Desperation Arcanum

RPG system: D&D 5th Edition
Participants: 1 GM, 3-6 players

By

Titu Rautjärvi

Description

Tags: Aimed at adult attendees, Theme program, English-only

Styles: Serious game style, Story driven

Nexus Domion, a beautiful old city and the home to the most esteemed University of the Arcane, hides beneath it, dark secrets.

Ancient catacombs sprawl beneath it largely unmapped, unexplored and outside of public knowledge. But what has surfaced, belays signs of a once powerful civilization, that now lies buried.

You are a student of the arcane whose studies threaten to come to their end, as you cannot find a place for an internship. Others wealthier and better connected than you have theirs already, and you, you are running out of time.

But an offer is made to you, the same one as to other desperate students in the years before and now again. To join a research party, tasked with retrieving artifacts from the catacombs below. Will you accept? Knowing those who have joined return changed, if at all.

In this game you explore treacherous catacombs, unraveling their secrets while they attempt to unravel you. The passage of time is twisted beyond recognition. Every step deeper is driving you closer to insanity and ruin, but also closer to success. Will you be the one to make it out alive and unchanged?

Enjoy cursed artifacts, madness effects and some added mechanics to help 5e push you towards despair. But don't worry, there is always hope.


This game contains violence, gore and themes common in psychological and lovecraftian horror.
Recommended for ages 16+ and those with prior D&D 5e experience.

Choose a character from a variety of pre-made characters, or quickly make your own on the spot if you wish.
Accessibility: There are limited opportunities to move around during the programme Content warnings: Violence, Gore, Severe injuries, Body Horror, Death, Psychological horror, Potential character death, Self-Harm, Claustrophobia, Suffocation, Worms

Played at