Morality, Power, and Politics in Onyx Path's Monster Kingdoms

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Many fantasy games feature players in conflict with monsters, whether they be orcs, demons, or vampires. But what if you could be the monster instead and play the game of fantasy politics instead? That’s the premise that Monster Kingdoms, TTRPG publisher Onyx Path’s latest fantasy setting and the third entry in its Earthbane Cycle, strives to explore.

The world of Gewinn, where the game sets its story, is separated into 13 realms that are governed by the empire of Nithera. Unfortunately, that empire is falling apart at the seams. The realms themselves are also slowly collapsing due to immoral and questionable philosophies that the leaders have embraced. Now the kingdoms are rebelling against this empire and figuring out what they want this world to look like, and those different philosophies don’t really get along. It’s a world mired in smoke and darkness, where “shadow, smog and autumn” seem as normal as a summer’s day to its residents.

There is a single nation that is a “beacon of hope” and actually “good” by conventional standards. Unfortunately, that beacon is getting targeted by everyone else and its residents risk enslavement, death and more. Players are placed in a role where they can either embrace the twisted morality of their world or seek opportunities to be true heroes in a land mired in darkness.

“Monster Kingdoms' origin was with Rich Thomas, Onyx Path's creative director,” Matthew Dawkins, the developer of the game, told TTRPG Insider. “His idea was simple: he wanted a traditional fantasy game where players take on the role of the monsters or the side of evil.” The game was quickly developed by Dawkins, drawing heavy inspiration from Dungeon Keeper, Diablo and Gloomhaven, as well as historical roots like the Roman Empire, Anglo-Saxon Britain, and the Wars of the Roses.

What differentiates it as a fantasy game from other outlets is that it places the players in positions of power from the start. Players will begin the game as competent leaders in their realms of expertise from the start, rather than beginning their campaign as level 1 characters at the start of their journey. They will also receive sceptres, in-game items that grant players special abilities and immense powers that will let them squash their enemies. Unfortunately, their enemies also have sceptres. So it becomes a game of politics and of warfare.

“Characters don't start the game as powerless scum,” Dawkins noted. “Far from it, as each character is a crownbearer at the game start, meaning they immediately have access to devastating powers via their crowns and sceptres.”

The Morality of Monster Kingdoms

We often assume that playing in a monster campaign can be focused on being the evil, murder-hobo-like characters we want to be some days. But Onyx Path is striving to make this more complicated. The “monstrous” races include creatures like vampires, dragonkin, and orcs, as well as elves and feyborn, although it’s implied that these traditional fantasy races are not as ‘good’ as one would presume upon first glance.

“While the player characters within Monster Kingdoms are set up to be villainous and evil, there is nothing within the rules mechanically that binds them to stay that way,” Kimberly Godwin, one of the contributing writers, told TTRPG Insider. “It's a way to explore survival in a world where every villain you ever read about is in power and you need to raise an army to overthrow a corrupt system. Do you fill the vacuum you leave by thwarting the current evil king, or do you create something new in its place?”

The game’s playstyle “focuses on hard decisions and trade-offs that really mesh with the world and themes the game presents,” added Ferne Milton, another writer on the game.

It’s a distinct difference in flavor compared to the two other entries in the “Earthbane Cycle,” a loosely connected multiverse of fantasy settings. The World Below, for example, focuses on telling stories about a world where delving into the depths of the subterranean elements is integral to the society and leans quite a bit into dungeon-crawling and exploration for its storytelling. At the Gates, the other entry in the Cycle, draws on influences from Final Fantasy to tell a story in a world where magic infuses everything and players are stepping up to stop the Void from consuming their world.

All of the games from the Earthbane Cycle are built upon Storypath Ultra, Onyx Path’s unique TTRPG mechanics. Storypath Ultra draws on Onyx Path’s roots in the dicepool-based Storytelling system that was used to create World of Darkness and streamlines how it handles stats, dice-rolling, and other aspects of gameplay. But it is the company’s effort to create fantasy games that allows it to contrast and make a real impression on current audiences.

Monster Kingdoms is available to be backed on Backerkit until Sept. 25, 2025.

Thanks to Onyx Path for chatting with TTRPG Insider.

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