Casting the Runes: Occult Investigation in the World of M. R. James

Table of contents :
My Bookmarks
Contents
Foreword
Introduction
Investigators Chapter
Investigative Abilities
Occupations & Social Roles
Abilities Chapter
General Abilities
Scuffling
Gameplay Chapter
Pool Points
Clues
Tests & Contests
Health & Stability
Fighting
Weapon Damage
Combat Example
Hazards
Creatures Chapter
Gaming Supernatural Beings
Creatures & Entities
Random Ghosts
Deities & Demiurges
Everyday Beasts
Magic Chapter
Spell Costs
Spells
Tomes & Grimoires
Extraordinary Items
The Edwardian Period
Income & Class
Prices
The Spirit of the Age
Campaigns
Clue Types
Scene Types
Stock Situations
Dealing with Authorities
Insanity
Clubs
Scenario: The Coptic Lamp
The House with the Brick Kiln
Appendices
Index
Backers
Character Sheet

Citation preview

The

RUNES Occult Investigation in the World of M.R. James

By Paul StJohn Mackintosh

Quills Media

By Paul StJohn Mackintosh

Written and developed by: Paul StJohn Mackintosh Foreword: Ramsey Campbell Editing and Proofing: Tobias Cooper, Paul StJohn Mackintosh, Lawrence Whitaker Design and Layout: Soph Conner Artists: Jerry Boucher, Jensine Eckwall, Anders Johansson, Oliver Specht Cartography: Lawrence Whitaker Cover: Jensine Eckwall Playtesters: Colin Brett, Tobias Cooper, Michael C. Connell, Soph Conner, James Machin Thanks to: Thanks to Lawrence Whitaker for backing and believing in this. Thanks also to Tobias Cooper and Sophia Conner, inveterate playtesters and co-creators. And finally, love and thanks to my family, my friends, my daughters and my girlfriend for just being who they are. Special thanks to Pia Eardley for her vision of a certain highly dangerous Egyptian lamp. Thanks to everyone at, or connected with, Pelgrane Press and GUMSHOE – Kenneth Hite, Robin D. Laws, Cathriona Tobin, Kevin Kulp, Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan, Tony Williams, et al. – for all the inspiration, pacesetting, good advice and sheer fun. FIND US AT www.thedesignmechanism.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/designmechanism/ This work is based on the GUMSHOE SRD (found at http://www.pelgranepress.com/?p=12466), a product of Pelgrane Press, developed, written, and edited by Robin D. Laws with additional material by Kenneth Hite, and licensed for our use under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/). Printed by: “Standartų spaustuvė” www.standart.lt, Vilnius, Lithuania.

Casting the Runes

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Contents Foreword

5

By Ramsey Campbell

Introduction

7

Why this Game?

7

Why the Period?

9

Why Jamesian Women?

10

The Other Edwardians

10

Investigators

12

Occupations and Social Roles

14

Drives

29

Abilities

32

General Abilities

41

Gameplay

50

Abilities

50

What are Clues?

54

Clues at Work

58

Spend for Success

60

General Abilities

61

Health and Stability

66

Other Hazards

82

84

Gaming Supernatural Beings

85

Creatures and Entities

86

Deities and Demiurges

103

Everyday Beasts

105

108

Magic Costs and Difficulties

109

Casting a Spell

109

Learning Magic

111

Spells

111

Tomes and Grimoires

122

Some Sample Tomes

123

Extraordinary Items

125

The Period

3

84

Entity Facts and Figures

Magic

32

Investigative Abilities

71

Creatures

12

Build Points and Abilities

Fighting

128

Imperial Currency

128

Income and Social Class

129

Prices and Living Costs

130

The Spirit of the Age

136

Casting the Runes

Campaigns

148

Appendices

188

Structuring the Narrative

148

I. Primary Sources

188

Clue Types

148

II. Secondary Sources

190

Timed Results

150

III. Reference Materials

192

Scene Types

150

IV. Audio and video

193

Stock Situations

153

The Golden Haze

156

V. Games, Sourcebooks and Supplements

194

Insanity and Institutionalisation

160

Jamesian Endings

161

Working on the Abs

162

Clubs, Coteries and Campaign Frames 163

Scenarios

Index

195

Kickstarter Backers

200

168

The Coptic Lamp

168

The House with the Brick-Kiln

178

Image Credits Jerry Boucher: https://www.artstation.com/jerryboucher Pages: 40, 46, 84, 86, 89, 91, 92, 93, 95, 96, 97, 99, 103 Jensine Eckwall: https://jensineeckwall.com/ Cover, small demon heads Anders Johansson: https://fandersjohansson.myportfolio.com/ Pages: 37, 51, 101, 104, 105, 155 Oliver Specht: www.oliver-specht.de Pages: 12, 31, 39, 45, 49, 59, 72, 74, 76, 79, 100, 113, 116,

Casting the Runes

135, 151, 169, 177, 179, 181, 185, 186 The Wellcome Collection: Pages: 53, 118, 124 Period postcards: Pages: 14, 55, 129, 141, 164 Wikimedia Commons: Pages: 8, 15-29, 119, 121, 133, 136, 137, 138, 139, 142, 144, 145, 146, 159, 161, 165, 166, 171 Private collections: Pages: 102, 132, 134, 157, 172, 175

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Foreword audience of A School Story was the King’s College Choir School, while Wailing Well was heard at a campfire by the Eton College Boy Scout troop. Most, however, were initially performed to adult friends at King’s as an annual Christmas treat. In this James clearly meant to align himself with the tradition of the festive ghost story and indeed of oral storytelling, and he remarks in the introduction to his collected stories that he has “tried to make my ghosts act in ways not inconsistent with the rules of folklore”. All this may suggest a certain cosiness, which would be confirmed by the standard view that the most important Jamesian attribute is his antiquarianism. Of course, that is crucial to the verisimilitude of many of the stories, and many of them deal with scholars whose comfortable world is invaded by the malign supernatural. Nevertheless, I maintain that the essence of James is to be found less in his characters and settings than in his His writings on the ghost story were sparse but valu- technique. The quality that makes his best tales – able, though sometimes his own practice contradicts which is to say most of them – unforgettable is his wit them. The most substantial as a survey appeared in the in communicating horror. December 1929 issue of The Bookman, where James demonstrates his familiarity with the genre. Some of Far from being cosy, James’s stories frequently his tales refer explicitly to its established tropes and present a reassuringly ordinary setting that is invaded clichés before building on them or subverting them by the malevolent and terrible. Sometimes everyday (not, despite the view of some critics, that art need objects take on or harbour hideous life, and at times subvert its chosen form). While the Victorian spectre the juxtaposition of these elements borders on surrewas often ethereal or simply kept its distance, James’s alism. He was among the first to make the tale of suapparitions tend to be grisly and physical, though a pernatural terror as frightening as possible, an glimpse of them is frequently enough to provoke a effect he achieves by an inspired and precise selection shudder. The sheet had pretty well become the of language. Many of his most effective moments are uniform of the traditional ghost, and so (in “Oh, inseparable from his style. No writer better demonWhistle, and I’ll Come to You, My Lad”) James strates how, at its best, the ghost story or supernatural imagines its ultimate manifestation: a sly black joke, horror story (either term fits his work) achieves its perhaps, but memorably horrible. effects through the eloquence and skill of its prose – and, I think, no writer in the field has shown greater Many of his stories were written for reading aloud. willingness to convey dread. He can convey more Some were composed to frighten children: the first spectral terror in a single glancing phrase than most ontague Rhodes James is the most influential British writer of supernatural fiction. He was born in Kent in 1862, but moved with his family to Great Livermere outside Bury St Edmunds three years later. His childhood love of church architecture and of the Suffolk landscape would be crucial to his adult writing, both fiction and non-fiction. He won a scholarship to Eton, where he distinguished himself in classics, divinity and French. He was provost of King’s College, Cambridge, for 13 years, then took up that position at Eton for a further 18 until his death. His published books include Old Testament Legends, The Apocryphal New Testament, Abbeys, Suffolk and Norfolk (which contains a tang of the macabre), and The Wanderings and Homes of Manuscripts. Best known, however, are his ghost stories, many of them classic tales of terror.

M

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authors manage in a paragraph or a book. He is still the undisputed master of the phrase or sentence that shows just enough to suggest far worse. Often these moments are embedded within paragraphs, the better to take the reader unawares; the structure of the prose and its appearance on the page contribute to the power of his work.

work, and now Paul StJohn Mackintosh has developed this witty and erudite game whose dark playfulness is itself reminiscent of James. May it evoke nothing but pleasure! Should you find an inscribed slip of paper among the pages of the manual, it isn’t mine. If I were you, I’d pass it on to someone else as soon as possible. Ramsey Campbell Wallasey, Merseyside January 2020

In his Bookman essay, James calls for “malevolence and terror… and a modicum of blood” and two years later, in the Evening News, he wrote “I say you must have horror and also malevolence. Not less necessary, however, is reticence.” He had no time for fiction that sought to be nauseating, but story after story demonstrates his commitment to terror. Nor was his definition of the ghostly confined to revenants. His tales swarm with spiders either giant or multitudinous, immense half-glimpsed insects, tentacled demons and even worse familiars to be found down wells or, most nightmarish of all, under your pillow. Even the returned dead tend to be, in his own words, ugly and thin. He had a genius for the telling phrase, into which he could compress more supernatural dread than most of us can manage in a paragraph. It’s hardly surprising that on Peter Nicholl’s tribute to the ghost story on Radio 4’s Kaleidoscope, Kingsley Amis (author of The Green Man, one of the very few successful Jamesian novels) was able to quote verbatim from memory a gruesome passage from the provost’s Count Magnus. If you know his tales, think about this: how many of them can be conjured up by remembering just a few words – “of crumpled linen”, “a lungless laugh”, “a mouth, with teeth”, “filled and sealed”, “and put its arms round my neck”? He has been widely influential. Lovecraft learned from him, and his uncanny shadow spreads much wider: it touches the horror tales of L. P. Hartley, it peers out of some of the detective novels of John Dickson Carr and his alter ego Carter Dickson, it looms behind a ghostly tale embedded in Penelope Fitzgerald’s novel The Gate of Angels, it whispers to present-day masters such as Reggie Oliver and Adam Nevill… I’ve done my best to borrow restraint and suggestiveness from James myself. Films – Night of the Demon and Ringu, for instance – are rooted in his Casting the Runes

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Introduction gone one step further, and effectively adapted, not one pre-eminent RPG, but two. Why? Well, it’s primarily the Cthulhu component of those titles. I love Lovecraftian horror, write it regularly, and revere both Call of Cthulhu and Trail of Casting the Runes is a roleplaying game (RPG) based Cthulhu. But the success and popularity of the on the GUMSHOE system for investigative RPGs, Cthulhu Mythos has tended to bring other styles of which was created by Robin Laws under the auspices horror under its sway, and in the RPG space especially. of Pelgrane Press to model “stories where investiga- I wince when I see a Call of Cthulhu or Trail of tors uncover a series of clues, and interpret them to Cthulhu GM or scenario writer go through contorsolve a mystery” - an apt description of much of the tions to rationalize how some traditional spook or classic horror fiction of Montague Rhodes James monster or legend is actually a Great Old One or one (1862-1936). The unique character of James’s stories, of Lovecraft’s alien species. and his own personality, which fed into his creation of the sub-genre of the “antiquarian ghost story,” are Applied carelessly, this diminishes the whole rich what inspired us to create this game. global corpus of supernatural traditions and folklore to a one-stop-shop where everything is YogHere, player-characters, dubbed “Investigators” for Sothothery, the true sources of terror get lost in the game purposes, proceed step by step to unearth the scramble to evoke the Capital-Letter-Entity-of-theunearthly, under the guidance of Game Masters, or Week, and there is only one explanation for the inexGMs for short. (Some James fans may prefer to desig- plicable. Games run on that basis may faithfully reflect nate their GMs as Masters in keeping with many Ed- H.P. Lovecraft’s own rationalistic materialism, but wardian schools and colleges.) there’s no need for gamers to be confined within those limits. And Pelgrane Press has helped broaden the The classic ghost story, replete with “malevolence and scope of horror gaming in exactly this way, with RPGs terror, the glare of evil faces, ‘the stony grin of un- like Night’s Black Agents, The Esoterrorists and earthly malice,’ pursuing forms in darkness, and Fear Itself, and resources like The Book of Unremit‘long-drawn, distant screams’,” in James’s words, is ting Horror. the mood we’re aiming at. And for the occult detection element, read on... Also, the Cthulhu Mythos tends to impose a particular style of play, even within Trail of Cthulhu. The Sanity mechanic is an inspired, perennially fun, game device, but it reflects the whole slide-towards-doom lemming Kenneth Hite, at the start of his introduction to Trail rush of many Lovecraftian RPG adventures, where of Cthulhu, wrote: “This game exists to adapt the the players know their characters are doomed anyway, greatest RPG of all time, Call of Cthulhu, to a different and part of the enjoyment is the creative and stylish rules set, the GUMSHOE engine. Why on Earth ways in which they meet their final Nemesis. In my would we do a thing like that?” Only, this game has opinion, this predisposes things towards the pulp end

H

ere you have a story written with the sole object of inspiring a pleasing terror in the reader; and as I think, that is the true aim of the ghost story.” - M.R. James

Why this Game?

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Casting the Runes

there is much blatancy in a lot of recent stories.’’ Reticence is the last quality you’d expect from a Cthulhu Mythos game. M.R. James wrote some of the most powerful, enduring, horror stories in the English language, so he probably had a point. So far, that reads like a list of negatives: What about the positives? Well, one is the chance to realize some of the most enduring, evocative ghost stories and horror tales ever written, unequalled in their field. Another is to tap back into the vast heritage of traditional folk tales, legends, occult practices and beliefs, and play them out on their own merits, to enjoy the archetypes and fears they embody. A third, as I’ve hinted, is the opportunity to recreate the kind of horror that M.R. James excelled at, the chill, atmospheric, measured, often quiet escalation towards something genuinely horrifying. Sandy Petersen, the master himself, has paid tribute to M.R. James’s three rules of ghost story writing (malign entity, familiar setting, no jargon) as the basis of good horror RPG scenarios. I don’t think it’s just relative popularity that dictates that no one has yet tried to turn any of James’s creations into soft toys like Cthulhu Montagu Rhodes James (1862-1936), scholar and master of plushies. There’s a lot of built-in bathos in the the ghost story, is the inspiration for Casting the Runes. Cthulhu Mythos, with its pulpy apocalyptic hysteria, which Lovecraft himself may or may not of the spectrum, with widescreen effects, big events, have been conscious of. M.R. James may have inroller-coaster thrills. So much Lovecraftian fiction, dulged in many a dry donnish chuckle in his stories, and Cthulhu Mythos gaming, in my view, plays out but his climactic horrors are pure terror. The superless as existential or psychological horror than as a dis- natural never seems unbelievable in M.R. James, aster movie, with Cthulhu as just another MEE aster- whereas Lovecraft’s painstakingly, scientifically ratiooid. Nothing wrong with that, except that two classic nalised horrors too often end up seeming simply ludigames already exist to do it. And their mechanisms, re- crous. I think it’s no coincidence that the current resources, and systemic biases tend to push things away vival of folk horror has burgeoned almost entirely from another flavour of horror. “You must have horror outside the Lovecraftian orbit. and also malevolence,” James remarked in Ghosts Treat Them Gently!, his essay on ghost story writing. All this explains why Casting the Runes has no Sanity “Not less necessary, however, is reticence.” And in mechanic. For game masters who want to reintroduce 1929 in Some Remarks on Ghost Stories, he added: one, it’s all there in Trail of Cthulhu. In our view, the “Reticence conduces to effect, blatancy ruins it, and GUMSHOE Stability mechanic is more than enough Casting the Runes

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to model the frights and shocks of Jamesian ghostly encounters, as well as the fact that few to none of James’s protagonists end up gibbering in a padded cell. They may die horribly, or recover uncertainly from terrifying encounters, but those encounters tend to reinforce a more traditional world-view, rather than blast human minds with their cosmic insignificance. Unhappily for the characters, it’s a world-view teeming with genuine evil and occult menaces, but those menaces at least have a universal eschatological significance, and all the more dark and frightful for that.

a hankering for a (much) earlier period can delve into Kenneth’s Tudor necromancy supplement The School of Night, or his equally exhaustive exploration of Alchemy. You couldn’t do better, and we won’t even try. Secondly, then, there’s the question of M.R. James’s own style, and that of his contemporaries, many of them pioneers of tales of occult detection. Ramsey Campbell has called M.R. James “the most influential stylist in British supernatural fiction,” and his dry, laconic, urbane stance is hard to imagine in an earlier era, even the 1890s. It’s far closer to the style of Saki’s short stories, Kipling’s tales and poetry, or G.K. Chesterton’s The Man Who Was Thursday, all from writers who’d internalized the influence of the Nineties, and moved on beyond both Victorian moral earnestness and equally effusive, breathy Aestheticism. To some extent, that may reflect James’s own struggles with belief in his youth, the son of an Evangelical Anglican minister who became conspicuously less doctrinaire. It definitely mirrors the spirit of an age. It certainly reflects cultural and social changes in full swing as the 20th century began. If we expanded the game to embrace all the periods James wrote about, we’d lose that unique flavour, as well as producing a hopelessly unwieldy book.

Why the Period? Casting the Runes focuses on a very tight historical band, roughly between when M.R. James published Ghost Stories of an Antiquary in 1904, and when he published A Warning to the Curious and Other Ghost Stories in 1925. In practice, it’s biased towards the earlier part of that period, roughly the Edwardian and immediately post-Edwardian gilded age from Queen Victoria’s death in 1901 to August 1914 - even though James’s own stories embrace settings and protagonists from the Twenties, via the High and Early Victorian periods, right back to the Georgian and even Restoration eras. Why? There are two reasons, one narrowly related to the current RPG market, the other to broader issues of style and period.

M.R. James’s Edwardian contemporaries also included the pioneers of occult detection, especially Arthur Machen, William Hope Hodgson, Algernon Blackwood, E.F. and R.H. Benson, and the authors of the Flaxman Low series of adventures. Some wrote self-consciously in the shadow of Sherlock Holmes; all helped make the Edwardian era a heyday in the development of this distinctive sub-genre. The Great God Pan first appeared in 1890, The Experiences of Flaxman Low appeared in 1899, contemporary with many of Machen’s other horror tales, John Silence, Physician Extraordinary in 1908, and Carnacki the Ghost-Finder in 1913. Even Saki produced a few breathtakingly brief horror tales that could inspire superb scenarios. The chronological and thematic parallels with James’s own ghost stories are too close to ignore: only a couple of James’s protagonists are tagged as investigators, but many of them do investigate, un-

Firstly, there are already plenty of sourcebooks, supplements, and core materials in Trail of Cthulhu and Call of Cthulhu, as well as other dedicated RPGs, to allow GMs to set their campaigns and scenarios in other epochs. The Victorian age, even the late Victorian period of early Wells and Conan Doyle, is already well covered by Cthulhu by Gaslight and other sources, including legion steampunk games. The later 1920s and the 1930s have deep, deep coverage courtesy of Call of Cthulhu, and the reams of spinoffs supporting British and European settings, as well as ToC itself. GMs and players who want to relocate their Jamesian horror to the realms of Agatha Christie’s Poirot and the earliest Alfred Hitchcock movies are warmly recommended to pick up a copy of Kenneth Hite’s superb Trail of Cthulhu supplement Bookhounds of London, and its supporting companion Book of the Smoke. Those with

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earth clues, and follow mysteries to their dark conclusion. This game is designed to serve up the period details, spectres and sorcery, to allow GMs and players to evoke a Jamesian world of contemplative, often passive inquiry, or full-on Carnacki-style psychic investigation, all in the same richly evocative epoch.

Why Jamesian Women? I hope this section won’t even be necessary, but just to be 100% clear: Some conservative Jamesian purists may object that this game makes full allowance for equal status for female academics and investigators, versus James’s own cosily clubbable, predominantly male protagonists. Too bad. First, it’s a game, and there is no way we would handicap it for 50% of the audience. Second, even the most purist account of Edwardian and early 20th-century occultism and academic history can’t ignore the prevalence of women in the period. Long before M.R. James had even gone up to Cambridge as an undergraduate, Girton College had been founded as a college for women in 1869, to be followed by Newnham College in 1873. In Oxford, Lady Margaret Hall was founded in 1878, Somerville in 1879, St Hugh’s in 1886, St Hilda’s in 1893. In the period covered by Casting the Runes, there have already been three decades of female Oxbridge students by the time the Edwardian era begins, although they were not awarded formal degrees by their respective universities until the 1920s in Oxford and the 1940s in Cambridge. M.R. James’s own strictly masculine ambience is his own business - not ours, nor the period’s. It’s true that the Edwardian era was a critical time for the status of women in academia, as well as politics. Millicent Mackenzie, educationalist and Theosophist, became Assistant Professor of Education in the University College of South Wales & Monmouthshire in 1904 and full professor in 1910, followed in 1913 by Caroline Spurgeon, Professor of English at Bedford College in London. This was well behind the Continental tradition, and an Edwardian female academic might well have gained her PhD at a European university, as mathematician Sofia Kovalevskaya did at the University of Göttingen in 1875. The story of the “Steamboat Ladies,” who took ship from the women’s colleges in Casting the Runes

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Oxford and Cambridge between 1904 and 1907 to take their ad eundem BA and MA degrees at Trinity College Dublin, could be a fascinating scenario hook in itself. North of the Border, meanwhile, St Andrews University admitted women undergraduates on the same basis as men from 1892, and built its first female hall of residence, University Hall, in 1896. The degree of L.L.A. (Lady Literate in Arts) was awarded by St Andrews from 1876, and continued until the 1930s. Outside the purely academic sphere, women had a huge influence on the fields that are absolutely core to Jamesian occult investigation. It would be a very blinkered, foolish pedant indeed who ignored the influence of Margaret Murray in both archaeology and folklore studies around the core period of this game. The Witch-Cult in Western Europe has had its Lovecraftian citation, but that’s only one measure of its impact at the time. Murray also juggled militant feminist activities with her position as an academic at University College London - practically a role model for the aspiring Jamesian female investigator. Meanwhile, in occultism, we have practising psychologist and Theosophist Dion Fortune, Annie Besant, Maud Gonne... the list goes on, and on. Reactionaries who project their own prejudices back onto the past have a bad habit of being tripped up by historical fact. They certainly have no place here.

The Other Edwardians Similarly, Casting the Runes, by focusing on its strictly Jamesian fictional territory, is able to conveniently skip over the fact that its age of Edwardian equipoise was balanced on the backs of 412 million Imperial “citizens,” or 23% of the world’s population c. 1913. The British Empire actually reached its highest population after World War I, but Imperial jingoism had arguably peaked much earlier, as typified by the various loyalty leagues and patriotic associations covered in The Period chapter of this book (p. 138). For all the pretensions of the time towards one great Imperial family, it is ludicrous to claim that the great majority of the British Empire’s population were anything other than subject peoples, denied political

rights and unlikely to receive anything like equal treatment anywhere in the Empire. Even the term “Commonwealth of Nations” did not come formally into being until the Balfour Declaration at the 1926 Imperial Conference, and as late as 1936, George Orwell’s young fellow imperialists in Burma were complaining that “it was a damn shame to shoot an elephant for killing a coolie, because an elephant was worth more than any damn Coringhee coolie.” Bad luck if you happened to be that coolie.

have a homoerotic subtext: there is no doubt and no hesitation about Vernon Lee. That said, Edwardian Britain was living in the immediate aftermath of the Wilde trial, and the “gay” Nineties gave way to a very much more constrained period. Sodomy was at least no longer a capital offence in Britain, but the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885 imposed a strictly codified legal burden that continued to ruin lives well into the 20th century. Whatever the opportunities for homosexual romance to play out in the closeted ambience of gentlemen’s clubs and college common rooms, players and GMs should not forget the very restrictive wider context.

Characters from any other background than the Anglo-Saxon staple of James’s tales are likely to encounter a very different world in Edwardian Britain. A few lucky black figures like composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, or Indian luminaries like Sir Ranjitsinhji Vibhaji Jadeja the cricketing prince, were able to transcend the strictures of the time, but the individual success stories have to be set against the crushing institutional and social deadweight preventing a non-white inhabitant of the Empire from becoming anything beyond a subject - or an economic object. Exactly how the players and GM choose to deal with the issue when it arises is up to them whether to allow a character a free pass on Edwardian prejudice as a local Imperial sovereign able to parlay their status into acceptance, or to burden the character with game-mechanical penalties and constant encounters with bigoted opposition. Received opinion might leave many thinking that gay and lesbian characters had an easier time of it in Edwardian Britain. E.M. Forster, Lytton Strachey and even, according to some interpretations, M.R. James himself, are object lessons in the opportunities for gay individuals to live a more or less successful public life in the Edwardian period. Lesbians had already enjoyed the doubtful recognition of Algernon Charles Swinburne in his poetry, and many a British spinster couple lived lives mirroring Henry James’s “Boston marriages.” Vernon Lee (a.k.a. Violet Paget) is one of the greatest examples of lesbian intellectual contribution to cultural criticism and supernatural fiction during the period. Debate may continue about whether M.R. James’s ghost stories

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Casting the Runes

Investigators n Casting the Runes, player characters are called Investigators. M.R. James only referred to two of his fictional protagonists as investigators - Mr Somerton the antiquary in The Treasure of Abbot Thomas, and Mr Lake in An Episode of Cathedral History. But investigating is what most of them do, and the term absolutely fits people like Thomas Carnacki, Flaxman Low, John Silence, and the other fictional occult investigators of that period. It’s up to the player whether his or her Investigator also takes up the occult and ghost hunting as an occupation.

I

Their social class is usually, but not always, dictated by their occupation and social role. Their Drive is a personal impulse, character trait or defining flaw that motivates them and pushes them through all the twists and turns of investigations, sometimes literally driving them to their doom. As a starting player, you get to choose your Occupation and your Drive. Your GM will usually decide how many Build Points you get to build your set of Abilities - normally a function of the number of players.

Unlike some other roleplaying games, there are no characteristic rolls and skill percentages - almost every aspect of your character is a function of your Abilities, and Health and Stability are espeDr Charlotte Ferrers and Monsignor Robert Howard have been cially important. You also get to called in to investigate strange occurences at the cathedral. define your Sources of Stability, the pillars of your existence that fortify you when facing the eldritch and arcane. The rest - hair colour, dress style, sporting affiliations, manner, etc. - is up to you. As well as an Occupation, all Investigators will have a social role or Class, and a Drive that motivates them.

Build Points and Abilities When an Investigator is created, the GM gives their player a set number of Build Points, usually determined by the size of the group of Investigators (i.e. the number of regular players in the campaign). These are assigned to the Investigative Abilities, the core skills and capabilities of each character - see the Gameplay chapter (p. 50) for Casting the Runes

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more detail. Some of these abilities, the Occupational Investigative built points each, while a party of 3 Abilities characteristic of the Investigator’s chosen would receive 22 each. Occupation, are available at a 2-for-1 ratio. The GM leads the group through the list of InvestigaPlayers start with 1 point each in Stability and Health. tive Abilities. Parties of players should aim at broad Players start with a Class equal to the lowest limit for coverage, but, through Connections, non-player their Occupation, but any further allocation of initial characters (NPCs) can provide certain much-needed Class is from their Build Points, on a 1-for-1 basis, not Investigative Abilities. the 2-for-1 ratio for an Occupational speciality. Players who can only attend every now and then get Ability Caps the same Investigative build points as everyone else, but are not counted toward the total when deciding Casting the Runes imposes Ability caps on certain how many points to allocate. Abilities for normal human characters. This is to avoid unrealistically tough and rock-steady characters with What Good Are Investigative Ratings? unshakeable psyches and rhino-like physiques. Players used to the bumbling half-competence of As a general capping rule, the second highest rating in their characters in other investigative game systems any Ability must be at least half that of the highest rat- may be surprised to learn how effective even a single ing. Specifically for Stability and Health, the cap on rating point is. these essential General Abilities is 12. Would-be magicians should also note the effect of Occult on Stability. Any rating in an Investigative Ability indicates a high Class is capped at the top of the range for the particu- degree of professional accomplishment or impressive lar Occupation. Any increase will come later in the natural talent. If you have an ability relevant to the course of play. task at hand, you automatically succeed in discovering any information or overcoming any obstacles necessary to propel you from the current scene further into the story. Investigative Abilities are central to any GUMSHOE character; they enable you to gather information and You may ask to spend points to gain special benefits. drive the plot forward. The number of Build Points Sometimes the GM will offer you the chance to spend each player spends on Investigative Abilities varies ac- points. In other circumstances she may accept your cording to the number of regularly attending players, suggestions of ways to gain special benefits. Use according to the following formula. them wisely; spent points do not return until the next investigation begins. Number of players Investigative Build Points Once all of your preferred Investigative Abilities are 2 80% of x covered, you are permitted, if you desire, to reserve 3 60% of x any remaining build points to spend as situations arise 4 55% of x during play. 5+ 50% of x You may assign yourself additional Abilities, or Where X is the total number of Investigative Abilities increase your Ratings in the ones you’ve chosen, as the GM includes in the campaign (round up). The seems appropriate to your character and the situations basic Casting the Runes rules give 36 Investigative she finds herself in. When you choose to do this, you Abilities, so a party of 5 Investigators would receive 18 are not suddenly acquiring Abilities on the spot, but

Investigative Abilities

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Casting the Runes

Investigative Benchmarks When choosing Investigative Abilities it is better to get a large number of Abilities with fairly low Ratings. Even a 1-point Rating is worth having. You’ll rarely want to spend more than 3 or 4 points on any one Investigative Ability. You must have an Investigative Ability at a Rating of at least 1 to get useful information from it.

General Abilities Each player gets 60 points to spend on General Abilities, regardless of group size. General Abilities use different rules than Investigative Abilities. When choosing General Abilities, you’ll want to concentrate your points among a few abilities, giving you comparatively higher Ratings than you want in Investigative Abilities. You start the game with 1 point each in Health and Stability. Although there is no set cap on the other General Abilities beyond Health and Stability, the second highest rating must be at least half that of the highest rating.

Merton College, Oxford. Many Investigators will have academic backgrounds at the universities and learned societies such as the Society of Antiquaries.

Occupations and Social Roles

It’s somewhat ironic to have a list of Occupations for the golden age of the gentleman or gentlewoman of private means. When the simply revealing for the first time what the character Olympic Games were held in London in 1908, the has been able to do all along. British Olympic organising committee made sure that the regulations for the Games explicitly included defiIf you want, you can save build points from character nitions of amateur. That indicates how much resiscreation to spend later. If your GM is running an on- tance there still was at the highest levels of Edwardian going series, you will accumulate additional build Britain to the very idea of a salaried occupation. points during play. Casting the Runes

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Still, not everyone could live off their estates or their capital. Certain occupations and professions are natural lead-ins to occult investigations. Others are the canonical roles of Jamesian protagonists - university professors, well-off amateur antiquarians, dilettante collectors, members of the clergy with some decidedly extracurricular interests, and so on. Still others are the province of the lower orders - servants, gamekeepers, even members of the criminal classes - who have either followed their betters into the pursuit of the paranormal, or fallen into it themselves.

generalized Jamesian academic. You often struggle to explain your field even to other College members at High Table. Your skirts may be stained with the residues of strange experiments. Or you may be stooped over from years of poring over rare manuscripts. Your specialty is liable to be of little or no practical use (according to the ignorant, anyway) but who knows? It may provide the key to a dark mystery, or even turn out to be a life-saver.

Start with an Occupation that focuses on the kind of Abilities you want to use. Who you are defines what you do, not vice versa - a very Edwardian concept.

This is the academic study of different human cultures, although in the Edwardian era its processes and scientific objectivity are sometimes twisted to serve the needs of imperialism. You are familiar with a wide range of human types, and claim to see the common patterns that unite them all. You may have done fieldwork in the darkest recesses of the Empire, perhaps even gone native for a while.

Occupational Abilities: Languages, Library Use, and any four Investigative Abilities. Your Occupation dictates your Occupational Abili- Class: 3-5 ties, the starting range for your Class, and any Special Special: If you have solid tenure at a good college occupational advantage or trait available to your char- and sound credentials - an Occupational Ability rating acter. Occupational Abilities come at a half-price dis- of 2+ and a Class of 4+ - you can gain access to any count when building or developing a character, so university library or faculty, to inspect volumes in the they are a key concern when choosing your Occupa- Special Collections, or to speak with world-renowned tion. Your base Class is the bottom end, and you have authorities on certain arcane fields. to spend build points to raise it. Some Occupations break down into subcategories - e.g. the armed forces Anthropologist - which may further limit your Occupational Abilities. Other Abilities or a higher (or even lower) Class “Well, then, my inferences in this usually become available in the course of play, but case were perfectly simple ones, that’s up to your GM. If you really have to be an drawn from well-known anthroundertaker or a harpoonist, feel free to badger your pological facts.” - R. Austin FreeGM for an appropriate Occupation. man, The Anthropologist at Large

Academic “‘I suppose you will be getting away pretty soon, now Full Term is over, Professor,’ said a person not in the story to the Professor of Ontography, soon after they had sat down next to each other at a feast in the hospitable hall of St James’ College.” - M.R. James, “Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come to You, My Lad”

Occupational Abilities: Anthropology, Archaeology, Folklore, Languages, Library Use, and any two Investigative Abilities plus one Interpersonal Ability. Class: 3-5 Special: You can use your Anthropology Ability to This is a catch-all profession for those specialisations gain access to any gathering or group, by observing not already covered by other Occupations to create a the common features it has with others elsewhere.

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Antiquary

Archaeologist

“The object which the antiquary had before him at the moment was that of tracing the whereabouts of the painted windows of the Abbey Church at Steinfeld.” - M.R. James, The Treasure of Abbot Thomas

“When I get back to Cambridge I shall submit it to some of the archaeologists there, and see what they think of it; and very likely, if they consider it worth having, I may present it to one of the museums.” - M.R. James, “Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come to You, My Lad”

The quintessential Jamesian occupation, an antiquary is primarily an amateur enthusiast of private means, with other Occupations (e.g. Curator) fulfilling the You are a delver in ruins and the remnants of lost more professional antiquarian roles. cities, a follower in the footsteps of Flinders Petrie, Amelia B. Edwards and Sir Arthur Evans. You may As an antiquary, you are more likely to have general have opened barrows and mounds in the down counantiquarian knowledge than any narrow specialization. try, trailed your skirts through the mud of Welsh hill You are likely to have a higher private income than forts, or explored Eyptian tombs and temples. You most professions. You may have published some well- may scour old chronicles, but your real domain is the regarded monograph (or cranky theory), but you are Great Outdoors, spade in hand, digging up buried not fixated on academic advancement. You are the ar- secrets. In a Jamesian world, this can be quite a chetypal potterer around picturesque ruins or haunter dangerous occupation. of auction houses. Occupational Abilities: Archaeology, BureauOccupational Abilities: Architecture, Archaeol- cracy, Evidence Collection, Fieldcraft, History, Lanogy, Art History, Folklore, History, Languages, Li- guages, Library Use, and any one other Investigative brary Use, and any one Investigative Ability as a per- Ability. sonal speciality. Class: 3-5 Class: 3-5 Special: If you have good standing at an accepted Special: once per adventure, you can draw on your archaeological institution, or a reputation the field background as already laid down for your character, or an Occupational Ability rating of 2+ and a Class of 4+ your broad antiquarian knowledge, for some key clue, - you can gain entry to museum special collections, advantage, or object that will help further the current handle and examine artifacts out of their cases, and acinvestigation. This is at the discretion of the GM, who cess sites normally closed to the public. may hint if you haven’t used it already, and will cost a use of the relevant Ability. For instance, the GM Architect points out that a recent auction of church implements “Baxter had a very fair idea of aryou attended is stuck in your memory for some reason. chitecture. I dare say what’s left You spend a point from your Folklore or Art History made it easy for him to draw the Ability, and realize that the silver cross you saw at the right sort of tower.” - M.R. James, sale had some inscriptions especially efficacious A View from a Hill against demons. A higher point spend might reveal the chant needed to reinforce the warding effect. Now to You are a second Soane or Wren, a rush back to the auction rooms, find the buyer of the rural master builder, or a purveyor cross, offer a higher price (or steal it), and confront the for the Empire’s unquenchable appetite for new edidemon before it devours you… fices. You are a connoisseur of the styles of the past, and a keen observer of peculiarities in domestic or Casting the Runes

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church architecture. You may have more than a passing interest in follies, priest’s holes, secret passages, and funerary monuments.

player in one of the industrial cities living only for the match on Saturdays. You are the idol of millions; or an impoverished member of the lower orders held back by the amateur code. Either way, in this sports-obsessed society where everyone tries to play up and play the game, you enjoy at least some prestige and kudos.

Occupational Abilities: Architecture, Art, Art History, Bookkeeping, Bureaucracy, Mechanics Class: 3-5 Special: An Architect may gain access to almost any building - claiming professional curiosity or a “safety inspection.”

Occupational Abilities: Athletics, First Aid, Fleeing, Preparedness, Riding, Scuffling, Shadowing, Stealth, and one Interpersonal or Technical Ability. Class: 1-5 Special: You may use any downtime in an adventure to refresh one physical General Ability Pool Point, up to a maximum of four times per session. This represents time spent training and exercising.

Artist “Mr Arthur Francis, was locally known as a talented amateur engraver in mezzotint. After his son’s disappearance he lived in complete retirement at the Hall, and was found dead in his studio on the third anniversary of the disaster, having just completed an engraving of the house, impressions of which are of considerable rarity.” - M.R. James, The Mezzotint

Author “It is further apparent that Mr Wraxall had published a book, and that it treated of a holiday he had once taken in Brittany. More than this I cannot say about his work, because a diligent search in bibliographical You win a living by your brush. You may flatter the rich works has convinced me that it must with society portraits, or challenge the Philistines with have appeared either anonymously or under a pseudobizarre daubs. You may keep a fashionable studio in nym.” - M.R. James, Count Magnus Chelsea, or scratch a living with designs for the Liberty Workshop. You are a revered literary bluestocking - or a New Grub Street hack. You may live by your wit in the Occupational Abilities: Art, Art History, Bar- finest Society salons - or on your wits in the lowest gain, Craft, Charm, Photography, Reassure, and any dives and opium dens. Whatever your talent or your two Academic or Interpersonal Abilities. preference, Pearson’s Magazine or The Strand Class: 2-5 Magazine will always be ready to snap up your sensaSpecial: An Artist may use their talent to portray a tional tales. a scene so that another character or NPC may use a relevant skill - Architecture, Evidence Collection, etc. Occupational Abilities: Art, Charm, Folklore, - to make identifications or detect anomalies. History, Languages, Library Use, Reassurance, and any two other Abilities as legacies from your cheAthlete quered literary career. “Hardly a topic was left unchalClass: 2-5 lenged, from golf to lawn-tennis.” Special: You can use Charm or Reassurance to charm - M.R. James, The Mezzotint or bluff your way into any social gathering of whatever type or level, high or low, professional or social, withYou are one of the Empire’s out any penalty for difference in Class or lack of exsporting heroes or heroines - or a pertise. This represents your readiness to study human struggling football or rugby life in all its rich complexity.

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Chemist

Occupational Abilities: Bookkeeping, Bureaucracy, Languages, Law, Library Use, and one other Academic and two Interpersonal Abilities. Class: 2-5 Special: If you have a reasonable rank in the bureaucratic hierarchy - a Bureaucracy rating of 2+ and a Class of 4+ - you can gain access to the most secret government departments or records offices and obtain classified information and restricted files.

“A learned man in chemistry…surrounded by his drugs, instruments and books among a crowd of quaint objects” - Charles Dickens, A Haunted Man You may be a Marie Curie struggling to expand the limits of human knowledge - or a Dr Thorndyke expert in all the ways of death. You may be an industrial chemist working wonders for the manufacturies of the Empire, or a sheltered academic. You can tell whether the ectoplasm left by an apparition is really other-worldly - or if the residue on the lips of a corpse is poison.

Clergy “Mr Gregory, the Rector of Parsbury, had strolled out before breakfast, it being a fine autumn morning” - M.R. James, The Treasure of Abbot Thomas

Occupational Abilities: Chemistry, Evidence Collection, First Aid, Forensics, Library Use, Pharmacy, and any one of the following: Biology, Cryptography, Demolition, Geology, or Physics. Class: 2-5 Special: You have a chemistry laboratory of your own, and can gain access to or help at the facilities of your peers. You can also use this to obtain otherwise prohibited or dangerous substances from suppliers, such as the ingredients for explosives or poisons.

In Edwardian Britain, you will most likely be an Anglican, though you could be a Welsh Methodist, a Presbyterian minister of the Scottish Kirk, a Roman Catholic prelate, a rabbi or even a nun. You may be the repository of all local gossip and rumours for your flock. Your living should take care of your needs, but you will have pastoral duties to perform - which might include exorcisms or laying ghosts. You may have other powers over the Unseen but those are at the discretion of your GM.

Civil Servant “He was alone in the world - a man of good ability and kindly nature, whose employment in a Government office for the last four or five years had not gone far to fit him for the life of a country gentleman.” - M.R. James, Mr. Humphreys and His Inheritance

Occupational Abilities: Assess Honesty, Charm, Folklore, History, Languages, Library Use, Reassurance, Theology, and one other Interpersonal Ability. Class: 3-5 Special: By using your Theology, Charm, Reassurance or Connections Abilities, you can gain access to church archives, facilities and artifacts (such as the You are a member of the government or bureaucratic Holy Water or Communion wine). apparatus, whether a lowly county clerk or a toiling Once per adventure, a member of the clergy can administrator in a Whitehall government department. restore one point of Stability to a traumatized characYou may be a Foreign Office diplomat, playing the ter, without a Difficulty test or a point cost. This Great Game and reading ciphers and communiques all reflects the power of prayer and the reassuring effect day. Or you may be some government inspector, of a clerical presence. tasked with maintaining the waterworks or mines, or looking after ancient monuments. Casting the Runes

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Collector

You have spent much of your life out on the fringes of the Empire, whether it be the sheep ranches of Australia, or the hill country of the Northwest Frontier. You may even be India-born, and even conceivably of mixed blood. You may well have picked up skills or lore unknown to your brethren in the Old Country. You may be a tolerant student of other races and beliefs, or a dyed-in-the-wool jingoist in the mould of Kipling or Cecil Rhodes.

“Where was the likelihood that a place so near Toulouse would not have been ransacked long ago by collectors?” - M.R. James, Canon Alberic’s Scrap-Book You live to collect rare and/or precious things - Renaissance portrait medals, flint arrowheads, Egyptian scarabs of the Middle Kingdom period, whatever it is that has become the focus of your obsession.

Occupational Abilities: Anthropology, Bargaining, Bookkeeping, Fieldcraft, Firearms, Languages, Preparedness, Riding, Weapons, and two You are immensely learned in your own narrow field, other Interpersonal Abilities. and probably famous (or notorious) across Europe Class: 2-5 within it. More rapacious than any Antiquary or Special: Once per adventure, you can draw on your Archaeologist, you may be ready to violate all kinds of experience in the colonies to provide some advantage scruples or take all kinds of risks to fill the gaps in your for the investigation in hand. Seeking help in a collection, whether commissioning a burglar to rob a crowded London pub? Harangue the patrons about church, or defying an ancient curse to gain a long cov- your empire-building past, and appeal to their patrioeted artifact. tism. Lost on a bleak and remote moor? The landscape reminds you of your time in the Yukon, and you can Occupational Abilities: Archaeology, Art His- recall just how to find a watercourse and the way back tory, Bargaining, Languages, Library Use, and one to the nearest village. other Academic and two Interpersonal Abilities. Criminal Class: 2-5 Special: Once per adventure, you may have some rel- “She was sure some roughs had evant fact or item at home in your collection that will got into the plantation during the help resolve or further the investigation, or know night.” - M.R. James, The Rose where to find it. You need to use the corresponding Garden ability to recall and access the item - Art History for an artifact, Library Use for a forgotten scroll you once You have slipped through the saw in a friend’s collection - but it will confer some cracks of Edwardian society, and advantage for the investigation at hand, as well as now live on its underbelly as a parhaving potential unexpected side effects. asite. You know the underworld’s hidden ways and methods, and its moral squalor. You do not share the Colonialist exalted background of a Miscreant, but instead have “A young Sinclair, who does teasprung from the scum of the earth. You probably have planting in Ceylon when he has a prison record and are known to the police. Yet your the health for it, but is just now at betters may sometimes find uses for your unique gifts. home to recruit. He is the son of a neighbouring squire” - E. and H. Occupational Abilities: Conceal, Filch, IntimiHeron, The Story of Saddler’s dation, Scuffling, Sense Trouble, Shadowing, Stealth, Croft Streetwise, Weapons, and one other Interpersonal and one Technical Ability. Class: 1-3

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Special: If you have point pools in Conceal, Filch, or Shadowing, you may spend points after rolling the die for a test. For every 2 points you spend after the roll, you may increase the result by 1. This only applies if you are undistracted and unobserved. It never applies during a contest. You must describe what almost went wrong, and how you caught it barely in time or succeeded through sheer luck. In the underworld, only the lucky survive.

You are a professional in the world of the ancient and precious, a trader in curios and objets d’art. You know where to find the rarest and most valuable pieces, and where to dispose of them most profitably. You may haunt the old bookshops of London’s Charing Cross Road, or the public rooms of unoccupied country houses. Your methods may not always be the cleanest, but your knowledge and dedication are unmatched.

Curator “I was introduced by one of the canons to the curator of the local museum, who was, my friend said, more likely to be able to give me information on the point than anyone else.” - M.R. James, The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral

Occupational Abilities: Art History, Bargaining, Conceal, Folklore, History, Law, Languages, Library Use, Streetwise, and one other Academic and one Interpersonal Ability. Class: 3-5 Special: You are immediately able to estimate the value of any objet d’art or antique item. This can give you an edge (usually +1 to relevant rolls) in any test of wills, auction, etc.

You are the custodian of a museum, art gallery, or archive. You are the proud guardian of a fine collection, and deeply knowledgeable about it. You are also ready to protect it against thieves or unqualified wastrels. You may go out of your way to enrich its holdings. Occupational Abilities: Art History, Bookkeeping, Folklore, History, Law, Languages, Library Use, and one other Academic and two Interpersonal Abilities. Class: 3-5 Special: If you are curator at a reasonably well known and respected archive (an Art History or History rating of 2+ and a Class of 4+) you can gain access to almost any collection of any museum or gallery. You can examine the most precious objects unsupervised, though you are not allowed to take them out. Dealer “Those who have taken even the most limited interest in the acquisition of topographical pictures are aware that there is one London dealer whose aid is indispensable to their researches.” M.R. James, The Mezzotint Casting the Runes

Dilettante “Sir Richard had travelled in Italy and become infected with the Italian taste, and, having more money than his predecessors, he determined to leave an Italian palace where he had found an English house.” - M.R. James, The Ash Tree You are the archetypal idle rich, denounced by Socialists and preachers alike. Your family estates or legacy frees you to indulge your interests. You may be a patron of the arts, a connoisseur, a dabbler in all kinds of disciplines, or a seeker after strange mysteries. The family pile may hold all kinds of dark secrets… Occupational Abilities: Charm, Class, Languages, Riding, and any four other Abilities. Class: 5-6 Special: You may use your Connections and Class pools to secure the aid of old chums, or to charm and inveigle (surely not bribe…) authorities and guardians into helping or supporting you and your friends.

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Doctor “There was concussion of the brain, shock to the system, and a long confinement to bed. The doctor was badly puzzled, not by the symptoms, but by a request which Humphreys made to him as soon as he was able to say anything.” - M.R. James, Mr. Humphreys and His Inheritance

Calcutta. No machinery is a mystery to you; if only society and its problems were so amenable to slide rule logic and mechanical force. You may have a very blunt material approach to mysteries - and everything else.

You are a healer and a respected member of the community, equipped with the latest that contemporary medical science has to offer. You may struggle heroically to bring health and sanitation to the slums, or act as trusted advisor and confidant to the rich and powerful. You will find almost anyone ready to ask for a quick diagnosis. Occupational Abilities: Assess Honesty, Bookkeeping, First Aid, Forensics, Languages (Latin), Medicine, Pharmacy, Reassurance. Class: 3-5 Special: You can use Medicine or Reassurance to access the private areas of hospitals or obtain drugs from Pharmacists. You can also obtain confidential medical information from local practitioners. When you use First Aid, each point spent heals 3 Health points, rather than 2. (You gain 2 Health points rather than 1 for each First Aid point you spend to heal yourself.) You can stabilize the condition of a seriously wounded victim by spending only 1 First Aid point, rather than 2. Engineer “I made a microphone test. You see, if the whistling were mechanically produced, this test would have made evident to me the working of the machinery, if there were any such concealed within the walls.” - William Hope Hodgson, The Whistling Room

Occupational Abilities: Engineering, Library Use, Mechanics, Physics, and any two of the following: Demolition, Geology, Photography or Physics. Class: 3-5 Special: Given an adequate workshop and down time, you can build a device to help in any adventure. Need a special lamp to emit just the right shade of ultraviolet light to dispel the vampire? Or a new Electric Pentacle after the Horse of the Invisible tramped the last one? Call the engineer. Explorer “The only one who stood out for a little while was old Filderg - you know the man? Twenty years ago he made an effort to cross the Australian deserts - he stopped for eight weeks.” - E. and H. Heron, The Story of the Spaniards, Hammersmith You have been expanding the frontiers of knowledge or Imperial ambition out on the fringes of the known world. You have seen things and wonders unknown to civilised eyes, and helped solve centuries-old mysteries. You have penetrated to the heart of foreign cultures and parlayed with strange tribes. Back home you are a fish out of water.

Occupational Abilities: Anthropology, Archaeology, Fieldcraft, First Aid, Folklore, Languages, Navigation, and any one of the following: Astronomy, Biology, Demolition, Geology, or Physics. Class: 3-5 Special: Once per adventure, you may draw on your experience out in the field to derive some unique benefit. Struggling to help a poison victim? That rock lichen nearby happens to resemble the one that the the You keep the wheels of industry turning or the tribes of Greenland used against fevers. sinews of Empire taut. You may have managed the engine sheds at Crewe or built the drainage system in

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Gamekeeper/Ghillie “He’s a gamekeeper of mine. He was always anxious to try conclusions with the ghost, and last night he begged me to lock him in here with food for twenty-four hours.” - E. and H. Heron, The Story of Yand Manor House

Gentleman’s/Lady’s Companion “Mr. Brown, a model when in his Berkshire home of the impassive whiskered race who are known as confidential valets, was now egregiously out of his element, in a light tweed suit, anxious, almost irritable, and plainly anything but master of the situation.” - M.R. James, The Treasure of Abbot Thomas

You are the traditional guardian of the woods and wilds, handy with a gun but a great game preserver. Your status is low, but you enjoy the respect of poacher and landowner alike. You may be lost in the You are the indispensable companion to your master cities, but you prefer the company of animals anyway. or mistress, and often possess the Abilities they lack. Although naturally of lower status, you often possess Occupational Abilities: Firearms, Fieldcraft, cultivation, as well as rare talents that may not be obFirst Aid, Folklore, Preparedness, Sense Trouble, vious. Your loyalty goes deeper than mere lucre, for Shadowing, Stealth. you form part of a formidable team. Class: 1-2 Special: In the open country, you have a sixth sense Occupational Abilities: Assess Honesty, Barfor trouble. It’s a pricking of your thumbs that comes gaining, Bookkeeping, Charm, First Aid, Preparedwhen the birds fall silent or the wind dies. Once per ness, Reassurance, Sense Trouble, Streetwise, and any adventure, in the open or some other rural setting, it’ll two of the following: Cryptography, Disguise, Dealert you to the mysterious or menacing, like an auto- molition, Firearms, Photography, or Scuffling. matically successful Sense Trouble test. Class: 2-3 Special: You may use Connections Pool Points to Gentleman or woman of learn gossip and otherwise inaccessible rumours or rePrivate Means ports from Below Stairs. No one is a hero to their “I deduce that he was a man past valet, and the information secured through these back middle age, possessed of some prichannels may prove invaluable. vate means” - M.R. James, Count Historian Magnus “We are specially anxious to know You are the product of decades whether you possess the original of genteel privilege. Comfortably of the engraving of which or well off, you can afford to live without a career and I enclose a photograph. It repredevote yourself to your private pursuits. Your interests sents Sir - - , Lord Chief Justice are correspondingly wide. under Charles II, who, as you doubtless know, retired after his Occupational Abilities: Evidence Collection, disgrace to Westfield, and is supLanguages, Library Use, and any four Academic or posed to have died there of remorse.” - M.R. James, Technical Abilities. The Rose Garden Class: 3-5 Special: Use of your Class or Connections pools can Rather than a dabbling Antiquary, you are the get you and your friends out of tough situations with genuine article: a scrupulously rationalistic chronicler the police or other authorities. of facts about the past. Casting the Runes

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You may or may not be seeking out evidence of Marx’s historical forces at work, but the latest developments in social and economic history are unlikely to have left you far behind. You may have unmatched factual knowledge about a particular place, period, person or historical topic e.g the history of medicine.

A true hack, you may toil for press in Fleet Street, or eke out a living at a provincial or county publication. You are unlikely to have scaled the dizzy heights of a position at The Times, but some shocking exposé of occult practices in suburbia may get you there. Occupational Abilities: Assess Honesty, Charm, Evidence Collection, Languages (for foreign correspondents), Library Use, Photography, Reassurance, Shadowing, and one other Interpersonal ability. Class: 2-4 Special: Charm or Reassurance will gain you access to archives of back issues at your own or other papers, or encourage other reporters to confide strange rumours or encounters to you.

Occupational Abilities: Evidence Collection, Folklore, History, Languages, Library Use, and any two of the following: Anthropology, Bookkeeping, Cryptography, Occult. Class: 3-5 Special: If you are a well-respected Historian - a History rating of 2+ and a Class of 4+ - you can gain entry to historical archives and landmarks (including historic sites normally closed to the public).

Lawyer “As far as he could remember, Number 14 had been occupied by the lawyer, a staid man, who said little at meals, being generally engaged in studying a small bundle of papers beside his plate.” - M.R. James, Number 13

Hunter “Next morning Sir Richard is disinclined to take his gun with the rest.” - M.R. James, The Ash Tree You are an habitue of the big game hunts or grouse moors. You may be a solitary deerstalker, or a rich sporting enthusiast simply out to get the biggest bag. Your passion may have expanded to embrace more than flesh and blood targets.

You are acquainted with the law, and are an incisive practitioner of it. As a respected, even feared, professional, you are conscious of your reputation, but may be ready to take up a case against those who threaten the public peace through bizarre antics like sorcery or running a shady cult.

Occupational Abilities: Biology, Conceal, Fieldcraft, Firearms, First Aid, Preparedness, Shadowing. Class: 2-5 Special: As a hunter, naturally your skills with Firearms are superlative. Any quarry stalked and shot by you - unaware of your approach - and reduced to below 0 Health drops dead on the spot.

You are also well acquainted with the techniques used by the police to investigate crimes, run down malefactors and secure convictions. Occupational Abilities: Assess Honesty, Evidence Collection, Forensics, Interrogation, Intimidate, Law, Library Use. Class: 3-5 Special: A lawyer is hard to convict. You can use your Connections to release you and your companions from charges - or jail. A lawyer in good standing - Law rating of 2+ and a Class of 4+ - will be able to secure the aid of the local police in just about anything.

Journalist “‘Another suicide at Sevens Hall.’ I can see the headlines. Those rags of newspapers would sell their mothers for half-a-crown!” - E. and H. Heron, The Story of Sevens Hall

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Casting the Runes

Librarian “Quite lately I was cataloguing the manuscripts in the library of the college to which he belonged. I had reached the end of the numbered volumes on the shelves, and I proceeded to ask the librarian whether there were any more books which he thought I ought to include in my description.” - M.R. James, The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral

more at home at sea than ashore, even if you stick to coastal waters. If a member of the merchant marine, you still take great pride in the flag. You also know many sea stories and nautical superstitions. Occupational Abilities: Athletics, Astronomy, First Aid, Folklore, Languages, Mechanics, Navigation, Sailing, Scuffling. Class: 1-4 Special: In any port town or seaside village, you can use Connections to call on the fraternity of the sea, and gain help afloat or ashore.

You are the custodian of the literary heritage of civilization and determined to live up to the responsi- Military/Soldier bility that entails. “At this point Parkins was in favour of sending the boy home, You venerate books and are correspondingly harsh on but the Colonel refused; he those who disrespect them - whether by damaging wanted to get to the bottom of it, them or just talking loudly in the library. You are the he said; it was most dangerous to perfect oracle on rare tomes and their contents, and give a boy such a fright as this one know where to look for a rare edition or passage had had, and if it turned out that among the libraries of the world. You may go to great people had been playing jokes, lengths to track down a new addition - and even they should suffer for it in some greater lengths to retrieve a stolen volume. way.” - M.R. James, “Oh Whistle and I’ll Come to You, My Lad” Occupational Abilities: Art History, Bookkeeping, Folklore, History, Languages, Library Use, and Serving the Crown at home or abroad, you are one of one other Academic and two Interpersonal Abilities. the nation’s heroes, even though you may have been the Class: 3-5 scum of the earth before you took the King’s shilling. Special: If you are Librarian at a reasonably well Your exact specializations depend on your branch of known and respected archive or institution - a Library the Services, but duty and sacrifice are common to them rating of 2+ and a Class of 4+ - you can access almost all. You may be on active duty, on the reserve list, or a any library, even the forbidden collections. Through retired or invalided veteran. If you had the rank of capthe inter-library lending services, you will also be able tain or above, you carry it into civilian life. to obtain and take away almost any volume. Occupational Abilities: Athletics, Fieldcraft, Mariner Firearms, Intimidation, Scuffling, Weapons. “Yes, the fishermen made away Army: add Conceal, Driving, Stealth. with that, I believe, because they Navy: add Astronomy, Navigation, Sailing. see it out at sea and it kep’ the fish Officer: add Bureaucracy, Reassurance, Riding. off, according to their idea.” Royal Army Medical Corps: add First Aid, M.R. James, Rats Medicine, Reassurance. Class: 2-5 (officers), 1-3 (lower ranks) You are a sea captain or a fisherSpecial: Thanks to your time in the service, you can man, or a riverside mudlark like steady the nerves of your comrades. You can use 2 Dickens’s Lizzie Hexam. You are points from your Reassurance pool to buck up panCasting the Runes

24

icking or erratic characters, so long as your own Stability is above 0. Serving or retired, you can use any Interpersonal skill to work your way into a military facility of your own branch of service, or Connections to enlist the help of former comrades-in-arms. Miscreant “She removed her neighbour’s landmark: leastways she took in a fair piece of the best pasture in Betton parish what belonged by rights to two children as hadn’t no one to speak for them, and they say years after she went from bad to worse, and made out false papers to gain thousands of pounds up in London.” - M.R. James, A Neighbour’s Landmark

You are a distinguished soloist or the concertmaster in a major orchestra such as the Hallé or the Queen’s Hall Orchestra. Or you could be a struggling piano teacher in a provincial town, or a half-crazed violaplayer in an urban garret. In any case, your repertoire may hold charms to soothe the savage beast - or lay unquiet souls to rest. Occupational Abilities: Art, Craft, Charm, Languages, Library Use, Reassurance. Class: 2-5 Special: You can play rousing tunes to stir the spirits of your friends. You can use 2 points from your Art pool to buck up panicking or erratic characters, or add 1 to their Stability test against a threat or a fright, so long as your own Stability is above 0.

