The Ubergoth section

NOTE: Players aren't supposed to read the Ubergoth Section (but you know you will anyway...)

Before we get started on the world the characters inhabit here are a few hints on how to run Goth: The Corruption.

First off this game doesn't start and end with each adventure. The character's lives are constantly in flux and Goth point losses and gains happen on a day to day basis. If a person is playing Goth: The Corruption, they have to understand that they have to get into character for a long time. The character's lives don't just stop once the stock menace is defeated. They still have to go back to the jock-intense high school or return to that shitty desk job.

Second, I cannot stress this enough, unless it is called for in the story for a damn good reason fantastic combat doesn't have much of a place in Goth: The Corruption. A fist fight or shoving match is an event most people have encountered, but very few have been in a gunfight or street war. But if you want that kind of thing who am I to stop you?

Third, have some degree of respect for what you play. It's one thing to play a game as a ghost or a werewolf because no one really knows the psychology of such creatures, but it's another to play as one of a group of people and it's probably better if you avoided being too malicious.

If you never done role-playing games before and want to Ubergoth then find a Storyteller's handbook from another game to get some hints, mainly because I'm too lazy.

The following sections detail creations, both friends and enemies, to the Goth: The Corruption world, to be used as the Ubergoth sees fit.

The Gothic Martial Arts Society (The GMAS)
The Coalition of Christian Parents (The CCP)
Shadow Child Magazine
Subsection 1: Classic Role-Playing Elements
Subsection 2: Experience Points
Subsection 3: Weapons

The Gothic Martial Arts Society (The GMAS)

It started out as a joke.

4 friends in the South San Francisco/ Colma area, all of whom studied one martial art or another, spent one night sitting around complaining that they needed a different, freak-friendly tournament system to train and challenge themselves because the current system wasn't too open to new fighters. One of them jokingly suggested a Goth fighting circuit and everyone had a few laughs. That should have been the end of it.

Colma, for those of you who aren't local, is a necropolis. There are far more dead than living in the town, and due to a gang problem that statistic wasn't likely to change. There is one stretch of long, elaborate cemeteries with mausoleums, dank crypts, and ornate resting places for the dead. On a tour through the cemeteries, one of the 4 friends found a large three floor area over one of the buildings used as a memorial to cremated remains. The area, only accessible through elevator and an as yet undiscovered stairwell, was apparently being renovated by construction for further use but the crew apparently went onto other things. He took the rest of the group up to see the facility. It was huge, all old concrete and podiums, and looked like something Dracula would have called home. The main floor had clutter in it, mostly old pianos and cut wood, while the upper floors were all balconies looking down on the main area. Overhead was an elaborate skylight, spilling light all over the place.

One of the group exclaimed that the area would have made a great nightclub, but the one who found it replied that it could have made a better tournament area, punctuating his statement by shattering several pieces of wood in one blow.

On that day, a cabal was formed. And it grew from weekly meetings between four people to a four chapter organization of over 100 members.

The area is still in use an serves as the Gothic Martial Arts Society headquarters. Weekly fights are held there, all to the tune of a DJ's box.

Organization

The GMAS is extremely secret, preferring to be left alone to it's activities. To this end it is extremely successful. Very few people outside the organization know of it's existence, though it has everything from a newsletter to a constantly updated webpage.

Each chapter of the GMAS has about 30 main fighters, as well as two or three "bearers" and 5-10 trainees. The goal of the fighters is to reach and hold onto the title of House Champion. To get the title, the fighter must first beat ten lower ranked fighters and then defeat the current house champion.

Every Friday night the GMAS opens to any registered fighter who shows up (most members are fairly regular attendees). That fighter is then paired with an opponent and they select a battleground on the cemetery (usually inside the main area, where the music is playing) and a bearer as a referee. One fighter can declare a challenge to another. Unless they are from different weight divisions, the opposing fighter cannot turn down the match.

To win a fight one opponent must strike the other 10 times or knock the other out. Except for fist and foot pads, no protection is worn, though the moves are very restricted. In general, anything that could cause permanent damage is grounds for disqualification. No holds can be held for longer than a 3 count (disqualifying most wrestling styles) and one opponent can never strike another who is on the ground.

Championship bouts are rare and very well attended. The difference between a championship bout and a regular fight is that the championship bout is a fight to a knock out, or ten seconds on the ground.

The main area of the GMAC Colma base is very well kept. Technically the GMAC is trespassing, but the cops don't seem to mind. Every Friday night, the DJ unloads his set-up from his car and at the end he puts it back. Bearers bring in large spotlights that light up the area as needed.

The GMAS is not a staunchly regulated league. It's something more along the lines of a hobbyist's club, with its own elaborate rituals and mentality.

Chapters

The GMAS has 4 chapter houses, the original in Colma, one in LA, one in San Diego, and the last in any town convenient to the Ubergoth's game needs. There is talk of putting one in Louisiana or New York to establish a East Coast spread, but that won't happen until a well established member of the Colma branch moves there.

The chapters are roughly about 30 members each, though LA is the largest with 40 members. All the houses are located in isolated, decrepit areas. Colma is the aforementioned unfinished mausoleum, LA is a large mansion, one is an underground network of maintenance tunnels, and the one in San Diego is an old warehouse.

Due to the renegade, rave nature of the GMAS, the only permanent decoration on any chapter house are the insignia of the GMAS ( a curved, clawed dragon perched on the letters GMAS) and the tag names of all full GMAS members. The lights and musical technology is brought in during the meeting nights and removed at the end. There is usually some makeshift training equipment laying around, like sacks filled with sand for punching bags, nothing that could be ripped off. The general idea with the house set-up is that the whole area can be ditched if the situation calls for it, though the only chapter that ever needed to leave it's original area was the LA branch, who were forced out of their abandoned movie theater by renovators.

All the houses are pretty much equal, though members of the Colma tend to be more arrogant for being a part of the original house. In addition, the San Diego house has received a poor reputation for mistreatment of it's members (and being the birthplace of the Closed Fist movement.)

The Code

This is why members of the GMAS get the nickname of "Klingons" by non-members in the know.

The first thing a prospective member must live up to, even before their martial arts abilities are tested, is whether or not they are likely to follow the code. The code are the rules that bind all the members of the GMAS and violation of the codes are usually grounds for expulsion.

The first law of the code is that a GMAS member never reveals about the group's existence to an outsider. If the member finds someone who might qualify as a recruit, they are to tell one of the bearers so that he or she can make arrangements.

The second law is respect. A fighter must show respect for another fighter's abilities, regardless of the level of hatred that exists between the two. This also covers the no lie, no cheat, no bully rule.

The third law is that a member cannot use the GMAS for personal benefit.

The fourth law, which is the most loosely followed, is that a fighter can never turn down a REASONABLE fight.

The fifth law is that no one can harm a bearer. They are too vital to the operation to risk displeasing.

The final, and arguably the most important, law is that one GMAS member always helps another when asked, provided that the request doesn't violate the other laws.

These laws are, with a few minor exceptions rigidly adhered to. A member can quit any time they want and a retired member can rejoin at any time. The law system gives a strong sense of community to the GMAS. A GMAS member will sooner side with an enemy than a non-member.

Fighters

GMAS fighters tend to be quiet, thoughtful, and fully dedicated to their craft. The youngest is 13 years old, the oldest is 34. Their fighting clothing tends to be flashy and reflecting the fighter's personality. The only rule with clothing is nothing that would augment an attack, like boots or rings.

All sorts of martial arts styles are represented in the Society. Boxing, Kung-Fu, Muay Thai, Savate, even one case of Military Training, are all accepted without prejudice. A boxer might fight a commando one day and a karateka another.

