Across the globe, Whale Disentanglement teams exist to save whales that have been tangled and/or trapped in fishing equipment. But in this TTRPG, whales have started to rip through reality. Your job? Rescue them.
Interdimensional Whale Team (IDWT) is a quick-paced, story and player driven table top roleplaying game. Heavily inspired by Blades in the Dark and Slugblaster, the game uses six sided dice (d6s) to decide the outcome of events. Evocative and rules-light, IDWT aims to give the table a task and a playground...and then let their imaginations take over.
What's Going On?
Whales are disappearing...and/or strange "whales" from other dimensions are appearing. For some reason, whales seem particularly prone to popping into and out of reality. It's an emergency! ...but not enough of one for the government to actually fund you.
Who Are You?
One player is the referee, or GM. Everyone else is an "id-wit," or a group of volunteers who train to save whales. Based on real Large Whale Disentanglement Teams from around the world, you are normal people with normal lives from a normal world who spend their off-hours training to help majestic, mountainous sea-beasts that have become trapped in man-made fishing equipment...or portals.
What Do You Get?
A small indie RPG booklet delivered via PDF. If the campaign is successful enough, we'll run a print-run! However, the plan is to donate most of the money raised to my cousin's actual large whale disentanglement team in the UK.
All pledges support an actual large whale disentanglement team. Most of the proceeds of this project will be donated to real people who save real whales trapped in fishing equipment.
Dipping Your Toe In ($1 USD)
Get a PDF of the Quickstart Rules and help whale helpers!
Jump In! ($5 USD)
Get the Quickstart Rules PDF and the full rules PDF and help whale helpers!
Canonball! ($10 USD)
Get everything in the above tiers, your name in the thanks section of the final rules, and the print version (if unlocked). And, of course, help whale helpers!
Make a Splash! ($50 USD, limit 10)
Get everything above AND name a tool, whale, or dimension in the book! And, of course, help whale helpers!
My wife's cousins joined the Large Whale Disentanglement Team in the UK a few years back. Every year when we see them around Christmas, we're fascinated to hear about their training and the actual whales they've saved...all on a shoestring budget.
As an improviser and gaming enthusiast, I knew the story of people volunteering their free time to save whales (all on a shoestring budget) would be perfect as a roleplaying game. I'm making this game because it's fun, but also because I want to help my cousins save whales!
Therefore, most of the proceeds of this project will be donated to the Large Whale Disentanglement Team. You get a fun session or campaign with your friends, and the real life team (hopefully) gets a new "MOFO" (what they call a big grappling hook with knives attached for cutting the ropes of lobster pots).
At $250, we fund! Everyone gets a PDF. If we hit 10x that goal, then we'll do a print run. The $10 pledge level and above will receive a copy (buyer pays shipping!). Quality paper, staple bound.
Why Just the One?
I'm a one-man team, though if successful, I do have an artist and graphic designer lined up to help. That said, I want to keep costs down for you and for production. Why? Because I want most of the money to go to saving actual whales.
Plan on Fall of 2026, but likely earlier, especially for the PDFs. Method still in the works, but likely the PDF will come to you through DriveThruRPG and/or itch.io. If/when the print run hits, updates will be provided.
Risks
Not many! The rules are written and are currently being playtested and refined. The biggest risk is a delay. I am a one man team, so personal disaster is always possible, but I eat healthy and wear my seatbelt.
I'm a 37 year old former high school theater teacher, voice actor, improv teacher, and dad of two young kids. I've been playing roleplaying games and acting my whole life, as both GM and player.
The project is PDF forward, but print is available at a stretch goal. It's hard to know shipping costs given the state of the world, so below is an estimate.
$10 USA
$20 UK
$25 Canada
$30 Australia, NZ, Ireland, Norway
I'm based in Maryland, so if you're local then local pickup may be available. PDFs will deliver for free, likely via DriveThruRPG.
💥 Zinetopia 2026
This project is participating in Zinetopia! A Small-format TTRPG event celebrating Zine Month running February 2–27, 2026.
📖 What is Zine Month? Zine Month is a month-long online celebration observed every February by the tabletop roleplaying game (TTRPG) community where creators share and launch new DIY zines.
🔥 Unlock the Limited Zinetopia Freebie! Receive the limited edition Zinetopia 2026 Group Zine when you back 5+ projects featuring 60+ pages from participating creators full of mini-games, sketches, activity pages, and more!
