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FiveEvil contents page

FiveEvil is our upcoming horror hack for 5th Edition. And make no mistake, it’s not just some 5e stats for some monsters and a spooky adventure seed or two.

It’s a thorough reworking of the very soul of 5th Edition, aimed at subverting what you know and expect to facilitate horror gaming. We’ve completely replaced combat, we’ve mutated the action economy, stat blocks are completely different, Inspiration becomes Desperation and more changes, both subtle and wide ranging switch up everything you’re familiar with to twist it into a whole new experience. You’ll know how to play, while play edges you out into the completely unfamiliar and unnerving.

FiveEvil gives you everything you need to play. Check out the slightly redacted contents page. We’ve removed any spoilers from the scenarios included, but these scenarios are worthy of mention. These aren’t just one-shot play throughs which you’ll use once and then never play again: these scenarios demonstrate important templates for FiveEvil play, and are packed with reusable play information and guidance.


• There is a bunch of support to learn more about this amazing horror hack of the fifth edition rules ahead of the crowd-funding launch:

• Find out the basics here at our site.

• Get a free, playable scenario that builds in parts, alongside a ton of behind the scenes design notes and inspirations. We’re up to part four all in the single DrivethruRPG title.

• Check out Five Evil designer Morgue Davie interviewed by unpleasant skeleton Clive Evil.

• Sign up at the Campaign page to be notified on launch at the end of the month.

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Last 3 Dragon Warriors Prints Set EVER!!!!!

UPDATE: they are all now sold! Our apologies for any disappointment caused.

During an office reorganisation we’ve discovered 3 copies of the Dragon Warriors Deluxe Print set. Once these are gone, the set is done! If you’ve thought about getting one, this is the final opportunity. The set comes in a handsome box and includes a booklet and 8 professionally printed, signed A4 art prints.

The booklet has contributions from Dave Morris, and Ian Sturrock of Serpent King Games, as well as the artist’s behind the scenes thoughts on each cover painting from the Magnum Opus edition of DW.

UPDATE: they are all now sold! Our apologies for any disappointment caused.

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Maskwitches now on general release!

Maskwitches of Forgotten Doggerland Redux Edition is now on general release from our web store. There is a full range of book available right now, with free PDFs.

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.

Knap Tokens and Predestined Event tracker in sturdy MDF printed in full colour and laser cut, and the compact dice tray to control your rolls.

Find out more here at our web store, and check out the just-released bundle option to save when you buy the full playable range.

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FiveEvil: Splinter Two is out now! For Free

FiveEvil is our upcoming horror hack for 5e. It’s not just some stats for monsters – this is a complete retooling of familiar systems to make them deliver a truly affecting horror experience.

To learn you can download the second free Splinter now. Splinters present design notes, inspirations and most importantly playable material so you can get playing right now.

Both Splinter One and Two are available in the same package here:

Get Splinters

In Splinter Two:

• More behind-the-scenes design notes from FiveEvil author Morgan Davie
• New Rules: Personality aspects and advanced ability checks
• Further inspirational material
• Guidance on linking the episodes of playable material
• The next instalment of Five Evil adventure
• More detailed pre-generated characters

Sign up at the campaign page to be notified of launch of the Kickstarter
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FiveEvil: A cure for the cosy?

Jon posting. Alright? Here’s an interesting idea. It’s been suggested by a number of people on the ole socials that FiveEvil appeals as a cure for the more generally cosy feel that D&D seems to be headed towards. 

And ok, maybe. If you like. Generally speaking, we don’t work in direct opposition or reaction to things like that. It’s not in our nature to be contrarians of that type. And we thoroughly support D&D proposing a wide variety of play styles. That’s all cool with us.

So we aren’t deliberately making our new horror 5e rules, FiveEvil, in direct response to a perceived shift of official D&D towards cosier themes. We’ve been working on it far too long for that!

But the suggestion that FiveEvil can serve as an antidote to happy fantasy is nonetheless an interesting one, because it’s a polarity which had never occurred to us: cosy vs horror. 

Continue reading “FiveEvil: A cure for the cosy?”
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FiveEvil: Get Splinter One Free Now

The first FiveEvil Splinter is out now exclusively DriveThruRPG.com! Join Morgan Davie as he introduces the first slice of free content for FiveEvil!

Get Splinter One Free Now
Sign up at the Campaign Preview
Find out more 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.

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The Maskwitches journey away from AI

A little medicine for the discouraged, perhaps?

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.

It’s taken a long time. And it’s been a heck of a journey into my past as a model maker. But Maskwitches of Forgotten Doggerland Redux Edition is already out on PDF and the print book is about to leave preorder for everyone. There’s also a range of supplements available.

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.

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Paul’s Pick – Ligdraca

It’s that time of the week – it’s Paul’s Pick! Paul Bourne is our graphic designer, and he sees every piece of art that goes into a Handiwork game. Each week he’s selecting a piece of art to share with you. Ligdraca by Scott Purdy for the Beowulf: Age of Heroes, the monsters chapter.

“Fire dragons are some of the most fearsome foes in the Lands Between the Two Seas, their ability to fly, breathe fire and terrible physical strength means that only Heroes can oppose them.”

Find out more about BEOWULF
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Paul’s Art Pick: Happy Larry’s Bar & Grill

Happy Larry’s Bar & Grill by Paul Bourne for the Strange Little Girl vs. Cheesed Off supplement for a|state. Easily identifiable by its gaudy celeste-green sign, this is a food and drink joint that is “safe ground” for local people to have meetings, settle disputes and share tittle-tattle. The sign on the door reads “No fighting, no drugs, no weirdos.”.

We’re doing a new thing over on all our social media: we’ve asked everyone in the team to come up with things they want to shine a spotlight on. It might be a piece of art, like today, or it might be some thoughts on an aspects of one of our games, their rules or setting, or a story from their development. There’s loads of interesting stuff in the can already, so look out for the various team member’s posts!

Paul’s Art Pick is what our graphic designer and layout artists Paul Bourne has decided to do. Paul sees every piece of art we make as he lays out all our books. So he’s ideally placed to choose some interesting ones to share. Today’s pick is one he’s made himself which thoroughly establishes his credentials as a brilliant artist in his own right!

Find out more about a|state here.


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