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Jewel in the Sky: A Megadungeon with a Twist from Monte Cook

Created by Monte Cook Games

Legendary TTRPG designer Monte Cook, creator of Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil, Ptolus, and more, returns to the megadungeon!

Latest Updates from Our Project:

Handouts Increased! Let’s Talk about Bindings and Art!
7 months ago – Fri, Apr 24, 2026 at 08:46:14 AM



Hello, backers—

Crowdfunding campaigns often slow down quite a bit in the middle weeks, but you’ve really kept the excitement up. You’ve knocked out another stretch goal, and we’re now including even more physical handouts and props in the Jewel in the Sky boxed set!

And, of course, that’s not all. Every backer, no matter your pledge level, also gets a free bonus reward: another exclusive Jewel in the Sky XP card added to the collection we’re growing. You voted for this design:


Let’s Talk about How Books Are Made

If you’re already a player of MCG’s many games, you know how highly we value production quality. Some of our products (like the Invisible Sun Black Cube) are legendary in this regard, but even our “regular” books and supplements equal or exceed (or set) industry standards.

Our hardcover books are typically made with a type of binding called “notch casebound.” This high-quality technique ensures the books are sturdy and lay nicely when open on a table. It’s suitable for hardcovers of virtually any size.

But there is a step further, known as “Smyth-sewn bound.” This is a significantly more expensive process, so it’s usually reserved only for books where you really want to ensure the binding holds up—generally, for particularly big books. When we produced Ptolus: Monte Cook’s City by the Spire—which comes in at a whopping 672 pages!—that was definitely the way to go. It works: despite being about two inches thick and weighing six pounds, Ptolus is as sturdy as it comes.

While Jewel in the Sky will not be as big as Ptolus, it’s going to be a hefty book. And we want to ensure that it always lays nicely on your game table and holds up to heavy use through a lengthy campaign. Notch casebound binding is almost certainly good enough, but Smyth-sewn binding is the best!

Take us to 1925 backers, and we’ll make this upgrade to the Jewel in the Sky book. It will affect both the standard edition, and the book within the boxed set!

Want to See Some New Art?

You may have noticed, at the top of the last couple of updates, some new art that hadn’t previously been shown on the campaign page. Monte has been working with Bear (our illustrious Art Director) on art for Jewel in the Sky, and several new pieces have recently come in. We thought you might like the first look!







We’ve added some of these pieces to the repository of shareable images—feel free to download and share them!


Another XP Card!

As always, we’re going to give every backer a free bonus reward when we unlock the binding upgrade. Which of these XP cards should we add to your collection?


The poll is now open!

Keep Spreading the Word!

This campaign ends in just about a week—plenty of time to unlock many more stretch goals. Please keep spreading the word and help keep up the pace of new backers!

Thanks for your support!
—Team MCG

Side Quests Unlocked!
7 months ago – Wed, Apr 22, 2026 at 09:27:24 AM



Hello, backers—

You’ve been doing an amazing job spreading the word about Jewel in the Sky and helping more gamers discover this campaign. Once again you’ve unlocked another stretch goal! The Side Quests book is now going to be part of the Jewel in the Sky boxed set!


And, as always, we’re giving every backer a bonus reward: an exclusive Jewel in the Sky XP card. We’re building quite the collection!


Stretch Goal: More Handouts!

The mysterious floating island of Vocurro hosts many factions and plotlines. Your PCs will uncover countless clues to these intertwining storylines as they delve into the mega-adventure’s complex environment—and build toward exciting reveals and finales! One of the most satisfying and immersive ways to deliver clues and information is through props and handouts.

We here at MCG love a good handout, and if you’ve used the prop sets we’ve made for The Magnus Archives Roleplaying Game, Invisible Sun, and The Darkest House, you’ve seen the care and joy we put into crafting them.

Handouts have been a part of the Jewel in the Sky boxed set since the beginning, and you’ve already expanded them once through a stretch goal. Let’s really load it up! Help us get to 1825 backers, and we’ll add another dozen or so physical handouts to the box.

