Hexingtide (Early Access)

Devlog

• Hexingtide's Spring 2026 Online One-Shots: Sign Ups Now Open!
  March 16, 2026 by Will Phillips

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  The road to Hexingtide’s autumn launch is officially open. Thank you all for your continued interest and for sharing your scheduling preferences in the recent survey. Based on that feedback, I’m e... Continue reading

  
• Launching the Hexingtide Playtest Email List & Closing the Discord
  February 22, 2026 by Will Phillips

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  TL;DR: Hexingtide is entering its final development phase. The core rules in Playtest 4 (version 0.4.6) are stable. I am shifting away from Discord to a dedicated mailing list to work closely with a c... Continue reading

  
• Online Playtest Days & Times - Your Feedback Requested!
  February 14, 2026 by Will Phillips

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  A very brief note regarding 🎃𝐇𝐄𝐗𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐓𝐈𝐃𝐄 (rare from me, I know!): I am prepping for once or twice a month online playtest one-shots this spring and into summer. I'd lik... Continue reading
• Hexingtide's "Iconic Protagonists" - Its Five Pregen Characters are Now Available!
  January 25, 2026 by Will Phillips

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  As a part of Hexingtide's current playtest iteration, #4, I'm releasing the five "Iconic Protagonists." These pregen characters should help new players and GMs with both the game's mechanics and as ex... Continue reading

  
• Hexingtide's RandomWorlds Discord Live Q&A Tonight, Jan 12, 7:30-9:30pm CST (UTC-6)
  January 12, 2026 by Will Phillips

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  📢 LIVE DISCORD Q&A 📢 Join me for the Randomworlds Discord Q&A series to discuss my in-playtesting #ttrpg of Minimalist Monstrous Roleplaying, 🎃 𝐇𝐄𝐗𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐓𝐈𝐃𝐄! Ask m... Continue reading

  
• Santa & Krampus: Hexingtide Pregen Characters for Christmas 2025
  December 24, 2025 by Will Phillips

  It is Christmas Eve, and I wish you a happy holiday season! While I’m working on – and revising – what I aim to become the definitive, “iconic” pregen characters for Hexingtide, I wanted to... Continue reading

  
• Thanks for your interest in Hexingtide Playtest 4! Over 600 downloads!
  December 03, 2025 by Will Phillips

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  A brief expression of thanks to all who have downloaded the Playtest 4 update over the last week - took the game to the top of Itch's charts for a few days! 600 downloads 1,000 page views of the Itch... Continue reading

  
• At Long Last, Hexingtide Playtest 4 Is Here
  November 24, 2025 by Will Phillips

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  It’s finally here! I’m thrilled to announce that Hexingtide Playtest 4 is now available. It has been a long road since Playtest 3 dropped, and I’ll admit to battling major design block and burno... Continue reading

  
• Eight-Page Hexingtide Gameplay Chapter Preview!
  October 14, 2025 by Will Phillips

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  #playtest

  After far too long in the crypt, I’m thrilled to finally share the next major preview for Hexingtide’s upcoming Playtest 4: the Gameplay chapter . Written primarily for the game master (or in Hexi... Continue reading

  
• Upcoming Playtest 4 Pregen Characters Update
  August 18, 2025 by Will Phillips

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  #playtest, #pregens

  Tonight, I'm focused on a crucial, and often underrated, part of the game design process: the pregenerated character. For a game built on a brand-new ruleset, pregens are the fast track to the fun. Wh... Continue reading

  
• Hexingtide One-Shot, this Saturday Aug. 16th in St. Louis, MO!
  August 12, 2025 by Will Phillips

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  #playtest, #one-shot

  Looking for something new to play this weekend? Hexingtide is a spooky, rules-lite RPG where players take on the role of monsters inspired by folkore, literature, and pop culture. This Saturday, you c... Continue reading

  
• Hexingtide's Playtest 4 Extended Preview Is Here
  July 01, 2025 by Will Phillips

