The Four Aces Chronicle
These pages are devoted to my modern-horror role-playing game. Many of these pages are text heavy, because in a conspiracy-themed role-playing game lengthy recaps can help the players keep track of what has happened so far. (And in a mystery, facts have to be consistent or the heroes have no hope of ever solving it.)
Most of the events in the For Aces Chronicle have taken place in New York City, but there have been important events in Michigan, Scotland, and other places too. The tone is something like Foucault's Pendulum meets Joss Whedon's Angel, only with fewer vampires and a lot more guns and explosions.
'I still dream of organon....'
--Kate Bush, 'Cloudbusting'
The game draws from historical and fictional sources, and the players are free to read any rulebook, article or website they want, and even bring what they find into the plots. The mystery lies in what is not written down--what lies between the lines of external sources.
System-wise, we started the campaign with Unknown Armies, but with episode six we moved to Eden Studio's Unisystem (Witchcraft, All Flesh Must Be Eaten, Terra Primate, Armageddon). The campaign still has some concepts and NPCs borrowed from UA, as well as Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu, but the Unisystem has been a good match in rules and a perfect match in tone for the 4A/2J Chronicle.
Willow: 'How is it you always know this stuff? You always know what's going on. I never know what's going on.'
Giles: 'Well, you weren't here from midnight to six researching it.'
--Buffy 1.7, 'Angel'
This website is intended as a resource for the players (and an entertainment for anyone else who visits). To the left are links to detailed "Recaps" of every game session; "Cast" biographies of player-characters and major non-player-characters; and short articles about magic, technology, and New York as they appear in the campaign. There is also a page of "Links" that covers topics that have come up in the plots, and a "Quotes" page with some memorable player lines.
'I find it kind of funny,
I find it kind of sad.
The dreams in which I'm dying
Are the best I ever had.'
- Tears for Fears, 'Mad World'
All sketches and illustrations are by the very talented commercial illustrator Storn Cook (who also happened to play George). To see more of his work, check out his website here.
Needless to say, this site is entirely fictional and should not be considered a reflection on any historical groups or people.
To give credit where credit is due: Alex Abel, Luther Miles, Eponymous, The New Inquisition, and the Sleepers are borrowed from the game Unknown Armies. The names of Lady Margaret Jameson, Michel Borsavin, Martin Murray, Lesek Czernin, George Walker, and Klaus Hunderprest are from a very old Call of Cthulhu scenario in "The Auction & Other Tales," but their personalities in this campaign are very different from what they were in that scenario.
First-time visitors may want to go next to Meet the Aces