BEOWULF. a|state. Maskwitches. Cold City:Hot War. FiveEvil
We’ve just sent the first playtest scenario to FiveEvil playtest groups. We hope you have fun with it!
A scenario for FiveEvil by Morgan Davie
This is an introductory scenario for FiveEvil. It is best for three or four players plus a Game Master, but it can work with one to six players.
Continue reading “Wakefield House heads to FiveEvil Playtesters”
FiveEvil Playtesters – check your email! The first chunk of playtest content has been sent to you! The first 30 page rules PDF is with you now so that you have a chance to familiarise yourself with the concepts before we send out the short playtest adventure next week!
About 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.
Soon you’ll be able to sign up to be notified when the KING BEOWULF kickstarter goes live. In the meantime here’s some of the art you can expect to find in the book if we’re lucky enough to fund. These two pieces are by Jon Hodgson, and will underlie pages detailing the seasonal festivals during which time your people will bring their gifts to the treasure seat. How you choose to spend this wealth will be vital for increasing the prosperity of your people, and getting through the difficult winter months.
For a preview of what to expect in KING BEOWULF download the free 4 page OF KINGDOMS AND RING-GIVERS pdf:
OUT NOW at DrivethruRPG: Strange Little Girl vs Cheesed Off. Two scenarios for a|state adapted to second edition by Gregor Hutton (3:16 Carnage Among the Stars, Remember Tomorrow) from first edition material by a|state co-creator Malcolm Craig.
Who is the girl?
Is she the same little girl who disappeared years ago, and has now come back in the same dress, clutching the same doll?
Or is this a cruel trick played upon her still grieving parents?
People on your corner are being poisoned. The first victims are the weak and the infirm, but within days even healthier sorts are falling ill. The blight grows in severity and soon leads to loss of life. Can the source of the poison be found and the mysterious plague stopped?
Get your copy of Strange Little Girl vs Cheesed Off here
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Strange Little Girl Vs Cheesed Off for a|state releases next week! (a|state backers already have it!) This is a double feature of two scenarios penned by Gregor Hutton, based on some original first Edition Malcolm Craig goodness. And it of course features more amazing art by a|state co-creator Paul Bourne.
Paul’s artwork really brings The City to life, and makes it the unique setting that it is.
Download the intro to KING BEOWULF: Of Kingdoms and Ring-Givers free at DrivethruRPG now!
KING BEOWULF is coming to Kickstarter soon – just as soon as we’ve dispatched the last few rewards for our long-suffering US Twin Seas backers. In the meantime you can grab this 4 page introduction to this supplement of Kingdom stewardship absolutely free.
We’ll also have some print copies of this booklet available to attendees at Tabletop Scotland this weekend in Perth, Scotland.
KING BEOWULF empowers your BEOWULF character to take the step from Hero to Ruler. They’ll inherit, found, or conquer their own kingdom, and take up the treasure seat, becoming the ring-giver responsible for their land and people.
(Helmet shown by Wyrmwick Creations, Fuller brooch by Glitterbeard Viking crafts. Both used by kind permission.)
This morning we were struck by the volume of ABSOLUTE LEGENDARY POWERHOUSES of Scottish role-playing games that will be right there in the halls this weekend!
Dave Allsop and Jared Earle will be on the Nightfall Games booth. SLA Industries is an absolute legend of Scottish roleplaying – the quintessential Glasgow-informed splatterpunk gorefest, where something way more intelligent lies underneath it’s mega-violent outer trappings. As well as creator of SLA Industries, Dave is an iconic contributor to Dungeons and Dragons and Magic the Gathering. In addition to writing on SLA, Jared does layout for a variety of hit games, including recently Carbon Grey, nominated for an ENnie award for its production values.
