Mad Brew Labs

CthulhuTech: The Game That Almost Wasn’t

Posted by MadBrew on January 2, 2009 · 14 Comments 

CthulhuTech by WildFire

CthulhuTech by WildFire

It is no secret that the Labs is a fan of Lovecraftian Horror.  What is probably less known in these parts is my extreme dislike of anime.  While there are a few gems out there that I like from the genre, for the most part anime offends my senses.  So I am surprised I actually liked the setting for the new CthulhuTech game by Wildfire.  The setting is a mash-up of the classic eldritch horror of Cthulhu and the giant robot mecha of Japanese animation.

Setting

CthulhuTech launches you more than half a century (2085) into the future where the once hidden threats of ancient evil have now been thrust upon humanity.  The earth is embroiled in a war against the crustacean-insects from Pluto, the Migou, the hordes of alien monsters and cannibals of the Rapine Storm, and the more familiar secret societies that are in service to the Old Ones.

Much of Earth has fallen to these terrifying aliens, but the humans and the Nazzadi (an alien engineered race) meet them on the battlefield with giant robots and arcanotech.  Even the aliens have mecha.

The setting pretty much leaves the door wide open on what kind of game you want to play with it.  The obvious choices of Mecha vs. Monster and traditional “defeat the evil” adventures are there.  But you could also play a game based upon political intrigue within the New Earth Government, investigative games trying to root out the conspiracy perpetrated by the Esoteric Order of Dagon, or even spy/espionage games using the evil Chrysalis Corporation and the guyver-esque symbiotic Tagers.

What is really nice is that the CthulhuTech core book provides two ready-to-run stories.  So you have everything you need but dice to begin playing in one sourcebook.

Mechanics

CthulhuTech uses the Framewerk system for its mechanics.  Framewerk is a cinematic storytelling system that is very reminiscent of White Wolf’s Storyteller system.  It utilizes d10s, dice pools, and a wounding system (though it actually includes hit points too).  The system includes an automatic success mechanic, which potentially reduces the amount of tests that need to be rolled.

Of particular interest is how Framewerk allows players to determine the results of a roll.  You first determine the base, which is the score of the attribute associated with the test.  Then you roll a number of dice equal to the rank of the associated skill.  Then to determine the total you add your base to the highest result of the dice pool roll.

The trick is that Framewerk adds a little Poker to the mix.  You may either add the highest single die roll, or you may add the sum of the highest set of multiples, or you may instead add the sum of a straight.  For example, if you rolled five dice and the results were 10, 8, 8, 7, 6, you could take the 10, take 16 (8+8), or take 21 (8+7+6) and add that score to your base.  If anything could cause confusion or burn time during play, it would be this part of the mechanic, but only until you got used to it.

Another feature that sets Framewerk apart is that you must declare the number of actions your character wants to take during his turn.  A character, if able, can take up to three actions in a turn.  If multiple actions are taken, a Test Penalty of -2 (for two actions) or -4 (for three actions) is applied to the character’s rolls.

Overall, the mechanics look pretty easy, once you get used to the Poker method of determining the result of a dice pool.

Survivor

This game almost didn’t see the light of day.  CthulhuTech was basically dumped  so work could be completed on a licensed property by the first publisher that was lined up to take it on, Eos Press.  Then the company, Osseum Entertainment picked it up, only to have the company close shop.  Then various team had other obligations, such as military deployment.

Finally a business deal was developed with Mongoose Publishing and the book finally went to press, though there were some significant printer issues.  Today there are two additional supplements.  Dark Passions, which details the minor cults of the setting, adds some cult magic, and provides two stories.  The there is Vade Mecum which expands the setting and provides new races, professions, rules, introduces para-psychics, and brings new mecha, tagers, and equipment to the game.  Vade Mecum also provides two more stories.

CthulhuTech recently switched publishers again, this time to Catalyst Game Labs.  But it looks like support won’t end there either as four more books are on their way.

Want to learn more about CthulhuTech? Read on…

Drop by BattleCorps to pick up your copy today!

Listening to: Soilwork - Steelbath Suicide – Skin After Skin

Filed under Reviews · Tagged with , ,

Cthulhu Radio: Driving People Mad In Stereo

Posted by MadBrew on December 9, 2008 · Leave a Comment 

Here are some more songs dedicated to the great Elder Evil, Cthulhu!  You can find more at the Cthulhu Hymnal!

