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The gang behind Kickstarter's legendary D&D 5E supplement book, The Crooked Moon, is back. And this time, they're taking us far deeper into space than just our lunar companion. Announced February 26, The Legend of Avantris's Neon Odyssey is a brand new trilogy of adventuring books that's "Star Wars meets Cowboy Bebop with a coat of Synthwave paint," according to LoA. Popverse has all the details below, but first, get a look at the Neon Odyssey trailer for yourself.

The Star Wars and Cowboy Bebop references are dead on, of course, but this trailer is proof that a whole lot more sci-fi and fantasy references await the project's Kickstarter backers. Blade Runner 2049, Dragon Ball Z, Jem and the Holograms, Godzilla, Tron... was that Five Nights at Freddy's? They all seem to have their place in Neon Odyssey. So just how is Avantris bringing all these pop culture scifi icons together? We'd be thrilled to tell you.

Neon Odyssey is a codification of The Legends of Avantris's longrunning Stardust Rhapsody liveplay campaign, introducing players to that literal narrative galaxy in the role of an Outrunner - that is, a galactic spacefarer that takes on "bounty hunts and other jobs throughout strange worlds," according to The Legend of Avantris's official press release, "Inevitably being swept up into grander adventures as they run into inevitable complications that throw them into thrilling, cinematic conflicts." 

And to build those "grander adventures," Neon Odyssey is split into three parts.

First is the Outrunner's Handbook, which serves as the character book of the campaign, introducing players and GMs to "space combat rules, reimagined classes, subclasses, species, backgrounds, spells, and more. Then, there's the custom setting book or Cosmic Codex, which details the universe's "monsters, missions, worlds, realms, magic items, and more," and finally an already complete expansion book, the Overdrive Expansion, which includes "advanced systems like professions, racing, stress & entertainment, ship upgrades, and more."

All in all, the Neon Odyssey adventure totals over 1,400 pages, which detail not just the world and character-building tools you'll need but also add into the 5E gameplay system, with sci-fi slanted supplements like:

• "All-New Space Combat System and Vehicle Rules: Hop into the cockpit of your own starfighter and engage in cinematic space combat."
• "New Class: the Machinist, an engineer and inventor of mechanical marvels with the power of technomancy."
• "Immersive Sci-Fi Class Skins that reimagine all core 5E classes, including new names and mechanical upgrades."
• "40+ Subclasses, 30+ Species, and countless other player options to customize your own Science Fantasy protagonist."
• "300+ Alien Monsters and Enemy Vehicles for epic battles across strange worlds, mega cities, and outer space."

If that feels like a lot, well, that's the whole point. According to Mikey Gilder, Avantris Entertainment’s CCO and Creative Director, "Going from the relatively narrow scope of Folk Horror in The Crooked Moon to the enormous, sweeping scope of Space Opera in Neon Odyssey was a huge jump, [...] We knew we had to go big with Neon Odyssey if we wanted to fill an entire galaxy and make it feel real, lived-in, and filled with endless opportunity for adventure."

Fortunately, though the scope of this game may be appropriately galactic, becoming one of the first backers is just one click away. Over at NeonRPG.com, you can learn how to become a VIP, which for a single dollar deposit unlocks the "Space Clown’s Guide to the Galaxy adventure," and guarantees the campaign-exclusive Neon Nights Dice Set for physical backers. All this combined with "immediate access to a huge playtest document that includes space combat rules, plus access to a VIP-only Discord for sneak peeks and discussion with the Avantris team."

All of this said, what we don't know quite yet is the exact start date of the Neon Odyssey crowdfunding campaign. Legend of Avantris has revealed that it will be on Kickstart in May 2026, but an exact blastoff date is unconfirmed as of this writing. Still, we can guarantee these things - folks who become VIPs will know exactly when the Kickstarter drops the moment it's announced, and on that forthcoming date, there will be a whole universe of fans donating with them. 

Neon Odyssey comes to Kickstarter this May. We'll see you there.

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