Your current character has answered the Heir's call for adventure

>Lord Inquisitor's orders
>Primaris
>kill everyone with psychic powers/don't get stressed out by petty warp bullshit

>searching for some place to not be hunted for weird powers
>psion
>psychic assault, tk shanks, mind thrust, mind slam, weapon warp. psion oc restoration, hermit cooking

Punching certain someone in a fit of rage way too hard way too many times.
Pugilist
>Combat
Jab (low dmg, chance to get another action)
Left Hook (moderate dmg, low % stun, boosts Right Hook)
Right Hook (moderate dmg, low % push, boosts Left Hook)
Suplex (low damage, shuffle enemies)
Bull Rush (only at back row, Forward + high damage)
Dirty Trick (some % bleed / blight / stun)
Flex (stress heal)
>Camp
Workout (buff damage + Jab chaining %)
Sleaze (stress heal self / + stress to Religious / + stress or Female yes, that's double dose for Vestal)
Chin up! (1 companion 75% buff / 25% +stress)

8/10. Would play.

*teleports behind you*
Nothin' stressful, kid

Wait. There isn't an ending like that? I've yet to beat the game because of the stupid self-imposed playstyle/rule I've set for myself. It's been a lot of fun, but wicked hard.

The game ends with you being told that it was all pointless and everyone dies.

Wow that's fucking gay.

Sorry you had to hear it this way, man.

Boooooooo

At least the game leading up to it's good.

...

The ultimate lazy "twist" ending. And I had such high hopes.

Agreed.

Yeah, even if you manage to pull off the gimmick-build (1 Leper, 3 Plague Doctors) that lets you kill the final boss without the two mandated PC deaths, the ending is basically "you commit suicide to end your tainted line and keep an eternal vigil on the site, knowing that the Elder God will inevitably rise and destroy everything".

Easter egg in the new game+ implies you're all (including the eldritch abomination) stuck in a time loop though and your suicide just resets it

There's also the question of whatever the fuck the Light is, so there's at least one benevolent God in the setting to counterbalance things

>the cycle of eldritch bullshit keeps being reset
>one man stood against it

The whole time loop is actually *caused* by the Heart of Darkness. It needs the blood of those foolish feel who dare to stand against it in order to finally awaken and devour the world. The time loop is just a roundabout way of filling up its quota of delicious souls needed to revive It fully.

>"The flesh is immortal! It is undying! Pray that It does not take too hideous a form."

Kind of goes against the theme of the Eldritch, though; that doom is ultimately inevitable, and that even the greatest and most stalwart of efforts can only delay.

But you could subvert that trope entirely, as Bloodborne's secret ending manages to do, where the Eldritch doom isn't simply overcome by someone, but that that someone actually evolves beyond it. No longer a mere human, the Hunter becomes a Great One in their own right, by their own acts and understandings.

It might be hard work to stand against the Eldritch as a man and succeed, but as a man you can only ever delay what is ultimately inevitable. Transcend the Eldritch, and you might escape the doom entirely.

Hunted by the assailants who destroyed his country, the faithful soldier seeks shelter of any kind. Perhaps some of the Dungeon's artifacts could assist in returning his homeland to its former glory.

Warden

combat:
Pin down - low damage, stun
Hook shield - lower PROT, low chance of PULL
Hammer down - moderate damage, bonus crit chance on stunned
Buttstrike - low damage, move self back 1, push enemy back 1
charge forward - move self forward 2, mod damage, bonus to spd
Close ranks! - full party: move and stun resist, self: +prot
Deep penetration - high damage + bleed, self reduce speed and stun resist
Plant the shaft - +prot, riposte

camping:
talk of victory - team: small stress heal, +acc
talk of blood - team: medium stress heal or small stress damage, self: big stress heal
tighten the straps - self or companion:+prot, stun resist
weapons practice - self: +acc, +stun chance, +spd

He is a captain of a conquered country's army. Hunted by the opposing forces, he is forced to flee, but not before vowing to redeem his homeland. Broken, with nothing but his trusty polearm and rusted armour left, he turns to adventuring to fund his revenge.