When the Society first started no challenge could be turned down. However, smaller fighters began to complain that the heavyweights were kicking their asses more often than not. This lead to the creation of the forth law and the rule that a fighter is either in the lightweight or heavyweight division. If a fighter from one division was paired with one from another, either fighter could turn down the fight without any penalties. Due to the fact that most GMAS members are pretty young, lightweights outnumber heavyweights 2 to 1.

When a fighter first starts out in the GMAS she chooses a tag name. This is her nickname and it is what she is introduced as in every fight. It also gets painted on the wall of her GMAS facility. Most fighter's use their tag names as net names or nick names and some get them tattooed.

Bearers

Bearers are the backbone of the GMAS. Though the smallest group in number, they are the most vital to the operation. They doctor up the wounded, set up the lights, maintain the webpages, referee the fights, and do other mundane tasks. Generally they run everything and are seen as the de facto leaders, though current and former house champions act as mentors and occasionally police.

Bearers aren't fighters. They are the grunt labor. They are protected by the fifth law, though all of them are usually close friends with many members. Their uniform is a plain white shirt and black pants.

Trainee

Trainees, or white-belts, are those who are destined to get their asses kicked many times. They are people who want to become full members of the GMAS, but instead of risking The Path, they choose to work for the GMAS until they are promoted.

The trainees are used as bouncers to keep the club safe, sparring partners, and they are often sent into regular fights to up the difficulty. A trainee can never win a regular fight.

In contest combat they are fully padded, because they take a lot of abuse. Off the fight, they are gently teased by regular members.

The exception is in San Diego, where trainees are abused worse than army recruits. San Diego has the highest trainee drop-out rate.

No Mercy

The No Mercy is the most difficult contest that the GMAS puts on. Always held in Colma every July 11th, the No Mercy is by invitation only, through gray envelopes with dead roses and a date in them, usually hand delivered.

Fighters from all chapters come and pay fifty dollars to enter this single elimination tournament. The winner keeps all the admission fees. If a fighter quits after fighting at least one fight, she forfeits her fee.

No Mercy is different from regular fights in the sense that there are no rules. A fighter can strike his downed opponent, no protection is worn, etc. This has left more than one fighter with broken bones and is a fatality waiting to happen.

The No Mercy is an extremely high ceremony event with GMAS member bands and big dinners and speeches by all past champions and house champions. The area is decorated and people sell shit too, mostly GMAS tee-shirts with cryptic slogans that non-members can't figure out.

To lose a fighter must either be knocked out of the fighting area or tap the ground with her open palm. The GMAS has each fighter sign several release forms and has several contingency plans in case a fighter dies, most of which involve making the death look like an accident.

The Closed Fist

The Closed Fist is a conspiracy inside the GMAS made up of people that believe that the GMAS should be used for their benefit. They believe that the organization should have more publicity, they want No Mercy events to happen as often as 4 times a year, and they want a governing body of martial artists instead of a loose network of bearers. While most of their ideas work well on paper, all Closed Fist activities violate The Code. Many have questionable allegiances with gangs and use that to sell drugs and other contraband to other GMAS members.

Basically, the Closed Fist is comprised of people who have dubious outside interests that they use the GMAS to augment. Members of this movement are extremely smart and manipulate the hell out of other people to get what they need. The Closed Fist has to be completely secret because it's members would be purged if the majority of the GMAS heard of their existence.

Roughly one-sixth of all GMAS members are in some way connected with the Closed Fist. When it recruits someone it tends to look for willful, ruthless individuals. When it finds someone, they approach the candidate slowly and if it doesn't feel right the Closed Fist back off. If the member seems reasonable, she is inducted. They will not let a member go, often using force (it is suspected that the hit-and-run that took the life of former house champion Ronnie "The Tank" Carr was a botched intimidation attempt ) if necessary. Most Closed Fist activities are unethical and a few are downright illegal. If they need to, they will compromise the GMAS to ensure their safety.

One of the things that make the Closed Fist so brutal is their "punishment" activities, events that sometimes drag non-GMAS members. When someone crosses a Closed Fist member, they are put through three levels of punishment. A member of the GMAS usually is lightly harassed by such things as slashed tires, phone calls, and their tag name is spraypainted over in the main area. A non-member is followed to the point of paranoia. This continues until the person backs off of whatever they were doing. In the second level, both members and non-members are jumped by a gang of masked assailants. Sometimes a new inductee is one of the attackers, as part of her initiation. When the attack is directed on a member of the GMAS, the Closed Fist assailants are brought in from other Houses, in case the fighter loses her mask.

On the third level the GMAS commit a serious crime against non-members (It's whispered darkly that a team of Closed Fist fighters broke into a woman's apartment and sexually assaulted her) and attempt to frame members so that they get kicked out. There is a possibility that in the event of exposure to the GMAS as a whole, the Closed Fist will add a homicidal fourth step, but with the exception of The Tank's accidental demise no one has ever died at the hands of a Closed Fist plot.

How To Join

The GMAS always welcomes new recruits, though it never actively pursues them. Generally, it works like this.

The Goth finds out about the organization through rumor. Asking around, she is pointed to a person affiliated to the Society. The Society member informs others in the GMAS about the potential recruit. That recruit is watched, usually at nightclubs and other public places, and if deemed worthy she is approached.

If the recruit continues, she is given two choices as to how to join. The first is to join with the trainees and the second is The Path.

If she chooses to join the trainees, she is lumped in with the rest of the poor bastards. At the end of six months, provided she sticks around long enough, she is automatically made a member. However, every month she can challenge a full member to a regular combat. If she wins, she is inducted.

The Path is more adventurous and more risky. Any who fail The Path cannot reapply for a full year. The Path is a challenge, a test of cunning, endurance, and combat skills. The recruit must sneak past all the trainees and 3 full members into the main GMAS headquarters where they fight a regular fight against the most recent full member of the GMAS, all within a 30 minutes time limit.

How To Use The GMAS

The GMAS was created for those that need a combat-centered game with out it getting too lethal. They are essentially a jokey creation, one mixed of two much loved things in my life. The members of the GMAS make great henchman, adventurers, mysteries, allies, and enemies.

Ever hung around a bunch of long-time martial artists? I have and they are about 50 times weirder then the most melodramatic Goth ever. When you ask them a simple question pertaining to the martial arts they NEVER SHUT UP!! That's how you should portray the GMAS. For all their ritual and pomp, they are people that basically make an obsession for wearing too much black and hanging out in abandoned areas to kick the living shit out of each other. They take themselves very seriously.

Not that there aren't any rewards. The Goth point rewards of a GMAS event are huge (think 'nightclub filmed by Jean-Claude Van Damme'), the opportunity for adventure is vast, what with the Closed Fist, the Path, the occasional threat by outside forces. Finally, you have over 100 contacts in any city.

A player should NEVER start the game as a member of the GMAS. Just joining should be a chronicle unto itself, with the finding of information, the initiation, etc. These people have spent a long time hidden and they aren't about to reveal themselves. Next to nobody in the scene without a Goth Lore of 95 have even heard of them and even then information is spotty at best.

Generally, the players should be kept in the dark about the GMAS. Part of the fun is the mystery of wondering what the hell the DJ meant when she congratulated the new 'house champion' or trying to find out who punctured their tires.

Games involving the GMAS should primarily focus on what happens behind the scenes. If the Ubergoth finds a group of players who want to be house champion, she'll be in for a lot of dice rolling and that's not as much fun. Generally, games involving a GMAS team should have maybe one or two regulated fights and the rest devoted to a real story.

The GMAS can be used as allies or enemies. If you help one at some point and word gets out, you can have a small army of unexpected help next time the football team tries anything. On the other hand, if you "dishonor" one you could be forced to keep your back to the wall every time you go out. An ally with the GMAS makes a great muscle resource. An enemy makes a great generic henchman.

In addition, the organization faces exposure by Shadow Child magazine, who is trying to follow up rumors on it. This could set players on the trail, but remember that the GMAS is aware of the threat, so informed by their webpage.

