The Game: Fiendgazer
The Publisher: Tremor Pings
Degree of Familiarity: None
Books Required: Just the one
The Publisher: Tremor Pings
Degree of Familiarity: None
Books Required: Just the one
Fiendgazer shares some characteristics with Brindlewood Bay (beyond the system, I mean). It's set in a particular locale (Harrowplow, PA), it's a story of creeping supernatural dread and solving mysteries, but it's much more horror-forward. To wit, all the PCs (the titular Fiendgazers, or just Gazers if you're pressed for time) have some awareness of the Fiend ripping into our reality, and can gather Clues to figure out the truth and try to stop it.
I actually think this game would be really cool to play, though I rather wish instead of giving us an example character for each of the Roles it would have given us an example of play. Like, we're supposed to get a Mark (which is a "narrative token") from each other player, including the GM. Here's where an example of chargen would have been really nice, because I'd love to see the giving of Marks in practice. There are example PCs, sure, but they don't have Marks, just backstories.
But regardless, let's make a Gazer!
The first thing I do (though I do note that there's no real step-by-step for chargen, which I also find annoying) is decide what the Event was that made my character see beyond. I start with a Gaze stat of -2 (if it goes over 3, I'm consumed by the Rift and no longer a PC), which means I have some awareness of what's going on. Why? Well, I think I'll go to The Weird and roll on "Weird PC Backgrounds," seems pretty appropriate. "You've owned a puzzle box for years, but never been able to open it." Well, that's goddamn perfect. Let's say my character - whom we'll call Dane Zamora - has owned the puzzle box since he was a kid.
You know, I keep thinking that name sounds self-chosen, so let's say Dane is a trans man, and couldn't open the box at all until he transitioned and chose a new name. That isn't to say trans men are more predisposed towards cthonic magic (I have read no studies on the subject), just that before he did that, perhaps he wasn't authentically him enough to get it working. Anyway, he hasn't managed to open the box all the way, but just a bit, and that was enough to give him the Gaze.
Next up, jorb. My Job gives me four stats (and I really don't agree with some of them; like, why on Earth does Salesperson not have the Social trait?) and a special move. I think Dane is young, probably only 20 or so, so let's say he's a Staffer (he works at a drugstore in Harrowplow). The write-up for Staffer asks me to consider "what dream do you sink into to keep your sanity?"
In Dane's case, I think it's that his boss, Sally, just shuts the fuck up. Like, he doesn't wish death or ruin upon her, just that she were struck dumb and couldn't ask Dane stupid questions or give him busywork anymore.
As a Staffer, I get the traits Deep, Handy, Lore, and Network. I get to pick one of these to have a +2, one gets a +1, the others get 0 (but I still have them; everything else gets -1). Well, I think Dane should have Handy at +2 (it'll be a stretch to play, but it'd be fun), Deep +1, and that leaves the other two at 0. And then my special move is that once per game, I can appear harmless and negligible, and no one notices me until I act.
And that's it, kids, because everything else would require a group. I think Dane wears loose-fitting shirts and pants (the shirts are to hide that he binds, the pants are just what he finds comfy). He's got a wallet on a chain, sturdy work boots, and a kind of Elliot Page haircut, though darker complexion (I think he's of Mexican extraction). Since he's opened that box, he finds himself fiddling with it without realizing it (it's small enough to fit in his pockets).
