My games

[Feb 2018: Oh hey! I don’t update this website much any more. If you’re interested in keeping up with my current projects, check out my official business website instead – Rowan, Rook and Decard.]

I write roleplaying games for a living. If you’re interested in supporting me, please throw a few dollars my way in exchange for one of the below PDFs or contribute to my Patreon, where I release innovative one-page RPGs. You can also follow me on Kickstarter to stay informed of any bigger projects I’m involved in. If you’re interested in working on a game together, or you’d like some advice, please don’t hesitate to contact me at gshowitt@gmail.com.

LONGER GAMES

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UNBOUND. A group-led universal worldbuilding game, that sees the story and the setting created seamlessly alongside the characters. Jam-packed with absurdly beautiful art from Adrian Stone. Buy a PDF here.

ROYAL BLOOD. A one-shot heist game. YOU are a Royal – half-magic, half-human. You’re one of the court cards from the tarot deck – the impetuous Princess of Wands, the calculating Knight of Pentacles, the empire-building Queen of Wands, and so on. You use magic like a brick through the window of the world. Gorgeous layout by Banana Chan. Buy it here.

GOBLIN QUEST. Kid-friendly freewheeling slapstick comedy violence RPG where each player controls five goblins (in sequence, not in parallel), most of whom will die whilst attempting to achieve even the simplest of tasks. Contains beautiful full-colour art from Jon Morris, Tim Wilkinson Lewis and Iguanamouth and seven rules hacks including Sean Bean Quest, Regency Ladies: The Roleplaying Game and SPACE INTERNSBuy it as a PDF here, or purchase a hard copy here.

ONE LAST JOB. You’re washed-up, down on your luck, and wishing for a break. Luckily, someone turns up on your doorstep and makes you an offer – one last job that will set you up for life. Shame the rest of the crew is made up of people who hate you ever since what happened during The Incident. Best of luck. Buy it here.

THE HOMECOMING COLLECTION. Four strange games I wrote as part of a bet. One of them involves wearing as many hats as possible and building dice towers to summon unimaginable magical power. Pay-what-you-want to download it here.

HAVOC BRIGADE. A mob of the noisiest orcs available has been chosen to infiltrate a heavily-guarded human city and kidnap a foppish prince. What on earth could go wrong? Comes with pre-gen characters and a city map by George Seed. Pay-what-you-want to download it here.

WARRIOR POET. You are heartbreakingly beautiful samurai mages who fall in and out of love across the distant and crumbling Empire of the Moon. Uses haiku-writing as a core conflict resolution mechanic. Pay-what-you-want to download it here. Download these beautiful fan-made Character playsheets and Emperor sheet to help you play.

SHORTER GAMES

HONEY HEIST. A game in which you play a criminal bear with two stats: CRIMINAL and BEAR. Get it here.

WE THAT REMAIN. A Survival Horror RPG about secrets. Played with a single deck of cards. Get it here.

ADVENTURE DICE. Cut out and build your own special dice to tell a story without any numbers or words. Great for kids! Get it here.

THE GOLDEN SEA. Set out on a voyage across the dune ocean in search of justice and profit while strange goddesses slumber beneath the sands. Get it here.

THE WITCH IS DEAD. Your mistress was a beautiful and wise witch, and someone killed her, and now it’s time for you and the other adorable magical woodland creatures to exact a bloody revenge. Contains strong language. Get it here.

EXODUS. Leave home and destroy everything around you. Get it here.

FORCE BLADE PUNK. You are a murderpop teenage superstar, fighting with vibroknives and explosive brass knuckles for love, honour and sponsorship deals. Get it here.

THE GUILD OF ORPHEUS. An RPG that a) fits on a sheet of A5 paper and b) uses a single D3 for resolution. Won the Contessa Microgame of Stupefying Wonder Contest. You play a cleric-mage of Orpheus, and you battle agents of the Red Druid. Get it here.

DOCTOR MAGNETHANDS. Written, playtested, and played drunk. I have not been sober at any point I have interacted with this game, and neither have any of the players. Played live on stage two years running at Nine Worlds Geekfest in London to sold-out rooms; so popular that – without my knowledge – a second, bootleg edition of the event called Doctor Andy Magnets ran alongside it to take care of surplus attendees. Get it here.

