Rebellion & Repulsion

It is 1775. It is an Age of Reason. It is an Age of Rebellion. It is an Age of War. New philosophies of logic, mathematics, and science appearing in the writings of Descartes, Hobbes, and Newton are being read and embraced and are supplanting centuries old beliefs rooted in myth and superstition. In the Thirteen Colonies, the first shots have been fired and the Patriot militias defeating the British Army at the Battles of Lexington and Concord, igniting tensions between Colonies and the Crown in London and setting them aflame. Great Britain and her Thirteen Colonies in North America are now at war. It is also an Age of a Secret War. For as many embrace the new ways of thinking, some still reject it, for they know the truths about the world, whether that is learned from a master or a mistress or because they have confronted it in all of its terrifying reality. Monsters are real. Magic is real. There are some men and women who would use their knowledge of magic and monsters for ill, there are monsters native to the New World and some came with the colonists from the Old, and perhaps there is a deeper, darker threat that only the most ambitious and most foolish would treat with. Whatever your politics—Loyalist, Nonassociator, or Patriot—these threats may be the biggest danger to the future of the Thirteen Colonies whether they remain in the grasp of the Crown or break free of its regime and achieve independence. This is the setting for Colonial Gothic.

Originally published in 2007, Colonial Gothic returns to its original roots after Flames of Freedom with a streamlined and revised version of the original rules. Published by Rogue Games, Inc. can be a roleplaying game of ‘High-Action’ a la the film The Patriot or the comic book, The Rebels; ‘Occult & Mystery’ inspired by H.P. Lovecraft or Edgar Allan Poe; or of confrontations with the ‘Supernatural’ like the films, Sleepy Hollow, Brotherhood of the Wolf, and Pirates of the Caribbean, with the latter being the default, but still cinematic. The core rulebook covers character creation, rules, magic, and some of the dangers that the Player Characters might face.

A Player Character is defined by seven Abilities—Brawn, Nimble, Vigor, Reason, Resolve, Vitality, and Sanity. Of these, all but the last two vary in value between ‘+0’ and ‘+4’, although they can be as high as ‘+10’. Vitality and Sanity are derived factors, Vitality representing a Player Character’s ability to suffer damage and Sanity his mental well-being. He also has a Background, Side, Profession, Action Points and Hooks, and skills. The Background options include Frontier Colonist, Rural Colonist, Urban Colonist, Freedman, Freed Slave, Former Indentured Servant, Immigrant, Native, and Tribe-Adopted. His Side can be Loyalist, Nonassociator, or Patriot. Neither Background nor Side impart any bonuses or skills, instead providing roleplaying details only. His Profession further explains his background, grants a Vitality Bonus, gives some starting skills, and three items of equipment. They include a wide range of Professions such as Alchemist, Barber, Clergy, Clerk, Farmer, Gambler, Lawyer, Libertine, Militia, Publican, Robber, Student of the Occult, Witch Hunter, and more. Hooks are categorised as either Educational, Emotional, Magical, Metaphysical, Physical, Situational, or Supernatural, and are statements such as ‘I will pay my taxes to the American government to forge my freedom rather than pay them to a king I will never see’ or ‘My faith is all I have in the face of a greater evil’. These are tagged in play in order to spend Action Points.

To create a character, a player assigns six points across Brawn, Nimble, Vigor, Reason, and Resolve. He then selects a Background, Side, Profession, Hooks, and skills. All of the Backgrounds, Sides, and Professions are all really nicely detailed and for the Native and Tribe-Adopted Backgrounds, Colonial Gothic provides very decently done descriptions of the peoples of the Indigenous nations.

Name: Simon Teahan
Background: Former Indentured Servant
Side: Patriot
Profession: Student of the Occult
Brawn 0 Nimble 1 Vigor 1 Reason 2 Resolve 2
Vitality 12
Sanity 50

Skills
Astrology (Reason) 0, Herbalist (Reason) 0, Lore (Reason) 1, Magic (Resolve) (Clarity’s Embrace) +0, Magic (Resolve) (Veiled Aegis) 1, Study (Astronomy) 1

Hooks
‘The bastard British deserve every kicking they get’
‘I owe my master for the knowledge I know, but I will become greater than him to defeat his evil’

Equipment
The Book of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage, The Divine Pymander of Hermes Mercurius Trimegistus, The Hieroglyphic Monad

