Handiwork Games is a new tabletop games publisher based in Scotland, UK. Led by ex-Cubicle 7 Creative Director Jon Hodgson, Handiwork Games has launched with news of two RPG lines.
The first is a partnership with renowned RPG author, Ken Hite. Hellenistika is a fantasy ancient Greek setting for 5th Edition. With the tagline “LIVE FAST • LOVE WELL • LEAVE A GOOD-LOOKING MOSAIC” Hellenistika promises new classes, playable species and setting specific rules for 5e.
“From the Pillars of Herakles in the West to the Silken Cities of the East, from the isle of Hyperborea in the North to the Mountains of the Moon in the South, the world spreads before you, alive with gods and marvels.
The Great Conqueror lies dead and mummified in Alexandria, leaving the world to scheming kings and greedy cities … and to you, if you can seize it. Ancient magics lurk in Babylonian ziggurats and Egyptian pyramids. Carve your names into history with your weapons and your wits, and beat your fellow wonder-makers and mercenaries in the games of treasure, wine, and love.
Adventure across the “good parts version” of the Hellenistic Age, a time of swords and scrolls, heroes and cults, war elephants and deadly Amazons, griffins and dragons, piles of gold and robot guardians, super-ships and death-machines – and that’s before we put our fantastic spin on history!”
The second game in the line up is BEOWULF – a mythic setting again for 5e. Promising similarly tailored rules, BEOWULF stands out as being designed for two players – the GM and the Hero.
“One of the oldest recorded stories in Western Europe, Beowulf is an epic tale of hero against
BEOWULF is a setting and rules set for 5th Edition, designed primarily for duet play – one GM and one player.
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. Explore Migration Era Europe and beyond, solve mysteries, and do battle with dreadful monsters.
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.”
Known for his work at Cubicle 7 as creative director, his definitive Tolkien art on The One Ring RPG and as a successful freelance artist in his own right, Jon Hodgson oversaw a great deal of C7’s successful creative work, so when he announced his departure in early 2018 many were keen to know what he was moving on to do. It appears the plan was to launch his own games company.
