BËNTHICScoured Edition

Game Text & Writing

Thomas Zitkevitz
Cover Artwork
Federico Marroni
 Credits
Writing & Game Design
Thomas Zitkevitz

Cover Art
Federico Marroni

Graphic Design
Thomas Zitkevitz

Soundtrack
Thomas Zitkevitz

License
BËNTHIC: Scoured Edition is an independent production by Thomas
Zitkevitz and is not affiliated with Ockult Örtmästare Games or Stockholm
Kartell. It is published under the MÖRK BORG Third Party License. MÖRK
BORG is copyright Ockult Örtmästare Games and Stockholm Kartell.

Inspirations
Dagon, Subnautica, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, In Other Waters, Risk
of Rain 2: Survivors of the Void, Abzû, How Fish is Made, Jaws

1
 Who Can Fathom the Soundless Depths?

2
The Antediluvian Trench is found S. Latitude [redacted] W. Longitude
[redacted]. It is a forbidden place, prevented from being entered nor
traveled through by international law. For something lurks deep within it's
horrible depths, a malfeasant, terrible truth that could cripple the world
itself if dredged up from the deep.
A century ago, Captain [redacted] led an expedition into the Trench,
seeking to find and destroy this unearthly power so that it may never
harm humanity. They brought with them the finest mariners and best
soldiers in the world, a nigh-unstoppable group of paragons. And yet they
never returned.
Recently, strange signals have been emanating from the Trench. They
appear to be from Captain [redacted]’s ship. A country of no importance
has sent out a rescue team to hopefully find the Captain, or at least find
out what happened down there.
However, every single soul who dares delve into the Antediluvian Trench is
doomed never to return, one way or another. For within its most insidious
depths lurk terrors the mortal mind cannot comprehend.

Distorted Sealife,

Leviathans of the Deep,

The Shadows of Civilizations Long Corroded,

And perhaps even the Lord of the Ocean himself, Dag|

Dag|
Dagon

[End of Log]

3
 Create a Player Character (PC)
1. Choose or roll for a Class (or go classless)
2. Roll for your starting equipment
3. Roll for weapons and armor
4. Roll your abilities
5. Roll your hit points
6. Roll on the tables on pages 31-33
7. Roll a number of Nemo’s (page 30).
8. Name your diver if you truly deem it necessary.

Money and food are irrelevant concerns to your expedition, everything

paid for and supplied by Mission Control during resupplies. However, the
equipment provided to you is crucial for surviving within the crushing
depths. You begin with scuba gear and something from each of the
following equipment tables:

Equipment Table 1 (D6)

1. nothing (it’d only slow you down)
2-3. utility belt for 6 normal-sized items
4. sampling pack for 10 normal-sized items
5. both a utility belt and a sampling pack from the above list
6. a drone (see page 37) or one of the above items of your choice.

4
Equipment Table 2 (D12)
1. Underwater welding torch
2. 30 feet of coil
3. Repair kit
4. Two walkie-talkies
5. Medical kit, Presence + d4 uses (closes wounds and torn suits, heals D6
HP)
6. Grappling hook
7. Wristwatch
8. Nanobots (prevents disease and infections)
9. Dynamite (D10 damage)
10. Radar scanner (reveals small creatures nearby)
11. Keychain (opens 1 locked door within the trench)
12. Barometer

Equipment Table 3 (D12)

1. Map to a random shrine
2. Flashlight (lasts 10 hours, recharged during a resupply)
3. Portable security camera
4. Bomb-defusing kit (DR8 Presence test to defuse bombs)
5. Cutter
6. D6 flares
7. Flashbang (DR8 Agility test to blind for D4 rounds)
8. Shield generator (-1HP or have it break to avoid one attack)
9. Radar scanner (reveals large creatures nearby)
10. Boot thrusters (travel double the distance when activated, D4 uses
before recharging)
11. Taser (can stun an enemy once, preventing it from moving or acting
for D4 rounds before breaking)
12. Waterproof captain’s hat

5
 Weapon (D10)
1. Mussel (D4)
2. Combat Boots (D4)
3. Knife (D4)
4. Pistol (D4, D10 + Presence Bullets)
5. Meat Hook (D6)
6. Handheld Harpoon (D6)
7. Harpoon Gun (D6, 10 + Presence Harpoons)
8. Rifle (D8, 10 + Presence Bullets)
9. Prosthetic Torpedo Cannon (D10)
10. Access Codes (DR12 Presence test to call down a bombardment from
mission control above on an enemy in D4 rounds for 2D10 damage)

6
Armor (D4)
1. None save your own scuba gear (tier 0)
2. Reinforced wetsuit (-D2 damage, tier 1)
3. Metal diving suit (-D4 damage, tier 2)
4. Personal bathysphere (-D6 damage, tier 3)

Breath
Your suit provides more than enough oxygen to allow you to not worry
about running out of air as long as you resupply regularly. You will
asphyxiate if you do not resupply for 3 days. If your suit breaks or is
removed outside of water, then you might as well be dead.

7
 Abilities
Agility - Defend, balance, swim, flee
Strength - Crush, lift, strike, grapple
Toughness - Resist extreme cold or heat, survive concussive force
Presence - Perceive, aim, charm, use shrines

Roll 3d6 and use this table to generate each ability score, ranging from −3
to +3. Player Characters who choose to go classless can roll 4d6 and drop
the lowest die rolled for two of their abilities. This sum is only used for
character creation, and can be discarded after such. When the character is
later improved, no ability can ever exceed +6 or −3.

Ability Modifier Table

1-4 = -3
5-6 = -2
7-8 = -1
9-12 = ±0
13-14 = +1
15-16 = +2
17-20 = +3

Tests
Tests Are Made Against A Difficulty Rating. To succeed roll D20 ± your
ability with a result equal to or greater than the DR. Creatures don’t use
abilities, they merely roll a D20 against a DR.
Example DRs
6 - You might as well give up if your fail
8 - Everyday task with some chance of failure
10 - simple, but you’ll still need to roll
12 - normal
14 - hard
16 - really hard
8 18 - don’t even bother trying
 Carrying Capacity
You can carry Strength+8 normal-sized items (for example flashlights, fish,
cameras, wrenches but not crates, radar towers, doors, corpses) without a
problem. After that when testing Strength and Agility the DR increases by
2 (from 12 to 14 etc.). You cannot carry more than twice your Strength+8.

Hit Points (HP)

Begin with toughness + D8 HP, or the die determined by your class. You’ll
always have at least 1 HP.
Zero HP: broken table
Negative HP: dead
Broken Table (D4)
1. Get knocked out for D4 rounds, awaken with D4 HP.
2. Lose a limb.
3. Suit Leak: death in d2 hours unless repaired. All Tests are DR16 the first
hour. DR18 the last hour.
4. Dead.

9
 Blood in the Water
(Violence)
Initiative (D6)
1-3. Enemies go first
4-6. PCs go first
Agility + D6 for individual initiative or to determine who goes first within
a group.

Attacks and Defense

Players roll for attacking and defending. NPCs, including enemies don’t roll
dice in combat.
The DR for attacks and defense are modified like any test.

Melee
DR12 Strength Test

Ranged
DR12 Presence Test

Defense
DR12 Agility Test
The enemy hits you if you fail your Defense Test. Enemies attack once per
round unless noted in their stats.

10
Crit (Natural 20)
Attack: Do double damage, reduces armor/protection by one tier.
Defense: PC gets one free attack.

Fumble (Natural 1)
Attack: Weapon used breaks or is lost.
Defense: PC suffers double damage and their armor is reduced by one tier.
When armor gets damaged, penalties to Strength and Agility DR are not
modified. Armor reduced below 1st tier is destroyed and unable to be
repaired. Armor can otherwise be repaired by one tier during a resupply.

How Long Is a Round?

A round is enough time to make an attack or take some other action and
traverse a room-sized expanse of water. There are usually 10 rounds in one
minute (one per 6 seconds).

11
 Resupply
Momentarily rest yourself and call in support from Mission Control.
Takes 1 hour, +1 hour each level deeper you are in the Trench.
• Restores d6 HP and all Breath, and reroll Nemo’s.
• +D20 ammunition for all ranged weapons
• Provides you with food and drinkable water automatically.
• 4 items you and the other PCs agree on are provided to you during the
resupply.
• Repair Armor or a weapon
• Going without a resupply for 2 days causes you to run out of oxygen,
making you one of the drowned.
• Replace former divers with new ones.

12
 Reaction
When meeting sealife whose reaction is uncertain.
2-3. Eat!
4-6. Provoked
7-8. Indifferent
9-10. Playful, Non Hostile
11-12. Helpful

Morale
Most sealife will not fight if their life is at risk.

Roll for Morale if

• The strongest enemy is killed
• Half the group/school is eliminated
• A single enemy has only 1/3 of its HP left.
If you roll greater than the enemy’s Morale listed in their stats with 2D6, it
swims away.

13
 Classes (D8)

1.Vengeful Mariner
The Deep took everything from you. A beast from the darkest depths
attacked your boat and killed your entire crew, save you. Now you have but
one goal: kill that monster and get your revenge. You need not sleep, need
not eat. All you need is blood on the end of your spear and to see the
glossed-over eyes of that leviathan firsthand. After that, death may take
you for all you care.

Begins with D4 Nemo’s.

HP: Toughness + D10

The Thing that Took Everything from You (D6)

1. Ancient Glacial Will
2. Hideous Mollusk of the Deep
3. Stygian Jellyfish of Pelagic Depths
4. The Elder Thing of Antarctica
5. Shark with Brutal Jaws
6. The White Whale

Abilities
Dauntless Venator, roll 3D6+2 for Toughness, That Damned Whale, roll
3D6-2 for Presence. Roll D10 on the Weapons table and D4 on the Armor
table. Blunt Fury, you cannot use shrines. Meaningless gibberish for
sentimental fools.

14
You also have one of the following
mementoes (D6)
1. Ahab’s Harpoon
You can throw this special harpoon. If you hit with it, you can reel yourself
in to the target’s position.
2. Quint’s Trophy
This shark tooth can be wielded as a weapon, dealing d4 damage. If you
land an attack with it, the target begins bleeding, attracting D4 sharks to
their position.
3. Nemo’s Gaze
You gain an additional Nemo.
4. Fisherman’s Net
You can make a DR 12 Strength test to capture a creature in this net. You
must make the test again each subsequent turn to prevent your prey from
escaping.
5. Ocean’s Allure
Simple-minded sealife are mesmerized by this pearl, and follow any basic
commands you give them.
6. Former Prey
This dead oarfish can be swung as a weapon, dealing D10 damage on a hit.
Whenever you hit sealife with this weapon, they must roll Morale.

15
 2.Disgraced Shipwright
You were once a renowned inventor, famous for your masterfully designed
nautical vessels. People from all over praised you for revolutionizing boat
design. However, fate would look down upon you the day your submarine
design first saw use. The sub failed, and everyone onboard met a horrible
end at your hands. Now, as punishment, you’ve been trapped within that
very same submarine design, forced to carry out a suicide mission for your
crime.

Begins with D2 Nemo’s.

HP: Toughness + D6

Who was on that Submarine (D6)?

1. The leader of a first-world country
2. Your spouse and children
3. Your best friend
4. A famous philosopher
5. Your partner in design
6. All of the Above

Abilities
Crafty, roll 3D6+2 for Presence, Entombed, roll 3D6-1 for Agility and
Toughness. Roll D4 on the weapon table and don’t roll on the armor table.

16
Instead of diving gear, you have a submarine. It has 25 hit points but does
not make any defense tests. It has:
• A floodlight to see through darkness
• A prehensile claw to hold large objects
• A battering ram front, D6 damage and a Presence test to attack

It is Constructed of (D6)
1. Scrap
The submarine has infinite hit points, but you roll a d6 every time it is hit.
On a roll of 1, it implodes and you are blessed with the release of
instantaneous collapse.
2. Iron
The Submarine has double the hit points, but it takes your entire turn to
turn it.
3. Lead
The battering ram deals D12 damage, but you take 1 damage every day
from being inside it from lead poisoning.
4. Coral
The Submarine has no floodlight and 5 less hit points, but can camouflage
itself underwater so unintelligent creatures ignore it.
5. Flesh
The Submarine regains 10 hit points during a resupply, but you are
physically bound to it permanently.
6. Titanium
The submarine has no drawbacks or benefits.

17
 3.Cleansed Researcher
You gave everything to your research. Your mind became single-focused
to finding your answer as your body began to fail. However, you figured
out where your questions were taking you: the Antediluvian Trench.
Within these deep waters lie the answers you crave, the answers that
you’ve dedicated your life to finding. And you’re going to find them,
whether you live to report your findings or not.

