Play@YSDC

Welcome to The Burnt Man. I hope we'll have an enjoyable time! Our players are:

Rooter
Philulhu
Mr. Handy
Raiko
aine

Just some rules on posting: please try to post everyday if you can, failing that as often as you're able, your busy schedules permitting. I should be able to post everyday unless I get too busy, which doesn't happen too often. If you don't post for a couple of days, I will probably post for you to keep it going, although I can't guarantee a good result.

A note about your characters: you can pick any occupations you like, but the characters will need to know each other. They don't have to be friends, but they must be acquainted. As they will be asked to consult on a suspected haunting, I suggest that they all belong to some group or society which has formed around a shared interest in the supernatural or ghosts. Spiritualism was becoming popular at that time, so you could be members of such a society. So your character might have a real or imagined experience with the supernatural, but no Mythos please.

The game will start as one of you has received a letter from a lawyer requesting a meeting and has gathered the others to discuss it. So you will have a preliminary meeting where your characters can chat and give a sense of their personalities, and then off to the lawyer. Remember that class is important in this era, so you're entitled to be a snob or a trod-upon dogsbody if it's warranted.

We'll start after you've done your characters.

I'll just do my basic rolls here first.

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That's the maximum EDU and Know would be 100! I'm not sure I can play a genius so might have to reroll.

A second set.

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That's a bit more realistic all round so I'll take those.

Is anyone planning to have an upper / middle class investigator who could be accompanied by a female housekeeper / maid as a valley / dogsbody / chaperone / mistress?

I have a half planned character idea that I'd like to play, but they would need to be a companion of a higher classed character.

If not then I'll go with an alternative idea.

I'll have my investigator sorted out tomorrow either way

I’m thinking of an army officer, cuurently on home leave recovering from wounds sustained on campaign (probably the Anglo-Zulu War to fit in with the timescale). A maiden aunt is interested in spiritualism and he has been coerced to join her at some spiritualist events (although a devout skeptic himself).

Dice rolls

Edit: messed up the dice rolls. Will have another look in the morning.

More to follow once I’ve thought about my character a bit more.

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That first set of rolls was incredible, Rooter! I'd be hard pressed to turn them down. 21 EDU doesn't make you a genius, just extremely good at whatever it is you do (education need not be formal). INT determines your smarts, and it would have been 12 with those rolls. The second set wasn't bad either.

I was thinking of playing a Scientist, so probably not upper-class enough for Raiko, though it is still possible. I could use an assistant. She doesn't necessarily need to have scientific knowledge, though that's a plus. All I really need is "someone to pass me my test tubes and tell me how brilliant I am," as the Brigadier quoted Liz Shaw in the Doctor Who story Terror of the Autons. Of course, that depends on my own EDU roll (a 21 would have been very good for me). I'm also considering playing a servant, a Jeeves-like valet. Might be a good fit for the army officer, if he's willing.

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That set of rolls will do nicely for a Scientist!

Like Mr. Handy advised, you can keep the first set of rolls Rooter.

Yes, it seems the Dhole's House only has gaslight for 7th edition. But all the ideas for characters look good so far.

Thanks, on reflection I will keep the first set since I was thinking of an older, more experienced character.

Due to the character's age I have removed points from CON and DEX and added to EDU as the guidelines say.

Roll for lower to middle class income.

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Dice Rolls:

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INT, SIZ:
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EDU:
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Mr. Handy wrote:I was thinking of playing a Scientist, so probably not upper-class enough for Raiko, though it is still possible. I could use an assistant. She doesn't necessarily need to have scientific knowledge, though that's a plus. All I really need is "someone to pass me my test tubes and tell me how brilliant I am," as the Brigadier quoted Liz Shaw in the Doctor Who story Terror of the Autons.

Given the image I was planning to use for my character, working for your professor seems perfect. And irresistible!
Perhaps a housekeeper, with enough science to grab a test tube? I mean, what sort of a professor bothers with his own housekeeping / shopping.

I forgot to dig out my old investigators companion books last night, so the rest will have to wait until I get home this evening.

I'm thinking about a local knowledge buff- a Dartmoor resident who knows the moors. Either a daughter of a local land owner, possibly a teacher or governess who really believes in ghosts. Or an older eccentric gent historian/geologist. I'm on holiday until Monday and my dice are at home...

Dice rolls are available on the forum. For example...

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Sorry aine, but part of the story is finding out about local events, stories and personalities. It works best if the characters are all outsiders with little or no experience of the area. Is that okay?

