Twenty-three shipwrecks are no coincidence, and the truth will be told. The once-sleepy coastal town of Clairemouth is the seat of wild speculation. Rumors of the cause, now called "The Wreckers,” grow. But what are The Wreckers? Are they the harbor rocks? The ancient curses? The town council? Legendary monsters? Or something yet to be imagined? Whatever the truth, Clairemouth has gained infamy, and infamy attracts a troubling crowd; Naval officers, vengeful relatives, suspicious sailors, monster hunters and amateur sleuths. When they heard the Nor'easter would hit, one phrase was whispered, "Gonna be another one for The Wreckers." Will you discover what this means, or become wrecked in the mystery? Hole up in the Whaler's Inn as the truth unfolds in this history-based mystery set in 1876 on the north shore of Massachusetts. Game Mechanics Area of Play Although there are many points of interest in the town of Clairemouth, the area of play will be restricted to three zones. One room will be the Whaler Inn and it's backroom. The second room will represent the Meeting Hall. The third zone will be directly outside the rooms and this will be "elsewhere," covering the beach, the lighthouse, the forest, going out to sea, leaving town. When you leave The Whaler Inn or the Meeting Room, a GM will assist you in terms of setting up game space in this third zone or encapsulating what happens in the trip between zones. Skills All character have some skills. They might not be exceptionally accomplished at the skills they have, but they have the skills. If a skills is notable and not easily role-played (distract, confuse, lie, babble) then it will be listed with a score next to it. If a player wants the character to use a skill, they look it up and pull a card from their skill envelope. The card in the skill envelope are standard playing cards and if the card is lower than the skill level, you succeed. If the card is higher, you fail. Ace is low (and good), not high. Example: Jack has a bartending skill of 8. A patron comes up and requests a Hairy Twister. The player has no idea what alcohol goes into this, but his character probably does. He pulls a 6 and manages to make a passable "Hairy Twister," if you like this drink. Should he have pulled a 9, he made the right drink badly. If he pulled a 10 or higher, he made it incorrectly. If he pulled a King, he critically failed and the drink is unbearable. If he pulled an Ace, it would be pure ambrosia. Typical skills will include areas of knowledge (lore), professional abilities (crafts), inherent capabilities (arts) and Martial arts (combat). If a skill isn't listed and you think it's appropriate, ask a gm how good your character is at it. Combat There will probably be combat in this game. Combat happens on a few levels but is handled with the same mechanic for all. Should the need for physical combat arise, whether it is done by fist, grapple, sword, gun or peashooter, it will be initiated by the player pointing at their target and clearly stating, "COMBAT." The player who states this first gets the first attack. After this player initiates combat, others may join in by pointing and saying "COMBAT" making it group combat. The target, should they want to defend themselves has to reply with "COMBAT" to get a turn in the first round of combat. After it is clear that everyone who is fihting has made their intention known and the order of call, order of combat is set, each player determines what they do and then cards are drawn to determine the results. Often the extent of the damage will have to be determined by a GM or a reasonable agreement among players. One on One Example: Joe wants Billy's moonshine, but Billy isn't sharing. After some shouting, Joe points at Billy and says "COMBAT." Billy points and says "COMBAT." They look around and no one else seems interested in this family squabble. Joe says, "slap you silly," which is his grapple skill: 7. Billy says, "Beat you with a stick," which is hand weapon: 9. Joe pulls a nine from his card envelope and misses. Billy pulls a four. That's a solid hit. The players both agree that Joe is almost unconscious. The moral here is don't attack a combat monster for booze. Group Combat Example: Donny, Lonny and Johnny decide to teach Mack the enforcer a lesson. Donny points at Mack and says, "COMBAT." Mack, quick on the uptake, points at Donny and says "COMBAT" Lonny and Johnny then point and say "COMBAT" in order. Donny looks at his skills and says, "I shoot you with my tommy gun." Marksmanship: 8. Mack, feeling a level of doom creep in, says "I run for cover." Dodge: 7. Lonny and Johnny both state that they are also shooting at Mack. Marksmanship 7 & 9. Donny pulls a 8 and just hits. Mack pulls a 4 and is happy he dodge well. Lonny misses with a 9, but Johnny hits with a 3. After consulting a GM, the GM says that Mack managed to evade Donny's bullet, Lonny's shot missed, but Johnny hit true. Mack takes the full damage and is seriously weakened. If there is another round of combat, Mack is probably out of luck. Special Abilities Sometimes, a character can do something all the time, or their ability is a game mechanic in and of itself. For example, someone might know a spell which makes them invisible for five minutes. They will have instructions on how to do this in their game pack. In this case the instructions will be something simple like, "Wear or hold the "YOU CANNOT SEE ME - I'M INVISIBLE" sign while you maneuver the game space."