Mad Brew Labs

The fine folks over at Alderac Entertainment Group were kind enough to send me a copy of their Ultimate Toolbox, a book of tables, charts, seeds, and sidebars to inspire and aid the Game Master or player of any fantasy based roleplaying game. This book is far larger than its predecessor, the Toolbox, and is system agnostic to boot. It clocks in at 400 pages, none of which are wasted.

Within those pages are over 1000 charts and numerous sidebars that should help any player (Game Master or not) flesh out player characters, non-player characters, cities, governments, religions, dungeons, and plots (just to name a few).

The book is laid out into seven chapters and an appendix. Each chapter is also divided into sections conveniently marked in the table of contents. Each chapter ends with a section called Using This Chapter which gives a capstone on implanting the many charts and various sidebar information presented throughout the chapter.

This is a veritable mine of ideas, description, and seeds with which to grow your campaign. The utilitarian nature of the Ultimate Toolbox combined with the sheer amount of information provided makes it a difficult supplement to adequately review. So to give readers a better idea about what is contained in this massive tome, I’m going to reproduce the table of contents as well as craft a section of a city using the book.

1: Character Backgrounds Character Paths Animals Local Color 2: World World Builder Eco Systems Citizens/Government Religion Environment 3: Civilization City Lords & Ladies Civics Law & Order Architecture & Atmosphere Economic Commerce Crime Religion Guilds Tavern/Inns & Recreation NPCs Around Town Fanfare Contacts University

4: Maritime Ports ‘o Call Crewing the Ship Ships The High Seas Pirates 5: Dungeon Dungeons & Cave Trappings Books & Labs The Dead Traps, Locks, & Treasure Empty Rooms More Advice 6: Magic Magic Items Components/Herbs Druids & Witches Undead The Planes The Bizarre 7: Plot (GM Only) Quick & Dirty Villains Gossip Act Two: The Path Urban Inspiration Quests & Secrets Alternatives Encounters

Crafting with the Ultimate Toolbox

The description below was created after about five minutes of rolling a d20 on several charts in from the Civilization chapter and the Architecture & Atmosphere section. As you can see you can generate some detailed descriptions fairly quickly.

• Building Description: Complicated Connections span a series of buildings all owned by a single landlord
• Architecture: Second-story structures with many windows
• Districts & Quarters: Red-light district
• Neighborhood Features: High crime rate in alleys
• Monuments: Obelisk
• Building Types 1: Aqueduct
• Building Types 2: Concert Hall
• City Sights: Local crowd partaking of a public stoning or execution
• City Sounds: Glass breaking
• City Smells: Burnt Sugar
• Statue Description: Tall, once pure-white obelisk rises to the sky. It is covered with strange ancient writings and is rumored to be only one of many

Conclusion

I have a theory that the best Game Masters are actually accomplished improv artists. They are able to play off of unexpected player decisions without missing a beat. While this book will not teach you improv, it can prove indispensible as a tool at the table to quickly generate details for unexpected situations at the table, especially if you bookmark likely used tables beforehand.

Needless to say, despite the marked price of $49.95, I highly recommend this book. This book will survive the current edition of whatever game you’re playing and prove useful time and again. You can shave nearly $16 off the cover price if you pick up the Ultimate Toolbox from Amazon.

Before I ever touched a set of polyhedral dice, I read the Endless Quest books from TSR. My mother had purchased a set of them at a yard sale based purely on the fact that they had dragons and whatnot on the covers (I was a big fan of fantasy art, especially dragons).

The first book I remember reading was EQ#13: Dragon of Doom. It was probably that book that single-handedly gave me an unsatiable appetite for storytelling and adventure gaming that eventually led me to the world of roleplaying games via Dungeons & Dragons.

I still have a handful of Endless Quest books and I am always on the lookout for more (so if anyone has any that are looking to unload them, let me know).

Fast forward about fifteen years to when I was teaching myself Actionscript and needed a simple project to practice states and frame changing. I remembered those classic days of choosing my own adventure path with Endless Quest books and decided to make a short tribute to those books that sparked my passion for the roleplaying game hobby.

While backing up my system, I just happened to stumble across my Flash version of a Choose Your Own Adventure book and figured I would share with my readers. Also, I am aware of several spelling errors, but I haven’t had the opportunity to revisit the project to make changes.

The Mad Archwizard (aka the Insane Sorcerer) is probably one of fantasy roleplaying games’ most used villain archetype.  90% of the world’s dungeons have been excavated and populated by these nefarious personalities.  Many have turned to the cold embrace of undeath to continue their magical studies, picking up the Lich template.  Just as many (if not more) become victims of their success as some rare magic they have just discovered ends their mad obsession with obtaining arcane lore.  The trick is spinning the cliché into something new and original.

Once again, I would like to thank Crystal Frasier for providing the fantastic illustration accompanying this article.  Look for her work in an upcoming issue of Kobold Quarterly (I hope I can say that!).

Xephero Valderann

All I seek are exceptional apprentices to whom I can instill my great knowledge.  I invite all seekers of arcane lore to my school, the Arcane Academy, where I unlock their potential with the Art to become great wizards.  I am the 10^th headmaster of a long line of powerful wizards.  All one must do to enroll in my academy is to sign this application…

Background

The Arcane Academy has been around for around five hundred years and has a tradition of changing headmasters every fifty years.  Xephero is the tenth such headmaster, who has all had a reputation for being loony, but commanding a large measure of loyalty from his students.  In fact, no student to date has ever spoken about their time at the academy, merely stating that if one wants to know more they should apply with the headmaster.

The truth of the matter is that Xephero is actually the founding headmaster and is over five hundred years old.  Xephero has gone by many names, but he often reverts back to his original given name which he claims currently.  Xephero created the Academy because during his obsessive search for arcane power, he became cursed by the patron deity of magic.

Xephero had reached what he considered the pinnacle of mortal achievement in the studies of Arcane Lore.  Not one spell, ritual, or tome had escaped his research.  So he prepared an ancient ritual for communing with the gods, thinking to impress the deity of magic.

During his commune the deity of magic, Xephero demanded to be shown the divine secret of magic, thus ensuring his ascension to godhood.  The god of magic was enraged at Xephero’s hubris and placed a curse upon him:

You shall truly be known as the greatest wizardly instructor of the Art, for you shall be compelled to instill your vast knowledge upon any apprentice who seeks it.  You shall never be able to expand your precious knowledge, only share what you have learned thus far.  This shall be your fate until the Prodigy surpasses your achievements in the Art.

Motivations & Goals

Xephero is under divine geas to teach anyone who wishes to learn from him, but he makes an effort to seek out the most talented apprentices in the land to enroll in his Academy.  By doing so, he hopes to discover the prodigy destined to surpass him.  Every generation, he chooses his most promising student to become the next headmaster.  Then during a secret ritual, he traps the soul of the student in a crystal and possesses the student’s body, thus preventing anyone from surpassing his achievements.

When a student signs the application for enrollment, she is magically bound to defend Xephero from all threats while attending the Academy as well as being sworn to secrecy about anything she learns or hears within its walls.  With the magical contracts, Xephero hopes to ensure his continued existence free from external peril.

The life of a student of the Academy is harsh and full of work.  Xephero pushes the students to their limits and his motivation is twofold.  One, since he can no longer expand his arcane knowledge, he uses the students’ discoveries to increase his powers, though he has been unsuccessful at reproducing any student discoveries.  Two, he actually tries to make the students’ life as miserable as possible so they will quit and leave the Academy, keeping him from having to share his knowledge.

