Est. 2024, Milwaukee, WI
Last Pine Press is a small press publisher of tabletop roleplaying games and related ephemera based in Milwaukee, WI. We publish games and other works interested in horror, community, labor, and finding hope and humanity in hopeless, inhuman(e) times.Last Pine Press was founded by Jex Thomas (they/them), a part-time writer and game designer, full-time mental health worker, and sometimes musician. Their interests include fiction-first roleplaying, labor history, psychology, sci-fi and horror, anarchism, and cats (despite being allergic). They used to play in bands but feel too old for that now. In a past life, they studied creative writing with a focus on poetry and short fiction.
Subscribe to the Last Pine Harbinger:
Upcoming Events
More announced soon!
Past Events
| Date | Event | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 12.07.2025 | Krampusnacht 2025 | Milwaukee, WI |
| 06.21.2025 | Free RPG Day at Sanctum Tabletop Gaming Emporium | Racine, WI |
| 03.14-03.15 | Breakout Con 2025 | Toronto, ON |
| 01.11-01.14 | Cancelled Apperance: Midwinter Gaming Convention | Pewaukee, WI |
| 12.01.2024 | Krampusnacht 2024 | Milwaukee, WI |
| 10.17.2024 | Gamehole Con 11 | Madison, WI |
| 03.15-03.17 | Breakout Con 2024 | Toronto, ON |
Contact
Revised Edition
2025 Crit awards finalist for best indie ttrpg
It's 1994 in the region of the fictional Ontonagon Peninsula known as "Iron Country," a belt of mining towns barely clinging to life. These towns are surrounded on all sides by the Sylvan Wilds, a forest known for old-growth pines and strange happenings. All of Iron Country seems to be teeming with the supernatural, a fact those in power would like to conceal.You are a hunter, and you’ve promised to keep regular people safe from the horrors in the darkness. You will investigate the strange happenings going on throughout Iron Country, attempting to put the pieces together and stop the monsters before people get hurt. Will you be able to stop the malevolent forces before their power grows too strong to contain? Will you stand strong with your found family and community or will you sacrifice yourself to spare the ones you love? Will you be lost trying to find solace wherever you can?
Thrilling, gritty, and utterly human, Bump in the Dark is a tabletop roleplaying game of supernatural mystery and action-packed showdowns with regular folk caught in the middle. It's a game about chosen family, protecting your community, and standing up to the forces (mundane and supernatural alike) that want to tear down all you've built.The Revised Edition is re-imagined with updated rules to streamline play and provide support for GMs and players. The game features a new approach to downtime, expanded information on more than 25 factions, guidance on changing the game, more oracles and roll tables, and tons of newly commissioned art.2-5 players (including GM) | 4-12+ sessions | 3-5 hoursSubject matter includes violence, sacrifice, supernatural occurrences, horror, monsters, gore, chosen family, class conflict, economic inequality.
Praise for the game
"While Forged in the Dark may have been written for heists, Bump in the Dark shows how it shines for monster hunting and investigation, and Last Pine is a place that needs monster hunters. Jex's take on Iron Country may challenge Stephen King's Maine for one of my favorite horror locales." - Richard Ruane, ENNIE-winning author of Moonlight on Roseville Beach and Sherwood"Bump in the Dark is my go-to RPG for urban fantasy. If I ever want found family paranormal stories like Buffy, Night in the Woods, or Supernatural, I reach for this game." - December Elliott, Not Writing Games"Bump in the Dark cuts right to the good stuff, never losing sight of juicy character drama amidst all the action and intrigue. The emergent mystery mechanics are a fantastically simple way for your table to engage in complex, dramatic investigations while letting the (complex, dramatic) player characters shine." - Sarah Bolling, contributing writer to Brindlewood Bay, The Between, and Public Access"With Bump in the Dark, Jex Thomas has bottled pristine small-town horror into a delicious, retro TTRPG. Like Twin Peaks, The X-Files, and Alan Wake before it, the game isn’t actually about hunting really, really cool monsters. It’s about hanging out with the local weirdos, shining a light on the evils of late-stage capitalism, radicalizing a small community, and, ultimately, sabotaging the plans of the Reaganite elite… with the help of really, really cool monsters. Which, frankly, absolutely kicks ass." - Mynar Lenahan, cohost of Inside The Table: A Tabletop RPG Talk Show
Resources
Media Coverage
‘Bump in the Dark’ Is a New Tabletop Game by a Local Designer (Milwaukee Magazine)
Jex on RPG Goblin podcast
Jex on RPG Academy's Show & Tell
Gameplay Resources
Revised Edition Playkit: free on itch.io, RPG Trader
Dice Roller & Clock Tracker by Robyn Bitbirdy
Mint Rabbit's character keeper
Excel sheets by Novastar Donut
Bump in the Dark: Revised Edition on Role VTT
Actual Plays
Bump in the Dark: Welcome to Last Pine (4 sessions) on the Open Hearth Gaming Community
Bump in the Dark: Iron Country Autumn (4 sessions) on the Open Hearth Gaming Community
Bump in the Dark: Silent Falls (7 sessions) on the Open Hearth Gaming Community
Improv Tabletop: The Tension Builders (full campaign, 19 episodes)
Blades in Paradise: Bump in Paradise (3 episodes: 1, 2, 3)
Spout Lore: Up All Night Playtest 2 (paywalled, 3 episodes)
Coming soon: The QueerXP
If you're featuring Bump in the Dark on your show, please let me know!
