Monster Hunters by Gaslight - Whitechapel, London, Hell?

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by davidtmoore

Spice things up (pun very much intentional) with some exoticism. Mummies and Egyptian sorcerers, golems and Hebrew magicians, Chinese wizards and horrors.

Indeed.

The not-quite-as-dead-as-advertised Dr. Stanley had a distinctly Egyptian touch about him, as his embalmed body walked, talked and bled locusts through his shattered skull when attacked. He also intoned sonorous chants in Ancient Egyptian, calling upon Anubis* and invoking the Book of the Dead.

There are suggestions that a group of young rakes may have been involved in whatever events started the wrongness, with their occult Hermetic studies, their licentious ways and their devil music.

*Hence the pack of undead dogs with jackal heads.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Anthony

There's always Dracula; while the book won't come out for another 9 years, the events it portrayed were supposed to be in the past.

And there is the Vampyre.

One PC is modelled upon Richard Francis Burton and is probably his natural son. Another PC is extremely Byron-esque and may be a less-than-official descendant as well...

[davidtmoore]

Cool! Then definitely throw a bit more of that in the mix. Ghuls, golems and penanggalen...

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Miles

Really, GURPS Horror is invaluable, as I'm sure you're well aware. Victorians feared sex, madness, and ancient things that their shiny new world could neither understand or defeat. Mixing as many of these as possible makes it even better.

With repeated mentions of the Great God Pan and the verified existence of shaggy goat-like beings inspiring lust, cannibalism and violent mania, I'm pretty sure those boxes are ticked. :)

Originally Posted by Miles

Underlying all of this is the concept of taint, in the sense of evil that's imprinted deep into the flesh.

I'll have to find a way to incorporate that successfully. Players away: I had thought to have several generations of the family that stand to inherit the lordship of Lichfield be associated with the Hellfire Club and various less-than-savoury activities, with the son of the current Earl being one of the most senior members of the clique involved in the occult shenanigans that led to the madness now ongoing. But I need an example closer to home, of course.

Originally Posted by Miles

Sexy vampires were just as popular in Victorian London as today, albeit in a more icky form.

Historicically, my players have reacted with violent disapproval to the introduction of vampires to a game of secret superatural shenanigans and sexy vampires are likely to receive even less favour.

Of course, their thematic appropriateness might merit their inclusion despite the risks of audience alienation. But it would have to be exceptionally well-done.

Originally Posted by Miles

One place that Victorians generally didn't look for scare is in modernity and technology. We recognize Frankenstein and Dr. Jekyll as early mad scientists, but Victorians were much more worried about the past then the future. So including steampunk killer robots or the like introduces a very different feel, which may or may not be good.

Oddly, however, Spring-Heeled Jack sounds very much like a Steampunk killer robot, what with his odd steel-spring contraptions that enable super jumps, sharpened steel claws and masks. Even the fire breathing is very steampunkish and might easily be explained with a bit of Mad Science.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Anthony

I would tend to be inspired by A Night in the Lonesome October. Though people with too much time on their hands have determined that the actual year was 1887.

Without having read more than the plot outline, it seems that I was so inspired.

The Byron-esque character explicitly pretends to Great Detective-dom during the 'Leather Apron' crazy in London, being an avid fan of C. Auguste Dupin and the new A Study in Scarlet by Dr. Doyle. He's very much a man of fancies and actually able to master quite a bit of the skills involved when he pursues a new one. Concurrently with being a Great Detective, has been studying the occult and ritual magic, as is the fashion in his rakish circles.

Other PCs are also archetypes as much as characters, at least at the beginning of play, given the lack of preparation for players and GM.

There is an Irish Catholic priest ministering to his poor immigrant flock with a cheerful mien, red nose and a range of Irish proverbs. He is tolerant of minor foibles, as he is a reformed sinner himself, having been a bare-knuckled boxing champion and Glasgow street thug in his youth. He is thick around the middle, but still hugely strong and carries around a huge metal cross for the settling of theological arguments.

And then there is Sir Richard Francis Burton's natural son, who consciously models himself on the old man. He's had more success in attaining military rank, leaving as a brevet Lieutenant-Colonel after the Afghan War, thus entitling him to the traditional address of 'Colonel' usually accorded the retired military man in fiction set in the Victorian era. Noted fencer, explorer and big game hunter, as well as linguist, spy, ethnologist and many other things.

[Christopher R. Rice]

I do a bi-monthly installment on my blog of various critters you can use. Comes with Monster Hunters stats too. You can find them here.

[Polydamas]

Originally Posted by Icelander

Indeed.

The not-quite-as-dead-as-advertised Dr. Stanley had a distinctly Egyptian touch about him, as his embalmed body walked, talked and bled locusts through his shattered skull when attacked. He also intoned sonorous chants in Ancient Egyptian, calling upon Anubis* and invoking the Book of the Dead.

The Victorians did like moral panics about foreigners, mixed with trying to scientifically define their prejudices about race, religion, etc. I don't have any specific suggestions alas, but exotic foreigners are just as horrible as exotic old things to the Victorians.

Something with evolution? The growing hints about deep time?

[Cornelius]

Originally Posted by Icelander

Assuming that I have an idea about the whys and wherefores, I'm looking for suggestions about more horrific things to emerge out of the fog in the East End.

Icelander's players begone!



The Return of Cagliostro
A body hopping warlock, servant to some demonic power, which is looking for a better kind of immortality (Body hopping leave you very weak for days and gives you horrendous migraines)
Currently he's posing as a stage magician (The Amazing Ardini!), noted for his incredible "tricks" and "feats of magic". He is also known as a stauch enemy of mediums and seers, which he considers as fools, in the best case, or swindlers.

A dash of Mesmerism
A young boy is unwittingly a very powerful telepath. His dreams conditions people around him, sometimes for the good, sometimes for the worse, but usually in a very funny way. The problem is that his powers are devouring him. Can the players cure him and find a suitable teacher?

BEDLAM!
The soul asylum of Bedlam was quite a terrible place. Now has become even really dangerous. The Genius Loci of the hospital has awakened and is spreading his madness in the city.

London Exposed
While the victorian society ostended a virtuos image of itself, the truth is that London was home to a staggering numer of brothels for any kind of taste no matter how perverted and disgusting. Even the most important men of the nation gave way to their sordid desires there. But someone now is collecting evidences of their vices and he must be stopped.

In Winter
A strange being has been seen on the roofs of the city. Some claim that it was an ape, and a monstrous one too. Others say that it's impossible, that an ape could not survive London' harsh winter. Or maybe it's fled from a private zoo, like the one own by a strange doctor, obsessed by primates.
A doctor which is researching, and a few whisper is also selling, a wondrous drug against old age. Funny, there also lot less beggars around, aren't they. Must have been the winter. They surely went south...

Something you like?

[Agemegos]

Originally Posted by Cornelius

BEDLAM!
The soul asylum of Bedlam was quite a terrible place. Now has become even really dangerous. The Genius Loci of the hospital has awakened and is spreading his madness in the city.

The mediaeval Bedlam in Bishopsgate was demolished in 1634. The second was in Moorfields, and that was demolished in 1815. At the epoch of Icelander's campaign Bedlam is at St George's Fields in Southwark (in the Lambeth Road). It's several miles from Icelander's setting and on the other side to the Thames, not at all close in London terms.

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by Cornelius

BEDLAM!
The soul asylum of Bedlam was quite a terrible place. Now has become even really dangerous. The Genius Loci of the hospital has awakened and is spreading his madness in the city.

We are in the era of actual treatment of the insane: this Wikipedia article gives some background.