His previous research indicates that there may be an ancient artifact powerful enough to sever the geas the god of magic placed upon him.  However, since he is forever busy instructing apprentices, he is unable to look for it.  He has sent several groups of adventurers to retrieve it, but none have ever found it.  The years have not been kind, and Xephero becomes more fanatic every year the artifact goes unfound

Organization

The Arcane Academy is home for anywhere from ten to twenty students at any time.  The turnover rate is quite high, as not many students have the determination to subject themselves to the rigors that Xephero puts them through.

Because of the contract, they are all required to defend Xephero to the death should any aggressors attack the mad Archwizard.  They are all wizards ranging from level 1 to 25.  Also, the contract swears them to secrecy, even after quitting the school, which leaves much mystery to anyone requiring knowledge of the interior or inner workings of the Academy.

The only way to free the students from being bound by the contracts is to find them and dissolve them with acid.  Once the contracts are dissolved, students will be governed by their own free will, which could mean they might defend Xephero out of self interest.

Hooks

The mother of an apprentice of the Academy, a noblewoman who serves as a priestess of the goddess of healing, has been receiving visions about her son.  In her vision, her son has been imprisoned in a cage of glass.  All of her correspondence goes unanswered from the Academy, and she fears the worst.

A power artifact is rumored to be held by an elder black dragon in the swamps to the south.  A band of worthy heroes are being sought to recover the Quill of Fate before the dragon discovers its fate and uses it.  The ancient relic is supposedly capable of rewriting one’s fate should he know what his destiny truly is.  The Arcane Academy is willing to store and protect the artifact.

The player characters are in need of a rare ritual to cure a deadly disease.  They have heard the Arcane Academy houses much lore and may have the ritual in question, but the headmaster requires enrollment.

Check out some other villains hiding out on the web this week:

The Core Mechanic’s Morgan Le Fay

At-Will’s Grebs Follyfoot

Listening to: Machine Head – The Burning Red – Nothing Left

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Acario Macellarius IX

These people survive because I have gifted them with law and order.  They who usurped this very throne upon which now I sit from my family a century ago had allowed the decadence benevolence to deteriorate my kingdom.  The borders shrank as invaders carved up the countryside unchallenged while the aristocracy grew fat and lazy on the taxes that never made it to the royal coffers.

The people should hail me as a hero for executing those noble thieves and reclaiming the lands that belonged to my ancestors.  But instead they hate me and speak of revolution behind closed doors.  Well, they shall repay me with sweat and blood as I forge a new empire!  Devils be damned…

Background

It has been twenty years since Acario Macellarius IX emerged from familial exile leading his infernal host against the descendents of usurpers.  It is now the thirteenth year of his sovereignty, having restored the throne to its rightful heirs.

Acario is the last of a lineage of an exiled king, Acario Macellarius VI, overthrown and banished by the aristocracy of his kingdom.  When exiled, the Macellarius family managed to leave with much of the kingdom’s wealth which bought them a barony in the neighboring kingdom where they sought refuge.  Many members of the family looked to infernal pacts to increase their power and influence.

Slowly, the Macellarius family expanded their influence and power within borders of their new home, eventually staging a nearly bloodless coup as the Macellarius IX had risen to be a prominent general in that kingdom’s army.  However, the Macellarius family had not forgotten about their ancestral home.

During their exile, the Macellarius family had maintained close relationships with sympathetic nobles as well as infiltrating the court and army with their agents.  When Macellarius IX marched upon the capital of his ancestral home, almost half of the nobles had been turned or neutralized along with the army.  However, there was a long and bloody succession war fought against the remaining units still loyal to the king pretender as well as the remnants of the losers of the coup from his home in exile.

Acario Macellarius is cruel and revels in power, ruling his burgeoning empire with the proverbial iron fist.  He was born and bred to be the Macellarius that returned the family to their place as the rulers of their ancestral kingdom.  He was corrupted as a youth by the infernal teachings of his mother, but quickly showed an aptitude in battle, becoming the youngest general of his home in exile’s history.

Motivations & Goals

Acario is consumed with expanding his dominion.  He has already conquered two kingdoms and is preparing to launch a new campaign against the realm on his southern border.  But before he continues his conquest, he is overseeing the construction of his new seat of power, a mighty fortress that perched on a cliff overlooking the fields his ancestral home.

Acario was raised to believe it to be his destiny to become the emperor of the known world and sees himself as a benefactor, bringing law to the lawless.  Acario has re-written the law to conform to his vision and has ensured that his laws have been posted in the taverns and common areas throughout his kingdom, as it is in fact the law to do so, regardless to the reality that very few people are literate.  He ensures the law is enforced through a large constabulary.

To keep the peasants happy, and therefore reduce the chances of revolution, Acario has established weekly tournaments and games to distract his people from their miserable lives.  Some of these games are brutal gladiatorial contests between prisoners and slaves.  It was during one of these weekly events that Acario met the woman who he has decided to make his queen.

The Macellarius family is disgusted at his interest in this woman, Erin, who is a commoner from one of the outlying villages, thinking she is below his station.  His family has encourages Acario to marry a noble and take Erin as a mistress, but he will not hear of it.  Acario has courted Erin for a little over a month now, and she has developed feelings for him as well; they plan to wed by next summer.

Organization

Acario Macellarius IX possesses the crowns of two kingdoms, but has gutted their original infrastructure and established his own.  After wiping out much of the old aristocracy, he divided his lands into duchies and appointed trusted family and associates as dukes to govern their operations.  These dukes are supported by a small bureaucracy of officials including tax collectors, magistrates, and advisors.

Acario also maintains a large and well trained standing army which has garrisons located strategically throughout his burgeoning empire.  To maintain civil peace, Acario has also created a constabulary chosen from the most ambitious locals.

The army that marches with Macellarius IX strikes fear into the hearts of his enemy because of his hellish royal guard unit known as The Possessed.  The Possessed are men who have voluntarily (or otherwise) allowed the spirit of devils to warp their mind and body.  The ritual to create The Possessed was acquired through a pact with a devil, for which he still owes his first-born son.

Acario also established a network of spies to watch his trusted dukes as well as root out troublesome antagonists and revolutionaries.  The spy network is called the Steel Web by those aware of its existence due to the fact that no one can escape it once caught.  The Steel Web has usually have members on the local constabulary to assist it in apprehending suspects.

Hooks

Young men and women have been forced into slavery in outlying villages to participate in the weekly games sponsored by a particularly malevolent duke. The PCs must stop the slavers as well as fight in the gladiatorial event to win the slaves’ freedom.

The PCs have been asked to join the constabulary to help keep the peace (and help the Steel Web keep an eye on them). The PCs uncover a cabal of warlocks performing ghastly experiments on pregnant women. If the PCs defeat the cabal, they recover a royal charter to perform the deeds signed by the king.

The Steel Web has deemed the PCs a threat to sovereignty and has dispatched a unit of The Possessed to hunt them down. If the PCs are successful at defeating a Possessed, the devil within him makes a deal to trade information for his freedom. If the PCs barter, they discover that Acario plans to perform a ritual on his innocent queen that will transform their first-born into an avatar of a powerful devil.

