You will receive an immediate download of the Beta PDF when pre-ordering.
Descend into the depths in Fathom, a fast-playing miniatures skirmish game set in an alternate 1931 where rival Dive Team Organizations battle to recover the world's most valuable resource, Marineium. Beneath the ocean lies opportunity, but every expedition risks hostile dive teams, dangerous seafloor hazards, and strange threats that lurk in the deep.
Players command a three-member Dive Team made up of a Dive Master, First Mate, and Specialist. The game plays on an 18x24" table space. Each team deploys from a Diving Bell, explores multi-level underwater battlefields, extracts Marineium, and completes missions while managing the hazards of operating on the seafloor.
Every action in Fathom is resolved using the Cost of Success dice system. When a diver attempts an action, players roll a pool of custom D6 Hazard Dice based on their skills and current Hazards. The more Hazard symbols rolled, the greater the price of success. Players must decide whether to damage their Dive Suit, wear down valuable equipment, or pay the action's unique Cost of Success to complete the task. Every roll becomes a meaningful risk-versus-reward decision.
The rulebook contains everything needed to begin exploring the depths, including:
The Fathom Core Rulebook includes:
- Complete core rules in a digital PDF format
- Rules for creating your own Dive Team
- Multiple missions and deployment setups
- Campaign progression
- Deep Sea Threats
- Equipment, dive suits, and weapons
- Rules for generating varied underwater battlefields
- Tons of human-made writing, artwork, photography, and graphic design
Additionally, you will also receive the following bonus digital downloads
- Print-and-play reference cards
What are the rules like?
Fathom is a fast-playing skirmish game where each player commands a three-person Dive Team consisting of a Dive Master, First Mate, and Specialist. Every game begins by generating a unique underwater mission, building a multi-level seafloor full of wrecks, elevations, Marineium deposits, dangers, and Deep Sea Threats. Your team must navigate the depths, recover valuable Marineium, and complete objectives while avoiding rival divers and the horrors lurking below.
The core of the game is the Cost of Success system. Instead of asking whether an action succeeds, Fathom assumes your divers are skilled enough to get the job done. Skill Checks are resolved using D6 Hazard Dice, with each Hazard symbol increasing the price of success. Players must decide whether to damage their equipment, strain their dive suit, or accept the action's unique consequence to achieve their goal, creating meaningful decisions with every roll.
As the mission unfolds, your Dive Team accumulates Hazards, equipment wears down, currents and weight affect movement through the battlefield, and every decision becomes a choice between securing one more piece of Marineium and making it back to the Diving Bell in one piece.
What do you need to play Fathom?
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Each player will need a Dive Team consisting of three models.
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A Dive Team Roster sheet
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4-8 Marineium tokens
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Models to represent the different Threats of the Deep (In the Game there are the following threats, Giant Squid, Giant Crab, Shark, Animated Caskets, Sea Mines)
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6-10 Hazard Dice (Available as a free STL or here)
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Some dice or tokens to represent Marinium Token Difficulty.
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An 18”x24” play surface with varying elevations for models to explore
