Overview
A thousand years ago, African Emperor Mansa Munsa sent an expedition to “the New World” that never arrived. In the mythos of Into the Mother lands, these explorers were instead transported to a strange new world far, far away.
Over the centuries, the descendants of Mansa Munsa still struggle to flourish on Musalia, a world that was once alien to them but is now home. In this all-new TTRPG, you’ll learn about their diverse cultures, see what terrifying enemies await them, and find out if they can continue to survive on their adopted homeworld.
The possibilities are endless…
What is this RPG
Journey into a brighter, blacker future with Into the Mother lands, a brand-new sci-fi odyssey role-playing game, developed by a fantastic team of POC RPG designers.
Set on the adopted home planet of Musalia, where humans arrived over 1500 years ago, fans of Wakanda and Star Trek will find a comfortable fit in this universe. Players can play as a descendants of the alien culture that called Musalia home before humans arrived, or as one of the cultures that evolved from the blending of human and alien technology over the centuries. Gameplay focuses on cultures, skills and values, so your character’s abilities are built around what they’re good at and what they care about to ensure a fully invested outcome.
Into the Mother lands offers amazing POC talent to bring you a tale of interstellar exploration and adventurers led astray many generations past.
Meet the folks behind “Into the Mother Lands”!
Development Team
Tanya DePass
Creator & Creative Director
Tanya DePass is the founder and Director of I Need Diverse Games, a not-for-profit organization based in Chicago, which is dedicated to better diversification of all aspects of gaming. I Need Diverse Games serves the community by supporting marginalized developers attend the Game Developer Conference by participating in the GDC Scholarship program, helps assist attendance at other industry events, and is seeking partnership with organizations and initiatives. Tanya is a lifelong Chicagoan who loves everything about gaming, #INeedDiverseGames spawn point, and wants to make it better and more inclusive for everyone. She’s part of the Rivals of Waterdeep live play stream on twitch.tv/rivalsofwaterdeep,; she’s also a cast member on The Black Dice Society, a new horror RPG based in Wizards of the Coast iconic Ravenloft setting. Tanya is a partnered Twitch variety broadcaster; and often speaks on issues of diversity, feminism, race, intersectionality & other topics at conventions.
She’s also contributed to publications at Green Ronin, Paizo and Monte Cook Games and is the co-developer for the Fifth Season RPG based on N.K. Jemisin’s three time Hugo award winning Broken Earth trilogy. Additionally, she is a Senior Annenberg labs Civic Media Fellow at USC (2020 Cohort) and was nominated for a Hugo Award in 2019 for Best SemiproZine with Fireside Fiction
B. Dave Walters
Lead Developer
B. Dave Walters is a Storyteller & proud Scoundrel American. He is best known as the writer and co-creator of Electropunk, Dungeons & Dragons: A Darkened Wish for IDW comics, and creator and DM of the Darkened Wish streaming show for Wizards of the Coast. He plays Baron Victor Temple on Vampire the Masquerade: LA by Night on World of Darkness Twitch and Freely on Silver & Steel on D&D Beyond Twitch. He’s also the DM for The Black Dice Society, a new horror RPG based in Wizards of the Coast iconic Ravenloft setting.
@BDaveWalters – Instagram/Twitter
Email me: motherlandrpg@gmail.com
Gabe Hicks
Developer
Gabe is an independent game designer for digital and tabletop. He’s currently working on a Goblin Dating Sim called Hidden Treasures, created the CMM an alternate creation tool for 5e focused on narrative and the class itself which has been downloaded over 10,000 times and been featured on multiple shows and even the Roll20 marketplace.
Jasmine Bhullar
Developer
Jasmine “ThatBronzeGirl” Bhullar is an actress, internet personality and content creator best known for her daily livestreams on Twitch as well as the many role play productions she has been apart of. She is not only an experienced tabletop RPG player, but a skilled Game Master as well. She got her start on Geek and Sundry by writing and GMing the Starter Kit for Vampire the Masquerade which led to her playing the infamous Beryl the Brutal on Relics and Rarities. Jasmine enjoys creating video game, role play and comic book content when she doesn’t have her head in a science fiction book.
