"Shadows of Esteren: Dearg is the gothic fantasy RPG you've always wanted," says Geek & Sundry, "clearly, Dearg is tailor-made for gamers who love deep narrative roleplaying."
“For some time, Céliane had been feeling a gnawing apprehension, some vague, unpleasant sense of foreboding. Was it because winter was drawing near? Or because of the anxious look that she had noticed on the face of Baorìg, her father, on a previous evening?” Book 1 – Universe, p. 14
This book presents the first part of Dearg, Shadows of Esteren’s sprawling campaign. A tragic, romantic epic with the Characters at the heart of the story!
• Part One: Roots
Part One gathers the game aids concerning the Vale of Dearg, covers the Advanced Character Creation system, and goes over the workings of Focuses.
At the start of the campaign, each player defines a Narrative arc for their character, which will be their recurring theme. Love, Ethics, Guilt, and Adoption are the main themes. Dearg also includes everything you need to design your own Narrative arcs, run the campaign with preexisting characters, and handle the death of a PC.You can learn more about Narrative arcs by reading this blog post.
• Part Two: Resurgences
Part Two introduces four Focuses, each of which deals with one of Dearg’s four main Narrative Arcs: Love, Ethics, Adoption, and Guilt.
Although the PCs are all involved in the same quest, each member of the party has their own history and motivations, which are expressed through their Narrative arcs. Among the campaign's 21 scenarios, 6 are Focuses that will explore each PC's intimate story. These particular scenarios follow a pattern different from a regular session: only one Player plays their Character (the one whose Narrative arc the Focus is about), while the other Players play as important people in the PC's life, helping the Game Leader steer the story. You can discover how this system was built on the SoE blog. It all started in a kitchen!
• Part Three: Scourge
Part Three marks the moment the PCs start playing together after each of them has gone through their own Focus. The scenario “Vestiges” will bring them back to Dearg's daily life while introducing the first key elements of the campaign. Things will then quickly escalate, and the Vale will find itself threatened by an unfathomable danger...