Naturalist “Across a broad level plain they You are the apple that has fallen very far from the tree, looked upon ranges of great hills, a cad or adventuress. You still bear the signs of good whose uplands - some green, some breeding, but you have adopted ways of life and done furred with woods - caught the things that would get you disinherited, if it hasn’t light of a sun, westering but not happened already. You may disdain the common crim- yet low. And all the plain was ferinal, but you share far more than you would ever admit tile, though the river which trawith them. You can charm your way into drawing versed it was nowhere seen. There rooms and exclusive soirees, but your hosts may regret were copses, green wheat, hedges and pasture-land: it when they find their valuables missing and their the little compact white moving cloud marked the closest secrets plundered. evening train.” - M.R. James, A View from a Hill Occupational Abilities: Bargain, Charm, Conceal, Disguise, Filch, Charm, Scuffling, Sense Trouble, Stealth, Streetwise. Class: 2-4 Special: You may replenish your purse by spending Charm Pool Points, to an extent determined by the GM. This reflects cheating at cards, confidence tricks and other nefarious income. Musician “It was that music. Oh, don’t play it any more! I liked it at first, and then all at once it seemed to terrify me!” - E. and H. Heron, The Story of Saddler’s Croft

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You are the scientific world’s equivalent of an Antiquary, a dedicated amateur and magpie intellect. You revere and celebrate the wonders of Nature, and study them enthusiastically, if unsystematically. You are found in the Great Outdoors, identifying and collecting every kind of plant, animal and insect. Occupational Abilities: Athletics, Biology, Fieldcraft, First Aid, Folklore, Geology, Library Use, Photography, Shadowing, Stealth. Class: 2-5 Special: Once per adventure, if you are in open country, you can find some plant or mineral that will help further the current adventure, such as wolfsbane to ward off that werewolf, or natural rock salt for a Circle of Protection. Casting the Runes

Nurse

human knowledge for mere purposes of amusement.” - E. and H. Heron, The Story of Saddler’s Croft

“The doctor intimated to the nurses that the patient was not out of the wood yet” - M.R. James, Mr. Humphreys and His Inheritance

You are a wary walker on the boundaries of the Unseen, probably not a full believer, but definitely exposed to the supernatural. You may be a Theosophist or a member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden You are a Florence Nightingale or Dawn, or a reluctant medium called by the spirits to a medical orderly, dispenser of commune with the departed. You may be a charlatan comfort and relief. As the District Nurse in a rural or confidence trickster, forced to accept that it’s not community or an urban slum, you may the only form all just hocus-pocus and flummery. Society probably of healthcare that the poor locals have access to, and a thinks you still are one. You may be ready to take your ready source of local lore and gossip. You are liable to first case as a full-blown occult investigator. be far closer to the social level of your patients than the distant, aloof doctor, and more tolerant of folk Occupational Abilities: Assess Honesty, remedies and old ways than his scientific mindset. Charm, Folklore, History, Hypnosis, Library Use, Languages, Occult, Photography, Reassurance. Occupational Abilities: Assess Honesty, Book- Class: 2-4 keeping, First Aid, Folklore, Medicine, Pharmacy, Special: Once per adventure, your sixth sense develReassurance. oped through exposure to the supernatural and AbClass: 2-4 natural may be triggered to grant some kind of revelaSpecial: You can use Medicine, Connections or Re- tion, vision, or warning. This is at the GM’s discretion, assurance to access the private areas of hospitals or ob- and the experience will likely be very different each tain drugs from pharmacists. You can also use these to time. secure lore and gossip from locals (Granny Macdonald in the Gorbals, grateful for your dose of laudanum, Photographer tells you an old tradition of her clan…). When you use “The gentleman had come to see First Aid, each point spent heals 3 Health points, over the chapel and thought a rather than 2. (You gain 2 Health points rather than 1 great deal of it and said he must for each First Aid point you spend to heal yourself.) come back in the spring weather You can stabilize the condition of a seriously wounded and take some photografts. And victim by spending only 1 First Aid point, rather than 2. only a week ago he had drove up in his motoring car, and a very ‘eavy Occultist box with the slides in it, and she had locked him in because he said “Although Flaxman Low has desomething about a long explosion, and she was afraid voted his life to the study of psyof some damage happening: and he says, no, not exchical phenomena, he has always plosion, but it appeared the lantern what they take the been most earnest in warning perslides with worked very slow” - M.R. James, The Unsons who feel inclined to dabble in common Prayer-Book spiritualism, without any serious motive for doing so, of the You are a wizard with the Box Brownie and an mischief and danger accruing to alchemist of the developing room, able to produce and the rash experi-menter. Extremely few persons are develop images far beyond the skills of amateurs. Your sufficiently masters of themselves to permit of their services may be sought by the Police, or by families calling in the vast unknown forces outside ordinary wanting memorable portraits. You may be on the payCasting the Runes

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roll at the Illustrated London News or The Sketch, or hoping to make your fortune by selling your extraordinary images of ghosts and fairies to such publications. Occupational Abilities: Chemistry, Evidence Collection, Charm, Photography, Reassurance, and any one of the following: Art History, Disguise, Pharmacy, or Physics. Class: 2-4 Special: Like the Journalist, Charm or Reassurance will gain you access to archives of back issues of the illustrated press. You can also use these Pool Points to persuade NPCs to have their pictures taken next to interesting but otherwise inaccessible sites and objects, or to gain opportunities to photograph those. Physicist “He found that a current, of a certain number of vibrations, in vacuo, ‘insulated’ the medium. It is difficult to suggest an explanation non-technically, and if you are really interested you should read Carder’s lecture on ‘Astral Vibrations Compared with Matero-involuted Vibrations below the SixBillion Limit’.” - William Hope Hodgson, The House Among the Laurels

professional peers. If you are a Physicist at a reasonably well known and respected laboratory or institution - a Physics rating of 2+ and a Class of 4+ - you can access almost any research laboratory, or the latest findings and creations of the most secret projects. Policeman “We are transported to a London office on this same 25th of April. We find there, within closed doors, late in the day, two police inspectors, a commissionaire, and a youthful clerk. The two latter, both rather pale and agitated in appearance, are sitting on chairs and being questioned.” - M.R. James, The Uncommon Prayer-Book

You are the guardian of right and the social order, protector of the vital institutions of Crown and private property. You may be a lowly Peeler, a detective with the county constabulary, or even a member of the Metropolitan Police, familiar with innovations like the Fingerprint Bureau, introduced at Scotland Yard in 1901. You may bend or break the letter of the law when dealing with the lower orders, but your grasp of your broader duties and role in society guarantees that the legal system will support you. You are liable to be hard-headed and pragmatic when faced with the unseen and unknown, and look for the most rational exYou are another Maxwell or Rutherford, plumbing the planation. secrets of the cosmos with the help of the latest theories and experimental apparatus. Your knowledge of Occupational Abilities: Assess Honesty, the latest speculations about space and time may make Athletics, Evidence Collection, Interrogation, Law, you more receptive to accounts of unknown phenom- Reassurance, Scuffling, Sense Trouble, Streetwise, and ena. You may be conducting strange experiments of one of the following: Firearms, Intimidation, Riding, your own to find the limits of our senses and under- Shadowing. standing. Class: 2-4 Special: Use of Law, Reassurance or Connections Occupational Abilities: Bureaucracy, Evidence will grant you access to evidence rooms, holding cells, Collection, Library Use, Mechanics, Physics, and any police records, even the Black Museum at Scotland one of the following: Astronomy, Chemistry, Demoli- Yard. With Class of 3+ you can also gain the help of tion, Geology, or Photography. local police outside your jurisdiction in any case, Class: 3-5 however bizarre Special: You have a physics laboratory of your own, . and can gain access to or help at the facilities of your

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Casting the Runes

Private Investigator ““I received a letter a fortnight ago from a man I must call Anderson, asking for an appointment. I arranged a time, and when he came, I found that he wished me to investigate and see whether I could not clear up a long-standing and well - too well - authenticated case of what he termed ‘haunting’.” - William Hope Hodgson, The Gateway of the Monster

that darkness. You are probably far behind the latest thinking in Vienna, Switzerland and America, and the general population will still dismiss you as a mad-doctor, properly occupied with keeping the insane locked up in asylums. You are correspondingly determined to present your calling as rational and respectable, and will look first for phobias, not phantoms.

Occupational Abilities: Assess Honesty, Hypnosis, Languages (German and Latin), Library Use, Medicine, Pharmacy, Psychoanalysis, Reassurance, and any other two Interpersonal abilities. No Holmes, you are a paid agent commissioned to Class: 3-5 ferret out secrets and scandals, or sometimes to Special: By using Medicine, Connections or an Inprevent them ever coming to light. The regular police terpersonal ability, you have access to mental records despise you, and may even keep tabs on you, but you and sanitarium wards generally off limits to the public. can go to places and get results that they can’t. Some If you have a Medicine rating of 2 or more, you can do of those may be on the wrong side of the law, but that the same for medical records and hospital wards. kind of risk is what you’re paid for. You make Psychoanalysis tests for Psychological Triage at a Difficulty of 3, instead of 4. It costs you Occupational Abilities: Assess Honesty, Book- only 1 Psychoanalysis point instead of 2 to stabilize an keeping, Conceal, Disguise, Evidence Collection, erratic character. You can recover your own Stability, Filch, Law, Library Use, Photography, Scuffling, but you only recover 1 point for each Psychoanalysis Shadowing, Stealth, Streetwise. point you spend. Class: 2-4 Special: Private Investigators with point pools in Schoolmaster/mistress Disguise or Shadowing may spend points after rolling the die for a test. For every 2 points you spend after “One term - perhaps it was my rolling the die, you increase the die result by 1. This third or fourth - a new master never applies during a contest. You must describe how made his appearance. His name you were almost exposed, and the methods you was Sampson. He was a tallish, used to keep from blowing your cover. stoutish, pale, black-bearded man. I think we liked him: he had travelled a good deal, and had stories Psychologist which amused us on our school “‘I hold,’ Mr. Flaxman Low, the walks” - M.R. James, A School Story eminent psychologist, was saying, ‘that there are no other laws in You are the guide of the young, from earliest infancy what we term the realm of the suto cadet corps and the playing fields of England. If a pernatural but those which are the village schoolmistress, you may be the confidante of projections or extensions of natulocal rumours and lore. If a public school teacher, you ral laws’.” - E. and H. Heron, The may rise to heights of an M.R. James (Provost of Eton, Story of Konnor Old House 1918-36), and in any case are the embodiment of the school ethos. The diverse pedigrees of many public You are an explorer of Inner Space, with the first dim school staff mean that you may have other unique atcandles and lanterns that Science has lit to illuminate tainments as well. Casting the Runes

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Occupational Abilities: Assess Honesty, Athletics, First Aid, Intimidation, Library Use, Reassurance, Scuffling, and any three Academic or Interpersonal Abilities. Class: 2-5 Special: Once per adventure, you may use Connections to produce some old school chum or former pupil for support to help further the investigation. Secretary “I make you a business proposition. I offer you the post of confidential secretary and adviser to me in exchange for a comfortable home. The duties will be light. You will be required to refuse invitations to dinner from crowned heads, and to listen attentively to my views on Life. Apart from this, there is little to do.” - P.G. Wodehouse, Psmith in the City You are the custodian of the secrets of some great enterprise or figure. You may act as a personal confidante, or as a respected professional within an organization. You may also have kept records of any secrets or occurrences that have come up during your career. Occupational Abilities: Bookkeeping, Bureaucracy, Evidence Collection, Charm, Law, Library Use, Reassurance, and any one of the following: Cryptography, or Photography. Class: 2-5 Special: You can spend Connections Pool Points to enlist the help of other members of your organization, or of your principal if they are not also part of your party. Thespian “I believe someone once tried to re-write Punch as a serious tragedy; but whoever he may have been, this performance would have suited him exactly. There was something Satanic about the hero.” - M.R. James, The Story of a Disappearance and an Appearance

You are a performer - actor or singer - with a gift for repartee, imitation, and psychological insight that has won you a living and potential fame. You may be treading the boards on the provincial circuit, or a Drury Lane star with your name on the billboards. The decline and strange end of Dan Leno stands as an awful warning of the psychological risks of your profession, but you may not be able to resist the lure of other dramatic adventures. Occupational Abilities: Athletics, Conceal, Disguise, Charm, Folklore, Languages, Reassurance, Sense Trouble, Streetwise, and one other Interpersonal Ability. Class: 2-4 Special: Even in the remotest parts of the country, there may be someone who has seen or heard of you. By expending Connections or Charm, you can secure help and local support from fans or well-wishers.

Drives Each character follows a Drive, a personal motivation giving him, her or it good reason to act heroically and curiously. By following your Drive, you keep the story moving and ensure that your behaviour is in keeping with the Jamesian tradition and the hallowed tradition of occult detection. Your Drive may also impact your Stability and other important game concerns. Naturally, some of these Drives have been tailored for the period of Casting the Runes. GMs should feel free to create others, and players to ask for them. Adventure Yours is the spirit of adventure that took Stanley to the Congo and Burton to Mecca. Life in the confines of the bright little, tight little island is stultifying, and you are always on the lookout for new horizons and fresh experiences. Whether at home or abroad, there must always surely be more room for fresh escapades and derring-do.

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Casting the Runes

Aestheticism

Ennui

Wilde may have gone to his grave taking your creed with him, but you still fly the sacred sunflower in your heart. Your tastes are exquisitely cultivated, and you always seek fresh experiences to refine them still further. You quail at ugliness, but can find beauty in the strangest and most outlandish formulations. Let the boorish Philistines fight for Empire and worship Mammon in dark Satanic mills: you are the true patrician pinnacle of civilization.

You have no need to struggle to survive, no demands on your time - and no excitements or diversions to fill that howling void of tedium at the centre of your cosseted, well-financed life. You look for anything - no matter how risky, bizarre, or perverse - to fill that void and give you some sense that life is actually worth living. Death and madness count for nothing against the need to find a purpose - and just some kind of distraction, however fleeting.

Altruism

Fair Play

You instinctively act for the benefit of others, especially when they’re unable to help themselves. You will go out of your way to help the poor and needy, or ply your profession to help the destitute, perhaps for free.

You embody and follow the finest traditions of English sportsmanship, practically the dominant ethical code among vast swathes of the population. You will always play up and play the game, seeking to win with spirit, but also with grace and according to the rules. You will always congratulate a defeated enemy who Covetousness played well and fairly, and will stoop to rescue a fallen You crave the object of your fixation, to collect, to foe. You may become very indignant, and even murgather to yourself, to brood over and treasure. You derously angry, with a cheat or a sneaky underhand may collect any kind of trinket or the world’s finest di- cad who fails to fight fair. You admire honourable deadems, but whatever, they are precious to you. Your feat as much as victory, and your moral compass rehoard matters far more to you than any human con- mains fairly planted in the playing fields of England. nection, and you would break almost any human laws to enrich it still further. Feudal Spirit God bless the Squire and his relations, and the Empire can only flourish if we all keep in our proper stations. You have an insatiable impulse to ferret out the un- Your value is defined by how devotedly you can serve known and unexplained, and uncover what is hidden. your betters, just as they guide and protect you. A mystery to you is as a red flag to a bull. You will close England’s social pyramid is divinely ordained, and your eyes to almost any dangers or warnings to pursue Satanists and Bolshevists are one and the same (and the problem to its end. should be dealt with rigorously). Curiosity

Duty

Greed

King and Country first, last and always. You are a stern devotee of the iron principle of Duty, beaten into you at public school and followed religiously ever since. Your Spartan creed allows for few diversions or pleasures while you steel yourself for even more rigorous service. Your needs and human sympathies count for nothing against its demands.

Filthy lucre, they may call it, but where there’s muck there’s brass. New money, old money - it’s all that counts. The world is a great unthinking soulless machine where one gear grinds on another, and it’s good that you have figured out its principles and can gather its most unctuous oil.

Casting the Runes

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You may be a disciple of Samuel Smiles, but your Snobbery own smile is a smug one. Let snobs and moralists carp: You are the creme de la creme. Land and title are the you can buy them all with what really matters. proper measures of value, and you are well and rightly endowed with both. Noblesse oblige is mostly an obligation to display the proper splendour and hauteur Justice befitting your caste. The middle classes are farcical litRight is your light, and you cannot rest until justice is tle people mostly occupied in totting up ledgers, and secured in the world. Society may wink at or indulge the working classes are comic urchins with all kinds of ills and wrongs, but you will do your best funny accents. You may one day die nobly, but right to right them, one by one. You may act where you now your concern is to live grandly. can for the insulted and injured, to help them secure their due. Truth You follow the shining light of Truth, no matter how blinding. Its radiance will shrivel away the superstitions and darkness of the past. By your own feeble efforts, you can help wipe away some of the obscuring filth and help it shine even further.

Religion GMs and players can adapt this to other creeds, but this version is meant to capture the unique peculiarities of Victorian and Edwardian belief.

High Church or Low, you believe absolutely that you are of the Elect, and that Christian soldiers need to march onward. God’s chosen people are the Anglo-Saxon Protestants, and it is Dr Charlotte Ferrers, Col. Henry Anstruther and Sam their sacred mission to civilize the globe Taylor are making their base at the village inn. While there they will gather local knowlege to aid their investigation. with the King James Bible. The proof is everywhere around you, but especially in the world-spanning reach of the Empire, predestined since the Spanish Armada. Missionary work is a spiritual offensive to bring the poor benighted heathens under Civilization’s sway. Cleanliness is next to Godliness, and a clean heart is a pure one. Resentment One day God, or the horny hand of the working classes, will pull down the rich from their pinnacles. For now, you can only growl and plot as you groan under their heel. You will go out of your way to slight or obstruct them whenever circumstances allow. You view any request from them as an affront, and any appeal from these oppressors as contemptible.

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Casting the Runes

Abilities bilities define the characters in terms of what they can do, but are more than just skills - Health or Stability above all. Ability descriptions consist of a brief general description, followed by examples of their use in an investigation. Creative players should be able to propose additional uses as unexpected situations confront their characters. Certain specific actions may overlap between several Abilities. For example, a poison may be detectable with Forensics, Medicine or Pharmacy.

A

The GUMSHOE system, as it has evolved, has progressively increased the importance of Investigative Ability Pool Point spends to obtain in-game benefits. Without infringing on the basic principle that Investigative Abilities always secure Core Clues and information for free, Casting the Runes provides examples of recommended benefits for in-adventure Investigative Ability Pool Point spends. These are not binding, and GMs should feel free to expand on them or develop their own - or scale back the whole principle if they find it too cumbersome. One pointer: Investigative Abilities are free for information-gathering and analysis, but active use of them to do things is more suited to point spends.

GMs should still feel free to modify or to create their own Abilities, though, as well as to tweak and expand on the various example benefits and bonuses. Game balance and the number of Investigative Abilities and General Abilities versus build points and Pool Points One type of benefit common to all Investigative are the main elements to keep in mind. Abilities is that a spend from the Ability can yield dedicated Pool Points to boost General Abilities in a parMany of these Abilities are taken directly from the ticular situation or scene. For instance, a spend of 1 GUMSHOE System Reference Document. As per point in Architecture prior to a confrontation in a the terms of that document, though, Ability descrip- church yields 3-4 Pool Points per Investigator to boost tions and example bullet points have been rewritten to Firearms or Stealth, because the party’s Architecture add more of the right Edwardian period flavour, and expert has briefed them on the best firing angles, areas some have been renamed accordingly. of concealment, etc. These points do not refresh, and expire as soon as the party exits the scene, is no longer in the relevant situation, etc.

Investigative Abilities

Investigative Abilities are the bread and butter of Anthropology (Academic) GUMSHOE characters, and enjoy special rules for their allocation and use. You are an expert in the study of human cultures, from the Stone Age to the Steam Age. You can: Investigative abilities are divided into the following sub-groups: Academic, Interpersonal, and Technical. • Identify artifacts and rituals of living cultures The purpose of the sub-groups, aside from • Describe the customs of a foreign group or local realism, is to allow players to quickly find the best abilsubculture ity for the task during play, by scanning the most • Extrapolate the practices of an unknown culture likely portion of the overall list. from similar examples Casting the Runes

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Example Benefit: Draw analogies from common social rituals to conscript, or intimidate, a group; a 2-point spend transforms the local villagers from wary sceptics to enthusiastic followers.

discipline, or spread them across several, but your Rating does not transfer between different artistic disciplines.

• • • • • •

Tell how long something has been buried Identify artifacts by culture and usage Distinguish real artifacts from fakes Navigate inside ruins and catacombs Describe the customs of historical cultures Spot hidden underground features

Art History (Academic)

•

Guess what lies around the corner while exploring an unknown structure Spot discontinuities and voids that indicate a secret room or passage Identify a building’s age, architectural style, original purpose, and history of modifications Construct stable makeshift structures Identify elements vital to a building’s structural integrity

You can tell when some people are lying. You must usually be interacting with them or observing them from a close distance. Sometimes you can infer motives, but an additional point spend may be needed to deduce more information. This sense doesn’t tell you what they’re lying about, specifically, or see through their lies to the truth. Not all lies are verbal. You can tell when a person is attempting to project a false impression through body language.

Example Benefit: create work or perform to gain money, impress and win trust, or barter for other Archaeology (Academic) favours or benefits; a 1-point spend means your work You excavate and study the structures and artifacts of or performance impresses the Duchess so much that historical cultures and civilizations. You can: she grants you access to her family archive.

You are an expert on works of art from an aesthetic and technical point of view. You can:

• Distinguish real works from fakes • Tell when a work has been retouched or altered Example Benefit: spot exit, trick, trap, etc. in an • Identify the age of an object by style and materials archaeological context; a 1-point spend reveals a side • Call to mind historical details on artists alcove in a half-excavated passage grave, allowing Surprise against any adversary. Example Benefit: Quickly scan catalogues or exhibitions to find key/most valuable works; a 1-point spend allows the party to target the most lucrative items in Architecture (Academic) the gallery - for purchase or theft. You know how buildings are planned and constructed. You can: Assess Honesty (Interpersonal)

• • • •

Example Benefit: spot weak points, secret doors or Example Benefit: identify motive or driver for peculiarities of a structure; a 1-point spend increases dishonesty, e.g. fear, pride, venality, etc. (1 point); perDemolition damage on a target edifice by 2. ceive or intuit some details of true situation behind liar’s deception (2 point). Art (Technical)

Certain individuals may be so adept at lying that they You are a practitioner of an artistic discipline, from never set off your sixth sense. Some people believe painting to literature. You must specify what art you their own falsehoods. Psychopathic personality types are proficient in. You can allocate build points to one lie reflexively, depriving you of the telltales you use to

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Casting the Runes

sense when a person is deceiving you. You can nor- Example Benefit: use knowledge to identify mally distinguish charlatans, but a sincere believer in characteristics, habits and weaknesses of animals, esnonsense such as astrology will appear genuine to you. pecially potentially threatening wild beasts; a 1-point spend reveals the right herb to use to distract the estate’s guard dogs. Astronomy (Technical) You study celestial objects, including the stars, plan- Bookkeeping (Technical) ets. You can: You can keep accounts, and understand them. You can • Decipher astrological texts examine financial records, ledgers and company bal• Plot the movement of constellations ance sheets. You can: • Interpret astronomical information in old books and manuscripts • Tell legitimate businesses from criminal or corrupt • Find directions on a clear night enterprises • Spot the telltale signs of embezzlement Example Benefit: use astronomical knowledge for • Track payments to their source navigation, finding your way or plotting a course; a 1point spend impresses the curator of the Observatory Example Benefit: find well hidden money trails; a 1so much that he grants you access to the telescope, en- point spend earns the Dean’s undying gratitude, when abling you to observe the strange forms flitting he learns how the Treasurer has been cooking the around the surrounding peaks. Cathedral’s books to loot diocesan funds. Bargain (Interpersonal)

Charm (Interpersonal)

You are adept at haggling or negotiating to get a better deal. You can:

You are an heir to the epigrammatic wit of Wilde, or a garrulous navvy with the gift of the gab. You are well versed in getting people to help you by compliments or sheer personal appeal. You can get them to:

• • •

Get lower prices or more favourable terms Gain the upper hand in negotiations Trade information and secrets

• • •

Reveal information Perform minor favours Regard you as trustworthy

Example Benefit: secure a specific (or greater) reduction in cost, or greater reward for use; a 1-point spend reveals that the owner of a country es- Example Benefit: gain specially high levels of trust or tate has been selling off heirlooms at ruinously low cooperation; a 1-point spend persuades the retired prices, and is likely desperate for money. Admiral to lend you his skiff. Biology (Academic)

Chemistry (Technical)

You are fully acquainted with the biological science of You are trained in the analysis of chemicals. You can: the time. You can: • Identify drugs and pharmaceuticals • Identify an animal or plant species • Analyse unknown substances • Spot unusual animal behaviour or plant growth • Perform tests on items of evidence to draw some • Analyse and interpret scales, furs, hides, leaves, conclusions from them and other biological specimens • Create simple reagants, poisons and explosives Casting the Runes

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Example Benefit: create almost any chemical for active use, rather than information-gathering analysis; a 1-point spend allows the creation of a tincture that will cling to whoever touches a particular treasure.

after (except Occult). The Investigator must be able to pass an uninterrupted evening or other in-adventure spell of rest and recovery. Only one point can be refreshed for each such period of reflection. Contemplation itself can only be refreshed between adventures, but only on the same basis as Stability uninterrupted calm.

Class (Interpersonal) You possess a certain status in society, and the habits, mannerisms and income that usually go with it. You can interact easily with others of a similar Class, mobilize commensurate social and financial resources, and gain certain advantages in many situations.

Example Benefit: the power of Contemplation fosters a stable, focused mind; a 1-point spend can yield 3 dedicated Pool Points for tests/contests of will, or less physical General Ability tests and contests, such as Gambling, Hypnosis or Mechanics.

This Ability is linked to the strict class distinctions of the Edwardian era. A high Class is an almost universal advantage. There are some specific circumstances where it can be a drawback, though: for instance, trying to infiltrate a criminal clique to uncover a clue, or to elicit trust and support in an East End pub. GMs may apply appropriate penalties or Difficulty levels in such situations. For instance, an investigative use of an Interpersonal Ability with targets separated from the Investigator by 2 or more Class points always costs 1 Pool Point of Class. For more on the relationship between Class, wealth and income, see the chapter on The Period (p. 128).

Craft (Technical) You can create useful physical objects, working with materials like wood, metal, and so forth. Although the resulting cabinets, kettles, or rings may be beautiful, your focus is utility, not art. Like the Art ability, you may focus on one craft (blacksmithing, cabinetry, etc) or diversify into many; the same rules apply. You may be able to use your Craft ability to specific investigative ends: discover a secret drawer in a desk if you are a cabinet-maker, and so forth.

Example Benefit: gain admission to gatherings or clubs/cabals of a particular class; a 1-point spend by a lower-class individual gains admission to the curious Nonconformist sect with strange beliefs.

Example Benefit: build or repair some object useful (or valuable) in-game; a 1-point spend allows the jeweller to replace the gems in the codex’s ornate binding with fake stones.

Contemplation (Academic)

Criminology (Academic)

This Ability functions like the Special advantages for certain Occupations seen in Trail of Cthulhu and other GUMSHOE games, where Investigators can refresh Investigative Ability Pool Points during an adventure. It’s intended to reflect the scholarly, sedentary approach of most Jamesian protagonists. Contemplation represents the power of a calm, reflective, analytical mind to refresh its processes and assess its conclusions.

You are involved in the study and pursuit of crime, from techniques of detection to understanding the criminal mind and the underworld. You can: • •

• By spending a Pool Point of Contemplation, the Investigator can refresh one Pool Point of an Academic • Investigative Ability during an adventure, rather than

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Distinguish evidence of criminal activities at a scene and follow these up Deduce relationships between various types and ranks of criminals, and manipulate accordingly Use the terminology and slang of the police and gain their trust and assistance Use fingerprints and the other latest innovations in contemporary criminology Casting the Runes

•

Recall great crimes of the past and spot significant similarities in M.O., etc.

Example Benefit: a 1-point spend gains you the assistance of police - or criminals. Cryptography (Technical)

• •

Track animals or people in the wild Hunt and track with dogs, assuming you have friendly dogs available

Example Benefit: secure advantages or protect larger groups in the wild; a 1-point spend heals all the depredations of fatigue and exhaustion round a roaring campfire.

You are an expert in the making and breaking of codes, from the simple ciphers of medieval texts to ad- Folklore (Academic) vanced modern diplomatic and military codes. You have a deep understanding of the folk beliefs and Example Benefit: create your own codes or ciphers traditions of your own and other cultures. You can: for use in-game, or communicate through wellknown basic ciphers; a 1-point spend allows the code- • Predict what beliefs a particular traditional commaker to leave a cryptic message in plain sight for the munity might have rest of the party, who need not have the same skill to • Interpret items or evidence relating to folk beliefs interpret it. • Predict the likely location, timing or ritual of a folk rite Evidence Collection (Technical) You are adept at finding important clues. You can: • • •

Spot objects of interest at an investigation site Note relationships between objects at a scene, reconstructing sequences of events Store objects for later analysis without contaminating your samples

Example Benefit: Gain extra advantages or ancillary benefits from evidence; a 1-point spend reveals where the local constabulary will have stored evidence from the crime scene. Fieldcraft (Technical)

Example Benefit: gain trust or support of locals by tapping their beliefs; convinced by a 1-point spend that the Little People fear iron, the villagers will back you up when you venture into the caverns beneath the fairy mound. Forensics (Technical) You perform autopsies on deceased subjects to determine their cause of death. In the case of foul play, your examination can identify: • • •

The nature of the weapon or weapons used The telltale signs of poisons The contents of the victim’s last meal

You are adept at surviving and thriving in the Great Example Benefit: identify likely assassin or place of Outdoors. You may owe this to keen scouting in your death; a 1-point spend lets you present firm enough youth, or to a country upbringing, or other sources. evidence to secure a conviction. You can: • • •

Find edible plants, hunt, and fish Kindle fires and survive outdoors at night or in bad weather Navigate overland, albeit more easily with a compass and a map

Casting the Runes

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Geology (Academic) You are an expert on rocks, soils, minerals, and the primordial history of the Earth. You can: •

Analyse soil samples, crystals, minerals etc

• • •

Determine the age of a rock stratum psychologically commanding manner. Intimidation Date and identify fossils may involve implied or direct threats of violence but is Identify rocks and regions most likely to contain just as often an act of mental dominance. You can: underground passages and caves • Gain information Example Benefit: identify exit in cave system, loose • Inspire the subject to leave the area rock formation prone to avalanche, etc.; a 1-point • Cow a subject spend reveals the buildup of firedamp in the mine tunnel, preventing an accidental explosion. Example Benefit: target is browbeaten into being an ally, turning King’s Evidence, etc.; a 1-point spend convinces the local police not to prosecute you for History (Academic) opening the crypt. You are an expert in recorded human history, with an emphasis on its political, military, and economic and Languages (Academic) technological developments. You can: For each rating point in Languages, you are verbally • Recognize obscure historical allusions fluent and literate in one language other than your na• Recall biographies of famous historical figures tive tongue. You may specify these when you • Tell where and when an object was fashioned create your character, or choose in the course of play, • Identify the period of an article of dress or cos- revealing that you just happen to speak Javanese when tume circumstances require it. You are not learning the language spontaneously but revealing a hitherto unExample Benefit: use historical knowledge to gain mentioned fact about your character. You may elect to access to, and help from, appropriate present-day or- be literate in an ancient language - typically, Greek or ganisation (Order of St John, etc); a 1-point spend se- Latin. cures your admission to the organisation’s archival collection and manuscripts. Mary, Lady Ashborough and Col. Henry Anstruther have learned of the dark legends about the old barrow on the moor. Interrogation (Interpersonal) You are trained in extracting information from suspects and witnesses in the context of a formal police-style interview. This must take place in an official setting, where the subject is confined or feels under threat of confinement, and recognizes your authority (whether real or feigned.) Example Benefit: target yields actionable advantage (guards roster, password, etc); a 1-point spend makes the thief give away an extra stash from his last bank robbery. Intimidation (Interpersonal) You elicit cooperation from suspects by seeming physically imposing, browbeating them, adopting a

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Casting the Runes

Example Benefit: you secure advantage through active production of language (local fame as author, etc.); a 1-point spend allows you to host a recital of poetry at the local manoir while the rest of the party searches its cellars.

Bibliophilic Matters Library Use is likely to come up a lot in Casting the Runes campaigns, so here are some rules of thumb based on real-life examples and feedback from GUMSHOE players and M.R. James fans who are, unsurprisingly, librarians. For game purposes, a well-structured library catalogue can be skimmed at around 50,000 titles per hour. A typical college, cathedral or private scholar’s library will have around 20,000 volumes. A 1-point Library Use spend will cut the time in half; a 2-point spend will cut it to one quarter. An investigator with Library Use who knows exactly the book they’re looking for will find it almost immediately, without a point spend (Core Clue: automatic success) - that’s the point of a good catalogue, after all.

Law (Academic) You are familiar with the criminal and civil laws of your home jurisdiction, and broadly acquainted with foreign legal systems. At a rating of 2 or more, you are a barrister. You can: • • •

Example Benefit: win a case impressively, secure heavy damages, etc.; a 1-point spend compels the Chief Constable to allow you to examine a piece of critical evidence.

Investigators will need longer if they’re looking for information from multiple sources on a particular topic (e.g. weird goings-on in Peterborough a century ago) but don’t know which specific volume it will be in. Exactly how many volumes need to be skimmed is up to the GM, who can set the target at what suits the scenario best. If those sources on Peterborough run to 10 volumes, for example, skimming them for the critical information, at an average of 300 pages per volume, takes 30 hours. Once again, point spends can cut this down. Spends beyond Library Use can help too: for instance, Charm to engage a gifted librarian; History to nail down the critical 10 volumes of county records for the subject under investigation, etc.

Library Use (Academic) You can extract information from collections of books, records, files, archives, newspaper morgues, etc. You can determine the cataloguing scheme of an archive, and where a particular item might be. You can also determine patterns in the material – who wrote about what and to whom, what kinds of interests an eccentric collector might have, and so forth. Example Benefit: A 1-point Library Use spend halves (at minimum, at the GM’s discretion) the one hour per 100 printed pages, or one hour per ten handwritten pages, needed to extract a Core Clue from a book; a 2point Library Use spend immediately discovers the vital fact, spell, etc. GMs may also determine other benefits.

To search through a completely uncatalogued collection for the right volumes takes about 12 books per minute, or about 700 books per hour. Again, point spends can cut this down considerably. To actually catalogue a collection of roughly 10,000 volumes, for a basic catalogue with details of author, title, publisher, printer, date, and provenance for each, would take around 9 months of five working days per week.

Casting the Runes

Assess potential legal risks Understand lawyerly jargon Argue with police and prosecutors

Medicine (Academic) You are trained in the medical skills of your time. With 2 or more points of Medical Expertise you are likely a trained and certified doctor. You can:

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In a Cambridge churchyard the vile sorcerer Jonathan Karswell uses his magic to call up the dead. Black magicians like Mr Karswell use this method to learn secrets of the past which they then put to malevolent uses. • • • • •

Occult (Academic)

Establish a person’s general level of health Prescribe treatment for a treatable condition Perform autopsies Diagnose probable causes of addiction, disease, sickness, injury, poisoning, or death Interact with medical professionals

You are an expert in the historical study of magic, superstition, from the Stone Age to the present. From Satanists to the Golden Dawn, you know the dates and places, as well as the telling anecdotes. You can: •

Example Benefit: establish epidemiology and appropriate prevention/treatment for a condition in an indi- • vidual (1 point) or a group or community (2 point); a 2- • point spend stops the progress of the epidemic of visions and hallucinations when you trace it to ergot in • contaminated bread.

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Identify the cultural traditions informing a ritual from examining its physical aftermath Supply historical facts about occult traditions Guess the intended effect of a ritual from its physical aftermath Identify occult activities as the work of informed practitioners or charlatans Casting the Runes

ter loses a point from their maximum Stability Rating. With the Casting the Runes cap on Stability of 12, this means that a character with Occult Rating 8 can no longer achieve the maximum Stability, and has a Stability ceiling of 10. This effect will continue right down to Stability 0 - and beyond. For more on the Occult, including the deceitful practices of charlatans, see the chapter on Magic (p. 108). Pharmacy (Technical) You are trained in the preparation and prescription of medicines and drugs. You can: • • •

Predict the likely effects of a drug, and any possible counteragents Spot the evidence of a poisoning or the telltale signs of a poison Prepare sedatives, drugs, and even poisons

Example Benefit: prepare a chemical disinfectant, gas, etc. to affect a wide area or large enclosed space; a The Theology ability alerts the investigators that 1-point spend allows you to prepare an antidote in adthere’s something distinctly unorthodox about vance for the venomous scorpions in the crypt. the Candlemas service in the village church. Example Benefit: determine specific defences against (1 point) or vulnerabilities of (2 point) a supernatural entity; a 2-point spend reveals that the werewolf may be vulnerable to a silver bullet.

Photography (Technical) You’re proficient in the use of cameras, including the earliest cine cameras. You can:

• Take useful visual records of crime scenes Occult knowledge is not an instant gateway to magical • Spot manual retouching or other faking of a puissance. The Occult Ability does decide a characphotographic image ter’s capacity to learn magic, but not to use it. Players • Prepare apparatus for night photography and should remember that most GMs will limit access to other special situations the spells themselves. A character will not get immediate access to practical magic simply by having a high Example Benefit: shoot accurate night-time, highOccult Rating. speed, or other highly technical photography; a 1point spend allows you to rig an automatic camera to Beyond a certain point, knowledge of the Occult catch whoever or whatever opens the door at midstarts to actively damage a character’s sanity and erode night. their Stability, as they become more and more wedded to bizarre beliefs and weird practices. This effect becomes serious at an Occult Rating of 6 or above. For each Occult Rating point above this level, the characCasting the Runes

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Physics (Academic)

Theology (Academic)

You are well versed in the physical science of the time. You can:

You are familiar with the beliefs and practices of the established religion, and other creeds. You can:

•

Deduce the likely physical basis of strange • Interpret evidence based on parish records, church phenomena architecture, etc. • Obtain or order machinery to measure and manip- • Recognize particular saints, scriptures, etc. ulate forces and energies • Know church history, major figures, controversies, • Test items for evidence of certain physical forces sects etc. • Distinguish orthodox relics, rites, etc. from the Example Benefit: ascertain and execute physicsworks of the heretical and recognise earlier cusbased solutions to problems, e.g. using water toms incorporated into church services and liturgy displacement to secure object floating in a well, etc.; a • Interact comfortably with church figures 1-point spend allows you to improvise protection against the dangerous radium salts being used by the Example Benefit: pinpoint exit points, secret fake occultist. passages, etc. in a church; a 1-point spend obtains a key to the (normally closed) crypt beneath the church from the verger. Reassurance (Interpersonal) You get people to do what you want by putting them at ease. You can: • • • •

Elicit information and minor favors Allay fear or panic in others Instill a sense of calm during a crisis At the GM’s discretion, Reassurance can also give limited benefit in helping other characters recover Stability.

Example Benefit: stabilise or calm hysterical individual (1 point) or wild mob (2 points).

General Abilities These are the Abilities that factor in some chance of success or failure, instead of the 100% success rate of Investigative Abilities. Some General Abilities may also be treated as Investigative Abilities for the purposes of immediate use and point spend, if used to gather clues, or to interact with people devoted to those Abilities. For example, a strong Scuffling Ability, indicating familiarity with pugilism, could be used to pick up clues in a boxing club. However, this is at the discretion of the GM.

This list of General Abilities has been tilted towards the more sedentary characteristics of a Jamesian You know how to behave among crooks, hooligans, Investigator. However, GMs should feel free to devise and other habitués of the underworld. You can: other General Abilities to suit their campaign. Streetwise (Interpersonal)

• • •

Apply criminal etiquette to avoid conflicts Identify unsafe locations and dangerous people Gather underworld rumours

Example Benefit: gain one-shot favours or advantages from underworld figures; a 1-point spend secures you an illegal weapon or gear suitable for practicing burglary or safe-cracking.

Most General Abilities have a Bonus (a Cherry in the basic GUMSHOE rules), that comes into play when the character has 8 rating points or more in it. Investigators can always use that special benefit, even if their pool in that ability has dropped to 0. This does not apply to certain General Abilities, notably Stability and Health. GMs can feel free to devise different Bonuses.

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Casting the Runes

Athletics

Connections

Athletics allows you to perform general acts of physical derring-do, from running to jumping to dodging falling or oncoming objects. Any physical action not covered by another ability, probably falls under the rubric of Athletics.

This governs your network of social and professional connections, the old boys/girls, fellow veterans, Church Lads, sewing circles, and other groupings that form your milieu. They are the people you can reach out to for help, advice, specialist insight, support, and other backup. Unlike Class, Connections represents the currency of friendship and fellowship, not status and influence. It is useful for covering the Investigative and General Abilities your party doesn’t have. In this, it resembles the Network Ability in Night’s Black Agents and The Fall of DELTA GREEN, or the Correspondence Ability in Tony Williams’s Enchiridion of Elucidation. Connections points create specific contacts, who possess designated Abilities.

Bonus: If your Athletics rating is 8 or more, your Hit Threshold, the Target Number your opponents use when attempting to hit you in combat, is 4. Otherwise, your Hit Threshold is 3. Bureaucracy You know how to navigate a bureaucratic organisation, whether it’s a governmental office or a large business concern. You know how to get what you want from it in an expeditious manner, and with a minimum of ruffled feathers. You can use Bureaucracy through a successful test to convince officials to provide sensitive information, gain credentials on false pretences, access resources, or even mobilize people for your own purposes. Bonus: If your Bureaucracy rating is 8 or more, the organisation you are manipulating becomes your eyes, ears, and hands, with 1 appropriately skilled flunky available per point you spend; essentially, Bureaucracy becomes a version of Connections, allowing you to activate additional minions with extra Abilities.

A 1- or 2-point Investigative Ability spend by a contact will require the same in player’s Connections Pool Points. This can cover any required Investigative Ability. However, the answer will never arrive immediately. The contact must be… well, contacted, by post or messenger or telegram, or visited in person. At the GM’s discretion, Core Clues can be revealed this way, with no Pool Point cost, but still with a time penalty (spend to shorten this).

With Connections, you can roll against a Difficulty number set by the GM (usually 4) to secure informal assistance or specialist expertise from within your social network during an investigation: a welldisposed NPC ready to join the party. However, this is influenced by social class: Difficulty increases by 2 for Conceal each point of difference between the Class of the You can hide things from view and conceal them from Investigator and that of their target. (The GM will search. Your methods might include using poacher’s decide how and where this applies.) Contacts will be pockets, sneaking things into drawers unobserved, unlikely to offer more than casual help without further building secret compartments, or even altering an ob- point spends, either from Connections or from ject’s appearance with paint or plaster. This ability also Interpersonal Abilities like Flattery or Reassurance. allows you to discover things intentionally concealed. GMs should confine Connections use to situations Bonus: Once per adventure, you can conceal any where it’s feasible, but should reward imagination and object of almost any size effortlessly, even in plain creativity. An Investigator could legitimately look up sight and with 0 Pool Points left. Connections (using a 1-point spend) when moving into an unfamiliar area. This can be useful for identifying people who can help with Core Clues during the investigation. Casting the Runes

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Bonus: You don’t need to spend Connections Pool Points to look up contacts in a new area; these will come to you automatically through local gossip, your extensive correspondence, etc. Demolition You are an expert in explosives, bombs and blasting. You can: • • • • •

Defuse bombs and traps Handle cordite or other dangerously unstable materials with relative safety Given time, and proper preparation, blow open vaults or tombs without damaging the contents Mix home-made explosive compounds from commonly available chemicals Safely construct and detonate explosive devices or booby-traps of your own

Successfully disguising yourself as an actual person already known to those you’re interacting with is extraordinarily difficult. Brief voice-only mimicry pits you against a Difficulty of 4. Face-to-face impersonation requires a successful roll against a Difficulty of 7 for every five minutes of sustained contact between you and the object of your impersonation. Bonus: Every successful roll for face-to-face impersonation secures you ten minutes of undetected disguise, rather than five. Driving You are skilled at operating the early automobiles and motorcycles of the day. You can: • •

Demolition doubles as an Investigative Ability when • used to: • •

Reconstruct exploded bombs For any bomb (exploded or unexploded), determine the method and materials of the bombmaker, and deduce his sophistication, background, and skill level

Drive well in dangerous or difficult conditions Drive competitively and aggressively in a race or chase Change a tyre, clean a spark plug, and perform basic maintenance on your machine

Bonus: You are a well-known competitive racing driver, king or queen of the road, guaranteed aid from fellow motorists, and indulgence from traffic police and magistrates wherever you go.

Filch Bonus: You can detonate or demolish with minimal disruption when you want to, muffling the sound of a Your nimble fingers allow you to unobtrusively blown door to minimize chances of detection. manipulate small objects. You can: Disguise

•

This is the skill of altering your own appearance, posture, and voice to be unrecognizable. Disguising others in anything more complex than a cloth cap or false moustache is good only for brief periods, as posture and body language are vital components in any successful disguise.

• •

Pilfer clues from a crime scene under the very noses of unsuspecting authorities Pick pockets Plant objects on unsuspecting subjects

Bonus: Sense Trouble target Difficulties and other Abilities of opposing or targeted individuals and groups are increased by 1.

This ability also covers selling yourself as a different person: vocal mannerisms, altered body language, dress, and realistic-seeming reactions.

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Casting the Runes

Firearms You are versed in the use and maintenance of pistols, rifles, shotguns and other small arms. (Tribes and other communities using arrows and spears, and Investigators who wish to follow suit, use the rare separate ability of Missiles.) Bonus: You need no time to reload, and can fire continuously until your ammunition is exhausted. First Aid

Bonus: You have a magic touch. Not only do you win almost any game you join, but you can use your luck to increase your Class by 1 for each year you manage a successful roll, representing your ill-gotten gains. Health Health measures your ability to sustain injuries, resist infection, and survive the effects of toxins. When you get hit in the course of a fight, your Health pool is diminished. A higher Health pool allows you to stay in a fight longer before succumbing to your injuries.

You can minister to the wounded and give immediate aid. For the results of First Aid, see the chapter on When your Health pool is depleted, you may be Gameplay. dazed, wounded, or pushing up the daisies. For more on this, see Injury and Death in the Gameplay chapter. Bonus: You can restore the Health points of a seriously wounded character (Health pool between -6 and -11), Hypnosis enough to bring them back to -5, if you have enough First Aid points to spend. (Each 1 First Aid point spent This ability represents medical hypnosis as depicted in heals 2 Health points.) You still have to stabilize the the penny dreadfuls; it is not psychic mesmerism or Dr patient first, spending 2 First Aid Pool Points. Caligari-style mind control. You can only hypnotize a willing subject, and only one subject at a time. Using Hypnosis requires a Test against a Difficulty Number Fleeing that varies depending on what you are using it for. Although you are not a strong overall athlete, you can scarper with alacrity when chased by dangerous Simple hypnotic state: To place a patient in a people, beings, or moving objects. hypnotic trance, you must succeed against Difficulty 3. During this trance, she is calm and placid. Bonus: In any chase where you are the quarry, the Difficulty number you roll against is reduced by 1. Establish analytic rapport: Once you have successfully hypnotized a patient, your Psychoanalysis pool increases by 3 during any future use of PsychoGambling analysis on them. Your Psychoanalysis rating must be You can run the greatest risk an Edwardian gentleman at least 3 to gain this benefit, and the 3 points must be ever faced: public shame for cheating at cards. You are spent on the patient. familiar with games of chance and betting systems, from placing a wager at Ascot, roulette in Biarritz to Recover memories: The patient’s fragmented or slumming in illegal card games. You may also use your buried memories, as of dreams, traumas, or murky talents to fix a game, expose a cheat, or strike up a monster attacks, can be called to the surface and conversation with gamblers. “relived.” This is a Difficulty 4 test. Reliving an experience that cost Stability will cost the patient the same Gambling can also be used as an Investigative Ability amount again, although you may practice immediate to uncover any clues involving games of chance or Psychological Triage to minimize the patient’s shock. gambling institutions, or even figure-out the odds when chance is an issue. Casting the Runes

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Tristram Briggs, Dr Charlotte Ferrers and the Colonel arrive at the haunted ruins in their Rolls Royce Silver Ghost. Motor cars are still a rare sight on Edwardian roads. Post-hypnotic suggestion: Upon lifting the trance, you may cause your patient to perform a single action without apparent thought. You may require a “trigger phrase” or simply specify a time: (“When you get home, you’ll leave the book on the desk.”) Spells and other complex activities cannot be post-hypnotically induced. The patient will not accept a suggestion contrary to her normal behaviour. This is a Difficulty 4 or higher test; the GM may increase the Difficulty based on the suggestion.

False memories: You can implant false memories in a patient or bury real ones. This is extremely unethical without a direct therapeutic benefit (such as easing a trauma). This is a Contest between your Hypnosis and the patient’s Stability. Your Difficulty Number is 5; the patient resists with Difficulty 4. Again, the GM may increase your Difficulty based on the severity of the memory change. At the GM’s discretion, if the patient suffers a further trauma (such as her Stability dropping below -5 again), she may suddenly recall the truth.

Ease pain: You can relieve symptomatic pain in a pa- Bonus: Difficulty numbers in all the tests listed above tient. This removes the mechanical penalties for being are reduced by 1. hurt and lasts until the patient is wounded again. This is a Difficulty 4 or higher test; the GM may increase the Difficulty depending on the severity of the pain.

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Casting the Runes

Navigation You can find your way around on a map or under the stars. You can: • • • •

Read a map accurately Go from one point to another without getting lost, even in poor visibility Calculate journey times Determine the time of day and approximate latitude without any instruments

Bonus: Your sixth sense of direction and acuity for environmental cues allows you to find ways out of otherwise impossible situations, e.g. whiteout blizzards, pitch-black unlit cellars, etc. Preparedness

The Preparedness ability allows the Investigators to have everything they need to explore the old manor house at night. Mechanics

You expertly anticipate the needs of any mission by packing a kit efficiently arranged with necessary gear. Assuming you have immediate access to your kit, you can produce whatever object the team needs to overcome an obstacle. You make a simple test (Difficulty 4); if you succeed, you have the item you want. You needn’t do this in advance of the adventure, but can dig into your kit bag (provided you’re able to get to it) as the need arises.

You are good at building, repairing, and disabling machines, from clock escapements to engines. This also covers lockpicking, safecracking, and the other mechanical skills of the burglar. Mechanics doubles as an Investigative Ability when used to:

Items of obvious utility to a paranormal investigation do not require a test. These include but are not limited to: note paper, writing implements, chalk, talcum powder, various types of tape, common tools and hardware, dark lanterns or torches of various sizes, • Evaluate the skill used to create an item magnifying glasses, thermometer, and a simple Box • Determine the identity of a handmade item’s Brownie-style camera. maker by comparing to known work by that individual Other Abilities imply the possession of basic gear suit• Obtain a Core Clue unobtainable except through able to their core tasks. Photographers come with mechanical access cameras and accessories. If you have Firearms, you • Evaluating a lock or security setup for its have a gun, and so on. Preparedness does not intrude provenance, origins, purpose, etc. into their territory. It covers general-purpose investigative equipment. Bonus: Any machine or device tuned or repaired by you gives 1 point of advantage or benefit for you and The sorts of items you can produce at a moment’s other users in appropriate tests or contests, e.g. notice depend not on your rating or pool, but on Driving, Firearms. narrative credibility. If the GM determines that your Casting the Runes

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possession of an item would seem ludicrous or out of Bonus: You have an almost supernatural ability to diplace, you don’t get to roll for it. You simply don’t rect your steed. Once per adventure, you can perform have it. some feat of horsemanship, e.g. jumping a ravine, making your mount kick out at attackers, call your Bonus: Your anticipation of a situation is almost horse to you unerringly, etc. preternatural. You can envisage possible outcomes and prepare for them. Sailing Once per adventure, you can roleplay a flashback of preparing for a potential outcome, and describe the trap, fallback option, cached item, Plan B, etc. that you need to get out of or remedy a situation. If the explanation is plausible and the GM is satisfied, you gain the outcome you seek. Psychoanalysis You can provide comfort, perspective and solace to the mentally troubled. You may be a doctor, a nurse, a priest or pastor, or just a empathic and intuitive individual. You can restore panicked characters to a state of calm, and treat any long-term mental illnesses they accrue in the course of their investigations.

You are able to steer a craft, be it a small dinghy or a tramp steamer. You can: • • •

Direct a boat or sailing vessel Keep afloat in stormy weather Read the tides and currents

Bonus: the Difficulty of any Sailing test you face is reduced by 1. You are a well-known master mariner, respected by seafaring folk, harbour masters, pilots etc. Scuffling You can hold your own in a brawl, wrestling bout, or boxing match, whether you wish to kill, knock out, restrain, or evade your opponent.

Bonus: For every Psychoanalysis point spent in psychological triage, the recipient gains 3 Stability points This Ability also governs the use of knuckle-dusters, rather than the usual 2. saps, and other weapons designed for dirty fighting. For more on Scuffling see page 48. Riding

Bonus: Your Scuffling damage modifier is reduced to -1.

Although staying on a tame, untroubled walking horse (on flattish terrain, anyway) is relatively easy once one gets the hang of it, and staying on a mule or Sense Trouble burro even easier, you are a gifted equestrian. You can gallop even recalcitrant horses, donkeys, and mules Keen perceptions allow you to spot signs of potential past distractions and across the countryside. You can: danger to yourself and others. Information gained from this ability might save your skins but doesn’t di• Evade or conduct mounted pursuit rectly advance the central mystery. You can: • Care for, groom, shoe, and stable mounts • Use and care of riding gear (saddles, bridles, etc.) • Hear someone sneak up on you • Calm a nervous mount • See an obscured or hidden figure • Drive a horse-drawn wagon or cart • Notice a sudden hush, absence of wildlife etc. • Wield a weapon while riding • For every additional 2 rating points in Riding, you Bonus: Your sixth sense is almost supernatural. Once may add an additional riding animal: camel, per adventure, you gain a sudden automatic intuition elephant, etc. of danger even when there is no obvious clue, trap, de-

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Casting the Runes

even in games where GMs generously inform the players of other Difficulty Numbers. Players must blindly choose how much they wish to spend.

Scuffling and non-lethal combat

When more than one player is able to make a Sense Trouble test, the group decides which of them makes the attempt. Only one attempt per source of trouble occurs, conducted by the chosen Investigator.

Scuffling is very much the domain of the Queensberry Rules spirit of the Jamesian period. It covers boxing, wrestling, savate, non-lethal martial arts, and all kinds of fisticuffs. It also covers combat with saps, bludgeons, soap bars in socks, and other weapons designed to stun and subdue rather than injure.

Shadowing You are good at following suspects without revealing your presence. You can:

For this type of combat, Health Pool Points are even more of a game convention than elsewhere, and represent the combatants’ physique and endurance rather than permanent damage. If a combatant pulls a knife during a fist fight, their a�ack instantly shifts to a Weapons rather than a Scuffling a�ack, and is treated under the regular Dealing Damage rules.

• • •

Trail a quarry, handing over to other shadows when needed Find undetectable vantage points Hide in plain sight

Bonus: You can track and tail a quarry to within point blank range without attracting attention.

Scuffling combatants inflict (virtual) Health damage on each other as per the weapon damage. If a combatant’s (virtual) Health pool drops below 0, they must make a Consciousness Roll (as per the Injury and Death rules), and will fall unconscious if they fail. If they succeed, they still will be unable to spend points on Investigative Abilities, and face higher Difficulty Numbers of all tests and contests, including opponents’ Hit Thresholds, by 1. If their (virtual) Health pool drops below -6, they fall instantly unconscious, or are otherwise immobilized in a wrestling grip, completely subdued, etc.

Stability Your Stability rating indicates your resistance to mental trauma - whether when facing tests of will, personal catastrophes, or the supernatural. For further detail on this, including the impact of various traumatic events on Stability, and how to regain it, see the chapter on Gameplay (p. 50). You get Stability 1 for free.

The virtual Health lost in a Scuffling conflict refresh when the conflict is over, though Scuffling and other Pool Points spent do not. Optionally, the GM can rule that Scuffling combatants reduced below -12 are dead, representing those few rare cases where nonlethal bouts accidentally lead to fatalities.

Stealth You are experienced at moving and waiting without attracting attention. You can:

ception, or other trigger, or the danger has not been confronted yet.

• • • •

Players never know the Difficulty Numbers for Sense Trouble before deciding how many points to spend,

Bonus: You gain extra surprise on any quarry you have stalked with your Stealth Ability. For one round, they

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48

Surprise others in combat Follow someone without being noticed Move silently Blend into the shadows to hide

Sense Trouble allows Colonel Anstruther and Monsignor Howard to just avoid being ambushed in a York backstreet by the foul vampire Alice Sackville, an old adversary of theirs. Now they have a deadly fight on their hands. can take no action after you attack or otherwise accost gain, Bookkeeping or Reassurance. Trade is despised them, and on the next round, they are treated as sur- by the higher orders of Edwardian society. A member prised. of the true gentry (Class 5 or above) has to give up any Rating Points in Trade. Trade You know how to cut a deal, negotiate a deal , turn a profit – in pecuniary or other terms. You can: • •

Obtain rare or badly needed goods, whether honestly or otherwise. Convince reluctant targets to accept a deal

Bonus: If your Trade Rating is 8 or more, you receive 1 free Rating Point in one of: Assess Honesty, Bar-

Weapons You are experienced with melee weapons - knives, sabres, singlesticks. Stunning weapons such as blackjacks or knuckle-dusters require the Scuffling Ability. Bonus: With an unerring eye for your opponent’s weak spots, you gain a +1 damage modifier to all successful Weapons attacks.

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Casting the Runes

Gameplay asting the Runes uses the bare bones (no pun intended) of the GUMSHOE system for investigative roleplaying games, generally available under the Open Gaming License and the Creative Commons 3.0 Attribution Unported License. This is a tried and tested system, and one of the best for modelling the unique character of Jamesian occult investigation. This is also a great deal simpler than many RPG systems, but there are a few basics that need to be understood before getting into the game mechanics. GMs and players who want to delve further, or tweak the system, can dig into the voluminous GUMSHOE games and resources available in print and online.

C

very drastic and nasty happens, it will not change in the course of a game session or adventure. Your Rating in a particular Ability also defines the number of points you have as a pool for that Ability at the beginning of each investigation or adventure. You don’t need those points to do something, but you do need them to do it spectacularly or assuredly. Think of your Pool Points as the turbocharger or booster to give you extra power in that particular Ability, fully charged at the start of the journey, up to the level of your current Rating. But you can still roll to beat the target Difficulty with all Pool Points spent.

You may use up some Pool Points in the prelude to the investigation itself, if the GM gives you a good reason and opportunity. You may have to spend some Pool All characters and entities in the system are defined by Points - drain your power - in the course of the invesAbilities, not characteristics. In the case of Health and tigation, as you seek to excel in your Ability, or get a Stability, these Abilities directly reflect physical and sure win. You can recharge your Pool Points during an mental qualities, not skills. You can see them as capa- investigation, representing rest and recovery periods, bilities and attributes, innate or learned. but cannot usually refuel to greater than your current Rating. Almost always, though, you will be able to use When a player creates a character, the GM allots an Ability without Pool Points - they just add that spethem a predetermined number of Build Points - not to cial something extra that makes your character largerbe confused with the Pool Points that crop up later. than-life or heroic. (The capital letters are there to help understand the system.) The player divides these Build Points among The distinction between Ratings and pools is a crucial different Abilities. one; keep it in mind as you read and interpret the rules.

Abilities

Ability Ratings and Pools

Investigative and General Abilities

The starting value for each Ability is called a Rating. Although it may improve gradually through time and experience, your Rating in a particular Ability is your current upper limit in that Ability. Think of it like your reservoir, or fuel tank, of power or capacity in that particular Ability. Generally, unless something

Like most GUMSHOE games, Casting the Runes operates a distinction between Investigative Abilities and General Abilities. This is not just a matter of labels: the distinction directly affects the mechanics of the game. GUMSHOE refines and streamlines the time-honoured form of the investigative roleplaying

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game. Other types of game may focus on the players defeating their adversaries. The central question an investigative RPG asks is: Will the heroes get the information they need? The focus is not on victory, but discovery. The players need those clues to get through the adventure. Assuming that they look in the right place and apply appropriate Abilities to the task, GUMSHOE ensures that the heroes get the basic clues they need so the investigation doesn’t grind to a halt. Investigative scenarios are not about finding clues, they’re about interpreting the clues you do find. GUMSHOE, therefore, makes the finding of clues all but automatic, as long as you get to the right place in the story and have the right Ability.

joyment lies, not in uncovering the clues with a roll of the dice, but in figuring out what they mean. (This is not just an issue in gaming or fiction either: “It is interpretation, not collection, that presents the real intelligence challenge,” testifies former intelligence officer John Hughes-Wilson, in his history of spycraft, The Puppet Masters: Spies, Traitors and the Real Forces Behind World Events.)

For instance, an Investigator with an Archaeology or Art History Investigative Ability sees a gold coin, and immediately recognises it as Byzantine. That fact doesn’t explain what it was doing on a corpse sunk at the bottom of a well in Ireland, with another corpse wrapped round it in a death grip. Or, another InvestiWhat this means in game terms is that, if you have the gator with the Evidence Collection Investigative right Investigative Ability, get to the right point or Ability declares that he’s searching some beachside scene in the story, and say that you are using that Abil- ruins in East Anglia - probably the site of a Templar ity (except for immediately obvious passive clues), you preceptory - using his Investigative Ability, and will automatically get the corresponding clue. For automatically uncovers a small metal whistle. Does he those used to some simulation mechanics, it’s By charming the locals at the inn, the Investigators learn as though you had 100% rating in the relevant that the pool in the woods has a sinister reputation and skill, with no chance of failure or fumble. Ob- many people have gone missing nearby. Folklore and History viously, no Pool Point spend or dice roll is re- provide more information, indicating St George’s Eve (22nd quired for that to happen; the clue is found, April) is the most dangerous time. regardless of how many or few Pool Points the Investigator has left. Does this detract from the game? Not for investigative horror. It avoids the ludicrous situation where a whole investigation grinds to a halt because of a fumbled dice roll. It also avoids the equally ludicrous situation of an expert Investigator failing to spot or interpret a blindingly obvious clue because of a critical fail. It has many other ancillary benefits in driving players to use their heads instead of their dice-rolling wrists. There are better uses for RPG players’ imaginations than coming up with justifications for a roll of the dice. This is also intended to make sure that the players spend less time and energy on dice rolls, and more on actually figuring out or imagining what the significance of a particular clue might be - because the interest and en-

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Casting the Runes

What Do Pool Points Represent? Pool Points are a literary abstraction, representing the way that each character gets his or her own time in the spotlight in the course of an ensemble drama. When you do something remarkable, you expend a li�le of your time in the limelight. More active players will spend their points sooner than less demonstrative ones, unless they carefully pick and choose their moments to shine. However, all Pool Points should allow the character to show their me�le in a distinct and personal way. Remember, all characters are remarkably competent. Pool Points measure your opportunities to exercise this ultra-competence during any given scenario. Even when pools are empty, you still have the baseline chance to succeed at a test or contest at the given Difficulty, and use of an Investigative Ability, whether its Pool Points are all gone or not, will always net you the information you need to move forward in the case. Pool Points do not represent a resource, tangible or otherwise, in the game world. Players are aware of them, but characters are not. At best, they have some idea of Health and Stability levels, or how mentally exhausted they are by a particularly difficult cipher, but that is all. GUMSHOE represents this most purely in the case of Investigative Abilities, which are the core of the game. Their refreshment is tied to a purely fictional construct, the length of the episode. However, where a pool could be seen to correspond to a resource perceptible to the characters, refreshment can be handled in a somewhat more realistic, if also abstract, manner. Characters’ ebbing Health scores are perceptible to the characters in the form of welts, cuts, pain, and general fatigue. Stability is less tangible but can be subjectively measured in the characters’ moods and reactions. Physical abilities, also tied to fatigue and sharpness of reflexes, are also handled with a nod to the demands of realism.

know what its significance is? No - but if he blows it he’ll find out…

ancillary capabilities that are fun, flavourful, and above all, introduce an element of risk and failure to enrich the narrative. You can use Investigative Abilities to follow a trail of clues into mortal danger - then you may have to use General Abilities to fight or dodge your way out of it.

