You have all gathered outside the room of Mr. James Gardiner. He’s not been seen for at least two days and everyone is getting concerned for his well-being.
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You have all gathered outside the room of Mr. James Gardiner. He’s not been seen for at least two days and everyone is getting concerned for his well-being.
"When was the last time any of you saw James?" Lang asked tentatively.
This felt wrong, didn't it? Entering his space without invitation. "Now," she says out loud to those gathered, a bunch of similarly-styled keys jangling in her hand, "We are not here to snoop. This is a well-fare check, that is all - out of concern for our dear friend, Mr. Gardiner." She takes a deep breath and reaches up nervously to ensure her long black hair was in order, tied up as she tends to have it.
"Not since two days ago, Mr. Du Bois," she answers the man pointedly, "I brought him coffee." Her lips, colored with smart-but-catchy makeup twinge with the hint of a smile at the memory. "Let's just agree, we aren't about to rummage through his things. You lot keep your hands to yourselves."
"We should enter, ja," Schmidt offers in his accent to the group. "Find out what has happened with Gardiner. Find out what he's been doing in his flat."
"So, are we going in or not?" he asks, a little abruptly, while casting an awkward look at Florence, all the while trying not to betray his small eastern European accent.
From within comes the lingering smell of candles, long since burned out, and something sickly-sweet and copperlike. Looking in, you see it. Framed in the shafts of sunlight streaming through gaps in the curtains. A body!
The body is lying on a tarpaulin, stretched out on the floor. You can see blood. The man’s body and clothing are covered in blood. It looks as though he somehow fell over from a kneeling position. The body is wearing a green tweed coat and a brown sweater-vest—the clothes Mr. Gardiner usually wears. It must be Mr. Gardiner!
The scene is shocking. His head has been mutilated by knife cuts.
Roll 1d100. Get under your sanity and you succeed, only taking the first digit indicated, fail and you lose the higher amount.
Your investigator’s Sanity points can rise and fall. Sanity is used to determine whether your investigator can withstand witnessing various horrors, as well as stand up to fear-inducing situations, without turning tail and running away. The loss of Sanity points can lead to insanity.
Rolls
Sanity (60) - (1d100)
(77) = 77
Sanity Loss - (1d4)
(3) = 3
Secret Roll
"Murdered," the man says simply, moving towards the body carefully. "You see? Cuts on the head. A terrible thing!" Checking around the room, careful not to step in blood or anything else unseemly, Schmidt looks for the murder weapon, or anyone who might still be hiding out...
Rolls
Sanity Check (50) - (1d100)
(32) = 32
Rolls
Sanity Check (50) - (1d100)
(48) = 48
Otto 80
Sam 55
Florence 50
Perry 50
Lang 40
The sound of her son's voice steels her against the sight of the dead man, that lovely man. "Tommy! Honey, don't you dare come down here, you go on and play now!"
She resists the urge to move into the room and steps back, looking up the stairs to meet the boys eyes - to put the fear of God into him lest he come downstairs.
Rolls
Sanity (60) - (1d100)
(20) = 20
Otto barrels past everyone and into the room first.
Inside the room, going clockwise from the doorway, are: a wardrobe, bed, nightstand with lamp, an ornate bookcase that divides the room into two living areas, a window, a small table set in the corner (with two chairs and another lamp), a fancy upholstered chair, overhead
cabinets built into one of the walls, and another table along the wall to the left of the door.
The room is large enough for six people to move around, even as they step over the body; having more than two people in the sectioned-off bed area would make it crowded, since the bookcase is positioned to make this more of a sleeping alcove.
Ottos scans around for the murder weapon.
All skill rolls have Regular, Hard, and Extreme difficulties - indicated by the numbers on each skill on your sheet.
If a roll is failed, that player has a choice:
• They can push the roll (perhaps taking more time to undertake the task—justifying another attempt); although if they fail a pushed roll the outcome will be worse (e.g. they could end up getting covered in blood, and so on).
• They can use Luck points to adjust the die roll to make it a success but they cannot use Luck points to adjust a pushed roll.
With regards to luck, rather than rolling you spend points from it to get your score to where it needs to be. These points are not recovered during gameplay.
As soon as he recovers from the horrible sight, he tries to discreetly look at what other people are likely not searching at first: the wardrobe and the wall-mounted cabinets. He stays away from the corpse for the time being.
Rolls
Sanity check (50) - (1d100)
(34) = 34
Sanity loss - (1d4)
(1) = 1
Inside he sees clothes, some shoes and a locked wooden box.
