Beyond the Woods: Open World Exploration and Survival for 5e

February Update - With a Proper Title This Time!
5 months ago – Thu, Feb 19, 2026 at 02:28:03 AM

So thanks to some weirdness in the Kickstarter backend, our February update was posted with the thrilling title "edit". Aaaand we didn't notice in time to change it, and we also can't delete it. Whoops!

You can read the full update here, but here's a quick summary:

• The Tír Nascath Setting Guide has been updated! You can download the latest version on DrivethruRPG, the file ending in _260217
• Beyond the Woods for Legend in the Mist launches next week! We'll have exclusive secret discounts for our 5e backers, so be sure to follow the campaign here.
• Our good friends at Three Sails Studios recently launched their campaign for Gallows Corner. Check it out here.

And that's it! Sorry for the confusion! We'll be sending another update around on Monday with links to the Secret Tier for Beyond the Woods for Legend in the Mist, so keep an eye out!

Tá brón orm - I'm sorry!

edit
5 months ago – Tue, Feb 17, 2026 at 02:41:11 AM

Dia dhaoibh a chairde, hello friends. Another monthly update, and it’s an exciting one! Before we dive in, don’t forget to join the Discord to get even more updates and sneak peaks. 

First up, the updated PDF of the Tír Nascath Setting Guide is now available, and features over 80 pages of lore, monsters, and adventures! Here’s what’s included:

• The first half of the Céad Darach chapter is now included, which gives insight into the history of the city and what day to day life is like for those that live there. The second half of the chapter will come in a later update and will feature dozens of places of interest to use in your campaign. This chapter has been a blast to write so I hope everyone enjoys it!
• The complete, fully-edited Faeries and the Forgotten chapter has been added, with plenty of monsters to throw at your party. Each entry includes lore about the creature, their goals and behaviour, and advice on using them in your game. 
• Last but certainly not least, we’ve added another awesome adventure by Gareth Hanrahan. The Bull sees the party tracking down a stolen bull from a wicked faerie lord to try to save a wedding — but not all is as it seems…

As always, please keep in mind that this is not the final version of the book! Most of the playtest PDF has been fully edited but hasn’t been proofread yet. There are some stray page references (the @@s), and a few missing pieces of art (those nice bright pink blocks you see on some pages!). All of this will be sorted in the final release, don’t worry!

Downloading the PDF

By now you should have received an email from DrivethruRPG with a link to redeem your free copy of the Tír Nascath Setting Guide. If you don’t have one already, I recommend creating a DrivethruRPG account. This will make it easier to access your PDFs in the future. 

If you can’t find your download link, be sure to do the following:

• Check your spam folder — sometimes emails from DrivethruRPG can get lost there!
• Make sure you check the right inbox! The complimentary copies are sent out to the email address tied to your Kickstarter account that backed the project, so be sure to check that inbox! Folks who use a private Apple ID will need to reach out directly so we can resend the link to an alternate email address. Likewise,  folks who pre-ordered through Backerkit should also reach out.
• Get in touch! If you still can’t find the download link, drop us a DM here or contact [email protected]. Let us know the email address to use and we’ll get you a new link as soon as we can.

Beyond the Woods for Legend in the Mist launches in ONE WEEK!

Beyond the Woods for Legend in the Mist launches next Tuesday, the 24th of February! We’re excited to bring the world of Tír Nascath to a brand new system and, as a special thank you to all of you wonderful backers, we will have super secret exclusive discounted tiers for anyone who backed Beyond the Woods for 5e and wants to try out Legend in the Mist! 

We’ll also be adding new monsters as we hit certain stretch goals but not to worry — we’ll be creating these for 5e as well and releasing them for FREE to all our backers!

Be sure to follow the campaign here so you don’t miss out. If you want to see Legend in the Mist in action, check out the video below.

Gallow’s Corner

Our friends over at Three Sail Studios recently launched Gallows Corner - A Peasants’ Revolt RPG and it looks amazing! We’ve already backed it, and you can find out more below.

Gallows Corner - A Peasants’ Revolt RPG

This is not your England. It's theirs. But we're going to take it back. And we'll start by burning it down!

