The Lovecraft Boat
A monstrous-maritime TTRPG about monsters who need to take over the crew jobs on a cruise ship and remain undetected.
The Game
You are monsters and have eaten the crew of a cruise ship (except for the clueless assistant waiter Steve). Now the passengers have boarded and the ship is on its way. To keep your existence a secret, you have to take over the crew jobs despite having neither the education nor the anatomy for that...
The Lovecraft Boat is a rules-light, story-centered one-shot TTRPG for 3-6 players and 1 GM. It needs very little preparation and is great as a one-shot game or for a mini campaign. If you're looking for a monstrous-maritime game with a lot of humor, you've come to the right place!
Errata (German print version)
In the section "Würfeln", the terms "links" and "rechts" have been accidentally switched in the section printed in italics above the dice rolling scale. The word "Passagier*innen" has been erroneously written in the grammatical masculine multiple times. Our apologies!
The PDFs have been corrected already (from v1.1 in German, and v1.0. in English)!
The Rules
The Lovecraft Boat is very rules-light.
In the beginning, players create their characters together and choose a few details of the cruise ship (random roll tables provide inspiration).
The GM can create your adventure and the passengers on the cruise ship with support from the random roll tables, or they can make up something themself. Any other preparation is up to you and your preferences – from 100% improvisation to detailed notes, anything is possible.
For example:
During a fashion show, nosy seniors want to repair the sonar device, which would lead to a hungry deity devouring the Earth.
Now you're ready to start your monstrous-maritime adventure! You play together to find out what happens.
For risky actions, players roll a small pool of D6 to find out if everything works as intended or if further complications come into play.
First page (in English)
Second page (in English)
The Flyer & PDF
The core game contains everything you need to play.
Format:
- 8 pages in DIN-long format (3.9 x 8.3 inches)
- 2 different layouts (2 pages for monitors in landscape format, 4 pages for smaller screens and for DIY printing)
- Full color
- Faltflyer: Stabiles Bilderdruckpapier
- PDF: Screenreader-ready with image descriptions, PDF tags, and external links
Contents:
- Character creation with relationship questions
- Instructions for play
- Random roll tables for the cruise ship, threats, and passengers.
- GM tips
You also need:
- 3 six-sided dice (D6)
- Something to write
- Appropriate consent and safety tools
- Enthusiasm for telling a story together
Links & Downloads
If you already bought the game here, you can find your own downloads in your account.
Our blog entries about The Lovecraft Boat
Credits
- Game Design: Jasmin Neitzel and Andrea Rick, mechanics based on Lasers & Feelings
- Image Research and Editing Andrea Rick
- Photos: Monsters: Chase Norton/Flickr, all others: Public Domain, Pexels, Pixabay
- Layout: Andrea Rick
- Further Inspiration: Octodad (video game), Sense & Feelings, Jörg Hagenberg (TTRPG); A Complicated Profession, Jason Price (TTRPG)
