Shadowclink by 1d10+5 (1d105.itch.io)
Escape the dungeon of the Shadow King!
A semi-structured solitaire by 1d10+5 for use with Solitary Defilement
CW: Jail, Prison, Torture, Slavery, Graphic Violence, Blood and Gore
“You were minding your own business when a bunch of bored and sadistic guards threw you into their mobile prison and carted you away to the dungeons beneath the Shadow King’s palace...”
A quality solo adventure building upon the fantastic solo adventuring system for Mörk Borg, also created by 1d10+5, Solitary Defilement (1d105.itch.io/solitary-defilement).
You find yourself in thrown into the dungeons beneath the Shadow King’s Palace, rolling a d4 to determine what happens next and how lucky (or otherwise) you are before making your escape.
Once free, you are running around naked and unarmed until you can find your gear and/ or arm and cover yourself. This will be extremely tough. It is very likely you will die. Good luck!
Encounter Tables
Many creatures encountered feature vivid flavour text describing their possible reactions to player character.
D6 table of common encounters, including Jailer, Apprentice Torturer, Courtier, Filthy Retainer, Prison Guards & Prisoners, and Fleshrats, filling the regular denizens of the prison and a visiting rancid noble.
D6 table of rare encounters, each with the possibility of only being rolled once, including strongbox of Occult Treasure, a mysterious Well of Shadows, an alchemist as likely to slice you up as sell their solutions, Magickal Graffiti that could spell misfortune, a terrifying cook, and a Macabre Ritualist with a fancy staff.
D8 table of NPCs with a wide range of characters and intentions, along with information provided to roll up their random.
Special Rooms
The dungeon contains four special rooms:
• The Lockup: Where you begin, relieved of your equipment and facing a guard to try and get it back. A couple of suggestions with how to proceed are included, as well as encouragement to your own solution.
• Torture Chamber: Sets you up against the gloriously-named “Splinterface”, who is decidedly not your friend, though there’s a chance to find a friend amongst the tortured, as well as some toys and buckets of grim stuff.
• Corpse Disposal Pit: A grim and grimy place filled with the dead, Fleshrats, and variety of macabre wonders that can be found among the corpses. These include, the Inglorious Hand item, a fascinating, handy light source forces a test, which failing causes the character paralysis for a number of rounds.
• Sewer Entrance: Escape is in sight, but not before you face the dreaded, Humphry Sharpaxe, Lord High Executioner, a deadly foe with a huge axe they know how to wield!
A Backtracking table is provided to determine encounters while backtracking through previously explored locations.
This otherwise great adventure originally contained a number of problematic ableist words and phrases. I would like to be very clear, I am not casting aspersions at the creator, this language is still unfortunately prevalent, though I do believe it is necessary to bring this up as their response to my concerns was instantly welcoming and they implemented positive changes that vastly improved it. I make a point of mentioning this because ableist language, particularly around mental health, (as well as many forms of unacceptable ‘isms and ‘phobias) are prevalent in many TTRPGs (sadly including the Mörk Borg core book I love so much, but the willingness to learn, grow and improve is extremely important. I cannot thank 1d10+5 for their reaction and action taken.
A perfect, grim solo adventure building upon the fantastic solo adventuring system for Mörk Borg, also created by 1d10+5, Solitary Defilement (1d105.itch.io/solitary-defilement).
I’m currently playing through as Kutz, a Cursed Skinwalker from Mörk Borg Cult: Ferretory (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/328612/MORK-BORG-CULT-FERETORY?affiliate_id=1507682). Here is my write up so far:
After all this time Grittr and Wemut finally caught up with me. Sick bastards still chuckle about the blackened bodies stacked up to the blackened sky. They hate me for deserting. I despite them and their rotten hearts. Wish I could have bitten one and watched them tear each other apart, but they jumped me.
I awoke briefly to discover being carted off to the Shadow King’s dungeons, before a jeering guard rocked me with a spiked mace.
Now, I awake chained to a pillar in the Hall of Sorrows, stripped, shivering and starving. The chain is etched with foul runes that hurt my eyes. I am unable to transform. There is the smallest amount of slack. I contort myself, writhing and twisting. I feel cartilage crack and ribs break. The floor is filthy and freezing, but I am free from the pillar. I try to quiet my agonised wheezing and get my bearings.
I head to the left, emerging onto a carven hall. It is cold and empty. I break off a wooden stake from a carving of the Shadow King looking down upon his twisted subjects. Its sharp and brittle, but at least now I’m armed.
The hall leads to a unclean prison cell holding a filthy retainer. At first, they seem almost friendly, but my faltering attempts to convince them to help me go awry and they attack me with bloody fists. I bury the stake in their neck when they come at me, cursing them for making me. Their body holds nothing but filth and dust.
Another bleak, empty cell.
As I head out, another servant of the Shadow King jumps me, only to be impaled on my shank. Their filthy rags hold a bottle of poison. Could be useful.
I make it to the Lockup, spying the slumbering guard, jagged keys hanging from their belt, and my gear in locked cage. I allow the rat to come forth, agony coursing through my tearing muscle and broken bones. They are dead in two bites, barely awake before I tear out their throat. I get my gear and take their sword.
I’m swarmed by flesh rats who skitter and bite at me. I bisect one with the purloined sword, before it sticks between two gore-slick flagstones and shatters. The remaining two are pulverised by my warhammer in short order.
A deathly stairwell painted in black mould contains the twisted remains of some monstrous creature. Desperately hungry and intrigued, I dig around in its guts. A disgusting flesh worm bursts out. I take nothing, leaving the disgusting thing a bloody ruin.
Leaving the stairwell, I hear heavy footsteps and snorting. I turn to see a troll, so big the hallway barely contained it. Blood cakes its hide and paints its meaty fists. I run as fast as I can in the opposite direction, almost crushed by the weight of the coffin-sized fist that left my shield a hail of splinters.
Further adventures to come!
I cannot accurately describe how much I love the Solitary Defilement system and look forward to more solo Mörk Borg adventures! I might have to work on some of my own!