If You Love It So Much (5921178)

8/12/2019 If You Love It So Much (5921178)

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T H E D R E A D F U L S E C R E T S O F C A N D L E W I C K M A N O R

IF YOU LOVE IT SO MUCHOR, THE CASE OF THE MURDEROUS MANSION

AN UNSETTLINGLY INTRODUCTORY ADVENTURE BY SHANE IVEY

Tere have been many architects in the building,

growth, and disrepair o Candlewick Manor, and

most o them were, or eventually became, insane.

Many o them are still on the grounds, in that parto the graveyard reserved or avorite retainers and

riends o the Candlewicks.

One o the earliest is still on the grounds, but not

in the graveyard. Not dead but no longer strictly

alive, at once transormed and preserved, he occu-

pies a shape, space and unction by which he might

remain in perpetuity with the love o his lie. Tat

great romance was Candlewick Manor. o join

with his love orever he built, inused himsel into,

becamethe West Wing o the manor.

Sadly or this ormer architect, his presence

made the West Wing an uneasy place, leading later

occupants, designers and decorators into strange

modes o thought. Teir grotesque adornments

Revised 2014-01-09. By Shane Ivey, 2012. The Dreadful Secrets of Candlewick Manorand Monsters

and Other Childish Thingsare published by Arc Dream Publishingand are and by Benjamin Baugh.

and renovations in turn offended the West Wings

sensibilities, and this in turn lef the place more

uneasy, which meant even stranger designs, and so

on, until finally a rustrated Candlewick abandonedall efforts to improve the place.

Tese days, residents o the manor think the

West Wing is haunted. Its not really haunted. Its

just very, very dissatisfied. It has been converted

over rom a stately private manor or a singular,

beloved amily to a temporary home or hideous,

unwelcome young strangers.

Te last crop o interlopers met with a series

o suspiciously unortunate accidents. A rogue

member o the staff, now deceased, was blamed; Dr.

Candlewick is confident that the newest batch will

live in health and some approximation o happiness,

or at least useulness to his Great Project.

Te West Wing objects to that plan.

Orphans beware! Read no further if you expect to be a player rather than the Game Moderator in this adventure.

RobertE.

Mansperger,Jr.,

2008
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WELCOME! NOW GET OUTTe orphans are new to Candlewick Manor.

Teyve arrived resh rom whatever orphanaria

or chilly homes ostered them unwillingly. Teyve

driven through town, where townolk glared and

wondered. Teyve bundled out o the long black car

and taken in the shadowed enormity o the mansion

and grounds. Teyve met the staff and amily.

Teyve been told the rules. Teyre nervous and

rightened. Even a delicious meal with Giusseppe

the che did little to improve their moods. We leave

it to you, their loving game moderator, to detail

their arrival as you like.

Dr. Dravenfirth now escorts the orphans to their

bedroom or the night. He points out in passing a

ew o the highlights o the West Wings central hall.Tere are bizarre, Boschesque statuesneither men

nor animals, or perhaps both blendedand scenes

o torment, madness, and bizarre alien vistas. Dr.

Candlewick himsel collected the statues rom

around the world in his many travels, and a ew o

them he had commissioned.

BOYAR MIZZENRATHOne o the statues, Dravenfirth explains, depicts

Boyar Mizzenrath, the architect who built this wing

o the manor. Its eyes seem to ollow them, not just

stern but uriously angry. Or do they actually ollow

the orphans, physically turning in stony sockets?

A successul Brains+Notice roll is certain they do.

Dravenfirth will hear nothing o such nonsense.

As the orphans watch the statueor is it when

the statue watches them?the orphans all distinctly

hear a low, groaning moan rom the house itsel. It

shapes a clear command: GE OU!At least, they are certain, dead certain, that the

sound is a word, that particular word in that partic-

ular inflection. Dravenfirth smiles, hearing nothing

amiss, and says that the house sometimes makes

strange noises as it settles in the night. He shrugs

off their concerns with vast dismissiveness.

HINTS AND CLUESIn the spirit o dismissing their concerns,

Dravenfirth says the architect Mizzenrath was

known or his devotion to the construction o the

mansion and is in act buried in the cemetery on the

grounds. Tey can study him urther in the amily

records in the library, perhaps, tomorrow morning

afer chores. Or are those records in the attic?

