"Ghastly Affair: The Gothic Game of Romantic Horror"

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"Ghastly Affair: The Gothic Game of Romantic Horror"

Post by Victoria Silverwolf »

I have recently discovered an RPG set around the year 1800, dealing with the supernatural.

The Player's Manual is completely free in pdf form:

https://engineoforacles.files.wordpress ... ee-pdf.pdf

The same site offers the Presenter's Manual for free also:

https://engineoforacles.files.wordpress ... ee-pdf.pdf

There are also character record sheets, character cards, quick reference sheets, and so on, many available from the links on this page:

https://engineoforacles.wordpress.com/downloads/

So, if you ever wanted to be a Mad Scientist or a Demon Hunter, or even a True Innocent or a Libertine, this is the game for you.

I'm thinking somewhere between 3 and 6 players. The exact scenario might depend on the characters created, but it should involve Dark Secrets and Mysterious Places. The emphasis will be on storytelling, although there may be combat involved. The characters may have different motivations. (It's even possible to be an Evil character.)

The system allows for multiple ways to come up with a character, so I'd walk each player through that step by step.
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Re: "Ghastly Affair: The Gothic Game of Romantic Horror"

Post by Mr. Handy »

I'd definitely be interested in playing, and I'd like to play a Mad Scientist.
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Re: "Ghastly Affair: The Gothic Game of Romantic Horror"

Post by Victoria Silverwolf »

Very good. The character generation rules give you the option of selecting your character type first, so that is definitely very possible.
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Re: "Ghastly Affair: The Gothic Game of Romantic Horror"

Post by Fabio Silva »

Hello Victoria, I've interested in play, and I like to play as a Libertine or Demon Hunter. I've downloaded the manuals and I'm reading.
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Re: "Ghastly Affair: The Gothic Game of Romantic Horror"

Post by Victoria Silverwolf »

Excellent! Welcome aboard!
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Re: "Ghastly Affair: The Gothic Game of Romantic Horror"

Post by maelstrom »

Hi Victoria,
Ive downloaded the pdf's and had a quick browse through the players manual and it looks quite interesting. So count me in, initally looking at a grave robber character. I will have a good read of the rules over the weekend.
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Re: "Ghastly Affair: The Gothic Game of Romantic Horror"

Post by Victoria Silverwolf »

Welcome! Quite an interesting set of characters we should have.

Just waiting for an administrator to set up the forum.

As a sample, here is a character I created while trying the system out. I went with all random numbers before I selected the character class, just for fun. I have included my thoughts while creating the character. Some comments in brackets.
[Each characteristic is based on three six-sided dice, so 10.5 would be average. The other alternative is to have all characteristics start at 9, but I decided to gamble. You can also select your Perversity, with some restrictions, but I decided to let the dice determine it.]

CHARISMA: 8 (below average)

INTELLIGENCE: 7 (well below average)

WISDOM: 14 (high); later adjusted to 16 (very high)

STRENGTH: 8 (below average)

DEXTERITY: 6 (low)

CONSTITUTION: 13 (well above average)

PERVERSITY: 16 (very high)

[Well! That's an interesting set of numbers. My extreme perversity makes me an Evil character. My high wisdom made me choose to be a Magician, which raises my Wisdom by two points.

That starts to give me some idea of the character:]

CHARACTER INSPIRATION: Faust, Iago, and Oliver Twist. [This initial step doesn't seem to mean much in actual game play, but is intended to help the player imagine the character.]

CHARACTER CLASS: Magician. [Apparently it is suggested that you choose a class before your characteristics are determined, but it seemed to me to be more interesting the other way around.]

BACKGROUND: One of many unfortunate youngsters abandoned to the grim confines of an orphanage at infancy. Took to the dangerous streets of London at an early age. Would have died young in extreme poverty had it not been for surprisingly decent health [good constitution], given malnutrition and the unsanitary conditions of the city. One of London's magicians noticed his inborn gift for the supernatural [high wisdom] and took him in as an apprentice. After picking up a few tips, the wicked lad [high perversity] murdered his master and made a pact with a low level demon. In exchange for magical items [see later], the imp took the index finger of his left hand as payment. Since he is left-handed, this caused no little inconvenience [low dexterity]. Currently operates secretly as an independent warlock. The league of magicians would destroy him if he was discovered, because of his horrible crime against one of their own.