Putting the pieces together is what makes an investigation interesting and exciting. If every adventure ends up unsolved, as “one of London’s mysteries,” because of some failed dice rolls, then both GMs and Investigators are liable to be frustrated and disappointed. This approach also happens to fit the style of M.R. James, who liked to hint and signpost all the way along his narrative, while leaving the final explanation of all the clues until well on in the story.

Regaining Pool Points

Spent points from various pools are restored at different rates, depending on their narrative purpose.Investigative Ability pools are restored only at the end of each case, without regard to the amount of time that Investigative Abilities comprise the crucial academic, passes in the game world. Players seeking technical, and other specialisations needed to define to marshal their resources may ask how long the Investigators and progress the story. They are the cases typically run, in real time. Most groups finish Abilities immediately called on to unearth clues dur- scenarios over 2-3 sessions. ing an investigation. General Abilities are the other, Casting the Runes

52

Players may revise their management of Pool Point spends as they see how quickly their group typically concludes its investigations. The Contemplation Ability also adds some potential for recovery of Investigative Ability Pool Points during an adventure, but this is very much a special case.

against their activities as covert Investigators of the supernatural, can complicate the recuperation of Stability. In this campaign type, the characters must work to keep their support networks intact, and fortify their peace of mind with their Sources of Stability. If they fail, they regain no Stability between episodes. Occult studies and potentially other factors can also complicate this. As part of the character creation process, players must detail their network of friends and loved ones, and Sources of Stability, then submit these details to the GM for approval.

GMs running extremely long, multi-part investigations may designate certain story events as breakpoints where all Investigative Ability pools are also refreshed. For example, a campaign that ranges from a castle in provincial Sweden to a ruined city in the Holy Land may require periodic rest stops for refreshment and recuperation.

Pools for physical General Abilities, such as Athletics, Riding, Scuffling, and Firearms, are fully restored whenever 24 hours of game-world time has passed since the last expenditure. The remaining General Abilities refresh at the end of each case, like Investigative Abilities.

Two specially important General Abilities have top priority for recovery: Health and Stability.

The Health pool refreshes over time, at a rate of 2 points per day of restful activity. (Wounded The library is often a good place to find clues to the characters heal at a different rate, over a period heart of the mystery. Essential information is always of hospitalisation.) Use of the First Aid ability found, but use of Investigative Abilities may yield much, can restore a limited number of Health points much more. in the course of a session. Stability also usually refreshes between adventures. Use of the Pschoanalysis Ability permits limited recovery of Stability Points in the course of an episode, but refreshment occurs between investigations. It is possible only when the character is able to spend calm, undisturbed rest time with friends and loved ones, usually in close proximity with their Sources of Stability. In campaigns where the teammates’ personal lives are a matter of background detail only, refreshment automatically occurs between episodes. For NPCs and non-human adversaries whose Stability is a significant factor, they can be assumed to refresh at the same rate as Health. (Sadistic GMs can, of course, deem that NPCs and adversaries also refresh fully after each confrontation.) GMs who wish to add a Forsyte Saga element to their campaigns, in which the characters must balance the everyday pressures of ordinary life

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Improving Your Character

That said, the structure of the GUMSHOE system makes it wiser to concentrate on clues that furnish the answers to the classic questions like: Who, What, Where, When, Why, Which, How Many, etc. These are the ones that are given for free in response to the use of Investigative Abilities.

At the end of each investigation, each Investigator gets 2 Build Points for each session they participated in. (This assumes a small number of 3-4 hour sessions; if you play in shorter bursts, modify accordingly.) Players who had characters die in the course of the investigation only get points for each session involving their current character.

Gathering Clues

These Build Points can be spent to increase either Investigative or General Abilities. You may acquire new Abilities or bolster existing ones. The GM will decide whether an attempt to acquire a new Ability is feasible and credible; for instance, Investigators may find it less easy to acquire Occult knowledge than other areas. Most GMs will keep a cap on Class, or strictly limit the ways to improve it; Casting the Runes assumes 12-point caps on Stability and Health.

Gathering clues is simple. All you have to do is: (1) get yourself into a scene where relevant information can be gathered; (2) have the right Investigative Ability to discover the clue, and (3) tell the GM that you’re using it. As long as you do these three things, you will never fail to gain a piece of necessary information. You can specify exactly what you intend to achieve: “I use Cryptography to try to decipher the inscription on the stained glass.” Or you can engage in a more general information-fishing expedition: “I use Archaeology to search the dig site.” If your suggested action corresponds to a clue in the scenario, the GM provides you with the clue.

What are Clues? Clues are the important links and leads necessary to progress an investigation. They do not necessarily have to be the classic clues of detective fiction. They may be objects or significant marks or traces. Or they could be statements, casually overheard pieces of conversation, odours on the breeze, strange compass shifts in the vicinity of a particular crag, and so on. The greater the variety, the greater the flavour and entertainment value.

Some clues would be obvious to a trained or observant Investigator immediately upon entering a scene. These passive clues are provided by the GM without prompting. The GM may also switch active clues to passive, and vice versa, depending on how the investigation is progressing.

There also maybe several Core Clues to move the narrative from one scene to the next. Investigations structured with several floating Core Clues may especially work like this. There could be a number of clues in one scene to link to the next, and the clue which is triggered may depend on the way the narrative plays out.

Core Clues A Core Clue in any scene or at any stage of the investigation is the clue you absolutely need to move to the next scene, and to progress the investigation. Often the presence of a Core Clue in a scene will be obvious: the pivotal points in a narrative pretty much require them, and the GM will load the scene with atmosphere and significance to underline the point. Investigators do then usually need to say that they are using their Investigative Abilities, but use of the appropriate Investigative Ability will automatically secure them the clue.

The GM shouldn’t make things too easy for the investigators, but nor should they be too stale and linear. Above all, having multiple Core Clues can save arguments when players somehow fail to follow the obvious path, forcing the GM to hint and nudge excessively. Casting the Runes

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The Investigators have been alerted by the sexton that a fiend wanders the ruined cathedral cloister at night (Core Clue). They search - in daylight - and their Evidence Collection and Fieldcraft abilities reveal the monster’s footprints and spoor. GMs will avoid making Core Clues available only with the use of obscure Investigative Abilities, and will usually give a Core Clue for any remotely appropriate Investigative Ability, especially if the player produces a persuasive rationale. The GM should have linked the Core Clues to the Investigators’ Investigative Abilities when designing or adapting the scenario. Ideally, there should be several ways to access a single Core Clue through different Investigative Abilities.

from the relevant pool, depending on the difficulty of the additional action and the scope of the reward. A benefit may be ancillary to a Core Clue, or separate. When asking you if you want to purchase the benefit, the GM always tells you how much it will cost. These benefits add extra information, or simply more flavour, or provide alternative resolutions, advantages, or other additional content to a scene. Often Investigative Ability spends give bonus General Ability points to be used in the current scenario or scene. Details of some typical benefits are given with each Ability.

Investigative Abilities & Special Benefits

You can gain special additional benefits by spending Pool Points from the relevant Investigative A GM may give novice Investigators hints and Ability pool - when uncovering certain clues, or at opportunities to spend for additional benefits. Once other times. Each benefit costs either 1 or 2 points you’ve got the hang of it, it’s up to you to ask when, or

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even propose how, to spend for special benefits. A Points for use by any Investigator involved in a test or player may even suggest a potential benefit for a point contest appropriate for that situation. spend in a scene: it’s down to the GM to decide if this is acceptable. For example, a 1-point Architecture spend in a crypt gives the party 3 Pool Points each to apply to Stealth or For instance, Eunice the District Nurse has used Re- Filch tests or contests therein. These added Pool Points assurance to charm old Mrs Grundy into revealing the only apply to the specific situation or location, do not legend of the Little People who frequent the ruined refresh, and are lost as soon as the scene changes. castle on the hill. (Core Clue.) Her player spends one extra Pool Point, and Mrs. Grundy reveals that there is Difficulty adjustment: An Investigative Ability a secret entrance to the castle through a tunnel under Pool Point spend can affect the Difficulty of any chalthe ramparts. (The Investigators could have found this lenge faced by a party, lowering the Difficulty for out on site with Architecture or Archaeology Inves- players or increasing it for opponents. For instance, a tigative Abilities, but they now have an advance warn- Pool Point spend of Anthropology could lower the ing, giving them Surprise and potentially a more in- Difficulty of Disguise tests when the party attempts to teresting climax to the investigation.) pass themselves off as locals. Investigative Ability point spends can also affect tests Surprise: An Investigative Ability Pool Point spend and contests involving General Abilities (see below), can secure the advantage of surprise in a confrontation. but this will often be at the discretion of the GM. For example, an Archaeology spend identifies where a party can hide in a ruin to spring out on its pursuers. These are the general guidelines for the proportionate benefit from each Investigative Ability point Adversary Pool Point reduction: An Invesspend. GMs should feel free to provide other benefits, tigative Ability Pool Point spend can reduce the Pool but should be wary of upsetting the game balance by Points available to adversaries in a confrontation. For being too generous, or of applying the principle instance, a 1-point spend of Intimidation can shake where a group isn’t in a position to share in the benefit. the morale of a pursuing mob, reducing their Scuffling pool by 3 points each. Test/contest Pool Points: A 1 point spend in a relevant Investigative Ability can yield up to 3 Pool

Clues and Point Spends This chart, courtesy of Tony Williams, should make it far clearer how clues and point spends work. Specific skill required?

Point spend required?

Action actively declared?

Core Clue

(No)

No

Yes

Point spend benefit

Yes

Yes

Yes

Inconspicuous clue

Yes

No

No

Simple search clue

No

No

Yes

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Pool Point refresh: An Investigative Ability Pool Point spend can refresh the Pool Points available to a party, outside the usual refreshment parameters. For example, a 1-point spend of Pharmacy while the party waits in a deserted apothecary’s shop allows the spending player to whip up a tonic, refreshing everybody’s Health or Stability by 3 points.

table at the local pub. By that same logic, the Investigators don’t require specific abilities to find them either.

When players specify that they’re searching an area for clues, they’re performing what we call a simple search. A GM can run a simple search in different ways. Some players will like to call out their Investigators’ actions and get feedback about the details of the setInconspicuous Clues ting, and the GM can lead these round to the clue. At Investigators may instinctively notice something other times, the GM can just give them the clue and without actively looking for it. This often happens in the location. Once again, the highest relevant places they’re moving through casually and don’t re- Investigative Ability, or simply Evidence Collection, gard as calling for an intensive search. They might pass can be the decider on who finds the clue. However, by the door of a secret passage in a country house, spot unless the players actually declare that they are a droplet of blood on the marble of an immaculate ho- doing a search or otherwise using their abilities, the tel lobby, or pass a bookshop window with an impor- situation is treated like an inconspicuous clue, not a tant title on display. They can’t be expected to always simple search. be scanning for such clues, though. In other words, a Core Clue is available for free to Instead, the GM asks or checks which Investigator has almost any Investigator who has a remotely approprithe highest current pool in the ability in question. ate Investigative Ability, but the Investigator must say (When in doubt for what ability to use, the default is they are actively looking. (If they miss the appropriate Evidence Collection.) If two or more pools are equal, point, the GM will normally drop any number of the Investigator with the highest basic Rating spots hints.) A point spent benefit requires Pool Point the clue. If Pool Points and Ratings are all equal, the spends, and is a bonus or fun filler than a key plot item, Investigators find the clue at the same time. but is given in reward for an Investigator who says they are devoting Pool Points to utilising the specific AbilInterpersonal Abilities can also flag inconspicuous ity. clues. The classic example is a character with a sly demeanour or behavioural tics. What about Mr Davis’s An inconspicuous clue is triggered, without a point young man and his strange sniggering remarks about spend, when an Investigator with the appropriate Inextra companions after dark? vestigative Ability enters a scene or situation where the clue would be obvious to someone with that speFor more depth on the different types of clue, espe- cialization. A simple search clue is a non-generic lead cially for GMs, see the chapter on Campaigns (p. 148). available to anyone who just takes a moment to look around, but they have to say they’re looking. Simple Searches

This table applies strictly to Investigative Abilities, but can apply to General Abilities too, at the GM’s discretion. For example, a veteran in Firearms might notice that the rifles in the barracks where the Investigators are being questioned have been recently oiled and show signs of fresh use…

Many clues can be found without any Ability whatsoever. If an ordinary person could credibly find a clue simply by looking in a specified place, the clue discovery occurs automatically. You, the reader, wouldn’t need to be a trained investigator to find a bloody footprint on the carpet in your living room, or notice a manilla envelope taped to the underside of a

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Remember, however, that this table applies specifically to clues. It does not necessarily cover every use of an Investigative Ability, or every type of Pool Point spend.

sible parts of the attics, halving the needed time. Engaging more than one qualified Investigator or NPC could help as well, so long as they have the appropriate Investigative Ability: for instance, a pair of Investigators with Evidence Collection could cut their time spent on the search through the attics in Investigative Abilities and Timing half. Such timed tasks can add tension to an adventure The core GUMSHOE rules leave issues of timing if they are against the clock: for instance, the ghost vague for most skills, which could yield some anoma- prowls the halls of the house each night after sunset. lous or even ludicrous results in some cases - e.g. an ar- The Investigators must put every effort into wrapping chaeologist arrives at a crumbling Crusader fortress, up the search quickly, before the ghost claims and with the use of his Archaeology Investigative another victim... Ability, races unerringly to the single Core Clue in the huge ruin. That might work for some scenarios, but in many other cases, adding a time factor to the use of an ability, especially an Investigative Ability, can add To illustrate how the clue rules work, here’s how that dramatic tension to an adventure, without violating M.R. James classic A Warning to the Curious might the basic principle that Investigative Abilities always play out as a Casting the Runes investigation. succeed in unearthing Core Clues. Paxton is the Investigator at the point in the story Investigative Abilities succeed automatically - but not when he begins his recitation in The Bear. He is asalways instantaneously. sumed to have Architecture (“I’m very much interested in architecture”) and Archaeology (“I know The following optional rule is proposed for adding something about digging in these barrows”) among some dramatic tension and pacing to uses of Inves- his Investigative Abilities. tigative Abilities. (In some cases, they could apply to General Abilities too, but that’s up to the GM.) The story trigger, and the first Core Clue, is the coat of arms with the three crowns that Paxton finds on the The GM establishes a base timespan for the use of a church porch at Seaburgh. With Architecture or Hisparticular Investigative Ability, depending on the sit- tory, and with an additional 1 point Archaeology or uation and scenario, and the exigencies of dramatic History spend, Paxton realizes that the coat of arms is tension. Let’s say one day per attic when combing the old arms of the Kingdom of East Anglia. (Paxton through the four vast attics of a country house with could have waited to learn this, but his spend nets the Evidence Collection. This is the base time needed for information in advance.) a free, no-spend use of the Investigative Ability. Spending 1 point from the Ability halves the time A free Charm use with the old man tidying the churchneeded; spending 2 points cuts it to one quarter. So, yard yields the Core Clue of the story of the three the Investigator employs her experience of such col- holy crowns. (Paxton could have also arrived at this by lections to home in on the crucial clue, and spends 2 using Folklore, if he hadn’t initiated the conversation points of Evidence Collection to cut the search time to with the old man.) one day for all four attics. The rector arrives, and takes up the conversation. PaxA point spend from another relevant Investigative ton gets a free Folklore-based clue giving more detail Ability could also cut the time (maximum 1 point on the background of the legend and the Ager family. spend): in the above example, the Investigator could He inquires further, using Charm or Folklore, and use 1 point of Architecture to identify the most acces- learns the Core Clue of the Ager family, guardians of

Clues at Work

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the last crown. He chances on the inconspicuous clue of William Ager’s gravestone. At this point, there are several ways that Paxton could run down the burial place of the crown, and he elects to start canvassing the neighbourhood. Paxton chances on the curiosity shop where the Ager family prayer-book is on show, and learns from the shopman that William Ager “lodged in a cottage in the North Field and died there.” The GM could lead events to this Core Clue in several ways: perhaps he counts the prayer-book as an inconspicuous clue; perhaps Evidence Collection is the relevant Investigative Ability, as Paxton turns over the books in the shop; perhaps Charm or Reassurance elicits the Core Clue from the shopman. The prayer-book itself, with its flavourful contents, adds plentiful juice to the narrative, but is not a Core Clue essential to the solution of the mystery; Paxton presumably picks it up with an additional 1 point spend. He then follows the Core Clue to the next scene: the cottage in the North Field and its new tenant. Charm extracts the next Core Clue Exploring an ancient family chapel in Kent, Monfrom the woman, that William Ager spent his nights signor Howard and Dr Ferrers notice someone has “on the hillock yonder with the trees on it,” and Pax- recently tried to open one of the mediaeval tombs. ton has the location of the crown. Paxton now has to get the crown itself; for the purposes of this narrative, we assume that retrieving the crown is treated like finding a Core Clue - it’s the goal of the whole investigation, after all, and embodies a whole lot of what and where.

to unearth the crown, with no Pool Points spent for a Core Clue (“I made my tunnel: I won’t bore you with the details of how I supported it and filled it in when I’d done, but the main thing is that I got the crown.”)

Paxton has now sought and obtained six consecutive With his Archaeology Investigative Ability, Paxton Core Clues, using different Investigative Abilities, at can naturally retrieve the crown without a point spend. no cost of Pool Points. He has also come across one inTo avoid suspicion at the hotel and among the locals, conspicuous clue, and possibly two, depending how he could either use Reassurance, which counts as a the GM and the player work through the scene in the zero point spend since it is essential to uncover a Core curiosity-shop. He has received one additional free Clue, or make a test of his Stealth General Ability to clue, based on his Folklore Ability, with the backstory slip away to the mound unseen. Reassurance is the about the Agers. He has potentially spent one extra more obvious and foolproof choice, but the GM Pool Point to bring to mind the detail of the royal coat might still allow a player to go with Stealth. (The GM of arms of East Anglia, and one to obtain the prayercan either assume that the player automatically suc- book; and potentially further point spends from ceeds with Stealth, or if they try and fail a Stealth test, Stealth to bring a quiet conclusion to his hunt for the they still find the crown, but are reported to the au- crown. thorities and have to explain.) Paxton then gets to the mound, and uses his Archaeology Investigative Ability

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Now that Paxton has the crown, he may be able to enlist the aid of his audience to put it back, with further Investigative Ability use. It’s up to the GM whether he stands a chance of escaping the vengeful lich of William Ager. We know what M.R. James’s verdict was.

Spend for Success A common criticism - perhaps, misunderstanding - of the GUMSHOE system is that there’s no difference between a 1 point or a 6 point Rating in an Investigative Ability; in other words, no distinction between basic competence and extreme expertise. No matter what your Rating, you always get the clue to move the story forward - for nothing. This points up an issue with interpretation and implementation of the basic GUMSHOE rules, and here’s our preferred solution to both. Using an Investigative Ability is not automatically the same as uncovering a clue. You may have to do the one to get the other, but the free-ride element of uncovering a Core Clue should not extend to every use of that Ability. Otherwise, what is the point of having Rating points for Investigative Abilities at all? And why hoard, not spend, your Investigative Ability Pool Points if you know that you’re going to get the critical clue even if your pool has run dry?

covering Core Clues. But that’s all. There are plenty of other ways they can be milked to add zest to an adventure, though, and to get players thinking of new ways to apply them. So our counsel to GMs is, keep free Core Clue delivery and Investigative Ability uses for information gathering only. Feel free to make certain transition elements or outcomes in a Casting the Runes adventure dependent on 1- or 2-point Investigative Ability spends. Yes, these spends will always succeed, in timehonoured GUMSHOE fashion - the key decider is making them in the first place. They should never be tested, but they should be costed, and should always enhance the outcome. This does require careful logging of Investigative Ability Pool Point spends, but we think it’s worth the effort. Experts with high Ratings will shine more often. GMs that allow the Confidence roll option may allow the Investigator to refresh their Stability points after a distinguished Investigative Ability point spend. GMs should already be adept at telegraphing, or just plain spelling out, when an Investigative Ability needs to be used. For example, your Medicine Ability has revealed the Core Clue that the luminous glow on the castle ceiling is in fact a poisonous tropical fungus: now you need to make a 2-point Medicine or Chemistry spend to synthesize an antidote to save the sick laird who invited you here in the first place. Your Charm of the innkeeper in the Swedish village has disclosed the Core Clue that the evil Count’s tomb lies in the curious mausoleum in the churchyard; now a further 1point Charm spend will get him to introduce you to the old sexton who can unlock the cemetery gates for you after dark.

The latest iterations of the GUMSHOE rules have firmly implemented the principle of spending for benefits, and we applaud this. GUMSHOE has replaced the randomness of dice-centric skills-based RPGs with a resource management system, but if that’s the approach, then why not milk that for as much tension and fun as a crucial die roll can yield? If Casting the Runes was built around victory conditions - which it isn’t - then spends and benefits would up the If GMs have an issue with this in principle, we recomfinal victory count, but would not spell the difference mend using Investigative Ability point spends as one between victory and defeat. way to decide between different potential plot progressions in an investigation. Unless the scenario The Investigators will always get the Core Clue, no rigidly dictates only one Investigative or General fudge needed. Pool Point spends are designed to de- Ability to progress from one scene to the next, it liver benefits, not essential make-or-break details, should be possible to include several options for the and GMs’ scenario design should reflect this. Inves- players to decide between and spend accordingly. tigative Abilities always succeed automatically - in unCasting the Runes

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Remember, the Core Clue rules in GUMSHOE games unerringly determine that the mystery is solved: they do not necessarily decide that the players succeed. This may make for a downbeat ending, but it is an outcome consistent with the Core Clue rules. We recommend spending your way out of this dilemma. In such situations, Investigative Ability Pool Point spends will feel like they’re solving the case, even when they aren’t.

training or in action. If you have a rating of 0 in a General Ability, with no build points in it, you cannot make a test on that ability. That is not to say you can’t do the thing at all; it’s only that, if you want to attempt something requiring a roll, you will not succeed. For example, you have 0 Riding, you can sit on horseback in a line of horses, but you will fail automatically if you try to rein in your horse when it bolts.

Tests and Contests Our recommended mantra for Pool Point spends in Casting the Runes is: Seek to Solve; Spend to Survive General Abilities are the domain of test and contests. and Succeed. In Casting the Runes, as in most GUMSHOE games, these are always resolved with the roll of a single six-sided dice, modified by Pool Point spends and other factors. General Abilities use different rules than Investigative Abilities - rules which allow for possible failure. They Tests help you survive while investigating, or actually succeed in resolving the investigation, rather than A test occurs when the outcome of an Ability use is in simply understanding it. doubt. Tests almost always apply to General Abilities only, although strictly speaking this is to avoid the risk The two ability sets are handled in different ways be- of a scenario grinding to a halt because a particular cause they fulfill distinct narrative functions. The rules clue has not been uncovered. GMs at their discretion governing General Abilities introduce the possibility may sidestep this mechanic and include tests against of failure into the game, creating suspense and uncer- Investigative Abilities where these are not directly reltainty. Uncertain outcomes make scenes of physical evant to unearthing a Core Clue, but this is not recaction more exciting, but can stop a story dead if ap- ommended. plied to the supply of information. When the investigation reaches its end, things may turn out differently. Unlike clue finding, tests carry a fairly high chance of Remember, Investigative Abilities are there to let you failure. They may portend dire consequences if you solve the mystery, not necessarily to survive it. lose, provide advantages if you win, or both.

General Abilities

The physical or personal characteristics that these Abilities represent are up to each player. GUMSHOE focuses not on your character’s innate traits, but on what they can actually do in the course of a storyline. Your characters are as strong, fast, and good-looking as you want them to be.

Even in the case of General Abilities, the GM should call for tests only at dramatically important points in the story, and for tasks of exceptional difficulty. Most General Ability uses should allow automatic successes, with possible bonuses on point spends, just like with Investigative Abilities. There are two types of test: simple tests and contests.

General Ability Benchmarks

Simple Tests

A rating of 1-3 indicates that the General Ability is a sideline; 4-7 is a solid but not exceptional competence; 8 or more suggests dedication that will be immediately apparent to observers when they see you

A simple test occurs when the character attempts an action without active resistance from another person or entity. The character rolls a six-sided dice to match

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or beat a set Difficulty, adding Pool Points to their roll if they choose. Examples include riding down a country lane, jumping a gorge, sneaking into an unguarded building, binding a wound, shooting a target, packing your old kit bag for an expedition, or sensing danger after dark in the playing fields. In the game world, expenditure of Pool Points in this way represents special effort and concentration by the character, the kind you can muster only so many times during the course of an investigation.

row and placid anybody could swim across it”; “the crumbling sides of the gorge make a leap especially hazardous.” Difficulty Numbers and Story Pacing

Just as the GUMSHOE system keeps the story moving by making all crucial clues accessible to the characters, GMs must ensure that tests and contests essential to forward narrative momentum can be easily overcome. Assign relatively low Difficulty Numbers of The GM usually does not reveal Difficulty Numbers 4 or less to these crucial plot points, giving players a beforehand. This rule is meant to force players to de- typical 50% chance of success, even without any Pool cide how much they want to commit to the situation, Point spend to boost their chances of success. Reserve with the gnawing tension that comes from the possi- especially hard Difficulty Numbers for obstacles bility of making the wrong move. However, the GM which provide interesting but non-essential benefits. should hint indirectly and atmospherically how difficult the task is likely to be: “that stream looks so nar-

The Powers of Darkness For atmospheric and other reasons, many of Casting the Runes’ key challenges and confrontations will take place in conditions of darkness and semi-darkness. Here - with a nod to Kenneth Hite’s The Fall of DELTA GREEN - are some outline rules on how darkness affects tests, contests and Abilities. The same rules can be applied to mist and thick fog. Night is moonlit open country or a city with ambient illumination/streetlamps. Dark is a shu�ered room at night or a forest on a dark moonless night. Pitch black is a closed lightless cellar or cave. Point light sources (lamps, torches, dark lanterns, candles, etc.) lower the darkness level by 1 (pitch black becomes dark, etc.). However, they also negate any Hit Threshold advantage. Of course, a room with the lights turned on/gas turned up is no longer dark at all. Hit Threshold Difficulty modifiers should be used realistically; a shootout in a lightless cellar is not a likely scenario. Task penalties are for tasks with a strong visual element, e.g. Demolitions, First Aid. Darkness Level

Hit Threshold

Task Penalties

Stability Test Penalties

Opponent’s Stealth Modifier

Opponent’s Alertness Modifier

Night

+1

+1 Difficulty

-

+1

-1

Dark

+2

+2 Difficulty

+1

+2

-2

Pitch Black

+3

+3 Difficulty

+2

+3

-3

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For example, if the characters have to sneak into the den of the Little People in order to stage the final confrontation, assign the relatively low Difficulty Number of 3 to the task. If it seems to the characters that they ought to have a tougher time of it, insert a detail justifying their ease of success. The Little People sentinels are dazzled by the light of the Shining Pyramid, say.

In most instances a group cannot logically act in concert. Only one character can drive a carriage at one time. Two characters with Preparedness check their individual kit bags in sequence, rather than checking a single kit at the same time. Cooperation When two characters cooperate toward a single goal, they agree which of them is undertaking the task directly, and which is assisting. The leader may spend any number of points from her pool, adding them to the die roll. The assistant may pay any number of points from his pool. All but one of these is applied to the die roll.

Where it is essential to overcome a General obstacle in order to reach a core scene, allow success whatever the result, but give a negative consequence other than failure for the test. For example, the Investigator successfully climbs the fence, but slips and falls on the far side. This rule never protects characters from Health or Stability loss.

Cooperation can only apply where two characters can realistically cooperate on a goal. For instance, they both could cooperatively apply Athletics to lift a well cover, but not to jump a stream.

The test represents the character’s best chance to succeed. Once you fail, you’ve shot your bolt and cannot retry unless you take some other supporting action that would credibly increase your odds of success. If allowed to do this, you must spend more Pool Points than you did on the previous attempt. If you can’t afford it, you can’t retry.

Continuing Challenges For tasks where drama, verisimilitude or suspense call for a feeling of repeated effort, assign the obstacle a pool representing the base Difficulty of doing it all at once unaided: this will generally be 8 or higher, often much higher. The tests per se use the standard Difficulty of 4.

Piggybacking When a group of characters act in concert to perform a task together, they designate one to take the lead, usually the one with the highest Rating in the relevant General Ability.

The players may take turns, cooperate on each action, or use any other means at their disposal in a series of That character makes a simple test of his relevant tests: Athletics to batter down a door, or Mechanics to General Ability, spending any number of his own Pool fix an engine, for example. The points they roll and Points toward the task, as usual. All other characters spend accumulate; when they have enough points to pay 1 point from their relevant General Ability pools overcome the initial Difficulty, the task is done. No in order to gain the benefits of the leader’s action. points or rolls spent on a failed test add to the total. These points are not added to the leader’s die result. Characters can’t render an impossible task possible just by applying the continuing challenge rules, e.g. For every character who is unable to pay this piggy- they can’t batter through a stone wall with their bare backing cost, either because he lacks Pool Points or hands by sheer persistence. does not have the Ability at all, the Difficulty Number of the attempt, for the leader, increases by 2. Zero Sum Contests A zero sum contest occurs when something bad or good is definitely going to happen to one of the play-

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ers, and you need to find out who the unlucky victim is. Each player makes a test of a General Ability. A zero sum contest can be positive or negative. In a positive contest, the character with the highest result gets a benefit. In a negative contest, the one with the lowest result suffers an ill consequence. When embarking on a contest with an open Difficulty, inform the players that this is an open Difficulty, and whether this is a positive or negative test.

Making General Tests Without Abilities You can never test a General Ability when your Rating is 0. You can always make a test of any General Ability if your Rating is 1 or more - whether or not you already have exhausted all its Pool Points. Toll Tests In a toll test, your success is assured, if you want it enough, but the cost of your effort is not. The GM informs you of the Difficulty; you roll the die without announcing an expenditure.

They then decide in advance how many points to spend to modify their rolls, keeping this number secret from other players by writing it down on a piece of paper. They then roll the dice, reveal their expendi- Once you see the die result, you then decide whether tures, and announce their final results. You can cap the to spend the points needed to bridge the gap between maximum spend. die roll and Difficulty, or to allow yourself to fail. The base Difficulty of a toll test is 6, which may be modified Be cautious when treating events with negative out- upwards as circumstances warrant. comes as zero sum contests. Because they guarantee that something bad will definitely happen to one of the Contests players, make sure that the negative consequence is distressing but does no permanent harm to the character. Contests occur when two characters, often a player character and a supporting character controlled by the Worse results of zero sum contests are acceptable if GM, actively attempt to thwart one another. the characters have had some other fair chance to Although contests can resolve various physical set-tos, avoid exposure to the bad situation. in a horror game the most common contest is the chase, in which the Investigators run away from If players are tied for best result (in the case of a posi- slavering monsters or howling ghosts. tive test) or worst (in a negative test), the tied players may subsequently spend any number of additional In a contest, each character acts in turn. The first to points from the pool in question, in hopes of breaking fail a roll of the contested ability loses. The GM dethe tie in their favour. Should results remain tied, the cides who acts first. In a chase, the character who bolts GM chooses the winner on story considerations. from the scene acts first. General Spends Occasionally you’ll want to create a task at which there is no reasonable chance of failure, but which should cost the characters a degree of effort. To do this, simply charge the character(s) a number of points from relevant General Ability pools. Where tasks can be performed by cooperative effort, multiple characters may contribute points to them: 1 or 2 points per character is a reasonable general spend.

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Where the characters seem to be acting at the same time, the one with the highest Rating in the relevant Ability acts first. In the event of a tie, supporting characters act before the player characters. The first character to act makes a test of the Ability in question. If they fail, they lose the contest. If they succeed, the second character then makes a test. This continues until one character loses, at which point the other one wins. Typically each character attempts to beat a Difficulty Number of 4.

Where the odds of success are in favour of one contestant, the GM may assign different Difficulties to each. A character with a significant advantage gets a lower Difficulty Number. A character facing a major handicap faces a higher Difficulty Number. When in doubt, the GM assigns the lower number to the advantaged participant.

driven to mental collapse by a chess game. Optionally, GMs may allow spends of Stability in such contests to recover as soon as it is over. Really high-stakes contests, such as the evening at the casino which ends with one participant blowing their brains out after losing everything, should be both very rare and carefully structured by the GM.

Such tests of wills should always be head-to-head contests, but never attempts to extract information. This form of Stability test - or usually, contest - is in- Those are covered by the core rules on Investigative cluded to cover those many instances in a game where Abilities, and always succeed. Players will almost inantagonism or conflict should not be resolved by evitably be tempted to push tests of will that way, and physical force. It’s intended to play to the more cere- GMs are advised to be vigilant against this tendency, bral and social environment of Jamesian investigation, and stay clear in their own mind about the distinction. and represents the ability to assert your will and keep your cool in a social confrontation, or a battle of wits. Point spends from a relevant Investigative Ability can It also correlates to many uses of magic, both in add Pool Points for a test of wills, just as they can for Casting the Runes and other GUMSHOE games, or combat, or other General Ability contests, but GMs as a catch-all equivalent to specific social General are advised once again to be scrupulous and cautious Abilities, like Gambling in Night’s Black Agents, Bu- about this. As with other Pool Point spends for Invesreaucracy in The Fall of DELTA GREEN, or Auc- tigative Abilities, these can be used to add to the tion in Bookhounds of London. player’s own roll, to raise the Difficulty level for their opponent, etc. If a character is making a Stability test against some passive aspect of the environment or situation, such as Here are some examples of such contests, with some the shocking discovery of a corpse, they test as per the appropriate Investigative Abilities that could contribusual Stability test rules. ute Pool Points, and some possible outcomes: The Test of Wills

However, in some instances, at the GM’s discretion, they may engage in an active contest of Stability vs Stability against an adversary, both seeking to beat a Difficulty level set by the GM. The first to fail a roll, loses, with a penalty according to the situation - almost never loss of Health or Stability.

Auction: Investigative Abilities Art History, Bargain, History; outcome obtaining auctioned item

GMs are advised to strictly limit the duration and Stability impact of such contests. Loss of serious Stability should usually be reserved for magical contests and other special situations: chess players are not often

Example: Cardew the Investigator and Blackadder, the representative of a shady London antiquities dealer, have both been invited to a country house weekend for a private auction.

Chess Game: Investigative Abilities Bookkeeping, Intimidation; outcome title trophy, or other consequences

Debate: Investigative Abilities Charm, Reassurance, If the GM wishes, such contests can be one-shot suc- specific Academic or Technical Ability; outcome socess-or-failure (with a possibility of stalemate), or cial benefit/penalty highest roll wins, or the best out of three rolls, or follow the full Chase rules from Fall of DELTA Test of Wits: Investigative Abilities Charm, Class; GREEN or Night’s Black Agents - suitably modified. outcome social benefit/penalty

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Cardew decides to try to goad Blackadder over the dinner table, badly enough to force him to withdraw from tomorrow’s auction. The GM decides to make this a best-of-three test of wills, with both sides targeting the base Difficulty 4 without extra Stability Pool Points.

Injury and Death

Unlike most Abilities, your Health pool can drop below 0. When it does this, you must make a Consciousness Roll. Roll a die with the positive value of your current Health pool as your Difficulty (e.g. 3 for 3 Health, etc.). You may deliberately strain yourself to remain conscious, voluntarily reducing your Health “I’m surprised to see you here, Blackadder, after that pool by an amount of your choice. For each point you little incident at Godalming last summer,” Cardew reduce it, add 1 to your die result. The Difficulty of the says casually over dinner. “Lady Constance was kind Consciousness roll is based on your Health pool beenough to overlook my little faux pas, and has invited fore you make this reduction. If your pool is anywhere me back next month,” Blackadder replies coolly. Both from 0 to -5, you are hurt, but have suffered no permasides have made their Stability rolls, tying so far. nent injury, beyond a few superficial cuts and bruises. However the pain of your injuries makes it impossible “Does your firm really have the funds to match this cal- to spend points on Investigative Abilities, and inibre of bids?” Cardew asks, looking round the table. creases the Difficulty Numbers of all tests and con“Oh, this time we’re acting as agent for a very well-off tests, including opponents’ Hit Thresholds, by 1. client,” Blackadder counters. Again, both sides make their Stability roll. Seeking to break the deadlock, A character with the First Aid ability can improve your Cardew’s player asks the GM if he can spend a point of condition by spending First Aid points. For every Art History to increase Blackadder’s Difficulty level for First Aid point spent, you regain 2 Health points - unhis final roll. The GM agrees, raising the Difficulty level less you are the Aid giver ministering to yourself, in without telling Cardew’s player the final target number. which case you gain only 1 Health point for every First Aid point spent. The treater can only “I wonder if he chose wisely?” Cardew observes refill your Health pool to where you were before the smoothly. “There was that small problem reported in incident in which you received this latest injury, and the Burlington Magazine last month. Selling Lord must be able to focus entirely on tending to Waring a Ming vase identified the very next day as a your wounds. fake: how careless.” Shaken and pushed off guard, Blackadder reddens. “Damn you, how did you find If your pool is between -6 and -11, you have been seriout…” he blusters. The hostess decides that he will no ously wounded. You must make a Consciousness roll. longer be welcome at dinner, or at the auction next day. Whether or not you maintain consciousness, you are no longer able to perform any action. Until you receive First Aid, you will lose an additional Health point every half hour. A character with the First Aid Health and Stability are the General Abilities par ex- Ability can stabilize your condition by spending 2 cellence, the measures of the physical and mental First Aid points. However, he can’t restore your strength and resilience of the character. They are cor- Health points. Even after you receive First Aid, you respondingly important in contests of body or soul, must convalesce in a hospital or similar setting for a and suffer when a character loses such contests. period of days.

Health and Stability

Your period of forced inactivity is a number of days equal to the positive value of your lowest Health pool score. (So if you were reduced to -8 Health, you are hospitalised for 8 days.)On the day of your discharge, your Health pool increases to half your original RatCasting the Runes

66

ing. It is up to the GM to decide how long full recovery takes after this, but for serious injuries, we would propose at least one week per Health point. The GM may optionally decide that a serious injury has permanently lowered your maximum Health rating by 1 point. When your Health pool dips to -12 or below, you are dead.

Incident Stability Loss A human opponent a�acks you with evident intent to do serious harm

2

You are in a railway or riding accident serious enough to pose a risk of injury

2

Prolonged overexertion or sleepless nights have deleterious effects on Investigators. A day of uninterrupted effort (e.g. slogging across a moor), or a sleepless night, leaves the character disadvantaged as if hurt, with all tests/contests increased by 1 Difficulty and no point spends possible from Investigative Abilities. General Abilities also will not refresh without rest. A night’s rest will cure the effects of exhaustion.

A human opponent a�acks you with evident intent to kill

3

You see a supernatural creature from a distance

3

You see a supernatural creature up close

4

Exposure to a harsh environment without proper protection (e.g. a snowy wilderness in a midwinter blizzard) has a similar effect to exhaustion, except that this begins immediately. After the first hour, characters will suffer 1 point of Health damage per hour, although this can be cured immediately they return to a warm and safe environment.

You see a particularly grisly murder or accident scene

4

You learn that a friend or loved one has been violently killed

4

You discover the corpse of a friend or loved one

6

Suffer a supernatural a�ack

7

You see a friend or loved one killed

7

You see a friend or loved one gruesomely killed

8

Fatigue, Exhaustion and Exposure

Stability Tests Mental and psychological stresses can incapacitate you, temporarily or permanently, as easily as physical injury. When an incident challenges your grip on reality and your nerves, make a Stability test against a Difficulty Number of 4. (The GM may adjust this figure, depending on the circumstances.) If you fail, you lose a number of Stability Pool Points. The severity of the loss depends on the situation. As with any other test of a General Ability, you are always permitted to spend Stability points to provide a bonus to your roll. However, it’s never a good bet to spend more points than you stand to lose if you fail. Your Stability loss from failed tests is capped at the worst incident in that scene. Points spent on providing bonuses are still lost. An exceptional shock may deduct Stability from your Rating as well as your Pool Points. Such shocks are, needless to say, best avoided.

GMs should feel free to assess Stability losses for other incidents, using the examples provided as a benchmark. Some especially overwhelming entities may impose higher than normal Stability losses when seen from a distance, seen up close, or springing at you out of the shadows. Characters make a single roll per incident, based on its highest potential Stability loss.

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Stability and Combat Real-world combat, unlike the fictional kind, almost always shakes your psychological balance, especially when it is unexpected or unfamiliar. Combat involving weapons or firearms squares or cubes this basic effect. For Jamesian protagonists, habituated to the placid calm of Edwardian Britain, the multiplier effect would be even worse. In Casting the Runes, GMs can optionally insist on a Stability test by Investigators whenever a combat begins. The corresponding Stability losses are already given in the standard Stability loss table - essentially, the existing GUMSHOE rules allow for this, and Casting the Runes seeks to make it mandatory. The GM can impose a further +1 Difficulty penalty on the Stability test if the Investigator is caught by surprise, or a -1 advantage if the Investigator is a veteran. This is nothing like too severe. A shaken Investigator, with Stability reduced to 0 to -5, and all Abilities handicapped, is a pre�y accurate simulation of real-world combatants ra�led by brutal shouts and agonised screams, deafening gunfire, and their own adrenalin rush. This helps explain the bizarre real-world situations where a firefight takes place in a tight corner with many rounds fired, and still no one gets hit. GMs can optionally throw in further effects, such as shaken characters emptying all the chambers of their revolver, then being too traumatized to reload. In their more indulgent moods, GMs can impose the same penalties on NPC adversaries. Conversely, if an Investigator accepts or compels a surrender to end a combat, or stops a confrontation escalating into combat (e.g. with Charm, Intimidation, etc.), they refresh 2 Stability Points, up to their Stability Rating. This is an added incentive to non-violent resolution.

Groups wishing for an additional level of complexity can occasionally alter Difficulty numbers for Stability tests depending on the character’s attitude toward the destabilising event. Characters who would logically be inured to a given event face a Difficulty of 3, while those especially susceptible face a 5. A veteran Scotland Yard detective might, for example, be less disturbed when coming across a grisly murder scene in a London alley. No one becomes inured to the supernatural, though.

they have known, loved, and come to identify themselves with. For each 3 points of Stability a character possesses, they must name one Source of Stability that these are associated with.

These Sources of Stability are essential to a character’s ongoing psychological well-being. GMs may rule that Stability can only be restored at the end of an adventure through sustained close proximity to a Source of Stability. Equally, loss of or damage to a Source of Stability is traumatic, causing the character an immeDarkness and other factors may also influence the diate Stability test. Failing that test will cause the Difficulty of a Stability test. character to lose the 3 Stability Rating points that the Source is associated with. The GM may subsequently allow the character to regain the lost Stability Rating Sources of Stability from other sources, but the Stability linked to that A character’s Stability is rooted in various psychic an- Source of Stability is gone forever. chors basic to their personality. These may be people, places, institutions, houses, anything or anyone that Casting the Runes

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Example: Dr Ayloff sees the beautiful baroque pulpit of Southminster Cathedral, where he has preached for thirty years, demolished before his eyes to make way for a Gothic Revival confection. A robust old man of Stability 10, he makes his Stability Test of Difficulty 5, and does not lose the 3 Stability Rating points that it would cost a weaker-minded individual.

If the Drive concerns a key element in the current investigation, such as a Core Clue, then you will sacrifice 4 Stability Pool Points if you disregard it. If it concerns a minor or peripheral aspect of the adventure, you lose 2 Stability Pool Points. Conversely, if you follow your Drive in such situations, you can recover 2 Stability Pool Points for a key or core situation or instance, and 1 point for a peripheral non-core one. Any shock or calamity that terminally impacts your core Confidence and Stability Drive - seeing your priceless collection destroyed, for This optional rule is given as an added incentive for instance, or evidence that the King himself players to make Investigative Ability point spends. If knows of vile and disgusting experiments done on an Investigator makes an especially impressive Inves- inhabitants in the Colonies - will be treated as the tigative Ability point spend during a play session, the worst possible shock to your Stability. GM can give the player a roll of one dice and allow them to immediately recover that many Stability Losing Stability points in game, up to their current Rating. This reflects the Investigator’s enhanced self-confidence. Like Health, your Stability pool can drop below 0. If your Stability ranges from 0 to -5, you are shaken. GMs could consider this reward especially for situa- Difficulty Numbers for all General Abilities tions where the player has seen a way out of a situation increase by 1, and it becomes more difficult to use that wasn’t in the scenario notes or the GM’s mind. Investigative Abilities. The GM or the player can propose the appropriate Pool Point spend; the important thing is who had If you want to make an Investigative spend, make a the idea. test with the absolute (positive) value of your current Stability pool as your Difficulty. You may deliberately For example, the Investigators are trapped in a cellar, strain yourself, voluntarily reducing your Stability and are trying to figure a way out. The GM is about to pool by an amount of your choice. For each point you hint for one player to use Conceal to unearth the hid- reduce it, add 1 to your die result. The Difficulty of the den key. But another player with a Rating of 4 in Pho- Stability test is based on your Stability pool before tography steps in and says they want to spend 2 points you make this reduction. If you fail, you still make the from their Photography pool to use their camera’s spend, but you should roleplay this failure. flash powder to blow the lock. (“Flash powders even within intended usages often release explosive force If your Stability ranges from -6 to -11, you acquire a of deadly capacity.”) The GM grants them automatic mental illness. This stays with you even after your Stasuccess (always with an Investigative Ability), and gives bility pool is restored to normal. See below for the the player a Confidence roll. rules on mental illness and recovery. You also continue to suffer the ill effects of being shaken. Furthermore, you permanently lose 1 point Drives influence your Stability, for good or ill. If the from your Stability Rating. The only way to get it GM decides that your Drive should impel you beyond back is to purchase it again with build points at the end rational or practical limits in a particular situation, of an adventure, if your GM allows this option. they will outline the issue to you. If you then refuse to follow your Drive, the GM will impose an automatic When your Stability reaches -12 or less, you are loss of Stability Pool Points on you. incurably insane. You may commit one last crazy act, Stability and Drives

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Casting the Runes

Example of Stability loss: Number 13 Here is how one scene in a classic Jamesian tale, Number 13, might play out in terms of Stability loss. Anderson and Jensen the lawyer are both outside the door of the mysterious room Number 13, which ought not to exist, according to the hotelier and, indeed, does not in the daytime. They both started the adventure with fairly high Stability numbers: 10 for Anderson, 8 for Jensen. However, the incessant unse�ling revelations of the reality/unreality of Number 13 have already cost Anderson 1 Pool Point of Stability, while both men have lost a further 2 points from hearing the atrocious singing and moaning from within Number 13. At this point, unfortunately for him, Jensen has his back to the door of the sinister room. “An arm came out and clawed at his shoulder. It was clad in ragged, yellowish linen, and the bare skin, where it could be seen, had long grey hair upon it.” Jensen does not see the revenant’s arm, and so does not suffer the Stability hit of 7 for being a�acked by a supernatural creature. Anderson, however, does see the supernatural creature up close. Anderson’s player rolls for a Stability test against a Difficulty of 4, and rolls a 2. The GM rules that, since he is not the one a�acked, Anderson need only suffer the lesser Stability penalty of seeing the creature up close. Anderson loses 4 pool points of Stability, taking his pool down to 3. Had he suffered the greater penalty for being a�acked by the thing in Number 13, he would have had his Stability reduced to 0, and would have been shaken, but not insane.

Casting the Runes

which must either be self-destructively heroic or selfdestructively destructive. Or you may choose merely to run off babbling. You will likely be either incarcerated in a mental hospital, or escape to wander unrecognised. If you survive, you may become a prominent NPC, even an adversary - paranoid or megalomaniac former Investigators can potentially become every bit as dangerous as the other threats that players face. Mental Illness If the incident that drove you to mental illness was mundane in nature, you suffer from what contemporaries would dismiss as a bad case of nerves, what will soon become known as Shell Shock in WW I, and what moderns would recognize as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD.) You are haunted by dreams of the incident, and spend your days in a constant state of anxiety and alert, as if prepared for it to repeat itself at any moment. Whenever your senses register any input reminding you of the incident, you must make a Stability test (Difficulty 4) or freeze up. If you freeze up, you are unable to take any action for15 minutes and remain shaken (see above) for 24 hours after that. Tests to see if you show symptoms do not in and of themselves lower your Stability pool. If driven to mental illness by a supernatural occurrence, you face a range of possible mental disorders. Your quiet and placid world-view has been shattered, and the consequences are correspondingly severe. The GM rolls from the following list - or chooses an appropriate disorder based on the triggering circumstance. 1. Delusion: The GM or the player decide on a detail of the world which is no longer true for the character, and has never been true. This is likely something that affects the current scenario. For example, the character maintains emphatically that ghosts do not exist, even when face to face with one.

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2. Catatonia: The character immediately faints lucidity. They will then act rationally for the remainfrom shock. If their mental illness persists, they be- der of the current scene. come totally withdrawn and unresponsive, babbling or simply inert. At the GM’s discretion, Reassurance can also give limited help in recovering Stability. If so, though, ev3. Megalomania: The character becomes insanely ery 2 Reassurance Pool Points spent secure only overconfident in their abilities. They always make test 1 point of Stability. and contest rolls at base Difficulty, never adding Pool Points to increase success chances. Other wider effects Broken Men and Women may affect the character’s well-being, livelihood, etc. Mental illness can be cured through prolonged treat4. Sociopathy: The character loses a critical degree ment using Psychoanalysis. At the beginning of each of empathy with their fellow humans. At the GM’s scenario, in a prologue scene preceding the main acdiscretion, this can represent the loss of a Rating point tion, the character administering the treatment makes or all skill in all Interpersonal Abilities except for In- a Psychoanalysis test (Difficulty 4.) After three consectimidation. utive successful tests, and three consecutive scenarios in which the patient remains above 0 Stability at all 5. Paranoia: The character becomes insanely suspi- times, the mental illness goes away. However, if the cious of their fellow Investigators, random NPCs, or character ever again acquires a mental illness, he rejust everybody. Their Drive adjusts accordingly At a gains the condition he was previously cured of. Permacritical moment, the GM may trigger an involuntary nent cure then becomes sadly impossible. homicidal attack or a sophisticated prearranged trap or scheme. A successful Psychoanalysis test undertaken during the course of a scenario suppresses its symptoms until 6. Selective Amnesia: The character has blanked the patient next suffers a Stability loss. from their memory some critical detail, decided by the player or the GM, essential to the current campaign, or their life in general. “It leapt towards him upon the instant, and the next Examples: A scholar mentally scarred by decipher- moment he was half-way through the window backing Roman tomb inscriptions may forget all their wards, uttering cry upon cry at the utmost pitch of his Latin; a miner in a haunted mine may lose their Geol- voice.” - M.R. James, “Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come to ogy skill. At the GM’s discretion, this can represent You, My Lad” the loss of a Rating point or all skill in a particular Ability. Fighting is not the preferred resolution in the purist Jamesian style of Casting the Runes. However, it will almost inevitably come up from time to time Psychological Triage during the course of investigations. Even the mild A character with the Psychoanalysis ability can spend Professor Parkins grappled with a ghost - though to points from that pool to help another character regain little avail. Here are the GUMSHOE rules for spent Stability points. For every Psychoanalysis point combative contests. Fights are slightly more complispent, the recipient gains 2 Stability points. cated contests.

Fighting

Weapons vs Weapons: the characters are duelling with melee weapons (swords, etc)

If a character is acting in an erratic manner due to mental illness, another character can spend 2 points of Psychoanalysis to snap them into a state of temporary

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Scuffling vs. Scuffling: the characters are fighting in close quarters. Firearms vs. Firearms: the characters are apart from one another and trying to hit each other with guns or other missile weapons.

a Firearms contest, he or she gets to go first if his or her Firearms Rating equals or exceeds that of his target. Otherwise, the opponent goes first. In mixed fights, Firearms always goes before Weapons and Weapons before Scuffling.

In the rare instance where two Investigators fight one another (when one of them is possessed, say), the InInitiative vestigator with the higher applicable Rating (Scuffling Determine whether the character seizes the initiative or Firearms) goes first. If their Ratings tie but their and therefore gets the first opportunity to strike the point pools do not, the one with the higher pool goes opponent, or if the opponent gets in the first blow or first. If both are tied, roll a die, with one player going shot. Of course, in many cases - a surprise attack, a first on an odd result and the other on even. savage dog, etc. - this will be obvious, but the initiative rules are for situations where it is not. A contest proceeds between the two Abilities. When combatants using the Scuffling or Firearms Abilities In a contest, the Investigator gets to go first if his or roll well, they get the opportunity to deal damage to her Rating equals or exceeds that of the opponent. In their opponents. Mr Karswell attempts to cast the Runes on Lady Mary using a favourite trick. She recognises him just in time and dashes the cursed paper to the ground.

The procedure for larger fights and free-for-alls, with multiple characters involved, is described later. A shooting character will always beat a Scuffling character to first blood, except if the Scuffling character is at point-blank range and has a Scuffling Ability pool double the Firearms Ability pool of the opponent. Once each character has had their turn, the next round begins. Hit Thresholds Each character has a Hit Threshold of either 3 (the standard value) or 4 (if the character’s Athletics rating is 8 or more.) The Hit Threshold is the Difficulty Number the character’s opponent must match or beat in order to inflict harm. Less competent supporting characters may have lower Hit Thresholds. Creatures and apparitions may have Hit Thresholds of 4 or higher, regardless of their Athletics ratings. Other environmental factors, such as fog or darkness, will also affect Hit Thresholds.

Casting the Runes

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Dealing Damage

Weapon Damage Modifiers

When you roll on or over your opponent’s Hit Threshold, you may deal damage. To do so, you make a damage roll, rolling a single die which is then modified according to the relative lethality of your weapon, as per the following table:

Weapon Type

Damage Modifier

For firearms, add an additional +2 when fired at point blank range.

Fist, kick

-2

Supernatural or mighty creatures often exhibit alarmingly high damage modifiers.

Small improvised weapon, police truncheon, knife

-1

Characters may never spend points from their combat pools to increase their damage rolls.

Machete, heavy club, light firearm

0

The final damage result is then subtracted from your opponent’s Health pool. When a combatant’s Health pool drops to 0 or less, that combatant begins to suffer ill effects, ranging from slight impairment to helplessness to death. See the rules for Health on this.

Sword, heavy firearm

+1

Stunning Weapons

Unlike other contests, participants do not lose when they fail their test rolls in combat. Instead, they’re forced out of the fight when they lose consciousness or become seriously wounded. Resisting Stunning

Stunning Weapon

Stun Value

Fist

3

Police truncheon, cosh/sap

4

Nightsticks, blackjacks, and knockout blows work by knocking you unconscious without causing extensive 2” x 4” plank, club 5 Health damage. Resisting stunning works much like resisting unconsciousness. The Difficulty Number, however, is set by the Stun value of the weapon used against you in- If you succeed in a Stun test, you remain conscious but stead of by your current Health. are briefly Impaired; you suffer a non-cumulative 1point increase to the Difficulty of any actions (includWhen hit with a stunning weapon, make a Stun test. Roll ing other Stun tests) you attempt until the end of your a die with the Stun rating of the weapon as your Difficulty. next turn. You may deliberately strain yourself to remain conscious, voluntarily reducing your Health pool by an amount of If you fail a Stun test, you are knocked unconscious your choice. For each point you reduce it, add 1 to your die for a period that varies by weapon, but which is usually result. If you strain your Health below 0 or (if you’re al- 10-60 minutes or until awakened by someone successready below 0) below -5, you will also have to make a Con- fully making a Difficulty 4 First Aid test on you (which sciousness roll after the Stunning attack is resolved. If you does not otherwise restore Health). are attacked by more than one stunning weapon in a single round, you make a separate Stun test for each attack.

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devolve into scuffles; this does not alter the alreadyestablished initiative order. The time it takes to go through the ranking order once, with each character taking an action, is called a round. When one round ends, another begins. In the course of each round, either the PCs or their enemies go first, as already established by the initiative order. Then the other side responds. The order in which the two sides act remains unchanged from round to round. During the portion of the round devoted to the Investigators, each participating Investigator makes an attack in Firearms or Scuffling Ability Rating order. Sequence becomes irrelevant, obviously, when only one Investigator is participating (or still standing) in the fight.

Searching a seedy Limehouse warehouse for clues, Sam Taylor and the Colonel are attacked. Sam deftly parries the vicious steel hook with his cane.

In their portion of the round, opponent(s) respond with their own attack attempts, ordered by the characters they’re targeting, again using Firearms or Scuffling Ability Rating order. Where multiple opponents attack a single Investigator - or vice versa - the same Firearms or Scuffling Ability Rating order applies.

Some beings may strike more than once per round. They make each attack in succession, and may divide them up between opponents within range, or concenCreatures with a Health rating of 3 or less immediately trate all of them on a single enemy. GMs order these fall unconscious when successfully hit by a stunning attacks in whatever order they find convenient, so weapon, no Stun test allowed. long as they fall within the portion of the round devoted to enemy attacks. Usually it’s easiest to have them act against multiple Investigators at once, startBigger Fights ing with the one with the lowest Athletics Rating (repCombat becomes more chaotic when two groups of resenting agility and dodges). combatants fight, or a group gangs upagainst a single opponent. If one group of combatants is surprised by When called upon to act, each character may strike at the other, the surprising side goes before the surprised any opponent within range of his weapons. side. Otherwise, determine initiative as follows. Creatures may choose to use their actions to deal addiClose-up fight: if any Investigator has a Scuffling tional damage to downed or helpless opponents rather Rating equal to or greater than than any combatant on than engage active opponents. They automatically the other side, the Investigators act first. deal once instance of damage per action. Only the most crazed and bestial human enemies engage in this Shoot-out: if any Investigator has a Firearms Rat- behaviour, of course. ing equal to or greater than than any combatant on the other side, the Investigators act first. Shoot-outs may Casting the Runes

74

Things that go bang in the night Damage Modifier by Range

Weapon

Cost

Ammo

Point Blank

Close

Medium

.25 Webley pocket pistol .32 Webley automatic .32 S&W Ladysmith revolver Colt Model 1903 automatic Mauser C96 7.62 mm automatic pistol FN Model 1903 automatic Luger 1902 Parabellum .455 Webley Mk. IV service revolver 12 gauge sawn-off shotgun (lupara) .22 Stevens & Savage rifle .22 Savage repeating rifle .310 bore W.W. Greener rifle .360 Holland & Holland rook rifle .303 Lee Enfield military rifle Winchester Model 1894 repeating rifle Mannlicher 1903 hunting rifle 12 gauge shotgun Winchester 1897 pump action shotgun .375 Holland & Holland game rifle .577 Holland & Holland Express Rifle Maxim gun

£2 5s £2 5s £3 £3 £5

6 8 6 8 10

+2 +2 +2 +2 +2

0 0 0 0 0

0 0 0 0

£5 £5 £4 5s

7 8 6

+3 +3 +3

+1 +1 +1

+1 +1 +1

-

2

+3 (+4)

0

-

£1 8s £5 5s £2 2s 5 guin.

1 6 1 1

+2 +2 +2 +2

0 0 0 0

0 0 0 0

10 guin. £4 15s

10 8

+3 +3

+1 +1

+1 +1

15 guin. £7 15s 10 guin.

5 2 5

+3 +3 (+4) +3

+1 0 (+1) 0

+1 -1 -1

30 guin.

1

+4

+2

+2

55 guin.

