PRESENTER'S MANUAL A THRILLING PASTIME for Ladies and Gentlemen of an IMAGINATIVE DISPOSITION to role-play ma a!re stories of LOVE and DEATH" In l#din$ some information of an O#tra$eo#s and Startlin$ nat#re" %ritten and desi$ned !y Daniel &ames Hanley 'it( editorial ontri!#tions !y %endy Rosals)y Released #nder t(e terms of t(e Open Game Li ense" Intended for Mat#re A#dien es" Optimi*ed for s reen +ie'in$" Special Thanks to: Stan Rosalsky, Faith Bianco, John Gaunya, Jeanette Torres-Hanley, Jason Bianco, Wendy Rosalsky, Tony Clappsy, Jennifer Black-Hanley, and Willia Fischer, for playtestin!, and hours of quality ga in!# Bri!id Burke, for co entary and criticis on the te$t. Ji Kaelin, Stacey Kaelin, and Jennifer Cali, for support and encoura!e ent. '(eryone on the Troll Lord Ga es, R*Gnet, and Dra!onsfoot Forums who ga(e support, co ents, and - ost i portantly) criticis of the material throughout its e(olution% All the blo!!ers and podcasters who noticed and supported the !a e early on% All the co entators on “The 'n!ine of Oracles3 ,ho ga(e feedback and criticis % '(eryone who made the ga e 0etter by pointin! out proble s and errors in the syste and te$t. Anyone I5(e absentmindedly ne!lected to mention% '$tra Special Thanks to: Jeanette, for lo(e and support throu!hout the pro6ect. Ghastly /ffair is dedicated to the e ory of the 1Snakedaddy3, John *atrick Hanley% 't in /rcadia e!o% DISCLAIMER Ghastly Affair is meant to 0e enjoyed 0y adults who kno, the difference 0etween fantasy and reality% The author does not endorse or condone any of the follo,ing 0eha(iors: highway ro00ery, the use of controlled su0stances, e$ploring unsafe a0andoned structures, piracy, 0lack agic, ar ed re0ellion, 0anditry or 0riganda!e in !eneral, a0use of any drug, necro ancy, gra(e ro00ing, the consu ption of ercury, 0leeding to treat any disease, the drinking of hu an 0lood, or any other ille!al or potentially life-threatening acti(ity% +escription of an acti(ity for ga e purposes should not 0e construed as pro otion of that acti(ity in real life. Also, va pires and werewol(es do not e$ist% 4t would 0e i possi0le to enu erate e(erything that i!ht 0e a trau a tri!!er for e(ery possi0le person. Be aware that Ghastly Affair is eant to e ulate pre-Victorian Gothic fiction, and therefore contains so e material of a potentially distur0ing nature% '(erythin! that follo,s is intended for entertain ent purposes only% HOW TO USE THIS BOOK The Ghastly /ffair *resenter5s 8anual is intended to 0e used in conjunction with the Ghastly /ffair *layer5s 8anual% 4n fact, all the essential rules for the !a e are in that 0ook. 4t is perfectly possi0le to run a ga e using nothing 0ut the Player's Manual, if the PCs only e(er contend ,ith hu an adversaries% This 0ook, howe(er, greatly e$pands the possi0le scenarios in which the Player Characters could beco e e 0roiled. Re e 0er that you are not tellin! a story, 0ut creatin! one in colla0oration ,ith the *layers% +on't force the Players to pursue plots in which they ha(e no interest% That doesn't ean that you can't !i(e the opportunities to e$pand their hori9ons% But if your Players state outright that they 6ust want to hunt ,ere,ol(es, don't force the into endless ro antic intrigues% 4n the sa e (ein, Players who state that they want a su0tle and at ospheric ga e without unnecessary (iolence shouldn't 0e constantly attacked by onsters% Also, it can't 0e e phasi9ed enou!h that the Presenter ust take the Players5 list of For0idden Topics seriously% 4t's not your 6o0 to ake any0ody face their fears, or confront their inner pre6udices% The !a e ser(es no purpose 0ut pure en6oy ent : which is purpose enou!h. 4t5s 0etter not to ake e(erythin! and e(ery0ody unrelentin!ly horri0le% Gothic is not the sa e thing as 1Gri dark”% The essence of Gothicis is the confusion 0et,een the 0eautiful and repu!nant% The darkness attracts% You run to,ards the thing that you kno, will destroy you, 0ecause its the ost 0eautiful thing in the world to you% )o(e, pleasure, and lu$ury are real, al0eit fre"uently 6u$taposed with fear, pain, and decay% 4f you ake e(erything awful all the ti e, the po,er of the awful will be quickly di inished. People need a break fro horror, in order for the ne$t horror to 0e i pactful % That's the reason why +own-ti e is a part of the ga e% )ikewise, try to a(oid o(erusing onsters, so that when one does appear it re ains frightening. You ne(er want the Players to react to a onster with 1/h well, here's another man-eating a0o ination. What's its Ar or Class<3 +on5t let historical facts !et in the ,ay of a !ood !a e% )ittle will turn your Players off "uicker than constantly re inding the that they can't say or do so ething 0ecause it would 0e anachronistic% That doesn't ean you can't su!!est and encoura!e historically accurate 0eha(ior, 6ust that you shouldn't ake Players feel like a leisure ti e acti(ity has 0een turned into a classroo % Players and Presenters are encoura!ed to play fast and loose ,ith history in the interests of fun. )ikewise, don't stress too uch a0out portraying historical figures ,ith perfect accuracy% 4f you want to depict one of history's heroes as ha(ing secretly 0een a depra(ed serial urderer, go ri!ht ahead. '(ery0ody fro the historical Ghastly Age is dead now – they si ply can't care any ore# The rules of Ghastly /ffair are deli0erately loose% There's no need to stress a0out not doing things 10y the 0ook”, so long as e(eryone's en6oying the sel(es% The ga e is desi!ned to not fall apart if you for!et to count e(ery possi0le Bonus and Penalty% /lso, you are encoura!ed to tinker ,ith the syste % /ppendices 744 and 7444 contain e$a ples of ways that the !a e can 0e odified. You should create ne, rules for actions that are going to 0e i portant to your Sa!a% Change things that don't ake sense to you. Alter and create Classes and Creatures. Make the ga e your own! TABLE OF CONTENTS DIS,LAIMER"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" - HO% TO .SE THIS /OO0"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 1 ,HAPTER 23 PRESENTING THE GAME"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 24 %RITING AND PRESENTING A55AIRS""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""2- Gettin$ A Game Started""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 2- Some S#$$ested Initial Sit#ations"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 21 ,onsider t(e O+erall Tone"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 26 Decide Upon t(e Motifs"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 27 Develop t(e Ba )story and Basic Plot""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 89 Define t(e ,(aracters and Ad+ersaries"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""82 Define t(e Locations"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 88 ,reatin$ and Lin)in$ C(apters"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 84 An E:ample O#tline"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 8- Definin$ Additional Locations and ,(aracters""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""8; Beginnin$ t(e Affair""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 86 O#tlinin$ 5ollow-.p Game Sessions"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""86 THE ART O5 ATMOSPHERE"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 49 Horror and Terror"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 49 Horror and t(e T(rill of Trans$ression"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""49 S#!lime Terror""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 42 ,reatin$ Romance""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 42 Poi$nancy"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 44 St#rm und Dran$""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""