A downloadable game

Buy Now$15.00 USD or more

WARNING: This game contains explicit scenes of violence and gore

Enter the Survival Horror is a Forged in the Dark tabletop RPG about dark corridors, deadly monsters, dwindling resources, and impending doom. It's a game about weighing the worth of the last of your shotgun shells. It's a game about the joy of discovering a safe room or a key. It's a game about mastering your environment while losing yourself. It's a game that seeks to capture the drama and stress of the golden age of survival horror games. So go ahead, throw open the doors, and Enter the Survival Horror.


What makes this game special?

  • Forged in the Dark. Inspired by the brilliant Blades in the Dark ruleset, enjoy a rules-light, strategic, fiction-first structure with mechanics built for drama.
  • Impending Doom. The Doom Clock hangs over the game, filling as you play. When it fills, the world gets worse.
  • Lucky Find. Players are empowered to declare that they have found something useful. The perfect tool for the job is always on hand... at a cost.
  • Listen to Your Instincts. Inspired by Disco Elysium, your mental stats are characters who you can talk to you and will give you guidance. But beware, because they have their own priorities and agenda.
  • Tactical Combat. You are hopelesssly outclassed by the deadly creatures you encounter. Mechanics like Focus turn combat into a deadly puzzle, where you need to use your wits to come out on top.
  • Making Danger Fun. Player death and unexpected failure can be a drag. The design of EtSH makes sure that players always understand the stakes and consent to the danger. Instead of simple death, players suffer a Catastrophe which provides a menu of compelling disasters you might suffer while keeping the tension high and staying in the game. Safety tools are also included to help ensure the table is comfortable and engaged.

Quickstart

The quickstart provides an all-in-one online resource for running and playing the game, including character sheets and GM tools!

Quickstart Keeper

Press

If you'd like to feature Enter the Survival Horror on your podcast, actual play show, review site, or stream, feel free to contact me at bucceriadam@gmail.com. I'll be happy to provide you with play materials, or to schedule some time to talk!

Support

If you'd like to support development of this game, but are not interested in getting a  digital version of this game, feel free to send me a ko-fi instead, which is just as appreciated! Besides that, comments and rating the game here on itch.io goes a long way to help with visibility.

What's included?

  • Core rules, featuring everything you need to start your spooky adventure!
  • Blank character sheets!
  • Custom clocks!

But like, a LOT of Resident Evil 1

Roadmap

The final version of the game will contain the following:

  • Beautiful PDFs!
  • The Mansion Incident - a 3-5 session adventure
    • Maps!
    • Handouts!
  • Premade characters!
  • Roll20 tools!

More day-to-day progress can be seen over on my twitter.

Interested in joining a playtest? Join the Discord!

Resident Evil fonts created by and used with permission from Peter Jonca.

ls. Blades in the Dark™ is a trademark of One Seven Design. The Forged in the Dark Logo is © One Seven Design, and is used with permission.

StatusIn development
CategoryPhysical game
Rating
Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars
(29 total ratings)
AuthorBooCherry
GenreRole Playing
TagsDice, etsh, evil, Horror, in-the-dark, resident, resident-evil, Survival Horror
Average sessionA few hours
LanguagesEnglish

Purchase

Buy Now$15.00 USD or more

In order to download this game you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $15 USD. You will get access to the following files:

Enter the Survival Horror - Core Rules - 0.5.4
External
Umbrella Clocks.zip 75 MB
DOOM Clocks.zip 67 MB
EtSH - QUICKSTART KEEPER
External

Community Copies

Support this game at or above a special price point to receive something exclusive.

Community Copy

These are intended for members of the Forged in the Dark community, playtesters, and for members of minority or disenfranchised groups. If you're in need and can't afford a copy of the game, please help yourself to a community copy. Every sale contributes more copies to the pool.

Development log

Comments

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(+2)

Hello! Is this project still going on? Seems really cool and promising!

(+2)

Thanks for showing interest! I did get burned out on this project for quite a while, but I'm building up to returning to it. Very far from abandoned, and I also have a discord where you're welcome to come and discuss, workshop, and ask for help/clarification.

(+1)

Good to hear! I'll keep an eye out, thank you for your answer and good luck!

(+1)

Sorry to hear it burned ya out; glad to hear that it's still simmering in the back of your mind. If it's any encouragement, the idea has staying power: I was sitting here wondering, "Hey, where's that Resident Evil RPG I saw on Itch a while back? I wanna pick it up."

But, I can definitely resonate with the weight that bears down on ya when a project looms large, loses its luster, and begins to seem like an obligation. Best o' luck beating the burnout; creative endeavors in the public space are an act of audacity--a bold move than any passersby might comment on (for good or for ill).

This seems like a cool project; I look forward to giving it a read.

Genuinely appreciated! I've got other creative projects, started a podcast, am learning Godot,  doing other fun stuff. TTRPG stuff just hasn't felt right in a while. I'll get in that mood again though for sure. Much appreciated the words of encouragement!

(+1)

That's awesome! All very fun-sounding projects :)

(+1)

Cool game, BooCherry team!

(+1)

When will you update the files to 0.5.4 on drivthrurpg ?

(1 edit) (+1)

DrivethruRPG is updated and now live!

(+3)

I'll be honest and say that the cover art almost made me too scared to open the rest of the game, but I'm glad that I did! Adam's managed to capture the tenseness of games like Silent Hill, Fatal Frame, and Clock Tower on the page, trading in blocky PS2-era graphics and jerky controls for the flexibility of the FiTD system. A perfect game for any time you want to feel spooked!

(+2)

Just discovered this by way of comments on biggayuniverse's amazing "The Mansion Incident" and as a fellow massive RE (especially classic RE) fan, I was very interested. Is it a traditional (GM+players) game or a solo game, though? Given the price, I didn't want to blind buy and not be able to play it alone! :)

(+1)

It's a traditional game! It also can work in a 1 x 1 (1 GM & 1 Player) campaign. The system itself is quite flexible in terms of how it can be shifted and changed around to fit your setting/genre.

(+1)

Thanks so much for the quick reply. The game looks pretty awesome but I'll have to pass for now if it's not solo-playable, but I still might give it a try someday.

Ah, that won't do! I let my community copies run out, sorry!

Please grab one, and if you like the game come back and throw me a couple bucks. It's a core value to me that anyone who is interested in the game should be able to access it!

(you can also join the EtSH discord where you can find additional resources available!)

(+2)

This game is a real remix of the Forged in the Dark formula, laser-focused on all the best parts of the survival horror genre.