1 2 Contents Introduction .................................................. 3 What’s in this book? .................................................. 3 The World of Albion...................................................... 4 Core Rules....................................................................... 6 The D20 ..................................................................... 7 The GM is always right.............................................. 7 Part I: Character Creation ............................. 9 How to build your character .......................................... 9 Step One: Characteristics........................................ 10 Step Two: Origin ..................................................... 11 Step Three: Background.......................................... 18 Step Four: Motivation ............................................. 19 Step Five: Class and path ........................................ 20 Step Six: Spend Experience Points ......................... 22 Classes ........................................................................... 24 Missionary ................................................................ 25 Rogue ....................................................................... 26 Soldier ...................................................................... 27 Witch........................................................................ 29 Hunter ...................................................................... 30 Scholar...................................................................... 31 Advanced Ranks / Prestige Classes ............................. 32 Alchemist ................................................................. 33 Assassin .................................................................... 35 Dreadnought ............................................................ 37 Gunslinger ............................................................... 39 Hospitaller................................................................ 40 Inquisitor ................................................................. 41 Lore master .............................................................. 42 Marauder .................................................................. 44 Musketeer................................................................. 45 Occultist ................................................................... 45 Priest ......................................................................... 46 Runesmith................................................................ 48 Saboteur ................................................................... 49 Siren ......................................................................... 50 Thaumaturge............................................................ 51 Skills .............................................................................. 52 Using Skills .............................................................. 52 Skill Description ...................................................... 54 Talents ........................................................................... 58 Gaining Talents ....................................................... 58 Talent Description................................................... 62 Currency and Equipment ............................................ 67 Money and Wealth .................................................. 67 Costs of Living ......................................................... 68 Food, Tools, Clothing and Housing ...................... 68 Weapons .................................................................. 74 Armor ....................................................................... 79 Magic ............................................................................. 80 Magic ........................................................................ 80 Casting Spells .......................................................... 80 Magic Disciplines .................................................... 80 Spells ........................................................................ 81 Healing ..................................................................... 85 Runesmithing .......................................................... 87 Part II: Playing the Game ............................ 90 Checks ............................................................................90 Characteristic Checks ............................................. 90 Skill Checks ............................................................. 90 Combat ..........................................................................91 Rounds and Turns .................................................. 91 How Combat Works ............................................... 91 Actions ..................................................................... 91 Movement ................................................................ 92 Move Actions........................................................... 92 Combat Actions ...................................................... 93 Other Actions .......................................................... 95 Combat Conditions ................................................ 96 Making Attacks ........................................................ 98 Damage ..........................................................................99 Types of Damage: .................................................... 99 Special Damage ....................................................... 99 Critical Damage....................................................... 