Sombrebois
A dark fantasy role-playing game
Universe
Foolish is he who imagines himself safe. Sombrebois (= Darkwood) is a merciless TTRPG that focuses on travel, survival, and geopolitics. Nature, like an allegory of a disturbed mind, takes on strange forms. Behind every stone lies not only death, but also an unexpected treasure for those who dare to brave the unknown.
This world currently has 4 unique regions:
- The Spinal Valley: a forested valley whose mountains turn out to be immense vertebrae.
- The Arborescent Abyss: an abyss whose explorable surface consists of immense pillars covered with lush vegetation. The bottom is home to gigantic snakes that discourage anyone from venturing there...
- The Shears: steep mountains overflowing with Statos, a crimson clay that can take the form of whatever its user desires. Riddled with bandits and savages, the Shears are not without danger.
- The Deadmire: decaying swamps dotted with villages on stilts. Life clings to the mud, especially parasites.
Like waves of emotion that flow through everything, the four Daguens animate all matter, both mineral and organic. Glaosten is the courage, Felne the curiosity, Menka the love, and Vronk the introspection. Some creatures are able to channel them to trigger spectacular effects such as wildfires, frost tornadoes, and even prophecies.
Sombrebois comes with a D20 rule system. You start out as a mangy beast in search of a new home, and this seemingly trivial quest always turns out to be much more perilous than it first appears.
The game offers classic character creation, but also a rewarding semi-random option. Play as one of 5 playable species, one of 7 classes, and choose your Path out the 3 available from your class.
You can play as a Deathmire Pig Mastodon that no obstacle can stop, an agile and swift Bloodseeker Ranger who meditates on his victories after drinking the fresh blood of his enemies, or an Astrean Master of Secrets capable of manipulating the forces of nature and easily forging bonds with characters from the scenarios.
While danger is ever-present, cunning as well as the wild tongue can help you avoid combat. Each player follows their own path and get stronger, acquiring new items and Abilities over time, including the powerful Metamorphosis.
Rules
Sombrebois currently has three scenarios.
- Birth of a Fairy: a short adventure made to to discover the universe. Players take on the role of prisoners who must redeem themselves by completing a krigaken, a deadly pact that involves a tough trial.
- The Sudden Invasion: a long campaign in which players discover a city whose inhabitants suffer from infertility, but this is not their biggest concern. In fact, a tribe of extractivist woodlice is growing in the surrounding area. To eradicate the threat, players will have to travel far and meet the enigmatic guardians of nature.
- Statos da Mydan: a campaign set in the mountains where players discover two antagonistic tribes, one hidden from the other. Later in the adventure, they will not only have to choose sides, but also decide how to resolve the conflict, through peace or bloodshed.
The adventure
The Project
The Rules, Universe and character sheets are all freely available on Google Drive.
Rules
Sheet
Among other things, you can join our Discord where most of our games take place. We also post Brume news there.