Give Me That Old Time Religion

We’ll bow down to Great Cthulu
He’s cold, and mean, and cruel, too
He doesn’t want to rule you
He just wants your soul

To the tune of the Tiny Toon Adventures theme song

We’re slimy, we’re squishy, we’re all a little fishy,
You humans are delishy and we’re feasting on your brains!

We’re abysmal creatures, with gross horrific features -
Against Cthulhoid cult preachers the good guys go insane!

So here’s Miskatonic U where all the creatures dwell.
Take a look at a mythos book and find yourself in hell!

Your guns aren’t defective – they just aren’tective.
Our feast of human flesh and souls is tasting swell!

Your magic and voodoo will not stop great Cthulhu;
Don’t eat with the Tchoo Tchoo; the Migo steal your brain!

Here’s Narly, Tsathoggua, and over there’s Cthuga.
Don’t forget Ithaqqua, and Hastur hates his name!

So here’s dread R’lyeh where the angles a wrong.
You’ll lose your soul and go insane if you stay here too long!

We’re slimy, we’re squishy, we’re all a little fishy.
Our feast of human flesh and souls is gonna start!

And now we’ll eat your heart.

Mi-Go

To the tune of “Mammal” by They Might be Giants (used w/o permission, of course…) lyrics by Bill Keyes.

Chitin shell,
Standing in between extinction in the cold
And explosive radiating growth.
So the ichor flows
Through the large membrainous wings.
Carrying the very strange brain-cylinders that they have.

Mi-Go, Mi-Go (Mi-Go, Mi-Go)
Their nlaw.
The wings, the things,
Ugly and mean,
Fungoid and green.

One of us might lose his mind,
When he’s reminded that they once were here,
From the Mezozoic era, to the cold high Himalayas.
So the ichor flows
Through the large membrainous wings.
Speaking in the very strange high pitched insect buzzing noise.

Mi-Go, Mi-Go
Their names are called,claw.
The wings, the things,
Ugly and mean,
Fungoid and green.

Azothoth the father of its sister Shub-Niggurath.
Their cousin called Yog-Sothoth,
Sleeping uncle Great Cthulhu.

Mi-Go, Mi-Go
Their names are called,
They raise a claw.
The wings, the things,
Ugly and mean,
Fungoid and green.
The Ghast, the ghoul,
Deep One, and Dhole,
Byakhee, Elder Thing.

LIKE AZATHOTH

To the tune of “like a virgin”.

I made it through the Hounds
Somehow I made it through
Way out from Tindalos
Until the Act was one

I was lost, and alone
I was deaf, neither could I see
And it made me grow
Yes it made me grow
Exponentially

CHORUS:
Like Azathoth
Here since the very First Time
Like Azathoth
Overboiling, dumb and blind

Gonna crush all
From the Universe’s center
A Nuclear Chaos broadcast

You’re so fine, and you’re mine
Since the Beginning of the Time
Oh, your organs sprout out
Yes, your organs sprout out
‘Cause my gravity’s so high

CHORUS

You’re so fine, and you’re mine
I am the Sultan of Demons
And you make me feel
Yeah you make me feel
Nothing at all

CHORUS

Like Azathoth, ooh, ooh
Like Azathoth
Feels so good inside
When they’re piping, and they’re yelling, and we’re shaking

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Ooh, baby
Can’t you feel my mass pulse
Since the very First Time

To the theme of the Beverly Hillbillies

Well, let me tell you a little story ’bout a migo named ‘Fred’.
A poor mountain miner, barely kept his fungi fed.
And then one day when he was scooping out a brain…
Along came an ooze that popped right out of the drain.
Shoggoth that is, Elder Thing goo, R’lyeh tea.
Well next thing you know ‘ole Fred got swallowed whole,
the other migo turned and said “That thing just got Fred’s soul!”
They all pulled out their shiny guns and aimed it at the slime..
But the shoggoth ate them one and all in record setting time..

Sung to the tune of Camptown Races
Who’s the Elder God we fear?
Cthulhu, Cthulhu!
Who sleeps on from year to year?
Cthulhu is his name.
Going to pray all night
Going to chant all day
‘Til he rises from the ocean floor
Then we will run away!

To the tune of “Octopus’ Garden” (The Beatles)

I’d hate to play under R’leyh
in big Cthulhu’s garden in a cave.
H know where we’d been
in his big Cthulhu garden in a cave.
I’d hate my friends to come and see big ol’
Cthulhu’s garden with me.

