[Scenario 1] The Edge of Darkness

[ken-do-nim]

Against The Wind, Round One

Order of Initiative
Adversary: 18
Archie: 17
Elmer: 14
Hyacinth: 9

First, I need to determine whether Elmer’s shotgun was “aimed-and-ready” at the start of the round. Since he’d been dragging Maggie around, he’ll go in the ordinary dexterity order.

The “wind” goes first, just beating out the otherwise lightning fast Archie. It goes for 1-2 Archie 3-4 Elmer 5-6 Hyacinth … 6, Hyacinth again. Again it attempts to claw her, this time bringing both to bear: 89, 94. Both misses! She successfully got behind Archie, I guess.

Archie grabs Hyacinth’s arm and starts leading her back towards the cabin.

Elmer sees the vague shape hovering right next to him as its wind blows back his hair, and shooting at point blank range, fires off both barrels of his shotgun. His attack roll is doubled for point blank range, but halved for the moonlight, staying right where it is at 50%. Rolling … 32, hit! There’s a loud bang and a flash of light as the shotgun blasts into the wind. You clearly see the shotgun pellets fire out into the night, unimpeded by any material substance. Yet, the wind howls and retreats back up into the trees.

Does Elmer wish to stay and reload his gun, or flee back to the cabin along with his fellows?

[Scott308]

Elmer "Big City" Ramsey

Seeing that the shotgun blast goes right through the...bear? without seeming to do any damage, Elmer does not wish to hang around and mess with this...thing...any more. He'll take his cue from Archie and Hyacinth, making a bee-line back to the farmhouse.

[ken-do-nim]

Elmer "Big City" Ramsey

Seeing that the shotgun blast goes right through the...bear? without seeming to do any damage, Elmer does not wish to hang around and mess with this...thing...any more. He'll take his cue from Archie and Hyacinth, making a bee-line back to the farmhouse.

Elmer must have run a slightly different way back to the farmhouse, because he stumbles over the corpse of the hobo as well. He doesn't even take the time to look to see if the heart has been chewed out; he just runs. Just as you are getting near the farmhouse, you hear the howl of wind pursuing you, but unless you stumble you are going to make it back before it can stop you. To check if you stumble, I will do a dex check (dex x 5); 14 x 5 = 70. Rolling ... 65, close! But you make it.

Sanity check for seeing Red Jake's corpse:
Elmer: 43/45 ... 31, made it, no sanity loss

**********************************

Perhaps 30 seconds after Elmer returns to the house, with Archie and Hyacinth still mid-sentence trying to explain what they just saw to the others, something slams into the attic; those looking out the back door saw a faint, tangling vortex rushing through the air (to save time, I'll assume sanity checks were successful). It is evidently back, and it is shaking the house with a roar and fury. After about five minutes, it calms down, however, and all is silent.

Sanity checks for hearing the return of the creature (and it looks like I missed sanity checks from page 4 of the thread, incorporating those losses):
Elmer: 42/45 ... 10, made it
Archie: 34/40 ... 29, made it
Hyacinth: 57/60 ... 07, made it
Aloysius: 29/30 ... 45, failed, down to 28/30
Jed: 27/29 ... 77, failed, down to 26/30
Dr. Pale: 64/65 ... 37, made it
Jasmine: 59/60 ... 66, failed, down to 58/60

Finally midnight arrives and the party begins the ritual. You have created a pentagram on the floor, and you are burning the brown chemical compound found with Marion Allen's notes.

I need to know who is chanting and who is on watch.
Jasmine - chanting
Hyacinth - chanting
Aloysius - chanting
Dr. Pale - chanting
Jed - on guard
Archie - on guard
Elmer - on guard

Is this correct?

Hyacinth reminds those about to chant that the words of the prayer must be recited backwards to dispel the creature; forward summons it. Dr. Pale reminds the group that although any one chanter can stop and catch their breath, the notes are quite specific that at any one time, one chanter MUST be actively reciting, or the spell will fail. He adds, "As crazy as this all sounds."

[ken-do-nim]

For the purpose of the indefinite insanity rules, now that the chanting has begun, I will show you what the 20% sanity loss that will trigger it is for everybody.

Elmer: 42/45, 20% of 42 is 8
Archie: 34/40, 20% of 34 is 7
Hyacinth: 57/60, 20% of 57 is 11
Aloysius: 28/30, 20% of 28 is 6
Jed: 26/30, 20% of 26 is 5
Dr. Pale: 64/65, 20% of 64 is 13
Jasmine: 58/60, 20% of 58 is 12

So this means if Jed (the most unstable of the bunch) suffers 5 or more points of sanity loss during the ritual, he will go indefinitely insane.

If anyone loses 5 sanity points in a single die roll, they will go temporarily insane. So far, nothing you have seen has had me roll a d6 (or higher) for sanity loss to threaten that. This introductory scenario, which will featuring a potent enemy, has it mostly invisible, limiting the sanity loss. The worst I believe is Great Cthulhu himself, who gives a 1d10 sanity loss if you make the roll, and 1d100 otherwise.

