Hey! We’re working on a mask generator for #Maskwitches of Forgotten Doggerland. You’ll be able to generate and print out your own set of masks, built at random from interlocking parts. Check out the work in progress:
You can get the evocative and unique core book in hardcover or softcover, and you can even choose the dramatic and evocative black and white version, Pine Pitch Black in hardcover.
There’s also:
The Meat Spoiler Story Scenario, in which the witches must resolve the differences in a lakeside community as winter approaches.
To the Ice Caves – a Maskwitches Journey book, packed full of inspiration for your games, and a new subsystem for manifesting a spirit guide from the ice.
Making Maskwitches – the behind the scenes ‘making of’ book, full of images and essays about the game and art.
Jon: So a couple of years ago, before it was open to the public, a friend introduced me to the closed beta of this weird widget that made images based on heavy remixing of an existing set of images. It was really curious, and produced these hard to predict, weird, dreamlike images. Some were horrific. All were very odd.
I loved the idea of looking into the mind of a machine and instead of looking like Tron it looked like… hell?
And so I made thousands of images with it, curated them with my art direction skills, and made the first edition of Maskwitches of Forgotten Doggerland. The unfolding conversation with this very futuristic-seeming machine about this ancient place was really revelatory. It would show me things, and I would ask it questions about those things. It was a really interesting exploration of what this new technology was all about.
But soon after release of that game, it became clear that this widget was simply-put, misbegotten and antithetical to anyone invested in copyright, making things, and supporting artists and the future of culture.
People I was speaking to in illustration were finding their previously honest little businesses, hand-making new things, were out of work because the widget was practically free.
Now while others may make peace with this as the forward motion of technology, which they are free to do, it didn’t sit well with me. So overnight I resolved to withdraw all of the games we’d made with the widget and resolved to remake them differently.
Entirely AI-free, with all the imagery made from props, sets and models. With larger companies attempting to lead the charge away from human-made games, we’re very happy to explore what humans can do when they put their minds to it.
Maskwitches is out now at Drivethrurpg. As we send out the last parcels for our Kickstarter backers, it’s available in the final days of the preorder here.
The hardcovers of Maskwitches and Pine Pitch Black are here! We have *almost* everything to start dispatch for a bunch of backers/pre-order customers. That’ll kick off next month!
Find out more about Maskwitches, the storytelling game of the psychedelic Mesolithic here.
“A game that feels like a conjuring – a curious and compelling artefact. It is strange in the best possible way, a genuine work of art from the prose to the mechanics to art.” -Gareth Hanrahan, author of THE BLACK IRON LEGACY SERIES, THE LANDS OF THE FIRSTBORN TRILOGY, THE EYES OF THE STONE THIEF, THE DARKENING OF MIRKWOOD.
We were excited this weekend to take delivery of a ton of boxes containing the softcover print run of Maskwitches of Forgotten Doggerland Redux Edition. We were less excited to move them from the spot the massive load of books were dropped off to the office, but them’s the breaks! We’re delighted to have them here. Next up: we’re awaiting the hardcovers and Pine Pitch Black!
There’s still time to pre-order your copy, and get the PDF free.
You may have seen that we recently released The Burn, a charmingly unique setting for The Silver Road.
Penned by Scottish RPG design legend Malcolm Craig (a|state, Cold City, Hot War), The Burn is all about childhood memory and folklore, specifically local to Malcom as he was growing up in Polmont, Scotland. It just so happens that the Handiwork HQ is in the very same district of Falkirk, so Jon was able to shoot all the photographs that illustrate the game in the very same locations that “Wee Malcolm” haunted as a child.
Not so long ago Malcolm was in the area, and we took a tour of some of those sites, book in hand, and here we present the photo story of heading back to The Burn.
We also discussed The Burn as part of our latest History in Games, Games in History podcast:
Disharmony in a lake-side community has caused the appearance of a meat-spoiling spirit. With winter approaching, and food stores dwindling, can the Maskwitches drive off this malevolent presence and heal the divisions within the community?
Featuring the same unique combination of props, sets, in camera effects and digital painting, The Meat Spoiler builds on the unique look of Maskwitches.
The PDF is also available for free when you pre-order the print edition here:
The even more discerning reader can also now get the black and white coffee table book version, Pine Pitch Black which also released today.
Maskwitches of Forgotten Doggerland is a unique experiment in graphic approach and unique mechanics. Find out more at the dedicated Maskwitches page.
“Maskwitches was one of the most immersive, emotional and dramatic games I ever ran.” – Royston Harwood, Maskwitches playtester
“A game that feels like a conjuring – a curious and compelling artefact. It is strange in the best possible way, a genuine work of art from the prose to the mechanics to art.” – Gareth Hanrahan, author of The Black Iron Legacy Series, The Lands Of The Firstborn Trilogy, The Eyes Of The Stone Thief, The Darkening Of Mirkwood.
Maskwitches BundleOriginal price was: £95.95.£89.99Current price is: £89.99.
Maskwitches of Forgotten Doggerland Redux Edition Soft Cover + Free PDF£24.99
The Meat Spoiler Redux + Free PDF£12.99