PERVERSITY: See above. [This can be chosen by the player, but letting the dice decide seemed more interesting.]

PERSONALITY: Quiet, secretive, sneaky, solitary, greedy, selfish, envious, cowardly, temperamental.

APPEARANCE: Short, slender, pale, dark-haired, dressed in cheap, simple clothing.

MOST MEMORABLE CHARACTERISTIC: Missing the left index finger.

BASIC ABILITIES: See above.

SPECIAL ABILITIES [These are determined by the Magician class]: Esoteric Knowledge, Use Incantation, Perform Ceremony, Create Talismans, Employ Pact. [Detailed instructions for these abilities are found in the handbook. This character's basic abilities mean he will most likely rely on Incantations and Pacts. I call him a Warlock because his initiation into magic involved a Pact.]

WEAKNESSES: Magical Implement, Power Object. [Selected by player from a list of choices. Given this character, the former will be a seemingly ordinary dagger -- the murder weapon! The latter the contract, signed in blood from the severed finger, made with the demon.]

HIT POINTS: [Random number from 1 to 4 for this character class]: 2 [Pretty easy to kill]

DAMAGE BONUS: None.

ASSETS AND AFFLICTIONS [Selected or created by the player, with the proviso that the number of Assets must be the same as the number of Affliction. I have chosen those which are suggested for Magicians and which seem to make sense for this character. I have also decided to interpret his below average intelligence as ignorance, due to a lack of formal education, and allowed him to have a fair amount of "street smarts."] Assets: Good Bargainer, Intimidating, Shrewd, Sneaky, Wily. Afflictions: Bad Reputation, Bad Throwing Arm, Creepy Presence, Horrible Body Odor, No Head For Reading/Writing. [That last one is just listed as "No Head For . . ." with the comment "a common field of knowledge." I figure my character is barely literate, if at all, which will it make it difficult for him to use books of magic!]

MAGICIAN STARTING SPELLS : Zero: Beguile Incantation, Nightvision Incantation. One: Cause Fear Incantation, Conjure Familiar Pact. [This last one is interesting. I can assume that the Pact was made at the time of the loss of the finger, as this is a one time, permanent spell. First of all let's roll a twenty-sided die to see if I get a Common Familiar or something special, which happens on a roll of 20 only. I get a 6, so it's Common. This takes the form of a small, ordinary animal, so let's make it a tiny, nonpoisonous snake, which can be concealed wrapped around the character's arm when wearing long sleeves. The Familiar has its own characteristics. It shares the Level and Perversity of the character, and has the following characteristics:]

Disposition: Curious
Charisma: 10 Intelligence: 10 Wisdom: 10
Strength: 10 Dexterity: 15 Constitution: 10
Armor Class: 2
Hit Dice: 1d6 (+1 Hit Point per master's level) [I got a 1, increased to 2, so it's not hard to kill]
Attacks: 1
Special Abilities: Speak, Share Senses, Bolster Master's Hit Points, Carry Spell, Occult Knowledge [these are all explained in detail in the handbook.]

WEALTH: Poor [No need to go in extreme detail. Suffice to say that the character will tend to avoid Ceremonies and Talismans, which cost money. Gaining wealth will be one of his goals.]

EQUIPMENT [Based on the list of typical magician equipment, minus those too expensive (talisman) or inappropriate (book)]:

1 set of ordinary clothes, a haversack, ceremonial clothes, 1 Magical Implement (dagger), 1 Power Object (contract), a dried root or herb, salt, candles, chalk, a skin of wine.

SPEED: 9 [the default speed for new characters; average; slower if wearing heavy clothing.]

ARMOR CLASS: Zero. [Increase to one for heavy clothing.]

NAME: Nine-finger Jack. [Not even he knows his birth name. Finding out about his parents might be another goal, in addition to gaining power and wickedness for its own sake.]


