- We prowl in darkness. We raid and pillage.
We worship dark gods. We sow terror and discord.
We build our dungeons. We slay those who trespass.
We are Wicked Ones. And you're in our demesne.— Mallus, Demon Zealot of Talazar
Wicked Ones is a Forged in the Dark Tabletop Roleplaying Game created by Bandit Camp
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The game is heavily inspired by the video games Dungeon Keeper and War for the Overworld, with the players all taking on the roles of the titular Wicked Ones: fantasy monsters trying to develop and maintain a dungeon staffed with evil minions and filled with plunder taken from those hapless do-gooders as they work towards their nefarious goals.
The game has two expansions: Undead Awakening, which covers rules for undead players and minions as well as Zombie Apocalypse-style campaigns; and War for the Overworld, a Crossover with War for the Overworld that adapts some of the rules and setting of the video game to tabletop.
Unfortunately, a combination of factors led to Bandit Camp shutting down. The game is currently unavailable to be purchased.
Wicked Ones contains examples of the following tropes:
- Black Speech: Most monsters speak a language simply referred to as the Dark Tongue, while goodly, civilized peoples speak the Light Tongue. Descriptions of what these sound like is never given, but the name is an obvious reference to this trope.
- Character Class System: Referred to as "Callings."
- The callings in the Corebook are:
- Brutes are The Big Guy, excelling in direct confrontation, physical might, and violence.
- Connivers are master planners and manipulators, often taking the role of The Face due to their skill with words.
- Crafters are Gadgeteer Geniuses, skilled at crafting potent Concoctions and steampunk inventions.
- Hunters are Forest Rangers, skilled at tracking, killing, and anything to do with the wilderness.
- Marauders are cunning warriors, as skilled at commanding soldiers as they are at killing them. They're not bad in a fight by themselves, but excel with a cohort of loyal minions at their command.
- Shadows are the archetypal "Rogue" character, skilled with ambushes, poisons, stealth, and thievery.
- Shamans are nefarious witches who can command the powers of spirits and nature to cast powerful spells, transform into beasts, and glean knowledge from the words of spirits.
- Warlocks are Evil Sorcerers who excel with spellcasting above all others.
- Zealots are fanatical devotees of a dark god, able to Channel that god to Invoke magical abilities.
- There are also several Callings added in Undead Awakening intended for undead characters.
- Abominations are horrifying shapeshifters capable of devouring minds and hiding within the living, more akin to The Thing (1982) than a typical fantasy monster.
- Defilers are twisted mutants, able to create new minions from dead flesh — including their own — and regurgitate noxious bile on enemies.
- Liches are undead sorcerers who are able to manipulate the power that animates them to cast spells, but are particularly adept at raising new undead.
- Lurkers are stealthy, predatory monsters, skilled at killing quietly and efficiently.
- Reavers are hulking, monstrously deformed horrors whose brute strength and nightmarish mutations make them akin to unliving siege engines.
- Revenants are harbingers of doom and corruption in the form of menacing undead warriors. Their bottomless rage make them a terrifying and lethal force on the battlefield, while their ancient nature grants them knowledge of dark secrets known to few others.
- The callings in the Corebook are:
- Evil Tainted the Place: One of the mechanics in Undead Awakening is Corruption, representing a metaphysical blight on the world spread by the powers of undeath.
- Expy: The "Primal Monsters," character options which represent more mechanically unique monster races, are clear stand-ins for classic Dungeons & Dragons monsters with the names changed to avoid any copyright problems. Braineaters are the Illithid, Doomseekers are Beholders, and Facestealers are Doppelgangers. The only exception is Goldmongers, which are just dragons with a different name.
- God of Evil: There are several presented in the core rulebook, with some examples for what their Zealots can do by Channeling them. Players and GMs are encouraged to work together to make their own, as well. These include Gorlag the Blessed Emperor, god of conquest and tyrrany; Melkahar the Rotting Prince, god of pestilence and decay; and Labisha the Flesh Eater, goddess of slaughter and savagery.
- Healing Magic Is the Hardest: While the exact abilities of a magic path are somewhat open to GM interpretation the only examples given in the book for a spell being used to heal are Pyromancy cauterizing a wound and Bloodreading closing one. These are both given as examples of Tier 3 spells, the most powerful tier of magic and the most likely to fail or backfire.
