William Bailey’s Haunted Mansion

William Bailey’s Haunted Mansion is an award-winning historical Call of Cthulhu scenario set in 1890s Ballarat, a mining town in Australia. William Bailey, the local mining baron, has been losing sleep due to a series of break-ins and a particularly unsettling encounter with something he swears was inhuman. This scenario is a lively and well put-together one-shot that practically runs itself.

Players start at William Bailey’s mansion, and from there have another four locations in town that they can investigate. The clue trail is well set-out and interesting, so players will be aware of and motivated to visit the final location.

This scenario has it all: ruthlessness, fear, and betrayal; seances, an asylum inmate with a broken mind, a charming, sleazy cult leader, all topped by a plot arc with potential reality-warping consequences. Also, a bit of Latin. Nice touch.

One of the standouts of William Bailey’s Haunted Mansion is the structure. The layout is clean, and sections are well-organised. The writing is clear, and pages are laid out so that the most important information stands out. All this makes the Keeper’s life easier; in fact, this is perhaps the only scenario I’ve seen where I don’t feel the need to make a sheet of notes to run it well.

Another standout is the authenticity of the setting; characters, locations, and artefacts actually existed at the time of the scenario – in fact, some still do. I’m not much of one for historicity in scenarios, but in this case, it doesn’t get in the way of the game. Characters, locations, and objects all contribute to the overall plot, and work together to create an unfolding drama.

Normally, I’m less interested in historical scenarios than creative ones, as I feel the historical background often adds little to the gameplay itself. There are notable exceptions, such as the Berlin: Wicked City supplement, which takes a moment in history and shows a Keeper how it can be brought to life. William Baileys Haunted Mansion does the same, breathing life into a Colonial Australian setting, whose gritty quaintness serves as an excellent contrast to the true horrors of the universe.

27 pages, 4 pre-generated characters. Available in pdf and softcover

Get it at drivethrurpg.com

Check out David Waldron’s latest scenario The Last Dance of Lola Montez

Congratulations to David Waldron, author of William Bailey’s Haunted Mansion, which has received the Commendation Award for Best Historical Interpretation at the Victorian Community History Awards for 2023.

Watch the live actual play performance at the Ballarat Heritage Festival

Or listen to an actual play by The Lorewrights

And there’s another actual play on the Miskatonic Playhouse too

Being a professor of History, the author wrote about the use of games to engage interest in the subject. Read more below:

One of the primary challenges in history
education revolves around capturing students’
interest and establishing a connection with the
past