Trophy is now available in Codex – Dark 2!
Trophy is a game of dark fantasy and psychological horror, and one of the most exciting things in Codex – Dark 2. It was written by Jesse Ross and features striking graphic design and art (also by Jesse).
I’m going to tell you all about it…
Trophy is inspired, in part, by Cthulhu Dark by Graham Walmsley, and uses a similarly light mechanical framework. In the game, a group of explorers pushes ever-deeper into a forest that doesn’t want them there in order to claim a “trophy” from the center of it.Will they get out of the forest alive? Will they avoid having a complete psychological break, succumbing to the terrors of the woods? Will they avoid turning against each other in an effort to survive?
Spoiler alert: They will not.
The game has a lot of interesting things going on from a GM’s perspective. It uses a version of Graham’s old mystery creation method from Cthulhu Dark to help build a forest that comes in “rings,” with each ring representing new kinds of temptations and terrors.The early rings are about making the characters feel confident and providing temptations that encourage them to push deeper and deeper into the woods. But as they get deeper, the true horror of the place begins to reveal itself. This “ring” structure is also organized around a theme, and is called an Incursion. GMs are encouraged to create their own Incursions inspired by a theme or use a pre-made one. SPEAKING OF WHICH…
Codex – Dark 2 also comes with a sample Incursion called The Tomb of 10,000 Dreams, which has the theme of “Sleep.” Future issues of Codex will continue to support Trophy with new Incursions, new character classes, new treasures, and a Bestiary. Codex – Emerald, for example, will have an Oz-inspired Incursion and Bestiary.
We intend for Trophy to be our stamp on fantasy gaming—a game that celebrates and takes advantage of The Gauntlet play style and culture. If this sounds good to you, please check out our Patreon to pick up Codex – Dark 2:
