Gothica
A New World of Horror
Gothica is a colony of a new continent in RoF found within the middle years of the first epoch of flame. Found and partially exploored within the first few decades of the 100s PR, Gothica's settlements swelled with the worldwide invasion of the Xhenonics in the second century. Fleeing settlers of all kinds and walks of life found new homes in the strange continent. Some found their riches. Some found the manifold mysteries and terrors that lay in this strange new land. Gothica is host to a myriad of magical creatures, ancient ruins, strange geometries, and natural bounties. The new colonies established found a land without living inhabitants for possibly good reasons as outside the cities of Gothica strange terrors body-rending and mind-bending await. Among the dusty hamlets, walled towns, cosmoplitan metropolises is a plethora of secrets, sin, and scintillating horrors lying under the surface.
Gothica is a setting in development that will play host to thriller and horror settings found in books like Lovecraft Mythos, Steven King Stories, and others. The setting will set the stage for mystery, horror, crime, and supernatural genres. Even the natural is not safe in the reaches of Gothica as one can find themselves trapped in a bayou by vicious killers or stuck on a snowy peak with isolation driving one mad.
Gothica differs from Velas, Xatla, and Aizarin in that Gothica does not have the natural bulwark of multiple established realms that grew in their ability to combat monsters and the dark over the course of millennia. Gothica as a new colony now has multiple prosperous settlements but the settlers are in greater danger than even a peasant living in the borderlands between Jaewa and the Rasp or Uladreng and the vampiric lands of Xatla. Gone is the coralling of the undead into a compliant nation-wide arrest like the Court of the Night or the isolation of the squabbling lords of Groza. Now there is true wilderness once again.
Contractors make the journey to Gothica in search of riches and fame. Monster hunting is quite popular and there's always something going bump in the night that could use a claymore or a six-shooter to stop its disturbing racket. The faithful of the old world also have set up shop with temples, orders, and missions to light up the night. Taming the land requires effort wrought with blood, iron, spell, and prayer.
Contractors make the journey to Gothica in search of riches and fame. Monster hunting is quite popular and there's always something going bump in the night that could use a claymore or a six-shooter to stop its disturbing racket. The faithful of the old world also have set up shop with temples, orders, and missions to light up the night. Taming the land requires effort wrought with blood, iron, spell, and prayer.
The cities are great places of commerce with seedy criminal underbellies, political machines with hands in multiple pies, and unrest. These bulwarks against the night are not quite the adamantine strongholds against the intrigue of the living day.
Gothica vs Shudder (Maxim of Steel)
While both lands are mystical, strange, and dangerous in their nature, Shudder offers a more structured core playing style with its dungeon-crawl-like setup and the settlement system. Shudder can be used outside of this diving and buildup and the outside of the reach of the towers is a strange, dangerous, anomalous, enigmatic, and magical place. The main difference between them is drawing more upon frontier stories and Gothica is drawing more upon horror stories. Shudder resembles the Wild West mixed with STALKER and a splish-splash of Fallout. Gothica resembles settings containing spooky stories about swamp cannibal clans, deadly hauntings, secret parasitic aristocracies, deadly predators, and remnants of old dead gods. While there are plans for western horror once this core setting is developed, it still will be a different feel from Shudder.
The current regions of Gothica are based on different genres one can explore within the setting.
Gothica is meant to be played in Epoch 2 much like Shudder.
Tavertland - New England Gothic. Borieauxland - Swamp and Southern Gothic.
Genea - Midwestern... Gothic.
Tavertland is settled mainly by Thralish, Alarians, and Talahvir. Borieauxland is mainly settled by the Ravoir and Tarkarians. Genea is a melting pot of everybody with New Hope serving as a grand cosmopolitan trade port and central government of the new colony.
Tavetland is settled by good godsfearing folk in hamlets and small towns with deep and dark secrets lying underneath the surface.
Borieauxland is made up of a series of swamps, marshes, and highlands settled by settlements and swamp clans.
Genea is split between being mountainous and flat and settled by a multitude of different cultures and kinds making their living from mining and other pursuits. There are foul things in the mountains and you may end up as one if you're not careful.
In the future, the rest of the continent may open up for western horror ala Deadlands.
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