Urban Shadows finally cashes its ten-year-old debt

In many ways, Urban Shadows is both a victim and beneficiary of its designers' success. Mark Diaz-Truman and Marissa Kelly, co-owners of Magpie Games and the current stewards of the urban fantasy RPG, announced a second edition in 2020. A Kickstarter campaign raised nearly $200,000 that would allow a wiser, more confident version of the studio to refine its Buffy-by-way-of-Apocalypse World game.

And then Avatar Legends happened.

A little more than four years after funding Urban Shadows 2E, Diaz-Truman sat across from me at a hotel lobby table during GAMA 2025, purple dice and character sheets spread between us. He explained the basics of play — nothing too daunting if you’ve cracked any other Powered by the Apocalypse-style RPG — and excitedly ran me through creating a character. Players will choose playbooks derived from four metaphysical spheres that interact, with much friction, in the space between conversations as well as the great gears of society.

Rhonnie, a Wolf, hails from the art district of our City. By the time we finish answering questions and defining both her transformational powers and streetbound territory, she is a network of connections and obligations running in both directions. She has just as many debtors as friends, and threats to her control creep closer every day. Urban Shadows delights in sticking players in a shit situation and then pulling on one of those interpersonal threads. Nothing spices up a life-threatening situation like the consequences of your own actions.

The hour-long demo clearly showed how much this second edition has benefitted from delays. Every design decision either directly reflected a lesson learned from another RPG in Magpie’s portfolio or Diaz-Truman’s own maturation as an artist. He willingly admitted that a younger version could not have successfully crafted the two new playbooks, the legendary weapon-toting Sworn and The Imp (described as Howard Ratner from Uncut Gems). He also fiercely championed details that have survived the years simply because they delighted him. All games are a combination of necessary winnows and darlings we couldn’t manage to kill.

Urban Shadows 2E represents an inflection point for Magpie Games. It’s PbtA but also more, equal parts calcified expectations and intentional departures. Its March 3rd release date arrives a mere month after a collaboration with Failbetter Games raised over $750,000 to develop a Fallen London RPG. For better and worse, Magpie Games is associated with — and owes their recent success to — licensed games. The circumstances make for a strange stage to finally unveil the new Urban Shadows. But inconvenient debts coming due is perhaps the most urban fantasy move one could make.

This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.