>What made them desperate enough?
what do you mean desperate, hes getting paid right?

>whats their class name
raider/ravager

>combat
dismember (1,2): single target damage, chance to inflict bleed (1,2),
rev' it up (any): increase damage and defense, taunts,
purging blast(1,2,3): AoE damage, inflicts burning (2,3,4),
decimate(1,2): AoE damage, inflicts bleed,chance to heal (1,2,3),
juggernaut(2,3,4): Single target reposition to front, marks and inflicts defense down and damage (1,2,3),
smash(1,2): single target stun, inflicts bleed (1,2)

>camping
captains stash: -stress, +damage absorbtion, - speed
oil gear: +damage, +crit chance
gallows humor: - stress on self, +stress on others
stim injection: +stress gain, +speed, +damage

and a pic

>The whole time loop is actually *caused* by the Heart of Darkness.
Does it explicitly say that?
I don't remember too well to be honest

Well, I mean, he's a Paladin. So I guess the Crusader? Maybe a combination of Crusader/Man at arms.

>Class
Paladin
>Purpose
To defy the darkness and bring hope to the bleakest of places
>Skills
Smite
Bulwark of Faith
Inspiring Cry
Defender
Rampart
Bolster
Command
>Camp Skills
Unshakable Leader
Stand Tall
Zealous Speech
Zealous Vigil

>CLASS
Stalker
>Purpose
To hunt the most dangerous game
>Skills
Arcing Shot: Fires an arrow over the heads - and guard - of the enemy
Ranged
Rank: o-o-x-x, Target: x-x-o-o (single)
Damage: -25%
Accuracy: 95
+25% vs Marked

Rain of Arrows: Fires a hail of arrows that fall atop the enemy
Ranged
Rank: o-o-x-x, Target: x-o-o-o (three)
Damage: -50%
Accuracy: 80

Draw, Aim, Loose: Draws and fires a single powerful shot. Takes 1 turn to charge
Ranged
Rank: o-o-x-x, Target: o-o-o-x (single)
Damage: +25%
Accuracy: 100
+25% vs marked
Pierces defenses

Pirouette: A dash, a twirl, a quickly loosed shot - and back out of danger
Ranged
Rank:x-x-o-o, Target: o-x-x-x (single)
Damage: -50%
Accuracy: 80
Back 1
+20% dodge

Tag and Bag: Marks a target as prey, there's nowhere to hide
Ranged
Rank:o-o-x-x, Target: o-o-o-o (single)
Damage: -80%
Accuracy: 80
Marks Target
Bypass/Remove Stealth

Lurk: Into the shadows we go, to hunt beasts and men
Self, Buff
Rank: o-o-x-x, Target: Self
Enter Stealth. Cannot be targeted by single target attacks. Stealth lasts 2 turns or until next attack. Attacking breaks stealth and applies +50% damage buff to that attack

Bolo: Whipporwhirl, Whipporwhirl, round the legs with twine and weight
Ranged
Rank:o-o-x-x, Target: o-o-o-x (single)
Damage: 1-2
Accuracy: 80
Prevents Movement
Targets forced to move by abilities are knocked prone. They are unable to act for 1 turn and have -50% dodge

>Camp Skills
Snare Traps: Prevents nighttime ambush (4 Time)
-20% Chance Party Surprised (4 combats)
+20% Chance Monster Surprised (4 combats)

Bushcraft: +30% scouting chance (4 combats) (2 Time)

Restring Bow: +10 ACC Ranged Skills (4 Combats) (3 time)
+20% DMG Ranged Skills (4 combats)
+5% CRIT Ranged Skills (4 combats)
-2 SPD (4 combats)

Tend the Fire: -10 stress, all (2 time, single use)

>that doom is ultimately inevitable
>he'd rather assume that he can't do it instead of doing the impossible

I works for some settings and themes, but it's completely antithetical to everything Darkest Dungeon is evoking, not to mention the point of the genre.

