Character Creation: Curse of the House of Rookwood

Always nice when I read a game I'd been looking forward to and it turns out cool.

The Game: The Curse of the House of Rookwood
The Publisher: Nerdy Pup Games
Degree of Familiarity: None
Books Required: Just the one

Horror game of Gothic family shenanigans, you see. Specifically, you play members of the titular Rookwood family, but what exactly that family is and in what era they live is flexible. The running examples of play assume British Victorian, but there are a whole bunch of other possibilities. Every story arc is meant to be one "generation" of Rookwoods, and every such cohort has a number of "skeletons" that family members either need to confront and bury or gloss over - but if you don't deal with your skeletons, the family's overall prospect suffers.

In terms of game structure, there are some similarities to Forged in the Dark, inasmuch as the family as a whole (much like the gang in Blades or the dungeon in Wicked Ones) is really the big focus. The system is pretty different, though; I think it would work at the table, but of course you never really know until you're trying to explain it to your buddy with ADHD. 

Anyway, let's make a Rookwood!

The first thing we would do if we were really playing this game (and there were a "we") would be to answer the "7 Cursed Questions" about the family. Since it's just me and the book has a helpful example, I shall go with that. The example places us in mid-19th century England, the family has history amongst druids and cults and a seat in the House of Lords. 

First thing I need is a family role, expressed as an adjective and a noun (as I think about it, very much like in Ganakagok). I want my character to be a "full-blooded" Rookwood, rather than marrying in. Since I'm more into Americana than England...atana, let's say my Rookwood is an "insufferable traveler" - he's ventured to various places around the world, including the USA, and he comes back with a very "everything's up to date in Kansas City" thing going on. Let's say his name is Horatio Nelson Rookwood - his father was a naval man and, while he did not fight at Trafalgar, is a big fan of Admiral Nelson. My guy just goes by "Nel" to his friends. 

I now assign five dice amongst Brawn, Guile, and Weird. I can go as low as 0, so I think I'll leave Weird at 0 and go 2 Brawn, 3 Guile. Nel is a jetsetter and a socialite. 

So next we decide Nel's "loss of innocence," when the family curse manifested for him. I like the nautical leaning I have so far, so let's say that as a young man of 12, Nel was on a ship bound for Spain, but it sank (the ship, not Spain) not far off the English coast. Nel was one of a few survivors, along with a Rookwood employee porter (and if we were playing this, probably another PC or the father of a PC or whatever). Nel himself was knocked overboard and nearly drowned, and as he sank he saw. Ever since he's known that the boundless deeps want him, and he thumbs his nose at them by traveling via sea every chance he gets. 

Nel's Curse is wanderlust - give him a moment of quiet and he's miles away, staring into space or out over the ocean or the fields or wherever. He compensates for that by talking. A lot. His power, though, allows him passage and travel. When he travels, everything goes on schedule, he makes good time, and doors just never seem to stay locked around him. 

And now we choose a Desire. It might seem like Nel wants to explore or experience the world, but really what he wants to be renowned as a traveler, which is a different thing. He wants everyone to be glad to see him when he gets home, and to cry when he leaves. 

Finally, a Skeleton. This is an unresolved issue in the family stemming from Nel. I think I want to go back to the shipwreck. Let's say that Hardy, the porter, actually pushed Nel into the water. On his deathbed Hardy admitted that someone in the family paid him to do Nel in, but he wasn't able to say who before he shuffled off this mortal coil, the selfish bastard. Nel doesn't know who, but he hopes to find out and take revenge. He fears that whoever it is will try again and succeed. But of course it's possible that Nel just...goes away and never comes back, which would leave the skeleton unburied.

And that'll do it, actually! I picture Nel as in his 30s, with black hair and green eyes, but most tanned and less...sallow than a lot of Rookwoods. He's gregarious and charming and much too free with his words, until the conversation lulls and then he's staring out the window or wandering off into the gardens.