Tales to Mystify - A Newbie Keepers Adventures into the Unknown

[Master Fwiffo]

Salutations fellow Investigators!  And may your sense of self-preservation ever be so dim.

So, I'm Fwiff, first time Keeper and still fairly new GM in general.  My first RPG was FFG's Star Wars rag (a great system), and I took to GMing after playing, and considering I'd been GMing it for 4 years now, I guess I did all right.  But it was time for something new, so after I accidentally ended up with the Keepers Rulebook, I decided to take the full dive into Call of Cthulhu.  I've always loved the Mythos (Arkham Horror was my first step into greater gaming world many years back), so this was a natural fit.  Sadly, I have no local CoC GM's, so I'm on my own.  Wheeeeee!  So basically I'm starting this thread to show off my props, keep track of how I'm doing, and more importantly, get advice as I go.

So here's my little Intro Poster.  As you see, I'm going for a bit of a "Weird Fiction" vibe with my advertisement.  As that's where Lovecraft was originally published, it seemed fitting.  And in fact, Pulp Serial is kinda the theme of my campaign.  Because I don't nearly feel ready to tackle something like Masks of Nyalarhotep (I want to!  Maybe in the future) and because I want this to be an open game where people can come and leave freely, I'm actually just planning to run a bunch of individual scenarios, with no real connection between them (other than reoccurring characters).  This style lead me to sign up for the Cult of Chaos as soon as I learned about it, and I'm eager to be here.

So my campaign kicks off on free RPG day, where I'll be hosting two separate sessions for my store.  

 

So for the first of the two games, I'm running Missed Dues - which, as you can see, I have accidentally completely deliberately renamed "Debts Past Due" for no reason other than I thought that was the name of the Scenario and had accidentally advertised it already, and besides I like the name better and the Keeper can do what he wants.

As you can see, I'm going all in on the props, and in fact, the props was one of the most exciting aspects of the game for me (and you can't do Props for Star Wars very well...).  I've got the pre-gem investigators for Missed Dues ready, but I had noticed several errors (for one thing, almost everyone as printed has a St. Christopher and a Shotgun even without a Shotgun skill...) so I tidied them up, and varied them a little more.  

Anyone have any tips for running this one?  I'm looking forward particularly to the Azathoth possessed apartment building, with at least one personal addition - Nyarlhotep whispering in the character with the lowest POW's ear to "Sign the Book", which will have its own room.

For the second session, we have a personal favorite, and the only one I've ever done before!

I ran Dead Light for a couple friends as my first (and only thus far!) scenario.  It went pretty well, ending with one of the players carving the symbol that the Dead Light was attracted to into his own head and sacrificing himself to save the girl and the other player.  I've added a couple of my own touches - that custom journal up there longs to the Doctor, and has multiple bible verses scrawled in it, which helps define his character more - first he was using scripture to seek justification for his work, and then later, to try and find forgiveness.  And of course, his bible with a paper note "God Save the Physician" inserted in so players can look the verses up for themselves.  Also included is Clem's wallet, with a few clues in case they don't go to the diner first.  The pre-gen Investigators are from Doors to Darkness with a few slight changes - the backstory is they're from the Arkham Birdwatchers Society, on the way back from a group trip to Ipswich to see a bird-centric art show.

One thing I'm going to do that I'm really looking forward too, is the Candle you see is coming with me - as are a bunch of Flashlights.  Early on, in the Diner (or when they enter the house) lightening will hit the generator and switch off the lights; I plan to hit the real light switch, then hand the players who's characters have flashlights actual flashlights, and have them play by dark.  And for me I have a much brighter light to play the Dead Light at opportune moments.  (I've already run this by the store, and they're cool with it.  It should be fun!)

Any other thoughts for Dead Light?

Next week, I'll begin my actual campaign, with player created characters.  I'll be adding to this thread when I've got the stuff prepared for my first scenario:  None So Black.

I'll definitely update with a recounting of our adventures.  Any thoughts or feedback is most appreciated!

[TK Nyarlathotep]

All I can say, chap, is

 

holy crap, man

 

That is some good-looking stuff. You are seriously above and beyond the call of duty. I'm not entirely sure I believe that you're as inexperienced as you say!

 

Excellent looking stuff. Would love some tips regarding those posters. I wanna make some of my own and also rip of your entire idea for the pulp serials thing.

[Master Fwiffo]

1 hour ago, TK_Nyarlathotep said:

All I can say, chap, is

 

holy crap, man

 

That is some good-looking stuff. You are seriously above and beyond the call of duty. I'm not entirely sure I believe that you're as inexperienced as you say!

 

Excellent looking stuff. Would love some tips regarding those posters. I wanna make some of my own and also rip of your entire idea for the pulp serials thing.

Why thank you kindly good sir!  I basically self-taught myself 1920's props because of Arkham (and later Eldritch) Horror, which is my favorite game, and my yearly Halloween party always revolves around it.  TO carry the game, I made a suitcase that is fully in-universe themed, including those hollow books to hold token, player guides that look like journals and post cards, - the works.  If people are interested I'll post it some time.

As for the posters, all you actually need is a good word processor and, more importantly, free fonts you can find online.  I use Apple Pages (and rarely, but sometimes, photoshop).  I searched the inter webs for some good pulp looking artwork, and set up an easy template.  I believe this was the font I used for the title: http://www.dafont.com/adventure.font

Give it an orange shadow on some big bold yellow letters, angle it a bit, and voila, you have a pulp title!  Switch up the fonts a bit for headlines and tags, add another text box for the price, and you're done!  I also make liberal use of the free fonts available at the HP Lovecraft Historical Society (www.cthulhulives.org, which if you've never been to before, has some great stuff including Lovecraft story radio dramas you can buy that are Amazing).  They've got some other great digital props there too, both free and ones you can buy.  I also got some newspaper templates from rpgNow.  Get some creme/tan colored printer paper (I got both regular and cardstock, the latter of which I use for character sheets) and anything you print looks a little aged. 

[TK Nyarlathotep]

"Never been to before"? Sir, I've BEEN in a couple of them!

As an extra.

In the background.

 

But still!

 

Excellent, thank you for the advice. I'm probably gonna make up a few for some of the scenarios I've created IRL.

[Master Fwiffo]

34 minutes ago, TK_Nyarlathotep said:

"Never been to before"? Sir, I've BEEN in a couple of them!

As an extra.

In the background.

 

But still!

 

Excellent, thank you for the advice. I'm probably gonna make up a few for some of the scenarios I've created IRL.

Awesome!  Which ones?

[Master Fwiffo]

I have successfully run my first two games of Call of Cthulhu!

 

Here's how they went down.