2

+5

+3

+2

-

250 belt

+4 (+5)

+2 (+3)

+2 (+3)

Surprise Characters who join a combat in progress come last in order of precedence. If more than two characters join Player characters are surprised when they find themduring the same round, the GM determines their rela- selves suddenly in a dangerous situation. Avoid being tive precedence using the rules above. surprised with a successful Sense Trouble test. The basic Difficulty is 4, adjusted by the opponent’s Stealth The fight continues until one side capitulates or flees, modifier. or all of its members are unconscious or otherwise unable to continue. Player characters surprise supporting characters by sneaking up on them with a successful Shadowing or Stealth test.

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Old-style breastplates and similar metal armour reverses this effect, reducing each instance of damage from cutting and stabbing weapons and clubs by 2 points, and from bullets by 1 point. Such armour might be found adorning the walls of a haunted castle or country house, or in the collections of a museum the Investigators are associated with. Some soldiers of the period, especially heavy cavalry and cuirassier units, still wore Their shotguns charged with a mixture of silver sixpences, rock salt and buck shot, the Investigators hunt the terrifying demon dog Black Shuck breast and back plates, and in an isolated Cambridgeshire fen. armoured troops could be found guarding government The basic Difficulty is 4, adjusted by the opponent’s buildings and royal palaces in many European capitals, Sense Trouble modifier. Surprised characters naturally including London. lose the initiative in combat. They also suffer +2 increase to all General Ability Difficulties for any imme- Supernatural creatures often have high armour ratdiately subsequent action. In a fight, the penalty only ings. They may possess hard, bony hides or monstrous applies to the first round of combat. anatomies that can take greater punishment than ordinary organisms. Most supernatural creatures are more resistant to bullets and other missile weapons than Armour they are to blunt force trauma, slashes, and stab Armour may reduce the damage from certain weapon wounds, but some will be vulnerable to silver or entypes. If you’re wearing a form of armour effective chanted bullets. Many, of course, will be completely against the weapon being used against you, you sub- invulnerable to any physical attack and must be dealt tract a number of points from each instance of damage with by magical, or spiritual, means. dealt to you before applying it to your Health pool. Bulletproof vests did exist in the period of Casting the Runes - Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary sadly neglected to wear his silk bulletproof vest on that fateful morning in June 1914 that brought an end to the entire era. Such vests were rare and costly. When worn, they reduce each instance of damage from bullets by 2 points, and from cutting and stabbing weapons (knives, swords, machetes) and clubs and maces by 1 point. Casting the Runes

Cover In a typical gunfight, combatants seek cover, hiding behind walls, furniture or other barriers,exposing themselves only for the few seconds it takes them to pop up and fire a round at their targets. The GUMSHOE rules recognise three cover conditions: Exposed: No barrier stands between you and the combatant firing at you. Your Hit Threshold decreases by 1.

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Partial Cover: About half of your body is exposed to fire. Your Hit Threshold remains unchanged. Full Cover: Except when you pop up to fire a round, the barrier completely protects you from incoming fire. Your Hit Threshold increases by 1. Point Blank Fire If your opponent has a gun well in hand and ready to fire, and you charge them from more than five feet away, they can empty their gun at you before you get to them, badly injuring you. You are automatically hit. They roll one instance of damage, which is then tripled. Yes, tripled. And, yes, the tripling occurs after weapon modifiers are taken into account. This is why few people charge when their opponents have the drop on them. One Weapon, Two Combatants If your opponent has a pistol but it is not well in hand and ready to fire, you may attempt to jump them and wrestle it from their grasp. If they have a pistol well in hand but are unaware of your presence, you may also be able to jump them, at the GM’s discretion. The characters engage in a Scuffling contest to see which of them gets control of the gun and fires it. The winner makes a damage roll against the loser, using the pistol’s Damage Modifier, including the +2 for point blank range. If you jump an opponent with an unready rifle, a Scuffling combat breaks out, with the opponent using the rifle as a heavy club. The same rule applies for cases where characters Scuffle for possession of a knife or other hand-tohand weapon. Ammunition Capacity and Reloading GMs of course should keep a check of ammunition capacity for each firearm in combat (and how much ammunition a character is carrying). A character who is

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Waking the Neighbours “Yes, sir, you did right to come,” he said. “The folk at Achnaleish are the dourest and the most savage in all Scotland. You’ll have to give up this hare-hunting, though, whatever,” he added. He rang up his telephone. “I’ll get five men,” he said, “and I’ll be with you in ten minutes.” - E.F. Benson, The Shootings of Achnaleish Edwardian Britain had lax gun laws. Using guns, rather than simply owning them, was another ma�er. The country was very crowded, well-policed, and intolerant of public violence or affray. GMs are advised to use the following optional rules to model this accurately, and to discourage Investigators waving guns around at the first sign of trouble. Any shot fired or loud brawl in an urban area, or a quiet rural one, will bring the a�ention of at least one police officer within 5-10 minutes. Bystanders will intervene, and may even a�empt to rush combatants and suspects. Police will not hesitate to enter premises where a gunshot has been reported. Any a�empt to harm a police officer will bring a squad of police, armed with revolvers and rifles, within 20 minutes in an urban area, and within the hour in a rural one. This effect will not apply if a shot is fired in an appropriate situation, e.g. a shotgun on a grouse moor. But even in the country, Investigators should be wary of shooting out of season or of being taken for poachers, which may require the Fieldcraft ability to avoid. GMs can modify this for the remoteness and inaccessibility of the location, but should bear the realities in mind. E.F. Benson’s The Shootings of Achnaleish (1912), quoted above and set in a remote rural area assumes that the local senior police officer can summon five armed police at short notice.

Casting the Runes

reloading may not use their Firearms ability to attack during the current round. This also applies in cases where a character has a double-barrelled weapon and is reloading one barrel, with a round still in the other chamber Note that few unprepared characters in a typical Casting the Runes setting are likely to carry a reload for their weapon, even if they do carry a pistol on their person. Gamekeepers, Policemen, Hunters, and Criminals, of course, are a different matter.

Shotguns Shotguns have some unique advantages and peculiarities, especially interesting for Casting the Runes, where shotguns may be the most widespread and easily available firearm. A double-barrelled shotgun fired with both barrels does an additional +1 damage to its target. It must be reloaded afterwards. This does not apply to pump action or bolt action shotguns, of course.

A shotgun fired at two targets standing side by side (within point-blank range of each other) can hit both, A character carrying two pistols can fire both in one doing the same damage. Indulgent GMs may allow even round, if they have a Firearms Rating of 5 or above. greater numbers to be targeted in mobs and swarms. This requires a 1 point spend from their Firearms pool each time, in addition to any other spends. Shotguns fired at a target at medium range suffer a -1 damage penalty, and the double-barrelled benefit no The second target (treated as the one targeted with longer applies. Lighter gauge shotguns firing birdshot the shooter’s off hand) increases their Hit Threshold can be used if less lethal defence is desired, with a -1 by 2, but the shooter decides which to shoot. This also damage penalty. applies if the shooter fires twice at the same target. A shotgun can be loaded with salt cartridges. A successful shot with a salt cartridge is treated as a Stunning Range weapon with Stun value of 4, but also does -2 damage. The effect of range on firearms combat is very simple Salt - and silver - cartridges can be exceptionally useful in this iteration of GUMSHOE. against susceptible supernatural creatures (eg werewolves’ vulnerability to silver bullets), though, and in For almost all hand-to-hand weapons, the only rele- such cases, the cartridges do full damage to the monster. vant range is 5 feet - point-blank range. Pistols and shotguns can only be accurately fired at targets within Rate of Fire 10 yards - close range. Thrown objects, extreme range pistol fire and reduced-damage shotgun fire can reach In a period Jamesian setting, the issue of automatic fire up to 40 yards - medium range. The range limit for rifles should not even apply. However, for those rare occais 100 yards - long range. sions when a Maxim or Vickers gun might be wheeled out to try to slay a demon, here are the rules for autoAn exceptional shot can try to shoot at up to 500 yards matic fire. range. This requires a basic Rating of 7 or above, and a Pool Point spend of 2 Firearms points. The target gets Such weapons are belt-fed, usually water-cooled, and a +2 Hit Rating modifier. extremely heavy. They have to be fired from a tripod or other sturdy mounting.

Two Guns

A character firing a machine gun on full auto can attempt to hit more than one target in the same round. However, the targets must be close together (assume within a 45-degree arc of fire or less). Casting the Runes

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Armed constables and soldiers of the Scots Guards face off against the Greater Demon an incompetent sorcerer has released into the heart of London’s docklands. Furthermore, each target requires a separate Firearms roll to hit. Also, for each subsequent target after the first one, their Hit Threshold increases by 1 (so two extra targets would both have Hit Threshold increased by 2). If a character fires a machine gun on full auto at a single target, the weapon gains the same +1 damage benefit as a shotgun when both barrels are fired.

Fighting Without Abilities A character with a Firearms rating of 0 is not allergic to guns. Anyone can pick up a revolver and empty it in the general direction of the foe. Likewise, a character with no Scuffling ability is not going to just ignore the fire axe hanging on the wall when a monster bursts into the room.However, such characters will use their weapons ineffectively and hesitantly.

Using a weapon (including fists or feet) without abilThe automatic weapons of the period were not reli- ity has the following drawbacks: able. If a character rolls 1 when firing any machine gun on full auto, the gun jams, requiring a successful Me- • You automatically suffer a -2 damage penalty chanics test against Difficulty 4 to resume firing, with • You must declare your action at the beginning of each test taking one round. each round and cannot change it if the situation alters • You automatically go last in each round • If you are using a firearm, a roll of 1 means you have accidentally shot yourself or one of your allies, as selected (or rolled randomly) by the GM.

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Casting the Runes

Do damage as normal (including your automatic -2 penalty) Aimed Shots In certain situations simply hitting an enemy isn’t enough: you need to get them in a particular spot. When taking an aimed shot, specify the desired location of the strike and any additional intended effect other than injury to the opponent. The GM decides whether this is a likely outcome of such a hit. If it is clearly not a likely outcome, and your character would logically know this, the GM warns you in advance, so you can do something else instead.

The GM then adds 1 to 4 points to the target’s Hit Threshold, depending on the additional difficulty entailed. Use the following table as a guideline. Body locations assume a human of ordinary size. Hit Threshold modifiers for body parts of extraordinary creatures are left as an exercise for the GM. Aimed shots are only an option for seasoned combatants. A Rating of at least 5 in the relevant General Ability is required. Scuffling attacks can also target body parts or other specific targets within range. With the new Hit Threshold determined, you then make a combat ability test, as per the standard rules. If you succeed, your specified effect occurs as desired.

Desired Hit Location Modifiers

If you struck an ordinary person in the head, throat, or chest with a weapon, add +2 to thedamage; hitting the heart adds +3 to the damage. Neither can be combined with a point-blank gunshot, which is already assumed to hit a vital location.

Example Target

Modifier

Large carried object (carboy, violin case, backpack)

+1

Torso, searchlight

+1

Chest (if a�acker is facing target)

+2

Gut, house window

+2

Explosives

Hand or foot, joint, tire

+3

Heart, throat, mouth, or face

+3

Grenades had fallen out of favour by the dawn of the Edwardian era, but Russian experience in the RussoJapanese War of 1904-5 once again demonstrated their value, although the British Empire had to wait until 1915 for the Mills Bomb (a fragmentation grenade) to arrive.

If you struck an ordinary person in a joint (wrist, knee, etc.) or throat with an aimed hand-to-hand blow, lock, or kick, add +2 to the damage; hitting an eye adds +3 to the damage. This assumes a trained, targeted strike intended to disable or cripple.

Head or limb +2

However, “infernal machines” were commonplaces of terrorism (especially in Russia where they were often used for attacks on officials), and of Edwardian fiction from Conrad to Saki. Investigators with an engineering or mining background might well resort to blasting charges and dynamite to deal with such monstrous incursions as an eruption of Swine-Things.

Weapon or other hand-held object +3 Eye, hat

+4

Chest (if target faces away from a�acker)

+4

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An Example of Combat: Colonel Anstruther and the Demon Colonel Anstruther is fighting off the Lesser Demon that his friend the Professor has inadvertently called up from an old illuminated manuscript. The Professor has succumbed to the shock of seeing the creature, and lies insensible in his library chair. A strong-minded veteran, the Colonel has made his Stability test, grabbed a poker from the library fireplace, and stands ready to defend his friend. The Colonel has Athletics of 10, Health 10, Scuffling 12, and Weapons 14. The Lesser Demon has the conventional statistics for its kind: Athletics 12, Health 15, Scuffling 16. Normally the Lesser Demon would have the Initiative, but the GM rules that the Colonel has the longer weapon, and was able to seize the Initiative while the monster was still materializing, and awards him the first blow. The Colonel rolls the first a�ack against the Lesser Demon’s Hit Threshold of 4, and comes up with a 5. The Colonel has landed a blow on the creature. His player rolls damage of 4. The poker counts as a full weapon for damage purposes, but the blow is dulled by the creature’s coarse hide, inflicting 2 points of damage. The Lesser Demon’s Health pool is now down to 13. The Lesser Demon now makes the first of its two a�acks with its ferocious talons. The GM rolls a 2 for the first a�ack, against the Colonel’s Hit Threshold of 4, and the Lesser Demon misses its swing. Its second swing, however, connects with a 6. Fortunately for the Colonel, the GM only rolls 1, and with the Demon’s damage modifier, the old warhorse only sustains 2 points of damage, reducing his Health to 8. The Colonel takes aim for his next swing. This time, the Colonel’s player elects to take advantage of the Colonel’s veteran status, and calls for an aimed shot at the Lesser Demon’s sallow head, commi�ing 4 Pool Points from the Colonel’s Weapons pool. The Colonel’s player rolls a 3, and with the 4 additional Pool Points, scores a 7, enough to overcome the Lesser Demon’s basic Hit Threshold of 4, and the +2 for an aimed shot to the head. The Colonel’s player then rolls a 5 for damage. At -2 for the Demon’s horny hide, and +2 for the head shot, the Demon suffers the full value of the roll: its Health is now down to 8. With the combatants now on an equal footing for Health, the Demon takes its first swing of the round. The GM rolls a 4: the Demon has equalled the Colonel’s Hit Threshold and connected with its talon. The blow does 5 points of damage, reducing the Colonel to 3 points of Health. Its second swing misses, with a 2. Realizing what a deadly adversary he faces, the Colonel’s player digs into his Weapons Pool Points again, and adds 5 for a strike at the Demon’s left claw. The Colonel now only has 5 Weapons Pool Points left. The Colonel’s player rolls 4, with 5 added, which exceeds the Demon’s Hit Threshold of 6 for an aimed shot targeting a limb. The Colonel’s player rolls 4 damage, with a +2 bonus for a strike on a limb; even with -2 for its armoured skin, the Demon has lost a further 4 points of Health, and has lost the use of one claw. Still, it manages to connect with its next blow, and does 1 point of damage to the Colonel, with a further 1 point modifier. The Colonel now faces the horrible prospect of death in the jaws of a Demon. His health is 1, just enough to avoid a roll for losing consciousness. Realizing his dire straits, the Colonel’s player commits all his Weapons Pool Points to one final swing at the Demon’s head. He rolls a 5, and the blow connects, even at the higher Hit Threshold. The damage roll is also a 5: with the damage bonus for the head shot and the Demon’s armour rating cancelling each other out, the final damage value stands at 5, enough to reduce the Demon to below 0 Health. For a supernatural creature, this means dissolution rather than unconsciousness, and the Lesser Demon dissipates in a puff of smoke, leaving the Colonel to tend his wounds.

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Black Powders

Damage/range chart X = no damage Explosive

Close

Medium

Long

On a success, melee ends and you flee; if they intend to chase you, your foes must roll first in the ensuing full contest of Athletics vs Athletics or Fleeing. If you fail, the opponent with the highest damage value automatically deals one instance of damage to you. Melee still ends, but you must roll first in the ensuing chase.

Small bomb

+2

X

X

Dynamite stick

+3

-2

X

Medium bomb

+7

-1

X

In situations where it seems appropriate to make flight more difficult, on a failure, any directly engaged opponent might spend 3 Athletics to block you from fleeing - interposing himself between you and the exit, tackling you, slamming the church doors, or whatever the narrative description warrants. In this case, your enemies forgo the damage they would otherwise deal.

Gas explosion

+6

+1

X

Other Hazards

Artillery shell

+8

-1

X

Combat is not the only hazard that Casting the Runes characters are liable to face; in many campaigns, it may be the least likely. However there are many other dangers that Investigators may encounter.

A detonation deals damage automatically at pointblank range, but anyone in the blast radius at close Fire range has an automatic Hit Threshold of 3 to avoid damage, 4 at medium range, and 5 at long range. Damage from exposure to fire varies according to the surface area of your body exposed to the flame, and To set and fuse a bomb, mining charge, etc., a charac- repeats for each round (or, outside of combat, every ter makes a test of their Demolition ability against a few seconds) you remain exposed to it. basic Difficulty of 4. (At the GM’s sadistic discretion, failure could mean premature detonation.) Minor exposure, most often to an extremity like a hand or foot, carries a damage modifier of -2. For historical accuracy, thrown explosives are assumed to be dynamite sticks with a minimal fragmen- Partial exposure, to up to half of your surface tation radius. Throwing these is an Athletics test, with area, carries a damage modifier of +0. Difficulty 3 at close range, and 5 at medium range. (Investigators should not be throwing explosives at Extensive exposure, to half or more of your surpoint-blank range.) face area, imposes a damage modifier of +2. The GM should always give you a chance to avoid being set on fire. The difficulty of extinguishing a flame Running Away is usually 4, but might be higher for petrol spills or Fleeing from an ongoing fight requires an Athletics or Fire Elementals. Optionally, the GM can also require Fleeing test. The Difficulty is 3 plus the number of a Stability test for being set on fire, costing 2 Stability foes you’re fleeing from: to flee one enemy is Diffi- on failure. culty 4, fleeing two enemies is Difficulty 5, fleeing four enemies is Difficulty 7. Casting the Runes

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Suffocation and Drowning When deprived of air, you get two minutes before the nastiness kicks in. After that point, you lose 1 Athletics every ten seconds, as you struggle to hold your breath. Once that pool depletes, you start losing Health, at a rate of 1 point every five seconds. This also applies to drowning, but a successful Athletics roll will get characters out of many situations where they might otherwise drown.

with a successful Athletics roll. Failure to do so imposes a damage roll, with any appropriate modifiers (soft ground, snow, etc). Naturally, the character has to start over again with any climb or other task already begun. Damage from falling increases by one more die roll per 10 feet. Obviously, falls will soon become fatal. Electricity and Other Shocks

Acid

Damage from exposure to electricity varies according An acid or other corrosive (e.g. quicklime) does to voltage. You can suffer: damage each round until a successful Chemistry, First Aid or Medicine test removes or counteracts it. Mild shock, equivalent to briely touching an live (Chemistry or Medicine require a 1-point spend, First wire or damaged electrical appliance. You lose 1 Aid requires a successful test against Difficulty 4.) The Health and are blown backwards for a couple of yards. GM can set a damage point strength for the acid, or roll a damage dice which gives the damage inflicted Moderate shock, equivalent to a jolt from a Tesla each round, with weaker or stronger acids modifying tower. You lose 2 Health and (if in combat time) your the damage roll. next four actions. You always lose at least one action, but may buy off the loss of other actions by paying 3 Athletics points per action. Poisons Toxins are either inhaled, ingested or injected directly into the bloodstream. They vary widely in lethality. A dose of Lysol or some other standard cleaning reagant may impose a damage modifier of -2, where an experimental mustard gas or the sting of a Spider Familiar might range from +6 to +16.

Extreme shock, equivalent to a lightning bolt. You suffer one die of damage, with a +4 modifier. The GM should always give you some opportunity to avoid being shocked, whether it be an Athletics test to get out of the open, or a Sense Trouble test to spot the danger.

Inhaled toxins tend to take effect right away. Injected and ingested toxins take delayed effect, anywhere from minutes to hours after exposure. Their damage might be parceled out in increments, and may prevent you from refreshing Health points until somehow neutralised. As with any hazard, the GM should usually give you a chance to avoid exposure to them.

If you are reduced to -6 or fewer Health, the current is assumed to have traveled through your heart or brain, causing cardiac arrest or brain damage, respectively. The GM describes appropriate symptoms during your convalescence.

Falling

Many other hazards can be emulated using the mild/ moderate/extreme breakdown above. Simply change the narrative description and side effects, keeping the Health pool losses.

Falling from a height may come as a result of a failed Athletics roll while climbing, a failed Riding roll while astride a bolting horse, or many other causes. When falling from a height of 10 feet or less, the character can avoid any damage by landing well,

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Creatures .R. James sought to create a pleasing terror rather than a fanciful bestiary. Yet in the process, he did produce a series of welldelineated and frightful creatures and manifestations, well beyond the plain and ordinary sheeted ghost. Add in the equally ghastly creations from his contemporaries, and you have more than enough entities to satisfy any adventure gamer.

aces which are nothing like these - or even to have no monsters at all, and leave all the horror to tales of dark possession, malign curses, animated doll’s houses and so on. By all means, let your imagination run free, ransack folklore traditions and don’t let it be fettered by stats, or by some narrow category of canonical monsters.

All the same, and in deference to his spirit, this selection of horrors is not supposed to be exclusive, or rigid. Sinister entities and apparitions are there to provide atmosphere and colour and thrills, but not to flesh out a pseudo-taxonomy of Monsters-of-theWeek. GMs should feel free to create their own men-

Each description of an entity that follows gives some idea of its general description, pedigree, and motivations, followed by enough Ability figures to play them in the game setting. Following a common convention in RPGs, the fantastic and supernatural entities are listed first, followed by the mundane - but potentially still dangerous - terrestrial beasts. Perennial horror favourites are also included, for those who may wish to have them.

M

The manifestations of the supernatural are as varied as they are dangerous.

Entity facts and figures

Each entity has a list of Abilities - usually the basics for play and combat - followed by Hit Thresholds, Stealth Modifiers, and Armour figures that work as they do for player characters. The Stability Loss modifier gives the plus-or-minus influence that the creature’s other-worldly appearance or nature has on every interaction with it that would usually require a Stability roll - over and above the usual penalty for that type of manifestation. This won’t apply to mundane creatures like tigers, but fighting the latter might still lead to situations that trigger Stability rolls - only without a modifier. The Attack listing comes last to give space to whatever unique attack the entity has. The Ability statistics given for each creature type are averages - sadistic GMs can craft far stronger ones. GMs should also add on more Abilities as appropriate - intelligent creatures such as Little People or vampires may have all kinds of Abilities that don’t show up in their bare-bones descriptions. Casting the Runes

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Creating folkloric or mythical creatures As already said, Casting the Runes urges GMs to go out and create new and different creatures and threats from the immense treasure house of global folk horror and mythology, rather than get stuck on a fixed list of canonical monsters. This simply duplicates M.R. James’s own process in creating the horrors in his tales: scholarly research has unearthed sources and historical inspirations for even such unique terrors as the tentacled Hooded Spirit in Count Magnus. So, rather than double down on his effort, GMs are invited to go out and brew their own. Here are some guidelines for turning any folk Horror or mythical being into a gameable antagonist: • • • • • • • • •

How is the GM going to describe it most dramatically and evocatively in a scenario? What traces/hints does it leave? Mucous trail? Gnawed bones? Terrifying sketch in a manuscript? What is its unique characteristic, or identifier? Giant size? Glowing eyes? Human torso on snake’s body? What is its motivation? Is it predatory? Guarding something? Lost? Seeking release? Devious? Is it intelligent? Does it have other Abilities or magic spells? How powerful is it? What size/strength of party or resources would be needed to kill or dispel it? What is its unique a�ack/strength? Invulnerable to unenchanted weapons? Supremely powerful in moonlight? Invisible? What are its particular weaknesses? Burned by iron? Dispelled by breaking the egg holding its soul? How can all of the above be represented in the core Abilities of Health and Stability, as well as Hit Threshold, Stability Loss, Armour and A�ack?

This outline shouldn’t be taken as definitive, or exhaustive. The supernatural is, by definition, irrational and hostile to systematization. For anyone looking for more detailed guides to crafting creatures, the Hideous Creatures supplement for Trail of Cthulhu, the Alien Intelligences section of The Fall of DELTA GREEN, or even the Book of Unremi�ing Horror, give extensive GUMSHOE-specific guidance and inspiration for creating any number of uniquely horrible entities.

Entities regenerate Health and other Abilities like any other being. If Investigators re-encounter the same creature, it will have refreshed its Pool Points, on the usual timeline, unless it has any unique attributes that way.

ral terror lies in the physical helplessness of puny mortals before the unknown.

Gaming Supernatural Beings

This is also a chance for GMs so disposed to cunningly undermine and critique the brute-force-and-sheerbloody-ignorance attitude rampant in Edwardian England. Any victory or banishment of the unearthly enemy should come from more than just a straight bat and a strong right arm. Knowledge, and more than a bit of luck, will be required.

It should be obvious that most supernatural beings are lethally dangerous, and that any reckless Investigator, however strong, who dares grapple with one will soon meet a horrible end. That’s as it should be. Supernatu-

For supernatural beings, though, Investigators with the Occult Investigative Ability can gain valuable insights with Pool Point spends. Any competency in Occult or Folklore will allow Investigators to tell what a

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Creatures and Entities Aeiirii Manifestation The Aeiirii Manifestation is one of the lesser, weaker entities in William Hope Hodgson’s Carnacki stories, presented as “forms of semi-materialization.” Like vampires, they are repelled by garlic. The Aeiirii Manifestation forms a body out of the local environment, including water vapour or dust, and uses it to press physical attacks; however, Circles of Protection and Pentacles will work against it, as will Banish or Warding spells, and physical attacks will disrupt and sunder its physical manifestation - to a limited extent.

The banshee who inhabits the castle ruins is said to be an omen of doom to all who meet her. supernatural creature is. A 1-point pool spend from Occult will allow an Investigator to gain some defensive advantage against the menace. A 2-point spend will give insight into its characteristic vulnerabilities.

Abilities: Athletics 14, Health 20, Scuffling 6 Hit Threshold: 4 Stealth Modifier: -2 Stability Loss: +0 Armour: 0 (but bullets do no damage, and edged weapons simply inflict 1 point of damage per hit. Clubs and broad impact weapons will do full damage.) Attack: -2. The Aeiirii Manifestation flings whatever substance it has made its body from - dirt, sand, gravel, cloth - at the target. These are normal physical attacks, and the Aeiirii Manifestation has to beat the target’s Hit Threshold. Targets can also Flee from an Aeiirii Manifestation. Banshee

“There thrilled into my right ear and pierced my head For example, an Investigator facing a Sylph and mak- a note of incredible sharpness, like the shriek of a bat, ing a 1-point Occult spend can grab onto a tree root to only ten times intensified - the kind of thing that avoid being thrown in the air, and warn the rest of the makes one wonder if something has not given way in party to do the same. With a 2-point spend, they can one’s brain. I held my breath, and covered my ear, and grab a nearby shovel, scoop up some gravel, and fling shivered.” - M.R. James’s A Neighbour’s Landmark it at the Sylph, inflicting 2 points of damage. This is the entity heard but not seen by the protagoSpiritual entities reduced to 0 Health simply dissipate. nist in A Neighbour’s Landmark, and similar to the This is one of the few edges that mortals have when bean sí (banshee) of Celtic legend. It is a ghost, usually confronting these appalling creatures. Not all super- female, returned from the grave to keen and lament. natural beings are entirely spiritual, though, and some, like ghouls or vampires, may struggle on as per Like most ghosts and phantoms, the banshee is invulthe regular Health rules - or their own unique version nerable to normal terrestrial weapons, though some of these - until physically vanquished. enchanted ones and spells may harm them. They are Casting the Runes

86

also ferociously difficult to dispel, though burning or mentals. More potent Elementals are the subject of destroying the room or building where they manifest the greatest Summoning rituals. may work. The banshee’s weapon is its unearthly wail, which terrifies and maddens those who hear it. Wax in the ears will not help, and incidentally, the wail cannot be recorded. There is some suggestion that the banshee is even more frightful and dangerous seen close up, but few witnesses have ever stayed alive and sane to confirm this. Abilities: Athletics 8, Health 30, Scuffling 10 Hit Threshold: 4 Stealth Modifier: +1 Stability Loss: +0 (but see below) Armour: 0 (but immaterial and invulnerable) Attack: When the banshee wails, every character must make a Stability test against a Difficulty of 5. Those who lose the test, lose 4 points from their Stability pool; those who succeed lose 1 point. Unfortunately, the banshee will wail again after a minute or so, requiring a fresh test. Rather than let their Stability be eroded, Investigators are best advised to flee while they can. Elemental Elementals are the traditional spirits of the four elements, Earth, Air, Water and Fire. They are often the target for magicians’ summoning rituals, because they are less actively malevolent to humanity than demons, but they are almost as powerful and dangerous.

Air Elemental: Sylph The Sylph manifests as a whirlwind, roughly three yards on a side. It can form a body out of its whirlwind, usually the form of a wispy maiden. It is a very fast opponent, and always gets the initiative. Abilities: Athletics 14, Health 20, Scuffling 12 Hit Threshold: 4 Stealth Modifier: -1 Stability Loss: +0 Armour: 0, but the Sylph’s immaterial form is invulnerable to bullets or blows. Some enchanted weapons may inflict damage, as would buckets or other reasonable quantities of gravel or sand slung into it, representing the Earth element, with 2 points of damage per bucket. A sandblaster, rare but not unknown in Edwardian times, would inflict a full damage roll with each successful hit. Attack: The Sylph engulfs characters and flings or carries them high in the air. If a group of characters is packed close together, the Sylph can attack all of them at once. The victim or victims suffer two dice rolls of falling damage, plus any additional damage if the Sylph manages to fling them over a precipice or onto sharp spikes. Earth Elemental: Gnome The Gnome manifests as a lumpish, vaguely humanoid figure formed out of the local soil or gravel.

Elementals come in four flavours, with different properties for each element. All share minimal intelligence, and are surly and aggressive, but neutral rather than evil. All are summoned and dispelled by similar magic rituals.

Abilities: Athletics 6, Health 20, Scuffling 14 Hit Threshold: 3 (a Gnome is ponderous and easier to hit) Stealth Modifier: +1 Stability Loss: +0 Although an Elemental represents a physical element, Armour: -4, representing the thick earthy consisthey and their attacks are magical. Thus, a Circle of tency of the Gnome’s body. Some enchanted weapons Protection will ward off the fire of a Salamander, or may inflict more damage, as would a powerful blast the gale of a Sylph. They are at least minimally vulner- from a mechanical or electric fan, representing the Air able to physical attacks, though, especially from the element, with 2 points of damage per successful hit. A contrary element. Statistics below are for average Ele- gale or cyclone would inflict a full damage roll with

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each successful hit. Attack: +2. The Gnome opens a pit below the target’s feet, then crushes them in its grasp. A successful Athletics roll is needed for the target to break free, or the Gnome continues to do one instance of damage per round. Fire Elemental: Salamander The Salamander manifests as a vortex of transparent flame, roughly three yards on a side. It can form a body out of its pillar of fire, usually the form of a small incandescent lizard. It is an extremely fast opponent, and always gets the initiative. Abilities: Athletics 10, Health 20, Scuffling 12 Hit Threshold: 4 Stealth Modifier: +1 Stability Loss: +0 Armour: 0, but the Salamander’s immaterial incandescent form simply melts bullets or blades. Some enchanted weapons may inflict damage, as would buckets of water slung into it, representing the water element, with 2 points of damage per bucket. A fire hose would inflict a full damage roll with each successful hit; an ocean wave would extinguish the Salamander. Attack: The Salamander engulfs victims in its pillar of fire. If a group of characters is packed close together, the Salamander can attack all of them at once. The victim or victims suffer one roll of full body fire damage per successful attack. Their clothes and hair will catch fire and may cause further damage if not promptly extinguished.

Abilities: Athletics 14, Health 20, Scuffling 12 Hit Threshold: 4 Stealth Modifier: -1 Stability Loss: +0 Armour: 0, but the Undine’s immaterial form is invulnerable to bullets or blows. Some enchanted weapons may inflict damage, as would shovels of hot coals or buckets of burning oil directed at it, representing the Fire element, with 2 points of damage per successful hit. A conflagration or forest fire would vaporise it completely. Attack: The Undine engulfs victims in its watery embrace. If a group of characters is packed together, the Undine can attack all of them at once. The victims suffer one roll of drowning damage per successful attack. They cannot make the usual Athletics roll to avoid this - the Undine forces itself into their noses and mouths - unless they are forewarned. Familiar This is the vile companion of a witch or wizard, which will come in many shapes and species, the common factors being that they are small and malevolent. A Familiar will also possess intelligence far beyond that of its parent species - perhaps by pure magic, perhaps because each is in fact a possessing or manifesting demon. A witch acquires a Familiar through the Obtain Familiar spell, a dark rite described in the Magic chapter (p. 108) of these rules. Investigators will almost always find them in the company of their master or mistress. The stats below are for a typically nasty Familiar - in this case, a small ape. The Familiar may possess other attributes and Abilities - such as magic spells.

Water Elemental: Undine

The Undine manifests as a vortex of water, roughly three yards on a side. It can form a body out of its Abilities: Athletics 10, Health 2, Scuffling 8 whirlpool, usually the form of a sinuous maiden. It is a Hit Threshold: 5 (small size) very fast opponent, and always gets the initiative. Stealth Modifier: +2 Stability Loss: 0 Armour: 0 Attack: -2 (bite). A Familiar’s bite will almost always carry an instantaneously acting poison. Strength is up to the GM, but a figure of double the creature’s Health is a good starting point. Casting the Runes

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Faunus “Suddenly, it seemed, he lay in the sunlight, beautiful with his olive skin, dark haired, dark eyed, the gleaming bodily vision of a strayed faun.” - Arthur Machen, The Hill of Dreams This is one of the Children of Pan, found in remote wooded and wild places. They are supposedly primal rather than evil, but most mortals would be hard put to tell the difference. Their presence is implied throughout Machen’s The Great God Pan, but even more direct and sinister evocations can be found in Saki’s The Music on the Hill and elsewhere. They are often on the hunt for victims to ravish, and generally act as protectors and proxies for Nature at her rawest and most savage. Abilities: Athletics 10, Health 10, Scuffling 8 Hit Threshold: 4 Stealth Modifier: +2 Stability Loss: +0 Armour: -1 (thick matted hair) Attack: +1 (hooves). A Faunus may also cause panic. Every character must make a 4-point Stability test. Those who lose the test, lose 3 points from their Stability pool; those who succeed lose 1 point. A Faunus can use its pipes to mesmerize, by succeeding in a contest of its Health against the tar- The Children of Pan are Nature, red in tooth and get’s Stability. The entranced victim will follow claw. They are not actually evil, but they are incrediwhere the bly dangerous to deal with. Faunus leads and remain passive and suggestible, though unable to perform complex tasks. The Faunus The ghost is the quintessential Jamesian horror, and can only control one victim at a time. Investigators will probably encounter them more than any other supernatural being. That would be reassurGhost ing, if only they were easier to lay or vanquish... “What first interested me in ghosts? This I can tell you quite definitely. In my childhood I chanced to see a toy Punch and Judy set, with figures cut out in cardboard. One of these was The Ghost. It was a tall figure habited in white with an unnaturally long and narrow head, also surrounded with white, and a dismal visage. Upon this my conceptions of a ghost were based, and for years it permeated my dreams.” - M.R. James, Ghosts - Treat them Gently!

A ghost is, by definition, immaterial, and the kind of revenants who bring their mortal shells with them are covered elsewhere. With a few very specific (and rare, and expensive) exceptions, physical weapons cannot affect ghosts at all. If there is any simple method to dispel a ghost, such as unearthing a cryptic scroll hidden under the floorboards of an old house or breaking a glass goblet passed down in the family through generations, it normally has no obvious connection to the

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apparitions, without apparent consciousness or intelligence. They may be frightening, and dangerous to Stability, but they will not seek to inflict harm - unless some Investigator provokes them.

Random Ghosts GMs are strongly recommended to use their imaginations as much as possible around ghosts, and make each phantom unique. For occasional chance encounters, though, and since ghosts are so ubiquitous in the work of M.R. James and other classic ghost stories, here is a table for generating random ghosts. These follow the GUMSHOE norm of sixsided dice only, and are wri�en for two rolls of a dice, with the results added. Of course, GMs can simply choose from the tables rather than rolling for results. Ghost appearance

Statistics given are for a typical newly deceased ghost. GMs may wish to make older ghosts more powerful and menacing, adding another 2 Health points per century the spirit has been dead. GMs are especially invited to ring the changes on ghosts, and make them as diverse and as individual and interesting as possible. Abilities: Athletics 14, Health 10, Scuffling 6 Hit Threshold: 4 Stealth Modifier: -2 Stability Loss: +0 (more for especially frightful ghosts) Armour: 0 (but immaterial and invulnerable to most physical weapons)

Dice Total

Grey or white lady Monk (black, white, brown habit) Young child Soldier, warrior, knight Mounted rider Sorrowing maiden Old man/woman Headless figure Spectral animal, dog, cat Skull, skeleton Contemporary figure, apparently normal

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Attack: +1 (ghostly touch). The chill of phantom fingers adds an extra effect besides cold damage. Regardless of the actual damage sustained, any Investigator is treated as hurt until the end of the encounter, and suffers the corresponding penalties. The most terrifying ghosts also have an unique Stability-based attack. If an Investigator’s Stability pool is reduced to 0 or below by these ghosts, the character falls dead on the spot from pure fright, their face contorted in a rictus of terror.

ghost. Many adventures will focus on the Investigators struggling to piece together the clues leading to Ghoul the talisman or remnant, before the ghost catches up with them. Ghouls are included in these rules for their imaginative potential. “Old ghoul,” the Squire’s remark in A GMs and players should remember that by the time View from a Hill, need not be read as a sign that M.R. Investigators encounter a ghost, their Stability pools James seriously intended to write about ghouls. Nonewill usually have been drained by various suitably at- theless, there is a lot of fun to be had from ghouls. mospheric and terrifying phenomena: clanking chains, unearthly keening on the wind, levitating ob- Ghouls dine off dead flesh, not the flesh of the living jects, blood drips, etc. This will make the final con- but there is nothing to stop them hunting and stalking frontation all the more tense and fateful. their prey. The ghoul has the unique ability to assume the identity of those it has killed and/or eaten, to hunt That said, not all ghosts by any means are aggressive for more prey or to fulfill other dark purposes. It does or hostile. Many simply manifest and disappear. Some this by donning their skin and eating their brains. may talk (or gibber) or act intelligently; most are just Casting the Runes

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The ghoul can put on the skin of the slain or recently deceased. For one day, the skin still appears fresh and lifelike. The ghoul can also draw on the memories taken from the brain it has just eaten, again for about a day. After this, the skin will start to decay, and the chemicals carrying the memories to degrade. Although usually a master of Disguise, the ghoul will start to show rents in its flesh and patches of greenish decaying skin. Friends of the deceased make a passive Sense Trouble test in close proximity to the impersonating ghoul from the second day (administered by the GM of course), starting with a Difficulty level of 5 and decreasing by 1 point per day. As each day passes, more and more skin will slough off to reveal the ghoul’s true form beneath: a revolting greenish carcass with sharp claws.

The ghost of William Ager, guardian of the last of the East Anglian Anglo-Saxon crowns, stalks his prey on the beach at Seaburgh.

Stability costs of ghostly manifestations The Stability costs here are for the effects experienced alone, without the ghost itself being present. All Stability tests are against the standard value of 4. The dice total column allows GMs to generate random ghostly manifestations in a haunted locale by rolling two six sided dice. Manifestation/effect

Stability Cost

Dice Total

Distant sighing, moaning Phantom footsteps Breath of cold wind Door, window opening and closing Drifting cloud, mist Inexplicable odour Blood drip Sudden unearthly scream Icy cold Floating spectral knife Suffocation, strangulation

2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 4 4

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

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Abilities: Athletics 8, Health 15, Scuffling 16, Disguise 16 Hit Threshold: 4 Stealth Modifier: +2 Stability Loss: +1 Armour: -1 (undead flesh) Attack: +1 (claws) Greater Demon The Greater Demons are the worst horrors that any Investigator is likely to encounter. The Princes and Kings of Hell are the adversaries of angels and archangels; mere mortals are at best amusing insects to them. Any interaction with them that degenerates into conflict is liable to end in annihilation for the mortal. Greater Demons called up from Hell are usually on the mortal plane at the behest of malign sorcerers. They are correspondingly, mercifully rare. They are

all supremely cunning and intelligent, and are far more likely to try to trick or tempt humans than to stoop to the chore of rending them limb from limb. After all, the torture galleries of Hell are fully furnished with damned souls to torment far more exquisitely, for all Eternity, and the true prize for a Greater Demon is the immortal soul. Greater Demons are apt to confront weak mortals with Stability-shattering revelations or paradoxes. The following statistics are given purely for reference, especially when it comes to attempting to dispel these monsters. Abilities: Athletics 16, Health 30, Scuffling 30 Hit Threshold: +2 Stealth Modifier: +3 Stability Loss: +4 (though a Greater Demon can elect to appear in an innocuous guise if it chooses) Armour: -5 Attack: +8 (rending talons, forked tails, etc) Hell Horse

Aside from deities, the Princes of Hell are the most fearsome enemies that Investigators may face.

This is a Horse of the Invisible (see the Hodgson story of the same name), or other traditional demonic steed. Its eyes burn red, fire blazes from its nostrils, and sparks flash from its hooves. The monster is at least semi-material, but only enchanted weapons can hurt it. Circles of Protection and Warding spells are effective against it. Abilities: Athletics 14, Health 15, Scuffling 16 Hit Threshold: 4 Stealth Modifier: +1 Stability Loss: +2 Armour: -1 (thick hide, plus only enchanted weapons do damage) Attack: +1 (hooves) Hooded Spirit “The figure was unduly short, and was for the most part muffled in a hooded garment which swept the ground. The only part of the form which projected from that shelter was not shaped like any hand or arm. Mr Wraxall compares it to the tentacle of a devil-fish.” - M.R. James, Count Magnus Casting the Runes

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This creature, one of the most frightful in M.R. James’s canon, is probably based on the Genii Cucullati, mysterious hooded beings that appear in pagan religious sculpture across much of northern Roman Europe, and which may have originated from the Celtic god of health, Telesphorus. Their real significance is unknown. In the Jamesian corpus, they are a form of familiar demon, called up by dark sorcerers and often used as a hunting creature. Abilities: Athletics 8, Health 15, Scuffling 16, Shadowing 16 Hit Threshold: 4 Stealth Modifier: +1 Stability Loss: +2 Armour: -3 (thick robe plus hide) The Cathedral of St Bertrand-de-Comminges, in southern Attack: +1 (tentacle). If the Hooded France, is haunted by an especially foul Lesser Demon called up Spirit succeeds in hitting with the tenta- by sorcerous canon Alberic de Mauléon. cle, it can cling on and suck the victim’s flesh off their bones, with 3 Health points lost per devour any human they encounter. If the Lesser Deround. The victim can break free with a successful mon scores two successful claw attacks in one round, it Scuffling or Athletics roll. can secure a grip and do a third bite attack as well. Lesser Demon

GMs are urged to make each individual Lesser Demon a separate monster, with these statistics as guidelines. “In another infinitesimal flash he had taken it in. Pale, For example, the Lamia in An Episode of Cathedral dusky skin, covering nothing but bones and tendons History also had a frightful howl and the power to of appalling strength; coarse black hairs, longer than send plague... ever grew on a human hand; nails rising from the ends of the fingers and curving sharply down and forward, Abilities: Athletics 12, Health 15, Scuffling 16 grey, horny, and wrinkled.” - M.R. James, Canon Al- Hit Threshold: 4 beric’s Scrap-book Stealth Modifier: +1 Stability Loss: +2 Unlike their Greater Demon superiors, Lesser Armour: -2 (thick coarse hide) Demons do manifest quite often on the mortal plane, Attack: +1 (talons), +2 (fangs). Many Lesser Demons called up and set loose by wicked sorcerers, or other- will also have poison in their claws, or a venomous bite. wise freed to spread trouble on the earth. They have nothing like the powers of the Dukes and Princes of Hell, and are usually unable to change their monstrous forms. They are also far more malevolent than intelligent, “endowed with intelligence just less than human,” and are far more likely to simply try to rend and

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Little People

Armour: -2 (thick hide, and bullets do no damage) Attack: +1 (fists)

“In that instant Vaughan saw the myriads beneath; the things made in the form of men but stunted like children hideously deformed, the faces with the almond eyes burning with evil and unspeakable lusts; the ghastly yellow of the mass of naked flesh” - Arthur Machen, The Shining Pyramid The Little People are the revolting subterranean survivals of “prehistoric Turanian inhabitants” of many Celtic and other countries, “under four feet in height, accustomed to live in darkness, possessing stone instruments, and [with] the Mongolian cast of features.” Legend has transmuted them into elves or fairies, but they also appear to have some otherworldly affiliations, including an ability to disappear without trace where no cave mouth or underground passage exists.

Negotium Perambulans “It seemed to have no head, but on the front of it was an orifice of puckered skin which opened and shut and slavered at the edges. It was hairless, and slug-like in shape and in texture. As it advanced its fore-part reared itself from the ground, like a snake about to strike” - E.F. Benson, Negotium Perambulans This embodiment of the “the pestilence that walketh in darkness” from the 91st Psalm is apparently one of God’s “instruments of vengeance on those who bring wickedness into places that have been holy,” but GMs may find other appropriate situations for it. Though at least somewhat material, and therefore vulnerable to mundane weapons, it is a formidable pursuer.

Abilities: Athletics 12, Health 15, Scuffling 16, Shadowing 12 Hit Threshold: 3 Stealth Modifier: -1 Stability Loss: +2 Armour: -2 (thick hide) Abilities: Athletics 8, Health 6, Scuffling 7, Missiles Attack: +1 (sucking bite). If the thing succeeds in 6, Weapons 5 fixing itself on its prey with its sucking bite, it can Hit Threshold: 4 cling on and suck the victim’s innards out of their Stealth Modifier: +2 body, with 4 Health points lost per round, leaving Stability Loss: +1 only “a rind of skin over projecting bones.” Armour: 0 Attack: -1 (flint arrow), -1 (flint knife) Night-Raven However, they appear quite physical when encountered, and fight and take damage accordingly. They roam remote places in packs, often interfering with isolated human communities and seeking young maidens to abduct for nefarious purposes, perhaps to breed changelings.

Mummy

“A night-raven is a person that has been buried where three boundaries meet, and has done a wrong. There A preserved and reanimated corpse, which may be a are certain veins or passages underground that they Bog Person from Scandinavian, northern English or have to work along before they can get out. When Irish bogs, or even a frozen lich from the high Alps, as they do come up they go faring all about.” - M.R. well as the classic Egyptian mummy. How they are re- James, Preface to Hans Andersen’s Forty Stories. animated, and what their purpose is, is up to the GM. This English version of the Germanic, Norse and Abilities: Athletics 6, Health 15, Scuffling 10 Slavic Nachtkrapp appears as a gigantic raven-like Hit Threshold: 3 (slow and stiff) black bird, seen only at night. According to the tradiStealth Modifier: -1 tion cited by James, they are the manifestation of a Stability Loss: +2 suicide or wrongdoer who cannot rest after death. Casting the Runes

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Their “dismal voice” can be heard in the air at night, and Germanic tradition describes them as carrying off children to devour them. The night-raven is invulnerable except to silver and enchanted weapons. It also has the same vulnerability to sunshine as a vampire, suffering 2 points of Health damage per round of exposure to sunlight. Whether or not it’s the sending of a ghost, the nightraven certainly has the same deathly powers as the most dangerous ghosts. If a character’s Stability pool is reduced to 0 or below by the night-raven, they fall dead on the spot from pure fright. Abilities: Athletics 12, Health 15, Scuffling 16, Shadowing 12 Hit Threshold: 4 Stealth Modifier: +2 Stability Loss: +1 Armour: -2 (thick feathers, invulnerable to mundane weapons) Attack: +1 (beak) plus fear attack Poltergeist The Night Raven is the spirit of a deceased villain that preys on the living in the form of a carrion bird.

This is the invisible and spirit associated with many haunted houses, and dwellings with an adolescent girl under the roof. Whether they are possessing spirits is a matter for debate; they do not manifest any form, and are laid rather than exorcised. They are also affected by Circles of Protection and other magic targeting spiritual beings, but not by enchanted weapons.

Saiitii Manifestation “There is no protection against this particular form of monster, except, possibly, for a fractional period of time; for it can reproduce itself in, or take to its purpose, the very protective material which you may use, and has the power to ‘forme wythine the pentycle’; though not immediately.” - William Hope Hodgson, The Whistling Room

Poltergeists attack by levitating objects and throwing them at characters. A poltergeist can do this at one target per round. Abilities: Athletics 12, Health 15, Scuffling 16, Missiles 12 Hit Threshold: 6 Stealth Modifier: +2 Stability Loss: +0 Armour: 0 (intangible and invulnerable) Attack: -2 (flung object)

Saiitii Manifestations are some of the most frightful entities in William Hope Hodgson’s Carnacki stories, compared to “a living spiritual fungus, which involves the very structure of the aether-fiber itself, and, of course, in so doing, acquires an essential control over the ‘material substance’ involved in it.” They among the worst of the “Monstrosities of the Outer Circle,”

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erected within a pentacle”). This does give Investigators one means to dispel a Saiitii Manifestation while it is dormant, and is often the only way. Other defences are unknown, although “some inscrutable Protective Force” may intervene to save Investigators, as happens to Carnacki in The Whistling Room. Not every Saiitii Manifestation seeks to actually attack mortals, and they may be content to simply perform Stability-shattering antics like whistling dreadfully. However, the attacks they can make are unique and especially horrible. The Attack given here is based on one famous case: GMs can freely invent others. Abilities: Athletics 12, Health 15, Scuffling 14 Hit Threshold: 3 (Saiitii Manifestations are large and conspicuous) Stealth Modifier: -1 Stability Loss: +2 Armour: 0 (intangible and invulnerable, immune to normal and enchanted weapons) Attack: A Saiitii Manifestation seeks to consume the soul of its victim. To do this, it warps matter close to or around the target, though it is in fact only on the spirA Sheeted Ghost attacks Professor Parkins in his itual plane, and the physical body of the target rehotel room in Burnstow after he has been far too mains where it is. This attack is always effective: the curious in the ruined Templar Preceptory. target’s Hit Threshold makes no difference as they struggle to free themselves from stone or wood turned which threaten humanity from some other encircling to a clinging trap. This effect does take one round to plane. Places, rooms or objects where some particu- manifest itself, but targets cannot avoid it without larly horrible crime or dark spell has been perpetrated some drastic expedient like jumping from a tower wincreate channels for them to reach the earth. dow (Athletics roll vs. Difficulty 5) or shooting themselves. Once the effect is fully manifest, the victim canThey appear as distortions of regular matter, which not break its embrace. Each subsequent round, the gradually assume monstrous forms. Saiitii Manifesta- target must succeed in a contest of their Stability vertions have power over the fabric of space, and can sus the Saiitii Manifestation’s Health (meaning autoslowly “forme wythine the pentycle,” and otherwise matic failure in most cases). Failure means the target circumvent magical and material protective barriers – loses one die roll of Stability. When the target’s Staeven Carnacki’s famous Electric Pentacle. They can, bility drops below 0, they are irrevocably consumed by for instance, extinguish candles, or perform Telekine- the Saiitii Manifestation and become a living vessel sis; and “Theyr be noe sayfetie to be gained bye for it. gayrds of holieness when the monyster hath pow’r to speak throe woode and stoene.” Any matter contami- Saiitii Manifestations can also perform all of the nated by a Saiitii Manifestation remains a potential ghostly manifestations listed under Ghosts (p. 91), with channel for it, and has to be completely consumed by corresponding Stability damage. a fire, or other extreme heat (e.g. “a blast-furnace, Casting the Runes

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Sheeted Ghost

Spider Familiar

“Rapidly growing larger, it, too, declared itself as a figure in pale, fluttering draperies, ill-defined. There was something about its motion which made Parkins very unwilling to see it at close quarters. It would stop, raise arms, bow itself towards the sand, then run stooping across the beach to the water-edge and back again; and then, rising upright, once more continue its course forward at a speed that was startling and terrifying.” - M.R. James, “Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come to You, My Lad”

“It seems as if Sir Richard were moving his head rapidly to and fro with only the slightest possible sound. And now you would guess, so deceptive is the half-darkness, that he had several heads, round and brownish, which move back and forward, even as low as his chest. It is a horrible illusion. Is it nothing more? There! something drops off the bed with a soft plump, like a kitten, and is out of the window in a flash; another - four - and after that there is quiet again.” M.R. James, The Ash-Tree

This is the spectre that Professor Parkins calls up in perhaps M.R. James’s most celebrated tale - as well as a gruesomely persuasive articulation of the traditional concept of the sheeted ghost. The phantom has no material form, but shapes itself one out of linen or whatever other fabric it can find. It can manipulate the fabric finely enough to form, for instance, a face, but has very little strength. “It could really have done very little, and [its] one power was that of frightening.” That said, its one power is very bad indeed.

This is the Familiar of Mrs. Mothersole - or rather, Familiars, as she had evidently gathered many of them to herself during her years of life and undeath. They are grotesquely large and dangerous tarantula-like spiders which are endowed with an extremely potent venom.

The sheeted ghost cannot be conventionally killed, but its fabric body can be destroyed. (More alert Investigators than Professor Parkins might consider using fire…) It’s up to the GM to decide whether the thing can manifest itself once again, then or later, with another fabric body.

Mrs Mothersole used her Spider Familiars to murder her enemies at Castringham Hall.

Abilities: Athletics 10, Health 1, Scuffling 10 Hit Threshold: 5 (small size) Stealth Modifier: +3

Abilities: Athletics 14, Health 20, Scuffling 6 Hit Threshold: 4 Stealth Modifier: -2 Stability Loss: +0 (more for especially frightful ghosts) Armour: 0 (but bullets do no damage, and edged weapons simply inflict 1 point of damage per hit until the fabric is completely shredded) Attack: Ghostly touch. This does no damage, but for every round that the sheeted ghost maintains contact with its target, the character has to make a 3-point Stability test. If Stability drops below 0, the character is liable to leap out of a window, run into the sea, or do anything else to try to escape the vile touch.

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Stability Loss: +0 Armour: 0 Attack: -2 (bite). A Spider Familiar has a venomous bite, and a character bitten by one must succeed in a Difficulty 4 Health test or take one dice roll of poison damage. Spider Familiars usually hunt in packs, though, and often can get several bites in by surprise before a victim can do anything. Thing of Slime

Throwback “I saw his body swell and become distended as a bladder, while the face blackened before my eyes; and then at the crisis I did what was necessary according to the directions on the Seal, and putting all scruple on one side, I became a man of science, observant of what was passing. Yet the sight I had to witness was horrible, almost beyond the power of human conception and the most fearful fantasy. Something pushed out from the body there on the floor, and stretched forth a slimy, wavering tentacle, across the room, grasped the bust upon the cupboard, and laid it down on my desk.” - Arthur Machen, The Novel of the Black Seal

“I was conscious of a most horrible smell of mould, and of a cold kind of face pressed against my own, and moving slowly over it, and of several - I don’t know how many - legs or arms or tentacles or something clinging to my body” - M.R. James, The Treasure of The Throwback is the product of interbreeding Abbot Thomas between humans and the hidden people of the hills and the underworld, the “Fair Folk.” Such a person This is a creature most often left as a guardian by some appears normally as a dark-featured, mentally powerful sorcerer. It can apparently lay quiescent for challenged individual - a “natural,” in the country centuries until disturbed. It may be mistaken for a jargon of the time. However, under certain conditions, leathery bag or tarpaulin until it animates. Once the Throwback can transform and mutate horribly. aroused, it is a slow but relentless pursuer, leaving a There may be an occult or a scientific explanation: trail of slime and a strong smell of mould, but as a “The amoeba and the snail have powers which we do creature of darkness, it is inactive by day. not possess; and I thought it possible that the theory of reversion might explain many things which seem It can be laid back to rest by returning whatever wholly inexplicable.” treasure it was set to guard to its original resting place, or by otherwise putting things back to rights. The Throwback may not have any aggressive intentions at all, and is unlikely to be more intelligent and Normal weapons do no damage to the amorphous purposeful in its transformed state. However, the Fair creature. Enchanted weapons and fire may do full Folk are behind numerous murders and abductions, damage to the monster. and may enlist a Throwback for their purposes. Abilities: Athletics 6, Health 8, Scuffling 10 Hit Threshold: 3 Stealth Modifier: +1 Stability Loss: +1 Armour: -1 (leathery hide, and impervious to mundane weapons) Attack: -2 (tentacle), but for each successful attack, the victim must make a Difficulty 4 Stability test, losing 2 points of Stability if this fails.

Abilities: Athletics 8, Health 6, Scuffling 7 Hit Threshold: 4 Stealth Modifier: 0 Stability Loss: +1 (on witnessing transformation) Armour: 0 Attack: +1 (tentacle) Toad Creature “Late on Monday night a toad came into my study: and, though nothing has so far seemed to link itself with this appearance, I feel that it may not be quite

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prudent to brood over topics which may open the interior eye to the presence of more formidable visitants.” - M.R. James, Stories I have Tried to Write This is the toad entity that M.R. James hints at at several points. The monstrous toad reputedly found under Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire may be such a beast, as may the thing that “might be described as a frog – the size of a man” which appears in The Haunted Doll’s House. It is vulnerable to material weapons, but still powerful and frightful. It may be used as a guardian creature by sorcerers, or haunt ruins and abandoned places. The Toad Creature’s tongue functions as a shortrange missile weapon. Targets hit by it must make a Difficulty 4 Athletics test or be pulled into the creature’s maw for a bite, and will remain there to be bitten again each round. Abilities: Athletics 8, Health 14, Scuffling 12, Missiles 14 Hit Threshold: 3 Stealth Modifier: -1 Stability Loss: 0 Armour: -2 (thick warty hide) Attack: +1 (bite), 0 (tongue, but see above)

The Toad Creature is often used by powerful sorcerers to protect their treasures and secrets. including spells, and purposes intact. Many may be raised simply to answer questions, but are liable to turn nasty if a weak or foolish sorcerer cannot control them.

Tomb-Walker

Abilities: Athletics 8, Health 12, Scuffling 12 Hit Threshold: 3 (slow and stiff) “At the side of this den, against the wall, was crouch- Stealth Modifier: -1 ing the anatomy or skeleton of a human being, with Stability Loss: +1 (if freshly arising from the dead) the skin dried upon the bones, having some remains of Armour: -1 (dried leathery skin) black hair, which was pronounced by those that exam- Attack: +1 (fists) ined it to be undoubtedly the body of a woman, and clearly dead for a period of fifty years.” - M.R. James, Vampire The Ash Tree “‘Just at that instant,’ he says, ‘I felt a blow on my foot. The Tomb-Walker is a revenant that has returned with Hastily enough I drew it back, and something fell on its mortal frame more or less intact, whether raised the pavement with a clash. It was the third, the last of from its grave by necromancy, or living on after death the three padlocks which had fastened the sarcophaas a vile lich. It obviously has some similarities with a gus. I stooped to pick it up, and - Heaven is my witness Mummy. Purists may speculate whether Mrs Mother- that I am writing only the bare truth - before I had sole and Count Magnus in James’s tales are Tomb- raised myself there was a sound of metal hinges creakWalkers or vampires, but it is obvious that some ing, and I distinctly saw the lid shifting upwards.” Tomb-Walkers at least will also return with Abilities, M.R. James, Count Magnus

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Vampires may hold a canonical place in M.R. James’s work, depending on the interpretation of Mrs Mothersole and Count Magnus in particular. Count Magnus certainly has apparent powers of fascination and mesmerism, as well as simply rising from his tomb. Once again, GMs are invited to pick and choose from all the accepted powers and problems of vampires when creating their own. Vampires may appear more vulnerable once these are known and understood, but they are usually very long-lived and experienced survivors, with all kinds of other Abilities and resources. The following selection is to cover most of their traditional powers and vulnerabilities.

chanted ones. Wounds heal immediately, without impeding the vampire. There are only two exceptions. A successful called shot on the vampire’s head with a sword, axe or other edged weapon doing 3+ damage will behead the vampire, killing it immediately. A successful called shot on the vampire’s chest with an impaling weapon, such as a spear, will stake the vampire, doing it damage and rendering it helpless until it has removed the stake with a successful Difficulty 4 Athletics roll (one try per round). The vampire deducts one point from its Hit Threshold while trying to remove the stake. A successful called shot on the vampire’s chest with a stake specially prepared for the purpose - carved from aspen or rowan or some other Vampires are normally invulnerable to bullets and mis- blessed wood and/or blessed or immersed in holy sile weapons during combat - except perhaps for en- water - will destroy it immediately, reducing it to a pile of ash. A sleeping vampire in its coffin The vampire Alice Sackville has been plaguing the world since can be staked with almost any wood and be1620. The Investigators are on her trail, but she is on theirs. headed without effort, after a Difficulty 3 Athletics test. Vampires are creatures of the night, and cannot walk abroad in sunlight. Each round of exposure to daylight costs them 2 Health points. Vampires need to sleep through the daylight hours in coffins or tombs filled with earth from their original home country, and can only regenerate lost Health and Ability points by doing this - or by drinking blood (see below). A slain vampire can still return from the dead unless it is beheaded and its head removed elsewhere, and/or burned and its ashes scattered. Vampires are burned by contact with a crucifix or other holy symbol, which does 2 points of damage per contact, holy water, which does 2 points of damage per phial, and garlic, which does 1 point of damage per contact. All of these will also repel the vampire. A vampire must make a Difficulty 6 Health test to confront a cross, and a Difficulty 5 Health test to remain in a room filled with the odour of garlic. Certain especially blessed herbs and plants (e.g. dog rose, wolfsbane) may be equally effective. Casting the Runes

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Vampires cannot enter a house without being invited by an occupant. Of course, mesmerism may provide an easy way around this problem... Vampires can mesmerize their victims, with a Health contest versus the target’s Stability. A mesmerized victim will remain quiescent and suggestible, or perform simple tasks. A vampire can only mesmerize one victim per round, if uninterrupted, but once memerized, the victim remains that way until roused by others. Vampires restore lost Health by drinking blood. The victim of a successful bite attack by a vampire, who later fails a Difficulty 4 Stability test, cannot resist when that vampire returns subsequently to drink more blood. Each bite costs one damage roll of lost Health points, which will not regenerate until the vampire is slain. If the vampire chooses, three consecutive visits to a victim on three nights will transform them into another vampire after burial. Vampires can transform into wolves, bats, or mist, at a cost of 3 Health Pool Points each time. They are still vulnerable to the usual dangers in these forms. If a vampire is reduced to 0 Health without being destroyed, it will transform into mist and drift away to regenerate. A vampire in such a condition remains hurt until it can find a fresh victim. Vampires cast no shadow, whether under sunlight or lamplight, and no reflection. A vampire must make a Difficulty 4 Health test to confront a mirror. Bystanders may notice the problem with the vampire with a Difficulty 4 Sense Trouble test. A vampire can exhibit immense strength, expending 2 Athletics Pool Points each time: for instance, tearing the iron gates off a tomb.

