S&P and the '20s (1920s that is)

S&P is returning to RTR’s Dark Carnival spooky in-person game day this year!

I’ll be running “Darquehaven Manor”, a mystery/thriller scenario written by friend and colleague Rev Pete Ross, using my example characters*. Set in 1920, investigators are hired to confirm or deny the haunted-ness of a mansion belonging to a former New Jersey business magnate, and if confirmed, drive out the source of the haunting. I’ve run this scenario now twice, once online on my CHG server and once in-person at Metatopia 2024.

Here’s the cast of example characters (pre-gens):

Announcer: You grew up in a rough city neighborhood. Great at runnin’ your mouth and cracking wise, you’ve had jobs as a radio broadcaster, freelance journalist, and even a minor league baseball announcer. You’re not beneath selling newspapers on a street corner if need be. You might keep a .38 revolver on your person at all times—just in case. Spymaster to the Adventurer. Suggested name/pronouns: Phillipa “The Lip” Eaton, she/her

Anatomist: You graduated from a prestigious Ivy League university as a doctor of internal medicine. You were also a member of the university boxing team. You practice medicine in the suburbs of the big city, but you haven’t forgotten how to throw a solid right cross. Physician to the Adventurer. Suggested name/pronouns: Dr. Stanley Chambers, M.D., he/him

Aesthete: You were a Russian courtier who watched the upheaval of your homeland immediately following the fall of the Tsarist monarchy after emigrating to the States, as well as the failure of a democratic republic to take hold against the onslaught of the Bolshevik Revolution. You were classically trained in a wide variety of musical instruments and performing arts. You are most assuredly not a spy—how could anyone possibly think that? Such an idea is preposterous! Political and Social Liaison to the Adventurer. Suggested name/pronouns: Nikolas Ilyanof, he/him

Academic: As science professor for a university in a large city, the mechanics of the cosmos have always fascinated you; like many scientists and philosophers over the years, however, your interests have veered towards the spiritual, occult, esoteric and alchemical. You’ve always believed that science, religion and spiritualism are three vertices of an equilateral cosmic triangle, resonating with the universe like the platonic solids. Astrologer to the Adventurer. Suggested name/pronouns: Prof. Hannah “Hans” Rhymer, she/her

Adventurer: Were you in academia at one point in your life? Probably. Were you conveniently not offered any courses to teach? Also probably. No matter though, you’re more concerned with tracking down treasure, sacred objects, relics and antiquities, liberating them from oppressive rapacious regimes and returning them to their rightful owners (which may or may not include museums). Suggested name/pronouns: Delilah “Archie” Archibald, she/her

Administer: Former maid and cook, now greengrocer, general store merchant, and perhaps more importantly someone who knows how to get things, known to be able to get certain things from time to time. Quartermaster to the Adventurer. Suggested name/pronouns: Geraldine Marpart, she/her

Armiger: A batman during The War, you served honorably and with distinction to a member of the landed gentry who was also a commissioned officer. Despite some time recovering, both physically and mentally, you’re comfortable in dangerous situations, especially those that involve firearms, fisticuffs and flak. Attendant to the Adventurer. Suggested name/pronouns: Thomas Beagle, he/him

Airedale: You call rain-slicked streets and dimly-lit alleys of the city your home. You’re a stalker of the wicked. You eschew the pleasantries of the world, feeling they make you soft and dull where predators—one step removed from people—would make the world a more dangerous place without you to stop them. Private detective, occasionally in the employ of the Adventurer. Suggested name/pronouns: G. Sean Cannain, he/him.

*The Trick of Shadowlight, S&P’s name for its campaign frames, in this instance will likely change: for the sake of running this particular adventure, the campaign frame is “Trembling in the Cold of Dark”, to emphasize the horror/thriller aspects of the adventure. However going forward, the same example characters will be used in a different campaign frame: “As Above, So Below”, taking place in the same time period only emphasizing international brinksmanship and intrigue in the years between WWI and II both mundane and supernatural.