 | Backwater Games created the "Backwater: Southern Gothic Horror" universe. You can find its core rulebook on itch (PDF) or Lulu (hardcover), which includes character creation rules, rules for gameplay, setting information for players and GMs, and stats & lore for threats and NPCs.
"Backwater" is set in a post-apocalyptic future with a tenuous social order. Players take on the roles of wardens or adventurers, who try to keep chaos and monstrosities at bay while uncovering secrets of bygone eras. They wander the Backwater ward, a region around modern-day Louisiana, Mississippi, and southern Arkansas, where centuries of technological know-how have been lost and where mystical and magical forces are beginning to surface. The southern gothic genre explores social issues relating to fear, poverty, religion, and alienation through its southern U.S. setting. Prominent among the genre's themes is a conscious criticism of superficial values and regional or familial history, depicted through the region's decaying structures and aristocratic families. It can contain monsters and the supernatural, though the true horrors are often humans themselves. |