DEBTS PAST DUE

My 3 Gangsters took the job from "The Hammer" O'Leary (accented with force by a real hammer) obediently, and proceeded to track down a bootlegger for more inforation about Sticky Jack.  They followed the trail to Sycamore's speakeasy, where they got the names of Greasy Spoon and Jacob Smith.  They then tracked down Greasy Spoon and chased him into an ally and shook him down for information, getting Jack's address.  Finally, the dropped by the Newspapers for a bit of background info, then headed for the apartment.

Outside, they spotted one of Smith's men, who quickly fled the scene, then attempted to find a way inside, noting the ominous atmosphere and general wrongness emanating from the building.  They were met by the housekeeper, who quickly showed her insanity and attacked with her knife, driving it deep into one of the investigators shoulders before they finally brought her down, watching her corpse continue to laugh for a few moments after she had died.  Thoroughly creeped out, they entered the main building, where the lights went out, leaving in darkness surrounded only by the glow of one Investigators flashlight.  Creeping forward, eventually the hallway returned, now distorted and stretching on forever in both directions, endless doors on each side.  The first room held a man, sitting on his chair - except the room was upside down, all gravity seemingly reversed but for the flow of blood.  The next room held the family, calmly hanging from the ceiling.  Panicked now, one of the players rushed forward, and again the lights went out- and failing a dex roll, he tumbled off a precipice into the infinite vastness of space, where he fell for years, and then briefly met a Servitor, even befriended it, until his eyes beheld the dim glory of an ancient evil in the distance - and then he landed, the face of the upside-down room man staring at him.  His insanity that followed convinced him that nothing was wrong, and this was all perfectly normal.  Rejoining with his fellows (the lights returning, and him seeming gone but for a few minutes), they trekked forward, and stumbled into a room with a different servitor (Hi Jeffry!, quipped the insane man), who managed to drive the other two insane - one developing a fear of sounds, the other temporary amnesia.    They quickly fled the Servitor, and then found a room, in which lied an open, blank book on a pedestal.  One player began to hear a call telling her to sign the book in her own blood, and walked toward it (failing a few power rolls in a row) until the other players managed to stop her - and then another heard the call when he tried to knock the book over, but he too was stopped.  Finally, they found Jack's room, and the piping flutes outside sent the player with Amnesia into a madness, grabbing the door and physically holding it closed while screaming.  The others found Sticky Jack, and seeing him beg for death, emptied their bullets into him, before finally going through the noted and reading the chant.  Azathoth was dispelled, and Jack died - and the building returned to normal.

But as they made a hasty exit the way they came in, Smith and his men were waiting for them.  After a few lucky rolls, they convinced Smith that Azathoth was inside and called for him by name, and Smith and his followers (all but one, who the players quickly dispatched) went inside, and the players fled to the Police, where they returned the stolen items, collected the reward, and gave most of it to O'Leary with a brief explanation full of lies.

Jacob Smith and the Corpses of his men were found at the house, their throats slit by their own hands.  Later, the house burned down, but people always swore they could hear hints of the piping flutes around the wreckage...

 

I'll write up Dead Light tomorrow, but basically we all had a blast!

[TK Nyarlathotep]

On 6/16/2017 at 9:48 PM, Master Fwiffo said:

Awesome!  Which ones?

Dreams in the Witch House, Red Hook, and Imprisoned with the Pharaohs.

Awesome write-up! Seems like you're well on your way.

[Master Fwiffo]

4 hours ago, TK_Nyarlathotep said:

Dreams in the Witch House, Red Hook, and Imprisoned with the Pharaohs.

Awesome write-up! Seems like you're well on your way.

Nice!  Those were all great.  I especially liked when the incorporated the soundtrack of the rock opera into the background music of Dreams in the Witch House, and the theater show in Pharaohs.  That reminds me, I need to catch up - I think I'm two episodes behind right now...

Anyway, THE DEAD LIGHT.

The Investigators, consisting of the Author, Professor, Priest and Boxer from the back of Doors to Darkness (slightly modified of course) failed the first roll and hit Emilia in the rain.  Fortunately, she was more-or-less unharmed (or at least as unharmed as a near-catatonic person can be), and they resolved to take her to the diner and call the hospital.  Unfortunately for them, a critical fail caused them to collide with Jake's truck across skidded across the road, smashing in their car irreparably.  They headed into the diner, witnessing Jake losing his mind at Sam the Manager, but the Boxer managed to calm him down through some persuade rolls.  The Professor, who turned out to be kind of an awful person (it was wonderful role-playing) attempted to call the police, but got only strange static.  After a bit of scene-setting... the lights went out, and I made the players play by flashlight (met with admittedly mixed reactions - some loved it, a few didn't), but as Sam went to fix the generator, they witnessed a strange light chasing a man through the woods, the man attempting to get into the two cars, then fleeing to the covered grace where Sam's car was.  And just as the lights came on, a scream echoed through the thunder.

The Investigators went to investigate.  Inside, they found Billy's hand, hanging tightly onto the door of the car, seared off just past the wrist.  Nearby, were the rest of his remains, and his hat.  They collected the hat (and the arm!), and went back to the Diner, where they confronted Mary, rightly presuming she knew something.  The Author pulled a gun on Mary, who stubbornly refused to break - until they pulled out the arm, which broke Mary down and got her to confess that Billy and Clem had robbed the house.  Mary was put into a closet under Sam's eye (Sam had retrieved the gun from the register), but then Jake mugged the older couple, and took their car, fleeing down the road.

The players convinced Sam to loan them his car, and went to investigate the cottage.  One the way, they found Jake's stolen vehicle, in a ditch, wheels spinning, headlights pointed to the sky- and no sign of him.

As they approached the cottage, our Priest had to leave, so I took the opportunity to give the Dead Light a grand reveal, catching the Priest off guard and killing him before wandering back into the woods.  The terrible sight caused a fear of lights in our professor, and an instinct for immediate violence in the author - and when she stepped into the room with the bodies, she immediately emptied all her bullets into the already dead corpses.  They examined the bodies, then searched the house, finding the professors journal and an old bible.  The Professor immediately took to reading the journal and searching through the bible verses I had added to the journal as a custom addition, cross referencing with the angel of death killing first borns in Egypt, the death of David's first child with Bathsheba, and verses seeking forgiveness, while the Author finished searching the house and restarted the generator.

The Professor and Boxer eventually settled on the theory that the Light would only attack first born men (wrong), and that the author and professor, being women, would be spared.  They returned to the diner to find the lights out, and Sam and the older couple dead, and Emilia hiding behind the counter (Mary had escaped during the attack).  They tried to shake Emilia down for more information as she babbled about her nightmares, which they realized were repressed memories, and it finally dawned on them what the Professor was really doing.  The author went back to fix the generator again, but the Dead Light came out of the woods, forcing her to retreat back inside.  They then witnessed Mary running for the safety of the diner, only to be ambushed by the light, which was then startled by lightning before it could finish consuming her completely.

