Hello, archivists—

We faced the Fear of many, many, MANY people, but had the joy of meeting a huge number of both Cypher and Magnus Archives fans at UK Games Expo last week. We ran demos all day, every day introducing folks to how to play and GM The Magnus Archives RPG. Thanks to everyone who came to see us, catch up, and share the enthusiasm for this terrific game!

We also chatted with Rusty Quill (creators of The Magnus Archives) and Sydney from Indie Boards & Cards (creators of The Magnus Protocol Mysteries) about converting podcasts to tabletop games. It was wonderful to see so many at this seminar, and great to be able to answer questions from folks interested in doing just this!

The Magnus Archives RPG Live Play: Or How to Avoid Getting Eaten by Your Own Podcast! was a great hit. Loads of folks turned up to see Gregor, one of our UK Asset Team GMs, run the folks below through the demo scenario:

These seminars were all recorded by Rusty Quill and we’ll let everyone know when they’re available to watch! 

Thanks for your support!
 —Team MCG

Hello, archivists—

As summer slowly encroaches, we retreat to the dank, dark archives. These hallowed walls promise safety, understanding, knowledge, and power—or at the very least the illusion of them. Thump, thump, thump on the door. Who could that be?

Thump… thump…thump…

Wait, don’t—

We’re thrilled to share that Bruce Cordell, the lead designer of Do Not Open, has some updates about the progress of the manuscript! 

This is how the Table of Contents for Do Not Open is shaping up:

Introduction

Here’s what he says about the contents:
 

In Chapter 6 “Playing The Magnus Archives with Cypher,” we're providing explicit guidance if you want to bring aspects of your The Magnus Archives Roleplaying Game (“Magnus” for short) into closer concordance with the new Cypher rules (debuting later this year in the Cypher Character Rulebook).

If you don’t care about that, well, Chapter 6 isn’t a huge part of Do Not Open, and you can easily... not open it.

However, throughout the preceding chapters, the design elements that appear in Do Not Open are being written in such a way that they’re already compatible with both the Magnus rules as they currently stand and with the new Cypher.

We'll level the "lifepath" options in chapters 3 and 4 for a future update, since this is going a bit long. Let me finish by noting that the first draft of Do Not Open should be done and ready to go into development very soon. This week, I've been working on a few interesting additional foci that should raise a few eyebrows. If it’s wrong to be someone who Buys All The Wrong Books, well, I don’t want to be right. 

Keep your eyes peeled for the next update where Bruce will share some info about the character backgrounds and connections chapters!

 

Make Your Statement has been fulfilling from our warehouse for the last few weeks! We’ve been hard at work making sure your rewards are shipped as quickly as possible. If you haven’t redeemed your copy yet, read on!

Every time a reward from this crowdfunding campaign is ready for you to redeem, we contact you by email to begin the fulfillment process. Generally, we’ll direct you to the MCG Shop, where you’ll log in, “buy” the product (for free, because you’ve already paid for it through this campaign), and check out. If you have any questions about this process, please visit this helpful step-by-step guide!

This is an important part of the process because it ensures we have accurate delivery information for every item we send out. (With thousands of backers getting rewards, it's amazing how many people will change their address over the fulfillment period.) You'll pay for shipping at that time.

Please pay attention to communications from us—don't let our updates or emails go to your spam folder, or otherwise ignore them, because if you do you could miss out on some of your rewards.

Thanks for your support!
 —Team MCG

 

Hello, archivists—

Happy April! We hope the first few months of 2026 have treated you well. We’re glad to report that things have been moving along steadily with Make Your Statement and Face Your Fears!

Make Your Statement will soon be in your hands! Delve into the Archives with nine chilling new statements and ten brand new investigations—ready-made adventures for players to embark upon.

These gorgeous books arrived in our warehouse last week, and we’ll begin shipping them in the days to come! If you haven’t received crowdfunding campaign rewards from us before, or need a refresher, we go into more detail below. 

As we mentioned in our last update, Jonny and Bruce have made great progress on the draft of Face Your Fears. In case you missed it, Jonny has written a couple of amazing locations, complete with maps. Encounter The Candlemaker, Mr. Cold, and fossils of future past; discover new books such as Art Appreciation, Children’s Tales, Das Buch der Wiedergänger; and more. We’ll have a lengthier update about Face Your Fears soon!

Every time a reward from this crowdfunding campaign is ready for you to redeem, we contact you by email to begin the fulfillment process. Generally, we’ll direct you to the MCG Shop, where you’ll log in, “buy” the product (for free, because you’ve already paid for it through this campaign), and check out. If you have any questions about this process, please visit this helpful step-by-step guide!

