Welcome to Collinsport!

Certain things are about to happen to you, in (and around) the town of Collinsport, Maine.

The most prominent family of Collinsport is-- and has always been-- the Collins family. They own the Collins fleet of fishing boats, they own the cannery, they own a very, very, very large amount of land sitting above the town, and a huge mansion, and for all practical purposes, their influence is so great they practically own the town itself.

But there's something strange about Collinsport.

There's something even more strange about the huge Collinsport estate.

There's something especially strange about the Collinwood mansion itself.

Some say the strangest thing is the Collins family itself.


In the modern day, though, the family is nearly bankrupt.


...Or are they? Some of them seem to live that way. Others seem to spend as if the Collins family still has all the money in the world.

But only one of them actually controls the purse strings, for the family, and for the others...

...Maybe the real question isn't whether or not the Collins family is still rich, nor how rich they are.

Maybe the real question is what else they, and their mansion, have to hide...





THE PROCESS OF CHARACTER CREATION

Step One: Character Inspiration
First, think of the type of character you want to create.
• Whatever your Character Inspiration is, write it on your character sheet. Let it guide all of
your subsequent choices in character creation, and even game play.

Step Two: Character Class
Guided by your Character Inspiration, choose your character’s Class.
• A Character’s Class defines their occupation, skill set, and place in the ongoing story.
• The average person's Class is Everyman (or Everywoman). Everymen include everybody from
seamstresses, to blacksmiths, to most soldiers and common thieves.
• Everyman characters advance in Levels much faster than other Classes, but lack the powerful
Special Abilities of other Classes.
• Some characters distinguish themselves by belonging to one of the exceptional Classes, such as
Libertine, True Innocent, or Magician. Such Classes improve their capacities more slowly
than Everymen, but have powerful Special Abilities.
• Look over the list of Classes, and decide upon on that fits your concept for the character. You
may even decide to revise your Character Concept in light of your choice of Class.

Character Classes include:
• Bandit: A lurking Footpad, flamboyant Highwaymen, or snarling Pirate (or common burglar or mugger or robber)
• Demon Hunter: Someone who studies and hunts the horrors of the darkness
• Everyman: Just an ordinary person, facing extraordinary circumstances
• Grave Robber: An opportunist who robs burial sites for profit
• Gypsy: A restless wanderer who lives by their wits
• Libertine: A social adventurer who flouts conventional morality
• Mad Scientist: An individual who would master the laws of nature, at any price (could be any kind of doctor or scientist)
• Magician: One who works wonders with strange incantations, bizarre ceremonies, enchanted talismans, and secret pacts
• True Innocent: A person of inspiring virtue

Some games may include Vampyres and Werewolves as playable Classes, if the Presenter approves.
Generally, however, a character will become a Vampyre or Werewolf in the course of game play,
rather than start the game as one. If you want your character to be or become a Vampyre or Werewolf, let
your Presenter know so they can work it into the Affair.

Step Three: Background
Think about the basics of your character’s Background. Factors to consider include:
• What social class is the character?
• Does the character have any brothers or sisters, and how large is their extended family?
• Has the character ever been in trouble with the law?
Work out a basic back-story for the character, even if its only a few words long (such as “orphaned
and adopted by a blacksmith”). Make sure the character’s Background is consistent with their Class,
although seemingly incongruous Backgrounds (such as a female Libertine raised in a convent) can
make for very interesting characters.



One thing to keep in mind is that every character will have at least one secret, maybe more than one.

Sample secrets:
--You are actually a vampire.
--You are actually a werewolf (but you can't be both a vampire and a werewolf) (also note: werewolves are NEVER in control of their transformations nor of what they do or don't do while they are transformed).
--You dabble in the occult arts, in ways you wouldn't want anyone to know about.
--You are actually from another time and/or immortal.
--You are a member of a dark brotherhood (or sisterhood, or some sort of dark co-ed thing [there is a mysterious {co-ed} cult in Dark Shadows called The Leviathans. I'll tell you more if you want to be one]).
--You are planning to kill someone in Collinsport (maybe a family member).
--You have a shameful secret in your background-- although people think you are respectable, you used to be insane/a criminal/a murderer/other
--You are some other sort of supernatural being (that is, besides a vampire or a werewolf [fire-wielding Phoenixes in human form are a canonical thing, for example, as are Patchworks {Frankensteinian monsters and various oterh Revenants {beings come back from the dead, often involving revenge <well, someone's revenge...>}])
--You are a servant or thrall to some supernatural being
--You were raised an orphan, but you think you might actually be a bastard member of the Collins family, and you've come here to find out if that's true.
--You are the one person who could somehow destroy someone else, and you are desperately trying to protect them by keeping their secret from coming out-- but it's hard
--One of your parents was-- or became-- or still is-- a supernatural creature
--You believe you are, or might be, going insane.
--You actually are dangerously insane.
--You actually have tried to kill someone recently... even though you did not succeed, there is a way that someone might figure out it was you (some piece of evidence you don't currently possess, perhaps).
--You are madly in love with someone else, but for one or more reasons, no one must find out.
--Everyone thinks they know whom you are, but you are actually someone else's spirit possessing the body you are inhabiting.
--You are aware of a terrible prediction of disaster, a fearful prophecy that may come true-- especially if you tell the wrong person about it.
--Etc.

