Category: Roleplaying Games

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FiveEvil

FiveEvil is a set of new roleplaying rules from Handiwork Games, slated for release later this year. FiveEvil is designed to evoke the horror genre via a set of clever twists on the underlying fifth edition ruleset. The primary focus is modern day horror, inspired by the work of Stephen King, and moody, character-driven horror films like The Ritual, The Descent and Jacob’s Ladder, alongside mini-series like Midnight Mass by Mike Flanagan, and the scariest of Twin Peaks episodes.

Rather than seeking out evil in order to vanquish it, or investigating clues to battle malign influence, characters in FiveEvil are regular people trapped in a terrifying situation where fighting isn’t likely to help.

There are also plans afoot to cast a wider net with scenarios set in different eras: a key feature of FiveEvil is the ease with which it creates settings and scenarios woven together.

FiveEvil was created and written by Morgan Davie, features art by Scott Purdy, Jon Hodgson and friends, and boasts graphic design and layout by Paul Bourne.

Morgan Davie, FiveEvil Designer: “I love 5e and I love horror gaming and in FiveEvil we get to push both of them somewhere unprecedented. a|state has shown we love exploring new pathways with beloved game systems, and this one is heading into wild new places. It’s a dream project, and I look forward to giving everyone nightmares.”

Jon Hodgson, Handiwork Games: “Morgan has proved his uniquely powerful and insightful design chops with both a|state and The Three Coins. When he pitched this stripped-back take on 5e, purposefully built to deliver a particular flavour of horror gaming, I was really excited. Having now played it, I can confirm it absolutely delivers on its promise to subvert so many of the expectations in 5th Edition, bringing something really fresh to the gaming table. I love it, and I can’t wait for us to share it!”

Closed play tests are complete, and we will be inviting play testers to the next round of testing soon. A printed book will be funded on kickstarter later this year.

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Podcasts and Streams

It seems like a busy week for enjoying content around our games!

The latest Yes Indie’d podcast features Paul Beakley, and he has some very kind things to say about a|state: “It is in my opinion the best Forged in the Dark game out right now”.

The a|state chat begins at 43:54, but Paul is a very interesting guy to listen to, so we highly recommend the whole thing. And if you missed his deep dive on a|state, be sure to check that out!

You can grab a|state in PDF at DrviethruRPG here.

Or the physical book, and a range of useful and fancy accessories at our web store here.



This Sunday, Telling Tales will be running Maskwitches of Forgotten Doggerland at 15:00 BST on Twitch. We’ll be excited to tune in! https://www.twitch.tv/tellingtalesrp

We just released the Original Soundtrack for Maskwitches at DrivethruRPG, so you can now enjoy some very strange and disturbing music along with your very strange and disturbing Mesolithic spirit battlin’.

And stay tuned, Maskwitches fans, we’ll have some exciting news for anyone attending UK Games Expo in less than 3 weeks’ time! (And yes we are exhibiting at Expo, even if the UK Games Expo site thinks otherwise. You’ll find us right next to our friends Nightfall Games.)

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a|state deep dive review

We love to get reviews of our work – it’s massively important, as getting word out about our games is tough when there are just so many other games!

The word of a trusted reviewer is so much more meaningful than anything we can say. We think a|state is a brilliant setting, and a really good implementation of Forged in the Dark. We’re standing on the shoulders of giants in so many respects.

When a review like this one from the mighty Paul Beakley comes in, we’re delighted. We hope you enjoy reading it.

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BEOWULF at Bundle of Holding!

We’re delighted to announce that Bundle of Holding has an amazing deal on BEOWULF PDFs.

For just US$9.95 you get all six titles in the Beowulf Collection (retail value $44).

The collection comprises:
• The core BEOWULF Age of Heroes setting book
Four adventures:
• The Elfshot, 
• Horror at Herrogate, 
• Seven Stones,
• The Witches and the Wyrm;
and
• the beautiful Beowulf Art Book.

This bundle supports Direct Relief, a charity providing protective gear and critical care medications to health workers around the world, especially targeting Covid 19. Certainly an important and worthy cause.

The Bundle is only active for a short time, so get it while you can!

https://bundleofholding.com/presents/Beowulf
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KING BEOWULF Table of Contents

Here’s an exclusive first look at the table of contents for KING BEOWULF, by Jacob Rodgers.

This is a work in progress, and subject to change. And of course you’ll see we haven’t slotted in page numbers yet. That’s still to come. Click the image to enlarge:

About KING BEOWULF

“Then Beowulf came as king this broad
realm to wield; and he ruled it well
fifty winters, a wise old prince,
warding his land, until One began
in the dark of night, a Dragon, to rage.

KING BEOWULF is the high level, realm ruling supplement for BEOWULF: Age of Heroes. Penned by BEOWULF co-creator Jacob Rodgers, in KING BEOWULF your Hero will move beyond the role of wandering mender of wrongs, and you’ll establish your own realm, just like the older Beowulf of the poem. Rather than followers you’ll gather advisors, build alliances, battle even bigger monsters, and resolve threats to your kingdom!

KING BEOWULF is coming to Kicktarter in 2023.

Learn more about BEOWULF Age of Heroes 5e

Shop BEOWULF

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a|state podcast episode two is out now!

In this episode it’s the turn of a|state co-creator Malcolm Craig to answer Jon’s infeasibly rambling and self-referential lines of questioning. This is a long-form chat between creatives, so expect rambling and opinions!

And if you missed episode one it’s here!:

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