Please make sure you have read the rules at the link below before submitting a character. This is not an ordinary Storium game. Also please see my forum post on this game in Looking for Players.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-luDaXgx4OJEIuTbn6cZ5IGMzQADc_TjH_MtWGi5Zsk/edit?usp=sharing
I’ve chosen a setting written by Ed Greenwood called ‘For Queen and Country’. It’s taken from the published drama system play sets.
Summary
Deadly faerie monsters invade an alternative Elizabethan England, perhaps with the Virgin Queen’s connivance, leaving the defense of the realm in the hands of an outwardly motley but tight-knit group of adventurers, plotters, and lovers.
Setting
England and the high seas, circa 1567. The latest public craze is investing in expeditions to recover rich treasures of pirate gold recently buried on remote tropical isles. Old salts spin wild yarns and sinister backstreet bookshops sell treasure maps galore. Agents of the Virgin Queen have hanged every last pirate they haven’t sunk on the waves, and are hot on the trail of The Black Spot, a secret pirate brotherhood ashore in England, traitors who seek to bring down the Crown.
Away from London, the countryside is alive with very different rumors; monsters out of fairy tales and old folklore prowl and lurk, and farm folk are disappearing.
The young Queen Elizabeth came to the throne imperious, full of both promise and energy. She convened councils to personally direct sea captains, issuing letters of marque making them privateers in personal service to the Sovereign, and promptly sent them on secretive voyages to the Caribbean. Word spread that they were hounding pirates and bringing a new peace and prosperity, tightening England’s rule over the waves, and spurring the bright dream of empire.
Now, almost a decade later, with Philip of Spain rattling sabers, and werewolves, satyrs, sinister spell-hurling elves, and worse abroad in the wilder woods of the realm, word is spreading that Britain’s privateers sailed to uncharted isles to bury not treasure, but runestones—the ancient enchanted stones that kept shut the gates of Faerie, barring the beasts of the fey from England. Undercover Black Spot members roam England, whispering over tankards in the taverns late at night that the Virgin Queen seeks to become the Faerie Queen and establish a Faerie rule first over England, and then over all corners of the burgeoning Empire.
Tone
I’m seeing this as a episodic drama about a group of ‘experts’ who band together to fight the influx of supernatural incidents as the faerie world begins to bleed into our own. Think Tudor era Buffy/X Files and you won’t be far off.
Potential characters
You play characters held together by blood, love, and the loyalty of comradeship in a time that desperately needs them.
Characters might include (but are not limited to):
- Black Spot member
- young recruit to the cause of freedom
- opportunistic pirate privateer chartered by Elizabeth
- member of the Royal Secret Service
- courtier (pro- or anti-Elizabeth)
- bewildered but sword-skilled noble
- stalwart yeoman farmer (seeking to defend your home locale and the wider realm)
- Spanish undercover agent (seeking to foment discord, slaughter, and public mistrust)
- Royal Society member
- Minor count or countess
- Wife to local land owner
- Expert in faerie lore
Historically women were considered inferior to men and expected to be led by them at all times. I would like any female characters in this story to be quietly effective and able to hold their own against the patriarchs of these times. I’m not overly concerned about historical accuracy but it would be good to retain a Tudor flavour. Female characters will probably encounter light sexism from male NPCs but hopefully with the end product of proving them all wrong. Perhaps male characters will be on the end of light sexism from faerie NPCs. That is up to us..
Example poles (strength/weakness cards)
Loyalty vs. ambition
Bravery vs. cowardice
Teacher vs. tyrant
Example desires (subplot cards)
To gain power
To be loved
To be forgiven
To be desired
To be powerless
To be happy
To be punished
To gain vengeance
Hosted and narrated by:
Richard Sharp (Riven)
Completed 11/16/16.
Scenes played: 13
License: Community License
