This is the setting for Land of Eem, the roleplaying game that won the 2026 Origins Award for Roleplaying Game of the Year. Published by Exalted Funeral, the roleplaying game is based on the graphic novel series Rickety Stitch and the Gelatinous Goo, and the book series Dungeoneer Adventures, and probably has the best elevator pitch of any roleplaying game of the last five years—‘The Lord of the Rings meets The Muppets’. To be fair, Land of Eem is not that. Well, not that exactly, primarily for licensing reasons. What it really means is that Land of Eem is a roleplaying game of epic whimsical fantasy. There is scope for great adventure, but it is shot through with silliness and absurdity, as well as a grimness from the setting also being a Post-Apocalyptic one too. Plus, the use of sputtertech and sparkwork technologies, primarily employed by the tycoons in machinery to faster mine the land and chop down the trees. This is not the only contrast in Land of Eem. Its play is intended to be about the exploration and discovery of Eem’s ancient past, driven by the players and their characters in a hexcrawl using the Land of Eem: The Mucklands SandboxCampaign Setting. This gives it an Old School Renaissance feel, as does the fact that it is a Class and Level roleplaying game, but Land of Eem is not an Old School Renaissance-style roleplaying game. Instead, it encourages player input into the world; Experience Points are earned for roleplaying, exploration, and engaging with the story rather than slaying monsters; and whilst combat is an aspect of game play, Land of Eem is a talk first and not even a fight second roleplaying game, and to reflect that, every monster can be talked to. This combination of contrasts, together with a light and easy rules system and Player Character options means that Land of Eem is family friendly too. However, it is not an introductory roleplaying game in terms of learning to play, whereas as a game to teach to roleplay, its light rules and scope for player input make it a good choice. For the experienced roleplayer, Land of Eem—at least in the form of the core rulebook—is very easy to read through and gain a good grasp of how the roleplaying game is played.
The Land of Eem: Core Rulebook is the starting point. It provides the means to create Player Characters, gives the rules for adventuring—including travelling, exploration, conflict, and combat, the means to craft items mundane and magnificent, a short bestiary, lots and lots of random tables, and a starting adventure.
A Player Character in Land of Eem is defined by Attributes, Skills, his Folk, a Class, and Homeland. The four Attributes are Vim, Vigour, Knack, and Knowhow. Of these Vigour and Knowhow are obvious in meaning. Vim covers a Player Character’s charisma and intuition; Knack is his dexterity and agility. (This terminology is problematic since Vim and Vigour actually mean the same thing and ideally the authors should have used another word instead.) An Attribute ranges in value from ‘-3’ to ‘+3’ and has four associated Skills. Land of Eem offers an impressive sixteen choices in terms of Folk, the equivalent of Race or Species in other roleplaying games.
The options are Boggarts, Boggles, Bogrils, Bugbears, Gelatinous Goos, Gnomes, Goblins, Humans, Imps, Mushrums, Quortles, Shryms, Skeletons, Welkins, Whalens, and Wugs. Boggarts are the most populous Folk in the Mucklands and are related to Goblins, but do not have the same pointy teeth and noses; Boggles are smaller relatives of Goblins with pointy noses and ears who love mischief; Bogrils are frog people with a love travel and wandering; and Bugbears are bear-like in outlook and size, and like the simple things in life, but have an equally big temper. Gelatinous Goos are sentient jelly-like creatures from Eem’s core who understand Folk Tongue, but cannot speak it, instead speaking Gelatinous Gooese; Gnomes are magical beings who protect nature from harm and are very happy in their outlook, and often travel in the company of a small animal like a squirrel; Goblins are the primary architects of the Dungeon Era, highly industrious and enterprising, valuing education and a good job; and Humans are reputed to have been amongst the greatest heroes of the past, but are rare in the Dungeon Era. The red, winged Imps have been summoned and hatched by magic, but escaped from the sorcerers and witches who summoned them, so value freedom and excitement; Mushrums are fungal folk who can communicate with other fungal folk via telepathy, but are very literal when dealing with others; the turtle-like Quortles have an affinity for alchemy and herbalism and after many years of war, value politeness and hospitality; and Shryms are furry and shrew-like and fascinated with technology, having invented sputtertech and sparkworks. Skeletons are rare sentient, talking skeletons who have retained their souls, but lost the memories of their past lives, and have their own wants and dreams; Welkins are bird-folk who can fly for short distances if not holding anything; Whalens are humanoid whales, usually ocean-faring, and known for their rousing singing and hardiness; and Wugs are bigger, brawnier Boggarts with large hands and feet, with a reputation for being simple, but are surprisingly perceptive.