Supplements & Expansions
The Iron Country Chronicles: A Collection of Hunts for Bump in the Dark on RPG Trader
Hunts, scenarios, and campaigns on itch.io*
Setting expansions and lore drops on itch.io*
Unofficial playbooks on itch.io*
All supplements for Bump in the Dark on itch.io*
* Includes third-party/community- made content.
How-To Videos
Hacking & Supplement Resources
Please note that the following templates use the free font Bebas Neue as a stand-in for the heading, CryptCreep, which is a licensed font. If you wish to license it yourself, you may do so here.
Clocks (itch.io, RPG Trader)
If you are making a hunt, you must include a version of this text file with licensing information in the download (updated with credits for photos, fonts, etc.)
Other templates and resources may be able to be provided upon request
The Last Pine Press Discord has helpful folks to consult with and can provide other resources!
Licensing Information
If you're creating something that is either compatible with or based on Bump in the Dark, you are free to do so as long as you abide by the following.The short version is that you can use the text of Bump in the Dark (either edition), including setting information, in creating new RPGs or supplements for Bump in the Dark as long as:
You give Jex Thomas credit as the author of Bump in the Dark
You offer the next text you create under the same license so that others can build on it too. (You do not have to apply the license to the art or illustrations.)
Suggested Wording For Licensing
Wherever you put your copyright or licensing information, add the following text in the same size as your other copyright info:This work uses material from the Bump in the Dark roleplaying game (found at https://jexjthomas.itch.io/bump-in-the-dark) by Jex Thomas and published by Last Pine Press LLC, pursuant to the open licensed available at lastpinepress.com/license.You can also use the following language as a guide for complying with the sharealike provision, but keep in mind that we are not lawyers, nor are we offering legal advice, and it is always best to consult with a lawyer on these maters:The text of this work is offered under a CC BY SA 4.0 license, meaning that you are free to distribute the text and to adapt it within the scope of the license, which requires that you give us credit and that you share your adaptations under similar terms. The text of this work is additionally offered under a license having the terms of CC BY SA 4.0, except: (1) if the Adapted Material is a literary work (such as an RPG book), then the Adapter’s License need only be applied to the text (not, for instance, illustrations) and (2) you must include this and the following sentence in your licensing terms. The CC BY SA 4.0 license is available at creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/Adapted from the Redacted Material license by Mythic Gazetteer.
Last Pine is not like other places. Sure, it may seem like just another small town, but there are all kinds of weird things going on that the adults never seem to notice. You try to tell your parents and they just brush you off. Teachers? Same thing. It’s goofed up. So you and your friends have decided that if the adults won’t do anything about it, you will. You’re here to investigate all the weird things happening and, if you can, put a stop to them.
What is this?
Hunters, Inc. is a lightweight version of Bump in the Dark, based on Slugblaster Turbo X by Mikey Hamm. Designed for one-shot, convention, and short-series play in the style of Scooby-Doo (particularly the 2010 series Mystery, Incorporated), Gravity Falls, Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia, Paper Girls, or maybe even Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The game focuses on kids and teens investigating supernatural mysteries around the town of Last Pine, Ontonagon. Perfect for convention play or as a lead-in to a full campaign.
Inside, You'll Find:
All you need to run and play the game contained on only three pages
Easy but flexible rules for creating your own monster hunting teens
A no-prep starting scenario to run or reskin
Optional rules for campaign play
2-5 players (including GM) | one-shot and short series play | 1-3 hours
Subject matter includes supernatural horror, teenage peril, authority conflict, and teen drama. Depending on playstyle, may include body horror, parental estrangement, and peril involving animals.
You are an EMBER, the last hope of a proud but besieged empire. You were chosen at a young age by the Order of the Shimmering Inferno's Grand Council, invited to join the order as an apprentice paladin due to your aptitude and promise.You are an EMBER, a child soldier stolen from your home by a corrupt and dying empire and the ancient religious sect that governs it. You were taken against your will and forced to police the eroding borders of an uncaring world.You are an EMBER, taught to fight and kill, confined to a galaxy of war and servitude.You are an EMBER, and you've decided to escape — to leave behind this world you've known and find somewhere to eke out a new existence, away from the prying eyes of the Imperium and those who seek to usurp it.You are an EMBER. Will you succeed in escaping the Imperium's iron grasp, die trying, or worse: seal your fate as an agent of the empire?
EMBERS is an upcoming tabletop roleplaying game about a crew of apprentice paladins, unwilling members of an ancient religious order sent on a doomed crusade on behalf of a dying empire.
To stay up-to-date on embers and other LPP News:
Other Stuff
Supplements and materials made for other people's games:
Lone Pine Eternal Gardens Memorial Park: a Last Pine-themed location for the Foul Play RPG(itch.io, RPG Trader)
Revised Move Triggers for Monster of the Week (itch.io, RPG Trader)
The Special Agent: a hunter playbook for Monster of the Week (itch.io, RPG Trader).
