A Modern Ghost Hunting RPG
This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.
This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.
Greetings Investigators,
One of my goals for Nocturnal has always been making it easy to get a game to the table.
To help with that, I've put together a free online Character Creator that anyone can use right now:
The Character Creator walks players through the entire process of building an investigator, including:
It also includes save and load functionality, JSON export, and a printer-friendly character sheet so players can quickly create and manage their investigators.
Whether you're curious about the game, preparing for a future investigation, or just want to see how character creation works in Nocturnal, feel free to give it a try.
With only a few hours remaining in the Kickstarter campaign, I wanted to make sure everyone had a chance to see part of the game in action.
As always, thank you for all the support, feedback, and encouragement throughout this project.
Most people call them hauntings.
Investigators learn something different.
Greetings Investigators,
We are entering the final 46 hours of the Kickstarter campaign for Nocturnal: A Modern Ghost-Hunting RPG.
First, thank you! From the bottom of my heart. Thank you!
Because of your support, the project is already funded and moving forward. Layout is underway, artwork is being completed, and the book is steadily taking shape.
Now we're making one final push toward our next stretch goal:
$750 — Additional Art and Layout Upgrades
If this stretch goal is reached, the additional funding will go directly into improving the visual presentation and usability of Nocturnal.
My goal has always been to create a game that is not only fun to play, but easy to read, easy to run, and visually engaging at the table.
If you've been considering backing the project, now is the time. Every pledge helps push the book closer to its final form.
Thank you for helping bring Nocturnal to life.
Most people call them hauntings.
Investigators learn something different.
Greetings Investigators,
We're down to the final few days of the Kickstarter campaign, and I wanted to share a quick update.
While the campaign winds down, work on Nocturnal continues every day. I am still deep in my notes, outlining future investigations, expanding Ashcroft University, and building the mysteries that will carry the setting forward.
On the production side, I recently sent more than 40 pieces of artwork to B. Simon for layout. He has been hard at work bringing the book together, and seeing the pages take shape has been incredibly exciting.
Once funding is complete, I will begin sending out PDF copies of the current book to backers. Please keep in mind that this version will not contain all of the final artwork. Additional art is still being created and has not yet reached the layout stage. The PDF will allow you to start exploring Nocturnal while the remaining illustrations and visual elements continue to come together.
Thank you again for all the support, feedback, encouragement, and ideas throughout this campaign. Every comment, share, and pledge has helped make this project far bigger than I originally imagined.
The investigation continues.
Here are a few pages from the layout!
These are my working notes for Ashcroft University
Public Face
Founded: 1894
Location: North of Seattle, Washington
Type: Private Research University
Enrollment: 22,000 Students
Graduate Programs: Law, Medicine, Business, History, Theology, Political Science, Engineering
Endowment: Massive
Acceptance Rate: 6%
National Reputation: Elite
Student Reputation: Difficult, prestigious, traditional
The public sees:
Everything appears normal. Until you stay after dark.
The family founded the University.
The Ashcrofts appear throughout campus:
The family still maintains influence.
Nobody realizes the founding family discovered the Sleeper.
Founded in 1894.
Original purpose: Study what sleeps beneath the hill.
Members included:
They built the University around the discovery. Officially, they no longer exist. That is a lie.
Modern successor organization. The Covenant is not a secret society in the traditional sense. It is a responsibility.
Members include:
Their purpose:
Student Society Structure
This is where we get the Harvard feeling.
Most students never learn anything.
95% Normal students. Never see anything supernatural.
Graduate.
Leave.
Become doctors, lawyers, and politicians.
4% Experience strange events. Notice inconsistencies. Investigate mysteries. Most become part of cases. Some join clubs.
1% of students identified by the University.
Students who demonstrate:
These students receive invitations.
These are where future campaigns happen.
Public society.
Elite academic club.
Debate.
Research.
Scholarship.
Many future Covenant members begin here.
Invitation only.
Historical preservation.
Archives.
Campus traditions.
Responsible for monitoring Pattern activity.
Religious and philosophical society.
Officially studies ethics and theology.
Actually, studies Faith and Authority.
Astronomy and mathematics.
Tracks anomalies.
Records impossible events.
Knows more than most faculty.
Highest student organization.
Invitation only.
Roughly twelve members at any time.
Most never realize they are being evaluated for Covenant membership.
Faculty are divided into three groups.
Most professors.
Know nothing.
Know something strange exists.
Know not to ask questions.
Know the truth.
Or at least pieces of it.
The campus should be huge.
Think: Small city.
Oldest part of campus.
Original buildings.
Convocation Hall below.
Miss Appleton.
Archives.
Room B-12.
Like Oxford.
Separate residential communities.
Each has traditions.
Each has secrets.
Original Ashcroft property.
Location of the first discovery.
Nobody builds there.
The official reason changes every decade.
Hospitals.
Research.
Strange disappearances.
Home of the Midnight Broadcast.
Old radio station below.
Most universities exist to educate.
Ashcroft exists to recruit.
Every year:
Thousands arrive.
The University watches.
Most leave.
Some stay.
A few are chosen.
Generation after generation, Ashcroft searches for people capable of understanding the Pattern.
Not because they are special.
Because eventually someone must replace the people currently standing watch.
The Secret Everyone Gets Wrong
This is the core fiction.
Most investigators assume: The Covenant protects the Sleeper.
The truth is: The Covenant protects the world from whatever happens if nobody is watching.
That distinction matters.
Because after 130 years of study:
Not yet.