Will you survive the castle? Competitive battle-royale gameplay in a brutal gothic horror setting for 2 to 8 players.
Please note, shipping fees and taxes will be added and charged later. You will be notified before cards are charged with a project update post in Kickstarter.
Please note, the Dracula bust will be shipped earlier than the core game and the expansion. There will not be shipping fee required on this item.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
Polling error - new poll on character to be added
over 4 years ago
– Tue, Jan 11, 2022 at 05:34:24 PM
Hi everyone,
I'm sorry to email again so soon. Unfortunately I made a mistake when I sent out the update yesterday, in that the poll I sent out allowed people to complete it multiple times. This means that the results are very easily manipulated, and I suspect they have been. I completely understand that some people might feel strongly in terms of the the character they'd like to see added to the game but please let's try to respect everyone's opinion.
I'm sorry for my oversight, and I hope it's not too frustrating to cast another vote.
Best wishes,
Kris
January Update on Damnation: The Gothic Game
over 4 years ago
– Mon, Jan 10, 2022 at 05:14:47 AM
Hi everyone,
I hope you've all enjoyed a peaceful Christmas and New Year. I'm writing to give an update on where we are right now with the game. We've got a fair bit to share so let's jump right in!
Pledge Manager
There's been a little bit of a delay getting the pledge manager set up. Without going into too much detail there was an error which forced this and because of the Christmas holiday things dragged out a little longer than they would have done otherwise. The good news is that this is now completely sorted and the pledge manager will be going live this coming week. Just to be clear, this will not have a knock on effect on our timescale as everything else has been proceeding in the background.
Busts
I'm optimistic that we'll have these ready to send out by the end of January. They're currently being produced by our partner here in South Wales and we've currently got around 80 ready to go. We're just waiting for another 45 so we can send them all out together. We'll be sending out a survey to make sure we've got an up to date address for these.
We'll definitely have some more made for anyone who wants to pick one up through the pledge manager.
We're still planning to run a painting competition for the bust. I'll have more details on that in the next update.
Playtesting
As you may know, we set aside some time for additional playtesting once the campaign closed. We've hired two experienced testers to manage this process and to really give the game that final coat of polish. This work is ongoing and is progressing fantastically well! I really couldn't be happier with the team we've put together to manage this final stage in development.
If you'd be interested in finding out more or getting involved, we've set up a discord server that you can join: https://discord.gg/qg6m2qKA
The Book
The novel is coming along well and I am hoping to receive a first draft at the end of the month. If all goes according to plan I should have more information on this ready for next month's update.
Soundtrack
Our awesome partners over at FORDJ are hard at work and are close to finalising the opening track for the soundtrack. Once things have progressed a little further we'll definitely be able to share some samples with you all. Watch this space!
New Character
Thank you to everyone that has contributed to choosing the character they'd like to see make it to the game. We've now drawn up a shortlist based on the most popular choices. They are:
This poll will close in seven days, at which point the new character will be chosen and artwork will commence.
***
So that's where we are as of right now - busy, busy! Everything is progressing really well and you should get a notification about the pledge manager in the next few days.
Best wishes to you all,
Kris
Next steps
over 4 years ago
– Thu, Dec 09, 2021 at 12:36:27 PM
Hi everyone,
These last two weeks have absolutely flown by as we've been busy getting lots of things in place behind the scenes! Let's kick this update off with news of the mysterious add on we've been working on behind the scenes...
Optional add on: Soundtrack
Towards the end of the Kickstarter campaign I began teasing that we were working on something additional for the game. I’m delighted that I can now tell you that a digital soundtrack is currently in production and will be available as an optional add on. This was something that was requested by many people and I’m so pleased we can offer this.
Blackletter Games has partnered with FORDJ, new production company specialising in soundtracks, founded by Jack Hardy and Guy Davies.
