History Videogame / SolidAndShade

''Solid & Shade'' is a [[GameMod mod]] for the videogame ''[[VideoGame/MountAndBlade Mount And Blade]]'' ('''NOT''' ''Warband''). It keeps the original Calradia settings and the WideOpenSandbox gameplay, but changes the atmosphere in a DarkFantasy universe.

* CursedWithAwesome: Choosing "madness" as the justification for starting the adventure gives more intelligence to he player character. And constant auditive hallucinations, as well as occasional nightmares (a fighting sequence against a random enemy, usually a named NPC, inside a nightmarish scenery).

* OffModel: Since using the ''Mount & Blade'' engine to create a setting with necromancy, horror, and weird monsters isn't its intended use, occasionnal graphical weirdness is unsurprising.
** The Bloodfountain is supposed to be... well, a fountain squirting blood, but said liquid actually looks like a inert element of the structure itself.

* ApocalypseHow: [[ApocalypseHow/{{Class5}} Planetary Extinction]]. According to the Great Artificer, the destruction of the Infinity Stone could cause the end of the world. If the player speaks to the Bloodfountain while carrying the Infinity Stone, the player is forced to give it the Infinity Stone. Then a message appears to tell that all life on the planet has been wiped out and the player is redirected in ''Mount & Blade'' main menu.

* GratuitousGreek: "The Wolfbane Alpha", "the Wolfbane Beta", and "the Wolfbane Omega", which are a sniper rifle, it's ammunition, and a large knife given to Dupin by the Great Artificier.

** Any loot during the graverobbing sequences is randomly determined.

** The starting year is 1313.

* CursedWithAwesome: Choosing "madness" as the justification for starting the adventure gives more intelligence to he player character. And constant auditive hallucinations.

** Two extremely important elements of the mod are GraveRobbing and [[TomeOfEldritchLore The Necronomicon]]. The former requires a shovel (common loot on the looters' parties that spawn at the start of the game), the latter requires to be crafted by the combination of a diamond (rare and expensive item) and a corpse. During the character's creation, the MultipleChoicePast quizz allows the player to answer that he formerly worked as a gravedigger (which gives a free shovel) and then became an aspiring necromancer (starting with a Necronomicon and a corpse).

* ImprovisedArmour: Using corpse parts as armour. The player will have the exact same appearance as a Zombie, but he will receive relatively high protection for the beginning of the campaign.

* InfinityPlusOneSword: Hematite, the Sword of Hades. It is a one-handed/two-handed sword which inflicts... 125 damage per hit.

** The Undying Sword of Dracula and Crossbones are indirectly mutually exclusive. The first requires to make the player character to become a vampire, the second requires them to play a werewolf, two conditions mutually exclusive in the game.

* NonStandardGameOver: Several, which usually involve being violently killed by the NPC you're talking to. They include:
** Talking to the Bloodfountain while carrying the Infinity Stone (an unlimited use Philosopher's Stone)
** Choosing "The Life" instead of choosing "The Death" after speaking to the Bloodfountain ("The Death" means accepting to serve it).
** Talking to Lamia without being yourself a vampire.
** Talking to Crossbones without being yourself a Werewolf.
** Talking to the Undying Sword of Dracula without being yourself a vampire. Though, unlike Crossbones, there is a dialog option allowing the player character to flee without being harmed.
** Entering the Underworld without being a Lich.

* PlagueDoctor: One unit of the Acolyte/Necromancer troop tree. They look quite different to the iconic Plague Doctor outfit, though: while they have a (yellow) mask with a beak (but no hat), their armour is coloured in a sickly shade of yellow, and sports some vestigial skeletal wings on the shoulders. They wield a circle yellow buckler with a yellow maul. This item's set is called "The Plague Doctor's Remedy" when crafted by the Bloodfountain. In the game's lore, the Bloodfountain notes that plague doctors were often necromancers, too.

* NonStandardGameOver: Several, including:
** Talking to the Bloodfountain while carrying the Infinity Stone (an unlimited use Philosopher's Stone).

* SetBonus

* ZergRush: Patchworks are weak units but their creation is free (no other resource than the Necronomicon) their wages are low. Their building lasts several hours, however.

