High School was supposed to be normal, filled with angst and drama maybe, but still normal. However, the students attending Thomasburg Orion High School are anything but! as they are located smack-dab in the middle of the Strange Belt, a region renowned for its mysterious happenings and unusual beings. Hauntings, cryptids, UFO activity, psychic emanations, occult rituals, and the living dead - it seems that this school and its neighbors have it all! Teens dedicate to uncovering the bizarre and unusual, who thwart alien invasions and vampiric incursions, find themselves elevated to the next level. They are the mystery seekers, and you are their latest recruit. Welcome to X-Grade!
In this tabletop role-playing game, players assume the roles of exceptional teens with unique talents. Whether harnessing the powers of faith, skill, magic, psychic powers, share a lineage with cryptids, aliens, or a were-creature, players join together to uncover the paranormal. Do you think you have what it takes? Find out in X-Grade!
This campaign setting requires use of the AgeUp Core Rules.
Having written since they were able to pick up a pen, Nathan Reese Maher has had a profound interest in writing throughout childhood which included attending several young writers conferences and even reaching out to TSR (Publishers of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons) about a manuscript at the age of 14 and receiving some very heartwarming advice from the editors there. Nathan attended the University of Iowa in pursuit of a Dance degree in Classical Ballet, which shifted back to their original love of writing after an injury prevented further advancement. In 2005, Nathan graduated with a BA in English Literature with an emphasis in Classics and Creative Writing. Their first book, "Secrets of the CitySpire - A Familiar Love Song" was published in 2010, and is well known for the following quote: "All is as if the world did cease to exist. The city's monuments go unseen, its past unheard, and its culture slowly fading in the dismal sea." Which has been cited in several independent works including art, poetry, video, photography and papers. The quote was even featured by Buzz Feed and hailed multiple times on World Goth Day. In November 2017, Nathan was awarded the Royal Dragonfly Book Award for 1st place in Middle Grade fiction for their book, "Lights Out - Book 1", a book which continues to be their highest selling book. In March of 2020, Nathan opened NRM Books and remains the purveyor of those haunting tomes. Nathan continues to write to this day, with several projects completed and waiting on representation or self-publication. They live in Tacoma, Washington with their amazing and highly supportive spouse and child.
