Despair Dungeon 3

Version 3.1a
Last Updated 02/Sept/2013
Created for F-List by Cormac
http://www.f-list.net/c/cormac for Questions / Error reporting / feedback
with Contributions from – “Karen the Summoner”

Preface
Despair Dungeon is a game made for F-Chat with the following objectives in mind.

 Be simple for players unfamiliar with Dice Games

 Prioritize flexibility and fun. Focusing on the role-play itself and not getting bogged down
in character sheets and complex mechanics.
 Provide a way for DM’s / GM’s to be able to control the story, but not the outcomes.
 To provide a template for scenes that varies from a 2-4 hour dungeon crawl to a multi-
part epic taking players to all corners of the world. Additionally it can be adapted to non-
fantasy settings!

What makes Despair Dungeon “Fun?” What is the history of this game?
In a word “losing”

I created DD after playing as a Dom in role-plays for many years, I found that often I would know
maybe 4-5 posts ahead of time what was coming up, and that RP’s often were simply “going
through the motions” while I carried my partner from position to position.

I tried various other RPG systems on F-list, and all of them struck me as too complicated and too
much detail, so I created DD.

I ran V2 for over a year, and personally ran maybe 75+ sessions. I was surprised to see many
people approaching me asking for permission to use the game and even to modify it.

The real fun from the game comes from not knowing what happens next. I’ve had some of my
best RP sessions against players who didn’t set a foot wrong only to be undone at the last minute
by a critical failure.

The strength of the game comes from just how much flexibility it gives the characters. So far
everyone has used this flexibility within good taste and hasn’t gone over the top. I typically do
“overworld” sessions now, where we have long storylines and it takes place above ground. Have
also had some great Fallout based role-plays on there too.

Hope you enjoy the game; feel free to shout at me as I’m always looking to hear feedback.

-Cormac
Contents
Preface....................................................................................................................................................1
What makes Despair Dungeon “Fun?” What is the history of this game? .........................................1
Principles of Game Mechanics..............................................................................................................3
Challenge Rating ................................................................................................................................3
Critical Success and Failure ..............................................................................................................3
Stats ........................................................................................................................................................4
Base Stats ..........................................................................................................................................4
Corruption Stat ...................................................................................................................................5
Loss and Gain of Corruption ..........................................................................................................5
Reaching 5 Corruption ...................................................................................................................6
Combat ...................................................................................................................................................7
Example Combat Posts ......................................................................................................................7
Attack Checks.....................................................................................................................................8
Defend Checks ...................................................................................................................................8
Corruption Checks / Defeated State ....................................................................................................9
Special Notes on Defeated State ..................................................................................................9
Ending Defeated State.................................................................................................................... 10
Action Checks ...................................................................................................................................... 10
Status Effects ...................................................................................................................................... 10
Traits and Starting Abilities ................................................................................................................ 11
Archetypes ....................................................................................................................................... 11
Starting Traits .................................................................................................................................. 12
Earned Traits ................................................................................................................................... 12
Example Character Sheet ................................................................................................................... 13
Blank Character Sheet (Use this to make your own!) ....................................................................... 14
Player vs. Player & Multiple Players Section ..................................................................................... 15
House Rules / Rule Modifier Suggestions......................................................................................... 15
Principles of Game Mechanics
Despair Dungeon has two rules at its core.

 You only ever have to roll one ten sided dice.

 To succeed you must equal or beat the checks “Challenge Rating” once you roll the dice
and add / subtract modifiers to the total.

Please note that herein the phrase “d10” means a roll of a 10 sided dice

There are only 4 possible “checks” in the game

 Attack Checks
 Defend Checks
 Corruption Checks
 DM Decided Special Checks
(One such example of a DM decided special check is if you wish to sneak past a character or
perform an improbable feat out of combat)

These 4 all share the same common rules, further on in the manual there are explanations of
what happens when you fail or succeed these checks.

Challenge Rating
Also referred to as CR herein.

Each encounter / skill check has a challenge rating attached to it that is at the GM/DM’s
discretion and are known as the following difficulties.

10 – Trivial
11 – Easy
12 - Moderate
13 - Tough
14 - Extreme
15 – Nightmarish

Minions would be Trivial and Easy’s while a “Boss character” may be extreme or Nightmarish.

