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AtaraxiaN

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A member registered Apr 30, 2020

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We first heard about Curse of the House of Rookwood at Cincycon 2018, and backed the Kickstarter at the group level.  Looking forward to playing with our full gaming group, and getting further involved in the dysfunctional shenanigans.  But in the meantime, we did the best we could with just the 2 of us.  My husband designed this scenario.  He served as Chronicler and played Kyle and Thomas.  I played Stormy and Violet.  Where my play report gets sketchy, I can't remember who did what exactly.  But just imagine that everytime Kyle did anything Thomas tried to one-up him!

Congratulations on your successful launch and thank you very much for sharing your creation with us!


Midwestern USA in the 1970's

The four Rookwood player characters (Stormy, Kyle, Violet, and Thomas) receive a summons, from the lawyer of their late estranged uncle Jasper Hieronymus Rookwood, to attend the reading of his will at his mansion.

Player Characters:

Stormy is the thrillseeker.  She's a fire jumper from Colorado.  Shows up riding an Italian motorcycle.  Curse of the Burning Heart, with an intense need for Kyle's approval.  Eyes like flame.

Kyle is the ladies' man.  He's an ex-football hero who's used to having his status get him out of trouble.  Curse of the Gibbet.  Being blackmailed by Thomas.  Ligature marks.

Violet is the spiritualist.  She's got a strong intuition and a green thumb.  Curse of the Shroud, with a dark secret she's hiding from Stormy.  Mist-clouded eyes.

Thomas is the know-it-all.  He's an occult scholar and a tabloid journalist.  Curse of the Fading Echo.  In a rivalry with Kyle.  Everyone forgets his name.

Upon arrival, the PCs are led to the parlor by a butler, where they join the lawyer, as well as four members of Jasper's late wife's family.

Non-Player Characters:

Peter is a tall, thin lawyer with a severe manner.

Valerie is a bitter psychiatrist of the behaviorist school, with a drinking problem.

Richard is an overweight, overbearing, cigar-smoking real estate developer.

Tammy is Richard's wife.  She's young, ditzy, and chews gum loudly.

At 7pm, the lawyer reads the will:  Jasper's estate will be divided equally among those who are still inside the house in the morning.  "The house is protected by a security system," he tells you, gesturing toward an ornately-carved box sitting on a pedestal in the corner.  The box has a keyhole on the topside.  "You may leave at any time, but if you do so, you will not be able to re-enter.  I will activate the system before I leave, and if it's not turned off beforehand, the house will burn down at dawn.  There are 2 keys.  I have one.  The other is in 2 pieces, both hidden in the house.  Until dawn, you are safe in the parlor."  He then walks to the pedestal, activates the security system, and leaves with his key.

The family members spill out of the parlor into the foyer, having a not-so-civil conversation about whether to split up or stick together, when they suddenly hear music coming from the ballroom.  Going to the door to investigate, they see half a dozen couples, in turn-of the-last-century finery, dancing and a string quartet playing in the corner.  A gentleman approaches Valerie, bows deeply, asks her to dance, and offers his hand.  When she takes it, she is whisked off to the dancefloor.  As you watch, you can see that she is aging rapidly.  Kyle uses his rope to lasso Valerie and pull her back out to the foyer.  This breaks the illusion, and now the ballroom is filled with ghosts glaring at you menacingly.  

Thanks to Thomas (the occult scholar) sharing the ghosts' vulnerabilities, the group began looking for iron implements and salt, to arm themselves for combat.  The others were collecting hearth tools, when Tammy walked into the dining room and screamed.  Violet got to the door first.  She saw that Tammy was being pummeled and cut by dishes and knives that were flying out of a sideboard at her.  Violet called forth a thick cloud of mist to offer cover to Tammy and to Stormy, who went in to rescue Tammy.  Stormy then used her first aid training to stop Tammy's bleeding.  Kyle praised Stormy's first aid skills, which buried her skeleton.

Tammy was stabilized, but in need of rest, so she was left in the parlor.  Everyone else continued to the kitchen, in search of salt.  In addition to salt, they also found a woman, in a long black dress and white apron, stirring a stewpot on the stove.  She called them naughty children and told them to stay out of the wine cellar.  They got the salt and left the kitchen without further incident.

After vanquishing the ghosts, they checked the ballroom for key parts and found nothing.

In the conservatory, they fought a giant venus fly trap, searched for key parts, and still found nothing.

With the first floor scoured, the group decided to try the basement next, since the cook told them to stay out of the wine cellar.

In the basement, they fought 2 suits of armor wielding halberds, stationed at the wine cellar entrance.  In the wine cellar, they found lots of expensive wine and one very obvious bottle of cheap wine, which contained the first half of the key.  Hooray!

Now armed with halberds, the group next tried the 2nd floor, with no luck.  On to the attic.

In the attic, they found a toy room.  When they entered, a jack-in-the-box started up.  At the end of the song, a clown doll in the corner popped up and struck Peter, killing him with one blow.  Stormy turned a candle into a sword and hit the clown.  The chronicler decided it was a flameblade, so the clown was also on fire.  Then Thomas turned the clown incorporeal and pushed it through the wall.  They found the 2nd half of the key on the clown's chair.

They hurried back to the parlor, put the two key parts together, and turned off the security system.  That's when Richard pulled a gun and said, "If you think I'm splitting that money with you Rookwoods, you're crazy!"  Violet fogged his mind with intoxicating smoke and convinced him to give her the gun.  Thomas and Kyle both thought he should forfeit his share.  At Violet's suggestion, Richard left the house to sit on the front porch.  In the morning, the lawyer returned.