31 Days / 31 Characters - BLOODY SUNDAY

This character is an NPC with a rather strange origin, one I admit I may not be remembering accurately. I'll be doing the best I can to recall as much as I can. I created it and have been using it across a variety of different genres and systems since sometime in the 1980s. It's been a while since I've brought it to the table but would like to find a way to do so this coming year. 

Character: Bloody Sunday

AKA: Bloody Sabbath, The Bloody Gentleman, The Bloody Lady, Bloody Mary

Player: Non-Player Character

System(s): Villains and Vigilantes. Stalking The Night Fantastic, Chill, Ghostbusters, Champions, and more.
 
Nature: Numerous Short Campaigns and a handful of Long Campaigns. 

Gamemaster: Adam Dickstein

Circa: The first version of the character appeared in the early 1980s. The last incarnation was probably used around the early-to-mid 2000s. 

Origins: I created the character of Bloody Sunday for a creepy short story I wrote for...some reason. It was most likely a school assignment of some sort. I barely recollect the details except that that character was originally called Bloody Sabbath and the story was focused on the theme of pointless or unnecessary violence. 

That theme remained a key component of the character, who first showed up in an RPG as a supervillain in our Heartland League campaign (mentioned in the previous entry). According to that campaign, the organization known as Intercrime was lead by someone named 'The Crime Lord', only that was a title and not an particular individual. At some point early in the campaign, the then current Crime Lord was murdered and replaced by a mysterious criminal called Bloody Sunday. We would eventually confront him only to discover 'he' was some kind of supernatural entity; essentially the physical incarnation of senseless violence. Weakened by the heroes saving lives and preventing others from taking them, Bloody Sunday flees the scene vowing vengence.

I've used the concept of this entity again and again through the years in various campaigns,  with slight alterations to its demeanor, appearance, and even its abilities. Some of my favorite versions of Blood Sunday have manifested in Comedic Horror games such as Stalking The Night Fantastic and Ghostbusters, always easing off the humor and upping the creepiness. I often portray these incarnations of Bloody Sunday as self-hating and sad, not wanting to be what it is but unable to be what its not. I know, its sounds a little complicated for what is basically a being of otherwise mindless anger but that's what makes the character more than just another scary monster. 

Backstory: There have been several variants of Bloody Sunday and trying to write up all of them would make this entry twice as long as it already is. What I'll do is split the difference between the versions and give a sort of gestalt interpretation of the character. This will be less Comic Book Supervillain and more like my preferred way of portraying Bloody Sunday as a tortured supernatual being.

American legends and folklore surrounding Bloody Sunday date back to the Revolutionary War but tales of similar spirits abound in many cultures, especially those that would have been present during the early European colonization of North America. In addition to the stories of of American and Mexican Indigenous tribes, ghostly beings in white with blood stained clothing are related by the England, Irish, Germans, and countless others. Bloody Sunday's mythology shares many elements of these other entities but we'll focus on the points unique to itself. 

Bloody Sunday appears during or just after acts of violence considered senseless or extreme. It is especially likely to show up if, for example, soldiers continued fighting after a ceasefire was called. If innocent bystanders or civilians are killed in a conflict between two other parties it is practically a guarantee that the Bloody Sunday entity would manifest. 

If bloodshed could have been avoided but wasn't, expect a visit from this disquieting spectre.

Overview: It has been seen as a male, a female, or an androgynous being, usually around 6 feet tall, finely dressed in quality white garments slightly behind the times (whatever those times may be). Its garments always display blood stains, ranging from a light dappling to being virtually soaked. Some white is always visible however.

The being's facial features are never clear, completely covered in a blend of blood and shadow. Its head is covered in a torn sheet, blanket, or some kind of tattered hat. The phantom leaves behind proof of its passing (though doesn't if it doesn't wish too), most commonly drops of blood or bloodied footprints. It moves very quietly when it wishes to and rarely speaks. When it does, its voice is low, raspy,  and laced with sorrow and anger. 