Now resolved to banish the Light and return it to its box, they took Emilia and headed back toward the cottage.  There they found the Light extinguishing the light bulbs inside the place.  The author rushed in head-long with her gun, trying to shoot the thing - a useless gesture, as it grabbed her and consumed her.  Then the Professor turned on Emilia and began inscribing the symbol - the boxer tried to stop her, but then related, and they said the chant.  The light obediently attacked Emilia and killed her, then lazily returned to the box.  As it did, it "looked" at the boxer and gave it a vision of it's life - including the monstrous infants it had consumed.

The box now sealed, the Boxer resolved to take it, and carry on the Professors dark work....

[styopa]

Props are so underrated.  I love props.  

I provide portraits for all important NPCs (and a fair few unimportant ones to prevent the players from meta-gaming the pictures = important).  I provide setting shots for the geography, places, etc.  I have a digital projector, so have the 'setting' up on the wall behind me as I run the adventure - sometime just atmospheric countryside, sometimes specific locations.

Now, with widespread digital tools and the sort of picture archives of the 1920s available at places like http://twistedsifter.com/2011/05/vintage-mugshots-from-1920s-black-white/ (one of my favorites) and http://sites.mnhs.org/library/content/photograph-collection you don't even have to get out of your chair to make pro-looking materials for semi-modern and modern games like CoC.

My only sadface is that my local players really only want to be in fantasy games, so photos only work in certain contexts and handouts almost never (unless I draw maps by hand, etc).  For portraits, I have to use stuff like https://www.google.com/search?q=15th+century+portraits&rlz=1C1PRFC_enUS644US644&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjo1fPAtcrUAhUI3YMKHUMUCUUQsAQIIw&biw=1920&bih=960 just to 'keep it in the context' for what they're wearing, etc

Pinterest is a good source, but lots of chaff to the wheat: https://www.pinterest.com/tah223/npc-portraits/.

Stuff like this makes good other handouts: https://www.jrrvf.com/glaemscrafu/english/glaemscribe.html

Then again, google translate kicks ass too: "This is something that is not a clue for the adventure" is এই কিছু যে সাহসিক জন্য একটি সূত্র হয় না Ē'i kichu yē sāhasika jan'ya ēkaṭi sūtra haẏa nā (in Bangla), or ఇది సాహసం కోసం ఒక క్లూ కాదు. Idi sāhasaṁ kōsaṁ oka klū kādu. (in Telugu)

 

I almost always have decent speakers on my laptop runnning ambient sounds for where they are, sometimes barely even audible (I don't TELL them when I'm playing it, just bring it up slowly) such as the magnificent http://other-atmospheres.ambient-mixer.com/ominous-jungle-drums or http://tabletopaudio.com/#

Ambient sound is tremendously underrated as a DM tool if you have a way to play it unobtrusively and a quiet gaming area.

This one can be great too: http://waterandwoods.net/2008/09/wild-animal-sound-bytes/ - so few people today have heard most of these, you can do great things mixing/combining them too.

Nice job on those materials, they really are beautifully done.

 

[Master Fwiffo]

6 hours ago, styopa said:

Props are so underrated.  I love props.  

I provide portraits for all important NPCs (and a fair few unimportant ones to prevent the players from meta-gaming the pictures = important).  I provide setting shots for the geography, places, etc.  I have a digital projector, so have the 'setting' up on the wall behind me as I run the adventure - sometime just atmospheric countryside, sometimes specific locations.

Now, with widespread digital tools and the sort of picture archives of the 1920s available at places like http://twistedsifter.com/2011/05/vintage-mugshots-from-1920s-black-white/ (one of my favorites) and http://sites.mnhs.org/library/content/photograph-collection you don't even have to get out of your chair to make pro-looking materials for semi-modern and modern games like CoC.

My only sadface is that my local players really only want to be in fantasy games, so photos only work in certain contexts and handouts almost never (unless I draw maps by hand, etc).  For portraits, I have to use stuff like https://www.google.com/search?q=15th+century+portraits&rlz=1C1PRFC_enUS644US644&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjo1fPAtcrUAhUI3YMKHUMUCUUQsAQIIw&biw=1920&bih=960 just to 'keep it in the context' for what they're wearing, etc

Pinterest is a good source, but lots of chaff to the wheat: https://www.pinterest.com/tah223/npc-portraits/.

Stuff like this makes good other handouts: https://www.jrrvf.com/glaemscrafu/english/glaemscribe.html

Then again, google translate kicks ass too: "This is something that is not a clue for the adventure" is এই কিছু যে সাহসিক জন্য একটি সূত্র হয় না Ē'i kichu yē sāhasika jan'ya ēkaṭi sūtra haẏa nā (in Bangla), or ఇది సాహసం కోసం ఒక క్లూ కాదు. Idi sāhasaṁ kōsaṁ oka klū kādu. (in Telugu)

 

I almost always have decent speakers on my laptop runnning ambient sounds for where they are, sometimes barely even audible (I don't TELL them when I'm playing it, just bring it up slowly) such as the magnificent http://other-atmospheres.ambient-mixer.com/ominous-jungle-drums or http://tabletopaudio.com/#

Ambient sound is tremendously underrated as a DM tool if you have a way to play it unobtrusively and a quiet gaming area.

This one can be great too: http://waterandwoods.net/2008/09/wild-animal-sound-bytes/ - so few people today have heard most of these, you can do great things mixing/combining them too.

Nice job on those materials, they really are beautifully done.

 

Thanks!  Lots of good advice too!

 

Ive been thinking about using Syrinscape for sound effects - free rpg day have a coupon for a Cthulhu steam train set that seemed pretty neat, and they have some good 1920s sets, but they're all monster based and they need a few more that are more common locales, like a diner, speakeasy or town square.

[Master Fwiffo]

Welp, I'm ready, I think.  Got my props and promos ready for NONE MORE BLACK, now I just need to hope players show up.  I've had 12 people tell me they're interested, but only one really commit.  Hopefully more than that show up on Sunday because, well....  it'd suck.  

 

I've got Walter Resnik's death certificate, the notepaper from the plant, and several pages from old man Dover's journal, complete with the spell for Calling the Black.  I've also prepared for my next scenario, Canis Mysterium (as I'm hoping to be prepared one scenario in advance always, just in case one runs out early).  Next I'll start throwing together Crack'd and Crook'd D' Manse, and after that... well I haven't decided yet.  I've got a lot of options, but haven't settled on anything yet.

[Master Fwiffo]

Unfortunately I only had two yesterday (sad face -at least 4 others told me they were going to join but couldn't make it yesterday for various reasons), but we forged ahead with NONE MORE BLACK.