These handouts will also be available in PDF, as a downloadable extra for the book as well as the boxed set.

Our Next Bonus XP Card

Along with the handouts, we’ll give every backer another free bonus, further building our collection of cool XP cards. Which one should we add next?


Vote now!

You—Yes, YOU—Unlock These Goals!

Team MCG works hard every day to reach new gamers, but our reach is tiny compared to the collective reach of the backers.

When campaigns soar, it’s always because the backers build buzz.

Let’s keep the stretch goal pipeline going, by telling the world about Jewel in the Sky. You can find loads of beautiful, inspiring art, ready to share, at the link below. And if you like, comment on, or share our posts, that helps them spread as well. You can find them on our social media accounts.




Thanks for your support!
—Team MCG

Cards Increased! How about More Adventure?
7 months ago – Mon, Apr 20, 2026 at 08:57:13 AM



Hello, backers—

Another stretch goal! Thank you for spreading the word and continuing to help more gamers discover Jewel in the Sky. It’s thanks to you that this campaign has kept up such a marvelous pace!

We’re now adding another big tranche of cypher and creature cards to the boxed set. And not only that: every backer also gets another XP card added to their collection as a free bonus reward. This is the card you voted for:


(Let’s be honest: it was always going to be the vaudin. I (Charles) don’t know what this creature is—we haven’t met it in the playtest yet—but it sure looks like it’ll be a frightening encounter!)

Stretch Goal: Side Quests!

Jewel in the Sky is loaded with adventure—it’s a dynamic environment with all kinds of potential, and a full mini-campaign that will take you many, many sessions to complete.

But what if there was more? Vocurro is a fascinating place filled with hooks and elements that suggest countless potential stories. And who doesn’t like more adventure?



We’ve been enjoying an exciting playtest campaign over the past couple of months—and as Monte has been running that game, he says it’s suggested a lot of ideas for side-quests and other adventures. So let’s add a bit of that to the box!

This is an entirely new component, and it’s exclusive to the boxed set edition. It will expand your Vocurro-related adventuring with one or more short side-quests, all related to (but not critical for) the main Jewel in the Sky plot threads. It will give you even more opportunities to enjoy the unique setting and the characters you come to love as they explore Vocurro.

We’ll unlock this side-quest booklet and add a new component to the box when we reach 1725 backers!

And As Always, Another XP Card!

As we do with every stretch goal, we’ll give a free bonus reward to every backer, no matter your pledge level. It’s time to vote for the next XP card in your collection—which should we add?


The poll is now open!

We’ve Hit the Halfway Point—Let’s Keep the Goals Rolling!

Look at all the goals we’ve unlocked so far! We’ve:

  • Doubled the number of loose-leaf maps in the box
  • Doubled the map size as well
  • Added a bestiary of detailed, expanded creature info and lore
  • Unlocked a GM Notebook for optimizing your campaign.
  • Increased the number of cypher and creature cards in the box (twice!)
  • Upped the number of handouts
  • Added a second poster map
  • Upgraded the whole thing with a deluxe, die-cut, magnetic-closure box
  • And unlocked and grown the collection of XP cards (now up to nine in total!)

With the campaign at its halfway point, we might have just as many stretch goals to come—if you keep the momentum going! We work hard to spread the word, but it’s backers who really build the buzz.

Please take a moment to help spread the word. Follow our social media and like, comment, or better yet share some of our posts. Help other gamers discover Jewel in the Sky, and we’ll keep unlocking stretch goals!


Thanks for your support!
—Team MCG

Second Poster Map Added!
7 months ago – Thu, Apr 16, 2026 at 11:52:48 AM



Hello, backers—

Once again you’ve amazed us with your dedication and alacrity! In less than 48 hours you’ve unlocked yet another stretch goal—the Jewel in the Sky boxed set is now getting a second poster map, this one showing Vocurro from a sci-fi angle!

