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Huckleberry: A Wyrd West RPG

Created by Huckleberry RPG

Huckleberry is a TTRPG about tragic cowboys in a world doomed to calamity… unless you save it. Take on the profession of a Maverick: a grizzled bounty hunter who rides out beyond the bounds of civilization with nothin’ but a big iron on their hip.

Latest Updates from Our Project:

A Huckmas Miracle!
8 months ago – Fri, Dec 26, 2025 at 10:16:20 AM

Howdy pardner!

Hope you've been having a good holiday season - I know I have. It's been a whirlwind of friends, family, feasting and Huckleberry. There's been a ton of awesome progress being made behind the scenes. Holidays like to throw a wrench into schedules, but I'm glad to report that there's been no major speed bumps so far.

I've been travelling through the southwestern US over the past week and I love being here. Arizona and New Mexico are two of the most beautiful states to drive through and I'm being flooded with inspiration. How can you look at these views and not imagine yourself riding out on horseback, chasing down bounties or running from the law?

Playtest Material

I've managed to carve out a few hours here and there every couple days to keep Huckleberry on schedule (and capitalize on all of this inspiration!). And I'm not the only one who's been keeping their nose to the grindstone. Eren Ahn, one of our stretch goal writers, has finished their bounty! It's an incredibly fun read and I'm sure you're gonna love it. In fact, I feel so confident about it, that I'm releasing the text now for public playtesting. Merry Huckmas!

Huckleberry: Magnum Opus Playtest

Please bear in mind that this is an early draft and will have revisions before publishing. It also has not undergone developmental editing, meaning that some mechanics and wording may be inconsistent with the corebook. With that in mind, the scenario is fully playable and should still deliver a great experience at the table. If you do play the scenario, please leave us feedback through the link in the document. Hearing your thoughts will be immensely helpful as we polish everything.

Art Update

Our fantastic artist, George Sellas, continues to exceed expectations! For some of our stretch goal pieces, we've chosen to continue the "catalogue" theme from the "Your Faithful Steed" poster in the Corral chapter. These pieces are meant to help you visualize various aspects of your character and solidify the mental image of your Maverick. This first companion piece to "Your Faithful Steed" is about Big Irons!

This spread focuses specifically on revolvers, but the options are applicable to almost any Big Iron that your Maverick might wield. It was a lot of fun researching the various historical embellishments a gun might receive, along with brainstorming new options to choose from as well. It always amazes me that I can send George what is essentially a list of word prompts and he returns a masterpiece.

That's about it for today's update, as I'm off to more feasting with family. As I sit and reflect on this year, I feel so grateful to you and everyone else who has supported Huckleberry. This game is a dream come true and I'm honored that you've thrown in with me to see it come to life. Thank you for riding for the brand!

Much obliged,
Steven

Progress Update
9 months ago – Wed, Dec 10, 2025 at 03:58:00 PM

Howdy, pardner!

There's been so much happening behind the scenes and we've got some big deadlines coming up that we're right on track to hit! Here's the broad strokes:

Scenarios

All three stretch goal scenarios should be fully drafted by next week. They'll immediately go into playtesting, have another period of revisions, then go into editing and art production. I've had sneak peaks at these and there's some real magic being made here. Big props to Eren, Jaime, and Jeff - they're really delivering!

Speaking of playtesting, there's a good chance I'll be looking for more playtesters in the new year. If you're interested, come hang out in our Discord to get first dibs.

New Chapter

Dylan and Kienna's first draft is scheduled to be delivered next week as well. (Next week is gonna be BUSY!) I'll be giving it some playtesting of my own, then sending my feedback for the next draft. This project will take longer than the scenarios as the scope of the chapter is quite ambitious. After the second draft is completed, we'll be sharing it with you all for open playtesting to make sure we get all of the kinks worked out.

Layout

Nathan and I have been going back and forth designing the new layout design for scenarios. This has been a bit tricky, since we first designed the scenarios as digital-only releases. We now need to reformat from US Letter to A5, which has created some unexpected quirks needing to be ironed out. Fortunately for us all, Nathan is extremely talented and our last revision is quite promising. We're currently putting the batch of finished scenarios in this new format to learn all the pain points, then we'll have a short hiatus while we wait for the new scenarios + art to be finished.