99 Injury and Healing ......................................................107 Monster Template .......................................................108 3 Introduction What’s in this book? 4 The World of Albion The Gothic Chronicles is set in Albion, an island in the sea covered with thick forests and known for its rainy weather and dark days with dark clouds shrouding the world from the warm touch of the sun. Horror in Albion Imagine that all folklore and classic horror stories are true. Imagine a world where witchcraft is real, where vampires lurk in the cities. A world that could have been ours. The Gothic Chronicles is set in a parallel universe very similar to the historic eighteen hundreds. The time of Sherlock Holmes, Jack the Ripper, Mr. Hide, Dracula and Frankenstein. Of course these monsters would not be known to the whole world. Commoners and citizen would just live their daily lives and would only read about these monsters in books like we do. Authorities would put a lot of effort in hiding everything supernatural from the world. Mysterious disappearances and murders appear in the papers as simple homicides or industrial accidents. Just a few know the threats in the dark. A Short History of Albion It has been close to four hundred years since the great witch trials. Witches, vampires and other monstrosities roamed the world preying on the innocent and a new power rose up to deal with these new threats. A fanatic pillar of the church, named the Officium, graduate gained power by monopolizing their knowledge and persecution of witches and other enemies of the common folk. It was a time of chaos and fear. Thousands of people were burned at the stake only with the slightest suspicion of witchcraft. The Officium was feared by all due to their almost untouchable position. Everyone who would criticize the clergy of the Officium risked being executed for witchcraft themselves. In the end the Officium turned on the church itself eliminating all high ranking offices and replacing them with members of their own order. After about a hundred years they had taken over the entire religious infrastructure and simply called themselves ‘The Church ’. This time is often referred to as the time of Illumination. To many this is just a dark page in history and life resumed to normal after that. Just a few know what the Illumination truly was: The first discovery of the church that magic was real. Of course many, if not most, of the victims were innocent people, but this was a cost the Officium gladly paid in their search to root out this threat for good. Although they let the world believe they were successful, magic was a problem that most likely could never be neutralized. The Illumination laid the foundation of many of The Church’s dogmas and .... In present day Albion. Four hundred years ago the world was very primitive. People lived mostly in villages and lived from the land. They worked the lands with horses and poor equipment, fought with bow and arrow, lived at the mercy of the sun and their candles and feared the night. Cities were small and governed by guilds of craftsmen and scions from noble families. Now these four centuries later, times have changed. People now rely on more modern technologies like steam power and even electricity which is transported through metal wires through the cities. It’s a time of science and social reforms. Doctors discovered how microscopic organisms could transmit diseases and discovered how to cure them. No longer was the unexplainable a design of the divine, but something men could unravel and discover. Information travels faster with new equipment like the telegram, and people read newspapers printed by a press, that inform them on topics from daily gossip to groundbreaking national news. Steam power and Electricity is commonly used in households and industry in the cities. Factories now produce products and made craft guilds obsolete. This also caused a major shift in power. No longer did guilds rule the city, but those with wealth and power did. Not nobility but entrepreneurship and connections decided who had power and influence. With a rising industry, many people migrate to the cities in search of work, which causes cities to grow. To house all these new workers slums are built. Due to 5 overpopulation, people live in extremely poor conditions and crime rates are skyrocketing. Factories pollute the air, traffic jams are common in the small streets of the city which are not build to harbor so many people and new means of transportation. Because of these poor live condition, the life expectancy of an adult person is just a few decades, not to mention the risks of diseases spreading rampant through the city because of low hygiene standards. Admits all this, the threats of old still exist in this world and The Church does everything to fight it and keep it silent. Missing people and corpses drained of blood are blamed on simple criminals and murderers. Both The Church and the authorities hush up cases of witchcraft and make sure that any witnesses are either silenced or put away in insane asylums to deprive them of any credibility. You play a character who lives in this world. Not a simple civilian, but a strong warrior who knows what terrors lurk behind these cover-ups and masquerade. Either in service of the church to fight the demons of the night or in the employment of a wealthy patron who is in need of your services. You are powerful enough to face these fears and make your way and find your fortune in the world of Albion. Magic and Witchcraft The world has almost forgotten the witch-hunts of the Middle Ages. Those who wield the power of magic have The Church Life in Albion 6 7 Core Rules The D20 Game Dice The only dice you need to play ..... are twenty-sided dice. Everything you do in the game will be decided by these dice. Sometimes the game calls for a dice roll with fixed numbers, such as 1d20+5. In this case the fixed number is added or subtracted from the result of the dice roll. Rounding Up and modifiers If a fraction is generated when dividing, round the result up, even if the result is less than one-half. When two multipliers apply to a value, add them together to form a single multiplier. When more than one modifiers apply to a value, just calculate them as is done in general mathematics. Thus 2d20 – 5+6 is 2d20+1. Determine the threshold Everything the character attempts either fails or succeeds by rolling the dice. What roll succeeds and what roll fails depends on the threshold you need to roll under. When the character wants to perform a task, the GM chooses a skill or characteristic they seem fit for this task. The player refers to their characters sheet to determine the threshold of that skill or characteristic. After that modifiers are applied. These are found on the character sheet as well, or are given by the GM because of in-game circumstances. These modifiers are often called difficulty