Gallows Corner - A Peasants’ Revolt RPG is an alt-historical TTRPG system that focuses on stories of resistance, community, solidarity, and liberation in post-plague England. Created and designed by George Francis Bickers, developed and edited by Jeremy Blum, and with artwork by Joel Kilpatrick, Gallows Corner allows players to tell intensely personal stories of local resistance and struggle that ripple across a country calling out for salvation. With a rules light, narrative first approach, Gallows Corner moves beyond historical simulation and grind to capture the feeling and verisimilitude of peasant and working class struggle. 

You can back Gallows Corner here.

January Update — Timeline and Pledge Manager
6 months ago – Tue, Jan 20, 2026 at 02:13:15 AM

Athbhliain faoi mhaise daoibh — happy new year everyone! Today we have a big update covering progress on the setting guide, timelines, and info and reminders about the pledge manager. 

Before we dive in, if you haven’t received the completed PDF of the core rulebook or the playtest PDF of the setting guide, please drop us an email to [email protected].

And don’t forget to join the Discord. We’ve been sharing sneak peaks of the setting guide and showing what life is like in Céad Darach, so jump in and take a look. 

Tír Nascath Setting Guide

With the corebook complete, we’ve been working on locking off chapters for the Tír Nascath Setting Guide and finalising the last of the art. This month I’m focusing on getting the Céad Darach chapter complete, but here’s the status of all the chapters, broken down by stage. For info on what’s included in each chapter, check out our October Update here.

Outline

• Chapter 3. Beyond the Woods
• Chapter 5. Treasures of the Past
• Chapter 6. Bones of the Earth

Writing

• Chapter 1. Keeper of the Old Lore
• Chapter 2. Céad Darach
• Chapter 4. Chance Encounters
• Adventure 6. The Curse of the Bean Sí

Editing

• Chapter 7. Faeries and the Forgotten
• Adventure 4. The Bull
• Adventure 5. The Black Keep

Layout/Released in PLaytest PDF

• Adventure 1. Dead Wood
• Adventure 2. The Magic Hostel
• Adventure 3. The Hungry Man

On the art side, we have 41/57 illustrations complete, and expect to have the rest locked in by the end of February. You can see one of the stunning new pieces below, illustrated by Clara-Marie Morin. This shows the beautiful white steed that brought Oisín and Niamh to Tír na nÓg — and which wanderers may encounter as they venture Beyond the Woods.

Timelines

And now for the disappointing news. Unfortunately, while we are making great progress on the setting guide, it is unlikely we will hit our March deadline for the PDF release. Though the PDF of the corebook is complete and was delivered well ahead of schedule, both books need to be printed together, so we can’t get production underway until they are both ready. 

So what caused the delay? There was no one factor I can point to, it is more of a culmination of things. However, the main culprit is that the business side of things has taken far more of my time in the last few months than I had planned for. Here’s a quick rundown:

• Building the Company: I want Old Oak Games to be a company that has a long life so I can keep making games for you all. In Ireland we are lucky enough to have a lot of supports for new businesses in the form of courses, government grants, and so on. These are fantastic, but all take time. This knocked a few weeks off my writing time last year.
• Global Events: As I’m sure you are all aware, there is a lot going on in the world right now. Aside from the mental strain that has on us all, it has meant we needed to find the right fulfilment partner for our UK, EU, and Rest of World customer to keep the shipping costs as low as possible. I’m delighted to say we’ve found one, and it's someone I trust to get your books to you safely and on time. We’ll have more news on this soon, but needless to say this involved a lot of emails, meetings, and reviewing of quotes which took another few weeks or so of my time. 
• Print Costs: A knock on from the above is that print costs have risen too. The printer we had planned on using could no longer do the cloth map we wanted and, of much greater concern, their prices had almost doubled in the 12 months since I had gotten the previous quote. This meant I was on the hunt for a new printer, which involved getting recommendations from trusted colleagues, and then yet more emails, meetings, and quotes. This took another chunk out of my writing time but I’m delighted to say we’ve found a top notch printer that can do everything we want to the exacting standards we expect.  

With all of the above taken into account, we are now aiming to have the completed Tír Nascath Setting Guide PDF into your digital hands by the end of May, then we’ll be printing in June, and shipping in July. The good news is that shipping timelines seem to have contracted a bit, so we are hoping to be able to start fulfilling by August or September, with physical books reaching backers from September on — but we’ll keep you updated on this closer to the time. 

