Do any of you readers happen to be parents, specifically of children who asked for KPop Demon Hunters toys this holiday season? Sure hope not….because there WEREN’T ANY! Before the movie launched in late June, there were no plans whatsoever to produce merch out of it, and the lead time from design to store is usually about a year. Sure hope you didn’t have to find this out the hard way!
The demand has created a vacuum, though, something that whether Sony or Netflix likes it or not, a bootleg can easily fill. Dan Thut, a long time D&D enthusiast, has a young daughter who wants to pick up the hobby herself, but he felt the games he played were too advanced and mature for her. He noticed that she’s also into KPDH, so a KPDH tabletop game that’s 5E compatible would be the perfect fit…if only it existed.
He decided to make it exist…in a way. The specific characters in the movie couldn’t be used, but the general IDEA of KPop stars fighting demons with exotic weapons while wearing flashy clothes is free for anyone to explore. And after some hard work, he wound up with Idols of the Neon Dark: A 5E+ K-Pop Fantasy Adventure, which he describes as “a neon-fantasy 5E D&D adventure where K-pop idol-warriors fight demons with rhythm, style, and heart.”
Thur put the preview page up on December 12 with no specific launch date for the campaign mentioned. He wasn’t even sure if there would be interest. But within days, the page became one of the top five most popular on Kickstarter, with hundreds of followers.
Greetings, adventurer. Come walk the glowing streets of Lumenica, a cavern-city where runes and sigils blaze like neon, their arcane light woven into stone and crystal, every one a vow that darkness will not win. Such vows are not kept lightly. In Lumenica, they are upheld by the Idols: fierce, stylish heroes who wield blade and spell, fighting with rhythm and song to defend the innocent and drive back the shadows.
Though Thur’s main motive in creating the game is for his daughter, he intends Idols of the Neon Dark to be a game for players of all ages and skill sets, and plans to make it customizable enough to suit any taste. For example, there will be a “Gore On/Off” switch to reduce the level of violence in the game for kids (but leave it intact for adults).
Currently it’s unknown when the Kickstarter for Idols of the Neon Dark will launch, but Thur hopes to do so sometime in early 2026.
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