To provide some context on this, assuming you had base modifiers of +7 Average. You would
have an 80% chance of beating a trivial check, but only a 30% chance of beating a
“Nightmarish” encounter.

Critical Success and Failure

Rolling a ten on your d10 (the ten sided dice) will result in what is called a critical success.
Whereby the action you are attempting will always work. No matter how unlikely it may be.

Rolling a 1 on your d10 will result in a critical failure, this means that your character will fail in
some catastrophic way.

The outcomes for each Critical Success / Critical Failure condition are listed on outcome tables
under each skill section.
Stats
Your character has 4 stats in Despair Dungeon, PHYS, FORT, MIND and CORRUPTION

Base Stats
 PHYS – Physical Skill – Used for Attack Checks and Defend Checks
 FORT – Fortitude – Used for Defend Checks and Corruption Checks
 MIND – Mental Skill – Used for Attack Checks and Corruption Checks

At the start of the game these are at zero, when creating your character you have 10 points to
spend however you may please.
(For example a mage may go for 2 Phys / 4 Fort / 4 Mind)

These stats are used in the following 4 ways

Attack Check: d10 + PHYS+ MIND

Defend Check: d10 + PHYS + FORT
Corruption Check: d10 + FORT + MIND - Corruption
Special Check: As dictated by the DM (You may request the DM in OOC to initiate this!)

Representing Base Stats in RP

As with all things in the Despair Dungeon rule set, the intent is for the player to be able to
represent their character as they see fit. Note that physical skill is NOT strength. A rogue
may have 5 physical skill as well as a barbarian type having 5 physical skill, how that is
represented in the combat is at the players discretion. Even a mage may have the ability to
aim lightning bolts with deadly effect.

You may for example, choose to have a fighter with a high MIND and low PHYS, perhaps
they are not very skilled but very determined? Or able to piece together the fighting style of
their opponents? Perhaps they were studious and learned the weaknesses of every
creature they may ever face? It’s up to you!
Corruption Stat
Corruption is the fourth stat in Despair Dungeon. Corruption is how tainted your character has
become by events in the role-play.

Your Corruption will always start at 0 unless special perks are taken or traits earned!

Its primary use is that it is subtracted from your total on a corruption check. Making it therefore
more likely that you fail the more corrupt your character is.

Roleplaying Corruption
A player may, at his or her discretion choose to integrate their corruption level into role-
plays. For example a character with high corrupt may be more prone to do “evil” things. This
can spice up the role-play quite a bit!

Loss and Gain of Corruption

Throughout the game, it is likely that player characters will start gaining corruption. In some
unlucky cases it is possible to gain a massive amount of corruption in quick succession.

Corruption may be added or removed at the discretion of the DM based on your actions.
(E.G. Rescuing a party member or completing a quest may take away a point, attacking another
player character may add a point)

One corruption will be added upon your first failure of a corruption check while in a defeated
state. This is a one point maximum per encounter.

One corruption will be added should you at any point roll a critical failure on a corruption check.
This may combined with other corruption adding effects.
(E.G. If your very first corruption check is a critical failure, you would immediately gain 2 points)
Reaching 5 Corruption
Once you reach 5 corruption, one of the following scenarios happen…

Passing out Passes out for a duration, either until the games end or until awakened by
something/someone (Passed out characters may find themselves mysteriously at
the dungeon entrance should they want to play again another day)
Mind Snap For the remainder of the session and or until the DM removes some corruption.
The DM may force you to act on impulses such as betraying your party members or
raping them. You may never roll a corruption check or defence; you are essentially
at the mercy of whatever/whoever wants you.
“Bad End” Bad Ending scenarios, a terrible fate. Examples: Permanent enslavement to a
Wizard, breeding queen for a demon
Rebirth Player recreates their sheet to an appropriate scenario. One example is a playing
maxing their corruption and then joining a Goblin Tribe as their Queen. The player
would make a “dark” version of their original character and effectively restart their
character mechanically while continuing their storyline.
Reset Some players like to “reset” the scenario and start from an earlier point.
Death Self-Explanatory
These scenarios should be discussed with your DM before they happen. DMs and players should
take note that character deaths should be explicitly requested.
Combat
Combat is handled relatively simply and quickly by a dice roll and can be entirely resolved in just
one turn. There is no health, stamina or MP. Before or after each roll, it is up to the player to then
post their RP response. The DM will then respond in kind. In special situations, the DM may
request the combat to be resolved without the need for RP posts and only via dice rolls.

