Gothica: Plagueworlds - 5e Compatible TTRPG

What is Gothica?

Gothica: Plagueworlds is a 5e compatible guide with a unique setting inspired by Victorian England. Gothica: Plagueworlds is the first edition in the Gothica series, which will hopefully bring the TTRPG community grotesque levels of joy over the coming years, ever expanding its unique setting with rich twisted content.

Gothica: Plagueworlds will be available as a digital pdf or a hardcover book. With over 300 pages of brand new content, containing a unique world that is complete with; old and new kingdoms populated with notable NPCs and sub-factions, holy and unholy religions, a pantheon of 13 deities, and 5 realms to explore for those lengthier campaigns. For the players at the table, you can explore any of the 3 new classes, 18 new races, and a host of gothic weapons, magic items, and dark spells. Alongside the new content, Gothica: Plagueworlds will add compatible content for your 5e games, including 2 new subclasses per original 5e class!

The Gothica: Plagueworlds specific content allows you to expand on the 5e game mechanics, and introduces new elements of gameplay with the Appearance system, which gives a numerical value to how your characters appear to others. The Plague mechanic introduces numerous plagues and mutations to affect not only your players, but the creatures and environments too. Character customisation is vastly improved with Bloodline traits, a set of traits that can be chosen when levelling up your character that help define your role in the world. 

What is in the Gothica: Plagueworlds Book?

• 300+ Pages of new content to use in your next 5e campaign 
• 3 New Classes & 30 New Subclass Archetypes
• 12 Plagues with over 200 Mutations!
• 18 New Races (Bloodlines)
• 70+ New Monsters (with new plague actions)
• New Spells and Magic Items
• Human Made Artwork!
• World Lore with Campaign Introduction Hooks

Pledge Levels

The Setting

The Setting 
Gothica: Plagueworlds is heavily inspired by Victorian England, a time in history where medicine was experimental and diseases were still shrouded in mystery. Injecting this time period into the background and lore of Gothica: Plagueworlds forces players to rely more on physical medicines rather than magical solutions. Magic of course still plays a role in Gothica: Plagueworlds but is balanced for a game that pushes alternative methods to healing, remedying, and curing people.  
The history and faith of the world is wrapped around the Story of Creation, the tale of the deities. A story that brings life, death, hope and sins to the world of Gothica. Allowing any GM to pick from a moment of time to create the perfect campaign or one shot, and for players to choose from a number of deities and causes to follow.

Dividing The Book
For those looking for story and lore to create a campaign around, the first quarter of the book will be dedicated to the setting, and the new world. 
For those concerned with the new playable content, the rest of the book will contain information for both players and GMs.
 

The World of Gothica: Plagueworlds
The unique setting of Gothica: Plagueworlds is full of information on locations, deities, history, technology, and faith. The major locales that feature in Gothica: Plagueworlds will have your players enjoy bustling industrious multi-tiered cities, folklore filled ancient woodlands, defensive and dangerous hilltops of the highlands and of course the ever dreaded forgotten kingdoms of the Plaguelands. 

The world is split into three main environments, each getting more deadly and difficult as you reach the edges of the map. Early levels will be best spent exploring the 'safer' areas before adventuring out into the creature and plague infested areas. 

Alongside a brand new world to explore, Gothica: Plagueworlds introduces 5 realms to dive into, each with their own history, tales, and connections to the new Holy and Unholy deities. Maybe wait until you're at least level 6 before you go to these though...

The Cities
The world map has many key locations, including recently constructed human cities that are safe havens for those that know how to navigate them, or if you have money...
Settlements will range from medieval fantasy to gothic gaslamp Victorian inspired cities.

In the age that Gothica: Plagueworlds takes place in, the players will have access to new technological items, equipment, and set pieces like nationwide locomotive travel, plague resistant gear, and magic emulating scientific gadgetry. Enjoy the advancement of human engineering in the Havenlands, but do not expect the same machines to exist beyond this boundary. The world of Gothica: Plagueworlds is split into two distinct time periods, allowing campaigns to be tailored to the table's choice. Do you have players that want to dive into the technical side of a Victorian industrial themed fantasy, or do they wish to remain grounded in their sword and sorcery? 

A Plagued World
The Plaguelands has captured kingdoms that were once living in prosperity, but now frozen in an ancient time. Here you will find castles, wizards' towers and dungeons, explore to your heart's content but be wary of the cursed monsters that have taken over. For those wanting to explore the new world of technology and the horrifying inventions of mad scientists, then perhaps stick within the 'safety' of the Havenlands.

