Bluebeard's Bride - Rules Light Erotic Horror [Extreme][CLOSED]

[clonkertink]

Bluebeard's Bride

Do you know the story of Bluebeard?

Once upon a time, there was a young woman from a poor family in a small village. One day, a nobelman came to town, and though he had many grand titles, everyone called him simply Bluebeard on account of the striking colour of his beard. When he laid eyes on the young woman, Bluebeard was immediately smitten and vowed to make her his wife, and set about wooing her, offering to provide for her family and entertaining her among fine noble company.

And while he was a charming, dashing, even imposing figure, there were rumours. Rumours of his uneven temper, rumours that he'd had other wives in the past. Rumours that never quite knew what happened to those prior wives.

But still he was handsome and charming and quite generous to elevate the young woman's family out of poverty, and so she agreed to marry him. The wedding was grand and festive, and afterwards Bluebeard whisked the young woman away to his grand mansion on a sprawling estate. But rather than consummate their marriage then and there, Bluebeard told her, "There is business I must attend to, and I shall be gone for some time."

He kissed the young woman, and handed her a large ring of keys. "But my home is your home now, and I should hate for you to be bored in my absence. This ring holds every key to every room in this house. Take it, explore, and indulge yourself to your heart's content. I ask only one thing." He picked out the smallest key and showed it to the young bride. "This smallest key is for my private chamber at the end of the great gallery. Every room is open to you, save that one. I forbid you to use this key."

With that he left, and the bride set about exploring her new home. She roamed galleries of fine art, dressed in exotic furs, luxuriated in warm marble baths scented with fine perfumes.

But all the while curiosity nagged at the back of her mind, about that one little room and it's one little key. The one place forbidden to her. Was this not her house as much as his now? Did her husband not trust her with his secrets? It called to her, and eventually, she could hold back no longer. Approaching the end of the grand gallery, she slipped the key into the lock, and turned it.

Now, there are many versions of this story. The bride is always caught in the act, and Bluebeard becomes enraged. Sometimes, she is saved by her brother. Other times, she is saved by her mother. But in the oldest tellings, she dies, and the bride's body is added to the neatly stacked rows of Bluebeard's other wives.

In this game, we'll tell our own version of the tale.

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The Game

Thanks for reading. I'm looking to run Magpie Games's "Bluebeard's Bride", an erotic horror RPG where you, as a group, will be playing Bluebeard's most recent bride. Each player will be taking on a facet of the bride's psyche, guiding her actions as she explores the house and approaches closer and closer to that one, final, forbidden door.

I am looking for three players for this game, each of whom will be selecting one of the five facets of the Bride's psyche:

• The Animus - You hold onto righteousness with both hands. Others admire your strength and bow to your will.
• The Fatale - You drip sensuality from your lips. Others watch your every move and crave for you to take control.
• The Mother - You walk with authority. Others ache for your approval and long for you to soothe their wounds.
• The Virgin - You see beauty where there is none. Others seek comfort in your warmth and delight in your obedience.
• The Witch - You braid magic from shadow and blood. Others desire a taste of your sin and pray for your undoing.

The rules of the game are extremely light, most requiring only narration, and only 3 requiring any dice rolls.

If you'd like to look at the cheat sheet rules for the game, they can be downloaded from the link below under "Core Book Downloads". It's free, but does that irritating thing where you still have to "buy" it by going through the checkout and paying 0 dollars.

Downloads

Try not to linger too long on the first four pages. Those are for me, your Groundskeeper. If would be proper and ladylike to direct your attention to the "Maiden Moves" and the pages that follow.

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What Is Required of You

This is not a traditional game where everyone brings their own character. You're all part of the same character. So there's not a lot to pitch there. What I'm really looking for in applications is a sense of you as a player, because this game can get really heavy, and I need to be sure I can trust all the players involved are committed to player safety and willing to be open about their own discomfort.

So really, all I need from applicants is a post expressing your interest, some thoughts on what you find intriguing about the game, and any questions you might have. I'd also like some mention of any particular limits you might have, especially as it relates to horror tropes. Stuff like "No razor blades" or "Please don't do anything to my eyeballs" or "Please don't harm animals". This will probably be more of a conversation than a one-and-done pitch.

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Safety

I really do want to emphasize this point. Bluebeard's Bride treads on a lot of territory that probably hits close to home for a lot of people. Sure there's going to be body horror and monsters and the like, but it tends to be themed around things like societal expectations of women, body image, misogyny, pregnancy and abortion, and sexual violence. And the game mechanics really try to ride the line of discomfort. This is one of the key rules:

When you shiver from fear, name the thing you are most afraid will happen; the Groundskeeper will tell you how it’s worse than you feared. Keep the ring and choose two, or pass the ring and choose one:

• It infects the Bride with its perversion.
• It has the Bride in its clutches right now.
• It speaks to you. Take one trauma... Just you, Sister.
  