In the end, it's all up to the Ubergoth as to how to use this secret group. They generally aren't antagonistic, preferring solitude to getting involved in anything. However they might lend their muscle to others or band together against an outside threat. The GMAS versus the CCP would be an awesome battle.

Characters

Jenna "Lacy" Chang

Young GMAS Fighter LA house, lightweight, Tiger Style Kung-Fu.

So called because her modified red silk kung-fu uniform is modified with black lace for ventilation. Lacy is a 15 year old who, despite her extremely frail appearance and somewhat irritating little girl voice, has already impressed the hell out of her elders first by beating The Path in GMAS record time and then by going through eight fights, 3 of which were against heavyweights, and only losing once, something that her good natured arrogance loves to quietly beam about. She is the ultimate Perkigoth and seems to get along with everybody without seeming like a vacuous ninny.

She has made it publicly known that she is gunning for the title of house champion and teases current house champion Natalie Smith that her number is up. Lacy is constantly in training for the fight, rushing to the makeshift gym in her garage after school to work out. Her father taught her the Tiger style of Kung Fu since she turned 9 and she has broken the first rule of the Code by telling him about the GMAS. He fully supports her and gladly keeps the secret from everyone, including her mother, who would kick both their asses. Her family bond is very strong and she is a very stable and loyal member of the GMAS. There is talk about inviting her to the next No Mercy, making her one of the youngest competitors ever admitted. If this happens, she will petition the GMAS to let her father attend.

She also serves a second duty. Because of her impressive debut, her good natured disposition, and her high Angst score, she is used to test potential recruits for worthiness. She approaches them, not mentioning anything about her connection to the GMAS, and attempts to start up a conversation and friendship. If they seem like the type of people that have the "stuff" she will inform the bearers in charge of admittance. She only approaches those in her own age group and is the most likely to come in contact with any babygoths in the LA area who start asking around.

Lacy (She never refers to herself in her real name) stands about 5'5, extremely thin, with blue-black hair that hangs limply against her cheeks. Her features show her split Chinese-English heritage with a very foreign beauty. She is very animated, talking mostly with her hands and always has a joke, though when the fighting starts she shuts up and focuses on the task at hand. Due to her small body size, she tends to rely on quick, agile strikes with lots of claw-like grabs representative of the Tiger style. Her Dexterity is extremely high and, in keeping with her exhibitionist demeanor, she does a lot of cartwheels and flips both in the ring and out in public.

Roland " Sargent" Dawson

Scary GMAS fighter Colma house, heavyweight, Military techniques

Roland Dawson is at war with himself.

Immediately after graduation, he joined the Marines, looking for a way to escape from the memories of 4 long years through suburban hell. For awhile it was a dream come true. They let him slip into a comfortable anonymity, gave him goals and a purpose and a regimented life. So what if they discipline the shit (and most of the Goth points) out of him? They broke him down and molded him into an exceptional soldier.

That was until his bunkmates caught him reading a "Dear John" letter from his high school boyfriend.

Suddenly it was small town high school all over again. They wouldn't do anything direct to him, by virtue of the fact that he's too goddamn big, but the catcalls and harsh treatment from everyone from his former best friend to his commanding officer started.

At first Dawson tried to ignore the situation and delve into the Marine life, excelling in top form at everything he was assigned to do. But one day he found a knife imbedded in his bed and his footlocker turned inside-out. Roland Dawson dropped out of the military, citing that he no longer felt safe now that he was "outed."

He came back filled with self-loathing and bitterness. His family had kicked him out of their house and their lives so he went to live with a friend, GMAS bearer Judith Young.

One night when they went out to see a movie two skinheads jumped them, claiming that it was inappropriate for a white woman to "date" a black man. They pulled a knife on the two, but Dawson kicked seven shades of shit out of them.

Young, impressed by his combat skills and thinking that Dawson needed to brood less, petitioned for Dawson to be accepted to the GMAS. There was a stir among the body as to whether military combat techniques was considered a martial art but Dawson won out. When Dawson was told of the GMAS, he eagerly accepted to try The Path and beat it by the skin of his ass.

Dawson suppresses his homosexuality through a thin veil of hatred for the fact that what he is cost him too much. His presence is carefully monitored by virtue of the fact that a healthy majority of the techniques he knows are designed for killing or disabling, but he is tempering them off with Aikido classes. He is huge, with strong features and chocolate colored skin. His fighting costume is his combat fatigues covered in patches and slashed in dramatically appropriate places, and he fights slow, but dirty. He loves the GMAS because of the focus that the bushido-esque Code gives him.

Dawson represents muscle and can be used in any situation that needs an intimidating presence. He isn't a particularly vicious person, never harming women or people much younger than himself, but he has a strong connection to the anger that always festers in his heart, as well as the tools needed to express it. He is a constant No Mercy contestant.

Robert "Deadlord" Peterson.

Closed Fist member Colma house, Heavyweight, Boxing.

Robert, or Bob as he calls himself, was one of the first four GMAS members. In fact, he was the one who found the abandoned area above the mausoleum. He was also the one who got the property away from the Filipino gang who originally inhabited the building.

He cut a deal with the past residents, selling drugs, weapons, and stolen items in exchange for the gang's ignoring of the facility and the activities that happen there. In a sense, he was Closed Fist before Closed Fist happened. These activities continue to this day, and he has many customers in the Colma house.

The founders of the Closed Fist met with him in one of the No Mercy tournaments, after he tried to sell them marijuana, a violation of the Code. Impressed by his cunning yet somewhat dim intelligence, they recruited him.

Bob is more of a death-rocker than a Goth and wears metalhead shirts and cutoffs in the fight. He's held onto the house champion title for a cumulative 4 weeks, an impressive but not outstanding statistic. He is a few years out of high school but doesn't have a job or go to school, living with his mother instead. He is in no way intelligent, but he does have an animalistic cleverness. He's less likely to make up a plan than go along with one, though his "store" does brisk business.

Inside the society halls, he generally tries to be friendly in a 'Beavis and Butthead' kind of way, but he does seem to have a special prejudice for trainees, frequently going overboard when fighting them.

Bob is mostly usable for a minor, defeatable threat to the characters. He isn't very subtle in how he runs his operation and probably hasn't been caught because he gets more leeway due to being one of the founders. Still, if the players need a challenge, he has some powerful (and dangerous) friends backing him up.

The Coalition Of Christian Parents (The CCP)

A more overt and more hostile presence in the world of Goth: The Corruption is the Coalition of Christian Parents, a religious hate group. The organization is one of the largest of it's kind in the United States, boasting thousands of members and millions in funding. It tends to be concentrated in the "Bible Belt" section of the country, but due to seminars, television shows, and public appearances, they have extended their influence into even open-minded communities.

The CCP is committed to the eradication of any spiritual and emotional threats to their children but due to a tragedy in the founder's life they tend to focus on the Gothic subculture. Their definition of Goth is sketchy, encompassing everything from Satanists to horror fans to Marilyn Manson (a popular target).

Their preferred tactic is that they discover a place or object they find distasteful, like an all age goth show or bookstore selling "deviant material", and cause a frenzy of protestors and picket lines. This tactic is alarming successful, degothifying many people and places.

Organization

The CCP's main headquarters are in Wisconsin, in a large office complex. There they arrange seminars, deliver their propaganda, control their funding, and monitor the media for anything of interest.

They also help set up smaller sections around the country, usually lead by priests, though there is an occasional private citizen. The sections generally hold meetings in high schools or in churches and tend to draw their new recruits among the devout, the afraid, and the confused. Most are overworked parents who come home one night to realize that their kids are smoking pot or having sex or wearing black make-up or God knows what else.