"For THE FORDJ, as both of us are boardgamers as well as musicians and composers, this next project feels like a natural progression. Soundtracks are an integral part of our gaming sessions so it feels wonderful to be able to actually create our own soundscape and be part of this process of building something from the ground up.
Damnation: The Gothic Game is a dream game to work on. It bleeds theme and has so much scope for story-telling so this feels more like writing the soundtrack for a film in many ways.
The fact that the game is broken up into distinct chapters gives us a great landscape to write across. We never wanted to just do a background track of ambience, with a few dark notes spattered here and there, although there will be plenty of creak, squeak and shriek sounds to accompany our villains on their hunt. The different chapters give us a chance to ramp up the atmosphere, section by section, each with a different feel, so that by the end, players will feel that a story has been achieved, with drama, agency and decisions that had impact.
Damnation: The Gothic Game has clearly been a passion project for all of its contributors and THE FORDJ will be no different in that regard.
A huge thanks to Blackletter Games for this opportunity, and we hope our music enhances the atmosphere of dread, tension and excitement that Damnation: The Gothic Game promises to deliver."
- Jack T. Hardy, THE FORDJ soundtrack team.
Get involved
Over the course of the campaign I've been blown away by the creativity of you the backers. With that in mind, if you have any thoughts about other soundtracks you think we could draw from I would absolutely love to hear from you in the comments below.
What are your favourite board game soundtracks?
What music do you think would suit a gothic horror setting?
An mp3 of the soundtrack will cost £5 and will be available to purchase once the game is ready for shipping.
Character design
One of the earlier stretch goals unlocked a bonus character that we're going to develop as a community. I've been through all the suggestions and compiled a shortlist of what I think would work best. Here it is so far:
The Widow
- A character based around a poisoner.
The Doctor
- A character based on Dr Jekyll / Mr Hyde.
The Lunatic
- A character based around a werewolf.
The Resurrectionist
- A character based on infamous grave robbers, Burke and Hare.
The Beggar
- A character based on the pickpocket, Fagin.
The Scientist
- A character based on the murderous, Invisible Man.
The Barber
- A character based on Sweeney Todd.
The Hedonist
- A character based on Dorian Grey.
The Phantom
- A character based on The Phantom of the Opera
The Occultist
- A character based on Aleister Crowley and mysticism.
The Twins
- A character based on Edward Mordrake and his twin sister.
The first thing to say is how brilliant all the suggestions and ideas people submitted have been. This is going to be a ridiculously difficult choice to make as any one of them would fit the game perfectly. One thing is for sure, we won't be short of ideas for any future expansions!
If there are any really obvious ones I've missed please let me know in the comments below. Next week I'll run a poll on the Facebook group: Damnation Insiders (https://www.facebook.com/groups/damnationthegothicgame) to see who the most popular characters are. The top three will then receive further development and playtesting. It's vital that the chosen character's talents are balanced, thematic, and most important of all, fun. I'll then post an update on my thoughts and we can all vote on which of the three makes the game. I hope that all sounds ok!
Future Updates
My current plan is to send out a monthly update regardless of how much news there is to put out - I want to make sure that I'm touching base with everyone at least that often. Here's what I'm focussing on right now:
Pledge Manager
We'll be launching the pledge manager in the next week, which will give late backers the chance to purchase a late pledge, as well as give you the opportunity to purchase the expansion and bust if that's something you'd like to do.
Playtesting
Work has began in earnest on developing the two player version of the game. This is going to be our main focus over the next few weeks. We're also currently scheduling some playtesting for the eight player version, which I fully expect to be absolute carnage. My current thinking is that the game should naturally scale to eight players without any issues - obviously the main difference will be the time between player turns, but the spectacle of an eight player game should more than make up for that. I'll keep you all updated on how that goes!
If anyone has any questions please let me know, and I hope you're all doing great!
