void
BLACK VOID
an esoteric role-playing game about the fall and subsequent resurgence of mankind.
BLACK VOID is about the fall and subsequent resurgence of mankind as characters pursue enlightenment, power and prestige in a vast and unfamiliar cosmos. Encounters with the outlandish, bizarre and grotesque are at the core of this game as players traverse and explore innumerable worlds separated yet inconceivably connected by an enigmatic Void.
MECHANICS
The BLACK VOID setting and system is based on the notion that simplicity grants diversity and rules should always take a backseat to the story. In the game simple and straightforward rules allow players to focus on the narrative and action at hand, while a thematic core concept combined with a boundless setting provide infinite adventure possibilities. The game is designed for extensive sandbox-style play but can work for short stand-alone adventures also.
- Easy, unrestrictive and versatile character creation and progression allow you to build exactly the character you want to play.
- The D12-based system is founded on simple and intuitive principles allowing players to focus on the action rather than rules and procedures.
- A fast-paced manoeuvre-based combat system ensures consistently versatile encounters.
- Extensive weapons and armour customisation options provide possibilities to create distinctive equipment suited particularly for your character and playing style.
- Enlightenment, Mysticism and Blood Rituals offer novel and thrilling powers for players to explore.
SETTING & AMBIENCE
This game takes place in a distant past which is both familiar and outlandish in its dark and exotic ambience. Players will – as the lost descendants of earth’s ancient civilizations – explore a vast cosmos seeking enlightenment, influence and power to secure the very existence of mankind – or indeed for their own interests.
The Black Void RPG is set in a dual reality: A vast Cosmos and beyond this evident world an intangible void. The cosmos is the universe we know; home to Cosmic species such as mankind and – as it turned out – many others. Where some Cosmic worlds resemble Earth others are alien and weird; some supporting grand civilizations while others are completely devoid of life. In contrast, the Void is an entirely alien and bizarre domain; an ethereal ocean constantly fluctuating and inhabited by unimaginable life forms and in the depths the mindless ghostly abominations. The Void is chaos and catalyst as opposed to the order and constancy of the Cosmos.
A metaphysical entity, known as the Veil, divides and screens these contrasting spheres from each other. But the Veil is unstable and occasionally perforated allowing the influence of one to emanate into the other. There are places where the Veil is perforated to such an extent that the boundary between the cosmos and void is muddled. These areas are known as border worlds.
The central arena of the game is Llyhn the Eternal, a border domain located at the heart of a massive convergence of Void currents. Llyhn is a principal hub and waypoint connecting major trade routes and a vibrant melting pot of species from across the known worlds, as well as more esoteric entities and beings from beyond the evident world. As the main staging point for exploration of the unknown reaches of the Cosmos, Llyhn is a median port and cosmopolis. Independent from external influence the city is considered neutral ground and hosts numerous diplomatic missions from across the Cosmos making it a natural place for enlightened species to congregate; attracting cultural tensions, social intricacies, religious polemic and political rivalry while immense armies are accommodated for transit under the watchful eyes of the masked Hohr’loh’kin, the extended arm of the Unseen Rulers of Llyhn.
CONCEPT & GAME THEMES
In a distant dark past, across countless uncaring worlds survival is only the beginning! This is a game revolving around the fall and subsequent resurgence of mankind. Mankind is forlorn and desperately clawing its way back from the bottom of the abyss – allowing players to focus on the personal struggle and story of their own characters or expand and put emphasis on the fate of humanity as a species and the part they play in this.
BLACK VOID is not a game of “good versus evil”. Rather, this game takes a less rigid approach and probes the grey areas where morals are points of view and conventional conjecture is non-existent or irrelevant.
Humanity – and the player – is faced with questions and uncertainty as it seeks to find its place in a vast and unfamiliar Cosmos: Where are we and what is our place? What is humanity when it has lost everything? Where do we go from here? As characters explore the Cosmos and Void seeking answers they are not only faced with adversity but also exposed to philosophical, psychological and ethical quandaries when confronted with otherworldly mentalities and cultures completely alien to mankind.
IN THE UNKNOWN
How does humanity fit into a Cosmos it knows little about and where the possibilities are endless? Encountering sentient species whose mentalities are as alien as their appearance is unnerving and bound to make humanity question what has previously been taken for granted. If the present is defined by the past what happens when humanity’s culture and ethos is lost? In a Cosmos where humanity’s ideals and tenets are insignificant mankind needs to adapt or succumb!
BEYOND THE HORIZON
Exploring the cosmos and faced with adversity, political intrigue and cultural tension on a scale unknown to humanity, players must cope or risk becoming collateral damage in the struggles of uncaring factions. The possibility that the Earth might still be accessible, that human bastions have been established elsewhere or the promise of new frontiers spurs characters to venture beyond the horizon. In the end humanity must claim its place in the cosmos or perish trying!
WHAT MAKES HUMANITY?
Characters are exposed to otherworldly and exotic – oftentimes bizarre – philosophies and ideals as they explore. Metaphysical existence is put into question when characters venture beyond the veil where nothing comes back the same as it entered. Rootless and without ethos, a renaissance of humanity is necessitated – leaving the players to decide and define what humanity is and will be!