Darkest Dungeon®

Darkest Dungeon®

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The Judge Mod
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15.338 MB
28 Mar, 2024 @ 12:30pm
15 Jul @ 7:08am
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The Judge Mod

Description
“Only that man who has offered up himself entire to the blood of war, who has been to the floor of the pit and seen horror in the round and learned at last that it speaks to his inmost heart, only that man can dance.”

The Judge is an all-new modded Hero Class, brought to life by the joint effort of multiple experienced modders (with yours truly as the one newcomer to the DD modding scene). He is a verbose and charismatic character with a truly unique playstyle, maybe best described as a backrank Leper + Occultist mix; a slow support tank and debuffer, and an unorthodox stunner + stress healer combination with multiple double-edged effects in his arsenal to facilitate strategic choice on the part of the player.


  • Based on the character of Judge Holden from Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy

  • ~1200 lines of custom barks, a vast majority of which are quotes lifted straight from the novel. Includes custom barks for Curio interaction Quirk barks, Refracted, Crimson Curse, Sunward Isles + Night Parade + Raiju (including quirks), and barks for the mods Ringmaster and Marvin Seo’s Quirks.

  • Original sounds, sprites and animations, with 4 palettes in total.

  • Class Trinkets: 1 Common, 2 Uncommon, 1 Rare, 1 Very Rare, a 2-piece Crimson Court Set, a 2-piece Color of Madness Set, 1 Sunward Isles + 1 Collector Head that is usable by everyone.

  • DLCs are recommended, but not necessary.

  • Includes 1 Town Event which grants an early Judge, as well as making the Bar free to use that week.

    “…the kid laid his money down but the barman pushed it back with his thumb and nodded. These here is on the judge, he said.”


Currently, the mod only supports English. Playing in other languages will not cause bugs, but the text will stay in English nonetheless.


“You've a blasphemous tongue, Holden.”

  • The Judge gains +20% Debuff chance upon a Critical strike.
  • The Judge is not religious.
  • The Judge can only move 1 space backwards.
  • The Judge can only use the Tavern and refuses to enter the Abbey.
  • The Judge’s provision is a Skeleton Key.
  • The Judge’s canon name is Holden.
  • The Judge is affected by the Aetheneum. (In the future, he will also be affected by his custom Courthouse district, available as a separate mod, set to release along with the next modded character.)
  • The Judge has vanilla Virtues and Afflictions to ensure +Virtue chance buffs work on him, and to provide him with more barks. Moreover, several of his mechanics are dependent on his state of Affliction or Virtue.
  • The Judge is characterized by high HP, average Damage, Accuracy and Dodge, and low Speed and Critical chance.
  • The Judge’s resistances are high for Stun, Move, Debuff and Trap, average for Death Blow and Disease, and low for Bleed and Blight.


The Judge will not hesitate to use the full extent of the law to prosecute his enemies. Those on the stricter end of his sentencing may find themselves imprisoned for the rest of their lives. He may also restore order among his allies, or even pardon their crimes fully, though such an unexpected act of mercy often leaves them in shock.









Only when framed by the shadows of the flickering campfire does the Judge reveal his true colours. His dark musings on philosophy serve only to entertain himself at the cost of his comrades' faith in him. As preparation, he either pores through his impressive collection of legal texts, or decides to outright forego any pretension of justice in pursuit of doling out punishment. At his most helpful, he is willing to give tips on evading attacks like the best of lawyers do.