The Ferocious Werewolf is immune to all but silver or enchanted weapons. Their bite can spread their curse to victims. Werewolf

“‘What do you feed on?’ he asked. ‘Flesh,’ said the boy, and he pronounced the word with slow relish, as Abilities: Athletics 14, Health 14, Scuffling 14, though he were tasting it. ‘Flesh! What Flesh?’ ‘Since Weapons 8, plus any other significant Abilities the it interests you, rabbits, wild-fowl, hares, poultry, vampire had in life lambs in their season, children when I can get any; Hit Threshold: 4 they’re usually too well locked in at night, when I do Stealth Modifier: -1 most of my hunting. It’s quite two months since I Armour: 0 (but invulnerable to mundane weapons) tasted child-flesh’.” - Saki, Gabriel-Ernest Stability Loss: +1 (if witnessing transformation) Attack: -2 (bite), +1 (sharp fingernails)

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Will-o’-the-Wisp These are the classic lantern spirits, said to haunt bogs, fens, marshes and other wild places, and to lead unwary travellers to their deaths. They appear as a bobbing, spectral light, although they can imitate a lantern, beacon, buoy, or whatever other type of lamp is needed to trick mortals. They are effectively immune to earthly weapons, and can cause no direct harm themselves. However, they are quite cunning and capable enough to decoy Investigators into serious peril. (Harsh GMs might want to give them mesmeric powers.) The stats below, especially Health, are given only in case a magician tries to dispel one: a more common scenario will be a will-o’-the-wisp darting around Investigators and dodging their weapons until it finally vanishes with a mocking cackle. Abilities: Athletics 12, Health 14, Scuffling 12 Hit Threshold: 6 Stealth Modifier: +2 Armour: 0 (Immune to mundane and enchanted weapons) Stability Loss: 0

Witch Cats, demon felines of the kind which dealt out supernatural vengeance at Barchester Cathedral. They are not kitchen cats... The werewolf is the classic creature of legend. GMs may give it as many of the customary strengths and vulnerabilities as they choose: shape-shifting under the full moon, great strength, sensitivity to wolfsbane, etc. The common factors we recommend are blind insatiable hunger once in wolf form, and invulnerability to all but silver or enchanted weapons. All the statistics below are for the wolf form. Abilities: Athletics 12, Health 12, Scuffling 12 Hit Threshold: 4 Stealth Modifier: +1 Armour: -1 (thick fur, and invulnerable to mundane weapons) Stability Loss: +1 (if witnessing transformation) Attack: +1 (bite), +1 (claws)

Casting the Runes

Witch Cat “The cat was on the stairs tonight. I think it sits there always. There is no kitchen cat.” - M.R. James, The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral This is a demonic cat, whether a witch’s familiar or an apparition. Its malign powers are up to the GM, but could include a poison bite, or invulnerability to mundane weapons, or simply a devilish talent for getting in the right place to trip some victim up or cause a deadly accident... Abilities: Athletics 12, Health 3, Scuffling 15 Hit Threshold: 5 Stealth Modifier: +2 Armour: 0 Stability Loss: 0 Attack: -2 (bite), -2 (claws)

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Yeth Hound

Deities and Demiurges

The Yeth Hound is the Hound of Hell, portrayed in many gruesome legends. Its eyes burn like red coals, and phosphorescent drool drips from its slavering jaws. Mortal weapons cannot hurt it, although enchanted weapons might and Circles of Protection can hold it at bay. Packs of Yeth Hounds may roam together in the Wild Hunt, for an especially terrible adventure.

“In exactly similar fashion may the Being of the Earth have projected portions of herself in the past. Of such great powers or beings there may be conceivably a survival … a survival of a hugely remote period when her Consciousness was manifested, perhaps, in shapes and forms long since withdrawn before the tide of advancing humanity … forms of which poetry and legend alone have caught a flying memory and called them gods, monsters, mythical beings of all sorts and kinds….” - Algernon Blackwood, The Centaur

Abilities: Athletics 12, Health 10, Scuffling 12 Hit Threshold: 4 Stealth Modifier: -2 (howl, glowing hide) Armour: -1 (thick fur, and invulnerable to mundane weapons) Stability Loss: +0 Attack: +1 (bite)

In a Jamesian game of occult investigation and folk horror, it’s more than likely that sooner or later the Investigators will encounter the deities and spirits of classical and pagan antiquity. The GM is free to rationalize these beings against the Judaeo-Christian

The Yeth Hounds are unearthly dogs. They act as guardians of certain places and relentlessly hunt down the wicked.

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One thing for sure is that Investigators should try at all costs not to tangle with gods. They are more powerful than almost all the Greater Demons. They are invulnerable to any weapon or magic that human power can wield, and more used to devastating cities than small parties of mortals. At best they may be placated or induced to depart. They are more likely to warp or misuse mortals for their own dark or inscrutable purposes. Therefore, these guidelines for creating gods and godlings are only brief outlines. GMs can expand on them in whatever way feels best. GMs can also ransack any pantheon or folk tradition for more - remember how many of the grims and hobgoblins of rural folklore were originally deities, reduced over time to hedge sprites. Deities can be expressed for game purposes by a Circumstance where they prefer to manifest, and an Attribute that defines their character - and what they are most likely to do with Investigators. The Circumstance doesn’t have to be a place: the Romans had personified deities for the hours of the day and for abstract qualities, as well as for mountains and springs. Below are a couple, purely as examples. Odin has many faces and many names, and often wanders the mortal world in disguise. Odin is an enigmatic god who always has an agenda.

Odin

Jamesian backdrop with whatever traditional or personal explanation feels best. They may be simply devils in disguise. They may be neutral spirits who neither joined with the Heavenly Host in the great struggle against Lucifer, nor were cast into the Pit (as many tales of the Seelie Court agree). They may be mere shadows of the Powers they once were, kept in being by a few scattered worshippers and half-understood rites, like the pathetic yet still deadly beings of Jean Ray’s Malpertuis. Or they may be waiting in the shadows for the next great War in Heaven, when they can wind back the clock of Sacred Time and reset the universe in their own image. There are plenty of rich dramatic possibilities for the GM to explore.

Attribute: Fatality. Odin is the god of knowledge, of secrets, of death and fate. He walks the ways of the world and knows the twisted paths of destiny.

Casting the Runes

Pantheon: Norse

Circumstance: By roadsides or pathways, or along the routes that mortals take to meet their fate. Odin will most often appear beside a pathway, in the guise of an old one-eyed man in a hat. This can be interpreted any way the GM wants: A modern Odin may have a sou’wester pulled down over one eye. Odin will vouchsafe some secret or warning to a character, chuckling mysteriously, then disappear. The effect of this will be a Difficulty 4 Stability test, with 3 points lost on failure, for the targeted character only.

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Odin has far more obvious powers in his other forms, as lord of Asgard and leader of the Wild Hunt, but mortals will rarely encounter him then. Hecate Pantheon: Graeco-Roman Attributes: Liminality. Hecate is the goddess of crossroads, doorways, boundaries between the seen and unseen or mundane and magical, as well as sorcery and dark witchcraft. There is extensive occultist literature on Hecate, and her possible affinities with Isis and the crone aspect of the Triple Goddess. Circumstance: Doorways or thresholds, crossroads, gateways. Hecate appears as a threefold goddess, with three separate bodies coalescing and dividing. This sight imposes a Stability test of Difficulty 5, with 5 points lost on failure. Hecate can grant knowledge of certain spells, especially those associated with death, spirits and the Underworld. She is also associated with dogs, and can call up 1-3 Yeth Hounds at any time, or assign these to worshippers.

Everyday beasts “The antlers drove straight at her breast, the acrid smell of the hunted animal was in her nostrils, but her eyes were filled with the horror of something she saw other than her oncoming death. And in her ears rang the echo of a boy’s laughter, golden and equivocal.” Saki, The Music on the Hill

Hecate, three-faced Graeco-Roman goddess of the crossroads and sorcery is a fearsome mistress of magic. She is often invoked by witches, and those who seek to traffick with the dead. Bear

“A number of the children of the house were playing about. They had turned out all the lights and were engaged in the dreadful game of ‘Bear,’ which entails stealthy creepings up and down staircases and along Investigators may encounter mundane but highly passages, and being leapt upon from doorways with dangerous beasts, even in the quietude of Jamesian loud and hideous cries.” - M.R. James, The Game of England. Here are some statistics for these. GMs are Bear urged to expand on them with as much knowledge of actual habits and peculiarities as possible, so that wild Investigators might well encounter European brown beasts can be real threats rather than light relief. Nat- bears in the woods of Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, or urally, Investigators with Fieldcraft or Biology Abili- even some isolated pockets in France, Spain, Italy and ties can shine when encountering wild beasts. Austria, though they have been extinct in Germany

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since the 1830s. Bears get two attacks per round, either with two claws or a bite. Abilities: Athletics 14, Health 12, Scuffling 12 Hit Threshold: 3 Stealth Modifier: -1 Armour: -2 (thick fur) Attack: +1 (claw), 0 (bite)

Abilities: Athletics 12, Health 12, Scuffling 12 Hit Threshold: 2 Stealth Modifier: -3 Armour: 2 Attack: +4 (gore/trample)

Boar

Bull

“The boar-pig had drawn nearer to the gate for a closer inspection of the human intruders, and stood champing his jaws and blinking his small red eyes in a manner that was doubtless intended to be disconcerting.” - Saki, The Boar-Pig Wild boar are found across most of Europe, especially Central and Eastern Europe and Scandinavia. They are not usually aggressive unless surprised or provoked, but an enraged boar is extremely dangerous, due to its rapid attack, ferocious bite, thick hide and dense bones. A charging wild boar gets first attack due to its high speed against any opponent armed with a hand weapon. GMs can use a less well armoured, weaker version to model situations where a domestic pig might attack. Abilities: Athletics 12, Health 10, Scuffling 14 Hit Threshold: 4 Stealth Modifier: +1 Armour: 4 Attack: +2 (bite), plus charge

“He had bred a bull which was something rather better than any that his immediate neighbours could show. It would not have made a sensation in the judgingring at an important cattle show, but it was as vigorous, shapely, and healthy a young animal as any small practical farmer could wish to possess.” - Saki, The Bull A bull will not attack unless a character enters its territory. GMs may bring in the traditional enraging effect of the colour red. Bulls are sacred to a number of deities, so magical bulls might be encountered, likewise certain demons are known to take the form of a bull. Abilities: Athletics 8, Health 8, Scuffling 8 Hit Threshold: 2 Stealth Modifier: -2 Armour: 0 Attack: +2 (gore/trample) Lion

Buffalo “He told a tale, half foolish, half interesting, of a mysterious track he had seen when following buffalo in the jungle. It ran close to the spoor of a wounded buffalo for miles, a track unlike that of any known animal, and the natives, though unable to name it, regarded it with awe. It was a good sign, a kill was certain. They said it was a spirit track.” - Algernon Blackwood, The Wolves of God Casting the Runes

Buffalo can be encountered on the European mainland, e.g. in southern Italy or Poland. However, these stats can also be used for large herbivores such as the Eurasian elk.

An Investigator may never go on safari to Africa, but they might still encounter a lion escaped from its cage. These stats can also be used for any large carnivore, such as a tiger or wolverine. Abilities: Athletics 12, Health 10, Scuffling 8 Hit Threshold: 4 Stealth Modifier: +1 Armour: 0 Attack: +2 (bite)

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Rat Swarm Rats are no kind of danger singly, but a maddened swarm can do damage. Every 10 rats contributes 2 points each of Athletics, Health and Scuffling. Each successful hit kills 1 rat and disperses 9; shotgun blasts or burning oil disperse up to 50. Similar stats can be used for other swarming creatures.

A deer is rarely if ever dangerous to humans, but one of Saki’s most unsettling tales culminates in just such an incident. The stag given here can be used for other aggressive antelopes.

Abilities: Athletics 8, Health 8, Scuffling 6 Hit Threshold: 4 Stealth Modifier: -1 Abilities: Athletics 6, Health 6, Scuffling 6 (swarm of Armour: 0 30 rats) Attack: +1 (gore) Hit Threshold: 3 Stealth Modifier: 0 Wolf Armour: 0 Attack: -2 (bite, +1 for every 30 rats) “The cry of the wolves rose on the still winter air and floated round the castle walls in long-drawn piercing Snake wails; the old woman lay back on her couch with a look of long-delayed happiness on her face.” - Saki, The “Hkrikros was a Pagan of the first water, and kept the Wolves Of Cernogratz worship of the sacred serpents, who lived in a hallowed grove on a hill near the royal palace, up to a high pitch Wolves will almost always attack in packs rather than of enthusiasm.” - Saki, The Story of St Vespaluus singly. The same stats will do for large attack dogs and hunting dogs; reduce for smaller canines. This is for a poisonous snake, rather than a large constrictor. Investigators may encounter the Adder (only Abilities: Athletics 10, Health 6, Scuffling 12 midly venomous) in the British countryside, as well as Hit Threshold: 4 far more dangerous varieties elsewhere. GMs are at Stealth Modifier: 0 liberty to model the effects of a particular snake’s Armour: 0 venom on actual details for cobras, vipers, etc. Attack: +1 (bite) Abilities: Athletics 8, Health 2, Scuffling 8 Hit Threshold: 5 (small and hard to hit) Stealth Modifier: +2 Armour: 0 Attack: - 2 (bite, plus venom) Stag “At last he broke through the outermost line of oak scrub and fern and stood panting in the open, a fat September stag carrying a well-furnished head. His obvious course was to drop down to the brown pools of Undercombe, and thence make his way towards the red deer’s favoured sanctuary, the sea.” - Saki, The Music on the Hill

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Magic agic in the ghostly tales of M.R. James is almost always the purview of villains, sorcerers, witches, and other menaces to the sane and settled order of things. On the rare occasions that protagonists actually perform magic themselves, as in Casting the Runes, they either acquire it reluctantly from their antagonists, or regret their occult studies very soon after.

M

massive scale. Many require other elaborate preconditions, or supporting minor spells. Some can only be learned from conjured entities. Almost none are available from commonly available texts. There is no menu of spells for the Investigators to set out to learn, and even those with Occult knowledge will only have the vaguest idea that they exist at all.

Want to acquire a Hooded Spirit servitor? First you Other Edwardian classics of occult detection, espe- need to go into the ruins of Chorazin, and there salute cially Hodgson’s Carnacki series, do have a more the Prince of the Air. Want to raise a witch from the actively sorcerous protagonist, but even there, magic dead to learn a new spell? Be prepared to pass a Stabilis usually defensive, and concerns mostly warding off ity Test of Difficulty 5, as well as all the other difficulor dispelling supernatural threats, rather than conjur- ties including finding the witch’s corpse in the first ing them up or performing great feats of sorcery. place. Yearn to set Spider Familiars loose on your enemies? You already need to have called up a Greater This is the approach to magic we’ve adopted for this Demon, signed your name in the Black Book of Death, game. The magic system and spells are here not to give and evaded investigation for the blood sacrifices reInvestigators whole grimoires to learn, but more to quired by those rituals. Want to learn Telekinesis? The give them some idea of what magicians are capable of, only known copy of the rite is locked away in Scotland and motivated by. Other GUMSHOE games may Yard’s Black Museum, after its previous owner was have a more active and powerful magic system, and caught abducting street urchins to cut out their hearts. players and GMs are invited to refer to them, or to Obviously, many of these limitations are up to the adapt the system here as they see fit. The Aberrancy GM, but to keep the true flavour of a Casting the Ability in Fear Itself, or Magic Ability in Rough Mag- Runes game, we recommend using them and more. ics, or Hypergeometry in The Fall of DELTA GREEN, could all be recast for this setting. All of this is intended to capture and define magic within the mechanics of the game, and give GMs Here are a few of the limitations on magic imple- a few useful and fun tips on how to use these to mented in the following outline spells and rituals. Al- create more interesting ways to play supernatural ocmost all of them require considerable time, resources, currences, but they shouldn’t be seen as binding (sic). and prior study. Very few can be performed in the Magic is by definition beyond the rational course of an investigation - barring some warding or and natural, and James, unlike Hodgson, never defensive charms. Almost all of them are also the jeal- codified or reiterated any system. We prefer the ously guarded property of cults or lineages of wizards, Jamesian approach. whose survival usually depended on absolute secrecy. Most of the more powerful ones have grievous Health Ever wonder why so many powerful sorcerers are and Stability costs that require either a brush with megalomaniacs or murderous sociopaths? Consider mental collapse, or blood sacrifice on a more or less the effect of casting just a few powerful spells. Any Casting the Runes

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player-character who somehow gets on the Left Hand Path may fairly soon find their Stability permanently blasted by magic, at which point they become an NPC, either institutionalised as a source of insane but occasionally rewarding insights, or perhaps a new and terrible antagonist. The canonical GUMSHOE table of Mental Illnesses provides plenty of ideas for sorcerers’ motivations.

Magic Costs and Difficulties This magic system is modelled closely on the system developed for Trail of Cthulhu, with the help of Tony Williams. It is designed to be simple and consistent with the basic GUMSHOE rules, but still flavourful. GMs should be aware, though, that other magic systems have been developed under the GUMSHOE rules, and can adapt their own. Almost all magic requires to some extent a wrenching of reality, and a transgression of natural laws. Three Abilities are used to model this: Occult, Stability and Health. Occult represents the knowledge of the caster; Stability and Health represent the strength of will and life force needed to power the spell. (“Health” in a magical context, of course, is a less material concept than elsewhere in the game, but we stick with it to avoid introducing yet another metric to keep track of.)

Spells require both a fixed cost to be paid in Pool Points - usually Stability - and a Stability test, of a given Difficulty level. Both figures are given in the spell description. The Cost figure should always be assumed to be Stability, unless otherwise stated. With all spells, unless otherwise stated, the Cost of a spell can be paid in Health instead of Stability, on a 2-for-1 basis. For certain offensive or defensive spells, the basic Cost is increased by the number of points that the caster wants to put into the attack (or defence). The standard minimum Stability loss from a failed test in casting a spell is 2, equivalent to “a strong unnatural sensation such as intense déjà vu” in the Stability rules. For certain spells (Banish, Curse, Evil Eye, Exorcism, Haunt Dreams, Poppetry), a targeted entity is able to resist, with the usual GUMSHOE contest of each side rolling to match or beat a given Difficulty (usually 4), adding Pool Points of Stability or Health to boost the roll. An easy contest is resolved when one side fails their roll; the GM can make the contest tougher by raising the Difficulty or mandating three lost rolls to win. The caster also still has to make their Stability roll. For more powerful entities, this may mean that the caster has to pile up a stack of Pool Points.

The caster’s Stability Pool Points can be drawn on to improve the success chances in the Stability test as usual - though the caster should remember the spell’s basic point cost as well. Some other Abilities can reinforce the Stability test associated with a related spell for instance, a countryman with Fieldcraft or a musiOccult is still applied to other uses as a regular cian with a musical Art would be able to draw on their Investigative Ability, but it governs the learning of Ability to lessen the destabilizing effect of a Contact magic. Stability and Health power its casting. Other Faunus spell. Usually this effect is capped at a 1 point Abilities can contribute modifiers to a spell, but these benefit, and does not require an active spend from the are usually very limited. The tripos of fundamental Pool Points for the associated Ability. The effect cap is Abilities is the basis of magic. not increased if the caster has more than one appropriate Ability.

Casting a Spell All spells require a test which represents a struggle against the resistance of the Cosmos to human efforts to effect changes to the substance of reality - or the potency of the target entity. Overcoming this is mindwracking, and requires great strength of will.

Certain rituals allow other characters to voluntarily contribute their Stability (or Health) Pool Points to pay the Cost, whether or not they know the spell, contributing 3 points for every 1 point transferred to the caster. Only the caster need make the Stability test for the spell, but the points cannot be added to the Stabil-

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ity test, only to defray the Cost. The contributors quently something or someone else’s) needed to draw must be compos mentis to do this: characters already or satiate the entity evoked. unhinged by seeing a Greater Demon would be unable to join in the ritual. Some spells can be repeatedly cast as many times as the caster’s Stability and Health resources and the duraIf the spell casting fails, with a blown Stability test, the tion of the scene allow: for instance, Banish. Others caster and any other contributors lose only half of the only have a single chance of success per scene: for exspell’s points Cost. However, any of the caster’s Pool ample, Summon spells. Points used to buttress the Stability test will be lost in full. Furthermore, a failed Stability test in spell casting The deep-dyed sorcerers whose magical researches inflicts damage on the caster’s Stability just like any have long since reduced their Stability to 0 do not have other failed Stability test, usually with some direct re- to take the Stability test for spells. But they still need lation to the intended effect of the spell. Some spells to pay the relevant Cost - usually in Health from sacautomatically cost Health as well as Stability. In some rificial victims - and have already sold their own souls spells, this is a reflection of the strain and lacerating to the forces of darkness in exchange for their powers. effort required to effect changes in reality; in others, it is a measure of the expenditure of life force (fre- The GM should feel free to devise other spells on the

Offensive and Defensive Spell Costs The most powerful supernatural entities will obviously require big Pool Point accumulations and spends if any Banish or Warding spell is ever to succeed against them. That’ll be a problem for magicians who do not know the Health of their target. How many points to put into a Banish spell, or into a Circle of Protection? The offensive and defensive spells listed below assume that a caster has some idea of the average strength and potency of their opponents, but not an exact figure. Naturally, most casters are going to err on the side of caution and overcharge their spells. Sensibly, most GMs should match adversaries to the Investigators’ powers. Of course, all this adds more to the fun and doubt factor of magic, but it also adds considerably to the risk. Determining the strength required for spells is an obvious benefit for Occult Ability Pool Point spends. A 1point Occult spend will give the generic Health/strength for that particular type of entity. A 2-point spend will give the exact Health/strength of the target. Some magic grimoires can help out by giving exact strengths for the various monsters and demons. For instance, the Pseudomonarchia Daemonum (The False Kingdom of the Demons) gives the exact strengths of 69 Greater Demons, even though it contains no useful magic to actually summon a demon. This is one area where classic but totally harmless real-world occult tomes may help the Investigator. GMs should play this carefully as a specific benefit from studying such a book. Certain magic artifacts or aids may give casters the exact strength of a target entity. Enchanted fanes or places of power may have this effect too, as well as their other benefits. Regardless of the spell cost, the Stability test in a casting remains a limiting factor on the caster’s chances of success.

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same basis as detailed here. Magic is supernatural by definition, and spells are not codified formulae that can be standardised and read off to achieve the standardised results.

The Faustian Bargain lose readers of the Casting the Runes rules may

Calready have noticed that learning more and

Learning Magic

more powerful magic leaves a character progressively less and less able to cast it. The damage wrought by Occult Rating levels of 7 or above on Stability means that a caster will be handicapped in the Stability rolls needed to cast spells.

The Investigator who wants to learn a magic spell in Casting the Runes can do so from a book or other written record, or a teacher (human or inhuman). Either way, none but the simplest charms can be learned within game time - unless some spirit or demon grants knowledge of the spell by immediate revelation, with appropriate Stability costs. At the GM’s discretion, other abilities - Cryptography, Folklore, Languages, etc. - may have to be used as well.

There are many ways around this paradox. Certain Abilities can lower the Difficulty number of a Stability test. So can certain holy (or accursed) places, magical artifacts, or such. And of course, this is where the dark tempters step in. Devils and demons are always ready to lead unwary thaumaturgists off the primrose path with sorcerous advantages. Signing oneself into the Black Book of Death guarantees that sorcerers who fall below 0 Stability in the course of their diabolism will keep their senses (such as they are) and still be able to pursue their dark ends, nominally sane.

Most spells can only be learned by study between adventures, and by the sacrifice of Occult Pool Points. The magician must sacrifice as many Occult Pool Points as the basic cost of the spell. These Occult Pool Points are only sacrificed once between adventures, but will not be available for the adventure immediately following, although the spell itself will be. As with the more sophisticated rules for refreshing Stability between adventures, the Investigator is assumed to need point by which the spell’s basic cost exceeds the uninterrupted rest to refresh Occult Pool Points. caster’s current Occult Rating. Time spent learning a spell between adventures is anything but restful. The Investigator will only regain those Occult Pool Points once they get a period of proper rest - though for exceptionally long campaigns, the GM may allow this to happen in the periods between episodes. Banish

Spells

Some artifacts or tomes, or even Abilities, may lessen the Occult Pool Points cost of learning a particular spell. Even then, the spell will always demand at least 1 Occult Pool Point. Some very rare and powerful spells might require the sacrifice of Occult Rating points instead of Pool Points.

This spell sends a spirit, Ghost, or other non-material entity back to its own plane. It will not permanently lay a Ghost or destroy a Demon, but it at least protects Investigators from interference by that entity for the rest of the adventure - unless some other sorcerer or dark force intervenes.

With enough outside help, a magician might end up learning a spell with a basic cost above their Occult Rating. If this were to happen, the Stability test Difficulty of the spell, and the Stability damage should the test fail, would increase by 2 points for every 1

GMs with a theological bent can give clergy the option to perform this rite as part of their training. Especially evil sorcerers will supplement their Pool Points with the Health of sacrificial victims when matching the target entity’s Health.

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Stability Test Difficulty: 3, 2 loss on failure Time: 1 round Cost: 1, plus points committed to match or beat target roll (Stability or Health) Ritual: The caster chants an incantation, which takes about one round. The caster must have line of sight to the target, and be at close range. The caster and target engage in a contest, targeting a set Difficulty (usually 4), and committing Stability or Health points to back their rolls. When the target loses its roll and the caster wins, the target is Banished. At the GM’s discretion, the Difficulty can be raised, and/or Banishment may require more than one victory. The most potent Ghosts and Demons simply cannot be Banished except by the most powerful sorcerers. Call Spirit This is the spell used by mediums and others to reach out to the spirits of the dead. The summoned spirit will resolve out of the air as an apparition, or manifest through the caller as a voice. The caster must know the identity of the spirit, and usually must be in physical contact with someone or something that was close to the spirit in life. The spirit will share some secret, or answer a question, then disappear. It will not, usually, appear as a hostile Ghost, but witnesses will still have to take the appropriate Stability test when beholding it. Each additional participant in the seance can contribute to the success of the rite, at the usual 3 points to 1 additional point ratio. Stability Test Difficulty: 4, 2 loss on failure Time: 1 round per Health point of target spirit Cost: 2, plus points committed to match target Health (Stability or Health) Ritual: The caller goes into a trance, and gibbers and moans for minutes while calling the dead spirit. The caller must match the Health points of the target entity, with Stability or Health points. Peace and quiet must be maintained throughout the ritual. The spell becomes more difficult if cast anywhere but in a darkened room: +1 Cost if attempted in the open air.

Casting the Runes

Cast the Runes The quintessential Jamesian curse, this spell is actually an addendum to a Summon spell for a Greater Demon. The caster must already know the Summon spell and must have successfully cast it at least once. Casting the Runes transfers the Summon spell to a slip of paper or parchment inscribed with runes, which then imprints the summoning on the one who receives it. TheGreater Demon will manifest after a set period of weeks or months, and slay the recipient in some suitably terrible way. The recipient will grow increasingly haunted and fearful as the deadline approaches, whether or not they know of the coming threat. Smaller imps and other manifestations will persecute them with growing ferocity until just before the due date, causing no damage, but requiring a Stability test each time. The caster may or may not send them some sign or hint of what is coming, to terrorise them still more. The recipient can in fact head off the attack, but only by returning the paper to the caster, who must take it willingly and (presumably) unawares. However, when first discovered, the paper will fly away and be lost, unless the recipient is very quick and lucky (Athletics test, Difficulty 5). A very fortunate and clever recipient can leave the caster to bear the full brunt of the Greater Demon’s attack, as they undoubtedly deserve. Stability Test Difficulty: 5, 3 lost on failure Time: Time needed for casting the Summon Greater Demon spell, plus 1 hour Cost: 3 (plus the cost of the Summon Greater Demon spell) Ritual: The caster must cut themself with a dagger and inscribe the runes while casting Summon Greater Demon. The ritual does not cause the Greater Demon to manifest immediately, but all the other usual costs are the same. The paper or other scrip carrying the runes must be annointed with a special preparation requiring 6 hard-to-obtain, costly and possibly illegal ingredients.

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Circle of Protection “On the north side of the dark church, even in its shadow, and not more than ten yards from a new-made grave - the only one on that side of the building - they picked out a space where the grass was shortest, and drew two large circles, one within the other. And in the space between the circles they marked out with some pains the symbols of the planets and a few Hebrew letters which were meant to indicate names of angels and of the Great Power” - M.R. James, The Fenstanton Witch This is one of the few spells readily available to the non-magician, and accessible to students of the Occult, although it still requires study to learn the rite and the “angelic names or planetary symbols” used to draw the Circle. It protects the caster and any- In the cellars of Lufford Abbey, Mr Karswell negotiates with a one else within the Circle from attack Greater Demon to gain its help in casting a vicious curse. by (most) non-material entities, especially Ghosts, Demons and Elementals. The Circle or planetary symbols” between the outer and inner acts as an impenetrable barrier to any such entity with circumference. Salt or magic chalks are required to Health equal to or below the number of points of charge the Circle: some special varieties may be availHealth put into it. (Bloodthirsty GMs can represent able to enhance its effectiveness. this as actual blood used to draw the Circle.) More powerful creatures can simply step across and ignore The Circle will only remain potent until the next it. Of course, Investigators will probably have no idea sunset after its creation. After this, it will need to be exactly how powerful any unfamiliar entity is... recharged, which requires a fresh casting. Stability Test Difficulty: 4, costing 2 on failure. Folklore gives a 1 point reduction to this. Time: Inscribing the Circle and chanting the appropriate invocations takes 10 minutes, plus one minute per point of Health sacrificed into the Circle. The common Circle is three yards in diameter: each additional yard requires a further five minutes. Cost: 2, plus 1 Health per point of protection. Ritual: The caster must be standing on a surface where the Circle can be inscribed - typically a bare floor or patch of bare earth - and must use a stick or finger to trace the outline and various “angelic names

With its time and cost, the Circle of Protection is obviously fairly useless as a point defence, and is best prepared in advance. Consecrate/Desecrate Fane This ritual creates a sacred (or unholy) site that provides a lasting advantage for any corresponding spells and rites performed there. The precise benefit depends on the Health points contributed at its creation.

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For a white magician or religious, the fane must be an appropriately holy and blessed spot (chapel, healing well, hermit’s cave, etc). For a black sorcerer, the fane will usually be an abandoned church, temple or altar, which is then desecrated in the course of the ritual. (The attempted desecration of a church or theft of an altar stone for sorcerous purposes could provide a scenario for pious Investigators.) Stability Test Difficulty: 5, costing 3 if failed. Architecture, or Fieldcraft for an open-air fane such as a sacred grove, can reduce the Difficulty by 1 point. Time: The creation of the fane requires a day (or night) of uninterrupted prayer and rituals. Cost: 3 Stability, plus Health points put into the fane. Ritual: For every 3 Health points contributed to the fane, it will contribute a 1 point advantage to Stability tests for rites performed there, and reduce the Cost of a spell cast there by 1 point.

telligent material beings, who then may or may not decide to destroy or devour the caller when they arrive. Players may conclude that there simply is no point trying to Contact such creatures, but magicians presumably have different motives. Contact Hooded Spirit This unholy ritual secures one of the hideous, tentacled beings of M.R. James’s Count Magnus as an undying servitor.

Stability Test Difficulty: 5, costing 3 if failed. Time: The caster must chant a blasphemous litany in the ruins of Chorazin for 20 minutes. Cost: 3 Stability. Ritual: The caster must go to the ruined city of Chorazin (on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee in the Holy Land), and there salute the Prince of the Air. The Hooded Spirit will glide into view a few minutes For white magic, this is a ceremony of purification and later. The process of actually securing the loyalty of meditation; for black magic, it involves drenching the the Spirit is for the GM to decide. altar with the blood of sacrificial victims, whose Health usually empowers the fane. The benefit will only work Contact Little People for similarly aligned spells; e.g. a holy place will not help Summon a Demon. A black altar is obviously a This spell Contacts the sinister Little People of near prerequisite for Summoning Greater Demons. Arthur Machen’s tales. It must be cast in an area of open country known to be frequented by the Little An Occultist will be able to recognise a fane (no point People. Contacting them, though, will have very unspend), and will usually be able to despoil or purify it, pleasant consequences, unless the conjurer knows how dispelling its power. Except for the most powerful to treat with them. fanes, this is a simple procedure, involving the inscription of a holy symbol (or spilling of blood). Stability Test Difficulty: 5, costing 3 if failed. Time: The caster must stand at the dark of the moon Contact Spells in a known gathering spot of the Little People, and hiss for five minutes in their ophidian tongue. The various Contact spells are formulated to Contact Cost: 2 Stability, at the time of scrawling the sumthe few at least demi-material entities of the game set- moning symbols. ting. Any other such races created by the GM may be Ritual: The caster must draw symbols on a wall or Contacted through similar rituals. Normally, this is rock face, sacrificing Stability, in a place where the the only way to voluntarily initiate interaction with Little People are accustomed to pass through or them, though they may track Investigators down of congregate. This will cause representatives of the Littheir own accord. tle People to appear at the nearest fairy ring or other spot associated with them, at the next dark of These spells should not be confused with Summon and the moon. Binding spells. They simply initiate contact with inCasting the Runes

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Contact Faunus

Time: Instantaneous Cost: 1 point of Health per point of damage This spell will contact one of the frightful Children of inflicted. Of course, the type of sorcerer who knows Pan, who will stalk out of the woods to meet with the how to cast Curse will likely have reservoirs of Health caster. drawn from sacrificial victims. Ritual: Learning to Curse involves sacrificing at Stability Test Difficulty: 5, costing 3 if failed. least 20 points of Health from intelligent victims. Folklore or Fieldcraft reduces the Difficulty by 1 Once learned, the ritual is short and simple: the caster point. simply yells out the Curse and points or glares at the Time: The caster must play a melody under the moon victim. The caster must have line of sight to the target, for at least 20 minutes. and be at close range. Cost: 3. Masters of a musical instrument with Rating of 8 or above can contribute up to 2 Art Pool Points to Enchant Item the cost of the spell. Ritual: The caller must play a specific melody on a This will most commonly implant a spell into the item bone flute on a moonlit night, in a grove or forest being enchanted, so that users can perform the spell known to be frequented by the Children of Pan. with the appropriate Stability test and Cost - without learning it first. The enchanter must know the original Contact Swine Thing spell, as well as the Enchant Item spell, or work with another magician who does. For those entities that can This contacts the porcine-human hybrids found on only be harmed by an enchanted weapon, this spell the borderlands between planes of existence. A pack will enchant a blade, arrow point or bullet, without will come in response to the call. The caster any other spell being required. It is also used to create will need to be very well prepared to deal with these the athame, or enchanted dagger, used in many magiterrible beings cal rites. Stability Test Difficulty: 5, costing 3 if failed. Time: The caster must chant for five minutes in the Swine Things’ “oleaginous speech”. Cost: 2 Ritual: The caster must stand on the rim of a pit where the Swine-Things are known to dwell. The Swine-Things will boil up out of the earth.

Items can also be Enchanted to activate and cast the spell Enchanted into them when an unwitting user finds and handles them. This could be, for example, a Summon Lesser Demon spell Enchanted into the pages of a scrapbook, or a whistle...

Stability Test Difficulty: 5, 4 on failure. The appropriate Art or Craft skill lowers the Difficulty Curse by 1. Time: 3 weeks, plus 1 week per point of enchantment This is one of the blackest incantations, usually only Cost: 3, and a minimum of 1 Stability Rating point. granted by a Greater Demon, and only performed by For each 1 additional sacrificed Rating point, the item the most evil sorcerers. The necromancer who casts a reduces Difficulty rolls for Stability tests with its successful Curse can strike adversaries dead on the corresponding spell by 1, and lowers the Cost of its spot. This spell cannot be used to slay enemies se- spell by 1. cretly, though: the Curse is very loud, public, immediate, and conspicuous. An especially powerful item can confer these benefits to all spells cast with its aid. If the item is to be the vesStability Test Difficulty: 0 - casters of this sel for a spell, that spell must be cast successfully into ghastly incantation are already lost to reason. the item, with all the corresponding casting costs.

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Enlighten Faculties This horrible ritual is anything but enlightening, despite its anodyne name. The sorcerer seeks to refine their essence to such a degree that they can become immaterial at will, fly through the air, and escape physical injury or decay. They do this by extracting and consuming, with appropriate ceremony, the hearts of three living persons, below the age of 21 and born on the same day as them. “Some annoyance may be experienced from the psychic portion of the subjects, which popular language dignifies with the name of ghosts.” An “enlightened” magician can appear normal, but render their body translucent or nearly invisible at will (Hit Threshold 6), and is Transcendent, injured only by enchanted weapons or magic. (Cosmopolitan GMs may want to utilise similar Immortals in traditional Chinese Daoism.) The rite must be performed three times, once for each sacrifice, with all appropriate tests and costs, before the faculties are “enlightened”. Stability Test Difficulty: 6, 5 on failure. Time: one night for each ceremonial sacrifice, plus preparation time. Cost: 5 Ritual: The heart of each victim must be removed from the living subject, on their birthday, reduced to ashes, and mingled with about a pint of some red wine, preferably Port, which is then drunk.

Mr Abney of Aswarby Hall prepares a human heart for use in the Enlighten Faculties spell, a malignant ritual that grants the caster great power. Some enchanted items can, or must, be created through the sacrifice of Health Rating points instead of Stability Rating points, but these require 5 sacrificed Health Rating points to confer 1 point of advantage in Stability tests.

Evil Eye

Traditionally, the caster takes most of these Health rating points from other individuals or creatures, but must always contribute at least 1 point. An athame, for example, can be tested by plunging it into the breast of a kid or a black cock, but the enchanter must nick their own thumb with the blade first. Ritual: The caster crafts the item over a period of weeks, chanting the rituals and employing the appropriate materials or ingredients. These may be hard to obtain, and immensely valuable.

The advantage of this is that the caster can kill at a distance, unsuspected, without the victim having any chance to protect themselves in advance. The Evil Eye can be lifted by the caster at any time prior to the death of the victim.

Casting the Runes

The caster inflicts a slow-acting curse on the victim, which will progressively shrivel their life and eventually kill them, unless counteracted or lifted.

Stability Test Difficulty: 5, 4 on failure Time: 1 night to brew potion, plus preparation time. Cost: 4, plus Health points equal to Health of the target.

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Ritual: The caster must have a hair, nail paring, or other castoff from the target’s body, and will need at least one night to brew it in a cauldron with various hard-to-obtain ingredients. Once the Evil Eye has been cast, the target loses 1 Health Rating point permanently per week, until they have wasted away.

Obtain Familiar

Exorcism

Stability Test Difficulty: 5, costing 3 if failed. Failure leaves the Familiar free to attack the caster. Time: One night of appropriate ritual. Cost: 3 Stability Ritual: The caster prepares an elaborate calling ritual with rare incenses, magical salves and herbs, and long blasphemous chants. The Familiar appears out of the darkness at the end of the ritual.

This is one of the few rites conferred by the Church or other religions devoted to benevolent deities. It sends a possessing spirit back to its own plane. It will not permanently lay a possessing spirit, but it at least protects the sufferer from repossession by that entity. Stability Test Difficulty: 4 (3 with Theology), 3 on failure. Time: 1 day or night for full exorcism Cost: 2, plus points committed to match target Health (Stability or Health) Ritual: The exorcist goes through the whole bell, book and candle traditional ritual. (Investigators with Jewish, Islamic, Hindu or other backgrounds substitute the appropriate rites of their own faiths.) The exorcist must be able to lay hands on the possessed victim, and be uninterrupted during the rite. The caster must win the contest with the spirit, at a GM-mandated Difficulty level and number of wins. The most powerful possessing spirits simply cannot be Exorcised except by the holiest exorcists.

This is a special variation of the Contact spell and is used to obtain a magical Familiar. The ritual can only be performed by a caster who has Signed themself to the powers of darkness.

Pentacle This rite creates a five-pointed star to confine a summoned Demon or Elemental. Rather than protect the caster, like the Circle of Protection, it imprisons the summoned entity. This can be preferable if the sorcerer wants to protect those in the vicinity (unlikely), or wants double insurance in case of a blown Binding (mandatory). If the Pentacle is broken or flawed, the demon is free to leave, causing whatever carnage it can in its wake. If any person or thing enters the Pentacle or is held within it, the demon is free to do as it likes with them. Especially evil sorcerers can use the Health points of (sentient) victims instead of their own to fuel the Pentacle.

Haunt Dreams The caster can send visions to trouble the sleep of the victim - or exceptionally, to communicate something to them.

Stability Test Difficulty: 4, 3 on failure. Time: 5 minutes per point in Pentacle. Cost: 2, plus 1 pool point of Health per point of Stability Test Difficulty: 4, 2 on failure. Folk- strength put into the Pentacle. lore or Psychology adds a 1-point advantage to this. Ritual: The Pentacle must be carefully traced on the Time: one night ground or floor, with all the correct angelic/demonic Cost: 3 names and symbols inscribed, accompanied by the apRitual: The ritual must be performed at night, each propriate chants and prayers. Once inscribed, the time a dream is sent. The caster must have some object Pentacle is ready, but it is activated by lighting candles that has been in close proximity to the victim - a piece of at its points. A single Pentacle can be used for repeated clothing, hair, nail parings, a cigarette case or calling card, Summonings, but any upgrade requires a fresh ritual etc. The caster must be undisturbed throughout the ritual. with a completely new, fresh dedication of points.

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Any spiritual creature Summoned within the Pentacle with less Health than the Pentacle’s strength will stay bound within the Pentacle until the task it was Summoned for is completed. A Pentacle can be combined with an Enchant Item spell to trap a ghost or demon in a bottle or other item for eternity - or until the item is broken or opened and the entity released.

or other sources to empower the spell. A poppet can also be used to perform Hypnosis on a victim, or spells capable of affecting them, at the usual costs. Raise Dead

“As midnight came near, Hardman drew from his bosom a paper book, about a hundred years old, illPoppetry written and full of diagrams like that which had just been drawn upon the ground, and within whose This ritual creates a poppet, or effigy, of the victim, compass both of them were standing. He began to which allows the sorcerer to wound or manipulate the read, or intone, a Latin form of conjuration, a sinister target. The magical linkage continues until the pop- kind of Church service, in which the most sacred of pet is destroyed - but this must be done carefully to names were freely employed; and to this Ashe made avoid further injury, or worse. the set appointed refrains” - M.R. James, The Fenstanton Witch Stability Test Difficulty: 5, 4 on failure. Time: one night This frightful ritual raises a corpse from the grave in Cost: 3, plus additional Health points to cause physical form. The caster may then ask the lich Health damage. questions, or learn spells from it. The corpse is not Ritual: The caster must have a hair, nail paring, or guaranteed to be friendly, but will usually cooperate other castoff from the target’s body, and will need at to ensure that the caster will return it to the grave. least one night to craft the poppet out of wax or straw, with various hard-to-obtain herbal or magical ingre- Stability Test Difficulty: 5, 4 on failure. dients. For each Health point contributed to the cast- Time: one night ing, the caster can inflict 1 Health point of damage. Of Cost: 4, plus the Stability cost of witnessing the course, evil sorcerers will use the Health of sacrifices corpse. Ritual: The spell must be cast at midnight, near the The Devil teaches witches the art of Poppetry, fresh grave of the corpse that the necromancer wishes the making of magical dolls to bring harm. to speak with. A corpse in a mortuary or other resting place can also be raised, so long as it is reasonably intact. Scry This rite is used to see into the past, or distant places, or hidden things. The caster must use a glass or a bowl of water to peer into to see what is revealed. GMs should be careful with what can be revealed through a Scry spell. A Scrying session could be used to deliver a Core Clue, but this contradicts the usual principle that Core Clues are delivered free and automatically. GMs are advised to keep Scrying reveals strictly limited Casting the Runes

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Stability Test Difficulty: 4, 3 on failure. Folklore adds a 1-point advantage to this. Time: 30 minutes plus extension through point spend Cost: 2 Ritual: This spell requires the immediate sacrifice of a black cock or kid, followed by the sacrifice of 1 Health point per minute that the scrying is in effect. The basic casting time is preparation only. Especially ruthless scryers may tap the Health of other participants in the ritual. Sign Oneself This is the classic black magic ritual of signing oneself in the Black Book of Death, performed with the caster’s blood. The signatory is henceforth marked as one of Satan’s minions, and will receive the Devil’s mark somewhere on their body. Once a sorcerer has signed themselves, any Demon they Summon will perform the usual tasks and services for the summoner without demur, does not need to be bound, and will be less likely to thwart the caster’s intentions. The sorcerer will also not suffer the usual damaging effects of Stability loss when spell casting drives their Stability below 0, and will be able to cast spells once their Stability Rating drops below 0 without taking Stability tests. This, needless to say, is a ploy by the Evil One to make sorcerers damn themselves: once they are below 0 Stability, the sorcerer is lost to Perdition, and is an eager tool in Satan’s dark designs.

With the aid of the powers of darkness the sorcerer may call up the dead to learn secrets and magical knowledge.

Signing oneself to the Evil One is a time-dated contract, however, and at the end of that time, the Devil will arrive to collect his due. The more the magician ence of a Greater Demon, although the signer does has done to blacken their soul meanwhile, the better. not need to be the summoner. The supplicant perThis could be another scenario seed. forms a blood sacrifice of 3 points of Health (usually a black cock, hare or kid), sacrifices at least 1 point of Stability Test Difficulty: 5, 4 on failure. Failing their own Health to draw their own blood, and signs to Sign Oneself, however, will mean the supplicant is the Black Book with their blood. found wanting, and they will be immediately devoured by the Summoned Demon. Summon Demon Time: 1 hour in addition to usual Summoning time. Cost: 4, plus the Stability cost of seeing the demon. This is the crux of art magic, and diabolically difficult Ritual: This ritual must be performed in the pres- and dangerous. With this ritual, the magician seeks to

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summon a Lesser or Greater Demon from the Underworld, and bind it temporarily to their service, to ask a question, learn a spell, or receive a favour.

A Summoned Demon is only bound and co-operative to the most superficial extent. A Greater Demon especially will almost always require some other inducement to perform a task, whether a murder, seduction, theft, desecration, or whatever.

The demon is not required to be friendly, and has to be subdued or bribed to perform any task. Unsubdued Lesser Demons may simply tear the summoner limb Summon Elemental from limb; a Greater Demon may do something far worse. This is when a Circle of Protection or Pentacle This is the ritual to summon one of the spirits of the comes in especially handy. four elements. A different ritual is required for each of the four types. A successfully bound Elemental must Demons are multifarious, and a sorcerer must study the perform the task required, such as flying with the summoning ritual for each one separately, usually with caster to a remote mountaintop (for a Sylph) or firing an eye to summoning the one responsible for the area the forge to cast an enchanted weapon (for a Salamanthat the sorcerer seeks an advantage in. For instance, der). When the task is complete it must depart. the grimoire The Lesser Key of Solomon lists 72 Greater Demons, each with its peculiar characteristics, and each Elementals are normally too stupid to exercise any deof these Presidents or Dukes of Hell commands legions monic tricks to twist the caster’s intention. Failure to of Lesser Demons. GMs are advised to make a Summon bind the Elemental frees it to dissolve back into its Greater Demon ritual especially entertaining, with constituent element, or roam around the vicinity for plenty of instances of the Demon’s unique powers and another five minutes first, doing whatever harm it is superhuman cunning and malevolence. capable of to the summoner and anyone else present. This is when a Circle of Protection or Pentacle is useStability Test Difficulty: 6, 5 points lost on ful, indeed vital. failure. A failed test leaves the Demon summoned but unbound. Stability Test Difficulty: 4, 3 points lost on Time: 5 minutes per point of Health of the target de- failure. A failed test leaves the Elemental summoned mon. but unbound. Cost: 5, plus the Stability cost of actually seeing Time: 5 minutes per point of Health of the target Elthe demon. emental. Ritual: To Summon a demon always requires the Cost: 4, plus the Stability cost of seeing the Elemensacrifice of Health points equal to half the Health of tal. the target demon. This usually means an animal in the Ritual: To Summon an Elemental always requires case of Lesser Demons, and a human or even several the sacrifice of Health points equal to half the Health for a Greater Demon. Beyond this, the ritual for each of the target Elemental. This invariably means an anidemon is unique to that entity alone. Usually these will mal for Elementals, who, unlike Demons, do not relbe performed at night, with incense and chanting, and ish human sacrifices. the sacrifice performed as part of the summoning, but beyond that, anything goes. Some may have to be per- Each of the four types of Elemental requires a differformed at a particular spot; others may require very ent Summoning ritual. Usually these will be perspecial sacrifices. formed at night, with some of the appropriate element present. Some may have to be performed at a particular spot or at certain times of the year; others may require very special sacrifices that will be difficult for the sorcerer to obtain. Casting the Runes

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Telekinesis This spell gives the caster limited abilities to move objects with the power of their mind alone. It normally acts only at close range, but with the aid of a Scry spell, can act at a distance. The caster must not be disturbed while exerting themselves, and must have line of sight to the target, either directly or through some magical intermediary such as a scrying glass. Stability Test Difficulty: 4, 3 on failure. Time: 5 minutes per point of Health. Cost: 2, plus additional Health cost (see below). Ritual: The caster chants a ritual, and goes into a trance. The trance (and the effect) lasts for 5 minutes per 1 point of Health (the caster’s own or someone or something else’s) sacrificed in the ritual. For each 1 point of Health sacrificed, the caster can move a pound weight with the power of their mind. So, Telekinesis costs a minimum of 2 points plus 1 Health point. The force of the caster’s human The souls of the Devil-bought, who have signed the Black will is not great (demons and spirits may Book, are forfeit. Sooner or later, Lucifer will come to claim be able to manage more). However, it is his own, and carry them off to Hell, willing or no. quite enough to cause harm or have effects if applied correctly: for instance, using a light A Warding charm creates an impassable barrier pillow to suffocate a victim. between the target entity and the caster. The duration is only limited to 5 minutes, but this is usually enough Warding time for the caster to flee out of the entity’s area of manifestation. This is the basic spell to ward off evil entities and spirits. It is often the only defence against the supernatu- A successful Warding charm prevents the target from ral that a mortal has, and is one of the few which can be attacking the caster, whether that attack is purely spirlearned in the course of a scenario (increasing Occult itual/magical, or does physical damage. It will not Ability to 1 if the character has no rating). It is simple protect the caster against material entities summoned and easy to cast, although of relatively little potency by magic, such as a Swine-Thing or Faunus. Nor will for most casters. it protect the caster against the mesmeric powers of a Vampire or Faunus.

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Stability Test Difficulty: 4, 3 on failure. Folklore reduces this Difficulty level by 1. Time: 1 round per point put into the Warding. Cost: 1, plus Health points (see below). Ritual: The caster recites a short formula, and inscribes a figure in the air or holds up a potent symbol (such as a cross), committing their own and any other participants’ Health points to the Warding. The targeted entity must have Health or Stability above the strength of the Warding to overcome the Warding. Others can contribute Health to the Warding, on the usual 3-to-1 basis, but only those who did this - or who can stand immediately behind the caster - will be protected by the Warding. Only one entity can be targeted per casting.

Tomes and Grimoires “Those who spend the greater part of their time in reading or writing books are, of course, apt to take rather particular notice of accumulations of books when they come across them. They will not pass a stall, a shop, or even a bedroom-shelf without reading some title, and if they find themselves in an unfamiliar library, no host need trouble himself further about their entertainment.” - M.R. James, A Neighbour’s Landmark Books are an overriding theme of M.R. James’s ghost stories - several are explicitly structured around ancient and mysterious books, and many make reference to such books or texts. Naturally, Casting the Runes has an honoured place for treasured tomes and grim grimoires - repositories of dark lore and secrets. These are hardly ever the kind available in libraries, though - even the restricted collections. A truly important, powerful volume will probably be the sole surviving copy, or a manuscript work, perhaps a great warlock’s personal journal. Think of Canon Alberic’s scrapbook - a volume of some 150 blank pages, each with a separate leaf from an illuminated manuscript fixed to it. Such books are the proper props and targets for investigations precisely because they are so unique and their knowledge so little shared. Casting the Runes

In game terms, magic books and tomes have several functions. They can contain clues for the investigation. They can teach you spells. They can help increase your Occult (or other) Investigative Ability. They can grant you specific mystical but non-magical knowledge essential for dealing with supernatural entities (e.g. the various ways to make pacts with the Little People of the earth.) Last but not least, they can undermine your Stability, or serve as channels for the manifestation of very dark forces. Any clue book, unearthed according to the usual rules of automatic finds for the appropriate Investigative Ability, will yield up its clue after study - unless the mere presence of the book is itself the clue. In many cases, this may also need a use of the appropriate Language, and perhaps even some other Investigative Ability. Study of the book to find the clue takes a day or evening of down time - unless the Investigator has the Library Use Investigative Ability, or the relevant Language. A 1-point pool spend from Library Use or the Language pool cuts this to one hour per 100 pages, printed or written. Upping the point spend to 2 points means the clue is found after a few moments’ skimming. GMs can vary this to represent the cases where the clue is a picture, a book illustration, or maybe some scribbled marginalia. The most arcane and prized grimoires will also have actual, workable spells to teach. Learning them is not a given, though. Except in very rare, special cases, any Investigator who ends up with such a book must learn the spell between investigations, through weeks and even months of diligent study, assimilation and practice. This follows the rules given above for learning magic between adventures. The would-bemagician also has to know the language of the book (often an obscure or ancient language). Any book with a Stability cost will require a Stability test against the given Difficulty, with the corresponding cost lost on failure.

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Some tomes can also yield dedicated Pool Points for particular Abilities or spell costs after diligent study, or across-the-board increases in Abilities, usually Investigative Abilities. Others, especially the real-world tomes actually familiar to students of the occult, can provide valuable additional information on things magical, without conferring actual spells. However, grimoires and magical tomes may come with their own Stability-damaging effects…

Some sample Tomes Here are some suggested incunabula, codices, manuscripts, and other volumes for Casting the Runes, based on M.R. James’s own writing and other sources. Once again, GMs should feel free to craft their own. We make no apologies for cribbing names directly from M.R. James’s work. Book of Miriam Date: c. 900 A.D. Language: Hebrew (original); Latin (translation) Difficulty: 4 Occult benefit: 1 Stability cost: 1 Spells: 1 (GM’s choice) Book of the Thirty Words Date: c. 900 A.D. Language: Greek (original); Latin (translation) Difficulty: 4 Occult benefit: 1 Stability cost: 1 Spells: (GM’s choice) Book of the Toad Date: c. 900 A.D. Language: Arabic (original); Latin (translation) Difficulty: 4 Occult benefit: 1 Stability cost: 1 Spells: Summon Lesser Demon

Daemonologie, In Forme of a Dialogue, Divided into three Books: By the High and Mighty Prince, James Published in 1597 by King James VI of Scotland, who soon after became James I of England, Daemonologie was the king’s defence of witch-hunting, and drew on his personal involvement in the North Berwick Witch Trials of 1590. It is a compendium of virtually every type of spirit, demon, rite, and superstition of the time. For Casting the Runes Investigators, it can give exact information on the strength of any Demon, Greater or Lesser. Given its royal origins, the book may have interesting annotations in its original manuscript... Date: 16th century Language: English Difficulty: 4 Occult benefit: 1 Stability cost: 0 Spells: 0 De praestigiis daemonum (On the Tricks of Demons) A best-selling debunking of witches, magic, and witchcraft by the Dutch physician Johann Weyer, De praestigiis daemonum is perhaps best remembered now for its appendix Pseudomonarchia Daemonum (The False Kingdom of the Demons), which lists 69 Greater Demons and the rites needed to summon them up. For gaming purposes, while the rites themselves do not work, the book may yield the information for a magician who already knows the Summon Demon spell to target the right Greater Demon for their purposes. Date: 16th century Language: Latin Difficulty: 4 Occult benefit: 1 Stability cost: 0 Spells: 0

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Major libraries such as the Bodleian at Oxford, pictured here, have occult holdings which may prove useful to Investigators. Books with working spells though tend to be the jealously guarded possessions of sorcerers and other nefarious types, and will be difficult and dangerous to obtain. Hidden Songs of Iolo Sant

Date: 16th century Language: Latin “There were suggestions of an awful region which the Difficulty: 4 soul might enter, of a transmutation that was unto Occult benefit: 1 death, of evocations which could summon the utmost Stability cost: 1 forces of evil from their dark places - in a word, of that Spells: Contact Little People, Contact Faunus sphere which is represented to most of us under the crude and somewhat childish symbolism of Black Key of Solomon Magic.” - Arthur Machen A Fragment of Life A classic, genuine occult text. It contains numerous An obscure book which may give insights into the spells and conjurations, but for the purposes of ways of the Little People, Faunus, the Fae Otherworld the game, almost all of these can be assumed not to acof Welsh legend, and the mysteries of elemental spir- tually work. However, many editions exist in different its. languages and manuscript traditions, and some may be more potent than others. Casting the Runes

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Date: 14th century Language: Latin (other Hebrew and Greek editions exist) Difficulty: 4 Occult benefit: 1 Stability cost: 0 Spells: 0, but it gives details on entities for Summon spells

Extraordinary Items Magical and supernatural items appear in the work of M.R. James at least as often as actual spell casters. Given the difficulty of learning and casting spells under these rules, they may be the only magic that the Investigators are likely to encounter.

Many have been passed down through the ages as preLiber nigrae peregrinationis (The Book of cious relics, and further enchanted and enriched with the Black Pilgrimage) each generation of sorcerers. The resulting artifacts may be catastrophic in the hands of the unprepared. Date: c. 1600 A.D. Language: Latin The following items are mostly either enchanted or Difficulty: 5 have powers that make them useful when facing the Occult benefit: 1 supernatural. Stability cost: 2 Spells: (GM’s choice) Amulet of Protection Sigsand Manuscript Date: c. 1300 A.D. Language: Latin Difficulty: 5 Occult benefit: 1 Stability cost: 2 Spells: (GM’s choice)

The amulet is created by an appropriate Enchant Item spell, and protects the wearer against 1 point of Health damage inflicted by magic for each pool point put into it on its creation.