The PCs have been recruited by a resistance movement to overthrow Acario. Their first task is to infiltrate an outlying fortress, neutralize the night watch, and raise the portcullis to allow the revolutionaries to storm the fortress with minimal casualties.

The PCs are sent on a secret diplomatic mission to obtain an alliance between the resistance and the realm to the south. Unfortunately, the Steel Web has caught wind is attempting to frame the PCs for an assassination.

The resistance has finally taken the battle to Acario and the PCs must face the tyrant on the field of battle. But Acario is not just a man any longer, he given his mortal shell over to his infernal master and the PCs must defeat him before the devil fully materializes on this world.

Statblock

I have created several statblocks for Acario Macellarius IX, spanning the three 4e Tiers: Heroic, Paragon, and Epic.  Due the length and complexity, I don’t want to overwhelm this article, so instead I will release the statblocks throughout the week.  I am also working on a 3.5/Pathfinder statblock.

Just to give a taste of how I built Acario, he is based upon the Avenger PC class multiclassed with Warlock and wields the executioner’s axe.  Acario definitely shares powers from those classes but I have also created three original powers that are unique to him.  Check back later this week to see his statblocks.

Villainous Thoughts

First I want to give a huge shout-out to Crystal Frasier who created the fantastic illustration accompanying this article.  Many thanks for providing me the art!  Please go check out more of her work at her website, Clockwork Amazon, as well as her illustrated Mutants & Masterminds campaign setting, Emerald City Guard, over at Atomic Think Tank.  I can’t say enough about how much I appreciate it!

It is very difficult to create a villain that is at once system/setting generic while actually providing enough detail to use the character in a game.  This is my first hard attempt at doing so and I think I came pretty close to my mark, but still feel I could improve.

If you have any suggestions or comments, feel free to sound off in the comments section.  Also, be sure to check out my partners in villainy:

At-Will - The Song of Flame: Savis Rayn

The Core Mechanic – Portraits of a Villain: Sir Mordred

Exchange of Realities – Villain Spotlight: Zora Aldebar

Listening to: Meshuggah – Chaosphere – Neurotica

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Want to learn more about Gestalt? Read on…

• Atomic Array: Episode 019: Gestalt
• Game Cryer: Gestalt Review
• Uncle Bear: Gestalt: A Mythic Supers Setting
• All Games Considered: The Hero Within
• A Butterfly Dreaming: The Pieces of Gestalt
• The Bone Scroll: ‘G’ is for Gestalt

Drop by Black Wyrm Games today!

Listening to: Nine Inch Nails- Starfuckers, Inc. – The Fragile, Right

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One of White Wolf’s recent ventures is a game called Scion.  It utilizes the familiar d10 based Storytelling System rules that has become the foundation of White Wolf games like the World of Darkness and Exalted.  But what does Scion bring to the game table any of the other White Wolf games, or any game for that matter, doesn’t already?

Two words: Epic Mythology.  Scion allows players to take the on role of the modern day children of the gods as they struggle against their mortal enemies, Titanspawn.   While the game could be played in any timeline, it is intended to be set in the modern world; a modern world without the bleak outlook of the World of Darkness… a more heroic world.

Scion is built on a three tier system, with a book for each tier that provides character options targeted at the character’s stage of development.  A Scion ascends to full godhood starting with the Hero tier, progressing through the Demigod tier, and arriving at the God tier.

The original three core books: Hero, Demigod, and God included six pantheons: the Pesedjet of Ancient Egypt, the Dodekatheon of Greece & Rome, the Scandinavian Aesir, the Aztec Atzlanti, the Amatsukami from the land of the rising sun, and the African-Caribbean Loa.  The new Scion Companion introduces a new pantheon, the Tuatha Dé Danann of Irish-Celtic mythology.

A Warning

Before I get into the meat and potatoes of this delve into the Scion Companion I should clarify something.  One, mythology (or cultural) purists may find the perspective on Celtic mythology in the book a little annoying.  There is a prevalence to equate Celtic mythology to Irish mythology, which isn’t necessarily one and the same.  But regardless, the Scion Companion does really good job presenting this rich mythology within the context of a game.

The Mythology

The Tuatha Dé Danann (pronounced too-ha day dah-nan) are the last non-human occupiers of what would become known as Ireland.  Their name means People of the Goddess Danu.  Having originated in four mythical cities called Falias, Gorias, Finias and Murias, where they also learned their magic and skills from the druids there.

When they came to Ireland, they found the land in the control of the Fir Bolgs.  They defeated the Fir Bolgs, who had allied themselves with the Fomorians,  in the First Battle of Magh Tuiredh.  The Fomorians are huge, deformed, and vicious with a taste for human flesh.   However, the victory was not without cost, for the king of the Tuatha, Nuada, lost his right hand in battle.  This forced the Tuatha to choose a new king, for their tradition prevented anyone of imperfect body to be king.

They chose Bres to be their new king, which proved unfortunate for the Tuatha.  Bres was cruel and forced the rest of the Tuatha into slave labor for the Formorians.  So the Tuatha turned to magic and replaced Nuada’s hand with a silver one and forced Bres to step down and named Nuada king once again.  But Bres fled to his father, the king of the Fomorians, who sent aid and met the Tuatha in the Second Battle of Magh Tuiredh.

However, the Second Battle of Magh Tuiredh was the first time the Tuatha’s Scions fought beside them and they levied the worse defeat the Fomorians had ever been dealt.  The Morrigan, Lugh, and Nuada slaughters wave after wave of the titanspawn.  The surviving Fomorians went into hiding and have been regaining their strength ever since.

Soon a group of mighty warriors came to Ireland, the Milesians.  Their force was so strong that the Tuatha ceded Ireland to these men who are the descendents of modern day Irish.  The Tuatha retreated to Tir na nÓg, the Land of Eternal Youth, where they guided the people of Ireland.

The Pantheon

Aengus

Aengus is known for his beauty and silver tongue.  His scions are found in professions where these attributes are in high demand: attorneys, salesmen, models, actors and politicians.

Associated Powers: Animal  (Birds), Enech,  Epic Appearance, Epic Charisma, Epic Manipulation, Health
Abilities: Animal  Ken,  Art,  Empathy,  Medicine, Occult, Presence
Rivals: Aphrodite, Artemis, Hel, Izanami, Tlazoltéotl

Brigid

Brigid fills the roles of maiden, mother, and crone and is the patron of poets, smiths, and healers.  Her scions are creative and charismatic people with an interest in the arts or healing.

Associated Powers: Animal (Swan), Enech, Epic Stamina, Epic Strength, Fire, Health, Water
Abilities: Art, Craft, Empathy, Integrity, Medicine, Melee
Rivals: Apollo, Loki, Sobek, Tlaloc, Xipe Totec

The Dagda

The Dagda is known for his appetite for food, women, and battle.  His scions are drawn from guardian professions (policemen, firemen), athletes (boxers, wrestlers), or social professions (salesmen, politicians) depending on what attributes they inherit.

Associated Powers: Animal (Pigs), Enech, Epic Charisma, Epic Stamina, Epic Strength, Guardian, War
Abilities: Animal Ken, Command, Fortitude, Melee, Presence, Thrown
Rivals: Horus, Huitzilopochtli, Odin, Ogoun, Tezcatlipoca, Zeus

Danu

Danu is the ancestress of the Tuatha and abhors violence.  Her scions are teachers, environmentalists, and scientists.

