Friday 5 March 2021

WHAT IS FEAR OF THE DARK?

"This is it... 

If you are reading this is because everything has gone to hell...

Do you remember what I used to tell you about the stars? 

Well... 

The time has come... 

The stars are right... 

And we are on our own...

I´m sorry to say this, but I´m afraid I have to warn you... we are all doomed...

Remember all those creatures that lived under your bed when you where a child?

They were real...

And they are no longer hiding..."




What is Fear of the Dark?

This journey has just started, take my hand and follow me deep into the world of Fear of the Dark.

Fear of the Dark is a solo horror skirmish wargame set in the worlds of madness created by H.P. Lovecraft.

Solo as this game is designed to be played alone, just you trying to make your warband survive another day. Although it could be played with two or even three players in cooperative mode, that is, fighting together against the forces of darkness.

This is not an usual wargame (competitive mode / player vs player) with some solo rules designed ad hoc, this is a solo game.

Horror as the supernatural and the mystery will be the common thread of our scenarios.

Our characters will have to face haunted houses, gangsters, supernatural beings drawn from the worst nightmares, groups of cultists who want to awake forgotten gods, mysterious murders, ancient curses, and dusty books that predict the end of the world as we know it.



Skirmish since the games will be played with just a few miniatures on a table with some scenery, although this game is not attached to any specific brand of miniatures and you can use any that you like. Forget about huge armies and lots and lots of miniatures on the table.

Another strong point of this game relies in its narrative aspect. The focus is on the story since the plot in each scenario will have a great narrative weight, not just fighting without any reason or random encounters of wandering monsters. The scenarios will have a story that conects everything, all the events that happen will have a reason, and even may never be known by the player until the scenario is over.

The background of this wargame is set in the worlds of madness created by H,P, Lovecraft, where a strange universe of gods and monsters underlies our reality, twisting our world upside down and throwing ourselves into a bottomless pit of madness.

In this game you will play a group of characters during 1920-40 fighting supernatural beings and their acolytes who unconsciously try to wake up the long dormant evil, exploring ancient ruins, hiding from shadows that could devour you, and struggling to live another day.

This is not going to be easy, but it´s going to be fun... that's for sure.



Fear of the Dark skirmish wargame is a game designed to be played solo, so that you play your side and the enemy's side acts on its own. There is an Artificial Intelligence system (AI in advance) that will decide on its own how the enemy's miniatures will act and what will they do. 

The AI will decide which enemy miniature will activate and which actions will it make, so, you don't play both sides, you just play your side against this AI, but I have to warn you... That damned AI is good at it... This is not going to be easy... 

There is a character creation system that allows you to create your warband as you like it, formed by 3 to 7 characters, and detail their characteristics and skills to fit your requirements. 

The rules are easy, because as this game is thought to be played solo, so, the rules are there to help you, not to become a problem. 

The scenarios in this game are designed to be played solo, and have a high narrative component, as the idea is to make a rpg lite skirmish wargame.

The scenarios will have a structure similar to those of "choose your own adventure" books, but sometimes the decisions you take will make you face scenes that you will have to play in a game table with miniatures and terrain. 

At the beggining of each scenario is detailed what miniatures and terrain may appear in that scenario, and of course, if you don't have those miniatures you can use another similar ones. 



In this blog I will post new scenarios, support material (characters, maps, rules...), battle reports of played scenarios, general articles on miniatures and wargames... and anything related with Fear of the Dark. So if you are interested in any update on this game stay close.

Apart from this blog, there is a facebook group available to anybody that likes this game, so that you can share experiences, ideas, pictures... but the idea of this group is to gather together because remember our motto "you may play solo... but you are not alone..."

(Click here to go to the Facebook group Fear of the Dark skirmish wargame)



This game is available on WargameVault on digital pdf format sent straight to your email, the price is 10€, and you will get a 130 pages rulebook, including 4 scenarios, cards, tokens and everything necessary to play (except for the miniatures and terrain, of course). Apart from that, you get for free 4 scenarios more and a short campaign, what makes this game a nice bundle with more than 260 Pages.

Fear of the Dark skirmish wargame is available in English and in Spanish, but at this moment the spanish version is not available as it is going to be edited by the publishing company Shadowlands.

As soon as it is published a link will be added to this page so that you may buy the ruleset.

BUY FEAR OF THE DARK IN ENGLISH



I really hope you like it, and remember to have fear of the dark...

It will keep you alive...


You want to know more about the game?

HOW DOES FEAR OF THE DARK WORKS?


18 comments:

  1. Just bought the pdf, looking forward to reading it. This intro is a perfect selling point.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thanks a lot!!
      Hope you like it!!
      Any comment/finding/doubt will be welcome!!!

      Delete
  2. Just joined and just purchased!!
    Really looking forward to doing this !!
    Normally a full army gamer in 2mm, 6mm and 10mm !!
    Even thinking od making my own figures for it !!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This game requires just a few miniatures, so it should be easy to get the necessary figs for each game...

      Making your own?
      That would be top!!

      Hope you like it!!

      Delete
  3. Nice, and very interesting, will take a look at buying the pdf.
    BTW - where does the blakc winged demon in the blog banner come from?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I hope you like the game!!

      Have a look at the Facebook group if you want to know more about the game, and don't hesitate to ask any doubt!!

      That figure is from the Deep Madness boardgame, the miniatures in that board game are really good and they fit any Call of Cthulhu game.

      Delete
  4. Just bought this, sounds intriguing. May I ask what the monster miniature in the header picture is?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I hope you enjoy the game!!

      If people likes the game all the effort will have been worthy!!

      It's a miniature from the Deep Madness boardgame, which is full of, let's say... Cthulhuesque miniatures...

      There a couple pictures in the book that have Deep Madness monsters' miniatures

      Delete
  5. Another one who just bought this. Who also happens to know Laffe and Koen :-D
    It's all Laffe's fault for showing this earlier today.
    It looks interesting and easy to learn, and I look forward to try it out.
    Cheers!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good friends that make you start a new project, it usually happens in this hobby...
      πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚

      It sounds familiar to me that "look what I found"... That usually means "now you need new figures"🀦🏼‍♂️

      Hope you enjoy the game!!

      Delete
    2. And of course, don't hesitate to ask any doubt!!

      Delete
    3. It's all Thomas fault of course.

      Delete
  6. Well, there is one thing I don't actually have to buy more of, and that is pulp and cthulhuesque figures. I already have... some.
    (and that is off course no reason not to buy or print more)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It happens the same to me...

      I have a lot of Pulp/20's figures and I don't need to buy more miniat...
      Wait a minute...
      Look at those figures! And they aren't so expensive...
      And they fit like a glove with the other miniatures...
      OK, but these are the last ones...
      πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚

      Delete
    2. That has never happened to me. Never, I say... honest... really...

      Delete
  7. I see you have Fear the Dark on Board Game Geek. Excellent

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I thought it would be good to be in such a reference web page as bgg is.
      Thanks for your support!!!

      Delete