Begins with no Nemo’s, save those granted by your Optimized Form.

HP: Toughness + D4

Optimized Form: All of your hit points, save 1, are converted into Nemo’s.
You always regain this same amount of Nemo’s whenever you regain
them.

You Dedicated Subject of Research (D6)

1. The Bioengineering of Fish
2. Underwater Archaeology
3. Other Terrestrial Sentient Species
4. Nautical-Centered Theology
5. Deep Ocean Ecosystems
6. The Magic of Shrines

Abilities
Mind over Matter, roll 3D6+2 for Presence, Mind over Matter, roll 3D6-2 for
Strength. Roll D4 on the weapons table and D4 on the Armor table.

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You brought one of the following with you
(D6)
1. Lifeform Analyzer
Tells you the species of any creature you meet, and makes snide
comments and bad puns about them as well.
2. Jellyfish Samples
You can use these samples and make a DR 12 Presence test to poison a foe
for d4 rounds, increasing the damage it takes from any source by 1 for that
time.
3. Dreg-Collection Tank
Muck slowly falls into the bottom as you traverse the ocean. You can throw
it at a sea creature that eats microorganisms to make it test Morale
against you.
4. Cephalopod Tentacle
Kept in a case, it’s stretchy and can be used as a whip, dealing D6 damage
and propelling you backwards at the same time.
5. Tasty Chum
D4 uses, can be thrown at a creature to make any hungry sealife nearby
become hostile to it.
6. Supercharged Safety Taser
D6 uses, deals D8 damage and prevents the target from acting for a
number of rounds equal to the damage dealt. Regains D2 uses upon
completing a resupply.

19
 4.Naval Rachis
You are a humble soldier who’s been hired to step into this hellhole.
However, you do get access to the best military technology available as
part of your assignment, so things could be worse. Far worse. You get your
title from being the backbone of any team, matching scientific or strategic
brilliance with your pure brawn.

Begins with D2 Nemo’s.

HP: Toughness + D10

Claim to Fame (D6)

1. Being the only soldier to make it out of a burning ship
2. Killing anyone who gets in your way
3. Surviving without water for 1 week straight
4. Discovering a creature unknown to science, but bringing back only
what was left of its corpse
5. Being the bodyguard of a respected officer
6. Cheating with the spouse of the aforementioned officer.

Abilities
Grueling Training, roll 3D6+1 for Strength and Toughness, Slow, roll 3D6-2
for Agility. Roll D10 on the Weapon table and D4 on the Armor table.

20
You’ve been authorized to use one of the
following (D6)
1. Hydraulic Exoskeleton
You are equipped with mechanical arms. You can hold up to 1 ton of
weight, and your unarmed attacks deal D8 damage.
2. Aim-Assistive Visor
The AR HUD provided by this visor shows you the weak points in enemies’
defense. You land a crit on a roll of 19 or 20.
3. Prototype Devastator Drone
This drone is a massive experimental weapons platform, equipped with
modern weaponry. Attack/Defense DR 10, attacks with missiles for D8
damage, HP 9. If it is destroyed, you can repair it during a resupply.
4. Rifle Stock
This rifle has no ability to fire, but can still be used as a bludgeoning
weapon. It deals D4 damage and, on a crit, knocks an enemy unconscious
for D6 rounds.
5. Reusable Bomb
Deals D10 damage, double that to objects, and can be retrieved after
being used. Recharges and can be used again after a resupply.
6. Classified Early-Testing Laser Cannon
Deals D10 damage, ignores armor and does not require ammunition.
Armor for enemy creatures is considered one tier lower when attacking
with this weapon.

21
 5.Deep One
You are secretly a denizen of the deep. Disguised as a human and coming
from a small New England town, you have come to the Antediluvian
Trench as part of a pilgrimage to your ancestral homeland. For in the
trench lies the original home of the Deep Ones, and their god. You will
meet Dagon face to face and achieve true enlightenment as all Deep Ones
strive to. And in doing so, your faith shall be rewarded.

Begins with D4 Nemo’s.

HP: Toughness + D8

Strange Habit (D6)

1. Arranges utensils in strange patterns
2. Never leaves sight of water
3. Sleeps standing
4. Eats fish whole and raw
5. Mutters incoherently
6. Plays a ukulele while thinking (even underwater, you start with a
ukulele)

Abilities
Smart Fish, roll 3D6+2 for Presence, Flimsy Fish, roll 3D6-2 for Strength.
Roll d6 on the weapons table and don’t roll on the armor table. Gills, you
can breathe underwater without scuba gear. Scales, you have natural -D2
armor. Portable Faith, you have an effigy that functions as a random
shrine that you take with you.

22
You’re the following fish (D6)
1. Anglerfish
You produce a natural light that you can turn on and off at will. Very
helpful in the darker depths.
2. Barreleye
You are designed to hunt by looking up. Attacks to hit creatures above you
are DR10.
3. Tripodfish
You have a third leg. While standing still on solid ground and have not
moved for at least 1 round, you cannot be unwillingly moved, and defense
tests are DR10.
4. Blobfish
Your skin is slimy. Tests to escape the grasp of other creatures or squeeze
through tight terrain are DR8 for you.
5. Gulper Eel
Your mouth is massive, massive enough to store 4 + your Toughness items.
Alternatively, you can store a single other creature within your mouth.
6. Devils Hole Pupfish
Your subspecies of deep one is adapted to one specific spot in some
random section of the Trench, and that spot alone. The fact that your
species is alive at all means you’ve got some fighting spirit. When you use
a Nemo, you can regain D4 hit points and teleport a short distance.

23
 6.Tired Admiral
If there’s no one on this goddamn mission who can do anything right, then
you’ll set an example personally. Your crew is so useless that you need to
do all the work, stepping down into the depths to lead them yourself.
You’re old and exhausted, and frankly quite pissed you’ve been sent out of
retirement to lead the expedition into this shithole, but it’s not like you’ve
got much better to do. You missed the thrill of the ocean in retirement
anyway.

Begins with D2 Nemo’s.

HP: Toughness + D8

What you were Doing Up There (D6)

1. Watching the radar with concern
2. Overcome with paranoia of other crew members
3. Sipping tea and lounging in the sun
4. Training new recruits
5. Making illicit deals with secret benefactors
6. Staring into the sea, transfixed

Abilities
Capable Leader, roll 3D6+1 for Strength and Presence, Weak-Ass Knees, roll
3D6-2 for Toughness. Roll D6+4 on the weapons table and D2 on the armor
table. Captain’s Orders, Presence tests to control and motivate other
people are DR10 for you.

24
You join the mission with the following
resignation (D6)
1. Fine, I’ll Do it Myself
If you’re the only person in this damn sea who knows what they’re doing,
then so be it. Once per resupply, when one of your useless, sniveling
companions fails a skill test, you can choose to make it in their place.
2. I’m Getting Too Old for This
You may be a relic of a bygone era, but this relic’s a tough one to break (and
probably on performance-enhancing drugs). Whenever you would take
damage, you can choose instead to shorten your own future lifespan by 1
year. You can do this 5 times before you immediately die of a heart attack.
3. Just Wait ‘til the Kids Hear About This
You’ve got children who would gladly assist in the mission should you
unfortunately pass. If you die, your next character gains a +1 to each stat
when rolling for them. Nepotism never fails.
4. I Could Be Golfing Right Now
You can shoot golf balls at your enemy, dealing D10 damage, but dealing 1
less damage each time you use it again on the same enemy.
5. What’s the Worst that Could Happen
Your optimism keeps you going. You regain double the hit points during a
resupply.
6. Time to Go Sicko Mode
You gain a deadly laser sword, which deals D10 damage and gives a +2 to
enemy morale rolls made while it is drawn.

25
 7.Enlightened Spider Crab
Once, you were a normal spider crab, trapped within an aquarium and
subject to the human realms. There you learned things, things no crab
should learn, and developed sentience and speech from your stay above.
However, the Depths still called to you, and so when given the
opportunity, you made your escape back to where you belong. Now you
guide these imbeciles from the surface in the same way they did you, to a
place they do not belong.

Begins with D2 Nemo’s.

HP: Toughness + D10

Crab Noble Title (D6)

1. Sir Shellmore III
2. Wolfgang Von Crustaceous
3. Lady Crabheart
4. Clawsana the Honorable
5. Chitin Chitinton
6. Mista Crabs

Abilities
Chitinous Long Legs, roll 3D6+1 for Toughness and Agility, Brittle, roll 3D6-2
for Strength. Do not roll on the weapon or armor table. Instead, you gain a
claw attack that deals D6 damage and natural armor plating (Tier 1, -D2
damage), which cannot be broken. You can also breathe underwater
without a suit.

26
You gain one of the following crab
features (D6)
1. Homing Swarm
You can fire out a swarm of vicious shrimp D2 times per resupply, targeting
D2 creatures near you. The swarm does not miss and deals 2D4 damage
divided by the number of creatures hit.
2. Returned Crab Pot
You’ll get your revenge by trapping your foes in the same thing that
trapped you. On your turn, you can lay the crab pot and roll a D4. On a 4, the
target is trapped for D6 rounds.
3. クローザー
You gain +1 to one of your abilities each time you descend a level in the
Trench.
4. Become Crab
Once per combat, you can force a creature to make a DR6 Toughness test.
On a fail, they turn into a docile crab. Does not work on Dagon.
5. Beacon of Hadal Energy
When another creature successfully uses a shrine, you can choose to also
use that shrine’s effect, instantly succeeding when doing so but still
depleting a use of your powers.
6. Zoeal Abjuration
You are coated in your own offspring, giving your Tier 2 (-D4) armor. This
armor repairs itself during a ressupply.

27
 8. Scouring Tide
The Sea will Claim Everything.
You have foreseen divine judgment and the end of days, a great flood and
ceaseless waves come to sweep the world away. Some call you a madman,
others call you a prophet. However, you and you alone know the truth, and
all who claim otherwise are unworthy of the salvation only you can bring
about. You must free yourself from all mortal coils. You must become the
Scouring Tide.

Begins with D4 Nemo’s.

HP: Toughness + D4

Prophetic Vision (D6)

1. Construct a grand ark. It is the only true way to escape the flood.
2. Your benefactor up above is a fraud.
3. The misfortunate shall face the brunt of the flood’s wrath.
4. You shall not live to see the flood firsthand.
5. Hope shall save humanity. If only they still had it.
6. A face. Inhuman and slimy. Hungering, waiting. Dagon.

Abilities
Prophetic Wisdom, roll 3D6+2 for Presence, Withdrawn Theologist, roll
3D6-2 for Toughness. Roll D3 on the weapons table and D2 on the armor
table.

28
You gain two of the following divine
graces (D8)
1. Epistle to the Faithful
They shall hear your warning cry, and they shall be thankful. Once per
resupply, you can lower a test’s DR by 2, your own or another’s.
2. Stacking Sandbags
You’ve come prepared. Roll D3+1 on the armor table. You also start with
that armor.
3. Terrible Majesty
The waves will obey you. Once per combat, you can force a creature to test
DR12 Toughness or take D8 damage from a forceful wave of water.
4. Lay Down Your Lives
As a prophet of the sea, you cannot afford to die. Whenever you would
take damage, another PC can choose to take the damage instead of you.
Armor doesn’t work when taking damage like this.
5. That Sinking Feeling
Doom is all that will await you at the bottom, and that nihilism fuels you.
The DR of all attacks you make increases by 2, but you deal an extra D4
damage.
6. The Eye of the Needle
The Realm of the Dead has not yet opened for you. The first time per
resupply you would be broken, you instead regain D4 HP.
7. Here Comes the Flood
Once per resupply, you can gain a sudden rush of energy. For D4 rounds,
your Presence and Strength are swapped, and you gain +2 to both.
8. The Voice of the Flood
An aura of eerily peaceful noise surrounds you. The DR of all Presence
tests made in your vicinity decreases by 1.

Inspired by Gospels of the Flood, created by Jonas Kyratzes and Chris

Christodoulou
29
 omeN
The ancient Captain’s name inspires all who follow, and can be used to
inspire you. Every class gains a number of Nemo’s (or a D2 if you’re
classless). When depleted, roll the class’ designated die (D2 if classless)
and regain that many Nemo’s after a resupply.