levels. The modifier can either be positive or negative. The modifier is then added to the existing threshold. For example: Tessa wants to jump a cliff. She has the Jump skill as a trained skill so she can use this skill with the full characteristic which is 9. She also has a bonus to jump checks of +4. However the jump she is about to make is quite far and the DM issues a -3 difficulty level. This means Tessa needs to roll below 10 to succeed in this jump. Roll Dice Lastly dice are rolled to see if the task will be successful. Note that the value of the roll needs to be equal or below the threshold. Lower is better! See page .... For a detailed description about how to make skill checks. The GM is always right The most important rule in the game is that all players should always listen to the GM. It is always useful to bring issues to the attention to the GM and ask how they will rule about this when no proper fix is found in the rules. Lengthy discussions about the rules often prevent you from having fun, which is the most important reason to come together and play a game. However a GM should never use this rule to justify decisions or house rule situations that prevent players from having fun. The rules in the book should always function as a guideline. Depending on how the players want to play the game the GM can deviate from the rules to tend to the wishes of the players as long as this serves all players involved. 8 9 Part I: Character Creation How to build your character The best way to start out with the character is with an idea of how your character will be. This can be something small, like a quirk or a personality trait. In this chapter the process of building the character will be explained step by step. Each step will grand certain bonuses to the character and give them a rich background with where they come from, what their reason is to do what they do and their values and morals. All these aspects can be chosen in the different steps and will bring your character to life along the way Step One: Generate Characteristics In step one the foundation will be laid by generating the characteristics of the character. These characteristics will determine everything the character does, thinks, wants and can. The higher a characteristic is, the better the character performs in that field. Step Two Origin Each character has an origin, a place where they grew up and determines some core aspects about the character. A character who grew up in a sophisticated environment most likely develops other skills and values in life than one who was raised on the outskirts of civilization. The background also provides the character with their first feature, their aptitude or tendency as it were which will decide how easy the character will learn certain skills and talents Step Three: Background Not only the pace but also the environment makes up for a large portion for how the character will be during their life. In the back round the core values of the character will be chosen. Maybe they grew up in a very criminal environment or they were served and smothered in luxury. Step Four: Motivation This fourth step lets you chose a motivation for your character. A Motivation can be anything that drives your character to do what they do. Why did they choose this life and what do they hope to gain from it? The motivation can be a good point to work from when working out their personality. What will be the ultimate goal for the character and what keeps then loyal to their group? Step Five: Career and career path This step will determine the career of the character and their role in the group you play with. There are six basic classes and each class has three path options which are specialized career paths the character can choose from. Each basic class is a separate architype that is based on a characteristic. The solder for example is a career based on strength and combat, while the missionary is a more social character who excels in healing and using their willpower in combat. Step Six: Flaws and Merits Still need to figure out how this works, will the character building give them points or do you just spend points as you like? Step Seven: Spend Experience Points Each character starts out with an amount of experience points which can be spend on talents and skills. These talents and skills are not assigned to the character like in the previous steps, but can be chosen as you see fit from the talents and skills that are available to the character. Step Eight: Wealth and Equipment Of course the character won’t face the horrors without the proper equipment. Each character starts out with an amount of currency depending on what career they are. Some careers make more than others. This is also reflected in their income which they receive every week, or month (this can be chosen by the GM). With this currency you can choose new weapons and armor for the character. Note that most weapons have a specialization requirement, so chose carefully what weapons the character will use. 10 Step One: Characteristics Characteristics represent your character’s ability in a wide range of mental and physical areas. They are rated on a scale of 0 to 20. The higher your characteristics the better you perform in certain tasks that require these abilities. Ranged Skill (RS) Ranged Skill reflects your character’s accuracy with ranged weapons, like guns and rifles, but also throw weapons. Melee Skill (MS) Melee Skill measures your character’s ability in hand -to- hand combat with weapons or their own body. Strength (Str) Strength reflects how physically strong your character is and how well they can put their strength to good use. Toughness (Tou) Toughness measures how sturdy your character is as well as how well they take pain and injury and resist poison or harsh environments. Dexterity (Dex) Dexterity reflects you character’s agility, quick ness, ability to balance and dodge, but also their manual dexterity, sleight of hand Intelligence (Int) Intelligence describes your character’s knowledge as well as how fast they learn, their wits and reasoning. Willpower (Will) Willpower demonstrates y our character’s ability to endure mental ordeals and can also measure their ability to tap into and use magical powers Charisma (Cha) Charisma shows how well you characters can interact with others and how well they can use their social skills to get what they desire. Perception (Per) Perception describes how well your character perceives his surroundings How to generate Characteristics Each character starts out with a base value of 4. On each characteristic they receive a bonus value that will be added to this base value. This bonus can either be rolled for or chosen from a fixed set of values. If you decide to roll for these bonus values you will roll a D20 for every characteristic. 