Profundum Showcase, Shattered Seas Pt 3, and #justiceforhannah?
over 7 years ago – Thu, Nov 15, 2018 at 05:20:18 AM

Hey friends! Welcome to another day of Deep Madness! We've got more fun stuff coming up for you below. Let's get to it!

First of all, I had a little squeal of delight today upon seeing an unboxing of Deep Madness come across my feed from The Dice Tower! Zee Garcia seemed to like what he's seen so far, and he was properly grossed out by the monsters. =D

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There's also another video from Beasts of War that came out recently. This one's actually just a short clip from their last Weekender that we were featured in, but, hey, it's a video about us, so here it is. =)

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We're also still number one in the initial round of selections for Board Game Geek's Most Anticipated Game of 2019! Thanks so much for helping us with your votes, friends! If you haven't had a chance to vote yet, go to https://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/248375/item/6539254#item6539254 and give Deep Madness a thumbs up!

Also, we're only around $3,000 away from unlocking Evil Jon! If you would still like to submit your ideas for what this card should contain, be sure to go to the update at http://bit.ly/Joncard and put them in the comments! Entries will be cut off when we hit the stretch goal.

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PROFUNDUM PICS

Today we'd also like to show you some more images from Profundum! We keep creeping closer to unlocking this box, and, while we're not there yet, we just got some pictures of the box which we couldn't keep to ourselves. There are pictures of the trays by themselves, of the trays loaded with components, and, finally, the picture of the box itself. Enjoy!

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SHATTERED SEAS SNIPPET

Next we thought we'd give you the third sample from the novel Shattered Seas. If you haven't read/listened to the first two parts, then you can find Part One at http://bit.ly/ShatteredSeas1 and Part Two at http://bit.ly/ShatteredSeas2. This won't make much sense if you haven't read those.

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The man howled. Scrambling to his feet, he forced his limbs to obey him as he ran up the beach for the forest in the distance. His mind was frozen by numbing shock, his heart hammering in abject terror. Behind him he still heard the shuffling, scuffling, slithering procession of the damned as they made way for the monstrous horror that followed.

Scruffy brush first greeted the man, followed by tough, squat vegetation that clung stubbornly to the ground. Next came long, waving grasses that whipped against his skin as he raced through them, followed by the first thin stragglers of trees that slowly clustered tighter together to form a sparse forest. The man didn’t pay heed to any of them. He just ran as if all of hell was seething at his heels.

The forest broke and the man saw a towering black skyscraper piercing the heavens in the distance. Clouds seemed to be swirling around its apex, but of course that was impossible. Behind him, the man heard the forest actually break.

The man’s limbs were obeying him better now than they had been, but the burning stitch in his side and the pulsing fire in his lungs told him he wouldn’t be able to keep that pace up for much longer. But then he heard a bellowing screech which shook the ground below him, and he stopped listening to the discomfort in his body.

The road leading up to the skyscraper was made of red cobblestones rather than pavement. Part of the man recognized that as odd (as was the radial roads that all fanned out from the skyscraper like spokes on a wheel), but the rest of him was focused solely on survival.

At last he reached the glass front doors of the building and jerked one open. Tumbling inside, he landed on the hard marble tiles within before turning to look for some way to lock or bar the door. Unfortunately, there was nothing at hand but a second set of glass doors. Pulling one open, he entered a pristine, elegantly decorated lobby.

“Hello?” he called, his voice cracking. “Is anyone here?”

There was no reply.

Hurriedly he turned to better scrutinize the doors. There had to be a way to lock them down. No one would design a skyscraper like this without a way to secure it –

“Who are you, priest?”

Something sharp was jabbing into the man’s side. He slowly raised his hands.

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That's it for this little snippet. There's two more after this to finish off Chapter One, but if you feel like these are bogging down the updates then I'll put the last two into one final update which you can read or avoid at your discretion. Or, if you're happy with the frequency/length of these teasers, then I'll do two more. Let me know down in the comments.

(Also, I'm so glad you all have been enjoying the Choose Your Own Terror story! The comments sections on those have absolutely been on fire!)

But now, some of you have been wondering what the next stretch goal after Jon would be, and if there even would be one in-between Jon and Profundum. Well, it's looking like there will be one. And it's one that a lot of people have been asking for -

Wait, what? No, but that's not what we asked for at all! It's - Oh no… What have we done?!

Choose Your Own Terror 2
over 7 years ago – Wed, Nov 14, 2018 at 07:29:35 PM

And we're back for another round of Choose Your Own Terror! Man, that first one turned out to be a huge success. Way more than I anticipated, actually. We had 215 comments as of this writing, which is kind of crazy!

