Category: Uncategorised

Posted on

Cold City Hot War Report Five is out now!

In the fifth free Cold City Hot War Report, designer Malcolm discusses the fruits of the first playtests of the new edition, and the history of the so-called “Malayan Emergency”.

Download free at DrivethruRPG
Download at Handiwork Games

These regular free reports bring you behind-the-scenes info, extra historical inspiration, and ideas on things to read to learn more about the Cold War period: the setting for both Cold City and Hot War. 

These reports are also available for free download at DrivethruRPG.com, where they will be added to your DrivethruRPG cloud library at no charge, for easy access from all your devices.

Posted on

Cold City Play Test One

Cold City/Hot war creator Malcolm Craig is playtesting the upcoming new edition. Here’s his report of the first session with his new playtest group:

1: Situation and Character Creation

Cold City – an RPG of trust, hidden agendas, and monster hunting in early Cold War Berlin – is changing a little. That’s why we’re (re)playtesting a game that came out a long, long time ago. Well, there’s that and the fact that some mechanical elements have changed significantly.

The first thing you do in any Cold City game is decide on the situation. This involves nailing down the tone, who the antagonists are, what the characters are doing, scenes everyone would like to see, and so on. I’ve been very lucky to be accompanied in this playtest by three of my students: Amy, Connor, and Harvey. They all enthusiastically volunteered to playtest the game.

Continue reading “Cold City Play Test One”
Posted on

Maskwitches Redux Cover Reveal

Making the cover for the new all-human art Redux Edition of Maskwitches of Forgotten Doggerland has taken a lot of thought. The cover of the first edition was a startling image, and we were used to it raising gasps. We’ve been through many iterations before settling on this as our new cover:

It is strongly reminiscent of the previous cover, taking the best human-derived parts of that image, but it’s leaner, cleaner and makes use of painting and model photography to good effect.

Jon has started a blog dedicated solely to Maskwitches, since there’s a lot to talk about around the making of the new edition. We think its shaping up into something truly unique.

Posted on

The Naming of Spirits Redux PDF

We’re hard at work (amongst other things) making a new edition of Maskwitches of Forgotten Doggerland. The Redux Edition will contain all human art throughout.

You can once again download the free preview of The Naming of Spirits at DrivethruRPG, or read it right here:

Open Book
Download at DrivethruRPG

“The Naming of Spirits” is a preview of some of the tools found in Maskwitches. In this instance all about naming Spirits for your games.

Please be aware that:

The Spirits found in Maskwitches are meant to be terrifying 10,000 year-old spirits from a largely alien world, of which the human beings of The Land are extremely frightened. But forewarned is forearmed:

• there is a reference to child mortality early in the text.

• there are some anatomical words in there, which can make some frightening combinations.

Posted on

Cold City Hot War Report Four is out now!

In this fourth free PDF, Cold City/ Hot War author Malcolm discusses the “Bren Gun Effect” and the Strath Report.

Download Report Four at DrivethruRPG.com
Download Report Four Direct from Handiwork Games

About Cold City and Hot War

Originally published in their first editions in 2007 and 2008, we’re honoured and delighted to announce our plan to publish new editions of both Cold City and Hot War in 2024. 

These won’t just be new editions of these cult UK indie games: designer Malcolm Craig, now a senior lecturer in history at Liverpool John Moores University, will be working with Handiwork Games as an integral part of his research work into the history of nuclear war in roleplaying games. 

Continue reading “Cold City Hot War Report Four is out now!”
Posted on

Episode Two of Games in History, History in Games

In this second episode of Games in History, History in Games series, Malcolm Craig and Jon Hodgson discuss (at least initially for a few moments) the idea of how change in historical research is received, and what that has meant for their own games.

About the series After two successful talks on the topic, at both UK Games Expo, and Liverpool John Moores University, Dr Malcolm Craig and not-Dr Jon Hodgson bring their rambling style of anecdote and deep passion for historical subjects in gaming to YouTube for your delight and wonderment. Dr Malcolm Craig is a senior lecturer in history at Liverpool John Moores University. Jon Hodgson is a games designer, artist and writer, as well as the owner of Handiwork Games. Together they fight crime er talk about history in games and games in history!

Find out more about the series

Back to top

Privacy Policy Proudly powered by WordPress