When Bloody Sunday is present, it attempts to make bad situations worse. It will spur on or antagonize the most short-tempered, violent people present in an attempt to cause even more fighting and death. It rarely goes into battle itself, prefering to generate violent acts and chaos while fading into the background.

Such conditions do empower it however and if directly attacked by anyone capable of doing so - other supernatural entities or those with weapons that can hit ghostly beings - Bloody Sunday will engage opponents with the goal of getting away as quickly as possible. Apparently, Bloody Sunday gains nothing from causing pain and injury on its own. 

The entity possesses incredible strength and speed, made greater by the amount of bloodshed and violence that has recently occurred [or is currently happening]. It has thrown individuals across parking lots and smashed other straight through car doors but has never be seen lifting a car, so its exact level of might remains in question. As implied above, it can not be harmed by physical hits or conventional weapons but only other paranormal beings and/or attacks specifically designed to effect such beings (such as certain Magic Spells, the Ghostbusters' Particle Streams, etc.). Once it gets far enough away from its opponents - say 50 ft. or more - Bloody Sunday will disappear, rapidly fading from sight. 

The Highlights:

A rash of very brutual turf wars between various New York street gangs was getting out of hand and starting to spill out into the surrounding neighborhoods and threatening common citizens. Bureau 13, a super-secret organization dedicated to protecting people from supernatural and paranormal dangers, is called in to investigate a possible unnatural cause for what was happening. After a few days of looking into the problem, the Bureau 13 Agents encountered evidence and references to the Bloody Sunday entity, soon after coming into direct contact with it.

Using a combination of occult items and paranatural abilities, a few of the Agents delayed the entity (and got their butts kicked pretty badly) as the remaining members of their team talked the gangbangers out of continuing their foolish conflict. It was a truly heart felt speech by one of the Bureau 13 operatives who was in a gang himself as a young boy and appealed to the thugs sense of family and community in a way most outsiders wouldn't relate to. Bloody Sunday got less and less powerful and eventually departed by disappearing before the Agents' eyes.

The Ghostbusters appearance of Bloody Sunday was awesome as I remember but I can't picture the details and specifics. There was humor in the way the PCs interacted with each other and with this being, at least initially, but the overall narrative was actually serious and spooky. 

Game Info:

I don't have any of the write-ups for this character (think I lost them in a transfer of files to a new computer long ago). Instead, I did a new information sheet using my homebrewed Ghostbusters kitbash (combining Ghostbusters, InSpectres, and ALIEN's Year Zero system).

Notes:

I think of this character as falling into the same [or into a very similar] category as The Red Rider. I have a few of these. Hmm. For a guy who isn't really into the Horror genre, I definitely have some spooky NPCs, no?

What makes this character interesting and cool in my personal opinion is how the players and their PCs deal with him. With the right group, Bloody Sunday can generate some intense moments and fantastic dialogue. With a more traditional party of hack-and-slash types, this character is either wasted or - if you are a particularly evil GM - their activities would result in making the entity incredibly powerful. Imagine setting up situations where the PCs could talk their way out of them but resort to violence instead. When they finally encounter Bloody Sunday they'd be facing off against an extremely dangerous opponent indeed.  

Legacy:

It's been quite a while since I've made use of this character but I'd love to put him in effect in a game of InSane, Castle in Gray, or other Japanese Horror RPGs. 

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Barking Alien

Abject Horror

As Halloween approaches, I feel obligated to discuss a genre that has never really endeared itself to me.

Horror.

I have never liked the Horror genre.

I have read the likes of Poe, Shelley and Lovecraft, and while I was indeed fascinated by their works, nothing in them made me feel the desire to read more beyond what I had.

Oh I've read King and Koontz, Barker and Rice, but with the exception of a few books from each, I just don't care for the type of story they tell. Except Koontz. I've really never read a great Koontz book..

