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Welcome to the City – FREE Early Access to our a|state Primer!

Very good news for a|state fans, and for everyone attending AlbaCon this weekend (3rdand 4th October)…

We’re giving AlbaCon attendees FREE early access to the .pdf Primer for our a|state setting that uses the Forged in the Dark rules. This is a full-colour, 32-page introduction to The City, featuring some absolutely gorgeous, highly atmospheric artwork, a full description of The City itself, character sheets for a suitable slink of local wheelers, dealers, stealers and NPCs, and a FREE mission scenario, ‘Nicely, done’. 

About Nicely, done

Mire End is a forlorn place: miles of brick and concrete tenements, all slowly disintegrating. Water covers the streets, the drainage systems destroyed long ago. The damp and rotting lower floors of most buildings are left empty.

Reports of child slavery in Mire End have led the group to investigate a woman named Hosanna Nicely…

If you’re attending AlbaCon, your membership will include access to the AlbaCon Discord, where you’ll find the download link for Nicely,Done. 

About a|state

A sepia tone world lit by guttering gas lamps and flickering electrified filaments. Stinking canals radiate out through The City, thick with the detritus of untold millions of lives. Dank alleys wind between corroding concrete tower blocks, wide boulevards swarm with peddlers, traders, thieves, and marks…

First released in the early 2000s, a|state was a cult hit. Now it’s back.

Welcome to the city. You will never forget the city. But the city will forget you.

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Friday News Update – October 2nd

Each week, we’re going to take a moment to let you know what’s happening at Handiwork Games.

We’ve got a great deal going on – Jon and the team work very hard behind the scenes to keep on top of everything, and more treasures arrive with every day.

This week, we’re delighted to offer one of the best treasures of all: the Dylexie font on our website (just click the ‘D’ tab in the top right-and corner of the Homepage). The inclusivity of gaming is always in our thoughts, and with one of Jon’s sons diagnosed with dyslexia, we want to be as supportive as we can.

We’ve also got some fantastic news: our Award-nominated, free .pdf download of The Hermit’s Sanctuary has done so well… that we’re offering it as a print book. From DriveThruRPG, this book will be a beautiful, full-colour, lavishly illustrated introductory adventure to our BEOWULF: AGE OF HEROES setting. It’s designed for 5e, for one player and one GM, and it’s the perfect way to escape!

In more BEOWULF news – tokens and compasses have now arrived in the office and they’re looking pretty good, even if we do say so ourselves. More about these particular shinies as they’re unveiled. (Hey, we might even do an unboxing)…

And spice up your tabletop with our special offer mat-and-dice tray bundle! Buy one of our gorgeous 36” square battle mats and get a matching dice tray at a bargain price. Choose from spring, summer, autumn and winter shades, and from mats either gridded or ungridded. Get some colour into those fights!

Last but not least, we’ve got you covered for the very best in tabletop accessories. Yes, Wave 2 of our Map Tiles are now available – perfect for any and all adventures. We have utopian and dystopian SF tiles, tiles for moor and hillfort, and tiles to take you deeper into the forest than you’ve ever been before. We’ve also got linking tiles and tile bundles, just to make sure that your party can get into every <bit> of available trouble.

Every dungeon, every adventure, every table, every player – there’s something for everyone at Handiwork Games.

Sign up to our newsletter here, go tell all your mates, and look out for more updates this time next week!

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The Hermit’s Sanctuary Print Edition – Out Now!

Set sail for the island sanctuary of the Hermit. Gather your wits and weapons to overcome your terrible foe, the ancient Múthbona. Can you slay the beast? Or will you be another lost hero?

Originally released as a FREE, full-length introduction to our mythical BEOWULF: AGE OF HEROES setting, The Hermit’s Sanctuary was shortlisted for two ENnie Awards, Best Free Product and Best Electronic Product, at GenCon 2020. 

And this lavishly illustrated, introductory adventure is NOW AVAILABLE!

Designed by veteran gamer Jon Hodgson, with art by Jon and by Scott Purdy, The Hermit’s Sanctuary is designed for one player and one GM. 

The Hermit’s Sanctuary print book includes: 

  • A complete adventure for one player and one GM 
  • A simple explanation of the adapted 5e rules found in BEOWULF
  • Free download of poster-sized battle maps for all locations
  • Eight pre-generated characters 
  • Handy adventure flowcharts 

About BEOWULF: AGE OF HEROES 

One of the oldest recorded stories in Western Europe, the poem Beowulf is an epic tale of hero against monster. And then the monster’s mother. And then a dragon. 

BEOWULF  is a setting and rules set for 5th Edition, designed for duet play – one GM and one player. Set in the world of Anglo-Saxon myth, no deep knowledge of history is required – the themes are eternal and instantly recognisable, adventures occur in the story-world of the Saxons, and we’ve done all the historical reading for you! 

BEOWULF  presents a host of new and specially adapted rules to create epic and thematic adventures for your lone hero and his or her companions. 

 BEOWULF features a unique new set of subclasses: The Hero, with subclasses for each ability score. It has BEOWULF specific backgrounds, and unique rules for sea voyages, inspiration, alignment, followers, a new condition and more! 

Explore mythic, migration-era Europe and beyond, solve mysteries, and do battle with dreadful monsters!