Best wishes,
Kris
Campaign ending update - character spotlight and more
over 4 years ago
– Tue, Nov 23, 2021 at 08:14:34 AM
Hello everyone,
We find ourselves at the end of the campaign, and what a campaign it has been! I want to begin what will be the final update of the campaign (more will follow once it's ended of course) with an enormous thank you to everyone that has backed and supported us. I am truly grateful to every single one of you. The onus is now on me to get the best game I can make into your hands in a timely fashion and that work begins tomorrow.
Interview with Robert Wynne Simmons
The plan was to publish a conversation I had with Robert prior to this campaign as a final update, but unfortunately I ran into a few technical issues which has meant this has been postponed. Apologies to those who were looking forward to it, but don't worry, this will be posted in the future.
Mystery extra
I've mentioned a couple of times that I've been working on an extra that isn't tied to a funding goal. The reason I didn't want to tie it to a funding target is that I want this to be available irrespective of what we hit. I'm still not quite in a position to announce this, because it isn't finalised. I'll hopefully have an update on this in the next week.
What happens next?
For those of you who are unfamiliar with Kickstarter, they will attempt to take payment for the pledged amount in the next week. In the next few weeks I'll be opening a pledge manager through Backerkit - the purpose of the pledge manager is to gather in all the addresses in order to make it easier for us to get the game to you. You'll receive an email notification about this with all the relevant guidance.
Of course, I'll still be providing updates through Kickstarter as well. I don't want to inundate people with updates, but will send out news of major developments as they occur, and at the very minimum keep in touch with a general update on a monthly basis.
Follow us on social media
If you're not already doing so, please consider following us on one or all of our relevant social media channels:
If you've been following the updates you'll hopefully know that we're going to be working together to create a new character for the game as part of a previous stretch goal. We've already had a tonne of amazing suggestions, but it's my hope that we can continue these discussions on both the comments section here, and also on our dedicated Facebook group, called Damnation Insider, which you can access from here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/damnationthegothicgame
This process is going to take some time as we'll need to throughly playtest the character and commission the art, so please bear with us.
Painting competition
We announced that we'll be hosting a painting competition with the Dracula bust. At present we're looking at a £300 first prize, with £50 each for the three runners up. We'll include more details about this in an upcoming update, but at present we're looking at a March closing date.
If you didn't order the bust but would like to take part, don't worry, we'll have busts available from our website: https://www.blacklettergames.com/shop
Character Spotlight 3
Here's our final character spotlight, which covers the other two core characters included in the game.
The Mystic
Playing as The Mystic
The Mystic might not seem the most exciting character at first glance, but she is the character favoured by the best player I know at the game - and sadly I'm not referring to myself here!!!
Unlike other characters, her passive means that her talents aren't locked to a particular talent. So if you want to 'run for it' three times in a turn? No problem! This gives The Mystic enormous flexibility. You can use this to capitalise on any opportunity that presents itself.
Hex is a talent that can really punish players in certain situations - I'm speaking from experience here. If you find yourself in the moat you better hope The Mystic is out of talent tokens or takes pity on you.
The Collector
Playing as The Collector
While most of the characters in the game offer some degree of flexibility, not so, The Collector. This character is suited to one playstyle only: violence. If you prefer the gung ho approach The Collector is for you. As a reward for your recklessness, his first talent will replenish a talent token and even drain your victim of one of theirs. This means you can be fairly liberal in your use of Fate and Run for It if it means you coming into conflict with another character. Most frightening (for the other players) of all it takes you one step closer to unleashing one of the most devastating talents in the game: Judgement.
Judgement allows you to slay an adjacent character without talent tokens - an attack that cannot be defended through the use of Protection cards. It's a difficult maneuver to pull off because most players will be mindful of their talent token count while The Collector is on the board, but just the threat of this creates an environment that hinders everyone except The Collector.
Play this character aggressively and you'll have a ball!
The book
One of the aspects of the project I'm most excited about is the forthcoming novel written by Frazer Lee. I'm hoping that your free pdf will be delivered to you before Easter 2022, but I will keep in touch with any changes to this date.
