WONDERLARPS

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.

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."

Costuming for The Wreckers

Before saying anything specific about costuming, let me just say that we certainly don't expect everyone to have a perfectly historically accurate costume for this game. Unless you really enjoy costuming, feel free to go for the general feel of the time rather than historical accuracy. We'll give suggestions for several levels from the fairly easy to put together from things you can buy to acutal vintage patterns. We also have several different classes represented in our game and will give suggestions for all of them.

Mens Costume

While researching this, I discovered it is far easier to find information for women's dress of this time period than mens. The best that I was able to find is at Ageless Patterns. (www.agelesspatterns.com) Look under "Men." Unfortunately, the patterns are in no particular order. The ones that looked the best to me were:
1870 Grey Smoking Jacket -- (MEN 3)
1877 Gentleman's Muslin Shirt (MEN 4)
Victorian Shirt (MEN 7)
1845-1920 Men's Victorian & Edwardian Shirts (MEN 8)
1850-1915 Men's Frock Coat & Vest (MEN 8)
1878 Men's Sack Suit (MEN 8)
Two Mid 19th Century Shirts (MEN 10)
1870-1901 One Piece Apron Front Overalls (MEN 10)

Those patterns give a general feel of the way men dressed at the time.

Specific suggestions:

Working class -- some of you will be sailors or fishermen or other working class people. A plain white shirt with the sleeves rolled up and nondescript pants with suspenders will do. Or the Overalls. Specifically for fishermen, especially if your character happens to be Irish -- a plain natural colored aran sweater would be very appropriate.

Upper classes -- a nicer shirt, nicer pants, possibly a vest.

Of course, if you or someone you know want to make something based on the above, I fully encourage it. I have no connection with ageless patterns and have never ordered anything from them. They merely had the largest slection of patterns I found.

If your character has other costuming needs, there will be suggestions in your character sheet.

Women's Costumes:

Women's fashion underwent some rather drastic changes between 1875 and 1876. We are in a small New England town, and it is perfectly reasonable and realistic for women to be wearing the fasions of the past few years. Very few of you would have had the means to be very up to date in fashion anyway. In the early 1870's, large bustles were fashionable. In 1876, the bustle disappeared, with the fullness of the skirt which had been held up by the bustle being gathered to the back and draped, with no hardware to support it. I encourage you to go look at a bunch of pictures of patterns at www.agelesspatterns.com, particularly the dress patterns, paying attention to the years of the patterns. Please note -- for most of these styles to really look right, you do need the proper undergarments, especially a corset.

To take the easy way out, a long full skirt and a victorian blouse will do fine. Simpler blouses for the less wealthy women, fancier for the wealthy women.

Here's a cool site on hairstyles of the time that I found: Hair it is

Again, if your character has specific costuming needs, it will be mentioned in your character sheets.

The Town Square

Set back from the waterfront without ever losing scent of it, Clairmouth Commons is a functional, practical town square and the sight of holiday fairs, political rallies and seasonal market days. Many of the main buildings of the town are located on the square, including the First Congregational Church, Town Hall, The Whaler Inn, Perry's Dry Goods and Hardware, Stuart's Stables and the Town Meeting Hall.

The Whaler Inn
This Colonial Inn hosts fourteen guestrooms and some of the finest food in the area. Locals and travellers meet here to socialize and enjoy good fellowship.

Town Meeting Hall
This Barn was recently converted for larger town meetings and civic events after the hall in the Town Hall was deemed "diminutive and not suitable for a town of our size and needs." While cold, it has proved useful on many occasions in the last three years.

Town Hall
This small suite of offices has long required renovation. It is overloaded with old records and various town registries.

The First Congregational Church
Presided over by Father Ames, the First Congregational church runs a service very similar to Roman Catholicism for a Protestant church. It's doors are open to all worshippers.

Perry's Dry Goods and Hardware
One of the better suppliers in the area, Perry's has a reputation for getting quality goods at surprisingly good prices. Some say that the family business is driven hard, but others approve of the industry of the owners.

Stuart's Stables
William Stuart runs a fine set of stables and has long been considered a better horse trainer than most.

The Northern Track

The band of woods to the North of Town is a rare tract of primordial forest, set aside in conservation by the Prescotts in 1722.

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