%%** Talking to Lamia without being able to feed her (with a chunk of flesh taken from a corpse).

** The new troops are technically normal soldiers with a horror disguise. Despite being animated flesh puppets, zombies and patchworks still require food (they can eat any food item, not just human flesh) and wages; they even desert if they starve or haven't been paid for too long. The mundane Surgey skill allows to keep some of them alive if they're killed in battles. Zombies and Patchworks from a defeated necromancer party can even be captured (and recruited!) if they have been knocked out.

* MinMaxing: The mod allows the player character to become a Lich, a Vampire, or a Werewolf. Vampire and Werewolf are mutually exclusive, but it is possible to become a Lich-Vampire or a Lich-Werewolf. However, because of the high stats and skills level required to obtain this status, achieving it requires the player to very carefully follow a specific build.

** The player can become one if he is strong enough (Agility and Ironflesh) and carries Vampire blood in his stash.

* ArcNumber: [[ThirteenIsUnlucky 13]]. Any time there is a golden colored 13 engraved somewhere on the scenery, there are probably quest items very near. Also, there are 13 artifacts (one for each skill) that have to be crafted and kept in order to become a Lich.

* {{Medusa}}: Stheno (who is actually Medusa's eldest sister).

* TheNecrocracy: An actual Necromancer faction (named "Evil") appears when the player characters reaches level 30. Its starting position is named "Necropolis" and appears in the place of Zendar. If you joined the Bloodfountain, you become a vassal of the faction.

** There are hostile parties of Necromancer-like units wandering on the world map, just like standard bandits. They consist of a bunch of undead lead by an Acolyte. Parties of a few Acolytes can also be hired from taverns, but they won't include any undead. The Acolyte is a low tier unit consisting of a light infantry unit wearing a black robe identical to the ceremonial clothes found in Zendar after choosing to serve the Bloodfountain. There is an unit actually called "Necromancer", which is a mounted fighter and an evolution of the Acolyte.

** Talking to Lamia without being able to feed her (with a chunk of flesh taken from a corpse).

* GameplayAndStorySegregation: Carrying the Infinity Stone or a Philosopher's Stone is supposed to prevent the player character from being KilledOffForReal. It doesn't work for the NonStandardGameOver triggered by dialog, only for death in battle.

* MutuallyExclusivePartyMembers: Not only for the original party members, this feature is also added for the new hirable heroes. For example, Dupin and Fortunato doesn't like each other, if they stay to long in the party both morale will drop until one of them leave.

* SchizoTech: While the setting keeps the Native realistic medievalish stuff (factions, armies, pre-existing items) unaltered, it also adds flintlock pistols, double-barreled shotguns, steam cars...

* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: If the player character is neutral with any the native factions, they won't be bothered by the sight of a guy wearing an evil-looking armour leading an army of zombies and black knights. Even if said army stops in a town to shout "Death to Calradia" (which is required to do a quest).

** WordOfGod says that the next release will feature a large expansion of this route, possibly leading to an outright "Good" rotue.

* TheNecrocracy: An actual Undead faction is planned for a future version of the mod.

* VillainProtagonist: The core of the mod is to be a Necromancer warlord obeying an OmnicidalManiac EldritchAbomination who wants the player character to kill everyone in Calradia while leading an undead and demonic army. The choice to be an actual VillainProtagonist or just a mere AntiHero is up to the player roleplay, not joining the Bloodfountain is even an official SelfImposedChallenge.
** Also, the character creation options allow the player character to be a former murderer.
** WordOfGod says that in the next release will feature a major expansion of Good/Anti-Hero content.
* VoodooZombie: The zombies troops (mêlée, ranged, cavalry) belong to this kind of zombies, although they are resurrected by an unspecified kind of BlackMagic instead of Voodoo.

** The [[PhilosopherSStone Philosopher's Stone]]: Gives a bonus to the Surgery skill and prevents the player character from being KilledOffForReal. It is also a tool to convert iron into gold.
** Pandora's Box: Gives a small bonus to the Trade skill.

