The resort town of Bridgton, Maine has been experiencing shared nightmares for months. Most ignored them at first until aspects became increasingly real.
INTRO
Have the Agents play a group of teenagers stalking their friend who has been acting strange lately with one of them recording. Their friend Oliver Langston, is acting peculiarly and has gone to find Dr Olmes, a retired DG Agent. Oliver spoke possessed by a deceased HOOVER, who Olmes saw sacrificed by Tcho-Tcho decades ago. Olmes is presented with an artefact and panics; O lmes sorcerously commands HOOVER inside as the teens flee. Langston and his artefact are tied up in the basement, catatonic as his friends suppress the terror. Olmes emails A-cell but it was sent to Joe Camp’s old server first leading to both sides of schism having read the plea - should the Handler want, the other side could show up unannounced.
Operation GOOD NIGHT: The essential information provided by the officer summarises the video and email.
- The address of Dr Olmes (see HARRISON) with a notably large section of his CIA career is missing but has access to his current whereabouts.
- Brighton is presently infested by spiders which have been covering the town in sheets of gossamer. Agents with science (biology) at 30% realise this behaviour is anomalous given there have been no reports of weather which would cause this. Online interest assumes the angel hair as being caused by the spiders ballooning.
- There is a copy of Harrison’s Email. Agents with psychotherapy at 50% recognise the terminology as being dated to the 1960s - occult or anthropology at 50% recognise the theories of other planes and realms of reality popular in 19th-century occult circles. For those with any of those skills and unnatural 10%, this incursion is a manifestation of a collective psyche into reality, that the human body when dreaming is literally in another plane. He mentions Langston/Hoover who he ‘detained’ in highly apologetic concerns.
The Agents are instructed to:
- Determine the stability of HARRISON
- Prevent unnatural nightmares.
- Follow standing orders.
THE TRUTH
Underneath the lake lies the Watcher, Ulwkho - trapped beneath weakening wards carved by the Elder Things - for now, it is just an immense psychic presence. This vulnerability was caught by the treacherous Grey Weaver Isirix, who schemes to steal and become gluttonous with the titan’s power. Its webs are cast over the local area and the nightmares will intensify the more it parasitises Ulwkho’s power. The screams and rites being performed are causing nightmares and generating phenomena around the town such as the spiders. Its goal is to destroy the ancient Elder Sign placed above its tomb beneath Long Lake, or more plausibly weaken it. Those vulnerable to its presence feel its dream call (see Ulwkho) upon entry, causing them to suffer missing time when they undertake action unconsciousness for 1d4 minutes.
THE DREAMS
There are two common nightmares consistent in imagery - in the first, the subject feels their body puppeteered as they vomit wet silk in a labyrinthine web. In the second, the dreamer is encased in a labyrinth of shifting walls with hazy five-pointed swastikas in the bottomless mist sky eventually drowning the dreamer. Agents with the Unnatural at 10% and have researched the matter can roll with a +20% to recognise the imagery. The Elder signs are clear and the imagery of webs is common in dreamer cults globally.
THE ARTEFACT
It came from the dreaming psyche of Ulwkho, a piece of irreality. It is a jewelled bracelet fashioned in bronze with Hyperborean runes inscribed, something recognised with a combined archaeology/history & unnatural of 60%. Cracked agents feel an instinctive wrongness to the object. If the operator succeeds on a POWx5 roll, they hear the unconscious of all within a POWx5 metre radius and see the world through the Voorish sign. This costs 0/1 SAN from unnatural. This includes unnatural entities, and treat SAN tests as if encountering them for the first time. Secondly, it allows the operator to manipulate the dreams of those they hear on a successfully contested POWx5 roll which is used to prevent nightmares.
ESCALATION/SETPIECES
- The spiders to an untrained eye lack significantly unusual qualities beyond their purple-green bodies; those with Science (Zoology) at 30% or similar professions at 40% realise they exhibit eusocial behaviour - the only species known to do this is Acanthogonatus comis which are native to Colombia. Significantly larger specimens may also be found. The silk, if analysed by an agent with Science (Biochemistry) or related at 30%, finds that it resembles spider silk and has properties such as being as durable as graphene, whilst possessing geometric patterns which resemble brain activity when analysed. The infestations overlap with the intensity of the dreams - those worst affected by the dreams tend to have the largest amount of silk over their houses. Agents with Unnatural at 10% or Occult at 50% recognise when mapped the pattern resembles a fractal ritual circle implying a centre in another dimension.