Associated Powers: Enech, Epic Perception, Epic Stamina, Earth, Fertility, Guardian, Water
Abilities: Animal Ken, Awareness, Command, Empathy, Fortitude, Integrity
Rivals: Baron Samedi, Hera, Osiris, Raiden, Tlazoltéotl

Dian Cécht

Dian Cécht is the god healing and is responsible for Nuada’s silver hand.  His scions are exclusively found in the medical fields.

Associated Powers: Enech, Epic Dexterity, Epic Intelligence, Epic Perception, Health, Magic, Water
Abilities: Craft, Empathy, Medicine, Occult, Presence, Survival
Rivals: Apollo, Damballa, Hephaestus, Isis, Miclántecuhtli

Lugh

Lugh is the god of versatility.  His scions usually come from backgrounds with varied jobs, but they all tend to be athletic.

Associated Powers: Animal (Dog), Enech, Epic Charisma, Epic Dexterity, Epic Wits, Guardian, Health, Illusion, Magic, Sky, War
Abilities: Art, Athletics, Integrity, Melee, Occult, Thrown
Rivals: Loki, Tezcatlipoca, Tlazoltéotl, Kalfu, Set

Manannan

Adopted into the Tuatha from a much older pantheon, Manannan serves a psychopomp and a trickster.  His scions are known for their humor and wit and usually hail from professions involving the ocean or death.

Associated Powers: Animal (Horses), Death, Enech, Epic Manipulation, Epic Wits, Illusion, Magic, Prophecy, Psychopomp, Water
Abilities: Animal Ken, Athletics, Brawl, Control, Investigation, Occult
Rivals: Amaterasu, Hades, Hera, Miclántecuhtli, Shango, Tyr

The Morrigan

The Phantom Queen is fear even by her fellow Tuatha for her prowess in battle.  Her scions are the strongest, fiercest, and cruelest of their ilk.

Associated Powers: Animal (Corvids), Animal (Cattle), Chaos, Death, Enech, Epic Appearance, Epic Strength, Fertility, Prophecy, War
Abilities: Animal Ken, Brawl, Fortitude, Marksmanship, Melee, Thrown
Rivals: Ares, Odin, Quetzalcoátl, Raiden, Tyr

Nuada

The First King of the Tuatha is the god of justice and leadership.  His scions are found in the arenas of law enforcement, armed forces, and politics.

Associated Powers: Enech, Epic Charisma, Epic Strength, Epic Perception, Guardian, Justice, War
Abilities: Athletics, Command, Integrity, Melee, Presence, Thrown
Rivals: Apollo, Huitzilopochtli, Loki, Ogoun, Set

Ogma

Creator of the Ogham alphabet, Ogma is the wisest of the Tuatha.  His scions strike a balance between brain and brawn and many of them come from intellectual fields of physics, chemistry, computers, linguistics, and mathematics.

Associated Powers: Enech, Epic Dexterity, Epic Intelligence, Epic Strength, Guardian, War
Abilities: Academics, Art, Empathy, Melee, Presence, Thrown
Rivals: Ares, Kalfu, Loki, Susano-o, Thoth

Geasa & Enech

The Scions of the Tuatha Dé Danann are bound by geasa which are taboos against specific types of behavior or required actions under a certain circumstance.  Geas define how Scions of the Tuatha interact with the world and breaking geasa levies penalties against a Scion.

The Purview specific to the Tuatha is called Enech.  Enech is honor or a measure of one’s worth.  Men must constantly work to prove their honor and worth.  The Tuatha Purview taps into this Enech to allow a Scion to bring up his allies and bring down his foes.

Want to learn more about Scion? Read on…

• Atomic Array: Episode 016: Scion
• Scion Preview: Demo and Adventure
• Game Cryer: Review by Chris Perrin
• Fear the Boot: Manifestation of Ichor
• RPGAggression: Celstial Bureaucracy
• Flames Rising: Companion 4 Review

Drop by RPG Now to pick up your copy today!

Listening to: AC/DC – Ballbreaker – The Furor

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There are a few things I need to inform my readers about, a correction on pricing for AO and I wanted to plug (hey this is my blog after all) a collaboration between Jonathan (The Core Mechanic), gamefiend (At-Will), and myself.

Alpha Omega Pricing Correction

I knew I should have taken a closer look at pricing options for the overview of Alpha Omega I did last week.  I had said the suggested retail price of the book was around $55, but Tom Tom McLaughlin of Mind Storm Labs commented that book is actually available for $44.95, and if you happen to be an Atomic Array listener, you can score a copy for $15 dollars less than that.  Which makes this 400 page behemoth only $29.95 if you do the math!  So now you have absolutely no excuse NOT to buy it!  DO IT.

Skill Challenges of War Collab

So if you happened to have missed The Core Mechanic the last week or so, then you haven’t seen the excellent series on how to run a war with skill challenges in your 4e D&D (or any d20 game for that matter).  Jonathan asked me and, the RPG Blogosphere’s resident skill challenge expert, gamefiend to co-author the series with him.

I can honestly say that collaborating with fellow bloggera has forced me to raise the bar on quality and I think this is probably some of my best “work” and will be considered so for a long time.  If you are looking for some new and innovative skill challenges to add to your campaign you need to check these posts out:

• Part 1 – The Concept
• Part 2 – Complexities of War
• Part 3 – Skill Challenge: Diplomatic Mission Reconnaissance
• Part 4 – Skill Challenge: Rally the Troops!
• Part 5 – Skill Challenge: …The Body will Die

While most of the work is complete, the series has not been published in its entirety yet, so make sure you keep an eye on The Core Mechanic during the next week or so.  This thing is shaping up to be a 10+ part series!  And if war is not an element, be sure to check At-Will for more skill challenges.

Listening to: Motorhead - Ace of Spades Collection - Ace of Spades

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Mind Storm Labs‘ Alpha Omega, or AO, is a new RPG that debuted before GenCon ’08.  Mind Storm Labs and its fresh new game were nominated for three Ennie awards for Best Interior Art, Best Production Values, and Best Publisher.

In the public voting, I voted for it for best production value, just judging from a small sample.  After receiving the thick, horizontal format (akin to the height and width ration of a widescreen monitor) book in the mail, I see that my vote was well placed.  The art and graphic design employed on the book is phenomenal.  If you check out their website, you will find more of the same production value there.

The coolest feature of the graphic design includes a navbar on the outside of the pages that highlights section icons and section numbers, making navigation fairly easy.  It brings a web designer mentality to book navigation.  The only thing I wish it had is an index and page numbers, but the table of contents is pretty thorough.

So, Mind Storm Labs certainly invested in the eye candy, but did they set the same bar for the actual development of the game?  That was what I had wondered when I initially visited their booth at GenCon.

I wish I had taken note of the representative who I had spoke with to get a general idea of the game, cause it might have very well been one of the two developers, David Carter or Earl Fischl.  Or maybe it could have been Tom McLaughlin who was the person kind enough to hook me up with a copy of the game for review.

So does Alpha Omega bring an “A” game to the table?  I think so.  I will say that I had to make a significant investment of time to take full advantage of the mechanics.  The time invested was not unbearable though.  This investment is somewhat mitigated by the fact that the game was developed in layers of complexity that can be removed or added as necessary.  So you can build off the core as you become more familiar.