One special consideration about True Innocents (see further below) is that many secrets won't work for them... but here are some that still would:

--You are actually from another time and/or immortal.
--You are some sort of supernatural being (that is, besides a vampire or a werewolf [fire-wielding Phoenixes in human form are a canonical thing, for example, as are Patchworks {Frankensteinian monsters and various oterh Revenants {beings come back from the dead, often involving revenge <well, someone's revenge...>}])
--You are a thrall of some supernatural being
--You were raised an orphan, but you think you might actually be a bastard member of the Collins family, and you've come here to find out if that's true.
--You are the one person who could somehow destroy someone else, and you are desperately trying to protect them by keeping their secret from coming out-- but it's hard
--You believe you are, or might be, going insane.
--You actually are insane (but not in any way that would bring harm to others).
--You are madly in love with someone else, but for one or more reasons, no one must find out.
--You are aware of a terrible prediction of disaster, a fearful prophecy that may come true-- especially if you tell the wrong person about it.



Step Four: Perversity
Determine your character’s Perversity, which defines the extent of their mental and moral
corruption.
• Human Perversity is rated from 1 to 20.
• The more Perverse a character is, the more likely they are to commit an atrocity or morally
outrageous act simply because they can.
• Characters with high Perversity feel compelled to transgress social and moral norms, and
usually experience no guilt about doing so. In contrast, characters with low Perversity tend to
adhere to social norms, and follow conventional modes of thought.
• Normal human Perversity is rated at 9, while scores below 3 or above 18 are extraordinarily
rare.
• A person with Perversity of 6 or below is considered Virtuous or Good, while those with
scores of 15 or above are Perverse or Evil.
• The Player can choose their character’s initial Perversity score, or determine it randomly. The
higher a character’s Perversity the closer they are to going mad, but the better they are able to
comprehend bizarre and strange events.
• If the Player wants to determine their Perversity randomly, they can simply roll 3d6. Players of
True Innocents however, would roll a 1d6, and Libertines would roll a 1d6+11.
• A True Innocent’s Perversity must never rise above 6, while a Libertine's must never fall below
12.

Step Five: Personality
Decide upon a Personality for your character.
• Write notes to yourself about how you want to play the character.
• For example, is your character generally Happy, Melancholy, Paranoid, Angry, or anything
else.
• Consider the character's Inspiration, Class, Background, and Perversity. A Bandit, for
example, may be “Scheming and manipulative”, while a True Innocent may be “Kind,
charitable, and loves animals”.
• If you can't think of a description of your character's Personality at first, let it develop over the course of
play, and define it later.


Step Six: Appearance and Most Memorable Characteristic
Think of your character's Appearance and Most Memorable Characteristic.
• Consider the characters height, weight, eye color, and anything else that will help you to
form a firm mental image of the character in your mind.
• Think of something apparently distinctive or otherwise unusual about the character, and
record it as the character's Most Memorable Characteristic. Most Memorable Characteristics
might include such things as:
◦ Always wears a monocle
◦ Flaming red hair
◦ Unusually large and bony hands
◦ Piercing stare
◦ Always dresses in green
◦ Very tall
◦ Extremely short
Since Ghastly Affair is meant to replicate the world of Gothic fiction, try to make your character’s
Most Memorable Characteristic as extreme, startling, unusual, lurid, grotesque, or bizarre as possible.
Don't make a Player Character just moderately good looking or somewhat homely – they should be
shockingly beautiful or frighteningly ugly!


Step Seven: Basic Abilities
Determine the base scores of your Character's six Basic Abilities.
• A character’s Basic Abilities represent combinations of their natural capacities and education, measured in six areas. (STR/DEX/CON/INT/WIS/CHR)
• Remember that most challenges in the game are resolved by the player rolling a 20-sided die,
and trying to roll a number lower than the relevant Basic Ability as modified by any Bonuses
and Penalties.
• The Basic Abilities of humans are rated from 3 to 20, with 9 representing an absolute human
average.
• Human beings can never have any Basic Ability rated higher than 20 (before any temporary
Bonuses are applied for Ability Checks). A human being with any Basic Ability that is
damaged to a rating of less than 3 (temporary Penalties for Ability Checks do not count)
becomes incapacitated. If any Basic Ability is ever reduced to 0 the character will either die or
become permanently insane (depending upon the Basic Ability).
• Remember that during the course of play Basic Abilities will often be temporarily modified by
various Bonuses and Penalties.


