An uncontested and insurgent undead army laid waste to the frozen nation of Arcton centuries prior. Now, 8 oligarchical Liches oversee their respective regions, sending their Officers to craft their undead labor force out of their own living citizens. These powerful and arrogant entities consume and destroy the land that once held a vast resource of wild and unpredictable magic.

However, the story is not truly about them. Arcton is a vast and distinct nation with various cultures, people, customs, and beliefs that remained isolated from region to region. This is the story of the details, the inhabitants, and the dangerous, but beautiful, land, as complicated and nuanced as it can all be. But most importantly, this story is about you.

This is the guide for you, as both a DM and a player, to use as an addition to your campaigns.

Book 1 covers an overview of the nation: it offers a summary of its regions, history, fauna, flora, citizens/NPCs, and other starting points found in this cultural iceberg that will be expanded upon in later books.

Arcton is a fantasy system-agnostic setting for tabletop roleplay gaming. It urges a critical, but empathetic view, at the messy, horrifying, and destructive nature of existing in an imperial core where your worth is valued by your output in labor-- living or not.

You, as the storyteller, are granted the tools to either build or destroy this land in your campaigns, do with them as you will.

I've played TTRPGs for almost a decade at this point, and played a lot of indie and homebrew systems designed by my friends and partner. Because of this, I've found the setting for a certain popular TTRPG necromancy nation to be somewhat outdated and very short-sighted. It explores interesting ideas, but dehumanizes the location to an oversimplified "bad people, bad leaders, and a bad system" lens with little nuance and interest. 

I'd like to offer an alternative setting that explores a nation run by liches and where necromancy is normalized through a multi-layered storybuilding lens. Who are the key characters? What are the details of this culture like? How did we get here? Why did this nation descend into a death cult?

For the past 7 years, I've been experimenting with short campaigns and stories set in this Arctic nation where the undead run amok. Some exploit this reality, others ignore it until the danger is at their doorstep, and a hopeful few fight for a better outcome. The story is about all of them, and your role as writer or player in this setting.

The land of Arcton is also alive to some degree, and the setting offers another potential world where the magic has been kept secret from prying eyes. The deeper you explore, the more chaotic this primordial haven becomes.

Arcton From Ingala to the Wastes will be available as part of Pocketopia on Backerkit. The goal is to allow the first edition of the book to have worldwide distribution for a limited time. I’d also like to try to unlock bonus items for you to use in games, including character/NPC and item cards, setting prompts, tables, and, if there's enough interest, help fund the next book that covers Ingala and Fraye, my recommended suggestions for first-time explorers. The Ingala and Fraye book is already halfway done.

My name is Eliana Falcón-Dvorsky, and I'm known online as Cosmographiarte. I publish my own webcomic, Cosmic Fish, and have worked on two Eisner Award-Winning anthologies (Ricanstruction and Puerto Rico Strong). My current job as a freelance artist allowed me to work as the Art Director for Puerto Rico's first completely animated musical series, Rockolandia, which won a Suncoast Emmy for Art Direction and in 3 other categories.

Even in my free time, I'm a storyteller. I volunteer in a lot of creative groups online and RP or play TTRPGs with my closest friends.

And of course, the art is 100% human-made, no AI was used at all, not even for "brainstorming". Most of the art has been curated by me through the years or drawn exclusively for this book. My partner, Stellartoons, also contributed some wonderful pieces.

Thank you for reading and I hope to see you in this year's Pocketopia!