Every Folk suggests some names and gives a Size, Skill adjustments, suggested Homelands, and possible Perks and Quirks. Of the sixteen, two are notable, but for different reasons. Gnomes can only be Gnomes, that is, they cannot take any other Class then Gnome and are thus the only Folk in Land of Eem that can cast magic. Humans are rare and unlike other fantasy roleplaying games, not the default Folk in the Land of Eem. Think of them then, a bit like guests stars in The Muppet Show, especially if they choose the Bard Class, since means that they can sing, dance, and otherwise perform!
In comparison with the lengthy selection of Folk, Land of Eem offers just six Classes. The Bard supports the other Player Characters with song to inspire, invigorate, and more; the Dungeoneer is the treasure hunter and adventurer who comes with his and crew to help him explore as well as lots of gear; and the Gnome, who can cast magic and are the particular bane of certain creatures or beings, which differs from Gnome to Gnome. The Knight-Errant is a travelling knight, heroic and loyal; the Loyal Chum is the classic ally and travelling companion, providing lots of support and help in and out of the dungeon; and the Rascal is a rogue, thief, ruffian, and so forth. Each Class grants some base Perks, some giving multiple options for a player to choose from, and then two abilities at each Level. What is interesting here is that once a Player Character gains a new Level, his player has to select one of the abilities at the previous Level to keep and one to give up. It gives the player some decisions to make in terms of his character’s progression.
To create a character, a player selects a Class and its Perks, assigns modifiers to Attributes and tweaks Skills, determines derived stats, and then a Folk and associated Perks—adding more in return for a Quirk, and selects a Homeland that adds Proficiencies and equipment. Lastly, the player develops his character’s backstory, including ideal, flaw, relationships, personal quests, and more. The process is not difficult, but it does mean working through a fair number of choices.
Name: Gravy
Folk: Skeleton
Class: Knight-Errant Level: 1
Size: Medium
Homeland: The Underlands
ATTRIBUTES/SKILLS
Vim +1/Charm -1, Inspire +1, Mettle +0, Perception -1
Vigour +2/Athletics -1, Intimidate +1, Might +0, Vitality +0
Knack +0/Nimbleness +1, Search +0, Sneak +0, Trickery +0Knowhow -1/Lore +0, Realms +0, Tinker +0, Wilderness +0
ABILITIES
Wayfarer
Inspiring Orders
PERKS
Unfinished Business
Bag of Bones
QUIRKS
Feared
PROFICIENCIES
Underlands Lore, Seeing in the Dark
Attack +2
Defence +0
Courage: 16
Dread: 8
Quest Points: 2
Inventory Slots: 20
EQUIPMENT
Mucklands Pony
Magnificent weapon (True +1 Dread)
Canteen, Crowbar, Hard Hat, Normal Rations, Rappelling Harness, 50’ Rope, Pickaxe
BACKSTORY
“I defended the town from bandits, and took up the sword to protect others.”
Ideal: Rescue someone from danger
Flaw: Refuse to rest even when it’s prudent
Personal Quest: Restore the Mucklands to its former glory; Avenge Sir Oomarine and prove their sacrifice was not in vain.