- HARRISON: asking around for anyone who fits the profile of the old agent takes a half hour with a persuade/CHA. He lives lakeside, in a modernist property; agents with criminology, alertness or Mil-Sci at 50% if not on a roll notice hidden CCTV cameras, motion sensors and integrated security features. HARRISON is old and paranoid, preferring “Inner Space” to reality, treating it as a form of ideational escapism. Being once a DS&T neuroscientist he worked on MKULTRA in the late '60s-'70s, refining access to Inner Space, and serving in Vietnam. But after the theft of his research by OUTLOOK, the end of Delta Green Clearance, and the Church Committee, he chose retirement. In his basement are his green box and prisoner. HARRISON is in the process of applying an exorcism to rid Langston of HOOVER. A luck roll determines Langston's state – success means he is conscious and wants to leave; failure indicates possession by HOOVER's memories, last recalled in 1972 on the verge of death. HARRISON wants to escape reality and is willing to take responsibility if the agents enable his escape to the dreamlands, and is willing to take the fall for the kidnapping.
- Adam Warrick is a dilettante trust fund scion and a Guardian of the Exalted Circle. After mating with a deep one, he found himself metamorphosing into a hybrid so relies upon illusions to maintain his humanity now. Bound by the psychic commands of Ulwkho, he seeks to rid the threat to his ancestor. He is suspicious of the Agents but will try to aid them with his patchwork knowledge if he learns they are not a threat to them, filling in gaps that may exist.
RESOLUTION
- HARRISON suggests investigating Inner Space, explaining it and preparing the agents to enter the dimension. He believes “Lengese spider” is behind this so will offer a devil's bargain - petition Tleche-Naka with a psychedelic vial of his essence to use the god’s powers to bring its rogue servitor to heel. Tleche-Naka is a terrible thing its form is terrifying (1d6/1d20 SAN). If petitions are framed as a part of the web going rogue he is willing to empower the agents with his authority to bind this rogue servitor in exchange for the artefact. It will consider alternatives of equal value but if the bargain is taken it will grant them a pathway to Isirix. If offended, Tleche-Naka will devour the dreamers 1/1d8 SAN which will force them to awaken.
- THE RISEN CITY: The dream of Ulwkho resembles a fusion of Ryleh (Unnatural 10%) and cities from Mu whose architecture it came to appreciate through the eyes of its servitors. Built in cyclopean fashion, the city exists hyperdimensionally, with its circular form containing 2160* degrees. On an INTx5 test, the agent realises this and loses 1 SAN from the unnatural. At the centre of a great craterous structure lies floating Ulwkho, with an immense black silk web engulfing it - on top of which is Isirix. If the bargain was struck with Tleche-Naka the agents feel wrath overcome then make an uncontested ritual activation test at +40 and burn 1 WP until they obtain 3 successes as the extradimensional tendrils of Tleche-Naka rip Isirix back to its web. Without this, Isirix engages in combat, although something similar could be attempted in a contested manner at the cost of 3 POW and 25 WP collectively.
- THE WARD. Beneath Long Lake is the Elder Sign whose wards contain Ulwkho. Access to it requires both going into the lake and repairing it, a ritual activation roll with 3 permanent POW spent to empower the ritual wards which can be achieved via sacrifice. If detected, Ulwkho will send Warrick and create an aura of power, manifesting his presence in a great psychic effort.
- CLOSING THE BREACH: If the players are equipped with appropriate hypergeometric means to banish Ulwkho/Isirix, adapt accordingly.
Rewards: 1d12 SAN from completion, 1d12 if the incursion is fully sealed and 2 San if Langston is rescued.
STAT BLOCKS
Ulwkho, the Watcher of the Great one
STR 80 CON 120 DEX 10 INT 24 POW 50 HP 100 WP 50
ARMOR: See DISCORPORATION and DISSOLUTE MATTER.