If you aren't sure how to roll, ask your DM to explain how. It’s quite easy!

Example Combat Posts

For context : You are in a combat encounter with a centaur who is firing arrows at you from Afar,
you are a Fire Mage who is making an attack roll.

Attack total equal to
challenge rating or above
Attack total below Challenge
Rating
Critical Success
Critical Failure
“Karen conjured up a burning fireball using her arcane talents.
Hurtling it at the centaur, her aim was true and the flames
engulfed the hooved beast.
“Karen conjured up a burning fireball using her arcane talents.
Hurtling it at the centaur, it missed by mere inches. Singing its hair.
“Karen conjured up a burning fireball using her arcane talents.
Hurtling it at the centaur, it struck the creature in the eyes as if
guided by the gods themselves.
“Karen conjured up a burning fireball using her arcane talents. She
attempted to throw it at the beast. Instead of leaving her fingers
the flames exploded around her, searing off her clothes and
leaving her naked and defenceless.

Combat will continue back and forth between attack and defend rolls until either an attack roll is
won or a defend roll is lost.

Whether the first roll is an attack or defend roll depends on the context of the situation… E.G.

Sneak up on a bandit = Player Attacks on first roll

Be grabbed on ankle by a tentacle = Player defends on first roll

RPing Rolling Good Practices

Depending on the context, you may choose to do your roll before or after your post. This
means you can make ambiguous posts where you do not know the outcome, such as firing
an arrow, or if you know the outcome beforehand. You can also do the reaction of the non-
player character. Good players will swap between either depending on the context.

Another thing advanced players will do is scale the outcome of their actions based on how
much they beat a check by. For example getting an 11 and just about beating a check can
be RPed differently than getting 15 and smashing through it. Same thing applies to critical
success and failures.
Attack Checks
Attack Roll Formula (1D10 means roll one ten sided dice)

1D10 + PHYS + MIND + MODIFIERS TO MATCH OR BEAT Challenge Rating

You always roll to beat or match CR in this game, if your character had 4 PHYS and 2 MIND and the combat ready trait
(+1 to attack vs a challenge rating of 11, you would need to only roll a 4 or above in this scenario to win the encounter

The command would be /roll 1d10 + 4 + 2 + 1

Roll Table for ATTACK CHECK

Roll a Total equal to challenge rating or above You defeat your opponent.
Roll a Total below challenge rating You miss your attack or it has no effect
Roll a “Critical Success” You win the encounter in some dramatic way
that benefits your character
Roll a “Critical Failure” You Lose the fight without a chance for defence
roll

If an attack is missed the NPC side will then have a chance to attack.

Defend Checks
Please note that typically defending rolls are done by the DM before his posts

Much like attacking, you character needs to beat the challenge rating to defend successfully.

Defend Roll Formula (1D10 means roll one ten sided dice)

1D10 + PHYS + FORT + Applicable Modifiers TO MATCH OR BEAT Challenge Rating

(Example Roll against a Slime Attack (Challenge Rating 10)

2 (Roll) + 3 (PHYS) + 5 (FORT) - 1 (Poorly Clothed) = 9 VS 10

The person in this case would lose the roll and fall victim to its gooey charms.

Roll Table for Defending

Roll a total of equal to challenge rating or above The monsters attack misses or is successfully
defended , you get a chance to do an attack roll
before your next post
Roll a total below challenge rating The Monsters Defeats you, you enter the
Defeated State
Critical Success The attacker fails utterly. You win the encounter
Critical Failure You enter the defeated state with some sort of
disadvantage as decided by the DM
Corruption Checks / Defeated State
When in a defeated state, you are at the mercy of whatever/whoever is attacking you since you
already failed your defence roll.

Every turn, after the attacker posts and before you post - you must do a corruption check.