[MI70]

Jed

Visibly shaken, Jed lights the last of the Professor's good tobacco in his pipe and takes a long puff.
"Geez, Professor, whadda ya got us into?" He looks nervously at the others and takes a pull on a jug of moonshine.
"Makes sense enough to me with these folk a-chantin'," he continues. "I'm a might shook up, but let the rest of us take a quick look at this chant before you start so we can jump in if'in, you know, some thin' happens . . ."
After glancing at the chant, Jed will take up a position in a corner and keep a look out, eyes darting warily about.

[Scott308]

Elmer "Big City" Ramsey

Well, I can stand guard if you want me to, but Mr. Rupert told us that me and Jasmine would be needed to chant 'cause we're young. I didn't know what he meant at the time. I guess now we all know.

[ken-do-nim]

Elmer "Big City" Ramsey

Well, I can stand guard if you want me to, but Mr. Rupert told us that me and Jasmine would be needed to chant 'cause we're young. I didn't know what he meant at the time. I guess now we all know.

Oh, right!

Jasmine - chanting
Elmer - chanting
Aloysius - chanting
Dr. Pale - chanting
Jed - on guard
Archie - on guard
Hyacinth - on guard

There, I think we can proceed now.

[geomys]

Archie watches the attic nervously, wondering what a whip will do against evil wind.

[ken-do-nim]

The first twenty minutes of the ceremony are totally anti-climactic. It's not easy to chant the words backwards, and the 4 of you stumble over your words repeatedly in trying to get it right, and it's hard to stifle a laugh or two. But by the 15 minute mark or so, you have it down fairly well, and at 20 minutes you can hear *something* in the attic thumping around, evidently you've agitated it. The mere realization that your chant is actually having an affect and this is all really happening and ... well you know, sanity check time. Just a 0/1 roll.

Elmer: 42/45 ... 92, failed now 41/45 and 7 until insanity
Archie: 34/40 ... 71, failed now 33/40 and 6 until insanity
Hyacinth: 57/60 ... 62, failed now 56/60 and 10 until insanity
Aloysius: 28/30 ... 52, failed now 27/30 and 5 until insanity
Jed: 26/30 ... 10, success! Still 5 until insanity
Dr. Pale: 64/65 ... 88, failed now 63/65 and 12 until insanity
Jasmine: 58/60 ... 90, failed now 57/60 and 11 until insanity

... and then it gets worse. Within minutes, the creature sets up an awful howling, interspersed by grunts and foul curses spoken in a harsh guttural voice. The old house sways and creaks, the sudden jolts shaking it to its foundations. Objects on shelves and the mantel fall and roll across the floor. And it's time for more sanity fun! This time 1/1d3

Elmer: 41/45 ... 62, failed, loses 1 point now 40/45 and 6 until insanity
Archie: 33/40 ... 34 oh so close, failed, loses 2 points now 31/40 and 4 until insanity
Hyacinth: 56/60 ... 46 success, lose 1 point now 55/60 and 9 until insanity
Aloysius: 27/30 ... 100, failed, lose 2 points now 25/30 and 3 until insanity
Jed: 26/30 ... 32, failed, lose 3 points now 23/30 and 2 until insanity
Dr. Pale: 63/65 ... 81 failed, lose 1 point now 62/65 and 11 until insanity
Jasmine: 57/60 ... 42 success, lose 1 point now 56/60 and 10 until insanity

This violence and noise continues for a half hour, then a horrible smell begins to creep down from the attic above, followed by a thick stinking goo that oozes through the ceiling and starts to drip down as well as run down the walls. Luck rolls for everyone! Those who fail have some of the acid fall on them for 1d2 damage.

Elmer: 45, rolling ... 08 success. Still at 12/12 hit points.
Archie: 40, rolling ... 99, failed takes 2 points of damage, down to 11/13 hit points
Hyacinth: 60, rolling ... 18, success. Still at 11/11 hit points.
Aloysius: 30, rolling ... 63, failed takes 2 points of damage, down to 12/14 hit points
Jed: 30, rolling ... 84, failed takes 2 points of damage, down to 10/12 hit points
Dr. Pale: 65, rolling ... 48 success. Still at 10/10 hit points
Jasmine: 60, rolling ... 24 success. Still at 13/13 hit points.

A couple notes on how hit points work in Call of Cthulhu:

• If you lose half of your current hit points from a single attack, you must make a CONx5 check or go unconscious.
• The 1-2 hit point range is always unconsciousness.
• If you are reduced to 0 hit points, you die at the end of the following combat round.

Mercifully the acid attack does not last long. At the beginning of the second hour of chanting, everything gets quiet again. For another half-hour, the 4 chanters continue without distraction. Perhaps it is gone? The 3 guards strain their ears to listen, to see if they hear anything at all from the attic.