We’ll continue to release chapters as they are ready, so keep an eye on future updates to make sure you don’t miss out. 

Pledge Manager and Surveys

We had planned on closing the pledge manager this month but, given the delay, we will be keeping it open for another month so you can update your pledge, change address, and so on. A little over 100 people haven’t completed their surveys yet, so if you haven’t had the chance please do so ASAP. We’ve had issues with folks who use an apple private ID for their Kickstarter accounts not being notified, so if that’s you or you just can’t find the email link to the pledge manager, please reach out to [email protected].

Thank You

As someone who prides themselves on not missing deadlines, this was a disheartening update to have to write. I can only apologise for the delay and thank you all for your patience and support. We’ll be back next month with a new update. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out or drop a comment below.

All the best 

• Emmet

December Update - Nollaig Shona Daoibh!
7 months ago – Mon, Dec 22, 2025 at 07:36:49 AM

Welcome wanderers, to the final update of the year! 

This month we have a short but exciting update to let you all know that the final release version of the Beyond the Woods Core Rulebook PDF is now ready! The latest PDF includes proofreading notes plus all the final art, and represents the files we will be sending to the printer — so if you DO spot any errors, please let us know ASAP!

Everyone will receive a link from DrivethruRPG to claim your complimentary copy of the latest version of the PDF. If you’ve already redeemed your copy, you’ll find the newest version in your library, with the file ending in _251222. As always, if you have any trouble, please reach out to us here or drop us an email to [email protected]

Thank You

As we wrap up for the holidays and prepare to see out the end of the year, I once again wanted to say thank you from the absolute bottom of my heart. This would not be possible without the support of all you wonderful backers, and I am eternally grateful to all of you. 

Nollaig Shona agus go raibh míle maith agat — happy Christmas and a thousand thank yous

• Emmet

Announcing Beyond the Woods for Legend in the Mist!
7 months ago – Fri, Dec 05, 2025 at 08:23:41 AM

Dia dhaoibh a chairde, hello friends! 

We’re back with a very special mid-month update to let you in on some big news. As just announced, Old Oak Games is delighted to be partnering with Son of Oak Game Studio to bring Beyond the Woods to the acclaimed Legend in the Mist system! This partnershipoffers fans of Legend in the Mist a new way to play, trading the rustic fantasy charm of Ravensdale for the haunted lands of Tír Nascath. The Kickstarter will launch in February 2026, and you can follow the page here to get access to the free 30 page preview PDF.

As a huge fan of the Mist Engine, I am incredibly excited to bring Beyond the Woods to Legend in the Mist. If you’re not familiar with Legend in the Mist, check out the video below to learn more. You can also download a free demo game, learn to play comic, and a very cool 5e conversion tool. 

Now, answers to some questions you might have:

• Will this affect Beyond the Woods for 5e?: Nope! Work on the Legend in the Mist version of Beyond the Woods won’t begin until the 5e Core Rulebook and Setting Guide are complete.
• Should I get the LitM version too?: That’s up to you! The content in both the 5e version and the LitM version will be the same, so you won’t be missing out — only the rules and presentation will change. If you like the sound of the more narrative approach of Legend in the Mist or are already a fan of the Mist engine, then you might want to have both!
• Can I swap to the LitM version?: Right now, we don’t have an easy way to do this, but please reach out and we’ll see what we can do. BUT we plan on offering our backers exclusive discounts to let them dive into the Legend in the Mist version too!

Thanks again for all your support. We’ll be back in a few weeks with our next update. 

Cryptborn

Our friends at Misfit Hobbies have just completed their Kickstarter for Cryptborn, a dark and atmospheric solo roll-and-write game insp0ired by the Souls-like genre, but there’s still time to back it here.

In Cryptborn, you awaken deep within the castle crypt—long dead, yet called back to life by a malevolent force. To earn your rest once more, you must purge the castle of its corruption, uncover its grim secrets, and face the horrors that lurk in every shadowed hall.

Across your journey, you’ll map your progress through the castle, manage your dwindling strength, and confront cursed bosses in a desperate fight for redemption. Each sheet tells the story of your descent, your choices, and the cost of survival.

With striking artwork, haunting lore, and tight, strategic gameplay, Cryptborn is a must-play experience for fans of Darkest Dungeon and Dark Souls.