Art

George is hard at work on the new spreads for the corebook. Two of the spreads are being formatted like "catalogue" pages, similar to the one we have for mounts. One of them will be themed around Old West hats, coats, and belts. The other highlights the different materials, styles, and designs a Big Iron can be embellished with. They should be finished with perfect timing for us, because I'll be able to send art orders for the new scenarios in a couple weeks.

Even better, one of the new pieces is already complete! It's a cheeky take on a real photo from the era. Well before the age of TikTok trends, cowboys were fond of staging goofy photographs and that's what our Mavericks are doing here. I'm really loving the absolute sass coming from all three Mavs. Awesome work, George!

Reminder that you should've received your PDFs of the corebook + currently finished scenarios already. DriveThruRPG's automated system isn't foolproof, however. If you haven't received yours, please send me an email at [email protected] or hit me up on the Discord.

If you already had the chance to check out your PDFs, please consider giving us a rating or review on DriveThruRPG!

And on a final note, today Jeff uploaded the third and final episode of Adventures in Lollygagging's Veils & Vengeance playthrough to YouTube. If you missed the sessions live, this is a fantastic way to see Huckleberry in action. There's also 4 episodes on the channel of the same crew playing Huckleberry's The Divine Comedy if you're itching for more!

Much obliged,
Steven

PDFs Delivered!
9 months ago – Wed, Nov 19, 2025 at 10:21:10 AM

Howdy, Maverick!

Good news - the PDFs were delivered today! By now you should have received an email from DriveThruRPG to your BackerKit email address with a free checkout link for all of the currently available PDFs. This includes the Corebook (with The Divine Comedy bundled in), Veils & Vengeance, Whealing Wallow, Wranglin' Cattle, Whether the Weather, and Showdown at High Moon. Six full bounties on top of the complete ruleset! Those of you who already have the PDFs will want to redownload the corebook at the very least. I pushed through a small update this morning with some balance tweaks, rules clarifications, and typo fixes.

If you haven't received the email, here's the steps to take:

  • Check your spam or promotions folder.

  • Double check which email is tied to your BackerKit account. It might have been sent to a different email address than expected. (This email does NOT need to be the same as your DriveThruRPG account.)

  • Check that your BackerKit payment went through. It's possible your card was declined or expired. If so, update the information and let me know. I'll resend links for the PDFs upon confirmation.


If these three steps don't resolve the issue, send me an email and I'll get you sorted out. You can reach me here: [email protected]

I'm also happy to say that work is progressing nicely on the stretch goals. I'll have sneak peaks of the new traits and hostiles as early as next week, along with teasing bits of the new chapter and scenarios throughout the holiday season! I'm expecting all rough drafts to be finished by mid-December, then they'll go through playtesting, polish, edit, and layout, right on schedule. And for special holiday treats, I'll be showing off some of George's incredible art as it comes in. Christmas is gonna get real Wyrd this year!

Much obliged,
Steven

PDF Delivery Details
9 months ago – Wed, Nov 12, 2025 at 12:18:56 PM

Howdy, pardner! 

All Hucksters have been hard at work behind the scenes. I've thrown myself entirely into the creation of new player traits. It's been a lot of fun to brainstorm both new themes and how those themes could be reflected in the mechanics. I haven't been able to do this kind of design work in a long time and it's been quite refreshing to be back at it. When I've been able to do some more playtesting and polishing, I'll share a google doc with the new traits for your feedback. :)

Full Deck Reveal

There's still a couple cards that haven't received their solo spotlights and I'll share those bios in future updates, but seeing this spread is too good to not share! George has created one of the coolest decks of playing cards that I've ever seen, hands down. During the conceptualization of the deck, we went back and forth a few times on what themes each suit should contain. We ended up settling on two themes, both heavily rooted in Huckleberry's mechanics, and the contrasting sides of each theme's spectrum.

For Clubs/Diamonds, we chose to show both the outcasts and leaders of the Fifth World. Huckleberry has strong elements of building a community tied to it's campaign structure and pastime mechanics. The Club cards feature people that have assumed positions of authority (for better or worse) within their communities. The Diamonds are the outcasts and outlaws that, for whatever reason, don't neatly fit into the rigid framework that society often demands.