Raiko wrote:

Mr. Handy wrote:I was thinking of playing a Scientist, so probably not upper-class enough for Raiko, though it is still possible. I could use an assistant. She doesn't necessarily need to have scientific knowledge, though that's a plus. All I really need is "someone to pass me my test tubes and tell me how brilliant I am," as the Brigadier quoted Liz Shaw in the Doctor Who story Terror of the Autons.

Given the image I was planning to use for my character, working for your professor seems perfect. And irresistible!

p020hlcy.jpg

Perhaps a housekeeper, with enough science to grab a test tube? I mean, what sort of a professor bothers with his own housekeeping / shopping.

I forgot to dig out my old investigators companion books last night, so the rest will have to wait until I get home this evening.

Sounds good to me!

Income:
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Income:

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I have put a new and hopefully better character in place of the old one, using my second set of rolls.

I like it Rooter! He should be more... durable. Good luck!

My investigator Melody, is pretty much done, just the last few lines of her background to write.
I've got to pop out though, so I'll finish when I get home.

No problem, will rethink. I used to work on Dartmoor; I hope someone in our team can navigate or we may not even last long enough to go insane. There be some right tricky bogs there be.

My character - Captain Aubrey Fitzwilliam - is ready.

Could I go the full hog and have an eccentric female medium? She could either be the founding member of our psychic society or be on 'tour' and a guest of the society.

Sounds good aine!

Sorry I didn't make it clear, the action does not begin in Dartmoor, but actually in London. So everyone please base your characters there. There should be no connection with Dartmoor, so Philulhu, can you change your character background to suit that? All of the characters must also know each other too, and be existing members of the club or society, so be willing and able with good motivations to travel on this assignment.

Please could I have the skills for a medium? Background was a well placed governess so middle class? Thanks!

There is no skill set for Medium, it's not an occupation. If they are not part of the skill set for your profession, you should put such skills as Occult, Persuade, Psychology, Fast Talk, Listen or Spot Hidden. I think Governess would be listed as a Scholar under occupations.

HoneyDog wrote:Sounds good aine!

Sorry I didn't make it clear, the action does not begin in Dartmoor, but actually in London. So everyone please base your characters there. There should be no connection with Dartmoor, so Philulhu, can you change your character background to suit that? All of the characters must also know each other too, and be existing members of the club or society, so be willing and able with good motivations to travel on this assignment.

No problem. I’ve updated my character background.

Very nice Phil! Now aine is making her character, and then things will be ready.

I'm sorry though, I'll be away from Sunday until Friday, so we might have to wait to get started. Please be patient! After that I will have regular computer access. One of you will receive a letter and gather the others for a meeting.

That will give me time to get home and write my character up on the computer rather than struggling with it on the phone. Looking forward to starting!

By the way, if it's easier I'm happy to make a single IC post and then sit out the spiritualist society meeting, and join in again ready to go to Devon.

I know my place.

No, no, all players should be there. Servants will just be unable to speak freely, but you should be able to communicate any thoughts to your master.

That's great. I didn't want my character to make it more difficult for you starting.

The society could be a bit more open-minded and open to all classes and backgrounds, providing they have a genuine interest in the supernatural.

That’s great aine . Now we’re ready to start. One of you will arrange a meeting to discuss a letter you’ve received. aine, will you be the society leader? You’ll explain the letter and encourage the others to get involved. I’ll begin the action tomorrow night when I get back home. I’ll have to think of a name for your society, so any suggestions are welcome.

Could it be that the society leader (an old old learned person) had taken ill so Miss Beauchant will be standing in temporarily. I feel she's s bit young and new on the scene to have established a respectable society. There's an upmarket tavern on Half Moon Street, we could meet in an upper room or Isolde is happy to hold the monthly meeting at her apartment along the street.

Sounds good. What is the name of the tavern?

The LSE have some maps of London from that era: https://booth.lse.ac.uk/map/16/-0.1423/ ... 0,180281.0

There’s also a hotel on the street, which at one time also had a tavern, according to its history: https://www.flemings-mayfair.co.uk/mayf ... el/history

Perhaps we could call the society "The Seekers of the Unexplained" or something along those lines?

Most tend to have more prosaic names like the Marylebone Spiritualist Association, the Retford Spiritualist Society, the Newcastle Spiritual Evidence Society, etc. Given the location of where we are to meet, we could be the The Spiritualist Society of Mayfair but hey, it’s CoC, so we could be the Seekers of Enlightenment, or similar

ooc,Is Isadora Carmichael an extrovert exhibitionist like her 1880's counterpart, Isolde Beauchant? I don't know who the actress is in the photograph but apologies to all now for Isolde's personality!

