"Dominion of Darkness” is a free strategy text game in which the player takes on the role of a Sauron-style Lord of Darkness with the goal of conquering the world. He will carry out his plans by making various decisions. He will build his army and send it into battles, weave intrigues and deceptions, create secret spy networks and sectarian cults, recruit agents and commanders, corrupt representatives of Free Peoples and sow discord among them, collect magical artifacts and perform sinister plots. Note – one game takes about 1 hour, but the premise is that the game can be approached several times, each time making different decisions, getting different results and discovering something new. Feedback is very much welcome. Very, very much.
Here is the game: https://adeptus7.itch.io/dominion
If you are hesitant to play the game, I invite you to watch/listen to the reviews:
Indie Game Sampler (video):https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LM6f4UCEgWU
[BOKC] BlancoKix (video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgNpSKToOSg
Choice Beat (zine, page 30): https://www.flipsnack.com/choicebeat/choicebeat-issue-13/full-view.html
Dads Game Review (podcast): https://www.dadsgamereview.com/dgr-78-dominion-of-darkness/
AND HERE ARE MY OTHER WORKS.
STORIES
1. "Skeletons of the Gods" is a short dark fantasy/horror story about the man who was willing to do anything to became someone (or something) more, than he was.
Text version:https://adeptusrpg.wordpress.com/2024/02/17/skeletons-of-the-gods-short-story/
Audio version: https://adeptusrpg.wordpress.com/2024/02/17/skeletons-of-the-gods-short-story/
2. "Tale of the Necromancer" is dark fantasy/horror tale about the man who started as a simple craftsman and became a legendary master of dark arts.
Text version: https://adeptusrpg.wordpress.com/2022/12/14/tale-of-the-necromancer/.
Audio version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCdlph835qc/.
3. "Medusa's lucky day" - mythological short. Text version: https://adeptusrpg.wordpress.com/2022/08/04/medusas-lucky-day-mythological-short-story//.
RPG/WORLDBUILDING MATERIALS
1. Twisted Gods – few concepts for an inspiration, not only for TTRPG You are totally free to use those concepts as You want, I don't demand any credit nor payment. In RPG and fantasy, we are often faced with a situation where the existence of gods is an empirically confirmed fact, rather than a matter of belief. Two extremes can be distinguished in the representation of these entities (note - I do not claim that all creation adopts one of these two extreme points of view). On the one hand - the trend adapted by e.g. most of the settings for D&D - gods are personification of certain values professed by people, often they are even "born" from the faith of mortals or at least derive power from it/are shaped by it - gods described as "good" are simply good in the conventional sense of the word, they sincerely care about their followers and you know what to expect from them. On the other side, we have motifs that can be considered taken from Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythology - the gods are incomprehensible, distant beings, completely unconcerned with human worldviews and so-called "good and evil", mostly indifferent to humanity (and if by chance their paths intersect with humanit's ones, humanity is screwed) - at the same time, it is not uncommon for most mortals to be unaware of their existence, instead worshipping imaginary, more anthropomorphic deities tailored to their emotional needs. In this article, I wanted to present deities standing somewhere in the middle - entities whose goals, yes, are not fully understood by mortals, but nevertheless close enough to human morality that worshippers can find some commonality (real or imaginary) with their patrons. These gods are usually directly interested in some way in the lives of their worshipers - although not necessarily in the way those worshipers would like. At the same time, I wanted each description to contain a hook, an important point where the devotees' understanding of the deity diverges from its real nature - and whose discovery could be a significant twist.
Link for the free book: https://https://adeptus7.itch.io/twisted-gods//.
2. Lovecraftian inspirations from the real life and beliefs This free brochure (28 pages)contains inspiration drawn from the beliefs of peoples who actually inhabit the Earth now or in the past, or from facts taken straight from history or science. Each case includes the suggestion, how given beliefs or facts can be interpreted in the spirit of cosmic horror, emphasizing their appropriate elements or bending them slightly. Sometimes the descriptions are quite brief – a detailed discussion of each topic would take a lot of space and time. These are rather teasers intended to show why a specific thing may be interesting for fans of eldritch vibes and possibly encourage them to take a closer look at the topic. The article is intended primarily for Game Masters who play games in systems inspired by Lovecraft’s works, such as Call of Cthulhu or Delta Green. However, I hope that other fans of cosmic horror will also find something for themselves here. The interesting facts presented here may also be interesting for people who are not familiar with the work of The Loner of Providence, but some of the references may be unclear to them.
Here are contents:
GREEK MYTHOLOGY
Typhon – a classic but forgotten abomination
Zeus – embodied energy
In his house underground, dead Hades waits in sleep
Apollo – beautiful, deadly light
Hermes is the gate, Hermes is the key
NORDIC MYTHOLOGY
A jotun is not the same as a giant, but it can be made into an abomination
Odyn = Nodens, Loki = Nyarlathotep
Or is Odin an abomination?
Einherjers and Odin the human
POLISH FOLKLORE AND LEGENDS
Pan Twardowski – the first man on the Moon
Silent night, starry night
Church in Trzęsacz – Deep ones do not leave their own, even after death
TRUE (OK, SLIGHTLY FAR-FETCHED) HISTORY
Invasion of the Sea Peoples
VGreater Germanic Antarctica
The emperor out of the time
The Indus civilization
TRUE (SERIOUSLY) SCIENCE
Mad mathematicians
Humans like ants, ants like zombies
Halny and other foehn winds – the whisper of the wind brings madness
ABRAHAMIC BELIEFS
Covenant with God and Melchizedek
Succubi/incubi, aliens and a sorcerer-pope
Double faith
Stone from the sky, genies and angels
Link for the free book:https://adeptus7.itch.io/lovecraftian-inspirations-from-real-life-and-beliefs//.