Handler's Brief
The Players are transported against their will to the alternate world of Great Arkham during the 1935 snap Mayoral Elections, the city is an unnatural amalgamation of the Miskatonic Valley and surrounding towns. Where Mythos elements hide in plain sight.
A Covenant of sorcerers has carried out a ritual to summon a nameless Entity of great power and bind it. The Ritual has failed, Maliciously the entity has exchanged the consciousness of the Mayoral Candidate and his staff with the agents instead of securing victory.
Great Arkham:
Great Arkham’s population in the census of 1930 was around 602,242, thirty miles north of Boston the sprawling city receives few tourists and is strewn with poverty.
Great Arkham straddles both banks of the Miskatonic River, the older parts of the city are found on the southern side. But it has expanded greatly to encompass Sentinel Hill, Kingsport's Cliffs, Innsmouth Docks and the Dunwich Woods.
Cyclopean black stone skyscrapers stand throughout the city. Some of the earliest photographs and paintings of the city show them rising above the streets. Mostly window and doorless they usually have no accessible openings on their lower levels. Those that do are strangely proportioned, built to an inhuman scale.
Suffocating storm clouds keep the city in a constant state of Dusk and Dawn, Day and night being eerily similar.
News from the Nation outside is sparse, the insular city's newspapers only cover local topics.
Strict Typhoid Quarantines and Harsh Weather keeps travel conveniently out of the picture. A sudden outbreak or storm has the roads, railways and docks stationary.
The daunting alien nature and horrors of the city is actively ignored by the population. Disturbing such peace draws costly attention.
Attention Table d6:
1) The Police harass anyone pointing out the unnatural, simply beating them into compliance.
2) Local Journalists publish dismissive articles reducing the Election Results by -20%
3) Unnatural weather begins to unfold, Rain falling upwards, black snow and yellow lightning. (1/d6 Unnatural)
4) Men and Women in Cultist Robes ambush. (1d6+2 Armed Cultists)
5) Stalked by d4+1 Nightgaunts that try to kidnap and tickle a target. (d6/d10 Unnatural for being tickled in the air.)
6) A Shoggoth attacks from a nearby sewer.
Hotel Miskatonic
The Agents wake up dazed inside a trashed penthouse suite with old fashioned furnishings from the 1930s.
Unnerving music escapes from a looping record player, droning out soft knocking on the door.
The Agents are cloaked in dark velvet cultists robes, while underneath are lavish suits or dresses. (Search - Discovers speckles of blood on the robes and shoes.)
Alcohol bottles, Occult paraphernalia and Hotel Miskatonic memorabilia are scattered around everywhere.
Looking for answers out a window reveals a overwhelmingly downpour and gloomy sunrise, powerful lights from skyscrapers blink and flicker in the heart of an expansive cityscape. From their high perch immediately noticeably are immense towers of black basalt that climb into the Clouds.
- Alertness -20% Something moves in the dark clouds above, silhouettes cast by the sun are horrifying ungodly contortions. (d6/d20 Unnatural)
Using the Phone, The Operator assists happily and puts them through. Guttural snuffling and strange words can be heard before the line goes dead. (0/1 Unnatural)
A nearby Arkham Advertiser, shows an image of the Agent Candidate with the title. “Make Arkham Great Again!” - “Blood is in the water and the sharks are gathering as the campaign trail heats up towards election day.”
The Body
In the Penthouse bedroom a young naked woman is found tied to a four poster bed. Viscous blood covers the sheets and floor, a strong fishy smell is present.
The Woman was once beautiful with bulging clear blue eyes and healthy alluring lips, her innsmouth taint subtle. Her entire body has since been gruesomely mutilated. A jagged ritual blade is stabbed into her exposed heart.
(1/1d6 Violence)
Unnatural Symbols have been scrawled on the walls in blood. (Unnatural or -30% Occult translates portions “The Key and the Gate, Yo-Sotot”)
Catching Up:
Answering the door reveals the Campaign Manager. Instantly recognizable as their Handler. (1/d4 Helplessness)
He reprimands the Agents for their antics, only slightly annoyed.
- Agents are all known by their Cell Aliases
Suddenly police sirens can be heard from floors below, the Handler swiftly tucks the ritual knife under his arm and sets the penthouse on fire before rushing the agents out of the hotel through a back route.
- Each Agent has a Role in the upcoming Election and gains an unnatural increase in related skills.
Roll d6, or assign.
1) Mayoral Candidate
A Noteworthy Industrialist gains +30% to Accounting and Persuade.
2) Professional Speech Writer
A Miskatonic Graduate and Famed Author gains +30% to Art: Speech Writing and HUMINT.
