In the aftermath of the Fourth Anglo-Ashanti War, the British Empire redoubles its efforts to exploit the riches of the Gold Coast. A prospecting expedition entered the interior of the former Ashanti empire to look for new mineral deposits to exploit. Sadly the expedition vanished into the west African jungle and was never seen again.
In desperation, the wife of the lead mining engineer wires to the noted British adventurer Sir Digby Spode, pleading with him to mount an expedition to find her husband. Never one to deny a damsel in distress, Sir Digby assembles a rescue mission to venture into the jungle and discover the fate of the prospectors.
But within the jungle lies a new terror. The remnants of the Ashanti warriors are gathering around a new charismatic leader known as the Steel Priest. The Steel Priest is an Ashanti witch doctor who claims to be channelling the spirits of the heroes of past Ashanti, disgusted by the failure of their descendent to defeat the invaders. What dark forces and horrific tribal rituals await the Spode expedition as they venture up the Ankobra river into the depths of darkest Africa?
Stiff Upper Lip is my own variant of the popular FATE Core system. Stiff Upper Lip takes FATE and gets it to stand up straight, stop slouching and generally become a game system of which Nanny would be proud. It adapts FATE for the genre of British Empire fiction, made famous by writers such as W.E. Johns, Rider Haggard and Sax Rohmer. A golden age in which bold heroes and plucky heroines confront dastardly foreigners, discover lost worlds and ancient treasures, and thwart devilish schemes for world domination.