Each locale will have plenty of information to help build story, encounters, and most importantly, hazards. As Gothica: Plagueworlds is set in a plague infested world, each area will have dedicated sickness and disease tables with difficulty checks and effects. 

Useful for when one of your players decides to eat the funny coloured mushroom... 

Stretch Goals

[UNLOCKED] £8,000 - New Plague!
Another horrifying plague enters Gothica: Plagueworlds, along with all the horrible mutations, monster abilities and lore that they come with.

[UNLOCKED] £10,000 - Cursed Items
Not only is Gothica: Plagueworlds filled to the brim with gothic creations, we now welcome cursed items into the mix! Maybe don't pick up the first glowing sword you see...

[UNLOCKED] £12,000 - Plaguelands Adventure
An adventure through the Plaguelands, an area within Gothica: Plagueworlds which has been almost entirely lost and consumed by the various diseases and plagues. With such a terrible fate awaiting you, are you ready?

[UNLOCKED] £16,000 - More Magic
Bloodlines all have an affiliation to a certain aspect of magic, this stretch goal will unlock another spell per Bloodline. Meaning 18 more spells for the Gothica: Plagueworlds spell list!

[UNLOCKED] £18,000 - Saint Subclass
Not only will the Saint come with two subclass archetypes as standard, this stretch goal will unlock a 3rd subclass archetype! 'The Saint is by far my favourite creation and I would love to give you guys a third subclass to play around with!' - Elliott

[UNLOCKED] £20,000 - City Maps
Our amazing world and realm maps were drawn and painted BY HAND by the amazing @inkcompass.maps and they are extremely excited to work on some cities for Gothica: Plagueworlds. This stretch goal unlocks 6 maps, one for each of the cities within the Havenlands. Making them even more content packed for your adventures!

New Content

Gothica features a host of new content for your 5e games. With new dark fantasy classes, wicked and twisted spells, folklore rich bloodlines and innovative and technological equipment.

Classes
Gothica: Plagueworlds features 3 brand new classes which are: the Chimera, the Saint, and the Weaver.

The Chimera

The Chimera benefits from mutations, collecting and storing them for their genetic arsenal. A unique class that seeks out the afflictions of plagues and diseases, controlling and weaponizing them into Mutagen Outbursts. 

The Chimera is incredibly resilient to the negative effects of afflictions, and mutations. They work great as the frontline 'guinea pig'! Unsure of the effects of a plague? Send in the Chimera to test it out! With a large pool of health and varied abilities the Chimera has a very high survivability. 

The Saint

The Saint travels the world on a pilgrimage to fulfil a greater goal. The ultimate sacrifice of themselves to achieve their heavenly or hellish vision. The Saint in Gothica: Plagueworlds is not a religious figure, as they gain their powers and admiration from the populace.

Saints have access to an additional dice pool known as the Martyrdom Dice, allowing them to heal themselves, ignore conditions and modify the outcome of failed checks and saves. Saints gather more dice as they gain more experience in this dark and twisted world, the more suffering and punishment they receive the more determined they become to fulfil their goal.

The Weaver

The Weaver can pluck from the magical threads that exist out of sight of most folk. Their unique abilities allow them to control spells by releasing them upon certain triggers, or sowing them into objects. Just like real sewing, but with magic!

The Weaver is a powerful utility spellcaster, perfect at defending a location, organising ambushes and empowering allies with their woven magics. Their personal leyline strand length will increase as they handle more woven magic, allowing for spells to be cast at greater distances, unlock new Weaver abilities and spell combinations.

New Mechanics

The Gothica: Plagueworlds specific content allows you to expand on your 5e games, and introduces new elements of gameplay, such as: the Appearance system, Plague Mechanics, Alchemy and more.

The Appearance system allows character's to tailor their outfits in whatever style they would wish by getting into detailed apparel tables. The chosen apparel is not just for style, as the new mechanics mean you will end up with an overall rating for your appearance. Dressing to impress comes at a cost, it's expensive, but also might be restrictive if combat were to break out at the party! Which happens more often than you would think...

The Plague mechanic is the key feature of Gothica: Plagueworlds. This content rich mechanic will cause your players many sleepless nights (in game and out of game!). Each character sheet is equipped with a plague meter, simply put, if this fills up, they receive a mutation!