But what did we decide to do? Are we going to run for it like yellow-bellied (but much more intelligent) cowards, or are we going to stay and fight like a complete (but heroic) moron? Let's find out!

I will say, this was super close. But, having said that, my very unscientific counting method discovered the following:

• Approximately 102 of you said A - We should save her and fight, even if it turns us into a puddle of goo.
• Approximately 90 said B - We should turn and run like our butts are on fire.

Huh. I honestly didn't see that one coming. Okay. So let's stay and fight, I guess. 

Oh, a couple caveats: there is absolutely nothing campaign-related in this post. So if you're expecting something, you can stop reading now. And, also, if you haven't read part one yet, check it out at  https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/diemensiongames/deep-madness-second-printing/posts/2342489.

Now, onto the story!

PART TWO: OPTION A

You can’t just leave the woman to die. There’s no other choice. Pushing aside your own fears and every impulse in your body that’s telling you to run, you charge at the monstrosity. 

“What are you doing, you idiot!” Thomas yells, panic cracking his voice. 

You don’t listen. You can’t. You wouldn’t be able to live with yourself if you just let her die. 

All you have is the utility knife you always carry with you. Pulling it out of your back pocket, you flick it open, its blade glowing a reassuring blue. The beast looks up at you – or at least you think it does. Somewhere there must be a mouth, because it makes a horrible, wet screeching noise. Letting out a scream, you stab at the thing over and over again. You feel its claws and tentacles tearing at you and whipping against your skin, trying to rip you to shreds. You feel blood welling from cuts as it rips your jumpsuit to shreds. The thing tumbles off the woman and rolls onto the ground. With a feral shout you keep stabbing at it, hoping to take it out with a hundred small incisions. Pain flares in your left arm. 

Suddenly Thomas is there, an axe in his hand. Where did he get an axe from? 

“Get out of the way!” Thomas bellows. You try to jump backward, straining against the pull of the tendrils as he swings the axe. He swings it again. And again. The flailing horror screams and then gurgles. Chunks of it fly off in the corridor as oily blood sprays. 

The thing stops moving, a twitching mess on the floor. And then it starts to melt, becoming nothing more than a viscous puddle. 

You stare in shock at the puddle bubbling and oozing across the ground before you. What –? How? 

“What the hell,” Thomas mumbles. “What the freaking hell.” 

The woman groans beside you. Slowly you turn toward her, your body numb from shock. Oh, yeah. The whole reason you decided to go all stupid hero and attack that thing.

“Are you all right?” you ask, forcing your body to move toward the woman. 

“I… I can’t move my legs,” she says. She swallows, tears welling in her eyes. 

“It’s going to be okay,” you say. “We’re going to get you help.” 

And that’s when you hear the shrieks from down the corridor. 

Those who have gathered around you turn, straining to spot where these new cries are coming from and what is causing them. Then they unanimously run in a panic, leaving you and Thomas alone with the woman. 

“We’ve got to get out of here,” Thomas says. “Come on!” 

“Please!” the woman cries. “Please don’t leave me!” 

“Her back’s probably broken,” Thomas says. “If we move her, we might make the damage worse. It could even kill her.” 

“Yeah, but she’ll definitely die if we leave her here!” you reply. 

Thomas grasps your shoulder. “She’ll just slow us down,” he whispers. “We’ve got to go.” 

“No,” she says. “No, please don’t leave me…” 

“We could stay and fight them,” you say. “Whatever’s coming. We killed one, maybe we can kill another one.” 

“Are you insane?” Thomas says. “For starters, how do you know there’s only one of them?” 

You feel conflicting emotions rising inside you once again. You could try moving the woman, but doing so could very well kill her and will certainly slow you down. You could run and leave her, but then you’ll be dooming her to certain death after having just risked your own life to save hers. Or you could choose the third option: you could stay and fight whatever’s coming down that corridor toward you, hoping to hold out for help. Last time you moved on instinct. This time you don’t have that luxury. 

WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO? 

Will you: 

A: Chance moving the woman and run with her? 

B: Leave her there and run without her? 

C: Stay and hold your ground, come what may? 

It's time to choose, folks! Will we leave her to her fate? Will we risk moving her? Or will we stay and fight? Let me know in the comments!

Evil Jon Becomes Canon, and Jared Visage
over 7 years ago – Wed, Nov 14, 2018 at 06:39:43 AM

Hey guys! We hope you're having a great day!

Deep Madness continues its steady advance toward overtaking the world. It's just a matter of time now… (And they said we had no ambition…)

First of all, I'd like to direct your attention to a sweepstakes going on with Board Game Revolution! Deep Madness is currently being featured in a contest over there, where Thomas and friends are giving away an all-in pledge. You can find it at https://www.facebook.com/729635570472234/posts/1483737291728721/.

