The Black Rainbow

A dramatic tabletop role-playing game about magic — and what it costs.

The Black Rainbow is a narrative-driven TTRPG about people on the edge — Seekers of forbidden magical knowledge. Set in a fractured world haunted by secrets and strange powers, the game explores the price of curiosity, the consequences of ambition, and the fragility of the human mind when confronted with the unknown. This is a game of obsession, transformation, and the thin line between revelation and madness. The rules support emotionally charged storytelling, cinematic scenes, and consequences that echo long after the moment has passed.

Key Features

A narrative system combining the best of Fate and Powered by the Apocalypse (PbtA).

A focus on psychological depth, mystery, and cinematic storytelling.

A haunting world of secrets, factions, and forbidden knowledge.

Narrative & Mechanics

Gameplay is rooted in dynamic storytelling tools that foster improvisation, emotional stakes, and rising tension. Every move, token, and consequence is part of a living, reactive story — all mechanics are designed to support character arcs and dramatic payoff.

You’ll use:

Aspects to shape both the world and the character's identity.

Moves and Actions that drive story under pressure.

Tokens to track narrative control and rising stakes.

Consequences to represent trauma and the emotional cost of magic.

The Seekers

Your characters are not heroes. They are broken, desperate, obsessed — clinging to the hope that magic can change their fate. The Black Rainbow offers a wide range of archetypes to help build complex, flawed protagonists navigating an unforgiving world.

Character creation includes:

10 archetypes, each with unique strengths and psychological conflict.

Foundational elements like Origin, Concept, Problem, and Bond.

Skills, Tricks, and Advantages for narrative depth and leverage.

Rules for character growth, trauma, and transformation.

A Strange Alternate World

The action takes place in an alternate universe with its own history, secrets, and conflicts. This world is woven from words. It is sustained by a continuous inner and outer dialogue between sentient beings — not all of whom are human. When that dialogue falls silent, fragments of the world dissolve into the eternal, blue-black void known as The Gap.

Explore:

An alternate Old and New World, separated by oceans and rising entropy.

Six peoples with distinct philosophies and hidden truths: Asturs, Romians, Laams, Coolas, Malians, and Kinkis.

Themes of illusion — both personal and cosmic — and the collapse of meaning.

Magic as Madness

In this world, magic is not just power — it is risk, madness, and irreversible change. The Radiance can enlighten, corrupt, or annihilate. To wield it, Seekers must open themselves to visions, pacts, benefactors, or the monstrous unknown.

The system includes:

Core rules for working with Radiance.

Tools for crafting spells, rituals, and forbidden texts.

Benefactors, artefacts, and books that unlock power.

Creatures beyond: Lamiae, Trogls, Shapeshifters, Imps.

Dangerous monsters rooted in magic themes and aspects.

Play Style & Tone

This game is for storytellers who embrace mood, tension, and bold emotional choices. Whether it’s a noir investigation, a psychological descent, or a tragic magical epic — The Black Rainbow gives you the tools to make every scene unforgettable.

Tone & atmosphere inspirations include:

TV Shows: The Sandman, The Magicians, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell.

Games: Cultist Simulator, Control.

Books: Neil Gaiman, H.P. Lovecraft, Stephen King.

Films: Beyond the Black Rainbow, Hellboy (duology).

Mini-Game: Shen Lung

Shen Lung is a mini tabletop RPG embedded within the world of The Black Rainbow. Among countless games enjoyed in the World, Shen Lung stands out — not for complex mechanics, but for its deep cultural roots in the legendary epic Shen Lung, the Lone Swordsman from the West. It’s a story nearly everyone knows — something you'd hear in everyday conversation or see referenced in ads. Players take on iconic roles: the swordsman, the pirate, the orphan, and the stromae (musician) — timeless figures in a myth that continues to shape the culture around them.

What You Need to Play

The setup is simple. The experience? Anything but.

You’ll need:

2–5 players and a Game Master.

Character sheets or booklets.

Two six-sided dice (2d6).

Paper, pens, and a shared desire to explore the edge of madness and meaning.

Is it all worth it... just because magic is might?

By purchasing this game, you receive the rules The Black Rainbow in electronic form (pdf, 64 pages, 20 MB) and a universal character booklet.