Jed 45, rolling ... 49 failed
Archie 25, rolling ... 59 failed
Hyacinth 45, rolling ... 89 failed

You don't hear anything ... until there's a thumping on the back door! Who could be knocking at this hour? Does anyone wish to check? There's a window you should be able to look sideways and see who is there, although obviously it is dark out.

[Scott308]

Elmer "Big City" Ramsey

Elmer continues to chant.

[MI70]

Jed

Given his shaken mental state, Jed does NOT go check the door. Whatever is out there, he doesn't want to know.

[Stirling]

Miss Faversham

Jasmine will neatly sidestep the acid like dodging the unwanted groping hand during evening ball dance. She will try hard to hit the right notes but choir practice was really never her thing, those soprano's much too warbling.

She will carry on chanting looking at the good Doctor for evidence she is doing well and stepping closer to whoever has a gun at hand.

[geomys]

Shaken and burned, Archie jumps at knocking at the door. He decides that anything is better than dealing in silence with the pervasive feeling of horror and he goes to check out the window hoping to see a human form.

[ken-do-nim]

Shaken and burned, Archie jumps at knocking at the door. He decides that anything is better than dealing in silence with the pervasive feeling of horror and he goes to check out the window hoping to see a human form.

OOC: I love inquisitive players!

Archie sees Maggie McPhirter by the door. Being right at the window, you can faintly hear her call, "Help me..." But how can she be alive? Her heart is still torn out, just as it was when you fled from her corpse earlier!



The shock, the horror ... it's a 1/1d6 sanity check.

Archie 33/40 and 4 until insanity, rolling ... 39 oh so close but no cigar! 1d6 sanity loss ... 1 point lucky dog! 32/40 and 3 until insanity now.

[geomys]

"Aggh! Finish the ritual! Finish the ritual!"

Archie falls back from the door, pale and shivering. He looks from the front door to the attic wildly, unfurling his whip and holding it out to one side.

[ken-do-nim]

Maggie comes over to the window, raps on the glass so that she gets everyone's attention, and all the while clutching the hole where her heart had been, pleads loudly, "Help me, please help me! Someone!"

This impossible situation prompts a sanity check for everyone (except Archie)! (GM restrains himself from insane laugh...)

Elmer: 40/45 ... 37, made it, now 39/45 and 5 until insanity
Hyacinth: 55/60 ... 25 success, now 54/60 and 8 until insanity
Aloysius: 25/30 ... 26, failed by 1! He loses 3 points, now 22/30 and insane
Jed: 23/30 ... 26, failed, he loses 6 points now 17/30 and insane, possibly temporary and definitely indefinite
Dr. Pale: 62/65 ... 77 failed, lose 1 point now 61/65 and 10 until insanity
Jasmine: 56/60 ... 24 success, lose 1 point now 55/60 and 9 until insanity

And just so I have all the info in one place ...

Archie: 32/40 and 3 until insanity.

Jed's idea roll: 37, success. You actually want to fail it to avoid temporary insanity, since a success means your mind comprehends exactly what is going on. In this case, Jed realizes exactly why Maggie is at the window (PM forthcoming), and this causes him to ... rolling d10 ... 6, homicidal or suicidal mania is the chart result. In this case, Jed is filled with a homicidal urge to put Maggie down come hell or high water!!!

For both Jed and Aloysius, your sanity is shattered (it will take months of recovery). On the plus side, you gain 5 skill points in the Cthulhu Mythos, as you now realize what is really possible in this world. On the negative side, you will develop a serious yet-to-be-determined personality disorder because of this event. For now, Jed is full of homicidal rage and Aloysius feels a sense of deep foreboding, of messing with powers beyond the mortal ken. Once Jed calms down, he'll feel that way too.

Actions?

[Scott308]

Elmer "Big City" Ramsey

Elmer continues to chant.

[MI70]

Jed

"Aiiiigh!" Jed screams, leaping up. "That monster upstairs is only quiet since it's concentrating on sendin' the undead to git us! Someone git upstairs and kill it while it's athinkin'! Kill it! Kill it! I'll take care of this here zombie!"

Raising his 30.06, Jed fires at Maggie. He will reload as fast as possible and keep firing, fear turning to desperate concentrated fury as he fights for his life.

[ken-do-nim]

Jed

"Aiiiigh!" Jed screams, leaping up. "That monster upstairs is only quiet since it's concentrating on sendin' the undead to git us! Someone git upstairs and kill it while it's athinkin'! Kill it! Kill it! I'll take care of this here zombie!"

Raising his 30.06, Jed fires at Maggie. He will reload as fast as possible and keep firing, fear turning to desperate concentrated fury as he fights for his life.

I didn't have a chance to get an update in this weekend, so let me just make sure that Jed is okay with firing straight through the window at Maggie, which will shatter the glass and possibly weaken the sigils protecting that aperture. His other alternative - more risky though - is to go outside and shoot her, or open the window first.

[MI70]

Jed will shoot through the glass.