As Perry is stunned for this round, that leaves Lang the chance to act.
"Jim? My God," Lang said quietly. "Call the police."
Rolls
Spot Hidden (45) - (1d100)
(10) = 10
Knows nothing.
Rolls
Spot Hidden (45) - (1d100)
(83) = 83
First Aid (30) - (1d100)
(92) = 92
He considered moving the body over but decided against it.
"We... We shouldn't touch anything. The police... They'll need everything as it was to catch whoever did this."
Rolls
Spot Hidden roll (70) - (1d100)
(53) = 53
The rest of you within eyeshot may notice Sam pull a .32 from the bottom of the wardrobe.
He sees the knife, Otto does, but decides to leave it where it is for the moment... despite seeing one of his other neighbors pull a small automatic from the wardrobe.
"I own Ex Libris Rare Books. Jim and I struck up a friendship about that. He didn't deserve this, no matter what he believed in."
Momentarily the boy appears again at the top of the stairs. "Yes, mama?" he asks.
"Run along Tommy and go get the police. Right now, don't you delay, I need you to hurry," she says loudly. The boy does precisely what he's told and hustles down the stairs, around the corner and out the door to fetch the police.
Florence steps further into the room. "Mr. Gardiner was a nice man, a good man. Of course he didn't deserve this...this...whatever this is."
Lang looks at the paper and recognizes it as Greek.
Rolls
Occult (70) - (1d100)
(41) = 41
Greek (40) - (1d100)
(4) = 4
Rolls
Occult (5%) - (1D100)
(76) = 76
Lang sighed heavily.
"It might as well be a fancy suicide note."
He doesn't say anything, and tries to stay out of the others' way. Seeing Sam pick up the gun, he pats the left side of his suit jacket.
Rolls
Spot Hidden (25) - (1d100)
(70) = 70
As he opens the first, something falls out.
Florence, the lock on the box is much smaller than the room key so it doesn't help.
"One here from his bank manager in Scotland, Seems his funds were dwindling, he'd be broke in six months at this rate."
Rolls
Secret Roll
Edit: That would be a "nein" on the dodge.
Rolls
Dodge (20%) - (1d100)
(78) = 78
He paused when Sam appeared holding things, then walked to the man.
"What are these now?" he groaned.
"Ja," he says simply, peering into the now-open cabinet, trying to get a better look. "I'm alright."
He reluctantly hands over the book, but keeps the vials.
She moves to the side of the bed and takes a look at the shoes. Remembering all manner of things she's found under beds when tenants leave, it dawns on her to look under the bed for anything of interest.
He glances under the armchair next to him; if there's nothing there, he'll go to examine the window, and see if maybe a murderer could have escaped that way.
"Dreamlands?" he muttered.
If you want to look more closely, you could make a first aid roll. Otherwise you. An continue to the window.
"Dreamlands?" he muttered.
$128 is enough to cover the $15 room-and-half-board for eight months.
Rolls
First Aid (50) - (1d100)
(58) = 58
Rolls
Spot Hidden (45) - (1d100)
(36) = 36
Rolls
Spot Hidden (45) - (1d100)
(16) = 16
Across the back of his hands, legs and arms and across his chest are scar-marks, shapped like small spirals. They apoear to cover his whole body and some look older than others, as if done over a long period. The Face an head are free of these marks.
Florence also sees the knife in a pool of blood under the body.
Lang moves round to the other side of the room to look at the bookshelf and notices a familiar book, a rare first edition of The Dreamer's Dictionary, under Sam's arm, who is also looking at the bookshelf.
The bookcase itself is finely carved and has glass fronted doors, either side of which are the busts of two flute-playing cherubs carved into the upright moldings that support the doors. There is a drawer at the bottom of the unit.
There are numerous books on finance and banking, a few travel books for obscure places and some occult books including:
Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome by E.M Berens
The Interpretation of Dreams by Sigmund Freud,
The top shelf does not have enough books to fill it so a bookend has been used to keep the books upright. The bookend is a monstrous thing, looking like some human-like squid creature.
Rolls
First Aid (30) - (1d100)
(21) = 21
he had to move the knife between his hands to perform the cut). The neck wound was delivered in a swift and violent manner.
Rolls
Appraise #1 (60) - (1d100)
(91) = 91
Appraise #2 (60) - (1d100)
(85) = 85
INT (50) - (1d100)
(55) = 55
Inside the compartment is a few more books. A Primer in Greek Vocabulary, two large accounting ledgers, and an envelope full of receipts. Additionally there is what feels like another book, wrapped in silk cloth.