** The modders are especially fond of Creator/EdgarAllanPoe, who is quoted as one of the inspirations for the game. His work provided the basis for hirable heroes (Dupin, Fortunato, the Raven, and Poe himself) and a few quests. Also, there are Poe's quotes are used as hints on the {{Loading Screen}}s.

** [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Raven The Raven.]]
** [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cask_of_Amontillado Fortunato.]]

* GraveRobbing: An essential part of the gameplay. It requires the player to carry a shovel and to enter a castle or town graveyard at night. It is the main way to obtain corpses. Unless the player is the lord of the place or carries a Hand of Glory, there in a small chance to be caught by the local guards.

* ClassicalMythology: One of the inspirations for the mod (the others being occultism and Creator/EdgarAllanPoe).

** PandorasBox: Gives a small bonus to the Trade skill.

** The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hand_of_Glory Hand of Glory]]: Prevents the player character from being busted when looting tombs.

* Unusually Uninteresting Sight: If the player character is neutral with any the native factions, they won't be bothered by the sight of a guy wearing an evil-looking armour leading an army of zombies and black knights. Even if said army stops in a town to shout "Death to Calradia" (which is required to do a quest).

* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: If the player character is neutral with any the native factions, they won't be bothered by the sight of a guy wearing an evil-looking armour leading an army of zombies and black knights. Even if said army stops in a town to shout "Death to Calradia" (which is required to do a quest).

* TarotMotifs: There are cartomancers NPCs in some taverns.

* DualWielding: The Abominations (top-tier zombies, they are an infantry unit that looks like a flayed man) fight with two cleavers. Although they are unable to strike with both for technical reason: they are actually equipped with two similar-looking item, one being a weapon and the other being a shield.

** The Behemoth Worm looks like a giant bald human head, with empty eye sockets dripping blood, several eyes protruding from its forehead, and a worm-like body extending from the base of its neck. It is a monster incubated in [[spoiler:Rasputin's]] womb, with the same OmnicidalManiac goal.

* AntiHero: The player character becomes one if he stays out of necromancy for enough time. To be more accurate, it is a SelfImposedChallenge which requires to reach level 30 without talking to the Bloodfountain. Easier to write that to do. It means that nor Necronomicon crafting would be available, neither undeads or demons summoning. Most of the new companions are impossible to hire, too. It is still allowed to loot graves, eat corpses, and raid villages. Given the setting, it would make the protagonist being a PragmaticHero at best. Achieving to become an antihero grants the player character free stat points and a unique helmet.
* ApocalypseHow: [[ApocalypseHow/{{Class5}} Planetary Extinction]]. According to the Great Artificer, the destruction of the Infinity Stone could cause the end of the world. If the player speaks to the Bloodfountain while carrying the Infinity Stone, the player is forced to give it the Infinity Stone. Then a message appears to tell that all life as been wiped on the planet and the player is redirected in ''Mount & Blade'' main menu.

* BadassBookworm: Dupin. A very intelligent detective who is also very skilled in gunfighting.

** [[spoiler:Poe is Edgar Allan Poe as a Living Shadow trapped in his own literary word.]]

* BodyHorror: Lamia is a former Zeus’ mistress who has being changed in a sort of spider/vampire hybrid. She is mostly humanoid with six insectoid legs under her ankles and her armour is supposed to be chitin on her chest and belly.
* BrainInAJar: Hiring Rasputin requires to find his brain, put in a jar and hidden in a secret room in Halmar Castle.
* ClassicalMythology: One of the inspiration for the mod (the others being occulism and Creator/EdgarAllanPoe).

* DarkFantasy: The worldmap’s colours and textures have been altered (brown seas and rivers, sickly dark green grass, etc), giving the impression that the earth is dying. Necromancers wander in Calradia and the player is heavily advicedto become one of them. Graverobbing, black magic, and cannibalism are important gameplay aspects.

* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: [[spoiler:A sidequest involves descending in the Underwold to retrieve Hades' sword. A few time after this, he follows the player character's party and attack while leading several hundredth of undeads.]]

