City of Espers is a psychic-powered urban action TTRPG for 2 to 4 players and a Game Master. Play as a group of psychics connecting to the city they live in through high-energy battles and melodrama.
City of Espers: A Psychic-Powered Urban Action RPG
From creator and designer Nathan Blades and the award-winning team at Three Sails Studios...
City of Espers: A Psychic-Powered Urban Action RPG
Are you one of the ever-growing number that have awoken to startling psychic powers? Has pyrokinesis gotten your personal life out of control? Looking to meet a community of people that understand your unique needs? Then Zener City welcomes you with open arms!
Psychic-Powered Action and Melodrama in a Technicolour Metropolis
Psychic-Powered Action and Melodrama in a Technicolour Metropolis
City of Espers: A Psychic-Powered Urban Action RPG is the new game from acclaimed creator and designer Nathan Blades (also known as everyone's favourite androgynous android late-night DJ, The Neon Caster) and the award-winning team at Three Sails Studios (Mappa Mundi - An Exploration + Ecology RPG and Gallows Corner - A Peasants' Revolt RPG).
In this high-octane TTRPG -- powered by found families, the best and worst of urban living, and the unshakeable belief that even the least confident among us has a million and one stories to tell -- players are Espers, everyday people who have developed amazing psychic powers, who call Zener City, our technicolour metropolis inspired by real cities from all over the globe, home.
With extraordinary powers disrupting what was once an ordinary life, how will you make your mark on Zener City's evolving Esper community? What stories will you tell? What triumphs and tragedies will you experience? How will you stand out and make this place better than you found it?
City of Espers is inspired by: Street gang stories like The Warriors, Bomb Rush Cyberfunk and Gangs of Titan City.
Superpowered sport stories like Midnight Furies, Splatoon and Tribe Nine.
Urban fantasy JRPGs like Earthbound, The World Ends with You and Yakuza: Like a Dragon.
RPG-meets-tactics games like Resonance of Fate, SMT: Devil Survivor and Kill Sample Process.
Superhero drama comics like X-Men, Static Shock and The Wicked + The Divine
Ballroom culture, hip hop culture, artist collectives… and more!
Whether it's backstreet battles over Turf and bragging rights, clandestine investigations into shady companies buying up the old neighbourhood, making the front page of the city's underground fashion zines, taking the championship trophy home as winners of the Esperball league, or carving out a piece of Zener for you and your chosen family, City of Espers is built to tell stories of all kinds.
Rooted in celebrations of queer culture, urban life, graffiti culture, music, fashion, sports, and struggles against everyday and systemic oppressions, City of Espers celebrates the best of what it means to live alongside a diverse community without losing sight of the struggles a life on the outside can lead to.
Tell stories of unity and division, of celebration and suffering, of hope and despair. Tell stories about finding who you are now and leaving the rest behind, of what it means to see yourself and those around you change and grow and stumble and fall.
Tell stories about you. And tell them your own way.
"As a designer, Nathan always explores themes with style, making action expressive and meaningful. You might have seen psychic anime action before, but it has never looked this good."
- James D'Amato (ONE SHOT Network, Campaign: Skyjacks)
City of Espers is a TTRPG built around a single idea: to tell stories of what it means to belong to a city, a place, a people outside of belonging.
Players take on the role of Espers, everyday people who have found themselves with extraordinary psychic powers in a world only just beginning to understand this new type of difference.
Forty years ago, the first Espers 'sparked', their powers awakening seemingly at random, and often with catastrophic consequences. While Espers appeared around the world, the majority were concentrated in an often-overlooked place: Zener City.
With so many Espers already calling it home, Zener City became a beacon for those who wouldn't, or couldn't, stay where they were. Now, Zener City is the centre of Esper culture, a technicolour metropolis where one is just as likely to see someone sliding their way along a psychically-manifested ice wave as they are teenagers on stolen mopeds.
Your life in Zener City starts by building your Esper House, a found family who share ideals, fashion, music, and a space to call home. With your House at your side, your Esper (your player-character) comes next. A fusion of beliefs, dramas, passions, and purpose, not to mention a few magnificent psychic powers, your Esper has a story to tell and a city to explore. Just how that story will read is up to you!
Using a card-based resolution mechanic, City of Espers is built to tell stories of hope in the face of despair, of perseverance in the face of adversity, and of solidarity in the face of division. Zener City is laid out before you, and its secrets will become yours.
The City is calling for you. You feel it wherever you go, whatever you're doing. It has chosen you, like it has chosen me. Time to work out just what it wants. The streets are waiting!
