Defeat is an Orphan
Contents
Scenario Overview
The player characters were all residents or employees of The New Old Way Home, a well-run orphanage outside of Boston, Massachusetts, around the turn of the century. The Home was always resource-constrained, but always did its best.
They've all been called back now for a ceremony marking the final closing of the Home - it held on as long as it could, but political and social changes have made orphanages largely untenable by this time.
A good, safe time will be had by all.
Helpful Resources
Mechanical Game Information
| Player | Investigator | HP | Sanity | Luck | Magic Points | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| brahnamin | Fletcher John | 11 | 80/78 | 47 | 16 | |
| Naphthalim | Caesar Williams | 8/9 | 49 | 55 | 10 | |
| Potted Plant | Lars Olsen | 13 | 50 | 25 | 10 | |
| Elfwine | Graves | |||||
| strange behaviour | Cleveland Russell | 14 | 50 | 50 | 10 | |
| pstjmack | Robert Collins | 9/7 | 65 | 55 | 13 |
Investigative Leads
Note: not every Investigator may be aware of all of these. This is an overall summary for convenience. Also, this isn't exclusive - there may be leads that the players/Investigators develop that aren't listed here. This is just a list of items presented in the game that may be worth further investigation.
- Party Attendees
- Who was invited
- Who attended
- Which attendees were hurt
- Who did not attend
- Why
- Catastrophes affecting the Home and those related to it
- Timing
- Was there a determinable start point
- End point?
- Nature of the effects
- Collapse of structures on the property
- Environmental impacts (dead soil)
- Medical crises
- Personal crises
- Physical samples from the Home
- Similarities to other historical or recent events
- Saint Lydwina's Women's College
- Timing
- NPC information
- Thomas Shipley's wound
- Clara Shipley's odd quotation
- Other
- Bergeron v. New Old Way Home Trust
Important Locations
The New Old Way Home
The New Old Way Home orphanage sits several miles outside of town in one of the still-bucolic areas of eastern Massachusetts, though its questionable how long the area will remain its rural character with the growth of the suburban areas around the city. The sprawling structure was built in the mid-19th Century to help aid the rise in uncared-for children caused by increasing industrialization and deaths from the Civil War. Never religiously-affiliated, the Home relied on the largesse of New England's upper classes and the Massachusetts state government. It's a bit run-down, now - a symptom of the hard times on which it has fallen.
Now, in the modern days of 1924 and in the wake of the Progressive movement, institutions of the sort have fallen out of favor. While the Home had done well in navigating the winds of political change of the last quarter-century, things seem to have taken a precipitous turn in the last year or so. Donations have dried up or fallen through. The Home's endowment suffered some unlucky financial losses. Local and state governmental bodies have become less cooperative. Planning and permitting paperwork has been frequently lost or inexplicably filled with errors. Key staff members have experienced personal issues that have required them to depart suddenly. Everything that could go wrong, has.
Important NPCs
Thomas and Clara Shipley
Thomas is the son of Thomas Shipley, Sr., the owner of a prosperous mercantile concern in Boston and formerly a substantial donor to the Home. Clara is the last in the line of the Strozier family, who have run the home for some time.
Clara would have been a kid/young woman during the relevant time period. You would all definitely have met her; beyond that, you can decide the contours of your relationship.
Thomas you may or may not know - he wouldn't have come onto the scene until about 10 years ago.
Anderson Whitehurst
- Advisor to Governor Cox on the matter of child welfare.
- Has some sort of personal problem with orphanages.
- Badly hurt in the catastrophe at the House
- Owes Bobby and Graves for saving his life.
- Kind of a prick.
