Plunged into the Dark
A downloadable indie ttrpg
What makes this Forged in the Dark game different?
Plunged into the Dark is a universal Forged in the Dark ruleset developed specifically for one-shot adventures in the style of a genre movie. It's only 7 pages of rules, but contains all of the rules and handouts you'll need for your one-shot games!
This game takes the Forged in the Dark framework and rewrites it in an even more character-driven form. Marking Stress boxes is replaced by spending Traits and leveraging Quirks. The Lore Weaver's (GM) Toolbox is also expanded to include a Debrief Roll that bookends the session with the Engagement Roll.
One gameplay session is expected to last between 2 and 3 hours (rules are provided for longer or shorter sessions).
Character Creation takes less than 15 minutes (averaged 5 minutes in playtesting).
GM prep is minimal. Come to the table with nothing and start playing in less than an hour!
Gorgeous Character sheets made by Francita Soto (@byfrancita) !
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Download
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Development log
- Position and Consequences Chart UpdateJan 27, 2023
- Plunged into the Dark - Lore Weaver Update!Jan 19, 2023
- Plunged into the Dark is FREE!Dec 20, 2022
- Plunged into the Dark - Official Full LaunchDec 16, 2022
- Sexy Character Sheet Reveal!Dec 09, 2022
- Cover Art UpdateDec 07, 2022
- Public Playtests Begin!Dec 05, 2022
- New Character Sheet on the Way!Dec 02, 2022
Comments
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cool game! Seems like the most lightweight implementation of FITD. Got a few questions though. Question 1: The rulebook and the "game flow cheat sheet" seem misaligned on what embracing a quirk does: do you take -1d on a roll as you embrace it, and restore a spent trait, or do you take a devil's bargain? If the latter, do you get +1d? Question 2: How does reversing a quirk work, specifically? It's not mentioned in the book, but is in the cheat sheet. Question 3: I imagine a PC *must* leverage a trait when resisting, right? Does this mean they cannot resist if all of their traits are spent? Look forward to trying this game out. Thanks!
Thanks so much for your questions! (and I’m sorry that I didn’t see this comment earlier)
Q1 & 2: The proper rules for “Embrace a Quirk” are those in the rulebook on page 5. The cheat sheet apparently wasn’t updated (was made for a previous version of the core rules).
Q3: A PC may “Leverage a Trait” when resisting for +1d, but this is not required. On a roll of 1 to 5 they will be required to “Spend a Trait” (I’ll update the book soon to say “Spend any Trait”) to resist. If they have no remaining Traits to spend, they will be “Taken Out”.
Let me know if this makes sense and is helpful. I’d love to hear what kind of scenario you run, if you get a chance!
thanks for your reply, things are clearer now! I do have a couple of follow-up questions:
A) Does the Devils Bargain you take when Embracing a Quirk provide the +1d?
B) If I risk spending a Trait every time I Resist, why not always leverage one granted I've still got Traits to spend? Is this about legibility (i.e. this trait doesn't fit here and thus can't be leveraged)? Or is it reserved for that one desperate final Resist roll when I'm outta traits and am risking Lethal Harm and thus being Taken Out?
C) Speaking of Harm: how do I make Minor and Major Harm actually matter mechanically? They provide additional Quirks and are thus seem empowering instead of being scary. Is it my job as the GM to, say, reduce effect, worsen position, or subtract dice by leveraging the harm the PCs have sustained? But if I do, this will surely remind the PC to Embrace said Harm as a Quirk--so do we do both? If Harm grants useful Quirks, what reason, if any, to try to avoid or get rid of it?
Anyway, thanks for designing this beautifully lean framework. I hope to adapt Plunged... for a series of artsy oneshots i'll be running next month--I'll make sure to share a postmortem afterwards :)
Excellent questions!
A) Correct, the Devils Bargain you take when Embracing a Quirk provides the +1d.
B) Correct again, if no Trait fits the Resist action it cannot be leveraged, but you might have to pay using a Trait based on the roll. We wanted to make sure that you can attempt to Resist even if it means there is a high chance you’ll be Taken Out. If you can get the +1d you should (almost) always try to make an argument for how you are bringing it into play.
C) Harm (minor and major) still matter in the fiction even if there isn’t a penalty levied (the way they are in most FitD games). I would say that every player should be challenging themselves to take their Harm into account when declaring their Actions and for the Lore Weaver to do the same when adjudicating each Action.
I look forward to hearing about your games. Please feel free to join us on Discord as well if you have any questions that need a speedier response.
-Gavin