City of Espers comes as a 160+ page illustrated hardback book, with edge-printed pages, laid out by George Francis Bickers (City of Espers producer, art director, and additional writer), developed and edited by Jeremy Blum, and illustrated throughout by a team of artists including Isa Happyfield, Shane Melisse, Jess Herron, Emily Greymoore, Lur Noise, and Donald Kirby.
Everything you need to start your life as an Esper is included in this one book, whether you want to run a campaign that sees your House grow from newcomer to first among equals, a multi-part story of growth and community, or a one shot of action and melodrama.
No stretch goals are needed to improve the product or add additional content. Printed on 110gsm uncoated recycled paper, hardbound with a fully illustrated cover, edge-printed pages, and illustrated throughout in full colour, every component has been carefully chosen to give you the best version of City of Espers right from the start.
For those looking for a little more luxury in their lives, the All In Edition of City of Espers comes in a starkly illustrated boxed edition, complete with a full deck of 52 poker-sized cards, featuring twelve pieces of custom Esper artwork, so you can play your games in full Zener City style!
To reflect our environmental commitments, we use FSC-certified recycled paper and water-based vegan inks!
We hate long crowdfunder waits and, while we understand that they are often a necessity of the process, we choose to do things a little differently.
City of Espers is written, edited, and laid out. We're just waiting on a few more pieces of artwork, which are due to arrive before the end of the campaign. That means we'll be going to print as soon as the campaign finishes!
Our intention is to have City of Espers in your hands by January 2027.
Don’t think it can be done? Mappa Mundi, our first project, delivered to backers in May and June 2025, just two months after the campaign ended. A year later, we did the same thing with our second project, Gallows Corner. We’re aiming for the third time to be just as much of a charm!
City of Espers is a psychic-powered TTRPG that sets players a simple challenge:
Make your mark on a city unlike any other.
It has been 40 years since the first Espers sparked. All around the world -- from London to Tokyo, New York to New Delhi, from Rio to Abuja, and everywhere in between -- people's lives changed.
For those who sparked, who discovered miraculous powers, there was no going back. Some were injured, others killed. Those who survived found themselves looked on with fear, suspicion, jealousy, and wonder. Many found that they were no longer welcome in the places they had always called home.
In Zener City, a place that is everywhere and nowhere all at once, Espers (as those who had sparked came to be known) were present in greater numbers. The city had always been known as a place of refuge for those in need, and a haven for artists, musicians, designers, and dropouts alike.
At first, no one could tell why it was that so many who lived in Zener found themselves with powers. At first, it didn't matter. But as the news spread, and more and more Espers were driven from their homes, Zener City became a haven for those dealing with this new reality.
Zener became the City of Espers.
Now, after four decades, Zener City is the centre of Esper culture. Some Esper Houses have became famous around the world, home to pop sensations, visionary artists, and international sports stars. An Esper dialect has emerged to describe these new ways of living. And every day, new Espers -- whether those who sparked early or those who have discovered new powers since -- arrive at Zener Grand Station, seeking a home and a family to belong to.
This is where you come in, Esper. Zener City is special in more ways than one. It speaks to you like it speaks to the rest of us. The people of Zener have welcomed you with open arms (or, at least, not with open hostility).
This is your new home, and you are very welcome. Make a life here. Make your mark. Change this city into something more than you found it.
At the core of City of Espers is the game's card-based resolution mechanic. Leaving dice aside, City of Espers uses a standard deck of 52 cards to manage everything from using psychic powers to landing the final blow in an Esper battle, and from generating your Esper's starting Attributes to communing with Turf, the manifestations of the city's own power.
Each players draws a hand of five cards from the shared deck and uses this hand to interact with the city and its people. When a moment of uncertainty or crisis arises, players play cards from their hand to resolve the situation. Success comes from matching or beating a Target Number (TN), or exceeding the value of the cards played by an opponent.
But your resources are limited. Players cannot draw a fresh hand of five until their current hand is empty. This means that failure is just as certain as success. Players must choose their moment to fail carefully but, in Zener City, a catastrophe is just as welcome as a triumph; after all, everyone knows that you learn more from failure than you do from success!
City-Pop Brawlers? Sunny Attitude Surfers? Anarchist Outlaws? The League of Elegant Gentlemen? Houses come in all shapes and sizes and with every type of Vibe you can imagine. Yours will be as unique as every member.
In a game built around found families and the experiences of urban living, Esper Houses function as both an anchor to keep you steady as Zener City throws everything it has your way, and also as a foundational part of your Esper's identity. Your House is your family here in Zener.