Mechanically, Land of Eem uses a twelve-sided die in a system in a system that is not unlike Powered by the Apocalypse in its resolution results. It is very much not Powered by the Apocalypse, but the similarities are there. When a player wants his character to undertake an action, he rolls a twelve-sided die and adds a value for the appropriate skill, plus any other modifiers. The total modifier cannot exceed ‘+3’ or ‘-3’, due to skill or circumstances. Results of two or less are a ‘Complete Failure’ and indicate that something else has gone wrong; three to five and the attempt is a ‘Failure with a Plus’, meaning that there is an unexpected silver lining; six to eight means a ‘Success with a Twist’ which adds a complication; nine to eleven is a ‘Success’ and the Player Character does what he set out to do; and twelve or more is a ‘Complete Success’, the Player Character not only succeeding, but gaining an extra benefit into the bargain. The Game Master will narrate the outcome, but is encouraged to welcome player input too. The ‘Failure with a Plus’ and ‘Success with a Twist’ results are going to feed into the narrative driven aspects—as light as they are—of Land of Eem. Advantage and Disadvantage work as in other roleplaying games, and Player Characters have Quest Points that can be spent to add a ‘+1’ bonus after a roll (useful to improve a skill check up a category), as well as being used to activate certain Abilities and Perks.
Combat in Land of Eem uses the same rules, but with a tweak or two. However, first, the Player Characters have to get there, because combat is the last act action that takes place in any Conflict. A Conflict is divided into four phases. These are ‘Parley’, ‘Improvise’, ‘Run’ and ‘Combat’. One of the things that Land of Eem emphasises is that most monsters are people too and if the Player Characters can find the right approach, then the monsters will listen to them, and a fight will not ensue. However, their patient is not infinite, mechanically measured by each monster’s Parley rating. If the Player Characters’ fail too many Parley attempts, they will have to resort to other methods to resolve the encounter. In the ‘Improvise’ Phase, the Player Characters can find another way to resolve the situation and if that fails, they can simply choose to leg it in the ‘Run’ phase. Lastly, there is the ‘Combat’ phase.
In combat, the players and Game Master are not rolling on the standard results table, but on one each for melee combat and ranged combat. The latter allows for ‘Miss with a Plus’ and ‘Grazing Shot’ result, but more interestingly, former allows for a ‘Hit with a Counterattack’ as well as a ‘Miss with a Plus’ result. The ‘Hit with a Counterattack’ means that the defender can immediately attack back at his attacker and if the result is also ‘Hit with a Counterattack’, the original attacker can strike back. This sets up a potential exchange or flurry of blows like a duel and can be get deadly quite quickly.
Damage is called Dread and can take many forms. It can be poison, fear, exhaustion, and other factors, but it reduces a Player Character’s Courage. Physical Dread, especially that suffered in combat, is the only form of Dread that can be blocked by armour and shields. The die rolled by a player for his character to determine how much Dread he inflicts in combat is determined by his Class. Dread reduces a Player Character’s Courage and if it is reduced to zero, he is knocked out temporarily and his player must make a Vitality Check to Resist Wounds or suffer the Wounded Condition. This imposes a penalty on all of the Player Character’s subsequent rolls. It is possible to recover, but if it happens again, the player has to make a Vitality Check to Defy Death. If failed, the Player Character can make one last heroic act before dying.
Equipment carried and encumbrance are handled by an Inventory Slot system which both measures how much a Player Character can carry and how bulky an item is. Money, rations, arrows, and other consumables are tracked by rolling a Usage Die for each. When they are used, the player rolls the Usage Die and if the result is a one or two, then the Usage Die has to step down to the next smaller die size. Both rules are imported from modern derivations of Old School Renaissance roleplaying games and just push Land of Eem a little towards an Old School style of play. Land of Eem includes an extensive list of equipment, and along with tables for finding and creating Treasure Hoards and Magnificent items, the latter providing a variety of different effects.
Almost extending out of the equipment rules, Land of Eem provides a pleasingly set of rules for crafting. Any attempt requires a crafter to have the correct tools and a roll on the appropriate table and there is one each for crafting mundane items, magnificent items, alchemical items, cooking, and magical items. This feels not dissimilar to a video game or MMORPG and it is backed up with a guide to finding components, tables of component locations, and tables of hundreds of component descriptions and recipes. There is a wealth of detail here that the Game Master can mine for flavour and verisimilitude in her campaign and for any Player Character who wants to focus on crafting, there is plenty of scope here. Most crafting attempts will take place when a Player Character is not actually adventuring and this is expanded upon with tables for other activities during Downtime, including gambling, gathering information, partying, performing, researching, and even working!
