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a|state: A “Looming Sort of Dream”

Kathleen R.

In this post, we talk with Morgan Davie, one of the creators working on the roleplaying game a|state, now on Kickstarter!

Meet the Creator: Morgan

Kia ora Kathleen! Thanks for talking with me!

Can you give us a quick overview of a|state, for the uninitiated?

a|state is a cult classic RPG that came out of Scotland almost 20 years ago. The game’s vivid setting and striking visuals made a huge impression on people looking for something outside the usual.

The game is set entirely within a sprawling sci-fi city of Dickensian inequality, with sputtering gas lamps, winding canals, and dodgy electricity in the shadows of beautiful high-tech towers. The players are an unlikely alliance fighting to protect their corner of the city from ruin.


What makes a|state really unique?

I like to call it anti-Thatcher sparks-and-knives SF, which captures some of the energy of the game. It’s entirely about society breaking down as the social contract comes under pressure, and the struggle required to keep it together. It isn’t cyberpunk or steampunk or any other kind of punk, it’s entirely its own thing. The game is also steeped in a kind of dreamlike (or maybe nightmarish) sense of mystery, with supernatural entities that may or may not exist hovering at the edges, and urban legends running wildly out of control.

This second edition of the game brings in the Forged in the Dark rules system, a collaborative fiction-led system that makes it easy for GMs to improvise and go in unexpected directions. We’ve built in a strong set of rules to bring the struggle for your corner alive, with different factions vying for control and lingering questions of trust among allies.

What was the original inspiration for a|state?

The original game came out of Malcolm Craig’s imagination as he contemplated dense urban environments like London and Glasgow, and cross-pollinated battles for workers rights with moody films like Dark City and City of Lost Children. Paul Bourne’s digital artwork, utterly groundbreaking at the time and even more powerful now, brought those ideas to stunning life using visual inspiration from all kinds of cities, real and fictional. 


What was the inspiration for the second version?

Those vivid touchpoints are still here in second edition, and it’s still about the same things it was always about. We’ve brought the game back mostly on the strength of Gregor Hutton’s insight that the Forged in the Dark rules system was ready-made to do justice to The City in a way the original version had never quite managed.

Will there be a third at some point? ;) 

Ha! Seriously though, this is going to be the definitive edition. Honestly, it’s pretty damn special. 


What’s one tip you have for GMs who are new to a|state? And for players?

My tip for both GM and players is the same: go into corner creation ready to celebrate each others’ ideas. At the start of a game, everyone works together to design the corner, the part of The City that all the characters come from and want to defend. Everyone has a say, everyone makes contributions, and together you build a world that you will come to care about. We all play games like this to enjoy each other’s company and creative imagination, and this is where you get to use that collaboration to lay a foundation for everything that follows. 

Tell us a bit about your team--who are you and how did you meet?

The project is being produced by Handiwork Games, with Jon Hodgson at the helm, managing all the business stuff and contributing an enormous amount of creative leadership too, not to mention some art! 

Jon’s assembled a whole bunch of a|state originals. Paul Bourne was a co-creator of a|state and is now part of Handiwork, and his breathtaking urban landscapes are a signature of the setting. Malcolm Craig, the other co-creator, is back to lead the redesign of The City. The game system work is by me with heaps of support from Gregor Hutton, both of us a|state folks from back in the day as well. There’s also Scott Purdy contributing some crucial artwork to explore the look and feel of people in The City, and Handiwork’s marketing expert Danie Ware rounds out the team.

It’s a great crew and I’m delighted to be involved! I met Malcolm and Gregor around the time of a|state 1e’s release and they both became lifelong friends, and later I got to know Jon and Paul working on some other RPG projects. Thanks to this history there’s a lot of trust and understanding in the team, and it means we’re all able to push hard on making this the best it can possibly be.

How did you get involved in gaming?

Everyone has their own origin story! Mine is being introduced to D&D by an aunt, who also demonstrated the flexible nature of RPGs by having her character throw up after coming upon a grisly battle scene. It was a revelation: you can do anything in these games! I’ve never looked back, and I still love exploring every corner of RPGs and story games and everything related.

What’s been the most challenging part of bringing the second version of a|state to life?

Definitely the most challenging part is living up to the legacy of the original game. It’s such a unique piece of work, and so fondly remembered, we really needed to ensure this new edition captures everything that made the original special while also delivering the experience better than ever. And we’ve nailed it, too, this game plays like a dream. A scary, flooded, looming sort of dream.

What’s one peculiar or fun fact about a|state or the team that we should know?

I’m in New Zealand and the rest of the team are scattered around the UK (mostly in Scotland), so our time zones are pretty much directly opposite each other. This means at any given moment of the day, someone in the team is probably awake and working on a|state!


Anything else?

Thanks for the chance to chat about a|state! It’s on Kickstarter until Friday 20th August!


Interested in learning more and playing a|state? Follow the various creators using the links below and DEFINITELY get in and back the Kickstarter before August 20th!!