You look on in terror as the flesh around Mr. Gardiner’s head begins to peel, the flesh spiraling downward like some horrific party trick with an apple. The blood-slicked skull turns to look at the back of the bookshelf with malevolence in its lidless eyes.
Rolls
Sanity Check (49) - (1d100)
(87) = 87
Rolls
Sanity (60) - (1d100)
(32) = 32
Otto, lose 1d6 Sanity
Otto 80
Sam 55
Florence 50
Perry 50
Lang 40
Gardiner-thing 35
Florence, lose 1 sanity
Rolls
Sanity Loss - (1d6)
(3) = 3
There are two types of insanity that can be experienced in facing the Mythos.
Temporary Insanity comes about if you lose 5+ from one roll.
Indefinite Insanity happens if you lose one fifth of your sanity in one game day. Below is what each character has lost so far and the threshold at which Indefinite insanity occurs.
Both result in a Bout of Madness and I'll detail that if/when we reach it.
Perry 3 (12)
Otto 4 (10)
Lang 1 (10)
Florence 2 (12)
Sam 1 (10)
Otto stands in front of you, fists up in a pugilist stance, waiting for the thing to attack.
Rolls
Sanity check - (1d100, 1d6)
1d100 : (34) = 34
1d6 : (2) = 2
Florence sees nothing that she can grab as a weapon. Even the knife seems to have been moved further away.
You can choose to take careful aim and hold your fire till next round, gaining a bonus die.
Also the thing is within 10 feet of you (1/5 Dex) so it's considered point blank range. That gives you a bonus die. (ie roll 1d100 and roll and extra 1d10)
Rolls
Point blank shot - (1d100, 1d10)
1d100 : (12) = 12
1d10 : (9) = 9
Otto 4 (10)
Lang 1 (10)
Florence 2 (12)
Sam 2 (10)
Rolls
Secret Roll - (1d100)
(35) = 35
"Sam! What are you shooting... My God!""
Lang had seen lynchings before, images burned forever into his mind, but this?
"Jim?!"
Rolls
Sanity Check (49) - (1d100)
(30) = 30
Rolls
Bullet damage - (1d8)
(3) = 3
Rolls
Pow vs Perry - (1d100)
(22) = 22
POW vs Florence - (1d100)
(44) = 44
POW vs Lang - (1d100)
(40) = 40
Pow vs Otto - (1d100)
(71) = 71
Pow vs Sam - (1d100)
(17) = 17
Rolls
POW (60) - (1d100)
(70) = 70
Rolls
POW (50) - (1d100)
(78) = 78
Rolls
Power (50) - (1d100)
(90) = 90
Rolls
POW roll - (1d100)
(23) = 23
Rolls
Florence dazed - (1d3)
(2) = 2
Otto dazed - (1d3)
(2) = 2
Perry dazed - (1d3)
(3) = 3
Lang dazed - (1d3)
(3) = 3
Sam 55
Florence 50
Perry 50
Lang 40
Gardiner-thing 35
Rolls
Sanity (57) (I presume) - (1d100)
(52) = 52
"What are you? Jim? What do you want?"
Rolls
Brawl (50) - (1d100)
(20) = 20
Penalty die - (1d10)
(9) = 9
Rolls
Dodge (30) - (1d100)
(92) = 92
Sam dodges back and the Gardiner-thing's swing flies wide.
Sam 55
Florence 50
Perry 50
Lang 40
Gardiner-thing 35
Florence, once down to the second floor, is heading down the final set of stairs. Still no sign of Tommy.
Perry up next.
He couldn't get out but the creature's fixation made him believe he wasn't its immediate target.
"It wants what you're carrying, Perry! Drop it!"
Otto and Florence to make a Sanity roll as the Dazed effect wears off.
Rolls
attack vs Perry - (1d100)
(88) = 88
Rolls
Sanity (46) - (1d100)
(2) = 2
Rolls
Idea/Int (70) - (1d100)
(8) = 8
Perry 4 (12)
Otto 5 (10)
Lang 1 (10)
Florence 2 (12)
Sam 2 (10)
Stand by for Otto's Strength roll, annex.
Rolls
Strength (70) - (1d100)
(51) = 51
Should there be room for Lang to get out when his turn comes around again? The door slam hopefully knocked the undead back a bit.
Lang is unable to attack, right? No sense trying to grab the sacrificial dagger.
Waiting on damage to determine how stunned it is.
You could easily grab the dagger and attack, sure.
*sometime later*
...anyway, I started stabbing!