Next steps
As mentioned in the opening paragraph, while the campaign finishes today the work is by no means over. We have lots to do to get everything ready for manufacture, including some additional testing around the new characters and a two player / teams mode. Unsurprisingly I feel incredibly energised by the last few weeks and cannot wait to get started!
***
All that remains to be said is a final thank you to everyone that has helped bring this project to life. From you the backers, to the artists, animators, designers, writers, reviewers, sculptors, marketers, and many, many more people who have shown support in innumerable ways - Damnation: The Gothic Game is the collective work of a huge number of people. Thank you for being one of them.
Kris
Blackletter Games
Exclusive Interview with Frazer Lee as we unlock another stretch goal
over 4 years ago
– Sun, Nov 21, 2021 at 12:39:35 AM
Hi everyone,
A really exciting update for you all today as we have an exclusive interview with Frazer Lee, the author who is currently hard at work writing the Damnation: The Gothic Game novel that you'll all be receiving a free pdf copy of. We've also got the second reading from the upcoming book!
Before we get into it though...
Stretch Goal Unlocked: Deathknell Cards Upgrade
We're delighted to announce we've passed the £65k stretch goal, which means the Deathknell component will be receiving a huge upgrade. These cards will now be printed on mounted board and we're looking at them being foil stamped as well. The art on these is some of the best in the game, which is really saying something! It's another huge milestone in the campaign and really takes the game's table presence to another level.
In terms of future stretch goals, I'm hoping to have something else to announce but I can't say too much about this just now. It's something I'm hoping to add regardless of our final figure - I'll obviously keep everyone updated on this.
***
Interview with Frazer Lee
Hi Frazer, thanks for joining me! For those who aren't aware could you tell us a bit about yourself and what you do?
Thanks for having me, it’s my pleasure! I’m the author of seven novels including the forthcoming Damnation: The Gothic Game novelisation. I’m also a screenwriter (my scripts include horror/thriller feature Panic Button) and filmmaker (I won the Edgar Allan Poe Gothic Filmmaker Award for my latest film The Stay). I’m Reader in Creative Writing at Brunel University where I lecture in Screenwriting and Horror/SFF Fiction.
Tell us how you came to be acquainted with Damnation: The Gothic Game?
I’m a big fan of the original The Gothic Game, which I first encountered at The London Dungeon where I worked as a costumed guide/make-up guy/supervisor back in the day. The marketing manager asked me to road test a copy of the game to see if it would be a good for the Dungeon gift shop. It has been a firm favourite of mine ever since. One of the game’s creators Robert Wynne-Simmons wrote The Blood on Satan’s Claw, which has influenced me greatly over the years, and this book is also a humble tip of the hat to him (remind me to ask you for his autograph!). When I discovered you guys were putting together a reboot I knew there was a story to tell. Seeing your team’s amazing design work, and all the exciting concepts for characters and cards really sparked my imagination. I’ve always wanted to write a Dracula tale, but knew it would have to be a unique twist on the old legend. I think that’s exactly what Damnation is, so it’s a dream - and a nightmare - come true!
Can you give us a synopsis of the book? What can readers expect?
Yes, the book will drag you kicking and screaming into the Carpathian Mountains where Damnation awaits. A group of Victorian travellers, each one harbouring a dark secret, has to stay the night at a creepy old castle during a raging storm. Once inside the castle walls they realise they are part of a deadly battle royale, and only one of them will leave in the morning. Let the gothic games begin! Readers will love trying to figure out who will be the last one standing, I’m sure. It’s my sincere hope that players of the game will want to read the book, and that readers of the book will want to play the game.
Can you tell us how you went about finding inspiration for the novel?
