OOC and Character Creation

We'll be using Year Zero Mini. I'll be providing all the relative information, and you can also get it on DriveThroughRPG.

Here is a step-by-step guide for character creation. Since you are a team and your PCs know each other, it would be preferable if you work on your characters together.


You are investigators on a mission for Mr. Norrell to disprove rumours of magical occurrences all around England. Technically your task is to ascertain whether the rumours are true, but you know Mr. Norrell is specifically interested in debunking and discrediting them. You have not been expressly told to try and cover up any real magic you encounter, but it has been heavily implied that he is the only one knowledgeable, skilled, and most importantly responsible enough to practice magic. At least on the surface, you agree with him - you have gained his confidence enough that he has agreed to employ you. Your real opinions on the matter are up to you.


Presently you are Investigators, but it has not always been so. Who knows, maybe one day you'll even return to your profession. Just keep in mind that whoever you've been - and whoever you are now - you are capable of at least keeping up a veneer of respectability. What is equally important - your CONCEPT determines what you are good at, instead of having a list of individual skills.


Self-explanatory. Just a few words, you can go into more details in the NOTES section of the character sheet.



Again, self-explanatory.


This goes into the RELATIONSHIP field of the character sheet. The game assumes that you have a full party of PCs and you are a close friend with one of them. Since there's just two of you, you get to define your relationship. Keep in mind that you have chosen to work together, so there should be at least some level of camaraderie.


You get 16 points. You are relatively competent at what you do, also since this is a one-shot there will be no character advancement.


You start with three ASSETS - one you can choose yourself, the second is a letter of recommendation from Mr. Norrell, proving that you work for him, and the third is Belasis's Scopus - a spell which detects magic. Scopus only has this use and does not give +2D6 to rolls like the other assets, and so far in your investigations it has yet to detect anything.
Since your OTHER GEAR is rather limited, it can also be a set of things, or a kit of some sort - like carpenter's tools or a doctor's bag.


I'll set no limitations here, only that you can't look like a beggar or a vagrant. Money in this setting is closely tied to your reputation and how people perceive you - but in this adventure you'll have Mr. Norrell's reputation at your disposal.

Yes, that was my impression. Also no skills, the Concept takes care of that.

Yes, this is set before Strange.
No objections here, just a few things you might want to take into account:
Your characters don't have to be magicians. They could be if you want to, but remember that Norrell despises theoretical magicians. You would have had to do some serious sucking up to him to earn his trust, or maybe you simply hid that fact from him?

You also don't have to be from the York Society. Again, you can be if you want to, but there were others, and also it is mentioned that Norrell has ruined plenty of solitary magicians too.

Also, what is your motivation for joining him? Are you true followers of his? Do you just want to profit from the magical fad while it's going on? Do you resent Norrell for destroying your father's magical career (if that's the backstory you are going with) and are biding your time until you find something that could ruin him (and making your plan even more nefarious by making him de facto pay for your research out of his own pocket)?

The only "qualifications" you need to have demonstrated are loyalty, determination and scepticism, really. And by "loyalty" I actually mean "flattery".

This is a sound idea as well! Thankfully I don't need to pick, it's up to you two to decide on it 😆.

Another thing I'd like to point out, the two PCs don't need to have the same motivation. The manservant is a servant, but is still his own person.

Or he's a younger son without much claim to the inheritance.
Yes, Childermass might have persuaded Norrell that you could be useful. I mean, he got Norrell to "befriend" Drawlight, and Drawlight is... Drawlight.


By the way, just to have it out of the way - I do realise that giving you the spell to detect magic might be a bit of a plot hole, but even if it is, it's also in the book:
No mention of the spell, but it could definitely be interpreted that way. He also he's given Childermass that same spell, and also the three spells Vinculus ends up passing on to Strange and seems to fully expect him to be able to perform them.

Anyway, back to your characters.

Grabs popcorn.

I'll try to stop interfering, just one thing though:
There's no way Norrell would have listened to someone's servant. From now on I'm just going to assume that any such conversations that would have been out of character for him have been done through Childermass.

So, a cross-dressing adventuress (I'm assuming she'll be played by Bowl) and her faithful manservant. Sounds fun to me! I'm assuming the manservant has known her for the most of her life, but how long have they been working together? Not just as investigators, but before that as well?

Of course, think about it. Being trans and being GNC are different things, but understanding and self-acceptance don't come overnight, at least not for everyone.

About the father, it's up to you to decide of course, but I don't really see why the father needs to have been dead for so long? Or at all? Especially if your lady's goal (going with lady for now) had been to defy him and piss him off. He could have "assigned" the manservant to watch over her long ago. Even if he'd been (or still is) disapproving, he could've still loved her and worried about her.
... And how her reputation reflects on him and the rest of the family. Having a trusted servant with her would have been essential for damage control.

