FISH MONGERS

Leave your past high and dry, ingest unholy fish, and turn a blind eye to your sanity.

In Fish Mongers, players take on the titular role of an exiled recent arrival with a debt to pay. Mongers must angle in icy waters, stave off collectors from the Institution, and avoid a deep evil pining to end its slumber.

What is it?

A “deck-mutator” tabletop roleplaying game for 2-5 players. One as Gamemaster (GM) and the rest as Fish Mongers. This designed for (semi) traditional play, but opts to offload some aspects to the Players.  Can be run GM-less, if everyone is willing sit on the GM-bench together. An underlying goal is play is to find out how the crew of Mongers break, heal, and grow under oppressive forces.

Content Warning: body horror, cannibalism, and mental instability. Please discuss beforehand. Consider changing rules to better suit play.

Deck-Mutator?

Take a deck of cards. Scribble all over them. Cut 'em up. Tape them back together. Some cards will be lost forever. Let the deck show how a Monger changes. 

Inspirations.

• In the Mouth of Madness
• Dredge

Reference Material.

• The Festival

Mechanics/Tools that are referenced in the GM section.

• Clocks
• Diegetic rules

Typefaces used from Simple Bits!

This game was created and submitted to the One-Page RPG Jam 2026.