There’s a dual role for Charity in By Appointment. One relates to the GM offering temporal leyway to characters from different time periods, the other supports teamwork.

Permission to Play

Historical ignorance is not a thing in By Appointment and carries no numerical penalty. Coming from a significantly different time period is much more useful as permission for roleplaying. It feels a little churlish to spoil the fun and potential entertainment by getting all cranky about historical accuracy—we’re playing a game about a collective of household ghosts, afterall.

Therefore, during play, the Roman ghost understands roads, walls and bureaucracy perfectly well; they simply cannot comprehend why the glowing rectangle in the corner of the room keeps making noises. Conversely, the modern IT technician might be utterly dependent upon the Roman when confronted with masonry, Latin inscriptions or the estate’s ancient drainage; while absolutely hanging on the next episode of Love Island.

That creates situations where everyone gets to be the clever one eventually.

Essentially, as GM (and, indeed, as a table of gamers) allow a historical character to grasp the basics of almost anything, but play into why it might be weird, socially odd, spiritually strange, or otherwise entertaining. That said, keep it clean, welcoming and never slide into anything inappropriate—safety tools matter and nostalgia/rose-tinted spectacles are no excuse for bad behaviour.

Charity Begins At Home

As a mechanic, Charity is similar to a Fortune Pool (Sanction, pp 43–45) but works for the wider benefit of the household, not an individual. By this, I mean that a ghost can support another, rather than spending on their own endeavours.

A player cannot spend Charity upon their own character. Instead, a player spends Charity to improve another ghost’s situation: step up their Resource, allow them another chance after a Falter, absorb a Consequence on their behalf, or produce the small coincidence they desperately need.

That makes Charity a collective Fortune alternative, but with an important thematic restriction: the dead survive through kindness they cannot give themselves.

The Charity pool begins at the number of player characters minus one—so it circulates rather than becoming a savings account. Importantly, a ghost that willingly puts another character’s needs before their own at meaningful cost, may add 1 Charity to the shared pool if the table feels that act was sufficient. The whole table must agree, including the GM. This might mean protecting another ghost, surrendering something they Desire, helping a living person who will never know what they did, or allowing another character to take credit.

Charitable Exception

There is one possible sting to the business of spending Charity. A ghost whose unfinished business is finally resolved can spend Charity upon themselves for the first and only time. In doing so, they signal they have reached an endpoint and that act allows them to leave for the Next Place.

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How does Charity fit into the life or experiences of your favourite or most memorable character? Acts of charity usually land for very significant reasons. I look forward to reading about it in your RPGaDay post.

#RPGaDAY2026