Eat The H.I.V.E. TTRPG

EAT THE H.I.V.E. | ABATTOIR is a tabletop roleplaying game in which you play a pissed off commando hell bent on bringing down the fascist powers that have controlled the H.I.V.E. (a Huge Integrated Vertical Ecosystem) for thousands of years. Cut a brutal and violent path through bootlicking P.I.G.S. and the rich families they serve as you climb higher and higher aiming to remove the head. The Marquis must fall!

This EAT THE REICH hack is an ultraviolent game made to be played as a one shot over one to 3 sessions. During this time there will be murder, shootings, riots, revolution, dead fascists, arson, demolition and all manner of carnage as the Commandos RAGE kill their way to the top, stoke the fires of rebellion amongst the populace and get them to help you Eat the H.I.V.E.

Written and developed by David Whitworth (Modern Vaesen, Warhammer Fantasy), illustrated by Hamilton Ross (WraithBorn) and David Whitworth, additional writing and editing by Chris Handley (Wrath & Glory) and Crystal Mazur (Vampire the Masquerade).

Whats in the Book?

EAT THE H.I.V.E. | ABATTOIR  is a beautifully illustrated rulebook containing everything you need to get started:

A quick-to-learn D6 dice pool system - using the Havoc Engine - that encourages creative violence

6 pre-generated extreme killing machine Commandos

Enemy reinforcement rules to keep the Commandos engaged

Porcine themed enemies each with their own unique set of skills and acronyms for the Commandos to fully murder hobo

With High Level enemies to pepper throughout the campaign in the form of: H.O.G.S. - Hunters Of Government Serfs - extreme fascists who take great pleasure in hunting the populace for sport

A map of the Abattoir with locations galore to bring murder and mayhem to all who try to stop you reaching the Marquis

Commandos

Randar | The Weapons Expert: Born in the Deeps, but taken to the Games from a young age and trained in combat, fed just enough food so they can compete, but not enough to escape. They learned to fight and survive. When the revolution started, their holding pen rioted and many warriors escaped. Randar lends their skill to the cause.

Menfred | The Muscle: Once slave muscle used to protect the trade wagons, now the chains are broken, and the wagons are his to smash and free his fellow orks. Recruited to the Commandos for his pure strength and resilience. 

Nik | The Mechanic: The smallest of their brethren, small even for a Grobbez, Nik found they could sneak into the smallest of places. A natural talent for fixing (fixing can also mean breaking) things to help those in need, Nik is eager to please and help kill the assholes who murdered their tribe.

Grugnar | Explosives: Born off world, their clan and mining family were hunted for sport, and the survivors were brought to the Abattoir to mine the hardest minerals. A hardy, stout individual with a bone to pick. The noble fucks better not get in the way of their axe and demo charges.

Fink | The Chemist: Their innate ability to make and mix chemicals meant Fink was destined for the Reprocessing Plants. Reclaiming the minerals, amino acids, and fats involves many hazards, chemicals, and spills, and fumes from these noxious solvents do not lead to a long life. Fink knows their life has been cut short, but has vowed to take down as many fascists as they can before they go.

Jack | The Insider: Born in the Lower Mids, Jack was built strong; he joined the P.I.G.S. out of a sense of loyalty and honour. That quickly vanished after their first quelling of a riot where they were ordered to kill everyone. He questioned them, and in response they took his wife and kids for reconditioning. Now Jack kills the fascists in return and looks fucking fabulous doing it!

The Abattoir

The Abattoir, as it is known, is one of many Huge Integrated Vertical Ecosystems (H.I.V.E.s) on one of many thousands of worlds in the galaxy. A mega city home to millions, and ruthlessly controlled by a fascist dictator known as the Marquis. The lords and ladies who serve him live in splendor, luxury, and opulence at the heights of the Abattoir, whilst most of the inhabitants live in abject poverty, living only to feed the fascist gears of government above.

