Line #107 TabletopGame/Gloom


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7	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gloom_5601.png]]
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9	''[[http://www.atlas-games.com/gloom/index.php Gloom]]'' is a [[BlackComedy darkly comic]] [[NarrativeBoardGame narrative card game]] by Keith Baker for two to four players (increased to seven with the expansion packs).
10
11	The world of Gloom is a sad and benighted place. The sky is gray, the tea is cold, and a new tragedy lies around every corner. Each player assumes control of the fate of an eccentric, Victorian family of misfits and misanthropes, whose world-weary, thin-lined faces are caricatured from the works of Creator/CharlesDickens, Creator/EdgarAllanPoe, Creator/BramStoker, Creator/MaryShelley, and Creator/EdwardGorey. Each seeks to magnify the tribulations of the members of their own ailing household and ultimately lead them to the [[PeacefulInDeath well-deserved respite of an untimely death]], while [[HappilyEverAfter assuaging the sorrows of their deserving opponents]]. Storytelling is encouraged!
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13	At the end of the game, the family with the most tragic past wins.
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15	[[JustForFun/IThoughtThatWas Has nothing to do]] with the [[VideoGame/{{Gloom}} 2017 video game]] of the same name, or the FPS on the CD-32.
16
17	! The Families
18	%% Note: The character titles are official.
19	* '''Castle Slogar''', whose icon is [[ForScience the brain]].
20	** Professor Helena Slogar, [[MadScientist Eccentric Inventor]]
21	** Lord Slogar, [[BrainInAJar Brain in a Box]]
22	** Melissa Slogar, [[MadScientistsBeautifulDaughter Cadaverous Child]]
23	** Elias E. Gorr, [[TheIgor Itinerant Gravedigger]]
24	** Grogar, [[ArtificialZombie Work]]-in-[[CreepyDoll Progress]]
25	* '''Hemlock Hall''', represented by the [[AristocratsAreEvil top hat]].
26	** Lord Wellington-Smythe, [[ParentalObliviousness Dumbfounded Duke]]
27	** Lola Wellington-Smythe, [[BrattyTeenageDaughter Wild Child]]
28	** Butterfield, [[TheButlerDidIt Lurking Butler]]
29	** Goody Zarr, [[BabysitterFromHell Nefarious Nanny]]
30	** The Twins, [[CreepyTwins Adorable Tots]]
31	* '''Blackwater Watch''', symbolised by the [[GrimReaper scythe]].
32	** The Old Dam, [[EvilMatriarch Murderous Matriarch]]
33	** Angel, [[SerialKiller Starry-Eyed Serial Killer]]
34	** Cousin Mordecai, the RedHeadedStepchild
35	** Willem Stark, [[CrustyCaretaker Disturbing Handyman]]
36	** Balthazar, the [[{{Hellhound}} Unfaithful Hound]]
37	* '''Dark's Den of Deformity''', which presents beneath the [[CircusOfFear circus]] [[CrappyCarnival tent]].
38	** Darius Dark, [[PointyHairedBoss Sinister Circusmaster]]
39	** Mister Giggles, [[MonsterClown Creepy Clown]]
40	** Elissandre [=DeVille=], [[ShrinkingViolet Illustrated Lady]]
41	** Thumbelisa, [[BrawnHilda Diminutive Diva]]
42	** Samson O'Toole, the [[TheNondescript Bearded Man]]
43
44	!The expansion packs introduce:
45	* '''Le Canard Noir''', personified by the [[AnimalMotifs duck]].
46	** Simon Simone, [[AmbiguousGender Androgynous Actor]]
47	** Belladonna, [[VictorianNovelDisease Consumptive Courtesan]]
48	** James [=DeWinter=], [[StarvingArtist Penniless Poet]]
49	** Marie Delacroix, [[FamilyFriendlyStripper Misunderstood Model]]
50	** Rosseau, [[MadArtist Patchwork Painter]]
51	* '''The Broken Arms''', depicted by the [[TheMafia moneybag]].