1 – 5 will grand a +1 bonus, 6 – 10 will grant a +2 bonus, 11 – 15 will grand a +3 bonus 16 – 20 will grand a +4 bonus. You can also chose to apply a fixed set of bonuses to the characteristics. One characteristic with a +4 bonus, two with a +3, three with a +2 and four with a +1. The last option is to take a more average route and apply +2 on each characteristic which will result on a 6 on every characteristic Other Characteristics and values Besides these characteristic, all characters start with a base value of 10 sanity. During the character creation this value can be modified by choosing certain character building options. See page .... For how sanity works in the game. All characters start out with a base speed of 30ft. Sometimes armor can influence this value. Skills Score Significance 1 - 2 Feeble 3 - 4 Poor 5 - 6 Average 7 - 8 Great 9 - 10 Amazing 10+ Heroic 11 Step Two: Origin Your Gothic Chronicles character may have a very different life now. Maybe work for the church, or be a mercenary for hire. Whatever their career does now, many of the things that makes them who they are, were defined by where they grew up. You can choose a random origin from the table below or choose a specific origin yourself that suits the concept of your character that you have in mind. 12 Countryman Life on the Countryside Life on the countryside is relatively primitive to the more urban places. Most people live in villages and farms and work on the land. Some are craftsmen and make extra money by making fabric and tools. Their main products are food which is in high demand in the cities. Most villages do not have electricity or steam power and rely on older technology in their day to day life. Families life together in houses and farms together with their extended family as well. Younger people often travel to the city for work and education leaving their families behind. Sometimes they return to take over the family business, but with more modern machines and technologies work on the land becomes more efficient and less in need of manpower as it did before. Therefore more and more people settle in the city. Those who grow up on the countryside are used to hard labor and living without Countryside Characters Countryside Traits As someone who lived in a small village you are not accustomed to strangers and people outside the small community you lived in. You gain the Crude talent. Countryman Features Character Modifiers +1 Toughness, +1 Strength, – 1 Intelligence Countryside Skills Countryside Traits Health Sanity and Reputation Health 4 13 City Dweller Life in the City Cities grow in a dramatic rate Filthy, dangerous, hygiene, high crime rate Industrial growth change the face of the cities. Noise traffic jams, slums air pollution from factories. Factories also produce more wealth and luxury products Neighborhoods are the center of community life Infrastructure Work and income Admits all this monsters, mad scientists trafficking corpses, experimenting with electricity, vampires hiding in plain sight Countryside Characters City dweller Traits Your whole life you have lived in the city and always had to move through crowded streets and busy market squares. Because of this moving through a crowd is normal for you. You gain the Crowd Tactics talent. When living in crowded places, news travels quickly and you have developed a keen ear when it comes to news and gossip. You gain Gather Information (•) skill and a +4 bonus to Gather Information checks when in familiar situations and places with many people. City Dweller Rules Features Charisma Character Modifiers +1 Charisma, +1 Intelligence, – 1 Toughness Countryside Skills Countryside Traits Health Points 3 14 Military Life in the Military Military Characters Military Traits As someone who worked or works in the army you receive easily the respect of others, but first and foremost by those who chose a similar path as you. You speak the same lingo and just easily get along. You gain the Peer (Military) talent. Whether you actually used weapons or not during your service, you at least have basic knowledge about how they work. Even as an army cook you have seen firearms on a daily basis. You gain the Gun Maintenance talent. Military Rules Features Strength Character Modifiers +1 Strength, +1 Toughness, – 1 Willpower Count ryside Skills Countryside Traits Health Points 4 15 Life of Devotion Life on the Countryside Countryside Characters Countryside Skills Countryside Traits Life of Devotion Rules Features Willpower Character Modifiers +1 Willpower, +1 Charisma, – 1 Strength Countryside Skills Countryside Traits Health P oints 3 16 Noble Born Life on the Countryside Countryside Characters Countryside Skills Countryside Traits Opera Noble Born Rules Features Intelligence Character Modifiers +1 Intelligence, +1 Charisma, – 1 Willpower Countryside Skills Cou ntryside Traits Health Points 3 17 Captivity Life on Imprisonment Characters Skills Traits Captivity Rules Aptitude Toughness Character Modifiers +1 Willpower +1 Toughness, – 1 Intelligence Countryside Skills Countryside Traits Health Points 5 18 Step Three: Background Text Survivor You are a survivor. Diseases in cities can claim high tolls and claim the lives of who families, but you are the sole survivor and carry this weight with you. Maybe you returned from war and one of the few who can tell tales about the horrors no the battlefield. Either way you are hardened by your experience and know what it is like to lose everything. Benefit Criminal Whether you were a goon in a criminal organization, a highwayman or just a simple burglar, you used to steal and commit crimes for a living. You served your time and carried out your punishment and now have returned to civilization. You might know some people