Universe

Welcome to the "official" setting of The Dark Mod. While FM authors can create stories in any world they like with our tools, they have been tailored to suit the world described below.

Disclaimer: Just to be clear, The Dark Mod does NOT take place in the same universe as the Looking Glass 'Thief' games. There are no Keepers, no Hammers, and no Garrett. That said, the settings of both The Dark Mod and Thief are based on a steampunk version of our own history, so there will be certain similarities.

Tone

The Dark Mod is set in a world that is dark, gritty and adult. It is a setting that strives to be immersive, and to feel as believable to the player as possible. Neither campy humour nor climactic battles between good and evil fit the style of The Dark Mod world. Characters should talk and act in ways that are appropriate to their upbringing and station. Most guards are rough, uneducated brutes who spend their lives drinking, gambling, and bedding whores. They certainly don't recite poetry or discuss philosophy in their spare time.

With plagues, infection, and drunken brawls spilling into the streets on a regular basis, life is much cheaper in this world than ours. The heads and corpses of criminals line the roads, and public torture and hangings are one of the most popular forms of entertainment--watching criminals have their entrails cut out and burned while still alive is considered a good way to teach children moral lessons. Even the Church, the main provider of hope and beauty in this society, enthusiastically tortures and burns heretics.

Overview

The world of The Dark Mod is bigger than any one person's story. People grow up with very different ideas of what the world around them is like, depending on their upbringing. While many factions believe they know 'the truth' about the world around them, there are no black and white answers to what the world is really like (for example, the Builders believe in only one true god, but that doesn't mean such a god actually exists).

The Dark Mod world can be viewed as an alternate version of our own. It is a mixture of several historical periods, with architecture ranging from medieval castles to victorian mansions. In this world, steam and clockwork technology were discovered much earlier in history, allowing for odd inventions and industrial warehouses to exist side-by-side with gothic cathedrals and sword-wielding city watch.

Although much of the setting material for The Dark Mod focuses around the city of Bridgeport, that city does not exist in isolation. It is part of a larger world, with political connections, trading agreements, and hostile neighbours that could be possible plots for FM missions.

Places

• The City of Bridgeport
• Builder Roads
• The World at Large

Factions

• Builders
• Pagans
• Inventor's Guild
• Mages
• Necromancers
• Thieves

Creatures

• Belchers
• Giant Spiders
• Undead
• Fire Elementals

Daily Life

• The kinds of Food people eat
• The importance of Letter Writing
• The running of a Wealthy Household

Other

• Invention of the unique arrows
• technology
• magic