Trail of Cthulhu designer takes D&D 5E to ancient Greece in RPG setting Hellenistika

Kenneth Hite, the veteran roleplaying designer behind Lovecraftian mystery game Trail of Cthulhu and the fifth edition of Vampire: The Masquerade, is turning his attention to ancient Greece.

Hellenistika is a fantasy setting for Dungeon & Dragons’ fifth edition inspired by Hite’s own home campaign in d20 RPG 13th Age.

The Fifth Edition version is described as taking place in “the ‘good parts version’ of the Hellenistic Age”, combining historical elements of the ancient world in the wake of Alexander the Great’s death with mythical creatures such as gods, griffins and dragons, as well as magic and even sci-fi “robot guardians” and “death-machines”.

Hite’s book will add extra classes, “playable species” and setting-specific rules to D&D 5E, and is currently due for release next year.

Hellenistika is the first release from Handiwork Games, a new British tabletop publisher founded by Jon Hodgson, the former creative director at The One Ring RPG, Adventures in Middle-earth and Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay studio Cubicle 7.

Handiwork’s second RPG will be an adaptation of ancient epic Beowulf for Fifth Edition.

Beowulf is designed primarily as a two-player game, with one person taking on the role of GM and the other controlling the lone hero as they explore the age-old Europe of the tale and battle monsters.

The mythical D&D setting and ruleset is said to have been crafted with input from Fifth Edition designers and folklore experts, while Hodgson will be one of several illustrators contributing artwork.

Handiwork won’t be limited to roleplaying games, either – it’s also announced its publication of The Forest Dragon, a card game created by nine-year-old designer Rory, as well as the other games in the Forest Dragon series: Bang & Twang and The Forest Dragon Farmer.