Mechanically, Colonial Gothic involves the rolling of two twelve-sided dice. The typical Target Number is twelve and to this a player add the Ranks for his character’s Skill and its associated Ability. Modifiers apply to the dice rather than the Target Number. Rolls above the Target Number can generate Degrees of Success, whilst rolls below the Target Number can generate Degrees of Failure. It is up to the Game Master to decide what that might be narratively. Combat uses the same mechanic. Initiative is a simple test using Nimble and actions include Attack, Casting Spell, Hiding, Loading a Weapon, Searching, Withdrawing, and so on. Rolling the exact Target Number in combat inflicts only the base damage for the weapon, whilst Degrees of Success will add to the base damage. When a Player Character suffers damage, he suffers a ‘-1’ penalty to all actions for the first ten points suffered, and then ‘-1’ for each five points after that. Damage is deducted from Vitality. Fear is resolved as a Resolve test and if failed, the Player Character loses Sanity and suffers a ‘-2’ penalty until he can rest. Losing Sanity can result in the Player Character also suffering from a phobia, which when it is in effect, imposes a greater penalty. Both Vitality and Sanity recover at a rate of one point per day, and a Phobia can be overcome, but should a Player Character’s Sanity be reduced to zero, the Phobia becomes permanent and his Sanity is permanently reduced by one.

Colonial Gothic is a set in a world in which magic is real and practiced by mages, sorcerers, witches, and shamans. Two forms of practice are detailed, Alchemy and Magic, both exclusive to the other, so that if a practitioner studies one, he cannot study the other. Mechanically, an Alchemist gains ranks in the Alchemical Arts, whilst a Mage gains ranks in different spells. The Arts include the Alchemicall Revanaunt by which the alchemist can create a zombie; the Arte of Blackpowder, the creation of various types of gunpowder; the Arte of Elixirs such as the Philosopher’s Tincture which sharpens wits; and the Vitae of Rekyndlyng for restoring a person to life. Alchemy requires investment in equipment and reagents, and it takes time to complete as well as gather any ingredients needed, whilst failed tests tend to concoct tinctures and elixirs that have negative rather than positive effects. The casting of spells is quicker, but still takes several rounds depending upon the spell. Spells also have a cost in Sanity to cast. Of the two, more detail is accorded to alchemy including its history and aims, making it easier for the Game Master to make it an aspect of play.

Besides a good list of equipment that includes weapons and alchemical apparatus, the Game Master is supported with advice on running Colonial Gothic. It primarily focuses on how to use the history of the period and how to use horror in play. Its default is a ‘secret’ history, but does not discount using alternative history either. It advises that the Game Master be respectful of the history whilst using it as a source of ideas. That said, it does not suggest where to look for that history and it highlights one absence from Colonial Gothic—and that is the lack of a bibliography, which would have served as a pointer for the Game Master wanting to do some research herself. This is not an issue that affects the roleplaying game’s advice on horror, which covers various types including folk, Mythos, and supernatural, as well as how to use it in play. This is all combined with a good section on creating adventures and an even better one on creating interesting and memorable villains.

Rounding out Colonial Gothic is ‘Lurking in the Shadows’, an extensive list of threats that the Player Characters might face. As well as breaking down their various possible abilities and traits, they are categorised as either Infernal, Natural, Otherworldly, and Undead. Infernal creatures such as the Boo-Hag and the Headless—as per Sleepy Hollow—have Taint, representing their evil presence in the world, but which can only keep them in this world for a short time. Oddly, the Byakhee, the Jersey Devil, and the Werewolf are included in the Natural section. The chapter includes several entries of Indigenous origins including the stone giants known as A-sense-ki-wake of Abenaki lore and the Mestabeok of the Atikamekw legend found in central Quebec. This is a decent selection of monsters which includes the familiar and the unfamiliar.

Physically, Colonial Gothic is decently presented with a good mix of artwork. It is an easy read although it needs a slight edit in places and it does feel slightly odd to have the roleplaying game’s mechanics explained before Player Character creation.

Colonial Gothic includes excellent sections that are full of historical detail, such as the examination of alchemy and the descriptions of the peoples of the indigenous nations, yet in terms of the history of the period it is set in, it is lacking. Much of that is saved for the Colonial Gothic Guidebook and the Colonial Gothic: Atlas, but some background details could have been included as well as a bibliography for the benefit of the Game Master or player for whom the roleplaying game does not share their history. Whilst the system is straightforward enough, it lacks examples of play, combat, and character creation. There is also no scenario to help the Game Master get started or show her what a Colonial Gothic adventure looks like.

Overall, Colonial Gothic is a solid roleplaying game that is easy to pick up and play, the revised rules being slicker and quicker to grasp. The rules are backed up with some solid character options and historical details. However, unless the Game Master is knowledgeable about the period and ready to write her own scenarios, she will need to make further purchases and possibly conduct some research of her own.