Gamebook Thursday: Beowulf Beastslayer on Twitch

Tonight, Julian Sparrow will be playing through ACE Gamebook #4 live on Twitch on his channel Babel_17. You can join the fun, and help choose what happens next, at 9:30pm BST here.

HEOROT - Roleplaying in the World of Beowulf Beastslayer - Late Pledges

If you missed HEOROT - Roleplaying in the World of Beowulf Beastslayer on Kickstarter earlier in the year, you can now place a Late Pledge and still become a backer, with all the perks that such status includes.

Simply check out the rewards below, and click on the PayPal button for the one you would like to select.

GIANTSLAYER

SERPENTSLAYER

MONSTERSLAYER

BEASTSLAYER

TROLLSLAYER

MERCHANT

Please note, all rewards will be delivered via DriveThruRPG when the HEOROT RPG is released in Spring 2022.

Thank you for your support, and don't forget to check out my latest crowdfunding project, RONIN 47.

It's the final 48 hours for the HEOROT RPG on Kickstarter!

HEOROT - Role-Playing in the World of Beowulf Beastslayer has 48 hours left to run on Kickstarter, so if you haven't pledged yet and you would like to you had better hurry!

However, before committing yourself, you might like to review the Quickstart Rules that appear before the first adventure in the book.

To enlarge, click on the image above.

To enlarge, click on the image above.

HEOROT - Role-Playing in the World of Beowulf Beastslayer has 2 weeks to go on Kickstarter!

HEOROT - Role-Playing in the World of Beowulf Beastslayer has just two weeks left to run on Kickstarter, and the good news is we are now less than £500 away from hitting Stretch Goal One - the one that adds colour artwork to the book and gives everyone who backs at the BEASTSLAYER reward level and above a free print code for the HEOROT GM Screens.

What's even better is that Stretch Goal Two adds a completely new supplement to the reward-hoard of everyone who backs at the BEASTSLAYER reward level and above. Reading the Runes will bring magic into the game, including magic-users, and a complete, self-contained adventure called The Riddle.

And remember, as long as you back at the BEASTSLAYER reward level or above, Reading the Runes will be added to your reward-hoard without you having to add anymore money to your pledge!

So please keep spreading the word and tell all your friends why they need to support HEOROT - Role-Playing in the World of Beowulf Beastslayer on Kickstarter today.

And thank you, once again, for all your support.

HEOROT is halfway through its run on Kickstarter

We are now halfway through HEOROT - Role-Playing in the World of Beowulf Beastslayer's run on Kickstarter and, as of writing, it has so far raised 107% of its initial funding goal.

I have received some useful feedback from people about the Kickstarter project page itself. One person felt that the Kickstarter video didn't really make it clear what HEOROT - Role-Playing in the World of Beowulf Beastslayer is all about, so I have put together a much shorter video that tries to address this issue. Please check it out and let me know what you think.

I'm loathe to replace the existing Kickstarter video, as it goes into a lot more detail, but the new one might be a good way to hook people in from other social media channels.

Don't forget to keep sharing HEOROT - Role-Playing in the World of Beowulf Beastslayer with all and sundry, and let's see if we can't hit a couple of Stretch Goals by a month from now.

Gamebook Friday: HEOROT on the UK Games Expo Twitch Channel

This week I was interviewed by Richard Denning - one of the masterminds behind the UK Games Expo - about HEOROT - Role-Playing in the World of Beowulf Beastslayer on Twitch.

To watch the interview, click on the image below and fast forward to the 45 minute mark.

If you've ever thought I was a big head, here's your proof.

The HEOROT RPG is 100% funded on Kickstarter!

Gamebook Friday: HEOROT - Role-Playing in the World of Beowulf Beastslayer is now funding on Kickstarter

HEOROT - Role-Playing in the World of Beowulf Beastslayer

is funding on Kickstarter now!

Gamebook Friday: HEOROT - Role-playing in the world of Beowulf Beastslayer

I am pleased to announce my next Kickstarter, which will be launching one week today, on Friday 29th January 2021.