For Spades/Hearts, we wanted to showcase the full corruption of the Wyrd, both on the living (Hearts) and the dead (Spades). The Wyrd takes a heavy toll on both the body and soul, occasionally with dramatic effects. Our Hearts characters are those that have Wyrd tainted blood, similar to Mavericks, but choose to embrace the corruption rather than fight it. The Spade characters found that the Wyrd took it's toll after their deaths, rather than before. They have do not rest in peace, but in discord and spite.



PDFs Deliver by November 19th!

You should have received an email by now from BackerKit informing you if your payment was processed or declined. If your payment was declined, you have another week to update your payment details. When you do, BackerKit will reprocess the payment and you'll be all set!

We're currently in a holding pattern on digital delivery until the funds transfer from BackerKit, which is scheduled to happen on November 18th. Until then, I cannot access the information of who's charges have gone through or been declined. As we mentioned in the previous update, most of the PDFs are finished and ready for delivery. We have 4 of the 10 scenarios still to be completed, along with all of the Stretch Goals to be added to the corebook. I have everything ready for delivery on my end and I'm very eager to click the button once I get the green light from BackerKit!

All PDFs will be delivered via discount codes through DriveThruRPG. You'll be able to add the PDFs to your library, where you can freely redownload each time we update the PDF with new content. We do NOT need your DriveThruRPG information for delivery. You'll be sent a link that will allow you to log into the platform on your browser and check out like normal.

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns about the process, please feel free to email me here: [email protected]

Much obliged,
Steven

We did it!
10 months ago – Wed, Nov 05, 2025 at 09:04:23 AM

Wow. It's hard to describe how I'm feeling, but the two words that first come to mind are "humbled" and "grateful". Thank you so much for believing in this game. I'm incredibly excited to get this delivered and into your hands.

We unlocked the 10th Bounty in our final hours! That means Jeff is bringing us back to the swamps of Veils & Vengeance for a new standalone scenario, included in A Season of Avarice. The pre-order store is now open on our BackerKit page. The campaign is over, along with the steep discounts that it provided, but people can continue to pre-order Huckleberry's books up until we go to fulfilment. Also, credit cards will be charged by BackerKit over the next few days. You'll receive an email from them telling you that either the funds went through or they didn't, along with details on how to fix the issue if the latter. 

When funds transfer, I'll deliver PDFs via DriveThruRPG. Be aware that the digital content for Huckleberry: A Season of Avarice will be delivered as individual scenarios, not one large PDF. Here's what's currently finished and ready to be delivered:

  • Huckleberry: A Wyrd West RPG v1.4 (The corebook, not including Stretch Goal content)
  • Scenarios from A Season of Avarice
    • Huckleberry: The Divine Comedy
    • Huckleberry: Showdown at High Moon
    • Huckleberry: Veils & Vengeance
    • Huckleberry: Whealing Wallow
    • Huckleberry: Wranglin' Cattle
    • Huckleberry: Whether the Weather

I am hitting the ground running and putting this excited energy to good use. As always, I'm happy to answer questions both here and on the Adventures in Lollygagging discord. I'll be posting weekly updates through November to keep you apprised of all the foundational steps, but we'll settle into a bi-weekly, then monthly rhythm in the time to come. I'm looking to have a quick turnaround on this game so you can start playing ASAP.

Much obliged,
Steven

P.S. Let's keep spreading the love. We've got two Huckster spotlights today!

The Cave of Amber Tears by Paul Ligorski



Paul Ligorski, author of Huckleberry: Whealing Wallow, just launched his own BackerKit campaign to publish his Draw Steel adventure "The Cave of Amber Tears". I was a playtester for this scenario and it does an excellent job at showcasing all of Draw Steel's most interesting mechanics. If you like Draw Steel with a bit of Skyrim vibes, this is for you.


A Night Out in Baldur's Gate by Morgan Eilish (and others!)



Published by a workers' cooperative, A Night Out in Baldur's Gate is a collection of 5E encounters created by a variety of authors, including Huckleberry's own Morgan Eilish. I love a good "Night on the Town" scenario and this supplement looks to deliver in spades. Morgan created one of our most interesting showdowns with Huckleberry: Wranglin' Cattle and I'm excited to see what else her creativity has conjured up.