The Devil Jonah’s Leviathan is a horror-based tabletop roleplaying game (TTRPG) for 3-6 players and a game master (GM). Players take on the role of sailors swallowed up by the great Leviathan. These doomed wretches must try to escape with their souls intact from threats by hideous creatures, treacherous players, and the machinations of Jonah, the man swallowed by a ‘whale’ in the Bible. Jonah, however, did not repent his sins as that text describes, but instead struck a bargain to drag the souls of the drowning to hell to spare himself the flames.
The game uses a bespoke card-check mechanic for resolution, similar to blackjack. The path through the beast is filled with horrors and various creatures of the deep. To create the paranoia, tension, shocks, and betrayal this kind of tale needs, this game uses two decks of standard playing cards with different fronts and backs. The GM will test players by selecting a series of cards drawn from their Leviathan Deck; players must get as close to the total value of the GM’s cards without going over by playing cards from their own hands, drawn from the Lamp Deck, representing their dwindling resources.
Can you escape the horrors inside before the Lamp runs out?