Yes, Dravenfirth emphasizes as distinctly as is

necessary or your players to take the hint: Details

about poor Mizzenrath are in library. Or i not in

the library, then surely in the West Wings attic. And

o course Mizzenraths grave is on the grounds in the

cemetery, because he was an honored retainer.

Ten the orphans quite distinctly hear a higher-

pitched whining drone that sounds or all theworld like words. Whichever orphan has the lowest

Guts+Couarge total is absolutely, unquestionably

sure that the statue mouthed the words Kiiiill

yooou.(I theres a tie, break it in this order: Guts,

Courage, Notice, Brains.)

Dravenfirth chuckles and says the wind does

sometimes make strange noises at night. Words?

O course those werent words! Imagination is a

fine thing, he assures the orphans, but it must be

restrained and governed by sel-discipline or the

good o ones mental health.

And the act that the statue suddenly pointed

straight at the orphans as it glares? Dont be silly. Its

always held the same pose. Its just a statue.

o the orphans, theres no doubt. Tis isnt just

another unpleasant statue. Tis statue is aliveand it

wants them gone.

Dravenfirth sees them to their dormitories and

points out the attached lavatories where they canclean themselves and get drinking water. He bids

them sleep well, gives them a stern warning not to

wander or sneak around or make noise, and locks

them in or the night to make sure they dont.


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WANDERING MONSTROSITIESTe orphans might want to get to the bottom o this

situation without waiting or permission. I they

dont, the mansion changes their minds. See Te

West Wing Comes to Death, I Mean Lie, later.

Te locks are not particularly secure; fiddling

with one with a bobby pin and a Hands+Shop roll

opens it up. A Feet+Kicking roll orces a door open.

I theyre caught sneaking around, Dr. Dravenfirth

promises them gruel or or a month.

THE LIBRARYTeyll have to elude Ms. Silverdale using

Brains+Out-Tink or a stealth-related creepy skill.

It takes one success or the whole group. I she nabs

them, one o them can try to distract her with aFace-related roll while the others sneak past.

Te amily histories say Mizzenrath died in a

cave-in while shoring up the oundations o the

West Wing. His body could not be recovered, but he

was given a grave on the grounds or his devotion.

His journals were kept in the West Wing or study.

THE CEMETERYI the orphans dig up Mizzenraths grave, they find

an empty coffin with a weird symbol carved on it

whose geometry is abnormal. (Studying it with

a Brains+Notice roll causes a headache that does

Width1 Shock damage to Brains.) First they

must elude Groundskeeper Grooner. Tat means

distracting himhe knows everything that happens

on the grounds unless hes in his drink or otherwise

occupied.

THE FOUNDATIONSBeneath the mansion there are locked galleries andcellars and doors that lead enticingly to terriying

tunnels that groan with the weight o the mansion

and its memories. Tere are also oundation stones

that all have strange designs o abnormal geom-

etry. Studying them too closely hurts the brain like

studying the coffin; and in act one o them is an


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THE WEST WING COMES TODEATH, I MEAN LIFE

Te orphans soon find find that their new living

quarters dont much want them to live, let alone

live here. It might be OK with them in quarters. Te

West Wing wants them deadbeore they can stain

the rest o the home with their wicked ways.

Te West Wing awakens when the kids go to

sleep. Or i they go snooping around without going

to sleep, it awakens when they set out to explore the

Attic. Tey can sneak around the library, the ceme-

tery, etc., without trouble rom the West Wing, but

as soon as they say out loud that they plan to explore

the attic, or when they lay intentul eyes on the attic

stairs, things get ugly.Te West Wing is kind o like a gigantic monster.

Each location in the wing is a monstrous hit loca-

tion with its own dice pool and abilities. Its attacks

do Shock damage.

ROOMS OF RUIN, NORTH (BOYS DORM), 4DAttacks: Strangling bedsheets, smothering

pillows, pummeling ootballs and cricket bats.

Useful: Dont you eel like lying down or a nap?

Sleepiness stuns an orphan or Width1 rounds.

Sweet:Te nap effect lasts Width in rounds.

ROOMS OF RUIN, SOUTH (GIRLS DORM), 5DAttacks: Devouring ootlockers, smashing

mirrors, shockingly unriendly bedrames.

Spray:wo sets can attack per turn.