DRUNKEN BEAR FIGHTER. Play agents of an elite bear-fighting force (the RDBFO) and fight drunken bears. Written in under an hour in 2007. Barely functional. Bizarrely popular. Please do not play this game. Get it here.

HEY KIDS, LET’S ALL MEET THE GIN WIZARD. Competitive dress-up themed around rubbish magicians. I have never won a game of this. Get it here.

 

Comments

55 responses to “My games”

  1. Mike Avatar

    Hello Grant,

    My name is Mike, I’m a freelance illustrator. My portfolio is at mikegoldsworth.com if you’re in the market for a top quality artist to work on your games just let me know. I’m flexible on rates, skill trading if it’s applicable, or just plain ol networking. Give me a shout.

    Thanks for your time.
    -Mike

    1. grant Avatar
      grant

      I like your stuff, Mike! I’ll be in touch soon – might have something right up your alley coming up in the next few months.

  2. Dennis Avatar
    Dennis

    Is ‘We Set Out’ still available? The link appears to be down or something.

  3. Connor Avatar
    Connor

    Is Fallen still available for download? The link isn’t working for me.

    1. grant Avatar
      grant

      This keeps happening! Sorry about that. I’ve updated the link – here it is https://www.dropbox.com/s/59ujj29f76kkq0j/FALLEN%20V.1.3.1.pdf?dl=0

  4. Gary B Avatar
    Gary B

    I was minutes late for the Goblin Quest Kickstarter. How can I pre order a copy of the book in softcover?

    1. grant Avatar
      grant

      In a couple of weeks’ time I’ll be setting up a preorder site through backerkit, so stay tuned.

  5. Zach Avatar

    I haven’t played any of your games yet, but I love the freeform/improv style of Dr. Magnethands. I’ve worked professionally as an improv comic, so that kind of game really appeals to me. And heeding no warnings at all, I’m going to play it with a group of friends soon.

    But I wanted to thank you, because games like that have inspired me to try creating my own homebrews, and even my own combat system. If you’re interested in checking one of them out, I could stand to get opinions from people who have been successful in creating and publishing their own stuff. I figure advice is never wasted if it’s good.

    Love the stuff. Looking forward to playing them.

    1. grant Avatar
      grant

      Aw, thanks man! For all my badmouthing Doctor Magnethands, it’s a good laugh. I hope you have fun with it. Would love to see what you’ve made!

  6. Bex Avatar
    Bex

    Are there physical copies of Goblin Quest for purchase anywhere? I would love to have a physical copy!

    1. grant Avatar
      grant

      Nearly! We’re working on it, watch this space

  7. […] stuff by Grant Howitt, you can find him on twitter here, or buy his bigger games from his website Look, Robot or support him on […]

  8. seb Avatar
    seb

    hey grant, you’re being discussed admiringly on http://www.metafilter.com/165645/Rule-2-You-are-a-GODDAMN-BEAR#6957865 it’s a $5 joining fee if you want to say hello but it’s a good community.

    I’ve been quite inspired by you as a dm btw, your stuff is very cool.

    1. grant Avatar
      grant

      hey, thanks!

  9. bruce Avatar
    bruce

    The PDF link for Doctor Magnethands isn’t working for me. Is it JUST me, or is it broken?

    1. grant Avatar
      grant

      It’s fixed now – thanks for bringing it to my attention!

  10. […] Grant Howitt’s One-Page RPGs – Finally, my new favorite thing. Every month, Grant Howitt makes a hand-written/drawn, one-page RPG. His Patreon supporters get early or exclusive access for US$5. Here are the titles of some of his games: Goblin Quest, Havoc Brigade, Doctor Magnethands, Drunken Bear Fighter, One Last Job, Warrior-Poet, Exodus, and Royal Blood. I was first made aware of Grant’s work when a friend posted a link to Honey Heist which he describes as a “game in which you play a criminal bear with two stats: CRIMINAL and BEAR.” There is a bonus “hat table” to add a bit of flair to your honey-thieving bear. […]

  11. Rachel Avatar
    Rachel

    Hello hello! Your one-page games look cool, but my favorite of the bunch is probably “The Witch is Dead”. I intend to run a game inspired by such sometime soon, in fact. Thanks for sharing your concepts, and hoping to throw some dosh your way when I can.