Click here if you are curious about how this mod relates to the novel[justpaste.it]





“Blood Meridian” by Cormac McCarthy
vitez_vaddiszno: Main concept, Gameplay design, Coding, Skill/Camp Icons, Palette swaps, Hero Comic, Minor art, Strings (partially sampled from “Blood Meridian”)
Neogulyi: Coding, Animation, Development and testing space
Nodappjung: Hero and Trinket Art
Chanwoo Guy: Virtue and Affliction Art
Shay: Sound design
Snorlaxxo: Gameplay design
It’s Mint Just Mints: Steam Workshop page design
정닉이, Neogulyi: Korean Translation
Testing and feedback: Zahara | The Sorting Helmet, vogunBurgundy, bulletbombat, It’s Mint Just Mints, Vintage, JerryMouse105, Gaist, Cerebralcloud92, OxTailSafu, Fraëlgnir, Ordinary person, Zalgo, Hello World, Mr.Pepper, Ariseka, MasterSpider5, EpiphanyChaos, Dawn♡, dragon®, Jack, [TheRealMe] #1 DD Addict, Zotlan

I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to all members of the Darkest Dungeon modding community who have instructed me, guided me, taught me, and helped me realize my dream of creating my own DD mod. I feel humbled and honored, having become a part of something greater than me and having had a part in creating something that will hopefully cause joy to many others. Thank you, everyone.


Please consider checking out my Patreon[www.patreon.com], where you will be able to support the development of further classes, including:
  • The Customer: An indignant lady based on the popular "Karen" stereotype.
  • The Murderer: A depraved criminal based partially on Anton Chigurh from "No Country for Old Men" and partially on true crime cases.
  • The Headsman: A wistful, philosophical old man nonetheless tasked with executing criminals.
  • The Janitor: Just an average janitor working in the Courthouse.
  • The Jailor: A sadistic warden who carries a powerful Bandit shackled to him, forced to fight enemies as well as the constant escape attempts made by his prisoner.


This item and its contents may not be uploaded on any website other than Steam under the account vitez_vaddiszno.

This mod is not an official Red Hook Studios product or product modification, and Red Hook Studios Inc. is not responsible in any way for changes or damages that may result from using the mod. Furthermore, “Darkest Dungeon” and the Darkest Dungeon logo are trademarks of Red Hook Studios Inc. All content in the game is Copyright Red Hook Studios Inc. All rights reserved.
Popular Discussions View All (2)
4
1 Sep @ 6:48am
PINNED: Bug Reports
vitez_vaddiszno
0
29 Mar, 2024 @ 12:36am
PINNED: Balance & Feedback
vitez_vaddiszno
65 Comments
neIVIesis 24 Sep @ 2:51pm 
Not pretentious at all, I'm glad to read your detailed response and thank you for taking the time to write it. Nodappjung is indeed a talented artist, and I like every single character design he's made. However, for some reason, he lacks a grasp of the actual style of this game. All his characters, despite being well drawn from a purely technical perspective, don't quite fit.

And I agree with you, his characters are actually better drawn than vanilla, which are much simpler and require less technical skills. Best of luck and I hope to see more work from you!
vitez_vaddiszno  [author] 24 Sep @ 2:42pm 
Part 2: I think the slight mismatch in style only elevates the Judge in lore, as he is always said to be uncanny in an unspeakable way. So in the game too, there's nothing outright magical about him, his sprite has the same palette, the same broad strokes; but yet he is larger, has more details, slightly different proportions... there is literally more to him than meets the eye. That is, to me,a feature, not a bug, and a slight nod to his extraordinary character.

Yes, it may not strictly match the game's artstyle, but it is very close to it and truth be told, I prefer Nodappjung's detailed design to the original. I've always been all about the grayest colors, the subtlest nuances, and spending the greatest time on the smallest details. Hell, my favourite movie of all time is Possum. In my eyes, the Judge is perfect, and I apologize if my vision wasn't to everyone's liking.

And sorry if I sounded pretentious.
vitez_vaddiszno  [author] 24 Sep @ 2:42pm 
@neIVIesis thank your for your praise. At times like this, I feel all the effort that went into the mod was worth it.

Now, I didn't draw the idle/combat/camp sprites myself. As you can see from the hero comic, I'm not too shabby myself, but I just couldn't do sprites well. So instead I commissioned Nodappjung to draw it. He's the artist behind the Exorcist mod, which I consider the pinnacle of Darkest Dungeon character mods in all aspects - your mileage may vary, of course. I wanted to assemble an all-star cast for this mod so I wanted the best mod's artist to draw the Judge.