Honeydog, I made a gaff with Isolde being born in Wales with no Welsh language skills! So I've moved her across the border to Shropshire.

Philulhu wrote:The LSE have some maps of London from that era: https://booth.lse.ac.uk/map/16/-0.1423/ ... 0,180281.0

There’s also a hotel on the street, which at one time also had a tavern, according to its history: https://www.flemings-mayfair.co.uk/mayf ... el/history

That's an excellent map Phil. Do you have a connection with the LSE?

aine wrote:

ooc,Is Isadora Carmichael an extrovert exhibitionist like her 1880's counterpart, Isolde Beauchant? I don't know who the actress is in the photograph but apologies to all now for Isolde's personality!

Honeydog, I made a gaff with Isolde being born in Wales with no Welsh language skills! So I've moved her across the border to Shropshire.

Horrors! But both places are pretty much equally alien to HoneyDog. Apart from a short trip to South Wales many many years ago.

Isolde could be Isadora's mother.

Let's start.

HoneyDog wrote:That's an excellent map Phil. Do you have a connection with the LSE?

No, I’m just a fan of old maps. I’ve used them before in my own campaigns.

Is there a format for speech? A different colour or bold text?

I think we generally use bold for names and select a colour for speech for our character we think is indicative of them. So choose whatever colour you think the Captain would talk in.

HoneyDog wrote:I think we generally use bold for names and select a colour for speech for our character we think is indicative of them. So choose whatever colour you think the Captain would talk in.

Ok, will do.

I've seen the game's started.

As the servant, it'd look weird making a first post before Mr Handy, so I'll check if he's posted in the morning (it's 1am for me now).

I'll be able to post at least once every day.

Once a day is fine!

I'll resize Melody's photo, as it's a little too big for above posts.

I couldn't do it quickly on my phone, so I'll fox it later on my laptop.

I'll try to just speak when spoken to with Melody, unless alone with Alexander or another investigator that talks to her directly.

Once the screaming, death and insanity starts, she'll talk more freely if she's capable.

She's bound to be in the background to some degree, especially at first. At times she might be segregated e.g. she probably won't be able to dine with the others in polite society etc. But in the group, if no-one else objects, she should be okay. The society is open to all who have an open mind!

http://www.inquisitionspostmortem.ac.uk ... heritance/

Daughters would inherit before bothers and nephews since the Thirteenth century, so if the current Lord is survived by only his wife and daughter, then his daughter inherits and the line / name dies when she marries.

No way would Melody know all that though. So posting here.

I assume all you posh people would know.

Lands, chattels, etc. would go to the eldest child (subject to a will) but the title of Baron can only be a male one. In the context of the game, we’re trying to determine whether there’s a male heir to the title who may now be at risk...

Thanks:)

I figured out my mix up when I read your reply in the IC thread, that my.rrply was about material inheritance rather than titles.

Still, it turns out there's no other male heir in danger anyway.

I was actually thinking along the lines of another cousin or nephew perhaps since one of the previous victims was a cousin but it sounds like a redundant line of inquiry.

Are we updating our own characters for passed tests? (A mostly theoretical question at this stage, as I’ve only passed one test (Library Use)).

You don’t get to update your character until the adventure is finished, I’m afraid.

Sorry Honeydog, my original question was badly worded. What I meant to say was, should we be recording the fact that we have passed tests on on our character sheet, or are you keeping track of these?

Oh goodness no I won't be doing that. Maybe you can just put a little star next to the skill if you pass it, and we can roll for improvements at the end, if the character survives.

Ok, just wanted to check.

Everone note the 'if the character survives'....

aine wrote:Everone note the 'if the character survives'....

Yeah, I’d noticed that...

Sorry HoneyDog, I had a day off work yesterday, posted on Masks in the morning and expected to have plenty of time in the evening to post here, but ended up home really late.

I'll catch and promise to make a post today.

Raiko wrote:Sorry HoneyDog, I had a day off work yesterday, posted on Masks in the morning and expected to have plenty of time in the evening to post here, but ended up home really late.

Partying on a school night?

It doesn't matter so don't worry. This is just setting the scene so I just continue regardless of whether everyone has replied or not. When it is vital that every player needs to have input, I'll wait for everyone to post.

Oops. Well, clearly my grasp of British expressions is lacking. The dictionary gives it as 'an affectionate form of address' but I obviously got the affection part wrong. Sorry.