  12. […] This game is made by Grant Howitt, a guy who has made quite a few of these silly little games, as well as some fully fleshed-out ones, which you can find here […]

  13. […] Grant is constantly designing new games. He seems to be working on a something new, large or small, every other week. I appreciate that for this, bigger project he has two co-designers in Mary Hamilton and Chris […]

  14. […] picture above is the entirety of the rules of Honey Heist (which are available here), and a good portion of it is just random generators for GM aid. Honey Heist is a pretty dumb game […]

  15. […] and one for the GM, and it’s some of the most fun I’ve had playing all year. Creator Grant Howitt has made something truly fantastic and anyone who’s even considered playing an RPG should […]

  16. […] This week, we’re playing another fantastic one-page RPG by Grant Howitt. […]

  17. Go Miyauchi Avatar
    Go Miyauchi

    Hello Grant.
    Love your stuff.

    I saw Honey Heist and I`ve translated to Japanese to enjoy with my friends.
    Is it OK to post it online?

    Thanks.

    1. grant Avatar
      grant

      Yeah, sure! Please link to my Patreon/Twitter when you post it.

      – G

  18. Joe Avatar
    Joe

    Hello,

    I bought a physical copy of Goblin Quest but the maps and character sheets are a bit of an arse ache to copy and print. Is there somewhere I can access digital versions?

    Cheers

    1. grant Avatar
      grant

      You can do that here: dropbox.com/s/4g6z9rn8pyqi0db/Goblin Quest Character Sheet.pdf?dl=0

      – G

  19. […] hein) et des jeux en une page sur son patreon. Vous trouverez quelques exemples de ses productions sur son site, et quelques-uns de ses jeux en une page directement ci-dessous. Il vous suffira de cliquer sur les […]

  20. […] Heist is a game by designer Grant Howitt, who is known for designing quirky, easy to run TRPG’s that are great for parties or […]

  21. kevin and pirtle Avatar
    kevin and pirtle

    hey grant love your games but one quick question: what’s a ‘magre’ (7th ‘animal’ in the witch is dead)? seriously. am i just bad at googleing or something? i can’t figure it out. all i’ve found is some danish/scandinavian etymology referring to ‘magre’ as ‘thin’ or ‘lean’. which… what? help pls

    1. kevin and pirtle Avatar
      kevin and pirtle

      shit shit shit found it literally right after posting that. it’s a magpie. got it! thanks again grant.

  22. […] up some creative action, so I used a word generator created by my friend and fellow game designer Grant Howitt for inspiration, and restricted myself to standalone flash fiction stories, each the length of a […]

  23. […] Long episode where I lead the crew of User Friendly through a game of The Witch is Dead by Grant Howitt. check his work out at http://lookrobot.co.uk/games/ […]

  24. […] To download a copy of the game check out Goblin Quest on itch.io, or for more infomation on Grant Howitt’s other games visit lookrobot.co.uk. […]

  25. […] To download a copy of the game check out Goblin Quest on itch.io, or for more infomation on Grant Howitt’s other games visit lookrobot.co.uk. […]

  26. […] bear fighter a été écrit par Grant Howitt en une petite heure et s’avère, de son propre aveu, à peu près fonctionnel […]

  27. […] En este juego de gánsteres cada jugador asume el rol de un oso criminal con solo dos atributos: OSO y CRIMINAL. (Si, me estáis leyendo correctamente…osos…criminales…¡bien!). Este juego, como el anterior, esta previsto de unas tablas con detalles pre-generados. Los jugadores tiraran un par de dados de 6 caras para determinar el tipo de oso que son y alguna característica concreta. El máster por su parte también hará unas tiradas para determinar los detalles de la HoneyCon: la convención de miel en la que este crimen va a tener lugar (¡tal como lo veis!). Una vez estén los parámetros determinados, los osos tienen que intentar robar la miel y a ver como se las ingenian para liarla parda. El juego esta diseñado por Grant Howitt, que es conocido en este ámbito, y podéis encontrarlo aquí: http://lookrobot.co.uk/games/ […]

  28. […] En hurtig bemærkning: Flere af spillene, som er nævnt her, er lavet af Grant Howitt (One Last Job, Honey Heist, The Witch is Dead), og han har lavet en række andre hurtige, sjove spil, som I også bør tjekke ud. I kan finde dem her. […]

  29. Jordan Avatar
    Jordan

    Hey Grant!