The amulet will protect against damage from spells like Curse, or damage inflicted by entirely supernatural creatures, like Ghosts. It will not protect against the material damage inflicted by Elementals or other Turba Philosophorum (The gathering of material damage resulting from magic. the philosophers) Athame A genuine alchemical text, written by Arabic scholars who attempted to summarize Greek alchemi- This is the magical dagger of occult tradition, created cal thinking. As you might expect from such a well- by the Enchant Item spell. It is useful in many conknown compendium, it does not help work wonders or texts - not least blood sacrifices. raise demons. Its power depends on the number of Stability Rating Date: c. 900 A.D. points sacrificed during its creation: for each 1 sacriLanguage: Arabic (original); Latin (translation) ficed Stability Rating point, the athame adds 1 to all Difficulty: 4 relevant casting rolls for any spell cast with it, and proOccult benefit: 1 vides 1 dedicated Pool Point for contests. Stability cost: 0 Spells: 0 An athame automatically adds 1 additional point of potency to any Circle of Protection or Pentacle inscribed with it, and 1 point to a magician’s attempt to Summon Elemental or Summon Demon, representing

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the effect of inscribing the requisite figures with its blade. Some athames may transfer the Health of those sacrificed with them to the wielder, rather than channelling that energy into a magical ritual. This could be an especially damning temptation for an unwary Investigator uncovering one in a curio shop…

Planchette This is a classic ouija board. It is essentially an Enchanted item, carrying a Call Spirit spell. It will enable characters to use this spell to call the dead without learning it, but with the corresponding tests and costs. Seeing Glasses

Electric Pentacle

“Old Baxter shouted out to him from the bed: ‘Put it down, you fool! Do you want to look through a dead Carnacki’s trademark, the Electric Pentacle provides man’s eyes?’” - M.R. James, A View from a Hill limited protection against supernatural and ab-natural entities. The Electric Pentacle is experimental, ex- These are binoculars - or a spyglass - created through pensive and temperamental technology; no more than an Enchant Item ritual that involves boiling the bones a few are likely to be in existence. of the dead, and bottling the resulting jelly between the lenses of the glass. The glasses can be used to show The Electric Pentacle requires five minutes to set up. scenes and buildings as they were in the past, and perIt provides an impenetrable barrier for entities with a haps to reveal secrets. To use them requires an initial Health up to twice the Mechanics Pool Points that the sacrifice of 1 point of Health for each new user, and afoperator has put into managing it. The Occult Ability terwards, the glasses remain bound to that user only. adds 1 to this total. However, for each five minutes that the Electric Pentacle remains in operation, the opera- However, the donors who provided the ingredients tor with Mechanics must make a test against Difficulty are likely to be both aware and vengeful. Antiquarians 5, or it will fail. tempted to use the glasses are liable to end up the subjects of fearsome supernatural pursuit. Hand of Glory Vampire Hunter’s Crossbow This unpleasant object consists of the dried and pickled hand of a hanged man, specifically the left (Latin: This weapon is unique to the vampire hunter, and is sinister), or, if he was hanged for murder, the hand unlikely to be found anywhere except in the hands, or that “did the deed,” which acts as the candlestick for a among the effects, of a veteran pursuer of undead candle made with the fat of the hanged man. fiends. Once taken into a house and lit, together with the charm “Let those who sleep, remain asleep, and those who wake, remain awake,” the Hand of Glory will keep all sleepers in the house in a deep slumber. They cannot be woken by shaking or other means. Only extinguishing the Hand will allow the sleepers to wake.

It is crafted from rowan or hawthorn wood, (known to have power against the undead). Its quarrels are made from the same wood, soaked in an infusion of garlic or dog rose, and tipped with silver points inscribed with holy symbols. It may have been dipped in holy water, or blessed. It fulfils the purpose of staking the vampire, and is one of the few mundane weapons able to Medal of Warding do genuine damage to one. Even a glancing hit on a vampire will do +2 missile damage, and a successful This is a blessed medal, blessed at a holy shrine. It acts called shot to the chest will immediately slay the vamas a Warding spell for as many points of Health as have pire. However, it must be reloaded between each shot, been put into it when it was blessed. costing one round of inactivity. Casting the Runes

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Wand

dwell there. An occupant stepping out of the dwelling could be struck with an instant Curse, but with a powThis is the traditional magic wand, enchanted to aid in erful enough Witch Bottle, magic like the Evil Eye or spell-casting and sorcery. It may be a small item, or a Poppetry would not take effect while he continued to magic staff or walking stick. Various types of wands reside there. with many different potencies or holding many different types of spell exist. A typical wand may reduce the A Witch Bottle will only protect up to the level of Stability test Difficulty for any spell by 1 point, or pro- points invested in it, but any offensive spell with more vide a reservoir of dedicated Pool Points of Health or points invested in it will only inflict as much damage Stability for rituals. (or deprive as many Health Rating Points in the case of the Evil Eye) as it exceeds the power of the Bottle. Whip of Banishment A rare version of the Witch Bottle actually reflects inThis is the traditional whip used by country ghost coming curses back at the enemy caster. To achieve chasers. It is a bullwhip enchanted with a Banish spell this, the creator of the Bottle will have to know the to drive off supernatural creatures. The whip acts as a identity of the villain, and include something of theirs Banish spell with as many points as were originally put (ideally a body part, like hair, blood, or nail parings) into it. The wielder must succeed in a short-range among the items in the Witch Bottle. Such a backfire Weapons attack against the target. occurs if the enemy fails their casting roll, and inflicts the full magical damage or effect on them. Witch Bottle Stability Test Difficulty: 3, costing 1 on failure. A Witch Bottle is an enchanted artifact of folk magic Folklore gives a 1 point reduction to this. created to defend a building and its inhabitants from Time: Filling the Witch Bottle with the outre colleccertain malicious spells. Most notably it offers protec- tion of ingredients, sealing it and reciting the charm, tion against the Evil Eye (p. 116) and Poppetry (p. 118). and walling it up. Typically, this will take an evening. The Bottle functions somewhat as a lightning rod, di- Cost: 1, plus 1 Health or Stability per point of verting incoming curses away from the intended vic- protection. tims and into itself, where the evil magic is contained Ritual: The caster must gather the ingredients then and rendered harmless. perform the bottling ritual as described above. Gathering the ingredients may be quite a lengthy To create a Witch Bottle, the caster must take an process. This is a common form of hedge magic, and earthenware bottle or jug and fill it with a variety of the knowledge is often passed down from one village unusual ingredients, typically including nails and pins, conjurer to another. thorns, animal bones, red thread and urine. The Bottle is then sealed and the appropriate charm said. The Bottle must then be concealed within the building to be protected: common places are up chimneys, within walls, under floors or beneath thresholds. The protection the Witch Bottle gives is not portable, it only works within the boundaries of the building it was created for. However, unlike a Circle of Protection, its power will last for as long as it is left undisturbed. It will protect anyone residing or staying within that structure, for as long as they continue to

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The Period his introduction to the Edwardian era is designed partly to let GMs design a convincing game world, partly to help players navigate that world, and partly to give background and inspire campaigns and adventures. Despite misconceptions of the period as some sort of golden slumber right up to 1914, the Edwardian era had plenty of room for those.

Halfpenny (bronze) Penny (bronze) Twopence, or tuppence (silver, not in regular circulation, only issued as Maundy Money, a special gift from the Crown, given to elderly people at Easter) Threepence (silver) Fourpence (silver, not in regular circulation, only issued as Maundy Money) Sixpence (silver) Shilling (silver) Florin (silver, 2 shillings) “Well, I think I should buy it if the price was five Half crown (silver, 2s 6d, ⅛ pound) shillings,” said Williams; “but for some unearthly rea- Crown (silver, 5 shillings) son he wants two guineas for it.” - M.R. James, Half sovereign (silver, 10 shillings) The Mezzotint Sovereign (gold, 1 pound) Two pound (gold, limited circulation) GUMSHOE games customarily adopt a freeform Five pound (gold, limited circulation) approach to income and money, to avoid campaigns degenerating into bookkeeping exercises. However, Most bronze coins of the period had previously been full price and currency details are provided here for minted in copper, and earlier copper coins might still those who do want a more detailed approach to fi- be in circulation, as might many coins still bearing the nances, as well as for the important and flavourful head of Queen Victoria. Investigators needing to fight matter of Imperial currency. werewolves and other entities vulnerable to silver may need to dig deep into their pockets to melt or grind up Edwardian Britain still operated on the Imperial sys- enough coinage for bullets or shot. tem of units and currency, otherwise known as pounds, shillings and pence. Under this system, 12 Bank of England notes were as follows: £5 note pence equalled 1 shilling, and 20 shillings (240 pence) (“white fiver,” based on a 1793 design), the £10 note, equalled 1 pound. The guinea, though no longer a real £20 note and the very rare £50 note. gold coin, was still used as a sales and accounting term to add cachet, and signified 21 shillings. These notes were very different in size and appearance to modern banknotes. All were printed in black, on a Shilling amounts were often written with the solidus white background. Usual size was 7 7/8 x 4 1/2 inches symbol (/), hence: 2/10 = 2 shillings and 10 pence. A (200 × 113 mm). whole shilling amount was sometimes written with a dash after the solidus, hence: 11/- = 11 shillings. Throughout the Edwardian era, Great Britain remained on the gold standard, and paper currency The actual coins of the Edwardian era were: could be exchanged for gold. Banknotes were printed Farthing (bronze, ¼ penny) with a declaration from the Bank of England saying:

T

Imperial Currency

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“I promise to pay the bearer on demand the sum of…” Higher denomination Treasury Notes were sometimes used for accounting purposes within the Bank of England, and for deposits made at the Bank of England by foreign governments, but were not circulated. Mark Twain’s short story The Million Pound Bank Note (1893) is a great precedent for GMs wanting to structure scenarios around unlikely amounts of money in bank note form. Bank cheques had been in use since at least the late 17th century, with the Bank of England pioneering pre-printed forms in 1717. Cheque books of 50, 100 and 200 forms and counterfoils, printed with the account holder’s name, became common from 1830. Use of cheques in the Edwardian era The Bank of England around 1900. The City of London was the world’s was governed by the Bills of Ex- financial capital in the Edwardian period. change Act 1882. sources, though. Below is a table for social levels and The pound/USD exchange rate remained more or less income in Casting the Runes correlated to Class. GMs constant throughout the Edwardian era, at £0.21 to should feel free to vary exact amounts, but the annual the dollar, or $4.87 to the pound. income figures are given as fallbacks. Class and income also have an oblique relationship at best. Distressed gentlefolk and ‘counter-jumpers’ “He understood that his salary at the bank would be (social climbers) are staples of English literature from about four pounds ten a month, to begin with, and his almost any period. However, approximate income father was allowing him five pounds a month. levels, based on real historical examples, are provided One does not do things en prince on a hundred and for reference. fourteen pounds a year.” - P.G. Wodehouse, Psmith in the City A character can be assumed to have access to 10% of their annual income at short notice, and to carry 1% of The original GUMSHOE Credit Rating system is it on their person at any time. obviously only a rough approximation to the intricacies of class in the Edwardian era. Most RPG cam- Class, as said, is not a direct indicator of personal paigns do need some idea of character income and re- wealth, but it’s hard to escape the linkage. A curate

Income and Social Class

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players to assign build point after adventures.

Edwardian Incomes These are actual income levels for jobs, drawn from documents of the period: Occupation

Income

Factory worker

11 s per week

Social Class 1

Domestic maid

£16-22 p.a.

1

Domestic cook

£30 p.a.

2

Mine worker

£82 p.a.

2

Clerk

£200 p.a.

3

Lower middle class

£150-500 p.a.

3

Upper middle class

£500-1,500 p.a.

5

Small landed estate

£8,686 p.a.

6

Large/rich landed estate

£88,719 p.a.

7+

(junior clergyman) living off a stipend as little as £70 p.a. around 1900 was still regarded as several cuts above the lower middle classes, but would be frowned on as a suitor for a girl of good family. Investigators may rise above or fall below the income bracket commensurate with their Class in the course of play, but they should start well within their income band. GMs should remember that it’s up to players to assign the appropriate Class for their Investigator at the start of play with build points, within the given range, but also that the Investigator should not exceed the maximum Class for the chosen Occupation. Any later rise in the social scale, sudden inheritance, etc., is a matter to be worked out in the course of play, and some GMs might want to put Class off limits for Casting the Runes

Class impacts some General Abilities and Interpersonal Investigative Abilities. In cases where several Investigators have the same Interpersonal Investigative Ability, and the Ability is required to secure a Core Clue, the Investigator with the Class closest to the target/subject of the Ability is assumed to have got the clue. Optionally and at the GM’s discretion, wide differences between an Investigator’s Class and that of the target person (or event, group, institution, etc) can increase the costs of a pool point spend from the relevant Investigative Ability to the usual maximum (i.e. 2 points). Some clubs, careers, events, etc. will be barred to those below (or in some cases, above) a given Class. Any Rating in Disguise (as an indication of the Investigator’s ability to assume other social roles) will completely negate this effect.

The incomes of the middle classes and their betters were little incommoded by tax in the period. Even after the People’s Budget of 1909-11, income tax remained at just 3.75%, and the Budget introduced a wealth tax of 5% on incomes above £2,000 p.a., and a further 2.5% super tax on the amount by which incomes of £5,000 or more exceeded £3,000. Obviously, this had little effect on real incomes.

Prices and Living Costs “...she went on to say that she could ‘do’ it at seven and sixpence per week ‘for him’ - giving him to understand, presumably, that, if the Shah of Persia or Mr Carnegie ever applied for a night’s rest, they would sigh in vain for such easy terms. And that included lights. Coals were to be looked on as an extra. ‘Sixpence a scuttle’.” - P.G. Wodehouse, Psmith in the City

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The following listings of prices and living costs are all taken from period sources, including legislation, contemporary newspapers, adverts and catalogues, etc.

Class Occupation

The Home

0

Tramp, vagrant, dosser

£0

Upper-middle class house (15 rooms) £1,000-3,000 (build) £100+/yr (rent), butler, 2 maids cook Middle class house (7-8 rooms) £500 (build) £40-60/yr (rent), 2 servants Lower middle class house (5-6 rooms) £200-300 (build) £25-45/yr (rent), maid Rent 3s 6d - 5s per week (poor family) Weekly budget 22s 6d (poor family)

1

Lower working class, millhand, agricultural labourer, unskilled

£30

2

Upper working class, “aristocracy of labour,” miner, skilled craftworker, railway worker

£100

3

Lower middle class, pe�y clerk, shopkeeper

£200

4

Respectable middle class, scholar, doctor, government officer

£500

5

Upper middle class, banker, lawyer

£1,000

6

Rich, landowner, magnate, aristocrat

£5,000

Food

7+

Super-rich, princeling, multimillionaire

£10,000+

Loaf of bread 2½d 1 pound butter 1s 2d 1 pound sugar 3d 1 pound tea 1s 6d 20 pounds of potatoes 10d 1 pound cheese 6d 1 pound bacon 9d 2 pounds mutton 1s Half bag flour 1d 1 pound onions 1½d 1 dozen eggs 1s 1 pound biscuits 8d 1 pound lard 7d 1 pound jam 5½d 1 pound apples 3d 12 pints milk 3d 1 pound meat 10d

Investigator Social Class Income p.a.

Drink Pint of beer 1 ½-2d Pint of porter (beer) 1¾d Quart of beer 6-8d German lager 3-6d Wine 3-6d/glass Wine 8d-1s 6d/pint Sundries Wrights Coal Tar soap 4d per tablet Child’s boots 2s 11d Swan Vestas matches 1d 12 candles 1s 2d Sewing kit 3s 9d Wool blankets 15s Wrist watch 20s

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Telephone, local 2d/3min Telephone, trunk call 3d/3min Commissionaire delivery 3d/mile or 6d/hour Entertainment Theatre ticket, high class (Drury Lane) 10s 6d/stalls, 1s/gallery Music hall, from 6d Exhibition, from 1s Royal Academy, 6s Concert, Royal Albert Hall 3d-2s Boat hire (punt, fisherman, tackle) 10s/day Weapons Department stores like the Army & Navy prided themselves on being able to supply the necessaries for every aspect of life, at home or abroad.

Pocket pistol (.25 Webley, 6 shots) £2 5s Automatic pistol (.32 Webley, 8 shots) £2 5s Automatic pistol (Colt Model 1903) £3 Automatic pistol (Model 1902 Luger Parabellum) £5 Revolver (.455 Webley Mk. 4 service) £4 5s .22 rifle (Stevens & Savage) £1 8s .310 bore rifle (W.W. Greener) £2 2s .360 rook rifle (Holland & Holland) 5 guineas .303 rifle (Lee Enfield sporting, 5 shot) 10 guineas Hunting rifle (Mannlicher-Schoenauer 1903 6.5mm, 5 shot) 15 guineas Repeating rifle (Savage .22) £5 5s Repeating rifle (Winchester Model 1894) £4 15s Shotgun, good quality (A&A Hammerless) £7 15s Shotgun, top quality (Charles Lancaster) £30 Shotgun, pump action (Winchester 1897) £10 .375 game rifle (Holland & Holland) 30 guineas Elephant gun (Bentley & Playfair) £36 .577 Express Rifle (Holland & Holland) 55 guineas Iron rifle sights (BSA) 5s Telescopic sight (Holland & Holland) 12 guineas Maxim silencer £2 12 gauge shotgun cartridges (per 100) £11 10s .32 cartridges (per 100) 10s .310 cartridges (per 1000) £2 12s 6d Clothes 2-piece suit (Burberry) 3 guineas Gentleman’s jacket 42s Gentleman’s trousers 21s Gentleman’s hat 9s Pith helmet 13s 6d Boating hat 2s Rubber boots 23s 9d Oilskins 23s Driving coat 23s 6d Woman’s coat £17 19s 6d Sports coat 23s 6d Cloth gown 14s 9d Princess skirt 12s 9d Blouse 16s 6d Lady’s hat 14s 6d

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The Investigators have a dangerous mission ahead to the mountains of Moravia, in eastern AustriaHungary. In the Expeditions Department of a certain very grand London store Charlotte Ferrers, Tristram and the Colonel gather vital supplies for the Journey. Investigative Equipment Folding Pocket Kodak camera small 26s Folding Pocket Kodak camera large 90s Edison Business Phonograph dictaphone £5 Sharpshooters’ binoculars £2 10s Portable luncheon table £1 16s 3d Service stove (serves 50) £4 8s 9d Thermos (1 pint) 21s Water bottle (1 ¼ pint) 7s 6d 2-man tent 65s Expedition ridge tent (12 x 10ft) £13 17s 6d Camp stool 4s 3d Folding table 12s 9d

Cork mattress 8s Camp bed 21s Groundsheet (7 x 5 ft) 12s 9d Camp lantern 4s 6d Pocket lantern 3s 10d Mess tin w’ pan 6s Portable knife, fork, spoon 2s 6d Kettle and lamp 3s Basket canteen (for 2) 74s 3d Bucket canteen (for 2, w’ baskets) 22s 9d Folding mirror 4s Camp dressing case 28 s 3d Kit bag 46s 6d Garden marquee tent £8 6s 6d

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The Spirit of the Age “We are uncertain whether civilization is about to blossom into flower or wither in a ruined tangle of dead leaves and faded gold,” - C.F.G. Masterman in The Nation, 1908 For modern audiences who look back on the Edwardian era as a ‘Britain’s Golden Age’, it’s ironic to realize that in many ways this was another Age of Anxiety. Edwardian Britain was leaving behind the certainties and self-confidence of the Victorian period. The critical self-lacerating spirit that produced Lytton Strachey’s Eminent Victorians in 1918 was already abroad - Strachey began his masterwork in 1912. As John Maynard Keynes later wrote, looking back on the creed of his Edwardian peers, “We repudiated entirely customary morals, conventions and traditional wisdom. We were, that is to say, in the strict sense of the term, immoralists.... we recognised no moral obligation on us, no inner sanction, to conform or to obey.”

Anxiety over such attitudes spanned the political spectrum. A.J. Balfour, Conservative Prime Minister 1902-05, and Conservative Party leader practically throughout the entire era, entitled his 1908 Henry Sidgwick Memorial Lecture at Cambridge Decadence, summing up much current sentiment: “Rome fell, and great was the fall of it. But why it fell, by what secret mines its defences were breached, and what made its garrison so faint-hearted and ineffectual - this is not so clear.” Sherlock Holmes, hero of the 1890s, may have embodied late Victorian rationalistic faith in “the Science of Deduction,” based on the certainties of a fixed social order, but the new, anxious, uncertain, questing spirit that soon followed would be ripe for occultism, mysteries - and ghost stories. Anxiety Abroad International politics was one major factor in this time of uncertainty. The Boer War (1899-1902) was as shocking to Edwardian complacency as the Crimean War had been to the Victorians, even though that war, like its predecessor, ended in a British victory. Lord Kitchener’s scorched-earth tactics in South Africa, including the sinister innovation of the concentration camp, which cost the lives of over 26,000 Boer women and children, outraged British self-respect and decency, as well as self-confidence. The aftermath was even more unsettling. After the end of the Boer War in 1902, the ensuing Inter-Departmental Committee on Physical Deterioration found in 1904 that close to 60% of applicants for service with the Army during the war were physically unfit to serve, underlining the detrimental effect of the Victorian factory system on the working poor. The landslide victory of the Liberal Party in the 1906 general election against Balfour’s Conservatives and their Liberal Unionist allies Unlike his rather dour predecessor, Britain’s King Edward VII was affable and fun-loving. He was also a skillful and cunning diplomat, who played the game of European dynastic politics extremely well, essential as the continent slipped closer to apocalyptic war.

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The navies of the world came to join the Royal Navy in the Fleet Review hosted by King Edward in June 1909. Britannia still ruled the waves, but that dominance was being challenged by rising new powers like the USA, Japan, Italy and, most worrying of all, Germany. Here French and British warships can be seen, with sightseers in yachts admiring the ships. nought (a revolutionary battleship that made all previous designs obsolete) in 1906. By end of 1908, sentiment was enough to trigger a political crisis and pressure for a new dreadnought-building program, under Such anxieties were stoked by the Anglo-German the slogan “We want eight and we won’t wait!” The naval arms race, already underway since the first Ger- Navy League, formed in 1895, would be one of the man Fleet Act of 1898, and destined to grow in inten- chief vehicles for this seaborne jingoism. sity right up until 1914. Alfred Thayer Mahan’s The Influence of Sea Power upon History (1890) had al- More broadly, the New Imperialism already under ready articulated the ideological basis for this cold way in the 1880s and 1890s created the background of war, prophesying that nations which lost control of zero-sum competitive anxiety against which Britain the high seas would lose their primacy. Admiral Jacky struggled to reinforce its global predominance. Social Fisher’s debut as First Sea Lord in 1904 signalled a Darwinism, eugenic theory, and the doctrine of races strategic shift typified by the launch of HMS Dread- all fed into the worldview articulated in Rudyard demonstrated how dissatisfied Edwardian voters were with Britain’s performance abroad - and its achievement at home.

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Suffragist leader Christabel Pankhurst (with white scarf) campaigns for women’s right to vote, Manchester 1909. The fight for women’s rights was fiercely opposed by the Edwardian establishment, and the struggle became bitter, with many campaigners thrown in prison. Kipling’s verse, as he called on America in 1899 to “Take up the White Man’s burden” in the Philippines, and castigated domestic anti-imperialist sentiment in his 1891 poem, The English Flag, (“The poor little street-bred people that vapour and fume and brag,/ They are lifting their heads in the stillness to yelp at the English Flag!”). In practical politics, this spirit was expressed in adventures such as Kitchener’s offensives in the Sudan in 1896-98, and Cecil Rhodes’s creation of Rhodesia in the 1890s.

formed in 1884; the Royal Society of St George (RSSG), formed in 1894; and the British Empire League (BEL), formed in 1895; and this trend continued into the Edwardian era with the creation of the Victoria League (1901), the League of Empire (1901), the Defense Leagues (c.1905), the Round Table (1909), and the Overseas Club (later renamed the Royal Overseas League) in 1910.

The imperialist and jingoist drums continued to beat all through the Edwardian era and after. Apocalyptic Numerous societies, leagues and clubs were formed at fantasies like H.G. Wells’s The War in the Air (1908) the end of the 19th century to spread imperialist and The World Set Free (1914) and Saki’s When thinking and reinforce the strength of the Empire in William Came (1913), and spy stories like Erskine practice: the Imperial Federation League (IFL), Childers’s The Riddle of the Sands (1903) and John Casting the Runes

138

Buchan’s The Thirty-Nine Steps (1915) gave fictional expression to the mood.

I. Gladstone’s support for Irish Home Rule had cost the party many of its aristocratic and patrician supporters, as well as some middle-class radicals who objected to its bailouts for Ascendancy landowners, and Reform and Reaction created the schismatic Liberal Unionist Party, which Edwardian domestic politics also saw rising tensions commonly allied with the Conservatives. The Liberal and a sense of crumbling certainties. Already, the po- success in the 1906 elections, and its passage of a raft of litical goalposts had shifted since the Victorian Age. reforms typified by the People’s Budget of 1909, The Representation of the People Act 1884 (or Third masked an uneasy coalition of differing interests, from Reform Act) had enlarged the electoral franchise to all free trade economic liberals to socialists and statists. men paying an annual rental of £10, or with land val- All were mostly united against the Conservatives and ued at the same amount. Ensuing Acts established the propertied interests, who felt correspondingly perseprinciple of one MP per constituency and increased cuted by new wealth taxes and the strident rhetoric of representation for the towns. Some 5.5 million British men were now enfranchised, but with a population of Welsh Liberal politician David Lloyd George was 30.5 million in 1901, this obviously left many - over 40% determined to break the power of the oligarchy. of adult males - without the vote, especially in Ireland. As Chancellor of the Exchequer (finance minister) he hammered the upper classes with new taxes The United Kingdom was still very much an oligarchy on their estates and investments, while introducright up until 1918. ing new benefits for the poor. The oligarchic system found many defenders, who were to prove vigorous, aggressive political opponents to the forces of change. In 1897, in his book on “A great agricultural estate, being the story of the origin and administration of Woburn and Thorney,” the Duke of Bedford declared “that the system of land tenure which allows a great estate to descend unimpaired from one generation to another, secures to those dwelling on the soil material and moral advantages greater than any that are promised under any alternative system, tried or untried.” Those beliefs were still ardently held by many during the Edwardian era. Lord Rosebery, the former Liberal leader, opposed the 1909 People’s Budget as “pure socialism... and the end of all, the negation of faith, of family, of property, of Monarchy, of Empire.” The Primrose League, with membership numbering over 2 million by 1910, was the Conservative riposte to the mass appeal of the trade union movement and the Labour Party. The Liberal Party, Britain’s main progressive force for most of the Victorian era, was now weakened by fissures, despite its landslide victory in 1906, that would lead to its collapse during and after World War

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David Lloyd George, with his talk of “implacable warfare”. The Liberal passage of the Parliament Act of 1911, to curb the powers of “Mr Balfour’s Poodle,” as Lloyd George had dubbed the House of Lords, gave constitutional form to this opposition to the aristocracy’s traditional supremacy. Meanwhile, the Independent Labour Party, formed in 1893 under Keir Hardie, initially failed to get candidates into parliament, though Hardie himself stood independently in 1892 and entered parliament wearing his famous cloth cap (actually a deerstalker.) The ILP supported the formation of the Labour Representation Committee in 1900, which eventually became the Labour Party for the 1906 elections, when 29 candidates, including future PM Ramsay MacDonald, were elected. By 1910 this had risen to 42. With the Liberals struggling to pass the People’s Budget against Conservative obstruction in the House of Lords, Edwardian England endured two hung parliaments in 1910, where Labour and the Irish Parliamentary Party held the balance of power. The Fabian Society, in being since the late 19th century, was the mouthpiece for much of the most progressive liberal and socialist thinking of the period. The British Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU), founded in 1903, was one of the most visible Edwardian expressions of the drive for reform. A lightning rod for socially conservative opposition to all the changes afoot in society, the Suffragette movement’s campaigns of conspicuous civil disobedience, and eventually more militant tactics, were yet one more challenge to any residual sense of complacency and social certainty left over from the Victorian period. Irish nationalism and Home Rule was the other great complicating factor in Edwardian politics. The issue had already fractured the Liberal Party and helped the Conservatives, and the Third Home Rule Bill of 1912 triggered the last great parliamentary showdown before World War I. Paramilitary organisations were forming on both sides of the question, the Ulster Volunteers in 1912 and the Irish Volunteers in 1913, with a number of British Army officers resigning in March 1914 rather than take up arms against opponents of the Casting the Runes

Bill. The Bill only finally became law in September 1914, and was promptly suspended for the duration of hostilities - one more factor leading to the Easter Rising of 1916 and the subsequent Irish War of Independence (1919-21). Upstairs Downstairs The public dramas of politics and Empire were acted against a social background that, for all its contradictions and polarities, deserved its reputation as a period of relative calm, partly because the strongest tensions were (just) able to play out within the framework of social institutions, that while strained were not yet shatttered. Jamesian purists who wish for a backdrop of comfortable landowners, securely tenured scholars and clergy, and deferential yokels are not doing too much violence to the facts. R. Austin Freeman’s Dr Thorndyke, for instance, conducts his pre-war investigations against a similarly static, serene background. Conditions for the working poor remained atrocious, but did take distinct steps forward during the Edwardian era, sufficient to commit the working class to reform rather than revolution. As Robert Lloyd George wrote later, “It is arguable that the peaceful revolution of the People’s Budget prevented a much more bloody revolution.” The physical wretchedness uncovered in the aftermath of the Boer War was no revelation to families struggling on wages as little as 5s to 7s per week. Some sources estimate that up to one third of the urban working classes were living below the poverty line; others put the figure even higher. As a result of the national coal strike of 1912, legislation was passed establishing the principle of a minimum wage for the first time. When first set, the figure was 6s 9d per day for the highest paid underground workers. The rural labourers of Flora Thompson’s Lark Rise may have lived somewhat better than the urban poor on 10 shillings per week, but even there, their meagre income was heavily supplemented by homegrown produce and the family pig. Yet Thompson’s rural idyll was a genuine representation of the countryside of the times. According to other, better researched works, agricultural real wages remained fairly steady

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How the other half lived: a street market in the Spitalfield slums of London’s East End, c.1900. throughout the Edwardian period at an average of £100 per year. Flora Thompson’s observation that “in spite of their poverty and the worry and anxiety attending it, they were not unhappy, and, though poor, there was nothing sordid about their lives” has to be taken somewhat at face value. Even in Ireland, the 1903 Wyndham Land Act and its successors and the Labourers (Ireland) Act 1906 transformed the Irish countryside, with some 75% of tenants buying out their landlords, and some 250,000 labourers transferred from hovels to state-funded rural housing.The middle classes, meanwhile, may have been thriving, but often with little to distinguish themselves from the lower orders financially. Kipps, H.G. Wells’s affectionate 1905 caricature of a striving member of the lower middle class, ends his drapery apprenticeship with a salary of £20 per year, and boggles at the thought of saving a meagre £500. “His whole capital in the world was the sum of five pounds in the Post Office Savings Bank and four and sixpence cash.” Eventually he’s left £1,200 per year, from capital of £26,000 plus a house, and propelled to the

dizzy heights of the Edwardian upper middle class. At a more modest level, “a couple of hundred a year, or, say, two thousand down,” would make a very comfortable addition to most middle-class incomes circa 1910. The Edwardian patrician upper middle classes may have occasionally struggled to justify their elite status, but their complacency and solidity earned the lacerating criticism later directed at the Bloomsbury Group and the class it exemplified. “In came the nice fat dividends, up rose the lofty thoughts,” as E.M. Forster put it. He had inherited £8,000 in trust from his greataunt, which allowed him to live independently. Roger Fry, in an exhibition of 1900, sold 16 pictures for £106. When he was offered the directorship of the Tate Gallery after the 1910 Manet and the Post-Impressionists exhibition, Fry was quoted a salary of £350 p.a., rising to £2,500. The Omega Workshops paid younger artists 30s per week, but such incomes were, of course, not expected to define their class and status

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Britain’s great estates, which had dominated the countryside for centuries, were in an Indian summer. Soon they would begin to be sold and broken up, and many of the mansions themselves sold for institutional use, abandoned or demolished. for life. The upper middle class lifestyle was well supported by servants: c.1902, a family reliant on an income of £1,200 could afford a cook, a parlourmaid, a housemaid, a nurse, a useful-maid, and a governess. GMs and players wishing to delve into the misadventures of the upper middle classes in actual salaried work - and cricket, and socialism - could do worse than read P.G. Wodehouse’s Psmith in the City (1910).

around £264,000 to some £320,000. Some 326 great Edwardian landowners possessed estates of 10,000 English acres or above, and the defeat of the land tax terms of the 1909-11 People’s Budget saw off any serious challenge to that figure. Even one of the smaller landowning families, owning a mere 20,000 acres, could count on a net annual income after tax of £16,000 on the eve of World War I.

Britain’s real traditional ruling classes, despite the complaints and heated rhetoric around the People’s Budget, remained very comfortably on top of the pile. The wealth of a typically disgruntled landowner, the Duke of Bedford, was by the early 1900s diversifying into stocks and bond-holdings, rental from London properties, and other sources, so that by 1909 his real gross annual income had risen from the 1895 figure of

Looking back after World War I, Keynes wrote: “We were not aware that civilisation was a thin and precarious crust erected by the personality and the will of a very few, and only maintained by rules and conventions skillfully put across and guilefully preserved. We had no respect for traditional wisdom or the restraints of custom.” The security and contentment of the middle and upper classes in Edwardian Britain helped fos-

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ter that happy myopia, as well as the optimistic belief “in a continuing moral progress by virtue of which the human race already consists of reliable, rational, decent people, influenced by truth and objective standards, who can be safely released from the outward restraints of traditional standards and inflexible rules of conduct, and left, from now onwards, to their own sensible devices.” Pomp and Dissonance “On or about December 1910 human character changed” - Virginia Woolf Edwardian culture often seems to get dismissed as a mere hiatus, a dip between the commanding heights of Late Victorianism and Modernism. Closer, more sympathetic examination reveals a different story. For one thing, many of the new growths that were to burgeon after World War I were already bearing their first fruits before 1914. For another, the pattern is not consistent across all the arts, and some had already reached a new threshold in the Edwardian era. In the visual arts, Roger Fry revolutionized British taste with his 1910 exhibition Manet and the Post-Impressionists. In 1913, Fry founded the Omega Workshops with Duncan Grant and Vanessa Bell. Yet even more advanced trends were growing around the movement soon to be labelled Vorticism. The public were scandalised by Jacob Epstein’s nude sculptures made in 1908 for the façade of the British Medical Association building on the Strand. Soon after, Epstein upset French morals with his sculpture for the tomb of Oscar Wilde, unveiled in Paris in August 1914 by Aleister Crowley. Epstein’s protege Henri GaudierBrzeska began his own meteoric career as a sculptor in 1912. His patron Wyndham Lewis, already an insightful critic of both Cubism and Futurism, produced his first Vorticist murals in 1912; by July 1914 he had created the Rebel Art Centre and published the first issue of Blast. Lewis and many other significant artists - Paul Nash, David Bomberg, Stanley Spencer, Rex Whistler, Augustus John - had learned their trade under Henry Tonks, teacher at the Slade School of Fine Art since 1892. In architecture,

Edwin Lutyens was one of the strongest and influential new voices, popularised in the new magazine Country Life (founded 1897), while in Scotland, Charles Rennie Mackintosh was perpetuating and developing the Arts and Crafts legacy in architecture and design. Wyndham Lewis, of course, was a writer as well as an artist, and with Ezra Pound, resident in London since 1908, and Ford Madox Ford, who founded The English Review in 1908, was helping to make Edwardian Britain a cradle of nascent Modernism. Yet this only hints at the vast diversity and fertility of the Edwardian literary scene. Popular taste in poetry and sentiment might have been exemplified by the 1912 anthology Georgian Poetry, including Rupert Brooke, W. H. Davies, Walter de la Mare, and John Masefield, and the legacy of A.E. Housman’s A Shropshire Lad (1896), yet D.H. Lawrence also contributed to the same anthology, and produced three of his novels, including Sons and Lovers (1913), before World War I. Late Victorian greats such as Thomas Hardy and H.G. Wells were still writing; Joseph Conrad, like Wells, was chronologically largely an Edwardian and postEdwardian writer. Arnold Bennett published Anna of the Five Towns in 1902, while John Galsworthy began his Forsyte Saga in 1906. G. K. Chesterton established himself as a major figure of the period with numerous essays, novels like The Man Who Was Thursday (1908), and detective stories with The Innocence of Father Brown (1911). Rudyard Kipling, in full cry as the poet and novelist of Empire, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1907. Major London bookshops of the period included Hatchards, Southeran & Co., H. Bumpus, and Gilbert & Field. (Fans of Bookhounds of London should have little trouble creating a campaign setting for Edwardian bookhounds.) In the theatre, George Bernard Shaw was in full spate, with Man and Superman, John Bull’s Other Island, Major Barbara and The Doctor’s Dilemma, among many other works, all appearing in the first decade of the new century. But he was rivalled by Somerset Maugham, who churned out a huge volume of novels and plays. In Ireland, meanwhile, J.M. Synge triggered scandals and riots with his plays, prior to his un-

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for scenarios for musically inclined GMs). Gustav Holst and Frank Bridge were also important teachers and composers throughout the period. Thomas Beecham, a working conductor since 1899, did much to promote all these composers and more, as a major leader and modernizer of English musical life.

Composer Edward Elgar wrote the soundtrack to the age, and became inextricably associated with it. timely death, and James Joyce struggled with his family difficulties and first stories. W.B. Yeats, back in Ireland after occult and other misadventures in London and Paris, helped found the Abbey Theatre in 1899 and wrote plays for it, as well as producing his first collections of poetry. In music, Edward Elgar was the dominant talent in an Edwardian efflorescence that put English music on the world stage for the first time in centuries. Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance marches appeared from 1901, and almost all his major orchestral and choral works date from the ensuing decade. Frederick Delius, composing all through the Edwardian era prior to his syphilitic collapse, was a fixture of both English and Continental concert programmes prior to World War I. Ralph Vaughan Williams had already composed two of his symphonies and many of his most famous suites, rhapsodies, fantasies and tone poems prior to 1914. Vaughan Williams was also a major figure in the English folk song movement, alongside the popular society pianist Percy Grainger, which helped unearth and recast many traditional songs (with strong potential Casting the Runes

Music hall was still a staple for popular entertainment throughout the Edwardian era, with stars like Albert Chevalier earning up to £450 per week. Dan Leno, influential enough to be honoured with a Royal Command Performance before Edward VII in 1901, tragically broke down in 1903, and died a year later. Little Tich and Marie Lloyd were other name artists of the period, and the music hall scene was still important enough for the 1907 “Music Hall War” to be a significant chapter in the history of British labour relations. The first cinemas had opened in London in the 1890s, with Gaumont-British Picture Corp. founded in 1898 and Ealing Studios in 1902. Radio was still in its experimental infancy during the period, but by 1910 the gramophone was already recognized as a generic term after the success of the Gramophone Company (founded 1898) in promoting the new format of the flat recorded disc, using the “His Master’s Voice” logo from 1909. In popular journalism, meanwhile, Alfred Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe, was the most effective and influential rabble-rouser of the new mass audiences with the Daily Mail (founded 1896 at 1/2d) and the Daily Mirror (founded 1903). Rival paper the Daily Star later declared in wartime: “Next to the Kaiser, Lord Northcliffe has done more than any living man to bring about the War.” Sparks and Stinks Science fiction had already begun its first full bloom under Jules Verne and H.G. Wells in the late 19th century, and was taken up and expanded further by Rudyard Kipling and Arthur Conan Doyle, among many others, in the Edwardian era. Real science, meanwhile, was already developing the theoretical basis for innovations that would not yield practical technologies until well on in the 20th century.

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Post-Newtonian modern physics was formulated around the beginning of the 20th century by Albert Einstein, with relativity, and Max Planck, with quantum theory. Ernest Rutherford became the father of nuclear physics with his experimental discovery of the nuclear structure of the atom, which Niels Bohr promptly developed into the Bohr model. Marie Curie, an experimental chemist as much as a physicist by training, became the first woman to receive a Nobel Prize in 1903 for her research into radiation and radioactive elements, and received the Prize again in 1911. These developments were already well enough understood for H.G. Wells to include an early form of atomic bomb in his 1913 novel The World Set Free.

Dorothy Levitt set a women’s speed record of 90.88 mph in the same car in 1906. Napier was producing 700 cars per year by 1914, and by 1913 Wolseley was selling 3,000 cars per year. Guglielmo Marconi, half Irish by birth, was active in Britain from 1896, and founded his Wireless Telegraph and Signal Company in 1897 after receiving a British patent for radio transmissions. He claimed his first transatlantic radio transmissions in 1901, and by 1904 radio communication with ships at sea was a regular commercial service, crucial to the rescue of the few survivors of the Titanic in 1912, although radio only became an entertainment medium in the early 1920s.

The Wright Brothers had, of course, flown the first Medicine continued to develop throughout the practical aeroplane in 1903, but aviation was still imma- Edwardian era. In 1908 Paul Ehrlich received a Nobel ture enough for Wells to incorporate many specula- Prize for his work on immunology, serums, and the tions of vast airship armadas into his 1907 novel The treatment of syphilis. Joseph Lister, pioneer of modWar in the Air. Louis Blériot made the first Channel ern antiseptic surgery, died in 1912. By the early 1900s, crossing by airplane in 1909 in his Type XI mono- X-rays, researched independently by Wilhelm Röntplane, competing for a Daily Mail prize of £1,000, gen, Nikolai Tesla and many others, had become a but the real development of powered flight had to wait medical commonplace. By 1899, Bayer was selling Asuntil World War I. Rigid airships, meanwhile, enjoyed pirin worldwide. Secretin, the first hormone to be early success after Graf Ferdinand von Zeppelin flew his The Blériot mark XI, the first aircraft to cross the English first airship in 1900, and Ger- Channel (25th July 1909). Britain was no longer an island, said the Press. many’s DELAG, the world’s first airline, carried some 32,722 passengers on 1,588 flights in the period 1909-14. The motor car, though still in its infancy, was developing fast. British firms like Napier and Wolseley were holding their own against the likes of Panhard and Mercedes in international competitions such as the Gordon Bennett Cup. Readers familiar with dawdling veteran cars might reflect that, in January 1905, a Napier L48 hit a speed record of 104.65 mph, while the pioneering female motorist

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price from Her worshippers, and that “to see Pan meant death.” All the same, there are pagan cults even within M.R. James’s oeuvre witness the ill-fated pair in An Evening’s Entertainment. Rosemary Pardoe has interpreted their deaths as sacrifices to the Gaulish deities Taranis and Esus, potentially involving quite a number of locals. The Dianists who Flaxman Low encounters in The Story of Saddler’s Croft are a full-blown clique of moon worshippers. The Ancient Order of Druids (AOD), a fraternal association founded in 1781, held regular ceremonies at Stonehenge. Regular churchgoing Edwardians A young Winston Churchill (centre) meeting with druids in the may have scoffed at such gatherings, gardens of Blenheim palace, in 1908 There was considerable interest but were unlikely to persecute them. in paganism in Edwardian Britain. GMs can decide for themselves whether each pagan cult is neutral, identified, was isolated in 1902. Genetics took a major foolish and ill-advised, or actively malevolent - there step forward with the development of the Mendelian are enough spells even within these rules to cover all chromosome theory in 1910-15. those possibilities. Cults, Covens, Conspiracies and Cunning Men Ghostly manifestations and revenants may be enough for many campaigns and Investigators. For those who need some more substantial antagonists, though, there were more than enough Edwardian pagan cults and conspiracies. Sceptics about the possibilities of real-life cults might do well to remember the Blackburn Cult or Great Eleven Club of 1920s Los Angeles, with its associated allegations of witchcraft, murder, grand theft, disappearances and animal sacrifice. Paganism was one very persistent hangover from the Gay Nineties, as delineated in stories like E. F. Benson’s The Man Who Went Too Far and Algernon Blackwood’s The Regeneration of Lord Ernie. Those stories almost invariably warn that Nature exacts a Casting the Runes

Some pagan practitioners, of course, shaded over into full-blown occultism, like Mr Abney in Lost Hearts, and here the Edwardian era is rich with possibilities for cultish conspiracies. The Isis-Urania Temple, first temple of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, was founded in 1888, with W.B. Yeats and Aleister Crowley as early members; the actress Florence Farr, George Bernard Shaw’s mistress and his archetype of the ‘New Woman’, later organised her own secret society, the Sphere Group, within the Golden Dawn. After Helena Blavatsky’s death in 1891, the British Theosophist Annie Besant made Britain one of the major centres for the Theosophical Society, and became President of the Society in 1907. Notable London occult booksellers of the period were John Wilson, of 12 King William Street in Charing Cross, as well as Thomas Millard and George Bumstead.

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Continental developments also enriched the stew of occult movements: Joséphin (Sâr) Péladan founded the Kabbalistic Order of the Rose-Cross in 1888, and his Salon de la Rose + Croix was a magnet for Nineties Symbolism. The Germanic Ordo Templi Orientis was already in existence by 1904, and could provide an interesting antagonist for GMs looking to combine occult and political conspiracies. Crowley created his Argentium Astrum in 1907, claiming that it had existed throughout history. Somerset Maugham’s 1908 novel The Magician presented Crowley as a practising, powerful and villainous sorcerer, and M.R. James’s Casting the Runes is one more instance of fiction inspired by Crowley. The whole history of occultism in the period is complex and fascinating, and GMs will find no shortage of actual cabals and covens to gloss into conspiracies of sinister antagonists.

Edwardian writers had their own rich stock of monsters, mysteries and conspiracies. In his last novels before his death in 1912, Bram Stoker reeled off psychic mariners (The Mystery of the Sea), Egyptian mummies (The Jewel of Seven Stars), vampirism (The Lady of the Shroud) and snake cults (The Lair of the White Worm). Sax Rohmer debuted his infamous series of ‘Yellow Peril’ Fu Manchu adventures with the The Mystery of Dr Fu-Manchu, first serialised in 1912. H. Rider Haggard produced over a dozen novels between 1900 and 1914, most of them concerning more or less supernatural Imperial derring-do. The flamboyant author and self-styled ghost hunter Elliott O’Donnell produced a stream of books chronicling his own supposed supernatural adventures, mixed in with traditional legends and ghost stories. In the US, Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote both Tarzan of the Apes and A Princess of Mars in 1912. GMs who want their James presents Karswell in Casting the Runes as not campaigns to veer more towards the bizarre and the just an occultist and alchemist, but an active diabolist, fantastic need not fear that they’re doing any violence and his work regularly makes reference to Satanism to the spirit of the age - however much this contrasts and devil worship. The French occultist and socialist with the quiet horror of M.R. James. Éliphas Lévi had codified a magical system leaning heavily on devil-worship in the 1850s and 1860s. GMs looking for historical grounding for Satanist cults in the Edwardian period can evoke Lévi and his legacy, especially his posthumously published work Le grand arcane, ou l’occultisme Dévoilé (The Great Secret, or Occultism Unveiled, 1898). The Icelandic version of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, published in 1901, includes a Satanic cult that may have been based on Stoker’s original notes for the novel. Thus, Satanists in a Casting the Runes campaign could be anything from urban sophisticates, practising the rituals framed by Lévi and his followers, to rural covens of hedge-witches. Rosemary Pardoe has suggested, based on M.R. James’s sources, that Mr Abney of Lost Hearts and James Wilson, the original builder of the Gnostic maze at Wilsthorpe in Mr Humphreys and his Inheritance, might have been near neighbours, correspondents, and coconspirators. Naturally, real devil worshippers would be at best likely to disguise their activities under a facade of innocuous occultism, but more likely to keep entirely to the shadows.

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Campaigns few scraps of paper,’ he went on, pointing to the drawer, ‘and a lump of black stone, rudely annotated with queer marks and scratches - that is all that the drawer holds. Here you see is an old envelope with the dark red stamp of twenty years ago, but I have pencilled a few lines at the back; here is a sheet of manuscript, and here some cuttings from obscure local journals. And if you ask me the subject-matter of the collection, it will not seem extraordinary - a servant-girl at a farmhouse, who disappeared from her place and has never been heard of, a child supposed to have slipped down some old working on the mountains, some queer scribbling on a limestone rock, a man murdered with a blow from a strange weapon; such is the scent I have to go upon’.” - Arthur Machen, The Novel of the Black Seal

A

Where Casting the Runes departs from much core GUMSHOE adventure design is that the investigation doesn’t have to lead from a trigger to a Sinister Conspiracy. Maybe there is one - many good plots revolve around such, and even a couple of M.R. James stories can be interpreted that way. But it’s not indispensable. Yet there does have to be a Sinister Agency at work, which has caused the trigger event for reasons of its own, or taken action that led to that event. That Sinister Agency - Agency as in active entity, not CIA - is the goal of the investigation, and mostly (but not always) comes with victory conditions attached: What the Investigators have to do to thwart the Agency’s agenda or lay it to rest, or even just bear witness to it.

Once the Sinister Agency and the hidden rationale is worked out, the GM then constructs the trail of clues The following is the guidance given for structuring a from the trigger event to the Agency. The GM may GUMSHOE investigative detection game. This also factor in some antagonist reactions by the Agency doesn’t necessarily bear on how M.R. James itself, its hangers-on and followers, or involved third structured his own mysteries, and is not an infallible parties. These may be direct attacks, false trails, diverguide to crafting a good spooky story. But it’s what’s sions, etc. What they represent is the investigation itbeen shown to work within the game system. self actively pushing back against the Investigators, rather than just offering a passive series of signposts to The GM designs each scenario by creating an investi- follow. Some mysteries just don’t want to be solved. gation trigger and a trail of clues. The investigation trigger is the event that attracts the attention of Investigators. Examples of suitable investigation triggers include: If a piece of information is essential to move the story on, it’s a Core Clue. It costs nothing. If an action’s • The discovery of a murder victim, obviously slain consequence of failure might be madness, death or induring a ritualistic killing. jury, by all means make it a test. If game world logic • The discovery of a corpse slain by supernatural suggests that a supporting character will actively opmeans, perhaps by a creature. pose the Investigator, make it a contest. This means • Letters or communications from an acquaintance switching from Investigative to General Abilities, but describing supernatural creatures or phenomena. remember that Core Clues lay the trail: they don’t necessarily dictate what jumps out at you along it.

Structuring the Narrative

Clue Types

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Special clue types are as follows.

which is only available from the combined use of an Interpersonal Ability, and the mention of another, previously gathered clue. The cited clue is called a Floating Core Clues prerequisite clue, and is by definition a sub-category It can be useful to structure a scenario with one or of Core Clue. more free-floating Core Clues. These typically advance the story from one distinct section to another. Pipe Clues Where an ordinary Core Clue is linked with a particular scene, a floating clue can be gleaned in any one of A clue which is important to the solution of the mysseveral scenes. The GM determines during play which tery, but which only becomes significant much later in scene gives up the clue. the scenario, is called a pipe clue. The name is a reference to screen-writing jargon, where the insertion of Floating clues allow the GM to control the pacing of exposition that becomes relevant later in the narrative a scenario. They allow the Investigators to play out all is referred to as “laying pipe”. The term likens the of the fun or interesting experiences in one section of careful arrangement of narrative information to the the scenario before the story takes a dramatic turn. work performed by a plumber in building a house. For example, you might want them to separately meet all of the suspected occultists before they, and the In- Pipe clues create a sense of structural variety in a vestigators, get locked up for the night in an old dark scenario, lessening the sense that the Investigators are house. To achieve this, withhold the Core Clue that being led in a strictly linear manner from Scene A to moves the investigators to the dark house until after Scene B to Scene C. When they work well, they give they’ve met all of the relevant supporting characters. players a “eureka” moment, as they suddenly piece toThat way, you prevent them from leaping ahead into gether disparate pieces of the puzzle. the narrative without getting all the information they need to fully enjoy what follows. A potential risk with pipe clues lies in the possible weakness of player memories, especially over the course Likewise, a floating clue allows a GM to skip unneces- of a scenario broken into several sessions. The GM may sary scenes if the narrative is starting to drag and needs occasionally have to prompt players to remember the to kick into a higher gear. Player frustration level usu- first piece of a pipe clue when they encounter a later ally serves as a better trigger for a floating Core Clue component - or get a supporting character to do it. than a predetermined time limit. If they’re having obvious fun interacting with the vivid supporting charac- Restricted Clues ters you’ve created, or with the uncanny phenomena, a wise GM can give them more of what they want by Certain clues which are necessary to the solution of a saving the Core Clue for the final scene. On the other mystery will not be known to everyone with the ability hand, if they’re getting bored and frustrated, they can required to access them. Instead, these are restricted uncover the floating Core Clue earlier. clues - secret, esoteric or otherwise obscure facts which one member of the group just happens to know. Leveraged Clues A staple element of mystery writing is the crucial fact which, when presented to a previously resistant witness or suspect, causes them to break down and suddenly supply the information or confession the Investigators seek. This is represented in GUMSHOE by the leveraged clue. This is a piece of information

To preserve the sense that the group has access to little-known facts, only one group member knows the information in question; its revelation comes as news to all of the other Investigators, even those who have the same ability. The first character with the relevant Ability to take an action that might trigger the clue is the one blessed with this fortuitous knowledge.

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Where no clear first actor exists, as in a clue provided as soon as the Investigators enter a scene, the GM chooses the Investigator with the highest current pool in that ability (if applicable) or the Investigator who has had the least recent spotlight time or most requires a positive reversal of fortune. Alternatively, the GM may allow applicable background considerations to determine the possessor of the restricted clue: for example, an Investigator with an aristocratic family background might be the one to recognize the unusual heraldry on a funerary urn.

Timed Results

News of expert findings requiring the team’s attention can also be used to cut short a scene that the players won’t abandon, even though they’ve already collected all available clues.

Scene Types Classic GUMSHOE scenario design involves constructing a series of scenes. Each of these takes place in a different location or involves an interaction with a different supporting character - usually both. Good scenario design tradecraft is to write the title of the scene, followed by the scene type, and the scene or scenes which lead to the current scene, and those which lead out from it.

The following structural technique applies to any GUMSHOE game where the characters have access to the services of an outside laboratory, and rely on tests Introductory or researches performed by others. This is separate to the issue of timing for use of Investigative Abilities, This is the first scene of the episode. It establishes the covered elsewhere. premise of the mystery. If it’s the Investigators’ first meeting, have them come together under appropriate You can shape the pacing of a case with a timed auspices. They may then move to another location result. This occurs when believability requires a suit- where they receive their introductory briefing, or reable interval between the submission of evidence to ceive it there and then. Obviously if a patron or elderly experts and the results they produced. In police academic has summoned them all together, it makes procedurals, it is common for the direction of an sense for the mentor-figure to brief them on the reainvestigation to be suddenly changed when the lab sons for the summons at once. results come in. The new evidence may open up a totally different line of inquiry, or put already gathered Core evidence into a whole new perspective. Core scenes present at least one piece of information A timed result can serve as a delayed-reaction Core necessary to complete the investigation and get to the Clue, directing the Investigators to a new scene. climactic scene. Each core scene requires at least a sinThese are useful devices in cases where the scenes can gle Core Clue. A Core Clue typically points the group be connected in any order. If the Investigators get to another scene, often a further core scene. bored or bogged down in one scene, they can receive a telegram summoning them to a consultation to re- GMs should ideally avoid hard-sequenced Core Clues, ceive some much-needed exposition, which sends which can only lead to one another in a single order. them in a new direction. This is where the floating Core Clue and spine/skeleton approach can deliver the most value and variety. The arrival of a timed result can also change the Inves- GMs may improvise another scene inspired by the Intigators’ interpretation of their current case notes vestigators’ actions. The scene structure guarantees without moving them to a new scene. They might dis- that there’s at least one way to navigate the story, but miss a suspect’s alibi, alter their timeline of events, or should not preclude other scene sequences. reject information provided them by a witness whose perceptions are revealed as unreliable. Casting the Runes

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By following the structure, the GM is also more certain to create a branching narrative driven by player choices. This avoids the syndrome of the story being driven by the actions of supporting characters, which the players observe more or less passively. It also allows players’ Investigative Ability Pool Point spends to have a more meaningful impact on the progression of the narrative, and determine which path is followed. A core scene should typically be rich and plentiful, with many pieces of information in addition to its Core Clue. Facts may provide understanding and context - or obscure the mystery, by focusing attention on irrelevant details. Creating a scene is about anticipating the questions the players will ask and figuring out which answers ought to be available to the investigative experts their characters happen to be. If a spend doesn’t make the Investigator giving up Pool Points seem more impressive, or confer some other benefit, it shouldn’t be a spend. Alternate Alternate scenes provide information The friends have reached their destination, a ruined abbey in which may be of some use in under- Moravia where something wicked and deadly is known to lurk. standing and solving the central mys- Lady Mary, the Colonel and Tristram explore warily. tery, but aren’t strictly necessary to reach the conclusion. They often provide context and Antagonist Reaction detail. Or they might provide the same information as This is a scene of danger or trouble in which supportcore scenes, but in another way. As a third option, they ing characters opposed to the group’s success take acmight allow the group to eliminate a red tion to stop them or set them back. This might be a herring possibility. These facts are valuable; they fight scene, but could just as easily be a legal entanglelet the Investigators narrow their search to the real ment, act of sabotage, or other less direct challenge. answer, even though they don’t strictly speaking, lead Antagonist reactions can be floating, to be dropped in to another Core Clue. wherever they suit the narrative best, or when they can help the pace.

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Sandy Petersen’s Three Rules of Horror Game design doyen Sandy Petersen has publicly shared his three rules for running a confrontation and climactic scene: hint, evidence, and monster. Players should get a suitably subtle hint before they encounter the final nemesis (a foul miasma, a whisper on the wind, etc.) If they insist on pressing on, they should be presented with solid evidence of the imminent danger (gnawed bones, an eerie glow from behind a closed door, etc.) If they continue, they will finally be confronted with the monster. This structure exists partly so that players won’t blame the GM if their characters die. They had fair warning, and if they persisted, whatever happened was their own fault. Of course, the GM may structure the adventure so that there is no other way to vanquish the monster, but at least the players keep their character agency. More often, the hints and evidence should give the players a chance to hang back and prepare an alternative plan of a�ack. Ideally, this should still give them some dramatic encounter with the monster, but one that makes it clear that their cunning has saved the day - and themselves. For instance, they had time to get within a very solid Circle of Protection, or detonate the pre-laid demolition charges just in time to collapse the tunnel before the horde of Swine-Things engulfs them. A clever, fully invested group of Investigators will almost always be able to come up with a Plan B, and any player who insists on a head-on confrontation in the teeth of alternatives deserves whatever’s coming to them.

Hazard

Conclusion

A hazard scene presents the crew with an impersonal obstacle to their safety or ability to continue the investigation. It must typically be overcome through tests or contests.

The conclusion brings the group to the end of its investigation and often confronts it with a moral dilemma, physical obstacle, final revelation, etc. Often it can be a final hazard or antagonist reaction scene, albeit initiated by the Investigators. The classic conclusion of many an RPG mystery is a big fight, but that is Sub-Plot exactly what Casting the Runes is seeking to at least A sub-plot scene gives the characters an opportunity to provide some alternatives to. There is clearly no sense look around, explore and interact without directly al- fighting something that cannot be defeated, or that tering the course of the investigation. These may arise exists only to be solved rather than subdued. from personal arcs, side bets, cover stories, or simply the curiosity of one or more Investigators. Where the Hybrid Scenes central mystery provides structure and forward momentum, the sub-plot adds flavour and character. Se- Some scenes serve a double purpose, most often when quences arising from it may be what the group remem- a general challenge leads to an information opportubers long after the mystery has been put to bed. Sub- nity. GMs should remember that a Core Clue should plots are more suited to long-running campaign play. come as a reward for overcoming an obstacle only if that Core Clue is also available by other means. Otherwise this risks a situation where a Core Clue becomes unavailable, violating the central tenet of the GUMSHOE system and potentially bringing the investigation to a grinding halt. Casting the Runes

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Scene Diagrams

The Siege

To check that player choice matters in a scenario, GMs may be wise to diagram its scenes, like a typical process flow chart. Connect the scenes with arrows, checking to make sure that they can be unravelled in any order. If necessary, put the Core Clues on one side and move them around from one scene to the next once the overall flow is clear. It’s acceptable to add unpredictability and variance with non-investigative scenes (antagonist reactions, hazards, and sub-plots), but better form when the players can connect the core and alternate scenes in more than one way.

“Group after group I examined; all were doing the same thing, cutting fuel...” - E.F. Benson, The Shootings Of Achnaleish Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Pavilion on the Links, dubbed by Arthur Conan Doyle “the first [i.e. finest] short story in the world,” is the classic prototype for a siege. The players are besieged by Satanists, irate villagers, street thugs, or whatever suits the setup of the scenario.

The GM assigns a number representing the strength of the refuge: how many damage points it can take before the besiegers break in or drive their quarry out. Certain familiar situations or settings recur often in (This is not the physical strength of the entire strucadventure games, or genre fiction in general. The fol- ture, but represents the main door, drawbridge, or lowing suggested modules give GMs ways to other key point/s of entry.) Optionally, the GM can play these. They can be dropped in to an existing sce- also assign a number of loopholes or vantage points, nario when the action demands, or used to add variety where the corresponding number of players can shoot or spice to an investigation. or observe from partial cover.

Stock Situations

For each stock situation, the GM should establish a timeline, broken up into base units. For a siege or vigil, this could be blocks of three or six hours; for a stalk through the streets of London, blocks of five minutes. Investigators then make one test or contest for each base unit, applying appropriate modifiers from Ratings, Pool Points, etc., until the situation is resolved.

The GM can run each incident in the siege in their own order of preference, or use the random table at the end. Tests are assumed to have a standard Difficulty of 4, but Keepers can modify these as required.