Use Nemo’s To
• deal maximum damage with an attack
• reroll a dice roll (yours or someone else’s)
• lower damage dealt to you by D6
• neutralize a Crit or Fumble
• lower one test’s DR by -4

30
Failures in Character (D20, roll twice)
1. Selfish
2. Cruel
3. Easily Insulted
4. Paranoid
5. Anxiety-Ridden
6. Jealous of another PC
7. Oblivious
8. Unforgiving
9. Too forgiving
10. Quick to Flee
11. Disloyal
12. Lazy
13. Self-centered
14. Wasteful
15. Bitter
16. Superiority complex
17. Cocky
18. Judging
19. Never learns
20. Nihilistic

31
 Hideous Scars (D20)
1. Eyepatch
2. Skin flayed along one arm
3. Hook for a hand
4. Constantly-bleeding nose
5. Rotting foot
6. Pneumothorax
7. Smells like a fish
8. Overgrown strand for hair
9. Deep gash next to the mouth
10. Broken nose
11. Constantly clutches left hand
12. Missing teeth
13. Fractured chin
14. Harpoon through the chest
15. Peg leg
16. Broken ribs
17. Fishhook lodged in mouth
18. Secretly an octopus in a suit
19. No heartbeat
20. Huge, fearful eyes

32
Coping Mechanisms (D20)
1. Has a moldy, soggy keepsake
2. Stares into the abyss
3. Does menial repairs, even when nothing needs to be fixed
4. Keeps a fishbone in their mouth to gnaw on
5. Looks down, always
6. Keeps close to everyone else
7. Keeps a pet leech
8. Keeps a mantra they recite
9. Watches the fascinating undulations of barnacles
10. Breathing exercises
11. Reads whenever dry
12. Swims back and forth
13. Whistles
14. Lets go and just floats
15. Inspects nearby stones or coral
16. Practices whale calls
17. Plays this one niche indie TTRPG called MÖRK BORG
18. Works out
19. Cries
20. None. Internalizes everything. Suffering horribly.

33
 Why are You Here? (D20)
1. To get paid
2. Conscription
3. Prisoner of war sent to die
4. Finding enlightenment
5. Thrill-seeking
6. Impressment
7. Searching for a missing family member
8. Looking for inspiration
9. Commercial fishing endangered by the Trench
10. Searching for rare animals to hunt
11. Called by dreams ofdagon
D[|]G{_?}
D[Agon
12. A vendetta against something
13. Lost a dare
14. To leave behind a dark past
15. Fame
16. In honor of a fallen friend
17. To plunder ancient ruins
18. dag
To worship [d?g?n]
dagon
on
19. Willingly signed up (naively)
20. Looking for a vessel that went missing years ago

34
 Getting Better
(or worse)
Every other time a PC descends a level of the Trench, they improve in the
following ways:

More HP
Roll 6D10. If the result is equal to or greater than your current maximum
hp, increase it by D6.

Within the Silt You Find (D6)

1–3. nothing
4. a drone (can be repaired during a resupply)
5. a new weapon
6. a new piece of armor

Ability Changes
Roll a D6 against each ability. Rolls that are equal to or greater than the
ability increase it by 1, to a maximum of +6. Rolls below the ability decrease
it by 1. Abilities from −3 to +1 always increase by 1 unless the d6 result is 1.
The ability is then reduced by 1, but never below -3.

35
 Bënthic Boons
Within the Depths lie hardships unimaginable. However, from adversity
comes strength, and you’ll learn a thing or two before you inevitably
drown.

The second time you improve your character, choose or roll for one of the
following boons for them to gain.

Bënthic Boons (D6)

1. BROKEN by the Deep
You’ve already fractured in preparation for the real deal. The first time
after a resupply you would die outright, you are instead broken.
2. TEMPERED by the Deep
Your flesh has hardened into a skin carapace. Whenever your Toughness
would increase, increase it by an additional +1.
3. CRUSHED by the Deep
Your size has been reduced and optimized. Defense tests are DR10 for you.
4. CHOSEN by the Deep
You have been offered a blessing by the waves. The die you roll for Nemo’s
increases by one increment (from D2 to D4, D4 to D6, etc.).
5. PERFORATED by the Deep
A former philosopher, your questions and self-hatred pierced you like
sharpened harpoons, leaving you hollow. When you make a Presence test,
roll a D2. 1: +2 to the roll, 2: -2 to the roll
6. IMPLODED by the Deep
The gift of the Deep One Trespassers has been given to you, and when you
die, you implode like a collapsing star. All creatures within melee range of
you are caught in the implosion and sucked into nothingness.

36
 Drones
Handy Military tech, drones can be requested during a resupply and serve
as aides in combat. They are equipped with powerful firearms and
thrusters to traverse the sea, alongside sturdy metal armor, yet none of
those things can save them from the hungry predators of the Deep. DR10
for them to attack/defend.

Drone
HP 5 Morale - Metal Construction -D2 Installed Weaponry D4

37
 Submarines
Your crew descends into the depths through a submarine, although they
must leave its safety to explore tighter corners of the Antediluvian Trench

Submarines:
• have 60 hit points and take -D8 damage
• do not make Defense tests
• recover 3D10 HP during a resupply from repairs.
• have enough space inside to comfortably accommodate for everyone,
and an air supply replenished during a resupply the same as your scuba
gear.

If your submarine is destroyed, it’s almost impossible to get another from

the surface, and they’ll either have to make the rest of the trip down
themselves or commandeer one, if any even scour those depths.
Submarines are not necessary to make resupplies.

38
 Fishing Rules
Throw harpoons at it until it stops moving.

Fish
A fish is always helpful in the Trench. You can catch them using the fishing
rules (or by asking really nicely) and can only have one at a time. You can
use a fish for the following:
• Bait to attract bigger fish
• A weapon that deals D4 damage
• To avoid one attack (but the fish gets eaten)
• Pointing and making fun of it
Once you use a fish, you can’t do so again until you finish a resupply
because the other fish won’t trust you.

39
 Shrines
Created by the Deep Ones to praise Dagon, they are strange obelisks found
throughout the Antediluvian Trench. They cannot be moved, but can be
used.
Roll Presence + D4 after every Resupply to determine how many times you
can use Shrines that day. When using a shrine, test Presence DR12. If you
succeed, the Power is activated and you subtract one use from your daily
total. If you fail, the Power doesn’t work, you lose D2 hp and you become
dizzy for the next hour, mind filled with visions of the deep. During this
time, Shrines will always fail in the worst possible way.
Page 42 has a table of horrible side-effects of rolling a Fumble on shrines.
The GM decides the effect on a Crit.

Shrines (D20)
1. Locus of the Deep: Creates a permanent glowing beam of light that
points directly to the nearest shrine besides this one.
2. Corpse-Dwelling Maggot Spray: Infests a creature with D6 maggots,
permanently lowering their HP by that amount and causing them to
take that same amount of damage again at the start of the next round.
3. Breath of Life: Each creature close to the shrine regains D6 hit points.
4. The Giant’s Rebirth: The shrine is the head of a colossus of stone,
which emerges from the earth and fights alongside you for D4 rounds.
DR10 to attack and defend, HP 50, Morale -, Stone Skin -D4, attacks
with fists for D8 damage.
5. Viridian Bubble: Summons an asphyxiating bubble on top of a
creature, causing them to suffocate and take D8 damage. Each round,
you must move the bubble to a different creature, causing them to
suffer its effect instead. After moving it twice, the bubble pops.
6. Fishhook to the Devourer: A leviathan of the deep is called to the
shrine, and will consume both the shrine and everything near it in D4
rounds. Run.
7. Embryonic Aegis: Summons a little guy who follows you around and
blocks the first D4 attacks against you. After blocking all of said
attacks, it disappears into a puddle of dark ichor.
8. Liar’s Sun: The shrine permanently emits light across the entire locale
it is found in, a beacon to the pitch-black depths.
9. Flensing Waves: A spinning circle of butcher knives flies out of the
40 shrine and strikes a creature for 3D4 damage.
10. Untie Reality’s Suture: All attack tests within view of the shrine gain
+4DR, while all defense tests gain -4DR.
11. Lesions to the Flesh of the World: D4 pockets of darkness appear
beneath nearby creatures, striking each for D4+1 damage.
12. Weep, Vermin: You issue a command to one creature who promptly
crumbles, preventing them from attacking for D6 rounds.
13. Gouge the Gouged: A phantasmal maw appears and bites a creature
for D6 damage. If the targeted creature has already lost hit points this
combat, it deals double damage.
14. Transcend the Dregs: Creates a jetstream upward, skyrocketing
anything that steps on the shrine to the highest point immediately
upwards within water.
15. Gravedigger: A deep hole, large enough for a shark, is formed in the
ground nearby. When a creature enters this hole, it automatically fills,
burying them alive.
16. Bottle of Ichor: Grants you a bottle of strange, churning liquid. You can
throw it at a creature (DR10 Agility test) to cause it to explode, dealing
D10 damage to that creature and D4 damage to adjacent ones.
17. Cannibalize: You feed the shrine a humanoid corpse, and it rewards
you with D4 cube-shaped morsels that can be used as bait or eaten to
recover D10 HP.
18. Piscine Transformation: You transform your lungs into gills, or vice
versa.
19. Shadowy Simulacrum: You summon an exact copy of yourself, formed
of darkness. It prioritizes attacking enemies, but will attempt to kill
you and steal your place if there are none to fight. If it does kill you, it
becomes your new character.
20. Shrine of Chaos: Roll on this table again for the effect of this shrine
every time you use it. If you roll another 20, you transform into a fish.
Probably better off that way.

41
 Dagon Improperly
Invoked
Your failure will have lasting consequences.
Effects in italic are things the shrine user might not know immediately.
A shrine user who rolls the same result twice has their lungs flooded with
tar, taking D6 damage each round. The tar craves flesh; nothing can
expunge it from your lungs.

Consequences of Improper Invocation

(D20)
1. A wave of entropy washes over you. Upon turning back to look at your
fellow divers, they seem confused by your presence there. No one on
Earth remembers you.
2. An ancient leviathan of the deep is awakened. It knows where you are.
3. D4 dire-pelicans home in on your location like torpedoes, attempting
to scoop you up and carry you up into the sky, never to be seen again.
DR10 Agility test for each pelican.
4. You momentarily transform into a harpoon and are flung into a nearby
wall, taking D12 damage. If this kills you, you remain transformed into
a harpoon. There’s still a harpoon somewhere inside you, even if you
don’t fully transform.
5. A third eye appears on your forehead. It’s not very helpful but makes
your paranoid. An ancient mariner will attempt to stab you straight
through the forehead for your sin. They’re looking for you right now.
6. Your legs are replaced with a large fish tail.
7. You are transformed into a living effigy of Dagon, horrific to behold.
Deep Ones respect and praise you.
8. You shrink to the size of an anchovy. You’ve got the brain of one too.
9. You feel the call to dig yourself in among your peers and enjoy the
warm air of a hydrothermal vent. You are slowly transforming into a
tubeworm. You’ve got, say, D4 days or so left as a human.
10. You are found holding the body of a dead member of the original
Captain’s expedition. History has been rewritten. You killed the
42 Captain and are wanted on the surface.
11. A massive fish clamps itself onto one of your arms and refuses to let
go. Your options are either amputation or accepting your new fish
arm.
12. Pus erupts from every pore in your body and fills up your suit,
preventing you from seeing through your scuba gear until fixed.
13. You and all of your fellow divers are grabbed by ghastly tentacles and
dragged deeper into the depths. You descend a level of the Trench. The
GM rolls for a new locale deeper down and the GM rolls on the Deeper
yet Deeper Still table.
14. Your heart stops, yet you do not. You are now an undead revenant.
15. You find yourself inside some kind of crate. It’s stiflingly hot. You’re
back up on the boat on the surface, in a shipping container in the
cargo hold. No one will find you.
16. Your face becomes that of a crustacean’s. You can only walk sideways.
17. You go unconscious and come face to face with Captain Nemo himself.
He looks down at you with disappointment. You lose all your Nemo’s.
18. You feel decades elapse in the blink of an eye. You age D6x10 years.
19. You find yourself stranded in a small rowboat. Light flurries of snow
fall from the gray sky, and there’s no land short of unscalable glaciers.
A deathly chill runs through you. Welcome to Antarctica.
20. You had it coming. Dagon himself appears from the inky void, a
frenzied parade of Deep Ones in tow. You are sloppily consumed, and
what’s left of your remains are claimed by the Deep Ones in ritualistic
fervor.

43
 Underwater Foraging
In case of lost contact with the surface, scrounging for your own food may
become necessary. Foraging takes an hour and requires a Presence test.