Corruption Check Formula

1D10 + FORT + MIND + Modifiers TO MATCH OR BEAT Challenge Rating

Corruption Check Roll Table

Equal or above CR Your upcoming post is non-willing

Total below CR Your upcoming post is willing, you grain 1 corruption.
(Can only gain one corruption this way during the encounter)
Critical Success You fight off the attacker or come to your senses You may attack him
immediately again or flee by succeeding a defence roll.
Critical Failure Your character has an extreme reaction to the situation (such as suddenly
cumming or begging for more or begging to be taken)
You will gain a corruption point every time this happens until 5.
If you have not gained yet due to hitting an unwilling state then you will
lose 2 if this happens.

On the “Willingness” of certain characters.

Some players will prefer that their characters posts are never willing and are against the concept of
switching from non willing to willing, this is fine as Despair Dungeon is supposed to be for all! However it is
expected that you draw SOME distinction between the two outcomes. This also applies to characters that
prefer to play as willing regardless of corruption

Example: putting up a fight versus failing to struggle due to exhaustion

Rule of thumb - do what seems right for the role-play and for your character!

Special Notes on Defeated State

If you roll an attack roll immediately after a successful escape roll. You could combine the two
actions in your upcoming post. Such as escaping via stabbing a man who is on top of you in the
side -OR- you could let a party member do the attack roll after you successfully escape.
Simulating them saving you just as you break free. This is particularly useful if the RP is at a point
where you don’t want to be interrupted too much.

There is another concept a GM may request called “let the result slide”. Whereby the DM/GM will
request that the outcome still stands but you “finish up” whatever section of the RP itself you are
on if you prefer not to stop just yet. The player may also request this as well ;-)

Defeated state may also be initiated by the victor after Player vs. Player (see Multiple Player
Section)
Ending Defeated State
The defeated state will end when one of the conditions has been met

Escape

The player successfully escaped

Attacker Initiated Ending

The attacker may end it at any time (such as after being “done” with her). If the victor ends the
defeated state they can escape at leisure or do something along the lines of kidnapping the
victim for later use freely. (Though if less than 5 corruption the victim must always have an
opportunity to fight.)

Rescue
See Multiple Player Section

Action Checks
Throughout the RP. You may ask the DM to perform action checks based on the scenario or the
DM may force you to roll against a situation that is NOT a combat situation.

These actions will be against a challenge rating based on the context of what you are attempting
to do and some actions may require you to roll multiple times.

Examples

 Solving a complex puzzle - MIND Roll

 Triggering a poison dart trap - PHYS roll to dodge FORT Roll to see if poisoned.
 Kicking open a locked door – 1d10 + PHYS TO MATCH OR BEAT CR

Status Effects
The DM may give you temporary status effects based on some of your actions or situations that
happen during the role-play. These status effects may be positive or negative.

Examples

 Hurt your foot when failing to kick open a door , -2 to next defence roll
 Been poisoned -1 to FORT , PHYS for next encounter
 Discovered the weakness of a creature. + 2 to attack vs. that creature.
Traits and Starting Abilities
Archetypes
Upon character creation, the player may choose one of the following Archetypes. Archetypes are
considered to be the “class” of the player and come with a powerful ability.

Please note that if none of these archetypes suit, either your character or thematically. Consult
the GM and a new archetype can be created on the spot that suits your requirements. Class
names can also be changed by the player on the spot.

Name Ability Name Description

Fighter Double Up Once per session, may attack twice and choose the
preferred result
Mage Glass Cannon Once per session, instead of a defence roll, may make
another attack. If the free attack fails, automatic
defeated state
Priest Pure of Heart Critical Success during a defeated state immediately
removes a corruption point in addition to its normal
effect.
Thief Slippery May automatically escape a defeated state once per
session. Note must still then run from the fight or
defeat the attacker
Archer Bullseye +1 when attacking any unaware opponent
Succubus Tainted May add their corruption total to any roll once per
session.
Prostitute Working Girl May take a corruption point to immediately end the
encounter; however she must satisfy the intent of her
target.
Knight Bide and Bear May use FORT + FORT on a defend roll once per session
Assassin Silent Killer Once per session, may kill an opponent without alerting
anyone nearby.
Bard Rousing Song Once per session, may increase the next roll by 2
Diplomat Smooth Talking Instead of Defending, may opt to do 1d10 + MIND +
MIND to talk to negotiate once per session. Success
results in the encounter stopping.
Pirate Physical Once per session , may use PHYS + FORT instead of
Resistance FORT + MIND for a corruption check
Victim Unfortunate Fate Gains a corruption point for every two corruption checks
in a row failed
Slave Not worth the After an successful escape attempt, may then run away
chase with no check required
Paladin Mind over Matter May use MIND + MIND during a corruption check
instead of MIND + FORT once per session
Barbarian Bloodlust Instead of using Phys + Mind to attack, may instead use
Phys + Phys once per session.
Alchemist Potion Buffs Once per session, may roll +1 on all rolls vs. that one
encounter.
Merchant Bribery Regardless of state, may do a check of MIND + d10 to
beat or match CR to escape the situation.
Cleric Favour of the Gods Once per session, may reroll a defence roll.
Adventurer Fortune Once per session, may add or subtract one from any
dice rolled by the player or DM/GM
Starting Traits
 You may choose up to 6 traits maximum for your character.
 Each positive must have a negative to counter balance it.
 You may take as many negative traits as you like however.
 You must begin the game with one trait.
 You may consult with your GM/DM for any special starting traits you’d like to invent for
your character.

