Jaws and Deep Blue Sea inspirations for new aquatic horror RPG Dive
Because the sea is a scary place!
Explore the depths of fear in an upcoming roleplaying game set underwater, called Dive.
A horror TRPG, Dive was inspired by several classic scary movies set in aquatic locations such as the 1975 blockbuster film, Jaws, directed by Steven Spielberg, in which a sleepy coastal town is terrorised by a ferocious shark. Other inspirations for the RPG include 1999’s Deep Blue Sea - another film about a group of people being attacked by sharks - and James Cameron’s 1989 sci-fi horror movie The Abyss, in which a team of scientists are hunted by a newly discovered underwater alien species.
Dive is intended to enable games masters to create their own aquatic horror storylines, with players being able to create and control characters that must survive underwater threats. Using the panic engine introduced in Mothership - a sci-fi roleplaying game that sees players exploring strange planets and spacecraft containing numerous dangers - Dive has its players fumbling through various tasks, whilst being pursued by some underwater horror. The panic engine sees players rolling a d100 and applying any specific abilities their character might have, with the outcome of the roll determining how far they’ll succeed or fail, with Dive applying this concept to an underwater environment rather than an outer space one.
Players will be able to choose from five different classes when making their characters, including a consultant class that comes with five additional subclasses to pick from, and potentially acquire new equipment to help them in the trials ahead. Systems from both boating and submarineering have been included in Dive, as well as various procedures for deep-sea-diving. Characters in the RPG can take tattoos that grant them certain bonuses to their d100 roles, as well as discover useful d100 trinkets. GMs can work with their players to form their sea base using a generator system, with a bestiary containing both real-life and imaginary deep sea horrors for player characters to encounter.
Dive was written and designed by Jeremy Childrey, an RPG designer whose previously released games include Gordinaak - a sci-fi RPG about mech gangs - a roleplaying game centred around the strange public figure Florida Man, called Cocaine & Alligators: A Florida Man Sphere, and the short adventure Why is There a Wizard’s Tower in this Dump?
Other contributors to the RPG include editor Jarrett Crader and artists Seriously Ugly; Tony Tran; Simone Tammetta and Michael Parla.
The Kickstarter campaign for Dive will be live from February 1st, with pledge amounts and estimated delivery dates yet to be confirmed.