Cool Air tells the tale of a reclusive doctor who keeps to himself and never leaves his refrigerated rooms. His obsession with staving off death leads to more extreme experimentation and a mastery of the healing arts, which helps a neighbour when he has a heart attack. Over time the doctor becomes more and more sickly, continuously lowering the temperature of his rooms until they are sub-zero. He is eventually found dead, severely decomposed and clutching a note explaining that he had died many years before, but had kept himself going though alchemical means and strictly controlling his temperature.
As part of the Interface 19.40 book, I can imagine Modiphius starting to cover this in some detail with refrigerated armour to be worn by important high ranking officials within Nachtwolf in order to save off final death. If they don't... Well. Chalk one up to me to think on some more if/when the time comes.
I could certainly see key bunkers in Germany being super cooled in order to carry out more research into extending the life span of soldiers after death. Imagine a 1940s version of the guy who manufacturs eyes in Blade Runder and you wouldn't be too far off the mark.
Showing posts with label literature. Show all posts
Showing posts with label literature. Show all posts
Sunday, 28 April 2013
Friday, 26 April 2013
The Terrible Old Man
The Terrible Old Man returns to a similar theme to the case of Charles Dexter Ward. In this tale we hear about a man so old that no-one knows who he is, or how old he is... Just that he has lived in the house for a longer than anyone can remember Ad talks to some bottles as if they are long lost friends. Local rumours have him owning a mirage horde of treasure that is too good an opportunity to turn down for three burglars; unfortunately for them things don't quite go their way and they are found mutilated as if hacked apart by cutlasses and stomped by boots.
In the Charles Dexter Ward tale, Curwen is able to store and reanistores dead, who he stores in bottles. We can only assume that in his travels, this old man discovered how to keep s friends close in a similar manner; wether through malice, or loneliness we don't know. It does, however, raise an interesting idea that the Germans, Russians or Japanese may decide to follow similar experiments in order to drop large armies behind enemy lines more easily.... Just imagine dropping a crate of bottles and one person to animate the dust contained within? Invading a city would be easy... Who would suspect one man and a crate?
In the Charles Dexter Ward tale, Curwen is able to store and reanistores dead, who he stores in bottles. We can only assume that in his travels, this old man discovered how to keep s friends close in a similar manner; wether through malice, or loneliness we don't know. It does, however, raise an interesting idea that the Germans, Russians or Japanese may decide to follow similar experiments in order to drop large armies behind enemy lines more easily.... Just imagine dropping a crate of bottles and one person to animate the dust contained within? Invading a city would be easy... Who would suspect one man and a crate?
Thursday, 25 April 2013
Charles Dexter Ward
The Charles Dexter Ward tale revolves around a young man who discovers a mysterious lineage to an ancient wizard who somehow managed to defy the aging process and who looks exceedingly like him. Charles becomes more and more frantic in his search modernise information about this ancestor, eventually discovering his connections to wizards in Eastern Europe and a mysterious bungalow in Pawtuxet. As the tale unfolds, we discover that Joseph, Charles' ancient relative is attempting to resurrect himself through Charles.
Most, if not all, of the manuscripts from the Curwen/Ward libraries will have either been destroyed, or moved to Miskatonic university, but we don't know what happened to the notes created by Curwen's allies in Europe. It is not belond the realms of possibility that they have ended up in the hands of the Nachtwolf, or one of the other occult groups working inside Germany.
Some of Curwen's experiments lived on, entombed within the basements beneath the bungalow for years, so the investigators could be tasked to investigate an abandoned research facility in Eastern Europe or hunt down and prevent the nazis from creating the essential salts needed to keep a man alive forever... Fom what I can remember, the salts were created from the bodies of the recently dead; could this explain some of the mass cleansings that took place during the war?
Most, if not all, of the manuscripts from the Curwen/Ward libraries will have either been destroyed, or moved to Miskatonic university, but we don't know what happened to the notes created by Curwen's allies in Europe. It is not belond the realms of possibility that they have ended up in the hands of the Nachtwolf, or one of the other occult groups working inside Germany.
Some of Curwen's experiments lived on, entombed within the basements beneath the bungalow for years, so the investigators could be tasked to investigate an abandoned research facility in Eastern Europe or hunt down and prevent the nazis from creating the essential salts needed to keep a man alive forever... Fom what I can remember, the salts were created from the bodies of the recently dead; could this explain some of the mass cleansings that took place during the war?
Sunday, 7 April 2013
The Transition of Juan Romero
The Transition of Juan Romero takes place in a mining camp, presumably in Mexico as the deity Huitzilopochtli is mentioned.
Huitzilopochtli is a deity dedicated to war, sun and human sacrifice; quite why he's linked to a deep chasm and people dying in their sleep is a bit weird... but this is Mythos we're talking about here. As a deity, he can be transferred to a number of different situations, many of which would be far more suitable. I would imagine sacrifices at sunrise and sunset would be more appropriate.