This is an important part of the process because it ensures we have accurate delivery information for every item we send out. (With thousands of backers getting rewards, it's amazing how many people will change their address over the fulfillment period.) You'll pay for shipping at that time.

Please pay attention to communications from us—don't let our updates or emails go to your spam folder, or otherwise ignore them, because if you do you could miss out on some of your rewards.

🔮 Perfect on-ramp for a new-to-Cypher group!

⚔️ Fantasy and sci-fi—two ways to play, two ways to explore!

🏝️ A magical dungeon inside a floating island in the sky??
🗺️ Gorgeous maps illustration the dungeon

✍️ Crafted by legendary designer Monte Cook

📖 Free preview available now ⬅️ 

Thanks for your support!
—Team MCG

 

Greetings Archivists,
 
Apologies for the delay in communications. There are many moving parts to the crowdfunder, some of which are being heavily influenced by the new global Fear: tariffs! We want to reassure everyone that they will receive everything that we’ve promised and thank you again for your continued support. 

 

We have terrific news on not just one but two of the new books you helped to bring to life.*

 

*Books are not actually alive and no sacrifices were made to either The Stranger or The Flesh for the creation of these tomes!

 

With nine new statements and ten terrifying challenges, Make Your Statement is back from proofing and, after final checks from Rusty Quill, will be going to print this month! Delve into the Archives with nine chilling new statements and ten brand new investigations—ready-made adventures for investigators to embark upon. 

 

Those lucky enough to attend Gen Con, GameHole Con or Dragonmeet this year might be able to grab a space to play one of these adventures at the con. 

Bruce and Jonny have been hard at work on Face Your Fears and are expecting to make the first draft turnover to development and editing by the end of this month (February). Jonny has written a couple of amazing locations, complete with maps. One of those is Warehouse Complex B. The Artifact Dealer (known as Salesa in the podcast) is the purveyor of wonders and the trader of terrors, with an arsenal of bizarre and grotesque items in their inventory. Naturally, however, they need somewhere to keep these things when they are not being bought and sold. The dealer's main warehouse (Complex A) is where the dealer keeps their mundane and less harmful goods: weapons, drugs, black market technology, etc. The really messed-up stuff, though, that gets stored in Warehouse Complex B.

Face Your Fears is also replete with new monsters and NPCs (like The Candlemaker, Mr. Cold, and fossils of future past), new books (with titles like Art Appreciation, Children’s Tales, Das Buch der Wiedergänger), new artifacts (including the harbinger's head, the tombstone of the unknown soldier, the darkness flashlight, and the enticing cookie jar), new cyphers (such as bury it for yourself, curled into the spiral, drinking alone, and enjoy your sky), and a few additional locations designed for quick use.

 

Weirdness and Mystery a Billion Years in the Future


It seems that The Apocalypse is a Fear which keeps on giving. Eight previous epochs have risen and fallen. Now, after a billion years, Earth’s Ninth World has arisen from the ashes, welcoming you to its wonders, mysteries and terrors. The truly valorous delve for the secrets of the prior worlds not for the riches they bring, but because the mysteries and wonders of the numenera are a pathway toward a better future. Who will lead us into this new world? Who will tap the wonders of the ancients to defend the weak, bolster the sick and starving, and illuminate the ignorant? Who will build a new and better community, and bring vision to a world in darkness? Will it be you? Sign up now to find out!

 

 

Thanks again for supporting this project!

-Team MCG- 

Greetings Archivists,

The Magnus Archives RPG continues to grow in popularity—all of our games at Gen Con were sold out this year! We also had budding archivists and cosplayers galore at the booth, some of whom had never roleplayed before. Our staff and our GMs were stoked to introduce folks to their first RPG session! 

The new products (including the supplements) are still in the design process, but we have fulfilled all of the existing products. For the latest update on fulfilment progress, please see our recent post here.

Monte, our design team, and all of us here at Monte Cook Games are excited to announce the 2026 launch of a new edition of our popular, award-winning tabletop roleplaying game system Cypher. Creating characters is getting even faster. Launching new campaigns is getting even easier. Tools for creating the worlds, stories, and characters you envision are getting even better. All while retaining every ounce of the quick gameplay, story focus, and easy GMing the Cypher System is famous for!

If you love GMing and playing The Magnus Archives RPG, Cypher is how you build on the horror, suspense, and action of your game. Many aspects of The Magnus Archives ruleset have been integrated into the updated Cypher rules!

Sign up to be notified of the crowdfunding campaign and receive a FREE exclusive pin when you pledge!



Thank you so much for your support!
 

Team MCG