NOTE: THE PRESENTER (GM) (THEY) MAY LET YOU RAISE ONE SCORE BY LOWERING ANOTHER ONE... IF THIS IS SOMETHING YOU WANT TO DO, ASK HIM ABOUT IT...


THE PROCESS OF CHARACTER CREATION...
Charisma represents how well the character performs in social situations, their leadership ability,
and the ability to persuade others. It also indicates the character's self-confidence, and their
resistance to social persuasion. Physical beauty can be a factor in Charisma, but it is easily possible to
be good-looking and yet have a low Charisma (and vise-verse).
• A Character with a low Charisma might be constantly angry, be socially awkward, or have
difficulty expressing themselves correctly. They may lack normal emotional responses.
• High Charisma characters are great leaders, are invited to all the best parties, and have their
pick of lovers. They can easily get what they want without threats, and tend to dominate
conversations.
• High Charisma also helps a character resist sliding into madness.
Intelligence includes the characters education, their reasoning ability, and their conscious
recollection.
• A character with a low Intelligence isn’t necessarily stupid; perhaps they are simply
uneducated, or have an awful memory for facts.
• High Intelligence, on the other hand, can represent an extraordinary education, a superb
memory, and strong powers of reason.
Wisdom defines the character's intuition, and connection to the spiritual world.
• Characters with low Wisdom scores are poor judges of character, and apt to blunder into
danger. They may be completely unable to perceive the spiritual dimension of life.
• Characters with high Wisdom will notice many things that others don't, and may have an
almost prophetic insight into the unfolding of events.
• Wisdom is used to resist Preternatural Effects of all kinds, including those from Mad
Scientists.
Strength is used whenever the character must lift heavy objects, bend strong materials, or otherwise
perform difficult tasks that require muscle power.
• Low Strength can be the result of underdeveloped muscles, but could also represent lack of
familiarity with manual labor, or bodily damage that causes pain upon exertion.
• High Strength, of course, comes from constant training and work, as well as familiarity with
the proper methods of moving heavy objects.
• A Character can generally lift up to 20 times their own Strength score in pounds.
Dexterity measures the character’s speed, hand-eye coordination, grace, and overall agility.
• A low Dexterity can represent clumsiness, poor balance, or stiffness due to injury. It could even
indicate the loss of a limb.
• High Dexterity can represent superb natural coordination, but can also be the result of such
things as dance lessons, training in combat techniques, and archery practice.

Constitution defines the character’s resistance to disease and fatigue. The life-force that animates
bodies also factors into a character’s Constitution score.
• Low Constitution might be the result of chronic illness, loss of blood, or even a supernatural
affliction.
• High Constitution represents both natural resistance, and that acquired through training.
Characters with high Constitution are often physically attractive due to their obvious good
health.
To determine your character's Basic Abilities:
• For each Basic Ability, either record a rating of 9, or else gamble by rolling 3d6 and taking the
result, whatever it is.
• Then, adjust the character’s Basic Abilities in the way appropriate for the character’s Class.
◦ Bandit: Dexterity +2
◦ Demon Hunter: Dexterity +2
◦ Everyman: +2 to any desired Ability
◦ Grave Robber: +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Constitution, -1 Charisma
◦ Gypsy: +2 Wisdom
◦ Libertine: +2 Charisma
◦ Mad Scientist: +2 Intelligence
◦ Magician: +2 Wisdom
◦ True Innocent: +2 Charisma
Remember that your character's Basic Abilities will be improved over the course of play, representing
the additional competence that comes with experience. With each level they gain, your character
will be able to increase one of the their Basic Abilities by one point.


Step Eight: Special Abilities and Weaknesses
Record your character’s five Special Abilities and two Weaknesses.
• The descriptions of the Classes include complete lists of the Special Abilities and Weaknesses
that make each one unique.
• Special Abilities allow characters of particular Classes to perform actions that other cannot, or
to perform them better than others would.
• Weaknesses impose unique limitations upon certain characters, and are designed to help create
interesting situations for role-playing.