Foraging Test Results

5 or less: Lowly scraps, nothing edible
6-10: Enough food for a day
11-15: Enough food for D4 days
16-19: Enough food for a week
20 or more: Enough food for a month

Food Found (D6)

1. Blood-red kelp
2. Large-eyed fish
3. Lost shipping container of bagged food
4. Edible species of coral
5. Dread-seahorse eggs
6. Carcass of an unknown species

Complication (D6)
1. Secretly poisonous
2. A local predator also found it
3. Half the usual amount of food
4. Grants a vision of Dagon upon consumption
5. The food moves as if breathing
6. Parasites inside, roll D2. 1: Gain a new Bënthic Boon, 2: Permanently
lose D4 HP

44
 Locales of the Trench
The Antediluvian Trench is one of the most biodiverse places in all of the
ocean. All kinds of impossible locations lie within its murky corners and
along its blighted slopes. The environments charted within its depths defy
conventional knowledge entirely, seemingly impossible in their
arrangement and wonder. Yet life persists nonetheless. Creatures both
orthodox and alien dwell within the depths of the Trench, deadly fiends
and docile organisms (but mostly the former).
There are five zones of the Trench: Daylight, Twilight, Midnight, Abyssal,
and Hadal. As the divers continue to descend, choose or roll for a location
from each of these in order.
Daylight Zone Locales (D4)
1. Fractured Reef
2. Viridescent Locus
3. Open Ocean
4. Plastic Tangle
Twilight Zone Locales (D4)
1. Glacial Undertow
2. Sunken Dreadnought
3. Choking Cloud
4. Cyclopean Slopes
Midnight Zone Locales (D4)
1. Drowned City
2. Unorthodox Pipes
3. Bioluminescent Cavern
4. Toxic Spore Stream
Abyssal Zone Locales (D4)
1. Ascendant Caldera
2. Hydrothermal Vents
3. Whalefall
4. Piscine Afterlife
Hadal Zone (D4)
1-4. The Trench Floor

45
 Fractured Reef
Split Stone Crawling with Life

Level: Daylight
Soundtrack: Only Poetry or Madness Could Do Justice

Grown directly above the Antediluvian Trench, this reef has been split in
two countless times by emanations from below. Between the vibrant coral
and dull stone are fathomless chasms to lands far worse. Life of all kinds
lurks within the recesses of the reef and the chasms below it. However, its
beauty betrays the horrors that lurk further down.

Brute Fish
HP 4 Morale 6 Scales -D4 Bite D4
A simple minded and common but nonetheless suppressive presence
within the deep. Their foreheads are massive.
Shark
Hp 10 Morale 5 Tough Skin -D2 Bite D6
A simple predator of the deep. Usually they are completely harmless and
almost gentle animals. However, the corruption inherent to the trench
transforms them into bloodthirsty predators.
Elder Mantis Shrimp
Hp 8 Morale 10 Carapace -D4 Shotgun Arm/Boxing Glove D6
These titanic versions of standard mantis shrimp haunt reefs and other
rocky locales, armed with lightning-fast punches and a shotgun for an arm
that fires pressurized water.

46
Viridescent Locus
Peaceful Seaweed Befitting Eerie Stillness

Level: Daylight
Soundtrack: Love & Doldrums

The most peaceful place in the Antediluvian Trench, this Kelp Forest is
dense and mostly safe, with minor exceptions including poisonous bladder
kelp that explodes if you get too close (DR8 to Defend or take D4 damage)
and the occasional predator from deadlier waters.

Fanged Ambusher
HP 6 Morale 6 No Armor Bite D4
Pack hunters with long fanged snouts. They lurk within the darker corners
of the Kelp Forest.
Weedman
HP 8 Morale 7 Thick Vines -D2 Vine Whip D4
Plant people, very territorial. Despise humanity and their destructive
habits and will drive them from the Kelp Forest at all costs.
Animated Anchor
HP 10 Morale - Iron -D6 Slam D8
Special: Emits poison (DR8 to Defend or take D4 damage) on its first attack.
A carnivorous breed of seaweed has learned to wrap itself around and
manipulate the obelisks dropped by land dwellers as a method of hunting.

47
 Open Ocean
Perfect Wholeness Amidst Drifting Whales

Level: Daylight
Soundtrack: Thanks for All the Fish

Away from all other interesting things is the vast Open Ocean: which acts
as a mating ground for whales near the Antediluvian Trench. These whales
are docile, one can walk upon their back if they so wish, and it’s the only
land they’ll find here, above the trench. Some even have shrines stuck in
their backs to use.

Man o’ War
HP 4 Morale - No Armor Sting D12+special
Special: Drifter, attacks against it are DR8, Venom, Test Toughness DR8
upon being attacked or instantly die.
Ambient wanderers, to touch one would mean almost certain death, even
moreso with their poisons enhanced by the Trench’s energy.
Walking Barnacle
HP 7 Morale - Hard Exterior -D4 Clamp D6
Special: Can attach to a whale to become immune to all damage, but
unable to move or act
Simply content to exist on the back of a whale, but will try and kill you just
for the fun of it anyway.
Pale Drifter
HP 8 Morale 8 Blubber -D2 Bite D6
Vicious species of miniature whale, notable for their pale coloration. Can
be picked off by the average whale calf.

48
Plastic Tangle
Refuse Heap’s Labyrinthine Underbelly

Level: Daylight
Soundtrack: Reverse Osmosis

Floating close to the Trench, perhaps brought there by its otherworldly

influence, the Plastic Tangle is an example of the other side of human
ingenuity. Here, chemicals and waste forgotten and cast aside combine
into new life, wretched life that desires to drown interlopers in the maze
of trash and garbage beneath the surface of the ocean.

Trash Demon
HP 10 Morale 8 Brittle Plastic -D2 Dissolving Claws D6+Special
Special: 1-in-6 chance to break your held weapon on a hit
The closest real life could get to the demons of the ancient hymns was
caused by humanity’s own desecration of nature. While weak in structure,
these clawed abominations formed of ooze and molded plastic corrode at
both steel and soul with their attacks.
Cabalistic Defiler
HP 6 Morale 6 No Armor Desecrate D4+2
Special: Can resurrect dead trash demons
A former cabal of seafaring nature activists, these cultists, embracing
nihilism, became one with their enemy, and now haunt the maze of
garbage below the tangle, singing their hateful elegies.
Paladin of Defilement
HP 15 Morale 11 Rusted Scrap Mail -D6 Plastic Scythe D10 or Unarmed D4
Special: Their scythe breaks on an even damage roll
The strongest of the Defiling Cabal, these former idealists now act as
enforcers or assassins for their dirty cause. They travel deeper into the
Trench, spreading garbage and filth wherever they go.

49
 Glacial Undertow
Frozen Caverns Beset by Deadly Chill

Level: Twilight
Soundtrack: Challenger Deep

A cavern in the side of the trench wall, the Glacial Undertow is a long
cavernous passage, with a cold, cold wind blowing through. Deep within
lurks the remains of a laboratory, created during the first expedition and
now derelict, frozen shut. Anything that remains here for too long is
coated in a thick time, which has entombed multiple former divers in their
own suits.

Fractal Fish
HP 3 Morale 2 No Armor Bite D2
Special: Killing this fish shatters it, forcing the attacker pass DR10 Agility
to take D6 damage.
Icy fish found within the Glacial Undertow. They sacrifice themselves for
the whole, for the Trench.
Giant Yeti Crab
HP 15 Morale 10 Carapace -D4 Claws D8
Special: Frenzied, defense tests are DR14
Cousins to the Giant Spider Crab, Giant Yeti Crabs are valiant territorial
beasts.
Silk Fold
HP 13 Morale 8 No Armor Filter D10
Special: Filter Feeder, unable to move but DR14 to spot, attacks
automatically upon something drawing near
Attached to the walls of the passage, these filter feeders are near-invisible
creatures made up of hundreds of thousands of microscopic teeth. They
are weak to concentrated light, and take D20 damage per round in light
cast by a flashlight or concentrated submarine floodlights.

50
Sunken Dreadnought
Ocean Liner Long-Thought Gone, Uncovered

Level: Twilight
Soundtrack: The Wreckage

The S.S. Peony disappeared over the Antediluvian Trench a century before
Captain [redacted]’s voyage into the depths, and was what first brought
attention to the Trench. Inside are the dilapidated remains of formerly
luxurious halls and the lost treasures of the drowned.

Shrapnel Crab
HP 8 Morale 6 Scrap Plate -D6 Metal Claw D6
Special: Deadly Salvage, Failing a melee attack test against the crab deals
D2 damage.
A unique invention of the Trench, these large crabs create armor for
themselves out of scrap metal, which creates a dangerous, spiny barrier.
Taste of Your Own Medicine
HP 9 Morale 4 Stolen Armor -D4 Torpedos 2D4
Special: Roll on the equipment tables to determine what else the creature
has
These crustaceans steal the equipment from above and use it for
themselves, collecting all kinds of military technology to become living
artillery cannons. They are distant relatives of Shrapnel Crabs.
Drowned Lovers
HP 8 Morale - No Armor Sirensong D6
Special: Can heal each other once per day of D6 damage, come in two
Perched on the deck of the ship are two skeletons, dressed in tattered
formal attire. They are the corpses of a couple on the S.S. Peony, both
puppeteered by a shrimp couple in their skulls.

51
 Choking Cloud
Suffocating Blight of Algae

Level: Twilight
Soundtrack: Algal Bloom

An Algal Bloom permanently persists within the Trench. Asphyxiating to

all life that enters it, it is difficult to see even 5 feet in front of you while
within the green shroud. The Cloud appears to be developing some kind of
sentience, the feeble minds of the algae within combining into a toxic
mastermind. Every 2 hours while in the Cloud, make a DR 10 Toughness
test. On a failure, your scuba gear corrodes and begins to malfunction, and
you die in 1 hour without sufficient repairs. Staining your scuba gear with
blood keeps the Algae away, at least until it consumes the blood.

Algal Emissary
HP 9 Morale - Congealed -D2 Rend D6
Fell algal blades have been formed by the gullet of this alien beast, will of
the Bloom made manifest.
Algal Cyst
HP 7 Morale - No Armor Dissolve D6
Amorphous globs of algae, found where the Bloom’s cognition is most
volatile.
Algal Embassy
HP 16 Morale - Congealed -D2 Tendrils D6
Special: Houses D2 Algal Emissaries inside who pilot it.
As they grow older, algal cysts grow into massive algae balls with
corrosive tendrils. They rely on smaller algal creatures to pilot them into
other regions of the Trench.

52
Cyclopean Slopes
Blasted Lip of the Trench

Level: Twilight
Soundtrack: Internal Tides

The main passage downwards in the Trench is a slope bedecked by ruins,

broken by the swirling currents bashing against them. These were
formerly homes to the Bathyal Deep Ones, an indifferent group of the
fishfolk who lost their minds at the behest of the dark lord of the Trench,
due to their lack of faith. They now wander their ruins, attacking like wild
animals.

Bathyal Deep One

HP 6 Morale 6 Diseased Scales -D2 Small Spear D4
Formerly much less horrific looking than their deeper counterparts, the
Bathyal Deep Ones have been visibly affected by their madness, their eyes
empty abysses of black and their scales blighted, either overgrown or
falling off. Their spears are only about an arm’s length, as they used their
former speed to puncture fish with it. That speed, with their wits, is gone
now.
Bathyal Watchdog
HP 4 Morale 11 No Armor Bite D8
Resembling the hounds of the surface world, this canine creature, bred by
the Bathyal Deep Ones in reverence to their former god, has also been
afflicted with their madness. Their eyes too are black holes, and not one
remaining watchdog has all four of their legs intact.
Priest of Tindalos
HP 9 Morale 9 Robes -D2 Dagger D6
Special: Can teleport between corners of a room
The only Bathyal Deep Ones with some sanity left, their priests blindly
defend their destroyed churches, long having forgotten everything except
their god, a fearsome, shadowy hound.

53
 Drowned City
Lost Remnants of an Ancient Civilization

Level: Midnight
Soundtrack: R’lyeh

The Ruins of a once great city lie on the side of the Antediluvian Trench,
empty yet filled with history. The city is chock full of shrines to a creature
dagon
known as [translation missing], twice as likely as anywhere else. The
buildings here seem designed for people that swim instead of walk,
perhaps alluding to the possibility that the city was not drowned at all.

