welcome
If you’re new here, this is Certain Fathoms—my weekly update on what I’m working on, what’s coming next, and whatever thoughts happen to be rattling around in my brain. I'm Bram Clark, a writer and artist currently living in Kentucky. If this is our first encounter, take a moment to subscribe—it really helps keep this whole thing afloat, and I’d love to have you along for the ride.
what's on my desk
Siren Song
Still churning out the yearbooks for Gimme Shelter and battling with the design for Saviour Machine. These damn Mages need to settle on a reality, or at least agree on which timeline they’re wrecking. The deeper I get into it, the more I realize this is one of those projects that refuses to be rushed. It wants to become what it wants to become, and I just have to guide it into something playable without losing my mind.
The Jazz Age
I haven’t talked much about what happens after both editions of Jazz Age are released, but there’s a plan. I know a few people are already working on setting books, and I’ll be adding to that landscape with two releases of my own.
The first is a Clanbook—except it’s not technically a Clanbook. It’s a Bloodline Book. (Yes, I know, but bear with me—no one’s ever really done one before, and that alone makes it worth doing.) This one focuses on the Daughters of Cacophony. I’ve reworked their Discipline powers, given them a proper history, and, most importantly, tackled the lingering question: why do they exist in the 1920s while the Lamia don’t—and why is it the reverse in the modern era? Expect it to read like the classic 1990s Clanbooks, full of history, archetypes, and notable figures.
The second is a chronicle book called Symphony of Horrors.
Symphony of Horrors is a Jazz Age story centered around one of the greatest Masquerade breaches in history—one that happened in plain sight but went unnoticed by most Kindred at the time. It’s a thriller, a mystery, and a pursuit across Europe in the wake of Nosferatu’s release, as the film’s unsettling accuracy draws more and more attention. The players aren’t just cleaning up a mess; they’re following a thread that leads to something far older and far more dangerous. I’ll leave the details under wraps for now, but expect a deep dive into the occult undercurrents of 1920s cinema, a secret war hidden beneath the silver screen, and more than a few reasons to regret watching that grainy footage in the first place.
absorbing
listening
Ecca Vandal dropped a new single this week, CRUISING TO SELF SOOTH, and it’s as brilliant as it is frustrating. Three killer singles and still no album in sight. There are hints of other tracks lurking in the ether (seriously, SORRY ! CRASH ! needs to be released already), so I’m holding onto hope.
It makes me wonder if this is the new model for musicians—skip the album cycle, drop singles, tour on those, and then release a vinyl compilation to fund the next round. It’s not a bad strategy. Keeps momentum going, keeps people engaged. And it works when the music’s this good. Click the link and listen. You won’t regret it.
what’s next?
I think next week I’ll get into the nuts and bolts of how I make these books a bit more. The process, software I use, etc. If you know someone who’d be into this, send them my way. Proclaim the miracles you have beheld this day far and wide. If you’ve got questions, thoughts, or wild theories about what I’m working on, hit reply and tell me.
See you next Sunday.
Cheers,
Bram
Oh man, I need to know more about Symphony of Horrors! Currently running an ongoing Call of Cthulhu game set in the traditional Lovecraft era that has involved the discovery of an occult film with madness inducing abilities. I'd love to delve into further pieces of supernatural film during that period. BTW, my Investigators are being teased with stories of the disappearance of their predecessors in a little town called Innsmouth.