Simon Birks' Gamebooks for Foundry VTT

Simon Birks' Gamebooks for Foundry VTT

Five gamebooks where your decisions shape the story. Venture into Innsmouth, face the cultists of Cthulhu, explore the caves of the Pajoli, and challenge yourself with the three adventures in Monuments!

Hod Publishing is bringing Simon Birks' five gamebooks, originally published by Blue Fox Comics, to Foundry VTT, with an automated system that handles your character's stats, combat, ammunition, rations, and more. You make the decisions, and the system handles the rest!

Foundry VTT is a virtual tabletop platform available through a one-time licence purchase. Used by many groups to play online, it also provides the tools we need to automate the gamebooks’ rules. Although Foundry is primarily used for group play, we are creating these modules to reproduce the behaviour and feeling of playing a gamebook alone!

What is a Gamebook?

Also known as interactive fiction, a gamebook is a multi-threaded story, which allows the player (you!) to make decisions for the protagonist (also you!).

Each section of text (aka a paragraph) has a number before it. The first, and starting, paragraph of the book is numbered 1. The paragraphs that follow it are sequentially numbered but do not follow on. If you tried to read it like a normal book, it wouldn’t make any sense.

At the end of each paragraph, you will be faced either with:

• No choice (you have died)
• Return to the paragraph you noted previously.
• One choice, turn to n paragraph.
• Or a series of two or more choices

In the last instance, you get to choose the next action. Read the paragraph text fully; in places, the book is written with subtle clues as to the possible outcomes of the actions.

The Foundry VTT modules

All the modules will work with the brand-new system, Gamebooks, developed by Hod Publishing. The system provides a common foundation without being tied to any specific gamebook. Each module builds upon that foundation and implements the rules of its own book, allowing us to support other gamebooks with different rules in the future.

While you focus on the story, the system controls everything else for you, including ammunition, damage and health, rations, and effects that are applied to your character.

What do you need to play?

These modules are designed for solo play, without a GM or other players. You will need your own Foundry VTT licence, which is not included in the rewards. If you don't have one, you can get it from the official Foundry VTT website.

The Gamebooks system developed by Hod Publishing is available for free. You don't need the original books or PDFs, as all the content needed to play is included in the modules. PDF copies of the books are not included.

We are developing the system and modules for Foundry VTT v14, with plans to update them for v15 when it is released. Foundry has announced a mobile framework for v15, and we are particularly interested in using it to bring these gamebooks to your phone! Our aim is to adapt the Gamebooks system and modules for mobile play once the framework is available and we can test the experience.

Innsmouth: The Stolen Child

Venture into shadowed Innsmouth in this module and locate and rescue a kidnapped child from the clutches of the mysterious townsfolk!

Will you get out alive?

"an atmospheric gamebook about Innsmouth which captures the feel of Lovecraft's "The Shadow over Innsmouth" as you trudge through the sinister town on your way to finding a lost child. Without giving too much away, all those classic places including the docks, the first national store and the wonderfully bleak Gilman House hotel, are presented in great detail and accompanied by some errie illustrations. Long story short, great fun to play and a brilliant capture of Lovecraft's dreary town."
- Review left on Amazon for Innsmouth: The Stolen Child

The Curse of Cthulhu Books 1 & 2

The year is 1913, and you play a private investigator sent to retrieve a strange idol from a remote Scottish island. Only problem is, the island is inhabited by cultists who'd rather see you perish than give up their sacred statue.

"I picked this up at the UKGE (UK Games Expo) and got it signed by Simon himself. I love all things Cthulhu and haven't played a choose your own adventure in years. It was so much fun, I died a few times and ended up doing the final run though with my husband, we really enjoyed it but now I can't wait for the second book to come out!!"
- Review left on Amazon for The Curse of Cthulhu Book 1

The Arcane Rites: Cult of the Pajoli

Your ward has been taken by the power-hungry Pajoli, and you must venture into their caves to rescue her!

A classic fantasy dungeon-crawl gamebook full of monsters and traps!

Monuments: A Branching Narrative

Three adventures in one book - Storm the tower, survive a sabotage in space, and work out the puzzles in an escape-tomb!

Can you beat all 3?

Rewards

You can get individual modules or the full collection as rewards. The All-In Bundle offers an additional discount compared to getting all five titles individually.

Estimated delivery: January 2027.

Individual Gamebook: £10

Choose one of the five gamebooks as a complete Foundry VTT module. There is a separate reward for each title, making it easy to select the story you want to play! If you want more than one module, but not the full collection, select one title as your reward and add the others as add-ons.