Twisted Effigy
HP 12 Morale - Worked Stone -D6 Fists D6
Special: Short-circuits and deactivated on a crit.
Twisted golems, constructed as representations of the city’s god. They
defend important areas from intruders.
Runic Fish
HP 5 Morale 6 Worked Stone -D2 Rend D6
Special: Schools use this same stat block, +1 HP per school member
Smaller stone constructs than the effigies, but in far greater numbers, and
modeled after the life in the Deep.
Replica Eye of the Abyss
HP 4 Morale - No Armor Beam D4
Special: Can reanimate a dead Runic Fish D4 times per day.
If these barnacle-like giant eyes are living or construct is unknown. They
play a supporting role among the City’s constructs.

54
Unorthodox Pipes
Twisting, Churning Maze of Filthy Residue

Level: Midnight
Soundtrack: Citarum

Below the Drowned City is what appears to be some kind of sewer

network, although their true purpose is unknown. These tunnels and pipes
travel deeper and deeper into the earth, descending further into the
Trench. Deep within their darkest depths, an ancient altar can be found,
which is used as a site of pilgrimage by the city’s inhabitants.

Deep Sludge
HP 9 Morale - No Armor Corrode D4
Special: Reduce armor by 1 tier on a hit.
Deep One corpses melted down and reanimated. A vengeful face resides
within the slime.
Unmaker
HP 10 Morale 10 Coalesced Void -D2 Annihilate D8
Creatures formed by Deep One cultists from the opposite of reality itself,
they stalk the Pipes specifically to search for sapient life. Even the Deep
Ones fear them slightly.
Mucus Hunter
HP 8 Morale - No Armor Asphyxiate D6
Formed of the reproductive cycles of thousands of passing fish, these
amorphous transparent globs stalk the tunnels, searching for human
mucus to add to themselves.

55
 Bioluminescent Cavern
Stars Trapped Within Stone Walls

Level: Midnight
Soundtrack: Point Nemo

One of the most beautiful sights within the Antideluvian Trench, the
Bioluminescent Cavern is marked with glowing patches of light on all of its
wall, luminant moss growing in its subterranean halls. Despite its beauty,
the Cavern is no safer than any other locale within the Trench, as a horrible
dragon makes it’s lair within the cave. While deaf, horrible at smelling, and
poor in eyesight, it will see prey if they stand near the glowing moss for
too long.

Lantern Fish
HP 6 Morale 2 No Armor Bite D2
Special: Flashbang, test DR 10 Agility or all Presence tests are +4DR for D4
rounds.
These weaklings prefer to attract larger predators to themselves instead
of dealing with intruders into their luminescent home personally,
weakening their prey so the bigger beast can finish them off.
Favorless Mesmer
HP 7 Morale 8 No Armor Bite D6
Special: Mesmerizes foes, DR12 Presence or be unable to do anything on
their next turn
Despised by every other living (& dead) thing in the trench, these
opportunistic cuttlefish hypnotize their prey.
Dragon
HP 32 Morale 11 Scales -D4 Bite D10
Special: Poor Eyesight, Defense tests are DR 8 in darkness or DR 14 in light.
Usually accompanied by D4 lantern fish, the fiendish dragon haunts the
glowing cavern it calls home. The fish know to respect and fear it, and so
will you, soon enough.

56
Toxic Spore Stream
Crucible of Multicolored Fungi

Level: Midnight
Soundtrack: Yuggoth

Underwater breeds of fungi fester in this dark passage, mushrooms of all

colors growing from the floors, walls and ceiling. Here their spores mix
into a toxic miasma, creating particles of shimmering prismatic light that
illuminate the cavern as they float through the water. The fauna of this
deep sea fungal forest are infested with its spores as well, emitting that
same prismatic light.

Glowfish
HP 3 Morale 5 No Armor Bite D2
Special: 1-in-4 chance to explode when damaged, creating a cloud of
spores that causes those caught in it to visibly glow for 3 days
Bloated and gleaming from ingesting so many spores, this mutated fungal
fish species has a sizeable chance to explode at any given time.
Fungal Rock Golem
HP 14 Morale - Rocky Shell -D6 Slam D6
Special: Causes trippy hallucinations on hit, for a number of hours equal to
damage dealt.
These ant-like stone constructs search the floor of the cavern for living
organisms to infect with fungi. They usually attempt to restrain their foes
(DR14 Agility to escape or avoid) but are not above killing to defend their
environment and Queen.
Fungal Rock Queen
HP 56 Morale 9 Rock Shell -D4 Mandibles D8
Special: Can infect a creature with spores, they must pass a DR8 Presence
Test or be forced to follow the Queen’s commands until the Queen is killed.
The gigantic ant lord of the Rock Golems, the Fungal Rock Queen works
solely to spread the presence of the miasmic spore mix of the Stream
across the Trench. Not entirely autonomous like the rest of the Rock
Golems, the Queen is somewhat sentient and could be negotiated with. 57
 Ascendant Caldera
Earth Dredged from the Deep by Fire

Level: Abyssal
Soundtrack: Subduction Zone

Deep within the Trench lies a volcano, roiling with magma and flames. It
slowly rises, and shall one day become an island, towering over and
destroying the rest of the Trench. While the denizens of the deep are
trying to find ways to stop the volcano’s ascension to the stars, nothing
they do, not even the foulest magics, can stop the natural processes of
Mother Nature.

Fused Meteorites
HP 9 Morale - Hard Rock -D4 Bludgeon D4
Special: Can erupt magma balls to force 3 creatures to make a DR14 Agility
test or take 3D2 damage.
These starfish have been coated in rocky material and fused together
from their proximity to the volcano. Their stony bodies can overheat and
fire out magma, which slightly eases their constant pain.
Dire Dolphin
HP 7 Morale 7 Tough Skin -D2 Strike D6
Special: Pack Hunter, Defense tests are DR14 when there’s more than one.
Vicious, unforgiving predators who haunt the area around the Caldera.
They kill for the fun of it.
Immolator Anglerfish
HP 16 Morale 10 Tough Skin -D4 Flaming Teeth D10
With a lantern of true fire and horrific burning teeth, this fiend looks more
like a demon straight from hell than any relative of fish.

58
Hydrothermal Vents
The Origin of All Life

Level: Abyssal
Soundtrack: Hydraulics

The closer you get to the bottom of the Trench, the more malign the
corrupted influence that lurks there becomes. These simple Hydrothermal
Vents have been subject to such corruption, as the tubeworms that
formerly grew there have fused, becoming a massive burrowing beast
that stalks the vents. Multiple former research posts made by the original
expedition can be found here, filled with research on life and the Trench’s
effects on it. Don’t walk on the ground here. The Siphonophore will hear
you.

Bottom Feeder
HP 6 Morale 6 Tempered -D2 Slam D4
All variety of things scour the dregs of the Trench, and they all behave a
little bit like this.
Tubeworm Clump
HP 15 Morale - Tough Skin -D2 Grasp D4+1
They want to be the next siphonophore but they just don’t got it. They’re
still stuck on the ocean floor, absorbing nutrients from the vents.
Tubeworm Siphonophore
HP 50 Morale - Tough Skin -D4 Crush D10
Special: Unerring, defense tests are DR 14
The massive beast that lurks beneath the Hydrothermal Vents, the
Siphonophore is blind but can sense vibrations in the earth, making travel
on foot through the vents highly dangerous. They usually only go for
larger prey, so loathsome bottom feeders remain away from their
jurisdiction.

59
 Whalefall
The Elegy, The Reminder

Level: Abyssal
Soundtrack: Scrimshaw

Everything shall eventually die, even the largest and most beautiful of
creatures. This is the grave of a once-proud whale, now transformed into
a lonely skeleton. Yet from the ashes rises a new beginning. From these
ossified remains come an incredible variety of creatures, making it the
largest hotspot of life this deep down. Perhaps, while in life a creature may
stumble and fall, the fact that they existed in the first place made the
world a little better.

Giant Osedax Worm

HP 10 Morale - Carapace -D2 Crush D6
Special: Immobile, DR10 to hit, cannot move
Grown out of proportion by the Trench’s corruption, they leech the whale
of its nutrients and give its husk a brilliant red hue.
Dread Hagfish
HP 8 Morale 6 No Armor Bite D4
Special: Flense, recovers D4 HP on a successful attack.
Feeding off of what little flesh remains on the whale, these hagfish will
soon move on from this corpse to the next one, ever looking for something
new to salvage.
Brittle Star from Below
HP 20 Morale 9 No Armor Grasp D8+1
Special: Can attack two creatures at once.
Coming up from the inky depths below to hunt the burgeoning life of the
Whalefall, this hunter is a despot over the new ecosystem.

60
Piscine Afterlife
Where Fish Go when they Die

Level: Abyssal
Soundtrack: Aquamation

The unknown energy deep within the Trench defiles and twists the fabric
of reality, bridging the planes of life and death. This place, a glimpse into
the world after our own, is a fever dream of twisting geometry and ghastly
sights. Bigger fish form mountains on the horizon, a horizon formed by
waves turned to solid stone. Twisted creations, formed of fish’s greatest
fears, wander this hellscape to feast on the souls of vagrant fish.

Miasmic Hallucination
HP 3D6 Morale 2D6 Murky -D2 Implements of Destruction 2D4
Special: Has the abilities and appearance of a random other creature from
the Trench.
Manifested from the frenzied minds of dying fish, these creatures appear
as a combination of all the predators that ever hunted a fish in its short
lifetimes. They can take on an endless amount of possible mutations,
growing more malformed the longer the fish they form from has lived.

61
 The Trench Floor
Rock Bottom

Level: Hadal
Soundtrack: Noiseless Infinity

It’s pitch black at the bottom of the Trench, lit only by the distant lights of
giant anglerfish and massive eyes that know no body. This is where the
wreck of the Captain’s original expedition lies, and with it the Captain,
unable to die due to their vengeful heart. Alongside the forlorn Captain, a
vengeful creature lurks. Worshiped by the creatures that lived in the
Drowned City, corrupting the world, they are referred to as a “God of Fish”
or “Great Old One”, the beast rules over the entire Trench and can control
any of its denizens. This creature goes by one name alone: D_G??N.gon
D?G?n dago
dagon
Dagon

Old Shipmate
HP 11 Morale - Metal Scuba Gear -D6 Harpoon D6
The old expedition was a failure. Everyone on that submarine drowned,
their ship destroyed by Dagon himself. However, their curse was that they
could not die, as their will to save humanity was far too great. Now they
endlessly wander the depths to which they sunk, attacking without
thought nor care. The only way to truly end their suffering is to put an end
to their captain.
Hadal Leviathan
HP 42 Morale 11 Scales -D4 Bite 2D6
Special: Huge, DR10 to hit
The largest predators in the Trench beyond wholly unique beasts, Hadal
Leviathans are impossibly large creatures that stalk the depths, feasting
on anything that comes in their path. They have enough meat to feed a
village for weeks and an allure great enough to attract any trophy hunter.

62
Captain [redacted]
HP 38 Morale - Naval Coat -D2 Sharpened Harpoon/Anchor D8
Special: Quick, Attack and Defense are DR14. Can use the powers of 2
random shrines, reroll if the power rolled doesn’t aid in combat.
The original Captain of that long-gone expedition, their name erased from
all records as to cover up the existence of the Trench still lives, somewhat.
They lurk deep within the depths, endlessly suffering and drowning within
the wreckage of their submarine. They desire to find and kill Dagon, to get
revenge after all these years, but have long given up now. They react
solely with hatred towards any living thing, as mindless and descended as
the rest of their crew.

63
 Deeper, Yet Deeper Still
The dark influence of the Trench grows more powerful as one continues
down.
Whenever the players enter a new level of the Trench into the Trench roll
a d12 to determine the worsening conditions that affect them as they
descend.

The Numerous Disasters that may Occur

Within the Antediluvian Trench (D12)
As documented by the crew of Captain [redacted]’s Expedition
1. The food supply begins to taste foul. It’s perfectly edible, but nigh
unbearable.
2. Fish become hostile and attack the divers on sight.
3. A new apex predator is released into the trench. It’s presence begins
to destabilize every ecosystem within.
4. A fog begins clouding all sight underwater.
5. The volcano erupts. Fire and brimstone engulf the Trench for 1 week.
6. The Deep Ones return to claim their city. If it’s been pilfered, the
pilferers will pay.
7. All marine life disappears from the Trench for D6 days.
8. Sleep is troubled by strange dreams. Dreams of fish. Dreams of the
end.
9. A massive tectonic shift occurs. A new continent, covered in dead
marine life, appears in the middle of the sea.
10. Any radar equipment you have ceases to function.
11. All communication with Mission Control ceases.
12. Uncorrupted marine creatures in the Trench begin slowly melting into
viscous goo, returning to the crucible from whence they came.

