Draft:They Came From...! (role-playing game)

They Came From...! is a set of tabletop roleplaying games (tabletop RPGs) created by Matthew Dawkins, with They Came from Beneath the Sea! released in 2020 by Onyx Path Publishing as the first of several They Came From...! games. The They Came From...! series of games are each cinematic roleplaying games, designed to parody and satirise the media from which they draw inspiration.

Multiple They Came From...! products have seen release since 2020, with earliest core book in the line being the 1950s sci-fi inspired They Came from Beneath the Sea! and the latest being the espionage feature inspired They Came from [CLASSIFIED]! and fantasy movie parody They Came from the Cyclops's Cave!

Development
Dawkins pitched his concept for They Came from Beneath the Sea! as a satire on 1950s sci-fi B-movies to Onyx Path Publishing, and Creative Director Richard Thomas agreed to buy the rights for publication via Onyx Path. Dawkins subsequently developed They Came from Beneath the Sea! with a writing and art team that included moviemaker Larry Blamire, and the game's distribution was funded on Kickstarter in 2019.

Publication History
They Came from Beneath the Sea! was initially made available via PDF and print-on-demand via online role playing game store DriveThruRPG in 2020, with traditionally printed copies being distributed to retail and made available via game and book stores. Off the back of They Came from Beneath the Sea!'s success, Dawkins and Onyx Path Publishing followed up with further titles in the They Came From...! line. Each core book for the They Came From...! line contains the rules required for play.

They Came from Beneath the Sea!
They Came from Beneath the Sea!'s focus is on parodying the Cold War era 1950s B-movies, where alien invasions are commonly an on-screen replacement for the era's Red Scare. Players take on the roles of the following Archetypes in such movies, with the Archetype chosen affecting the special abilities - or Tropes, in They Came From...! terms - they have access to as characters in the game.

Starting in 2020 and across successive years, the following titles have been released for They Came from Beneath the Sea!


 * They Came from Beneath the Sea! (2020)
 * They Came from Beneath the Sea! Quip and Cinematic Cards (2020)
 * Heroic Land-Dwellers! (2020)
 * Monsters of the Deep! (2021)
 * Tales of Aquatic Terror! (2021)
 * Party Beach Creature Feature! (A Jumpstart for They Came from Beneath the Sea!) (2021)
 * They Came from Outer Space! (2021)
 * They Came from the Bermuda Triangle! (2021)
 * They Came from Plan 9! (2021)
 * They Came from the Bikini Beach Party! (2022)
 * They Came from the Snake-Filled Submarine! (2022)
 * They Came from Beneath the Sea! North Herald Beach (2023)

They Came from Beneath the Sea! was advertised as part of the 2022 season of Mystery Science Theater 3000, with several videos appearing on YouTube as well as part of MST3K's regular broadcast, pointing people toward where they could purchase the game.

They Came from Beyond the Grave!
In 2020, Onyx Path Publishing launched a successful Kickstarter campaign for They Came from Beyond the Grave! This addition to the game line provided playable options, antagonists, story hooks, and new Cinematic powers for play in 1960s and 1970s horror-inspired games, taking inspiration from the movies of Hammer Horror, Amicus, and Roger Corman, among others. While the tone of They Came from Beyond the Grave! is markedly more horrific than that of They Came from Beneath the Sea!, the game remains one where parodying the movie and TV features it emulates is at the core of gameplay.

In 2022, They Came from Beyond the Grave! was released to DriveThruRPG in PDF and print-on-demand formats, and was later that year released to game and book stores for sale via traditional print and distribution methods.


 * They Came from Beyond the Grave! (2022)
 * They Came from Beyond the Grave! Quip and Cinematic Cards (2022)
 * Heroes in a World of Horror! (2022)
 * Tales of Depravity! (2022)
 * The Haunting of Abbeyham Priory! (A Jumpstart for They Came from Beyond the Grave!) (2022)
 * They Came from Dracula's Tomb! (2021)
 * They Came from Karnstein's Cabinet of Curiosities! (2022)
 * They Came from Beneath My Bed! (2022)
 * They Came from Camp Murder Lake! (2022)  - a full sourcebook containing playable content for 1970s and 1980s slasher movie inspired roleplaying games
 * Monsters from the Crypt! (2023)

They Came from the Cyclops's Cave! and They Came from [CLASSIFIED]!
In 2022, Onyx Path Publishing launched a successful dual Kickstarter campaign for They Came from Beyond the Cyclops's Cave! and They Came from [CLASSIFIED]! The former is a roleplaying game based on classic fantasy media - such as The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958) and Jason and the Argonauts (1963) - through to the sword and sorcery boom of the 1980s and camp fantasy of the 1990s, with such inspirational media as Xena: Warrior Princess (1995-2001), Hawk the Slayer (1980), and The Sword and the Sorcerer (1982). The latter is a game based on espionage media of the 1960s and later, such as The Avengers (1961-1969), James Bond movies, The Champions (1968-1969), The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964-1968), and the Austin Powers series.

The two games are currently in development at Onyx Path Publishing. The campaign for these two games funded the development of the action movie-based They Came from the Danger Zone!

Reception
Fantasy Faction said: "They Came from Beneath the Sea! gave me a sense of freedom and fun. The feeling I could just relax into playing a larger-than-life character in a kitschy setting with alien threats that could be as ludicrous as I wanted them to be. There’s quite a bit to get into with the rules but I don’t think they’re complex for the sake of complexity; they’ve been carefully designed to simulate that weird B-Movie aesthetic and they all seem fun. I’m itching to test out the Cinematics and the crazier Stunts. I would absolutely play it as a chill-out game with friends. In fact, I’m tempted to run extra games with as many different friends as possible, just to see what they all do with it."

The Tabletop Almanac praised They Came from Beneath the Sea! as follows: "I said I’d tell you the part that really sells me on TCFBTS! and this is it: it’s presented almost without the tongue-in-cheek manner that ruins “should-be cheesy” movies for me."

The Gaming Gang said of They Came from Beneath the Sea!: "In They Came From Beneath the Sea, Matthew Dawkins and his team have crafted a deeply enjoyable experience that is flexible enough to cater to a variety of tastes. Dual-genre games are a fine needle to thread; tip too much in either direction, and you risk alienating half of your audience. They Came From Beneath the Sea —the first in a new line of games from Onyx Path— provides a stellar example of just how to go about it."

They Came from Beyond the Grave! was critically acclaimed, with Fantasy Faction saying: "It’s fun and funny, gruesome and gory, over-acted and overblown. It has a different flavour and style to Beneath the Sea!, which justifies forking out the cash for a new iteration of the original formula."

ENWorld meanwhile said of They Came from Beyond the Grave!: "If you and your friends love schlocky horror, check out this series of games from Onyx Path." Andrew Logan Montgomery praised is by calling it "A slick piece of design that is a loving and loyal tribute to the films that inspired it."

As of 2024, They Came from Beneath the Sea! and They Came from Beyond the Grave! are both Platinum Sellers on DriveThruRPG.