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  The monsters are stirring… and so is the next chapter of Hexingtide. I’m excited to release Hexingtide’s Playtest 4 Extended Preview : a meaty snapshot of what’s coming in the full Playtest... Continue reading

  
• Hexingtide: Back in Development as of June 2025
  June 07, 2025 by Will Phillips

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  #playtest, #news

  (This devlog is crossposted from my tabletop blog: tabletop.willphillips.org/2025/06/hexingtide-back-in-development-as-of-june-2025/ TL;DR? Work on Hexingtide is starting up again. Playtest 4 actually... Continue reading

  
• Custom Dice Trays for Hexingtide
  January 22, 2024 by Will Phillips

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  Last year, Hexingtide moved from having a set of three dice attributes down to a single one called "Inhumanity." This is been a pretty great change for gameplay, to be honest: choose a die size for yo... Continue reading

  
• 🎅 Playtest 4 Character Creation + Core Dice Mechanics Preview: a Merry Monstrous Christmas!
  December 24, 2023 by Will Phillips

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  Hexingtide's Playtest 4 is still a month or two away, but here's a holiday gift from me to you. A rules sneak peak: updated character creation rules and core dice mechanics of Power and Portent Checks... Continue reading

  
• Hexingtide is One of the Most Popular Physical Game Downloads on Itch? 🤯
  December 21, 2023 by Will Phillips

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  A few days ago I shared new character sheets as a sneak peak of playtest #4 for 🦇 HEXINGTIDE 🦇, my game of Minimalist Monstrous Roleplaying… …then THIS HAPPENS? Wow. Unexpected! 🙏 Curious... Continue reading

  
• Hexingtide Playtest 4 Character Sheets Sneak Peak
  December 19, 2023 by Will Phillips

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  #playtest, #playtest 4, #character sheets

  A short, but welcome, update! Work continues on the Playtest 4 release of Hexingtide , my game of Minimalist Monstrous Roleplaying. After this January’s burnout and letting the project sit on the ba... Continue reading

  
• Friday the 13th Hexingtide Design & Playtest Update
  October 14, 2023 by Will Phillips

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  A brief, but important update on the current state of Hexingtide! (What's that? My minimalist TTRPG of monster stories and monster protagonists. Inspired by Hellboy, the World of Darkness, and a whole... Continue reading

  
• Hexingtide Typo Updates in v0.33... and Playtest Sessions in June & July
  May 09, 2023 by Will Phillips

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  v0.33 has been uploaded to Itch. This is a very minor update focused on a handful of typos, removing reference to Peril Dice (the early dice-as-attributes system that has been superseded by the singul... Continue reading
• Introducing The Devil's Brand + a Hexingtide Update
  April 25, 2023 by Will Phillips

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  In addition to a chaotic professional life, 2022 saw a lot of hustle and grind work going into Hexingtide. To be honest, I released the third playtest in January and immediately hit a wall of burnout... Continue reading
• Hexingtide Playtest 3: NOW AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD
  January 15, 2023 by Will Phillips

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  (This post is also available on my tabletop gaming blog at: https://tabletop.willphillips.org/2023/01/hexingtide-playtest-3-now-available/ .) After several months, lots of playtest sessions (with my h... Continue reading

  
• Playtest 3 Sneak Preview: Character Creation Files!
  January 09, 2023 by Will Phillips

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  #playtest, #sneak preview, #update

  The full release for Playtest 3 is coming this week! Excited? I am. To tide you over, I'm happy to share this sneak preview: The updated character creation rules Three PDF versions of the 8.5" x 11" U... Continue reading

  
• Online Hexingtide One-Shot January 15th: Signups Open!
  January 04, 2023 by Will Phillips#games

  WHO WANTS IN ON A MONSTER TTRPG ONE-SHOT? ✋ 🙋 ✋ 🙋 ✋ Join guest GM William (@kiltedfiend on Twitter) Sunday Jan 15th from 1:00-5:00pm EST for a game of 🎃HEXINGTIDE 🎃, a TTRPG of Minim... Continue reading

