The Darkest Forest
Map of Transylvania and its regions outlined in red. I recommend opening it in a new tab so you can zoom in and see the city and village names.
Map of Transylvania and its regions outlined in red. I recommend opening it in a new tab so you can zoom in and see the city and village names.
Introduction
In the year of our Lord, 1850, Transylvania. A dark mist has swept over Europe. Rumours of wicked communes of witches, warlocks and other unholy critters spread across an ever expanding world through steam, telegraph and paper by its own. The age of wonder, the age of adventures, but as Man begin to illuminate the world, its streets and its cities; it is the sinister tales of old that are starting to resurface for real.
Here in this land, the evil seem to resonate the strongest. It is here the order of the Silver Sword would convene and set up its base. Funded by influential people across industrialised Europe, who’s taken great care to still work in the shadows, it’s funded for one reason and one reason only. To keep the evil creatures at bay, and shut down the wicked Maws that seek to swallow our world. Here in Transylvania, men and women, regardless of race, creed or religion, shall gather to fight back the deluge that looms in the horizon. Here in Transylvania, the battle between the living and the undead, will begin.
Welcome to Transylvania!
Description
You play as a single character, arriving in Transylvania to fight for the Order. You bring no coin, only what belongings can fit in a single coffer, in pursuit of whatever ambitions you may have. It could be for fame, it could be for wealth, it could be for the simple reason that you want to do what is right. Or… To become the very evil which you were summoned to quell.
You start as one of four different classes. Duelist, Marksman, Inventor or Chemist. At the start of your journey, you’re not very strong at all. A greenhorn some would say, Level 1 tutorial stage some others may call it. Through quests and actions you gather experience, new weapons, equipment or secret plans for machinations beyond your wildest dreams.
Level 1 is as basic as it gets. You go out into the forest to farm boars or infiltrate and root out small gatherings of the occult in your journey to become stronger. For those bigger, epic quests, you may need the help of other adventurers, perhaps of all classes combined for better result. Who knows? Maybe at the end of the journey, you will be sitting in a castle of your very own. Creating mad tinctures in the cellar, looking down upon your servants from a high throne, or simply shoot pheasants from your castle tower for laughs!
As the mystery of the dark forces creeping out of the earthly crust begin to dawn and start to skulk the nights of Transylvania, you may choose another path entirely. Maybe you will become a social savant vampire, who rules over the animals of the wilds, and feast upon the blood of innocents to gain strength in battle? Maybe you’ll be a werewolf, a ferocious shapeshifter that takes the appearance of a beast, and the strength ten times that of a man? Maybe you’ll be a necromancer, devoted to see the followers of darkness stay undead and healthy? Maybe you’ll be a Lich, and rain hell upon your enemies that refuse to live in the shade, working in the shadows to deal plots and subterfuge your foe?
Classes
Duelist
The duelist is the melee class of the Order, devoted to the ancient arts of combat by the sword. Whatever style you may chose is up for your personal RP, but in essence, you have the most defence and affinity to dungeon crawling of all the classes.
Strength 2000 (Upgradeable)
Defence 4000 (Upgradeable)
Invention 1000
Cure 0
Marksman
Remember those days when you had to bring a clumsy quiver filled with breakable sharp sticks on your back to hunt the woods? Well, those days are no more! The sharpshooter excels in long range combat, but that’s where their specialties remain. Sharpshooters are poor melee fighters. Keep those dark critters at bay, or suffer the consequences!
Strength 4000 (Upgradeable)
Defence 2000 (Upgradeable)
Invention 1000
Cure 0
Inventor
You call that a knife? The inventor will make that knife into a harbinger of destruction. While not specifically a fighter, inventors can be tasked to improve equipment that boost the stats of the fighters, and can even contribute to some defence for the party on quests. Inventors can still wear attire to improve their defence, but instead of weapons, they use tools that improve their inventive possibilities.
Strength 1000
Defence 2000 (Upgradeable)
Inventions 4000 (Upgradeable)
Cure 0
Chemist
When the unnatural start to ravage the lands, you might want to turn to the Natural sciences for additional aid. Chemists aren’t fighters. They use the elements, assorted chemicals and their minds to provide parties with healthy tinctures to survive, or devastating poisons to boost their attack. If you don’t want to risk losing your amazing level 99 warrior with purple equipment all over the place, bring a chemist! If you as an inventor wish to infuse rare and powerful minerals into your weapons of doom to make it even stronger, ask the chemist! While they can still improve their offensive capabilities with easy to use weaponry, such as daggers or pistols, their attire does not provide any defence. It only provides more opportunity for them to create even stronger potions or poisons, and improve their expertise to lend inventors when it comes to material casting.