In terms of converting this to a WW2 mission there's not a lot in the overall plot that ties it to a specific time period, so maybe the investigators have been sent to investigate a series of mysterious deaths a mine. If they only visit during the day they probably won't find much, but if they stay overnight, you could start to introduce elements of the Dreamlands into the meta plot. Normally dying in the Dreamlands would return you to your sleeping form, but occasionally the shock of seeing through the breach and realising that it's real could cause complete heart failure, especially if something hideous like an Elder God, or the city of Leng are seen.
Huitzilopochtlimay be local superstition that is being blamed for the deaths, or he may actually be a facet of an Elder God...
While digging, a deep chasm is uncovered; "too deep for any sounding lines to hit bottom". The night after the discovery of the abyss the narrator and one of the mine's workers, Juan Romero, venture inside the mine, following a mysterious rhythmical throbbing sound. Romero reaches the abyss first and is swallowed by it. The narrator peers over the edge, sees something - "but God, I dare not tell you what I saw!" and loses consciousness. The next morning Romero and the narrator are found in their beds; Romero dead. The other miners swear that no-one left the bunk house...
Huitzilopochtli is a deity dedicated to war, sun and human sacrifice; quite why he's linked to a deep chasm and people dying in their sleep is a bit weird... but this is Mythos we're talking about here. As a deity, he can be transferred to a number of different situations, many of which would be far more suitable. I would imagine sacrifices at sunrise and sunset would be more appropriate.
In terms of converting this to a WW2 mission there's not a lot in the overall plot that ties it to a specific time period, so maybe the investigators have been sent to investigate a series of mysterious deaths a mine. If they only visit during the day they probably won't find much, but if they stay overnight, you could start to introduce elements of the Dreamlands into the meta plot. Normally dying in the Dreamlands would return you to your sleeping form, but occasionally the shock of seeing through the breach and realising that it's real could cause complete heart failure, especially if something hideous like an Elder God, or the city of Leng are seen.
Huitzilopochtlimay be local superstition that is being blamed for the deaths, or he may actually be a facet of an Elder God...
Wednesday, 3 April 2013
The Dreamlands
Many of Lovecraft's stories tell of people having exceptionally vivid dreams and losing touch with reality, for example, in Polaris the narrator tells of entering a city in his dreams and, over time, feeling like he is becoming more real in this dream world. He eventually feels that his waking state is actually a dream from which he cannot wake. In some the dreamers are completely aware that they are in the Dreamlands, in others they just catch glimpses of magical (sometimes terrifying)places and beings.
The Dreamland stories begin to be covered with the Achtung! Cthulhu book, Heroes of the Sea. In here it's made clear that the Nazis have discovered a way to create a permanent, mobile portal through which anyone physically enter the Dreamlands, allowing full exploration and exploitation of it's resources. They have also created a drug to allow anyone to be put to sleep and enter the dreamlands that way too. Karl Friedrich Walpurgen, a noted occultist that is working with the Nazis is heavily involved in their investigations to the Dreamlands and their exploitation. Given that we don't ever encounter Walpurgen in the story, we can safely assume that his experiments don't end with this one portal, leaving things open for future nastiness.
Depending on how successful the investigators are in their mission, they may have actually managed to capture the submarine containing the Dreamlands portal, or a sample of the dream drug. Either of these will allow the allies to explore the odd world of Dreams in a more controlled fashion. Even if they don't capture the submarine, or the drugs it should now become apparent to the players that there is another world that sits along side ours that isn't quite right and should spark some investigations into further dream related apparel. Most cultures have some belief in dreams, be it holy visions or mystical rights... but the most obvious ones are probably the Native American tribes.
Native Americans saw dreams as a means of obtaining sacred wisdom and guidance for life and that their ancestor's spirits would visit them at night; most likely they knew the secrets of the Dreamlands and how to access them, but how will you persuade them to help in a war that isn't (yet) theirs?
The Dreamland stories begin to be covered with the Achtung! Cthulhu book, Heroes of the Sea. In here it's made clear that the Nazis have discovered a way to create a permanent, mobile portal through which anyone physically enter the Dreamlands, allowing full exploration and exploitation of it's resources. They have also created a drug to allow anyone to be put to sleep and enter the dreamlands that way too. Karl Friedrich Walpurgen, a noted occultist that is working with the Nazis is heavily involved in their investigations to the Dreamlands and their exploitation. Given that we don't ever encounter Walpurgen in the story, we can safely assume that his experiments don't end with this one portal, leaving things open for future nastiness.
Depending on how successful the investigators are in their mission, they may have actually managed to capture the submarine containing the Dreamlands portal, or a sample of the dream drug. Either of these will allow the allies to explore the odd world of Dreams in a more controlled fashion. Even if they don't capture the submarine, or the drugs it should now become apparent to the players that there is another world that sits along side ours that isn't quite right and should spark some investigations into further dream related apparel. Most cultures have some belief in dreams, be it holy visions or mystical rights... but the most obvious ones are probably the Native American tribes.
