Beyond the Ring: Adventure and Exploration Through the Ring Gates for the Expanse

by Ian Lemke (Development)

The discovery of the protomolecule changed everything but it was only with the opening of the Ring that humanity began to understand the power and scope of the alien technology. A massive construct out near the orbit of Uranus, the Ring is a portal into a strange non-space known as “the slow zone.” Centered on an ancient alien station, it connects to more than a thousand other portals leading to a thousand different star systems, each with one or more worlds shaped by the ancient aliens who created the protomolecule. Now the aliens are long gone, and the unlocking of the ring gates has opened vast frontiers for human settlement and exploration.

Beyond the Ring advances the timeline of The Expanse RPG to the fourth novel in the series, Cibola Burn, and details the slow zone, Medina Station, travel through the ring gates, and some of the many systems found beyond them, along with tools for Game Masters to design their own systems for characters to explore.

125 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 2022

About the author

Ian Lemke is a game developer for Green Ronin Publishing and is responsible for The Expanse Roleplaying Game line. He has written for The Expanse line since the core rulebook and has also contributed writing to Blue Rose. Ian has been developing games (both tabletop RPGs and computer games) since 1993. He’s worked as a writer or developer for many companies including White Wolf, FASA, Modiphius, Zenimax Online, and more. He got his start running Vampire LARPs and ran a fantasy LARP for 10 years and loves all things sci fi and fantasy. He lives in the outskirts of Atlanta, GA with his wonderful wife (who secretly gives him a lot of his best ideas), a dog named Shakespeare, a rabbit named Marlowe, and several chickens.

Reviews

[Jason Panella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really liked this. The first few sections didn't win me over, thanks to some editorial choices I found slapdash. I loved the last few sections, though—they're well-written, imaginative, and have some really inspired gameplay elements.