** Lamia was a mistress of Zeus. She suffereds from a punishment by Hera, who turned Lamia into a creature who suffered from constant pulsion forcing her to eat human flesh. Her first victims were ''the children she had from Zeus''.
** Fortunato has been entombed alive by his former friend Montresor as a revenge for what he describes himself as a minor offense. We don't have the version of Montresor, though.
* DualWielding: The Abominations (top-tier zombies, they are a footman looking like a flayed man) fight with two cleavers. Although they are unable to strike with both for technical reason: they are actually equipped with two similar-looking item, one being a weapon and the other being a shield.
* DugTooDeep: The Bloodfountain has been unearthed from Zendar underground by local miners (who were turned undead in the process). Then, it killed the townsmen who didn't flee.
* EasyLogistics: Averted as in the original ''Mount & Blade'', especially because the zombies and undead troops still need to be fed and paid.

** The Bloodfountain is a sentient chalice-shaped fountain squirting blood, with an OmnicidalManiac goal.
** The Behemoth Worm looks like a giant bald human head, with empty eye sockets dripping of blood, several eyes protruding from its forehead, and a worm-like body extending from the base of its neck. It is a monster incubated in [[spoiler:Rasputin's]] wombs, with the same OmnicidalManiac goal.
* EscortMission: The Chrisalid is a unique and totally useless unit which definitively disappears from the game if killed in battle. Protecting the Chrisalid during enough time allows it to hatch the Behemoth Worm, one of the most powerful companions of the mod.

* FleshGolem: The weakest undead unit is the Patchwork, a zombie created with flesh and bone bits scavenged in the area.

* GameplayAndStorySegregation: Carrying the Infinity Stone or a Philosopher Stone is supposed to prevent the player character from being KilledOffForReal. It actually doesn't work for the NonStandardGameOver triggered by dialogs.

* GratuitousGreek: "The Wolfbane Alpha", "the Wolfbane Beta", and "the Wolfbane Omega", which are a sniper rifle, some ammunitions, and a big knife given to Dupin by the Great Artificier.
* GraveRobbing: An essential part of the gameplay. It requires to carry a shovel and to enter a castle/town graveyard at night. It is the main way to obtain corpses. Unless the player is the lord of the place or carries a Hand of Glory, there in a probability to be busted by the local guards.
* GuideDangIt: Most of the mod content related to the new companions and quests suffers from this. For example, half of the hirable companions disappear from the game if they were not hired when the player character meets the Great Artificer.

* HellishHorse: There are mere classical black horses, but also horses with skeletal wings and a head lookong like a human skull, or even zombie horses. The horsemen evolved from Acolytes usually mount the latter, the horrors are zombie mêlée fighter on a zombie horse.
* HumanoidAbomination: Rasputin is a demon under a human shape [[spoiler:which serves as an incubator for a powerful monster.]]
* HumanResources: Corpses can be used as food and as one of the main source for the crafting system: an intact corpse is an ingredient by itself (''i.e.'' to raise zombies), dismembering a corpse creates thirteen ingredients (the player can choose to acquire only one of them and throw the others away): Blood, Eyes, Brain, Heart, Liver, Entrails, Skin, Bones, Flesh, Death Hands, Death Feet, Death Body, and Death Head. Most of them are also food, the four latter can be use as amours (glove, boots, chest armour, and helmet), which is useful early in the game. Horse corpses can also be eaten and serve as resource for crafting.

* ImprovisedArmour: Using corpses parts as armour. The player will have the exact same appearance that a Zombie, but he will receive a relatively high protection for the beginning of the campaign.

** ShovelStrike: As a polearm. Choosing to be a former gravedigger makes the player begins the game with a shovel in its inventory.

* IndestructibleEdible: Corpses don't rot and stay edible during an infinite time. Even when they have been unhearted from a graveyard.

** It happens to the player when he choose a NonStandardGameOver branch in a dialog or if he falls in battle. Altough definitive death can be avoided by carrying a Philosopher's Stone (which is then destroyed) or the Infinity Stone.
** The Chrisalid definitively disappear from the game if it killed / stunned during a battle.

** Poe is a shadow hirable companion. [[spoiler:In cas you're wondering... Yes, it is a fictional version of the famous writer.]]