Character Creation

The game uses a point buy character creation model, offering a choice of ten races including the versatile human, artificially intelligent androids, and the angelic and demonic looking Nephilim who are the offspring of aliens and humans.  Characters have seven attributes or ability scores which are called Core Qualities in AO.  These scores have minimum and maximum values based upon race.  Then you have Secondary and Tertiary Qualities that are calculated using the values of the Core Qualities.

Character creation is expanded by using Abilities and Drawbacks (think Merits and Flaws, or Feats), Genetic Deviations, Skills, and Wielding (AO’s version of magic).  Since there are no classes or archetypes, players are free to develop whatever characters they want.  This is something I value greatly.

Game Mechanics

The rule mechanics for Alpha Omega is called the 6-6 System.  This stands for the six, one second segments that comprise a combat cycle and the maximum six dice in his dice pool that a player may roll to resolve actions during that combat cycle.  The size of the dice that can be rolled scales with character development, beginning with a majority of d4s and one or two d6s all the way up to d20s.

The more developed a character, the more segments he or she may act in.  The player only gets one dice pool, which he may spend all at once or over the course of multiple segments.  Also, depending on the situation, the player upgrade his dice pool with higher sided dice, or be penalized with lower sided dice.  Your dice pool is determined by the key Core Quality for the action you are taking.

Setting

In my personal opinion, the best part of Alpha Omega is the setting.  In the world of AO, the Earth finally fought back against all the damn humanity that has been destroying for centuries.  Earthquakes, volcanoes, typhoons, and aberrant weather wreak havoc upon the face of the earth.  Follow this upon with the mutually assured annihilation of nuclear-biological-chemical war and six years of comet debris raining death and devastation.

So humans pulled back into the safety of cities, letting the rural parts return to the elemental wild.  Years of exposure to the chemicals, radiation, and biological weapons the war and the strange alien influence of the comets have caused wild mutations in the wildlife and some of humanity, bringing new species.  Remnants, the descendents of humans left to the mutations of the wild.  Necrosi are the descendents of humans who fled underground but were mutated by radiation from the comets.

While the world outside were running wild, the cities built up into massive self-contain super structures called arcologies.  These structures soar several kilometers into the sky.  It is within these arcologies that technology grew by leaps and bounds, allowing humans to thrive.  Now these mega-cities struggle against each other for control of resources in the wild, also known as Freezones.

This backdrop is interesting enough, but AO also adds an element of alien scheming and influence in the presence of two alien races: the angelic appearing Seraph and the Ophanum, of demonic countenance.  These two races are at war with each other and every thousand years they use Earth as a battleground.

Some of these aliens bred with humans, birthing the Nephilim.  The Seraph, Ophanum, Nephilim, and the Grigori (servants of the Seraph and Ophanum) are known as the Evolutionaries.  The Evolutionaries only revealed themselves in the last couple of centuries, which sets the stage for the impending alien war coming to Earth.  All that is left is to choose sides.

Online Community

Has developed the Alpha Omega Players’ Community, which is a forum based website that looks very active.  You can find gaming group, look into Cons and Event stuff, find out about the official managed campaign, and participate in general discussion.

I don’t know if I have seen a publisher go to the lengths Mind Storm Labs has to ensure fans have access to resources to make community content.  AO provide a fan kit on their homepage that includes images and assets from that snazzy piece of eye candy that is their website.  Some of which I have used in this article.

They also created the New World Science and Engineering Commission (NWSEC), a wiki set in the AO universe where players can submit their own “discoveries.”  Players can submit new creatures, weapons, gear, and locations.  In fact Mind Storm Labs recently completed a contest that where they chose the five best creatures to be included in their bestiary supplement, The Encountered.  The best part is that is all “in character.”  Pretty slick.

Impressions

If you want a game that brings a fresh perspective on the Sci-Fi RPG, I definitely recommend you give Alpha Omega a whirl.  It only requires one book, which while more pricey than the current average cost for a core book (EDIT: MSRP $44.95), you only need one, instead of two or three. Note: Atomic Array listeners get a $15 discount, which makes the price $29.95! Which makes this RPG a MUST HAVE!

When combined with the strong, player-driven online community that Mind Storm Labs has built, this game could provide many hours of enjoyable roleplay.  While it is far too early for me to render a final verdict, Alpha Omega is still young and if it perseveres, it could shape up to be a major contender.

Want to learn more about Alpha Omega? Read on…

• Atomic Array: Episode 012: Alpha Omega
• Gamer Dome: Interview with Roger Traffler of the NWSEC
• Gnome Stew: Alpha Omega: How to GM this New RPG
• RPGAggression: Rudis Review: Alpha Omega
• Mind Storm Labs: Previews of AO Products

Special Offer from Atomic Array: $15 off Alpha Omega when you enter the coupon code “Atomic” during purchase. Drop by Mind Storm Labs to pick up your copy today!

Listening to: Android Lust - Evolution – Suffer the Flesh

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Forward

Horror.  The genre has captured my imagination and sent chills up my spine since I was a child.  In the beginning it was the classic Universal Monsters I loved.  I couldn’t get enough of Dracula, Frankenstein’s monster, or the Wolfman.  It was a rotten seed that had been planted in my brain, and its corruption bloomed and spread its vile roots, perverting and twisting my thoughts and imagination.

Yes, and it did all this before I had even rolled my first die.  After fantasy roleplaying games discovered me, the mephitic leaves of horror that had shaded my thoughts began to whither and receded, for a while.  However, it was still there, dormant but festering, waiting for the opportunity to germinate and spread its rancid tendrils back into my imagination.

The first substantial opportunity came a full five years after I had begun roleplaying.  A new game was in town that allowed you to take on the role of the things that go bump in the night.  Vampires, Werewolves, and Wraiths. OH MY!  While it is certainly horrific to become these things that inspire fear in people, true terror lies in becoming the helpless and weak that these monsters prey upon.

Enter Cthulhu.  A few years after being initiated into the gothic-punk genre of roleplaying, I was introduced to the Call of Cthulhu.  I was a sophomore in high school when the elder evil touched my mind.  It was truly horrific and far exceeded anything in the horror genre I had experienced.  The hopelessness and fatalism inspired by the game was liberating.  Gone was the race for power.  Gone was the attempt to excel at a chosen discipline.  I embraced character flaws and indulged in character development.  I watched while sanity fled my character and madness took root.  I embraced the inevitability of the destruction of my character.

Cthulhu Mini Carnival

On the RPG Bloggers Network’s Google Group, Ed Healy inquired about bloggers who would be interested in participating in a mini Blog Carnival dedicated to Cthulhu.  This is my contribution to the effort.  For those of you who do not know who Ed Healy, he is currently the owner of Moonstew which does the well known Atomic Array and he is also the Advertising Manager for Kobold Quarterly at Open Design.  He has a long list of contributions to the RPG industry from freelance editing and writing to co-founding Eden Studios (All Flesh Must Be Eaten) and The Forge.

It is a shame I did not have time to flesh this story out to a full fledged adventure, but I find myself starting this in the evening after work and it must be done by the following morning!  I hope I can pull off a quality contribution in such a short time.

The Tidings of Thule

This story outline for use with Shadows of Cthulhu, a True20 Call of Cthulhu game published by Reality Deviant Publications.  I created this story with new players in mind, as a sort of introduction.  I wanted to expose players to elements of the game and the Mythos in a controlled manner.  As such, it may appear at first glance that it has a railroad quality to it, but I lay the task of maintaining the veil of choice and non-linear progression in the hands of the Narrator.  If you think about it, that actually fits the Cthulhu Mythos.