I’d hate to play under R’leyh
in big Cthulhu’s garden in a cave.
He’d keep us whole, just eat our soul
in his monstrous hideaway beneath the waves.
Keeping us loose, hanged in a noose
in big Cthulhu’s garden in a cave.
We would scream and shout out loud,
’cause we know we’ll never be found.

I’d hate to play under R’leyh
in big Cthulhu’s garden in a cave.
We would shout and flounder about
the tentacles beneath the ocean waves.
Oh what fear for every little dear,
knowing their minds are gone away.
We would be there to tell us what to do.

I’d hate to play under R’leyh
in big Cthulhu’s garden with you.

To the tune of “Cecilia” (Simon & Garfunkel)

CHORUS:
Cthulhu, you’re breaking my mind.
My sanity’s vanishing daily!
Oh, Cthulhu, I’m down on my knees
I’m begging you, please — go away,
Go away!

I picked up this ancient book
By some guy named Abdul Al-Haz’red (Al-Haz’red)
Read two chapters; now it seems
You’re disturbing my days and you’re haunting my dreams.

CHORUS

Half-awake in the early morn
With my lover sleeping by my side (by my side)
When I feel a nameless dread
And I turn on the light, I find g out in the afternoon
In a room at Miskatonic U (hiding out)
Elder Signs from ceiling to floor,
And there’s star-stones to block off the windows and door.

Consternation! He’s found me again,
I crawl in the closet and shiver.
Consternation! He’s found me again,
I crawl in the closet and shiver…..

Kevin Ingle – Anything I say will be denied.
Learn the chants.

Don’t Go That Way

To the tune of “Achy Breaky Heart” (Billy Ray Cyrus)

It started with a look
In an old and dusty book
Of things we were not really meant to know.
And now I’m running scared
From dread beyond compare
And an invite for being dinner at Tcho Tcho’s!

This house is awf’ly dark
Let’s go back up to the park
But perhaps that isn’t such a good path
The last time I was there,
Do you remember Blair?
He was carried off by Shub-Niggurath!

CHORUS:
Don’t go that way,
I’d rather have you stay
With me in this terrifying dream
But if you go that way
I’ll go the other way
And listen for your distant awful screams, aaaaauugh!

Off tin’ with Voodoo
But I don’t like the sound of that grim song.
Don’t pull out your big gun
I’d really rather run
From people calling evil Chaugnar Faugn.

And now they’re playin’ games
Like ping pong with my brains
Please believe me it’s the truth I’m telling you!
For deep beneath the sea,
In slime and sawing “zees”
Is a huge and ugly Great Cthulhu.

CHORUS:
Don’t go that way
I’d rather have you stay
With me in this terrifying dream
Bgo the other way
And listen for your distant awful screams, aaaaaaugh!

Don’t go that way
How much should I pay
For you not to go down that deep hole
‘Cause I don’t have a rope
And there isn’t that much hope
If you wind up annoying a big dhole, eeeeeeeww!

Don’t go that way
You really ought to stay,
Your safer here of that fact I am sure
But if we decide to stay,
Be careful not to say
The name of the unnamed one called Hastur…

oops.

Your Grey-Tinted ’20s Mind

To the tune of “Green-Tinted ’60s Mind” from Mr. Big’s second album.

It just woke up but its still dead,
Is that the cultists still chanting?
It rips off all of their heads,
Its reachin’ into your dreams,
Down in your heart,
If you say his name,
He’ll tear you all apart.

CHORUS 1:
Professors are screwy
In a 20’s movie
Read the wrong book and die,
Insane legend baby
Try your very best to hide,
Your grey-tinted 20’s mind.

They keep Cthulhu locked away,
But he is always escaping,
But that won’t make him fade away,
He’s reaching into your dreams,
Down in your heart,
If you see him,
It’ll tear your mind apart,

CHORUS 2:
Gotta face R’lyeh,
There is no other way (to),
Get the thoughts out of your mind,
Fill it up with screams,
That’s all that you could seem,
To find….
Your grey-tinted 20’s mind,

(solo)

CHORUS 3:
Hangin’ out with Pickman,
Drawin’ scary stickmen,
Could have escaped if you tried,
Where’s your `loyal’ horse?
Sacrificed of course,
Tonight!
Your grey-tinted 20’s mind.