* ManOnFire: Not actually shown on-screen, but a way to upgrade the basic zombies is to set them on fire (with the Philosopher Stone and an oil jar). Each basic zombie-type troop as a burned equivalent, which is faster.

* MinMaxing: The mod allows the player character to become a Lich, a Vampire, or a Werewolf. Vampire and Werewolf are mutually exclusive, but it is possible to become a Lich-Vampire or a Lich-Werewolf. However, because of the high stats and skills levels required to obtain this status change, achieving this requires to very carefully follow a specific build.

** The Undying Sword of Dracula and Crossbones are indirectly mutually exclusive. The first requires to make the player character become a vampire, the second requires to play a werewolf, two conditions mutually exclusive in the game.

** The game is made to play one: loot tombs and create an Undead army. "Neophyte Necromancer" is [[MultipleChoicePast one of the possible choices]] of background during the character’s creation.
** There are hostile parties of Necromancer-like units wandering on the worldmap, just like standard bandits. They consist in a bunch of undeads lead by an Acolyte. Parties of a few Acolytes can also be hired from taverns, but they won't include any undeads. The Acolyte is a low tier unit consisting in a light footman wearing a black robe identical to the ceremonial clothes found in Zendar after choosing to serve the Bloodfountain. There is an unit actually called "Necromancer", which is a mounted fighter and an evolution from the Acolyte.

** Talking to the Bloodfountain while carrying the Infinity Stone (an unlimited uses Philosopher's Stone).

** Talking to the Undying Sword of Dracula without being yourself a vampire. Though, contrary to Crossbones, there is a dialog option allowing the player character to flee without being harmed.

** The Necronomicon: Allows to access most of the crafting recipes.
** The [[PhilosopherSStone Philosopher's Stone]]: Gives a bonus to the Surgery skill and prevent the player character from being KilledOffForReal. It is also a tool to convert iron into gold.
** Pandora Box: Gives a small bonus to the Trade skill.

* RaceLift: Nizar, Deshavi, and Rolf are inexplicably turned Caucasian in the mod. Also, not an actual RaceLift, but Klethi turns blonde instead of being a readhead like in the unmodded game; same with Alayen (brown hair in the original game, blonde hair in the mod).

** The modders are especially fond of Creator/EdgarAllanPoe, who is quoted as one of the inspirations for the game. His work provided the basis for hirable heroes (Dupin, Fortunato, the Raven, and Poe himself) and a few quests. Also, there are Poe's quotes in some of the literature quotes used as hints on the {{Loading Screen}}s.

* SilverBullet: The Wolfbane Beta (ammunitions for the rifle Wolfbane Alpha) has a name and an appearance which refers this. Ingame, it is just a pack of bullets which inflict an equal (and very high) amount of damages to any target.

* TarotMotifs: There are cartomancers NPC in some taverns.

* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: If the player character is neutral with the native factions, they won't be bothered by the sight of a guy wearing an evil-looking armour leading an army of zombies and black knights. Even if said army stops in a town to shout "Death to Calradia" (which is required to do a quest).

* ZergRush: Patchworks are weak units but their creation is free (no other resource than the Necronomicon) their wages are low. Their building last several hours, however.
* ZombieApocalypse: Sort of, though it isn't an infection. The main character is a necromancer and just animates the bodies himself. Though it feels a lot like an infection or apocalypse, since a good way to get corpses is killing them with your zombie army and then reanimating them. It is not uncommon to loose your entire army in a fight, and then get them back with the corpses of your foes. The zombies are semi-intelligent, as they can use weapons, but not sentient. They can be killed by anything that can kill a human, but are much more difficult to kill. They don't appear to require food, although not having food will lower the morale of the party overall (most likely because you still need it) and, due to game mechanics, zombies will abandon you if they have a low morale.

* BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy: The Infinity Stone is protected by a half-flayed Leonardo da Vinci (using the nickname "Great Artificer") who is linked to life-preserving machines.

* EvilWeapon: The Undying Sword of Vlad Dracula.

* TheGunslinger: Dupin begins the game with a gun in his equipment and uses his skill in gunfight as an argument to be hired by the player character.