Masque of the Red Death and Other Tales
 |
|
| Author | William W. Connors |
|---|---|
| Genre | Role-playing games |
| Publisher | TSR |
|
Publication date
|
1994 |
Masque of the Red Death and Other Tales is an accessory for the 2nd edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.
Red Death refers to a malevolent entity spawned in ancient Egypt during the "golden age of magic." It proceeded to wreak havoc for a few thousand years, promoting violence and catalyzing disasters. By the late 19th century, the era in which the game unfolds, the world totters on the edge of the abyss. The player characters are poised to challenge the Red Death and its minions. The Masque of the Red Death setting combines real-world history with legends and literature. Thus, necromancers practice dark arts among the slave traders of New Orleans, while Buenos Aires agricultural barons attempt to squelch rumors of monstrous winged serpents. Spirit creatures stalk the settlers of the American West. Sherlock Holmes shares a railroad car with Count Dracula. Unlike the basic Ravenloft setting, where mysterious mists divide the realm into distinct settings, the Gothic Earth setting has no divisions.
Masque begins by replacing the traditional character classes with soldiers (like fighters, but can’t specialize in favored weapons), adepts (wizards with limited magic and no school specialization), mystics (priests with limited magic), and tradesmen (like thieves, but without thief abilities). All player characters must be human. Additionally, player characters are encouraged to select character kits from a list of vocations such as Cavalryman, Journalist, and Laborer. Nonweapon proficiencies, optional in the standard AD&D game, are required here; among the choices are Chemistry, Photography, and Criminology.
Masque also introduces Ravenloft setting players to gunpowder. Armor provides no protection against firearms used at short range, and only modest protection at medium and long ranges. Characters attempting to empty their guns may take advantage of a two-part combat round, making half their attacks in part one, the rest in part two. To reflect the increased damage from bullets, any damage die showing a 6 is rerolled.
A caster cannot use spells unless the caster makes a successful proficiency check. Magical items are rare, and in some cases, unavailable. Even acquiring a spell is risky; if a character attempting to learn a new spell fails a System Shock roll, he loses one point of Strength or Constitution.
...
Wikipedia