Listening to: Nine Inch Nails - Broken – Last

Filed under Culture · Tagged with ,

Cthulhu Ctharols

Posted by MadBrew on December 2, 2008 · 2 Comments 

Most of these converted carols appear in the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society Solstice Carol Songbook which you can find along with actual albums at CthulhuLives.  I found them sitting on the backwaters of Duke University a very long time ago and I was surprised to still see them surviving there, no doubt driving the servers insane.

The Carol of the Old Ones

Lyrics by A.H. Leman to the tune of Carol of the Bells by M. Leontovich.


Look to the sky way up on high
There in the nigh stars now are right
Eons have passed now then at last
Whence They were penned They will descend

They will retun mankind will learn
New kinds of fear once They are here
As They reclaim all in Their name
Watch only can powerless man

Ignorant fools mankind now rules
Where They ruled then it’s Theirs again
Madness will reign terror and pain
Woes without ry scary scary scary Solstice
Very very very scary Solstice

Up from the sea from underground
Down from the sky They’re all around
They will retun mankind will learn
New kinds of fear when They are here

They will return

(followed by a glorious arrangement of four part harmonies.)

Rudolph the Red Nosed Cultist

Rudolph the Red Nosed Cultist
had a few insanities
and if you ever saw him
he’ll be chanting with great glee
Cthulhu fthagn Ia – aa
He is sleeping ‘neath the foam
as he stared out the window
through the bars where he made his home
Then one foggy moon streaked eve
Cthulhu came to say
Rudolph with your mind so brave
won’t you be my eternal slave
then all the other cultists
join Rudolph the mighty high priest
has joined Cthulhu in his lair.

Over the River and through the Woods

Over the River and through the Woods
To the Plateau of Leng we go
We hope that someday
we can finally say
that we saw the god on the slooo ope

Over the River and through the Woods
To Kadath so cold we go
Nightgaunts pull the sleigh
to hurry their way
past the Shantaks O, we hooo ope

Over the River and through the Woods
I fear that we’ve gone too far
the Gods don’t condone
a mortal at home
farewell those who listened this far……

O Come All Ye Deep Ones

Lyrics by A.H. Leman to the tune of “O Come All Ye Faithful” by John Reading.

O come all ye Deep Ones,
Mi-Go, Ghouls and Nightgaunhts;
Come foul Shub Niggurath and all Ancient Ones.
Come Great Cthulhom the ocean.

CHORUS
O come, let us abhor them,
O come, let us abhor them,
O come, let us abhor them,
Scream, run and hide.

Their old dominion
Mankind now rules blithely,
Stars turning overhead to bring forth his doom.
They will return here, greedy and malevolent.
CHORUS

Great Old Ones Are Coming to Town

You’d better watch out; you better go hide.
And Elder Sign’s needed for this Yuletide
Great Old Ones are comin to town.nd shaking it twice.
They’re going to hit you, naughty or nice.
Great Old Ones are coming to town.

They’re bringing ugly Shuggoths,
And horrid Deep Ones too,
Shub Niggurath is waking up
And so is Cthulhu

So you better watch out, you’d better go ‘way,
Before the big guy comes up from R’lyeh.
Great Old Ones are coming to town.

God Rest Ye Scary Great Old Ones

God Rest Ye Scary Great Old Ones
God rest ye scary great old ones;
Let everything dismay.
Remember Great Cthulhu shall rise up from R’lyeh
To kill us all with tentacles
If we should go his way.

CHORUS
O tidings of madness and woe, madness and woe
O tidings of madness and woe!

In Yuggoth an din Aldebraan
The Great Old Ones were spawned
Imprisoned by the Elder Gods to wait for eons,
Enticing humans to release them,
CHORUS
An arab said: “That is not dead
Which can eternal lie,
And with Strange Eons even death may die.”
The Great Old Ones will rule once more
And all will be destroyed.
CHORUS

The Solstice Song

Victims roasting on an open fire,
Deep Ones ripping off your nose,
Mindless chanting ’round the funeral pyre
And folks strung up by their toes.
Ev’rybody knows how festive open wounds can be;
You’ll go crazy at the sight.
Tiny tots with their eyeballs aglow
Will find it hard to sleep tonight.
They know Cthulhu’s on his way;
The beast is rising from the depths of dark R’lyeh.
And ev’ry mother’s child is gonna cry
And beg for mercy and pray quickly to die.
And so I’m offering this simple phrase
To kids from one to ninety two;
Although its been said many times, many ways,
“Barra na zu absu.”

