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Cover illustration by Colin Throm showing a one-eyed witch and some flying imps.
Our introductory Magonomia® adventure, Curse of the One-Eyed Witch (Revised Edition) by John Tibbetts, is available for pay-what-you-want on DriveThruRPG. Now with exciting new punctuation and grammar corrections! Version 1.2 was released today.
Did you know that “bugbear” is an English word dating to the 16th century? Although we know and love them as monsters from a famous fantasy RPG, bugbears weren’t made up by RPG designers. They come from English folklore. Our upcoming Bestiary of Enchanted England takes this classic monster back to its roots.
Publisher’s Choice Quality Stock Art © Rick Hershey / Fat Goblin Games
Here are some excerpts from our manuscript on bugbears, by Mark Lawford. ©2022 Shewstone Publishing LLC. All rights reserved.
With a broad toothy grin and eyes that glow green, these fur-covered man-things feed on fear, apprehension, and self-doubt. They are more common than people ever suspected and as society built villages, towns, and cities around them so the bugbears followed. They hide in the dark places; in the unlit narrows and alleys of the city, in deserted burnt-out tenements, and under beds as people pray for sleep...
Bugbears used to be found in the dark and dank reaches of old woodlands. They would feed upon the unseen miasma created by fears and worries of humans who strayed from the path and become lost. But as mankind built more elaborate settlements, the bugbears migrated with them. People encounter them all the time without knowing it. They hear their footsteps behind them when they need to go into the dusty loft, they spot their shadows in the lonely dark alley, and they feel their presence beneath their bed at night. And the bugbears feed...
With their ability to melt into the shadows, they can hide from their chosen victim for many months, sustaining itself on magical humours and vapours given off by the victim's fear and self-doubt. Despite its fearsome appearance, a bugbear never attacks physically, but when the spell is broken and the bugbear itself is threatened it tries to make its escape.
Those knowing a little lore about bugbears may know that the light shed from a green candle illuminates the creatures regardless of where they are in the room or whether they are using their powers to hide themselves.
Shewstone Publishing will not sell non-fungible tokens (NFTs) or buy them from our contractors or suppliers.
That’s our position.
My day job is in cybersecurity, so I understand the technology and I can imagine some possible evolution paths and hypothetical future applications that wouldn’t be horrible. Those hypothetical possibilities are so different from the reality of the NFT boom today that if they ever materialize, “NFT” won’t even be the right term to describe them.
NFTs as used and understood in 2022 are a non-starter for Shewstone Publishing.
The Kickstarter logo
by Andrew Gronosky, Founder
We’ve decided to continue using Kickstarter for the time being. We’re aware of the concerns around Kickstarter’s migration to blockchain technology. We’ll continue to monitor the situation.
If you are boycotting Kickstarter, we sympathize. Please consider backing our crowdfunding campaigns as a late backer. Kickstarter won’t get a nickel of your money, but the creators will.
Many gamers have raised strong objections to Kickstarter’s announcement of Dec. 8, 2021 that they’ll be adopting blockchain technology. Shewstone Publishing disapproves of this move as much as anyone else does. We see nothing but downside for us, our backers, and the tabletop gaming community overall.
We’ve quit Kickstarter on principle before and we’ll do so again if necessary. For now, we’ll believe Kickstarter’s claim that they’ll use carbon offsets. We still object to the blockchain move, but our objection isn’t quite enough to make us walk away.
Bluntly, Kickstarter remains the most cost effective marketing tool for tabletop roleplaying games that we know of. The “follow” feature makes Kickstarter into a social network. Unlike Facebook and Twitter, whose algorithms limit the number of followers who see a post, Kickstarter has a financial incentive to amplify the creator’s message. That’s why it’s so hard for a small, young company like us to turn away from them.
We had a good experience crowdfunding with Game on Tabletop in 2020. If you already have a solid audience, that would be an excellent alternative.
Our first full-length sourcebook for Magonomia® is in the works: the Bestiary of Enchanted England.
Edit, February 8, 2022: I added additional creatures: the Knocker, Tombwarden, Shadowbeasts, and Walking Stones. Also, a few taglines have been updated.
(short summary) A book of lore and plot hooks for 24 creatures from English folklore, with original black-and-white illustrations, for the Magonomia® RPG.
Dragon image ©2005 Dover Publications, Inc. Used with permission.
The Bestiary of Enchanted England is a supplement for Magonomia®, the tabletop RPG of Renaissance wizardry, which is based on the Fate™ engine. It describes 24 faeries, fantastic beasts, and spirits from the folklore and literature of 16th-century England. These aren’t primarily combat opponents: the emphasis is on lore and plot hooks to help you weave these creatures into wondrous game sessions.
The Bestiary of Enchanted England includes:
Afanc, The Unseen Beast Below
Black Annis, Stealer of Children
Bugbear, the Thing Under the Bed
Dragon lore (no statistics; there are several dragons in the Magonomia core book)
Eala, a Haunted Musical Instrument
Elves, the People Under the Hills
Grim, the King of Ghosts
The Haid, Faerie Thieves
Hobyah, a Gang of Wicked Elves
Kenidjack, the Bright-Eyed Demon of Cornwall
The Laidly Toad Queen
Malkin, Bipedal Cats (similar to Puss in Boots)
The Merchicken of Portland (it’s a real legend!)
Milcha, Queen of the Enchanted Isle
The Questing Beast, Creature of Arthurian Legend
Satyr, Spirits of the Wild
Scitalis, the Wondrous Serpent
Shadowbeasts
Tombwarden
Troll
Urban Wisp
Walking Stones
Waelcyrian, Spirits of Ill Omen
Whale Eater, a Dragon of the Sea
The names and taglines for each creature are subject to change, but these are the creatures that will be included.
The book will be a 6”x9” (US trade size) hardcover, approximately 120 pages. Electronic versions (PDF, EPUB, and Kindle) will also be available.
The creative team consists of:
Authors: Timothy Ferguson, Mark Lawford, Christian Jensen Romer
Illustrators: Steven Bachan, Teresa Guido, Jeff Koch, Angela Taylor, Colin Throm
We’re aiming for crowdfunding in May or June this year. Check back or follow us on social media for progress updates!