Play out your dead D&D characters’ afterlives in existential RPG Ink
TPK, OK.
An upcoming tabletop RPG will give your deceased characters from other games a new lease of (after)life.
Ink allows players to explore a vision of the afterlife with their characters, including the chance to resurrect existing characters from previous campaigns. Finally, a chance to bring back your beloved D&D character wiped during a TPK.
Characters travel the spirit world - visualised as a set of ghostly isles - in search of answers to the mystery of their past life, as well as seeking clues to whatever lies beyond their current realm.
It’s not all existential pondering. Characters will be able to use a selection of powers and abilities granted by their ethereal form, including in combat encounters. Players act at the same time during battles, which are said to be kept snappy as a result.
Bosses are described as being more puzzle-based, pitting players’ characters against a variety of unique challenges posed by the afterlife’s more dangerous foes.
Ink is built on an original d6-based system said to be easy to pick up for newcomers. Status effects play a key part in gameplay, with players able to combine their characters’ varied powers to efficiently solve puzzles and overcome enemies.
Between fights, players can stop off at one of the afterlife’s spirit baristas (the game's artwork includes adorable ghosts sipping - and bathing in - a hot cuppa) and advance their character along an evolving skill tree that offers a more flexible take on the traditional RPG class.
As characters are already deceased, death in Ink isn’t a hindrance. Instead, characters can only gain levels when they die - repeat deaths provide the chance to play around with different approaches to encounters.
On the game master side, Ink will include a “journey generation” tool designed to make creating new campaigns a fast process.
Ink is the next release from Snowbright Studio, the LGBTQ+ roleplaying outlet behind Teatime Adventures, a collection of cozy scenarios for D&D 5E that included recommendations for real-life tea pairings.
Ink will launch a crowdfunding campaign on BackerKit on October 11th.