Positive Traits Negative Traits

Virgin Start with -1 Corruption
Non Willing Roll + 1 on all Corruption
checks
Well Trained Roll +1 on all Attack rolls
Properly Roll +1 on all Defend Rolls
Dressed
Blessed Once per session, may roll a
dice a second time
Lucky Critical Success comes from
a nine or above
Escape Artist Require One Less than
normal to "Critically Succeed"
escape attempts.
Corruption After recovering from a
Recovery defeated state, Roll a
corruption check. Beat the
check to lose a corruption
point
Incorruptible Ignore the first point of
Corruption Gained
Talented May Spend an Extra Starting
Point
Slutty Start with 1 Corruption
Willing Roll -1 on all Corruption checks
Poorly Roll -1 on all attack rolls
Trained
Poorly -1 on all defend rolls
Clothed
Cursed Once per session, Dungeon
master may re-roll a dice
against you
Unlucky Rolling a 2 or below results in
critical failure
Cums Easily During corruption Checks,
critical failure is at one point
higher than it normally would
be.
Stockholm After ending a defeated state.
Sufferer Some point later in the role-play
the DM may force them to make
a corruption check. Failing the
corruption check will cause
them to desire the event again.
Gaining a corruption point.
Corruptible On the first gain of corruption,
gain an extra point
Talentless Has one less starting point to
spend

Earned Traits
Throughout sessions, the DM may award your character traits at his discretion, these represent
your deeds. You may not pick these for your characters beforehand.

Examples

 Orc Slayer +2 To all Combat rolls against Orcs

 Orc Slut -2 to Corruption Checks when dealing with Orcs
 Anally Trained: +1 To Corruption Checks when being anally violated
Example Character Sheet
Character Name:Jeneka

Age: 24
Race: Human
Archetype: Mage

Equipment: Robes, Adventuring Pack, Spell book, ritual components

Description: Description: Pale skin with bright blue hair from a spell gone wrong. Petite with only
small bumps for breasts.

http://gelbooru.com/index.php?page=post&s=view&id=1983058 (reference)

Sessions Completed: 2
Enemies Defeated: 7
Enemies Succumbed to: 1

PHYS: 2
FORT:4
MIND:4

Corruption: 2

Non-Willing | Roll + 1 on all purity checks

Incorruptible | Ignore the first point of Corruption Gained
Cums Easily | During Purity Checks while defeated, critical failure is at one point higher than it
normally would be.
Poorly Clothed | Roll -1 on all defend rolls

Earned Traits:
None
Blank Character Sheet (Use this to make your own!)
Character Name:

Age:
Race:
Archetype:

Equipment: (Images can be used for Equipment and Description Sections)

Description:

Sessions Completed: 0
Enemies Defeated: 0
Enemies Succumbed to: 0

PHYS:
FORT:
MIND:

Corruption: 0

Starting Traits
[Trait]
[Trait]
[Trait]
[Trait]
[Trait]
[Trait]

Earned Traits:
None

Click the following link for a pastebin friendly character sheet

or ask your GM to paste it for you!

http://pastebin.ca/2442229
Player vs. Player & Multiple Players Section
Coming Soon (Valve Time)

House Rules / Rule Modifier Suggestions

Coming Soon (Valve Time)