Gothic Fuzion
"Gothic Fuzion" is a Fuzion RPG (based on the Champions ruleset) campaign run during 1999 with the Houston-area RPG group.
The campaign followed the player characters as they lived out their lives normally in 2019 unaware of the coming pandemic to come in 2020. Unlike the real timeline of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) as an illness caused by a virus that can spread from person to person, this alternate reality's virus is much more deadly with far-reaching ramifications, with death coming 100-fold then the resurrection of the dead.
The first episode was played on April 10, 1999, and continued on a weekly basis until June 26,1999, with the game sessions happening on Saturday evenings.
Campaign Setting
This reality is nearly identical to what has been recorded in 1890. The American West is an expansive frontier only recently connected by the great transcontinental railroad. In Africa, the European powers are in a state of colonization as countries vie for territory and resources. And on the murky streets of London, Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson continue their tireless crusade of bringing the criminal element to justice.
Player Characters
Main Article: Player Characters of Gothic Fuzion
The main function of this campaign is a plot-base storyline that is character-driven by the actions of the party.
Important NPCs
As the campaign is self-contained with the area of the zombie-infected United States, the players have an opportunity to meet and establish a variety of NPC contacts, allies, and enemies. All NPCs have an equal importance to the campaign, as each one tends to add enrichment with major NPCs might only be seen from afar if the characters to not have the family name to influence. Most NPCs are solitary folk with one primary base of operations as it is dangerous to travel outside of established towns and cities.
At the outset of the campaign, the PCs live and work in the city of Houston.
Episode Guide
Main Article: Episode Guide for Gothic Fuzion
Each weekend, the players assembled to play what has been designated as an episode. Each week, a recap of the most recent episode’s happenings was posted to allow those who have been missing for many or few episodes to get a feel for what they have missed. Any postings on this website has the same information given out each week via social media, although much of the personal commentary was left out.
Places of Note
Main Article: Places of Note for Gothic Fuzion
The 1890s Boston is part of the "Gilded Age", a phrase coined by Mark Twain, referring to the seemingly profitable era that was riddled with crime and poverty. Combined with the supernatural and awash with magical essence, Boston is the center of this reality with the players living out their lives, only to slowly connect unnatural persons and events intersecting their worlds.
Rules and Redundancy
Main Article: Rules and Redundancy for Gothic Fuzion
The main goal of the campaign is to have fun. Unfortunately, there are times when rules can come into conflict when players are attempting to achieve their goals. House Rules allow for situations like these to be mitigated when there is insufficient information to deal with specific encounters. The Redundancy aspect reflects on additional content which adds depth and complexity to the campaign and clears up any gray areas.
Weapons Locker
Core rule books contain a plethora of melee and ranged weapons for the players to choose from. However, there are times when the characters encounter weapons and items of power that go beyond the scope of what is readily available for purchase. Herein lies an inventory of non-standard items encountered throughout the campaign, from the mundane to the spectacular.
Gothic Fuzion by Enrique Meseguer, Important NPCs by John Thomson, Places of Note by City of Boston Archives
All artwork on this page falls under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.