Fully funded on Kickstarter, with numerous stretch goals unlocked, and with writing and rules design from hand-picked 5e and folklore geniuses, and with art from Jon Hodgson and friends,  BEOWULF  is a thing of epic wonder!

www.handiwork.games/beowulf 

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Map Tiles 2 Sets On Sale Now!

Today’s big news is that Map Tiles 2 are available to buy right now!

We kickstarted this second round of gorgeous tiles, and now all our backer rewards are dispatched, so now Map Tiles 2 can be bought by everyone!

If you’re in the US, you’ll want to get them from DrivethruCards.com
If you’re pretty much anywhere else, then head to the Handiwork Games store

To learn more, read on!

Continue reading “Map Tiles 2 Sets On Sale Now!”
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VTT Tiles and Scenery

Finding unique high-quality visuals for your VTT games can be a pain. We have just the thing: Our digital map tiles combined with our Digital Scenery ranges allow you to make endless battle maps and locations for your players to explore. By using the painted .png scenery as tokens in your preferred VTT app you can customize any location to make it a unique adventure.

Browse the full range here: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/10726/Handiwork-Games/subcategory/26693_30773/Jon-Hodgson-Maps

Don’t miss the great value digital tiles bundle, and the super convenient Scenery Bundle.

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Map Tiles 2 go on sale tomorrow!

All Map Tiles from Jon Hodgson Map Tiles 2 kickstarter have now been dispatched! Which means that the tiles will go on sale tomorrow! If you’re in the US, they’ll be available on drivethrucards.com, and if you’re based anywhere else you can grab them here at our webstore.

Wave One tiles are available now.

About Map Tiles

Supplied in sets of 30 tiles, Jon Hodgson’s double-sided, card-stock map tile sets will fit in a coat pocket and won’t break the bank.

The art is all hand-made using digital painting programs rather than 3d renders, so everything has a nice handmade feel that blends right in with painted miniatures.

They’re six inches square –  It’s a great balance of flexibility, allowing you to build very different encounter maps from a few tiles, with extreme portability. 210 tiles will fit in your bag with ease and allow endless set-ups on the fly.

  • 30 tiles per set
  • Full-colour
  • Double-sided
  • Printed on 270gsm card-stock, like playing cards
  • Highly connectable within each set
  • 6 inches square
  • A one-inch grid is built into the artwork of the Dungeon Tiles
  • Printed in the US and the UK
  • Free digital files of the map set included!
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The latest BEOWULF news!

We just made an update at the BEOWULF kickstarter. Late pledges are available now here.


The headline is: progress is great, and everything is on track! September is going to be a busy month here at Handiwork HQ – we’re moving office, and taking delivery of basically everything other than the book itself! Fingers crossed the new office door arrives before all the miniatures/other goodies! Below is the more detailed breakdown – some of this is catching up on things we’ve shared on our discord channel, so my apologies if you’re seeing some of this stuff again.


Alternatively, if you’d like to join up and see this stuff sooner, point your browser at www.discord.me/handiworkgamers

There’s loads more to read under the cut!

Continue reading “The latest BEOWULF news!”
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BEOWULF: Pregenerated Characters 2 Updated

We’ve noticed that Ham Anfeald and Bald Haeri were missing VTT tokens in Pregenerated Characters 2 for BEOWULF: Age of Heroes. It has now been updated to include those tokens!

You can grab it here.

About The Hermit’s Sanctuary

The Hermit’s Sanctuary is the ENnie-Award nominated, free, full-length, introductory adventure for the forthcoming BEOWULF: AGE OF HEROES for 5e!

Designed for one player and one GM, BEOWULF provides unique rules and support for single-player games in the Age of Heroes. Take to the Whale Road as a monster-slaying hero! Voyage to the island of the hermit, and investigate the cause of its woes!

Lavishly illustrated in full colour, The Hermit’s Sanctuary includes:

  • a complete, 52-page adventure for one GM and one Player
  • optional poster-sized PDF battle maps for all locations
  • optional VTT-friendly battle maps for Virtual Tabletops
  • 4 pre-generated characters
  • printable accessories: inspiration tokens and inspiration pool
  • blank character sheet
  • rules reminder sheet
  • handy adventure flowcharts

About BEOWULF: Age of Heroes

One of the oldest recorded stories in Western Europe, the poem Beowulf is an epic tale of hero against monster. And then the monster’s mother. And then a dragon.

BEOWULF is a setting and rules set for 5th Edition, designed for duet play – one GM and one player. Set in the world of Anglo-Saxon myth, no deep knowledge of history is required – the themes are eternal and instantly recognisable, adventures occur in the story-world of the Saxons, and we’ve done all the historical reading for you!

BEOWULF presents a host of new and specially adapted rules to create epic and thematic adventures for your lone hero and his or her companions. 

BEOWULF features a unique new set of subclasses: The Hero, with subclasses for each ability score. It has BEOWULF specific backgrounds, and unique rules for sea voyages, inspiration, alignment, followers, a new condition and more!

Explore mythic, migration-era Europe and beyond, solve mysteries, and do battle with dreadful monsters. Fully funded with numerous stretch goals unlocked, and with writing and rules design from hand-picked 5e and folklore geniuses, and with art from Jon Hodgson and friends, BEOWULF will be a thing of epic wonder. 

Our Kickstarter for BEOWULF blew the doors off, and if you missed it, late pledges are available now – click below to find out more!

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