SKILLS: Alertness 65%, Flight 60%, Swim 80%, Unnatural 80%.
ATTACKS: None, Ulwkho is unable to directly attack.
DISCORPORATION: A successful attack with a Lethality rating of 50% or higher causes the spawn of Cthulhu to explode in a disgusting spray of slime and fragments, effectively destroying it. Whether the spawn is truly dead or eventually reforms is unknown.
DISSOLUTE MATTER: While most spawns of Cthulhu assume and maintain a recognizable shape, they remain immune to all but the most destructive weapons as their bodies naturally displace and reform. The spawn takes no more than 1 HP damage from any attack except hypergeometry or a heavy weapon with a Lethality rating of 50% or higher.
NON-TERRENE: The spawn of Cthulhu is at home in nearly any environment. Radiation, pressure, cold, vacuum, and other inimical environments have no negative effects on them.
DREAM-CALL: Characters who fail the SAN roll when encountering the spawn of Cthulhu experience more than its awful physical presence. A character who fails the SAN roll and is exceptionally sensitive (with INT or POW 17 or higher, or any Art, Occult, or Psychotherapy skill at 60% or better) collapses, overwhelmed by a psychic “shout.” It can only be approximated as a voice shouting or babbling what should be nonsense if it were a voice— yet it is filled with utterly alien meaning and fall into.
RITUALS: The spawn of Cthulhu manipulates unnatural forces in ways inconceivable to humanity. They can work any ritual, with as much ease, as the Handler thinks fitting.
SAN LOSS: 1D6/1D20.
Adam Warrick
“He’s in my dreams, I have got to escape”
Playboy Exalted Guardian and transforming hybrid, Male, Caucasian-Deep One, 34
STR 17 CON 15 DEX 12 INT 13 POW 20 CHA 16 HP 16 WP 12 SAN 32
ARMOR : 3 Kevlar vest
Motivations :
Obsession: Escape my strange condition
Hedonism
Intellectual superiority
Advance the aims of the Exalted Circle
Rise in power
SKILLS: Accounting 70%, Alertness 30%, Athletics 40%, Bureaucracy 60%, Criminology 40%, Disguise 40%, Dodge 30%, Firearms 42%, HUMINT 50% Occult 70%, Persuade 86%, Pharmacy 40%, Stealth 30%, Surgery 0%, Survival 10%, Swim 75%, Unarmed Combat 40%, Swim 75%, Unnatural 6%
ATTACKS: Walther PPK 42%. 1d10 ALMOST HUMAN: Some Lesser Deep Ones appear as deformed, inbred humans, especially to those unaware of the Deep One threat. Only a full medical examination or their use of inhuman abilities may reveal their true nature.
PARTIALLY AMPHIBIOUS: If the transformation from human is not complete, the Lesser Deep One is only partially adapted to existence in the ocean. A hybrid mostly transformed can submerge for hours or days at a time. Some hybrids remain in that state perpetually. Those who fully transform are as at home in the depths of the sea as on dry land.
INHUMAN MOVEMENT: Warrick can leap, climb, and lope in a wholly inhuman manner. An Athletics test can cover heights and obstacles that would stop a normal human. The Lesser Deep One can move up to 25 kph on land, and 30 kph in the water.
RITUALS: Changeling Feast, Whispers of the Dead (Father Dagon and Mother Hydra), Clairvoyance, The Call of Dagon, Infallible Suggestion, Obscure Memory, on a POW-40%, he can instinctively tap into his genetic hypergeometry for a round.