HEOROT (pronounced 'Hay-or-ot') is a rules-lite RPG, designed to be picked up and played with minimal preparation. It is inspired by the Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf, Viking legends, Norse mythology, and the Icelandic sagas, as well as my own ACE Gamebook Beowulf Beastslayer.

I am continuing the process, begun with 'TWAS - The Roleplaying Game Before Christmas, of turning my existing ACE Gamebook properties into other games*, in this case a classic tabletop RPG.

In HEOROT, players take on the role of noble heroes and their brave companions, who are guided through their adventure by the Skald (or Gamesmaster).

There are three different ways to enjoy the game but all involve an element of storytelling. For it is through telling tall tales of their heroic deeds that players increase their Wyrd, which in turn gives them the ability to perform heroic feats during their adventures that would otherwise be beyond the capabilities of mortal men.

The Storytelling Contest format will suit shorter gaming sessions, while longer ones are ideal for extended Heroic Sagas. Alternatively, you can play through the Songs of the Skalds - traditional scenarios and campaigns that have been designed specifically for the RPG.

HEOROT is part of Kickstarter's Make 100 initiative. Every January, the platform invites its creators to launch a campaign that offers a pledge level limited to 100 rewards.

For HEOROT, this is the Trollslayer reward, which comes with a PDF and print code for the RPG, one Grendel's Mother miniature, and a print code for the HEOROT-themed deck of playing cards, plus all unlocked stretch goals.

These two will soon be joined by the Mother of Monsters herself.

Watch this space for more information about the new RPG, or sign up to my Newsletter to be notified when HEOROT goes live on Kickstarter.

* Anybody would think I had a masterplan or something...

Beowulf Beastslayer LIVE!

This evening, at 7:00pm, Beowulf Beastslayer (my fourth ACE Gamebook) is going to be the subject of a live readthrough by Ken Boyter of The Bottled Imp.

So if you've ever wondered how Beowulf Beastslayer plays, check out the Event page here on Facebook, and don't miss the chance to pick up a signed copy of the adventure too.

Gamebook Friday: FREE Beowulf Beastslayer Teaching Resources

One thing is certain as the Coronavirus crisis deepens; we are most definitely living in interesting times.

If you are a student who has been sent home from school and you have been studying Beowulf in English, or if you are a teacher looking to support your students' work on the Anglo-Saxon epic poem while they are remote learning, my teaching resources, based on the gamebook Beowulf Beastslayer, are now FREE to download from the TES website.

Click the image above to download the Beowulf Beastslayer Teacher's Pack.

In other gamebook-related news, the Kickstarter I am currently running to fund production of my 6th ACE Gamebook, Dracula - Curse of the Vampire, is already two-thirds done, with just 10 days left to go.

Currently we are working towards the first Stretch Goal, which will pay for more of Martin McKenna's amazing artwork for the book. So if you haven't backed it yet, please consider doing so and let all your friends know about it too.

The Beowulf Beastslayer Teacher's Pack

Now available for anyone who teaches Beowulf to students in Key Stage 2 or Key Stage 3, is the Beowulf Beastslayer Teacher's Pack, or indeed for any teacher who wants a fun topic of work for a week or two, perhaps even as a focus for their school Book Week.

The pack contains ten activities that range from comprehension and long-form writing exercises, to code-breaking and game design, as well as suggestions for more

The Beowulf Beastslayer Teacher's Pack can be downloaded from tes.com.

Gamebook Friday: Beowulf Beastslayer first reviews

I'm delighted to report that since going on general release on Monday, Beowulf Beastslayer has already garnered some great reviews on Amazon.

"Monsters are monstrous, the very forces of nature are glorious and powerful, and every kenning and coinage ring with the weight of authenticity. If more fantasy writing were this committed, I genuinely believe fantasy itself would be a more respected genre."

"For me the most unique part is the use of language. I tried to read Beowulf as a student far too many years ago, and haven’t a great knowledge of it... However, Jonathan writes in a style that perfectly seems to echo the original."

"Green's writing is on form as ever."

If you've read Beowulf Beastslayer, please consider posting a brief review on Amazon.

