On 10 November 2026, The Whispering Keep will launch its first Kickstarter campaign: Arkh-Perain: Dust and Coin.
Arkh-Perain: Dust and Coin is a dark-fantasy desert setting and campaign toolbox of approximately 200 pages, compatible with 5.5e. It brings together new player options, detailed locations, rival factions, creatures, NPCs, adventures, and practical GM tools in one book, whether you are preparing a quick session or building a long-running campaign.
Born at the Table
Arkh-Perain did not begin as a publishing project. It grew from more than a decade of campaign play, shaped by the choices, victories, mistakes, and unexpected ideas of the people around our table.
When the campaign finally came to an end, we decided to rebuild the setting as a book that other groups could explore and make their own. The history and lore are still at its heart, but everything has been reconsidered with actual play in mind. Cities offer contracts, factions pursue their own goals, and NPCs have motives and secrets. Expeditions can change relationships, open or close routes, and create consequences that follow the party home.
At the centre of the setting is the Living Desert. Through the Desert Will system, the environment responds to how the characters travel and what they do along the way. It can shift routes, reveal forgotten places, bring strangers together, and turn a simple encounter into something that shapes future sessions. Preparation still matters, but the system focuses on choices and consequences rather than constant supply tracking.
A Complete Setting for Players and GMs
Players can create characters with strong ties to the setting through the Melezi ancestry, the Questbound martial class, five desert-born subclasses, backgrounds, feats, spells, and magic items. Collaborative spells and items also reward characters for working together and combining their abilities at the table.
GMs receive three fortified city-states, competing factions, neighbouring powers, and a wide range of ready-to-use NPCs and creatures. The book also includes travel and encounter procedures, Campaign Frames, Ready-to-Run Starters, and an Adventure Engine designed to make preparation faster and easier. A hidden conflict involving the ancient Opha Daioti can remain a distant threat or gradually become the foundation of an entire campaign.
Arkh-Perain is a harsh world, but it is not a hopeless one. Its people have survived through trade, oaths, alliances, and adaptation. The world is under pressure, but the characters can still protect communities, influence powerful factions, and change what happens next.
Already Well Underway
This Kickstarter is not funding an unwritten idea. The manuscript is complete and revised, the book has been professionally formatted, and most of the artwork and maps are already finished. The campaign will help us complete the remaining production work, prepare the final digital and print editions, and bring Arkh-Perain to a wider community.
This project also marks the beginning of The Whispering Keep, a small independent TTRPG studio created by friends. Our goal is simple: to build settings and adventures from what we have played, tested, and learned, then give other groups the tools to make those worlds their own.
Arkh-Perain: Dust and Coin launches on Kickstarter on November 10, 2026. Follow the pre-launch page now to be notified when the campaign goes live.
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