Ted Vincent, Athletics Track and Field Coach at Miskatonic University, and Fred Beckle, Arkham Police Detective, began their murder investigation of Walter Resnik's mysterious death.  The students death caused a stir around the campus, and all sorts of rumors began spreading, from "He was taken by Keziah Mason" to "It was the thing in the Tunnels" to "Old Squinty got him"  They determined quickly that a drug, called the Black, was the likely cause, but nonetheless followed up on "The Thing in the Tunnels" and "Old Squinty the Mummy" which lead to some rather entertaining diversions, including a run-in with one of O'Bannions gang also looking into the drug trade, and a visit to the science department to examine a sample of the drug, which under the microscope, seemed to leap out when Fred looked at it, but did nothing for the other observers.  But after a thorough interview with the 'bad element' on Campus, they finally found the dealer, Paul Rodgers, and tailed him back to his apartment.  Waiting until he left, they raided the apartment and found the clue leading them to the slaughterhouse.  They decided to stop back at the police station, and on the way, found the body of O'Bannions mobster, dead from a great fall (though there was no building around).  Increasingly nervous, they traveled to the slaughterhouse and scoped out the place but could get no real feel for what was happening - though they did glimpse a terrifying, winged man-creature that shook them both.  When the denizens of the slaughterhouse left suddenly, they tailed the presumed leader - Jacob Dover - back to his apartment.  They left him there for the evening and ran information on him, then retired, Ted suffering from a nightmare in which a black, faceless demon appeared at his window.  The next day, they snuck back to the apartment while he was away.  A near run in with Willis Carter - Jacobs neighbor and bodyguard - was averted, and with quiet searches, they found Dover's father's journal.  They went back to the police station and had Rodgers arrested - though under interrogation, he proved uncrackable, even when the Black was forced down his throat.  Realizing they had nothing they could get the police to act on, they resolved to head for the Slaughterhouse and confront Dover alone.

While outside the Slaughterhouse and planning their plan of attack - rain began to fall - and then, both Nightguants (one of which they were entirely unaware of) attacked.  After a struggle they broke free, and ran for the slaughterhouse, hoping to threaten Dover into calling off his monsters.  Ted lit a can of gasoline, and threw it full force toward Dover and his Blackheads, setting the place on fire, while Fred managed to bring down one of the nightgaunts with his sidearm, causing the other to fly up to the rafters and watch.  With fire spreading everywhere, Dover made a desperate attempt to drive them off with his gun, but got hit from a shot from Ted, and Fred ran in to finish him off with a blow from his blackjack.

Carter, at Dover's side, told them they shouldn't have done that, as "he can't hold it back no more."  At that moment, the immense monstrosity Raw Head and Black Bones erupted from a large tub, smashing Carter and the last of the blackheads, and causing the remaining Nightguant to flee.  Our heroes bolted for the door, with the bone and sludge monstrosity crawling after them - but stopping at the door as the rain made it's bod sizzle.    Hitting on the plan, they appropriated gasoline from Dover's car, and spread it around the barn as the sludge monster smashed it's pseudopods through the slaughterhouse walls trying to get them, but it could not - the fire was lit and old slaughterhouse went up in flames, the monstrosity stumbling out - on fire but melting from the rain, slowly devolving as it reached out toward them, then collapsed into a pile of bones and running black sludge.  And with that defeated, they tossed Dover's journal into the smoldering remains of the slaughterhouse, content to let the knowledge be lost for ever.

Though as the sludge ran off into the river, for months, the locals in Arkham would complain of black tongues and strange dreams haunting them...

 

 

All in all, we had a blast, and I'm looking forward to having more next week when we tackle CANIS MYSTERIUM!

[TK Nyarlathotep]

Can I just say how awesome and valuable this thread is. I haven't been this happy to check the forums since they launched. You're a buncha good eggs.

[Mike M]

Great stuff Master Fwiffo !

[Master Fwiffo]

Thanks for the support guys!

So here's my presswork for next week - and I realized I forgot to take a picture of my prize prop from last week and I'm too lazy too take any more - I made a couple vials of 'The Black' (diluted paint and water in little jars) for funnzies.  But moving on, I've actually just finished the props today for the adventure two Sundays from now (always best to be one ahead just in case!) but I'll show them the week before.  With that in mind, it's lighter props this week for

 

Yep, I'm printing the cover now too so the players get to enjoy them.  Canis Mysterious looked like a nice, low level adventure with few props needed (and honestly, I embellished these ones as neither are strictly needed), so I picked that as a follow up, so I wouldn't be too tired when I made them at the same time I was working on the None More Black Props (which turned out to be a good thing, as next weeks props gave me all sorts of problems.  Stupid technology).  So mostly what we've got is a rubbing of the strange symbol that's been put onto gravestones, and one of the self-delivering telegrams that HPLHS has on their website (super nice!)

Also I'll show off these, which were a last minute add on that turned into a nightmare.

So the one's on the right were my first two attempts at Character Secret and Spell Cards.  Unfortunately, due to a bad error in formatting, only 4 (of the 10) cards from each set were useable - enough to get started, but I needed more.  So I turned to the official Avery website to make the templates over again and get more (the ones on the left).  Long story short, it was a nightmare.  The avery software itself worked fine on the front in, but would not line up properly when printing no matter what I did.  A full package of these poor cards, two printer jamming, an ink change and about three dozen swear words later, I ended up with the fronts looking ok, but the backs clipping the first letter.  And by that point I had ceased to care.

The purpose of the Secret Cards is that I want each character to have a dark secret that they don't want the other players to know - one that I can pull in as sanity degrades.  This will lead to some fun roleplaying I think (for example my first two players, my athletics coach accidentally killed his younger brother when they were kids and harbors guilt over it, while my PI has worked for OBannions gang).  So that's what those are for.

The spell cards a self-explanatory, but as I only have 2 right now.... well, let's just say I hope they don't learn many spells.  >>

 

Hopefully I'll have 4-5 players this week (my PI is camping over the holiday so I know I'm down one) but we'll see!

[Master Fwiffo]

Sadly only two again (curses and foul beasts!), but CANIS MYSTERIUM ended up being quite an adventure.

Athletics Coach Ted Vincent was eating in the campus cafeteria when he overheard three psychology professors arguing about something - when they noticed him listening in, they invited him over, and offered him a task to complete for the university - a true case of Lycanthropy!  A real life warwulf (anyone who gets it is awesome)!  Nearby, also in the cafeteria, frequented due to its proximity to the campus museum - a favorite hangout - sat Sir Harold Higglebothom Esq, noted Big Game Hunter of British descent and certifiable nut, who just about spat out his food when he heard the word, and listened in intently.  Vincent was reluctant to accept the job, remembering his past experience, but still did so loyally.  As he returned to his office to pack, Higglebothom invited himself in, and then invited himself along, with a lot of bluster and wonderful roleplaying ("I don't think it's the kind of werewolf you're thinking of" "Are you saying you in the colonies have a fourth kind?  There's three I'm aware of!) and eventually the two set off to see the Werewolf of Coldwater Falls.