Native Americans saw dreams as a means of obtaining sacred wisdom and guidance for life and that their ancestor's spirits would visit them at night; most likely they knew the secrets of the Dreamlands and how to access them, but how will you persuade them to help in a war that isn't (yet) theirs?
Monday, 25 March 2013
Dagon
The next installment of the Lovecraft related plot ideas is based upon his second short story, Dagon.
In the story a sailor from WW1 gets shipwrecked in the Pacific and ends up on an exposed piece of land with strange topography. He wanders the land looking for a way off, but instead encounters a series of alien carvings and statues. He escapes the island, completely insane, in an attempt to escape from a monstrous being that rises form the deep...
Shifting this from WW1 to WW2 is simple enough, but having the players actually step foot on the island and encounter Dagon may be a bit too much unless you want to either kill them or drive them completely insane; so what can we do with it?
1) The sailor may have brought back rubbings of the carvings, or a small statue. This artifact could lead to a number of different missions; maybe the original visit to the island was during WW1 and the artifacts made their way into the British Museum. Perhaps they get stolen during the evacuation of the museum treasures during the Blitz and the investigators need to track it down and preventing a cult from using it to raise Dagon.
2) Alternatively, the investigators may be sent to a mysterious new island in the pacific and end up trying to prevent the Germans/Japanese from raising Dagon.
In the story a sailor from WW1 gets shipwrecked in the Pacific and ends up on an exposed piece of land with strange topography. He wanders the land looking for a way off, but instead encounters a series of alien carvings and statues. He escapes the island, completely insane, in an attempt to escape from a monstrous being that rises form the deep...
Shifting this from WW1 to WW2 is simple enough, but having the players actually step foot on the island and encounter Dagon may be a bit too much unless you want to either kill them or drive them completely insane; so what can we do with it?
1) The sailor may have brought back rubbings of the carvings, or a small statue. This artifact could lead to a number of different missions; maybe the original visit to the island was during WW1 and the artifacts made their way into the British Museum. Perhaps they get stolen during the evacuation of the museum treasures during the Blitz and the investigators need to track it down and preventing a cult from using it to raise Dagon.
2) Alternatively, the investigators may be sent to a mysterious new island in the pacific and end up trying to prevent the Germans/Japanese from raising Dagon.
The Tomb
Reading through the various Lovecraft tales recently has started to spark some ideas for potential side adventures, or plot points, so I thought I'd start to log them here in case they are of any use to others. We'll be starting with the 1922 short story, The Tomb. This story seems like a fairly simple one to weave into a WW2 setting as it only involves having a location...
In the original story a daydreamer called Jervas Dudley discovers a locked mausoleum near a ruined mansion. Sleeping near the tomb eventually ends up with him being committed as no-one believes the various events that happen to him.
There are two obvious uses for this one:
1) The players accidentally sleep near a similar mausoleum (or similarly twisted location) and start to encounter odd situations that others do not.
2) The players are sent to investigate a spate of allied soldiers going insane while camped near a ruined castle or mansion.
Quite what the players or soldiers encounter or dream is entirely up to you; there could be something important that happened in the area that affects the current mission, or an important artifact like Dudley's key that need to be unearthed.
In the story Jervas finds a figurine that he believes looks very like him, he also finds a coffin with his name on. If you want to start twisting your player's minds you could have them find something with their name or likeness on as well; for example if you're using option 2 above, you could have the soldiers believe they have been trapped in the castle cellar after a cave in that killed most of the inhabitants. If the investigators uncover the cellar, the names of all the soldiers could be carved into the walls... but no way for the soldiers to have ever actually found their way in to carve them.
In the original story a daydreamer called Jervas Dudley discovers a locked mausoleum near a ruined mansion. Sleeping near the tomb eventually ends up with him being committed as no-one believes the various events that happen to him.
There are two obvious uses for this one:
1) The players accidentally sleep near a similar mausoleum (or similarly twisted location) and start to encounter odd situations that others do not.
2) The players are sent to investigate a spate of allied soldiers going insane while camped near a ruined castle or mansion.
Quite what the players or soldiers encounter or dream is entirely up to you; there could be something important that happened in the area that affects the current mission, or an important artifact like Dudley's key that need to be unearthed.
In the story Jervas finds a figurine that he believes looks very like him, he also finds a coffin with his name on. If you want to start twisting your player's minds you could have them find something with their name or likeness on as well; for example if you're using option 2 above, you could have the soldiers believe they have been trapped in the castle cellar after a cave in that killed most of the inhabitants. If the investigators uncover the cellar, the names of all the soldiers could be carved into the walls... but no way for the soldiers to have ever actually found their way in to carve them.
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