H.P. the Writer

To the tune of Frosty the Snowman

H.P. the Writer
Wasn’t happy so we’re told
With his horrid health
and his lack of wealth
he wrote tales to make blood cold

H.P. the Writer
Got an idea in his head
We weren’t meant to know
of the things below
He would make up more instead

There must have been a reason
for the strange names that he chose
When you first read of Cthulhu
You couldn’t pronounce it, we all know

H.P. the Writer
Shuffled off this mortal coil
Now in Providence
he’s behind a fence,
buried underneath the soil

Azathoth

To the tune of Jingle Bells

Azathoth
Azathoth
Azathoth, the King
Center of the Universe,
Insanity he brings, Hey!

Azathoth
Azathoth
Azathoth, the King
Center of the Universe
Insanity he brings

Writhing round the place
Insane pipers pipe
Takes up lots of space
The stars are getting ripe

R’Lyeh soon may rise
Nyarlathotep plots
Earth will be the prize
We’ll all lose our spots, Ohhh

Azathoth
Azathoth
Azathoth, the King
Center of the Universe
IN – SANITY HEEEE BRIIIIIIIINGS!!!!!!!!!

Hark! the Nameless Cultists Sing

By James Westbrooks. To the tune of “Hark the Herald Angels Sing”:

Hark! the nameless cultists sing, “Glory to our dreaming King,
Deep beneath the ocean waves, dreaming in his wat’ry grave.
Soon the stars will all be right, usher in eternal night!
When Cthulhu comes to reign, things here ’bouts won’t be the same!”
Hark! the namesless cultists sing, “Glory to our dreaming King!”

Cthulhu whose name strikes fear, speaks to those whose souls can hear:
Late at night an artist dreams, wakes up with an awful scream.
Then in clay his visions mold, pretty outre so I’m told.
Visions of a scene from Hell, near impossible to sell.
Hark! the nameless cultists sing, “Glory to our dreaming King!”

Hark! the Great One’s Priestly Son, Hail or you will be undone.
Death and pain to most he brings, Ris’n with darkness in His wings.
Waked at last no more to lie, proof that death itself may die,
Born to crush the human race, wipe them out and leave no trace.
Hark! the nameless cultists sing, “Glory to our dreaming King!”

A Lovecraft Christmas

by Paul M. Lemieux, copyright 1989. To the tune of “’Twas the Night Before Christmas”:

Twas the night before Yuletide and all through the hole
Not a creature was stirring, not even a Dhole
Aldebaren hung at the right place at nine
In the hopes that Great Cthulhu would come out this time

The Fungi from Yuggoth, all snug in their caves
Were plotting to turn all the people to slaves
The Deep Ones in Rlyeh, the Ghouls in their graves
Were dancing and singing and acting depraved

When what do my wondering eyes should appear
But a mouldering sleigh and eight corpselike reindeer
With a horrible driver so leprous and reeking
I knew right away that my fear was unspeaking

The reindeer were gross, as they flew up from hell
And It hoarsely whispered and chanted a spell
Ia Shub Niggurath! Cthulhu ftagn!
Nyarlathotep! I summon you on!

As decomposed flesh before the charnel stench rise
And meet with the open air polluting the skies
Up to the housetop the horror it rose
And the gangrenous odors assailed my nose

And then in a slopping noise heard on the roof
The lumbering clomping of octopoid hoofs
As I drew in my head and was turning around
The horror lurched into my room with a bound

Its eyes how they pulsate
So bulbous and gory
This blasphemous creature
So noxious and hoary

I was frozen by fear, my feet woudn’t run
I threw up my cookies, this wasn’t much fun
It whispered my name and said “You come with I”
I tried to refuse and it said “Then you die.”

It came at my throat with its grim claws extended
But a miracle saved its victim intended
I had three Elder Signs in a slot in the floor
It screamed with a fiendish sound and went out the door

It sprang to its sleigh, and its team gave a surge
And away they all flew to the sound of a dirge
I heard it exclaim as it flew out of sight
“You’re lucky this time, for the stars weren’t right.”

I Saw Mommy Kissing Yog-Shothoth

Listening to: Cradle of Filth - Midian – Cthulhu Dawn

Filed under Culture · Tagged with ,

Tidings of Thule

Posted by MadBrew on November 21, 2008 · 2 Comments 

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.

Shadows of Cthulhu (C) Reality Deviant Publications

Shadows of Cthulhu (C) Reality Deviant

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.

The Society of Thule

The Society of Thule

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…

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

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