NECROVENGE – A solo TTRPG

May26 — My bones hurt
29 days ago – Sat, May 09, 2026 at 12:38:32 PM

While I'm sitting here typing these words the sun slowly sets and the day is about to end. Tomorrow, when I wake up I will, magically, be one year older. How that works I have no idea, but people will arrive bringing gifts, singing songs, expecting cake and waving flags (perhaps this is mostly a Danish thing.)

But Phil, enough with your stupid Danish custom, and boring old-man-stories about your back aching. How's the freaking book coming along? 

Glad you asked. 

Additional Prompts

Last update we discussed if additional prompts should be featured in this book, or be put into a zine. I spent some time looking for cool, exciting guest writers and I am happy to announce that Pelle Nilsson, Rugose Kohn, Pawel Kicman, and, Matthew Pfister have written a 1-2 prompts each, which will be in the book. I've also added some great new ideas from my own hand, so there's now (even more) replay-ability. It took some time but it's worth it. And what a roster. 

Layout

I've been talking about, throughout the last few updates, that I needed to tweak the last few things. Not being a graphic designer, these small details take some time for me to dial in, as I can see that something isn't how I want it to be. But I simply lack the experience to instantly know how to fix it. Luckily I got some help from Tommy Sunzenauer (who have yet to kill me when we meet up.) This means the principle for the layout is now done, so now it's just spreading it out on every single page. 

It's small details, but having a clear hierarchy has really helped guide the reading, and thus the play experience will be much more smoooooth. Also having small technical details highlighted by a "smallcaps" makes the reading much more fluent.

New illustrator

I've been lucky enough to get vil to work with me on this book as well. I had the great joy of having them draw Fathmu for the special edition poster that was featured in my first Kickstarter for Trapped Within.

This time vil has made sure the last encounter is forever captured with FOUR kickass illustrations in a sick red which really sells that this is, in fact, the final showdown. (... you will only see one for now.)

The really cool thing vil did was to use an all red and black palette, which I haven't really done, as red is mostly an accent color for my illustrations throughout the book. However it makes sense, since this is the final encounter. They are both stupidly cool though. Which one do you prefer? 

The final edit

The book is going to be undergoing it's final edit during May, and so the text will be locked. All there's left are illustrations for the book, and then setting up print files. 

Setting a book up for print involves (for me):

• Making sure the colors are right (converted correctly to CMYK)
• Making special files if there's foil or pantone colors
• Making front and back pages for the actual book
• Checking resolution for all files
• Making sure I have the rights for fonts and images (one final time)
• Double checking that everything is a-okay.

I will leave you with that. I plan on updating the Itch.io digital file within the next week, and releasing it for the public soon thereafter. 

If you have a friend who hasn't jumped on the campaign yet, tell them it's now and send them to Backerkit. 

April26 – Drawing the diaper in the detail
2 months ago – Mon, Mar 30, 2026 at 04:46:19 AM

Salutations, I hope your vengeance is well underway. 

If you're one of the 9 % who haven't completed the Backerkit Survey don't be that way. Go complete it. If you're in doubt about how to do that, please contact me. Either here or elsewhere. 

In completely other news, on the 25th of April I'm going to join Tommy Sunzenauer at blackwork rpgin Copenhagen for two days of RPG conference. If you're around come say hi!

The last two months have been filled with baby-shit, love, giggles, screaming, and small step-celebrations. I'm getting closer and closer towards having a scarily filled book. It's a strange dual-feeling of both proudness and fear. There's something about completing stuff that my system feels scared about. While something is being worked on you can always hide behind that "sticker" of uncompleteness. Anyway, I digress. 

Things I've completed since last time:

• Secret Room Creator (Appendix)
• Companion Creator (Appendix)
• Guide for converting your dungeon to your table (Appendix)
• Small important layout stuff
• A shit ton of drawings!

Speaking of drawings, there's still some left and thus I've asked for the good help of my two friends Unitsix who have created a ton of good work for themselves and others in the MÖRK BORG-sphere. 

The other artist I've asked for help is vil. They helped me create the wonderful illustration of Fathmu for Trapped Within which I'm freaking excited about, I'll share some of their sketches next time.  

One last decision

On one hand there's still quite some work left, but it's with the finishing of the book. Later this month I'm sending whole thing to my lovely editor Ian SerVaas who correct this monstrocity for the final time.

Then I have a long list of small things, and then a whole lot of drawings. After that the files need to be corrected for print. It's not a lot, and at the same time something. So what I didn't need was a final idea ... But I just cannot shake it.

