Our brand new apocalyptic mystery TTRPG has launched on Backerkit!
Substratum Protocol is a solo+ survival mystery TTRPG utilizing step-down dice and card draw mechanics, Substratum Protocol is playable as both a solo game or guided by a GM.
If you are familiar with our Hints and Hijinx system (Waffles for Esther, Hamsters and Himbos, etc) then this multiplayer mystery will feel familiar!
Make sure to check out the campaign to get the free preview PDF!
The preview includes the first 38 pages of the book. It contains all the rules and how to play, but does not include any of the information about the mystery, clues, knowledge questions, the sectors' events and descriptions, or the character folios.
With players taking on the role of Earth's best remaining scientists, Substratum Protocol is our entry into the Deep Delving Mystery genre (like Subnautica and In Other Waters).
On their grueling journey to the center of the Earth, members of the Substratum Expedition will overcome challenges, gain clues and knowledge of the interdimensional portal, discover creatures, aliens, cosmic horrors, and ultimately assemble their final hypothesis to overcome the apocalypse looming before them.
The game intertwines hard science fiction with the inescapable, unknowable horrors of an interdimensional portal tearing apart reality.
Features
Purpose-built for solo and multiplayer mysteries
Unique dice and card draw resolution mechanics
Take special Actions whose outcomes can chain together
Collect beaten cards during Skill Checks to power your suit's abilities
A self-contained story, with unlimited possibilities and outcomes
Quickly build unique and interesting characters at the table
36 unique clues to discover, 36 questions to answer
10 sectors to explore, each one stranger than the last
120 events and encounters to surprise and stump your players
Build the Last Hypothesis: When they have learned all they can, the scientists must pour over their knowledge of the portal, construct the Last Hypothesis and enact their plan. Will it be enough?
Made by an All-Star Team of Creators
We've assembled a fantastic team to bring Substratum Protocol to life, including the group behind the wildly popular dwarves in space TTRPG, Stoneburner by Fari RPGs
Illustrations by Galen Pejeau
Editing by Eric Lazure
Developmental Editing by René-Pier Deshaies-Gélinas
This game is a culmination of years of trial and error with making a drinking game to play with not only huge nerd-dorks such as myself, but casual observers as well. I wanted a pick-up-and-play version of King's Cup where you don't need to spend 10 minutes deciding the rules before you start, and that allows great variation and chance between each game. Also, I wanted to get rid of waterfall.
Omg they’re so derpy, but like also super cute?! I had always thought the aesthetic direction of inscryption would translate well to relief prints and I’m glad to say they do! They aren’t quite as perfect as if I had taken the cards directly from the game and had them printed by a card-making company, but they’ve got a lot a character. and something about making them reminds myself of a disheveled old forest man hand-making cards of the animals he photographed that day so he can torture some poor unwitting soul later by oversharing about his favorite animals and weaving nonsensical yet evocative tales involving them like Darwinian Barbie dolls