Basically Warhammer Fantasy turned up to eleven, with the factions inspired by historical and mythological civilizations, Dominions will attract players who fall in love with its Rule of Cool premise and deep game mechanics. However, given that the Dominions universe is a dark shade of gray at best, lacks a morality or alignment gauge, and boast a plethora of spells and magic items a crafty (and sadistic) player can use to their advantage and sick pleasure, the amount of things that could be done to anyone would quickly make you feel sorry for the little people, or not...
- Let's start with the Crapsack World where the Dominions universe is set: the Pantokrator leaves for some inexplicable reason, leaving their world at the mercy of various tyrannical titans, monsters from beyond space and time, and powerful spirits inhabiting stone sculptures and monuments just to name a few, most of whom are either asleep or imprisoned. These Pretenders then start a cataclysmic war with each other that threaten to end all life (or actually succeeds) in order to become the next Pantokrator. Armies consisting of cannon fodder, elite guards, mages, monsters, summoned spirits, and animated constructs just to name a few do battle in various terrains, resulting in hundreds if not thousands dead or crippled even as more are recruited and subsequently sent into the meat grinder. Meanwhile, rituals unleash natural disasters and otherworldly terrors on faraway provinces to soften them up in preparation for an invasion. Since resources, income, and recruitment points are dependent on a province's population and level of unrest, this is actually a practical action aimed at crippling an enemy's war effort, the lives of the citizens be damned. Each Pretender no matter how morally upstanding they are in their backstories won't stop until they reign supreme. The concept of diplomacy only entails agreeing to temporarily stay out of each other's territories and that only applies in multiplayer but in the end, there can only be one Pantokrator. Unless you're a disciple for a Pretender, if you're not worshipping them then you're just a future conquest.
- It's even worse during the Early Age when the world had just recently been created. Magic is more powerful and commonplace during this time, monsters are rampant and harder to take down without sustaining heavy casualties, and powerful beings rule over humans and other mortal beings, who in turn are at the bottom of the food chain. Conversely in the Late Age, magic is dwindling, monsters are weaker and far less numerous, and humans and other mortal beings have all but claimed dominion in their respective civilizations. However, armies are more organized and much more deadly and spells are much more devastating. Nations like R'lyeh are much more dangerous and a few others are worse off than they were in the Early Age.
- The most shocking implication of the current Ascension War is that it's not even the first war of its kind! It is merely the lastest of a titanic struggle that's been going on since time immemorial. The descriptions of most Pretenders explicitly state that they were imprisoned or banished by a previous Pantokrator, implying that this is pretty much an endless cycle of violence and despair with no end in sight. Perhaps turning the entire world into a lifeless ball of rock would be a mercy after all.
- Speaking of becoming Pantokrator, when the winner ascends to the aforementioned position and rules for a time, they are lured into the Void by a strange song like so many before them. Who is singing that song? How many Pantokrators fell victim to them? How long have this been happening? What did they do with them? These questions are never answered ingame and as far as the Pretenders are concerned, they may never be.
- Even while the Pantokrators of ages past were still active, a fair few of them seem to have been cruel and capricious masters. Judging from the sheer number of Pretender Gods and other powerful beings who have "sealed away by the Pantokrator in a perpetual state of limbo" in their backstory it must have been a favorite punishment of theirs to inflict, and while some were sealed away for perfectly good reasons, others seem to have incurred their wrath simply for being an inconvenience. This makes them come off as a series of Almighty Idiots with incredibly short fuses — precisely the sort of people who really shouldn't get their hands on truly godlike power.
- Some nations enter the Late Era being worse for wear, having barely scrapped by in the Middle Era and many others have already been wiped out. You know it's a fucked up world when nations are worse off now than they once were and things are about to get worse. These nations truly aren't the same anymore:
- Atlantis: Averted. These fish-frog people are the epitome of being The Determinator: they survived the collapse of their civilization and slavery at the tentacles of the aboleths and they are currently posed to reestablishing their empire. However, the arrival of Late Era R'lyeh forced them to shun their ability to sleep in order to combat this eldritch enemy and the Atlantians have turned to the dark art of necromancy in order to survive, which is actually Fridge Brilliance as the undead are immune to the mind-based attacks R'lyeh employs.
- R'lyeh: Though not a great place to live in the first place, the dreams of the Dreaming God now flow into the physical world through a Void Gate, turning the affected against each other or enticing them into suicide. Not even the Illithid rulers are immune. Those who survive are turned into madmen and dreamers hellbent on claiming the world in the name of their unknowable god, making R'lyeh the new Big Bad of the age.
- Sceleria: Originally a splinter nation that broke off from the Ashen Empire to Fight Fire with Fire against their fallen countrymen, Sceleria became a civilization where the living are served by the undead. So dependent on these deathly servants were the citizenry that the Theurmaturgs decided to open a gate to the underworld and leave it open so that the spirits of the dead can enter and leave at their own volition. Big mistake. The spirits quickly overwhelmed the living and established the nation of Lemuria, which is basically Ermor, the Ashen Empire except with ghosts instead of skeletons and zombies. The Scelerian survivors established Pythium and the Theurmaturgs lost much power and influence as a result.
