I’ve been hard at work with both the layout of BËNTHIC and writing locales for it (one of which is out for free today!) While working on that, I made a few updates to the core rules I need to share, namely a renamed stat, simplified improvement and character creation rules, a way to let players keep playing if their diver dies, and the main subject of this update, a new improvement system: The Bends.

Second Free Locale: Glacial Undertow

Following the Fractured Reef, the next of 4 free locales is completed: the Glacial Undertow. A twilight-level locale featuring a strange chill in the air and narrow, deadly passageways. Will the PCs make it through and descend further into the trench? Or will they lie frozen there for eternity?

0.2 “The Bends” Update Changelog

Intuition

• Presence has been renamed to Intuition.
• Underwater, the aspects of the stat that make the word “presence” fit, like confidence or social ability, are all naturally stifled.
• Historically, people have been confused by Presence, thinking it’s just the Charisma stat and not all three mental stats in one because of the name. The word “Intuition” better fits all three of the mental stats.
• It sounds cooler.

Character Creation

• To generate stats, you now roll D4-D4 (or D6-D4 for 2 stats for classless characters)
• This is what Death in Space, Frontier Scum, and Mörk Manual do, and it’s just a lot more sensible than the (in my opinion) antiquated table core MÖRK uses.

Disgraced Shipwright

• Changed the class to the Watertight Sarcophagus.
• All the mechanics are the same, but the lore has been changed to be less specific (you're now a simple prisoner trapped in a submarine).
• Out of all the classes, this was the most specific. I think it's fine to have some specific classes, but when it's the only one with such a specified backstory it's just weird, so I edited it.

Getting Better

• Improvement is now merged with resupplies, as that was the intention in the first place.
• You now gain D4 HP on improvement, replacing the weird system core MÖRK uses.
• Instead of changing each ability, you now gain +1 to a stat of your choice.
• Added The Bends.

The Bends

• An overhauled method of gaining new features on improvement, inspired by Roguelike games.
• You roll 3D100, selecting 1 of the 3 features to gain.
• You also gain a random D20 drawback.
• The idea of the system is to stay faithful the RNG of MÖRK BORG, but allow genuine character builds. A lot of these features are synergistic with each other and some class features, letting characters become really strong.
• The Drawbacks are the Borgian twist in this, with the possibility to completely scuff the builds PCs intricately create.

Spirit Jellies

• If PCs die in the middle of a locale, they can play as a spectral jellyfish until the end of the locale, and retain their Bends features for their next character if they do.
• This solves two problems: Players not being able to do anything if they die for a while because of how resupplies work, and replacement PCs being way weaker than the others due to how The Bends works.
• It also adds some flavor to the Antediluvian Trench, which is always fun.

Misc.

• Communication has been better clarified for underwater play
• Drones have had their name changed to AUVs
• The Fishing Rules have been updated (courtesy of Fedmar)
• The Enlightened Spider Crab now takes and deals double damage. It was the only class that didn’t have a special ability and this one seemed like it’d be pretty fun.

Progress Report

The book is coming along quite nicely. As of writing, I’ve finished the layout for the Player-focused half of the book, and the GM section has been coming along nicely. The book is taking on a more straightforward, utilitarian design while still retaining the MÖRK motto of having a custom layout on each page. Think a mix of MÖRK BORG with some Death in Space and Mothership.

All 4 Daylight Locales are completely finished, with writing, layout, and artwork all done. That’s 4/17 of them. At the moment, art is the main thing that needs to be finished, and it’s coming along quite nicely.

In addition, I had the idea of doing a handful of small zines and pamphlets alongside the main book in the Kickstarter, of which I have four currently planned. These may get cut or pushed back, but this is what I’d dream of doing:

• The Ambry, a mid-locale merchant on a mysterious submarine, printed on a bookmark.
• The Baleful Beast, a trifold pamphlet detailing a monster hunt that can turn any locale into a scenario for One-Shot/Convention Play
• Twisting Eternally, A double-folded pamphlet detailing an optional Hadal Locale that segways into the Hadal Locale in the core book.
• SpongeBorg, a SpongeBob parody of a locale… printed on a pair of khaki shorts.

Of these, The Baleful Beast and the Ambry are already written and have had their layout completed. I’ll find ample time to write the rest soon.

Current Projected Timeline (Summer Crowdfunder?)

The main thing I'm waiting on is finalizing my next step for BËNTHIC. The core book should be completed by the end of this year. However, I've been considering things and I'm going to be honest, I don't think doing a massive hardcover with 4 add-on pamphlets is the best ida for my first crowdfunder. That's why I had the idea to split the Scoured Edition into two ashcan zines (alongside an early access PDF of the final hardcover book), and crowdfund them this summer. Doing so would also allow me to print them in a deluxe staple-bound format, which I likely couldn't do otherwise due to logistics. It would also get more eyes on the project, and if successful could help me find a potential publisher to work with. I can't confirm anything yet, but I feel like this would be the best step forward. Tell me your thoughts on this, they would be appreciated.

Music

Sorry to keep rambling about stuff I’m making, but two BËNTHIC side albums will come out soon. BËNTHIC: Extensions & Loops will feature 10-minute versions of all the Locale themes and looped versions of the combat music, to make the soundtrack extremely usable at the game table. The official album release will still be more pleasurable as an actual listening experience, but this feels important to do. BËNTHIC: Extras will be a small 40-minute add-on to the core album, featuring 10 tracks for the pamphlets, bookmarks, and shorts listed above.

Other Stuff I Did Recently 

I recently released two paid products on my Itch, a collaboration with my artist friend Gavin Rendino. These are Piggy on the Rocks, a Orwellian Island Crawl for Pirate Borg, and the Behemoth Class for Mothership, a trifold pamphlet that will be available in print on the Tuesday Knight Games store pretty soon.