What's the appeal in Darkest Dungeon? I played it a month ago and hated it by the time I completed the first layer of the darkest dungeon itself. It had happened too may times that my level 6 party would get ambushed on the maximum light level, their order would be flipped, and one or both of my fragile backline adventurers would be killed in the ambush turn through some bullshit combo of critical hits, bleed/toxin, and the AI ganging up on them. And then of course I don't get a vestal above level 1 in the stagecoach for ten weeks after that.
Like, I'm a fan of hard games, but how do you enjoy spending all that time and energy levelling up characters just to roll bad once and they die? It's just painful when there's nothing you can actually improve.

basically?

That dudes voice

The art style, voice acting, and general presentation are all fucking amazing, I will give it that. I just hated the gameplay, and due to being a really fucking difficult game (and random in distribution as mentioned) even on easy, you can't just ignore the gameplay side of it if you just want to delve deeper and find more weird shit. I do want to see more, but I quit after my first level 6 partywipe, I just can't face getting back into the game to do nothing but grind for several hours before I'm allowed to see DDL2.

>That dudes voice

this. also because its a lovecraft game and how many of those are floating around?

>D&D 5e

His last party probably died and he's looking for a good way to join them.

Class Name: Thug

Combat with a greatsword is his big thing, as well as inspiring and protecting his allies.

It's never enough though.

Love it! Combos are cool.

>Suffer not the lame horse
>Nor the broken man

But is it? I mean, you launch a doomed crusade with impossible odds on the say-so of a vaguely repentant ghost; there are horrors, yes, but they can be stifled by human booze, revelry, and penitence.

There is, in existence, something that opposes the evil, and though it is fleeting and transient doesn't make it somehow less important in completing your goal.

And finally, you WIN. Even though it says it will simply reawaken, you beat its ass once and might be able to do it again. The fact a coked-out leper can do that means the sky is the limit.

No, as a whole, Darkest Dungeon feels more like a refutation of 'the unbeatably eldritch' at least until the writers went turbo-autismo at the key-boards and jizzed 'IT COMES' over the ending.

>Character is a recent lich wizard. Very close to the Occultist in type of character.

>Motivation
The quest for knowledge and hiding her new state among other horrors.

>Class name
The Deathbound. Utilitarian and versatile, but always at a cost.

>Special characteristics
Other healing skills damage her. If killed during a fight, will reappear at the Hamlet if the rest of the group survived AND finished the current quest. Is healed normally by food, rest an other effects.

>Skills
Vampiric caress: low damage life steal, can be used from two front ranks and on two front ranks, single target.
Petrifying touch: low damage stun, can be used from two front ranks and on two front ranks, single target
Mirror image: back 1, gives 1 block
Forbidden word: High damage, high crit, damages Deathbound for half of damage done, and adds stress to team. Can be used from two back ranks, and on any rank, single target.
Deal with this, please!: Back 2, forces guard and protect buff on ally, stress damage on ally. Can be used from two front ranks on allies in three front ranks.
Analysis: -prot on target, mark target. Can be used from any rank, on any three back ranks, single target.
Confusion fog: Shuffle positions. No damage. Can be used from two back ranks and on all ranks, with everyone targeted.

This.
This man understands The Light.

p. good, would only change the name of the Hook and Suplex to a Cross and Uppercut.

Honestly I feel like it's more "yes the Heart is gonna awaken and murderfuck everyone eventually, but you've successfully stopped it from happening in your lifetime! Good job!"
Which is really all you can hope for in a Lovecraftian universe.

Reminder that nothing lasts forever, so try to be happy with the limited time you have.
Or don't, it really doesn't matter in the end

You basically seem really but hurt about losing this level 6 team, but with how you almost have to rest a team after every mission how did you not have a B-team that was at least close to leveled? It's like X-COM; sure, losing your best guys hurts, and has long-running implications, but you have reserves and the game isn't forfeit from a single bad run.

Come to think of it, in regards to your original question, the appeal of DD is pretty similar to the appeal of X-COM (old or new). To struggle against a greater power, to triumph over unfavorable odds, and to fold to favorable odds.