52	** Boils Malone, [[TheDon The Ugly American]]
53	** Chopper Johnson, Hatchetman
54	** Little Miss Mina, [[MafiaPrincess Poisonous Princess]]
55	** Bulletproof Bonnie, [[TheFlapper Maniacal Moll]]
56	** Pencils Pierre, [[GoodWithNumbers Gourmet Accountant]]
57	* '''The Baoba''', embodied by the [[AdventurerOutfit Pith Helmet]]
58	** Colonel Bumpersnoot, GreatWhiteHunter
59	** Lady Bumpersnoot, [[NubileSavage Cannibal Countess]]
60	** Little Timmy, [[KidSidekick Action Lad]]
61	** Rascal, [[ManiacMonkeys Sinister Simian]]
62	** Bopobodingo, [[LivingStatue Teen Idol]]
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64	----
65	! Tropes that appear in this game include:
66
67	* AddedAlliterativeAppeal: Many of the modifier cards manifest this mannerism.
68	--> They were '''startled by snakes''', not to mention being vexed by vipers and angered by asps.
69	* AffectionateParody: Of Victorian literature, especially GothicHorror, and ''especially'' Creator/CharlesDickens.
70	* AristocratsAreEvil: Lord Wellington-Smythe is oblivious to what goes on under his roof, and Cousin Mordecai is ill-treated by the rest of his family. The rest of Castle Slogar, Hemlock Hall, and Blackwater Watch ''all'' count.
71	* ArrangedMarriage: Professor Helena Slogar intends her daughter Melissa to be wedded to Grogar... never mind that Melissa is [[CameBackWrong barely undead]] and Grogar is [[CreatingLife home-made]]. They'll be certain to get along splendidly, since Grogar is partially Melissa's ''teddy bear''.
72	%% * BearsAreBadNews - As characters can discover if they happen to be "Eaten by Bears".
73	* BigScrewedUpFamily: ''Four of them'', and more in expansions.
74	* BlackComedy: What can you expect when the goal is to give your own family the harshest backstory?
75	* BrainInAJar: Lord Slogar has a rather sedentary life these days.
76	* BreakTheCutie: Life is not fair to poor Cousin Mordecai.
77	* TheButlerDidIt: Butterfield, head servant at Hemlock Hall. Whatever it was, ''he'' did it.
78	* CharacterDeath: These can happen in the game.
79	* CrapsackWorld: Given that the name of the game is "Gloom" and the ''point'' of the game is to make tragedies happen to your own character's family, you're actually ''making'' it a crapsack world! ...For yourself, at least...
80	* CreepyTwins: The Wellington-Smythe twins, the most adorable little sadists you'll ever meet.
81	%% * ColourCodedArmies
82	* CruelAndUnusualDeath: Dozens of them, courtesy of the death cards (Baked into a Pie, Consumed from Within, Torn Limb from Limb, etc.)
83	* DarkAndTroubledPast: The path to victory.
84	%% * DeathAsComedy
85	* DemonicPossession: Apparently the reason the [[CreepyTwins Wellington-Smythe twins]] are so evil.
86	* DeathByDespair: ''[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Died of Despair.]]''
87	* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: It's entirely possible for ''Belladonna, the Consumptive Courtesan'', to ''contract consumption'', and then be ''consumed from within''.
88	* EvilMatriarch: The Old Dam, naturally.
89	* ExpansionPack: ''Unhappy Homes'', ''Unwelcome Guests'', and ''Unfortunate Expeditions'' add additional families, ''Unquiet Dead'' allows family members to become various supernatural creatures.
90	%% * And as of recently, ''Unquiet Dead'', which allows family members to become [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampires,]] [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent werewolves,]] invisible people, ghouls, ghosts, mummies and paintings.
91	* ExtrinsicGoFirstRule: The player who has had the most miserable day gets to go first. If all players are equally miserable, the owner of the game goes first.
92	* FemmeFatale: Angel Blackwater.
93	* HappilyEverAfter: A welcome fate for ''other'' families.
94	* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: Lord Wellington-Smythe, considering his staff.
