CCRB RECORD No. 0013
Darkest Dungeon
Determination: Explicit — Blasphemy 3
Penance is a game mechanic: the Abbey relieves stress through prayer and flagellation, and the Flagellant fights by scourging himself.
The first Darkest Dungeon takes the vocabulary and practice of medieval Christian devotion and converts it into systems. The Abbey is one of two stress-relief buildings in town, where heroes are sent to Pray, Meditate or Flagellate themselves between expeditions — self-mortification priced alongside the tavern's drink and gambling as a mechanical equivalent. The roster includes the Vestal, a healing nun, the Crusader, and the Leper. The Flagellant, added in the Crimson Court, is built entirely on the practice: his abilities improve as he bleeds and his damage scales with his own suffering. What lifts this to explicit is that the practices are real and specific rather than generic fantasy piety, and the game's framing treats them as equivalent to vice.