Hellwhalers

HELLWHALERS is an original TTRPG of both nautical and Christian-religious horror. Play as damned whalers, sailing hell’s oceans to hunt a monstrous leviathan whale in a bid for redemption of your immortal souls.

Whalers will earn souls through roleplay, challenges, and gambling, eventually collecting enough to pulse the Hellwhale’s disembodied heart, a blackened, grisly organ kept locked away by the captain. To pulse the heart is to summon the monster you seek: the dreaded Hellwhale. Slaying this titan of Hell’s waters is said to earn you a place back in God’s graces.

Suitable for 2-5 players and one Guide, who plays the captain, a foul tempered figure driving the whalers ever onward in a maddened quest for the whale’s flesh and blood.

Gambling plays a central role in the gameplay loop, creating a procedurally generated series of events each day. Gambling takes place on  a Sic-Bo board, a game played with three six-sided dice.

Collect lore, gamble with souls, fish hellish creatures from the depths, and fight a demon whale.

HELLWHALERS contains:

• 56 pages, dripping with carefully crafted lore, tables, rules, and art.
• A multitude of gorgeous linocut and digital prints within the book’s pages, by Albert Johnson, Lepish Susano,  and Charles Torok.
• Tables and charts of hellish locales, curses and blessings, flavorful items, and more.
• 54 pieces of collectible lore making up nine storylines, as well as seven possible endings.
• Procedurally generated events, challenges, and twists that come from the gambling results.
• Six base playbooks with thematic moods, moves, and items.
• Resource tracking in the form of weaponry, food, and repair supplies.
• A fishing minigame, with six varieties of ghastly sea life to catch.
• Beautiful character sheets that include info for the ship, with a variety of picklists and customization options.
• A bevy of old religious and maritime public domain art, edited to fit the style and layout of the book.
• Rules for side characters, including a captain’s playbook for the Guide.
• Content warnings and safety tools for the variety of heavy subject matter present in the game.
• Climactic rules for the Hellwhale encounter designed to ratchet up tension and provide a fitting end to the journey.