An original near-future Sci-Fi tabletop RPG system, including a fully-illustrated campaign with an accompanying heavy metal soundtrack.
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Hi Dreamers,
Reed here hoping that your 2026 is starting strong.
It’s been very cold in my neck of the woods, and we’re doing everything we can to be ice free.
With that, the update for y’all on the progress of the Cthulhu Dreamt project is that our layout artist is continuing to work through the layout. She is on Chapter 2 right now, and simultaneously addressing notes on both Chapter 0 and 1 (only chapters 3-8 to go!!!)
Here's a little scroll through some of the chapter one PDF:
To reiterate previous updates, the layout is the very last item that needs to be completed before the game can go to the printer... and we’re getting there. The rest of the items and stretch goals are either complete and waiting in storage for distribution, or waiting to be sent to print when the game goes to print.
Other than that, there’s not much more to share. In future updates on the status of layout, is there anything else you’d like to hear about or see?
We definitely appreciate you all, and can also appreciate how much patience it takes to finish out the process.
WIth Love,
Reed
Fable Factory
(and all the good folk at Action Fiction)
Just a quick update, final layout on Cthulhu Dreamt continues to go well and we are expecting to get everything into your hands soon! However, we have some other exciting shirt to tell you about today, without tee-ing it up too much, check out what we got in the mail!
Everyone is working as hard as they can to get you the final product ASAP, in the meantime, enjoy a taste of what will one day be yours and know that we are immensely grateful for all your support and love.
Reed here, and I hope you’re all having a decent day.
I wanted to barge into your inbox with a quick update from this side of the creation desk.
I’ve finished working on the Composer’s Notebook & Study Score. For those who're not aware of what this is, it's essentially the backstory of how Cthulhu Dreamt arose from nothing, and also includes notes on the music (pun intended) and orchestral study scores of the six pieces recorded by professional orchestras for the soundtrack.
I had a test print made so that I could go through and ensure it looks the way it does on the screen, and I have to tell you, I'm so very happy with the results!
Check out this little video I threw together: https://youtube.com/shorts/ALr-ObsR2Ss?feature=share
Also, for all you guitarists out there, the tab book PDF (unlocked at the $45k stretch goal) is ready to rock… so re-string your 8s and get ready to play along!!
But that’s not all… I’ve spent my time wisely and have created *another* tab book PDF, which will be included for anyone who purchased (or purchases) the composer’s book on either the physical or digital version!!!
If you don’t recall what ‘Aligned’ is… it’s the companion album to the soundtrack. Once we’re done and send the digital fulfillment, backers will be the very first to hear the album, which is comprised of some of the instrumental tracks (made into full fledged songs with vocals) from the OST, and one new.
Speaking of the OST, for each month of 2025, we’ve released a chapter from the game OST and everything from the main campaign is now available to listen to and stream on your streamer of choice! I’ve been told that some folks are already using the Cthulhu Dreamt OST as a musical backdrop for other TTRPG campaigns they’re running. So, if you haven’t yet, go listen and let me know what you think!! (I’ve made it easy to consume by making playlists on the big three streaming platforms: Spotify, Apple, YouTube Music)
One thing I’m very excited about is the layout designer Action Fiction has brought on board!
Her name is Flor, and she is BRILLIANTLY talented. She’s worked on Stargrave and Sección Oculta, both of which look incredible. You can see her full portfolio here. She’ll be sharing the layout duties with Action Fiction’s own Cheyenne, and with Bianca Papalardo continuing to serve as Art Director. Expect some new layout previews in the next update!
Unrelated to the game, but pretty special for me, my band UXIA has begun performing Cthulhu Dreamt music. The first track we’ve made ours is “Dream Lieder” from Chapter 6 of the OST. You can see our rendition of it as the first song in a recent performance. UXIA calls it “Prologue.”
If anyone is in or around the Twin Cities of Minnesota, I’ll be running a Fable Factory booth at Crypticon this weekend.
Cheers until next time everyone!
Yours in Cthulhu,
Reed
Greetings, Dreamers.
tldr; vinyls and CDs have officially arrived and I have pictures, we had fun at origins, and I share some personal things.
I am pleased to inform you that the vinyls have officially made landfall in my garage. We're one step closer to shipping everything out! Please enjoy the following photos.
Layout continues, but slowly; Summer, specifically the end of June and beginning of July, is our busiest season for conventions. This year, our team was stretched especially thin, borderline spaghettified. But it was a fabulous opportunity for us to do a few educational panels sharing what forbidden knowledge we've accumulated over time, and show off our upcoming board game, Goblin Cave. Here are some photos from Origins:
I wanted to apologize for how long this update has taken—I was hit with some unexpected, very tough news, which made Cthulhu Dreamt all the more poignant for me. If this kind of sensitive personal grief is something you'd rather skip, you can safely scroll past this section.
I learned that my mother passed away on June 25th. She was only fifty-six years old. I found out while I was setting up at Origins, and my entire world seemed to come crashing down around me. To say it was devastating would be an understatement, but an understatement is all words can be when trying to depict how I felt in that moment, and how I felt for days after.
It's no secret that Cthulhu Dreamt is a story about grief. Grief was something at the forefront of our minds at every turn during the design and writing process—a process I was very lucky to share with Brad and CJ, my two best friends in the entire universe. Telling a story about grief, especially one that is meant to take you through all the stages one by one, was something we were really passionate about. And, weirdly, telling that story, learning everything we did about the grieving process, about the way that pain can linger, about the only way out being through... that prepared me for a grief I didn't know was coming. Elder gods work in mysterious ways, I suppose.
As bad as the timing was, to find out just before our biggest convention of the year, it strangely couldn't have happened at a better time, either. I was surrounded by people I love. My house had like 10 people crashing on couches and air mattresses for Origins, and those people were all too willing to make space for me when I wanted it, and give me space when I needed it. I'm lucky to have folks like that in my life, and I'm lucky to have folks like you all who want to play our games and hear our stories. Even when they're hard.
So, from the bottom of my heart, and from the furthest reaches of my mind, thank you. For your patience, your support, for reading these updates. For playing our games.
Regards through infinite time,
Jaron R. M. Johnson
and the Action Fiction Faction