If you were talking to a friend or someone of a similar social standing, you would probably have been ok. Unfortunately, Lady Allingham is neither...

England was very class-based at the time (hence Melody’s treatment. Even though she is one of the investigators, she is still seen as a servant )

Poor Rooter committed a dreadful faux pas. Philulhu is correct, to use such language is being far too familiar with someone you’ve just met. Even today, you’d be risking a punch in the face to talk to a grieving widow like that.

Affection isn’t expected and would feel very out of place in this society, particularly with strangers, so the best way to talk to everyone you meet is to just be formal. I advise to throw your dictionary in the trash, and then burn the trash. Percy must roll 1d3 Credit Rating loss as a penalty for this linguistic atrocity. His standing will suffer.

Sure, it's hardly the first one of those I've made and won't be the last.

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Don't worry. Percy's reputation might take a hit, but he might not survive anyway.

HoneyDog wrote:Don't worry. Percy's reputation might take a hit, but he might not survive anyway.

I’m sure he will find that deeply reassuring...

Raiko wrote:
Melody's eyes are drawn nervously back to the painting of the stern lord, as though she expects the ghost of Lady Allingham's late husband to emerge into the room from within the portrait.

Anyone else getting this mental image?

Lol. Yes.

@Mr H: If Alexander doesn't fancy battling for equal rights, then Melody will be fine (and so will Raiko!). It might be advantageous for her to eat with Lady Allingham's staff.

Of course, it's Call of Cthulhu, so she might not survive being on her own...

Raiko wrote:

OOC:   Sorry I meant to post much earlier today, but my children have all come down with a stomach bug at the same time.

Unfortunately I've now caught whatever they have.
I've taken it easy today and hope to be able to make some posts tomorrow.

Take your time, there's no rush.

Sorry for the limited amount of play in the past week. I've begun a new thread for everyone.

I've just arrived at work, sorry yesterday was a write-off for forum posting. I saw Philulhu's post and planned to reply, but didn't get time.

I'll post here before anywhere else, this morning.

Here is the map of Bargrove Hall and the grounds. The characters are staying in the bedrooms in the west wing of the house.

”There’s a billiard room?! Why didn’t you say?! We could have spent some pleasant hours in here, knocking in a few balls, rather than tramping around outside in the cold trying to find out who bumped off a duffer nobody really liked!!” exclaimed Captain FitzWilliam.

”Howard, fetch me the brandy and cigars!!”

The Captain might find that the next game of billiards will be his last...

Please could you clarify something about the map / manor-layout?

Is there a mistake where the map doesn't match the narrative?

Last night Ursula was out on the landing sleepwalking, and then walked through a door.
Josephine then followed Ursula through that door.

Melody followed them into what turned out to be the schoolroom

When we spoke to Josephine, she said that Ursula often did this, but only got out of bed and went to the schoolroom.

But on the map, the only way to access the schoolroom is via Ursula's bedroom.

So is this a mapping mistake? i.e. should the door to the schoolroom actually be from the landing?
In which case to sleepwalk to the schoolroom, Ursula needs to leave her room, go onto the landing and then enter the schoolroom - which matches the events that Melody and Percy witnessed.

Or was Ursula walking out on the landing when she woke Melody, Percy and Josephine - and then sleepwalked back through her own bedroom and into the schoolroom. Which matches the map, but would imply that Ursula might well have been somewhere else before waking us.

I just added an extra door from the schoolroom to the landing in my narrative to make things easier to run. Sorry for any confusion.

I've contacted Raiko to see if Melody is available, but actually I will be away from tomorrow until Friday and won't be able to take any books, so the visit to the village is going to have to wait.

Sorry for the delay. Whatever the case I will move things forward from Friday.

Happy holidays everyone!

I'm really sorry, I totally took my eyes off this game for a few days.
I've just been distracted by Christmas / family stuff.

I'll look back through the bits with Melody and the servants, but embarrassingly after holding the game up, I don't think that Melody has any helpful information.

That’s okay, I’m slowing things down myself! And the internet is patchy where I am. We’ll pick up again on Friday.

Thanks.

I'm having much more difficulty finding time to post before Christmas than expected.

I'll do my best to post in every game, but it's possible I may be AWOL from the forums until the 27th.

Have a great Christmas everyone.

So sorry, ill at the moment.

Hi everyone, I’m going to have to take a break from the game for a little while. My dad is seriously ill and I need to focus on him in the coming days.

I’m happy for you to NPC Captain FitzWilliam to keep the game going and I’ll join in again when I’m up to it.