After arriving at the town and witnessing the beast that had once been a man, the pair set out to investigate what happened to Mr. Harlan Dupree, who now fully was convinced he was a wolf, and had apparently killed a child.  They visited the church to see some of his works, and while talking with the Priest, learned of Tobias Lurtz, the Graveyards caretaker whom Dupree had worked with, and then learned of his past from the Church's gossipy cleaning lady.  They then headed to Dupree's workshop, sneaking in and examining the place, finding a strange symbol on the graves which Higglebothom immediately mistook for a cult symbol of an antelope (and "Does he know anything about Antelopes" became a running gag).  Soon after, they found a bag of trinkets, which they soon realized were misbegotten gains from grave robbing.  After examining the area, they were resolved to head to the graveyard next when they were found by the deputy, warning them that a riot was about to take place, as they had found the childs body.

Higglebothom took immediate charge, and firing his high powered elephant gun into the air, got the crowds attention and threatened them into backing down, warning them that if they did not retreat, the curse could spread to them (a lie, but you don't argue with the man who has the elephant gun).  They then took one of the rioters, and had him take them to where the body was, at the night grew dark and began to fill with distant howls.  They found the spot, but found nothing useful, and their guide (now throughly spooked), abandoned them as soon as they left the woods, and went to confront the graveyard.

It did not take them long to find Lurtz, who they suspected of having something to do with the Wolfman's madness.  Lurtz and his wolf-dog hybrids were cordial for a brief time, before Lurtz (deciding the gig was up) decided to take them to meet his 'friend' - a lone, ravenous ghoul!  It was at this time I learned how deadly combat really is in this game.  Though only the dogs and ghoul attacked (Lurtz hung back and watched), our heroes were badly wounded (1 and 3 hp respectively) in a few rounds, despite managing to dispatch the ghoul with a lone blast of the elephant gun at point blank range (Yeah, that'd do it).  They fled into Lurtz's shack, and found his stash of moonshine - which they promptly turned to molotov cocktails, and with a good throw, lit the place and two of the dogs on fire.  The third burst through the door that Higglebotham was attempting to hold (natural 100 critical fail on the roll, ouch!) but Vincent was able to grab the dog and hurl it  onto the stove.  The two than manage to get out at Lurtz, ranting madly, began to cast a strange spell - it missed, and a portal opened up in the air beside Higgenbotham, who madly dashed forward and with his machete and a critical (005) success, lopped off Lurtz's head with a single swipe.

And then from the portal, an arm reached out - not quite an apes yet not quite an insect.  A strange, shambling creature pulled itself through, and then faded into nothingness.  Vincent went mad from the apparition, and became utterly convinced it was hunting him, and fled the scene.

Higglebotham followed, and managed to talk Vincent down, then they headed off to try and explain things to the sheriff as he patched them up, though it didn't go so well.  Failing that, they finally headed to the boarding house for rest and finally met Dupree's daughter who revealed he had gone mad after giving her his deceased wife's ring which had been buried with her.

The next day, they returned to the smoldering ruins of the shack (trying to explain to the sherrif why Lurtz's head was 3 feet from his body was amusing), and then went to investigate the hole the ghoul had crawled out of.  Inside, they found a small chamber, which contained the same antelope-symbol on the ground, and numerous other things, including a series of papers written in French (which contained the symbol as well).  Then, they heard scrabling from the other side of the solid dirt walls, and decided that fire would be good here too.  They fled that, and receiving notice that an ambulance was on its way to pick up Dupree, decided they were done with Coldwater Falls and headed back to Arkham.

They stopped by Miskatonic's Library, and met with Professor Armitage and the museum's researcher (who is Higgenbothams back up character in case he dies), and handed the Bauptiste Papers to her, and then checked themselves into the hospital for recovery.

And while sitting in the hospital bed, Vincent glanced in the mirror, only to see the faceless, shambling thing staring back at him...

[Master Fwiffo]

Week 3 is upon us, and hopefully this time I'll finally crack 3 players. >>

We're tackling the old favorite of the Crak'd and Crook'd D'Manse from Mansions of Madness.  Got letters, clippings, and two hand scrawled notes - one from the wayward Arthur Cornthwaite, and one that are the mad ramblings of one of the houses original occupants.  Should be fun, especially as I've loaded the mad scrawlings with Red Herrings so that they think they're dealing with a ghost and a curse - not a giant green slime mold.

[TK Nyarlathotep]

Oh snap, that's one of my favorite scenarios. Get ready for a thrill.

[Master Fwiffo]

So this time, Athletics Director Ted Vincent and Harold Higglebotham were joined by Mr Bruce Bannon (replacement character for Fred Beckle, PI, who is now a backup character), an exceedingly wealthy ex-veteran doctor who's father had vanished in the South American Jungles not too long ago, leaving him to manage his fathers vast assets within Arkham (including stakes in both Miskatonic and St. Mary's as well as the Asylum).  Mr Bannon received word from a PI he had hired to look into his fathers disappearance - the PI was busy on another case, but by sheer coincidence, had received a letter from the Dodge Brothers attorneys in nearby Gamwell who were looking into Mr. Cornthwaite's recent disappearance - and Mr. Cornthwaite was the man who had lead Bannon's father's expedition.  Pledging to look into it, Bannon tracked down an associate of both his father and Mr. Cornthwaite - one Harold Higglebotham, who was now raising antelopes and steeping deeper into bizarre paranoia and strangeness.  Higglebotham suggested they bring along Mr Vincent, and the three headed toward the small town of Glamwell.

Upon arrival, they took their lodgings, and learned the old Fitzgerald estate had a rather haunted history.  The first stopped by the Dodge Brothers, getting the basic facts of Cornthwaite, the key to the estate, and a look at the financial dealings he had - including an order for a dump truck full of salt.  They then stopped by the editor of the Gazette, who after searching a bit through his records, gave them a full run down of the history - the murder of the Fitzegerald family by the returning civil war vet 60 years ago, the brutal axe murders of the Curwen family 30 years ago, and now the disappearance of Cornthwaite.  After that stop, they visited the Sheriff, who didn't like them and warned them to stay away.  Then they dropped by the Library to check out Cornthwaite's donations, and met a flirtatious young woman who managed it.

Then, with Cannons chauffeur Wheatley driving them, they headed up to the old Fitzgerald Manse.

They arrived, and began inspecting the grounds, leaving Wheately in the car.  They explored the garden and the creepy tool shed, then opened the door to the Manse - but before entering, decided to inspect the cellars.  They entered the wood cellar, but could not get into the General Cellar despite hard success on strength rolls.  They headed back out, and caught brief site of a figure in grey marching around the houses perimeter - they quickly ran to investigate...