MAD SCIENTISTS LAVATORY, 6DAttacks: Cleaning solutions arent supposed to

explode and eat away at flesh and clothing! And why

is the plumbing trying to strangle you?

Defends:Its slippery in here.

Useful: Tat slipperiness can gobble dice rom

any action, not just attacks.

Spray: wo sets can act per turn.

LINEN CLOSET OF THE LOST, 5DAttacks: owels and sheets (and scissors) snap

and bite.

THE HALLWAY TO HECK, 4DUseful: Te gallery that runs the length o the

West Wing suddenly seems to go on orever. It caneffectively immobilize people or Width1 rounds

because they seem to go nowhere. Tey can make

movement rolls such as Feet+P.E. to proceed, but its

roll gobbles dice rom one or two victims rolls. An

immobilized orphan is a prime candidate or abuse

by statues and rats and hungry shadows.

Awesome x4:It can flip two dice afer rolling.

Bigness:See below.

Spray: It can immobilize targets with two sets per

turn.

ABOUT BIGNESSTe Hallway to Heck has a Bigness rating o 2.

Bigness is detailed in the Monsters and Other

Childish Tingssourcebook Bigger Bads.

When fighting the Hallway, the orphans gain:

Wicked Fast.

Awesome when attacking, deending, ordoing tricky things with their smaller size.

When fighting the orphans, the Hallway gains:

ough.

(I it attacked them directly, it would also

gain Gnarly and Splash.)
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up somewhere else! Te West Wing uses this Treat

to keep the orphans rom escaping to its beloved

Central Wingthe dining hall, library, chapel and

infirmary.

ough: Actually this counts as ough x2 against

most attacks, but it doesnt apply at all against fire

or against any attack done in a powerul source o

light. (Not just turning the lights on; something like

an electric spotlight.)

Wicked Fast: Tey dont creep like normal

shadows. Tey flit and change and suddenly appear

out o nowhere like not-normal shadows.

THREAT: RATS IN THE WALLS OF SLEEP, 5DGroundskeeper Grooner prides himsel on

rendering extinct every rodent that dares twitch a

snout in Candlewick Manor. He doesnt know thathes had help in the West Wing, where many mice

and rats disappear into the timeless void. When the

West Wing is angry, it lets them reappear into the

timeul here and now.

Defeating the Treat: You can deeat the rodents

in the usual way. Boots and well-swung shovels help.

Attacks: Tey gnaw and chew!

Useful:Getting gnawed by rats causes orphans to

trip and all and run around in panic.

Awesome x2: Teyre everywhere!

Splash: Teyre everywhere! When they start

gnawing on one hit location, they also gnaw on the

one next to it.

ough: Its not that individually theyre all that

hardy, but theyre just everywhere!

OVERCOMING THEWEST WING

Te orphans dont have it easy. But do they ever? But

they do have two routes to victory: destroying the

West Wing or making peace with it.

OPTION 1: PROPERTY DAMAGEI the orphans are especially violent, they could

beat the West Wing into submission. Destroying

the dorms and the hallway banishes Mizzenraths

lingering spirit. O course, that means demol-

ishing a large part o Candlewick Manor. Surely Dr.

Candlewick wont mind too much, will he?

OPTION 2: MAKING NICETe orphans could try to come to terms with theWest Wing and the animating spirit o its archi-

tect. Te West Wing believes the newcomers are

polluting the purity o the Candlewick name and

the purpose o the house. Tey must convince it that

theyre genuinely riendly.

Once the West Wing is ully awake, the orphans

must make their way to the statue o Boyar

Mizzenrath and address it. (Or they can conront

his bones, or meet him in a dream, or just yell at the

West Wing itsel by Mizzenraths name; whatever

works.) Tey must convince it that they will love the

mansion and honor it and so orth. I theyre really

convincing, the West Wing stops to listen.

I they make a good case or their honoring the

mansion and wanting to uphold its traditions, the

statue o Mizzenrath shows just the aintest hint o

acceptance in its demeanor o insanely protective

pride. Tey have made peace with the West Wing.I they just start yelling, Leave us alone, were

nice, thats probably not good enough. Tey should

first do their research and learn that theyre acing

the architect himsel, immortalized in his creation.

Tey must get the long-dead madman on their side.

I they ail, they ace a lot o skepticism rom the

staff and a lot o uture torment rom Mizzenrath.


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If You Love It So Much (5921178)