Been a while since I've actually played, but I think I remember my last character

>What made them desperate enough?
Not really sure about that one. Maybe he figured there's something there that will let him solve the zombie apocalypse back home?

>What's their class name?
Biolengineer

>What are some of their combat/camping skills?
You'd best be ready for buffs/debuffs, shitty melee attacks with blunt objects, cowarding the fuck out into the back row, campfire heals, and dutch courage for when he needs to forget he's basically just a terrified nerd who is responsible for countless deaths.

Hey man, do it once every lifetime and the heart never awakens. Life is an eternal struggle, but that doesn't mean failure is guaranteed.

>Star Wars D20
Probably looking for some cash
Class name: Soldier
Since he uses a large blaster and is extremely tanky would probably focus on drawing aggro and dishing out AOE damage with swears in between. And also a large hatred of zombies. Especially force using ones.

Oh god this.
Not him, but this is the only reason I haven't finished either game. I get way too attached and give them all their own little personalities, favorite drinking buddies, and plain RP too much. Especially with my A and B teams. They've been through Hell and knee high shit together. When I get unlucky and most or all of them die it just kills me inside.

>The death of his eldest son drove him to this, he is searching for the unholy means to bring him back.
>The Knight Errant
>Abilities: Embroiled Roar, Encouraging Speaxh, Stand Firm, Cleave Entwain
>Camp Abilities: Jonty Song, Strategic Meeting, Draw Map, Explain Notes

Honestly, my headcanon is that the Heart of Darkness will never get to wake up, because people constantly venture into its lair and kick it in the shins whenever it's about to wake up. It's hardly a happy ending, and humans still suffer and bleed for it, but it's a stalemate of sorts.

What I always figured too

>What made them desperate enough?
His family, and in fact everyone of his race live in a dimension which slowly drives all inhabitants insane. He set off to find a safe haven for his people. So i guess he hopes the Heir can help him revert his people's insanity.
>What's their class name?
Eldritch Outsider
>What are some of their combat/camping skills?
Stand and Deliver!: Foists half the stress from the allies to the enemies.
Pull Back: Removes Death's Door from an ally.
Swap Form: Multiplies allies' stress gain and his own stats by however many Forms have been used. Base form counts as one.
Rend: Kills a random number of enemies without leaving a corpse; increases all allies stress to the Testing Resolve maximum.
Batter Up!: Targets enemy front only. Deals 1.5x damage and sends the target to the back.
Bullrush: Targets the enemy front or closest to front. Any corpses between him and the enemy are destroyed and add a multiplier to damage dealt.

Regale: Tells stories of his travels, which halves camp stress.
Improve: Doubles torch time and trinket effectiveness for the expedition.
Patch Up: Heals an ally for a quarter of the healthbar.
Be right back: Transports half of current spoils out of the dungeon. Returns at the next campout.

I had about 9 or 10 level 6s, but two were antiquarians because I used them constantly, and every adventurer had everything maxed out always. I spend several hours just grinding to get those heroes to lvl6, but then 3 of the 4 died in the first level of the darkest dungeon, against the boss, I was essentially doing it exactly wrong as I figured out later on the wikis.
Still, it was a fun dungeon, and playing on all default modifiers, my surviving hellion couldn't go back to the dungeon anyway. So I decided to check the stagecoach for more heroes to recruit, saw only 1 level 4 antiquarian, and decided to do a level to refresh the stagecoach. I decided to do the champion Flesh, because lvl1 and 3 flesh were both insanely easy, and I had already beaten swine god on champion, so it couldn't be that hard? Wrong, partywipe. All level 6 characters.
Frustrated, I go back to the estate, recruit a level 4 plague doctor, and find out that the bird fucker had stolen my good shit. So I went to teach it a lesson, and it killed my level 6 houndmaster in one hit (it procced bleed, houndmaster went next, died of bleed)
I just gave up then and there. 8 level 6 heroes dead in three dungeons. The first three I didn't mind, because it was endgame content and I was essentially burning them by sending them there, they wouldn't be able to go back. The houndmaster would have pissed me off at the best of times, and both of those and wiping to flesh just soured the whole experience to me, as I now had little more than 1 level 6 antiquarian and a whole load of level 4s and 5s I needed to grind xp for.
I love the appeal of struggling against great odds and coming out on top, that's why I play Bloodborne, because I'm the one who is actually doing the struggling, I determine if I win or lose, and the game doesn't punish me for hours afterwards if I fuck it up, it's a quick run back to the boss. It's really just luck-based games in general, why do people find them fun? sorry 4 blog post