Rewards

PLEDGE LEVELS

ACCESS - £1

Gain Access to the Pledge Manager (currently planning PledgeBox)

RETAILER - £5

Gain access to a reserved RETAILER ONLY section of the Pledge Manager (currently planning PledgeBox). This will allow for Bulk Orders with 50% RRP and favourable shipping rates for larger orders.

DIGITAL - £15

• A PDF COPY ONLY of Eat the H.I.V.E. | Abattoir
• A printable set of Character Sheets

PHYSICAL - £25

• A PDF COPY of Eat the H.I.V.E. | Abattoir
• A PAPERBACK COPY of Eat the H.I.V.E. | Abattoir
• A printable set of Character Sheets

CUSTOM COMMANDO - £200

In this Limited Reward Tier, you get a Physical & Digital Copy of EAT THE H.I.V.E., but also a chance to have David & Hamilton work with you to design a custom Commando (Player Character) of your very own!

With Mechanics, Art & Layout all in the style of the book; which will be printed as a Character Sheet made from your creation!

Want to make a Beefed up Goblin with fairy wings? You got it!
Want to be a Cyborg Murder Chicken with an inferiority complex? Be my guest!
Want to be an amorphous blob with psychic powers? Step right in!

This is limited to 10 spots only!

• A Custom Commando Design & Layout with David & Hamilton
• A Printed Character Sheet of your creation!
• A PDF COPY of Eat the H.I.V.E. | Abattoir
• A PAPERBACK COPY of Eat the H.I.V.E. | Abattoir
• A printable set of Character Sheets for the standard Commando's

Stretch Goals

£1000 - FUNDED - UNLOCKED!

We fund this thing!

£1250 - d100 Loot Table - UNLOCKED

A d100 Loot Table is added to the core book, with loads of awesome gear to find in the HIVE

£1500  - Stories From the Abattoir Part 1 - UNLOCKED

Chris, Crystal & Hamilton will be contributing to a Digital Only (PDF) Zine of Short Stories that will accompany every order of Eat The H.I.V.E.

£2000  - Stories From the Abattoir Part 2 - UNLOCKED

Guest Writers Josh Wakerley (Hive Mind Games Co.) Travis Legge (Curseborne, Mage: The Ascension) & Rachel Judd (Stolen Fires)will be contributing to our Digital Only (PDF) Zine of Short Stories that will accompany every order of Eat The H.I.V.E.

£2500  - MORE ART Part 1  - UNLOCKED

We will get a number of unique pieces from the Munda Man himself UNDERHIVE ART AKA Carl Johnston! https://www.instagram.com/carl_r_johnston 

£2750  - Paper Standee's PDF - UNLOCKED

Every copy of Eat The H.I.V.E. will get a printable PDF of cut-out 28mm standees for your tabletop games of ETH!

£3000  - Stories From the Abattoir Part 3

If we unlock this Stretch Goal we can get these incredibly talented folk to lend their voice to the peoples of the Abattoir...

Rick Heinz of The StoryTellers Forge, and known for their TTRPG The Black Ballad

Sarah Kennedy who has worked on so much from Dungeon Crawler Carl TTRPG to Star Trek Adventures to My Little Pony TTRPG, as well as her own games such as Heckin' Good Doggos and No Star Too Far.

Eloy Lasanta of Third Eye Games, known for games such as Apocalypse Prevention & The Ninja Crusade.

£3500  - PRINTED ZINE

£4000+ = SECRETS YET TO BE ANNOUNCED!

NOTE ON STRETCH GOALS + ADDITIONAL ART

We are proposing to limit Stretch Goals so as to make sure we don't hinder the production of the book. However, some of these do include further art for the book, and will require time to finalise.

As such, our plan is to deliver the PDF to you as soon as possible, even before any updates are made, so you can get playing as soon as possible, with the updated file to be delivered when the art is finalised. At this point we will then go to print.