here and there, but with your current position, your life has changed for the better. Benefit: Zealot Benefit: Persecuted Benefit: Revered Benefit Destined for greatness Benefit: 19 Step Four: Motivation Everyone has a motivation, a reason to do what they do and a moral compass they use when making life decisions. In this step you can choose what motivation your character has and what they try to accomplish. What is the goal of the character and by what means do they try to reach that goal? Fortune The main focus of your character is to make profit or gain wealth in one way or another. Maybe they wish to start a venture and become a prominent figure in the economical world. Maybe they wish to become rich by stealing from others and make a name for themselves in the criminal underworld. A more lawful individual would rise in the rank of their organization and gain more salary or gain influence over the treasury of that institution. There are many ways to become rich and you know that money is the most important thing in this world and do anything to gather as much as possible. Benefit: Vengeance You have been wronged in the past and are looking for revenge. Someone might have taken something or someone from you. The will to find the one who hurt you is so strong that you made it your life’s mission to settle this dept. Benefit: Benevolence You are here to help others. You know that your skills and powers are a gift to you so that you can give to those who cannot fend for themselves. Ways to do this, are to protect the innocent, help those in need and give to those who are poor. Whatever you do, you do it for the greater good. Of course there is no reason to not benefit from it, but the main purpose is to do good in this world. Benefit: Prestige You wish to become someone of significance. Your goal is that people on the streets know your name, praise your deeds and toast to your wellbeing. Prestige can be found in many ways. Fulfilling your orders as well as you can and get rewarded for your effort can be perfect way to get the recognition you desire. Others reach for the sky and don’t rest before they reside with the highest classes in society. Benefit: Acquisition There is this one thing you crave most in the world. It can be an object, a person a feeling even an addiction. You need to find it and have it. It can be a lifelong quest for an artifact or even the daily fix for adrenaline or satisfaction. This motivation can be implemented in to story if the GM seems fit. Benefit: Power You crave power above everything else. Of course power manifests itself in many forms. Maybe through wealth, influence in organizations or having contacts who owe you favors. Money itself does not interest you. It’s what money can buy that motivates you. Friends are important to you, but often people are simply tools or leverage to gain more influence over others. On the other hand can bonds of friendship go a long way when reaching for that position of power you need so badly. Benefit: 20 Step Five: Class and path In this step the most fundamental aspect of your character will be chosen: their career. The career is what the character does and what role they play in the group. All Careers come with starting skills, talents and gear. Also they have special features which will be used when buying new advancements and talents. Some starting talents have perquisites. For the purpose of starting talents, characters may ignore these prerequisites. Soldier Soldiers are fighters and rely on their strength and skill with weapons. The Soldier can take heavy blows and are not easily scared when fighting the terrors in the night. They are experts with both gun and blade, although they can use a wide range of weapons. Soldiers can choose three career paths. The Hospitaller, Dreadnought and the Marauder. See page .... For more information about the Career Paths. Soldier Features: Starting Skills: Starting Talents: Starting Gear: Witch Witches are trained in arts of magic and have often unlocked their powers at a young age and have had their whole life to train and master the elements. Witches can either be solo practitioners, hiding their secret from the common people and the church, although most are in service of the latter using their powers to fight magic and monsters alike. Witches can choose the following paths: Archon, Occultist and Siren See page .... For more information about the Career Paths. Soldier Features: Starting Skills: Starting Talents: Starting Gear: Scholar Scholars are hardcore scientists ranging from Frankenstein type mad experiments to the bearded inventors working in their workshop. Some spent most of their lives buried in the pages of books, others search for the impossible and improbable. They all have in common that knowledge is sacred and that there can always be found and learned more and that is it men’s duty to do so. Scholars can choose the following Career Paths: Loremaster, Alchemist and Runesmith. For more information see page ... See page .... For more information about the Career Paths. Soldier Features: Starting Skills: Starting Talents: Starting Gear: Missionary Missionaries are devoted characters and members of the clergy. They can be the local priest of a village or sent to spread the faith to places outside the watchful eye of the church. Some are zealots, determined to cleanse the world from evil and disobedience, others are more benevolent and task themselves with tending to the common people, bringing them solace and warmth. Missionaries can choose the following Career Paths: Inquisitor, Priest and Thaumaturge. See page .... For more information about the Career Paths. Soldier Features: Starting Skills: Starting Talents: Starting Gear: Rogue Rogues are thieves and scum of the underworld. Some are expert burglars and master thieves, others specialize in more lethal skills. Rogues know how to navigate through the dark alleys of the city, they know who to ask when they need something and always see an opportunity in a dire situation. Rogues can choose the following paths: Master Thief, Assassin and Saboteur. See page .... For more information about the Career Paths. See page .... For more information about the Career Path. Soldier Features: Starting Skills: Starting Talents: Starting Gear: Hunter