Underclock Modding And The Stalker

Ever since reading about the Underclock on Goblin Punch I’ve been obsessed with it. A ticking time bomb always in the background of every decision made by the players that they can see and interact with in a more tangible way than any other type of random encounter. In the survival horror style game I enjoy this element of time keeping has replaced my use of one my most well worn tools in the Overloaded Encounter Die. Although still one of my favorite tools the Underclock and its ability to create tension has supplanted it for the time being in my DM toolbox. However, just like with the Overloaded Encounter Die, it does leave a lot of room to interpret, tweak, and hack to fine tune it for a specific feeling. Since my current obsession is with Amnesia The Bunker’s Stalker I thought it could be interesting to explore how we emulate being hunted down by an unstoppable beast like that using the Underclock as an ever sinking hour glass of it’s inevitable arrival.

Underclock Additions And Tweaks

In my tinkering I've landed on three main additions to the Underclock;

1. Complications. When the Underclock die explodes it triggers a complication. Complications are tied to the environment or the dungeon itself.

Now, complications are really a way for me to reclaim the locality effect I miss from the overloaded encounter die result. This can be as simple as prompting a change in the weather or as extreme as causing a blackout in a once well lit room or hall. Adding complications to the Underclock roll adds an additional layer of complexity to exploration and some spice to encounters both rolled and static.

Ex. Heavy rains begin to pour into the trench causing the floor to become slick and sucking mud.

 

2. Alert. When 10 or more is rolled on the Underclock Die the implacable unstoppable foe shows up immediately for a scene. If this same roll triggers an encounter both happen. If the encounter is also with the creature something even worse happens along with it. 

By contrast Alert has little to do with anything gleaned from the random encounter roll but instead on trying to capture a particular moment in Amnesia. When you've made way too much noise by blowing open a door, shooting a lock, or just throwing something heavy and the Stalker comes through a hole in the wall to investigate. In this way causing a ton of noise or more aggressive problem solving by way of the characters produces an immediate response. Additionally, there is a lot of drama to be mined from the creature beginning its hunt for the character's just as a swarm of rats is rushing through the hallway looking for shelter from it.

Ex. The Stalker appears from a nearby vent. If blocked, will smash whatever is in its way. OR if the Stalker is already alerted a wave of rats rush out fleeing from it in the direction of the squad.

3. Doom. Every time the Underclock Encounter is triggered the state of the dungeon shifts and gets worse adding new elements to the environment. A different kind of timer to add even more pressure to the characters in a game where treasure matters less than survival or figuring out what's going on.

Ex. Stage 1: The generator dies and the bunker is illuminated only by red emergency lights in critical areas. Stage 2: The rain from above has begun to leak into the trench causing it to pool and flood in several areas. Stage 3: The weakened earth has allowed the Stalker to create holes to emerge from in every room. Etc.

Doom is here for pressure and keep a survival horror set piece alive and moving. Drawing heavily here from Doom Clocks in games like Liminal Horror which had an excellent effect on my campaign of the Bloom. The pace of doom is something even I'm not entirely sure about and is the most experimental of the mechanisms here but I figured I'd put it here anyway for completions sake.

Final Thoughts

This experiment will no doubt find its way into my currently ongoing campaigns as well as future drafts of The Signal. Complications I feel can be slotted in immediately without much thought while I would save Alert for situations where you want to emphasize a place as a creature's territory or lair. When it comes to Doom I would be mindful of the pace you'd like to keep your adventure when setting what events trigger from it. If you want to keep its use as primarily a punishment for leaving and coming back to the dungeon with full kit and rest like what the standard Underclock rules with an ever disappearing treasure hoard suggest you can simply have Doom tick only when the characters return rather than every time the Underclock reaches zero. At some point expect a more detailed example when I return to the Signal and outline the next level as well as revise the Trenches with additional complications, an alert involving the sniper or an artillery strike, and a Doom track to match.

Thanks for reading.