United by shared beliefs, shared passions, and shared fashion and style, Esper Houses are safe havens but also, like most families, sources of drama. Most will remain small and insular: a collection of likeminded individuals, yes, but with no great ambition. Others, yours included, will rise up and make their mark on this technicolour city. Whether that's taking on the Esperball League, protecting your community from unscrupulous property developers, or diving into the secrets of Turf, you are destined for great things, and your House will be with you every step of the way.
Your House serves a vital role in your experience of Zener City. Not only a base of operations and a safe port in a storm, Houses also structure your Relationships with friends and rivals and your Personal and House Directives, the objectives and purposes you choose when building your Esper. Over time, the fortunes of your House will shift and change as these Directives are accomplished or failed, and only the tightest of Houses will emerge from the masses and attain the heights of fame, fortune, and success.
The Houses of Avalon, Changeling, Spyglass, and Tokusatsu
With your House established, it's time to build your Esper: the character you will play in City of Espers.
Espers are made from just a handful of elements: Attributes, Personal Directives, Relationships, Gear, and Psychic Abilities.
Start by drawing cards to generate your starting Attributes. The values of those cards will indicate your starting Attribute values:
With your four Attributes set, your can determine your Esper's Stamina value, by combining your HOLD and FLOW values and adding 2.
Next, set your Personal Directives -- the things and situations that motivate your Esper -- and your Relationships -- those connections, whether with friends or rivals, that give colour to your life. These will adapt and change over your Esper's journey and are key to developing your character.
Next up is creating your signature Gear --pieces of equipment that are uniquely (and stylishly) yours. Whether Melee, Ranged, or a Gadget, each piece of Gear is shaped by the Gear Tags you apply to it. Whether a rocket-powered skateboard (Gadget + Voyaging), a laser blade (Melee + Plasmic, Spiked, Attuned), or a light-up electric guitar (Ranged + Chromatic, Musical), your Gear should be as unique as you are.
Finally, choose your Psychic Powers. Set across the four suits of the deck, your Esper might be a master of Pyrokinesis, blasting the competition away with a wall of flame. Perhaps they might disappear from sight with Invisibility, harden themselves against incoming attacks with Crystallise, peer deep into the minds of others with Telepathy, or even speak with the City itself with City Speaker.
However you start, there are always more powers to learn. Your Esper grows through struggle and solidarity, victory and defeat. The story you tell will be written on the fabric of the city streets!
Outsiders say that Zener City is a place like no other. Normally, they're referring to the high proportion of Espers, or the city's distinct melting pot of global cultures and the new ways of living that have emerged.
Those who call Zener home know the real reason that the city feels different.
Turf.
Houses that establish a harmony between themselves and the local community can psychically awaken part of the City itself - creating Turf. Your Turf is as much of a character as any person, with powers and a personality of its own.
What makes a 'successful' House can be measured in all sorts of ways, but some argue forging a deep connection with local Turf is the true measure of a House's strength.
Newly-formed Houses don’t start with Turf, and must forge that connection as a consequence of their exploits, their identity, and their shared abilities.
Turf is the ultimate status symbol for Zener's Esper Houses. From Starfall's Constellation Cord to Barricade's Open City, Oracle's Eye in the Sky to Berzerker's Heaven Spot, and the myriad forms and manifestations in between, your Turf is the city itself talking to you, backing you, protecting you.
When the narrative tension rises to a fever pitch, it might be time for an Action Sequence!
An Action Sequence could be anything: a high speed car chase, an Esper Battle, infiltrating a building, or a district-wide game of Hide and Seek. If matters of timing, placement, or tactics would be important, it’s a great candidate for an Action Sequence.
City of Espers uses a simple three-by-three grid as the basis for its Action Sequences. The space the grid represents can vary, depending on the Action Scene. It could represent an Esper Battle arena, with each zone representing different parts of the pitch; an infiltration of a mansion, with each zone as a different room; or even a high speed chase across a city district, moving between landmarks and city blocks.
Adaptable for any situation your Espers might find themselves in, Action Sequences are limited only by your creativity. Take the fight to the streets, stage a dance off between rival Houses, or spray-paint your master piece on the walls of a government building. Represent your House of Espers on the table however you like, from spare dice to custom-painted miniatures (including our free backer reward STL files!).
Whatever you want to do, an Action Sequence and the grid can make it happen.
City of Espers is a 160+ page, hardcover, fully illustrated book containing:
Opening Number - Core Rules: Six pages of player-facing Core Rules to get you exploring Zener City in no time at all.