95	* IncompetenceInc: Dark's Den of Deformity isn't as terrifying as it is simply ill-maintained. Its financial straits are continually dire, mainly because Mr. Dark is tragically terrible at selecting and marketing his performers. He has a bearded man, a woman too shy to show off her supposed magnificent tattoos, an abhorrent clown, and a woman only a few inches tall... whom Dark advertises as an opera singer.
96	* IncurableCoughOfDeath: "Consumed From Within".
97	%% * KidsAreCruel: It's possible for a character to be ''Chased by Children'', presumably for this reason.
98	* KillTheOnesYouLove: Killing your own family is the only way to win.
99	%% * LonelyFuneral
100	* LowLevelAdvantage: Characters do not give you points until they have passed beyond the mortal coil, at which point they are past the other families' best efforts to cheer them, but they also have no more lots left in life for you to worsen. In general, the better a player is doing, the harder it is to improve further.
101	* MadScientist: Professor Helena Slogar prefers the title 'Eccentric Inventor'.
102	* MadScientistsBeautifulDaughter: Melissa Slogar ''would'' have been, had she not [[UndeadChild been prevented from growing up]]...
103	* MisereGame: You win the game by killing off your own characters, and the fewer happiness points they have when they died (points can go into the negative), the better your endgame score. The game ends when any player's last character dies.
104	%%* MonsterClown: Mr. Giggles ''always'' has a smile for the children.
105	* NarrativeBoardGame: Each player tells a GothicHorror story of BigScrewedUpFamily by playing semi-transparent cards on its members and narrating the miserable events represented by said cards, with the end goal being to maximize own family's misery before they all inevitably meet a tragic and sudden end.
106	* PeacefulInDeath: A possible means of death that you can inflict is "Died Without a Care". This is a ''harmful'' kind of death, though, since their point bonuses will be erased this way.
107	* PokeThePoodle: It is evidently quite traumatising for a character to be ''Pursued by Poodles''.
108	* PoisonMushroom: Some cards that can be used on characters offer massive miseries but have debilitating side effects like erasing the rest of your hand and keeping you from getting new cards for a turn or two. Since the card can be used on any character, you'll have to weigh between reaping the massive points in exchange for the terrible modifier, or force these modifiers onto their opponents and work around their massive points.
109	* ReportsOfMyDeathWereGreatlyExaggerated: With certain cards, it's possible to revive dead characters. [[UnexplainedRecovery With absolutely no explanation whatsoever.]]
110	* RhymesOnADime: All the Untimely Death have a matching death that rhymes. There's a card that gives a bonus for having two characters die in rhyming ways.
111	* SanitySlippage: Characters can go through this if they "Went Mildly Mad".
112	* ScoringPoints: Points are ''negative''. You want as many negative points as possible, and a character who has positive Self-Worth can't die.
113	* SpinOff: TabletopGame/CthulhuGloom, which applies the gameplay style to the Franchise/CthulhuMythos. It's compatible with the original but not otherwise related. There's also a crossover with ''TabletopGame/{{Munchkin}}''.
114	** And most recently, FairyTale Gloom, as well as [[RecycledInSpace Gloom in Space.]]
115	** Also, [[Series/GameOfThrones Gloom of Thrones.]]
116	%% * ThisIndexHasHadAHardLife
117	* UndeadChild: Melissa Slogar originally died as a child, but was reanimated by her mother.
118	* UnwantedAssistance: Keith Baker's inspiration was to create a game he could play with his wife Ellen - most card games are based on the principle of [[PlayerVersusPlayer kicking your opponents around the block until you're the last one standing]], and Ellen was too nice to hurt a friend that way. Solution: A game where you win by helping your opponents' character and traumatise your own, faster than they can do the reverse!
119	* UnwantedRevival: It's possible to resurrect your opponent's dead family members, in order to give them happy experiences and weaken their chances of winning.
120	* VictorianNovelDisease: Several of the available Tragic Death cards.
121	* WidowedAtTheWedding: One of the game's many ghoulish possiblities.

Context TabletopGame / Gloom