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Threshold: The Descent (Room X), Key-RP (recruiting thread)
4-6 players wanted for this horror genre game, using a commercial adventure by David Sharrock and the Key-RP system. This is also a playtest of Key-RP v1.1 with a view to improving on the system for the next update.
Download free copy of Key-RP here
Please scroll down for copyright information and character generation guidelines.
Experience of Key-RP is not necessary. It's a very easy system to pick up and as one of the co-developers I can guide you through when rule-based situations arise. I will be making all dice rolls in any case (provided that's ok with all players).
----
Introduction
The year was 1865, the location, Fleet, Southern England. Doctors at Greycleave Asylum were struggling with a tide of new patients and an influx of cases; insanities beyond comprehension, the mad and the maddened beyond the medical expertise of doctors' limited experience, gripped in bizarre states of psychological aberration, the nature of which seemed without cause, without cure and without end.
Looking to ascribe this epidemic to some common seed, Doctor Avesham Sheckles, head physician at Greycleave, discovered a consistency in the symptoms of his patients. All seemed terrified of a simple door, unknown to him, but apparently standing in one of the lower corridors in the cellar of the hospital. Even those inmates who had never strayed beyond the security of the upper wards knew of the door; of its rusted metal and wrought iron hinges, and of the dark plaque upon its face bearing the rudimentary term "Room X". They spoke of this door, this portal into some unknown and unspeakable nightmare, as though recounting the nature of an evil beyond imagining, and though they told no long yarn of article or detail, their fear was evident. There were no specifics, no discernable reason why this door, among all the doors in Greycleave, indeed, among all the doors in the world, should give rise to such raw and bilious horror. Yet surely, Sheckles conjectured, such congruous dread among men and women unknown to one another by the very depths of their own detachment from reality, betrayed a root cause in their madness. Seeking to resolve the nature of this communal terror, he ventured into the bowels of the hospital, there intending to test the door in question and find out, once and for all, what lay beyond.
He never returned and now the illness afflicting the inmates has worsened. They gibber and howl like demented animals, their mindless rage ignoring fundament and social niceties of day or night; filling the hospital throughout the hours and shaking the air from within to without, so that passers by, upon hearing such terrible cacophony, hurry to their homes and lock their doors, trembling therein and willing the onset of dawn as a child wills the coming of light to chase away unseen monsters beyond the shadow of a half-open closet door. Feral and no longer able to communicate with any level of lucidity, the violently mad guests of Greycleave seem less than human, their sickness wracking brains from stem to cortex, turning limbs and necks, the trunks of torsos and the otherwise agile reticulations of fingers redundant with tics, fits and spasms beyond control. The wardens struggle every hour to subdue the paroxysms and schismatic uprising of their charges, a horde who drool saliva, tear at flesh with curled, talon-like fingers and plead with wide, yolk-coloured eyes for someone, anyone to save them from their deathly fate. The doctors struggle, and they fear, for every day a new case arrives, to be strapped down and injected with opiates from the dwindling stores of this meagre south country hospital.
A meeting is held and the doctors are in agreement. Having studied Sheckles' case notes, and witnessed for themselves, albeit by observation of absence only, his disappearance into the much lamented room within the foundations of Greycleave, the doctors concede that it rests to them, and to them alone, to venture down into the gloomy depths, to the door whose existence fills the wailing drove with such mind-reeling terror, to the room beyond wherein the fate of their head physician must surely be revealed. That the mind of each doctor prickles with fear at the prospect of descending to the room marked X is unspoken and deliberately so. For here are academics; men who know well how important is presence of mind, how crucial a grasp of reality when dealing with the bubbling froth of lunacy as a matter of vocation. Room X can harbour no worse horror than a prostrate Sheckles, fallen across a gurney, perhaps, or tripped by a misplaced box, and unconscious or even dead among the debris of a long forgotten store cupboard. Men of a less sane disposition might call for the local constable and send that worthy down into the dark, to discover the fate of the vanished doctor and whatever else resides there besides. But there are no saner men than the medical staff of Greycleave. To them, and to them alone must this deed fall, lest they lose face and the faith of those who decide to whom the broken and the damaged are entrusted.