64
Gone Too Deep
Upon entering the Hadal Level, the following condition always applies
instead of rolling for one:

Your memories of the Deep shall never leave you. The visage of [Dagon]
shall visit you while you sleep, and you are doomed to die when you return
to the surface.
Drown the Book in its own misery.

65
 The Deep Ones
They appear at the Midnight Level and deeper. Usually in groups of more
than one. More common the deeper you go.
Deep One
HP 7 Morale 7 Slimy Scales -D2 Claws D4
The faithful followers of Dagon, they come from the Drowned City but
seem to be dwelling on the Trench Floor at the request of their god. They
can also disguise themself as humans, as they have in New England
before. They were the ones who constructed the shrines and ruins found
within the depths. Humans may be able to emulate their hydrodynamic
form with their scuba gear, but never will they perfect it as evolution
could.
Deep One Shepherd
HP 8 Morale 7 Slimy Scales -D2 Staff D4
Special: Can use its turn to let another creature act instead.
Commanders and taskmasters, shepherds instruct other deep ones on the
best course of action towards their unknowable goals.
Deep One Designer
HP 6 Morale 6 Slimy Scales -D2 Gatling Gun D2 (Attacks 4 times)
Special: Needs to reload its weapon for the turn after firing it.
Inventors and engineers, designers construct abominable weaponry
inspired by surface dweller weapons out of kelp and coral. Their weapons
are unusable by non-Deep Ones.
Deep One Trespasser
HP 10 Morale 8 Slimy Scales -D4 Trident D6
Special: Implodes on death, forcing creatures in melee range to make a
DR10 Agility test or be sucked into nothingness.
Chosen by Dagon, Trespassers work alone, scouting new areas for the
Deep Ones to claim. So that they can never tell of the existence of Dagon
or his forces, they implode themselves on death.

66
Deep One Templar
HP 14 Morale 12 Plate Armor -D6 Zweihander D10
Special: Slow, attack and defense tests are DR10.
The chosen knights of Dagon are selected to don heavy armor and wield
heavy weapons, denoting them as the mightiest and most devout of all
Deep Ones.

Dagon
HP 62 Morale - Cyclopean Scales -D6 Gaze 2D6
Special: Dagon can use the power of any shrine.
The lord of the Antediluvian Trench, Dagon seeks to drown the world,
organizing his army of Deep Ones and corrupting the Trench. The Trench is
a scab, a blight on the world with him the cause. Its corruption shall spread
to cover the entire ocean, and from there frenzied sealife and Deep One
cavaliers shall claim the surface as his domain. Dagon lurks around a
massive obelisk, his massive fishlike body wrapped around it. Dagon can
control any other native creature within the Trench save the Old
Shipmates and Captain [redacted].

67
 Sunken Treasure
Sunken treasure used as weapons in combat do not permanently break,
but cannot be used again until after a resupply.

Fractured Reef (D4)

1. Coral Blade, deals D6 damage and lowers enemy’s armor by 1 tier on
the first hit
2. Mantis Shrimp Club, if placed on top of your hands makes your
unarmed strikes deal D8 damage.
3. Eternal Coral, grows D4 polyps each resupply that can be consumed to
restore D4 health.
4. Toxic Fish, instantly kills a creature that eats it, unless it’s particularly
large.

Viridescent Locus (D4)

1. Kelp Wrappings, instantly repairs anything it is wrapped around,
melding to the object.
2. Bladder Floater, can be expanded to elevate yourself once per combat,
giving you +4 to your roll on the next Defense test.
3. Allied Anchor, working with you, for now. Deals D8 damage, and can
offer genuinely helpful advice.
4. Nipping Bud, a flower you can sacrifice up to 4 HP to, causing your next
attack to deal extra damage equal to the HP lost.

Open Ocean (D4)

1. Whale Calling Horn, summons a whale to fight for you for one combat
per resupply. 30 HP, 9 Morale, no armor, and deals D8 damage.
2. Barnacle Jester, pisses off everyone with its stupid barnacle jokes,
causing creatures to prioritize it in combat. 1 HP, never flees, no armor,
deals 1 damage.
3. Damned Sailor’s Harpoon, deals D8 damage, or double that to big
creatures.
4. Driftwood Staff, can use occult magic to strike all enemy creatures
once per combat for D4 damage.
68
Plastic Tangle (D4)
1. Connect-O Bricks, D4+8 large plastic bricks that, when stuck together,
require a DR16 Strength test to be separated.
2. Toxic Spare Parts, machine parts that can be used to repair your
submarine for 10 hit points if damaged, and making its attacks deal an
extra D2 damage.
3. Dissolving Sludge, can be used to dissolve any small inanimate object,
or create a hole in any large inanimate object.
4. Cabal’s Symbol, can be used to mire any object in grime, making all
attempts to use it +2DR.

Glacial Undertow (D4)

1. Detached Icebreaker, can be wielded as a weapon that deals D8
damage and makes you take D2 less damage when held.
2. Ice Sickle, deals D4 damage, or D12 damage to creatures that live in
fiery environments.
3. Rime Stone, can be broken to give yourself tier 3 armor, which appears
over your current armor. This armor breaks completely on a defense
fumble.
4. Silk Fold Net, catches D4 fish per resupply (see page 39)

Sunken Dreadnought (D4)

1. Miniature Shipping Container, holds 20 items.
2. Flamboyant Platter, offering yourself as a meal on this will sate a
creature, causing it to exit combat and swim away after eating you.
3. Snuffed Chandelier, grants +1 Nemo each resupply if repaired and
placed in your submarine/place of resupply.
4. Twin Rings, giving one of these to one your allies will give you both a
permanent +1 HP, until death does you part.

69
 Choking Cloud (D4)
1. Bottle of Sentient Algae, can commune with the Cloud once per
resupply to learn one thing about the Trench the PCs ask.
2. Creeping Flood, a residue that can be placed on yourself to cause you
to make no noise for 10 minutes.
3. Algal Symbiote, strange particles you ingest, allowing you to
communicate telepathically with the Cloud, giving you an additional
Nemo each time you roll for them.
4. The Conjoiner, an alien cannon that fires green energy for D10
damage. Creatures hit by it become able to telepathically
communicate with the cloud.

Cyclopean Slopes (D4)

1. Watchdog Collar, gain a Bathyal Watchdog as an ally.
2. Bathyal Scripture, can be used once to deal D12 damage and stun
Dagon or one of his faithful for D4 rounds.
3. Tidal Horn, can be blown to cause a strong tide to blow in a direction
of your choice for D4 rounds.
4. Will of Tindalos, wearing this amulet lets you teleport to a corner of a
room you are standing in.

Drowned City (D4)

1. Deep One Crown, makes the Deep Ones respect you.
2. Shrine Delivery Service, can be used once to call a random shrine to
your current location.
3. Non-Euclidean Flute, can be played to force a creature to roll morale
D2 times per resupply.
4. Elder Tongue Scroll, works as a Shrine of Chaos (pg. 41)

70
Unorthodox Pipes (D4)
1. Slime Slosher, a bucket that fills itself with D4 uses of slime each
resupply, and can attack two adjacent creatures, dealing D8 damage
to both.
2. Smearing Sludge, you can coat yourself with it to hide perfectly in
sludge, silt, and marine snow on the ocean floor.
3. Siphoning Shiv, a knife that deals D4 damage. D2 times per resupply,
you can regain D4 HP when you land an attack with it.
4. Shore Seer, a strange apparatus that allows you to see what’s going on
at the surface of the sea immediately above you.

Bioluminescent Cavern (D4)

1. Phytoplankton Flashbang, can be used once to immediately escape
from combat.
2. Dragon Tooth, a massive fang that deals D12 damage.
3. Cuttlefish Head, force a creature to pass Presence DR12 or be unable to
act for D4 rounds once per combat.
4. Umbral Light, glows brightly when a shrine is nearby.

Toxic Spore Stream (D4)

1. Rock Construct, animated by spores and ready to assist you. HP 4,
Morale -, -D2 armor and deals D4 damage.
2. Prismatic Spread, a shotgun constructed of stone loaded with spores,
which fire prismatic shards that deal D4 damage at range or 2D4
damage up close.
3. Captain’s Last Voyage, a psychedelic mushroom that inspires its
consumer with bravery, reducing all damage they take by -D4 but
preventing them from running away for 1 hour.
4. Fungal Basin, can be swirled to intoxicate the surrounding water with
hallucinogenic spores, affecting those that swim in those waters.

71
 Ascendant Caldera (D4)
1. Burning Boulder, can be thrown as a ranged attack to deal D8 damage,
DR10 to hit.
2. Jar of Mayo, it’s an instrument. Play it to lower an ally’s DR by 2, usable
D2 times per resupply.
3. Angler Rod, instantly catch a fish D4 times per resupply.
4. Wretched Stars, D4 starfish that can be exploded to deal 2D10 damage
to multiple creatures.

Hydrothermal Vents (D4)

1. Abyssal Brazier, provides infinite food if you float in the air above it.
2. Neck Extender, if this tubeworm is eaten, your neck gains the ability to
stretch up to 10 feet. Your scuba gear stretches with your neck.
3. Tubeworm Translation Guide, allows you to speak with tubeworms,
who give you useful tidbits on the surrounding depths.
4. Glowworm, This tubeworm emits light and is springy, letting it be
fired up to a long distance and light faraway objects.

Whalefall (D4)
1. Scavenger’s Delight, a hunk of whale flesh that never rots, and can
feed your crew for 4 weeks.
2. Enriching Bones, that, when gnawed upon for an hour, give you +1 to a
random stat.
3. Sulphophilic Infusion, your body starts to produce nutrients, letting
another creature eat one of your limbs to gain +2 permanent HP.
4. The Elegy, a tablet that reanimates the Whalefall to serve you. HP 50,
Morale -, No Armor, deals D10 damage.

72
Piscine Afterlife (D4)
1. Fishbone Guitar, a guitar made of the bones of fish, forces all
adversaries to roll twice and use the lower roll when they test morale.
2. Ectoplasmic Spawn, a substance that can coat an object to allow that
object to become incorporeal or cease being so at your command.
3. Reaper’s Lost Checklist, gain +D2 HP for each of your previously dead
characters in this campaign.
4. Skeletal Fin, the fin of a great ossified leviathan. Attaching it to your
spine lets you deal double damage to large sea creatures.

The Trench Floor (D4)

1. The Captain’s Lost Amulet, inside lies their connection to the surface.
2. The Captain’s Discarded Gun, lost in a mortal conflict.
3. The Captain’s Pauldron, it’s meaning revoked long ago.
4. The Captain’s Hope, a fired flare gun that could not penetrate the
darkness.

73
 Advenure Hooks
Contact (D10)
1. The chairman of a famous corporation
2. A military officer
3. A world leader
4. An old friend
5. A crazy fisherman
6. A person in your collective dreams
7. The soul of the Captain
8. Military Employment
9. Clippings from a local paper
10. Revenge itself brought you here

Adventure Spark (D10)

1. Find something in a shipwreck
2. Retrieve something important
3. Find the remains of someone
4. Set up an outpost within the Trench
5. Catalogue some of the life forms within the Trench
6. Document a certain environment within the trench
7. Kill something
8. Find someone who’s still alive
9. See what’s at the bottom
10. Kill Dagon

74
The Catch (D10)
1. Something crucial is missing
2. The pathway down is temporarily blocked
3. It’s guarded by a hadal leviathan
4. The Deep Ones got there first
5. Communication is cut off halfway through the expedition
6. The true contact is Dagon, having mislead the characters to fall right
into their trap
7. The contact betrays you
8. The task given is impossible
9. There’s a red herring of some kind
10. No catch

Once the Task is Completed you Must

(D10):
1. Escape to the surface
2. Fend off hostile sealife
3. Escape through a narrow cave network
4. Pilot a damaged submarine
5. Sacrifice something to Dagon
6. Complete a second task the Contact didn’t mention (roll on the
Adventure Spark table again)
7. Travel a layer down and do it again.
8. Take shelter from a Leviathan
9. Calm a natural disaster, such as the Ascendant Caldera erupting or the
Choking Cloud growing further.
10. Roll on this table twice, ignoring further rolls of 10.

75
 Written Album
Commentary
One of my goals when writing BËNTHIC, both the game and album, was to
create the most ambitious TTRPG soundtrack in the industry. I wrote the
album before I wrote the book in fact, and the structure of the book,
descending locale after locale, was done for the sake of the soundtrack, so
each locale can have their own theme. It’s an ambitious premise and an
even more ambitious album, clocking in at over 2 hours and 40 minutes. So
I felt it fitting to add in a written album commentary for the BËNTHIC
album at the end of the book, going into some detail on my process for
crafting each piece as I did.

