The Dark Woods

Introduction

History & License

The Dark Woods as a project started around 1994 by the team of developers now known as the Game Arts Guild. (It was the project that spun off the Squawk Role-Playing Game. The original copyright is held by Benjamin Galbraith and Seth Galbraith of the Game Arts Guild.) The Dark Woods is now licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution Share-alike license. This license applies to art, rules, written content, other content, etc.

System

This version of The Dark Woods uses the Scratch Role-Playing System for its core RPG rules.

The Dark Woods is played without a Game Master (GM.) The players divide into two teams of sorcerers, and which ever team is able to take the throne of the Dark Woods first wins. (A creative GM could use The Dark Woods as source material to run RPG adventures, but these rules do not specifically support that style of play.)

Setting

The Dark Woods is a dangerous foreboding place full of monsters and violence. It appears to be an endless forest in a permanent state of twilight, and has many mysterious ancient ruins. The Dark Woods is a nexus that connects many other worlds together. (This entire collection of worlds and universes is called the "Ancient and Deadly" setting, or A&D for short.)

The Dark Woods is rife with mystical power called "essence." The higher up on the food chain a creature is, the more essence it accumulates. Intelligent creatures who intentionally use essence to become more powerful are called "Sorcerers." (Sorcerers from The Dark Woods are sometimes more specifically called "Cannibal Sorcerers" by outsiders.) Sorcerers come in many unique forms, and can even be in the shape of known types of monsters.

The Dark Woods throne is currently controlled by the powerful six-legged dragon sorcerer Kaizen. Most sorcerers either support the known ruler of The Dark Woods, or are involved in a plot to overthrow that ruler.

Creatures

Colos

The most common intelligent creature in The Dark Woods is the colo. Colos come from a world like Earth's Triassic period. There they thrived as their homeworld's foremost predator, having a strong pack hunting instinct. These bird-like humanoids reproduce faster than humans, but have a naturally shorter life span than humans. Colo cultures tend to be focused on heroic accomplishments, often in the form of collecting impressive hunting trophies.

Colos were intentionally introduced to The Dark Woods by the Order of Thanatos. This ancient order wished to end the practice of sorcery in The Dark Woods. The colos they brought were indoctrinated and trained by the order, so that most of the Colos claim the Order of Thanatos as their religion.

Most of colo society in The Dark Woods is focused on a crusade to hunt and destroy all the sorcerers in The Dark Woods. These colos live in forts filled with many large families. The social structure is miltaristic, with each fort being led by a "captain" and his many "officers." (Many a sorcerer have commented that colos "taste like chicken," but many more have found themselves overwhelmed and executed by colos.)

Most colos have at least 2 toughness because they are man sized, and have at least 1 stalking because of their pack-hunting instincts.

Dryads

Walking, talking plant-hybrid humanoids have been found in The Dark Woods called Dryads. The Dryads are covered in protective bark, have long noses, have two arms and long torsos, and walk on two legs. The Dryads are fast healers, and consider themselves to be guardians of The Dark Woods. The Dryad culture is the only culture void of taboos against sorcery in The Dark Woods. Dryad sorcerers have been known to take the form of hulking trolls or walking tentacled trees.

Most Dryads have at least 4 toughness because they are heavier than most humans and because of their protective bark.

Ghouls

Ghouls are undead who develop grotesque mutations. They can absorb the aggressive and defensive characteristics of whatever they eat. Unlike the Sorcerers of The Dark Woods, ghouls can absorb abilities and features from creatures that have no magical essence. (See Sorcerer.) It is thought that the Ghouls are from the outbreak that destroyed the home world of the Order of Thanatos, and that the order believes that somehow the Ghouls and the essence of The Dark Woods are related. Creatures killed by ghouls often rise as ghouls themselves if they have not been eaten.

Most ghouls have at least 3 toughness because they are man sized, and hard to kill because of survival mutations, and 1 fighting from survival mutations that act as natural weapons.

Nagas

Nagas are serpentine creatures with a humanoid head, arms and upper body attached to the lower body and tail of a very large snake. They specialize in paralyzing their opponents with venom. Nagas are descents of human treasure hunters who settled in The Dark Woods, who over generations have been warped by the essence. Nagas scavenge The Dark Woods seeking treasure to horde, and get violently territorial about ruins they think hold valuable secrets.

