In Stewpot, The Adventure May Be Over But Life Goes On
Cook monsters, reforge old weapons, flirt with mysterious strangers, and more in this fantasy slice-of-life TTRPG about retired adventurers opening a tavern.
Autumn leaves and rusted blade
Dented shields and flickering flame
Warrior, what is your fate?
Tattered robes and crumbling stone
Ragged breath and broken bow
Warrior, where will you go?
Aching scars and restless nights,
The cold inside your bones.
Hands so skilled at taking life,
Must learn to help it grow.
Stewpot: Tales from a Fantasy Tavern is a slice-of-life story about a tavern run by former adventurers. It’s about hanging up your weapons, selling off your armor, and integrating back into society.
Stewpot is inspired by games such as Mobile Frame Zero: Firebrands and The Sundered Land. GMless and best suited for 3-5 players, groups will build a tavern and surrounding area together, creating new characters or pulling them from old campaigns. They'll choose from 18 mini-games (a total of 20 including the intro and ending games) and use prompts and simple mechanics to play out a series of vignettes, from starting a garden to disenchanting and reforging gear to cooking monsters.
The Backerkit campaign launched April 16th and has already funded almost 500%, reaching all content stretch goals and increasing pay for contributors. It ends next week on May 16th.
Designed by Takuma Okada, the campaign is funding a print run of the game by Evil Hat, with new layout by Cris Viana and art by Arthur Cabezas, Elemei, Franz Michael A. Bautista, Gryme, Jasprismatic, Kelsey Phillips, Linden Medina, Lorne Colt, Rhie Cueva, and Xylica.
In addition to the standard hardcover version of the game, there are a number of campaign exclusives available to backers, including a limited edition cover with unique art and foil, a custom deck of cards, a tavern coin, and a wooden die.
The arc of the game is based on characters having an Adventurer Job, with Adventurer Experiences that represent their old abilities and powers, and a new Town Job with Town Experiences. As you play the game, you'll cross off Adventurer Experiences as you let go of them or let them fade into the background, and gain new Town Experiences that take their place. You'll also upgrade your Tavern and give each other Keepsakes along the way!
Touchstones for Stewpot include the Redwall series, the Bartender manga, Log Horizon, Dungeon Meshi, and Frieren: Beyond Journey's End. It's a great one-to-three shot game, but is also well suited to wrapping up a long-running fantasy campaign.
We hope you consider backing the game and appreciate your support!
“You need to eat.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“I thought the whole point of opening this place was a good meal and a full night’s sleep. And I know the second part of that isn’t happening tonight. So…”
“Alright, alright. Fine.”
It was hard to get that stew down. Nothing to do with Aina’s cooking. I was just too nervous. We had to sit on the front steps so I would stop fretting about every little detail inside.
We stayed like that for a while. Watched the sun go down. Lanterns were lit, then blown out, and we saw the stars so clearly that night. At some point, I finally nodded off with my head on Aina’s shoulder.
“Hey. It’s time, sleepyhead.”
“Ugh. God. I’m so sore. Why did we do this?”
“Because I’m an anxious mess, and you’re a huge softie. Come on. Let’s get some breakfast.”
And we’ve been here ever since.