Mother Has Arrived - Creating a House: A collaborative process that lets all players collectively build their Esper House. Establish your vibe, choose your House colours, set your shared Directives, and establish a cast of NPC characters to help support you.
Getting Up - Creating Your Esper: Full rules for character creation, from generating your starting Attributes through to choosing your Psychic Abilities and creating your custom Esper Gear.
The Living City - Turf: Full rules for creating your House's Turf and for communing with it and other manifestations you find around Zener City.
Hitting the Streets - Playing Action Sequences: Full rules on creating, running, and resolving Action Sequences, including two example sequences.
A New View - Additional Rules: Extra rules to feature in your campaigns and sessions, including Tempo points, Status Effects and Health, and an Events Randomiser to help GMs adapt to whatever Zener City has to offer on the fly.
Curtain Close - Ending Sessions and Experience: Guidance and rules for character development, including gaining new Psychic Abilities, resolving and changing Personal and House Directives, and deepening, ending, and establishing new Relationships with friends and rivals.
All Dressed Up - The Houses of Zener City: In-depth looks at twelve of Zener City's Esper Houses, including city-pop crawlers (House of Starfall), shining show hosts (House of Oracle), urban knights (House of Avalon), noir drag-tectives (House of Spyglass), and passionate street heroes (House of Tokusatsu), among others.
Welcome Home - Locations of Zener City: Ten districts from around Zener City, each including a Rogues Gallery of NPCs to include in your sessions, and story hooks to immerse yourself in the variety of peoples and places that make up this City of Espers.
City of Espers goes beyond just the core rulebook. The All In Edition comes as a starkly illustrated graphic boxed product, with both an Action Grid and the Map of Zener City printed on the inside, containing both the core rulebook and the City of Espers custom card deck.
The card deck takes the form of 52 poker-sized cards, with the twelve 'Court Cards' (Kings, Queens, and Jacks) featuring a unique piece of character artwork by Isa Happyfield, drawn from our twelve Esper Houses.
The digital pledge contains a bookmarked and page-linkedPDF of City of Espers and digital files for the Character Sheet and Action Grid.
City of Espers Physical Pledge - £35
The physical pledge comes with one physical copy of the City of Espers core book: a 160+ page hardback book edge-printed with deep-red ink.
This pledge also includes everything from the digital pledge.
City of Espers All In Pledge - £55
The All In pledge comes with a boxed edition of City of Espers, containing the full physical rule book and the custom City of Espers card deck, which features custom-designed suit symbols and 12 pieces of unique character artwork representing the Court cards, all in a fully illustrated, lidded box. The box stores the card deck underneath the core rulebook, making it perfect for travelling around Zener City.
This pledge also includes everything from the digital pledge.
Low Income Pledge - £10
This pledge is a reduced price version of the City of Espers Digital Pledge, intended to allow those on lower incomes to access and own the game. If you can afford a higher pledge, we’d appreciate your support, but this is a no-questions-asked offer. Make use of it if you need it!
All backers will receive free 3D print files to print custom designed miniatures of the House of Starfall!
Sculpted by Ricardo Segura Ramos, these files will allow you to 3D print the members of our cover House, the House of Starfall. House Leader Lyra is joined by secretive and sparky Horologium, geomantic biker Ursa, staunch and strong Andromeda (featured on the City of Espers box cover), and the newest House member Corvus, complete with his Mental Construct, Nyx.
House of Starfall miniatures. Sculpted by Ricardo Segura Ramos.
Want to explore the wider Three Sails Studios catalogue? Our Add On options allow you to do just that!
Mappa Mundi - An Exploration + Ecology RPG
The debut game from Three Sails Studios, Mappa Mundi is the award-winning (Dragonmeet Awards, Gold Award for Best RPG) and ENnie-nominated exploration + ecology RPG that redefines the 'monster hunter' genre.
Leave your sword at home, Chronicler. A sharp mind and a curious spirit are the only weapons you'll need here!
Both the physical edition (complete with book, box, and Journey Deck) and the digital edition are available as Add Ons during this campaign.
Mappa Mundi - An Exploration + Ecology RPG
Gallows Corner - A Peasants' Revolt RPG
The newest game from Three Sails Studios, Gallows Corner - A Peasants' Revolt RPG, puts players in the role of peasants, outlaws, and the working classes in 14th century England. It asks only one thing: how will you change England for the better?
An Irish sergeant once said something to me I’ll never forget. ‘It’s no sin to be born in the gutter,’ he said. ‘But it’s a terrible sin to want to stay there.’