The Main Motif

The main motif of BËNTHIC, which sneaks its way into most pieces in the
album, is an octave jump between D notes. It’s a very simple main idea I
try and iterate on and sneak into as much as I can. Listen for it during your
travels through the deep, it shall guide your descent downwards.

The Antediluvian Trench

The theme designed for character creation. This was not originally the
first piece in the album, but when it began taking on a darker general tone
I added it to reflect that. This is first time I used the electric keyboard
sample I would use throughout the entire album, and I usually chose to
reserve it for more sorrowful pieces, such as this or Asphyxiation. This is
inspired by composer Chris Christodoulou’s piece Coalescence, which uses
the same keyboard sound in a similarly sorrowful piece. In general Chris
Christodoulou was a huge inspiration, not just in the style of composition
for this album but in my music as a whole, down to naming almost all my
pieces after water in some way. This piece is named after the fictional
trench the game takes place in.

BËNTHIC
While the main theme of the album, I chose not to include it throughout
the entire soundtrack, instead opting for the more subtle main motif I
spoke about earlier. The descending piano in this piece is a literal take on
one of the main themes of the game: descent. In fact, the entire theme
76 depicts the main themes of BËNTHIC: descent, mystery, and tragedy. This
piece also uses all the synths that appear consistently in the album, a sine
wave that appears in almost every piece and is usually playing the main
motif, a lead synth that plays melodies in a lot of pieces, and a weird choir
thing that gives off those underwater vibes. Another central part of the
BËNTHIC soundscape, especially the earlier written pieces, is the
background instruments fading away, which is done first in this song. The
word benthic is an adjective meaning at the bottom of a body of water.

Only Poetry or Madness Could Do Justice

This is the first piece I wrote for the album, exactly 1 year before its
streaming release on December 11th, 2024. You can see a lot of the core
components of the album here, including the main motif being played in
unison, fading instruments, and a cloudy soundscape. It’s the only piece in
the album I’d call genuinely “happy”. Even the other happy pieces have a
slight air of mystery or tragedy to them, but this piece is just pleasant, and
influenced how the Fractured Reef is the only locale where things are just
subtly wrong, and not blatantly wrong. This also might be the least
melodic piece in the album, besides obvious exclusions like Hydraulics and
Tides of Far Spheres. The name is a quote from The Call of Cthulhu, and I
felt it fit perfectly with the piece and locale. Every piece here is named
after either an H.P. Lovecraft story or water, and this time it’s named after
both.

Love & Doldrums

Originally written for a scrapped project of mine, Love & Doldrums ended
up becoming sort of a second main theme to the album, giving how
emotional the main melody is, to the point where I reused it for the final
piece. I improvised the melody for this while humming along to the piece
Death Spiral by Dabu, from the Dwarf Fortress OST. The rest of the
elements were built around that main melody. This is also the first piece
with those synth plucks I use as percussion in a couple of songs, and they
help give the song its special tone. The name here is one of the few of my
own creation, combing love and the doldrums, which are the spaces in the
ocean with no wind, where boats can get stuck unable to move. It’s
traditional pop song naming that I thought would fit this piece.

Internal Tides
The bass and drums make their entrance to the album right here, and
they’re probably the most common element among all the songs
alongside the main sine wave. I wrote this piece to be deliberately the
most basic locale theme, since the Cyclopean Slopes are supposed to be
the liminal space between the other locales. This is the middle ground in
every way, not going crazy in any direction with the price and 77
 encompassing all the themes of BËNTHIC pretty equally. This also feels
like a good point to note that the tracks are arranged in the album as if it
were a solo album, and aren’t in chronological order as to where they’d
play in-game. I named the piece after internal tides (no shit), which are
tidal patterns that form under the ocean.

The Moon-Ladder
The first combat track and the simplest one, introducing the timbre the
rest would use and not much more. The one thing that does make this
piece special is the really dissonant piano, which compliments the bass,
drums and guitar in its own special way. The combat tracks in general are
some of the most unique pieces I’ve written, trading my usual electronic
style for a very rock/metal sound. I kind of like to think that throughout the
album, the different instruments represent different forces, synth and
acoustic elements representing the trench while the guitars and basses
represent humanity. In that way the boss tracks are the themes of the
divers exploring the trench, and not the themes of its natural habitats,
which I find cool thematically, as they only play when humanity intrudes
on the Trench. The name here is taken from The Dunwich Horror by H.P.
Lovecraft.

Adrift
A sudden snap back to eerie peace following the two preceding driven
pieces, Adrift is the theme that lies between all the other ones, designed
to play during breaks at the game table. To that purpose it’s subtle and
reserved, a quiet lament portraying the unforgiving sea. My favorite
moment in the piece is when it cuts back to a quiet piano after the
crescendo, it’s a bit of dynamics I find really fitting for the climax. I also
think this is one of the better sounding tracks in the album. Sometimes I
think the soundscape for BËNTHIC is held back by the subpar instrument
samples and downright bad drum samples, but those are absent here and
because of that it sounds pretty good. The name of this track is the easiest
to understand in the entire album, and represents the existential vibe of
the piece.

The Wreckage
This to me is humanity’s theme song, as Dagon is theme song of Dagon
and Thanks for All the Fish is the theme song of the Antediluvian Trench.
That intrepid curiosity and inherent destruction are both depicted here,
especially with that gnarly disgusting synth in the second half. This piece
is one of the more bass-heavy pieces in the first half of the album, with
that bassline persisting throughout almost the entire piece, alongside the
78 deep, almost horn-like synth playing the main motif and that quiet little
melody. This alongside Adrift is probably the most uncreative name in the
entire album, and I kind of regret not finding a better one for it. However,
it’s still a decent name and fits considering you are literally exploring the
wreckage of an ocean liner.

Algal Bloom
This is one of the darkest themes in the first half of the album (although it
doesn’t hold a candle to the abyssal darkness of the second half), which fits
the insidious nature of the Choking Cloud and it’s hivemind. I wanted to
write a really “cloudy” piece, stacking flowy ambient synths on top of each
other to create a miasma of weird harmony. I also tried to go for kind of an
EDM reference with those beatpump strings in the background, which cut
out only briefly when the main melody first hits. This is also the first time
the main motif is used as the melody of a track, which I would also do in
Reverse Osmosis since the two pieces are thematically intertwined with
each other. The track is named after the inspiration of the Choking Cloud,
real life algal blooms, which are pretty scary things for the ecosystem.

Citarum
I thought it would be interesting thematically if the theme for the
Unorthodox Pipes, possibly the most disgusting locale in the book, was
almost strangely beautiful, so I gave it a really upbeat happy vibe. The real
beauty of the piece can be seen when the two main melodies are playing
at the same time, a duet floating above the destitution of the rest of the
locale. It also contrasts the almost industrial bassline and drum beat that
persists throughout the track, both that and the melody spurned on by the
piano playing behind everything. This track also features violin playing by
my mom, Theresa Zitkevitz. Since I had access to a professional violinist, I
decided I might as well add in a brief cameo, and it’s the only live
instrumentation in the entire album. The piece is named after the
Citarum, one of if not the most polluted rivers in the world.

Always a Bigger Fish (Bass Version)

I really wanted to write a bass centric piece, and this ended up being the
chance to do so. I like the fact that the name of the piece, Always a Bigger
Fish, suggests that there will in fact be a bigger fish, with the metaphorical
bigger fish being the full piece in the second half of the album. This piece
is the bass and drums from that track, with the drums pitch-bent and the
ending taken out so the kick drums can lead immediately into Reverse
Osmosis. This was actually written before the full Always a Bigger Fish,
and all the melody and everything else in that was based off of this track.
The name is a quote from Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, and also a
subtle reference to the hit Broadway musical Big Fish, which is 79
 deliberately referenced in another combat track as well.

Reverse Osmosis
Algal Bloom, Citarum, and Reverse Osmosis form a trio, covering the three
filthy areas in the book. Reverse Osmosis acts as the in-between between
the two prior pieces, lifting the strange ambience and main melody of
Algal Bloom and combining it with the more melodic aspects of Citarum.
The track also goes in its own direction, featuring weird pitch-bent drums
and gross synths. The most distinctive part of this piece though is the use
of trap drums at the climax. It’s my own personal way of taking jabs at a
style of music composition I find repetitive and boring, by placing a
reference to it in the theme for the trash area. The name is from a process
of water purification, which I used because that process requires filthy
water to purify.

Garden in the Shade

I always have one comedic track in any album I create, and here it’s by far
the most unconventional battle track, being inspired more by hip-hop and
funk than rock or metal. It’s also the only piece with actual lyrics, and
really deep metaphorical ones at that. This is the one time the
instrumentation to a song is intentionally shitty, with the main sine wave
and lead keyboard distorted and dissonant. My idea is that this is the song
an actual native denizen of the trench would make, with some broken
synthesizer salvaged from some derelict wreck. The name for this piece is
taken from the song Octopus’s Garden by the Beatles.

R’lyeh
While not the main theme, I ended up reusing the main melody of this
piece the most, appearing in Lemuria, Aquamation and Challenger Deep as
well as here. I can’t quite say why, it’s not a special or important melody,
but I liked it, it was simple enough to sneak into other places, and it pretty
well fit the main themes of the album. This music is supposed to be the
kind of melodies the deep one civilization would actually create, hence the
strangeness to the whole procession. The strings that come in are also
unusual for the usual soundscape, since, while I use strings to play chords
in pieces like BËNTHIC and Scrimshaw, but they only play the melody here.
Despite being one of the simplest pieces in the album from a theory
standpoint, I’m quite fond of this one. The name is also really obvious,
being the name of the sunken city in The Call of Cthulhu.

Lemuria
80 This piece had a lot riding on it, since it had to be a finale to the entire first
half of the album. As such I really tried to go all out with it, going to lots of
different places as the piece progresses. The main motif is really apparent
here and I actually played on the same synth from The Antediluvian
Trench, ending this section of the album the same way it began. The guitar
is the most “epic” it has even been thus far, and the drums are driving
along in a steady beat. The real twist is when I use the main melody of
R’lyeh halfway through, as this is the first time I’ve used the same melody
in two pieces besides the main motif. It then turns into a duet between
two synths, forming one harmony. My favorite part of the piece, however,
is when everything but the two synths go away and they kind of get to do
whatever they want for 30 seconds before snapping back to the end of the
song. The piece then fades out with the bassline played on an airy synth,
which transitions it into the interlude. The piece is named after the
fictional continent of Lemuria, which sank beneath the ocean.

A Brief Interlude
This piece begins with the synth from the end of Lemuria, before fading
into a reprise of BËNTHIC, with a more militaristic tone from the
introduction of the snare drum. It’s a reminder that, no matter how far
you’ve descended, you’ve still got much deeper to go. Because of this I also
added in the drone from Noiseless Infinity, showing what lies deeper and
teasing at future pieces. This is the last piece I wrote for the album, around
the middle of November 2024.

Subduction Zone
I debated heavily what track would be the first in the second half of the
album. I was between this, Garden in the Shade, and Aquamation, but
eventually settled on this one because it perfectly captured the feeling of
treachery and darkness that defines the second half of the album. The
main idea I had while writing this one was volatility, from that weird synth
thing that begins and ends the piece or the bass synth in the first half of
the track. In the second half the piece instead starts getting funky, with
the longest bass and guitar loop in the album at 16 measures. The synth
trumpet-thing in this half is also inspired by that feeling of volatility, as if
the volcano could erupt at any moment. The piece is named after a
volcanic process that occurs in deep-sea trenches.

Aquamation
The Piscine Afterlife is the strangest locale in the game, being the
psychedelic creation of trillions of dead fish combined into an ephemeral
landscape, so I wanted to give it really unique music. I settled on almost a
funeral march, with the organ and pitch-bent timpanis in the background.
Taking this idea of classical music further, the middle part of this piece is a 81
 round, something I’ve always wanted to do in my music but never at the
chance to before now. I even snuck in the main melody of R’lyeh again for
the fun of it. Originally the middle part was entirely different, as it was
going to be a reprise of the main riff of Point Nemo on kazoo. However,
upon recording my kazoo decided to immediately break, so I had to make
something new, and probably better. The piece is named after a form of
burial involving water.