    My friends and I love playing your one page rpgs like honey heist and crash pandas. They inspired me to make one of my own! If your interested, here’s a link to my reddit post about it: (https://www.reddit.com/r/rpg/comments/9qwd6y/veggie_raps_a_free_3page_rpg_where_quick_wits_and/).

    Thanks again for the incredibly creative games and inspiration!

  30. […] The Witch Is Dead: You’re a woodland creature. Avenge the murder of your friend the witch. Get a slicker, easier to read version here. One of several hand-written games by Grant Howitt. […]

  31. Anthony J Burch Avatar
    Anthony J Burch

    the link to Guild of Orpheus is dead, unfortunately.

    Also, I’ve played The Witch is Dead twice and it’s been utterly hilarious both times. Thanks so much for making these!

  32. Shannon Perkins Avatar
    Shannon Perkins

    Hey there,

    Is there a way to purchase the one page volumes on just PDF? I see they are on backorder and I’m in the US so I’d rather just have them digitally. Is this a thing? Thanks so much.

  33. Emily Avatar
    Emily

    Hi,

    I love the look of these and I’ve really enjoyed watching the Critical Role folks play some of them 🙂 I was interested in The Guild of Orpheus, but it looks like the link was swallowed when Google+ was ended. Is there anyway to get the instructions?

  34. […] The Witch Is Ineffective: You’re a woodland creature. Avenge the slay of your buddy the witch. Gain a slicker, less complicated to read model right here. One amongst loads of hand-written games by Grant Howitt. […]

  35. John Baumgarten Jr. Avatar
    John Baumgarten Jr.

    Grant,
    Love your stuff. I first learned about your work from Marisha Ray’s “Honey Heist” episodes on “Critical Role”. I recently saw one of your one shots for a horror game centered around Boy Scouts. I thought it was great. I am actually heavily involved in scouting here in the states. The BSA is actually working on adding RPG’s to their curriculum for kids who aren’t comfortable being with other people. A “Special Needs” type of scenario. I have been tasked to write up a rules set in regards to this. I was inspired by the game you had written. It is mostly all original ideas from myself, but there are aspects of your game mixed in here and there. I was wondering if it would be alright to publish said rules. I am happy to put a credit to you for inspiration on the rules set. As an artist myself, I don’t want to steal an idea. I’d like to give credit where it is due. I would appreciate it if you could back to me with any type of response, sir. I would appreciate it. Keep up the fantastic work.
    John B.

    1. Grant Howitt Avatar
      Grant Howitt

      Hi John,

      The one-page games are under Creative Commons with Attribution, so you can do what you like with it so long as you credit me as the original creator.

      Best of luck,

      – Grant

  36. […] Grant Howitt est un créateur de jeu de rôle que j'aime beaucoup. Auteur prolifique, comme en attestent ses nombreux jeux publiés, j'affectionne particulièrement sa série de jeux monopage (oui, c'est mon dada), tous très inventifs. […]

  37. Johan Hernandez Avatar

    Wow, awesome ideas! Loved “The witch is dead!”. Does the link for “THE GUILD OF ORPHEUS” is still available? it sends me to Google+ and that’s down since April 2019. I would love to share this page on my social network. Besides your Patreon/Twitter account, what can I share in a post? Can I translate it to Spanish & Italian?

    Keep the good work!

    1. grant Avatar
      grant

      I don’t have the images myself any more, I’m afraid! Looks like it’s lost.

      1. Johan Hernandez Avatar

        But is it available within your Patreon?

        1. grant Avatar
          grant

          It predates the Patreon, I think!

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