Get gud

I bought it like half a year ago and I haven't even reached the DD, I just go in every now and then, do a few missions and then I don't look at it for a while
youtube.com/watch?v=2mD4jQNRuHs

Fucking hell, that's dumb.

>Cowboy trying to work his way out of a deal with the literal devil

Class: Gunslinger

He's going down there to kill what he thinks is the devil, he doesn't have to honor the deal if the devil's dead.

His gimmick is a Revolver to which he can sacrifice life for a temporary but massive damage buff. In DD it would probably stress him/his party as well. definitely a mid/backliner, but he has a couple tricks up his sleeve (hidden Derringer, feigning death, etc)

Camp skill would probably involve card games/gambling. Also one involving him rolling a few cigarettes for himself.

>Tiefling Bard.
Ok this'll be fun...

Took the job because she thought it'd make for a great song, who doesn't like songs about heroes clearing dangerous dungeons?

>Class: Fiendish Bard.
Because literally a Tiefling, and a Bard, nothing special there.

>Combat Skills
Vicious Mockery: Single target, low damage, lower enemy chance to hit.
Infernal Rebuke: Moderate damage, only used on last attacker. Small chance to set enemy on fire.
>Healing Word: Low healing. Single target
>Cure Wounds: Moderate healing. Single target.
>Thunderwave: Moderate damage, multi-target, push back 1.
>For glory!: Move self forward to front of line, strike front single target for high damage. Small stress decrease to party.
>Annoying Banter: Small increase in stress to party, moderate reduce stress to self. Gives party attack buff.
>Seductive Charm: Attack and defence debuff to all enemies, increase stress of religious party members.

>Camp Skills:
Tiny Hut: Medium stress reduction to party.
Songs of Healing: Small healing to single party member.
Bardic Inspiration: Buffs to attack and defence for single party member.
Room for one more?: High stress reduction to single party member and self, high stress damage to religious party members.

My Bard tends to annoy the fuck out of our party Paladin, due to her rather flirty nature and she knows it. She does it on purpose at this point, which is why the religious characters won't do so well with her. For a Bard she also gets into the thick of combat a lot, and isn't the best healer, but she makes do in a pinch.

So what do you think? Would you delve into the Darkest Dungeon with this kind of girl at your side?

Holy shit that horrible formatting. Sorry for the lacking of > at some of those, I'm half asleep.

I kinda like that, it fits with the standard difficulty setting where there's no actual lose condition.
You might throw people in the meat grinder every 90 years or so but the Heart of Darkness never actually gets to wake.

>What made them desperate enough?
They have a true passion for dungeons.
>What's their class name?
Very large monster
>What are some of their combat/camping skills?
dungeon mapping, sealing passages temporarily, ad-hoc arcitecture.

>/thread

>What made them desperate enough?
Amnesia and a benign split personality. A possible former history as a divining cleric and monster hunter.
>What's their class name?
Ingenue.
>What are some of their combat/camping skills?
More Innocent Times (Camp): Massive self stress reduction, debuff self for three combats.
Resurfaced Knowledge (Camp): Target ally gains combat buff for next three combats.
Know Your Enemy (Combat): Mark and debuff enemy.
Foresight (Combat, 1?/Battle): Choose an ally to go first or enemy to go last in the next round.

Have you seen the quotes when the heart asks for a sacrifice? A good chunk of the characters are already GAR as fuck, they only need spiral power.

Occultist, Bounty Hunter, Crusader, Hellion, Houndmaster and Highwayman. Enough people for some serious Gattai.

When I first played Darkest Dungeon, I didn't pay attention to the introduction or understand the lore very well, so I didn't get that I was playing the Heir to the Darkest Estate and hiring mercenaries, rather I thought the mercenaries were all heirs to the estate, coming back after being called to it.