Official members in a CCP section tends to be fairly small, but they know how to stir up enough interest and confusion to let other people do the work for them. They try not to come off as rabid, overimaginative religious fanatics but as a caring, supportive outreach group, all saccharin promises and easy to swallow truths. Indeed, the CCP isn't any more religious than a football team outside the Bible Belt and even call themselves the Coalition of Concerned Parents

Members of the CCP.

The nicest thing you could say about the majority of the CCP, both official members and the non-members who turn up in meetings and events, is that they're confused and frightened.

They are as alienated from their children as the children are from them. There are "new" and strange things out there that seem to rob children of their simpleness. Any parent who let their teenage daughter leave the house as Tina and seen her come back as 'Princess Rat' knows the feeling. These people have no idea what would make their kids deviate from the straight and narrow that the parents were trying to raise them in and they want to hunt down the thing they believe responsible, like the villagers at the end of 'Frankenstein'. Others see some morons on the daytime talk shows or afternoon reports of Vampire rock concerts and wants to shut shit like this down before they make connections with their kids.

The final, most rare, and most dangerous are the religious fanatics. These people see what they fight against as an affront to God and can be very vicious if the players encounter them. The others could theoretically be swayed. Fanatics can't.

Seminars

The CCP's most popular method of stirring interest is to hold seminars in churches, high school gyms, and where ever they can put many people.

Well aware that most people are somewhat leery of religious types, the CCP sends it's most charming, charismatic people, preferably with a Ph.D. in something. The speaker eases into a parental workshop, getting into soothing psychobabble about empowerment and issues and other nonsense.

When the crowd is comfortable, the speaker springs the Video (cue sinister music spike) after warning the crowd that the images might be offensive, but it is a vivid depiction of the youth of America. Electric Hellfire Club's song "Hellflowers" plays over badly shot footage of teenagers throwing bottles at cars or doing drugs and fondling each other. This goes on for only a few minutes, but it's enough to shock the shit out of the poor fools.

Immediately after the movie ends, the speaker passes out a survey for the parents to take home. The survey is filled with vague, panic inducing questions (e.g. 'Have you or anyone you know had sexual intercourse?'). They promise the parents that another seminar will be held the following week. Usually the survey answers and the shock of the video cause repeat business. The next week, the CCP gives the mob a target, usually an upcoming show, and the promise that they have the full CCP backing. The rest falls into place on its own, usually though large picket lines and booming speeches.

Seminars are most often used when the CCP uncovers a short term or easily defeated target. After manipulating others to do their dirty work, they fade to a new target. Sometimes they get new recruits through seminars, but most drift away, convinced they pulled a Martin Luther King act.

Propaganda

The CCP has a large amount of books and videos, written by and starring a small army of biased psychiatrists. They are available in most book and video stores. None of them are direct or blunt about their message, but slip it in through a thick wall of bullshit. For example: no video is titled 'Your Goth children are tools of Satan' but rather ' I want to relate! Raising a teenager in the 90's.'

Recognizing that there are many non religious people they can draw from, the CCP have both religious media and absolute non-denominational media where religion is not brought in the picture at all. This makes the message easier to pass on.

There is also TV. Right before a CCP attack, they try to get as much coverage as they can. Plus, they have their more religious members on the Sunday mass times.

Wrath of God Squad (AKA the Men in Gray)

We've seen these people before. They're the non-descript. They are the unnoticed. They stand on the corners, passing out tracts with a strange gleam in their eyes. They are security in Christian Punk shows. They turn off the lights and turn on the video during seminars. They leave houses at odd hours carrying things wrapped in blankets. Their stiff, three piece suits all look cheap and are cigarette-smoke gray.

These people, known as the Grays, the Men in Gray, or the Wrath of God squad, are the employees who do 'field work' for the CCP. They are not enforcers or Mafia style hitmen, though some do carry firearms. Some investigate cults, operating under the same guidelines as a private detective. Others are deprogrammers. Some are security. Most are deeply loyal to the cause, almost (or past) the point of fanaticism.

There is always one member of the Wrath of God squad at every major CCP event. They do work that normally couldn't be afforded. Very rarely will they ever act unless their intervention is absolutely required. Generally, they are content to stand vigilant over their flock.

Media Monitoring

One of the major aspects of the CCP project is the monitoring of information sources to help guide the organization to new targets. They pay people to sit around and watch TV talk shows all day. In addition, they have subscriptions to everything from Fangoria to Permission.

Once they find something of interest, they send it up to the main office, who process it and send a seminar team to that area.

In addition, they bring in freelance journalists on occasion to do articles of various social ills for local newspapers, but this tactic is very rare.

How to use the CCP.

The CCP is the largest organization in the Goth: The Corruption world, as well as the most hostile. They are the most commonly encountered villains in the game, and can show up on a near weekly basis outside a club or store to make life difficult.

The threat the CCP represents is the world trying to push the whole Goth thing away, and are mainly a danger to the Goth point total of the players. They are scared, stupid people who believe in what they do one-hundred percent. They will use any dirty trick they can think of (within reason) to shut down the perceived threat. Goth characters have to use social skills and good role-playing to counter the hate group.

The CCP is not a collection of drooling, bible thumping psychos but a devious, glib group that can easily manipulate those out of touch. Perhaps the biggest weakness of the CCP is the fact that a majority of the people who show up in the picket lines are not members of the CCP. They are people scared into a pitbull frenzy and could possibly be educated out of their dementia.

The CCP on the whole can be looked upon as almost a cult and a smart Ubergoth can treat it as such.

The Wrath of God squad are more of an intimidation tactic than an actual physical threat due to the fact that they want as little attention drawn to themselves as possible. Use them as a disciplinary tool against the players. Little harassments along the lines of a tail or a person silently handing tracts outside the player's homes will help the players know when they are fucking up.

The CCP cannot be shut down. They are just too big. Individual protests can be short-circuited, but the whole organization will chug along until all threats to normality dies.

The CCP is not a constant presence in the game like the GMAS or Shadow Child, but rather a irritation that should show up every now and again.

Characters

Louise Weiner

CCP founder, major pain in the ass.

It was Halloween night, 1996 in a Wisconsin suburb and a small occult-y party was taking place in a high-rise hotel owned by one of the attendee's parents. The group of 13-15 year olds, smoking pot and fondling each other like monkeys on speed, were playing around and experimenting with ouija boards and summoning spells. One of the people at the party, 14 year old David Weiner, stepped onto the balcony after his first sexual experience. He had dropped acid and suddenly decided he could fly....

His mother, Louise Weiner, was called into the morgue at 2 A.M. and asked to identify what was left of the body. People inside the building at the time later remarked that the scream she wailed would remain with them for the rest of their lives.

Ms. Weiner got the opportunity to hear the kids, mostly young dumb goth types, tell their side of the story. Most of them recalled that the whole incident was experienced in a drug haze, but they did do a ceremony to aid his spirit's journey before calling 9-11. Her suspicions darkened.

The hotel owner and the party host were brought up on charges and were given light sentences. But Ms. Weiner felt that they weren't even the cause of her son's death.

She blamed it on a subculture rooted in the romanticism of death and the darker side of life. She blamed it on a point of view that she had no understanding of aside from the outward veneer.

Rooting around the city of Milwaukee with her pain buried as deep at it could go, she was horrified to discover that there are many more people who participated in the Goth lifestyle. That night, only three days after her son's death, she went on camera pleading other parents to be wary of such signs. She also arranged for a meeting place in a large church. That day the CCP was born.

Louise Weiner is in a state of extreme, unhealthy mourning. This is not visible, even to herself (those who know her tend to believe that she has pretty much forgotten her son) but it motivates every CCP action she takes. She works as a banker by day and either does CCP office work or attends psychology courses at night. She is not very religious and the Christian angle of the organization mainly comes from the minister who let her use the chapel in her first meeting.

