Substratum

Substratum is a system-nonspecific module for playing inside a character’s mindscape to unlock true power, discover hidden memories, or destroy an invading darkness. 

Last autumn was an absolute creative wasteland for me. I was completely drained. To try pulling up out of it, I solicited tweets including a gif and a title from a bot-generated list based on titles of my previous games. Substratum, after a rather different initial interpretation, was redone to better match its inspiration (CW: flashing lights). I wanted to explore the concept of dismantling the walls we build inside our minds that hold ourselves back. It became a narrative tool to plug into any campaign to help a character achieve a meaningful part of themself hidden away inside.

Substratum is illustrated by Buboplague. Doodler of all manner of things from whimsy folktales to drippy monsters. Works in both traditional and digital media, and enjoys long naps, spooky stories, and hot baths, but not all at the same time.