Already they have entered the elevator.
Already they are pressing the button for the basement of Greycleave.
And no brave constable can replace them now.
---
Game Overview
Each player takes on the role of a doctor at Greycleave Lunatic Asylum, about to step through the much feared door into the room marked X. Players should favour professions specialising in the study of psychology and psychoanalysis, or physician* professionals versed in the fields of medicine and surgery. No other character types are accepted. I'll also be roleplaying one NPC myself, which will be a hospital porter who has come along out of curiosity. I can tell you now that he isn't a stooge or a set-up. He's just a regular old NPC who lets me do the odd bit of roleplay now and then.
*Remember this is England 1865, so medicine is more primitive than modern day.
At this point if folks want to just let me know they'd like to play, that's more than enough (if you want to download Key-RP and go ahead and make a character, that's ok too). I would prefer to discuss character generation by email though, as the adventure module states players should not be privvy to one anothers' backgrounds. So please don't post character details here. The game will, of course, take place on the boards and when we have a maximum six players I will change this thread to the OOC thread for the game. I'm happy to discuss the setting in this thread too, if anyone has any questions. I'm also happy to answer any questions about Key-RP if you come up with any while making your character.
The game has some visual aids, which I'm not going to post as attachments. Instead I'll post remote link URLs to the images as and when they pop up.
This is my first game on Enworld, so I'm leaving the recruitment period open for now until I find out how many people apply to play. Previously I have run games as PBEM (play by email) and have 6 years experience of doing so, both as a player and a GM. This is my first horror adventure and my third Key-RP game. I'm a daddy gamer, so sometimes I might be away for hours at a time. If I need to be away for more than 24hrs, I'll let everybody know.
The following is copyright information, regarding the module I'm using.
Threshold: The Descent, Room X was written and conceived by David Sharrock.
Publishing and distribution rights are the propriety of Forever People Digital Press.
Copyright © Forever People Digital Press 2007. All Rights Reserved.
4-6 players wanted for this horror genre game, using a commercial adventure by David Sharrock and the Key-RP system. This is also a playtest of Key-RP v1.1 with a view to improving on the system for the next update.
Download free copy of Key-RP here
Please scroll down for copyright information and character generation guidelines.
Experience of Key-RP is not necessary. It's a very easy system to pick up and as one of the co-developers I can guide you through when rule-based situations arise. I will be making all dice rolls in any case (provided that's ok with all players).
----
Introduction
The year was 1865, the location, Fleet, Southern England. Doctors at Greycleave Asylum were struggling with a tide of new patients and an influx of cases; insanities beyond comprehension, the mad and the maddened beyond the medical expertise of doctors' limited experience, gripped in bizarre states of psychological aberration, the nature of which seemed without cause, without cure and without end.
Looking to ascribe this epidemic to some common seed, Doctor Avesham Sheckles, head physician at Greycleave, discovered a consistency in the symptoms of his patients. All seemed terrified of a simple door, unknown to him, but apparently standing in one of the lower corridors in the cellar of the hospital. Even those inmates who had never strayed beyond the security of the upper wards knew of the door; of its rusted metal and wrought iron hinges, and of the dark plaque upon its face bearing the rudimentary term "Room X". They spoke of this door, this portal into some unknown and unspeakable nightmare, as though recounting the nature of an evil beyond imagining, and though they told no long yarn of article or detail, their fear was evident. There were no specifics, no discernable reason why this door, among all the doors in Greycleave, indeed, among all the doors in the world, should give rise to such raw and bilious horror. Yet surely, Sheckles conjectured, such congruous dread among men and women unknown to one another by the very depths of their own detachment from reality, betrayed a root cause in their madness. Seeking to resolve the nature of this communal terror, he ventured into the bowels of the hospital, there intending to test the door in question and find out, once and for all, what lay beyond.
