Have you ever wondered what happens to your characters that have died while playing your favorite TTRPGs? The team at Snowbright Studio did and have created a game to help you explore those unfinished tales. They turn the entire premise of TTRPGs on its head as your characters make their way through a realm of dark waters dotted with islands as they attempt to escape the Ink.
WATERS, GHOSTS, AND CAFES
While living characters typically have their physical form and the spirit that inhabits that body, a dead character no longer has a “physical body” and instead is the Spirit itself acting as the character’s body. Accompanying each character is their “Shadow,” a manifestation of their unbridled emotions from their life. While the two halves of your character travel the Ink together, it is possible that your character’s Shadow has entirely different desires from the spirit.
“During combat, Shadows take over completely, making for rapid combat sessions full of exciting supernatural powers that have been gained through magical Elixirs found along your journey.”
ink Backerkit Story
The Ink is like a giant bowl of dark waters to which the recently deceased awakens. Above this realm of pitch-black seas and sprinkled islands the skies reach up to the Firmament- a clockwork sky fortress that bars the denizens of the Ink from ever reaching up to the heavens. Thus your character’s efforts to try and find a means of escape from the Ink via small tears known as Passage Beacons. These extremely rare escape routes are always jealously guarded by the creatures of the Ink.
Some are the Spirits and Shadows that were unable to escape the Ink and have lost themselves while others are creatures born of the dreadful darkness and waters of the Ink. The deadliest creatures, Greater Fiends, are terrifying forces that feed upon the very soul of Spirits in the Ink. Fiends guard Passage Beacons in their envy of the Spirits that still have a chance to escape, their power makes them a challenge and attacking their secret weakness is the only way to overcome them.
While the Ink is a difficult and dangerous realm to traverse, death in the world of Ink is only the beginning not an end. Total Party Knockout is the only way that characters level up. Upon TPK, players receive new abilities, Powers for their Shadows, and memories to help them on their next voyage across the seas of the Ink. This is how players are able to face a Greater Fiend multiple times to eventually learn more about them and gain the strength to defeat them. As I’m sure you can tell there are a lot of creative ways this world can make playing at your table all the more interesting and fun.
NOT TOO LATE!
There is a full description of the game that you can peruse via the Backerkit page, it has however already ended. Instead you can head over to the Snowbright Studio site to pre-order a copy of the core rulebook. The pre-orders will be fulfilled along with the release of the Backerkit fulfillment which should be shipping out in 2023. There isn’t an indication of when they will stop taking pre-orders, so be sure to head over and order your copy right away.
The game is both adorable and macabre with illustrations reminiscent of cartoons and a world that is entirely about and coming to terms with death. I sincerely wish I’d come across this gem while the Backerkit was still live so I could have grabbed one of the awesome looking Box Sets with all the bells and whistles, but I’m more than happy to add this spirited new game to my collection. Will you be ordering a copy of ink or were you lucky enough to get one as a Backer?
Til Next Time!