Most nagas have at least 2 knockout, 2 toughness, 1 tgh/2, and 11 defense.

Seekers

The seekers come from a swampy world of giant insects with an atmosphere stiflingly rich in oxygen. Seekers walk on two legs, have wickedly sharp tails, are mostly covered in exoskeletal armor, and have elongated heads, 3 eyes and four arms. Seeker technology avoids volatile chemistry and fire, and specializes in medicine, biochemistry, and preserving knowledge.

Seekers hatch from egg clutches numbering in the hundreds, and seekers are under pressure to make a name for themselves as individuals. Seeker culture is highly intellectual, and Seekers are constantly exploring to find new knowledge to bring home to their hive. Seekers are constantly taking samples and notes, making observations from afar, and conducting impromptu interviews when appropriate for their studies. Sorcerers tendency towards developing unique anatomy is of particular interest to seeker abductors. Seekers have been known to take temporary captives simply to observe their behavior, to murder and preserve intelligent specimens with no warning, or to join causes simply for the opportunity to study a group from the inside.

Seekers do not have significant permanent settlements in The Dark Woods, but frequently study The Dark Woods in depth, and use The Dark Woods to access the numerous worlds The Dark Woods is connected to.

Most seekers have 3 toughness because they are man sized have have skeletal body armor, and 1 fighting because of their nasty tails and many striking limbs.

Wargs

One common way for humanoids to adapt to the hostile environment of The Dark Woods is to become more wolf like. Most of these "wargs" are usually hard to kill, have enhanced natural senses, have sharp fangs and claws and enhanced strength.

Most wargs have at least 1 stalking, 1 quickness, 1 fighting, 3 toughness, 1 tgh/2, and 13 defense.

Other

Other A&D Creatures of all kinds are also found in The Dark Woods occasionally.

Game Play

Every player has one personally designed character called his "PC" (or "player character.") The players are divided into two gangs of sorcerers, "team 1" and "team 2." These two groups are in a race to see who can defeat Kaizen first, and thus become the new rulers of The Dark Woods.

A team can each move one space on their turn. The new space will have instructions on how to determine what happens when the team moves to that place. Do not repeat these instructions unless your party moves off that space and then back onto it. Kaizen's Lair in the middle of the map can only be moved to from the Eastern Crags space.

Make Your PC

Your character feeds on other's essence to become more powerful, technically making it a sorcerer. However, these kind of sorcerers can take almost any form. Your sorcerer could be a mighty warrior, a dragon, some other dangerous monster, or even something more subtle. Use your imagination, and use the Scratch Role-Playing System to make a sorcerer with a maximum ability level of 5 and a maximum total ability level of 13.

Associations

Each team should have an association with a part of the larger social structure in The Dark Woods. Each association has certain effects on the team. Each team can only have one association, and the two teams must have different associations.

Colonists

Your party can pass as not-warped-beyond-usual by the essence of The Dark Woods, and the Order of Thanatos does not suspect you of sorcery. The colos are impressed by your apparent piety and mastery of Judeo-Christian or Order of Thanatos scripture, and authorize you to explore and colonize The Dark Woods.

Whenever your party encounters Colo Crusaders, you can choose to not fight them (and also then not get to feed on their essence.) You can also fight them as normal.

Necromancers

Your party has at least one character who is completely obsessed with mastering the darkest arts, willing to take on any rival power to demonstrate his supremacy. The other PCs either share his interests or accommodate him out of fear of what he might do if angered.

Whenever your party encounters Hungry Ghouls, you can choose to fight the Hungry Ghouls as normal, or instead have the Hungry Ghouls immediately attack the other team.

Raiders

Your PCs are a well organized group of experienced plunderers. You are here to take The Dark Woods for all it's worth.

Whenever you successfully defeat Naga Bandits, you each get one additional ability point because you are able to shake them down for their local stash of magic items and treasure, before you feed on their essence.

Rangers

Your characters have studied philosophy and martial arts with the dryads. You have entered a pact with them to rule The Dark Woods with the utmost care for environmentalism and biodiversity.

