What Is Buried Deep?

What would you do, if you discovered that your family had a secret? A secret that, more than anything, wants to be found, to be brought to life?

Buried Deep is a table-top roleplaying game about uncovering a long-hidden family secret. It is a hack of Nick Bate's Stealing The Throne in which you play a family discovering that their family history is much less clear-cut than they originally thought. It draws heavily from gothic literature for inspiration, with morally grey characters and old, wealthy families with long-kept secrets that beg to be brought to the fore.

Using a deck of cards, you'll be working together to navigate the complicated process of uncovering a long buried family secret. However, you won't be doing it alone. Not only will you have your family at your side, but the secret itself longs to be uncovered, and is aiding you along the way.

Why Does This Campaign Exist

The aim of this campaign is to provide funding for artwork, editing, layout and an initial run of 100 books. The first draft of the game is done and I will be working on fleshing out each section as the campaign progresses. As soon as I have the money the game will be ready to move onto the next stages. A funding breakdown has been provided below.

Once the game is ready for the public eye, physical copies will be shipped out to anyone who backs for them and the game will be made available through Itch.io. Anyone who backed for a digital copy will receive it through Itch.io. In addition, any physical books left over from the initial run will be sold through Indie Press Revolution, to fund a second run of the books.

What's On Offer

The main thing on offer in this crowdfunding campaign are copies of the book. Both physical and digital copies will be made available if this campaign is a success. You can also purchase community copies for others to access a copy of the game for free through Itch.io. If the campaign is a success, digital copies will also be made available to backers through Itch.io. For physical copies, addresses and additional shipping costs will be gathered post-campaign before the books are shipped out.

The cover art is a custom commission for the project by Mars Drake (see credits for more details) and the layout will be completed by Jenna Figgers.

Credits

Cover image for campaign is Family History of William M. and Sallie Ann Cross, taken from the Smithsonian and used under a CC0 license.

Cover art of game by Mars Drake (MegasomaMars)