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Graphic Roleplaying
Although steeped in the language and symbols of superheroes,
Darkpages is first and foremost a game based on the horror
comics from the 1970's through to the 21st century.
Titles
such as Werewolf by Night, Ghost Rider and Dr.
Strange broke free of the Comics Code with tales of monsters,
kung fu masters, ancient sorcery and hell-spawned demons.
In later years, comics writers like Alan Moore (Swamp Thing,
Watchmen) and Frank Miller (The Dark Knight Returns)
deconstructed the myth of the superhero and exposed its underbelly...one
crawling with sexual dysfunction, violence, nihilism and darkness.
The
"British Invasion" of comics continued through the
1980's, bringing writers such as Grant Morrison (Doom Patrol)
and Neil Gaiman (Sandman) in addition to Moore. But
these comics weren't just dark...they possessed a lyrical
quality, one filled with humanity (despite the seeming lack
thereof), humor, beauty and fantasy. American writers in the
80's and 90's embraced supernatural comics with titles like
Grendel, The Crow and Spawn.
In
the past decade, Sin City, 100 Bullets, Top
10 and Powers told tales of crime and social decay
in fantastic, hyperrealistic cities where genres collided
and expectations were shattered.
Darkpages
seeks to do something new. By creating a new kind of comic
book roleplaying game, one inspired by horror and crime-themed
comics. I call this style "Graphic Horror" both
for its reference to the medium of the graphic novel and the
no-holds-barred attitude of these stories. Ammoral (as opposed
to immoral) characters. Blood, sex, pain, tragedy, betrayal
and one last shot at redemption...all the things that make
memorable stories so memorable.
In
Darkpages, there are no heroes or villains. Just stories.
Here are some of them.
The city remembers when its streets were rough and newly
trod. When its people slept in peace and dreamed of tomorrow.
It wakes at night, a jagged ghost dulled to the sounds of
gunfire, the smell of smoke, the touch of razorwire. It weeps,
and the sky opens with a roar. It's raining in the city and
the gods are going to war. - Hamilton
Glassworks is a Darkpages imprint set in Hamilton,
an urban sprawl on the United States' east coast. The Glassworks
series explores occult noir, hardboiled crime fiction, pulp
adventure and gritty, street-level cop drama.
Engimatic
mage Rainer Burroughs walks the rainy streets of King's
Gate while the undead gather in dark places to worship
their blood queen.
The
all-too human sins of Glassworks rots it from within.
An old man and his young pupil struggle to hold back the decay.
In
the urban jungle of The Annex, a young boy dreams of
masked heroes and a burned-out killer spins webs of silver
and gold.
Germantown
holds its share of secrets, a melting pot of cultures
and languages ruled by the man they call Papa Shango.
Yuri
"Ten-Rubles" Chervonetz dropped his crowbar and dumped the
crippled Moscow detective onto the subway tracks. His meaty
paw reached out to remove the man’s blindfold. Major Konstanin
Petrov’s eyes quickly adjusted to the dim light and noticed
red letters on matte-black tiles: Pokryshkin Station. He was
in D-6, the secret Metro deep beneath the city, reserved for
top military personnel and the nomenklatura
party elite. - A Hard Winter
"What
if Stan lee and Jack Kirby wrote propaganda comics for the
Kremlin?" Find out in Jason Roberts' grim vision of Soviet
Russia in the silver age.
The
"Troika" of cosmonauts returned to earth, gifted
with strange powers: Grandmaster, the para-dimensional scientist;
Firebird, the avenging angel; and Mushka, a canine guardian
of Moscow. But the worker's paradise is soon revealed to be
a lie, and terrible things are found to lurk inside the human
heart.
Crime
and punishment in the Hero City, myth and magic of
the Copper Mountains, the mysteries dwelling within
Red Mars and a blasted wasteland in the heart of the
Siberia.
They once lived in these lands, now
only bones remain. Hunters and fishers, weavers and wise women.
They lived here and they took what they needed, only to give
back in return. Even before America came to be, it was a land
of devastation and corruption. Something foul lurked in the
darkest places. Something which had no name. Because to name
something was to give it power, and the people knew that they
must shun it. Loathe it. Hate and fear it. But never, ever
name it. - In Winter
Enter
the world of Indian Summer through time-spanning tales
of swords and sorcery, weird horror and mystery. Evil lives
and breeds in the wild places of New England. Millenia ago,
the land tasted blood. In the year 2012, it demands a new
sacrifice: the human race.
Witchhammer
and his faithful companion Vinegar Tom strike out against
his former teachers at the Black School.
An
ancient prophecy and the mysteries of the deep blue sea surround
the legacy of The Widow's Watch.
The
Ghost Owl haunts the quaint New England town of Mason's
Hill, waiting for the day when he can lead his tribe back
from lands of the dead.
Magic
and technology are indistinguishable in the sinister Eden
Institute, where science creates both victims and saviors
and justice wears a new face every sunrise.
Strangepages are imprints in development for future
supplements. Napoleonic occultism, post-modern weirdness,
futuristic adult fantasy and many other worlds await in the
strangepages.
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