And found nothing.  No tracks, nothing.  And then, they realized Wheately had diseappeared, tracks looking like he had decided to head into the house.

As rain began to come down outside, they began to inspect the rooms of the house, slowly, making sure no stone was unturned, finding missing salt containers and lots of damp, moistness.  Eventually their search lead them to the pantry, where when they opened the cabinet doors, WHeatelys body fell out - crumpled, broken, soaking wet, most of his bones snapped.  They checked the body over, and at that moment, heard heavy pounding at the door.  Bannon risked a look outside - and saw a figure in grey staring back at the Manse - as soon as his eyes averted, the figure was gone.

At the front door, Vincent and Higglebotham prepared, and Vincent kicked open the door - only to find a strange man with an axe standing there.  Higglebotham immediately fired, striking poor Joe the Photographer from the Gazette in the shoulder.  Bannon rushed in to provide medical aide, and a weary and unhappy Joe was attended too.  They showed Joe the body, and then decided it was time to get the Sheriff, fleeing the house.

Back in town, Bannon convinced the Sheriff to accompany him to the Manse, while Vincent and Higglebotham purchased a large barrel of salt (the grocers entire supply) after practically shaking him down.  They then dragged poor Joe (who just wanted to leave at this point) along with them, and followed the Sheriff back to the Manse.

The body was gone.  The Sheriff was angry, and even accused Joe of "one of his pranks" but Bannon managed to convince the Sheriff to stay, and they began investigating upstairs, noting that here, the floor creaked and cracked, while the bottom floor did not.  They found Conrthwaite's final notes and evidence of him creating salt-shot for his shot gun (which they quickly followed suite), and then stumbled upon a hidden room behind the fireplace - where they found the decaying body of Arthur Curwen from 30 years ago.  The Sheriff saw that and charged into the monk hole - which immediately slammed shut behind him.  From inside, they heard a strangled cry - and when they forced the door back open, they found only the old skeleton (and Higglebotham immediately claimed the head) - though they did spy a door leading up to the attic.  Joe took the opportunity to run the hell away, ran all the way back to town (in the rain), dropped by the Gazettes office and announced his reassignment, and continued running all the way home.  Ignoring him, they continued the search and eventually got to the attic, finding no trace of the Sheriff, but more evidence of the damp strangeness.  And as they came back down, they noted the floor no longer creaked.  Freaking out, Higglebotham attacked the floor with an axe- only to find it hold fast, and to start trying to pull him under the floorboards.  The others threw salt at it, and the unseen thing retreated.

They headed down stairs, now with their barrel, intent to stop the thing once and for all.  But as they approached the front door, the floor gave out beneath them.,  They managed to dodge aside, but underneath they saw the hideous gelatinous thing, its tentacles now reaching through the walls and cracks at them.  Higglebotham went mad, and his mind tried to cope with the horror by transporting him back to the most horrible thing he had witnessed - the trenches in the war.  Now living his experiences again in real time, he knelt down and wept, hinting that he had betrayed his countrymen to the Ottomans during the war.  Meanwhile, Vincent dumped the full barrel of salt into the creature, while Bannon puled back.  The monster thrashed and the houses foundations began to shake as the tentacles assaulted them.  Vincent tried to pull Higglebotham out and failed, while Bannon pulled back and took aim at the striking tentacles, firing at one as it went for Higglebotham.  The shot critically missed - and hit Higglebotham instead, who in his delusion, began to believe Bannon was a German soldier.  He tackled Bannon, but fortunately Bannons high psychiatry skill managed to bring him back into the moment.  Meanwhile, the house thrashed, cracked, and then fell with the death wails of the creature.

The Dodge Brothers were not happy, but Bannon used his considerable influence to get them to dump the full truckload of salt on the place, and assured them that the skull Higglebotham was holding (Curwens, actually) was Cornthwaite.  Higglebotham resisted Bannons attempts to give him sanity counciling, and instead fled to the nearby hunting trails.  Meanwhile, Vincent pledged to take care of Higglebothams antelopes... and while doing so, was nearly approached by the strange insect like ape from the portal e had seen in COldwater Falls, before it faded away....

 

******

So I had planned Song of the Spheres for next week, but Vincent player will be out of town for a few weeks, and I'm getting at least one (for sure) and maybe two new players in two weeks, so I think this week I will wing an expedition to South America as a follow up to this, which will involve Dark Young, a cultish tribe, and the spawn of Shut Niggrauth trying to reform itself.

[Master Fwiffo]

So, winging it this week was interesting but difficult - I doubt I'll do that again.  I adapted parts of "Savage Lands" from the Kenya sourcebook to use as my base, but with a few changes (besides making them South American animals, that is).  The backstory now is that the tribe of Were-Jaguars loosely worship Cthulhu and Tsthaugua, but see Shub Niggrauths cult as an invasion on their territory, and do their best to keep Shubbies spawn (the creature from Crakd and Crookd manse) contained.  Cornthwaites expedition found Shubbies temple, but most of them were sacrificed to the spawn, and the few survivors (including Bannon's father) were eliminated by the tribe, all sides unaware that now satiated, Shubbies spawn was beginning to produce Dark Young...

So we picked up with rich doctor Bannon rescuing big game hunter Higglebotham from jail, which he was in because in his still-somewhat-delusional state, he shot a movie screen showing the Wizard of Oz (original 1925 version!) when the cowardly lion appeared.  Bannon rescued him, and convinced him to come along on his expedition to South America, in the hopes that his father, part of Cornthwaite's expedition, still lived.  They gathered a team including their guide Hernando, an Archaeologist and another Big Game Hunter, and set out.  Upon arrival in Brazil, they hired a number of local porters, as well as a translator a boat, and a personal bodyguard for Bannon.  And a LOT of Salt.

They set out into the jungle along the river, and soon reached a small village - the last known contact of Cornthwaite's expedition.  They found the local villagers and attempted to enlist their aide, but the village elder was insistent that they leave.  Bannon eventually convinced the elder that he wouldn't leave- so the elder produced Cornthwaite's diary, given to him to help convince those who would follow his tracks to leave.  Cornthwaite's diary described the expeditions troubles, and the mystery of the hostile tribe that may have been shapeshifter, and eventually detailed their descent into the great black dome - and then a hastily written epilogue saying how everyone died, and no one should follow in his footsteps.

As Bannon was reading through this, Higglebotham learned that a few girls had been kidnapped by jaguars, in ways entirely unusual for jaguar hunting.  Bannon finished reading the script, and demoralized and now convinced of his fathers demise, demanded the expedition be halted.  Higglebotham and the other expedition members insisted on staying long enough to find the girls, and Bannon relented.

