Jul 21, 2020 6:01 am
Just another night in my world.
Mundanes by the hundreds, by the thousands, traipsing through the streets, confident in the neon lights that ward off the darkness. Happy drunks and yuppies going home after a show, people looking for sex or drugs or both, and vendors only too happy to oblige them. And then, of course, there are the others.
I see them as I walk. The spot that is now the street corner at Howard and Third had seen no less than a hundred people die in the past two centuries. It had been a Place of Power before the white men came; building a crossroads on its location only increased its strength. As I cross the street I see the ghost of an angry medicine man who continues to wage war against the invaders. He has gathered enough power to cause a car accident and claim more victims. I pause; hidden in the pockets of my trench coat, my hands make gestures of power. The ghost howls in fury as I dispel his magic. Throughout the street, some people hesitate as if they had heard something, then shrug it off and move on. I do the same. The spirit will not be able to kill anybody else tonight. He swears vengeance on me in an Algonquin dialect as I pass by. I ignore him; the spirit is bound to this location, and I am not.
Three blocks down, hookers display their wares. One is not what she seems. Too pretty for a street walker, her red hair cropped short, I know she has been a hooker since just after that term was coined in the Civil War Era. She smiles at me as I walk past. I nod to her. She is a Vampyre, but the little life force she drains from her customers is never enough to do harm. She knows that if she steps over the line, I will come after her.
A few blocks down, the streets become darker, less populated. Six tough-looking youths are sitting in front of an apartment building. One of them scowls at me; I am a little too well dressed for this neighborhood. Before he does anything, one of his friends grabs his arm.
"Cool it," he whispers. "He's a brujo."
The gang members stare at me but let me pass unmolested. Most of them know the truth about the string of murders in Angel Square, and that I destroyed the entity responsible.
I have nearly completed my walk; a man can do only so much, and I can only put a portion of the city under my protection. As I am about to turn back, I sense something. A surge of power, ancient and evil. A demon. I head toward it. Maybe some stupid kid listened to the wrong record played backwards, or a conjurer's magic finally worked. Demons rarely use their powers openly, but sometimes they become angry enough to take direct action. Unless I get there soon, the imbecile who summoned the creature, and possibly an entire block of buildings will be consumed by flames. I start to run toward the source. I can see unearthly lights playing inside a building. A scream of primal terror echoes through the streets.
Just another night in my world.
CJ Carella's Witchcraft, 2nd Edition
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Horror, Investigative.
System: Unisystem Classic.
Number of Players: 4 to 6.
Commitment: For as long as people are interested.
Maturity Level: This game will deal with fairly mature subject matter.
Experience: Not required. The Unisystem is fairly simple to learn. It’s a d10 based system. Most rolls are Attribute + Skill + d10 to equal or beat a target number. If the game happens, I’ll post a rules summary to help with the learning curve.
Source Material: The core book for CJ Carella's Witchcraft, 2nd Edition is available for free on DrivethruRPG: Click Here
Witchcraft has several sourcebooks with additional character options, powers, and covenants, but those you will need to buy. However, the core book by itself has more than enough material to make some interesting characters.
Character Guidelines: The default campaign power level for the game is Heroic (meaning that every starting character is built with 80 points).
The game has a few non-human character options in the form of supernatural creatures. If you choose to go for that kind of character, check with me first.
Not all character concepts are compatible for a PC group. Some factions are enemies or rivals. We'll figure this all out when discussing character ideas and affiliations.
A GAME OF MAGIC AND DARK SECRETS
CJ Carella's Witchcraft, 2nd Edition, is a game by Eden Studios Inc. The setting is one in which the supernatural exists and has always existed, though the average person is not necessarily aware of it. In the shadows, secret societies and ancient conspiracies vie against each other for influence and power. Some protect humanity from monsters, while others choose to only protect themselves.
In Witchcraft, you play one of the "Gifted." These are individuals capable of supernatural feats. This can take many forms: A magician who casts spells and summons spirits. A psychic with the ability to see without sight and move objects with his mind. A medium who uses seances to speak with the dead. A devout priest who can call upon Biblical miracles in the name of his God. A martial artist who uses chi to push his body beyond human limits. A modern day alchemist who can transmute matter from one form to another. A Buddhist monk who can alter reality through sheer spiritual enlightenment. A man who uses a totem spirit to shapeshift into a beast by the light of the Moon. These are all examples of the Gifted.
THE COVENANTS
The Covenants are secret societies of the Gifted that have been created over the centuries with the purposes of teaching, self-defense and, in some cases, the quest for power. No two are alike.
Each Covenant developed its own beliefs, cosmology, and customs. Some Covenants were designed as secret societies from their inception, keeping their very existence hidden from the people and authorities of their time. Others were forced into hiding during the time of persecutions that plagued Europe and the Americas. To this day, most Covenants continue to operate in strictest secrecy, both to protect their members from ridicule or outright persecution, and to hoard their precious secrets and powers from outsiders.
Those Gifted who, for whatever reason, are not members in a covenant are called Solitaires. The way of the Solitaire is a lonely road, not to mention a dangerous one. Without the strength and support of a covenant, a lone Gifted is often easy prey for those who hunt them, whether it's supernatural beings, secretive government agencies, or cults who want to steal the Gifted's power.
THE SUPERNATURAL
Every culture in the world has tales of strange and terrible creatures, beings of the night and darkness that prey on the unwary or helpless, beings of power that must be appeased lest they become enraged. The legends have been forgotten and trivialized, but the creatures of the dark continue to exist, and to hunt. One of the forbidden truths the Gifted learn in the course of their lives is that there are things that walk the world in human guise but which are utterly alien. Many of them need the Essence of others to survive, while a few have unknown purposes, but most are predators who hunt humans, protected by the unbelief of the mundanes. The predators come in many shapes and varieties, with different powers and weaknesses. Some are no threat to an adult human, and prey only on the young or the weak. Others are simply beings from the Otherworlds who venture into the physical realm, or the souls of the dead, who sometimes linger in search of revenge, redemption or immortality. Others have more devious or inscrutable purposes. There are such beings as demons, who seek to tempt and corrupt the mundanes. These and others are nearly impossible to defeat without relying on Magic or other Gifted Arts. Their numbers and boldness have been growing -- a sign that the Reckoning is near.
THE RECKONING
Nature moves in cycles. Day follows night. Planets, stars and universes are born, grow old, and die. "As above, so below." The end of one such cycle is drawing near. The world, and all within it, are in a transition stage, a time of change that may doom humankind, or lead to a true Golden Age. Like many great events, it moves slowly, almost imperceptibly. The world of WitchCraft is undergoing a radical transformation.
Its first symptom is the increase in numbers of those with the ability to sense and communicate with the supernatural -- the Gifted. People with supernatural powers become more numerous each day, and their actions are getting more and more difficult for Science to dismiss. Even more disquieting is the increase in unexplained occurrences, disappearances and gruesome crimes. Predators from the Otherworlds are multiplying. More and more spirits of the dead are staying in this world instead of moving on. All this indicates an approaching time of crisis and chaos. The madman carrying a sign saying "The End is Near" may not be wrong. Those with greater understanding are beginning to believe that a Time of Reckoning is at hand. The actions of the Gifted will determine whether the world will survive the process.
Last edited July 30, 2020 5:41 am