Step Nine: Hit Points and Damage Bonus
Determine your Character's Hit Points, and record their Damage Bonus. You'll need to know these
if your character encounters life-threatening danger.
• Hit Points represent how hard your character is to kill. The abbreviation “hp” is sometimes
used to indicate Hit Points.
• To determine your character’s Hit Points, roll the appropriate Hit Die (as found in the
Advancement Table for your character’s Class). Optionally, the Presenter can allow a
character to simply have the maximum amount of hit points for their Hit Die.
• A Character's current Damage Bonus (also found by consulting the appropriate Advancement
Table) is added to the usual 1-6 points of Lethal Damage done by most successful physical
attacks.
• Damage Bonus does not add to the damage done by Preternatural Effects.
• With each Level past 1st, a Player Character will roll another Hit Die and add the result to their
current Hit Points. The first 6 Hit Points represent how tough your character is physically. All
Hit Points above 6 represent a mixture of luck, skill and supernatural favor that keeps
potentially lethal attacks from being fully effective.

Step Ten: Assets and Afflictions (Optional)
Decide upon any Assets and Afflictions to customize your character.
• An Asset grants a +3 Bonus when it relates to the situation at hand.
• For example, a if the player chooses “Incredible Shot” as an Asset for her character, then the
player gets a +3 Bonus when firing a gun.
• Conversely, an Affliction imposes a -3 Penalty.
• A character with an Affliction of “Afraid of Spiders” suffers a -3 Penalty on all Ability Checks
when dealing with spiders.
• A Player does not have to define any Assets or Afflictions for their character.
• For every Asset a character possesses, however, they must also suffer an Affliction.
• No two characters in a group should have the same Asset or Affliction.
• Players are encouraged to use Assets and Afflictions to create interesting characters, not to try
and make one character “better” than another.
• The descriptions of the Classes include suggested Assets and Afflictions appropriate to each
character type. A compiled list of possible Assets and Afflictions can also be found in
Appendix III: Suggested Assets & Afflictions. Players and Presenters are encouraged to use
their creativity to come up with unique Assets and Afflictions, however.

Step Eleven: Wealth and Equipment Carried
Determine your character's Wealth and Equipment Carried.
• When considering the character's Wealth, it is actually enough to consider the character's
Background, and write down a descriptor such as “poor” or “middle class”.
• Wealth can also be tracked with currency units, if you prefer more detail. For convenience, all
monetary values in Ghastly Affair are expressed in Pennies, or Pence. 1 Penny was the price of
a small loaf of basic bread in late 18th Century England, and is therefore the standard to which
all other values are compared. In the Ghastly Age, a lower class laborer is paid 50 to 200 pence
per week, middle class people make up to 5,000 pence per week, and upper class people enjoy
incomes in excess of 5,000 pence a week.
• Using the characters Wealth and the Typical Equipment listed under the character’s Class,
choose the character’s Equipment Carried. See Chapter 6: Money and Possessions for a
discussion of the objects a person might possess in the Ghastly Age.
• Assume the character has the Equipment necessary and appropriate to his Class and
Background. It is not necessary to obsess over every single item a character would possibly
possess or use. Only include those that are characteristic, important, and likely to figure in a
story. For example, always record what weapons, if any, the character carries. It is not
necessary to detail the kinds of chamber pots in the character's home, for example.
• Only in certain situations where it is dramatically important (such as when characters are lost
and alone in the wilderness) should Presenters care about the exact makeup of a character’s
Equipment list.

Step Twelve: Speed and Armor Class
Record your character's Speed and Armor Class. You may also need to know these numbers if your
character's life is endangered.
Speed is a measure of your character's maximum movement rate.
• Speed is generally only relevant during chases, to determine who will outpace who.
• Speed is rated in a manner similar to the basic Abilities, except that the scale is different.
• A Speed of 1 represents the speed of a turtle, while a 20 is the air speed of a hawk.
• All characters start with a basic Speed rating of 9 (except for Bandit Footpads, who move at
Speed 10).
• Wearing restrictive clothing can reduce Speed by 2 or 3 points.
• Likewise, bearing a heavy load can effectively reduce Speed.

Armor Class (or AC) represents how hard your character is to hurt.
• A defender's Armor Class is inflicted as a Penalty to the Dexterity Check made by an attacker.
• A Characters basic Armor Class is 0, or None.
• Thick clothing can add a +1 or even +2 to Armor Class.
• Women wearing whale-boned stays receive a +2 Bonus on their Armor Class against slashing
attacks only.

Step Thirteen: Name
Give your character a Name.
• It is the Player's responsibility to name their character appropriately, and not something
offensive, silly, or otherwise disruptive (unless the game is meant to be humorous).
• If the tone of a story is mean to be darkly foreboding, and your fellow Players can't say your
character’s Name without laughing, you've chosen the wrong name!
• Although the step of naming your character is listed thirteenth, very often a Player will
actually come up with the Name for the character first, using it as the inspiration for the
whole character.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:20, Mon 25 Jan 2021.