CthulhuTech (Origins 2011)
Thursday, 23 June 2011
7 pm: Cthulhu Tech, scheduled in Union E, but actually in Garfield. Fortunately, I'd gotten a heads up from fellow gamers.
- GM: Eric Ebbs. He had six PCs, I think (unless it was 8), but three players. It still worked.
- Me: Joshua Miller, military
- James W???: Kiriol, military. He's a young Nazzadi eager to prove himself.
- ??? (male): Jennifer Smith, arcane
In the world of CthulhuTech, there's a war on with the Mi-gou (sic) and a new race called the Nazzadi which were created by the Mi-gou and programmed to believe they were fighting a war of expansion against humanity. When they learned otherwise, they surrendered and were integrated into human society astonishingly smoothly. There have been technomagical breakthroughs making life easier, although these have the unfortunate tendency to drive the scientists making the breakthroughs insane.
There are three levels one can easily play the game on: street level, shape shifting monstrous entities, and mecha level. We were playing on the street level. And, unlike the published scenarios I'd seen to date, this scenario was written to give players control of pacing and choices that mattered. Yay!
The PCs were a security detail for the band Atomica. The band was wildly popular, and a highly decorated Nazzadi general was planning to see a performance. Naturally, things needed to go smoothly.
The band and its members:
Atomica Adam Wahlburg: Lead Singer, "Atom", dislikes the Chrysalis Corporation Nick Harris, "Positron", lead guitar Uther Sturmvelt, "Lightspeed", keyboard, dislikes cats Virgil Simpkins, "Twitch", suffers from monophobia -- the fear of being alone John Rivers, "Positron", Bass Guitar. Adam won't be in the band without him. Simon Shepherd, "Quantum", backup guitar, backup singer, violin John Sarduchi, "Boss", band manager
Yes, there were two band members called Positron. Both argued about which was the "real" Positron, but this was all part of the show.
GM (about John Rivers / Positron): He's been known to assault people openly.
Kiriol (itching for trouble): I hope so! Oh God, I hope so! It doesn't _get_ any better!
The band planned to go to its hotel, to shop at a particular bookstore and a particular music store, to do some kind of thing in a convenience store parking lot, and, of course, to give a concert.
The PCs did some research on the band, and tried to piece together files and facts. Miller spoke with Sarduchi, hoping to deal with a couple of potentially troubling matters quickly and painlessly for all concerned. Specifically, one of the band members, Quantum, I think, was supposed to be monitored by therapists at regular intervals, as there was some question about whether he'd been tampered with by the Mi-gou, and he had missed his last appointment.
Sarduchi assured Miller that he had personally delivered musician to the appointment, and promised to send the relevant date to the relevant people. He also agreed to send his own file. Miller asked if there were anything that his people could do to make things go smoothly and was asked to keep the Nazzadi back. Not out of the concert, just back.
Miller (later, privately): There is no way I am going to tell the Nazzadi to sit in the back of the bus.
Kiriol made a nuisance of himself watching the concert hall being prepared.
Kiriol (after watching one guy long enough to spook him): You missed a spot!
Some of the other workers laughed at this, but the man got nervous, and eventually, he and one other aroused suspicions enough for Kiriol to lock them up, with the help of one of the local security guards, and to make ominous threats.
Kiriol: We got lots of stairs around here. I like stairs.
Miller arrived and was filled in on the situation. At one point, someone commented about his pointing a loaded question.
Miller: I wasn't asking a loaded question. (realizing) Oh, yes, I was.
Either Smith or Miller: We have to go the jack booted thug route on this. We're committed.
Kiriol: We have a _problem_ with this?
Miller started playing good cop to Kiriol's bad cop, warning the suspects that if they didn't talk, well, he'd have no choice but to let Kiriol loose on them.
Kiriol (mouthing the words out of Miller's line of sight): Please don't talk!
The suspects decided to talk. They were putting the footlights at certain places so that some kind of ritual would be done during the concert. They worked for the Cult of Dagon.
The ritual wasn't a good ritual either, made up of random bits and pieces, perhaps trying to summon NyarCthuIthaqQulth?
Meanwhile, the appropriate people had received Sarduchi's file. He was 45 and had been born in Germany. The file was exactly what one might expect, and Miller was fairly sure it was useless. But, that wasn't something he felt the need to push on.
