By Rookery Publications
Art by Mark Gibbons
In Dark Deeds, drama unfolds along the Street. Either directly on it, in the Tavern that abuts it, or in whichever bolthole, crawlspace, or dismal den each minion calls home. The Street buzzes with activity as a constant stream of Anthrand’s great and good (and not so good) parade along it. Citizens are to be relieved of Loot, Guards are to be confounded, and Nemeses disposed of – often with the aid of that previously ‘donated’ Loot. The Street is a place where fates are sealed and where opportunities are either seized or squandered. No minion can win their Patron’s favour without first mastering the Street.
In the game of Dark Deeds, the Street’s bustling press of humanity is simplified into a strip containing seven card slots – one for the Street Deck and six for the continually shifting selection of Anthrand’s inhabitants that move from left to right, down the Street. Each player represents a malicious minion moving against that tide, up the Street, eyeballing potential targets and avoiding the unwelcome attention of the authorities.
Each turn every player will Hit the Street – picking a target, sneaking past any intervening Guards (unless, of course, that Guard is your target!), and attempting to take the target down.
Citizens, be they Artisans, Clerics, or Merchants, are there to be robbed, and a successful Cunning role allows the player to draw a useful Loot card from the corresponding deck. Loot will be explored in the next blog but it’s safe to say that the Citizens of Anthrand carry an extraordinary range of helpful swag and are only too happy to be liberated from it!
Guards patrol the Street, often positioned infuriatingly so as to confound a player’s well-crafted plans. Although they can be targets themselves, more often they are obstacles to be snuck past en route to tastier prey. Bloodthirsty minions should tread carefully since a botched attack on a Guard will see them leave the Street immediately and begin chasing the perpetrator, acting as an impediment in future turns until dealt with in one way or another.
Nemeses (and their utter destruction) are really what Dark Deeds is all about. Each poses an undisclosed threat to the minions’ Patron and are often the specific focus of the Dark Deed cards players are dealt at the start of the game. Many are powerful and should not be confronted without a tasty piece of Loot in hand. But confronted they must ultimately be because great rewards await a minion who can dispose of a Nemesis effectively.
Actions a player takes on the Street have consequences beyond it and Suspicion is accrued as a result of all that stealing, stabbing, and non-stop sneakiness. There’s a price to be paid every time a Citizen is robbed, a Guard attacked, or a Nemesis defeated, and a successful minion will soon acquire a stack of Suspicion Marks to reflect this. The larger a player’s suspicious stack grows, the more likely it becomes that when a Guard exits the Street, they start chasing that player, and the title of ‘Most Suspicious Minion’ is usually an unwanted one.
Strategies for managing a player’s Suspicion will be discussed in the future but, for now, suffice it to say that minions should always keep one beady eye on their stack of Suspicion Marks and the other on the progress of Guards along the Street. Failure to do so can result in arrest and the confiscation of all that lovely, hard-won Loot.
After a full day’s scheming, minions wisely seek respite in the stinking shape of Dark Deeds’ unnamed Tavern. Squatting above the Street, this den of iniquity holds the Tavern Deck, where both Plot and additional Dark Deed cards can be acquired.
Plot cards presenting cunning schemes and dastardly twists that are a vital element in a minion’s arsenal, and when played with fiendish precision can turn the tide of a game.
Likewise, a well-selected Dark Deed can earn significant favour for any player bold enough to add it to their hand. For those whose scheming cup already runneth over, the Tavern also provides an opportunity to reduce a player’s Suspicion and simply, Lay Low.
Having now covered both the breadth and length of Anthrand’s notorious Street, our next blog dives deep into the shiny world of Loot. How to get it, what to do with it once you’ve got it, and how to stop greedy rival minions from stealing it. Join us again for a pocket-plundering adventure!
Until then, you can pre-order Dark Deeds now!
If you want to keep up-to-date on all the latest news concerning Dark Deeds, including future blog posts, you can subscribe to the mailing list here. You can also uncover more about Dark Deeds at Rookery Publications’ website. Share your excitement for the game on social media using the hashtag #DarkDeedsGame to connect globally with rival minions battling for the fickle favour of our impossible-to-please Patron!