Most Goths who have had a direct run-in with the CCP tend to think of Louise as a loud mouthed religious fanatic, but the opposite is true. She is very well educated and soft spoken and also quite attractive, though her hatred has left age lines on her body and scars on her soul. She tends not to show any emotion unless someone speaks ill of her son or the CCP, which she considers her living tribute. Her home is a shrine to both him and her husband, three years dead of cancer, though she allows no opportunity for the pain in her heart to seep into her work.

Louise Weiner only shows up to events that she considers difficult or important, lending an extremely intimidating presence. She refuses to wear anything but straight black suits which, combined with her black hair, make her look very Gothic herself. It is next to impossible to reason with her (read this as meaning several game sessions primarily focusing on her) and she doggedly pursues the Gothic subculture with all the fanatical determination of Ahab tracking Moby Dick.

Use Ms. Weiner as a major threat in the game. When she shows up, the entire Goth scene in the character's town is in danger. Due to the massive amount of media attention that follows her anywhere, any physical attempt on her is sure to get the characters in jail. She is essentially a wrecking ball and the character's first job is to get out of the way.

Dr. Jack Williams

CCP shrink, seminar speaker.

Dr. Williams: To his patients, he's a wise man. To his friends, he's a bore. To Shadow Child magazine, he's a joke. To parents of the world, he's a beacon of sanity.

Dr. Williams projects mellowness rays. 10 minutes with him and you can actually feel your brain cells melting. Everything about him projects timid, loveable uncle, from his K-Mart bought sweaters to his happy-go-lucky grin.

That's exactly how he wants it.

Dr. Williams, more than anyone else, embodies what the CCP is all about. The candy coated exterior hiding a extremely dedicated nature.

He became involved with the CCP because his original practice as a family therapist made him encounter many a drug addled child. His original goal in joining the ranks of house shrinks was to curb the rampant and self destructive drug culture that was harming the children of America. Once the CCP had their hooks in him, they convinced him that various subcultures were the real cause.

Through his seminars and field work he has shut down skate parks, pool halls, nightclubs, and concerts. His work has won the CCP an astoundingly high amount of converts. He is considered an A list speaker and can work outside the strict outlines for a CCP seminar.

Williams is a very good people person, with high social skills to go along with his easygoing demeanor. He's in his early forties, showing no signs of graying, and he always dresses casually. The only thing that riles him is the sight of violence, which will make his campaign more intense, so combat shouldn't be an issue in dealing with him. People with a high Angst skill feel uncomfortable around him, because they can see through his bullshit.

Ubergoths should use Williams when the players think that they have mastered the art of stopping the CCP. As stated earlier, Williams is allowed to do his own thing with his seminars, which makes him an unpredictable opponent. He loves getting friendly with his "congregation" and characters might come home one day to find him in her house, drinking tea with her parents. He will not say anything negative, constantly talking in psychobabble. He has a small army of the more violent Men In Grays as bodyguards.

Basically put, Williams is a wild card in the CCP ranks, a nonconformist in a very confining line of work. He has publicly attacked Shadow Child magazine, forming a letter writing campaign and boycott. Of all his endeavors, this has been the least successful and Shadow Child has started a monthly comic strip parodying him entitled "Fun With Little Willie."

Hello, My Name Is Jack

Man In Gray

The ultimate Man In Gray, Hello, My Name Is Jack takes everything he does with grim seriousness. He stares down in contempt at those he passes tracts to. He carries his picket signs with robust pride long after everyone else's shoulders have sagged in their burden. His presence at CCP seminars often overshadows the guest speakers. He smashes pornographic videotapes with holy zeal. He's thirty, has the face of 50 and the body of a 20. No emotion exists in his heart except faith and righteousness.

Hello, My Name Is Jack (so named because of the tag on his coat) almost never speaks and never lets a smile cross his leathery face. He watches, and his eyes are so piercing that most people cannot help but turn away. His judo skills are impressive. He is a role model to Wrath of God squads.

His only concession to personal expression is a golden crucifix, an extremely expensive haircut, and a pearl handle to his sidearm, a menacing looking 9mm that is almost never loaded.

Those who have been around him long enough to hear him speak know that he holds a lot of disdain for the non-religious leaders of the CCP and that he believes that those with strong religious ideals should run the show. Until that happens, Hello, My Name Is Jack will continue his battle against the enemies of God.

Hello, My Name Is Jack will only really harass anyone who takes potshots at religion, but for the most part he acts as a sort of "Cigarette Smoking Man", constantly hovering in the background of scenes and should be used as a menace, a nearly invincible entity. Unlike most of the Men In Gray, he works alone. Who needs assistance when you're the best?

Shadow Child Magazine

Shadow Child magazine, a bi-monthly Goth chronicle, is a project that has been running for the last three years. It operates on the philosophy that any scene that takes itself too seriously is bound to die out. With that, it's tone is flip and very comical. It cheerfully pokes fun at every aspect of the gothic subculture.

The zine started as a small press publication, self published by a guy named Eric Vance. He wrote the articles, did the drawings, shot the photos and drew the comics, all by himself. The first few issues ran along the tried and true goth zine formula of pretentiously written articles, shitty drawings, and comics about fellows named Joey who run around killing people.

When he realized that these weren't selling, he injected his natural sense of humor into the later issues. They got a better response from the public, word of mouth spread and people started really digging the ideas presented therein.

Soon Eric found people sending in articles and stories and whatnot, most of which in the same comedic vein as his own work. That kind of got the ball rolling.

The magazine became more successful, the production values went up, Vance was able to form a seriously made magazine and, to his absolute astonishment, actually got so successful that he got an office (everyday as he goes in, he kneels down and yells in his best Jim Carrey voice "We have an office.")

Contents

One of Shadow Child's first and foremost goals is to get as many new people committed to the scene as possible. To that end, it tries to be an open, comfortable read free of the word games, mind fucks, and innuendoes that seem to plague others magazines.

It doesn't ignore the long time Goth, offering rich details about old favorites and promising info on newer additions to the scene.

In general, Shadow Child tries to keep band interviews to a reasonable minimum, figuring that the subject is pretty well covered. What it does instead is give the artists a forum, a place where they can vent. This usually takes the form of long essays. Most fans like this approach because it gives the reader an inside glimpse into the mind of the artist they admire.

A large portion of the magazine is devoted to locations and events. There is always a few articles on the year round haunted house, the annual Vampire LARP that draws hundreds, the Goth softball league, and other such nonsense. It runs pieces on all kinds of performers. Magicians, comedians, actors, film directors, authors, poets, anything with a dark twist.

Like most other magazines, it accepts fan contributions, though they tend to be more rigid than other magazines. Like Carpe Noctem, it has a 'No Vampires' rule, nor will it accept anything too derivative.

Johnny Dumbfuck

Staff writer Johnny Dumbfuck, practically the only Goth in creation that has completely memorized every western from "High Noon" to " For A Few Dollars More" (excluding me) is one of Shadow Child's biggest draws.

With a writing style often described as 'Dennis Leary on massive amounts of uppers', his very sarcastic, yet fall-off-your-seat-hilarious articles (2 page rants) are often quoted, photocopied, and even enscrawled on tee-shirts. Hell, most clubs you go to these days have his infamous "That is about as Goth as a monkey with a firecracker up his ass" quote written on someone's tee-shirt or button. He also has a monthly contest where the readers have to count how many times the word 'eclectic' is used in the newest issue of any given Goth zine. The winner is picked in a drawing and gets some weird prize, something along the lines of a strip-o-gram at work or 30 watermelons.

He is also the most public of anyone on the staff. Constantly seen in nightclubs with his Fields of the Nephilim thing going, he tends to be more outgoing and friendly than his articles would have you believe, though he will talk your ear off if given half the opportunity.