Also, I'd like to remind you all that the new DM expansion is currently up for Most Anticipated Game of 2019 on BGG! Even cooler, currently we're at #1 in the nomination stage! Wow, that's awesome! Thanks for your help with this! If you hadn't had a chance to vote yet, then head over to Board Game Geek at https://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/248375/item/6539254#item6539254 and give us a thumbs up! The top 50 nominations will be entered into the final vote for the top 20.

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EVIL JON BECOMES CANON

So a few days ago we asked for your help in designing a monster of Evil Jon, and said that we may end up making that into an official card. Well, now we're making it official. Evil Jon will be our next stretch goal, and it's coming up fast. When we reach $600,000 we'll commit to making Evil Jon a real monster for Deep Madness. This means we will include a monster card in all five languages for Deeper Terrors, Investigator, and All-In pledge levels, and we will furthermore include a copy of the grey Jon miniature in every Investigator and All-In pledge. (The rest of you should already have him.)

We will leave the comments open for more ideas until this stretch goal funds, and then we will take our favorite ideas from your suggestions and work them into the finalized Evil Jon card. If you'd still like to submit your ideas for Evil Jon, then go to https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/diemensiongames/deep-madness-second-printing/posts/2341053 and post them in the comments!

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JARED'S VISAGE

We've slowly been working our way through the stories of the Visages, and today we'll turn our attention to Jared Drake.

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Jared raises his pistol, his heart hammering in his chest. This, this isn't right. He feels hunted. Cornered. Powerless.

It's been so long since he felt this way. He became the strong one so that he couldn't be bullied anymore. He became cold steel so that no one would be able to break him again. But now he's alone. Alone, and cold, and… frightened.

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You find the hidden food cache and let out an exultant cry. Jared offers you a withering look from his place at the hatch standing guard.

"Keep it down," he growls. "Unless you want to bring all of them down on top of us."

"You need to lighten up, Jared," you say, tossing him one of the food bars. Jared deftly catches it in one hand without lowering his pistol. "Learn to enjoy the little pleasures."

"Why don't we enjoy them in silence?" he says. Even still, he rips in to the food bar and takes a big bite. You almost think you see a fleeting glimpse of happiness on his face. But then you both hear the sound in the corridor.

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"Who's there?" Jared calls. There's a shuffling, scraping sound in the distance. Whatever it is, it's big. Really big. Jared raises his pistol, ready to fight back. He's the bully now. He's the big man on campus. Whatever this thing is, it's not going to be able to change that. He'll take it down just like he took down all the others before it.

Then he sees the big man. It lumbers toward him, an amalgamation of everything he has ever feared and everything he tried to make himself become. Jared's knees give out beneath him. He can't even make himself run.

"P-please," Jared murmurs as the horror looms over him. It offers him the same mercy he would have.

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Cautiously Jared peers around the edge of the door. The sound is growing closer by the second.

Jared looks back at you and motions with his head out the door. "Go," he says. "It's just down the next corridor." Nodding, you dart out the hatch, Jared falling in right behind you with his pistol raised.

You hear Jared gasp behind you. Glancing back, you stumble, overcome by the sight of the thing coming toward you. The horrific lumbering brute advances relentlessly down the corridor, little chattering faces scuttling over its body like fattened spiders. Its head is lost behind the rusted grate of a cage, its right arm a macabre conglomeration of brutal metal instruments. But the thing that shocks you the most is what it carries in its one remaining hand.

Jared opens fire on the thing, his eyes closed tightly shut. He can't look at it, you realize. Because, if he does, he will see his own eyes staring back - empty, cold, and dead.

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Jared's Visage is an engine of destruction, and it frankly doesn't care who (or what) it hurts. When it is in the same room as either a monster or an investigator, someone will roll a d6. The result of that die will be halved (rounding up), and the remaining total will be the amount of damage Jared's Visage will inflict on that monster - and on that monster's linked investigator (or vice versa.) In other words, this thing can be devastating both to monsters and investigators, within the same activation. (A linked investigator is the investigator directly above a certain type of monster in the activation track.) As such, Jared's Visage is one you will probably want to take out as quickly as possible - though preferably from a healthy distance away.