- Our Dragons Are Different: Goldmongers, as they are called, are greedy, intelligent, and innately magical creatures that begin life as small whelps but grow in size alongside their hoard. Aside from that, each Goldmonger is unique and highly customizable; their source of mystical power, weakness, and abilities are all up to the player. One Goldmonger might have a thick hide, fearsome claws, and a devastating Breath Weapon, while another may be a nimble trickster who uses their innate magic to empower their minions and lair.
- Functional Magic: Each of the three spellcasting Callings has their own kind of magic, separated into "paths." Any character can attempt to cast a Tier 1 spell of any Path, but stronger magic requires having one of these three Callings and choosing a Path to specialize in. The difficulty of casting a spell is determined by the GM; simple flourishes that don't do anything beyond looking cool (such as using wind magic to make your cloak billow dramatically) or do things that could easily be done without magic (such as conjuring a demon to hold your drink for you) can be done freely, but all other spells require the caster to take Stress and have a chance of failure that increases with more impactful effects.
- Shamans have Witchcraft, which includes the Paths of:
- Bloodreading, which focuses on manipulating the bodies of other creatures to create People Puppets and commit Bloody Murder.
- Soothesaying, which allows the Shaman to see the future, the past, and faraway places.
- Spiritcalling, which lets the Shaman communicate and bargain with the spirits of the dead, sending them to do the Shaman's bidding.
- Stormstrike, which grants the magical powers to alter the weather, summon great winds, and shoot bolts of lightning.
- Wildheart, which can influence various aspects of nature, controlling plant life, bodies of water, and wild beasts.
- Warlocks have Sorcery, which includes the Paths of:
- Enchantment, allowing the Warlock to manipulate the thoughts, memories, and emotions of other creatures.
- Evocation, which lets them summon The Legions of Hell to carry out their bidding.
- Force Mastery, which grants the Warlock powerful telekinesis to manipulate their surroundings.
- Illusion, which turns the Warlock into a Master of Illusion able to confound the senses of others.
- Necromancy, which the Warlock can use to animate the bodies of the dead, sap the vitality from the living, and otherwise manipulate corpses and the power of death.
- And Pyromancy, which allows the Warlock to create and manipulate fire.
- Zealots are the odd ones out, as rather than choosing from a list of Paths, Zealots instead choose a God of Evil which they worship. Each god has two Domains that indicate what sort of abilities one of their Zealots would be capable of Channeling, such as a Zealot of a god of Nightmares and Darkness being able to manipulate the dreams of others, put people to sleep, conjure mystical darkness, and so on.
- Shamans have Witchcraft, which includes the Paths of:
- Religion is Magic: Zealots are able to Invoke magical abilities by Channeling the power of their evil god.
- Ritual Magic: Rituals are performed during downtime, with the DM and players working together to determine the Requirements and effect of the ritual in question. The requirements could be a material cost, a blood sacrifice, a specific time or place, or needing to perform some kind of trial or task in preparation.
- Standard Fantasy Races: There are six basic playable monster races, all of which are pretty much taken from the classic roster of fantasy monster races.
- Bugbears are brutish, violent creatures who are typically Dumb Muscle. Physically they resemble typical D&D-style bugbears.
- Demons are minor hellspawn who have somehow found their way into the mortal world. They love lies and chaos, and do not fear death due to the fact that dying just sends them back down to the underworld rather than permanently killing them.
- Goblins are bad-tempered, evil, underhanded, egotistical, short, green-skinned humanoids.
- Kobolds are short creatures resembling a mix of dog, lizard, and rat who prefer to work in groups and have little in the way of attention spans or a sense of self-preservation.
- Orcs are brutish, stubborn, prideful, and callous green-skinned humanoids.
- Slissiks are Snake People resembling humanoid, tailless cobras. They have terrible memories and hate being surprised.
- Villain Protagonist: Comes with the territory. The core rulebook lays out in no uncertain terms that the Wicked Ones are expected to be evil, not merely misunderstood, and most PCs are going to be Card Carrying Villains who revel in their wickedness.
- Zombie Apocalypse: Undead Awakening includes rules for running one of these; using a combination of physical, psychological, and metaphysical warfare to crush your enemies, destroy their hope, and corrupt the land itself.