  
• Hexingtide Two-Part Actual Play with Damn Good Games!
  November 14, 2022 by Will Phillips#actual play

  I was excited to spend the first two Wednesdays of November 2022 with Geoff and Don of Damn Good Games livestreaming an actual play of Hexingtide (using its current Playtest 2 rules; Playtest 3 coming... Continue reading

  
• Sign Up for Online HEXINGTIDE Games in Nov, Dec, & Jan!
  November 08, 2022 by Will Phillips

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  People have asked, and I'm happy to say it's official! Online playtests of 🦇HEXINGTIDE🦇 are back! (My TTRPG of Minimalist Monstrous Roleplaying!) Join @WorthASandwich in Nov, @kiltedfiend in Dec... Continue reading

  
• Hexingtide Fall 2022 Update: Playtest 3 Date, Streams & Podcasts, Facebook Group
  October 30, 2022 by Will Phillips

  I released the second public playtest for Hexingtide in July 2022, and in the four months since have been playtesting regularly. There’s a lot cool stuff happening soon with the game, and it’s tim... Continue reading

  
• 0.25 Pregen Character + a Hexingtide DISCORD!
  August 12, 2022 by Will Phillips

  ----- Join the BRAND NEW HEXINGTIDE DISCORD HERE: https://discord.gg/ebzJV7sx ----- Playtest 0.2 Pregen Characters With the recent release of Hexingtide’s second public playtest , I pulled the first... Continue reading

  
• Hexingide Playtest 0.25 Update
  July 28, 2022 by Will Phillips

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  Playtest v0.25 is live! This update includes some minor revisions and alterations to a few rules, plus a handful of editing fixes (typos and punctuation, oh my!). Current character sheets remains vali... Continue reading

  
• Hexingtide Playtest #2 is Now Available!
  July 18, 2022 by Will Phillips#playtest

  After a few months of in-person and online playtesting (and various side quests in the Real World) I'm happy to release Playtest #2 of Hexingtide - the minimalist TTRPG rules for monster heroes, inspi... Continue reading

  
• Playtest 0.20 Core Mechanics Feedback
  May 28, 2022 by Will Phillips

  ( This devlog is cross-posted to my gaming blog at tabletop.willphillips.org. ) I’ve introduced a new set of attributes for player characters called “Perils,” which is designed to further differ... Continue reading

  
• Summer Playtest One-Shots: June 2, June 12, & July 7
  May 16, 2022 by Will Phillips

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  #playtesting, #sessions

  Things have been quiet over the past few months as I've recently taken on a new job. My focus has been there (as you can imagine). Now that I feel I've gotten my feet under me, I'm beginning playtesti... Continue reading

  
• Hexingtide Google Sheets Character Keeper now Available!
  February 05, 2022 by Will Phillips

  ( Cross-posted to my tabletop gaming blog. ) The use of Google Sheets-based "character keepers" has become a popular option for GMs across the TTRPG hobby. What began with online D&D and in various in... Continue reading

  
• Join Me for a Playtest One-Shot, Friday Feb. 11th!
  February 01, 2022 by Will Phillips

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  #playtest

  UPDATE: Calendars are hard. Playtest session is Friday the 11th, not the 12th. If you've checked out the rules and would like to join me for a playtest one-shot, here's your first chance! Join me next... Continue reading

  
• Q&A + Character Creation Walkthrough, 27 January, 8:30 EST
  January 26, 2022 by Will Phillips

  Checked out the rules and interested in learning more? Have questions? Considering playtesting the game? Join me Thursday night, 27 January, at 8:30 EST / 5:30 PST for a Q&A session followed by a grou... Continue reading

  
• Public Playtest is Now Live!
  January 22, 2022 by Will Phillips

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  I'm happy to share that the public playtest for Hexingtide has gone live! Now available for download: 12 page 8.5" x 5.5" zine rulebook which includes a character sheet on the back cover (PDF) Double... Continue reading