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Well that's it for today, friends! Before we go, though, I wanted to thank everyone who joined me on the live stream yesterday. We had an absolute blast, and it wouldn't have been the same without you all there. I also wanted to apologize to those who missed it and wanted to see the replay. Our last two Kickstarter Live videos have had a strange glitch that has kept the video from finalizing, and we've had to delete both of them. I'm sorry about that. Having said that, we are going to do at least one more before this campaign ends, and the next one that's scheduled for sure will be next Tuesday - just as the campaign ends! Come hang out with us at 2pm PST next Tuesday, one hour before the campaign ends, as we celebrate the end of this awesome campaign together! It's going to be so much fun!

And one more thing: I'm hoping to have the second part of our little Choose Your Own Terror story up later today, so keep an eye out! (If not today, then definitely tomorrow!) The last one has a whopping 210(!) comments currently, so I'm going to go wade through those to see if we're going to fight or run. =D

More fun stuff coming soon! Have a great day!

New Scenario Unlocked and Oracle's Betrayal
over 7 years ago – Tue, Nov 13, 2018 at 05:24:48 AM

We finally did it, everyone! We unlocked the last currently revealed social stretch goal! That means that every backer from the first and second campaigns will now receive a PDF of a new scenario featuring the Visages! Woohoo! Great job! =)

So what's next? Well… we're still working on that, actually. We have a few potential things in the pipeline, but we're just trying to figure out what would work best as the next stretch goals. (Apart, of course, from Profundum, which we are still moving ever closer to unlocking for every backer in the Deeper Terrors, Investigator and All-In pledge levels.)

We've also had a couple of really fun things happen over the last day. First of all, we had the first part of our Choose Your Own Terror story come out! You can find it at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/diemensiongames/deep-madness-second-printing/posts/2342489. Also, we are still open for submissions for the rules and abilities for Evil Jon! If you're interested in helping us create this card, be sure to go to https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/diemensiongames/deep-madness-second-printing/posts/2341053!

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BOARD GAME GEEK MOST ANTICIPATED

Another cool thing we've been made aware of is that we have been nominated for Most Anticipated Game of 2019 on Board Game Geek! Score! We'd sure appreciate your vote for this, so go to https://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/248375/item/6539254#item6539254 and give Deep Madness a thumbs up! The top 50 nominations will be entered into the final vote for the top 20. Let's make sure Deep Madness is one of them! (They say that it's okay for us to bribe people, so we're currently working on what a suitable bribe might be. Can someone say the next social stretch goal? ;)

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THE ORACLE'S BETRAYAL

But now we'd like to turn our attention to the other major expansion for Deep Madness: The Oracle's Betrayal. During Chapter Four of Deep Madness, the investigators run afoul of Dr. William West, and at the end he (SPOILERS!) fuses the investigators' consciousnesses with his own. And some kind of nasty things happen to them, leading to the investigators' confrontation with Madness Within. But the thing is, something else happens then that catapults some of the investigators - or at least a part of them - into a nightmare world from which there may be no means of escape. The fragments of their souls shatter, and they are stripped of everything that made them who they were. As a consequence they start this story not as investigators at all, but as Victims.

The New Investigators

Oracle features three new investigators: the morally-driven detective John Murdock; the morally depraved psychologist Dr. Clarence Branom; and the star of the whole #justiceforhannah movement, little Hannah herself. There's something different about these investigators, though. They all seem to have an intimate connection with Dr. West. Are they real people at all? Or are they… something else?

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The Inhabitants

The horrific, bubbling nightmare world that the investigators find themselves in is populated by an array of new denizens and nasties. There are the Victims: lost, fractured souls who only want to survive - and who the investigators start out Chapter One as. There are the Collectors: monstrous diving-helmet-bedecked servants who exist for one reason - to harvest fragments of souls and return them to their abominable master. There are also the Dissected: creatures who might not always be as evil as their horrific appearance may at first hint at. And then, last of all, there is the devious deviant himself: the horrific mastermind Dr. William West.

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New Mechanics

The Oracle's Betrayal has several new mechanics tied in to some very unique scenarios. One new mechanism is the fusion deck. Fusion cards work by integrating two investigators together. Then, when the two investigators work together, they are able to accomplish feats they could never do apart, exhaust sanity for each other, resolve madness card instead for others, or a number of other very useful things.

It's not all happy togetherness in Oracle, though. Dr. William West's influence is constantly felt, and one way it manifests is through the William's will cards. These cards are arranged above the activation track, and each one will force the investigator below it to take a William's puppet card when a certain action is taken by that investigator. Which brings us to the William's puppet cards. Whenever a player gets one, it is placed face down beside his/her investigator card. Then, when the game instructs players to do it, all investigators flip their collected cards over at once. If one person has an image on the reverse side of Dr. William West, then that investigator is no longer an investigator: he/she has just become William's puppet. This investigator now becomes a slave to the game, and functions similarly to a thinking epic monster. The puppet's goal is now to kill the other investigators (and it burns through the search deck looking for a weapon every turn to do just that,) while the investigators will be unable to win the scenario unless they kill the puppet.