NOTE ON ADD-ONS + PLEDGEMANAGER

We do have some ideas for further artefacts + Add-ons, and you will be able to buy other products from Theatre Macabre + Darker Days Radio in the Pledge Manager.

But, these will only come online if we hit certain goals, and will ONLY ever be available in the Pledge Manager, we will not be adding any further Rewards.

SHIPPING INFO + COSTS

Pledge Manager: After the campaign, our fulfilment Partner will be dealing with Shipping. Shipping fees will be calculated and collected via the Pledge Manger (Currently considering PledgeBox). You will receive an email from from the team once the system is set up which will outline the process.

Currently the intent is to will be ship everything from the UK to you, however this could be adjusted if unit counts allow for region based shipping. All postage will be Tracked. 

Once all printed material is ready your products will be shipped to you. 

Shipping Costs & Fees: Below are a series of estimated Shipping costs that refer to a singular package including ONLY a Physical Copy of EAT THE H.I.V.E. These can be subject to changes due to Tariffs and other elements outside of our control until fulfilment begins. We will keep you updated if anything does change and will aim to limit the impact on yourselves.

UK - £7 | EU - £14 | US - £16 | Rest of World - £18

Hard Cut-Off: As we can't keep your items in storage forever, you will have 3 months to claim any of your physical rewards, after the Pledge Manger is open. If you don't complete the Pledge Manager information within this timeframe, you will forfeit your items! We will make you aware of this at the time the Pledge Manager open, and will aim to keep you updated on this deadline.

Links

Catch an AP over on Stolen Fires:

Chat with the team about what we did and why:

Music to rise up to:

The Team

David Whitworth: (writer, developer) A half crazed caffeine addicted academic known to lurk in various corners of the world at any given time. Full of ADHD caffeine fueled nonsense, he wrote Eat the HIVE in less than a month. Having also worked in Games Workshop with Chris back in the early 2000’s they have worked on the Warhammer RPGs and spent much time writing weird gothic horror stories for Vaesen. Hamilton Ross: (artist) Bored of being stuck in the dark infinite void of corporate design, Hamilton decided to start designing dark infinite voids to roleplay in. Having worked on a number of D&D supplements, before jumping into the grim world of Mork Borg zines with Demon Slayer, Omen of the Blood God & more recently the standalone game WraithBorn. Alongside these adventures, he created the D&D Gameshow Dragons Duel & its many forms.

Chris Handley: (writer, editor) Somehow works on multiple projects while keeping down a day job, this former academic spent the early 2000s working part-time with David in a Games Workshop store while studying for his degree. Chris is an Ennie award winning writer, who has worked on many Warhammer RPGs (Wrath and Glory, WHFRPG 4e, Warhammer: the Old World, Age of Sigmar: Soulbound), Iron Kingdoms: Requiem RPG, Vampire the Masquerade 5e, Kult, and more. Chris is also developer for the upcoming rpg, Trashumanism, from the musician Le Destroy, and when not working on RPGs, he is painting even more wargames miniatures and podcasting. 

Crystal Mazur: (editor, sensitivity reader)

Rumours are that Crystal is actually haunted, often found wondering haunted abandoned buildings in the Midwest. Asides from being very likely half in this world and half in the other Crystal is also an Ennie award winning writer, having written and now lead developer for the Ennie award winning PIP system. She has also contributed to Vampire the Masquerade, Cyberpunk RED, Never Going Home and The Black Ballad.

Play testers: Tom Murr, Ben Walker, Paul Smith, Ambrose Neat, Stephen Greene 

This project is all 100% Human Made, with no use of Generative AI in any of its art, layout or writing.

Legals

EAT THE H.I.V.E. | ABATTOIR is an independent production by Theatre Macabre and is not affiliated with Rowan, Rook and Decard or Will Kirkby. It is published under the RR&D Community License.

The ‘Eat The Reich’ game is copyright © 2023 Rowan, Rook and Decard. All artwork in the game is copyright © 2023 Will Kirkby. You can find out more and support these games at rowanrookanddecard.com