You also amazed us with your voting for the free bonus XP card—it was literally a tie. That makes it “dealer’s choice,” and I (Charles) am choosing the naganit. We’ve faced these in our internal playtest, and I can tell you they’re a hard fight. Watch out for the scorpion-like tail. And with those human hands, they can open doors—so they can be a challenge to escape from!


Every backer gets this collection of XP cards as a free bonus reward, and we add a card with every stretch goal we unlock! Speaking of cards and stretch goals…

Stretch Goal: More Cards!

Back in the first week of the campaign, you unlocked a stretch goal to increase the number of creature and cypher cards in the Jewel in the Sky box. (See update 5 for details.) These useful cards speed and ease gameplay while providing inspiration and immersion.

How about more? The vision for Jewel has continued to expand throughout this campaign, and Monte thinks Vocurro’s unique cyphers and creatures could easily benefit from well over 100 cards—double what we originally had in mind, and maybe a lot more! (Numbers like these are always approximate; we like to design to the needs of the product, not an arbitrary number we came up with during the crowdfunding campaign.)

All of these cards will be fully compatible with the general-purpose Cypher Creature Deck and Manifest Cypher Deck. So if you have those, you can mix and match cards as best serves your game.

If you can get us to 1625 backers, we’ll add these additional creature and cypher cards to the Jewel in the Sky boxed set!

These cards will also be featured in the Datasphere Deck Tool, making them just as handy and easy to use in the digital realm as they are at your physical game table, whether you’re using a VTT or playing over Discord or Zoom. (You can learn more about the Datasphere Deck Tool here.)


And, of Course, Another XP Card!

Which card should we add as our next free bonus to your rewards?



Vote now!

Your Help Keeps This Campaign Rolling!

We’re hitting these goals so fast because our backers—you!—are doing such a great job spreading the word. Please keep it up! You can find posts to share on our social media accounts [[link]], or click through below for a treasure trove of images you can use!


Thanks for your support!
—Team MCG

GM Notebook Unlocked! More, Please!
7 months ago – Tue, Apr 14, 2026 at 02:37:04 PM



Hello, backers—

Another stretch goal under our belt: we’re now adding the GM notebook to the boxed set! You are really turning the Jewel boxed set into the amazing experience we’d like it to be—a campaign that will be a true joy to run and a legendary experience in your gaming group. 


And that’s not all. As always, we’re adding a little bonus reward for every backer, and our way of saying thank you for making this happen. You voted for this XP card:


Stretch Goal: Another Poster Map

The maps in Jewel in the Sky are effortlessly usable and visually striking. We’re putting a bunch of them into the box as separate components for your convenience at the table and, as appropriate, for showing the players. (You’ve expanded both the quantity and size of these loose-leaf maps through earlier stretch goals.) We’re also including a big poster-sized map to really show off the entirety of Vocurru. It’ll have a hand-drawn look, with annotations by in-world explorers. Imagine the look of amazement in your players’ eyes as they take in the detailed, atmospheric scene laid out before them.

What’s better than a poster map? How about two of them?

A second poster map will also feature Vocurro—but it’ll be designed for your science fiction excursion to the strange floating island. It’ll display a high-tech scan of the location, with scan result annotations.

Get us to 1550 backers and we’ll add this second beautiful, detailed poster map to the Jewel in the Sky boxed set. With your help, we’ll keep building a boxed set that will be as legendary as your adventures in Vocurro!

Another XP Card, Too!

Let’s keep building that mini XP Deck. As long as you keep unlocking stretch goals, we’ll keep adding to the deck. Which card should we add next?


Vote in the current poll and let us know!

How Much More Can We Unlock?

You’ve done a great job spreading the word. Please keep it up! Visit MCG’s social media accounts to find sharable posts, artwork, and inspiration for your own messages. YOU are making this campaign soar. Only you can keep this pace going!

Thanks for your support!
—Team MCG