Rolls
Damage - (1d8)
(8) = 8
And if Otto's damage bonus applies... - (1d4)
(4) = 4
A hit like that would have just about killed a normal man, but this is no normal man, It has staggered back halfway across the room and looks very angry.
Rolls
Secret Roll
Florence
Lang
Perry
Rolls
Dodge (40) - (1d100)
(19) = 19
Sanity (48) - (1d100)
(2) = 2
Rolls
Sanity (56) - (1d100)
(55) = 55
Perry 5 (12)
Otto 5 (10)
Lang 2 (10)
Florence 2 (12)
Sam 2 (10)
Rolls
Sanity (60) - (1d100)
(60) = 60
Rolls
Sanity Loss - (1d3)
(3) = 3
Ok new round, Otto can start.
Sam 55
Florence 50
Perry 50
Lang 40
Gardiner-thing 35
Perry 5 (12)
Otto 5 (10)
Lang 2 (10)
Florence 5 (12)
Sam 2 (10)
"Mr. Lang!" he shouts, darting back into the room to grab the man by the arm and pull him the hell out of there, "come on!"
"Ma’am, what’s going on here?"
Lang, we're back round to you. Otto is urging you to leave, the Gardiner-thing is looking like it's getting ready to come back at you.
Rolls
Dex (40) - (1d100)
(65) = 65
Rolls
DEX Check (80) - (1d100)
(94) = 94
Rolls
Pushed DEX Check (80) - (1d100)
(3) = 3
Glancing back, you see the Gardiner-Thing stumble down the stairs and land on the ground, another flash of blue before the creature slowly begins to rise, shaking its head in a spray of blood. As the policeman approaches, he aims and shouts, "Turn and face the wall, hands on your....WHAT IN GOD'S NAME???"
The thing starts to run and the policeman fires, aiming for the head.
Rolls
Secret Roll
.32 REVOLVER - (1d100)
(36) = 36
Penalty (targetting head) - (1d10)
(4) = 4
damage - (1d8)
(2) = 2
con - (1d100)
(16) = 16
Rolls
sanity - policeman - (1d100)
(98) = 98
Gardiner-Thing attack - (1d100)
(96) = 96
san loss - (1d3)
(1) = 1
Sam is right behind the policeman, at the top of the stairs as Lang then Otto pass him.
Sam 55 (105 with gun)
Otto 80
Florence 50
Perry 50
Lang 40
Gardiner-thing 35
Rolls
police gun - (1d100)
(62) = 62
Rolls
Point blank shot in melee - (1d100)
(20) = 20
penalty - (1d10)
(4) = 4
That’s not to say you can’t find improvised weapons on the first floor, umbrellas for example might be at the entrance, or anything else you might think of.
Last question -- when you say "first floor" do you mean "ground floor" that is street level, like a North American would, or "one level up from the ground / main level," like many other places in the world, the UK among them? (A North American would call that the second floor.)
I'm happy for you to describe what Otto grabs, it'll be treated as an improvised weapon either way.
"No English, No English," she says, then slams the door shut again.
That said, he will draw his pistol and peer up the stairs, although he'll refrain from firing for now for fear of hitting someone.
"You and the boy stay behind me. If that... that thing gets down here, I'll try to slow it down so you can get out, OK?"
That said, he will draw his pistol and peer up the stairs, although he'll refrain from firing for now for fear of hitting someone.
Lang needs extreme success or better
Sam and Florence needs Hard success
Perry and Otto just need a success
Policeman Dazed for three rounds
Rolls
Pow Vs Police - (1d100)
(41) = 41
Pow vs Sam - (1d100)
(79) = 79
Pow vs Otto - (1d100)
(95) = 95
Pow vs Lang - (1d100)
(26) = 26
Pow vs Perry - (1d100)
(92) = 92
Pow Vs Florence - (1d100)
(48) = 48
Police Pow - (1d100)
(77) = 77
Patrolman Malone Dazed - (1d3)
(3) = 3
Pow vs Tommy - (1d100)
(57) = 57
Rolls
POW roll - (1d100)
(75) = 75
Rolls
POW Test (50) - (1d100)
(50) = 50
Rolls
POW (50) - (1d100)
(89) = 89
POW (50) - (1d100)
(37) = 37
Rolls
POW (60) - (1d100)
(14) = 14
Otto is able to resist too.
Lang and Sam failed, so are dazed and may only defend for 1d3 rounds
Waiting on Perry...