Mutations! An engaging feature of Gothica: Plagueworlds' plague mechanic is that characters can change over the course of a campaign. Most mutations are detrimental to your character, so expect to have a very interesting level 20 Fighter (If you make it that far!). Mutations can affect your character in multiple ways, such as; altering your appearance, modifying your stats, adding additional appendages, giving you roleplay traits, and even granting you wonderous, albeit a bit creepy, abilities!

With all of these diseases and plagues, we might need some medicine! Luckily Gothica: Plagueworlds has a brand new concoction and potion making Alchemy system. The system has been built from the ground up keeping in mind the other mechanics that Gothica: Plagueworlds has to offer, making sure it synergises with the world and setting.
However, potions and elixirs need materials! Players can harvest these from monsters, the wild and even create scientific chemicals, all as ingredients for an expansive item crafting system.

Encounters in Gothica

With the addition of long lasting plagues and mutations, encounters must be fought with a level of strategy. With the possibility that any creature or environment may now be hazardous to your health, players will have to take care when entering combat or new areas. This introduces 'preparation' to the 5e system, no longer is it viable to run head first into a hive of creatures, or the bubbling swamp. Of course, by all means please still do this, because your GM will have an amazing time inflicting you all with numerous mutations! Many of the new additions in Gothica: Plagueworlds will make combat more deadly, so mechanics have been added to aid the players, so that they may prepare for combat scenarios and uncertain circumstances.

Monsters!

Gothica: Plagueworlds is adding 70+ new monsters and creatures for you and your group to confront. The main enemy types are Spirits, Demons, Scientific Creations, Night Beings (this might include a few extra special vampiric entities...) and plenty of twisted variants of everyday creatures you might find throughout the world.

Plagued Creatures

Your characters aren't the only ones that can be affected by plagues... Introducing the Plagued Creature Trait, a system that will allow GMs to drop new plagued abilities and move sets onto ANY creature, be that a Gothica: Plagueworlds monster or any existing 5e compatible creature. Say goodbye to meta gaming with this mechanic, and keep games fresh by reviving some of your table's favourite encounters, this time with a plagued twist!

Plagued Ones and Plaguehearts

Gothica: Plagueworlds will feature boss creatures known as Plagued Ones, each connected to a specific plague or disease. These boss creatures are perfect for building campaigns or stories around for your own games. They can be the end goal of a long campaign or simply a mini boss that wraps up a fun one shot. Perhaps you have experienced players at your table that wish to run the Plagueworlds Gauntlet and are willing to attempt to remove them all from the realm, bringing sanitation back to the Mortal Realm.

Cleaning up the world means the destruction of the disease ridden Plaguehearts, these twisted set pieces are placed around the lands. They can simply serve as background lore, or connect larger plot points together, with a host of mechanical information for gameplay! These are a useful element to drop into any campaigns or even one shots. 

New monsters means players need new weapons!

Gothica: Plagueworlds introduces a range of dark gothic weapons for players to gear their characters to the teeth with nasty new monster slaying tools. Not only will there be more melee and ranged weapons, we are also presenting a new weapon type known as hybrid weaponry, which is both melee and ranged. This allow melee focused classes to now have more options at their disposal! Finally we can cosplay our favourite chain loving, demon hating, chain flinging vampire hunter!

It's not all gothic weapons, we also have spooky magic items!

Gothica: Plagueworlds has five realms in total with strong heavenly and hellish themes, this motif bleeds into the items of the game with a range of gothic antiques and fantastical magic items. The Victorian era inspiration also allows us to integrate more technological gear, just remember to fully charge your tesla coils before leaving for that long adventure... 

Real Human Artwork

We are passionate about creating a product that people can enjoy through not only the written content but also through the amazing human made artwork. With the ever growing AI content that fills the creative space, we at Ink Blade Publishing take a firm stance against the use of any AI in our products. All current and future artwork will always be created by talented and deserving artists. Hey, check out these amazing artists that have worked on the game:

Character Design - 
Rio Lint @riolint_art

Prop Design - 
Chris Anka @videokojimbo
Daisy Tea @pastel.puppet

Title Design -
Connan Henry-Brown @cognac__brown

Cover and Environment Design - 
Nikita Kapitunov @askelart

Map Design - 
Moreno Paissan @morenopaissanart
Angela Gubert @angelagubertart
Compass Maps Ink @inkcompass.maps

Gothica: Plagueworlds' Mascot 'Poxley' Artist - 
Prima Zhao @primbdraws

Become a play tester today!

Download the free pre-release guide and not only will you get a sneak peek of the kind of content to expect in the full guide, you will also be able to help shape the full game. 
We will always listen to constructive feedback and value the opinion and input of fellow TTRPG players, from veteran old schoolers to brand new off the shelf players.
We are also pleased to inform you that the Gothica: Plagueworlds pre-release guide was awarded the Silver Best Seller award on DriveThruRPG! 

The pre-release guide is not a full representation of the final product, any content found within this product is subject to change. 

Listen to Actual Plays

Want to hear what a Gothica: Plagueworlds game plays like? Well down below are a few games that have been recorded and edited for your listening pleasure!

Content Warning
Although Gothica: Plagueworlds focuses on diseases and mutations, it is our mission to keep the content as safe as possible. We will be avoiding major illnesses that affect people in the real world, as to not cause trauma or discomfort for anyone that suffers or has suffered. Some content may be triggering in the context of diseases, but due to the nature of the material that cannot be avoided. The content and descriptions are meant to fit the dark fantasy genre but do not enter the grimdark fantasy genre, allowing for comedic and light-hearted moments. Gothica: Plagueworlds' imagery and artwork have been created with this in mind, and avoids gore, and excessive grotesque images.  

A Night on the Abhorrent Express - A Gothica: Plagueworlds one shot
Join the players as they embark on a locomotive journey to the capital city of the Havenlands. This one shot showcases; the difficult living conditions for those of higher and lower society, the new bloodlines, many new spells and some early game mutations.

Masquerade of Madness - A Gothica: Plagueworlds one shot
Experience the psychological torment of a wicked and terrifying party, all while dressed in your finest suits and ballgowns. This session has the players invited to a mysterious woodland manor for a week long celebration, one that is deemed to die for... This one shot offers an insight into how Gothica: Plagueworlds can be used to elevate your dark fantasy genre with the impact of dishing out 'plague points' to your players. 
Credit: HilaritySaveRPG

The Void in Isberg - A Gothica: Plagueworlds one shot
Visit one of the isolated and almost forgotten towns on the edge of the Havenlands. Will the players be able to uncover the secrets that are held within the cobbles of Isberg? This one shot session tells a story of the rambunctious players that take on the roles of the 'Plague Bearers' as they explore a sickly town. This one shot showcases spells, bloodline abilities, plagued monsters and the dreaded Voided plague.
Credit: GalsndPals

The Rot Inside - World Tree Quests (Using Gothica: Plagueworlds content)
This session takes place at a party thrown at the city limits manor of the Sivalona family, the rich and well connected drink and dine the night away. Upstairs, unseen by the eyes of the nobility below, an elf carves a sigil into the walls with their own pestilent blood. Upon discovery, the Order of the Ax and Flame, protectors against the otherworldy and occult, burst into action. Now with the threat of a new plague within their very own city walls, our investigators Selen'e, Sybil, and Mel, joined by Edgar and Sybil's familiar Chattersworth, must find the source of this new plague and destroy it before it's foul presence takes hold in the city. Together they must overcome The Rot Inside!
Credit: WorldTreeQuests

Player Testimonials
Read below to find out what the Players and GMs that have experienced some gameplay feel about Gothica: Plagueworlds.

Creator Interviews

As a passionate creator of Gothica: Plagueworlds I had the best time talking to others about the content I have created thus far. If you want to hear more about the creator and the stories of how Gothica: Plagueworlds came to be, then check out the interviews below. 

Building a Community

One of our goals at Ink Blade Publishing is to build a TTRPG community around Gothica: Plagueworlds. 

What does this mean?
Well as a solo creator that is not governed by any directing company, it means Ink Blade Publishing can take a personal approach with the community, with a steadily growing discord of GMs, Players, Artists, and Cosplayers! 

Why is this relevant?
Every time I've visited a games convention to showcase Gothica: Plagueworlds, I hear the same complaint, 'I don't have anyone to play with'. I want to change that! I want to continue to build a space that allows players to find each other, show off their in-world creations and tell stories of games they've played. This not only acts as a hub for the game, but is an extremely valuable resource for the development of the collaborative storytelling system that TTRPGs are rooted in. It is my belief that having direct feedback to and from the creator is paramount to creating the best version of Gothica: Plagueworlds possible.

Community Content!
Ink Blade Publishing will be allowing members of the community to create and share content using any rules found within Gothica: Plagueworlds. So, together we can create some truly gross PLAGUEWORLDS!

Check out a few of these amazing cosplayers that have already made their Gothica: Plagueworlds OCs!

Digital Fulfillment

Digital fulfillment for Gothica: Plagueworlds will be carried out by DriveThruRPG.