Sublime Dark: Fantasy Horror Board Game for 1-4 players

Sublime Dark Update 2 - Happy Halloween!
over 1 year ago – Thu, Oct 31, 2024 at 02:57:34 PM

Sublime Dark Update 1 - Designer Diary in Tabletop Gaming Magazine
over 1 year ago – Thu, Oct 24, 2024 at 07:48:35 AM

Hello there, and welcome to Blackfell!

Thanks so much for your support, and for such an astonishing opening to the campaign: funded in 55 minutes?? For a brand new IP from us, a tiny 2 person indie publisher, that's amazing! :D

Once again, we're forging new paths with a bunch of 'firsts' for us, particularly the manner in which we've gone about managing this campaign itself. Our Less Is More approach has obviously resonated with many of our long term supporters and a lot of new faces too, who have truly made Sublime Dark something incredibly special already. FYI, rest assured that we will most likely be returning to business-as-usual with our next campaign for Excalibur 4X (think 'Eclipse but in Dark Ages Britain' for 1-6 players), with gameplay previews and all the other standard stuff you'd expect from a regular Kickstarter campaign. 

Lastly, I've been waiting on this for ages and am delighted to at last share that the latest 'Halloween' issue of Tabletop Gaming has just landed, sporting a 2-page feature and designer diary all about Sublime Dark. If you want to continue the ultimate Sublime Dark experience, you can totally skip this, but if you're after some tidbits about the game, read on...

And here is the article in full, for your convenience:

‘One must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star’ – Friedrich Nietzsche

The World

Having been raised on a steady diet of the movies from horror auteurs David Cronenbourg and John Carpenter as well as the written tales of (and films inspired by) Clive Barker and H. P. Lovecraft, since childhood I’ve long sported a fascination with horror stories and cosmic terror. And whilst grotesque elements have crept into the art and monster designs from my previous Kilforth games, Sublime Dark has been my first real creative opportunity to truly embrace the madness and jump feet first into that foetid murk of gore and fear that loiters patiently in the Halloween portion of my addled brain. 

The main notion had been percolating inside me for years: helpless heroes staggering through a bleak, unforgiving realm. Torture and death wait in the shadows, as relentless, baleful monsters stalk them. But under what narrative circumstances might such a setting emerge?

I became taken with two tandem concepts: an inversion of Nietzsche’s belief in self-overcoming, where instead of achieving greatness, characters who push themselves risk succumbing to monstrous transformations; and the idea of a liminal space (where all of this could take place) – the uncertain transition between where you've been and where you're going physically, emotionally, or metaphorically. To be in a liminal space means to be on the precipice of something new but not quite there yet – the word 'liminal' comes from the Latin word 'limen,' which means threshold. In this case, the threshold becomes a horrendous world where the pursuit of human excellence leads to metamorphosis into monstrous beings, called ‘Eremites’ – a nod to their darkly impermeable hierarchical order.

Sublime Dark takes place in the desolate town of Blackfell, where players must constantly struggle against their inner demons and the relentless creatures that haunt the streets. Blackfell is a liminal space where reality and nightmares converge, reflecting the inner turmoil and urges of its inhabitants. In this hellish world, those who pursue their greatest desires must confront their darkest fears. Those who succeed may be able to Sublime, a method by which they might escape Blackfell forever. But even those who strive to become something more, by pushing boundaries and rejecting societal norms, may fall beholden to their own desires, ultimately transforming into Eremites, grotesque embodiments of their rank ambitions and moral failings.

The town serves as a crucible for testing the principal characters’ various pursuits, iniquitous or well-intentioned, unknowingly or otherwise. The players awaken in this hellish world, where they must immediately run and fight for their lives to escape the monsters that are already unleashed within Blackfell.

This fusion of existential philosophy, psychological dread, and dark fantasy results in an exploration of human ambition, morality, and the consequences of striving for greatness without ethical boundaries. The physical transformation of humans into Eremites in this tormented microcosmos is horrific but symbolic, and deeply tied to their psychological and moral journey.

For example, let’s take just one of the 20+ non-player characters, and have a quick, spoilery look at Sinope, the Gravedigger. Sinope profaned the dead, seeking not just to steal valuables from the corpses he buried, but also to purloin their very souls, to harness them for his own nefarious purposes. His desecration of the dead triggers a disturbing procedure known as Rapturing, turning him into the Shambler, a decaying monstrosity slathered in the scarred remnants of his sins.

