Our Hero

A World Without Shrimp


A Role-Playing Campaign designed and GMed by Scott David Gray.

          The campaign is set in a universe similar to Joss Whedon's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer / Angel" universe.
          The primary difference between the Buffyverse and the world presented in this game is that there are no shrimp in this world (with all sorts of other ramifications -- no shrimp forks, for example).
          I admit it. I don't like shrimp.

          The characters are from 1850s Cleveland, Ohio. Ohio is a free state, with an active underground railroad (made harder because of the fugitive slave act, and a population which is mostly sympathetic to slavery). Cleveland has just been joined to Cincinnati and Columbus by the CC&C railroad, and by extension to other points along the East coast of the United States. The city is about forty times larger than it was thirty years before, and three times larger than it was ten years before, with about 25K people in the metropolitan area now. There is an active temperence society in Cleveland.

          We are using The Buffy the Vampire Slayer RPG, written by C.J. Carella for Eden Studios.
          The campaign is being run in an episodic way -- to make it easier for one set of players to come to one session and another set of players to come to the next session.

          The Cast

          Sessions:

1Name supplied by Sharon Tripp

Special Rules:

Special point values for the "minority" "gender" and "youth"qualities:
Minority 1 point per level
   Level 1 "Foreign" (e.g. German, Italian, Czech.)
   Level 2 "Mistrusted" (e.g. Chinese, Irish, Jewish, Shawnee.)
   Level 3 "Second-class" (e.g. African descent, with papers as freeman.)
   Level 4 "Illegal" (e.g. African descent, escaped slave.)
Gender 1 point
   Level 1 Female
Youth 1 point per level
   Level 1 Age 14-18
   Level 2 Age 13 or under
Combining Minority, Gender and Youth qualities: The combined total of all three qualities cannot exceed 3 (or 4, if one of the qualities is level 4). Such that a 12 year old Chinese girl gains only 3 points for these combined qualities (instead of 5), and the gender quality gains no additional points for a character with level 3 or higher of the "Minority" quality (the loss of respect and rights does not become substantially higher for females of African descent than it does for males of African descent in this era).

The five uses of drama points. When drama points are spent, they are spent permanently (and can only be restored by spending XP):

  1. Heroic feat: Add +10 bonus on any roll or value (apart from spellcasting or supernatural acts).
  2. I think I'm OK: Cut the damage of the last blow received in half.
  3. Plot twist: No more than once per game session, a player may ask the GM for a lucky break. Not a "get out of jail free" card, this won't allow a character to escape unscathed from a dangerous foe, but it might make the difference to save the character.
  4. Righteous fury: By spending two drama points, against a foe that has directly provoked him/her, s/he gains a +5 bonus to all attack actions for that fight (cumulative with heroic feat).
  5. Back from the dead: For lots and lots of drama points, a character who died in a prior session may be able to reappear. Consult the GM.

Other things:

Please see:


For more information, please contact Scott David Gray.