It's also great to see people being inspired by the models Otherworld Miniatures produced for the Kickstarter, which has led to articles appearing on Because of Dragons and Beasts of War. Which is nice.

Because of Dragons has some ideas for using the figures with your favourite RPG system. Which reminds me, I really must get around to writing this one day...

Beowulf Beastslayer - Publication Day!

Hwaet! Beowulf Beastslayer is published today by Snowbooks.

A brand new adventure gamebook by Jonathan Green, based on the ancient epic. A tale of heroes... A tale of monsters... A legend reborn. 

King Hrothgar's great golden mead-hall, Heorot, lies under a curse; after sunset, the mirth-hating night-stalker Grendel comes to the hall to maim and murder! None are capable of killing the monster, though many have tried, until one day Beowulf and his company of Geatish warriors cross the sail-road and land on Danish shores...

The Old English poem Beowulf is a story that has fascinated people throughout the ages inspiring the likes of J. R. R. Tolkien, Seamus Heaney and Neil Gaiman. Beowulf Beastslayer is a brand new take on the Anglo-Saxon epic, re-imagining the events described in the poem as an adventure gamebook.

Will you follow the course of events as laid down by the scops and skalds of old, or will you choose a different path and forge your own legend?

Beowulf Beastslayer is illustrated by none other than Russ Nicholson, who provided the internal artwork for the Fighting Fantasy gamebook The Warlock of Firetop Mountain (among others), which set me on the path to becoming an author, and features a cover quote by none other than BBC Four's Dr Janina Ramirez.

As backers of the original Kickstarter will already know, Paul Muller sculpted Grendel and Beowulf in three dimensions, using Russ Nicholson's interpretations of the characters as his guide, and the miniatures were produced by Otherworld Miniatures. Well, here they are, painted by the very talented Andy Taylor.

Grendel and Beowulf, sculpted by Paul Muller, produced by Otherworld Miniatures, and painted by Andy Taylor.

If you would like to buy a pair of miniatures, simply click the button below, having selected whereabouts in the world you would like them sent.

Beowulf and Grendel miniatures

UK signed for £29.00 GBP Europe signed for £34.00 GBP Rest of World signed for £35.00 GBP

And if you have read the book, please post a review on Amazon.

Steampunk Thursday: Scarlet Traces - Out Now!

Scarlet Traces: An Anthology Based on H. G. Wells' War of the Worlds, edited by Ian Edginton, is available now!

It is the dawn of the twentieth century.

Following the Martians' failed invasion of Earth, the British Empire has seized their technology and unlocked its secrets for themselves. It is a Golden Age of discovery, adventure, culture, invention—and of domination, and rebellion.

Scarlet Traces reveals a world of ant-headed nightmares; vacuum salesmen; war machines; deadly secrets; clockwork marvels; and Sherlock Holmes, T. S. Eliot and Thomas Edison as you've never seen them before...

Including stories by Stephen Baxter, I. N. J. Culbard, Adam Roberts, Emma Beeby, James Lovegrove, Nathan Duck, Mark Morris, Dan Whitehead, Chris Roberson, Maura McHugh, Jonathan Green, and Andrew Lane.

Ian Edginton is a New York Times bestselling author and multiple Eisner Award nominee.

His recent titles include the green apocalypse saga The Hinterkind for DC/Vertigo; Steed and Mrs Peel for BOOM, the steam- and clock-punk series Stickleback, Ampney Crucis Investigates and Brass Sun for the legendary UK science fiction weekly, 2000 AD; game properties Dead Space: Liberation and The Evil Within for Titan Books, and the audio adventure Torchwood: Army of One for the BBC.

He has adapted the complete canon of Sherlock Holmes novels into a series of graphic novels for Self Made Hero, as well writing several volumes of Holmes apocrypha entitled The Victorian Undead. He has also adapted H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds as well as writing several highly acclaimed sequels, Scarlet Traces and Scarlet Traces: The Great Game.

He lives and works in England. He keeps a bee.


Also out today is Dr Janina Ramirez's brand new Ladybird Expert book about Beowulf. And yes, that is the same Dr Janina Ramirez off the telly who wrote a cover quote for Beowulf Beastslayer.