Assuming they discover all of this information, the players must then choose. Will they aid Sinope, and try to reverse the process of transformation? Or leave the Gravedigger to his fate and forge ahead on their own paths? Because time is a precious resource, and the players also need to discover their own means of escape from the clutches of this twisted Gehenna.

The Design

So now I have what is, hopefully, at least to me, a unique and interesting setting. What’s next? In a nutshell? I want to make people feel as terror-struck and horrified as I felt when watching The Thing or Hellraiser in my youth, but also to have really cool game mechanics inspired by the games I love too. So what is the game?

Sublime Dark is a narrative-driven, cooperative horror story game for 1-4 players. The players known as Caro (‘meat’ or ‘flesh’) play through a series of adventures into Blackfell, each called a Delve. Throughout the Delve, the Caro take turns exploring the world by placing down location tiles to move into and interact with. Locations have numerous abilities that can be triggered, corpses to loot, lairs to explore, individuals to interact with, hiding places to utilise, relics to collect, etc.

To navigate the perilous streets of Blackfell and the various obstacles, challenges and encounters that will be thrown their way, the Caro must make use of all their available resources. But given that they are staggering blindly through the darkness in dirty rags (if they’re lucky), their only resources to begin with are their soul’s pure emotions, which drive all of the actions in the game. 

The Caro's emotions—Joy, Fear, Grief, and Rage—are their most powerful tools, but they come at a cost. Players must carefully manage them to survive. Emotions can be gained or spent by carrying out certain actions and overcoming encounters. A simple action such as exploring increases the Caro’s Joy by 1 point. Attacking an object or person increases Rage. Movement within a terrifying environment might increase Fear. And Concealing an object (or oneself, when hiding) could cause Grief. These emotions can then be spent to carry out daunting actions to resolve encounters, e.g. burying a corpse to put its soul to rest might cost a combination of Grief and Fear.

Players will have to carefully manage the emotional needs of their Caro via judicious card play and action selection, because whilst they will need to harness these emotions to perform actions and move the game forward, if any of their emotions reach 10 points they will trigger a Crisis. Crises drastically change the game state for the remainder of the Delve, by increasing the speed at which the Caro now accumulates that particular emotion. This can potentially result in death from Ecstasy, Petrification, Haemorrhage, or Suicide. And that’s if the Eremites don’t reach them first.

In many Delves, players will witness the horrific mutilation and inevitable death of their Caro, as they fall prey to the Eremites’ gruesome hands (or hooks, or tentacles). Why will players want to keep playing if the game is too hard? Well, each Delve poses a unique opportunity to advance the overall storyline and unlock new game elements that will aid future adventures. Whilst the Caro start with nothing, they will be able to discover useful items, allies, and abilities that will be crucial to success in future games. Each game plays out as a race against time to achieve varying objectives before the bells of Blackfell begin to toll, and the Harrowing takes hold.

'The Harrow' is a deep, oppressive shadow, sentient and malevolent in nature - a realm of hidden fears and subconscious horrors, more than just an absence of light; it’s a barrier that distorts reality and hides terrifying truths, and is responsible for the process of Rapturing individuals into the malformed Eremites. When the players reach a set point in the game, they will trigger the Harrow: safe locations vanish, and location tiles flip to their Harrow side, with the overall game universe becoming much more deadly. And worse than that, the Harrowing alerts all Eremites to the presence of each Caro, narrowing the remaining time that the Caro have in which to achieve their various objectives.

You could say that Sublime Dark is a card driven, tableau building, action selection, resource gathering, tile exploring, rogue-like, dungeon crawl with a tight focus on narrative moments and otherworldly storytelling. But in the end, Sublime Dark is a chilling exploration of body horror, survival, and the human psyche, where every decision could mean life or death. A journey through madness awaits.

We've added avatars to the front of the campaign page, so feel free to wear them with pride, and as always, please share the project on socials as and when you have the chance. :)

And that's all for now - have a ruddy lovely week, and I hope you get to play plenty of games!

Cheers,

Tristan

PS. I just had to share this, from the magnificently monikered Pizzas with Threatening Auras: