So the question is, how would folks like to read about Alexander Dreamfire's escape from Ravenloft to the Material Plane--specifically, Gothic Earth thanks to bad luck? I'd start literally at the beginning of 1980 and show how modern society unknowingly coexists with the supernatural, leading up to the events in RE 0-3, CV, and maybe (but not likely) RE 4? Outbreak is only passingly referred to, and no Survivor or Dead Aim. This is in addition to using other staples of classical and modern horror, including movies, novels, video games, and sometimes things out of my own fevered imagination.
And for those that wonder, Alexander escapes by means of a Scroll of Return. Since you designate the plane you want to go to, it's just too easy to rule that he gets sideswiped again and ends up in a world not unlike the Realms of Dread. Given that both planes run on different timelines and could take place at the same time IRL, this will not interfere with the Lost Journals or the Shining Force.
Edit: Also note that this is NOT the first attempt to bring Resident Evil and a d20 game together. There is a thread over at the d20 Modern board about this. However, I find it hard to reconcile a world where magic is known to exist and yet the T-Virus and all the creatures are still so horrific. The horror of RE is that it goes against what we believe is possible; on Gothic Earth, magic does exist but almost no one knows it anymore, but in d20 Modern magic is known and I feel RE loses a lot of its impact. Thus it's a sudden and traumatizing introduction to something beyond the scope of what we believe to be reality that Gothic Earth provides.
The link don't work.
:headexplo At least the link's fixed. Can't say much for their page builder. I might just move to myspace.Gothic Earth: From the 1890’s to the 1990’s
The Twentieth-Century started out promising enough, but it quickly became apparent that a darkness would overshadow everything. The past one-hundred years have often been called the “Century of War,” and for a good reason. Death would become mechanized and even routine. The phrase “terrorism” would be coined and put into the English lexicon. And the most destructive force ever created would be unleashed.
World War I
At the beginning of the century, Europe was a powder keg. Tensions from the Napoleonic wars and countless other conflicts still simmered. Alliances were made and broken. Everyone was on edge. All that was needed to set things off was one spark.
The Red Death threw that spark when Serb rebels killed Archduke Ferdinand. Suddenly all of Europe was at war, and all of their allies around the world were drawn into it. New weapons, like the machine gun and poison gas, caused hundreds of thousands of deaths, and limited fighting to trenches. The ground so defiled it sometimes came to life.
In 1917 the United States finally got into the war when Germany offered to help Mexico take back the Southwest. The offer was laughed at by the Mexican government, but the insult was too great to ignore.
In 1918, with the Allied victory, the seeds of further evil were sown. Germany was made the scapegoat of the worst war in the history of the world up to that point. The country had economic limitations, military limitations, and all manner of other harsh and humiliating punishments imposed. Its dignity stripped away, Germany quickly sank into an economic depression, ten years before the Great Depression.
The Roaring 20’s
The Road to Hell is paved with the best of intentions. In the 1920’s there were many. A descent into Hell was almost inevitable.
In 1919, optimistic from its victory in the Great War, the US passed an amendment that outlawed the production and sale of any alcoholic beverage. Prohibition was now in effect. Yet almost nobody obeyed the law. The Red Death acted through some of the most notorious gangsters, such as Al Capone and Bugsy Siegel, to fuel the evil in people’s hearts.
Farmers, having produced a glut of food for the war, suddenly found themselves with too much and the price fell drastically. An economic depression on farmers set in even as the Midwest began to dry out and turn into the Dust Bowl, the virgin sod torn up and the trees gone, leaving the land barren and vulnerable to wind and erosion.
Mass production came to a head in the 1920’s. Suddenly it was cheap enough for anyone to own a car, decent furniture, or a number of other things. The Stock Market also boomed as high-risk investment became a trend and people dared to venture their money.
Then it all Crashed.
The Great Depression
October, 29, 1929, Black Monday. The Stock Market had been falling for weeks prior. People had been taking their money out of banks and liquidating it—turning it into hard cash or other assets. But it was on Black Monday that the Market crashed and the economy of the United States—indeed, the entire world—was ruined.
Those with money hoarded it, afraid to spend it for fear of losing what they had. Those that had none struggled to find work in any way they could. Some tried honest work; others turned towards crime. Few doubt that the Red Death profited from this turn of events. The misery fed it, and the desperation allowed it to recruit many new souls into its unholy legions
The election of Franklin D. Roosevelt and his New Deal started to reverse things. Public Works, such as the Hoover Dam, were revived. Banks were federalized so that they wouldn’t fail should a second Depression happen; banks had lost people’s money, and thousands were ruined as a result. This would prevent such a thing from happening again.
Meanwhile, over in Europe, a Polish man Adolf Hitler rose to the fore in the Nazi party. Originally just a political party, this man brought in the hate and evil that would never be exorcised. He eventually rose to the rank of Fuhrer, or President, and the Nazis became the dominant force in Germany. Under his gaze Germany began to militarize, despite the sanctions against it. The rest of the world was too poor to do anything about it. He even forged alliances with fascist dictator Mussolini and with a military regime in Japan that had all but deposed the Emperor. A Second World War was now inevitable.
World War II
The warnings of Hitler’s conquering nature were clear, but the world ignored them. When he demanded “just a bit of the neck,” all but the most enlightened looked away.
Then came the Blitzkrieg, or Lightning War. Using mechanization to take Poland, France, Greece, and other parts of the European continent before anyone could react, the Germans soon dominated. Years of fighting ended up with Great Britain and a small French resistance being the only ones to resist the Nazi advance. America remained obstinately neutral.
Then on December 7th, 1941, planes from a Japanese aircraft carrier bombed Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. The nation was instantly polarized, and declared immediate war on Japan. Days afterwards Germany declared war on America. The US joined the UK in the Second World War.
When the Germans broke an alliance with Russia, Stalin declared War on a former ally and joined with the Allies. Suddenly Hitler was fighting a war on two fronts. His days were now numbered.
Yet while all this was happening, the Red Death sat and watched with glee as one of history’s most evil men rose to power. The Red Death itself had nothing to do with the rise of Hitler. Hitler was all too human, and his evils were all too human to boot. Even his most vile officers, such as Himmler and even Mengele, were human as well.
Hitler’s fascination with all things supernatural, though, was justified. The Red Death fed his lust and allowed many of his most heinous projects to succeed. Countless artifacts, such as the Spear of Destiny—the spear used to pierce the side of Christ—and possibly even the Ark of the Covenant were reportedly unearthed and stolen by the Nazis. Where these items went after their defeat is unknown. When Hitler committed suicide, it’s possible the Red Death and its minions took them all, fearing the holy power such items possess. Hitler’s final fate is a mystery.
The concentration camps themselves became some of the most haunted places on Gothic Earth. All are rating five Sinkholes of Evil, and most are phantasmagora. When the allies liberated the Jews and other prisoners, they saw the true perversion the Red Death allowed the Nazis to pursue. Necromancy and cybernetics, early forms of genetic engineering and biological warfare, all were fair game.
Yet it wasn’t just the Axis Powers that caused evil. Even the United States was itself guilty of sin. Italians and Japanese were rounded up and put into camps not unlike the concentration camps. The justification was that they might be spies. Yet more Germans were spies than any Italians or Japanese, and both groups often served more valiantly than most Caucasian soldiers. The Red Death had infiltrated both sides of the war, and used them like a puppet master. The consequences are still being felt to this day.
Yet the greatest victory for the Red Death was the fear that the Germans had the atomic bomb. Acting on a letter from the famed scientist Albert Einstein, the American government had scientists gather and develop the first functioning atom bomb in 1944. In 1945, when Japan refused to surrender, they dropped the bomb on Hiroshima. Then another on Nagasaki. Appalled at the loss of life, the Emperor himself announced his country’s surrender.
Hitler’s legacy, sadly, survived. Some of the Nazi officers escaped justice. A few took up the cause in the form of white-supremacist groups like the neo-Nazis. This is the true horror of the Nazis.
Whatever horrors Hitler created or disturbed have not gone quietly back to sleep. Golems, zombies, ghosts, anything that the mind can imagine has likely been toyed with. And the power of the Red Death likely gave it life—or unlife.
The Cold And Korean Wars
Fearing that they would fall behind, the Russians began development of their atomic bomb. When they detonated their own in 1948 the Cold War was on as both sides rushed to stay ahead of the other.
America, flushed with plundered gold from the Nazis, entered a period of economic boom in the late-40’s and early-50’s. Yet America barely had time to relax. In 1949 the South Koreans were invaded by their communist neighbors to the north, and America rushed in to help. The Korean War was short but bloody, and often forgotten. The Red Death profited from the fear produced on both sides, and fueled the fires by prompting Senator McCarthy to accuse all sorts of people of being communists. Yet in the end people saw through this ploy and a fatal blow to evil was struck. But evil wasn’t down for long.
Civil Rights and Vietnam
The 1950’s and 60’s were a time when colored people—not just blacks—were tired of being treated as second-class citizens. The Jim Crow Laws—segregation—were being challenged, and the Red Death used groups like the Ku Klux Klan and the Neo-Nazis to fuel the flames of hate. Yet champions of the Light, such as Martin Luther King, Jr., stood up and fought back without resorting to violence or other such tactics. Yet others such as Malcolm X and the Black Panthers were far more willing to take more militant actions against these foes.