Parley: The besiegers approach under a flag of truce. The party can try Assess Honesty to gauge their readiness to keep to terms, or try Bargain, Flattery or Reassurance (or even Intimidation) to secure some Of course, the GM can opt to have some time periods advantage, or even release. The GM can of course go by without incident for a longer, more drawn-out make the outcome entirely dependent on the players’ situation, as well as juggle spends, appropriate negotiating skills. Abilities, and Difficulty levels in the most interesting ways. The tables for dice rolling at the end of each Crack-up: One of the besieged characters cracks stock situation are there for GMs who want to inject a under the strain and has to be calmed. Players take a more random element into the progression Difficulty 4 Stability test, losing 2 points on failure, or of incidents. the GM designates an NPC to crack up. Any NPC who cracks up in the course of a siege will either go hysterical until calmed by Psychoanalysis, disrupting the party’s defensive strategy, or will rush out of the refuge blindly towards the besiegers.

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Intrusion: The besiegers attempt to sneak into the refuge. Players must succeed in a Stealth or Sense Trouble contest to spot this. Only a handful of intruders will succeed at any one time, but the party may have a fight on their hands. Once the intrusion is detected, and fought off if necessary, players must use Mechanics (or even Architecture) to repair the breach.

The Vigil

Relief: The Constabulary, or other rescuers, arrive, the besiegers are driven off or melt away, and the siege is lifted.

Interruption: The watchers are surprised by a local, etc., who may blow their cover. Players must use Bargain, Intimidation, Reassurance, or Flattery to secure their silence (assume a 2-point spend).

“He waited with inexpressible anxiety as May, June, and early July passed on, for a mandate from Harrington. But all this time Karswell remained immovable at Lufford. At last, in less than a week before the date he had come to look upon as the end of his earthly activities, came a telegram: ‘Leaves Victoria by boat train Thursday night. Do not miss. I Smoke out: The besiegers pile kindling against the come to you to-night. Harrington.’” - M.R. James, party’s refuge and attempt to smoke them out. Players Casting the Runes must succeed in a Stealth or Sense Trouble contest to spot this. The fire then does one damage roll (or more The characters maintain a vigil - or stakeout, in modat the GM’s discretion) per round until the refuge is ern parlance - over a key location or target individual, destroyed, at which point the party will start to take who remains unaware of their activities. damage from fire and smoke, as per usual fire damage. Test against Preparedness (Difficulty 4) to have buck- Alarm: The target feels under observation, spots the ets of water ready, or use Mechanics (or even Chem- glint of the watchers’ binoculars, or otherwise is on istry or Physics) to work out ways to extinguish the fire the point of detecting them. The players must make a while remaining in cover. successful Shadowing or Stealth test to remain hidden and continue the vigil. Assault: The besiegers decide on a full-out assault, and charge the refuge, with all their forces. They have Visit: The target receives an unexpected visit, from a to inflict enough direct damage on the refuge to break friend or ally, or simply a messenger or delivery boy/ in, doing one damage roll (or more at the GM’s dis- girl. This could give the watchers an opportunity to cretion) per round until the refuge is destroyed, but infiltrate, if required, by donning a Disguise to match meanwhile may succeed with aimed shots at the be- the visitor, or making a successful Stealth roll to slip sieged party. inside the garden gate.

Incident

Die roll

Parley

1

Crack-up

2

Intrusion

3

Smoke out

4

Assault

5

Relief

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Upset: The target does something unexpected, has a nervous attack, breaks out singing, etc. in a way that baffles the watchers but does not break the vigil. Players must pass a Psychoanalysis test to figure out the cause. Ideally, this should be some non-Core Clue or fact that assists the players. Accident: One watcher trips on a stone, encounters a poacher’s trap, or otherwise suffers an unfortunate mishap. The player must pass an Athletics test or take a roll of damage -2, or suffer some other misfortune decided by the GM.

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Break: The target leaves the location, without spot- or Stealth test to remain hidden and continue the vigil. ting the watchers, ending the vigil. The vigil may then Biology or Fieldcraft may help with this, especially if transition into a stalk. the quarry is animal. Incident

Die roll

Alarm

1

Visit

2

Interruption

3

Upset

4

Accident

5

Break

6

Encounter: The quarry meets or is distracted by a fellow creature, ally, etc. The stalkers may drop back, rest, and use the time in whatever way is advantageous to the stalk, e.g. quartering the area to cover an alternative exit, etc. Interruption: The stalkers are surprised by locals, etc., who may expose them. Players must use Bargain, Intimidation, Reassurance, or Flattery to ensure their cooperation and continue the stalk (assume a 2-point spend). Accident: One stalker tumbles into a ditch, gets tangled in a hank of rope, or otherwise suffers an unfortunate mishap. The player must pass an Athletics test or take a roll of damage -2, or suffer some other misfortune decided by the Keeper (gun knocked from their hand into a gully, etc.).

The Stalk

“Now Eldred was walking slower, and it could just be made out that he had opened the book and was turning over the leaves. He stopped, evidently troubled by the failing light. Garrett slipped into a gate-opening, Disruption: Both quarry and stalkers encounter a but still watched. Eldred, hastily looking around, sat major interruption that forces them to break off their down on a felled tree-trunk by the roadside and held the open book up close to his eyes.” - M.R. James, Sam and Tristram stalk the monster in the bleak pine woods below the abbey ruins. The Tractate Middoth This variation on the standard chase is a pursuit when the quarry is unaware of the pursuers. The target may be anything from a crooked book dealer in the crowded streets of Mayfair to a lone stag on a moor: Keepers can modify the precise incidents accordingly. The stalkers can, of course, take a shot at the quarry at any time, or otherwise attempt to engage or catch them, but if the first attack is not successful, the stalk becomes a standard chase contest. Of course, the GM can simply run the stalk as a contest of Investigator Stealth versus quarry Sense Trouble, but we think this adds more flavour. Alarm: The target feels under observation, spots the glint of the watchers’ binoculars, catches their scent on the wind, or otherwise is on the point of detecting them. The players must make a successful Shadowing

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current course of action and take refuge, seek shelter, etc. Examples could include a sudden hailstorm out on the moors, a traffic accident in city streets, etc. Stalkers must make a successful Shadowing test to resume the stalk after the disturbance has passed. Break: The quarry breaks contact with the stalkers, still unawares, and ends the stalk. Incident

Die Roll

Alarm

1

Encounter

2

Interruption

3

Accident

4

Disruption

5

Break

6

Golden Age detective stories yield plenty of inspiration and gritty detail for setting, atmosphere, pacing, legal and forensic procedure, and many other elements important for either other-worldly or mundane mysteries. Yet some of their greatest contributions can come in plotting and laying the trail of clues. Investigative roleplaying is all about the drama of that step-by-step investigation, and much of that progression is the same whether a supernatural or a natural cause is involved.

The Golden Haze The section on the Edwardian era in these rules is just a taste of the fascinating and juicy material for GMs who prize historical accuracy and detailed chronology. Yet any reader of M.R. James can tell you that the stories take place in a timeless pre-WW II haze where protagonists may be anything from early Victorians to Twenties gents. Significant events can be hooks or turning points for campaigns, but it may be just as atmospheric, and far more flexible, to keep away from exact dates, and be as free with elapsed time as the story demands. Whatdunnit? M.R. James’s stories coincide with the dawning of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction, and many of that genre’s luminaries (R. Austin Freeman, G.K. Chesterton, Gaston Leroux, E.W. Hornung, Maurice Leblanc) were producing whodunnits before 1914. Agatha Christie began The Mysterious Affair at Styles in 1916. Casting the Runes

The second of Ronald Knox’s “Ten Commandments” of detective fiction - “all supernatural or preternatural agencies are ruled out as a matter of course” - might seem to preclude any linkage, yet the combination of a mystery, a suggestive trail of clues, and (frequently) a country house setting verging towards the “cosy” obviously crops up in both Golden Age detective stories and Jamesian ghost stories. And for those needing a more archaeological setting, there are the Amelia Peabody mysteries by Egyptologist Barbara Mertz, writing as Elizabeth Peters. GMs for Casting the Runes therefore have a whole range of plot devices and mystery templates ready to adapt from Golden Age whodunits into ghostly yarns.

GMs shouldn’t hesitate to learn from detective story plot generators and writing guidelines when it comes to crafting scenarios and campaigns. What’s a typical story cycle involving a famous detective but a campaign of successive investigations anyway? Think of the traditional plot outline: set-up, trigger incident, development, climax/twist/breakpoint, aftermath, resolution. How do you ratchet up the tension? Is the midpoint of the narrative the most challenging? Do you need red herrings? All of these points should find obvious places in occult investigations, and can be worked into flowcharts of scene progression. The Amateur Spirit As even the most superficial reading of M.R. James will confirm, the Edwardian era was a golden age for the well-born amateur. Campaigns can be structured around idle curiosity and a casual spirit of inquiry, rather than some heavily leveraged mission to save hu-

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For both James and the writers of Golden Age detective fiction, idyllic rural scenes conceal dark secrets, and country houses are nests of brutality and horror. manity from the darkness. This may make for a less fraught, calmer and even slower campaign than other approaches, but that should be part of the unique appeal. The leisured member of the Ghost Club has all the justification they need for a series of psychic investigations, without diving into deeper conspiracies or ponderous story arcs. International politics and the struggles of the Great Powers are there for those who need more tension.

gentleman amateur might well use it to uncover news relevant to his concerns. This may be especially appropriate for scenarios that aren’t part of some overriding mission or leading towards some hard conclusion/ nemesis, but simply witnessing some supernatural manifestation, or finding the solution to some historical curiosity.

The amateur spirit covers other significant elements in building a campaign. Private individuals at the time Seeds for investigations in such cases can legitimately could sometimes utilize resources now associated only be newspaper reports, rumours, casual gossip, or curi- with companies or government departments. A reaous puzzles brought to the Investigators for solution sonably well-off Investigator may put up the rest of by members of the public. This may seem random and the party at their country retreat, free of charge, and whimsical, but that is part of the charm of amateur sta- pay for transport, equipment, etc. A landed proprietor tus. The world’s first press clippings agency, Romeike could mobilize a small army of domestics, tenants, & Curtice, was established in London in 1852, and a and neighbours.

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Small parties or shooting parties? M.R. James’s fiction is generally structured around solitary protagonists, or at best, two or three principal actors directly confronting the mystery or horror. Most roleplaying games rely on rather larger parties. However, the GUMSHOE system at least has its own sheaf of resources for play with small parties, or even just one Investigator. GUMSHOE One-2-One materials are available online, and Keepers are invited to draw on them if they want to craft adventures for only one or two Investigators. As for the Investigators themselves, Casting the Runes recommends using third-party experts, mentors, commercial agencies, and other non-player characters to supplement any shortfall in a party’s Investigative Abilities. This is not only true to life, it is also a great way to add variety, flesh out the adventure, and deal with any issues created by small party sizes. The General Ability of Connections is there to facilitate this, as well as all the other Interpersonal Abilities dependent on social networks, such as Bureaucracy or Streetwise.

Dealing with the Authorities

average of somewhat over 400 murders per year in New York City in the 1920s.) Police did not regularly carry guns, typically having only a truncheon. Even when armed, they would normally receive revolvers, shotguns, and .22 rifles. During the Tottenham Outrage of 1910, when Latvian anarchists fired on the public, police were at first only able to return fire with a revolver borrowed from a passer-by. This incident, and the ensuing Sidney Street Siege, led to the Metropolitan Police eventually adopting the new .32 Webley automatic as its standard issue sidearm in place of the previous .45 Webley revolver. Members of the upper classes - Class 5 and above - can expect to be let off or fined for most minor offences, although minor in this period might include running over and injuring an elderly labourer with your motor car. As if in compensation, the lower orders - Class 1-2 - can sometimes get fines or very light sentences for offences of quite serious violence, if the violence was domestic. Criminals can turn King’s Evidence to exonerate themselves and implicate fellow conspirators.

For any local misdemeanour, the Investigators may find themselves appearing before the local Justice of The police and judiciary of the day were justly proud the Peace, usually an upstanding citizen or landowner. of their powers in maintaining law and order, whether This is when Connections and a high Class can come among the domestic poor or foreign agitators. “There in handy. An Investigator may even be the local JP isn’t one of them, sir, that we couldn’t lay our hands themselves. Otherwise, the Investigators may find on at any time of night and day. We know what each themselves fined, or bound over to keep the peace, of them is doing hour by hour,” as Chief Inspector and compelled to refrain from certain behaviour on Heat of the Special Crimes Department claims in pain of further fines or imprisonment. Joseph Conrad’s The Secret Agent. The Sidney Street Siege of 1911, when armed police and Army units However tolerant and flexible the police and JPs were, fought an armed stand-off with a gang of Latvian an- though, they would most likely be narrow-minded archists, shook this complacency - the shooting of and unimaginative. Investigators who talk hysterically three policeman prior to the Siege remains one of the of phantoms and witchcraft are likely to be given short worst mass killings of police in English history. How- shrift. In principle at least, though, a suspect could not ever, the era’s commitment to the rule of law can be be arrested for a hypothetical crime. gauged by the fact that all of the defendants but one in the subsequent court case were acquitted. Between In any case of suspicious or accidental death, a 1911 and 1913, only an average of 45 crimes p.a. involv- Coroner and Coroner’s Jury of 24 men would hold an ing arms of any kind were reported in London - then inquiry, drawing on the medical and other evidence of the world’s most populous city. (This contrasts with an the Coroner’s Officer and the local Medical Officer or Casting the Runes

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A trial taking place at the Old Bailey in London, sometime around 1900. The Old Bailey was the setting for the trials of many of the most infamous villains of the period. other doctor. The Coroner’s Jury would bring in a majority verdict on the cause of death, and whether anyone should be prosecuted for it.

Subsequent proceedings if a Coroner’s Jury found a verdict of wilful murder, rather than death by misadventure or from natural causes, might involve inspectors of the Criminal Investigation Department. The local magistrate’s court would commit the case to the next assizes, to be tried by a circuit judge on one of the six assize circuits. A lucky defendant might be exonerated by the magistrates before the assizes were held.

Contemporary lawyers were disdainful of the quality of Coroner’s Juries, and preferred to try out cases in a proper court, but the forensic expertise available at least could be formidable. R. Austin Freeman’s fictional forensic detective Dr Thorndyke is an excellent guide to forensic knowledge of the time, especially in Firearms were freely available and practically unrethe earlier stories. The first United Kingdom Finger- stricted in Edwardian Britain until the 1920 Firearms print Bureau was founded in Scotland Yard in 1901. Act, which introduced a licensing system and discretionary authority for local police. Roughly a quarter of a million licensed firearms were owned by private individuals in Britain prior to World War I. Since 1870,

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a licence had been required for anyone wishing to carry a gun outside their home, and the 1903 Pistols Act introduced a licence for firearms with a barrel shorter than nine inches. Enforcement of the Pistols Act was lax, and any Investigator with a Class of 3 or above can easily obtain such a licence. Investigators can reasonably carry concealed pistols, and openly carry rifles and shotguns in rural areas. An Investigator who brandishes a weapon in an urban setting, however, will soon attract police attention. Motor cars in the Edwardian era had to be licensed, for £1 (5s for a motorcycle). Drivers also needed to buy a licence for 5s, but did not have to pass a test. Maximum legal speed limit was 20 miles per hour, but many cars of the time were capable of speeds far in excess of this. Speeding offences typically resulted in an appearance before a magistrate, with typical fines around £2 plus 1-2s costs.

Insanity and Institutionalisation These details are given for GMs wanting to add more authentic period context to the core rules on loss of Stability and mental illness. Treatment of the mentally ill in Edwardian England was governed by the Lunacy Act 1890, which expanded the Victorian system of asylums created by the 1845 Lunacy Act and County Asylums Act. (Scots and Irish law had different provisions.) Under its provisions, an insane person “not being a pauper or a lunatic so found by inquisition” could only be “received and detained as a lunatic in an institution for lunatics, or as a single patient” if an official judicial order was issued. A relative of the lunatic, or other qualified person if no relative was available, could petition for such an order, along with two separate medical certificates. The Act strictly defined who could and who could not certify a lunatic. Lunatics found wandering at large could be brought before a justice for examination. A lunatic had, in theory, to be notified within 24 hours of their committal that they had a right to appeal to a judicial authority. There were full provisions for temporary Casting the Runes

and voluntary patients, and private homes where a mental patient was kept were similarly regulated. Treatment of the mentally handicapped in Edwardian Britain was governed by the Idiots Act 1886. Eugenic theory and pseudo-science about racial degeneration led to substantial pressure for more strict segregation of the mentally handicapped. (G.K. Chesterton was a strident opponent of these initiatives.) The result was the Mental Deficiency Act 1913, which included a category of “Moral Imbeciles.... Displaying mental weakness coupled with strong vicious or criminal propensities, and on whom punishment has little or no deterrent effect” among the four categories that the authorities were entitled to deal with. A petition from a parent or guardian could secure institutionalisation for any of these four categories, if the alleged imbecile was habitually drunk, unable to be schooled, neglected, or guilty of any crime. Mental hospitals were mostly either maintained by local authorities or private charities. After committal, mental patients had to be visited every six months by the Commissioners for Lunacy. Psychiatric treatment was rudimentary until after World War I, with its avalanche of shell-shock cases. From 1907, English hospitals had to record cases of mental illness against the “schedules of forms of insanity,” which listed, for adult patients, “Insanity with Epilepsy, General Paralysis of the Insane, Insanity with the grosser brain lesions, Acute Delirium (Acute delirious mania), Confusional Insanity, Stupor, Primary Dementia,” as well as Mania, Melancholia, “Alternating Insanity,” “Delusional Insanity,” “Volitional Insanity” (including “Impulse, Obsession, Doubt”), “Moral Insanity” and “Dementia.” Physical restraints were used less and less in this period, as was alcohol as a means of sedation. Hydrotherapy was popular, with warm baths used for excitable patients and cold water for manic patients. Hysterectomies and gynaecological surgery were often performed on female patients. Most more enlightened institutions also employed “moral therapy,” including work and amusements - precursors to modern occupational therapy.

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Jamesian endings and avoiding the final win

M.R. James and of much of the best horror. They don’t have to finish in death or insanity for the Investigators either. But solving the mystery does not have to mean laying the ghost, punishing the guilty, or “He was very submissive and piano about it all: generally living happy ever after. ready to do just what we thought best, but clearly quite certain in his own mind that what was coming could GMs - and players - are invited to consider the folnot be averted or palliated.” - M.R. James, lowing outcomes: A Warning to the Curious The Investigators solve the mystery, but only as witResolution is the stuff of dramatic narrative. Plot nesses to a past tragedy they cannot alter. They have threads come together, characters’ drives and aspira- discovered which house is portrayed in the ghastly tions reach their conclusions, details are worked out, mezzotint that replays a horror two centuries old, and and the whole storyline is tied up neatly together. unearthed the crimes that caused it to manifest its supernatural tableau, but that discovery has done nothOr not. Because the point of horror is that it crushes ing to offset the original tragedy, or to diminish the our expectations and human hopes, confronts us with powers of the picture. the dark consequences of our best impulses, shows us how Nemesis is always waiting to confound our pride The Investigators arrive in time to witness some suand puny powers. M.R. James excelled at that kind of pernatural Nemesis playing out, but cannot stop it. outcome - one reason why his ghost stories can still The enraged spectre arises to slay the thief who stole chill us even now. A GM who makes sure that not ev- the family treasure, and the Investigators can only ery mystery is solvable and not every ghost can be look on helplessly from the old house’s long gallery. laid or demon vanquished will have a ready-made source of horror. The Investigators can only resolve the mystery or slay the horror through a solution as tragic as if they had Of course, many Casting the Runes investigations should fin- His Majesty’s Constabulary has firm Views about demon-summoning in ish in a satisfying, positive con- a public place. Or anything else that might frighten the horses, for clusion. The sorcerous Room that matter. Number 13 will no longer manifest in the Danish hotel to lure the unwary. The witches’ coven has been dispersed and its members imprisoned, after its leader was consumed by the demon he raised up. The Grey Lady’s ghost has been safely sent to her eternal rest. Players will soon grow frustrated if their efforts always end in either failure, or only in some horrible revelation. Yet many investigations can and should avoid resolution in a clear win. This is true to the spirit of

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left things well alone. The werewolf is dead, but her bloodline, and perhaps the curse, lives on in her now orphaned children.

campaign, such as new NPC contacts and a wider reputation. The point of each investigation is always to enjoy the scenario, not necessarily to win it.

The Investigators only learn later what the real supernatural manifestation was. That lonely keeper in the lighthouse at the end of the point really was the ghost all along; yet when they questioned him, they only thought he was a strange old eccentric.

Working on the Abs “I feel that the technical terms of ‘occultism’, if they are not very carefully handled, tend to put the mere ghost story (which is all that I am attempting) upon a quasi-scientific plane, and to call into play faculties quite other than the imaginative.” - M.R. James, from the Preface to More Ghost Stories of an Antiquary

The ghost or horror turns out to have a mundane explanation - but one just as disturbing as anything supernatural. The Monster of the Moors turns out to be the grotesquely deformed offspring of incestuous It may be ironic that an RPG inspired by the works of couplings in the squalid, benighted cots of the tenant M.R. James devotes so much space to a style of superfarmers. natural fiction that’s so foreign to his aesthetic. Yet we have given all the resources we think fit in Casting the The final manifestation or outcome is naggingly in- Runes to make sure that GMs and players who want a comprehensible in a way that underlines how in- quasi-scientific, even steampunkish, campaign of ocscrutable the supernatural is. The Investigators finally cult investigation can run one. We’d recommend other escape the willow-crowned islet in the Danube where games that manage this far better, but at the end of the immense unseen forces have been holding them day, it’s up to the GM and the players. captive, but only when the river has already drowned another sacrificial victim. Only, we’d like to clarify the trade-off, and loss and gain, involved, by reference to the quintessential ocInvestigators are there to learn or to witness, not to cult investigator, Thomas Carnacki, and his creator, solve. The phantom has led them to the secret room William Hope Hodgson. The Carnacki stories are stiff where a trove of grimoires lies, including one that with pseudo-scientific explanations, devices, creaholds a valuable cipher key for future adventures. tures, phenomena, and Unique Capital Letter Entities - the Ab-Natural and Ab-Human, the Eight Signs of Investigators only learn at second hand what the the Saaamaaa Ritual, the Saiitii Manifestation, “Astarresolution of their investigation was. The outcome of ral Vibrations Compared with Matero-involuted Vithat strange occurrence at a public school remains a brations Below the Six-Billion Limit” - that have cremystery - until at a dinner party months later, another ated a mini-mythos all of their own. guest recounts what was found in an old well in Ireland. That kind of word salad is the stuff of many RPG settings. H.P. Lovecraft excelled at it. Does it really fuel The Investigators’ best efforts fall foul of the invinci- the imagination, though, or confine it? Above all, as ble scepticism of the powers that be. They uncovered James already hinted, does it diminish the air of awe, a genuine haunting at the dower house, but the old mystery, and terror that is supposed to be the essence dowager who lived there is still committed to a mental of horror? It certainly violates James’s third law of home by a materialistic jury, aided by greedy relatives. good ghost story writing. There may still be benefits at the end of such scenarios in terms of increased Investigative Ability Ratings, and other less quantifiable advantages specific to the Casting the Runes

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We’d suggest that there is a bias to this kind of approach that pushes it towards a more pulpy, physical, active campaign, and away from pure horror. Science, pseudo or otherwise, is all about reason elucidating the cosmos, and technology is all about getting results through the exercise of the rational will. Technobabble is all about evoking that mindset. Hodgson the bodybuilder and sailor may have been very true to his own nature when he created an occult investigator who strives to subdue the supernatural like an engineer channeling or damming up a torrent, and who is always carrying his revolver, “though I did not expect to have any use for it, really.” We’d argue that the notion of a predictable supernatural is a contradiction in terms, and one that hampers the imagination.

framework for a campaign that can be adapted to the Edwardian era with minimal effort. However, many Keepers and players will be looking for more overtly occult frameworks. Of course, Investigators can be self-starting or the proteges of a single powerful patron, but Keepers can think those up for themselves. There are plenty of real-life societies and organisations that would provide equally good campaign foundations, but Investigators may prefer more fun and flavourful types. Here are a few fictional groups and societies to provide a steady stream of investigations. The Everlasting Club

Doesn’t the terror of the supernatural lie exactly in the fact that it’s inexorable and inexplicable? It may not even be consistent enough to allow for a systematic enumeration of its main forces and movers. It may emerge in folklore and legends with common themes and traditions, but no consistency. Its appeal is to the imagination and the emotions, not the reason. There are myths, but no Mythos, in M.R. James.

The Everlasting Club is the subject of a celebrated ghost story by Arthur Gray, a Cambridge contemporary of M.R. James, Master of Jesus College, and author of the ghost story collection Tedious Brief Tales of Granta and Gramarye. Its protocols are based on the real Ghost Club, which was “founded in 1862, and is the oldest organisation in the world associated with psychical research.” The real Ghost Club also originated at Cambridge, in discussions about ghosts Keepers who make the effort to do without a Mythos among Fellows of Trinity College, and has such a picand stick to the pure appeal of stories may find that turesque history that many Keepers will want to use it their campaigns are the better for it. To quote Love- as a campaign frame instead. However, the Everlasting craft himself, “The oldest and strongest emotion of Club is offered for your consideration. mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.” We counsel keeping the The Everlasting Club is based in Jesus College, Camunknown unknown in horror RPGs, and not trying to bridge. At any one time, its living membership nummake it known by plastering familiar labels, quasi-sci- bers seven Fellows of various colleges. However, it entific terms and technobabble all over it. But as said, claims a much larger membership, because every Felwe’ve tried to keep the resources for those who want low who died while still in the Club is treated as to go that way. a member. Its Minute Book dates back to its foundation in 1738, and when the Club has its annual meeting on the evening of 2nd November, All Souls Day, the names of all members, “Corporeal or Incorporeal,” are read out. “The Senior Corporeal Everlasting, not being President, shall be the Secretary of Organizations, clubs, standing committees, leagues - the Society.” all these and more are staples of investigative horror games, to provide the connecting narrative and re- The Founder of the Club, Alan Dermot, son of an sources needed to keep the campaign going. Irish peer, is still treated as President, and might be Kenneth Hite’s Bookhounds of London is one superb the subject of a ghost story himself, since he became

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“an Incorporeal by the hands of a French Chevalier,” in “a duel in Paris in the year 1743, under circumstances which I need not particularise, but which point to an exceptional degree of cruelty and wickedness in the slain man.” The Club meets less formally at other times of year, and almost invariably discusses ghosts and the supernatural. Members deliver speeches and present papers on ghostly matters. At any time, members may be engaged in their own occult investigations, or may recruit others to do so. The Club has almost no resources of its own, being organized as an informal dining circle whose members meet each year “in the place of residence of that Corporeal member of the Society to whom it shall fall in order of rotation to entertain them.” However, the Corporeal Everlastings are all well-established academics, with considerable

financial and scholastic resources of their own, and extensive ties throughout the governing elite. They may be members out of pure curiosity, or may have more organized and purposeful agendas. The character of the Club could hint that some Corporeal Everlastings have an unhealthy interest in prolonging human life beyond its natural span. Any Investigator who is an academic, and especially a Cambridge don, might reasonably be an Everlasting, or friends with one, or be able to access one through his or her Connections. Meetings of the Club are liable to be heavy on atmosphere, with dim lights and burning tapers, and full of ponderous donnish humour and dry wit. Individual Everlastings, or the entire Club, might send Investigators out on an assignment, or offer rewards for evidence from one. They are likely to be expert authorities in important Academic Inves-

Jesus College, Cambridge, seen around 1900. The College provides the base for the Everlasting Club, an organisation of academics interested in ‘psychical research’ and ghost-lore. As a former mediaeval nunnery, the College may have secrets of its own.

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tigative Abilities, and may have high Occult ratings too. The Book of Minutes of the Club is a trove of ghostly lore in itself, and might be consulted to answer a question or help solve a mystery. “The original book is described as a stout duodecimo volume bound in red leather and fastened with red silken strings,” and may carry a curse, since a fair number of Secretaries died a short time after it was handed on to them. Investigations based around the Everlasting Club might include The Society of Antiquaries is composed of the most eminent scholars. The paid commissions, ex- covert Secret Archives section has centuries of experience in dealing with periments to test the aspects of the past that are not as dead as they ought to be. truth of psychic phenomena, anecdotal stuff based on the latest tales that The Secret Archives are the collections of reports, Corporeal Everlastings have brought back with them, proceedings, documents, artefacts, and other materior cases of academic rivalry, where some members als comprising the bizarre and unusual discoveries need help to validate their own reputation against that the Society and its members have unearthed over others’ scepticism. The Club’s own lore and long his- the years. The Archives are administered by a Special tory could provide the focus for more than one inves- Committee, and are closed to the public to avoid untigation. It has a reputation and legend of its own at seemly prying, their existence known only to a few, least as strong as that of the Cambridge Apostles and even among FSAs. The Special Committee members M.R. James’s Chit-Chat Society. have jurisdiction whenever an FSA encounters anything unusual, and may move to hide or suppress The Society of Antiquaries Secret Archives strange occurrences for the public good. The Society of Antiquaries of London is a genuine institution, chartered in 1751, based out of Burlington House in Piccadilly, and boasting the UK’s oldest archaeological library, with over 100,000 books, county histories, rare drawings and manuscripts, etc. The Secret Archives, however, are a fictional add-on for Keepers and Investigators wanting to use the resources of this august institution as a campaign frame.

The Society is reasonably well financed, but the Special Committee does not have an unlimited budget. It does enjoy official trust, though, and will likely be called in by the powers that be if anything unseemly resurfaces from the past. As part of its efforts to maintain secrecy and the Society’s respectability, it often employs proxies, which is

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The home of the Oak Leaf League in Northumberland Avenue, London, is disguised as an ordinary gentleman’s club. From here members mount daring missions around the world. where the Investigators may come in. Any Investigator who is already an FSA might one day receive a note or a tap on the shoulder, and a call to appear at a meeting of the Special Committee for an important briefing.

The Secret Archives themselves are likely to be off limits until the Investigators attain many years of seniority. Special Committee members may bring out individual items for examination. Many artefacts from other countries, especially India, have found their way Gaining Fellowship of the Society is very selective and into the Archives over the years, as the Special Comexclusive, and only by nomination from at least five mittee is one of the few groups able to handle such existing FSAs, followed by confirmation with a 2:1 vote things. The Special Committee itself and the Society by anonymous ballot. Investigators are thus very unlikely are of course deep reservoirs of expertise and knowlto begin as FSAs, but could potentially end up on the edge about the ancient and the mysterious. Special Committee or even curator of the Secret Archives if they progress as renowned antiquaries. Women were first admitted as Fellows of the Society in 1920. Casting the Runes

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The Oak Leaf League The Oak Leaf League is presented for those Keepers and players who prefer a more gung-ho, active campaign, with earthly as well as spiritual threats. It also connects directly with the plethora of imperial loyalist leagues and patriotic associations founded around the turn of the century. Readers who see similarities with many proto-fascist and nationalist associations would not be wrong: Historical precedents include the Germanenorden and Maud Gonne’s Inghinidhe na hÉireann (Daughters of Ireland). The Oak Leaf League began as an offshoot of the Folklore Society (founded 1878), created by former members who wanted to give a more directly political, patriotic application to the old English traditions chronicled by the Society. It exists to uncover and record ancient English myths and legends, and to celebrate these in the name of national unity and loyalty. More credulous members may actually believe that archaic rituals enhance national strength.

The League may sponsor expeditions and investigations all over the country, and in other countries and regions associated with Arthurian legend, Norse paganism, Anglo-Saxon mythology, and other related traditions. Sponsored Investigators can expect ample support and supply (hampers from Fortnum & Mason, etc.), though often with somewhat bizarre stipulations attached. The League is likely to be behind cases involving competition with other groups, especially foreign ones - for instance, a race against agents of the German Empire to acquire the original manuscript of the Oera Linda Book, a highly dubious occult tome, from the Friesland Provincial Library in Leeuwarden, The Netherlands.

The League is known for slightly eccentric doings, such as evocations of Herne the Hunter in Windsor Forest and rituals at Merlin’s Cave in Tintagel. It is well-financed and well-connected in high society, though, and is smiled on by the authorities. The Oak Leaf League maintains its club building, an elaborate Victorian renaissance revival fantasy acquired from a defunct political club, on Northumberland Avenue, close to Trafalgar Square in London. Its badge, a silver oak leaf, is displayed over the front entrance. It has reciprocal dining and boarding arrangements with other clubs and leagues across the country and the Empire. Investigators may be members of the League, or simply engaged by it. Although formally a gentlemen’s club, the League has accepted women as associate members for many years, thanks to a common interest in folklore and patriotic causes, and grants them admittance to the League’s main sitting room and library. The library and archives, though small, are a treasure trove for the folklorist and traditional occultist.

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Scenarios he following adventures are given as starter /taster scenarios for Casting the Runes. Investigators are advised to read no further, and leave the rest to their trusty GM. To make these into more difficult scenarios for more experienced Investigators, a few tweaks should suffice.

T

Adrian Sowerby’s statistics are given below, though they will probably not have much bearing on the investigation. He is physically unimposing, neatly dressed, with a low forehead, red hair, and a sweptback look to his face that recalls a rodent, but his fixed determination endows him with an almost bullet-like air of purpose.

The Coptic Lamp

Sowerby will introduce the case as follows:

This adventure revolves around the antiquarian community of London, and one very curious - and dangerous - artifact that comes to light. It is intended as an initial introduction to the game, and an opportunity for Investigators to meet and get to know each other, if needed.

“Gentlemen, I’ve called you here to help in a situation that could threaten the life of at least one of our clients, but where I am professionally and personally unable to proceed. The fact is, I’m at my wits’ end in knowing what to do, and badly need help.”

The story opens at the offices of Eve & Porter, a wellrespected dealer in Near Eastern antiquities, in Crown Passage SW1, located in the very grand St James’s district of central London. Crown Passage is a narrow, dark street lined with 17th and 18th century shop buildings. The offices of Eve & Porter are in an early 18th century building dating from the reign of Queen Anne. The Investigators have been called there after the firm’s usual opening hours by Adrian Sowerby, a junior member of staff at the establishment. Sowerby may be known to one of them at university, or through antiquarian contacts; or he may simply have heard of one or more of them as experienced people in the fields of the bizarre and supernatural. Alternatively, he may have contacted any of the organisations suggested in the Campaigns chapter as suitable patrons and entry points to the Jamesian world for player characters.

“As I’m sure you know, we frequently despatch items ‘on approval’ to our most established clients, for their assessment and evaluation, before they offer to buy. In this case, one of our longest established and most valued customers, Percival Wallas of Mayfair, retired partner in the banking firm of Robarts, Lubbock & Co., died suddenly just over a year ago. You may remember the case: it attracted attention because the cause of death was determined to be spontaneous human combustion. Comparisons were made with the death of Krook in Bleak House.” “Now, at the time of his death, Mr Wallas had in his possession one of our items, on approval. As this did not constitute part of his effects, it was not held up in probate, and was returned to us. The object is a Coptic lamp, of Egyptian origin, dating from approximately the 13th century AD, and fairly unique of its kind.” “Since the circumstances of Mr Wallas’s death were so strange, I became interested in the provenance of the lamp, and looked it up in our records. It first came into our possession in the 1880s, apparently from an Army

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officer who had served in Egypt and fought at the Battle of Tel El Kebir. It featured regularly in our catalogues thenceforth, but had never been sold. However, I did find that it had been sent out on approval once before: to The Hon. Gervais Strang of Holmbush Park in East Sussex, who died in a sudden fire at his house in 1895.”

dicate that he is motivated by a frustrated desire to do the right thing and save a life. The Lamp The Investigators will realise of course that the lamp is still in the dealer’s strong rooms. If asked, Sowerby

“This seemed too much of a The Coptic lamp, from a photograph in the Eve & Porter Spring 1900 coincidence to be merely acci- catalogue. The whereabouts of the item are currently unknown. dental, and I brought it to the attention of Mr Porter. He proved extremely sceptical, and brushed off my concerns as boyish fancy. He went so far as to threaten me with dismissal for besmirching the good name of the firm if I continued.” “So, I held my peace, especially as no other customer had shown an interest in the lamp. Mr Porter has continued to advertise it in our catalogues without attracting any interest - until now. “A retired Indian Civil Service officer, Mr Reginald Dewhurst of The Oaks, Cranleigh, Surrey, has asked for the lamp to be sent to him, on approval. I can delay it at most two days longer, without losing my position. I’m at a loss what to do. But I thought that gentlefolk with your abilities might be able to solve the mystery of this lamp, and see if it really has any malediction attached to it.” Assess Honesty will indicate that Sowerby is sincere, and a further 1-point spend will in-

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will disappear downstairs to the vaults and reappear with a locked wooden case. Opening the case with a key, he will reach into the box with a polishing cloth, and take out the Coptic lamp.

you the moment that the lamp leaves our premises, but please do not contact Mr Porter himself directly unless there is no alternative, as you will certainly cost me my position. He’s a regular Mr Pooter, let alone Porter, and quite deaf to anything out of the ordi“After what I’ve told you, I won’t invite you to touch nary.” it.” Sowerby says as he holds the lamp up to the light… Sowerby will see the Investigators out, taking details The Coptic lamp itself is a brass orb, obviously made to keep in contact. Sowerby will remain in touch with to hang by chains, exquisitely chased with perforations the Investigators throughout the adventure. He can and inscriptions that create a mosaic effect strongly be reached by London’s frequent daily postal service, reminiscent of a mosque lamp. by telegram, or by telephone. (Wary of being overheard, Sowerby will whisper tersely on the phone, Even unlit, it is serene and beautiful, imposing rather but he can answer any further questions the than threatening. Investigators with Art History or Investigators have.) Archaeology will recognize it as Middle Eastern work of the 13th century. By this point, it’s obvious that the investigation is a race against time, with a 2-day limit. The Keeper Sowerby calls the Investigators’ attention to the in- should nudge and encourage Investigators to spend scription on the lamp. “The inscription is Coptic, but Investigative Pool Points accordingly for speed benehas not yet been translated,” he says. fits. For instance, a Connections or Archaeology Pool Point spend will find them London’s best authority on The lamp bears an inscription around its widest cir- Coptic texts far quicker than just asking around. cumference in Coptic. Although using Greek script, this language is entirely different, and is the most The Inscription modern survival of the ancient Egyptian tongue, used to this day as a liturgical language in the Coptic The Investigators’ failure to decipher a Coptic inChurches of Egypt and elsewhere. Investigators who scription at first glance will lead them (1-point Conalready know Greek will recognize the script, but will nections or Archaeology spend) to Austen Smith, Asalso find the inscription incomprehensible. Only a sistant Keeper at the Department of Egyptian and specialist in Coptic will be able to decipher the in- Assyrian Antiquities in the British Museum. If the Inscription. vestigators are already members of the Everlasting Club (see p. 163 in the Campaigns chapter), or are Sowerby will confirm that nothing out of the known in London occult and spiritualist circles, they ordinary has happened with the lamp at the dealers, may learn about Smith or be introduced to him, with throughout the entire period that is has been in the Class 4 or above and 1 point of Charm, by Ernest Walcompany’s possession. lis Budge, his superior at the British Museum, and a famous Egyptologist, spiritualist, and London society “Of course, I cannot let you take the lamp out with figure. (“Smith’s your only man in London for Coptic you, even if it was safe to do so, but here is the printed stuff,” Budge will say.) If not, a letter of inquiry from page from our catalogue, with a photograph and a Sowerby will secure their introduction. transcription of the Coptic text,” he says, passing the Investigators sheets from the Eve & Porter catalogue. Smith is bearded, wiry, irascible, and a devoted protegé of Budge, who he venerates for enriching the “I’ve also made a note of Mr Dewhurst’s address, in British Museum’s collection of Coptic antiquities. case you need to contact him yourself. I will inform “Budge brought us armfuls of stuff from the library of Casting the Runes

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the White Monastery of St Shenoute the Great in Upper Eqypt,” Smith will crow, as he shows them his dusty shelves of manuscripts and papyri. “Stacks from the monasteries of Wadi El Natrun and Faiyum as well.” An extra point spend in Charm or Archaeology will yield this: “You know they even renamed old Duke Street just across the road Coptic Street because of his finds? It’s given me the stuff for a lifetime’s work.” Smith is delighted to hear about the lamp. “They have a great significance in Coptic religious practice, you know? One of their most important devotional works is called The Lamp that Lights the Darkness In Clarifying the Service. This definitely looks a fine specimen.” He The British Mueum, where the Investigators may learn more about the lamp and its mysterious inscription. will be able to decipher the surface meaning of the inscription. “This is a quotation from the Book of Genesis: ‘He placed at ankhs, canopic jars and other hackneyed clichés of the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flam- popular Egyptology. The proprietor, a fat, tanned, ing sword which turned every way, to keep the way of ex-colonial type in a white linen suit, introduces the tree of life.’ And this is a quotation from Ezekiel (Charm or Reassurance) his Coptic assistant, Kyrillos XXIII:38 ‘They have defiled my sanctuary in the same Fanous. The small, neat, oval-headed Egyptian agrees day, and have profaned my sabbaths.’ But what their (Charm or Reassurance) to add to Smith’s account of significance in this case is, I cannot tell.” the inscription. Fanous takes them into the dusty little back room of the shop, sits them down among shelves Smith will refer the Investigators to a shop in Coptic of Egyptian bric-a-brac, and explains: Street: Nilus. “One of my best Coptic students works there: he’ll be able to tell you about this if anyone “Our people have long been persecuted for their can,” he says. Smith adds one aside as they leave: “One faith, under the Abbasids, the Mamluks, and the Otthing - the Coptic Church dates back to the Late Ro- tomans. Over the centuries, we have developed tradiman Empire, and was first founded in Alexandria, be- tions and rites to protect our shrines and sanctuaries. I fore the scattering and destruction of the Great Li- believe this inscription was written to invoke a brary of Alexandria. It has inherited many of the late guardian spirit, to protect the church where the lamp Greek traditions: Pagan as well as Christian. Who hung. The inscription may have been intended to unknows what ancient sorcery or thaumaturgy they may leash the guardian spirit on whoever stole the lamp, or be heirs to?” who desecrated the shrine, or others, I don’t know. I do urge you to remember that our people have been The shop in Coptic Street is a showy, overstocked long in contact with the Arabs, and also learned the bazaar of Egyptian curios, full of scarabs, papyri, traditions of the jinn. And the jinn were born of fire.”

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Fanous can tell little more, but as the Investigators leave, he rushes after them and presses a charm on them. “Take this with you,” he urges. “If you do have to face the guardian spirit, it may help.” The charm consists of a circular disc with an ornate four-pointed Greek cross surrounded by Greek script. Fanous wishes them the Peace of God, and disappears back into the shop. The Police Records The Investigators will probably seek to examine the newspaper articles and police records on the death of Mr Wallas. Library Use will turn up the newspaper records with no point spend. A Journalist with access to the news morgue, or a Police Inspector with access to the police records in Paddington Green Police Station, can turn up the actual photographs of the scene.

The press reports describe how the banker and antiquities collector Percival Wallas was found burned to ashes in the locked study of his Mayfair home, under the headline “City Banker found Burnt to Ash.” “Renowned City financier and art collector Percival Wallas has been found dead at his Mayfair mansion.” “Wallas, partner in leading merchant bank Robarts, Lubbock & Co., was found burned to ashes in his locked study late on Tueday night. His valet, Henry Smith, finding the hour had passed Wallas’ usual time to retire, and smelling smoke from the study, opened the door with his house key, and found his master seated in his chair at his study desk, completely consumed. He immediately raised the alarm. Detectives from Paddington Green Police Station attended the scene.”

Mr Dewhurst’s perhaps ill-considered response to the Investigators’ warning. Direct intervention will be required if the lives of Dewhurst and his household are to be saved.

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“According to police sources familiar with the case, Mr Wallas’s decease has peculiarities which distinguish it as a probable instance of spontaneous human combustion. The body was utterly reduced to ash, face and torso alike being indistinguishable. Yet the extremities were still intact, with Mr Wallas’s carpet slippers still on his feet. The chair in which he was seated was practically untouched. Foul play is not suspected.”

Mr Porter will resist any argument to delay the despatch of the lamp, citing “the honour of the firm.” He will use the same argument to resist any offer of a higher price for the object.

Unless the Investigators are very careful (Art ability in Acting, or Disguise, 1-point spend), they will alert Mr Porter to Sowerby’s involvement. He will mutter darkly about “that puppy Sowerby calling the firm If the Investigators do manage to gain access to the into disrepute,” and make his intentions towards his news morgues or the police records, they will find the employee clear. official photographs of the gruesomely burned body of Mr Wallas, hands and feet protruding from a pile of Contacting Mr Dewhurst ash. They will also notice that the Coptic lamp is on the desk in front of Mr Wallas, alongside what The Investigators may try to telegram or otherwise looks like a small oil bottle and the open box contact Mr Dewhurst, to warn him of the danger. Deof matches. whurst will be dismissive of the threat, and will respond curtly to warnings: “NO TIME SILLY RUFurther searching of the police records (Library Use) MOURS THANKS DEWHURST.” He is not or questioning of the police (Charm or Reassurance) on the telephone, and letters to his address will be will reveal that the house was completely undisturbed answered similarly. during the fatal night. No intruders or suspicious characters were reported. Dewhurst will be far more amenable if approached in other ways. In particular, Sowerby has access to Dewhurst’s record of past purchases, and can be apConfronting Mr Porter proached via letter or telegram by a suitably qualified If the Investigators do decide to confront Mr Porter, Investigator who wishes to examine one of his other they will find Sowerby’s description all too accurate - curios. Dewhurst will extend an invitation to such an he is pompous, pig-headed, and completely resistant Investigator and their companions. to persuasion. His first concern is always “the honour of the firm” and “public reputation,” and he will shut The Parcel and the Pursuit his eyes and close his mind to anything that might endanger these. It is next to impossible for the Investigators to intercept the lamp before it leaves for Mr Dewhurst. Mr It is easy enough to arrange an appointment with Mr Potter will see that it is sent out from the Porter if the Investigators have any kind of social dealership’s post room, and the most that Sowerby can standing at all - getting anything useful out of him is do is inform the Investigators by telephone or wire, a different matter. Charm, Intimidation and Reassur- telling them “It’ll be on one of the London and South ance will all be wasted on Porter. Assess Honesty will Western Railway morning trains from Waterloo, determine that he is sincere, if appallingly narrow, in going by regular parcel delivery. It won’t be more his convictions and views - there is no sign that he has than a few hours before Mr Dewhurst has it.” some dark secret he is concealing. An extra 1-point spend in Assess Honesty will deduce that vanity and Consulting Bradshaw (Library Use, Preparedness), insecurity underlie Porter’s recalcitrance. the Investigators realize they do have an advantage. Dewhurst lives in a country house near the village of Cranleigh in Surrey, just south of Guildford. The

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Cranleigh line goes directly to Cranleigh station (30 minutes from Guildford), but the change of trains at Guildford will slow the parcel delivery. Dewhurst inevitably will not receive the parcel until at least the afternoon, giving the Investigators time to reach him before the package is opened. Investigators with a car will be able to reach The Oaks before Dewhurst goes to collect his parcel. Otherwise, they will arrive at the station to be informed by the station master that Mr Dewhurst has already collected his parcel and taken it to The Oaks. Getting to Dewhurst If they have time in hand, the Investigators can arrange to arrive the previous night in Guildford, then catch the train to Cranleigh the next morning. If so, they will stay overnight at the fine coaching inn The Angel in central Guildford. Assuming the Investigators have Driving and a car available, and have weighed the alternatives, they should attempt to beat the train to Cranleigh and drive down to meet Dewhurst at The Oaks. The c.30 miles of the journey is divided into three legs. (Assume an average speed of 20 m.p.h.) For each leg, the driver has to make a Driving test. The first test is against Difficulty 3, representing the relative ease and familiarity of better roads near London. The second and third legs are against Difficulty 4. Failure of the Driving test on the first leg leads to a flat tyre (Mechanics or Driving 1-point spend to fix; 30 minutes delay). Failure on the second and third leg leads to the following: Roll 1-3: Incident with the police; 30 minutes delay; 1-point Reassurance, Law or Class spend to fix. Roll 4-6: Flat tyre (as above).

any Investigator with Riding to show off their skills, with a Riding test against Difficulty 4 to get to The Oaks before the parcel arrives. If total delays amount to more than 1 hour, the package will arrive at The Oaks before the Investigators do. Confronting and Convincing Dewhurst Dewhurst’s home, The Oaks, is an Elizabthan mansion set in a walled park studded with the magnificent oak trees that inspired its name. The numerous gables and twisted Tudor chimneys of the house can be seen protruding above the foliage. A long, well-shaded gravel drive winds through the park to the house. Events at The Oaks begin with the Investigators confronting Dewhurst’s butler Cosgrave at the front door. As Cosgrave is asking who he should announce, Dewhurst’s voice will be heard from inside the house. If the Investigators get to Dewhurst before he receives the parcel, then regardless of his earlier dismissals, Dewhurst will be impressed that the Investigators actually took the trouble to come down to see him. He will propose that they go and “investigate this bally thing together.” Even if the Investigators succeed in reaching Dewhurst before the parcel does and explaining the danger, he will still be eager to explore the mystery. (The interior of his house, hung with all kinds of bizarre treasures and trophies from his years in India, is a fair guide to his character.) Investigators will need a 2point spend in Charm or Reassurance to stop him lighting the lamp without further ado. “Let’s see if this bloody thing really works…” If Dewhurst decides to light the lamp he will do so in the drawing room of the house (which is also where he will receive visitors). It is a large and magnificently appointed room, filled with valuable art objects and furniture. There are French doors from the room that lead out into the lawns of the house.

If the Investigators have already had one flat tyre en route, they will have no further spare. They will have Even if the Investigators do persuade Dewhurst not to to source alternative transport. Outside London, this risk an immediate trial, he will still be eager to see if will most likely be a horse cab. This will be a chance for the lamp really does what the Investigators fear. He Casting the Runes

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The Oaks, near Cranleigh, Surrey, Mr Dewhurst’s home. It is an idyllic 16th century half timbered manor house set in a large wooded park. will assemble them in a group behind the Investigator holding the charm, then reach out with a lighted taper… If the Investigators travel by rail, they will have to hire a four-wheel horse cab from the station to The Oaks. In that event, while they are detained by Cosgrave on the doorstep, they will hear Dewhurst yell “Good G...d!” from within. He has already opened the package, filled and lit the lamp.

whurst will already have sustained 1 attack from the guardian spirit. The Secret of the Lamp The Coptic lamp actually imprisons a Fire Elemental, incarcerated there by its original creators to protect their sanctuary from impious hands, and to revenge any desecration if necessary.

The Fire Elemental is released if anyone other than a An Investigator who makes a successful Athletics test member of the Coptic church lights the lamp. It will will be able to race to Dewhurst with the charm, in stay long enough to consume the lighter of the lamp, time to get between him and the entity he has evoked, then return to its prison. before it has fully manifested. If the race fails, De-

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Manifesting in this way, the Fire Elemental will not burn anything besides its target, unless other characters get in the way. It appears as a vortex of yellow flame, constantly recirculating back in on itself, with a ferocious face appearing out of the flames. Fanous’s charm acts as a powerful Banish spell on the Fire Elemental, dispersing it into its element. The charm will work if an Investigator succeeds in interposing it between the Fire Elemental and its target with a successful Athletics test against a Difficulty of 4. After it has done its work, the charm will crumble away to white clay dust in the Investigator’s hand. Playing with Fire Even if the Fire Elemental manifests, Dewhurst may have a chance to survive it - so long as the Investigators reach him in time with the charm. If the Fire Elemental fails to reach his Hit Threshold of 3 on the first attack, Dewhurst can break the confrontation and use either Athletics or Fleeing to run away. This will only work for one round, and thereafter the Fire Elemental will bear down on him like a hot desert wind.

Edwardian fire extinguishers are bulky and conspicuous cylinders, made of copper or brass, and could not be carried in public without considerable comment. However, Investigators coming down by car might bring one. A fire extinguisher will do 2 points of damage per hit to a Fire Elemental, and unlike buckets, does not need to be refilled after each hit. Aftermath The lamp will remain whether or not Dewhurst survives the final confrontation with the Fire Elemental. If the Investigators did not use the charm, the Elemental is still in the lamp, ready to cause further mayhem. The Investigators have no way of knowing whether or not the lamp can manifest another Elemental.

The simplest resolution is for Dewhurst, or the Investigators, to buy the lamp and melt it down. An Investigator with Physics will be able to choose the right kiln or furnace to reach the melting point of bronze, roughly 950 °C/1742 °F. Any metalworking furnace will do the job. The Investigators, and anyone else watching, will see “faces in the flames” (Stability test, loss 3) Dewhurst may also survive one or even two rounds of if they can observe the melting lamp, as the Fire Eleattacks from the Fire Elemental. The Investigators mental returns to its element. can interpose the charm between him and his unearthly assailant at any time during the struggle, with The Investigators, with or without Dewhurst, can also the aforementioned successful Athletics test against a buy the lamp, and arrange for it to disappear into an Difficulty of 4. If Dewhurst dies, the Fire Elemental archive, throw it into the sea, bury it, or otherwise rewill pour itself back into the lamp. move it from circulation. The Investigators could also try to fight the Fire Dewhurst will be eternally grateful to the InvestigaElemental - with the appropriate 2-point Occult Pool tors - less for saving his life, perhaps, than for giving Point spend to determine its vulnerability to water. him the chance to participate in such a “bally great adventure.” He will give each Investigator the pick of his There are two fire buckets to hand under the stairs at collection - use Art History, Anthropology or Art to The Oaks; each will do 2 points of damage if flung at the pick up some particularly fine items, worth 1d6 x £10 Elemental. However, it takes one uninterrupted round each. He may be on hand to participate in future into refill each bucket. If Dewhurst flees into the garden, vestigations, especially any involving India and the the Investigators can pick up the garden hose (one round Colonies. to spot and prepare) and try dousing the Elemental (one damage roll -2 per successful hit). In the first playtest, Mr Potter will be incensed if any news gets out of inthe Investigators considered, and decided against, buy- cidents at The Oaks. He will dismiss Sowerby suming a fire extinguisher and taking it along to the meeting. marily from employment if there is any scandal, or if Casting the Runes

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The Fire Elemental manifests in Mr Dewhurst’s extremely flammable drawing room. the Investigators have confronted him. Investigators with the appropriate connections may look for new Statistics employment for Sowerby, perhaps as an assistant to Sowerby Austen Smith at the British Museum. Abilities: Athletics 2, Health 5, Scuffling 1, Fleeing 4, Stability 4 If the Investigators go back to Nilus in Coptic Street, they will find that Fanous has simply packed up and Dewhurst gone. The shop owner mutters bemusedly about him Abilities: Athletics 6, Health 8, Scuffling 8, Fleeing “taking his things and disappearing without notice or his 2, Stability 5 wages.” The shop vacancy may be right for Sowerby... The Fire Elemental Abilities: Athletics 10, Health 20, Scuffling 12

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The House with the Brick-Kiln

Charm or Reassurance spend), states that they may be held at the house.

This is designed as a quieter self-contained adventure, and is closely (though not completely) based on the E.F. Benson short story of the same name. It takes place in a small country house at Trevor Major, a hamlet to the west of Lewes in East Sussex. The Investigators are called to Trevor Major by Jack Singleton, a distant acquaintance of one of them or their associates, who has heard that they “take an interest in ghostly things”. Singleton explains in his note that he has taken the house for several weeks for its superb dry-fly fishing, but that his stay is being troubled by spectral occurrences. He invites the Investigators to join him and see what’s going on. If the Investigators decide to look into the records of the house before leaving London, at the Royal Institute of British Architects, the British Library, the Society of Antiquaries, back issues of Country Life, or elsewhere, they will find nothing distinguished in its history. (The same information can be gleaned from the town archives in Lewes.) The house currently belongs to the Duke of Buckingham, and apparently came into the family through marriage to a Seward heiress in the mid-17th century.

Trevor Major is reached by a short cab ride from Lewes, but is very lonely and sequestered in a hollow on the northern face of the South Downs. The road to the house runs along the South Downs above it, and passes a brick kiln, once a perfect bottle-shaped cone in dark brick, but now fallen in and overgrown with ivy, next to a clay pit where the brick clay was dug. This is one of the most distinctive features of the house, besides the lovely view of the Weald to the north, and the clear wide chalk stream that runs around the lower limits of the property. The house’s associated hamlet, with its Norman church, lies further downhill to the north, across a couple of broad fields. Trevor Major itself is small for a manor house, long and narrow, surrounded on three sides by an old brick wall overgrown with snapdragon and stonecrop. The wall itself is ringed by an encircling pine grove, which makes a rushing sighing noise in the wind. The road to the house runs down past the east side through a gap in the pines, ending in a gravel drive. The house’s garden is clearly uncared for, with overgrown flower beds and mossy gravel paths.

The house is built of red brick, two storeys high: an Investigator with Architecture will recognize it as The present house was built in 1600 around the core of early 17th century. Rather more modern outbuildings an older, mediaeval house, and had offices and out- and offices have been added at the rear, but the origibuildings added in the 1770s. The Dukes of Bucking- nal form of the house is complete and unobstructed. ham have larger, and far more comfortable, homes in and near London, and last used the house themselves The front door opens straight from the gravel drive in the mid-19th century as a glorified fishing lodge. into a square panelled hall with an oak staircase leading up to a gallery: the dining room fills almost the enInvestigators based in London will catch the London, tire west front, with two sitting rooms filling the east Brighton and South Coast Railway (a.k.a. “The front, and a passage from the hall leads through to the Brighton Line”) from Victoria to Lewes. If they spend kitchen and estate offices. any time in the town before going to Trevor Major, they can meet the Duke’s land agent, a local solicitor The upper storey consists of three main bedrooms cornamed Nugent, who manages tenancy for the house responding to the chief rooms below, and a passage bebut otherwise takes little care of it. He has looked hind a red baize door, leading to a couple more guest after the property for the last decade, and has no rooms, the servants’ quarters, and the narrow back records of tenants prior to this, but if asked (1-point stairs. The rooms are low and oak-panelled, and some Casting the Runes

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Jack Singleton was fishing on the Trevor Major estate’s trout stream, down the hill from the house, when a sinister spectral figure appeared on the bank with him. of the windows have leaded diamond panes. The dining room and the front sitting room look out onto the gravel and the landscape: the rear sitting room looks through the gap in the pines towards the brick kiln.

as the Investigators sit out on the gravel drive in basket chairs, enjoying the scents and sights of a beautiful May evening, regaled with Pimm’s cup by Franklyn, Jack explains why he invited them.

“I first saw the house advertised in a Sussex paper, with the statement that there was good dry-fly fishing beJack Singleton is a middle-aged barrister, sophisti- longing to it. The quoted rent was almost comically cated but noticeably nervous. (An Assess Honesty small. Apparently, it’s a lesser holding of one of the spend will deduce that this anxiety stems from what- great families, the Dukes of Buckingham, who are eiever trouble he called them down for.) He has only two ther always in town, or up North, or on the Continent. old and trusted servants in the house: Mr and Mrs It’s been practically empty since 1896. Well, I was Franklyn, respectively his valet/factotum and house- sceptical, but I came down, looked it over, wandered keeper/cook. Jack keeps the master bedroom above by the stream for half an hour, then went straight back the dining room for himself, but lets the Investigators to the agent, and before nightfall had taken it for a allot the other bedrooms between them. Afterwards, month with option of renewal.” The Opening: Gone Fishing

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“Well, that was about a week ago. At first, everything went swimmingly. On my very first evening, I caught two brace of fine trout, and the fishing has been superb ever since. Mrs Franklyn was prepared for the worst, but found all for the best, with running hot and cold water from taps that neither stuck nor leaked. Franklyn was able to find all the extra help we needed from the village, and supplies as well. The locals were, well, taciturn; withdrawn. Apparently my arrival caused a good deal of muttering, but no one said anything straight out. But country-folk of Sussex are notoriously withdrawn. Then the trouble started.” By this time, the evening is closing in, and the last light is fading out of the sky. While the sweep of the Weald below is now wrapped in twilight, with a few lamps showing here and there, the ring of pines around the house cuts out the light and makes Trevor Major seem even darker and more hemmed in. Mrs Franklyn lights the lamps in the house, and at that moment, a sinister, chilly feeling steals over everyone in the party, like a cold sighing breeze even though the air is completely still. All the Investigators must make a Stability Test against a Difficulty of 3, losing 1 Pool Point of Stability if they fail. Some may blame Jack, insisting that the feeling is “suggestion,” but he denies it.

sation on several nights, as well as a feeling of somebody watching him while he’s fishing. “It’s as though I can see him out of the corner of my eye, but he’s not there when I look for him. And yes, it’s definitely a man.” Any Investigator with Art or Art History will observe (Inconspicuous Clue) that the dining room, though it is finely furnished with cabinetwork, pewter and earthenware, is hung with inferior prints that seem out of keeping with the age of the house. If asked, Jack will say that he thinks the owners have taken all the finer works out of the house to hang in their other properties. “However,” he adds, “there are some other examples I’ll show you later.”