All-In Bundle – Complete Collection: £45

Receive all five Foundry VTT modules:

• Innsmouth: The Stolen Child
• The Curse of Cthulhu Book 1
• The Curse of Cthulhu Book 2
• The Arcane Rites: Cult of the Pajoli
• Monuments: A Branching Narrative

All-In Bundle – Early Bird: £39

For the first 48 hours of the campaign, the complete collection of all five Foundry VTT modules will be available for £39. This reward contains the same five modules as the standard All-In Bundle.

Important Reward Information

The Kickstarter rewards contain the Foundry VTT modules only. PDF editions and printed books are not included. A Foundry VTT licence is required to install and play the modules and is not included in the rewards. All modules and their journals will be presented in English only.

No AI-Generated content

The gamebooks were created by Simon Birks and the original book contributors.

The Foundry VTT modules use human-created content from the original books and are being developed by Hod Publishing without AI-generated artwork, writing, or game content.

About Simon Birks and Blue Fox Comics

Simon Birks is an award-winning writer and co-founded Blue Fox Comics.

He's written 5 gamebooks: The Curse of Cthulhu 1 & 2, The Arcane Rites: Cult of the Pajoli, Innsmouth: The Stolen Child and Monuments: A Branching Narrative, available on this Kickstarter. His sixth book is coming soon, and it will have a version on Foundry too! That sixth book is not included in this campaign's rewards.

His comic titles include the comics Antarctica and The Thing on the Doorstep from Image & Top Cow, Robyn, Gone, Hexes, Sinners, The Girl in the Midnight Gown and The Shadow Over Innsmouth, which have all successfully raised funds for printing using the Kickstarter platform.

About Hod Publishing

Hod Publishing specialises in high-fidelity Foundry VTT adaptations for tabletop roleplaying games.

We build digital modules designed to make games easier to run, with structured journals, prepared scenes, configured actors, integrated handouts, rollable tables, automation where appropriate, and careful attention to the look and feel of the original book.

Across our work, we have developed 8 Foundry VTT game systems, currently maintain 5 additional systems, and have created almost 100 Foundry VTT modules. Our work includes modules and systems released under our own publishing account, as well as development work for publishers such as Free League and Absolute Tabletop.

Projects we have worked on include official Foundry VTT content for The One Ring, Blade Runner RPG, Coriolis: The Great Dark, Invincible, Vaesen, and Aether Nexus.

Why Kickstarter?

Kickstarter gives backers a direct way to support official Foundry VTT adaptations of already-released gamebooks.

Many excellent books already exist in print or PDF, but adapting them into ready-to-run Foundry VTT modules requires focused development work. A campaign like this helps us evaluate the right scale for that work, while giving backers a clear way to support the adaptations directly.

It also gives us room to consider Foundry-specific improvements where possible. If the campaign receives strong support, we may be able to expand the modules with additional digital features, polish, or usability improvements designed specifically for Foundry VTT.

The goal is intentionally modest. The original gamebooks already exist and are fully written and illustrated, and this campaign is digital-only, with no physical manufacturing, packaging, or shipping.

This is a chance to help bring the whole collection from Simon Birks to Foundry VTT, receive the modules at a lower price than the planned store MSRP, and support a model that can make more official Foundry VTT adaptations possible in the future.

After creating nearly 100 Foundry VTT modules and working across multiple systems, Hod Publishing has built the experience, tools, and workflow needed to approach this project with confidence.

In the week after the campaign ends, we will open the Pledge Manager. During the Pledge Manager, you will be able to increase your pledge and get additional rewards. Depending on your country, you may need to pay VAT in the pledge manager.

Rewards will be delivered through Hod Publishing’s key distribution system, with delivery information sent directly to backers by email. Backers receiving an individual gamebook will receive a key for that module. Backers receiving the complete collection will receive one bundle key that unlocks all five modules. The key can be activated through the backer’s account on the Foundry VTT website, after which the included modules can be installed through Foundry VTT.

Delivery Schedule

Three of the five modules are already implemented, and we are targeting delivery of all five modules in January 2027. Our first fulfilment wave is planned for 8 January 2027, shortly after the Pledge Manager closes. This wave will include all five modules, so backers receiving the complete collection will receive access to the whole collection together. Backers who complete the Pledge Manager later will be included in additional weekly fulfilment waves. These dates are estimates, and we will keep backers informed throughout the fulfilment process.