Some, such as Rosa Parks, became living martyrs for the cause of civil rights. And the Little Rock Five pioneered the way for integrated schooling when the Supreme Court ruled that segregated schools were not constitutional.
Yet the Red Death scored a blow when an assassin killed Dr. King. The true identity of this killer has never been confirmed, but that he, she, or it served the Red Death cannot be denied. Even President Kennedy, championing the cause for civil rights, met his end at the hands of an agent of the Red Death.
Yet while all this was going on, over in the Near East, the ancestral lands of the Hebrews was returned to the Jews. After the horrors of the Holocaust Great Britain felt it was only proper. Yet the Palestinians and their neighbors were not happy. From day one the Israelis had to fight to keep their home. And they were not going to lose it again. In the early-‘60’s the Six Day War was fought and won by them, gaining lands such as the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. This only antagonized relations further.
In Asia, the French had been fighting a war with the Viet Minh, guerrillas fighting for a united Vietnam. Originally their leader, Ho Chi Minh, went to America for aid, yet America feared he was in league with the communists. Ironically, it was their refusal to help that led to his affiliation with China and communism.
When the French abandoned South Vietnam the Americans went in. From day one the Americans didn’t want to be there and the Vietnamese didn’t want them there. Add to this the loss of the focus on why they were even fighting this war and it was lost before it began.
Protests against the Vietnam War in the States threatened to tear the country apart as the hippie movement began to gain steam. New ideas clashed with established traditions and folks were no longer content to wait for change.
Soldiers returning from Vietnam were spit on, called “baby killers” and other derogatory things. Yet nobody that hadn’t fought could ever know the true hell they had suffered. The Red Death had won and there was more to come very soon.
The Energy Crisis and Iran Hostages
In the mid-1970’s OPEC—the Oil Producing and Exporting Countries—embargoed oil on America. The States were left in a lurch. Gas and fuel oil suddenly became more precious than gold. Smaller, more fuel-efficient cars popular in Europe and Japan became popular as people realized that gas-guzzlers made in Detroit were no longer viable. The auto industry nearly went bankrupt, and thousands were left jobless as a minor recession set in.
Then, as retaliation for aiding Israel, Iran took several Americans hostage. For over a year they were held as President Carter negotiated their release. In the end they were released, but the beginnings of terrorism against the United States by the Middle East was only just beginning.
Corporate Globalization
The 1980’s were a desperate attempt to return to the innocence of the 1950’s. Yet we couldn’t. Too much had changed. Too many things had evolved. Communications made it possible for us to talk with anyone across the globe with relative ease, computers were slowly taking over, and corporations were now the power—not the government.
As corporations merged a new form of corporation—the megacorporation—began to emerge. The Red Death saw what it could do with such, and used this new tool to further the cause of evil.
Chernobyl, a Russian nuclear plant, also melted down. Thousands were killed and tens of thousands were left to suffer radiation sickness and mutation. The remains are still there, waiting for its concrete crypt to fall apart and its core to be unleashed.
In 1986, despite several warnings by engineers that the O-rings were cracked, NASA okayed the launch of a shuttle. After a minute it exploded in mid-air, killing every person aboard—including a teacher that was going to be the first civilian in space.
Yet not everything was dark. After a long descent into economic ruin, communism eventually fell apart and many countries under the rule of the USSR were allowed to become democratic. East and West Germany were reunited and the Berlin Wall was torn down. Things started looking up as the last decade began.
Then, in 1991, Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait. The Persian Gulf War was on as the United Nations rushed in to help the Kuwaitis expel the Iraqis. After only a few weeks the Iraqis fled in defeat. Yet there was little cause to celebrate. Terrorist cells used this as a cause to launch attacks on the United States and on embassies in various countries throughout the world. The World Trade Center was bombed in 1993, and a Black Hawk helicopter was shot down in Africa years later. Even domestic terrorism was on the rise. Columbine High School saw two students go on a shooting spree as a twisted form of revenge, fueled by hate propaganda spread by the Neo-Nazis. Even the Federal Building in Oklahoma City was bombed by a veteran of the Persian Gulf War, also fueled by hate propaganda spread by the Nazis.
Hatred by the have-nots against the haves is growing. And the Red Death finds a fertile ground in their hearts.
1998: Now…
The Internet and World Wide Web, a system of computers all over the world, spread information as quickly as it is put out there. The Red Death fears this, because it knows that knowledge is the best weapon against it. To this end it has tried to have laws passed to limit what can and can’t be accessed, yet most have been shot down as being unconstitutional and unenforceable.
