Join us on Randomworlds Discord Chat This Sunday Afternoon at 1PM Central Time

05 Friday Apr 2024

Posted by Daniel James Hanley in Uncategorized

Tags

1960s, 1970s, 20th Century, American Fantasy, American folklore, American Legend, Americana, Bikers, crime, Fantasy Road Trip, Fictional Road, Groovy Era, Groovy Seventies, Highway Horror, Hippies, Hitchhikers, open world, Prairie Horror, Road Crawl, Roadcrawl, roadside attraction, Roadtrip, Romance of the Road, Sandbox Setting, sci fi, Science Fiction, Seventies, Sixties, Southern Gothic, Swinging Sixties, The Ready Rules of the Road, Truckers, Uncanny Highway, United States

Just wanted to let everyone know that Wendy Rosalsky and I will be on the Randomworlds Discord Chatroom this Sunday the 7^th, at 1 PM Central Time. (That’s 2 PM Eastern Time, 12 Noon Mountain Time, and 11 AM Pacific Time.)

We’ll be talking and answering questions about our new Groovy-Era road-crawl setting The Uncanny Highway, and The Ready Rules of the Road RPG system. If open-world road tripping across the strange United States in the Swinging Sixties and Groovy Seventies sounds like your bag, you’ll want to check it out!

If you don’t already have a Randomworlds chat account, sign up here: https://discord.com/invite/mCntYas

Roadside Museums of the Uncanny Highway

15 Wednesday Jun 2022

Posted by Daniel James Hanley in Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

1960s, 1970s, Americana fantasy, GROOVY Ghastly Affair, Groovy Horror, magic realism, modern fantasy, Road Crawl, Road Trip, Roadtrip, Seventies, Sixties, Urban Fantasy, Weird America

In the long-ago Before Times of the 1960, the 70s – and even the 1980s – the roads of America were filled with small, often family owned museums. They contained seemingly random collections of objects, advertised their possession of the “World’s Biggest” something or other, and really made their money from the souvenir shop. They were uncharitably called “Tourist Traps” – but those of us who visited them on school trips, summer camp outings, and family vacations still have fond memories of them. Now they are dwindling in number, as soulless megacorperations assert their exclusive right to separate American travelers from their dollars. But the Roadside Museum remains a fixture on the Uncanny Highway – where the “Trap” part of “Tourist Trap” can sometimes be literal!

Table 1: Roadside Museum Collection

d6	The Museum holds…
1	just an Outdoor Collection of 2d4 Items.
2	just an Indoor Collection of 2d4 Items.
3	an Outdoor Collection of 1d4 Items, and an Indoor Collection of 2d4 Items.
4	an Outdoor Collection of 2d4 Items, and an Indoor Collection of 1d4 Items.
5	an Outdoor Collection of 1d10 Items, and an Indoor Collection of 1d10 Items.
6	just an Indoor Collection of 3d6 Items.

Table 2: Architecture of a Roadside Museum

d12	The Museum facility is a…
1 – 2	purpose-built clapboard building, with a flat roof.
3 – 4	old clapboard house, with a peaked roof.
5	flat-roofed brick building
6	old brick house, with a peaked roof.
7	rough stone building, with a peaked roof.
8 – 9	log cabin style structure.
10 – 11	faux “Old West” Boom-town style.
12	faux Chinese building, with a curved hip-and-gable roof.

Table 3a: Outdoor Collection of a Roadside Museum

d100	There is/are…
1 – 2	a statue of a life-size dinosaur.
3 – 4	a statue of a life-size elephant.
5 – 6	a statue of a gigantic fish
7 – 8	a statue of a large shark.
9 – 10	a statue of a human-sized rooster.
11 – 12	a statue of an enormous gnome.
13 – 14	a statue of an enormous cricket.
15 – 16	a statue of an enormous dog.
17 – 18	a statue of an enormous cat.
19 – 20	a statue of Santa Claus.
21 – 22	an enormous statue of Paul Bunyan.
23 – 24	an enormous rocking chair.
25 – 26	statues of beloved cartoon characters (obviously used without permission).
27 – 28	an enormous concrete fruit or vegetable.
29 – 30	an enormous laughing clown head.
31 – 32	an antique carousel. See AMUSEMENT/THEME PARKS Table 7b. Carousel Mounts.
33 – 34	a statue of a local creature.
35 – 36	a hot-rod made from a classic car.
37 – 38	a windmill.
39 – 40	a complete sailing ship.
41 – 42	a reproduction of Stonehenge.
43 – 44	a small reproduction of the Eiffel Tower.
45 – 46	a concrete teepee.
47 – 48	a totem pole.
49 – 50	a greenhouse with exotic plants not native to the area.
51 – 52	an English double-decker bus.
53 – 54	a World War II tank.
55 – 56	a chapel.
57 – 58	a small faux castle.
59 – 60	1d4 faux “Old West” buildings
61 – 62	a faux pyramid.
63 – 64	a faux Greek temple.
65 – 66	a hay-bale maze.
67 – 68	a merry-go-round.
69 – 70	a playground slide
71 – 72	a locomotive engine.
73 – 74	a locomotive caboose.
75 – 77	a caged bear. 25% chance the bear is freakishly large.
78 – 80	a caged lion.
81 – 83	a caged tiger. 25% chance the tiger is white.
84 – 86	caged monkeys
87 – 89	1d6 buffalo in an enclosure.
90 – 92	1d4 goat(s). (Can be pet by children.)
93 – 95	1d4 ponies (Can be pet by children.)
96 – 98	1d4 sheep (Can be pet by children.)
99 – 100	1d4 alligator(s) in an enclosure.

Table 3b: Notable Facts About the Outdoor Collection

d10	Notably…
1	one of the attractions is directly tied to a local legend.
2	dead animals are often found around one of the attractions.
3	local lovers believe that it is lucky to kiss next to (or in) one of the attractions.
4	one of the attractions is haunted by the ghost of its maker, or former owner.
5	one of the attractions is actually inhabited by a demon.
6	one of the attractions is somehow tied to an infamous crime.
7	one of the attractions stands atop buried treasure.
8	one of the attractions has been vandalized.
9	one of the attractions will collapse / die while a PC is near.
10	one of the attractions will induce prophetic visions in psychically sensitive people.

Table 4a: Indoor Collection of a Roadside Museum

d100, 1d10 times	There is a collection of…
1 – 2	antique cars.
3 – 4	motorcycles.
5 – 6	horse-drawn buggies.
7 – 8	antique guns.
9 – 10	antique saddles.
11 – 12	antique bottles.
13 – 14	antique tools.
15 – 16	antique swords.
17 – 18	antique hats.
19 – 20	antique musical instruments.
21 – 22	antique toys. Dolls, dollhouses, etc.
23 – 24	antique furniture.
25 – 26	antique carousel horses.
27 – 28	taxidermied big game from America.
29 – 30	taxidermied animals from Africa.
31 – 32	taxidermied animals from South America.
33 – 34	taxidermied animals from Asia.
35 – 36	dinosaur bones.
37 – 38	seashells.
39 – 40	“Biblical” artifacts.
41	human skulls.
42	shrunken heads..
43 – 44	Revolutionary War artifacts and memorabilia.
45 – 46	Civil War artifacts and memorabilia.
47 – 48	World War I artifacts and memorabilia.
49 – 50	World War II artifacts and memorabilia.
51 – 52	Egyptian artifacts.
53 – 54	Native American artifacts.
55 – 56	Old West artifacts and memorabilia. Guns, hats, wagon wheels, etc.
57 – 58	torture and execution devices.
59 – 60	African artifacts.
61 – 62	Asian artifacts.
63 – 64	Artifacts and memorabilia from famous criminals.
65 – 66	exotic minerals and gemstones.
67 – 68	scrimshaw carvings.
69 – 70	folk-art paintings.
71 – 72	quilts.
73 – 74	hubcaps.
75 – 76	coffins.
77 – 78	antique wind-up phonographs (with wax cylinders and disk records).
79 – 80	quirky tombstones.
81 – 82	wooden carvings done with a chainsaw.
83 – 84	“Wooden Indians”.
85 – 86	19th century prints.
87 – 88	living birds.
89 – 90	living snakes and reptiles.
91 – 92	exotic fish in aquariums.
93 – 94	carnivorous plants.
93	especially large balls of twine.
95	wax figures of historical figures.
96	1d4 animatronic figures. d6. 1=cowboy, 2=Native American, 3=historical figure, 4=horse, 5=knitting woman, 6=extraterrestrial.
97	purported artifacts from a crashed U.F.O.
98	casts of Bigfoot tracks.
99	a mummy. 50% likely to be fake.
100	deformed animal fetuses in jars.

Repeated results indicate multiple examples, or a large collection of the items indicated.

Table 4b: Notable Facts About the Indoor Collection

d10	Notably…
1	an item is directly tied to a local legend.
2	an item in the collection curses anyone who touches it. d4: 1=nightmares for 1 month, 2=general bad luck for 1 month, 3=automatically fail next important action, 4=attract the attention of a monster or Psycho Killer.
3	some items were secretly collected from a serial killer’s victims.
4	all the items are stolen (or illegally acquired).
5	an item in the collection is haunted by the ghost of its former possessor.
6	an item in the collection is possessed by a minor demon.
7	an item in the collection can grant its possessor strange powers.
8	an item is tied to an infamous crime.
9	items in the collection rearranged themselves at night, when no one is looking.
10	if you listen closely to the items at midnight, you can hear them whispering their stories.

Table 5: State of a Roadside Museum’s Collection

d4	The collection is generally…
1	deteriorating
2	dusty, but intact
3	in moderately good condition
4	very well cared for.

Table 6: Other Patrons at a Roadside Museum

d8+d12, 1d4 times.	Others patrons currently visiting the museum include…
2	an angel or demon in disguise.
3	a serial killer.
4	a prostitute who works the local truck stop.
5	a Highway Patrolman in uniform.
6	a trucker taking a break from the road.
7	a runaway girl.
8	an unmarried adult couple.
9	a childless married couple.
10	3d4 children on a field trip from school (or summer camp).
11	a Mother, a Father, and their 1d6 children.
12	a teenage couple.
13	2d4 High-school students.
14	a single mother and 1d4 children.
15	a college student, investigating local folklore. 50% chance to be either male or female, and 50% likely to have their boyfriend / girlfriend with them.
16	a runaway boy.
17	a kidnapper, looking for children to steal.
18	a Psychic, drawn by their dreams to one of the objects in the collection.
19	a Demon Hunter, investigating rumors of cursed objects in the collection.
20	a disguised Extraterrestrial fascinated by the strange artifacts of humanity.

Table 7: Roadside Museum Concessions

d20, 1d6 times	Enjoy some…
1 – 3	hot dogs…
4	beer…
5	hard liquor…
6	pie…
7	pretzels…
8	potato chips…
9	giant lollipops…
10	candy apples…
11	cotton candy…
12	popcorn…
13	cola…
14	ice cream…
15	root beer…
16	barbecue…
17	hamburgers & french fries…
18	pizza slices…
19	donuts…
20	grilled cheese sandwiches…

d6	…that taste(s)…
1	unexpectedly good!
2 – 3	no better – but no worse – than you expect.
4	oddly like plastic.
5	like it’s as old as the items on display.
6	like pure garbage.

Table 8: Items in a Roadside Museum’s Souvenir Shop

d20, 1d6 times	The Souvenir Shop sells…
1	post cards
2	t-shirts
3	key-chains
4	wallets.
5	jewelry.
6	souvenir spoons.
7	stamped pennies.
8	wall plaques
9	paperweights.
10	masks.
11	ashtrays.
12	reproductions of historic knives.
13	reproductions of historic guns.
14	supposedly real historic coins.
15	a book about the collection.
16	reproductions of historic clothing.
17	balloons.
18	moccasins.
19	reproductions of historic hats. Helmets, cowboy hats, faux “Indian” headdresses, etc.
20	miniature reproductions of an item in the collection.

Review: Hunter’s Song

26 Thursday Apr 2018

Posted by Daniel James Hanley in Uncategorized

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A great new review of the Ghastly Affair novel Hunter’s Song, from the Filbanto Stew blog.

Filbanto Stew

TL/DR: Give it a read.

Hunter’s Song is the debut novel from William Rutter. I recall when it was announced on Daniel James Hanley’s excellent The Engine of Oracles blog last fall. I dropped it on my Amazon wishlist and promptly forgot about it… I sure wish I’d ordered sooner!

The novel centers around a young English gentlewoman named Lila Davenport. The sole child of a wealthy banker, Lila’s only ambition is to marry the man she loves – her childhood sweetheart Richard Fairfax. Unfortunately, Fairfax has been ensnared by dark powers. His actions drag Lila into hidden terror. Disowned by her friends and family, she must fend for herself in a world where monsters are very real. Rather than give in, Lila takes up arms to fight against the creatures who stalk the night. She finds a mentor who teaches her to become the hunter instead of the hunted.

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Ghastly Affair Now Available in Hardcover on RPGNow and DriveThru RPG!

17 Friday Nov 2017

Posted by Daniel James Hanley in Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

18th Century, Austenpunk, blackpowder, dreadpunk, Eighteenth Century, English Romanticism, First Empire, French Directory, French Revolution, Georgian, German Romanticism, Ghastly Affair, gothic game, Gothic Gaming, Gothic Horror, Gothic Literature, Gothic Romance, Gothick, Gothique, Historical, Historical Gaming, Louis Seize, Louis XV, Louis XVI, mannerpunk, Napoleonic, nineteenth century, OGL, Regency, role playing, role-playing game, roleplaying game, Romance, Romantic Age, Romantic Horror, Romantic-era, Romanticism, rpg, schauerroman

Both the Ghastly Affair Player’s Manual and Ghastly Affair Presenter’s Manual are now available in Hardcover Print Versions through RPGNow and DriveThruRPG. Plus, you get the Illustrated PDFs at nearly 50% off when you buy both the the Hardcover Book and PDF!

Discover a world of thrilling terror and sublime beauty, with “The Gothic Game of Romantic Horror”!

100 Gothic Themes & Motifs

22 Thursday Dec 2011

Posted by Daniel James Hanley in Coming Attractions, Gothic Gaming, Uncategorized

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

Adventure Design, Adventure Seeds, Gothic Adventure, Gothic Horror, Gothic Romance, gothic themes, Gothick

100 Gothic Themes & Motifs

1. Addiction
2. Assassination
3. Banditry
4. Betrayal
5. Blood
6. Burial Alive
7. Cannibalism
8. Carnival
9. Cold
10. Corruption
11. Damnation
12. Darkness
13. The Dead
14. Decay
15. Deformity
16. The Demimonde
17. Disease
18. Disembodied Voices
19. Deception (lies, disguises, etc.)
20. Disinterment
21. Dwarfism
22. Envy
23. Everything Goes Wrong
24. Exile
25. Fallen Nobility
26. Fire
27. Fog
28. Folly
29. Forbidden Knowledge
30. Foreigners
31. Frightening Animals (ravens, crows, wolves, owls, toads)
32. Gambling
33. Ghosts
34. Giants
35. Gluttony
36. Grave Robbing
37. Greed
38. Gypsies
39. Hidden Ancestry
40. Honor
41. Hypnotism
42. Immortality
43. Imperiled Virtue
44. Imprisonment
45. Incest
46. Indolence
47. Infidelity
48. Inheritance
49. Injustice
50. Irredeemable Sin
51. Irresistible Fate
52. Jealousy
53. The Last Remaining…
54. Lightning
55. Look-Alikes
56. Love Gone Sour (love lost, love that becomes abusive, etc.)
57. Loveless Marriage
58. Lust
59. Masks
60. Melancholy
61. Mistaken Identity
62. Murder
63. Music
64. Mysterious Manuscripts
65. Nightmares
66. Oaths and Promises
67. Perversion
68. Poison
69. Pride
70. Primitive Savages
71. Prophesy
72. Prostitution
73. Rape
74. Revenge
75. Rituals and Superstitions
76. Sacrifice and Loss
77. Savage Nature
78. Secret Passages
79. Secret Societies
80. Seduction
81. Slavery
82. Sleep-walking
83. Sorcery
84. Storms
85. Suicide
86. Theft
87. Tombs
88. Torture
89. Transformation
90. True Love
91. Twisted Religion
92. Unforeseen Consequences
93. Usurpation
94. Vampires
95. Ventriloquism
96. Wandering
97. War
98. Weird Medicine
99. Werewolves
100. Wine

“Book of the Restless Dead” Now Available For Free Download

18 Wednesday May 2011

Posted by Daniel James Hanley in Castles & Crusades, Folklore, Gothic Gaming, Monsters, OGL, Uncategorized

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Tags

African undead, Ancient Folklore, Carribean Monster, Castles & Crusades, Christian Folklore, Gothic Romance, Gothick, Medieval Folklore, OGL, Undead, Vampire

“Book of the Restless Dead” collects 12 undead monsters adapted from folklore, legends, and art, and presented for use with the Castles & Crusades rpg. All were originally posted either on this blog, or on the Troll Lord Games Forums. Now they’re gathered together in a single frightful work!

Contents include:

Amorous Revenant

A corpse returned to pursue love amongst the living. Inspired primarily by the classical story of Philinnion.

Bloody Visage

A murderous spirit trapped in a mirror. Inspired by the American legend and child’s game of “Bloody Mary”.

Crawling Hand

A severed hand possessed by an evil spirit. A recurring motif in horror literature and movies.

Deluded Revenant

A walking corpse that refuses to believe it is dead. Inspired by Gullah folklore.

Phantom Traveler

A strange traveling companion who often utters secrets, and always disappears suddenly. Inspired by the plentiful legends of phantom hitchhikers.

Reclaiming Revenant

A restless corpse arisen to retrieve its property. Inspired by classic “jump” stories such as “The Golden Arm”.

Redemptive Spirit

An apparition who seeks to bring people back to the path of Good. Inspired by a certain well-loved tale of Christmas, itself part of an old English tradition of Yuletide ghost stories.

Screaming Skull

A haunted and malevolent skull. Inspired by English legends of screaming skulls attached to old manors.

Woman in White (Crying Woman)

A tragic phantom tied to waterways. Inspired primarily by the Mexican legend of La Llorona, as well as the numerous female ghosts that haunts ponds, lakes, and rivers worldwide.

Zombi Servant

A reanimated corpse employed as a slave. Inspired by the folklore of Haiti and New Orleans.

Zombie, Cerebrovore

A walking corpse who devours the brains of the living. Inspired by the zombie lore of modern pop-culture.

Zoomorphic Revenant

The restless spirit of a dead person, returned in animal form. Inspired by numerous old stories from both Celtic Europe and America.

Available in the Downloads section of this blog.

The Engine of Oracles

~ Daniel James Hanley's Creations For Gaming. Home of the Ghastly Affair RPG.

Category Archives: Uncategorized

Join us on Randomworlds Discord Chat This Sunday Afternoon at 1PM Central Time

Roadside Museums of the Uncanny Highway

Table 1: Roadside Museum Collection

Table 2: Architecture of a Roadside Museum

Table 3a: Outdoor Collection of a Roadside Museum

Table 3b: Notable Facts About the Outdoor Collection

Table 4a: Indoor Collection of a Roadside Museum

Table 4b: Notable Facts About the Indoor Collection

Table 5: State of a Roadside Museum’s Collection

Table 6: Other Patrons at a Roadside Museum

Table 7: Roadside Museum Concessions

Table 8: Items in a Roadside Museum’s Souvenir Shop

Review: Hunter’s Song

Ghastly Affair Now Available in Hardcover on RPGNow and DriveThru RPG!

100 Gothic Themes & Motifs

“Book of the Restless Dead” Now Available For Free Download

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Table 1: Roadside Museum Collection

Table 2: Architecture of a Roadside Museum

Table 3a: Outdoor Collection of a Roadside Museum

Table 3b: Notable Facts About the Outdoor Collection

Table 4a: Indoor Collection of a Roadside Museum

Table 4b: Notable Facts About the Indoor Collection

Table 5: State of a Roadside Museum’s Collection

Table 6: Other Patrons at a Roadside Museum

Table 7: Roadside Museum Concessions

Table 8: Items in a Roadside Museum’s Souvenir Shop

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