I've had this idea to add a section of "additional prompts". The idea is, that once you replay the game you might stumble upon the same prompts, and so instead of the experience feeling stale, you could go to the appendix and switch out any prompt with a new one. To keep the game feeling fresh. This adds an even better replayability. The game in is current state is already replayable. But this would be more (and better.)

I've written to other creators who have started writing some prompts for me, but I'm still not sure if I should add it to the main book. My good friend Brian told me to add it in a zine for the future. What do you think? 

Feb26 – Fail and have fun
4 months ago – Tue, Feb 10, 2026 at 06:17:54 AM

Hallo, death-deniers and bone-hungry backers,

 Thank you for staying with me in this eternally dragging ordeal. Last month you all got an email allowing you to access the BackerKit survey, which in turn allows you to grab your WIP copy of NECROVENGE from the Itch page. (Yes, it's alive.)

 Currently the itch.io page is locked, so only backers can access it.

 Also, you will all get the final PDF on BackerKit once that's finished, so if you do not care for Itch.io, do not fear, you will have a PDF eventually. (My lawyers asked me to put 'eventually' in there.)

Some of you have already reached out, stating you had fun playing the game, which, honestly, is the number one thing I care about. I am forever grateful to all the people letting me know how the experience playing the game has been. And it warms my dead, black, dad-heart.

 What's left? 

• Art
• More Art
• Some layout
• Secret Room Creator (Appendix)
• Short guide to move the dungeon to the table
• Maybe a small surprise (I'll let you know in March)
• Also, it needs art

And then the 1000 small things that will make this forsaken book awesome.

 I can smell the rot, meaning we must be close.

But there's also still some time left. In March I will be taking a much-needed vacation, cross-country skiing in Norway with friends and family.

Luckily, come April I will have a little more downtime from work. And I will spend that time with my daughter and my other baby — this book, which cries less but demands just as much.

If you play the game, let me know if you had fun. And if anything was wrong and should be fixed, before we print this thing!

January26 – Sorry I made a grave error
5 months ago – Wed, Jan 07, 2026 at 12:44:12 PM

It's a cemetery joke. Anyway, sorry for sending out two emails. After pressing every button and making sure it was all working perfectly, I learned that Backerkit won't let you send out digital files prior to sending out Surveys.

So, I've Requested a Setup Review which can take upwards of two business days. After that I'll do a smoke test meaning 10 % of backers will receive a survey link.

Once that is done, and I have confirmation everything is fine, you will all receive your survey and afterwards you will be able to access your files. 

I'm sorry that it's this backwards. It's all my mistake for not understanding the Backerkit platform well enough. But soon you can download and play the non-arty version of NECROVENGE.

And so I will get started on the drawing part! 🔥

Thanks for your continued patience with me. 

January26 – The Prophecy has been fulfilled
5 months ago – Wed, Jan 07, 2026 at 07:28:10 AM

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a wonderful New Year to you all. I have a small gift for you all as a way to show my gratitude for your support and patience. It's at the end of the newsletter.

But onto the most exciting news: I've written the game in its full length, it's good, so good that if it died, it would surely resurrect itself and look for revenge. 

So now it's time NECROVENGE gets played by more than me! Meaning you! 
However, a small caveat. 

On one hand, I really want feedback before sending it off to an editor. I want to hear the good, the bad, and the ugly.

On the other (if you haven't lost it in a sword fight), the aesthetics are being worked on and illustrations are needed on a lot of pages, so if you choose to download it, realise that it is a work in progress. It lacks certain elements visually, and my Danish-English is leaving a lot of spelling mistakes scattered around the pdf. Luckily, Fish Davidson (a too kind backer) is going through the game, leaving me with valuable feedback. He's amazing. So far ACT 1 and 2 has been corrected, but let me know if you stumble upon more issues. 

Because I would love to hear your experience playing through it. Does it make sense? What works best? Did you stumble at any point? Is it fun? Was one prompt not really working? Another too well?

You will get an email from Backerkit saying "your digital downloads" are ready. I'm pressing the button NOW. This will be a link to a private/restricted Itch.io-page where you can download the game. The reason for that is it allows me to upload new versions and disable the old ones.

Also, it allows me to make threads on Itch.io where you can upload feedback!

If you (within a week) do not have a link from Backerkit and want one, try:

1) Look in your spam
2) Contact me
3) Contact Backerkit (who'll probably contact me)

If you backed this project with a hidden Apple-generated email, you most likely will not get your Backerkit-email. Write me a private message here on Kickstarter with an alternative email, and I'll update you in the Backerkit database.

Well ... As a way to say thank you to all of you, I've sent you a digital code to download Trapped Within as a PDF. It is a small way of saying thank you for staying with me throughout this project, and for staying patient with me. 

Most of you probably already have it, but for the ones who do not, I hope you come to like it. Let me know in the comments.