an expansive set piece scenario generator AND a quick adventure! Everyone who backed the core book will get this digitally for free. 
• Tyranosaur Inside ($20 print, $8 pdf) | This T-Rex is monumentally huge. Unrealistically so. It’s so big that your only hope, if you wish to defeat it, is to fight the monster FROM THE INSIDE! A 3rd-Party adventure by CM LOWRY.
• Time Tablez Raptor Watch ($35) | An honest-to-god, bona fide watch! Retro-inspired, it not only tells time, but also works as a random encounter generator. Check the time, consult the tables for the hour and the minute to instantly add a random encounter to your Raptor Ruckus game!

Oh! And one more:

• Raptor Ruckus Quickstart ($6 zine) | Yes, that's right. A stupid $6 for 48 pages. You're already all getting the PDF for free, and some of you are getting the Kickstarter exclusive, metallic cover of its adventure "A Day Off", but we decided we wanted to print a bunch of these too. 
  This is the only one we're doing this way, but this will be printed on cheap paper to keep the costs low and the vibe nasty. Seriously, don't buy it if you only want magnificence. 

But wait! There's more!

These are items made by the Raptor Ruckus team for other Borg systems. Honestly, we've got so much shit that it would be overwhelming if we threw it all at you in pieces, so we've gone with a few bundles. 

• Pirate Borg 3-Pack ($42 print, $12 pdf) | You probably already know this, but at night I moonlight (re: actual day job) as the Marketing/Production Director for Limithron. We make Pirate Borg. If you want, you can grab the 3 zines I've made so far for that Dark Caribbean. 
• Vast Grimm 3-Pack ($51 print, $24 pdf) | A perfect starter pack for the sci-fi horror, b-movie inspired splatterpunk RPG. 144 pages of absolutely infectious content, where players create scum and band together as a Legion to survive as long as they can.

Production Progress

In other news, we've got several things across the finish line! 

The tri-fold character folios (a Kickstarter exclusive) are nearly done, and they turned into bi-folds...same size, just with one fewer fold to aid in the layout. Frank, Derrick, and David figured out how to get a character sheet, a class, and all the rules for character creation and combat into one clean presentation. 

What's more, these are sized to 8.5"x11", so if you hate your printer, you can pump through ink and print them out at home! We'll probably get some printer-friendly versions out soon. 

The snapback hats are done! They look incredible, and I'm itching to get my own in-hand and on-head. This is the brand and style of hat I wear just about every day, and as someone who used to manage an apparel/hat company, I'm a bit of a snob when it comes to caps. 

You're going to love this. HOWEVER, you'll notice that we aren't offering it on the Pledge Manager. If you didn't pick one up on the Kickstarter, you'll have to find us as a show and see if we've got a spare, because there's precious few extras. 

We'll almost certainly do another hat design in a future project. 

Brian got a proof of the watch in, and dang it if it doesn't look dandy! I'll be seeing him in a few weeks, and I might just have to see what I can do about stealing it off his arm. 

Here's Brian, showing off the watch, the hat, and the shirt!

That's it, finally, for February! We'll hit you up again in March when we've got more to drop. 

TTFN,

Zac G. & Team Raptor

PROJECTS WE LOVE

A Ritual Most Foul & A Delving Most Dark | One of our all-time favorite publishers and partners is participating in OSE Month over on Backerkit! This all goes live in May, I think, but you should 100% give this thing a follow: https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/rpg-ramblings/a-delving-most-dark-and-ose-adventure-into-inferno

February Update (Part 2)
about 2 months ago – Tue, Feb 10, 2026 at 08:10:57 PM

This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.

February Update (Part 1)
about 2 months ago – Tue, Feb 03, 2026 at 07:00:00 AM

Hello there,

Zac here. A short update, but I'm packing in some exciting previews!

• Kickstarter Survey: Just went out yesterday. It's not the actual survey or Pledge Manager, but answering it will let you have some of the files early and help steer the ship. 
• Pledge Manager: Still not approved. Gamefound's being a bit frustrating to navigate, but we are waiting on their approval. Hopefully I'll have that when I get back, so we can get that up and running next week as well. 
• General Progress: Lots of art and layout done. Tons more art will be flooding in this month! 

Early-Release Files

Still nailing down the final list, but definitely you're going to get access to the core book, solo rules book, hacking and reference cards, all the various character sheet iterations, GM screen, and A Day Off adventure in the next week!

We're going to send them out via DriveThruRPG, so be sure to fill out your survey here on Kickstarter. I'm headed to a show, so it will be on either Monday or Tuesday (Feb. 9th or 10th) when I get back. 

Art Tease

You shouldn't consider any of art this final, but here's a little preview of some of the art and concept art we've been getting:

I'll hit you up once the Pledge Manager is up, likely within a week or two. Until then, you're in the middle of ZineQuest here on Kickstarter! Go back some shit. 

I'll drop some recommendations down below.