Johnny Dumbfuck has hosted several Shadow Child sponsored events, tried his hand at DJ'ing, and he runs a radio show, though his thick Texas drawl reminds most viewers of a late night country station. In general, he tries to do a little of everything, but the only real creative talent he seems to possess runs along the lines of his little screamfest articles. Until he can find something more solid, Johnny is perfectly content with what he does and the fame it brings him.

Oh, my God it's a fashion page!!

Oh, my God it's a fashion page is a pictorial/review section written by "Jenni" (actually a mix of staff members who came up with the name Jenni Talia, but thought it was dumb after they sobered up)

The section runs around nightclubs and photographs people with good fashion sense. In addition, it spotlights boutiques, catalogues, designers, and the occasional model.

It also plays with the "Jenni" identity, since no one outside of the main office understands the inside joke. In one Shadow Child event Jenni might be a 98 pound Korean boy, in another a 300 pound Belgian dominatrix.

The bulletin boards

One of the more popular (and useful) features in Shadow Child is the bulletin board page. Several pages out of every issue are devoted to fan advertisements. The advertisements are free, and range from personals to activities to project announcements.

This makes an excellent way to get players into different kinds of games. In addition, some things are simply too tempting to pass up ( We are real vampires. Yes we are! Stop laughing!)

Music

The Shadow Child review team is comprised of 5 people, 3 women and two men from different age groups. They each write a review on every CD that passes by their office. While this pads out the length of the reviews considerably, they prefer this system because A) the different opinions make for a better balanced review and B) long time readers who are familiar with each reviewer's tastes will have more of a feeling of what they should go after.

Unlike most of the rest of the magazine, the review section tends to be very seriously written and professional looking. The critics pride themselves on their objectivity and balanced judgements. They will not write a review on any CD that more than 2 of them dislike, because they need to save the space for the good stuff. They tend to review works by more obscure bands and any character who's band shows up in this section can expect a good following.

Shadows Rejoice!

The Shadows Rejoice festival is the biggest, bar none, Goth type event in the country. 3 days, as many bands as possible, vendors all over the places, the infamous " Gothball" event (basketball and softball mixed in with industrial remixes of rap songs) movie screenings, murder mystery LARPS, the whole enchilada.

Always held in enormous mansions and grounds, usually far away from civilization, these are things that every Goth should do at least once before they die.

Shadow Child And The GMAS

Shadow Child is dedicated to exposing as much of the Goth scene as possible. The Gothic Martial Arts Society is dedicated to remaining hidden. I think you can see the friction these two groups create with each other.

Ever since it's inception, members of Shadow Child have heard the rumors of a bunch of Goth weirdoes hidden around, kicking almighty hell out of each other. At first Shadow Child didn't pay too much attention, believing the idea too farfetched.

Then at one of the Shadows Rejoice! events, there was a fight between two small groups of people (Colma fighters and members of the Closed Fist of San Diego). Both members were throwing around cryptic terminology about codes and champions. When the actual physical side of the fight broke out, both groups were using some serious Jackie Chan shit and the event's security team couldn't even contain it. Finally, a larger group of fighters and bearers stopped the nonsense and both groups of brawlers were escorted out by GMAS members (Many were kicked out of the GMAS. The rest were put on suspension.)

Ever since that particularly alarming incident, Shadow Child has been on the trail of the GMAS. Knowing that 90% of all people in the scene never even heard of the GMAS, Shadow Child is at a loss as to approaching the problem.

They did try to infiltrate the San Diego organization, using the brother of one of their photographers. The young man, skilled in Tae Kwon Do, nearly succeeded. But somehow word got back to the GMAS and the chapter suddenly cut all ties to the guy before he was really approached. (Unknown to Shadow Child, they have a trainee as one of their models.) This event has alerted the GMAS to Shadow Child's interest in their operation and they avoid anything having to do with Shadow Child like the plague. The GMAS believes (correctly) that if the organization was exposed, they would be bombarded by half-assed wannabes and the sanctuary would collapse.

Shadow Child is aware of some underground fighting circuit operating, but it believes that it only exists in San Diego and with numbers in the 20's. It is tempted to write an expose based on what they know, but that would make the magazine come off as somewhat paranoid. In truth, if Shadow Child continued the pursuit, they could probably expose the GMAS simply because Shadow Child has both the resources and connections needed.

How to use Shadow Child

Shadow Child is a game starter, pure and simple. It's a great place to plant story hooks in articles, bulletin boards, and Johnny Dumbfuck's column (" Hey you guys, there is a seance in that old haunted mausoleum in 2 weeks. Wanna go?")

In addition, it can be a great Goth point pick-up spot if your characters find themselves in the Music or Oh My God It's A Fashion Page section. You'll be getting more kudos from your fellow weirdoes if you show up in big color photos.

Finally, this is a great place to make contact with non-player allies. Your character might find a mate at a Shadows Rejoice! event or even hook up with the magazine itself.

Three things to remember:

1) Shadow Child tries to be user friendly. It will never be cruel to anyone, no matter how bad they deserve it. It's aim is to provide a sense of community and for the most part it succeeds.

2) If the Ubergoth wants to use both Shadow Child and the GMAS in a game, the two MUST cross sooner or later. These two cannot exist peacefully in the world, as Shadow Child plays Inspector Javert to the GMAS' Jean Valjean.

3) Shadow Child and the CCP hate each other, both taking public potshots at the other. Keep in mind that the CCP has every issue that Shadow Child has ever published and are fairly likely to show up at smaller events. They once tried to take out a Shadows Rejoice! event, but Shadow Child was aware of the threat beforehand and greeted the enormous CCP picket line with eggs and syrup filled water balloons before getting the cops to throw out the CCP for trespassing and harassment.

Characters

Eric Vance

Shadow Child founder.

Eric doesn't really fit the typical stereotype of a Goth. Broad and muscular, looking like a high school football player, he runs around wearing Tommy Hilfiger while everyone else has vinyl pants and poet's shirts, he looks like the kind of person more at home at a sports bar than at Death Guild.

Despite this, he remains completely committed to the Goth scene, the magazine, and everything he has worked for.

People who first meet him are charmed by the fact that he's pretty much a through and through nice guy, though very quiet. He really doesn't have any ill will towards anyone, with the exception of the CCP, who are out to ruin his fun.

When he's out in public, he usually has a small but impenetrable entourage of yappy older Goths. If he is caught on his own, he is always friendly, though he will try to get away from any Gothier-than-thou types. He is generally pretty shy, preferring to leave the spotlight to folks like Johnny Dumbfuck. He is constantly looking for new talent to add to his magazine, but he's more impressed by people who sit him down and present their work with some degree of professionalism instead of shoving a fistful of bad photos at him while he's in the john.

Even though he is even tempered, pissing him off is like throwing a grenade down in a truck full of gasoline. He can rant and scream and hit for hours. His anger flares slow and burns out slower.

Use Eric Vance as a kind of aloof character, someone most people want to get to know but never meet. If the characters want inside the magazine he's the guy to talk to, even though getting in contact with him is only slightly easier than joining the GMAS. Remember that to make an ally with him is roughly like having the merit Friends in High Places at level 3.

Jhonothan Glade

Shadow Child fashion model, GMAS San Diego Trainee.

To make a long story short, Glade is a spy for the GMAS. He is the one who alerted the GMAS to the young man who attempted to infiltrate the organization. Members of the GMAS community believe him to be the most important individual in the organization and sponsor him, though they think that perhaps he is too well known. He has less than a month to go before he automatically inducted into GMAS ranks. Curiously, the fighting costume that he has chosen ( a ninja uniform) hides all his body and the tragic beauty of his face.