He never returned and now the illness afflicting the inmates has worsened. They gibber and howl like demented animals, their mindless rage ignoring fundament and social niceties of day or night; filling the hospital throughout the hours and shaking the air from within to without, so that passers by, upon hearing such terrible cacophony, hurry to their homes and lock their doors, trembling therein and willing the onset of dawn as a child wills the coming of light to chase away unseen monsters beyond the shadow of a half-open closet door. Feral and no longer able to communicate with any level of lucidity, the violently mad guests of Greycleave seem less than human, their sickness wracking brains from stem to cortex, turning limbs and necks, the trunks of torsos and the otherwise agile reticulations of fingers redundant with tics, fits and spasms beyond control. The wardens struggle every hour to subdue the paroxysms and schismatic uprising of their charges, a horde who drool saliva, tear at flesh with curled, talon-like fingers and plead with wide, yolk-coloured eyes for someone, anyone to save them from their deathly fate. The doctors struggle, and they fear, for every day a new case arrives, to be strapped down and injected with opiates from the dwindling stores of this meagre south country hospital.
A meeting is held and the doctors are in agreement. Having studied Sheckles' case notes, and witnessed for themselves, albeit by observation of absence only, his disappearance into the much lamented room within the foundations of Greycleave, the doctors concede that it rests to them, and to them alone, to venture down into the gloomy depths, to the door whose existence fills the wailing drove with such mind-reeling terror, to the room beyond wherein the fate of their head physician must surely be revealed. That the mind of each doctor prickles with fear at the prospect of descending to the room marked X is unspoken and deliberately so. For here are academics; men who know well how important is presence of mind, how crucial a grasp of reality when dealing with the bubbling froth of lunacy as a matter of vocation. Room X can harbour no worse horror than a prostrate Sheckles, fallen across a gurney, perhaps, or tripped by a misplaced box, and unconscious or even dead among the debris of a long forgotten store cupboard. Men of a less sane disposition might call for the local constable and send that worthy down into the dark, to discover the fate of the vanished doctor and whatever else resides there besides. But there are no saner men than the medical staff of Greycleave. To them, and to them alone must this deed fall, lest they lose face and the faith of those who decide to whom the broken and the damaged are entrusted.
Already they have entered the elevator.
Already they are pressing the button for the basement of Greycleave.
And no brave constable can replace them now.
---
Game Overview
Each player takes on the role of a doctor at Greycleave Lunatic Asylum, about to step through the much feared door into the room marked X. Players should favour professions specialising in the study of psychology and psychoanalysis, or physician* professionals versed in the fields of medicine and surgery. No other character types are accepted. I'll also be roleplaying one NPC myself, which will be a hospital porter who has come along out of curiosity. I can tell you now that he isn't a stooge or a set-up. He's just a regular old NPC who lets me do the odd bit of roleplay now and then.
*Remember this is England 1865, so medicine is more primitive than modern day.
At this point if folks want to just let me know they'd like to play, that's more than enough (if you want to download Key-RP and go ahead and make a character, that's ok too). I would prefer to discuss character generation by email though, as the adventure module states players should not be privvy to one anothers' backgrounds. So please don't post character details here. The game will, of course, take place on the boards and when we have a maximum six players I will change this thread to the OOC thread for the game. I'm happy to discuss the setting in this thread too, if anyone has any questions. I'm also happy to answer any questions about Key-RP if you come up with any while making your character.
The game has some visual aids, which I'm not going to post as attachments. Instead I'll post remote link URLs to the images as and when they pop up.
This is my first game on Enworld, so I'm leaving the recruitment period open for now until I find out how many people apply to play. Previously I have run games as PBEM (play by email) and have 6 years experience of doing so, both as a player and a GM. This is my first horror adventure and my third Key-RP game. I'm a daddy gamer, so sometimes I might be away for hours at a time. If I need to be away for more than 24hrs, I'll let everybody know.
The following is copyright information, regarding the module I'm using.
Threshold: The Descent, Room X was written and conceived by David Sharrock.
Publishing and distribution rights are the propriety of Forever People Digital Press.
Copyright © Forever People Digital Press 2007. All Rights Reserved.
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