CONT.
neIVIesis 24 Sep @ 1:18pm 
You have given a very granular and logical response to the user typing in Russian. The fact that you even wrote a page detailing your decisions is frankly impressive.
Someone as meticulous as you seem to be, you must also clearly see that despite the great character design - which I honestly also really admire - the final execution is incongruent with the artistic direction of the game: It's too detailed, the linework is too thin. It lacks the wood block aesthetic that Bourassa was so careful to craft. And even the proportions, despite making the legs short, just are not consistent with any vanilla heroes "chibi" style.
The virtue and affliction sprites actually do excel because that's where images are meant to be more detailed and realistic in the game.
Pointing this out is not meant to insult you, this is clearly a labor of love that took you 2 years to accomplish. So I'm curious as to why you settled short at the finishing line.
vitez_vaddiszno  [author] 26 Aug @ 7:27pm 
No need to apologize for anything, I'm just telling you these things so you can understand my reasoning behind his design. I put him as a kind of "backrank leper-occultist mix" to capture the Judge's malicious motivations. He is a manipulator and control-freak wanting to be in charge of everything, so he goes to the most prestigious backline position. From there he can watch the bloodshed in relative safety, while still enacting control over the battlefield.
Буква 7 26 Aug @ 6:05pm 
Мною как-то были упущены эти моменты. Вероятно из-за скорости анимации и того, что его стиль боёвки в игре мне не понравился, отчего играть данным верзилой расхотелось. Не подумай, что критикую, это просто личные предпочтения, ибо в игре и при переводе мне представлялось, что этот громила должен будет стоять на первых двух рядах и менее скромно пересчитывать косточки на теле удачно попавшего под руку скелета-аристократа. В общем, прошу извинений и пожелаю удачи в чём бы там ни было.
vitez_vaddiszno  [author] 26 Aug @ 1:17pm 
Part 3: About your other observations: he's fat in the novel too - he's described as having a giant, round mass and a face like a full moon. His legs are small because that's how all Darkest Dungeon heroes look. When camping, he takes off the judicial robes and puts it at his feet, referencing how he always strips in the book at the campfire. And when he's striking with his gavel, his wig slightly falls off his head so you can see he's bald.
vitez_vaddiszno  [author] 26 Aug @ 1:16pm 
Part 2: In Darkest Dungeon, the characters are represented by their professions. The Jester is a stereotypical jester, the Crusader is a stereotypical crusader, etc. The correct approach for depicting the Judge's essence is therefore to allow him to feel at home in the environment of Darkest Dungeon, and let him wear a judge's outfit. That is his real purpose as revealed in the feverish nightmares of the Kid when he's healing from his leg wound. This is why he fights with a gavel, and not a howitzer. Sure, howitzers are powerful, but that's not where the judge's authority over this world comes from.
CONT.
vitez_vaddiszno  [author] 26 Aug @ 1:16pm 
Буква 7, you should read the justpaste link at the Lore FAQ section where I explain the decisions behind the judge's design. But here's the short version:
Copypasting the judge's apperance in Wild West clothes is something an amateur would do who doesn't truly understand the Judge's character. Truth is, as an allegorical character, he is always at home in whichever environment he is in. When leading the gang, he dresses like a cowboy. When at the governor's ball, he is distinguished and refined. When walking through the desert, he appears with burnt skin and cracked lips - even though we know he's immortal and can't die by thirst, etc.
CONT.
Буква 7 25 Aug @ 2:38pm 
vitez_vaddiszno, окей, оставлю его только для себя, тогда уж. Ну и книга улёт, конечно. Правда Судья будто бы не совсем по канону выглядит: через чур тучный, ноги слишком гипертрофированно маленькие(пусть в книге так и писалось(причём с отсылкой на демона совращения)), хотелось бы иметь его внешность без одеяния судьи(ну или хотя бы без этого парика, Холден должен сверкать своей лысиной), ну и маленький судейский молоточек выглядит слабо, вот бы он как в оригинале гаубицей сражался, раскрывая в полной мере свою силу.