Character Creation: Maskwitches of Forgotten Doggerland

Yes, I'm on vacation, but we're basically done doin' stuff today, so what the heck, let's make a character.

The Game: Maskwitches of the Forgotten Doggerland
The Publisher: Handiwork Games
Degree of Familiarity: None
Books Required: Just the one

We're already starting on the back foot with this one, for three main reasons. First, there's no character sheet, and that always annoys me. Second, the title. What the fuck is this game about? What's a "Maskwitch?" Is that like a sandwich? What's a Doggerland? I kept calling it "Forbidden Doggerland" because that's as informative to me as "Forgotten" (that is to say, not). 

Finally, and this is the big one, the art in the book is all AI. Why did you buy this game, Matt? Well, it came out in 2022, before "generative AI" was really a term and before we really knew how shitty it was. There was a big craze for putting prompts into "Midjourney" and having it make art for you, and that's what this author did. The artwork in it isn't bad, I don't think, and I don't know that I'd call it "AI slop," but advertising a game with AI artwork now would definitely get a different reaction than it did then, I think.

OK, so what is this game? The "Doggerland" in the title is the land between the British Isles and Europe, where the North Sea is now. Some thousands of years ago, that was dry land, and people lived there. We don't know who they were...or what they were doing...no, that's druids. But same idea, we're taking that idea (people living in the Doggerland), saying that some of them are "maskwitches," kind of shaman-ish sorts of people who wear masks and confront troublesome spirits. There's a lot of discussion about what life is like for these people, which I appreciate, it definitely gives me a sense of how the game should play (and there's an example of play, so like, this game does some things right, for sure). 

So let's make a maskwitch! This is a really simple process. I need two things I'm good, two things I'm bad at, and a name and some details about me as a witch. There's a handy name generator in the book, so I think I'll use that. Rolling some dice, I get "Etjartato" as my name (sure, why not), and "Hard Red" as a nickname. Etjartato Hard-Red. Sounds like a real toughy. 

Let's say Etjartato was beaten within an inch of his life, bloodied, tossed down a hill (there's gotta be some), and climbed back up to finish the fight. By the time he got back up there, the blood had dried on his body, turning it a "hard red." 

Sounds good. So now I need two things I'm good at and two things I'm bad at. Let's say I'm good at fighting (duh) and good at suffering injuries. I'm bad at being merciful, and bad at noticing lies. 

And y'all, I think that's basically it. Etjartato's mask for fighting is stark, bone-white (the thinking is it'll get red by the end). He himself has lighter skin than a lot of the people here (still dark, but lighter). He hacks off his hair with a flint blade so he's got scars on his scalp, and he tends to pant a little when angry. 

That'll do it!

Etjartato Hard-Red

Good At: Fighting, Suffering Injuries
Bad At: Being Merciful, Noticing Lies
Magic Number: 2