I've seen numerous classic horror films, from the cinema's golden age to the Exorcist, The Omen, Rosemary's Baby and The Shining, up to the more modern fare such as Halloween, A Nightmare on Elm Street and The Blair Witch Project. I know, those aren't all that modern. There is a reason. I grew tired of watching those kinds of movies by that point.

I don't find it fun to be scared, or grossed out without purpose. That, in a nutshell, is the key to my issue with the genre. Horror, not to put to fine a point on it, seems purposeless to me. What it is, and what it does, just doesn't grab me as there seems to be no reason for it. There is no arc for most of the characters, as they are just there to die. There are no highlights to the story, as it's all just a grind to reach the end, where there may be one survivor, or there may not be.

I prefer a story with an obstacle to overcome, characters who may, or may not over come it, but ones that grow, and accomplish something, even if it is just a minor understanding of who they are, and what their universe is all about.

Lovecraft approaches this, than the character dies or goes mad and well, who cares.

As an element added to other genres...Horror is awesome.

Alien. Ghostbusters. The original versions of Grimm's Fairy Tales.

I also love ghost stories, and tales of the strange and unexplained. Not horror per se, but creepy and mysterious thrillers. Ah, that's the stuff.

One of the reasons for this feeling I have about the genre stems from its use in RPGs. For an RPG to emulate the genre with any real authenticity, nearly every PC must die before the story's end. Depending on how you set it up, there is not a lot of long term play value there.

Furthermore, there is often no hope of survival. Call of Cthulhu, the penultimate example of a successful, and popular horror RPG, is essentially about the world being inevitably consumed, and your PCs dying, or going mad. There is not going to be a real end game victory. The 'heroes' are not going to 'win'. They have no chance of doing so.

While some may love this, and from a literary and philosophical point of view I can see the appeal, I don't really get it for a role playing game. To me it's a GM railroad of the worst kind. It doesn't matter what you do, I am the GM, I am running Call of Cthulhu, so ipso facto, you lose.

When I have run horror...what? Yes, I've run horror campaigns, or campaigns with a major horror genre slant to them. How can I run horror if I don't like it? Have a little faith...

Where was I? Oh yes, when I've run horror, I've run it more from the angle of 'There are frightening, and unnerving things in this world that may very well be from the next one. If left unchecked, they can cause a lot of pain and misery. The PCs are here to prevent that.'

In the words of Prof. Trevor Bruttenholm from the first Hellboy film, "There are things that go bump in the night, Agent Myers. Make no mistake about that. And we are the ones who bump back."

I've run Chill, Stalking The Night Fantastic and a rather creepy Ghostbusters campaign (a little more horror, and a little less comedy than the default version of that particular Horror Comedy). In each instance, I was able to allow the players time to like, and eventually love their characters, and some of the NPCs around them. Threatening them with harm or death at the hands, fangs, or tentacles of various unnatural opponents generated plenty of terror.

In addition, since I adhere to the idea that ghosts are trapped in the in-between place that is neither life nor death for a reason, getting rid of a ghost doesn't always require zapping it with proton streams, or banishing it with the proper incantation. Sometimes you need to get to know why it's still here, and doing what it's doing. To that end, I actually made one of my players in our Ghostbusters game cry (The player. Real tears.) because the ghost's story, and it's affect on her living relatives was so sad.

I am actually really looking forward to running my kind of horror again.

It is not the horror of more blood coming out of the Human body than we even have. It is not the obvious, in-your-face monster that better fits a D&D game. It's not the unstoppable hockey masked killer who seems more at home in a Superhero game as it is able to survive anything short of a nuclear warhead.

I like chilling, hair-raising, edge-of-your-seat strangeness that is disquieting because you don't know what is going on. I like the idea that you can fight back with knowledge and ingenuity. The shades of night are coming for you, but if you're careful and crafty, you can take back the night, and perhaps shed a little light on them at the same time.

I like smart horror.

Happy Halloween everyone.

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Barking Alien