Rolls
Lang 1d3 rounds - (1d3)
(3) = 3
Sam 1d3 rounds - (1d3)
(3) = 3
Big Brass Lamp: Fighting (Brawl) , Damage 1d8+2+Damage Bonus
Sam 55 (105 with gun) (Dazed)
Otto 80
Florence 50
Perry 50
Lang 40 (Dazed)
Gardiner-thing 35
Rolls
Fighting - Brawl (50) - (1d100)
(23) = 23
Rolls
Fight back - (1d100)
(37) = 37
Penalty for size diff - (1d10)
(1) = 1
Rolls
Damage (1d6 or 1d8 depending on small/large club) - (1d6, 1d8)
1d6 : (4) = 4
1d8 : (6) = 6
Damage Bonus - (1d4)
(2) = 2
Big Brass Lamp: Fighting (Brawl) , Damage 1d8+2+Damage Bonus
Lang tried to focus as the lights and sounds faded, only the horror of them remained.
Rolls
Sanity Check (47) - (1d100)
(18) = 18
Perry 5 (12)
Otto 5 (10)
Lang 3 (10)
Florence 5 (12)
Sam 2 (10)
Rolls
Sanity check (49) - (1d100)
(67) = 67
SAN loss - (1d3)
(2) = 2
Perry 5 (12)
Otto 5 (10)
Lang 3 (10)
Florence 5 (12)
Sam 4(10)
with guns drawn, moments too late.
Over the following weeks, you piece together the truth of the situation. James Gardiner enjoyed a vivid and fantastical dream life but somehow lost his ability to dream. He sought occult solutions to regain his dreams and found a spell in a tome that he believed would open the way for his dreams to return.
Unfortunately, the spell and the book were cursed. Some strange entity from another world tricked Gardiner into performing the rituals he found in the tome. One prepared his body to become a vessel for the foul entity while the other led to his death, sending poor Gardiner’s soul into oblivion. His empty body could then be possessed by the entity—just as you all discovered.
During the fight, some of you had a brush with insanity and still cannot explain the dreamlike and nightmarish visions experienced. Thanks to the bravery of Otto Schmidt, the body was damaged enough that the creature could no longer inhabit, but Gardiner was gone forever. Ma Shanks was not impressed to see the state of her lamp but you all agreed it was a small price to pay.
Otto
spot hidden
Fighting - Brawl
Sam
spot hidden
Firearm
Lang
Occult
Spot Hidden
Greek
Dodge
Perry
Spot Hidden
Accounting
Florence
Spot Hidden
First Aid
Thanks for running this, Knifesedgegames!!
Rolls
Sanity Gain - (1d6)
(6) = 6
Spot Hidden (45) Increase - (1d100)
(98) = 98
First Aid (30) Increase - (1d100)
(57) = 57
Spot Hidden +1d10 - (1d10)
(2) = 2
First Aid +1d10 - (1d10)
(9) = 9
Lang had to know whatever secrets were in those books and ledgers, even if only to sell or destroy them. Perry could be sure of that. Maybe this could be the start of a mutually beneficial partnership.
Rolls
Occult (70) - (1d100, 1d10)
1d100 : (83) = 83
1d10 : (1) = 1
Spot Hidden (45) - (1d100, 1d10)
1d100 : (32) = 32
1d10 : (9) = 9
Greek (40) - (1d100, 1d10)
1d100 : (93) = 93
1d10 : (7) = 7
Dodge (40) - (1d100, 1d10)
1d100 : (79) = 79
1d10 : (9) = 9
Sanity increase - (1d6)
(1) = 1
He happily turns over the book; the ledgers, he insist, contain only "a simple mundane mystery about me. Why do you think I joined your snooping around the apartment so readily?"
Rolls
Spot Hidden (25) - (1d100, 1d10)
1d100 : (37) = 37
1d10 : (5) = 5
Accounting - (1d100, 1d10)
1d100 : (21) = 21
1d10 : (2) = 2
Sanity Increase - (1d6)
(5) = 5
Rolls
Sanity increase - (1d6)
(5) = 5
Spot Hidden (70) - (1d100, 1d10)
1d100 : (10) = 10
1d10 : (4) = 4
Firearms (20) - (1d100, 1d10)
1d100 : (94) = 94
1d10 : (8) = 8
The sound. The whistling.
The terrible whistling!
Rolls
Spot Hidden Improvement Check (45) - (1d100)
(38) = 38
Fighting (Brawl) Improvement Check (50) - (1d100)
(72) = 72
Recovered Sanity - (1d6)
(5) = 5
Fighting (Brawl) Improvement - (1d10)
(9) = 9