The problem was that the information sent about Quantum that supposedly proved he had made his appointment did not show the actual facility he was supposed to have gone to. This bothered Miller.
Before going to the hotel, the team did some more research, noting that one of the band members had no attached file number, and another was apparently "slumming with a rock band because scientists like him". The one without the file number was Lightspeed. His parents had made some kind of breakthrough with a mecha project, according to my notes, but were killed or taken over by the Mi-gou. I think the anonymity for Lightspeed was just an extra layer of protection. The one involved with scientists had done some kind of scientific experiment in college that went wrong, I think, but had more or less towed the line since then.
The team went to the band's suite in the hotel. A wild party was in swing, with Nazzadi and humans. So much for any problem the band had with Nazzadi. Sex, drugs, and music -- no surprise there.
Miller got into a quietly intense conversation with Sarduchi, Smith went to the back room of the suite, and Kiriol went with her, getting chatted up by some of the women.
Me: They're lining up for you!
Kiriol: Ka-ching! Oh, you're first?
Sarduchi continued to insist that the correct procedure had been followed vis taking Quantum for his check up. Miller said that he believed this because if Sarduchi were pulling a fast one, he wouldn't do such a sloppy job as to get caught in a lie. But, Miller refused to promise that there would be no problem.
Sarduchi brought up Miller's wife, who was on life support and in a coma after one of the Mi-gou attacks. This was intended as a subtle threat, but Miller, thinking it was the beginning of a bribe offer (e.g., it costs a lot of money to keep someone on life support...), cut him off so that he could pretend no bribery attempt had been made.
Meanwhile, in the back room, Twitch, the drummer, was alone, and very, ah, twitchy and drooly.
Someone: Did they sacrifice another drummer?
Me (looking over Twitch's file): Why is someone with monophobia alone in a room?
GM: Good question!
Twich had a floating tattoo with words of power. Lots of words of power. Lots of text.
Someone: Wait, he _is_ the Necronomicon?
Someone else: No, he's just got portions of it tattooed on the back of his neck?
GM: On his forehead, actually.
Someone: He really is the Necronomicon.
Someone else: Digital Buildware Version.
GM: You could _study_ him...
Kiriol's player: It's a naked guy. She's checking him out.
Smith called her people for back up, and they said that they'd send a black helicopter over as soon as possible. This meant she'd probably have to hold out for fifteen, maybe twenty minutes.
Something she did or that happened on its own caused a loud enough scream to come from the back room that everyone noticed. Sarduchi headed towards it, Miller behind him, and Kiriol got ready for action, either inside or outside, I forget which. The lovely women would have to wait.
When Sarduchi refused to stand down, I think Kiriol and Miller both got into a fight with him. They had guns, but Sarduchi turned out not to be human. This was not, perhaps, entirely a surprise. He was either killed or driven off. The black helicopter arrived and collected Twitch. Smith resisted the urge to read his tattoos, and no one was foolish or clumsy enough to touch him. Smith, I think, was allowed to remember what had happened, but Kiriol and Miller had their memories edited, a la Men in Black.
Then, the GM told us the parts we hadn't figured out. The cultists shifting the lights were hired by the band itself. The band thought it would be cool to do a ritual. They had gotten the drummer tattooed as the best way to smuggle a book out, since they'd never have been able to waltz through security with the Necronomicon.
Sarduchi didn't have anything to do with that. He wasn't human, and he was connected to the Chrysalis Corporation, an evil conspiracy, as well as the corporation in charge of Miller's wife's life support. But, Sarduchi didn't have an agenda, iirc, beyond keeping close to the band, as the band did some interesting things. He genuinely believed that Quantum had made his appointment, as did Quantum.
What actually happened was that the Mi-gou set up a fake meeting. The Mi-gou would never directly help humanity, but recognized that some humans shared their interests in thwarting certain plans of the Outer Gods and their servants and would-be servants. So, they made sure to set up something that would raise a red flag and force the PCs to investigate -- for values of "force" that actually left any particular group of players the option not to investigate. As I said, this was not a No Matter What scenario. I liked that. I also liked the case files, all ready for us to request, and the things we noticed as the scenario went on, like the lack of a case number and the monophobia. The GM was both prepared and flexible, something I really appreciate.