Eugenio Vargas
Developer
Eugenio is the producer and Dungeon Master for an actual play Dungeons & Dragons podcast called The Last Refuge. Three years in, the podcast has over 150 episodes and has been acknowledged and supported by industry leaders such as Wizards of the Coast and D&D Beyond. Eugenio designs and edits adventures and monsters for the 5th Edition Dungeons & Dragons Tabletop Roleplaying Game. Products he has worked on are published and available for purchase on the DMs Guild. He is also on the design team for the upcoming tabletop roleplaying game published by Green Ronin Publishing based on N.K. Jemisin’s Broken Earth Trilogy.
Synxiec
Developer
Synxiec is a part-time variety streamer on Twitch with a focus on story-driven games and open discussion on the gaming community and culture. Outside of streaming, he’s involved in tabletop gaming, being featured in multiple games as a player and also being a writer for Mnemonic RPG and Into the Motherlands. His pronouns are he/they.
Allie Bustion
Developer
Black queer femme game designer and writer with a deep love of video games, pro wrestling, mechanical keyboards, and pop culture and analysis. While a lot of their work is weird, kind of cynical, and a little bit spooky, sci-fi planted a deep love of a hopeful future early on that’s stuck around. More of their work can be found on Patreon, itch.io, and their site.
freelance game designer & illustrator
Cassie Walker
Developer
Black Queer trauma therapist, social worker, activist, consultant,writer, and all around nerd. They hold a Master’s Degree in Social Work and a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and Comparative Human Development. Their work centers Black Queer folx and focuses on identity, mental wellness, decolonization, and liberation. Cassie also hosts and GM the Woke Mental Wellness podcast where they play TTRPGs and talk Black Queer mental wellness with other Black Queer folx.
Twitter: @MentalWoke
Intstagram: @intersectionsllc
Ify Nadiwade
Developer
Ify Nwadiwe is a Nigerian American comedian and professional nerd who’s been seen on Um, Actually, Dimension 20, and various other RPG shows.He’s written for TV, Video Games, and RPGs like Black Birds.
Noordin Ali
Developer
Noordin Ali “WerewolfFeels” Kadir is a Twitch streamer, tabletop aficionado and Storyteller based out of Ontario, Canada. Noordin Ali’s writing draws from all aspects of his background, his Islamic faith and heritage and tonnes upon tonnes of nerding out about history, space and urban horror. Currently, his tabletop playing is being featured in MAGE on Roll4It and Gehenna Academy on Gehenna Gaming, but he’s appeared on numerous channels, both for panels and for games, including but not limited to Chromatic Chimera, Off the Table and Friends Who Roll Dice.
An experienced writer and cultural consultant, he’s contributed to Kobold Press, Creatively Queer Press and Wet Ink Games, among others. You can find more of his writing work specifically in Jiangshi: Blood in the Banquet Hall, Mnemonic: A Weaver’s Almanac and even the upcoming Deimos Academy!
Mario Ortegon
Developer
Mario Ortegon (he/him) is a writer/designer from Monterrey, Mexico who began sharing his work as DM of one of the first D&D live play shows in Latin America. He grew up being equally fascinated by epic fantasy and his abuelo’s folk tales, and has been merging both in storytelling ever since. This journey has taken him to work as a freelancer for the likes of Wizards of the Coast, Paradox Interactive, Guildhall Studios, Harebrained Schemes, and more.
Omega Jones
Developer
Omega Jones, also known as the Critical Bard, is a professional actor and vocalist from the Midwest. A proud member of Actor’s Equity Association, he had a focus on live musical theatre & performance until he switched to being a full time content creator on Twitter & Twitch. As a tabletop professional, he has worked with many companies including Wizards of the Coast, World of Darkness, and created the theme song for Critter Hug, a signal boosting monthly show produced by Critical Role. He is the executive producer of Let’s Get Wildemount, a D&D campaign set in Critical Role’s Wildemount setting, and Dungeons & Durags, an all black led D&D homebrew campaign. He can be seen on many shows including Into The Mists (Noggins) with Realmsmith, Tampo (Manalo) with RockPunchATL, and New Pantheon: Academia (Kwame) with Saving Throw Show.
As a 3/4th time partnered Twitch streamer, he strives for continued black and queer representation & urges folk to keep making treble wherever they go, as it is up to them to shake of this system, one Treblemaker at a time.