Another person came up with this character:

Basic abilities -

CHARISMA: 6 (low)

INTELLIGENCE: 11 (slightly above average)

WISDOM: 12 (ditto)

STRENGTH: 9 (average)

DEXTERITY: 16 (very high) - later adjusted to 18 (extremely high)

CONSTITUTION: 8 (below average)

PERVERSITY: 13 (above the norm but not evil)

I chose to be a Demon Hunter based on high dexterity and non-evil.

CHARACTER INSPIRATION: Mina Harker from Dracula.

CHARACTER CLASS: Demon Hunter

BACKGROUND: An heiress of a noble family, her world was shattered when the man she was engaged to marry was murdered by then turned into a vampyre, who then hunted her for her blood. In self defence she was forced to slay her former fiancee but was disinherited and outcast by her family as a result. Since then she has trained obsessively as a hunter of vampyres and other demons (high dexterity). Despite her professed hatred of the breed her experience with her fiancee, whose vampyric advances she almost gave in to (low charisma), have left her also strangely, almost fatalistically, drawn and sometimes even attracted to vampyres (above average perversity) which is a source of emotional conflict.

PERVERSITY: As above, basicallly Good.

PERSONALITY: Melancholy, reserved, anxious, conflicted.

APPEARANCE: Tallish, well-built, reddish hair kept on the short side, wears functional clothing.

MOST MEMORABLE CHARACTERISTIC: A haunted expression.

BASIC ABILITIES: As above.

SPECIAL ABILITIES: determined by Demon Hunter Class - Danger Bonus, Demonology, Feat of Strength or Dexterity, Resist Preternatural Effects, Tracking.

WEAKNESSES: Nemesis, Obsession.

HIT POINTS: from 1-8 for the Class - 2 (so disappointingly easy to kill but I see that can improve as she gains levels)

DAMAGE BONUS: None.

ASSETS AND AFFLICTIONS: Assets - Beautiful, Expert Equestrian, Gift For Languages (both these last two I figure come from the noble upbringing), Naturally Skeptical. Afflictions - Bad Reputation, Melancholy, Traumatic Memory, Unlucky at Love.

WEALTH: moderate - though no longer an heiress she is secretly being financially aided by a sympathetic wealthy uncle and has savings enough to cover most expenses.

EQUIPMENT: 2 weapons - silver dagger and stake & mallet of ash wood, a haversack, 1 set of somber clothes, a book on Demonology, a meal of dried bread and meat, a lantern with oil, a vial of holy water.

SPEED: default 9.

ARMOR CLASS: 1 for wearing thick clothing.

NAME: Lila Davenport.
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Re: "Ghastly Affair: The Gothic Game of Romantic Horror"

Post by DrPeterson »

This looks mighty interesting.
I'd be interested too.
I'd like to be either Colonel Brandon or that worst of libertines Willoughby.

:D
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Re: "Ghastly Affair: The Gothic Game of Romantic Horror"

Post by Victoria Silverwolf »

That shows both sense and sensibility.

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Re: "Ghastly Affair: The Gothic Game of Romantic Horror"

Post by Mr. Handy »

I've created the forum here and made you Keeper.
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(viewforum.php?f=176)The Terror Out of Time
(viewforum.php?f=191)]The Ninth Planet
The Shadow Over Dunwich
The Brotherhood of Death
The Horror in the Blackout
The Masque of Nyarlathotep
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Re: "Ghastly Affair: The Gothic Game of Romantic Horror"

Post by Victoria Silverwolf »

Mr. Handy wrote:I've created the forum here and made you Keeper.

Thank you very much!

I will start the various threads shortly.

Out of Character conversation and Character Generation threads now open.
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Re: "Ghastly Affair: The Gothic Game of Romantic Horror"

Post by Priest »

I'm looking over the pdf, and would like to join this game, if I may. I'm thinking some form of Libertine, maybe a poet type who spends too much time in opium dens. A very Byron/Shelley type character.
We do not see things as they are, we see things as we are.
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Re: "Ghastly Affair: The Gothic Game of Romantic Horror"

Post by Victoria Silverwolf »

Welcome!

Jump in any time you like.
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