About the project:
Welcome, partner! This here is Manifest – a mythic setting based on the tall tales of North America. Just as most modern fantasy draws from European cryptids and genres, Manifest pulls from old and new North American cryptids and the Western genre to build its world and stories.
Rather than return to the old fantasy well of humans, elves, and dwarves – tried and true, though they may be – Manifest forges a new path in fantasy storytelling by creating six new kinships (races) based on the myths whispered around campfires since the “New World” was young. For example, you might explore the tiered mountains of Steps as a mugwump ranger, a kinship based on bigfoot myths. Or maybe you’ll ride a hodag through your lakeside town as a wudrigar missionary, whose kinship was based on small folk legends, such as pukwudgies and nimrigar. By stepping out of the narrow constraints of old fantasy, you can discover a vast frontier of new story possibilities.
But Manifest is more than just a different fantasy realm. Here, we’ve learned to build stories as tall as the Western Sky. The western genre is criminally underused in today’s media, but not for lack of trying! To many people, a western can be any story that’s been dressed in a cowboy hat and given a revolver – but that’s never been the heart of a western. Not really. Some of the best “westerns” are set in feudal Japan or in space. What makes a western isn’t set dressing – its atmosphere!
Manifest has been built from the ground up to create a rich western genre atmosphere, sure to inspire your own stories across the wilds. Complete with Game Master and player advice on how to create a western-style stories, your experience in Manifest is destined to be one of a kind.
