Best Left Buried by Soul Muppet is a grim, Darkest Dungeon inspired dungeon crawler, with a simple but brutal system. Characters aren’t really expected to last long, or come out of a delve unscarred.
The system is basically 2d6 plus your stat vs. a difficulty number, with 9 as the default. There’s an advantage mechanic where you roll 3d6 and drop the highest or lowest depending on if you have the Upper Hand or are Acting against the Odds.
In combat you roll 3 dice, pick two for your to-hit, and the last is used for damage.
Finally a shout out to their safety advice – they call out that the game has some uncomfortable themes, tell you to ditch anything that makes you or your players unhappy, and that your table should be a safe place even as characters are going through the wringer.
The GM’s guide, The Doomspeakers guide to Horror, goes into a bit more detail, with the following two paragraphs standing out.
Other people don’t want to experience their fears directly. Best Left Buried
might not be the game for them, but if they wish to play, it is your duty as the Doomsayer to make sure they can without real discomfort. If something
feels so unpleasant a player wishes to quit, you screwed up.
and
As a rule of thumb, always avoid bestiality, mind control, sexual violence or torture. Some things should be kept out of roleplaying games.
Compared to the tone of some other grimdark and OSR games this is a breath of fresh air.
Basically, if your game makes people so uncomfortable they want to leave, you aren’t some genius pushing the boundaries of the hobby, you’re a fuckup as a GM.
Anyway on with the characters. I’ve chosen to remake the four Mazes characters; Scorched Henry is getting a character sheet, the others will just be presented in text below, nor am I listing their equipment. To create a character you assign your three stats, select an Archetype (or the freeform ‘Everyman’ one), and pick your equipment.
Sir Cassius of the Broken Oath
Archetype: Protagonist
| Brawn | Wit | Will | Affluence |
| 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Vigour | 8 | Grip | 5 |
Abilities and Advancements
Saving the day
What is a hero but the sum of their deeds? Twice per Adventuring Day, while engaging in heroic feats, you can re-roll 1 die used in a Stat Check or Attack.
Saviour of the People
The common folk adore Protagonists, granting the Upper Hand on Wit Checks convincing friendly NPCs to assist heroic deeds.
No Stain on My Honour
Heroes never lie, even when situations demand it and are Against The Odds on Wit Checks to deceive an NPC. If they succeed, they take a Grip Check.
I Shall Protect Thee!
Protagonists never stand by while their friends die. When an enemy uses a Finish Them! move on a downed ally, they must attempt a Heroic Rescue if possible, disregarding danger
My shining armour gleams
Non-magical Attacks against the Cryptdigger are Against The Odds.
Sir Cassius loses his squire, but could gain them back by obtaining a follower.
Tally Gearwise
Archetype: Everyman
| Brawn | Wit | Will | Affluence |
| 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| Vigour | 7 | Grip | 4 |
Advancements and abilities
The Everyman gets something they’re good at, and something they’re bad at rather than the abilities of the other archetypes.
Good at
Book smarts: Tally has read a lot in her past life and knows things, even if she doesn’t have as much practical experience as the others.
Bad at
Paying attention to surroundings when it doesn’t involve traps.
Trap Breaker
The Cryptdigger has the Upper Hand on Stat Checks to make, modify or disable traps or secret doors, and on Observation Checks to detect them.
Igmoth of the Deeps
Archetype: Outcast
| Brawn | Wit | Will | Affluence |
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Vigour | 6 | Grip | 6 |
Advancements and abilities
True Grit
Outcasts are grizzled folk used to the world’s worst. The first time each
Adventuring Day an Outcast would spend or lose 1 Grip, they retain it.
Home In The Wild
Outcasts are skilled survivalists, with the Upper Hand on Will Checks to forage or navigate wilderness.
Not A People Person
Most Outcasts live outside society’s boundaries and are Against The Odds on Wit Checks when interacting with NPCs.
Igmoth’s shapechanging ability from Mazes has no equivalent, so I’ve tried to maintain some of the flavour by giving him the advancement that grants supernatural senses; there are several options of which you can pick two each time you take the advancement.
Otherworldly Perception
• Eyes of Cinder: Peer through non-supernatural darkness as if it’s low light.
• Thermomancy: Know the exact temperature of a distant object without touching it.
Spend 1 Grip to amplify the character’s normal senses 1 of their chosen supernatural senses for 5 minutes.
This may grant the Upper Hand on some Observation Checks, or make Impossible Observation Checks possible. The process is disorientating and often disrupts other senses, so other Observation Checks not amplified by Otherwordly Perception are Against The Odds while active.
Would I play this?
Yes, and I have run it in the past, though only as a one shot. There are some really neat adventures and mini-campaigns for it, one of which, Beneath the Missing Sea, I really would like to run some time.