He looks like he's Seen Things XD

Just a couple of things. I've been thinking about the Other Gear, since you only get two slots. Instead of Travelling Clothing, maybe you would prefer to take Luggage, which would contain any necessities a reasonable person might be carrying. Like a change of clothes (including your good overcoat and boots), some writing paper, a pocket knife, etc. I won' allow you to pull out 50 feet of hempen rope and a set of lockpicks, but I also won't be counting your socks. That goes for Bowl's gear as well.

The other thing is, I'd like you to decide who's carrying the letter of recommendation and the spell, and we should keep track of them if you split up.

ha, very good. Luggage sounds good, will tweak now.

I would say the letter and the spell would not be left in the care of a manservant.

happy to carry the spell

Welcome, Maximilian!
Everything looks in order, except the Other Gear. You've only put down one piece of Other Gear, and you get two. I've suggested "luggage" being one of them, as a very general way of saying you have enough clothes, personal grooming implements and other travelling necessities with you. The other "item" can be something more specialised (an heirloom, a piece of jewelry, a weapon, a specific book, a set of tools etc.). You could also leave it empty for now and decide on it later.

Yea, I couldn't come up with something else. The "Change of Clothes" was mostly meant to be for switching between male and female, so I put it as a separate thing. I could use luggage as the other gear, I suppose?

I've also thought some more about what way to go with the gender and what I settled on for play is that I'll be using male pronouns when they present as a man and female when presenting as a woman. I think they're maybe more comfortable presenting as a man but don't mind presenting as a woman either.
I'd assume Edward probably just thinks of them as a woman, but those details are up to B.

Merry Christmas (or whatever seasonal holiday it is at your neck of the woods)! You have your opening post. I was wondering whether you'd have your own coach or ride around with the post, but I decided that having your own transportation would be more convenient. It's not an adventure-breaking advantage and Calstock should be able to afford it.

Maybe it's time to review the information you have. A rough timeline, who saw whom last, when, where etc.

Btw, I suspect this would be easier for me to do. I don't want to rob you of your fun, but if it doesn't sound like a fun thing to do, let me know.

It's been some time and I'd like us to start moving again. I'm going to post a little summary of what the PCs know so far.

The incident occurred about a week ago.
The day before the incident Tubbs and Starhouse are travelling back home from an unspecified town to the east.
On the road they meet a man claiming to be a magician. Tubbs speaks him privately in the carriage.
The magician gets off near an unspecified village (still to the east). He looks smug, and so does Tubbs. Starhouse is uncomfortable and thinks they have been talking about him and maybe plotting something.
In the evening Tubbs has an argument with his wife and they barely speak at dinner.
During the night Starhouse leaves, passing by Peglar's to say goodbye.
In the morning Mrs. Tubbs insists on making her husband's breakfast herself.
The breakfast seems to take longer than usual and no one rings for the table to be cleared. Elsie (the maid) goes to see if anything is needed and finds the room empty. She spots her mistress in the courtyard and goes to bring her her shawl. Mrs. Tubbs says Mr. Tubbs has left on business.

Stuff you know:
Starhouse is very good at handling animals.
Mr. Tubbs is obsessed with fairies and thinks Starhouse is one.
Starhouse finds that uncomfortable enough to finally leave. The last straw seems to be meeting the vagrant magician.
When leaving, Starhouse has left some valuable possessions behind, neatly arranged.
Starhouse has gone north.
Mr. and Mrs. Tubbs have been at odds about Mr. Tubbs' obsession. It's safe to assume that the argument prior to Tubbs's disappearance had been about magic, because during dinner Mr. Tubbs had been pettishly calling his wife by the name of a comical magic-hating character.
Elsie thinks that Mrs. Tubbs have poisoned her husband, but that doesn't explain the disappearance of the body.
The dining room window (calling it "dining" but they have all their meals there) is overlooking the courtyard and was opened when Elsie went to check on her masters.
It's pretty obvious that Mrs. Tubbs knows something but is refusing to talk.
Mrs. Tubbs is deeply distressed, but you've not been able to discern if it's fear, grief, guilt or something else.
Mrs. Tubbs has taken to wondering listlessly around the courtyard. She has also developed a sudden distaste for cats.

Some pointers:
You've not yet explored the back garden (Mr. Tubbs's so-called "fairy wood")
You don't know for certain if any magic has occurred.
No one except Peglar has mentioned the vagrant magician. It's safe to assume that he's not visited the village, because if so many people believe there's something magical about Tubss's disappearance, they wouldn't have left such a colourful and suspicious character out. You could still look for him to the east.
Starhouse has gone "north" which is not much to go on, especially since it's been a week. However, the nights are cold, the crops have been harvested, it's not exactly the best time for wild camping and foraging. He'd need to find food and shelter on his way, and probably even work to pay for it.