The sense of doom and gloom is not only picked up on by Generation Y, but it’s a part of their very culture. Few have the drive to accomplish and a sense of pessimism gives everything they do a darker shade. Television is more shocking and provocative; sexuality is increasingly more wild; movies explore the darkest sides of humanity casually; even the music turns negative as songs talk about how crime and violence pay and life is pointless.
Corporations have unlocked how to clone animals, and the religious debate rages. Genetic engineering is now a common thing for them to pursue. The most famous is the Umbrella Corporation, which has produced a long line of medicines and cosmetics. Yet the day is coming when the truth about their research will be revealed.
Years to come will not be kind to the planet, as history shows. The US will suffer the worst terrorist attack in its history in 2001 and be drawn into a drawn-out war on an enemy it can’t see. The bubble economy will burst and a recession will set in. Gas and oil prices will skyrocket. Uncertainty is the only certain thing…
The Red Death in 1998
The loss of the fear that humans had held for creatures of the night proved to be a double-edged sword. Without fear to feed it the Red Death itself began to weaken, and so instigated the worst disasters and wars that it could just to create fear among the people. At the same time more and more people are now becoming enlightened to the idea that maybe the supernatural is real, and as such must not be left unchecked.
Both sides, Light and Dark, maintain an unsteady balance as skepticism both aids and weakens the Red Death. Yet as more and more people delve into the supernatural for a good time or for seemingly-innocent fun they begin to feed the Red Death once more. This is not new; it is history repeating itself—one century ago they did the same.
Modern Horrors
In a Masque of the Red Death 1998 setting a DM can present popular fiction from the Twentieth-Century as reality. Imagine that at Camp Crystal Lake there really is an undead serial killer in a hockey mask, or that in a town called Springwood a ghostly child killer comes to claim teens in their dreams.
Similarly, lesser known movies can become history. During the Depression it wasn’t unknown for those desperate—and evil—enough to seed the soil with blood to grow crops and thus create the only bumper crops in areas so blasted that all life struggled to live. The bodies were used as the scarecrows, and such desecrated grounds can still harbor the angry spirits of those killed to feed a dying land—spirits able to inhabit the scarecrows in the field.
Even more frightening, any haunting in real life—whether true or not—can be so on Gothic Earth. In Long Island sits a house that holds gateways to the Negative Energy Plane, for example. A place so foul that even a piece from the house carries the taint and is eternally hungry for fresh souls.
But just as evil is real, so is good. As defiling a grave can cause the dead to rise, so can sanctifying it put the dead to rest. Faith is power, and despite the lack of spells, there are consecrated and hallowed sites that even an overlord would be loathe to tread. Items at once held as holy truly hold power, and are a bane to the darkness. Allowing items such as the Spear of Destiny or even the Ark of the Covenant may help to at last dispel the evil in the world, and perhaps save humanity before it’s too late.
Using Modern Horrors
What is supposed to be fiction is not actually fiction. The nocturnal depredations of movie monsters such as Freddy Krueger is not fiction—although the movies do exist. As is told many times, what is taken to be fiction is often a warning.
Nightmare on Elm Street was one of those warnings. Jason, Freddy, Michael, they all are warnings presented as fiction—in vain hopes that people will recognize that what is a story is actually based on something real. Yet all too often the market favors exploitation of a gimmick, diluting the story and sweeping the warning away.
So what’s real and what’s not? Only the DM can say for certain. Just as villains in older fiction are real on Gothic Earth, movies can provide all new horrors for your game.
What if Crystal Lake really is held in the grip of a revenant who was once Jason or Wes Craven’s stories are all too true premonitions? Imagine the horror.
But just as movies and books are the meat and potatoes of finding newer, far more relevant things to go bump in the night, video games are the wine that go with the meal. The town of Silent Hill has become a haunted city inhabited by the living and the unreal. Ancient powers hold the land, powers either as powerful as or else in servitude to the Red Death. Maybe there is a half-fiend called Dante who fights against a demonic heritage? Or the Brimstone Society and its pledge to protect humans from actual vampires? Just pick up a game and see all the stories that jump out at you.
Yet remember, reality is often worse than fiction. Many places harbor things a person should rightly fear—none of them the supernatural type.
Did you know there were alternate 3E MotRD rules available here: http://www.livingdeath.org/
Edit Edit: In further review of the Living Death rules I still find them overly complex for what should be an extremely simple game, but that's just my own opinion. I'll make changes to the rules to fit better with the Living Death rules, but I will keep certain changes in the rules I've written meant to simplify things while trying to retain the flavor of the setting. Also, the fiction link has been taken down and the fiction itself will be rewritten to better reflect the Gothic Journals as they go.