Black Site Studio: Violent Dark

There’s no help for you in space

Violent Dark (formerly Anomaly) is a co-op or head-to-head game that pits the crew of a massive corporation’s ship or planetary facility against the threats of the galaxy that lurk and  prey beyond The Dark. Violent Dark is launching on November 12th.THE UNIVERSE OF VIOLENT DARK

Violent Dark takes place far into humanity’s future, but contains a classic story as old as time. The rich have gotten richer and have also gained, by purchase and force, control of most of the inner planetary resources. Using their power, they formed mega corporations hell-bent on harnessing the resources and treasures that await discovery beyond the Inclusion Zone. With colonies on the Moon, Mars, and in the rings of Saturn, greed has led to conflict between the corporations. Each seeks to master the arms and wealth race. The corporations have built massive ships with the ability to sustain themselves for generations in the pursuit of new planets that can be terraformed, stripped of resources, or provide a military asset that gives them a leg up against other corporations and threats. Once these planets are found, frontier style communities begin to spring up as planet-side facilities are built.  The corporation’s cheapest resource is human life. As planetary populations grow beyond sustainability, people are always looking for a way to make a buck and escape the polluted and cramped confines of the inner planets. Some have been known to literally kill in order to secure a spot on a corporation ship.While most crew are paid little in the way of actual wages, the thought of finding freedom and space to spread out is enough to get them into the cryo sleep chambers. The ships and facilities house vast banks of cryo sleep tubes holding spare crew and security. It’s not uncommon for someone to be awoken generations later on a remote and stripped planet to fix outdated and deteriorated tech. In some cases, crew have awoken to the drone of the I.S.S. computer in a facility whose layout has changed over the decades and are forced to face an unknown threat.   Life is cheap.

THE DARKNESS OF SPACE

Within the inclusion zone of the inner planets, communication and technology grow at a rapid pace. Travel between inner planets happens within hours or a few days. Communication is instantaneous and available to even the poorest citizen. This all changes once a ship passes into The Dark. The Dark is the frontier, the vastness that stretches out beyond our solar system. Communication can take weeks, months, or is considered completely unachievable. Some established routes to planets and profitable star clusters may have a corporate space station for supplies or additional cryo sleep tubes, but even these places cannot guarantee what they have or when they will be restocked. Travel in The Dark is lonely and dangerous.

ALIEN WORLDS

The corporations have known for some time that humans are not alone. While many of the details are not available to the everyday person, rumors abound and tales from returning ‘tubers’  spread like wildfire within the inclusion zone. The further humanity expands out into The Dark the more threats they encounter: some fleeting and some persistent. Several inhabited planets have been discovered but the details of what goes on there is deeply classified by the discovering corporation. Secret skirmishes and corporate wars have been fought over the location of such planets and their wealth and technology.In the corporation’s hubris they try to control these new species and their resources.But a new threat has been discovered, something that cannot be reasoned or bartered with. This new threat is far beyond the scope of a species’ outpost planet or a cast of rogue synths.The Xeno are coming.

The Rules of Violent Dark

So you want to know all about Violent Dark? How it works, how it plays and what sort of terrain you’ll need? Read on to find out exactly what you came here for…

CO-OP, SOLO PLAY?

Violent dark can be played in several different ways. As a solo game, a player will have control of four crew models to complete the selected mission against an A.I. driven threat. You and your friends could split control of crew members, allowing each player to activate and choose the destiny of a single or multiple crew models against an A.I. threat.Violent Dark also has rules for someone to play as the Threat itself! This can allow for as many as five players to participate in a mission. One person playing the chosen threat and four players controlling a crew model.

CORE MECHANICS

Violent Dark pits four crew against a threat that the players choose before the game begins. In the Violent Dark core box, players will be encountering the new Xeno threat. In future expansions players will be able to choose from new and varied threats.When a crew model activates it is able to take one quick action and one long action or two quick actions in any order. Actions such as combat and interacting with the environment are done with a skill check. Skill checks are performed by rolling a D20 and looking for a result equal to or under a value listed on the relevant crew card.  In some situations it is possible to roll critical successes or critical failures. As the mission progresses, the character may take damage and stress from attacks or specific environments in play. Crew Posture
When players choose a crew model they will decide to play in either its offensive or defensive posture. This choice has a dramatic effect on the game as each posture allows for different skill values, traits, and equipment choices! The choice you make is important but it is possible for crew models to change posture as the game goes on.

Stress
As the crew exerts themselves and engages threats in combat they will acquire stress. Each point of stress on a crew model gives a cumulative -1 to that model’s skill checks. This means it is important for crew to support each other and plan ways to find moments to recover their nerves. If a crew model gains too much stress they will panic, becoming erratic and unpredictable. This unpredictability can be dangerous no only to them, but to the entire crew. Dread
Over the course of a mission Dread will begin to build as the crew encounters the threat or time becomes of the essence to complete mission objectives. Dread is a resource that is used by both the A.I. and Player Threat. Dread is spent to cause panic in the crew, open and close bulkhead doors, or make The Threat more dangerous in combat.

PLAYING AS THE THREAT

Playing as the threat allows for more choice in how the threat moves, attacks, and uses Dread. A player threat is more cunning and provides different challenges for the crew as they try to secure mission objectives. MISSIONS AND TABLE SETUP

The core game of Violent Dark provides everything necessary to play the core five missions. Missions in Violent Dark are played on a two foot by two foot play area and filled with terrain as well as selected or randomly chosen environmental conditions. Environmental conditions help capture the horror and confines of life on cramped corporate facilities.  These environments represent everything from lighting to hazardous conditions the crew will need to navigate as they traverse the table and try to secure mission success.

MISSIONS AND TABLE SETUP

The core game of Violent Dark provides everything necessary to play the core five missions. Missions in Violent Dark are played on a two foot by two foot play area and filled with terrain as well as selected or randomly chosen environmental conditions. Environmental conditions help capture the horror and confines of life on cramped corporate facilities.  These environments represent everything from lighting to hazardous conditions the crew will need to navigate as they traverse the table and try to secure mission success.

Players will also randomly choose a Plan B. These represent sub objectives the players may try to accomplish for minor and moral victories.

Adaptation and Facility Upgrades

Players may choose to link play between missions.  Instead of progress focusing on the crew (life is cheap) Violent Dark tracks progress in a different way. Progression follows the chosen threat. Each threat will have its own set of unique Adaptation cards. These adaptations allow the threats to grow and change with each crew encounter.

Facility Upgrade cards represent the corporation’s response to threats in The Dark. These are acquired less frequently than Adaptation cards and are far less reliable as it can be hard to tell if or when a facility will be upgraded!

Cards

Violent Dark will include a number of cards to help you keep track of the game and your crew. These will include crew cards, items, Adaptations, and Facility Upgrades. Each card has its own unique art that will help capture the look and feel of Violent Dark.

What’s in the starter box?

As always with our indie games we’ve put together an amazing starter box for you! Everything you need to get started is trapped right inside these cardboard walls just waiting to get out.