Sunken

An RPG of Nautical Horror – Rooted in Trophy

Drown Your Heroes

If you should know one thing about Sunken, you should know that your characters will die.

This game picks up the long tradition of stories told not of gallant survivors but of the hard-pressed, star-crossed crestfallen. As your heroes face haunting things, deep and dark and bellowing things, unfathomable things that consume all that edges to their precipice, they will undoubtedly fail.

This isn't a challenge, this is the invitation.

Capsizing Fates on a Terrible Sea

Sunken gameplay unfolds on the treacherous Salt Sea, an expansive ocean in a dark fantasy world. Deep supernatural horrors confront wooden vessels and their broken crews. Three prepared voyages – along with lore and shanties – let playgroups explore a deeply layered setting while crafting their own vision of the details. Recasting contemporary science fiction back into its origins in nautical literature, Sunken blends inspirations from across centuries – referencing Moby Dick, Alien, Jules Verne, and John Carpenter in the same gasp of breath.

Imagine twisting, brine-soaked tentacles reaching through cold, fathomless voids. And then imagine how you'd struggle to escape. 

Streamlined Rules with a Focus on Terror

Sunken features a custom ruleset based on Trophy Dark by Jesse Ross, designed for evocative one-shot play sessions – or focused, short-run campaigns. Character creation is fast but varied, and game mechanics are stripped down while still encouraging creative problem-solving. Sunken introduces Fleets – which determine the shared values of crews – and a new dice pool called the Heavens – representing the tension of faith's beacon amid the dark deluge. 

summary

• Nautical horror
• Standalone tabletop RPG
• Based on Trophy Dark
• Designed for 2-5 players
• One-shot structure (3-6 hours)
• Uses 6-sided dice

contents

• Rules & setting
• Character creation
  
  • 12 occupations
  • 10 backgrounds
  • 4 fleets
  • 6 saints
  • Over 2,500 combinations
• Voyages
  • Covenant of Silence
  • Wreck of Futility
  • The Colossus Beneath
• Lore & shanties by:
  
  • Natalie Ash
  • Aaron DeRosa
  • Gabriel Robinson
  • Richard Ruane
• Cover art by Gianna Meola
• Pattern art by Jenny Neale
• Flag designs by Yu Chang

details

• 5.5" x 8.5"
• 100 pages
• 53 illustrations
  
• Perfect-bound softcover & PDF
• First published in 2020

"A thing of beauty that harnesses a masterful deployment of layout, typography and the images of antiquity to conjure a perfect thematic wellspring from which tales might tumble."

– Andi Lennon, Mongol Cult

Sunken includes a digital copy of The Drowning Scriptures, a 32-page zine exploring the gothic faith of the Salt Sea. The zine adds:

•A new fleet, backgrounds, occupations, and saints
•Sacred texts and inspiration for voyages
•"The Farthest Shore" – A voyage by Madeleine Ember

Fall Into the Sea

The first edition of Sunken is available directly from Clear Keep and includes both a paperback and digital copy of the main book along with a digital copy of The Drowning Scriptures.