Whenever your party encounters Dryad Druids, instead of fighting them your encounter is automatically successful, as your PCs take this opportunity to practice zen "rooting" meditation, knock-down "branch-sparring," "tangle vine" Tai Chi and other ancient training techniques that help your PCs focus their essence more efficiently.

Scholars

Your party has at least one character who has a background in helping Seekers collect specimens.

Whenever your party encounters Seeker Abductors, your party can choose to be transported to any space other than Kaizen's Lair, where you will begin your next turn. However, you may not fight the Seeker Abductors or feed on their essence.

Encounters

When a team takes on enemies, there is always an equal number of enemies to team members. The opposing team's players controls the enemies to see what kind of damage they can do to this team.

If a team defeats all of their enemies in an encounter, then that encounter is successful, and each character on that team gets one ability level to add to any ability they choose. This is because they are able to feed on the essence from their fallen foes, dramatically enhancing their power.

If the team is not successful, but at least one of the team members successfully flee, then the team's PC's all start off as injured (only as many hit points as their tgh/2) on their next combat turn.

If the team is not successful, and none of the team members escape, then the team must restart on the space were they first started the game, AND the team's PC's all start of as injured on their next combat turn.

Random Encounters

If "random encounter" is called for, roll a 20 sided dice to see which of the following encounters happens (never do the same encounter twice in a row for each team - if the team did the roll encounter the as their last combat-encounter, then roll again):

1-5: Colo Crusaders

6-9: Dryad Druids

10-13: Hungry Ghouls

14-16: Naga Bandits

15-17: Seeker Abductors

18-20: Warg Hunters

Colo Crusaders

Heavily armored and well trained Colo Crusaders (1 stalking, 2 fighting, 2 shooting, 3 toughness, 1 tgh/2, 12 defense) on a routine patrol notice the PCs, and attack in righteous fury at the PC's obvious acceptance of sorcery.

Dryad Druids

Dryad Druids (3 stalking, 3 wrestling, 1 knockout, 5 tgh/2, 13 defense) ambush the PCs after overhearing the PCs environmentally unsound plans for The Dark Woods once they have taken the reigns from Kaizen.

Hungry Ghouls

More ghouls (1 wrestling, 2 fighting, 3 toughness, 1 tgh/2) from a fallen world have wandered into The Dark Woods in search of flesh, and attack the PCs in ravenous desperation.

Naga Bandits

The PCs are ambushed by naga bandits (3 knockout, 2 stalking, 1 fighting, 2 toughness, 1 tgh/2, 12 defense) interested in any artifacts the PCs may have found in their travels.

Seeker Abductors

Well armed Seeker Abductors (3 fighting, 1 stalking, 4 toughness, 2tgh/2, 12 defense) have not seen all of your PC's specific anatomy before, and wish to collect you as samples to be studied on their home world.

Warg Hunters

Wargs Hunters (2 stalking, 2 quickness, 2 fighting, 1 shooting, 3 toughness, 1 tgh/2, and 12 defense) are out looking for food, and your PCs are the least threatening prey they have seen all day.

Kaizen

Kaizen (6 stealth, 4 wrestling, 3 shooting, 2 knockout, 9 toughness, 4 tgh/2, 16 defense) is accompanied by guardian-pet Warg Hunters. He is large, armored, fast, extremely clever, and has a fiery breath weapon.

Map

North West Fortress: 1-12: Colo Crusaders attack from fort. 13-20: Nothing; colos hunted all enemies to extinction in this area.	North Glade: Team 1 Start Random Encounter	North East Caverns: 1-12: Each team member must make an acrobatics check against 10. Each character who fails starts the next turn injured. 13-20 Random Encounter
Western Ruins: 1-12 Naga bandits attack your party to protect their territory. 13-20 Random Encounter	Kaizen's Lair: Fight Kaizen and his Warg Hunter mercenaries.	Eastern Crags: Entrance to Kaizen's Lair 1-12: Seeker Abductors looking for Kaizen see your party as the most interesting specimine wandering in the Crags. 13-20: Random Encounter
South West Lake: 1-7: Each character without flight must make a swimming check against 8, or whole party is stuck on this space next turn. 13-20: Random Encounter	Southern Swamp: Team 2 Start Random Encounter	South East Hills: 1-6: Dryad Rangers attack your party for being an invasive species to this region. 7-20: Random Encounter