To Shadow Child, he is a talented model who is featured in almost every issue, wearing clothes from different designers. His frail and feminine shape is almost classically Goth, while the wiry muscles and intricate scars (resulting from the brutality that the San Diego branch hands out to it's trainees) add something almost animalistic to him. His most distinguishing feature is his eyes, hard and cool, assassin's eyes. He never uses his own name in the credits of his fashion shoots, preferring a pseudonym (chosen by the Ubergoth if they wish to keep the character secret. It will NOT be his tag name). Appearance-wise, he is something of a chameleon. One month, he'll have white hair, next he could have oil black hair and piercings. His clothing is always very loose, for both dancing and the martial arts.

His fighting style is Jeet Kun Do, the style Bruce Lee developed. His movements always seem very graceful.

Out in public or with anyone connected to Shadow Child, Glade is aloof almost to the point of terminal asshole, though he does buddy up with higher ranking members of the Shadow Child staff. He tries to come off as distant because he is paranoid of his cover being blown. Deep down, he loves feeling like James Bond and when he's in the sanctuary of the GMAS he is a lot easier to deal with, even though he is essentially a loner.

Due to the failure of Shadow Child's last GMAS oriented operation, those working on the project now tend to conduct more clandestine deeds. Glade has responded in kind, learning how to take pictures, seduce members in the project, break into their systems, and any other spy tricks. As a last ditch effort, the GMAS has told Glade that if Shadow Child gets any hard information on the GMAS, Glade is to totally crash all the systems, destroy the office, and have members of the GMAS sent to ambush any Shadow Child writers connected to the story. Glade has no problem with this. To him, he is GMAS first and Shadow Child second. This scenario is an extreme case one though, and currently Glade is preoccupied with collecting info.

Unknown to Glade, he is also being used by the Closed Fist. His contact in the GMAS is one of the founders of the movement and tends to spin doctor the info sent to the GMAS for the benefit of the Closed Fist. Glade is seen as the Atom Bomb to the Closed Fist. If the movement is ever compromised, they will use Glade's position to help expose the GMAS so that the Closed Fist can escape in the confusion.

Subsection 1: Classic Role-playing Elements

The dreamworlds.

Presumably, your Goth sleeps (unless she's on those little green pills) and, assuming said Goth sleeps, said Goth dreams.

When she falls asleep, her mind joins in this loose network of psychic energy (think something along the lines of a supernatural internet) and she dreams. Dreams are a strange mix of memories, pictures of events that haven't happened, psychological film shows, personal symbolism, etc.

So what does that have to do with GtheC? Well, there are two kinds of dreams, internal and external.

Internal Dreams

Internal dreams are what all of us have. They are the weird hodge-podge that appears to us (after eating too much chili before bed, as in my case). They are cryptic as hell, but every now and again you get a premonition.

Internal dreams can be thrown into any game that the players are stumped on. They often arrive shrouded in mystery and take a great amount deciphering. Sometimes they contain clues to the game at hand, other times they show to the players what is going to happen. The Ubergoth is encouraged to make them as weird as possible, to keep the players on their toes.

For example, let's use Rose. On one of her earlier escapades she met a boy named Rob, whom is a constant presence in her life. Rose likes him, but doesn't know what he feels toward her.

That night, after unwisely concocting and eating the world's first chocolate covered pizza, Rose dreams that she is trapped in a pink cage while Rob tries to hand her flowers and candy and all that other goofy romantic horseshit. She wakes up, vomits the aforementioned meal, and decides that the dream means that Rob loves her to the point of obsession.

External dreams

External dreaming means that the character has broken through the confines of internal dreaming and is visiting the realm of the dream masters (no, my name isn't Neil Gaiman. He swears less.)

The dreamworlds (known as Backstage to it's inhabitants) looks like a mix of a Warner Brothers cartoon, Disneyland, and the backstage of a theater. The lands are divided into areas based on the kinds of dreams in the world, such as nightmare, wet dreams, etc. Everything takes on an Alice in Wonderland kind of air, mixed in with the props of people's dreams. A character might trip over a loaded AK-47 while holding a conversation about working conditions with a lingerie clad Marilyn Monroe.

To get in the External dreaming a character must find a perform a ritual. This ritual is not one of those 'sacrifice an animal to the spooky god who's name you can't pronounce' kind of things. Instead, it's different for each person and is usually revealed through internal dreams or experimentation. Seth, for example has to place a McDonald's straw up his left nostril to access the Backstage. Rose only has to fall asleep watching any movie with John Candy in it.

Two things to remember about the dreamlands. First, if a character dies in the dreamlands, she dies in reality. Second, there are exit doors everywhere. A character needs only to walk through one to wake up.

The external dreaming is useful to Ubergoths mainly as an incredibly lighthearted game. Imagine waking up in a Bugs Bunny cartoon and you get the idea. The Ubergoth should carefully design the Backstage so that she isn't just throwing random shit she saw on the X-Files at the players.

The United States Government

AKA The half-assed conspiracy section

Goths are from mars! The Men In Black are coming after your friends!

Come on, they have better things to do (I hope. I pay taxes) . Maybe you could send an uptight FBI man to infiltrate a 'Vampire Cult' that conveniently includes the players. Remember that guy in " The Frighteners"?

The Occult.

We have all known that one friend that got too deep......

Occult GtheC roleplaying games should be rare, but should be a genuine threat to the players. Usually it goes along the lines that the players or someone close to the players unleashes something that presents a great danger. The players are the only ones that can stop it.

First off, the characters need to gather information on the entity or phenomenon in question. This can be anything from scrounging through old newspapers to interviewing victims. Secondly, they have to form a competent plan. Finally, they need to confront and conquer the threat.

Ubergoths need to come up with a very arresting idea for the monster, both a good physical description and a strong sense of it's characteristics and motives. Monsters need to remain alien to the players. An overly understandable monster becomes predictable.

Cults

Another method of occult games is to have the players run afoul of a cult. I caution against this because these games almost always degenerate into combat. Cultists are fanatical to their cause and generally these causes are not something that the players want to be involved with.

Again, a cult should be very well outlined. Their purpose should be simple and direct, otherwise they'll be just standing around waiting for the players to shoot them. One cult might be trying to steal an artifact from the player's house, another might be trying to seduce the player with carnal delights (try to LARP this ::smiles wickedly::)

Vampires

Okay folks, like it or not vampires have pretty much been permanently tied to us in popular culture. And I'm sure we've all met someone who claimed to be a vampire ( I suspect I dated half the female vampire population back in high school). So, what if it's true?

What if they do exist?

I mean, if you were a vampire, you'd want to conceal your existence. What better place to do it than with a group of people that laugh the wannabes right out of the room.

First off, obviously vampires don't kill when they eat. Otherwise the subculture would be more prominently featured in the news, less people would show up, and Convergence would be pretty lonely.

Second, they are probably in small numbers. The bigger a group, the more likely they are to be noticed.

Finally, your vampires should probably defy the stereotype. None of that "That night I took my vengeance on the coven for Claudia" bullshit. No pale prettyboys or stuffy Europeans with bad accents.

To become a vampire, the character must drink the blood of a vampire born on the same phase of the moon as the character. That way the change, quickening, embrace, whatever is harder to perform.

Vampires probably have a loose network and live by certain rules. But nothing too rigid.

Pick vampire powers and vulnerabilities that fit the game.

I have to go. They declared a blood hunt on me for telling you this. Heh, heh, heh.......

Subsection two: Experience points

As your character lives her life, she will learn things and become better at some things. This is represented by experience points. At the end of the game, the Ubergoth awards experience points to the players to help them reflect their character's growth. These points can be used to boost up the character's skills and Goth point total.

First off, exchanging 1 experience point yields a 1D10 skill bonus to any skill the character used IN THE GAME. A character's skill total can never be more than 95 in any single skill.