- Mictan: Perhaps one of the most tragic example if not the most. After spending much of the Early Era sacrificing helpless virgins, the arrival of the Lawgiver in the Middle Era abolished these heinous practices and Mictan was on its way of becoming a good nation. Along come refugees from Atlantis who not only ingrained themselves into Mictan society but revived the Blood Cult. By the start of the Late Era, Mictan is the same virgin-blood spilling civilization it was in its past, only now bolstered by Atlantian warriors.
- Ulm: A nation of master smiths and armored, hardy warriors, the Ulmish were struck by the Malediction during one of their civil wars. The trees became dark and lifeless and werewolves and vampires stalked the new Black Forest. Meanwhile, the master Smiths were either chased away or burned at the stake by the new Black Priests, some of whom were turned into the aforementioned creatures by the former. Paranoia grips the populace while the Illuminated Order causes trouble in faraway lands, likely responsible for their issues. The use of magic outside Ulm's religion are punished severely by the Black Priests who also have a tighter grip on the populace.
- Marginon: A perfect example of He Who Fights Monsters. Despite being a highly religious society who can effectively fight the undead, Marginon finds its methods all but useless against the deathly legions of Ermor so in desperation they turn to the Infernal Lords for help. The Infernal Lords send hordes of demons who eventually destroy Ermor's Eldergate and retrieve the Chalice, ending the threat of the Ashen Empire for good. However in return, the Infernal Lords demanded Marginon's eternal fealty and worship. As a result, Marginon becomes a terrible theocracy where devil worship is commonplace and inquistors and demons fight side by side, spreading throughout the world to gain new converts and blood slaves in equal measure.
- Jomon: Subverted much to the relief of the humans. Having struggled initially under the yoke of the Oni Kings and later their bakemono servants, the humans have overthrown their supernatural masters and taken their own fates into their hands, gaining a few allies in the process. Now they are poised to taking on the world.
- Most of the Pretenders themselves are downright unsettling. From half-man, half-scorpion hybrids to giant lion-ant monstrosities, these Pretenders make some pretty creepy, even terrifying characters if built perfectly, even if the player want them to be Horrifying Heroes at best. One of the Pretender chassis is a fountain of blood.
- The fountain of blood and its 'good' variant, the Oracle, is pretty horrifying. To communicate with its followers, the fountain accepts a little girl who are then subjected to Eyegore before being mentally dominated until she becomes its Mouth of Sauron, ending up as nothing more than the Pretender's puppet. On her thirteenth birthday, the girl is sacrificed and replaced by another girl born on the same day she became the fountain's voice. Let's repeat that: this Pretender's method of communication involves forcibly turning a child into a mouthpiece.
- In case that's not horrible enough, imagine her parents forced to stand by helplessly as their daughter, who'll never grow up to start her own family, are blinded and reduced to a meat puppet for a powerful spirit inhabiting a fountain, knowing that she will be sacrificed soon. Conversely, her own parents could've been fanatics who gladly offered their own daughter to the Pretender in hopes of greater rewards. It could even have been considered a status symbol in their society to have one's daughter forced into such a position.
- The Pretenders are basically Fisher Kings whose dominions influence the lands and people they hold sway over. While this can result in very fertile and orderly lands populated by industrious people and home to unrestricted magical energies and fortune, this can also result in wastelands populated by slothful people and home to a magic-sucking void and misfortune. Because you get more points for designing your Pretender by making your dominion more oppressive, you can create a very powerful god that can crush all others at the measly cost of a barely livable dominion and a much harder game.
- Some dominions, most famously those of Middle Era Ermor and Late Era R'lyeh, actually kill their own populations and call forth armies of undead for the former and hordes of madmen for the latter. Imagine living in a place where people die very easily and more frequently, only for their corpses to get back up and make their way to their dark masters or for the population to snap under the pressure of constant nightmares and, if they are not murdered or don't take their own lives, congregate around strange enigmatic figures who want nothing more than to pull the world into the void.
- The existence of Blood Magic is all you need to know about the potential for abuse in this game. To make use of this, you need at least one mage or Pretender with at least one level in blood magic and then order them to hunt for blood slaves in your provinces. You're not gathering up condemned criminals or captured soldiers. You're not even taking in volunteers for your twisted rituals. You kicking down your civilians' doors and snatching away their virgin daughters and sons to use as sacrifices! There's absolutely no way to justify using blood slaves without crossing the line. Giving access to some of the strongest spells and summons in the game and can be used to craft very powerful items, Blood Magic can be used by anyone, even by 'good' Pretenders, and the average player is tempted to give it at least a try. Playing as an ubiquitous good guy would require steering clear of blood magic, no matter how tempting its benefits are.
- Some nations, particularly Mictan, absolutely required blood sacrifices in order to maintain and spread their Pretender's dominion, at least in the Early and Late Eras. Given that dominion is required to extend a Pretender's influence throughout the world and to maintain their existence in the first place, players wishing to roleplay a 'good' Mictan Pretender would have to settle for a very dark and pragmatic antihero from the very start.
- Astral magic can easily be seen as the counterpart of blood magic, seeing that it's closely related to light and divinity much unlike the dark and demonic forces the latter is responsible for. However, this path isn't all sunshine and gold. From arrows that fall out of the sky and pierce the hearts of unsuspecting targets to spells that can brainwash entire populations and turn them against their masters, to even spells that can mark a target so that a gibbering horror will pay them a visit later, astral magic can be surprisingly brutal in screwing with those you really hate.
