Quietus: Othersider Studios Weaves Haunting Tales of Sorrow and Heartache With The Melancholy We Weave
Othersider Studios uses the melancholic horror game, Quietus, to create a bespoke horror anthology Actual Play series which emulates the horrifying magic of television series such as Cabinet of Curiosities and Two Sentence Horror Stories.
A Beautifully Haunting Series of Personal, Melancholic Horror
The Melancholy We Weave is a love letter to horror stories such as The Ritual, Nope, and Netflix’s The Haunting of Hill House. Each episode follows a different set of players and their backstories - teeming with their own brand of heartache, grief, and misery.
Using the system Quietus by Oli Jeffery of Sinister Beard Games, horror storyteller and Othersider Studios founder, Ambrose, has woven together several tales of sorrowful dread tailored towards the characters that this riveting cast brought to each unique chapter’s theme.
The cast consists of 16 amazing players: Aeron Ramsey, Arthur Wells, B Narr, Calamity, Candace the Magnificent, Iris Windham, Pherin, Jesse Huegel, DNDJordanLea, Lamia, quinn b. rodriguez, Rue Dickey, Sachi Morita, Vee Locke, Vyn Vox, and Wes Franks
While exploring who these characters are – what makes them tick, and the histories that haunt them – these characters will also face a Horror which has taken advantage of their ill-timed need for isolation. While they try to push past the traumas of their past, they’ll also need to use the scars of their own psyche to combat the unknown danger which pursues them.
Series Highlights
Chilling Horror Storytelling At Its Best: Ambrose takes the players on a journey and locks them into the setting from the get-go, leaving them at the edge of their seats until the session is over. Using creeping dread, they impose a weight on every decision that players will have to make, creating a sense of true life or death choices.
“The Melancholy We Weave nails the tone and style of not just Quietus but horror roleplaying as a whole. Ambrose and their very talented cast made me tear up, shrink in dread and - in what is near impossible in a horror AP - actually jump. If you loved Mike Flannegan’s version of The Haunting of Hill House, get on this immediately. Wonderful stuff." Oli Jeffery, author of Quietus, notes.
A Retelling of the Human Condition Through the Lens of Horror: Horror isn't always just about the jump scares, the blood, or the gore. Sometimes, it's about humanity at its best. Or more importantly, it's worse. Made more intense with a looming threat force that you are forced to confront.
“Haunting, intense, and beautiful–[Chapter 4] explores the marks we leave, both as creatives and as humans entangled in each other's lives. Ambrose's storytelling is utterly captivating, and I couldn't have asked for a better scene partner than Arthur,” B Narr, horror writer, TTRPG designer, and cast member states, “I'll be thinking about this story for a long, long time.”
"Getting to explore a brutal memory of my character's pasts through Scars was an out-of-body experience,” digital artist and cast member, Jesse Huegel stated, “I've never gotten to see a scene I described be met with such uncomfortable and disgusted expressions."
Atmospheric Production That The Audience Can Feel: Othersider Studios focuses on making actual plays with immersive music, captivating overlays, and SFX that infect the mind with their imagery. Just listening to the tale can be enough to transport the audience into the story.
“I want this to be immersive. Not just for the players but for the audience as well. I want whoever witnesses this to feel the scene – the dread– just as intensely as the players have,” Ambrose states enthusiastically.
Meaningful Character Choices That Hold Weight Even After The Story Ends: Quietus is a game of hard decisions in the face of an unknown evil. The choice to help each other, or leave another character to die to save yourself, can change the trajectory of the tale and leave players ruminating well after the session has ended.
“I’ve never felt so inhabited by the dread I’ve given a character I’ve created. And, this is the first time death has ever felt like a consequence that’s actually within reach of a character,” voice actress and other cast member, Iris Windham, recalls.
The Creator’s Vision
Ambrose wanted to tell short stories that hit hard, both in the fear, and emotional, department. Grief alone can tell a tale and it's the loss of a loved one that can change us. Even if something you cared for is now gone, things can always get so, so much worse.
“Loss changes us. Some for the better and some for the worse. Regardless of what path we take during that fragile time, it is a journey that every single last one of us, at some point in our lives, will have to take,” said the series creator and storyteller, Ambrose.
“It is beautiful, chaotic, unruly,... and devastatingly horrifying at times. I feel like true horror is taking a good long look at yourself and realizing what type of person you are when the worst-case scenario happens. I wanted to dive into that sort of ‘what if’ and add a flair of the unknown for good measure.”
The Melancholy We Weave Lurks
This anthology actual play will be premiering early October 2024 on Othersider Studios’ Twitch channel. Stay tuned for the tales that Ambrose and their main characters will be bringing to you this spooky season.
Tell Your Own Tales With Quietus
Quietus is a game designed as a one-shot with 1-2 players and a storyteller. The touchstones for this game are tragic horror movies such as Oculus, The Strangers, The Babadook, and Inside. This system is powered by a stripped-down version of the award-winning Blades in the Dark engine, using character states such as anxiety, dread, hope, and despair. If you want to run a quick and tragically haunting tale with a small group, pick up Quietus and add it to your TTRPG library.
Oli Jeffery has generously noted that each sale of Quietus from Sinister Beard’s itch.io page will be donated to relief funds in Palestine for the rest of the year. Consider purchasing a copy of this melancholic horror game for yourselves!
About Othersider Studios
Othersider Studios is a TTRPG streaming studio founded in 2022 that focuses on immersive storytelling and captivating narratives within the horror genre. There will be a concentration on horror that centers around the psychological, the spiritual, the supernatural, and the inescapable. They dive into the complexities of human nature, the monstrosities they can breed, and the supernatural conditions that can intensify either.
As a studio, they want to highlight a variety of RPG systems that can tell varying types of horror tales. There is the personal horror of Locus, the investigative nature of Monster of the Week, the cosmic horror of Call of Cthulhu, the contemporary horror of Kult, and more.
Follow Othersider Studios on Twitter for updates. If you would like to see behind-the-scenes content on this haunting project, check out their Patreon page.
