Maskwitches of Forgotten Doggerland: A psychedelic Mesolithic roleplaying game

Handiwork Games, creators of Beowulf, publisher of A|State 2e and helmed by Jon Hodgson of Adventures In Middle-earth and The One Ring, are Kickstarting Maskwitches of Forgotten Doggerland.

There’s only one week on the clock, and the campaign is over. Don’t fear for the project, though; it’s tracking as one of the most successful launches on the platform this week, is many times over-funded and will now surely succeed. You can see what I may have just jinxed over on their pitch page.

[Back this Campaign]

Can an AI illustrate a roleplaying game? Yes, that’s what has made Maskwitches of Forgotten Doggerland possible.

Jon Hodgson’s unique RPG will be illustrated through conversations with the Midjourney AI. The book will have its own Midjourney section, and Jon’s already made hundreds of images, curated them, or nurtured them from the software.

Using an AI to produce an illustration is an exciting and bold decision from a professional creative director.

At the end of the last ice age, as the earth warmed and the tides rose, the area we now call Doggerland was subject to an unimaginably vast tidal wave, and was lost forever. We know precious little about this place, and as such it makes a marvellous location to set the weird tales of the now-forgotten maskwitches.

You can support the indie studio and the innovative campaign through social shares and cash pledges. Backers who pledge £6 or more will get a PDF copy of Maskwitches as a thank you.

At £12, the rewards increase to include a PDF copy of Handiwork’s The Silver Road and In Spoons as well.

Then, the softcover of Maskwitches swaps in alongside the PDF at £25. At this tier, the add-ons open up.

A signed and unique art print, in A5, is added at £34.

The hardback swaps in at £40, pushing out the others.

There are higher tiers for combinations of the three books, PDFs, softbacks, hardcovers and retailer options. The deluxe signed edition has sold out, though.

The estimated delivery of the project looks a bit odd. I’ve not asked the question, but I wonder whether it’s supposed to be 2022 or 2023, rather than both. As it is now, the main PDF is 2022, but the three PDFs are a wait to October 2023, the softcover 2023 and the hardcover 2022.