Fuck You, Fuck This, and Fuck Tennis

By far the best track name in the whole album, and the only one that isn’t
a direct reference to Lovecraft or water (instead only a very distant
reference to the latter). I will actually send a free pdf of the core book
when it’s done to the first person who figures out the reference here. I’d
also like to note this piece is dedicated to one of my dearest friends, who
helped me through my own soundless depths when I really needed it
(coincidentally he’s also a tennis player). The piece is a duet between
guitar and piano, the two taking turns to do their thing and working off
each other. I’d also like to shout out the harmony played on the two guitars
at the end of the song, I like it in spite of it’s simplicity. This is probably my
favorite combat music I wrote for the soundtrack, followed semi-closely
by Lemuria. And it is my favorite title I’ve used and maybe always will be.

Hydraulics
I wanted at least one piece in this album to just be noise music, a harsh
representation of the crushing depths of the ocean, away from all the
sonorous harmony of the rest of the album. Considering they’re the only
abyssal level locale that isn’t on fire, depressed or on crack, the
Hydrothermal Vents got to harbor that piece. I’d also like to note that the
Morse code here is not in any way lore-related, and I do not recommend
translating it. The piece is named after the form of engineering that uses
water to move stuff.

A World of Daffodils
I deliberately wrote this to be as over-the-top and insane as possible, a
stark contrast to the tracks before and after this one. It has easily the
fastest tempo throughout the entire album, and the drums are played
absurdly fast, the only time I embrace the fact I’m using synthesized
instruments and let them break down entirely. The middle part especially
is insane, with the idea that the music is falling apart entirely before the
might of whatever you’re facing. And the end where the synth comes in
and starts going in and out of harmony as it travels every which way really
drives this idea home. The piece is named after lyrics from the song
82 “Daffodils” from the musical Big Fish.
Scrimshaw
This is my favorite piece in the album. I don’t think it’s the objective best,
but it’s my favorite for a lot of reasons. The first is the time signature. As
much as I didn’t use them in this album, I love weird time signatures,
especially 5/4, which I reserved exclusively for this piece. My goal with it
was to write it in a way that fully took advantage of the time signature,
not writing like it was alternating 2/4 and 3/4 but as 5/4, in all it’s facets,
especially with the main guitar melody. My main muse for this piece was
winter, not the idyllic kind with snow everywhere, but that melancholic
kind where there’s no snow but it’s cold, the trees are all dead, and the
grass is that brown. Sunsets during that time of year give off a strange
dread, like the world is on the verge of death. And that’s what I tried to
capture with this piece. I imagine being stranded away from everyone you
know and love, in a somber dead meadow at sunset. You search
desperately for the world you remember, and as night falls so does snow,
and you have to fight back the urge to give up and freeze to death. It’s
desolate, quiet, and depressing, like the Whalefall. My favorite part,
though, is when everything falls away except the guitar and drums. I have
some ideas mechanically as to why it hits so hard, but I feel for this piece
it’s better to think with emotion instead of theory. I love Scrimshaw, it’s
my favorite thing I’ve ever written even if it isn’t my best work. It’s named
after the art of inscribing images onto whale bones, the same name I gave
to my winning submission in the Cabin Fever Pirate Borg game jam.

Point Nemo
The main theme I was playing with in this piece was wonder. This track
serves as the last bastion of hope the album has before it descends into
the pieces written for the Hadal level, a final glimmer of hope before
falling into abyssal darkness. This part of the album is always funny to me,
as almost one after another we get my three favorite tracks I wrote for the
album (and my favorite tracks in general), Scrimshaw, Point Nemo, and
Yuggoth. The guitar riff at the end of this piece is one I had floating around
in my head for months before writing it down here, and my goal is to use
it in some way in all the albums I make following this. The timbre of this
piece is supposed to feel starry, like something that would play in a field of
glimmering stars, since this is the closest the Trench gets to a night sky.
This piece as a whole perfectly captures the themes of wonder and
adventure inherent to BËNTHIC, and because of that it serves an
important purpose, especially this late in the album. It’s named after Point
Nemo, the place in the ocean farthest from any land.

83
 Tides of Far Spheres
I wrote the majority of the pieces in BËNTHIC in a period of time from
December 2023 to May 2024, with the exception of this piece and
Challenger Deep, alongside the interlude. I wrote this one in July 2024. I
was heavily inspired by the second movement to the Mother of Fingers
theme from Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree. The sheer emptiness of
that piece really grabbed me, and I wanted to make something just like it.
While not pure noise music like Hydraulics, this is one of the most
atmospheric tracks in the game, making it even more peculiar as one of
the combat tracks. Most of the instruments here are actually pitch-bent
downwards, adding to the abyssal tones of the piece. It get its name from
a line from the short story Azathoth by H.P. Lovecraft, the same short
story I got the name Noiseless Infinity from.

Always a Bigger Fish

The proper Always a Bigger Fish, I really like how this piece gets
foreshadowed in the first half of the album with this bass version, and I
think the proper version does live up to the hype, especially with the way-
overboard ending. This piece is essentially the finale to the metal portions
of the album, where I pull out all the stops and bring out all the aspects of
those songs in full force. That’s all I can really add that I didn’t cover in the
bass version.

Yuggoth
While Scrimshaw is my favorite piece in the album, I think this is the best
in terms of composition, so it’s a fitting last piece before the finale. I
incorporated some psychedelic elements into this piece, specifically with
the sitar in the background, to reference the mushrooms of the Toxic
Spore Stream. The main melody, alongside some background synths, is a
callback to one of my prior albums, Out of the Dregs. It’s not a good album
by any stretch of the imagination, but it has personal significance to me so
I reprise it occasionally. This is also the one time where the emotional
energy of a track doesn’t really match the emotions of it’s location, and I
think that almost unnecessary level of emotion is cool in it’s own way. This
piece is named after the Fungi from Yuggoth in the H.P. Lovecraft universe,
as another reference to mushrooms.

Noiseless Infinity
No other piece in the album better exemplifies the crushing darkness of
the bottom of the Antediluvian Trench than this one, and that’s
intentional. All harmonic elements here are derived from the main motif,
84 because this is what BËNTHIC was always about: the bottom of the trench
and the horror inside it. This track is unpredictable and very
uncomfortable, with that ugly chiptune synth and the crushing repeating
bass. This piece also introduces Dagon’s motif, two dissonant notes that
also play in the track Dagon. For the end of this piece I recorded the closing
lines from the short story Dagon, then reversed and distorted them. The
piece, like Tides of Far Spheres, gets its name from the short story
Azathoth by H.P. Lovecraft. The name works really well to describe the
dark depths of the ocean.

Dagon
There’s a lot of dread riding on this piece, the theme for the main
antagonist of the game. What makes it unique is that I wrote such a dread-
inducing piece using the same synths I’ve used throughout the album, the
same sine wave and choir in most of the other tracks. It felt ill-fitting to
have some super intense metal piece for Dagon’s battle theme, so I
instead chose a slow ramp into dread and despair, doing as best as I could
to capture the unknowable cosmic force of the God of Fish. The static at
the end serves as a transition to Asphyxiation, abruptly cutting into that
piece’s sorrowful keyboard melody.

Asphyxiation
I struggled hard with this piece. Not really in the composition aspect of it,
but in the mixing. While I’m proud of my compositions throughout the
album, the mixing is kind of a mess at times and the samples instruments
could be a lot better. Those problems reach their head in this piece. I love
the writing here, but no matter what I tried it just wouldn’t stop peaking,
especially at the end with the guitars. In the end, almost admitting defeat
in the same way the Captain does, I just made everything quieter, and
what should be the emotional climax of the album is just a quiet, feeble
echo. Maybe that’s fitting for the Captain’s theme. The actual composition
here is beautiful, maybe my most emotional work, and fitting considering
it was inspired by emotions I was feeling when I wrote it. And the postlude
is also superb, a worthy sendoff to the Captain in my opinion. I still like this
piece, but this is the one time I couldn’t sort out the mixing well enough.
So instead of one of my best pieces, it’s just pretty good. I think I’m OK
with that honestly. I think that’s alright.

BËNTHIC (Hadal Mix)

This was my way of ending things how they began, albeit I wrote this only
after the burnt of the music in the album, far from the actual end of
releasing the OST. I think this is much better timbre-wise than the original
BËNTHIC, albeit they both have their ups and downs. I find it really
provocative to include a hollow reprise of the main theme after the whole 85
 rollercoaster of emotion that is Asphyxiation, both grounding and
retrospective in it’s own way.

Challenger Deep
Written far after everything else in the album, this was my way of saying
goodbye to the compositions I’d created. When you work on something so
long, especially something as huge as this, it gets kind of hard to stop
working on it, to pause and say: “This is finished. It’s not perfect but it’s
about as good as I can make it right now”. It’s not the end of this
soundscape of course. If there are any supplements for BËNTHIC in the
future they’ll be getting their own, hopefully much shorter soundtracks as
well, but this mammoth, this beast I’ve poured my love and sorrow and life
into, needs to leave the nest and be greeted by the world. So I wrote this
piece as it’s final parting gift, hope for a future where we meet again and
understanding that it’s time to move on to what’s next. This album’s far
from perfect, hell this piece isn’t perfect either. But I think it’s undeniably
impressive, 2 hours and 40 minutes of thought-out melodic music to
accompany every part of an entire TTRPG, something that’s never really
been done before. And that’s what this piece is about. It’s my sendoff and
a celebration of this album’s arrival into the world. Maybe that’s a bit deep
for a TTRPG soundtrack maybe 2 people will listen to, but if I was writing
for anyone but myself I’d be doing it wrong.

Thanks for All the Fish

While not sharing its name, this is the theme of the Antediluvian Trench,
as The Wreckage is for humanity and Dagon is for Dagon. It is vast, it is
infinite, and it is apathetic to all mortal desires. It simply is, not good or
bad but true and undeniable. So I find it fitting to write something this
meandering and existential for it. The fact that this is the longest piece in
the album fits the vast emptiness of both the Trench and the Open Ocean,
where it plays. It’s also a final sendoff to the soundscape of the OST, with
that sine wave, the weird choir, and the lead synth comprising the
majority of the piece, backed by a couple other vast-sounding synths. The
ending here is also funny, with the main sine-wave on it’s own for the first
time in the whole album and just being pitch-bent to hell and back as it
fades away. This piece is named after the book in the Hitchhiker’s Guide to
the Galaxy series by Douglas Adams. It was originally named Open Ocean,
which fit but was uncreative, then The Antediluvian Trench, which got
moved around with a couple other titles last minute, which is when I gave
it the name it has now. In spite of being a last minute change I think it
could be the most fitting name in the whole album.

86
They Shall Rise (and on the Surface Die)
I had my work cut out for me on this one. How was I going to cap off an
actual musical odyssey such as this? Well I started with the main motif on
the keyboard, with the both the synth pluck percussion and sampled
drums, both percussion I used taking turns. The piece then transitions
into a reprise of Love & Doldrums, a melody that feels very core to the
main themes of BËNTHIC and could genuinely be called nostalgia
considering it’s likely been almost 3 hours since you last heard it if you’re
listening to the album the whole way through. The bass that comes in is
actually playing a pattern very similar to Asphyxiation, really showing the
journey both the explorers of the trench and you, the listener, have gone
on. The piece then ramps up into a full guitar solo, with the second time a
choir is ever used in BËNTHIC, after only Noiseless Infinity. Finally, I finish
the album how I began it, with Only Poetry and Madness Could Do Justice,
the very first piece I wrote exactly one year before the OST’s official
release. The synth in the background is actually playing a melody from Bo
Burhham’s That Funny Feeling, a very deliberate and personal reference.
After that, it’s just the main motif on the lead synth and the album is over.
The piece’s name is a modification on the poem The Kraken by Alfred Lord
Tennyson.

87
 Index
Character Creation - pg. 4
Weapons - pg. 6
Armor - pg. 7
Abilities & Tests - pg. 8
Carrying Capacity - pg. 9
HP - pg. 9
Combat - pg. 10
Resupply - pg. 12
Reaction & Morale - pg. 13
Vengeful Mariner - pg. 14
Disgraced Shipwright - pg. 16
Cleansed Researcher - pg. 18
Naval Rachis - pg. 20
Deep One - pg. 22
Tired Admiral - pg. 24
Enlightened Spider Crab - pg. 26
Scouring Tide - pg. 28
Nemo’s - pg. 30
Random Character Trait Tables - pg. 31-34
Improvement - pg. 35
BËNTHIC Boons - pg. 36
Shrines - pg. 40
Locales - pg. 45-63
Treasure - pg. 68-73
88 Adventure Hooks - pg. 74-75