Note: This pre-release copy of the upcoming RPG Ecryme was sent to me by the wonderful folks at Open Sesame Games.

Let’s start at the top! What is Ecryme? Equal parts intrigue and investigation, this steampunk, Jules Verne-meets-HP Lovecraft RPG is French in origin and based on the novel Boheme by Mathieu Gabori. As this deep dive will cover two very respectably sized tomes (272 and 176 pages respectively), this deep dive will likely be in several parts.

And what is Ecryme? In the game, Ecryme represents three things: an exctinction event, a period of time (Antecreme being the period of time before the extinction event and the appearance of the acid sea), and most times, the vast, viscous acid ocean that covers most of this alternate history Earth.

Before we start getting into the copious amounts of lore, let’s get a general outline of the books, their contents, and who was involved in bringing this into the light of day.

The credited writers are Alexandre Clavel, Mathiew Gaborit, and Samuel Metzener. Translation from the French was performed by Conal Longen and Julien Pirou. There are two books: The Player’s Guide and Conductor’s Manual. Both books are full color and lavishly illustrated. I could not find anything definitive on the designers of this game, but if they reach out to me, I would love to talk to you!

The Player’s Guide is divided into the following sections:
Front Matter
A Crumbling World
From Traverses to Cities
Journey on the Lattice
The Pilot’s Handbook
Daily Life on the Lattice
Doctrines and Religions
The Ecryme System
Supplementary Mechanics

Whilst the Conductor’s Manual contains:
Secrets of the Ecryme
Game Levels and Advice for Conductors
From Adventure to Campaign
Storyteller Toolbox
Meeting Colorful Characters
Lunar Vandalism
The Greenhouse District
The Trees that Wanted to Fly
Pavane for a Black Lilly
The Conclusion
Where We Give You Pre-Made Characters

Both books have notices that the pre-release PDFs are still a work-in-progress and contents may shift during transit from writing to final product.

The books are easy to read and the PDFs load easily and quickly into my iPad. There are many beautiful 2-page spreads, but sadly, the PDF formatting doesn’t allow you to see them when you are in 2-page view; this is a shame and the images’ impact is lessened slightly because of this.