FiveEvil is a set of roleplaying rules from Handiwork Games, the fiendish minds behind BEOWULF Age of Heroes, a|state second edition and Maskwitches of Forgotten Doggerland.
FiveEvil is designed to evoke the horror genre via a set of clever twists on the underlying fifth edition ruleset. Less a version of 5e, FiveEvil is a ruleset about 5e, making use of its subversion to defy expectations and intensify the horror.
Make no mistake: this book is not just some 5e stats for horror entities and a couple of rules tweaks. This is media-literate deconstruction of the primary RPG paradigm of the day! Whether it reads as a game about what 5e could have been in the hands of an extremely capable indie designer, or a celebration of just how far the rules of 5e can be stretched, is up to you.
The primary setting 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 attempting to survive and escape.
FiveEvil was created and written by Morgan Davie, features art by Scott Purdy and Jon Hodgson, and boasts graphic design and layout by Paul Bourne.
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.
What’s in the Book?
FiveEvil is a 280 page, full colour hardback, packed full of advice and tools to run effective horror games. We’ll be sending the book off to print soon, and opening a pre-order for it. The PDF is available now.
The chapters are:
Chapter One – Playing Horror
Chapter Two – Core Rules
Chapter Three – Wakefield House intro Scenario
Chapter Four – Creating Characters
Chapter Five – Running the Game
Chapter Six – Designing Scenarios
Chapter Seven – Settings
Chapter Eight – Horrors
Chapter Nine – Campaign Options
Chapter Ten – Scenario: Last Fun Weekend
Chapter Eleven – Scenario: Everyone Got Something Going On
Chapter Twelve: Scenario: Out of the Circle
Chapter Thirteen: Scenario: Big Screamin’ Demons
We’ve created a series of introductory PDFs which we released one a week in October 2024. You can get them collected into a single PDF right now for free.
It’s 56 pages, includes loads of behind the scenes insights into the aims of the design, as well as a full scenario to pay right now.
“I’ve been looking through this, and in its slender and sinister 12 pages it crams in an absolute ton of fascinating game and scenario design. Starting to think that D&D was invented just so Handiwork could butcher it and do interesting things with the corpse.” – Chris Gardiner, Splinter One customer
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!”
