Forsaken Gods is a year old!

Forsaken Gods is now a year old, and what a journey it’s already been. Here’s a little text on how it all started—and where it’s headed next.

It all began last May. I was toying with the idea of creating a set of wargaming rules to simulate the kind of combat described in The Iliad—where brave warriors charge forth and enemies flee before their might.

When I first started testing the rules, I couldn’t stop there. I thought, Why not create a fantasy setting for this game too? (Because apparently I love giving myself more work.)

My plan was for it to be a small side project. Inspired by The Iliad, I envisioned bronze-armored heroes fighting for eternal glory. I initially called it Barrow Kings.

These early characters were somewhat Viking-inspired—I’m an incurable Norwegian, after all—and they eventually evolved into the Sea Raiders. But of course, they needed someone to terrorize.

Enter: the elves. I’m not exactly sure how they became cruel overlords, but I’ve always been fascinated by the myth of Atlantis. The idea of an advanced, sea-faring civilization subjugating others just felt right.

I started posting some lore on X (formerly Twitter), with no clear direction in mind. The story grew organically, post by post. The only goal was to give a thematic reason for the game to be small-scale skirmish-based.

The concept of a world shattered by a spiteful, intentional cataclysm seemed like a fun idea—and from that, the Cursing King was born. Writing lore one post at a time gave me a nice chronological structure to follow.

I threw in everything that fascinated me, and the short tweet format allowed me to be vague enough to revisit ideas later and flesh them out—without writing myself into a corner from the start.

Though I loved Lord of the Rings and Warhammer as a kid, I’ve never been especially into fantasy in general. My main interest has always been history and myth—and that’s where most of my inspiration comes from.

By grounding the aesthetic and cultures in real historical examples, I hoped to make the world feel believable—so that the fantastical elements would feel grounded too.

After a year of building this world, I feel the fundamentals are now in place. That makes it easier to build outward. My focus moving forward will be fleshing it out even further.

I’ve introduced characters and concepts that will play a larger role down the line, as well as some elements that will become more significant as the setting evolves.

There are some major events on the horizon that will shape the narrative, but my main goal is for this to be a setting for your stories, rather than one that rushes toward a fixed plot.

That said, the world can’t remain static—so some things must happen as we continue to explore this cursed land.

Beyond the lore, I’m also working on new rules for the wargame, and I hope to continue producing new miniatures as well.

More concrete goals include publishing a lore book—maybe through Kickstarter? I’m also working on a visual exploration of the setting, covering details that don’t quite fit into the main book.

There really are endless possibilities for where this project could go, and the overwhelming support it has already received makes me incredibly excited for the future.

To you, my patrons: you’re the reason I can take more time each day to develop this project. If I’m lucky, I hope to be able to work on it full-time at some point in the future.

Thank you to everyone who’s helped and supported me. Huge thanks to houndhammer for his fantastic sculpts. And thanks to all of you—for helping bring this world to life.