There are also the William's Trial cards. Only one of these are played each chapter, and these cards tell you what will happen if you collect too many of those pesky puppet cards. Here's a hint: it's never good.

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Well that's been a look into The Oracle's Betrayal. We'll be back with more fun stuff before long, and don't forget I'll be on Kickstarter Live today at 2pm PST! I'd love to chat with you, answer your questions about Deep Madness, and also show you some fun stuff that I think you'll enjoy! Until then, though, have a great day and we will talk with you again soon!

Choose Your Own Terror
over 7 years ago – Mon, Nov 12, 2018 at 06:29:38 PM

Well, I've been promising this for a long time, and now it's finally here. Welcome to Deep Madness: Darkness and Fury, a Choose Your Own Terror story. 

First of all, there is nothing to do with the campaign in this update. It is strictly a fun little story that we're going to write together. So, if you're not into this, you are officially excused from reading the rest of this update. ;)

... Still with me? Okay. So here's how this is going to work. I will write a chunk of this story, and then, in the comments, you all will tell me what we should do next. I'll list a couple options for us to choose from, and we'll see how far we can get before we all die a horrible, violent death. =D Sounds like a great time, right? 

So let's get started.

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DEEP MADNESS: 

DARKNESS AND FURY 

CHOOSE YOUR OWN TERROR STORY 

STATUS UPDATE 

FROM: JUDY BLAKE, KADATH FACILITY 

TO: LORD ZEISS 

Current reports have been haphazard at best, and it has become increasingly difficult to differentiate fact from rumor. However, we do know that incidents since the interaction between the asset and the catalyzer have escalated dramatically. It may not even be hyperbole to say they have skyrocketed. Dr. West and Dr. Cohen appear to be losing control of the experiment, just as Commander Ward seems to be floundering at managing the containment situation. Standing by for further orders, sir. 

With a shout you sit straight up in bed, sweat pouring down your forehead. Wildly you snap your head from side to side, then slowly let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding in. Another nightmare. They've become more and more frequent recently. And not just for you. 

“Babe!” your wife, Cynthia, says, bursting into the room with toothbrush in hand. “Are you okay?”

 “Yeah,” you reply. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just another bad dream. Looks like I’m running late anyway.”

The two of you get ready for the day and then pause at the hatch. Cynthia leans forward and kisses you. 

“It’s going to be okay,” she says, looking into your eyes. “You know that, right?” 

You force a smile onto your face. “Of course. Have a good day, love.” 

She gives you one more of her twinkling smiles, and then she’s out the hatch and gone. You’ve always envied her optimism. It’s one of the things that drew you to her. You just wish you shared it right now. 

You close your eyes for a moment, collecting yourself. And then you head out the hatch. 

People scurry quickly from one destination to another, their heads down, their mouths set in grim lines. The atmosphere is oppressive. Few speak above the occasional nervous whisper, but their haunted, darting looks say volumes. Turning left, you join the stream of drifting people. 

Your friend, Thomas, comes up alongside you. “There was another incident in dome three,” he murmurs. “Something with spines and tentacles. Somehow, they got it into an airlock and flushed it out. But then it just… swam away.” 

“Kadath is collapsing,” you say. “I haven’t told Cynthia yet, but I applied for a transfer out of here for us. I’m trying to get us on the next sub out. Come with us, Thomas. Don’t wait until it’s too late.” 

Thomas exhales slowly. “That’s a lot of money you’re throwing away. And I still believe in this place. But… I completely understand why you want to jump ship. It's getting spookier here by the day.”

People begin screaming in front of you. Your breath freezes in your lungs as a hatch explodes outward, a woman flying into the far wall with a creature landing on top of her. You stare in horror as the beast’s whipping tentacles and razor-sharp talons entwine around the woman. She looks at you, her eyes pleading, as she reaches one hand out toward you and Thomas. 

“Please –” she says as blood spurts from fresh wounds the creature is inflicting upon her. “Help me –” 

You could turn and run, trying to save yourself. Or you could try to save this poor woman, your fellow inhabitant of Kadath. Perhaps, if you ran, you could even find help for her – oh, who are you trying to kid? She’d never last long enough. But if you fight the thing, it might rip you apart just as quickly as her. The urge to preserve your own life is almost overwhelming, but can you abandon this woman to her death and ever hope to sleep at night again? 

WHAT DO YOU DO? 

A. Try to save the woman. 

B. Run for it! 

Let me know in the comments what we should do next! The option with the most votes is the way we'll act for part two!