Regards,

Phil.

Hey Phil, best wishes for you and your dad and all your family.

---

Honeydog, I've not been on the internet much over Christmas, but I'm following the game again now.

Hi Phil

I'm really sorry to hear that. Best wishes to you all and I hope his condition improves very soon.

We can npc FitzWilliam for you until you are ready to return. He can just take a backseat for a while. The others can take a lead on the investigations for a bit.

Best wishes to your family Philulhu and get well soon aine.

Sorry, I've been struggling to post regularly anywhere for a few weeks, even my own game.

I'm especially embarrassed in this game, as I'm really enjoying it, but hardly posting anything constructive.

I was going to ask the servants if they know anything about the workers that Lord Allingham bright in from outside the village. Is there anything else that you'd like Melody to ask? (There was plenty of time during the ride back to suggest things to Melody).

I'm a bit stumped at the moment. Lol.

頑張れ!

やってみます

Thank you! I've been wondering how to say that for fucking years! Those simple phrases are often the hardest to get.

Anyone else getting the willies?

Yup!

Relax, I'm sure there's a rational explanation for everything.

Just in case anyone missed it, there’s a new thread: https://www.callofcthulhu.org.uk/pbp/vi ... 433&t=6680

Sorry, I'm off cycle touring from Wednesday to Saturday in a small tent in mid Wales so won't be able to post.

Have a nice time! We can put the game on hold until you get back.

Thank you, I'm back now, putting on an extra pair of long woollen drawers, ready for action.

Hi, sorry I can't post until Sunday now; camping.

Thanks everyone, the adventure is now concluded. It took longer than I expected, but thanks for keeping going. I hope it was enjoyable for you and ended to your satisfaction.

Although FitzWilliam sadly went insane, it meant that it gave the rest of you an opportunity to effectively make the rescue. Interrupting the ceremony meant that the awful creature being summoned didn't appear, which was good news! So there were several good rolls among the unlucky.

Alexander gets 1 SAN bonus for killing the little person.

Getting the curse lifted gets each investigator a 1d4 SAN bonus.

Rescuing the children is 1d6 SAN bonus.

Rescuing Ursula is 1d6 SAN bonus.

Everyone has +1 Cthulhu Mythos bonus.

Thanks again for playing.

Thanks for running the game, HoneyDog.

I must admit I was lost a times, not sure what was going on, even when Isolde was insistent that it was the little people, my scepticism - like that of Captain FitzWilliam - was telling me there must be another explanation. Anyway, I enjoyed the game and playing FitzWilliam - I just wish he’d had more SAN!

Yes, the game can be confusing. It's always risky to play a character with low SAN. But it helped to save things. There was definite risk of total party kill if FitzWilliam hadn't of charged in like that, so credit to you.

Thanks HD. It took a while but we got there in the end.

Thanks Rooter. I think Gaslight is more your specialty - is it time for you to start thinking about a new one?

You're welcome, and thank you for running it. I also felt somewhat lost, as none of our avenues of investigation seemed to lead anywhere, and my character was also skeptical of the little people. I guess we just had to keep going long enough for them to make their move.

Sanity 77 + 1 + [dice]0[/dice] + [dice]1[/dice]

I only gained 6, so that takes my Sanity to 83, but that's still high.

Yes, the game often hints at something supernatural, when in fact the presence is very physical, and with a robust intervention more corporeal evidence might be gathered. It is an interesting game but it has its flaws. I'm really glad you all stuck with it. It was a good experience in running games for me, and I learned a lot from it.

Thank you, HoneyDog for a great game, it was very atmospheric; I know Dartmoor very well and you got the sense of gloomy isolation just right!
At times I felt the Seekers of Enlightenment were not earning their pay cheque but we got there in the end. I think the skepticism from all the gentlemen was very true to character; Isolde actually believed in it but it was still an awful shock to be confronted in the end. If it weren't for some very lucky final rolls it might have been a very ending.

The Seekers of Enlightenment had a very fine remembrance service for Captain Fitzwilliam with some moving words about the bravery of the gallant captain and how his sacrifice enabled everyone else to survive. His pocket watch is on show in their small museum of oddities with a brief description.

SAN,48? [dice]0[/dice][dice]1[/dice][dice]2[/dice]

Thanks aine. It's ben a very long time since I went to Dartmoor, but I remember a very bleak place.

I hope the Seekers of Enlightenment get to continue their investigations again at some point.

Mr.Handy, I think you can remove the game now. Thanks again everyone.