Strength 1000 (Upgradeable)
Defence 1000
Inventions 1000
Cure 4000 (Upgradeable)
Leveling up
By performing quests and certain actions, you don’t only have a chance to find or create amazing equipment or gain gold, but you also gain experience points. When the assorted quota has been met, you level up, and your upgradeable stats become stronger. You also need to level up to efficiently wield more advanced equipment, (as these wondrous little gadgets or fancy clothes may require some well-established skill to wield effectively). Fighters earn experience through fighting, and support classes earn experience through crafting/researching. Everyone gain experience from quests.
Weapons, Equipment, Tinctures and Poisons
Gathering new equipment is essential for staying en par or best your enemies. Inventors can provide for this quite efficiently, but he may expect some coin in return. Not only that, inventors and chemists can improve your equipment, and even unlock hidden artefacts you didn’t even knew you owned. Remember that rusty old dirk you found in that flooded old cave? Well, it turns out it was actually a magical dagger with a jade core, and silver lining! You may, as a fighter, attempt to temper equipment yourself, but will find it may only prove worthwhile during lower levels and when short on cash. You may also ask the chemist to provide you with potions to improve your defence, or for poisons to provide a one turn boost on your attack. Inventors can also collaborate with a chemist to improve the materials he’s using for his new machinations. Even more so, if a member of each class comes together in an outfit, they can embark on a Grand Project. These take several turns, lined with perilous quests and risky experiments, but can bestow wonderful rewards upon all the participants.
What about them monsters?
Monster classes aren’t open at the start of the game. The idea is for people to get comfortable with interacting with each other before pitting two sides against each other, and strengthen relationships and bonds that may, or may not, be subject to heart-aching drama or comic relief, depending on how the players write it. But it’s worth mentioning before embarking on your journey and deciding whether you’re pitting yourself to become a monster or not, it may be worthwhile knowing what makes them different. Monsters have Unholy instead of inventions, as they can use intrigue and utilize the dark arts to perform wretched actions against the living, while being incapable of upgrading their equipment in return.
Vampires
Vampires have the easiest time to blend in with the locals without getting caught. They already have supernatural strength, but can amplify this even more by feeding on the innocents for a turn. Vampires also have the risky ability to feed upon a player of the Order, which will boost their strength for 4 turns (one year), also risking to incapacitate that player for up to 3 turns!
Strength 3000 (5000) (Upgradeable)
Defence 2000
Unholy 2000 (3000) (Upgradeable)
Cure 0
Werewolves
Werewolves are simply juggernauts. Their foul presence will, however, be noticed by the locals unless they’re on constant move. Werewolves can raid villages to feast upon human flesh, and will gain a stat boost for the next 2 turns. In contrast, while unfed, they’re weaker than any other class, while still capable warriors.
Strength 2000 (4000) (Upgradeable)
Defence 2000 (4000) (Upgradeable)
Unholy 1000
Cure 0
Lich
Lich’s are the wretched magic users that infest the land. They bring foul spells and cunning plots to wreak havoc in the provinces. They’re the peak of gritty undead, and can help vampires to drink from player characters to unlock their strength.
Strength 2000 (Upgradeable)
Defence 1000
Unholy 4000 (Upgradeable)
Cure 0
Necromancers
These wielders of undead powers use their foul magic to help their monster kin to survive. They can boost their strength in battle, and cure their ailments when the battle tides turn in disfavour. While technically not undead themselves, they are imbued with so much desecration that all humanity has been lost in the process.
Strength 1000
Defence 1000
Unholy 1000 (Upgradeable)
Cure 4000 (Upgradeable)
Coin
Money is a rare commodity in Transylvania. When arriving you earn a small stipend by the order to carry out your tasks. The fighters receive 1 silver coin per turn, and inventors and scientists earn 2. Remember, however, inventing and research cost money to carry out, while fighters will have greater luck finding coin by questing or farming the land to destroy unholy critters, whereas inventors and chemists need to rely on other players coins or by selling their products on the severely underpaying marketplace. You can do many things to improve your wealth per turn. Buying abodes will earn greater yield for your rewards and offers a higher stipend. When an abode has been purchased, you can also start buying into the estates surrounding the Order’s lands. These spots are limited, however, and the order may need to expand their influence to other provinces if they wish to provide their followers with more estates to invest in. It’s a trickle balance, as while non-capital estates may earn a higher yield, they’re also subject to devastation and more vulnerable to monster attacks.
Coin is also important if you wish to hire servants, or for monsters, thralls. These are used to either bolster your own stats, or be sent on quests that are too dangerous to embark on yourself if you wish to not risk dying. While healers may keep you from perma-death, there’s not an unlimited amount of them.
Character Sheet
If this game looks cool to you make a character sheet with the following items.
Name:
Age:
Date of Birth:
Place of Birth:
Nationality:
Class:
Biography:
