Darkness Points (DP)

What Are Darkness Points?

Imagine your favorite fluffy bunny. Now imagine someone wrapped it in a heavy suit of black dragon scales — scales that whisper bad thoughts and make the bunny feel scared and angry and forgotten. That suit of scales is Darkness Points.

DP is not the same as HP.

• HP (Hit Points) = how alive a creature is. Reducing HP to 0 means the creature is seriously hurt and needs help.
• DP (Darkness Points) = the armor of corruption The Unwritten has placed on a creature. Reducing DP to 0 means the corruption shatters — the creature is freed, unharmed, and back to its true self.

A corrupted creature can have both HP and DP at the same time. Standard attacks deal HP damage. Special Calling abilities deal DP damage. Most of the time, your goal is to break all the DP — not to hurt the creature underneath.

How The Unwritten Creates DP

The Unwritten is a dark force that makes creatures forget who they are. It doesn't create new monsters — it takes sweet, wonderful creatures and covers them in corruption until they act like the darkness expects them to.

Here's how corruption spreads, step by step:

Stage 1 — The First Marks

Small black marks appear on the creature's fur, feathers, or scales. They look like ink stains or tiny cracks. The creature seems distracted, a little grumpy, less like itself. A normally playful Honey Hopper might stop bouncing and sit in the shadows. These marks are the first whispers of The Unwritten.

Stage 2 — The Scales Grow

The black marks spread and harden. Dragon-like scales push up through the creature's coat, gleaming like obsidian. The creature's eyes take on a faint dark glow. It has become fully corrupted — it will act hostile toward heroes and anything bright or joyful. This is when DP appears. The number of DP equals the thickness of the corruption.

Stage 3 — Fully Armored

At this stage, the creature is completely unrecognizable under its armor of scales. It attacks with new dark-infused abilities. But underneath all of that? The real creature is still there, waiting, scared, and hoping someone cares enough to break them free.

How Players Break DP

Regular sword swings and basic arrows don't crack corruption armor — the dark scales just absorb them. Calling abilities are the tools heroes use to break DP.

Here's how it works:

1. Target a corrupted creature — any creature with a DP stat block.
2. Use a Calling ability that deals DP damage — these abilities are clearly labeled in Calling files (e.g., a Glowcaster's Radiant Strike or a Luminarch's Purifying Light).
3. Roll the ability as normal (1d20 + stat bonus vs. the creature's DC, or as a direct DP hit).
4. Reduce DP by the amount listed — each ability specifies how much DP it removes.

When a creature's DP reaches 0, the corruption armor shatters dramatically — scales fly off like broken glass, the dark glow fades, and the creature collapses... then stirs... then looks up at the heroes with clear, grateful eyes.

What Happens When All DP Is Removed

When the last Darkness Point shatters:

1. The corruption dissolves. Scales crack and fall away like a broken shell. Black marks fade from the creature's coat.
2. The creature returns to itself. Its eyes clear. Its posture changes. It might look confused, scared, or overwhelmed — it remembers being in darkness and doesn't fully understand what happened.
3. It is healed to full HP — the creature underneath was never truly harmed. The corruption was holding it, not hurting it.
4. It becomes neutral or friendly. A freed creature won't attack heroes again. Some will follow them, some will flee to safety, and some will offer a gift, a clue, or a grateful nuzzle.
5. Heroes earn XP — freeing a corrupted creature awards the same XP as defeating a normal creature of that difficulty (25/50/100 XP).

DP vs. HP — The Key Difference

This is the most important thing to understand:

Normal wild creatures (not corrupted) only have HP. Fight them normally if needed, or use Warm-based abilities to calm them.

Corrupted creatures have both. The goal is almost always to break the DP first. If a corrupted creature is also dealing a lot of HP damage to heroes, it's fine to use regular attacks to reduce HP while others focus abilities on DP.

Example: Freeing a Honey Hopper

Here's a complete example of how the DP system plays out in a real encounter.

The Setup

The heroes are in Whimsy Woods when they find a Honey Hopper — normally a cheerful little creature that bounces between flowers and hums sweet little melodies. But this one has gone quiet. Black marks cover its golden coat and two jagged scales jut from its back like tiny obsidian fins.

The narrator says: "The Honey Hopper crouches low in the clearing. Its eyes are dark and buzzing with a faint shadow glow. It hisses at you. This little one has been touched by The Unwritten."

Corrupted Honey Hopper Stat Block:

• HP: 12 | Dodge: 11 | Mettle: 0
• DP: 2 (the two scales on its back)
• Attack: Sticky Lunge — +3, 1d6 bludgeoning + Stuck condition
• DP Armor: Regular attacks deal no DP damage

Round 1 — The Glowcaster Acts

Pip, playing a Glowcaster, steps forward. Her Calling ability Radiant Strike deals 1 DP to a corrupted creature.

She says: "I raise my wand and shoot a beam of warm golden light at the black scale on the Hopper's back!"

She rolls 1d20 + Clever (+2) = 15. That beats the Hopper's DC of 12.

Result: The radiant beam cracks the first scale. It splits down the middle and falls to the ground with a soft clink. The Honey Hopper shrieks and shakes — but its left eye flickers from black to gold for just a moment.

Honey Hopper DP: 2 → 1

Round 2 — The Hopper Attacks, Then Pip Finishes It

The Honey Hopper lunges at Pip, and she takes 5 HP damage. But she stays standing.

On her next turn, Pip uses Radiant Strike again.

She rolls 1d20 + Clever (+2) = 17. Another hit.

Result: The second scale shatters — shards of obsidian scatter across the grass like broken candy. The darkness drains from the Honey Hopper's eyes. It stumbles, blinks, sits down, and looks at Pip.

Honey Hopper DP: 1 → 0

The narrator says: "The corruption dissolves. The marks fade. The Honey Hopper's golden coat gleams clean again. It tilts its head at Pip... and then hops right into her arms with a happy little chirp."

Heroes earn 25 XP (easy encounter) and have made a new friend.

DP in Tougher Encounters

For bigger corrupted creatures — bosses, elites, and powerful monsters — DP can go as high as 6–10. These fights require the whole team:

• Damage dealers use Calling DP abilities to chip away scales
• Support heroes use inspire and healing to keep the team standing while DP is broken
• Tanks use Defend actions to draw attacks away while others break corruption

Multi-stage corrupted creatures may have a second DP pool that appears after the first is broken (the corruption fights back, growing new scales). The narrator can describe this dramatically for a memorable boss fight.

Quick Reference

Tags

mechanics darkness-points corruption the-unwritten DP combat