As written, Land of Eem is intended to be played as a hexcrawl across the Land of Eem: The Mucklands Sandbox Campaign Setting. Travel across the Land of Eem is kept simple and is played out over six-mile-wide hexes. Each day is divided into four six-hour turns and the Player Characters will typically spend the day turns travelling—one or two hexes per turn—or exploring a single hex. Each turn spent travelling requires a Travel Check, which can result in a perilous or dangerous encounter, a bump in the road (a minor setback), an uneventful journey, or a discovery, and there are tables for all of that. Similarly, a roll can be made to see if something dangerous or interesting happens if the Player Characters decide to explore a hex. During the Night turns, the Player Characters are encouraged to ‘Make Camp’ and rest, but they can also heal and they can also engage in ‘Story Time’. This encourages some roleplaying between the Player Characters and is one way for them to earn Experience Points.
If there is an aspect of the Land of Eem: Core Rulebook is the relative shortness of the bestiary or ‘Adversaries’ chapter. From Bandits, Blinking Cave-Inchers, and Cairn Stingers to Snagbunnies, Weorgs, and Witches, there are only twenty-six entries. To be fair, it is enough in the short term and there is also the Land of Eem: Bestiary Vol. 1, which also details a whole lot more. On the plus side, every entry is illustrated and there is room to breathe for all of its details which include its stats, abilities, how social it is, how it acts in combat, and its behaviour in both victory and defeat, both of which are a really nice extra and extra useful detail. Many also indicate what could be crafted from them. Adversaries are categorised by Type and Class. Types are either Creatures, which are sentient and can talk; Critters, animals and beasts which may be able to speak a little; and Creepers that are pests, bugs, and vermin more environmental threats. The Classes are Goons, Bruisers, and Champions. There is a guide to making adversaries on the fly, but it is basic.
The advice for the Game Master on running Land of Eem is solid and useful and includes a guide to vehicle and mass combat and tables for creating random dungeons and mazes. They are brief and could have done with much greater development. That said, they are followed by an extensive set of tables for just everything else, including NPCs, location aspects, encounters perilous and dangerous, discoveries, random dungeon elements, magic items, relics, books, boons, curses, and spells. There is so much information in these tables that the Game Master can use to add detail and flavour to her game with the content of these tables. This is a great set of tables and certainly one of the best sets of resources in the Land of Eem: Core Rulebook.
The Land of Eem: Core Rulebook is rounded out with an adventure, ‘Wally’s Waffles and Rats!’. It is a short, one or two session affair in which Wally Dunkwhiffle has lost the property deed to his waffle house and hires the Player Characters look for it in the basement. Unfortunately, the rats that Wally was husbanding as a source of meat escaped, ate an entire Bogril Glowing Cheese wheel, gained intelligence, dug into the dungeon next door to the basement of Wally’s Waffles and Weorgs, taking the property deed with them, and declared their own kingdom. It is a suitably silly dungeon affair, but plenty of scope for roleplaying. Especially at the start when interacting with the patrons of Wally’s Waffles and Weorgs, which feels like an odder and more fantastical version of Cheers! It provides a great mix of roleplaying and dungeoneering and just enjoyable whimsy.
Physically, Land of Eem: Core Rulebook is a genuinely great looking book. The artwork is a delight and captures the quirkiness of the setting, cartoonish on the one hand, deadly and dangerous on the other. The book is also very well written and accessible.
What is so impressive about the Land of Eem: Core Rulebook is that for all of the information in its pages, the rules are very easy to pick up and understand, and further they are easy to teach. Which includes younger players who will appreciate the whimsical tone of the setting and gameplay. These rules also nicely balance an Old School sensibility with the hexcrawl play and potentially dangerous combat with the storytelling possibilities of the resolution mechanic. There is more complexity in the roleplaying game when it comes to the wealth of detail in the setting support in the Land of Eem: Core Rulebook, but that detail is really designed for long term play rather than overwhelming any players right now.
The Land of Eem: Core Rulebook is brilliantly accessible and entertaining, a great introduction to the land of Eem and Land of Eem. Not only is a joy to read, but successfully imparts the joy, drollery, and danger of the setting.
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