Saturday, August 21, 2021

Exalted Blasphemies - Fan Made Expansion for Deep Madness Boardgame

This is a portal page to a variety of other posts, all regarding my immersion into the Depp Madness universe. Phil Blake, an (the?) uber fan of Deep Madness (Diemension Games), painter of miniatures, and game addict had a vision: make playable scenarios for all the epic monsters" from the Kickstarter Campaign who did not get a proper one. 

For those not familiar, Kickstarter enables Diemension Games to crowdfund a cosmic-horror dungeon crawler; extra monsters (i.e. bosses) were designed as miniatures as stretch goals (bonuses). However, so many Epic Monsters were funded, they were birthed without scenarios to play them. Of course, the bosses could be inserted into existing scenarios, but they did get specific scenarios designed for them!

Phil Blake championed the fan community to get a team together, and I played a small part: writing intro stories for two Epic Monsters scenarios to fill the gap. Many others helped Phil Blake, and he has been gracious in communicating thanks to all. This post reveals how to access the entire expansion. My stories can be read in the other two posts revealed today:


Deep Madness - Scenario Guide, Interview & Book Review

As it turns out, I have already worked with Phil Blake to create the Deep Madness scenario guide (Scenario Guides version 8, link): How many scenarios are there across all the official expansions? Where does one start? How does the story develop...and which ones feature your favorite epic monster? The guide has it all.

Alas, my OCD extended further in the past. I had already cornered Deep Madness writer Byron Leavitt for a Black Gate magazine interview.  This goes into his creative process, his cancer challenges, and his work with the Diemension Games team. Also, I reviewed his Deep Madness inspired novel Shattered Seas.


Here's how to access and print the entire Exalted Blasphemies Expansion

I'm simply reposting the instructions Phil Blake came up with. Generally, if you are a fan of the game (or plan to become one) you are invited to join the Deep Madness Fans on Facebook ... and secondarily the Board Game Geek community. In both places, you'll find all the scenario guides and expansions. 


Just want to print a PDF yourself at home? Grab the PDF here: 


Want to print a hardcover via Lulu?  Follow Phil's instructions (copy/pasted from his post):

This is the Interior content of Exalted Blasphemies, designed for use for professional printing in hardback. You will also require the separate cover file that can be found here:

link to cover on Facebook Files

Instructions on how to get it professionally printed are found further below:
Exalted Blasphemies is a fan-made expansion for Deep Madness, focussed around granting specific scenarios for the Epic monsters that where available as paid add-ons during the KS campaigns. I hope people in turn get more life out of these epic monsters and enjoy the selection of diverse scenarios and stories contained within this free expansion, and the greatest reward would be seeing photos of people playing the scenarios or commenting on the stories.
Hardcover Printing Instructions for Lulu
Since this is a free, fan-made book, I am not morally or legally allowed to set up a print on demand distribution. Which means you will need to set up an account with a print on demand company and upload files for printing (for personal use only). The directions I list below are for the company Lulu, but you are free to use any print on demand company you choose.
Go to lulu.com and create an account.
2. Under the CREATE tab, click the PRINT BOOKS option.
3. Click the button START YOUR PRINT BOOK
4. Enter your login credentials
5. In the START YOUR PROJECT section, choose PRINT BOOK
6. In the SELECT YOUR GOAL section, choose PRINT YOUR BOOK. (Do NOT select Publish your book for sale on Amazon. You will get sued. 🙂 )
7. In the BOOK DETAILS section, enter a project title of your choice. I recommend Exalted Blasphemies. Enter a language and CATEGORY, which is required.
8.Click the DESIGN YOUR PROJECT button at the bottom of the page to proceed to the Design page
9. In the INTERIOR FILE UPLOAD section, upload the file named "Exalted Blasphemies Interior Final PDF"
10. Wait for the file to upload and normalize. This can take a few minutes. Be patient and get yourself a cold beverage.
11. When the upload finishes, you will see some warnings. Like most warnings in life, feel free to ignore these.
In the BOOK SPECIFICATIONS section, the BOOK SIZE AND PAGE COUNT should already be pre-filled at US letter and 34 pages, respectively.
12. In the INTERIOR COLOR section, choose COLOR PREMIUM for the best quality color.
13.In the PAPER TYPE section, choose 80# COATED WHITE for the best paper quality.
14. In the BOOK BINDING section, choose HARDCOVER. Feel free to choose a different binding if that floats your boat.
15. In the COVER FINISH section, choose GLOSSY or MATTE, your choice.
16. Wait a moment for the PRINT COST to load. For me it was almost £12. This is a printing fee for Lulu, and I do not receive a penny of this, nor does Diemension Games.
17.In the DESIGN YOUR COVER section, make sure the UPLOAD COVER FILE option is selected.
Upload the file named "Cover Exalted Blasphemies PDF"
After a minute, the PREVIEW will load. This preview will give you a basic idea of what the book will be like, but it is just a preview and not super-high quality. (note the final picture of Forsaken does not show on the preview but will still print.)
18.When you are ready, click the REVIEW BOOK link at the bottom.
19.This brings you to a page where you can review the final specifications. Click the checkbox next to CONFIRM BOOK SPECIFICATIONS AND FILES
20.Click the ADD TO CART button when it becomes enabled
21.Click the CART icon at the top of the page and make the purchase. The shipping for me was around £3.50, but of course that will vary depending where you are located. (Also keep an eye out for discount codes on the home page.)
22. Feel free to print a copy for yourself or your friends, but DO NOT PRINT COPIES FOR SALE.
Note: The hardback book you receive from Lulu will not be perfect. There might be alignment issues with the binding, scratches, the interior margins might be tight, and the endsheets will be a boring white. That being said, it will still kick ass!
A massive thanks goes to Fabio Faletti for his many, many hours (and so many edits) to make this document as graphically pleasing as possible. Just don't mention the Forsaken.
Seth Lindberg and Saamm Dean Dean for contributing their artistic talent to provide additional stories and share that burden as well as additional proof reading.
Oscar Bok and Mark Turner for their time in playtesting these horrific scenarios to make sure things played smoothly, made sense and asking all those great questions.
and also to Byron Leavitt and the rest of the DM team for generally providing support, sharing files and keeping the community engaged.
Lastly credit to Ken Meyri whom paved the way in organising fan made content to be professionally printed, and whose instructions to achieve this I shamelessly stole.