TTFN,

Zac G. & Team Raptor

Projects We Love

PIRATE BORG: These Bloody Sails
Will Tramp wrote on Raptor Ruckus: Fragmentation, and now he's got his own project LIVE here on Kickstarter! Go throw money at him: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/thiseffingmgames/pirate-borg-these-bloody-sails

The Necromancer of Exetus
Pound for pound, my favorite narrative storyteller-focused writer in the RPG space is David Barrentine. He's the man. He also kills it with layout (hence why we hired him to help with Raptor). He's ALSO doing his own thing for ZineQuest. I've already read Exetus, and I'm telling you to back it: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/world-of-oranth/the-necromancer-of-exetus

PIRATE BORG: The Winds of Hell
Finally finally, here's Winds of Hell. It's my next project, and also Frank, Derrick, David, and Daniel's next project. We also lassoed Richard from Hellspawn, Fen from Limithron, and a few other hardened killers to make this a PIRATE BORG campaign you'll never forget:  https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/epicrpgs/pirate-borg-the-winds-of-hell

December/January Update
3 months ago – Thu, Jan 01, 2026 at 11:25:09 AM

Hello there,

Zac here. I've got some more detailed updates (including some NEW PRODUCT ANNOUNCEMENTS!), plus rapid-fire details on a few other elements. Let's start with the quick stuff:

• More Stretch Goal writers have turned in drafts!
• John's novel has been through multiple rounds of editing and is approved!
• M. Allen Hall is finished with the solo Stretch Goal zine, and it's in editing.
• Derrick has finished up a bunch of accessories.

Pledge Manager

We've opted to go with Gamefound for our pledge manager. Both Brian and I have used them before, and while they're not our default answer, they were extremely enthusiastic about our project, as they've got several other dino-based projects launching over there this month or next. I think there's gonna be a dino-themed mini-event over there!

I was hoping to be a bit further along on that front, but it's taking me longer to build this pledge manager than the typical one. I'm still hoping for having it ready in a week or two. Fingers crossed.

Layout / Artwork

How about I show you some cool shit? We're gonna have the alpha of the core book ready to drop on you, and that will include loads of new artwork. Here's a few screenshots of what's in store with the bestiary:

As you can see, we spared no expense. We're going big and splashy with the art, even if it soaks up a few dozen extra pages. 

Now, we've also been tweaking the GM Screen. Lots of little textures and details. Ignore the yellow, as that part will be folded over and not seen on either side. 

Free RPG Day Adventure!

We decided to go in with Brian's Vast Grimm and do an adventure anthology zine for Free RPG Day 2026. It'll be a zine that has a module for his RPG, Raptor, and probably at least one other game. It'll be a free book available in June at many, many RPG stores across the country. 

The working title of that adventure is Raptor Ruckus: Airborne, and it'll have you starting in a [SPOILER], followed by an action-packed [SPOILER], and wrap up with an extended [SPOILER].

I think I might try and sneak a PDF out to the lot of you for "playtesting", once it's laid out. 

MORE NEW STUFF!

I mean, I thought I'd have a lot to go over with ya this month, but I wasn't expecting all this!

TYRANNOSAUR INSIDE: This T-Rex is monumentally huge. Unrealistically so. It’s so big that your only hope, if you wish to defeat it, is to fight the monster FROM THE INSIDE!

TYRANNOSAUR INSIDE is a Third Party RAPTOR RUCKUS adventure by CM LOWRY, fully reworked to use the Raptor Ruckus System. Find dinosaur dentists inside, herbal tea, bored T-Rex security guards, and the opportunity to go all DINO KAIJU!

This will be available "inside" the Pledge Manager for the first time. 

TIME TABLEZ: Brian has designed something straight out of the 90s for all you nerds. Now, this is just a mock-up (not final), but Shut. The. Front. Door!  

It's a real, working watch, with all the gaudy colors you could wish for. Wear it on your wrist during the game – each minute you glance down, there will be a new result for a random encounter!

The TIME TABLEZ watch will also be available once the Pledge Manager opens. 

What (Should) You Get Soon?

Once Gamefound is ready for ya, I'll be able to deliver the first round of digital goodies. Right now, if nothing goes horribly wrong, that will include PDFs for:

• Core Book (alpha)
• Containment Breach (novel)
• A Day Off (scenario)
• Character Sheets (multiple variations)
• GM Screen
• All Miniature STLs
• Hacking/Reference Card Deck
• And maaaaybe some of the set-piece scenarios

Okay, I know that was a lot of excitement that all hinges on me getting this dang Pledge Manager wrapped up, so I'm going to get back at it. 

Keep reading past our grinning mugs to check out a few projects we love that are coming up here on Kickstarter!

TTFN,

Zac G. & Team Raptor

Projects We Love

PIRATE BORG: These Bloody Sails
One of the writers on Raptor Ruckus: Fragmentation is doing his own Pirate Borg adventure for ZineQuest next month! Will Tramp also wrote for us on The Devoured Labyrinth for Shadowdark, and he gave me a sneak peek at this project, so I can safely tell you that it's going to be a great one. Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/thiseffingmgames/pirate-borg-these-bloody-sails

FOMORIA: Epic Folk Horror Roleplaying
I mean, I can't imagine a better dynamic duo that Johan and Tania. Both of them are incredible artists, designers, and writers, so I'm over the moon to get to help them bring their latest proejct to life. FOMORIA is stunning. Like, jaw-dropping gorgeous. There's a full Quickstart you can download and see for yourself already up: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jnohr/fomoria

Expeditions into the Blood Sands
This is Jeff Jones' entry for ZineQuest next month, and I love it. Jeff had me write the bestiary for this setting last year (it's also available in the Kickstarter), but these books really serve to flesh out the wasteland. Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1580058713/expeditions-into-the-blood-sands

PIRATE BORG: The Winds of Hell
While the whole Raptor crew continues to plug away, I've been continuing to chip away at this little beast. Pirate Borg could use a longer-form campaign or two, and I aim to please with Winds of Hell, which is all about devils, the Inquisition, and where the two collide in the Dark Caribbean. Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/epicrpgs/pirate-borg-the-winds-of-hell