That night, despite no sounds detectable, something stole half the weapons from the camp.  Trails indicated a large Anaconda.  Nervous, the group started off into the jungle, and it wasn't long before misfortune befell them again - their guide Hernando broke his leg and was forced to return to the village.  Bannon was further demoralized, but the group continued, noticing an unusual number of predators about, including a large black Jaguar.  Eventually, they caught sight of an Anaconda - and Higglebotham shot at it, killing it as it fell into the water.  As they went to find the body, Higglebotham tripped over something - which quickly began to coil around him.  And at that moment, all hell broke loose as dozens of Jaguars, Anacondas and Caimen attacked the group.  Bannon took down a couple jaguars, emptying his elephant gun into them, while Higglebotham frantically hacked at the Anaconda wrapping around him - and as the creatures died, they began to shift back to the form.... of men.

Bannon then whirled as another Jaguar - a large black one - advanced on him.  And then it stopped, and with a deep throated growl... it called his name.

As the battle between the beasts and the dwindling numbers of the expedition raged behind them.  The speaking Jaguar crept forward, calling to its still-human son, telling him to join him and "serve Tulu and stop the trees".  Bannon tried to negotiate, and at least managed to convince the Jaguar to halt its fellows attacks.  But as it crept forward, the Jaguar's paw began to glow, and it told Bannon that he would serve Tulu and be like him.  Bannon panicked and ran - and Higglebotham unclear at what was happening, unloaded his elephant gun into it.  The jaguar's body hit the tree, and began to turn back into Bannon's father.  Higglebotham snapped, and fled into the jungle convinced he too was becoming an animal (a toucan, don't ask).  Bannon wept, and prepared to collect the body of his father, when a second Jaguar appeared, warning Bannon that "the Trees moved" before disappearing along with his army of beasts.

Bannon and his crew returned to the ship, while the npc Big Game Hunter went to try and locate Higglebotham.  Higglebotham was returned shortly - but by the local natives - still completly... cookoo.  (ba-dum-tish).  Only later did the hunter return, stark raving mad and raving about the walking trees.  As Bannon tried to call him and the boat peddled away, a shout from the deck brought him upward.  Out on the shore he witnessed the form of a large tree-like creature moving, it's mouth slavering - then another, and another, and another....

When someone attempted to contact the village again, they found it had been erased from the earth.  And with the dreadful knowledge the were-beasts and the source of the nightmarish walking trees still existed, sanity was lost.

And that was it.

Good story, but the execution was a bit lacking.  I'm looking forward to going back to Song of the Sphere's this week.  I've actually got a compilation to play as the titular song.

[Master Fwiffo]

So for the next two I'm doping a couple of Scenarios from In the Shadows (which was the first PDF I purchased, true story).  I'm skimping on the props due to the availability of the very awesome upgrade pack for them both.  First up is Song of the Spheres, and I have an actual Song of the Spheres to play from my phone, by mixing (on suggestions from Yog-Sothoth's board) David Frum's Makrokosmos and Voices of the Children into a hideous amalgamation that may actually drive my players insane. Excellent.  Going to have at least 1 new player, maybe two, and I can hope for more!

[Master Fwiffo]

Yesterday was interesting.  I learned late Saturday that both of the new players I was expecting weren't going to be able to make it, which dropped me back down to two.  Since I didn't want to run Song of the Spheres with just two (and knowing Ted Vincent's player would be back next week for certain), I hastily changed it to "The Darkness Beneath the Hill" from Doors to Darkness.  Yay Serpent people!

I show up on Sunday, and Ted Vincent's player is back!  Then one of the two who said he couldn't make it showed up.  And then an entirely new player walked in!  I went from 2 to 5!  But as I had the stuff, I stuck with the Serpent Dude.  And it turned out pretty well!

 

Joining Ted Vincent, Athletics Director, Harold Higglebotham, Big Game Hunter and Bruce Bannon, super rich doctor, was Ian MacMillan, ex-gangster and now Bannon's hired bodyguard, and Linda Nitswitch, Researcher (and originally Harold's back up character, played by our last-minute walk-in, who did a fantastic job with her).

An old school chum of Bannon contacted him - one Joshua Winscott, who was eager to explore some old slave tunnels existing beneath his recently inherited house, and thought Bannon, being the son of a wealthy explorer, would be most interested.  Bannon took it up, and offered Higglebotham and Vincent to come along, and Nitswitch, a dear old friend of Higglebotham, volunteered to go as well.

They arrived at the house and met with Winscott, who'd tired himself out digging himself, and took them all to dinner to explain the history of the place.  After dinner, and promising to meet the next morning, the group set out on some research, hitting the library before close and finding the evidence that Winscott's tunnels may have had a tragic history.  Suspicious, the group looked further in to unusual tales of Providence, and hit upon the tale of Arthur Curwen, the wizard, and the mob that had destroyed his house.  They then went to investigate Curwen's old farm (just in case!) and learned from a neighbor about young Charles Dexter Ward and his activities there (after which, the place had been burned down by the locals).  And then they realized Arthur Curwen was also the name of the crazy man from the Crakd and Crookd Manse (lol!).

Fun world building diversion aside, they returned to their hotel, and the next morning, set out to find Winscott - only to realize he'd already disappeared into the tunnel.

It did not take long for them to realize they had stumbled into the realm of ancient serpent people.  (Sanity checks were had).  As they explored the ruins, they ran into several of the degenerates, and then the creepy piping organ made of human heads.  After the organ encounter, a trio of Ghasts ambushed them, but they were dispatched easily enough, though with some sanity checks (I need to just have more monsters attack I think...)  But things began to fall apart when they encountered the immense serpent statue in a long forgotten temple.  Bannon and his guard held back, as the others fearlessly went to investigate it.  As they did, the statue forced visions upon Higglebotham and Linda, asking them what they wanted.  Linda asked for knowledge - and was rewarded with a  glimpse into the distant past, showing an army of the snake creatures fighting flying tentacled things from the sky, before retreating.  The horrible vision sent her over the edge, and she became blind to all.  Harold too was asked what he wanted, but he attempted to mouth off to the God of Snakes, and was rewarded with a painful searing burn.  Vincent, however, did not receive a vision, and instead tried to pull away the encrusted rubies that lined the statue.  Even after he was warned by a voice saying "you are not worthy", he persisted, and again pried away the jewel.  This time, he saw the vision - of the snake people and of a legion of Ghasts that devoured him whole, snapping his sanity away to the last horrible thing he saw from beneath the ground - the same thing that reduced a man to a wolf-state, and so he too reverted.

It took a lot of Psychoanlsys rolls to get the party back on track after that.