SAN LOSS: 0/1D4 if his disguise falls
Doctor Jeremiah Olmes PhD
Agent HARRISON, ageing Delta Green Friendly, Caucasian male, 79 year old,
STR 9 CON 9 DEX 9 INT 18 POW 18 CHA 9 HP 9 WP 18 SAN 21
Motivations: Addiction: Inner Space
Paranoia: Unknown infiltrators
Protecting the Innocent
Understanding hard problems
Destroy the Unnatural Adapted to violence and helplessness
Skill: Accounting 40%, Alertness 50%, Anthropology 30%, Archeology 30%, Art (Type) painting 43%, Athletics 60%, Bureaucracy 60%, Disguise 50%, Dodge 30%, Firearms 46%, First Aid 30%, Foreign Language (French) 67%, Foreign Language (Greek) 52%, Foreign Language (Latin) 57%, Foreign Language (Sanskrit) 49%, Foreign Language (Old Chinese) 25%, History 60%, HUMINT 70%, Law 30%, Medicine 60%, Navigate 50%, Science (Neurology) 90%, Occult 80%, Persuade 40%, Pharmacy 20%,, Psychotherapy 82%, Unnatural 27%,
Rituals: Remoting Viewing, Obscure Memory, ARCHINT Procedure 63-Q (as Exorcism), Elder Sign
Agent HOOVER/Oliver Langston Possessed Teenager, Dead Agent, Caucasian male, 18
STR 9 CON 9 DEX 9 INT 14 POW 14 CHA 10 HP 9 WP 10 SAN 20
BONDS: Olivia Langston (Mother) 9, John Langston (Father) 8, Carter Kesington (Popular best friend) 10
MOTIVATIONS AND DISORDERS:
Enjoy life
Work hard
Impress family
Acquire respect
Dissociative personality disorder (Agent HOOVER)
SKILLS: Accounting 10%, Alertness 60%, Anthropology 40%, Art (Painting) 50%, Athletics 60%, Computer Science 20%, Occult 40%, Unnatural 19%. ATTACKS: Fists, 30%, 1d6
ACANTHOGONATUS COMIS (credit: controllingcrowds)
STR 1 CON 4 DEX 15 POW 6
HP: Fragile
SKILLS : Dodge 65% Athletics 80% Stealth 40%
ATTACKS: Bite 50% Damage 1 AP 2 (See POISON)
Leap 70% (Grapples without pin)
TEENY TINY: -20% to hit. Additional -20% for projectiles.
POISON: Spider Venom Speed 1d6 hours Lethality 5% Symptoms: PAIN CHILLS nausea, POSSIBLY necrosis? Antidote? YES
HERALD OF TLECHE-NAKA,
Death on Eight Legs
STR 2 CON 6 DEX 18 INT 12 POW 12 CHA n/a HP 4 WP 12 ARMOR 1 SKILLS: Athletics 99%, Dodge 85%, Stealth 35%
ATTACKS: Leap and Bite 45%, damage 1D6+1+poison (see POISON)
Attach and Burrow* 25%, damage 1D6 per turn (see BURROWING)
POISON: Poison triggers a CON test at a –20% penalty. If it fails, the victim is paralyzed for 1D4 turns. If it fumbles, the paralysis lasts 2D20 minutes.
BURROWING: Attaching and burrowing is possible only following a successful Leap and Bite attack. On the second turn of this attack, the Herald has a chance to inject a hune in the victim. The victim must make a Luck roll. If it fails, the victim is infected. SAN LOSS: 1/1D4
ISIRIX, DEVOURER OF TITANS
STR 30 CON 60 DEX 15 INT 16 POW 25 CHA N/A HP 45 WP 25
MOTIVATIONS AND DISORDERS:
SKILLS: Dodge 60%, Jump 50%, Human Psychology 80%, Stealth 80%, Alertness 75%, Unnatural 75%
ARMOR : 6 chitin
ATTACKS : Bite, STRx5, see BITE, Cast Web 40% See CAST WEB
BITE: Rather than draining its prey’s juice, a Gray Weaver feeds on the essence of its victims. The round after a successful bite attack and in each subsequent round, it drains its victim’s POW by 1d4 points which it gains as a floating pool to fuel rituals. If rescued, the victim regains the POW lost in a home scene. CAST WEB: Affects one human-sized or smaller target. The person must make a hard STR roll to escape. Such a roll may be made once per round, in place of any other action.
RITUALS: Isirix has access to any rituals of a psychic, traversing or mind-manipulating nature.
SAN LOSS: 1/1d10
Credits
LUCIDITY was written by Akai for the 2023 Shotgun Scenario contest.
Source: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZOkfQMo1iygAMfi_hJqRZ3gxmkH5MmoIiAjIQj8t-2I/edit