Combining The Red Room's Gothic Rpg & Troll Lord Games Victorious Rpg - A Deeper Look

 Now this isn't my first time looking into The Red Room's Gothic Rpg on this blog.

Gothic is a tabletop role-playing game published by The Red Room (often associated with the "Wretchedverse" or Wretched Bastards line). It is a love letter to 19th-century Victorian horror, designed to bridge the gap between classic literature and Old School Renaissance (OSR) gaming.

Unlike high-action fantasy, Gothic focuses on atmospheric dread, the clash between science and superstition, and the inevitable decay of the human psyche.

1. The Core Premise

The game is set in a stylized 19th century where players take on the roles of investigators, scholars, or aristocrats facing the unexplainable. It draws heavy inspiration from:

• Literature: Frankenstein, The Picture of Dorian Gray, and the works of Arthur Machen or Henry James.

• Themes: Family curses, ancient pacts, forbidden desires, and the "moral decay" hidden behind the polite veneer of Victorian society.

2. The System: "The Red System"

The game uses a ruleset derived from the Wretched (OSR-inspired) mechanics, which are streamlined for quick resolution and high lethality.

• Attributes & Skills: Characters are defined by six primary attributes (Strength, Intelligence, Wits, Agility, Toughness, and Charisma). Action resolution is a standard d20 + modifiers against a Target Number (TN).

• Fear and Madness: Central to the experience is the Fear Points mechanic. As you witness horrific events, your points accumulate. Once you cross your Panic Threshold, you must make a Panic Roll, which can lead to temporary flight, breakdown, or permanent madness.

• Sins and Virtues: Much like other Red Room titles, character growth and alignment are often tied to moral choices (Sins vs. Virtues), adding a layer of psychological depth to how your character evolves.

3. Combat & Lethality

While the game emphasizes investigation, when violence does occur, it is swift and deadly.

• There are rules for critical hits that can cause instant death or lasting injuries.

• The game discourages "murder hobo" behavior; characters are fragile, and every fight carries a high risk of ending a campaign prematurely.

4. Recent Updates (2025/2026)

As of early 2026, a major overhaul of Gothic was released. This updated version (sometimes referred to as the 1.5 or revised edition) included:

• New Plot Hooks: Contributed by Mark Brooks to expand campaign options.

• Art Shift: The publisher moved away from AI-generated art in favor of era-appropriate public domain pieces, significantly enhancing the "period piece" feel of the book.

• Clarified Rules: Streamlined the Fear and Panic mechanics based on community feedback.

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Is this for you? If you enjoy Call of Cthulhu but want something more grounded in Victorian literary tropes with a "rules-light" OSR feel, Gothic is a strong contender.
Can Gothic be played with Troll Lord Games Victorious rpg?! 

Yes, you can certainly play them together, but they are "cousins" rather than twins. Because both games are rooted in the OSR (Old School Renaissance) tradition and use a d20-based system, they are highly compatible for kitbashing or cross-pollination.

Here is how they stack up and how to blend them:

1. The Mechanical Connection

• Gothic (The Red Room): Uses the "Red System," which is a streamlined OSR d20 mechanic. It focuses on six core attributes (Strength, Intelligence, Wits, Agility, Toughness, Charisma) and uses a d20 + modifiers vs. Target Number approach.

• Victorious (Troll Lord Games): Uses the SIEGE Engine, the same system behind Castles & Crusades. It relies on "Primes" (attributes your character is naturally good at) and a base Challenge Class (CC) of 12 or 18.

2. How to Mix Them

The best way to combine them is to pick one as your "engine" and use the other for "flavor" or specific mechanics.

• Option A: Gothic as the Base (The Gritty Approach)

  If you want a lethal, horror-focused game, use Gothic's rules. You can "import" the Supernatural Powers or Contraptionist gadgets from Victorious as rare, dangerous, or experimental archetypes. In this version, a Victorious "hero" is just a person with a very dangerous secret.

• Option B: Victorious as the Base (The Heroic Approach)

  If you want a game of "Victorian Superheroes" (like The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen), use Victorious. You can then "import" the Fear and Madness mechanics from Gothic to make the world feel more dangerous. Use Gothic’s bestiary to give your heroes monsters that can't just be punched into submission.

3. Key Conversion Tips

• Attributes: Both use the standard six, though the names vary slightly (e.g., Gothic’s "Toughness" vs. Victorious’ "Constitution"). They map 1:1.

• Difficulty: If converting a Gothic task (Target Number) to Victorious (Challenge Class), simply subtract 10 from the Gothic TN to find the Challenge Level (CL) for the SIEGE engine.

• Magic/Science: Victorious has a very robust system for magic and super-science. Gothic is more low-magic/superstitious. If you allow Victorious magic in a Gothic game, consider adding a Fear Point cost or a "Sin" penalty to represent the toll that breaking the laws of reality takes on the soul.

4. Setting Compatibility

The settings are almost identical in tone—both love the foggy streets of London, the moors, and the tension between the Enlightenment and the Unknown. You can easily use the adventures from one game in the other with almost zero prep.

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Summary Table

Feature	Gothic (Red Room)	Victorious (Troll Lord)
Power Level	Low/Fragile	Medium to High (Supermankind)
Focus	Psychological Horror	Adventure & Vigilantism
Main Die	d20	d20 (SIEGE Engine)
Best Used For	Gritty, literary horror	Pulp action and superheroes