Aside from having fun playing the game with you guys on Steam, I’ve been re-immersing myself in old gothic horror movies (like Crypt of the Vampire and Brides of Dracula) and soaking up their fog enshrouded atmospheres. While I’ve been writing, evocative vampire film soundtracks (from composers including James Bernard, Wojciech Kilar, and John Carpenter) have helped fast-track me into the charnel spaces of the novel. Re-reading gothic literary classics (everything from Walpole’s Castle of Otranto to F. Paul Wilson’s The Keep) have tuned me into the rich language of the form. The wheel of the year has recently turned to autumn, my favourite of the seasons, and the occasional misty woodland walk amidst the fallen leaves and toadstools has given me plenty of inspiration, too. I know I’m very lucky to have obsessions that are also my work. I soak it all up, and then get back in the chair.
How does it differ writing a novel based on a licensed property?
During the planning and outlining stages of a licensed property tie-in, it becomes more of a dialogue to make sure everyone’s going to be happy with what I’m plotting, while retaining my own voice. Luckily my work as a screenwriter and script doctor has been similar in this respect. When I write my own original tales I only have myself to please before the book is handed over to my editor/publisher, and then to my readers. Having tie-in characters pre-determined by the game parameters is both useful and a bit of a challenge. It’s important to run with them and let them dictate what makes them tick, to some extent, whilst honouring the spirit of the game and its dynamics.
Do you have a favourite character or “voice” so far while writing the book?
I have loved writing all of them so far! The Gentleman is perhaps a bit of a standout because his character allows for some idiosyncratic humour to creep in and siphon off some of the tension. That’s important when there’s so much looming darkness and impending death in a piece. He’s the polar opposite to The Stranger, who is so much fun to write because he’s so very, deeply wrong on so many levels…
Any memorable deaths from playing the original game?
Well the suffocating prunes were certainly memorable! And I recall botched attempts to take someone out using the blowpipe from the toilet tower – murder can be such a tricky business. The first time I played the game with housemates a couple of them were genuinely distraught to be unceremoniously dumped into the moat, with tension levels reaching fever pitch as their dice rolls failed and their lifeforce ebbed away, muah ha ha.
What are some non-game related creations (books, music, movies, etc) that you’re currently enjoying?
Aside from the Gothic fiction mentioned above, I’ve been enjoying the resurgence of the ‘zine, especially Hellebore, Weird Walk, Grimoire Silvanus, and Rituals & Declarations. There’s a vibrant scene out there encompassing paganism, witchcraft, and the right to roam. I think maybe our desire to reconnect with the landscape and share its mythologies has been amplified by recent events. Severin Films’ incredible box set release of unsung rarities The Eurocrypt of Christopher Lee has kept me company in the wee hours at Lee Cottage. And on the car stereo, CHVRCHES’ latest album Screen Violence is the perfect horror movie/synthpop grudge match, I bloody love it!
Finally, for our readers who would like to follow you, where they find you?
Please drop by at my website www.frazerlee.com to see what I’ve been up to, say hi on Twitter @frazer_lee, Instagram mr_frazer_lee, and the old Facebook page /AuthorFrazerLee. Unlike Dracula, I don’t bite (much!)
***
Thanks to Frazer for taking the time to answer all these questions. Now time for the icing on the cake - the second reading from the upcoming, Damnation: The Gothic Game novel, courtesy of Frazer himself. Enjoy :)
***SPOILER ALERT***
This reading includes a 'death' from the book. It occurs relatively early on - if you would prefer to read experience the book without knowing of any spoilers, please don't watch this.
Also, I hope this goes without saying, but please refrain from discussing any spoilers in any of the comment sections. Despite my hope that everyone respects this simple request, if you've chosen to avoid the video for fear of spoilers, it's probably safest to avoid the comments on this update just incase.
***
And that's us for another update. We'll have a final update tomorrow where we look back at the journey the game has taken, and will include a conversation between Robert Wynne Simmons and I. There's a lot of history here and I want to mark the successful conclusion of this campaign with a look back at how it all starter - right back to 1965!
It's been a remarkable 24 days. Obviously it goes without saying that we want to finish as strongly as we can, so please do keep supporting us by sharing.
