When I played “Nighted” at Origins courtesy of Lurking Fears’ fantastic GMs, it was one of the most fun, scary, and memorable Call of Cthulhu sessions I’d ever experienced. I knew I wanted to run it for my home group, but I was inspired to move the action to 1890s New Orleans. I’ve since run that remix at Dreadfest and Con of the North in the Twin Cities, and I expect I’ll break it out again someday. As part of that adaptation, I made changes to the cast of characters to increase the diversity of the cast somewhat, make them feel at home in New Orleans, and finally evoke and subvert some of the tropes and stock characters of the Cthulhu Mythos.
Chaosium’s Secrets of New Orleans (2009) was invaluable as I researched the city and the people who made it home. The original “Nighted” scenario by Ash DelVillan was published in Issue #2 of Bayt al Azif and available on DriveThruRPG.com in digital and physical formats.
Without further ado, below you can find six pre-generated characters to use in any 7th edition Cthulhu by Gaslight game. Note that they were created especially for one-shot scenarios set circa 1890 in the storied city of New Orleans, and their skills and backgrounds reflect the diversity of that city. The available occupations include an architect, an antiquarian, a big game hunter, a blues singer, a police detective, and a zoologist.
Mechanically, their sheets represent relatively inexperienced investigators. Their characteristics were determined by the 460 point-buy option, with skills purchased based on occupation and EDU. However, some characters’ skills (especially Language skills) were manually tweaked to better suit their backgrounds and role in the scenario. As a Keeper, I prioritized vibes and fun over balance or fidelity to the character creation and advancement rules.
The sheets themselves lack first names so that players may name themselves and decide their character’s gender identity and pronouns. Personal Description, Traits, Ideology & Belief, etc. are also left for the players to fill in should they wish.
Click here to download the ZIP file (7.57 MB) with all the character sheet PDFs as well as a Keeper’s reference sheets PDF.
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Featured Image: St. Charles Avenue, New Orleans via Wikimedia Commons
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