I have also branded this story with my own take on Lovecraft’s world.  I love the esoteric conspiracy theories that surround the rise of the Third Reich and Hitler’s obsession with the supernatural.  I am strongly influenced by Hellboy, Wolfenstein and a little bit of Indiana Jones in this.  I love twisting real-world phenomenon, events, and locations into Cthulhu stories.

Background

This introductory story takes place in the summer of 1933 in the American Southwest, specifically Mesa Verde, Colorado.  The repercussions of the Great Stock Market Crash of ’29 are in full swing as the economy has collapsed, people are jobless, homeless, and worse.  The world climate is not much better as Germany’s government, still reeling from its defeat in the aftermath of the Great War, has just undergone a coup as a charismatic upstart, Adolf Hitler, is establishing the Third Reich and rearming the nation.

The premise is that the characters have been in and out of work since the Crash, but have all accepted job offers to come work for an archaeological outfit at Mesa Verde National Park in southwestern Colorado.  The first clue that something strange is afoot would be the outfit’s name: The Archaeological Society for Germanic Antiquity (ASGA).  The outfit is not picky about which Roles or Archetypes it employs, so players should feel free to develop the character of their choice.  After all, it doesn’t take specialized skills to dig around in the dirt and sand (or to be sacrificed).

Mesa Verde National Park is home to the remnants of a cliff dwelling pueblo people, the Anasazi.  The Anasazi mysteriously disappeared over a thousand years ago, and it is unclear why.  The Archaeological Society is investigating the reasons behind the strange disappearance.

Overview

The Archaeological Society for German Antiquity is actually a cover name for the Society of Thule, a German secret society that helped establish the Nazis.  Hitler publicly banned all esoteric groups but has secretly enlisted the Society of Thule to gather information and supernatural relics to help him in his future endeavors for world domination.

The scholars of the Society of Thule have discovered documents in Scandinavia and artifacts recently discovered at Mesa Verde that lead them to believe that Hitler’s super race, the Aryans, had connections to the natives of the American Southwest.  Specifically they think that the “Keys to the Origins of the Aryans” are hidden in Mesa Verde.

They believe the “Keys” are a formula that will help Hitler reconstitute the fabled super race.  However, they erred in translating their findings.  It actually reads “Keys to the Lands of the Aryans.”  There is actually a gate that opens to the homeland of long dead Aryans hidden within the mesa.

The truth of what happened to the Anasazi is disturbing, as the Aryans transformed them into Ghouls to guard the gate for eternity.  The Anasazi Ghouls have slept in a deep slumber, hidden deep inside the subterranean complex, but now the excavation has awakened them.

The characters discover the entrance to the gate and soon find themselves caught in a struggle between the Nazi Society of Thule and the Ghouls.  Along the way, they encounter a Navajo warrior, that explains that the term Anasazi means “enemy ancestors” and that disturbing the ancient site has grave consequences.  He says his people have a legend of a hole in the ground, that when opened, will suck the world into it, destroying the universe as we know it.

So the characters become embroiled in a race against the Thules to find the keys to the gate and destroy them before the Society tries to open the gate, possibly destroying the world.  Or perhaps the characters will work with the Society to further Hitler’s goals?

Story Outline

The story is divided into three Acts: The Beginning, The Race, and The Endgame; these are further divided into scenes, all of which may not come to play.  This is just a simple framework which the Narrator can take and fill in the details he or she sees fit.  I have detailed all the NPCs, equipment, and special locations in the Appendix at the end of the outline.  Mechanics and Monsters located in the Shadows of Cthulhu or True20 Adventure Roleplaying books have been bolded the first time they are encountered.  I have also bolded any DC checks.

Act I: The Beginning

The Beginning is where the characters first discover that world is not the decaying, turbulent place they once thought.  Oh no, it is far worse.  There is a reason for that primal fear of the dark.

Scene: Digging into the Past

The characters have all jumped at the opportunity to work at a federal funded job, which provides some piece of mind.  The characters are assembled into a team to work a dig site and collect, study, catalog, and safekeep any artifacts they uncover from the excavation.  Their instructors, Herr Deitrick Eckart and Fräulein Heila von Westarp, all speak with a heavy German accent, and if questioned about their nationality, origins, or why a German Antiquity group is studying the American Southwest they respond by saying that times are tough in the fatherland, and they are willing to study anything.

The characters are given short courses where they are taught how to go about surveying, excavating, and doing preliminary analyses where special attention is given to symbolism.  Of particular importance is a symbol that is an equilateral cross with arms bent at right angles.  The final instruction is to report the discovery of any new rooms immediately.  The characters are then assigned to excavate a room at the base of a cliff dwelling.  They day soon grows long, and dusk begins to settle upon the mesa.

Just as the characters begin to wrap things up for the night, while excavating and making a DC 15 Search Check, they either uncover (success) or fall (fail) through a hole in the floor of the room they are assigned to.  The hole leads to a round room carved into the sandstone base of the cliff.  Strange paintings adorn the walls of the room.  A single tunnel leads deeper into the side of the cliff.  It requires a DC 20 Climb Check to get out.

The characters now have a choice, follow instructions and report the discovery immediately, or delve deeper into the subterranean complex.  If the characters report their findings, then go to Scene: Under Lock & Key.  If the characters decide to explore the underground complex go to Scene: Cries in the Dark.

Scene: Under Lock & Key

The characters are led to the ASGA headquarters building where they are asked to wait in the debriefing room.  The characters soon realize that they have been locked in with armed guards posted outside their room.

If the characters attempt an escape, they have an encounter with the guards.  After the characters defeat the guards, or they are subdued themselves, there are aberrant sounds of yelps and whining cries coming from outside.  The door to the outside is nearly rattled off its hinges as the entity or entities outside try to force their way in, but the banging eventually subsides.

If the guards are still in control, they rush outside, where automatic gunfire is heard, but abruptly ends with short shrieks of terror as blood splatters on the small window of the door (inducing a Fear 17 Save).  Once the characters break out of their room, they will find nothing but bloody marks where the bodies were dragged off.

Either way, the characters can acquire two MP34 submachine guns, with 20 rounds of ammunition each, and two Luger Parabellum pistols, with 8 rounds each.  These weapons are detailed in the Appendix.  Proceed to Scene: The Anasazi Return.

Scene: Cries in the Dark

The characters stumble through a seemingly abandoned system of tunnels, but eventually find a strange chamber deep in the heart of the mesa.  Imbedded in the northeastern wall of the chamber is a strange metallic arch, inscribed with even stranger markings, only one is familiar, the equilateral cross symbol (which, if you haven’t figured this out, is a swastika).  The wall enclosed by the arch appears to be a dark stone polished to a near glass finish.  There is a podium chiseled from stone in the center of the room with three indentations.  The paintings in the first room showed objects being placed into these notches.  An oddly shaped spear tip, a disc shaped amulet, and a white orb.

Perceptive characters will have sensed that something is pursuing them, but keeps to the dark.  The characters’ light source is unnaturally extinguished, and a whining cry pierces the darkness.  The creature in the darkness begins to assault the characters, clawing at them with hit and run tactics (inducing a Fear 17 Save).  Then, two armed members of the ASGA arrive; a firefight begins with the characters caught in the middle.  The ASGA manage to eliminate the Ghoul, but not before it leaps upon one them and begins to eat the flesh from his face (forcing a Sanity 10 Save to not acquire Cannibalism, but also gain 1 Awareness Point).

