Hunchback: The Lurching

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Hunchback: The Lurching is a fanmade game set in the New World of Darkness about Quasimodo-folk. It's essentially My Life With Master in the World of Darkness.

So You're a Hunchback, You Poor Fucker

So, some greater power in this world utterly hates you. Could be the God-Machine, a powerful and really bored vampire, a really dumb mad science experiment, some rat bastard of a spirit, blind chance, whatever. It doesn't really matter what it is, just that it hates you personally and because of this, you are a Hunchback. This (according to our lawyers at least) has nothing to do with kyphosis, the medical condition that real-life people with hunched backs have. Instead, because you live in the World of Darkness, you have a mutation called the Hump. Unlike kyphosis, which is abnormal curvature of the spine, the Hump is more like a giant, evil tumor that affixes itself to the spine. The Hump is a store of mystical energy that allows Hunchbacks to recognize each other by something called the Lurching and use supernatural powers called Twists, with effects that vary from poisoning people to communicating with animals to physical enhancement.

But, you ask, this is the World of Darkness, so what's the catch? Well, you're right, there is a catch, and it's a doozy. The magical energy Hunchbacks use is called Misery, and it's essentially distilled emotional pain. If you wanna use any of those neat powers, you have to be insulted, rejected, and generally bullied. And if you want to just say 'screw it' and go cold turkey on powers so you don't need to be sad all the time? You're shit out of luck, because the Hump is an emotional parasite, and it will get its misery somehow. Your appearance is mutated to look utterly grotesque to the point where humans have to make composure rolls to stay in your presence, everything you do is made disgusting somehow, and in the extremely unlikely event that you do get your happy ending, you die as the Hump drains your life in lieu of your pain. Did I mention that your life sucks? Because it does.

Fortunately for you, there are some things you can do to make your life as a hunchback somewhat bearable. You can find a Tragic Love who you must admire from afar as they're subject to the same Composure rolls as normal humans. You can find a Master to serve and hope they'll like you if you kiss their butt enough. Or you can say 'fuck it' and join the emotionally dead serial killer Hunchbacks.

Marques

The 'race' splat of Hunchbacks, covering how the curse makes their particular life horrible and how they can get something of an in with normal human society.

Carabeau

Those for whom the Hump missed a spot. Carabeau are as hideous as any other Hunchback, but with the exception of one physical feature (face, voice, hands, etc.) which is incredibly beautiful, and allows them to be more comfortable with mortal Intimates- who will, however, inevitably fail a composure roll because the Carabeau's beauty only makes their ugliness more obvious and glaring. Naturally, they're the social splat.

Feraleur

The wild men. The Feraleur's curse has made them bestial in nature, and while this freaks humans out, it gives them an in with wild animals, who tend not to give a shit about how ugly they are.

Malvisagi

This Marque's name roughly translates to 'bad face', which pretty much tells you everything you need to know about them. These guys are the ones considered ugly by Hunchback standards. On the plus side, they tend to be really good at sneaking around, which is useful when the sight of one's face causes people to want to kill it with fire.

Oblieur

Just like mad scientists need their Igors, vampires need their Renfields, sorcerers need their apprentices, and spooky graveyards need their caretakers. The Oblieur fill that niche as the magic-attuned hunchbacks.

Punchello

Because it doesn't matter what you look like, so long as it's all part of the show, and the grotesque becomes acceptable when it's a joke. These Hunchbacks lean into this and can get people to ignore their Hunchback nature by passing it off as some kind of performance.

Also, the Invictus hate them for some reason.

Sanctuaires

Hunchbacks don't actually use these to define themselves; it's instead the term others thought up to describe what kind of Master a Hunchback seeks out.

Concordian

Unlike most Hunchbacks, who have singular Masters, a Concordian chooses an organization, parks themselves into that organization's territory, and absolutely refuses to leave. Quasimodo, for example, would be a Concordian with the Notre Dame de Paris Cathedral as his Master.

Mabuse

These Hunchbacks are the classic Igors, who find a scientist of some description- usually some crank as disaffected and rejected by the scientific community as the Hunchback- and suck up to them and do their dirty work in hopes that said mad science can relieve their pain. Fritz from the 1931 Frankenstein movie (yes, his name was not Igor) is the classic example of a Mabuse.

Mondelora

Because some Hunchbacks like living on the edge, and so take a social class as the monsters who get explicit penalties to all social rolls. These hunchbacks find a social superior to take as their Master, hoping that said superior can smooth over the Hunchback's social penalties in exchange for doing dirty work for them. As such, while they're terrible at making friends, they're very good manipulators.

Outrevie

The Hump is obviously supernatural in nature. Non-Hunchback supernaturals are relatively common in the World of Darkness. So some Hunchbacks put two and two together and seek out magical masters, such as vampires and powerful mages, hoping that they can understand the magical nature of the curse, and perhaps even lift it.

Savagine

Some Hunchbacks, having realized that human masters are mostly crazy, instead decide to seek their masters in the wild, joining a pack of animals that they can influence to some extent. They tend to mostly interact with werewolves, who tolerate them as long as they stay firmly over there.

Abandonai

The Sanctuaire of 'fuck this shit I'm out'. These Hunchbacks have figured out that absolutely nothing is going to go their way; regular humans hate them, the only Masters who will take them are evil, nutjobs, or evil nutjobs, and they're never going to achieve acceptance wherever they go. So they give up and go hide out somewhere, choosing to forego having a Master at all. This tends to take one of two forms: the nice one where you just live as a hermit, and the evil one where you accept your role as a monster and go around menacing the populace.

Rues

We already have our Clans and Covenants, so now we need our Hunchback Bloodlines. The Rues are further groups a Hunchback can join, granting access to extra Twists.

Rue de Ataudine

Hitman Hunchbacks who are really good at channeling their repressed rage against the world into murder. Not so good at anything outside of this laser-focus.

Rue de Barnumene

You're a circus freak. No, literally. A lot of deformed people have made a living as carnival attractions, and some Hunchbacks choose to go this route too. The good news is that your coworkers won't care about your deformities; they're used to the bizarre.

Rue de Bruno

Nomadic Hunchback biker gang, composed of Concordians who have the gang itself as their Master. Need I say more?

Rue de Cyrano

Reclusive Hunchbacks who strive to be known only by their Voices, hiding away their ugly appearance.

Rue de Enfante

Hunchbacks who were locked in their homes by their parents as children, stunting their mental development. They tend to act as imaginary friends to children- the nasty kind who get into trouble that you'll be blamed for.

Rue de Guignol

It's a common theory that Hunchbacks originated from ghouls, so these guys seek to understand the curse by crudely emulating vampires, mostly by drinking blood.

Rue de Moreau

Ever read The Island of Doctor Moreau, where the bad doctor turns humans into animal hybrids? Well, this is that backwards. Moreaus are Feraleur Mabuse who try to surgically (and painfully) correct their animalistic features.

Rue de Morgue

Necromancer Hunchbacks, because the dead can't judge you for being butt-ugly.

Rue de Noveau

Hunchback Internet trolls, who cause conflict on the web to replenish their Misery.

Rue de Quasimodo

Hunchbacks who, like Quasimodo himself, make their homes in churches.

Rue de Savanteur

Mabuse who actually know what they're doing, unlike regular Mabuse who serve mostly as cheerleaders.

Rue de Valette

Hunchback servants who strive to become, as one very wise butler once said, one hell of a butler.

Links

Archived link to Fandom posting