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The Horizon 1 Site

HORIZON IS OVER!

The webpage remains up as a permanent archive of game material, mainly for the benefit of nostalgic players - although if you'd like to run a Horizon-inspired game for your friends, that's wonderful too. Horizon will be succeeded by Legacyin Trinity term of 2006.

If you like you can look at the (sketchy, incomplete) GM notes as well.

Ghoulish Quirks

Ghoulish Quirks relate to ghouls.

You should buy these quirks if you want your character to:

  • be a ghoul, or one of a few, rare human friends (or enemies) of the ghouls.
  • be especially favoured or dishonoured of the ghoul community.
  • be a hunter of cultists and murderers, or a collector of the dead.
  • be an especially monstrous-looking ghoul, or pass as human.

Ghoul (3)
You are a Ghoul, a member of the inhuman race brought to Horizon from the Treacherous Lands by the Emperor an age ago. In return for their place in the city, your people are tasked with disposing of the dead and hunting down murderers and cultists. You appear strange and brutish to humans, with a powerful lower jaw, long arms and deep sunken regions around your eyes. Your ancestry as a creature born of the treacherous union of the powers has various effects.

  • If you wish you may choose Fire or Stars for your Affinity.

  • If you eat a significant proportion of the corpse of a human within two months (one turn) of death, you glean some of their memories; the GMs will tell you one strong emotion they were experiencing at the time of death, and one fact associated with the death. These are not guarenteed to be helpful. You will also be told if the human had any links with a god, and if so which god but not the nature of the link. Ghouls taste such links. You may also get other bits and pieces at GM discretion.

  • On the other hand, if you eat the corpse of another Ghoul, you get a flood of their memories, emotions and dreams. The GMs will describe this to you, in possibly disturbing graphic detail. You get at least as much information as you would from eating a human's corpse, and possibly a lot more. Be aware, though, that the sheer unstructured quantity of information you get will make extracting useful details more difficult.

  • You may take Shamanic skills without additional social stigma (humans assume that all Ghouls are Power worshipping loonies), since this is the main religion of the Ghouls.

    As a Ghoul in Horizon, you also get certain rights:

  • If you are bearing the city's coat of arms, prominently displayed, you have the same rights as a Watchdog. This is to enable Ghouls to hunt murderers and cultists. In theory, if questioned by a member of the Loyal Order of Hounds, you must be able to convince them that you are engaged on business relating to the pursuit of murderers or cultists, but in practice this is very rare. The problem is with other Ghouls. See below.

  • If you are wearing a long, black cloak then you are officially engaged in the collection of corpses, and most humans will do their best to ignore you.

  • The human authorities tend to leave you unmolested.

    But as a Ghoul in Horizon, you also have certain difficulties.

  • Humans don't trust you and don't like you. Ghouls are associated with death, murder and cultism as well as being Treacherous.

    At heart most humans fear your kind. This will affect all your dealings with them. In particular if you are trying to get a job outside the Ghoul district then you will have a very hard time.

  • The Ghoul community is incredibly close knit and its government is essentially an autocracy by consent. There are few formal mechanisms of rulership but the prevailing culture is one of complete deference to the old and the worthy. In this community everybody knows what everybody else is doing, and whether they are behaving appropriately; if not, the leaders will soon direct the community to ostracise the individual, which is a terrible punishment for a Ghoul in a city of hostile humans. This is typical of the attitude taken by the community leaders: they know what is best for the community, and it has better follow their lead.

  • This strong ghoul leadership has its nose in everybody's business most of the time, and unlike human authorities will make life hard for you.

  • Under the laws of Horizon, you must live in the Ghoul quarter. This is located in the Slums, but neither the Three Families nor any other mob are foolish enough to claim it as their territory. As with nobles, you have free choice of which mob to join.

    It is the governing council of the Ghoul community - the Circle - that decides who is to make up the hunting and corpse collecting squads. Although in theory any Ghoul can wander around with a city badge, in practice if the elders hear that you have done so without their authorisation (or without being recruited on the spot by a squad) then you will be subject to horrible vengeance. Burning with hot irons or maiming have in the past been meted out to those who 'dishonour the community' in this way.

    In general the Circle relies on a few 'professional' Hunters to lead the squads for them.

    Ghouls buying day job quirks should note whether they are working inside the Ghoul quarter or not. If not, keep in mind that you will be feared an loathed by your coworkers and employer. If they are in the Ghoul quarter, note that your every action will be scrutinised by your neighbours and business partners.

    In Good Standing (3)
    You are In Good Standing in the Ghoul community; you are respected, as well as liked by the elders and Circle members. This translates into considerable unofficial power, as a bad word or reproving glance from you can seriously damage the reputation of many other Ghouls. For a tradesman (for example), this could mean the difference between success and failure in business. You will need to decide why you are In Good Standing.

    Note that although it is not a "ghouls only" merit, it is extraordinarily rare for a human to have this. You will need to dazzle the GM team with the brilliance of your reason why a human character should have this.

    Dishonoured (-3, ghouls only)
    Your character has done something to offend the rigid, stifling structure of the Ghoul social order. Decide what. Other Ghouls will ostracise you except when absolutely necessary, and will not do business with you or employ you unless there is no other choice. You will never be asked to join hunts or collection squads except in direst need. Redemption may be possible, but it will be difficult.

    Anathema (-1, non-ghouls only)
    The Ghoul community of Horizon detests you. Decide why. Since the Ghouls are strictly law-abiding, this is a survivable condition for a non-Ghoul; their own codes of honour prevent them from actually framing you for murder or cultism. However, they have myriad subtle ways of making your life difficult or uncomfortable - and woe betide you if they get the opportunity to link your name with murder or cultism. Ghoul NPCs and PCs will generally be aware of your status as Anathema, as this is the sort of news that the Circle ensures is passed around the community.

    Direful Aspect (-1, ghouls only)
    Other Ghouls merely consider you a trifle ugly, but there is something about your appearance that humans find hideous, repulsive, grotesque, and horrifying. It's partially looks, and partially an undefinable something about you. Humans react adversely to you, and you are extremely unlikely ever to get a job outside the Ghoul quarter.

    Dude Looks Like a Human (1, ghouls only)
    Most Ghouls are obviously not human. Not you. In Ghoul society you are something of a freak, but it's to your advantage. With appropriate preparation (clothes, haircut, accent, perhaps a little makeup) you can pass as a human. With this merit alone you cannot fool anyone who has had close contact with your Ghoul persona (which is likely to be a significant proportion of Horizon's tightknit Ghoul community), or a medical examination.