“Death was the rule, life the exception. Life was at best a transitory dream, set in a universe that was entirely indifferent to his fate.”-- Daniel James Brown
Premise
The year is 1783 and the United States is hungry. The newly independent nation turns its eyes westward for expansion. Wealthy North Carolina judge Richard Henderson has brought famous trapper and frontiersman Josiah Burke into his employ to mount an expedition through the rugged Cumberland Gap and blaze a trail through to the other side of the Appalachian Mountains.
You are among the members of Burke’s party. You seek the adventure for your own reasons - be they fortune, fame, or the need to escape into the wilderness. With Burke at the helm you are preparing to mount up and venture into a land few have gone through, and even fewer have returned. You’ve heard rumors and whispers of the dangers that await you out there: Bears the size of houses, a cold so bitter it can put out a fire, savages who take scalps, and feral mountain men who eat anyone dumb enough to venture into the woods alone. You brush those stories off as gossip and conjecture and nothing more. But the truth is there is something there in the mountains, something black and wicked that beats in the very heart of the Appalachian mountains. And that something is waiting for you.
Concept
So essentially this is a group RPG that mixes history, survival, Southern folk stories, and some eldritch horror all into a delicious stew. As stated in the above premise, everyone would be a member of Burke’s expedition party. I would NPC Burke as GM and any characters/situations where I was needed to write. I'll have more details and maps if we can get more interest.