Eventually they continued onward, and soon found the lair of the Serpent Man.  Fortune was with them, as the Serpent Man disappeared into a spiral pattern on the wall.  They quickly rushed in and rescued Winscott, who was broken enough to merely follow - and then began throwing dynamite about in the lab (brought specifically for this purpose).  As the dynamite detonated, the underground caverns began to collapse, and legions of Ghasts began to pour out of the walls.  I really should have been harsher here, but eventually they escaped the collapsing tunnels, and returned Winscott home.  But further investigation found another Spiral pattern near the exit of the tunnels - and the serpent mans footprints.  They followed them to a third spiral pattern - but this one was now blocked off, and they were unable to travel trough.

They destroyed both Spiral patterns, and returned home, lost in their dreams - of a Serpent Man, and his sleeping people, patiently waiting for their time to return....

Edited July 24, 2017 by Master Fwiffo

[Master Fwiffo]

Aw man, I forgot to write up Song of the Spheres!  Well, another new player joined (6 total though only 5 were there last week), playing a Lawyer, which was immensely fun. Long story short, they killed the culprit, one-shotted the damn Byakee (damn elephant Guns), and then stopped the angle of music from awakening with one lucky roll.

I might have been just a little bitter that they did so well.

Which is why I've decided to stop holding back.  We're upping the ante.

Whats this?  TWO COVERS?

We're going to tackle the Curse of Chaugnar Faugn!  Now this scenario takes place in two sessions, with a false ending leaving the investigators to believe it's over, after which I will run "In the Shadows" during the break between the two, before hitting them full blast with Chaugnar Faugn's wrath in the second part.  I've selected a player to play the "boyfriend", though I will need to talk to him to make sure it's ok, because he may not come out alive - or at least, horribly disfigured.  Also of note, this scenario didn't have any pre-written handouts, so I had to create all my own.  And I added a "picture of the statue" (using one someone had posted online as the reference).

 

After we finish these next two scenarios (three sessions), I've talked to the group and we're going to do an actual campaign!  Wee!  I gave them a choice between "Tatters of the King" and "A Time to Harvest" (I also really want to do Masks but it needs a longer commitment, and Beyond the Mountains of Madness but that would require completely new characters), and they chose Time to Harvest.  Looking forward to getting started on that!

[jajagappa]

7 hours ago, Master Fwiffo said:

Whats this?  TWO COVERS?

I just love your covers!  Have such a great, classic pulp look.

[Master Fwiffo]

I think yesterday was the best session yet.

 

Ted Vincent (who's player was happy to collaborate), was approached by his ex-Girlfriend Violet Stauton, who was telling a tale involving her father, Professor Stauton, deteriorating state, and the dark dreams of the Elephant God of Tsang that he had retrieved from Tibet, and of the oriental assassin who had tried to attack her father.  So the Investigators - Harold Higglebotham, Linda Nitswitch and Bruce Bannon (Ian McMillan showed up after the halfway point), began their investigations, researching this Elephant God and heading to visit it, only to find it now the scene of a gristly murder - a man ripped to shreds and seemingly drained of blood.  They of course, all immediately assumed the statue came to life.  Their suspicions seemed to be born out when Violet returned, now babling that the old family friend Paul Ricoletti had gone insane, and had conspired with oriental assassins to bring the statue to life and kill her father and everyone else.  They returned to violets house, witnessed the unconscious father, and prepared for the arrival of the assassin - and perhaps even the elephant God.

They didn't expect the giant black horse-faced dragon.  Panicked as the Shantak began beating an immense hole the front door, they were caught unaware when the Tcho-Tcho assassin (who at this point was assumed to be a vampire ninja) came in the other side, knocking out Harold and then Bruce under the cover of a thick, unnatural smoke.  Ted grabbed Violet (unconscious from a sedative administered earlier) and barricaded himself in the study, while Linda tried something desperate.  Using a ritual knife that Ted had gotten all the way back during the Canis Mysterium episode, she attempted to summon a Dimension Shambler (from a spell she had been working on from papers also retrieved that same episode).  It went horribly wrong - the Shambler grabbed her and ripped her arm off, while a second Shambler appeared - the one that had been haunting Ted for most the campaign - grabbed the knife (which had always been its goal), and appeared before Ted one last time to let him witness it crushing the knife - and then returning to whence it came.

Then the Dragon's assault stopped.  Ted went to Investigate, and managed to keep what was left of Linda from bleeding out, then went upstairs to arouse Harold and Bruce, and find Professor Stauton missing.  And then they saw the Tcho-Tcho assassin, smiling at them, light himself on fire and throw himself from the balcony, to their horror and confusion.

As the police arrived and gathered them up, Violet awoke, and started screaming hysterically...

The next morning, they encountered Kirk Von Djannes (Linda's backup character), an antiques smuggler who had just so happened to be at the museum that night, and witnessed the statue come to life, and devour a man in his nightclothes.  At this point, Ian McMillan showed up, very confused about the current state of things.  Violet than began trying to convince the Investigators that Ricoletti was behind everything, and that he needed to be stopped and killed.  Ian knocked her out - at which point, Ted began acting a little strange.  Finally it was resolved to go to Ricoletti's - and then destroy the statue with dynamite.

The snuck in through Ricoletti's, leaving Ted and the unconscious Violet in the car.  But as they did, Ted snuck out, and got into the Library, looking for something specific, then returned it to Violet in the car, then sprinted back in.  The Investigators found Ricoletti asleep, and in his current mental state, when he was awoken by thugs with large guns, he panicked, tried to attack them as they tried to restrain them - and then started trying to cast a spell.  And then Ted ran in and hit him in the head with a rock - killing him instantly.  Bruce whirled on him and punched Ted out, as Ted seemed suddenly very confused about the entire thing, and couldn't even remember where he was.  They found Violet waking up, also in an equally confused state - and some papers written in a strange language in her purse.

Bruce was now convinced that Violet was behind everything, while Ted, still utterly confused, properly defended her.  It was decided they would be detained on Kirk's smuggling boat with Bruce, while Harold, Kirk and Ian would go blow up the Statue with Dynamite, permanently ending the threat.

As they placed the Dynamite, Chaugnar Fagn awoke.  It grabbed Ian as the other two fled, the Dynamite already lit.  Ian resisted, and then tried to an inimidate the God, rolling a 02.  Chaugnr Respects that, and instead of eating him, took Ian to the very center of the Dynamite, and held him firmly with a bemused look on his face - until the Dynamite exploded.

Harold attempted to delay the Firefighters, trying to tell them it was a chemical fire before sabotaging their water pumps, while Kirk (who had fled at the first sight of Chaugnr coming to life) looked for Ian through the fire - and then saw briefly, the unharmed elephant God, still holding the burning corpse.

The next day, the papers were filled with the story of the explosion in a Museum, and the Elephant God statue which must have been completely destroyed as there was no trace....