The remaining ASGA guard is mortally wounded and dies quickly, but may provide some vague background information about how the ASGA is actually the Society of Thule, which is connected to Nazi Germany and in service to Hitler.  They are here about uncovering the secrets of the master race.  He doesn’t know the specifics of why they are here, as he is just a soldier.  The characters can scavenge two MP34 submachine guns, with 20 rounds of ammunition each, and two Luger Parabellum pistols, with 8 rounds each.  These weapons are detailed in the Appendix.  Once the soldier dies, anyone affected by Cannibalism need to make a Will 10 Save or feed.

If the characters decide to explore more of the complex they will encounter another Ghoul, and upon searching its remains they will find the Mother Spider Dagger, which is detailed in the Appendix.  Once the characters exit, go to Scene: the Anasazi Return.

Scene: The Anasazi Return

At this point, darkness has set and they can hear the screams of other victims in the work camp as well as in the cliff dwellings.  More gunfire is heard, but is swiftly silenced.  The characters may decide to hide or barricade themselves inside a building.  To remain hidden from the Ghouls, a DC 15 Stealth Check is required.  To successfully barricade themselves, they must make a DC 15 Survival Check to cover all the entrances as well as DC 17 Strength Check to place something large enough, such as a desk or large cabinet to keep the Ghouls out.

This scene actually re-occurs every night and lasts until morning; it may coincide with the scenes from Acts II and III.  It requires a DC 20 Stealth Check to sneak about the camp or dig site without the Ghouls noticing.  It is a DC 15 Notice Check to spot Ghouls before they get too close and initiate an encounter.  An encounter will include 1-2 Ghouls.

If the characters wish to escape, they will find all the vehicles either missing or sabotaged, which requires a DC 20 Craft: Mechanics Check and 2 hours to repair one.  More likely, the characters will wish to uncover more information about their employers.  Thus they will begin searching the work camp for more clues.  Proceed to Act II.

Act II: The Race

During The Race, the characters discover who they are working for, and though WWII doesn’t begin in earnest for another six years, they can see the writing on the wall, and worse implications than needing to learn to speak German.  After they decide to find the “Keys to the Origins of the Aryans” they will find out they are in a race against the remnants of the Society of Thule to recover the Keys to the gate, which kicks off Act III: The Endgame.  Characters may decide to look for the Keys before going to every location.

After the first location, the characters enter Scene: Charge of the Countess.

Location Scene: ASGA Headquarters

Within the ASGA Headquarters they find evidence of a slaughter as blood and not a few body parts are mingled with a mess of paperwork and destroyed furniture.  Under a severed hand, they find missives with Nazi regalia emblazoned in the letterhead.  If the characters can read German, they will find they are working for the Society of Thule, which have instructions to “find the Keys to the Origins of the Aryans at all costs.”

A DC 10 Search Check reveals a map of the excavation hangs in tatters on the wall.  One of the dwellings is circled in red with the text “disc” scrawled next to it.  A DC 15 Search Check reveals one 32 round magazine for an MP34 hidden under some paperwork in a drawer.

Location Scene: Herr Deitrick Eckart’s Quarters

Within the austere accommodation of Eckart’s quarters, the characters find a military uniform fitted with jagged “SS” emblems on the collar.  They also find a rough manuscript entitled Mein Kampf.  There are letters with the official Nazi letterhead as well as a Luger pistol with 8 rounds in the desk drawer.  A DC 20 Search Check reveals a hidden compartment in his foot locker, storing two M24 stick grenades which are detailed in the Appendix.

Location Scene: Fräulein Heila von Westarp’s Quarters

Heila’s room is richly furnished with a wardrobe full of expensive dresses and a single uniform adorned with a red armband with a black swastika set in a white circle emblazoned upon it.  A DC 15 Search Check uncovers a journal between the mattresses, written German, but detailing the excavation.  A hand-drawn map of the dig has a location circled with the word “orb” written next to it.  The same check result also allows the characters to find a rapier, detailed in the appendix, in the back of the wardrobe.

A DC 20 Search Check reveals love letters written in English addressed to a Countess von Westarp from what must be an aristocrat named Winston Churchill (who was most likely unknown to Americans in ’33 as he didn’t become British Prime Minister until 1940).

Location Scene: The Barracks

The characters will find the barracks a bloody mess, the premises decorated with entrails as if they were birthday party banners.  This forces a Terror 15 Save.  The characters will find German soldier uniforms as well as four MP34s with 15 rounds of ammunition each, and a pair of binoculars.  Not much else if of use here.

Location Scene: Worker Dorms

Blood is splattered everywhere in the dorms, and most of the furniture is overturned or destroyed.  However, a DC 20 Search Check reveals project notes that state one of the dig workers encountered an old Navajo man who seemed to be monitoring the excavation from them bluff just east of the mesa.  The man had only said “light will be your strongest ally when the dwellers of darkness rise.”  Characters can keep the Ghouls at bay if they bring enough light with them (at least four flashlights, lanterns, or torches).

Scene: Charge of the Countess

After finishing the first location scene, the characters are ambushed by Heila and five guards.  Heila maintains cover behind a car, demanding the characters to surrender and hand over everything they have found.  If they do, proceed to Scene: Oblivion Comes.

Otherwise the guards will throw smoke grenades to cover their retreat once a single guard falls.  The characters can recover another MP34 with 5 rounds of ammunition as well as Luger pistol with 4 rounds.

Act III: The Endgame

The characters know that Heila and a few guards are out there looking for the Keys.  However, once they recover one Key, Nazi reinforcements arrive and recover the second key, and finally the characters are defeated while trying to reach the third key, which ends the story with Scene: Oblivion Comes.

Scene: The First Key

The players can only possibly know about two Key locations, as the third is still an unknown.  Which Key they wish to pursue is of little consequence.  If the players recovered the binoculars from the barracks, with a DC 10 Notice Check, they will be able to see that Heila’s contingent is working in the suspected location of the other Key.

With a DC 20 Search Check, the characters find a buried trap door that leads down into a dark room.  A tunnel leads deeper into the cliff.  The tunnel eventually opens up into a large cavern, with the stone podium located across a wide chasm.  Upon the podium is a Key, glowing with its own malevolent light.

A DC 15 Jump Check or a DC 20 Climb Check is required to make it across.  Once the key is removed from its podium, a Huge Ghoul climbs out of the chasm and attacks the characters.  This encounter needs to expend much of the characters’ resources and possibly drop a character.  Anyone who fails and falls will plummet to their death, or worse.

Once the encounter has lasted long enough, the Huge Ghoul emits a high pitched whine as a gore covered spear ruptures its chest cavity.  The Ghoul falls unlifeless to the cavern floor revealing the characters’ savior, an old Navajo man gripping a spear with an odd shaped blade.

The man speaks in a gravelly voice, demanding the characters leave this foul place before they uncover something worse.  It requires a DC 15 Diplomacy Check to coax more information out of the Navajo.  He reveals that he is a warrior for the local Navajo tribe, and they have had the duty of keeping the bad spirits here buried, but the white man knows no bounds.

He explains that Anasazi means “ancestor enemy” in their language, and there is a legend that there is a hole in the world located here.  If that hole is opened, it will suck all of existence into oblivion, destroying the universe as we know it.  When the characters turn their back, he mysteriously vanishes.  Proceed to Scene: Apprehended.