SLA, Demon Dog and Terminator RPGs will all be at their compact and bijou booth. So packed with good stuff it’s like a black hole of talent wait what
And SLA was in many ways one of the guiding lights for a|state – arguably the RPG Falkirk to SLA’s Glasgow. Malcolm Craig and Paul Bourne, the creators of first and second editions of a|state, Cold City and Hot War will be at the Handiwork booth. Malcolm was a founding member of The Collective Endeavour in the early 2000s, which paved the way for much of what we find in the current UK indie scene.
These four characters have a massive depth of industry experience, and are always happy to chat and share what they’re up to right now.
Also around will be me, Jon Hodgson. Of course I’m way too humble to mention it, but I’ve twice been invited as an Industry Insider Guest of Honour at US Gen Con, I know a thing or two about making games and I’m probably best know for my art in The One Ring first edition, Dragon Warriors, D&D and all that jazz. While sadly born in England, I’ve been living in Scotland 20+ years, so I guess am tolerated as “part of it”. I run Handiwork Games, publishers of a|state, BEOWULF, Maskwitches of Forgotten Doggerland and other fine gaming books. We’ll have (almost) all our fine gaming products available at the show!
Next door to Handiwork Games are Pelgrane Press, and Cat Tobin has a long connection to Scottish RPGs, in fact a very early contributor to a|state! Now of course uses her time much more fruitfully running the mighty ENnie awards-hoover that is Pelgrane Press, out of Ireland. Cat is a legend, and a guiding star to anyone looking to run a values-led publishing games company.
Legendary games designer Gregor Hutton will be around too- Gregor was instrumental in the second edition of a|state – the very initial conversations about making it happen, and bringing it to Forged in the Dark occurred right at Tabletop Scotland! Gregor is perhaps best known for being awesome, but also for 3:16 – an absolute smash hit RPG coming right out of Edinburgh.
There’s a vast depth of talent hidden in the TTS trade hall, be sure you don’t miss out if you’re looking for advice on publishing games, or want to catch up with what’s new.
Anyone from Tales of Gargentihr, the other big Scottish RPG of legend in attendance?
It’s been a while since we’ve spoken about KING BEOWULF, the kingdom stewardship supplement for BEOWULF: Age of Heroes!
With our commitment to delivering all physical rewards on The Trials of the Twin Seas* before launching any new BEOWULF book, we’ve had a bit of extra time to work on KING BEOWULF, and we’ve put it to good use.
During this additional development time, we have hit on some really exciting new directions and, in the name of seizing that silver lining, we’ve decided to fully pursue them – building on the first version of the KING BEOWULF manuscript towards something even more unique!
This week we’ll be releasing a free 4 page PDF introduction to some of the concepts we’ve developed for KING BEOWULF. We’ll add it to all the BEOWULF: Age of Heroes core book at DrivethruRPG, as well as making it its own title for free download.
Most excitingly, we will have a number of printed versions of this introduction available at Tabletop Scotland this weekend!
Very soon you’ll be able to sign up to be notified when the kickstarter for KING BEOWULF launches.
*In case you missed it, the US stock of Kickstarter rewards were “lost” by the shipping company, and this has caused us a real problem – we’re a small company, and we’ve had to work very hard to replace those lost rewards. But we’ve done it and they’re all shipping out right now!
The beautiful replica Fuller disc brooch in the image above is by https://glitterbeards.co.uk, and used with permission.
Paul Beakley of the Indie Game Reading Club is documenting his a|state campaign. Paul has a lot of really interesting thoughts about rpgs, and his blog is well worth your time.
Paul also did a deep dive on a|state second edition earlier this year – check it out:
Find out more about a|state here on the Handiwork Games site.
We gave our newsletter subscribers a chance to get in first, but now we’re opening the FiveEvil play test to everyone!
FiveEvil is a dedicated horror adaptation of fifth edition by Morgan Davie. It’s a radical reinterpretation of 5e, with many changes to the base game to facilitate creepy, atmospheric horror games. Find out more here.
We ask that only one person per group sign up to help us manage each group, collate feedback and ensure your accurate names make it into the book.
Playtest packs will head out late August.