Call of Cthulhu: Fishers of Men
July 9, my 9 am game was a playtest of "Fishers of Men", a scenario for Miskatonic River Press's forthcoming _Tales of the Sleepless City_, Call of Cthulhu scenarios set in NYC of the 1920s.
- GM: Oscar Rios, running Michael Hulse's scenario
- Lynn Varney: Ghost Hunter
- John Varney: Bruno the Mobster
- John Reckley: PI
- Jonathan Bagelman: Musician, and the only black PC
- Anand Ramakrishnan: Police Patrolman, detective plainclothes, Edwin Hurst
- Me: Roxie Bennett, Stage Magician (tada girl)
- ???: Walt "Mashed Potatoes" Johnson, Hobo, and one of the most beloved Miskatonic River Press pregenerated PCs
- Helena: Dorothy Walmer, pre-law intern
This was a scenario set in Harlem, so skin color did matter. A Dr. Harold Bejuju had died, and Bruno's boss wanted some of the doctor's special folk medicine. Roxie was there to watch a magic trick involving a burial alive and "resurrection" of Black Herman. The other PCs had other reasons for being there.
To my surprise, Black Herman was a real person, known as the Black Houdini. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Herman.
My reaction: The Black Houdini? Why have I never heard of him? Oh, right. Sigh.
The scenario dealt with feuding churches in Harlem, folk medicine which was illegal -- the medical institution did its level best to keep home cures from being legal -- and, of course, mythos elements.
We noted that the white investigators were absolutely disrespectful, lying their way into Dr. Bejuju's wake, sneaking around his home, and stealing his books and other property. But, hey, they prevented badness from getting worse.
Oscar (commenting on his own gming style): I do railroads. Sometimes I put a sandbox on a railroad. This isn't one of my scenarios; it's a sandbox.
Bruno (about subtlety and his shotgun): Hey, it's sawed off! Subtle!
Oscar: You don't have equipment (i.e., flashlight)
Mashed Potatoes took out a flask of alcohol.
Someone: You got one bottle of alcohol and a pack of cigarettes??
Mashed Potatoes: I got _6_ bottles of alcohol! Can I bum a light?
GM (after Mashed Potatoes drank a sip of Dr. Bejuju's tonic): You just healed your liver.
Mashed Potatoes: This is good stuff.
GM: And your lungs.