The All In edition (complete with book, box, and four pre-written adventure zines), the physical edition, and the digital edition are available as Add Ons during this campaign.
At Three Sails Studios, we believe that our games have a message, and that each game's message should have some impact on the world around us. To put our money where our mouth is, we decided against content-based stretch goals for our games, and instead pledged to always make use of Social Impact Stretch Goals for each of our games.
What does this mean? Well, at the end of the City of Espers Backerkit campaign, we will make a solidarity donation to a charity or organisation that reflects the messages contained within the game. This donation will increase in value based on the amount the campaign raises.
For City of Espers, Three Sails Studios will be donating a share of our revenue to a youth homelessness charity.
In previous campaigns, we have donated £2,500 to an elephant sanctuary and rehabilitation centre (Mappa Mundi campaign) and £2,500 to a food bank (Gallows Corner campaign).
For every copy of City of Espers – physical or digital – pledged during this campaign, we will donate £1 to a youth homelessness charity / organisation here in the UK up to £25,000 total funding. This is our baseline pledge if the project is funded.
As we hit certain funding levels, we will increase this donation value. In this way, each City of Espers backer is taking part in the kinds of solidarity and support that the game is built around. As a community, we can all work together to improve things for those who are struggling and make things even slightly better for others.
Please note: This Backerkit campaign is NOT a charity campaign. Rather, we as a business are choosing to donate a share of our own revenue to charitable causes, with the rate of these donations determined by the number of campaign backers.
City of Espers will be covered by the Three Sails Community Licence, which means that artists, writers, designers, and content creators can use the game, its system, and even some of the game’s artwork to produce their own content for the game.
As part of our commitment to elevating people across the TTRPG industry, the Community Licence gives you explicit permission to sell your work and keep 100% of the profit. That’s right, we don’t take a penny – and, if you let us know, we’ll even help you sell it!
Cozy RPG Reviews did an excellent preview of City of Espers, naming it as the channel's 'most anticipated game of 2026'!
The amazing team at EUphoria put together a one-shot Actual Play for City of Espers, run by City of Espers creator and designer Nathan Blades!
The excellent AmaanHK conducted an interview with City of Espers creator Nathan Blades for his Products of Thought series!
Last, but not least, Nathan Blades led a two-part Actual Play of City of Espers for a collection of players taking on the role of The House of Vox, who run Zener City's very best underground radio station!
City of Espers was created, designed, and written by Nathan Blades (Heartbeats In Perfect Sync; Spire: Shadow Operations; DIE: Bizarre Love Triangles; Tokyo: Otherscape)
The award-winning team at Three Sails Studios consists of:
George Francis Bickers - producer, art director, layout, and additional writing for City of Espers
Jeremy Blum - editor for City of Espers
Joel Kilpatrick
Lou Fryer
Artwork for City of Espers was undertaken by a wide team. They are:
Isa Happyfield - Cover Art; Card Deck Character Illustrations Shane Melisse - House and Turf Artwork; Spot Illustrations Jess Herron - Spot Illustrations; City Districts Emily Greymoore - Spot Illustrations; City Districts Lur Noise - Full Page Illustrations; Spot Illustrations Donald Kirby - Character Illustrations Alderdoodle - Graphic Design
We are working with two reputable shipping and fulfilment partners as part of this campaign and for ongoing sales. US orders will be shipped from within the US, while all other orders will be shipped from the UK.
A Note on US Tariffs: We are confident in our ability to mitigate the impact of the tariffs affecting the US at the current time. At the time of writing, we do not expect to charge US backers any additional funds to cover tariff costs. Three Sails Studios plans to work with our fulfilment partners to reduce the impact and we will cover any reasonable costs ourselves.
Please note that these are estimated shipping rates and may change when final totals are calculated. SHIPPING AND ANY RELEVANT TAXES WILL BE CHARGED AFTER THE CAMPAIGN THROUGH THE PLEDGE MANAGER.
UK Shipping: £5 - £8 US Shipping: $10 - $15 EU Shipping: £8 - £15 Canada Shipping: £10 - £15 Australia Shipping: £10 - £15 Rest of World: £15+
Each and every Three Sails Studios project is 100% human made. We believe generative AI and the process of training generative AI models to be an unethical use of the work of creative artists and, fundamentally, a tool for the continued exploitation of hardworking and, almost uniformly, underpaid and underappreciated artists, writers, and creatives.
Thanks to HINOKODO for the human made illustration
All PDF copies of City of Espers will be fulfilled through DriveThruRPG.