Scene: Apprehended

Upon exiting the tunnel that leads to the Key, the players are ambushed again by Heila, but this time she has fifteen soldiers under her command.  The characters could decide to fight, and most likely die, or they could do as Heila asks, and surrender and be witness to the greatness of the Aryan Race.  Maybe they would rethink their loyalties, as Germany could use magnificent agents like themselves.

Heila confiscates the Key and all of the characters weapons (unless one of them managed a DC 25 Sleight of Hand Check to conceal a pistol.

Scene: Oblivion Comes

Heila drags the characters back to the original location they were assigned, down the hole, and through the tunnel.  The come to the gate room and find that the Nazis have run electricity and brought down large work lights.  The lights all shine outside of the room, most likely to keep the Ghouls at bay.

The characters are forced to a kneeling position around the podium, with the guards behind them, burying the muzzles of their submachine guns into the backs of their heads.

She begins reciting a ritual in some ancient, better left unspoken language.  As she does so, she reverently draws the Keys out of a drawstring bag.  First the Orb, and as she fits in its slot upon the podium, the markings on the gate begin to glow faintly.  Second is the Disc, she inserts it into its proper place, and the marking glow brighter.

Finally she pulls the third Key, the spear tip, which looks exactly like the one that sat atop the Navajo spear that saved their skins.  When she places the third Key upon the podium, the polished stone in the gate begins to glow white.  It is apparent now that it is an enormous vein of crystal.  The crystal pulsates and then begins to shudder and crack.

From the behind the crack, large purple tentacles slither out and grasp Heila at the waist. They begin to drag her towards the gate; all the while she is screaming and clawing at the floor.  Her fingernails crack and tear as she tries desperately remain in this world.  Her screams stop when her back snaps as she is folded backwards and pulled through the crack.

The soldiers let lose bursts of machine gun fire into the crack, yelling in German.  The tentacles lash out and start attacking the soldiers, but this leaves the characters free to act.  They may flee and try to escape the tentacles and watch as the cliff dwelling collapses in upon itself.  They may attempt to fight the tentacles and lose.

Or if they read the advice found in the worker dorms about the light, they could turn the work lights on the tentacles, which promptly shrivel up and recede as the gate closes and the podium cracks and breaks.  If they inspect the podium afterwards for the keys, they find the disc and orb, but where the spear should be, there is only dust, maybe it was the wrong spear tip?  Regardless, this is an Sanity 20 Check and characters receive a random Disorder on a fail.  The characters also gain 1 Awareness Point.

Other Outcomes

The characters could have attacked the Navajo shaman, if they recognized the third Key as his spear.  If they possessed two of the Keys when they were apprehended, then the Narrator can determine what happens when Heila attempts to open the gate.  Perhaps it was the end of the world…

The characters could have repaired a vehicle and escaped.  But if they tried to explain what happened to authorities, there is a good chance that they would all be committed to an asylum.  They were well on their way to insanity anway.  The Society of Thule would also be hunting them, to maintain their secrecy.

The characters could have attempted to destroy the Key in their possession or maybe toss it down the chasm.  Once Heila discovers this, in Scene: Apprehended, she will fly into a rage and order the characters to be fed to some captured Ghouls.

Appendix

Equipment

MP34 Submachine Gun: +3 Dmg Bonus/20+3 Critical/Ballistic, Autofire/30′ Range/Medium Size/17 Cost

Luger Parabellum Pistol: +3 Dmg Bonus/20+3 Critical/Ballistic/30′ Range/Small Size/15 Cost

Monsters

Huge Ghoul: same as Ghoul except: Size Huge, +5 Str, Att +2, Dodge/Parry +0/+2, Toughness +4

NPCs

Heila von Westarp
Human Expert 4/Cultist Background

Lvl 4, Dex +2, Cha +4, Bluff +7, Diplomacy +5, Knowledge (supernatural) +5, Mythos Knowledge (History) +3, Mythos Language +1, Att +2, Dmg +3 (pistol), Dodge/Parry +3/+6, Initiative +3, Toughness +2, Fortitude +1, Reflex +4, Will +2, Sanity +2

Heila von Westarp is actually a Countess in Germany.  She sits on the inner circle of the Society of Thule and enjoys special missions that involve the seduction of foreign officials.  She is fanatic in her belief of Hitler’s doctrines.  She has long blond hair, blue eyes, and towers above many men at 6′ tall.  She has an athletic build is an excellent fencer.

Deitrick Eckart
Human Expert 3/Military Background

Deitrick has his own agenda, but is willing to ride the coat tails of the Third Reich to get them done.  He actually coached Hitler with public speaking, and Mein Kampf is dedicated to Deitrick.  He is currently a commander in the Nazi SS and is still at large after the conclusion of this story.

Guard

Lvl 1, Intimidate +2, Notice +4, Att +1, Dmg +3 (submachine gun), Dodge/Parry +1/+2, Initiative +1, Toughness +2, Fortitude +2, Reflex +1, Will +0, Sanity +0

Navajo Warrior
Human Warrior 5/Primitive Background

Lvl 5, Str +3, Dex +2, Con +2, Wis +2, Cha +1, Climb +5, Jump +5, Knowledge (supernatural) +4, Att +7, Dmg +5 (spear), Dodge/Parry +4/+8, Initiative +4, Toughness +5, Fortitude +6, Reflex +2, Will +4, Sanity +4

The token mysterious figure.  Yes, he still has the last Key.

Want to learn more about Shadows of Cthulhu? Read on…

• •SoC Preview: Click to Download
• •Atomic Array: Episode 010: Shadows of Cthulhu
• •RPGAgression: The Rudis Review
• •RPG Blog II: Roaring 20s Cthulhu: The Silver Screen
• •Critical Hits: Power Attack the Shoggoth
• •The Geniuses: So Many Ways to Cthulhu
• •Yog-Sothoth: Shadows of Cthulhu: A Review
• •Fear the Boot: Shadows of Cthulhu

Listening to: Tiamat - A Deeper Kind of Slumber – Cold Seed

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Expect to see WoDO, or The World of Darkness Online, within 3-5 years as CCP/White Wolf is currently accruing talent to begin development on the new MMORPG.  No doubt many of you are aware of the merger of the two companies that happened almost two years ago exactly.

CCP being the developer of the popular EVE Online, “a player driven science fiction MMORPG where players pilot their customizeable ships through over five thousand galaxies” (Wikipedia).  And we all know White Wolf as the publisher of the Storytelling System of books that includes Vampire: the Requiem.

There was speak of producing RPG material for EVE, but I have yet to hear of anything solid.  And the big deal was that they confirmed an MMORPG version of White Wolf’s World of Darkness.  Bringing a persistent world for players of their Vampire, Werewolf, Mage, and other supernaturals.  If it is well executed, this may be the first time I try an MMO subscription, but we’ll have to see how it develops.

I know first hand they are beginning to hire, because I was contacted by a recruiter for a position with CCP/White Wolf.  I have declined to pursue the offer because 1) I am not a fan of the ridiculus work hours that you put in at a game development house and 2) I am not fond of Georgia, where the position is located.  CCP also has the jobs posted on their site if you are in the market.

Sorry for the short post, but I have been under the weather for a bit as well as working on some projects for the Labs.  Oh, time is getting close, I have a date at the Blogger’s Bloodbath.

Listening to: Anthrax – The Sound of White Noise -Black Lodge

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