3) Head of Security
A Veteran of the Great War gains +30% to Firearms and Melee.
4) Publicity Chief
A Dilettante well known and liked for philanthropy gains +30% to Bureaucracy and Occult.
5) Personal Driver
Beloved Ex-Professional Racer gains +30% to Drive and Navigate.
6) Personal Assistant.
Highly renowned Ex-FBI Agent gains +30% to Alertness and Search.
The Agents are bundled into a sleek car and away as flames pours out of the upper windows. The Manager takes them out for breakfast and explains the itinerary for the last day before the election.
Miskatonic University Rally
The M.U rally is a collection of short scenes
- A brief meet and greet takes place in the Miskatonic Library. (Occult - Recognizes Dr. Armitage and his history.) (-20% Persuade He will help to counter the ritual and send them back.)
- A Short Speech at the University Grounds. (Speech Writing Success grants a +20 to Persuade) (-30% Persuade can win over students and professors.)
- Reporters flood the scene as Dr. Jeremiah West completes his speech and the debate begins.
- Successful Search, Unnatural, Occult, HUMINT tests around campus can provide an accumulating +5% to the -20% INT Test to skillfully debate Dr. West. (Search reveals his possession of reanimation formulae.) (Unnatural and Occult explains the destruction caused by his mad father's formulae) (HUMINT effectively categorizes him as a psychopath.)
- If successful Dr. West panics and gives a signal. A nearby lorry unleashes a horde of reanimated corpses onto the campus as he flees.
Innsmouth Rally
Another collection of short scenes
- A Brief meet and greet outside the Gilman House takes place on the route to the Docks. Forced to kiss grotesque babies and shake twisted hybrid hands. A few whisper threats. (d4/d8 Unnatural) (-15% CON test to remain composed, failure reacts in immense disgust.)
- A short Speech at the Innsmouth Docks. (History Success grants a +10 to Persuade) (Rebuffing the body politics and supporting cohesion with the Ipswich and Dunwich populations.)
- Shabby Reporters arrive flooding the scene as Charles Ward completes his speech and the debate begins. (-15% alertness spots 2 Disguised Deep Ones and 4 members of the Marsh Gang)
- (Unnatural Success can accuse Charles Dexter Ward of being the Ancient body hoping Wizard Joseph Curwen.)
- Before the Debate can finish the Deep Ones and Marsh Gang in the crowd open fire and a assassination attempt begins.
Election Day:
As Election day arrives the Team can attempt underhanded tactics each giving (+10% to Election Results) to secure a victory.
Bribing government officials to stuff the ballots.
(-20% Bureaucracy Test)
Destroy Votes from party Strongholds.
(-20% Demolition Test)
Block Main Roads.
(-20% Heavy Machinery Test)
Strong arm Voters.
(-20% Criminology Test)
Arrest Stronghold Voters.
(-20% Law Test)
If the Agents return from carrying out any dubious tactics Dr. Armitage is waiting for them at the Party Headquarters with suspicion and disappointment.
As the results are being tallied, Gangs of Fishmen and Reanimated Students begin the assault on the Party Headquarters.
If the Agents have attempted any underhanded tactics Dr. Armitage tests against HUMINT. If he fails he will assist the agents if he passes he will not.
Election Day Results:
Mayoral Candidate Test is half POW modified by the following results and any underhanded tactics:
Debate Success +5%
Debate Failure -5%
Speech Success +5%
Speech Failure -5%
Fleeing West’s Reanimations -10%
Fighting West's Reanimations +10%
Appease Hybrids +10%
Spurn Hybrids -10%
Accuse Charles Dexter Ward +5%
Fleeing Assassination attempt -10%
Fighting Assassination attempt +10%
Escape:
Death: Dying in Great Arkham will return the Agents to their original world and bodies. However the memory of the experiment is damningly mind altering. (d6/d10 Unnatural)
Survival: Surviving the Onslaught and not achieving Mayoral Victory will return the Agents to their original world and bodies. However the surreal memory of the City haunts them. (1/d6 Hopelessness)
Victory: Surviving the Onslaught and achieving Mayoral Victory will return the Agents to their Original world and bodies. Reinvigorated by beating the oppressive atmosphere. (Regain +5d6 Sanity -1d6 if any Underhanded Tactics were used)
Dr. Armitage: With the assistance of Dr. Armitage to return home the agents are rewarded with an additional d6 for skill improvements used during their time in Great Arkham.
Credits
Make Arkham Great Again! was written by Lovecraft's Cat Herder for the 2025 Shotgun Scenario contest.
Source: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lHyxPQAPzzrtaMgQp1zzoIpphq-TN2s2fxcinASUq3o/edit