Second, a character can raise their Goth point maximum (not past ten). This means that the character strengthens her connection. To do this, they have to exchange the point total equal to the next highest maximum. Example: Rose's buddy Charlie has the Military Goth flaw, meaning that he started the game with a maximum of 5 Goth points. He wants to get the maximum boosted up to 6 or above, so after an adventure saving Rose from the brain sucking aliens from planet Zemtar, he has six experience points. Since 6 experience points equal the number of the Goth point maximum he wants (6 EP=6 GP maximum) he blows them all and gets the bonus.

Note that the character cannot skip numbers. If Charlie wanted a total of 7 GP maximum, he'd have to get 13 experience points, 6 for level 6 and another 7 for level 7.

Experience Point Awards

Note: DO NOT be too generous or too stingy with these. Players need all the help they can get, but they don't need to be nursed. If I were you, I'd lean toward stingy.

1 point-Automatic At the end of the game, all remaining players get 1 point free.

1 point-Success Award this if the characters successfully completed the task.

1 point-Role-playing The players got into character well. This point should be difficult to obtain.

1 point-The boy scout award this one if a player does something particularly noble, like saving kittens from a burning building or discovering a cure for cancer. Bear in mind that there is a fine line between bravery and stupidity. Offering yourself as a hostage to terrorists in exchange for your friends will win the point. Getting him to shoot you so that he runs out of bullets won't.

1 point-The Sesame Street award Give this to players if they have learned something. Get them to state what they have learned.

1 point-The 'Thank you for not being an asshole' award Award this to any player who is not disruptive and helps make the game fun.

1 point-Survived ONLY give this to players if they survived extreme physical danger at some point in the story.

1 point-Wisdom Award this to any player who exhibits great thinkin' abilities. Someone who comes up with a plan or figures out a puzzle or does something along those lines.

1 point-Romance The character caused something positive to happen in their love life over the course of the game.

Merits and Flaws

Merits and flaws cannot usually be bought off, but instead have to earned off. A Babygoth has to expand her sphere of influence before she can ditch the flaw.

These have to be gained or taken off during game play. Let's get back to Rose, poor old beaten, run over, slapped, bashed Rose.

When she started out, she had the flaw Shy, but after seeing how she managed to gain more social skills, the Ubergoth let her ditch the flaw. Conversely, she also has the merit Pretty, and she can't get rid of that until she gets in a disfiguring accident.

Subsection 3: Weapons

AKA Guns, knives, lunchboxes, and anything else you can use to smash almighty shit out of each other.

For you degenerate combat monkeys that can't even begin to conceive of role-playing without having a MAC-10 and six clips in the trunk of your car.

Individual weapons have a starting skill amount, placed in parenthesis right after the description. There is no generic skill category of something like "sword" because someone who knows how to use a katana is not trained to use a rapier. A character can improve her weapon skill as she would any other skill, usually through beginning character points or experience points.

Attacks per round, or APR, is how often a character can strike with a weapon on her turn. With most melee weapons a character can only hit once, but some guns, usually semi-auto or fully automatic, can make several attacks per turn.

Range (R) is fairly self-explanatory. How far can your attack reach.

Shots in clip (SC) is for how many bullets a gun is capable of holding. Note to the overly anal-retentive: I am NOT A GUN EXPERT. You don't agree with the stats, feel free to change 'em. Just please don't e-mail me just to bitch me out with shit like "Don't you know that the newer Mossberg models have a magazine capacity of 9, not 8! What kind of idiot are you?"

Damage (D) is how much harm the weapon causes. Usually represented in dice rolls. Note that in some weapons the damage lists the symbol db* after the damage roll. That means you add the character's damage bonus to the total damage caused.

Without further ado, here's the list.

Generic Knife-Kitchen, hunting, steak knife, etc. (35)/APR 1/R Touch/D=1D6=db*

Combat Knife-Those serrated, ultra sharp, mean looking motherfuckers. SWAT, Seals, military issue, etc. (30)/APR 1/R Touch/ D=1D4+2+db*

Throwing Knife-These knives are usually thin and weighed more on the blade than on the handle. If stabbed instead of thrown, use Generic Knife stats (Throw Skill)/APR 1/ R Character's strength trait in yards/D=1D6+db*

Switchblade/Butterfly Knife-Highly concealable.(40)/APR 1/R Touch/D=1D4+db*

Club-This could be a table leg, a baseball bat, a pool cue, a lead pipe, etc. Note that these aren't generally fatal, and they can be tough to wield at times. (35) /APR 1/R Touch/D=1D6+db*

Nunchucks-For the serious kung-fu shit. Note that if a player ever misses a nunchuck attack, she has to make a Dexterity trait roll or she hits herself. Nunchucks are usually illegal. (15)/ APR 1/ R Touch/D=1D8+2+db*

Brass Knuckles-These add strength to your punches. Easily concealed and highly illegal. (Punch Skill)/ APR 1/R Touch/D=Punch Damage+1D4

Shuriken - Shuriken, or throwing stars, are common features in ninja movies. Easy to hide, they are also weak weapons. They can be coated with poison. (Throw Skill)/APR 2/R STRx2 yards/D=1D3

Chainsaw-Pull one of these fuckers out and watch them turn white as a sheet. (15)/ APR 1/R touch/D=2D8

Katana-These elegant samurai weapons are said to be the vessel of their owner's souls. Primarily used two handed, they can be used less effectively with one(Modifiers apply). A straighter ninja version, called the ninja-to, also exists. (25)/APR 1/R Touch/D=1D10+2+db*

Lunchbox-Ever got hit with one of those metal lunchboxes? Trust me, it ain't pretty. (45)/APR 1/R Touch/D=1D4+1+db*

Rapier-Those thin little fencing foils. (40)/ APR 1/ R Touche/D=1D6+2+db*

Foot and Fist Padding-Used primarily in GMAS fights. Reduce damage from any punch or kick to half.

Camera Flash-If Alan Tesser ever reads this, thanks for being the victim that inspired this. I'll send you the photo. Anyone who has a flash burst in their eyes loses their next turn.

Six Shooter-Feeling like the Man With No Name? " When the chimes end, you begin." (30)/ APR 1/R 15 yards/SC 6/D=1D10+2

M16-Serious firepower. How anyone can work this into a game is beyond me. (35)/ APR 10/ R 30 yards/ SC 36/D=2D8

9mm. Handgun-Typical action hero gun. (30)/ APR 3/ R 20 yards/ SC 16/D=1D10

MAC-10-Submachine Gun. Favored in drive-bys in bad gangsta movies. (35)/ APR 2 or 8/ R 20 yards/ SC 32/D=1D10

.44 Magnum Revolver-"Now, you have to ask yourself one question. Do I feel lucky? Well do you, punk?" Note that using this gun will make you go deaf and the recoil will knock you flat on your ass. (25)/ APR 1/R 15 yards/SC 6/D=1D10+1D4+2

PSG1 Sniper Rifle- Featured on "The Martha Stewart Show". Yeah, right. (25)/ APR 1/R 110 yards/ SC 20/D=2D6+4

Mossberg 12 gauge shotgun-" Paranoid!!! Girl, when you rollin' with this, would you be paranoid?" (30)/APR 1/R 50 yards/ SC 8/D=1D10+6(slug rounds) 4D6 (buckshot)

Critical Wound

If your character succeeds on rolling under one-fifth of her attack skill on any weapon that goes into the body (bullets or knife blades) the damage of the weapon is doubled. This represents a blow that has caused serious damage to an internal organ.

Let's use Rose for a final example. Her Chainsaw skill is at 50. Let's say that in an external dream she attacks a vampire Blockbuster employee and rolls 10 or less (10 being one-fifth of 50). The regular damage of a chainsaw is 2D8 but since she struck a powerful blow, the damage goes up to 4D8.

That's all. If anyone wants anymore, e-mail me. I'll send you the stats and include an update in the Player's Guide. If anyone asks for shit like a rocket launcher or fragmentation grenades, I'm officially signing off to find a hobby with a little more sanity. I hear cordless bungee jumping is fun.

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