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A Gothic Fantasy
by Jack W. Shear
The game will take place in a setting known as
The World Between. The World Between is
the mortal realm, eternally trapped between the
unknowable sublime divinity of the World
Above and the infernal machinations of the
World Below. The setting is largely based off
the conventions of Gothic literature and realworld geography, but it will all be given a twist
toward the fantastic and grotesque.
Unresolved anachronisms abound, just as it
does in Gothic fiction; some areas resemble an
eighteenth-century burlesque on the Middle
Ages, some are more akin to the Victorian fin
de sicle, while others are Orientalist or purely
wondrous.
We're going to follow authors such as Horace
Walpole, Edgar Allan Poe, and Matthew Lewis
into an imagined Gothic past of medieval
irrationality, unreason, and superstition. You
can expect your character to encounter
madness, ghosts, violence, terror and horror,
long-buried secrets that can no longer be
repressed, decrepit manor houses and castles,
etc.
Suitable characters for this campaign include swaggering duelists and berserk warriors, monster hunters
and questing knights, highwaymen and murderous street thieves, militant inquisitors and mysterious
pagans, or occultists and mesmerists in search of arcane knowledge. Most fantasy gaming concepts can
fit into this world with a slight figuring toward the strange and unusual.
Inspirations
Fiction: Horace Walpole, The Castle of Otranto; Charles Brockden Brown, Wieland; Edgar Allan Poe,
The Cask of Amontillado; Arthur Machen, The Great God Pan; Vernon Lee, Dionea; Oscar Wilde,
The Picture of Dorian Gray; Rudyard Kipling, The Mark of the Beast; Alan Moore, The League of
Extraordinary Gentlemen and From Hell; Kim Newman, Anno Dracula.
Film & Television: Sleepy Hollow; Black Sunday; Brotherhood of the Wolf; Black Death; The Wicker
Man; Nosferatu (both versions); Sweeney Todd; The Woman in Black; The Prestige; Deadwood;
Carnivale; Dark Shadows; Vampire Hunter D, Ripper Street.
Misc.: Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds; Ravenloft; Siouxsie & the Banshees; Bauhaus; Murder by Death;
Thinguma*jigSaw; Warhammer FRP; The Parlor Trick; Harry Clarke; Marissa Nadler; Witch Hunter;
Devil Doll; Aubrey Beardsley; Rippers; Sopor Aeternus & the Ensemble of Shadows; Castlevania.
Races:
Firearms Table
Weapon
Damage
Reload
Range
Weight
Cost
Pistol
1d8
1 round
15/30/45
3 lb.
350 gp
Musket
1d12
1 round
70/130/390
14 lb.
850 gp
Arquebus
1d8
1 round
40/80/240
11 lb.
300 gp
Blunderbuss
1d10
1 round
20/40/60
4 lb.
350 gp
1 lb.
100 gp
Druid
Changes: 1d8 Hit Points per level. Druids gain
bonus spells for high Wisdom as per the AEC.
Fighter
Changes: 1d10 Hit Points per level. Fighters have
these class abilities not covered in the rule books
At 1st level: A fighter gets a +1 to all attack rolls
and +2 to damage with all weapons. Fighters get
two melee attacks on all odd rounds of combat (first
round, third round, etc.). Upon reaching 7th level:
A fighter can attack twice per round in melee.
Upon reaching 13th level: a fighter gets three melee
attacks on odd rounds and two melee attacks on
even rounds.
Paladin
Changes: 1d10 Hit Points per level. In this
campaign the paladin's moral code will be a bit
more flexible than usual; after all, evil must be
rooted out at all costs! See the cleric entry for
changes to the Turn Undead ability.
Ranger
Changes: 1d8 Hit Points per level, starts with 2d8
Hit points at 1st level. Instead of gaining a bonus
against goblinoids, a ranger gets to choose an
enemy type that they receive their combat bonuses
against from the following groups: undead, dragons,
were-creatures, demons (includes devils),
automatons (golems and constructs), outsiders
(Cthulhoid entities), creatures of chaos (owlbears,
manticores, harpies, etc.) or fey (goblins, elves,
hags, and the like). Upon reaching 3rd level: A
ranger can move silently, hide in shadows, and find
Magic-user
Changes: 1d6 Hit Points per level. Magic-users
gain bonus spells for high Intelligence; use the
cleric's bonus spell chart but substitute Intelligence
to determine the number of bonus spells. Magicusers fight as per the cleric's attack chart.
Illusionist
Changes: 1d6 Hit Points per level. Illusionists gain
bonus spells for high Charisma; use the cleric's
bonus spell chart but substitute Charisma to
determine the number of bonus spells. Illusionists
fight as per the cleric's attack chart.
Thief
Changes: 1d8 Hit Points per level. Use the Hear
Noise column on the thief ability chart to determine
the base chance of success for all thief abilities
rather than their usual percentage chance. In
addition to the usual thief abilities, thieves may roll
to notice structural and architectural details, repair
and sabotage devices, and find camouflage in the
wild.
Assassin
Changes: 1d8 Hit Points per level. See changes to
thief abilities in the thief house rules above.
(Assassins still have these abilities as a thief of two
levels lower.)
36 Gambler
37 Game Warden
38 Grave Digger
39 Herbalist
40 Hermit
41 Highwayman or
Highwaywoman
42 Tainted (roll d6)
1 Sea-blooded
2 Demon-blooded
3 Witch-warped
4 Fey Changeling
5 Dhampir
6 Vat Spawn
43 Hunter
44 Exorcist
45 Engineer
46 Knight
47 Laborer
48 Lawyer
49 Merchant
50 Mesmerist
51 Miner
52 Money Lender
53 Musician
54 Mystic
55 Noble
56 Foundling
57 Outrider
58 Peddler
59 Pickpocket
60 Pirate
61 Pit Fighter
62 Plague Doctor
63 Preacher
64 Priest
65 Prisoner
66 Procurer
67 Proprietor
68 Prostitute
69 Rag Picker
70 Wildling
71 Rat Catcher
72 Resurrectionist
73 Revolutionary
74 Sailor
75 Scholar
76 Scout
77 Scribe
78 Sellsword
79 Servant
80 Sewer Jack
81 Flagellant
82 Smuggler
83 Soldier
84 Spiritualist
85 Spy
86 Squire
87 Chirurgeon
88 Stage Magician
89 Thug
90 Tomb Raider
91 Trapper
92 Tutor
93 Vagabond
94 Vampire Hunter
95 Scavenger
96 Watchman or
Watchwoman
97 Wiccaman or
Wiccawoman
98 Witch Hunter
99 Wizard's Apprentice
100 Wolf's Head