Nepenthe Games is dedicated to creating fun, original, story-driven tabletop RPGs. Our first project, Nevermore: Tales of Gothic America is in playtesting now, and we are planning a Kickstarter Fall of 2022. Ian Lemke, the owner of design lead for Nepenthe Games LLC has been in game design for over 25 years and has worked on ttRPGs such as Changeling the Dreaming, Wraith the Oblivion, Vampire the Dark Ages, Mind’s Eye Theatre: The Masquerade, Star Trek Adventures, Talisman Fantasy Adventures, and The Expanse RPG. He has also been a zone lead for Elder Scrolls Online and the Fallen Earth MMO.

You can follow our progress on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, or even join the Patreon to help us with costs and overhead such as amazing art. You can find all of the links and contact information here.

I am occaisionally asked why I chose Nepenthe as the name of the company? I can give two reasons. The first being its connection with The Raven and Poe. Nevermore, the word spoke again and again by the raven, is the namesake of the first game we’re publishing, Nevermore: Tales of Gothic America. Poe an his contempories are the foundation upon which this roleplaying game stand. Second, the very definition of nepenthe feels approriate one of the roles RPGs have in our lives. In Homer’s Odyssey nepenthe is a fictional draught that banishes pain and sorrow. A good game can take you away from your cares and provide relief from your daily woes, at least for a time.