After dinner, Jack will share some fine Port and cigars, and the party will tour the ground floor. Both sitting rooms have more modern glazing than the leadenpaned dining room, with larger panes of glass. The front sitting room will yield no major clues, although it also serves as the house’s small library. Investigators making a 1-point Library Use spend in the room will observe that the estate records appear to be missing: Jack will say he believes they’re in the estate office at the back of the house. With no spend, any Investigator using Library Use will still observe that there ap“You felt it too,” he says. “I thought you would. It pear to be no books later than the 1880s. The pictures usually comes at this time of evening, and in this place. are the same mediocre prints. Let’s go indoors, the evening is getting chillier.” And he leads the way into the house. The rear sitting room contains a large writing desk. It also has half a dozen fine watercolours on its walls, all First Night: The Interior views of the house and its grounds (Core Clue). Simply examining the room and its pictures counts as a Simple The uncanny feeling vanishes as the Investigators step Search, yielding the Core Clue automatically. Investiindoors. Trevor Major does not have electricity, but is gators using Art History will immediately observe that well lit by oil lamps and candelabra, which lend a the pictures all date from about the same time, probapleasant glow to the interior. Jack tells the party he’ll bly of very recent date, and are from the same hand, all give them a quick tour of the house after they have executed with extraordinary finish and delicacy. dinner. The Investigators sit down to a fine meal of poached trout with mustard sauce, watercress and new potatoes, washed down with Welsh’s sparkling Winchester ale. If pressed, Jack will admit to feeling the same senCasting the Runes

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The manor house at Trevor Major is comparatively small. It is mostly rented as a fishing lodge by anglers who wish to go fly fishing on the superb trout stream on the estate. Recently though, there have been few tenants... The pictures are as follows:

6. Close-up study of the brick kiln, with a human figure.

1. View of the garden, while still properly trimmed and maintained, summer, noon. 2. View downhill towards the trout stream, storm clouds, grey water, probably spring. 3. View uphill towards the gap in the pines, flaming red sunset. 4. View southwards from the gravel drive looking towards the Weald, autumn. 5. View from the west front towards the garden wall, winter.

The first bizarre feature of the pictures is that all of them show the brick kiln - even in views where it shouldn’t appear. The garden view has its shadow cast across one corner, with smoke clearly rising from it; the southwards view shows it peeking over the pines on one side. Any Investigator with Art, Evidence Collection or Art History will notice this without a point spend.

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The second bizarre feature is the sixth sketch, of the brick kiln itself, which is shown looming against the sky, clearly in much better shape and in working order, with a thin stream of grey smoke rising from its chimney. This is the only picture with a human figure; a man, dressed in grey, peering into the open door of the kiln, which emits a fierce red glow. The face is rendered in profile, with miniature-like elaboration, showing a clean-shaven youngish man, with a long aquiline nose and singularly square chin. The figure’s expression is unclear, but the whole image radiates a very sinister atmosphere. An Investigator making a closer examination with Art, Art History or Evidence Collection will see that all the pictures are initialed “F.A.” and are undated. The style appears modern, at most from the last 20 years. Jack admits he has no idea who “F.A.” was, but that the initials are not consistent with what he knows of the former owners, and the artist must either have been a previous tenant or a family friend.

Key to plans A Drive & front door B Hall & front stairs C Front si�ing room and library D Si�ing room with paintings E Kitchen storage F Dining room G Kitchen H Scullery I Back stairs J Estate office K Housekeeper’s room L Kitchen court M Upper hall & gallery N Bathroom O Bedrooms P Jack’s bedroom Q Bedroom off Jack’s room R Mr and Mrs Franklyn’s apartment

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After the evening’s conversation, the guests retire to their rooms. Nothing further happens that night. Second Day: The Disturbances The Investigators may busy themselves with various investigations round the house, singly or in a group. Jack will insist on enjoying his day’s fishing, and will depart for the trout stream with his rod and creel, as well as sandwiches and ginger beer packed by Mrs. Franklyn. Any Investigator who looks into the dusty back offices of Trevor Major will find the estate records and accounts, apparently kept up to date by the agent. Use of Bookkeeping or Evidence Collection (Core Clue) will yield an entry for a rental tenant, “Mr and Mrs. Francis Adam,” who stayed for eight months, leaving in 1896 without notice and without reclaiming their deposit. Subsequent tenants all stayed a fortnight or less, and the last was two years ago. Any Investigator who accompanies Jack down to the trout stream will spend a pleasant couple of hours eating watercress sandwiches and watching Jack cast into the smooth-running chalk and gravel stream. Jack will land at least a brace of trout. As Jack fishes, the Investigator will suddenly notice a dark figure behind them, silhouetted in a gap between the willows that overhang the brook. The figure will stand there a second, then will disappear towards the path leading up to the house, before the Investigator has a chance to do more than start up. By the time the Investigator reaches the place where the figure was standing, it has completely disappeared, and the long path across the meadow leading up to the house is totally empty. The Investigator must make a Stability test of Difficulty 3, or lose a further 1 point of Stability. Jack will confirm that this must be the figure he saw. Questioning the locals Some Investigators may want to question the locals. This is not strictly necessary, as all the important clues

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lie within the estate itself. Nor is it easy, as the villagers are taciturn and wary of strangers. However, a few pints of ale bought at the Tickled Trout in Trevor Major village, and use of Charm, Folklore (gathering local rumours) or Reassurance, will elicit comment that it’s a “bad house,” “no one stayin’ there long,” “no one goin’ there,” “not since ‘em artist feller ‘n his woif stayed there near ten year ago.” The locals will be unable to give any more concrete information. Investigators may deduce that the pub’s name indicates a predilection for trout poaching, and will learn this anyway if they use Folklore, but if asked, the locals will insist “no one ‘ere do that, least of all near Trevor Major hall.” Any Investigator staying in the house and questioning Mr and Mrs. Franklyn will learn nothing more from them, although both will admit to feeling the same uncanny sensation the Investigators experienced on the first night, as well as a feeling that someone is watching them as Ground floor plan of the manor house at Trevor Major, after a 1783 they work. drawing now in the British Library by the antiquarian Francis Grose FSA. During the day, while inside the house, the Investigators will hear a bell ring in the ser- chamber of the kiln with an immense pile of bricks. vants’ quarters. Franklyn will appear, and declare The rusted metal doors to the kiln hang off their “You rang, Sir/Ma’am?” When questioned, he will be hinges. The entrance to the kiln interior is overgrown puzzled, and will insist that the bell rang from the with creepers and brambles that would need at least an room where the Investigator is. “A mouse on the hour’s determined work with a scythe to clear. Archiwire,” he will conclude, but he is obviously unsettled tecture will indicate that the brick kiln has been unby the incident. used for at least a decade, and fell in naturally rather than being deliberately demolished. It also indicates that the remains of bricks in the kiln are the same vinThe Brick Kiln tage and the same clay as those used to build the wall Any Investigator who goes up the road to the brick round the property. kiln will find that it is as looming and as sinister as in the watercolour, but just as obviously decrepit. The On the evening of the second day, the party sits out as brick shaft has fallen in halfway up, filling the central before on the gravel. Observing clouds gathering over

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While scrambling to their feet to investigate, the Investigators will hear other hurried footsteps inside the house. Opening the door, they find Mrs Franklyn at the foot of the stairs, clearly upset. “Mr Jack, I was tidying up in your room, and I thought you came in,” she explains. “But there was nobody, and it gave me a turn. I left my candle there; I must go up for it.” One or more Investigators may volunteer to go back up with her, as she is clearly nervous as she ascends the stairs. If not, she will still remark when she gets to the door of the master bedroom: “I left the candle alight, and it’s gone out. And not a breath of wind is stirring.” Any Investigator with Mrs Franklyn will find the candle unlit. This will light again without trouble. However, the moment it is lit, another bell will sound from the servants’ quarters. Franklyn will come running Plan of the upper floor of the manor house at Trevor Major based out a moment later, saying he heard on the 1783 drawings by Francis Grose FSA. the bell from Mr Jack’s bedroom. The Investigator/s in that room will the eastern sky, Jack will remark “looks like rain to- insist they never rang. The whole incident will trigger morrow”. However, the air is completely still, with not another Stability test of Difficulty 4, with 2 points lost a breath of wind stirring. They still feel the same un- on failure. canny sensation as before, but now are inured to it, and all Investigators who made a successful Stability The Investigators will enjoy another meal of trout test the previous evening now get a 1-point reduction (baked in Champagne this time), but the same eerie in the Difficulty level when taking their test this time. sensation will persist throughout the evening. Nothing more will happen that night, but after retiring, one As the party sits, they suddenly hear the closed house Investigator at least will be visited by dreams where door behind them open, casting a shaft of light across someone seems to be trying the door of their room. If the gravel, then close again, as if carefully and deliber- they get up and go to the door, they will find no one. ately shut. Yet it is obvious that the Franklyns were not responsible, nor was anyone in the party.

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Third Day: The Downpour The third day dawns grey and wet, and heavy rain sets in soon after breakfast. Nonetheless, Jack insists that rain will not spoil his sport, and heads for the stream in oilskins and gumboots, with a big umbrella.

Franklyn comes hurrying up behind the Investigators. “Mr Jack’s room bell again,” he declares. At that moment, something unseen pushes past the Investigators into the house. The whole experience will require a Stability test of Difficulty 4, with 4 points lost on failure.

Any Investigator who accompanies Jack down to the river will, after a while, see the same dark figure in the Soon after, one or more Investigators will notice a bushes. This time, either Jack, or the Investigator (if strong smell of roasting meat from the kitchen. Mrs they have a fishing rod) will make a cast at the figure. Franklyn will emerge moments later. The hook and line will pass straight through it, and the figure will disappear. This will require a Stability test of Difficulty 4, The old abandoned brick kiln is a looming, sinister presence in the with 3 Stability points lost in case of grounds at Trevor Major. failure. If no Investigator accompanies Jack to the stream, he will relate his experience on his return. Any Investigators left in the house will see, at around mid-morning, a figure emerge from the path to the stream. The rain is so heavy and the bushes so thick that at first they will mistake it for Jack. Only once the figure approaches about six yards from the window will they see that it is not Jack at all, but a strangely familiar face (Core Clue). Anyone with Art or Evidence Collection will immediately recognize it as the face from the sixth watercolour. The figure approaches close to the glass, and gazes through it at the Investigators, with a smile of inscrutable evil and malevolence. The Investigators will have plenty of chance to see that, despite the pouring rain, the figure appears completely dry. After a few moments, it moves on past the window rim towards the front door. A loud ringing resounds. The Investigators who open the door will find no one and nothing there.

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The ghost of the murderous painter Francis Adam manifests on the grand staircase of the manor house. “It’ll be fish pie tonight,” she announces. “I thought you gentlefolk might be a little bit tired of plain trout by now.”

rain is slackening, but the smell of roast meat grows stronger and stronger. However, by the time they get to the kiln, the fat greasy plume of smoke has dispersed, leaving just a fast-fading wisp on the As the Investigators digest this, one or more will look wind, and the glow inside the kiln has died away to through the smaller sitting room window, and notice nothing, leaving the same brick-choked interior they that the brick kiln is smoking. Alternatively, an Inves- saw before. This will cost another Stability test against tigator using Sense Trouble or Evidence Collection a Difficulty of 3, with a penalty of 2 on failure. will spot that the smell is borne on the breeze from the door, and go outside. The chimney is emitting a plume The Climax of white smoke, clearly visible against the dark clouds, and the interior of the kiln is glowing. The events of the third night depend on whether the Investigators have enough nerve to spend it in their The Investigators will almost certainly leave the house separate rooms, or whether they decide to pass it toand dash up the hill. As they go, they will find that the gether in the dining room or a sitting room. If the forCasting the Runes

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mer, just as they are undressing for bed, a hellish clamour of bells resounds throughout the house, followed by a loud scream. (The same cacophony will resound from the upstairs gallery if the Investigators are downstairs.) Any lady Investigator in the group will be confronted in their room by the same figure as seen outside the window, face twisted in murderous rage and brandishing a great long carving knife. The figure will vanish as soon as the other Investigators break in to the room. Otherwise, the figure will manifest in the smaller upstairs bedroom above the smaller sitting room. If for any reason the Investigators need to break into the room - if, for example, they are all downstairs - they will see the same figure bending over a dark humped form, with the same hideous expression. The figure will vanish, but moments later, the Investigators will glimpse through the windows its silhouette gliding up the gravel ride to the brick kiln, the dark form over its shoulder. The brick kiln is glowing against the darkness, with a faintly luminous plume of smoke rising from its chimney. Once again, the experience will require a Stability test for each Investigator against a Difficulty of 4, with a Stability loss of 4 on failure.

termine that the victim was female. These will trigger a murder inquiry by the local police, but after they are properly buried, there are no more reports of supernatural occurrences at Trevor Major. The coroner’s jury will bring in a verdict of “Murder by Person or Persons Unknown”. Further searches of police records and local newspaper reports will yield nothing in Sussex. However, a broader inquiry into the records of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours in London will yield an obituary of one Francis Adam, who died by his own hand in Paris in 1898. The obituary has attached a French press clipping on Francis Adam’s suicide, in a dingy studio in Montmartre, where he died by cutting his own throat. The French report describes Adam as “bachelier” (bachelor). What Really Happened

As Investigators should have deduced, Francis Adam the killed his wife in an upstairs bedroom of Trevor Major manor in 1896, after renting the property for some months. He then burned her body in the brick kiln. He was able to pass off her disappearance to the locals, who took little interest in the couple in the manor house anyway, by claiming that she had gone to If the Investigators run up the hill to the brick kiln, the Continent to take a rest cure. He left for France they will only arrive after the dark figure has vanished. himself shortly after, but first painted six views of the The smell of roasted meat will rapidly disappear on house and grounds, all influenced by his memory of the wind, and the glow from the brick kiln will have the murder, and hung them for future tenants to see. died away. He killed himself in Paris in 1898. His ghost has haunted the manor ever since. Aftermath Jack will conclude that he does not want to spend another night in the house, and will cut short the lease. However, the Investigators will probably conclude that the brick kiln needs investigating. They may try to contact the local police, claiming some suspicious goings-on, or simply take it on themselves. Either way, if the mound of brick rubble in the middle of the brick kiln is excavated - a good day’s work for a party of half a dozen - a pile of ashes will be revealed, including human remains and fragments of a skull and femur. Forensic examination of the remains will de-

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Appendices he following works are sources that inspired Casting the Runes, and that should help others create great scenarios, or just get into the spirit (no pun intended...) of the classic ghost story tradition, and the Edwardian period.

T

A Thin Ghost and Others, 1919 A Warning to the Curious and Other Ghost Stories, 1925 The Fenstanton Witch and Others: M. R. James in Ghosts and Scholars, 1999 (Contains 7 unpublished or unfinished, but very important tales or drafts)

I. Primary Sources

Published stories uncollected in James’s lifetime (by first publication date):

These are the spook stories and dark tales themselves, grouped by author, that helped shape the classic English ghost story. They are almost entirely from writers working in the Edwardian period, although readers can draw inspiration from other periods. Conveniently, they fall neatly into order by date of birth. There are a great many other writers of ghostly tales, from Dickens to Henry James, who will repay further research, and who are listed at the end of this section, but these are the axis of the tradition. Montague Rhodes James (1862-1936)

After Dark in the Playing Fields,1924 There Was a Man Dwelt by a Churchyard, 1924 Rats, 1929 The Experiment: A New Year’s Eve Ghost Story, 1931 The Malice of Inanimate Objects, 1933 A Vignette, 1935 Arthur Machen (1863 -1947) Machen covered many bases in his long writing career, from the Gay Nineties tales of decadent horror typified by The Great God Pan (1894), to the war literature of The Bowmen (1914). His most renowned horror stories are the mysteries, frequently with a Welsh setting, of strange irruptions and atavisms, often with a quasi-scientific or mystical background rather than a directly supernatural rationale. This list of his tales singles out the most directly relevant to the game.

The Master himself needs no introduction. As well as his ghostly tales, he wrote rewarding criticism on the ghost story genre, one fantasy for children (The Five Jars), a book of memoirs useful for its perspective on Edwardian university life (Eton and King’s, Recollections Mostly Trivial, 1875-1925), guidebooks, and scholarly studies. His academic work centred on mediaeval history, archaeology and manuscripts. James’s work is mostly out of copyright worldwide - The Great God Pan, 1894 save for a few key stories unpublished in his lifetime - The Inmost Light, 1894 and can be found in countless editions and online. The Shining Pyramid, 1895 The Three Impostors, 1895 Ghost Stories of an Antiquary, 1904 The Hill of Dreams, 1907 More Ghost Stories, 1911 The White People, 1904 Casting the Runes

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Edward Frederic Benson (1867-1940) Author of over 60 novels, as well as numerous short stories, non-fiction works and plays, the prolific Benson is best remembered for his humorous Mapp and Lucia stories (also very valuable as a guide to the manners of the period), but he also produced a huge number of short ghostly tales. These rather lack the tension and sheer malevolent force of M.R. James’s best work, but are still superbly varied in conception and theme. (One of them has been recast almost incident by incident as a scenario in these rules.) The selection of volumes below concentrates on these. The Room in the Tower, and Other Stories, 1912 The Countess of Lowndes Square, and Other Stories, 1920 Visible and Invisible, 1923 And the Dead Spake, and The Horror Horn, 1923 Spook Stories, 1928 More Spook Stories, 1934 Algernon Blackwood (1869-1951) Blackwood wrote voluminously in various veins and sub-genres of ghostly and weird fiction, including his masterpiece of weird suspense, The Willows. The complete list of his weird tales in Wikipedia lists over 140 titles. His John Silence stories are early, incompletely realised examples of the occult detection subgenre. Diverse settings and inspirations abound in his fiction. The list of titles below is just a selection of his published work, concentrating on the most relevant. The Empty House and Other Ghost Stories, 1906 The Listener and Other Stories, 1907 John Silence, 1908 The Lost Valley and Other Stories, 1910 Incredible Adventures, 1914

weakened for many tastes, including James’s, by their quasi-scientific jargon. (H.P. Lovecraft considered them “vastly inferior” to his other work.) They are great templates for how to create a scenario of psychic investigation, though. His more fantastic weird stories are arguably stronger and more evocative explorations of uniquely dark and bizarre realms, despite sometimes grating archaisms. Hodgson definitely suits anyone looking for more fantastical and less traditionally supernatural inspiration for Casting the Runes. The Boats of the Glen Carrig, 1907 The House on the Borderland, 1908 The Ghost Pirates, 1909 The Night Land, 1912 Carnacki the Ghost-Finder, 1913 Posthumously published Carnacki tales: The Haunted Jarvee The Find The Hog With those covered, here is a list of other authors from the 1850s to the 1950s who produced some fabulous ghost stories well worth tracking down. Grant Allen, R.H. Benson, Marjorie Bowen, A. M. Burrage, Andrew Caldecott, Ronald Chetwynd-Hayes, Francis Marion Crawford, Walter de la Mare, Charles Dickens, Erckmann-Chatrian, H. D. Everett, Arthur Gray, Hesketh Hesketh-Prichard, W.W. Jacobs, F.G. Loring, Margery Lawrence, Vernon Lee, Sheridan Le Fanu, R.H. Malden, Edith Nesbit, Amyas Northcote, Elliott O’Donnell, Margaret Oliphant, Oliver Onions, Charlotte Riddell, L. T. C. Rolt, May Sinclair, E. G. Swain, H. Russell Wakefield, Hugh Walpole, Edith Wharton.

The Ghosts & Scholars M.R. James Newsletter, William Hope Hodgson (1877-1918) edited by Rosemary Pardoe, is an excellent compendium of academic study on James and his circle, As a sailor, bodybuilder, and soldier, Hodgson is as reviews of relevant works, and sometimes fresh fascinating a character as any in his fiction. His Jamesian fiction. Thomas Carnacki stories are probably the quintessence of the occult detective sub-genre, although

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Herbert George Wells (1866-1946)

II. Secondary Sources These are literary portrayals of the Edwardian era useful for getting under the skin of the period, and works generally useful for finding inspiration outside purely supernatural fiction. Again, they’ve been chosen for their relevance to Casting the Runes, rather than any other criterion of merit, but most are top-rank authors. Obviously, an enormous number of writers have been left out, and there will be plenty of others out there for further elucidation and inspiration. Bram Stoker (1847-1912)

When not busy being the quintessential futurologist, H.G. Wells turned a sharply critical eye on the society of his time, and rendered it in acerbic detail coloured by his own lower-middle-class background. His Kipps and The History of Mr Polly are gems of Edwardian social comedy on a distinctly lower stratum than the cultivated milieux of Saki or Wodehouse. Meanwhile, his foundational masterpieces of science fiction are there for anyone wanting a more scientific flavour in their Casting the Runes campaigns. Again, this booklist is just a small sample.

Dracula, 1897 The Jewel of Seven Stars, 1903 The Lady of the Shroud, 1909 The Lair of the White Worm, 1911 Dracula’s Guest and Other Weird Stories, 1914

The Time Machine, 1895 The Island of Doctor Moreau, 1896 The Invisible Man, 1897 The War of the Worlds, 1898 When the Sleeper Wakes, 1899 The First Men in the Moon, 1901 The Food of the Gods and How It Came to Earth, 1904 Kipps, 1905 In the Days of the Comet, 1906 The War in the Air, 1908 The History of Mr Polly, 1910 The New Machiavelli, 1911 The World Set Free, 1914

Richard Austin Freeman (1862-1943)

Hector Hugh Munro/Saki (1870-1916)

A career writer, and a rather unattractive conservative and eugenicist, R. Austin Freeman earns his place here as a pioneer of early forensic detective fiction. His Dr Thorndyke stories invoke the medical knowledge of the time, employed by the eponymous “medical jurispractitioner” in 22 novels and a series of short stories (collections listed below).

Saki wrote a small number of brutally dispassionate horror stories, Sredni Vashtar being the one everybody remembers. His crisp vignettes of Edwardian high society life are masterly snapshots of the mores, frustrations, and games of one-upmanship that characterised the period.

Bram Stoker is here rather than among the Primary Sources because of his very Victorian background, and his focus on his own sub-genres of horror (vampire fiction, mummy fiction, etc.) His later stories are exceptionally bizarre and chaotic, although rich in inspiration for any scenario with an especially exotic or weird cast.

John Thorndyke’s Cases, 1909 The Singing Bone, 1912 Dr Thorndyke’s Casebook, 1923 The Puzzle Lock, 1925 The Magic Casket, 1927

Casting the Runes

Reginald, 1904 Reginald in Russia, 1910 The Chronicles of Clovis, 1912 The Unbearable Bassington, 1912 When William Came, 1913 Beasts and Super-Beasts, 1914 The Toys of Peace, 1919

190

Robert Erskine Childers (1870-1922)

William Somerset Maugham (1874-1965)

Soldier, sailor, airman, and eventual casualty of the Irish Civil War, Erskine Childers wrote what is often called the first spy novel, The Riddle of the Sands. For anyone wishing to create a seaborne scenario, this is definitely a first port of call.

Massively successful as a playwright, novelist and short story writer, W. Somerset Maugham earns his place here especially as the author of The Magician, which benefited from the contemporary scandals surrounding self-proclaimed wizard and celebrity cult-leader Aleister Crowley. Just a small taste of Somerset Maugham’s immense body of work is given here.

The Riddle of the Sands, 1903 William Roughead (1870-1952)

Liza of Lambeth, 1897 The Magician, 1908 Of Human Bondage, 1915 The Moon and Sixpence, 1919

A celebrated Scottish criminologist and researcher into judicial and forensic matters, William Roughead had a huge impact on detective fiction, but is also a great source for criminal procedure of the period. His John Buchan (1875-1940) Trial of Oscar Slater (1910) was an influential account of a contemporary miscarriage of justice. Politician, civil servant, spymaster and voluminous author, John Buchan is best remembered for The Trial of Dr. Pritchard, 1906 Thirty-Nine Steps, a classic spy story. He also wrote Trial of Oscar Slater, 1910 several short ghost stories, often with a Scottish setting. Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874-1936) The Thirty-Nine Steps, 1915 Colossal in his output and his figure, G.K. Chesterton produced so many works that border on fantasy or Edward Morgan Forster (1879-1970) science fiction that he can easily inspire weird and bizarre plots, as well as the kind of philosophical and The go-to writer for readers who prefer their ethical reflections that underpin so much of his Edwardians repressed and in muslin and flannels, E.M. writing. His Father Brown stories are enjoyable Forster still earns his place as a chronicler of the detective fiction as well as often deeply atmospheric Edwardian upper middle class, although he himself evocations of contemporary settings. The list below was blatantly high-born, high-minded and wellfocuses on those titles likely to be useful for the game. heeled. His later collection The Eternal Moment and other stories includes a number of stories with a The Napoleon of Notting Hill, 1904 supernatural flavour. The Club of Queer Trades, 1905 The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare, 1908 Where Angels Fear to Tread, 1905 The Innocence of Father Brown, 1911 The Longest Journey, 1907 The Wisdom of Father Brown, 1914 A Room with a View, 1908 The Man Who Knew Too Much and other Howards End, 1910 stories, 1922 Maurice , written 1913-14 (published posthumously in The Incredulity of Father Brown, 1926 1971 due to its LGBT content) The Secret of Father Brown, 1927 The Scandal of Father Brown, 1935 A Passage to India, 1924 The Paradoxes of Mr Pond, 1937 The Eternal Moment and other stories, 1928

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Pelham Grenville Wodehouse (1881-1975) Despite his reputation as the arch-scribe of the interwar Bright Young Things, P.G. Wodehouse in fact wrote plenty before World War I, and debuted many of his most celebrated characters, including Bertie Wooster, Jeeves and Lord Emsworth, prior to or during 1915. His earlier books are ideal reading for anyone who wants to approach their Edwardian elite with a lighter, humorous, but still authentic touch. Psmith in the City, 1910 Psmith, Journalist, 1915 Something Fresh, 1915 The Man with Two Left Feet, 1917 My Man Jeeves, 1919

III. Reference Materials

Ford Madox Ford, The Soul of London: A Survey of a Modern City, 1905 - A more anecdotal, atmospheric survey of Edwardian London from one of the period’s great writers, available online at Archive.org, or as an audiobook on LibriVox. Mark Girouard, Life in the English Country House: A Social and Architectural History, 1994 - an essential resource for the country house mysteries likely to be found in any Jamesian campaign. Charles G. Harper, Beautiful Britain: Wessex, 1911. Evangeline Holland, Edwardian England: A Guide to Everyday Life, 1900-1914, 2014. Holland & Holland Catalogue, 1910 - comprehensive selection of firearms from the classic gunsmiths.

Here are some reference sources that are exceptionally useful for the practical and factual side of life in Gordon Home, Yorkshire Vales and Wolds, 1908. the Edwardian era. Many of them are freely available online. Edwin Coolidge Kimball, Midnight Sunbeams, or, Bits of Travel through the Land of the Norseman, Army & Navy Stores Catalogue, 1907 (facsimile 1888. edition, 1980) - the supplier to the Empire par excellence, which produced a huge illustrated catalogue of Flora Thompson, Lark Rise to Candleford, 1939-43 goods for mail order.. a celebrated and much-loved account of Edwardian rural life, rich in period detail. Karl Baedecker, London and its Environs: Handbook for Travellers, 1908 (earlier editions and other lo- Peter Underwood, Gazetteer of British Ghosts, 1971 cations also available) - freely available at Archive.org. a compendium of real-life ghost legends and cases by a veteran ghost hunter, who produced volumes of simE.F. Benson, Winter Sports in Switzerland, 1913. ilar surveys across the counties and regions of the British Isles. Bradshaw’s Guide - the quintessential guide to the era’s favourite form of transport, with numerous Careful trawling of Project Gutenberg, especially its different editions for British, European and other History sections, and Archive.org can unearth virtual international railway networks. bookshelves-worth of scanned Edwardian travel and local history guides (the work of Gordon Home espeKatharine Briggs, A Dictionary of Fairies: Hobgob- cially), with plenty of period details and even illustralins, Brownies, Bogies, and Other Supernatural tions for Investigators. The ones below, to underpin Creatures, 1976 - a splendid compendium of inspira- your Wessex, North Country, Alpine and Scandinational folktales and traditions from a master vian adventures, are just a couple of examples. folklorist; her Hobberdy Dick is also a classic children’s tale of authentic fairy myth. http://www.gutenberg.org/ Casting the Runes

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IV. Audio and video

Robert Lloyd Parry, The M.R. James Project - an excellent live performance series of events and recordThis is a brief summary of the rich fund of ings celebrating James’s work, with recordings inspirational and atmospheric audio and visual mate- available for purchase online or via the BBC. rial for the Jamesian gamer. Many lovers of M.R. James had their first exposure to the work through Jonathan Miller, Whistle and I’ll Come to You, 1968 these, and most are still cherished, even when wildly a classic black-and-white rendition of James’s “Oh, unfaithful to the Jamesian originals. Whistle, And I’ll Come To You, My Lad,” with an unbeatable performance by Sir Michael Hordern. Audiobook versions of M.R. James’s stories are widely available, starting with the more than serviceable Robert Powell in Classic Ghost Stories by M.R. readings by Peter Yearsley on LibriVox. The two fol- James, 1968 - semi-dramatized and abridged but still lowing recordings are exceptionally strong and atmo- often very effective readings. spheric: Jacques Tourneur, Night of the Demon, 1957 - the one David Collings, The Complete Ghost Stories of M.R. M.R. James film adaptation that made a Jamesian tale James, 2007. work as modern horror, rated as one of the greatest horror movies of all time. Sir Michael Hordern, Sir Michael Hordern Reads A Warning To The Curious And Other Ghost Stories By Other film and video sources for the period are many M.R. James, 1986 - other readings by Sir Michael and varied, but two in particular probably deserve Hordern also available. mention. Upstairs, Downstairs, 1971-75 - a British TV drama screened in five series, chronicling the dramas and social mores of an aristocratic family and their servants over the period 1903-30; the first three seasons cover Mark Gatiss, The Tractate Middoth, 2013 - an the period 1903-14. updated version of the A Ghost Story for Christmas series of the 1970s; Gatiss’s documentary on Downton Abbey, 2010-15 - in many ways the spiritual James from the same year, Ghost Writer, is also successor to Upstairs, Downstairs, this period drama recommended viewing. covers life on a Yorkshire country estate from 1912 onwards; only the first series, however, concerns our preLawrence Gordon Clark, A Ghost Story for Christ- ferred period prior to 1914. mas, 1971-78 - celebrated series of BBC adaptations of ghostly tales by M.R. James and others, all but one directed by Lawrence Gordon Clark, often very unfaithful to the letter of the original stories, but strong on atmosphere to give the quintessential Jamesian feel. Any keen Jamesian gamer is likely to know many of these already, but they are worth including as extra reSir Christopher Lee, Ghost Stories for Christmas, sources for building out a really inspired horror 2000 - the great horror actor made a few semi-drama- RPG campaign. They’re also here simply as tributes to tized readings of James stories for a brief revival of the some brilliant work in the fields of RPG horror. Many BBC’s ghost story series. of them have evolved considerably over the years, and Television adaptations of M.R. James are legion, and of varying quality, but the best have earned their place in the Jamesian canon.

V. Games, Sourcebooks and Supplements

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the chronological listing gives the date of publication Leonard Balsera, The Dresden Files Roleplaying of the first edition, and credits the original lead de- Game, 2010 - a rendition of Jim Butcher’s Dresden signer/s. Files series of urban dark fantasy thrillers about the eponymous wizard and private eye. The Dresden Files Sandy Petersen, Call of Cthulhu, 1981 - the game that is one of the most popular implementations of the started it all, and now in its (much-revised) 7th edition; narrative-focused FATE system, with a strong such a massive influence on subsequent horror RPGs following. that many have struggled to emerge from its shadow. Kenneth Hite, Night’s Black Agents, 2012 - Hite’s Gunilla Jonsson and Michael Petersén, Kult, 1991 - a second ground-breaking essay in GUMSHOE famous and sometimes controversial Swedish game horror roleplaying, this is a vampire conspiracy game often cited in various moral panics about the supposed mixing the undead with modern technothriller evil effects of RPGs, Kult was extensively revised and heroics. Its 2015 source pack, The Dracula Dossier, re-released as KULT: Divinity Lost in 2018;it por- which reimagines Bram Stoker’s Dracula as the urtrays a Gnostic cosmos of angelic and demonic powers text for a Da Vinci Code-style multi-generational competing amid a divine absence. conspiracy, has to be experienced to be believed. Dennis Detwiller, Adam Scott Glancy and John Scott Tynes, Delta Green, 1997 - originally released as a sourcebook for Call of Cthulhu and widely rated as one of the greatest roleplaying publications of all time, Delta Green was re-released in 2016 as a standalone game, with a highly regarded GUMSHOE companion version by Kenneth Hite, The Fall of DELTA GREEN (2018). It updates Lovecraftian horror to a technothriller-flavoured milieu of apocalyptic nihilism.

Monsters & Miscreants, 2016 - a delightful card game of Jamesian horrors, beautifully illustrated by Richard Svensson; it’s well worth looking at the other Jamesian products from Pleasing Terror Games. Quentin Bauer, Raiders of R’lyeh, 2017 - another Lovecraftian RPG, this one does have the virtue that it’s set in the Edwardian era, c. 1910 (albeit in the US, but with much international travel built in).

Robin D. Laws, Fear Itself, 2007 - an RPG of modern horror implementing Laws’s own GUMSHOE system to capture the atmosphere of contemporary horror movies and series. Kenneth Hite, Trail of Cthulhu, 2008- a recreation of Call of Cthulhu using Robin Laws’s GUMSHOE system, and widely acclaimed for updating CoC’s original premise and play with a more narrative and less dicedriven approach to Lovecraftian horror. Also noted for its pioneering approach to creating investigative adventures. Many other Trail of Cthulhu supplements and materials are immensely useful for Casting the Runes, especially Ken Hite’s superb Bookhounds of London (2010).

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194

Index

A A School Story 5, 28 A View from a Hill 16, 25, 90, 126 A Warning to the Curious and Other Ghost Stories 9, 193 Ab-human 162 Ab-Natural 26, 126, 162 Abbeys, Suffolk and Norfolk 5 Abilities Ability Ratings 50, 162 Academic 17–20, 22, 24, 29, 32, 33, 34– 39, 41, 200 Anthropology 15, 19, 21, 23, 32, 56, 177, 200 Archaeology 15, 16, 19, 21, 51, 54, 56, 58, 59 , 170, 171, 200 Architecture 16, 17, 32, 33, 56, 58, 114, 154, 178, 183 Art 17, 25, 33, 35, 109, 115, 177, 18 0, 182, 185 Art History 16, 17, 19, 20, 24, 27, 33, 51, 65 , 66, 170, 177, 180–182, 200 Assess Honesty 18, 21–23, 26– 29, 33, 49, 153, 169, 173, 179, 200 Astronomy 21, 24, 27, 34, 200 Bargain 17, 19, 20, 22, 25, 34, 49, 65, 111, 153–155, 200 Biology 18, 21, 23, 25, 34, 105, 155, 200 Charm 17, 18, 20, 22, 23, 25–

27, 29, 34, 38, 58–

15–26, 28, 29, 37, 111, 122

60, 65, 68, 171, 173, 174, 178,

Law 18, 20, 23, 27–29, 38, 174

183, 200

Library Use 15–29, 38, 122, 172–

Chemistry

174, 180, 200

18, 27, 34, 60, 83, 154, 200

Medicine

Class 12, 13, 15–18, 20, 22–

21, 24, 26, 28, 32, 38, 40, 60,

24, 27, 35, 42, 44, 49, 54, 65,

83, 200

129, 130, 158, 160, 170, 174, 200

Occult

Contemplation 10, 35, 53, 200

13, 23, 26, 35, 39, 40, 54, 86,

Craft 17, 25, 35, 115, 143, 200

108, 109, 110, 111, 113, 121–

Criminology 35, 200

123, 126, 165, 176, 200

Cryptography

Photography 17, 21–23, 25–

18, 22, 23, 29, 36, 54, 111, 200

29, 40, 69, 200

Evidence Collection

Physics 18, 21, 27, 41, 154, 200

16–18, 22, 23, 27–

Reassurance 5, 17, 18, 21–

29, 36, 51, 55, 57–

29, 41, 42, 49, 56, 59, 65, 71,

59, 182, 185, 186, 200

89, 153–

Fieldcraft 16, 19, 21–

155, 171, 173, 174, 178, 183, 200

25, 36, 55, 77, 105, 109, 114,

Special Benefits 13, 55, 56

115, 155, 200

Streetwise 19, 20, 22, 25, 27–

Folklore 15–18, 20–

29, 41, 158, 200

26, 29, 36, 51, 58, 59, 84, 86,

Technical

111, 113, 115, 117, 119, 122, 127

17, 19, 22, 27, 32, 33, 34–

, 167, 183, 200

36, 40, 65, 200

Forensics 18, 21, 23, 32, 36, 200

Using an Investigative Ability 60

B Balfour Declaration 11 Banknotes 128 Benson, E.F. 9, 77, 94, 153, 178, 189, 192 Bible 31 Bibliophilic Matters 38 Binoculars 126, 135, 154, 155 Blackwood, Algernon 9, 103, 106, 189 Blériot, Louis 27, 145 Boer War 136, 140 Bombs 43, 80, 82, 145 Bonus 32, 41, 55, 61, 67, 81 Bookkeeping 17– 24, 26, 28, 29, 34, 49, 65, 128, 182, 200 Bookman 5, 6 boxing 41, 47, 48 British Empire 10, 80, 138 British Museum 170, 177 Build Points 3, 12, 13, 14, 15, 32, 33, 50, 54, 61, 69, 130, 200 Burma 11

General Spends 64

Airline 145

Geology 18, 21, 25, 27, 36, 71, 200

Airplane 145

History 16–

Airship 145

18, 20, 23, 24, 26, 37, 38, 51, 58

Amulet 125

, 65, 200

Antiquarianism

Campaigns

Interpersonal 15, 17–20, 23–

5, 7, 15, 16, 126, 168, 183

9, 38, 128, 129, 147, 148, 152,

25, 28, 29, 32, 33, 34, 35, 37, 41

Appendices 188

156, 163, 168, 170, 190, 192

Bury St Edmunds 5

C Call of Cthulhu 7, 9, 194

, 42, 57, 71, 130, 149, 158, 200

Audio and video 193

Amateur Spirit 156, 157

Interrogation 23, 27, 37, 200

Games, Sourcebooks and Supplements 193

Clubs, Coteries and Campaign Frames

Intimidation

Primary Sources 188, 190

163

19, 23, 24, 27, 29, 33, 37, 56,

Reference Materials 192

Chit-Chat Society 165

65, 68, 71, 153–155, 173, 200

Secondary Sources 190

The Everlasting Club 163–165, 170

Investigative Abilities and Timing 58

Armour 76, 81, 84, 85, 106

Ghost Club 157, 163

Languages

Aspirin 145

The Oak Leaf League 166, 167

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The Society of Antiquaries Secret Archives

Elemental

Ancient Order of Druids 146

Class

165

82, 87, 113, 120, 121, 124, 126,

Dianists 146

12, 15, 31, 35, 129, 130, 131, 13

175, 176, 178

Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn

9–143, 190, 191

Entity facts and figures 84

26, 146

Currency 3, 42, 128

Canopic jars 171

Familiar 83, 88, 97, 117

Isis-Urania Temple 146

Imperial system 128

Carnacki the Ghost-Finder 9, 189

Faunus 89, 115, 122

Order of the Rose-Cross 147

Income and Social Class 129

Clubs

Gaming Supernatural

Ordo Templi Orientis 147

Prices 130–132, 146, 173

4, 11, 35, 41, 73, 86, 130, 132, 13

Beings 85

Salon de la Rose + Croix 147

Reform 139, 140

8, 146, 157, 163–167, 170, 191

Ghost 89–

Sphere Group 146

Representation of the People Act 139

Clues

91, 97, 111, 125, 146, 161

Theosophical Society 146

Spirit of the Age 136, 147

Clue Types 148, 149

Ghoul 86, 90, 91

Currency 42, 128

Suffragettes 140

Clues and Point Spends 56

Greater Demon

Upstairs Downstairs 140

Clues at Work 58

79, 92, 93, 104, 108, 110, 112–

D

Core Clues 32, 42, 54, 55, 58–

115, 120, 123, 124

60, 119, 148, 149, 150, 153

Hecate 105

Floating Core Clues 54, 149

Hell Horse 92

Gathering Clues 54

Lesser Demon 81, 93, 115, 120, 123

Inconspicuous Clues 57

Lion 106

Leveraged Clues 149

Little People

Pipe Clues 149

31, 36, 56, 63, 84, 94, 114, 115,

Restricted Clues 149

122, 124

Simple Searches 57

Mrs Mothersole 97, 99, 100

What are Clues 54

Mummy 94, 99, 147, 190

Canon Alberic’s Scrap-Book 19, 93

Combat. See Fighting

Negotium Perambulans 94

Commonwealth of Nations 11

Night-Raven 94, 95

Conspiracies 146–148, 157, 194

Odin 104, 105

Contests

Poltergeist 95

20, 35, 45, 46, 48, 56, 61–

Random Ghosts 90

65, 71, 72, 77, 109, 125, 154

Rat Swarm 107

Continuing Challenges 63

Saiitii Manifestation 95–97, 162

Cooperation

Sheeted Ghost 84, 96, 97

34, 37, 63, 64, 118, 155

Snake 107, 147

Coptic Lamp

Spider Familiar 83, 97, 98, 108

168, 169, 170, 173, 175

Stag 107, 155

Coroner 158

Thing of Slime 98

Covens 146, 147, 161

Throwback 98

Creatures

Toad Creature 98, 99

67, 70, 72, 74, 80, 84, 86, 98, 192

Tomb-Walker 99

Aeiirii Manifestation 86

Vampire 99–

Banshee 86, 87

101, 122, 126, 127, 190, 194

Bear 105, 106

Werewolf 25, 40, 101, 102, 162

Boar 106

Will-o’-the-Wisp 102

Buffalo 106

Wolf 102, 107

Bull 106

Credit Rating 129

Creating folkloric or mythical creatures 85

Cthulhu Mythos 7, 8

Deities and Demiurges 103

Cults 10, 23, 108, 146, 147, 191

Casting the Runes

Dagger 112, 115, 125 Deities 92, 103, 104, 106, 117, 146 Hecate 105 Odin 104, 105 Demiurges 103 Detective Fiction 54, 156, 157, 190, 191 devil-worship. See Satanism Difficulty adjustment 56 Difficulty Numbers 45, 48, 62, 66, 68, 69 Dracula 147, 190, 194 Drives 12, 29, 69, 71 Adventure 29 Aestheticism 9, 30 Altruism 30 Covetousness 30 Curiosity 30 Duty 30 Ennui 30 Fair Play 30 Feudal Spirit 30 Greed 30 Justice 31 Religion 31 Resentment 31

Egypt 169, 170 Electricity 21, 83, 88, 96, 126, 180 Epilepsy 160 Esoterrorists 7 Eton 5, 28, 188 Evidence 16–18, 21–23, 27–29, 34– 38, 40, 41, 51, 55, 57– 59, 67, 69, 97, 150, 152, 155, 158, 164, 182, 185, 186, 200 Exchange rate 129 Exhaustion 9, 36, 44, 52, 64, 67, 85 Exposure 26, 64, 67, 82, 83, 95, 100, 193 Extraordinary Items 125 Amulet of Protection 125 Athame 115, 116, 125, 126 Crossbow 126 Electric Pentacle 21, 96, 126 Hand of Glory 126 Medal of Warding 126 Planchette 126 Seeing Glasses 126 Wand 127 Whip of Banishment 127 Witch Bottle 127

Snobbery 31

F

Truth 31

Falling 83

Driving 43, 46, 47

Fatigue 36, 52, 67

Druids 146

Fear Itself 7, 108, 194

E

Fighting 71–76, 79, 81, 82

Edwardian Period 11, 32, 129, 141, 147, 188

196

Aimed Shot 80, 81, 154 An Example of Combat 81 Armour 76, 81, 84, 85, 106

Bigger Fights 74

First Aid 21, 26, 44, 66

Herne the Hunter 167

Lovecraftian horror 7, 194

Cover 76, 153, 154

Fleeing 44, 82

History

Lunacy 160

Damage 73–78, 82, 83, 88, 118

Gambling 35, 44, 65, 200

10, 37, 38, 41, 51, 93, 137, 144, 1

Fighting Without Abilities 79

Health

47, 158, 163, 165

M

Hit Thresholds 48, 66, 72, 84

12, 13, 21, 39, 41, 44, 48, 50, 52

Initiative 72, 74, 76, 81, 87, 88

, 53, 57, 66, 69, 73, 86, 109

I

Point Blank Fire 77

Hypnosis 26, 28, 35, 44, 45, 118

Range 72–74, 77, 78, 80, 82

Mechanics 46

Resisting Stunning 73

Navigation 33, 36, 46

Running Away 44, 82

Preparedness 46, 63, 154, 174

Stunning Weapons 73

Psychoanalysis

Surprise 68, 75, 76, 98, 106

28, 44, 47, 71, 153, 154

Two Guns 78

Sailing 47, 200

Firearms 19, 22–

Scuffling 41, 47–49, 72, 74, 79, 80.

24, 27, 32, 44, 46, 53, 57, 68, 72

See Also Fighting

–74, 77–79, 159, 160, 192, 200

Sense Trouble

First Aid 17, 18, 21–

19, 22, 25, 27, 29, 43, 47–

26, 29, 44, 53, 62, 66, 73, 83, 200

49, 75, 76, 83, 91, 101, 154, 155,

Flaxman Low 9, 12, 26, 28, 146

186, 200

Fleeing

Shadowing 23, 48, 75

17, 44, 75, 82, 86, 87, 121, 176, 1

Stability

78, 200

8, 14, 28, 32, 40, 41, 45, 48, 50,

Folklore 5, 7, 10, 15–18, 20–

53, 54, 62, 63, 65, 67–70, 109

26, 29, 36, 51, 58, 59, 84, 85, 86,

Stealth 48, 49, 56, 59

104, 111, 113, 115, 117, 119, 122,

Trade 49

127, 163, 167, 183, 200

Weapons 24, 36, 41, 47–

G

49, 68, 71–81, 85, 86–90, 92, 94–

Gameplay 12, 44, 48, 50 gay and lesbian characters 11 General Abilities 13, 14, 32, 41, 42, 50, 52–54, 56– 58, 61, 65–67, 69, 130, 148, 200 Athletics 17, 42, 200 Bonus 32, 41, 55, 57, 61, 67, 81

Faustian Bargain 111

immunology 145

grimoire

Imperial Conference 11

108, 110, 120, 122, 123, 162

Imperial Federation League 138

Hypergeometry 108

Imperial system 128

Learning Magic 111, 123

Improving Your Character 54

Magic Costs

Income 16, 25, 35, 77, 127–

and Difficulties 109

129, 130, 131, 140–142

Occult Pool 111, 176

Edwardian Incomes 130

rituals

39, 44, 48, 66, 67, 80, 116, 118, 1

32, 33, 36, 39, 87, 108, 109, 110,

48

112–

Insanity 28, 69–71, 109, 160, 161

121, 126, 127, 147, 162, 167

Institutionalisation 160

Spells 45, 85, 86–

Introduction 7

88, 92, 99, 105, 108, 109, 111

Investigative Benchmarks 14

Banish 85, 86, 109, 110–

Investigative Rating 13

112, 127, 176

Investigator Social Class 131

Call Spirit 112, 126

Investigators

Cast the Runes 72, 112

10, 12, 13, 14, 28, 32, 50, 60, 63

Circle of Protection

General Ability Benchmarks 61 Ghost Stories of an Antiquary 9, 188

Great Livermere 5

Offensive and Defensive Spell Costs 110

Injuries

, 134, 148, 160, 200

Golden Age of Detective Fiction 156

Casting a Spell 109

Idiots Act 160

104, 106, 115, 116, 120, 126, 127

Girton College 10

Magic 108

Ability Caps 13

25, 87, 113, 117, 120, 126, 127,

additional Abilities 13

152

Investigative Abilities 32

Consecrate/Desecrate Fane 113

Occupation 12, 13, 14–

Contact Faunus 109, 115, 124

29, 35, 101, 127, 130, 131, 160

Contact Hooded Spirit 114

special benefits 13, 55, 56

Contact Little People 114, 124

Ireland 51, 139, 141, 144, 162, 167

Contact Spells 114

Irish War of Independence 140

Contact Swine Thing 115

K

Curse

Bureaucracy 27, 42, 200

H

Cherry 41

Hazards 82, 83, 152, 153

Conceal 42, 69, 200

Acid 83

Connections 13, 18, 20, 22–

Electricity 83

25, 29, 42, 158

Falling 83, 87

Labourers (Ireland) Act 141

Evil Eye 109, 116, 117, 127

Demolition

Fire 82

Library

Exorcism 18, 109, 117

18, 21, 22, 27, 33, 43, 62, 82, 20

Poisons 83, 88, 93, 98, 102, 107

24, 38, 53, 81, 122, 124, 165, 167,

Haunt Dreams 109, 117

0

Suffocation and Drowning 83

171, 178, 180, 183

Obtain Familiar 88, 117

Disguise 22, 25, 27–29, 43, 56, 130

Health 44

British Library 178, 183.

Pentacle

Driving 43, 47

Health pool

Library Use 15–29, 38, 122, 172–

21, 86, 96, 117, 118, 120, 126

Filch 19, 20, 25, 28, 43, 56, 200

44, 48, 53, 66, 67, 73, 76, 81, 83,

174, 180, 200

Poppetry 109, 118, 127

Firearms 44, 46, 53, 72, 74, 78, 79

101

Living Costs 3, 130, 131

Raise Dead 118

Karswell 39, 72, 84, 113, 147, 154 King’s College 5

L

197

109, 112, 113, 115, 116, 125, 12 7, 162, 165 Enchant Item 115, 118, 125, 126 Enlighten Faculties 116

Casting the Runes

Scry 119, 121

Academic 15

9

Travel 132

Sign Oneself 119

Anthropologist 15

Old Testament Legends 5

Weapons 75

Summon Demon 120, 124, 126

Archaeologist 16

Omega Workshops 141, 143

Princess of Mars 147

Telekinesis 96, 108, 121

Architect 16

ouija board 126

Professor Parkins 71, 96, 97

Warding

Artist 17

Overseas Club 138

86, 87, 92, 108, 110, 121, 122, 1

Athlete 17

Q

26

Author 17

P

Magical Items. See Extraordinary

Chemist 18

Items

Civil Servant 18

martial arts 48

Clergy 18

Medal 19, 126

Collector 19

Mental Deficiency Act 160

Colonialist 19

Mental Illness 47, 69–71, 109, 160.

Companion 22

See Also Stability

Criminal 19

Merlin’s Cave 167

Curator 20

Montague Rhodes James 5, 7, 188

Dealer 20

Moon Worshippers 146

Dilettante 20

Motor Car 45, 145, 158, 160

Doctor 21

Mr. Humphreys and His Inheritance

Engineer 21

18, 21, 26

Explorer 21

Music Hall War 144

Gamekeeper/Ghillie 22

N

Gentleman 22

Navigate 21, 24, 33, 34, 36, 42, 46, 128, 15 1, 200 New York City 158 Newnham College 10 Newspapers 23, 38, 131, 132, 157, 172, 187 Daily Mail 144, 145 Daily Mirror 144 Daily Star 144 Night of the Demon 6, 193 Night’s Black Agents 7, 42, 65, 194 Number 13 23, 70, 161

O

ing

Pick pockets. See General Abilities,

R

Piggybacking 63 Pilfer. See General Abilities, Filch Poisons 18, 21, 32, 34, 36, 39, 40, 60, 83, 88, 93, 98, 102, 107 Pools Adversary Pool Point reduction 56 Health pool 44, 48, 53, 66, 67, 73, 76, 81, 83, 101. See Also Health Occult Pool 111, 176. See Also

Hunter 23 Journalist 23 Lawyer 23 Librarian 24

Musician 25 Naturalist 25 Nurse 26 Occultist 26 Photographer 26

Psychologist 28 Secretary 29

126, 136, 144, 146, 147, 156, 162–

Soldier 24

165, 167, 170, 176, 189, 200

Thespian 29 Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come to You, My

Occupations

Lad 5, 15, 16, 71, 97, 193

St George 138 Running Away 44, 82

S Saaamaaa Ritual 162

ror 152

Recharging 50

Satanism 29, 30, 147

Regaining Pool Points 52

Scenarios The Coptic Lamp 168 The House with the Brick-Kiln 178 Scene Types 150

Test/contest Pool Points 56

Alternate 151

Powers of Darkness 62, 117, 119

Antagonist Reaction 151

Press clippings agency 157

Conclusion 152

Prices 15, 16, 34, 128, 130–

Core 150

132, 146, 173

Hazard 152

ohn Silence, Physician Extraordinary

Casting the Runes

Royal Society of

Sandy Petersen’s Three Rules of Hor‐

A place to stay 132

Hybrid Scenes 152

Clothes 134

Introductory 150

Communications 133

Scene Diagrams 153

Drink 131

Occult Pool 111, 176

Royal Overseas League 138

58, 60–65, 73, 151

Schoolmaster 28

08, 109, 110, 111, 113, 121–

Round Table 138

Saki 9, 80, 101, 105–107, 190

Policeman 27

10, 12, 13, 15, 23, 26, 29, 35, 39,

Romeike & Curtice 157

Spending 32, 35, 42, 51, 53, 56–

Physicist 27 Private Investigator 28

Religion 31, 41, 117

Saiitii Manifestation 95–97, 162

. See Also Stability

Miscreant 25

Rate of Fire 78

Pool Points 52

66, 67, 69, 70, 87, 89, 90, 95, 109

Military 24

Radio 6, 144, 145

Magic, Occult Pool

Stability Pool

Mariner 24

Occult 7, 8– 40, 50, 53, 54, 85, 86, 98, 103, 1

Pelgrane Press 2, 7 Filch

Historian 22

Queensberry Rules 48. See Also box‐

198

Sub-Plot 152, 153

Eating out 132

Scuffling 47, 48

Entertainment 134

shooting parties 158

Food 131

Sidney Street Siege 158

Investigative Equipment 135

Social Class 12, 42, 129, 131

Newspapers 132

Social Roles 14, 130

Sundries 131

Spells. See Magic, Spells

The Home 131

spyglass 126

Stability 14, 48, 62, 66–69, 71

116, 119

Wand 127

Confidence and Stability 69

Test of Wills 20, 65, 66

Wanderings, The 5

Example of Stability loss 70

Toll Tests 64

Weapons 49, 73, 75. See Also

Losing Stability 69

Zero Sum Contests 63, 64

Firearms

Sources of Stability 12, 53, 68, 200

The Apocryphal New Testament 5

Athame 115, 116, 125, 126

Stability and Combat 68

The Great God Pan 9, 89, 188

Black Powder 82

Stability and Drives 69

The Man Who Was Thursday

Crossbow 126

Stability costs of ghostly manifesta‐

9, 143, 191

gun laws 77

tions 91

The Mezzotint 17, 20, 128

Range 77, 78

Stability Loss 63, 67, 68, 70, 71

The Rose Garden

Rate of Fire 78

Stability Points 47, 53, 60, 67– 69, 71, 185 Stability Tests 67, 68, 91, 114– 116, 119 Stock Situations 153

19, 22 The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral 20, 24, 102 The Story of Saddler’s Croft 19, 25, 26

Reloading 44, 68, 77, 78, 127 Whip 57, 127 Windsor Forest 167 Wireless Telegraph 145. See Also Ra‐ dio

Alarm 73, 155, 156, 173

The Whistling Room 21, 95, 96

World War I 10, 139, 140, 142–

Assault 154

Thirty-Nine Steps, The 139, 191

145, 159, 160, 192

Crack-up 153

Timed Results 150

wrestling 47, 48, 77

Interruption 155

Tintagel 167

Wright Brothers 145

Intrusion 154

Tomes and Grimoires 122

Wyndham Land Act 141

Relief 154

Sample Tomes 123

Smoke out 154

Book of Miriam 123

The Siege 153, 158

Book of the Thirty Words 123

The Stalk 155, 156

Book of the Toad 123

The Vigil 154, 155

De praestigiis daemonum (On the Tricks

Upset 155

of Demons) 123

Visit 155

Hidden Songs of Iolo Sant 124

Structuring the Narrative 148

Key of Solomon 120, 124

Stonehenge 146

Liber nigrae peregrinationis (The Book of

Story Pacing 62

the Black Pilgrimage) 125

Surprise 68, 75, 76, 98, 106

Sigsand Manuscript 125

T

Turba Philosophorum (The gathering of the

Tarzan 147 Technical 17, 19, 22, 27, 32, 33, 34– 36, 40, 52, 65, 162 Tests and Contests 35, 48, 56, 61, 62, 66

People Brooke, Rupert 143 Burroughs, Edgar Rice 147 Campbell, Ramsey 2, 3, 6, 9 Carr, John Dickson 6 Chesterton, G. K. 143, 156, 160, 191. See Also Churchill, Winston 146 Coleridge-Taylor, Samuel 11 Conrad, Joseph 80, 143 Crowley, Aleister 143, 146, 191 Elgar, Edward 144 Epstein, Jacob 143 Fitzgerald, Penelope 6 Forester, E.M. 11, 141, 191 Fry, Roger 141, 143 Haggard, H. Rider 147 Hardie, Keir 140 Hartley, L.P. 6

X

Hite, Kenneth 2, 7, 9, 62, 163, 194

X-rays 145

Jadeja, Ranjitsinhji Vibhaji 11

Z

James, Henry 11, 188

Zeppelin 145 Zero Sum Contests 63, 64

Holmes, Sherlock 9, 136

Kipling, Rudyard 137, 143, 144 Kovalevskaya, Sofia 10 Laws, Robin 194 Lee, Vernon 11, 189 Lévi, Eliphas 147 Lewis, Wyndham 143 Lister, Joseph 145 Lloyd George, David 139, 140 Lovecraft, H.P. 7, 162, 189

philosophers) 125

Lytton Strachey 11, 136

The Lesser Key of Solomon 120

Machen, Arthur

toxins 44, 83

9, 89, 94, 98, 114, 124, 148, 188

Track 36, 48

Mackenzie, Millicent 10

Trail of Cthulhu

Manchu, Fu 147

7, 8, 9, 35, 85, 109, 194

Contests 63, 64, 66, 72, 101, 125

U

Marconi, Guglielmo 145

Continuing Challenges 63

University College 10

Swinburne, Algernon Charle 11

Cooperation 63, 64, 118

V

Tesla, Nikolai 145

Making General Tests Without Abilities 64 Piggybacking 63 Simple Tests 61 Stability Tests 67, 68, 91, 114–

Stoker, Bram 147, 190, 194

Wilde, Oscar 143

Victoria League 138

Woolf, Virginia 143

Vorticism 143

W Wailing Well 5

199

Casting the Runes

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Investigator Record Name: Health:

Hit Threshold:

Stability:

Investigative Build Points:

Drive:

General Build Points:

Occupation:

Investigative Abilities

Interpersonal

General Abilities

Academic

Assess Honesty Bargain Charm Class Interrogation Intimidation Reassurance Streetwise

Athletics Bureaucracy Conceal Connections Demolition Disguise Driving Filch Firearms First Aid Fleeing Gambling Health Hypnosis Mechanics Navigation Preparedness Psychoanalysis Riding Sailing Scuffling Sense Trouble Shadowing Stability Stealth Trade Weapons

Anthropology Archaeology Architecture Art History Biology Contemplation Criminology Folklore Geology History Languages: 1. Lang: 2. Lang: 3. Lang: 4. Lang: Law Library Use Medicine Occult Physics Theology

Technical Art Astronomy Bookkeeping Chemistry Craft Cryptography Evidence Collection Fieldcraft Forensics Pharmacy Photography

Investigator Record Social Class

Magic/Spells

Income

Equipment/Possessions

Sources of Stability

Contacts

Things Encountered

Campaign Notes

“No writer better demonstrates how, at its best, the ghost story or supernatural horror story achieves its effects through the eloquence and skill of its prose – and, I think, no writer in the field has shown greater willingness to convey dread.” Ramsey Campbell, on M.R. James Casting the Runes is a roleplaying game based on the works of M.R. James, the father of the modern British ghost story, and uses the GUMSHOE system for investigative RPGs. The unique character of James’s stories, and his own personality, inspire the game. Player-characters ( “Investigators”, under the guidance of the Game Master, proceed step by step to unearth the unearthly, researching the uncanny, the sinister, and the supernatural, against the backdrop of Edwardian Britain. Adventures are based on the classic ghost story, replete with “malevolence and terror, the glare of evil faces, ‘the stony grin of unearthly malice,’ pursuing forms in darkness, and ‘long-drawn, distant screams.’ Step back in time, and into a shadowy world , where demons are real, malevolent ghosts stalk the unwitting, and urbane, educated sorcerers pursue hideous knowledge in their bid to Cast the Runes... Casting the Runes is a complete roleplaying game, and needs only some six sided dice, a few friends, and a willingness to explore the shadowy corners of the Edwardian Era. This book has everything else you need to create Edwardian Investigators, learn about and compellingly convey the Edwardian Period, structure occult investigations, and present the supernatural. It includes two introductory scenarios: The Coptic Lamp and The House With the Brick Kiln, so you can begin your investigations without delay.

This work is based on the GUMSHOE SRD, a product of Pelgrane Press, developed, written, and edited by Robin D. Laws with additional material by Kenneth Hite, and licensed for our use under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).

TDMCR100

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