From publisher blurb:
Step into a bizarre, post-apocalyptic America with a new standalone book in the Backwards: American Gothic Horror universe.
The Backwoods Quickstart Guide & System Reference Document includes character creation rules, essential rules for gameplay, basic setting information, 4 pre-generated characters, a blank character sheet, and a one-sheet adventure. It’s 73 pages and includes monochrome versions of original art for the core rulebook.
Welcome to the Heartlands ward, the political, cultural, and economic heart of the American Lands.
Well-guarded and well-maintained roads, grand urban centers, and safe, comfortable living: this is what the Heartlands promises in these hard and desperate times. It maintains an image–a blazing beacon in a chaotic world, the pinnacle of order! It is also a lie. The dark New England forests have flourished since the cataclysmic event known as The End, and they have grown twisted and hungry. The sinister tales of creatures stalking the woods and backwoods cults are more than mere fairy tales. Every year people, even entire villages, go missing. And it is not simply the wilds which must be feared. The government institutions of the American Lands are rotting, corrupted by wealth and aristocratic privilege. Local politicians grow bolder and more ambitious. Meanwhile, isolated communities are swallowed by the woods, extremism is on the rise, and the ailing institutions of the Heartlands have little desire to recognize these problems, let alone address them. A revolution is brewing in the Heartlands, even if they refuse to admit it.
Backwoods is one of several books in the Backwards: American Gothic Horror tabletop roleplaying game series. In Backwoods, players explore New-England gothic themes in a post-apocalyptic America: puritanism, witches, and devils plague the small, isolated towns of the northeastern countryside as its citizens try to restore civilization. The tales of Edgar Allen Poe, Washington Irving, Shirley Jackson, and Nathaniel Hawthorne inspire this setting. It introduces players to the Heartlands ward of the American Lands and provides new setting information, as well as new gear, animal companions, and monsters. It also provides new character options, including new archetypes, origins & ideals, traits, and ability modules.