Somehow this made the game infinitely better for me, and I was really disappointed when someone corrected me as I was nearing the end.

You can just run as if they are relatives being hired by the heir like you were in the beginning

What is a good system to run a darkest dungeon -like game?

>jizzed 'IT COMES'

Does anyone have any good tips for playing the game? I got it only recently in the sale and it keeps kicking my ass.

Getting real sick of having one of my party members go all OMG SORROW which not only makes THEM insane, but affects all the others as well.

My current character is a dhampir bladebound magus homebrewed into a Warlock subclass.
>What made them desperate enough?
Their addiction to blood and violence leads them away from societies. Eventually they find that the only place where they can shed blood enough to prevent withdrawal is near where darkest dungeon takes place.
>What's their class name?
Blood Magus
>What are some of their combat/camping skills?
They start off with an incurable crimson curse, though they can satisfy their need for The Blood with combat abilities.
>COMBAT ABILITIES
Basic mechanic is that you'll be able to kit out the magus for being ranged or melee, but both "builds" will require him to manage his bloodlust lest he attack allies.
>Shadow Slash
A melee attack that buffs the magus's own defenses, turning them into a melee frontliner if they keep it up.
>Bite
A melee attack that buffs the magus's attack and satisfies their blood lust for a few rounds. It buffs attack and dodge but doesn't heal
>Force Shield
Self buff that buffs defense. This buff lasts several rounds, as it conjures a shield of force in the Magus's offhand. However, it disables ranged attacks.
>Rip and Tear
A finsher. The Magus forces himself to go into bloodlust, and attacks an enemy with a combination of his bare fists and his blade. If this attack kills him, he immediately loses his bloodlust and gains a damage buff.
>Arcblade
The Magus slashes and sends an arcwave out of his blade, slashing to adjacent enemies. This is a backline spell.
>Force Feed
The Magus uses his telekinetic abilities to telekinetically steal blood from a single enemy. Satisfies blood lust.
>Red Lightning
A ranged light damaging attack for all enemies on screen, debuffing them with a speed penalty.
So, generally, an edgy motherfucker.
>CAMPING
The Magus's camping skills are a combination of his scholarly past and martial prowess. He focuses his mind utterly in order to tame his bloodlust

Continuation of
>Study Dungeoneering
RNG boost chance for finding good shit in boxes.
>Calisthenics
Self buff for dodge.
>Commune with the blade
The magus speaks to his bonded blade to gain great combat prowess, but the hungry entity within forces him to go into bloodlust upon the next 4 combats with no recourse.

One edgy motherfucker.

>Well if the "heir" is my character's Bastard psycho archmage father hes probably answering the call in another "damnit, mom must be on vacation because I have to clean another mess of his"
The Heir is the unseen character that you technically play as in Darkest Dungeon, who inherits a big estate from a relative (his exact relation is never revealed and he's only ever referred to as The Ancestor) and is charged with cleaning up all the nasty eldritch shit that the previous owner summoned mostly because he got bored of mundane riches and decadence.

>Awakened Undead Gunslinger from a Not!Victorian era D&D campaign
>Reason
He's looking for gold and clues as to his origins, and probably figured he'd be clearing out some bandits or something for some rich asshole.
>Class name
Gunslinger.
>Skills
Falling Star: A shot from his big-ass handcannon. Deadeye: Basic target-marking move. Lightning strike: A jab with his rapier that moves him forward a space. Play Dead: A once per dungeon move that lets him avoid a fatal blow but inflicts a fair amount of stress on the rest of the party.
Due to his undead nature, he probably wouldn't be able to party with religious characters like the Crusader or the Vestal.

Bump

Another 'hilarious' mixup in the office scheduling resulted in one particularly terrified accountant being dispatched to the village.

So, Accountant. His skills include filing, dual entry accounting systems, heavy drinking and office-supplies fu. He can produce a watercooler at a moments notice.

At least your houndmaster didnt die to the crow leaving like mine