FiveEvil

As I mentioned ever so briefly here, back in the review of games played for last year, I have been involved in the playtesting of FiveEvil. This is a game based on the d20 system of the "fifth edition of the most popular TTRPG on the market", aka 5e. FiveEvil takes this base game that many people know and love, and modifies the system and rules to allow the game to work for a horror setting. 

The game is currently under development through Handiwork Games.

5e is often used as a system to run any type of game. Mostly because it is the biggest game in the TTRPG space, and has therefore has the largest player base. However, any time the though of using 5e to run a horror game comes up online, this raises the hackles of the horror game community, as at its heart, 5e D&D is a heroic fantasy game where character  agency is front and centre, whereas horror games require putting that character agency on the back burner, and put them in situations where they do not feel in control. 

This contradiction is at the heart of FiveEvil, where Morgue took the fact that people said 5e couldn't do horror, and said 'Hold my beer!' 

This is a really innovative approach to horror from the 5e angle, where there is enough that is familiar to players that come from a 5e background, but also plenty of tools for players and GMs to keep the tension up at the table.

I can't go into the details of how this is done, but if you want to know more then here are a few ways to learn more about this great new game:

Sign up to be alerted to the Kickstarter when it goes live.

Wakefield House is the scenario I play-tested with my play groups. It's a fast paced one-shot that drops you straight into the action, with great artwork.

Handiwork games have released the first on their free series of "Splinters" in the run up to launch of the Kickstarter. Download it for free to get a taste of what the game is about. Did I say there was also great artwork?

Finally, there are a series of YouTube shorts that give great insight into the game, and the design process.