That's not about the bride being uncomfortable - it's about you as a player. If you find yourself wincing a little, or squirming in your seat, or going, "Nope! Nope! Nope!", the game really wants you to be honest about that.

But that also means we're in rather dangerous roleplay territory, and so this is a full force X-Card game (not that the X-Card isn't available in my usual games, I just don't typically run things this extreme). If at any point something in the game becomes too extreme for you, you can play the X-Card, we'll take a step back, rewind, check in, and then find a different direction to take things.

Again, thanks for reading this far, and I look forward to hearing from people.

[schnookums]

This seems like a fascinating idea. I kinda love it to be honest. Heck, I'll toss my hat in if you'll have me.

[clonkertink]

This seems like a fascinating idea. I kinda love it to be honest. Heck, I'll toss my hat in if you'll have me.

Holy crap! I thought this post was dead on arrival! I'm thrilled to see someone take an interest. Happy to talk more about the game.

Did you have any particular questions? Was there a particular facet of the Bride that caught your interest?

[schnookums]

Well I didn't have a specific aspect thought out, just that I love erotic horror and the idea seemed so fascinating. If I had to choose right now it'd probably be The Animus or The Virgin

[ThisOneGal]

Alright, so it's Everyone Is John, but erotic horror instead of comedy. Color me intrigued. The Witch intrigues me. I'll give the rules a read over tonight/tomorrow. This screams weird indie RPG, which is a genre I love but my normal playgroup does not.

[clonkertink]

Alright, so it's Everyone Is John, but erotic horror instead of comedy. Color me intrigued. The Witch intrigues me. I'll give the rules a read over tonight/tomorrow. This screams weird indie RPG, which is a genre I love but my normal playgroup does not.

It absolutely is a weird indie RPG. Powered by the Apocalypse, but even that feels like a small part of it. The system does a lot even when you're not rolling dice.

Everyone is John is actually a surprisingly apt comparison. There are some moves available to all the Faces of the Bride, but one of them is always "in charge", signified by carrying the Wedding Ring. The ring gives you access to certain unique moves, but using them requires you to pass the ring to someone else. (It also means you're the one who suffers trauma when things go wrong).

[Amalthea]

Oh this seems like such a unique game

[clonkertink]

Oh this seems like such a unique game

Well hello, Striga! Do let me know if you have any questions!

We're at three interested parties. This game looks like it might just happen. >.>

[Amalthea]

Well hello, Striga! Do let me know if you have any questions!

We're at three interested parties. This game looks like it might just happen. >.>

Hi tink it’s been a while since we were in a game together.

I haven’t had a chance to read the rules yet but I’m definitely interested in this

[WickedLittleWitch]

I am intrigued. The Mother aspect calls to me! I’ve never do e a system RP before though. I am also squeamish of ANYTHING bad happening to children.

[Amalthea]

I am intrigued. The Mother aspect calls to me! I’ve never do e a system RP before though. I am also squeamish of ANYTHING bad happening to children.

Wicked ! Glad to see you

[clonkertink]

I am intrigued. The Mother aspect calls to me! I’ve never do e a system RP before though. I am also squeamish of ANYTHING bad happening to children.

Oooh, lovely! Thanks for the note on limits.

The system is very light on rules, so it's a great place to ease into it. Most of them are entirely narrative. For example:

When you care for someone (servant or horror), you ease their suffering and bridle their torment.
They may demand a demonstration of your sincerity.

This is one of the moves you have access to - you can do something nice for someone, and as GM I'll ease that character's suffering a bit, which might make it easier to talk to them. But... in a place like Bluebeard's Manor, a lot of people have trust issues, so they might not be receptive to your help without a little proof.

There are three moves that the sister with the ring can perform, that involve rolling dice. You roll 2 six-sided dice, and add one of your stats to the roll. 7+ is a success, though 7-9 adds a complication. They look something like this:

When you caress a horror, roll +Blood. On a hit, the horror is swayed by your stroke; direct what was intended for you to another victim in the house.
On a 7-9, it will shift its attention, but only if you participate in some way.

Overall, though, the game mechanics are almost entirely narrative. Dice rolls are rare, you narrate certain actions and I tell you what happens (sometimes with strings attached). As Groundskeeper, I roll no dice - I just have a list of suggestions of bad things that can happen when someone fails a dice roll, or I just feel like the game needs a little extra excitement.

Well, it sounds like we're pretty close to launch. Honestly, I'm happy to take all four of you guys. I'm planning to launch my Maximum X-Crawl game tonight, so I might formally close this thread tomorrow and get the ball rolling.

[clonkertink]

Alright, I'm calling it! I've started an OOC for the game below:

https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=361106.0