ART, MAPS and MORE
Vanessa “PleasantlyTwstd” B.
Art Director
Vanessa B, also known as PleasantlyTwstd, is a Charity Success Manager at Tiltify, and a part time charity streamer on Twitch. Her focus is on cultivating community, with an emphasis on activism efforts surrounding Black and LGBTQIAP2+ communities. The content she creates ranges anywhere from friendly, casual baking streams, to no-hit runs of Dark Souls 3. PT got her start in gaming at an early age with a passion and emphasis on character concept and design. Now, she does freelance work for streamers on Twitch in conjunction with her streaming schedule.
Domo Stanton
ItML Comic & Cover Artist
Hailing from Baltimore, Maryland, Dominike “Domo” Stanton has been a reigning, defending, undisputed comic weight champion since 2011! With writing and art credits under his belt, Domo has worked on various comic book titles for companies like Boom! Studios, Marvel, and DC Comics, for over a decade, including tag teaming with “Gargoyles” creator Greg Weisman on Marvel’s Starbrand & Nightmask, and award winning novelist, Nalo Hopkinson on a 22 issue run of Neal Gaiman’s The Sandman: House of Whispers, with DC comics. In 2019 Domo sought to expand his brand into content creation on Twitch, where he showcases his art and breaks down the process. As he continues to defend his titles and share his process, with detailed inks and dynamic storytelling, you can find him as @Domostanton on all social media.
Also find here other ways to find me and my work:
Aaron Radney
Cartography
Aaron is a fantasy illustrator with a love of storytelling, world building and fantasy born out of being raised on a steady diet of fantasy novels and mythology from his mother’s bookshelf. His primary focus is creating non-Eurocentric fantasy art that tries to open up the idea of what the genre is and who gets to belong in it.
Currently, Aaron is based out of St Louis Missouri where he’s added fantasy cartography to his skill set and spends his spare time on fantasy card and tabletop games. He’s created art for MV Media, Nerdhaus Games, Sandy Pug Games, Backwater, the Southern Gothic TTRPG and the Realms Uncharted Podcast among others.
Brian Gray
Editor
Brian Gray is a writer, gaymer, foodie, broadcaster, voice actor, comics lover, cocktail connoisseur, brunch aficionado and all-around nerd who resides in The Swanktuary when he’s not out and about exploring or staying in and trying all things new on the internet. Until very recently, he’d been out of the loop on D&D since the Player Handbook from the early 80s. He can be found most places online as urbanbohemian.
Sarah Davis
Editor
Sarah Davis, also known as ”Sarahndipity” online, is a writer, cosplayer, and content creator from the midwest. Some of her main focus areas include writing fiction, poetry, and tabletop gaming content. She embraces all things creative from her writing projects to digital art and spends any free time she has cooking up her next costume or prop-building project. Whether she’s freelancing, working on her own games, or playing TTRPGs on friends’ streams or at home, she finds joy in creating, telling stories, and exploring ideas.
Daniel Kwan
Mechanics Dev
Daniel is a former archaeologist turned Gold ENnie Award winning podcaster, game designer, and cultural consultant. You might know him from the ENnie Award winning Asians Represent! podcast or his independent game design work (Wicked Congregation, Ross Rifles, and the Chronicles of Spring & Autumn series). As a freelance narrative designer, he co-authored the best selling Unbreakable (vol 1) anthology and Candlekeep Mysteries adventure supplements for 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons. Daniel is also one of the co-founders of Level Up Gaming, a Toronto-based organization that provides adults with autism and other disabilities opportunities to develop their social skills through group gaming experiences.
Narrative Designer, Podcaster, & Community Manager
Eloy Lasanta
Mechanics Dev
Moved around most of his life as an army dependent, Eloy has been roleplaying for nearly 20 years. He has written many articles published online, as well as previous commissioned work for Witch Hunter: The Invisible World, and co-authored KidWorld the Role Playing Game for Vajraenterprises. Then He got this crazy idea of writing his own game and… yadda yadda yadda… he started Third Eye Games, wrote Apocalypse Prevention, Inc.. and the rest is history. Today, he handles the day-to-day company activity, talks with prospective writers and artists, and is still the principle writer on the many future projects that are coming from Third Eye Games.