Ring of Chaos: Rising Fear

Rising Fear playtesting in progress, Undead Onslaught testers wanted
28 days ago – Tue, Feb 17, 2026 at 01:27:22 PM

Shall we play a(nother) game?

Thanks to everyone who signed up for playtesting sessions of Rising Fear. If you joined the team, please remember to fill out your survey by Monday, February 23rd. Your feedback is very important to us!

(If you signed up but didn't get an email from us (there were a few) it's for one of two reasons: you didn't supply us with a valid email, or you signed up for 2-player games only. We're getting to those games below.)

Phase Two signups available - Undead Onslaught

Undead Onslaught is an alternative rule set for RoC that allows for 2-player games, but can also be played in multiplayer games. The rules (and new cards) are included in both the Rising Fear Unleashed set and the Total Chaos collector's box. We need to get one more solid round of playtesting done on UO before we go to print, and we'd love to have you on board. We're looking for both 2-player and multiplayer groups to get involved.

The tricky thing with UO is that it requires a set of 16 Ghoul Cards to be incorporated into the Action Deck. So in order to truly playtest it, we need to send you some cards!

If you want to join in on this playtest, and live in the US or Canada (sorry, we can't ship playtest kits internationally) AND have an existing set of the original RoC, please CLICK HERE to sign up. You will need to supply us with a valid email and your mailing address. We promise we will NOT use the personal information you submit for any other purpose.

The card sets will mail out next week. If you signed up for the first round of playtests you are more than welcome to sign up for this one as well, so long as you have the time for both! Everyone who participates in either round of testing will be listed in the official rulebook. Thanks again for all your help in getting these rules as close to perfect as we can be. 

All the best,

Bill, Charlie, Jon, Matthew, and Paul

Last call for the silver Chaos ring!
about 1 month ago – Tue, Feb 10, 2026 at 11:13:22 AM

Grab your ring before it's too late

The sterling silver version of the Ring of Chaos, created by extraordinary nerd jewelers Han Cholo, has the longest production time of anything in this campaign. That means we need to get the orders in ASAP. WE ARE NOT ORDERING ANY EXTRA SILVER RINGS - the Kickstarter will likely be the only opportunity to get this item. Ever.

If your pledge included the ring...

... please complete your backer survey today, including your ring size! We cannot place the order and start production for everyone until we have everyone's ring sizes.

If you were holding off on pledging for the ring...

There's still time! The ring can be added to your pledge in your backer survey, but that needs to happen ASAP. After we place the production order, the ring will be removed from the survey and unavailable for future orders.

Did you hold off because you need a larger size?

Right now we are offering ring sizes 6-11, which are traditionally the most popular sizes. We are open to adding size 12 and/or size 13, but we need at least 5 people to pledge at a given size to make it financially feasible - each size requires its own mold, and the molds are very expensive. If you would be interested in the ring at a size 12 or 13, please contact us at [email protected] as soon as possible. If we get enough interest, we will open up another size.

We do NOT recommend resizing this ring. Because of the intricate design on the band, it is highly recommended that you order your appropriate size.

Backer survey closing soon!

Whether you're ordering the ring or not, we need your completed survey as soon as possible in order to gauge final numbers and plan our production cycle. Please complete your survey by Friday, February 20th so we can keep this project moving forward.

 Thanks again for your support!

Sincerely,

Bill, Charlie, Jon, Matthew, and Paul

The Nightshade Covenant mini revealed! Playtest signups!
about 1 month ago – Tue, Feb 03, 2026 at 12:47:13 PM

Holding Out for a Hero

Thanks to everyone who voted on the mini for our newest Ring of Chaos party, the Nightshade Covenant! We had a clear winner very early on, but wanted to wait until our gifted 3D artist (Hack + Slash Minis) created the design. Now that the design stage is complete, enjoy your very own undead paladin, pictured below!

Timing is on schedule

We're finalizing all the mini designs so production on those elements can get going - they have the longest production time, so we need to start those first to keep everything else on schedule. Work on all the other elements is very close as well, but we just need to finish playtesting on a few of the new rules. Which is where you can help us out...

Interested in playtesting Rising Fear/Total Chaos?

We'd love to have your feedback to incorporate into the final version of the game. We've run our own playtesting sessions on the new rules, but there are a few elements where we'd love to get some additional experiences in. Want to play a focused game with some of the new rules and complete a short survey about it afterwards? If so, CLICK HERE to sign up with your email address.

We appreciate your support!

It's exciting to see the elements of this project coming along. Earlier this month we all gathered together to plan our 2026 roadmap, and we got in several sessions of Rising Fear while we were there. We also signed all the autograph plates for those who ordered the autographed editions of the game. It took a while, but every step we take makes the game feel that much closer to fruition. In March we should have a concrete production timeline to share, and hopefully some new images as well. See you then!

Sincerely,

Bill, Charlie, Jon, Matthew, and Paul

Happy New Year from YOUR new Ring of Chaos Party!
2 months ago – Fri, Jan 02, 2026 at 11:30:31 AM

The votes are in...

Thanks to all of you who voted to name the newest Ring of Chaos Party, based on the characters and art from our Skullduggery RPG book. Every naming option had its fans, but there was one clear choice that stood above the rest...

Behold the Nightshade Covenant!

They look like a friendly bunch, don't they? Don't mind their sneering demeanors and all the massive weapons they carry. There's no way they'd murder all your heroes just to get their hands on the Ring.

We do still have to select a game-appropriate power for this Covenant, of course, but in order to keep production on schedule we need to first select the mini. As all our previous backers know, every Party in RoC has a mini based on one of their four heroes. We need your votes to determine which hero it will be. (Note: on the advice of our 3D designer, we are removing the crouching sharpshooter from consideration.) Please click here or on the image below to complete the quick questionaire!

Backerkit surveys will be available soon

In the first two weeks of January we will distribute the Backerkit surveys so that you can finalize your orders and submit your mailing addresses. Of particular importance will be obtaining ring sizes for anyone who ordered the custom silver Chaos Ring - so if you don't know your ring size, now's the time to find out!

Want to upgrade your order, or throw in some super-fun RoC add-ons? You'll have your chance on the survey.

Happy 2026!

Most importantly, from all of ours to all of yours - all the best in the coming year. We truly appreciate your support on this Ring of Chaos: Rising Fear campaign and look forward to delivering some serious chaos to your gaming tables in 2026.

Much love,
Bill, Charlie, Jon, Matthew, and Paul

Name the Skullduggery Party - part two!
3 months ago – Fri, Dec 12, 2025 at 03:47:20 PM

Thanks for your glorious suggestions

We received dozens and dozens of ideas to name the new Skullduggery Party that we're all creating together for this campaign. Some were silly, some were outrageous, a few opened us up to potential lawsuits. But overall we have an awesome bunch of names to choose from - thank you to all who participated!

We've narrowed it down to a top 10 that seem to represent where most of you were going with this - dark and creepy, just like the art you selected. Now it's time for step two - rate each of the 10 names for us, so we can see what your favorites are. Just click here or on the image below to fill out a quick survey!

Thanks again,

Bill, Charlie, Jon, Matthew, and Paul