Content Warning:
Sexual Assault
Mutilation
Briefing
On the morning of July 15th, 1944, the body of a French woman was discovered in a field near the port of Cherbourg, approximately 3 miles from the US encampment. The nature of the crime has gotten the local’s spooked and it’s believed by some to have been the work of American Troops in the area due to the string of similar crimes that have taken place since the Normandy Landings, along with the distinct imprint of standard issue boots near the scene of the crime. The French citizens are getting restless, and to satiate them orders are given that the criminal is to be hanged near the scene of the crime. The army courts will take the word of the Players over the suspects, who are repeat offenders of lesser crimes.
The Truth:
The victim, Aceline De La Fontaine, was raped and killed by PFC. Stephen Hartley, the son of a 2nd generation lesser deep one who joined the US army in the Spring of 1943. The pair had begun a secret affair in the three weeks following the liberation of Cherbourg, which had ended abruptly when the latent genes in Hartley’s body activated and began his transformation the night before. If asked directly once caught, he would claim the murder was self defense or an accident, but the semen stains on the remains of Fontaine’s dress would say otherwise. At this point, Hartley can still mostly pass as a normal human, though he does have to keep a scarf up around his neck to hide the bulbous, gill-ridden neck that has begun to appear, and gloves to hide his talon-like hands.
The Victim:
The remains of Aceline De La Fontaine’s body is kept in the mortuary of the local town, guarded by two riflemen at the order of the Captain in charge of the camp. Her body is kept in a standard body bag, and the sight of it is enough to make all but the most veteran soldiers sick (San 1/1d4 Violence). Her body is mangled and desiccated, with what looks to be animal bites across her limbs. Her right arm, left leg, and head have been severed from her torso. Not much can be gathered from her forensically, just surface samples and other visual determinations.
- Under her nails is army green fabric and dried blood
- Most of the damage to her body is pre-mortem
- It is most likely she died of blood loss before decapitation
- The amount of blood she lost means whoever did it would have gotten their uniform stained
- A successful forensics roll will allow them to pull fingerprints off of her left thigh, which can be matched to suspects. The print resembles fish scales more than any arch, loop, or whirl (San 0/1 Unnatural)
The Crime Scene:
The scene is untouched, and there isn’t much else to gather from it aside from scraps of clothes and maybe boot prints for a size comparison. Footprints in the mud lead from town and from camp, though there are no footprints returning to town. A search skill of at least 50% reveals a set of prints matching an M-42 Combat boot, the same one that leads here from camp, that begins back towards the camp before stopping suddenly in the treeline. DNA testing isn't far enough along to get any good data from blood samples or semen samples, but the more valuable resource is…
The Witnesses:
There are plenty of witnesses to the events before the crime. If players ask around town, they can learn that Fontaine had been seen going to the farmers field around 9:00 at night every other night for the past few weeks. If asked around camp, most of the other soldiers won’t know anything or will not be willing to talk to you unless ordered to, since seeing something and not reporting it could get them in trouble. Those that do speak will either cover for the suspects by confirming their alibis or give passing comments about what they saw (x went to watch at 8:00 pm, x left camp at 9:00, etc.) The generic boots don’t know anything.
9 year old Pépin Tremblay saw the murder from his window at the farm, (It was moon lit, he was awoken by her screams and saw a man atop her with what looked like an arm in his mouth, then ran off into the woods. The man was for sure not dark skinned as well), but is too shaken to say anything without a bribe of some sort. A successful persuasion roll will also get the information out of him. Fontaine was his aunt, so the entire event has left him spooked.
Pvt. John Macnamarah was on watch that night and was in the brig with the other suspects for starting a fight the next morning. He isn’t on trial, just letting his steam off and serving a sentence. When the players come to interview suspects, he will offer to tell them what he knows in exchange for early release (He saw a taller man, somewhere between 5’11 and 6’1, coming back from the woods towards the town at around 2 am, but he didn’t get a look at his face. He will rule out PFC. Hernandez, and PFC. Jackson immediately, since he knows they were also on guard duty one station over.
The Clues:
Around the Camp, it takes 1 hour to do a thorough search. Each one hour period players spend they make a search roll to receive a clue. Players should state how long they want to search for before rolling and roll that many times. The clues are…
- A blood stained uniform in the laundry that belongs to a PFC with a ripped off nametag, the remaining portion shows the letter H.
- Semen stained underwear with the name tag scrubbed mostly off. The remaining letters have an L somewhere in the middle.
- Bootprints from the woods that lead back into camp before getting lost in the mess of the walkways.
- Bloody fingerprints on a telegraph pole near the edge of camp (See The Victim)
The Suspects:
- Pvt. Jesus Hernandez: 22, mexican-american, 5’11
Alibi: Was on guard duty with Jackson
- PFC. Daniel Jackson: 21, African American, 5’9
Alibi: Was on guard duty with Hernandez
- PFC. Stephen Hartley: 24, White (Irish), 6’0
Alibi: Was helping finish clean up of the mess
(Checking under his fingernails will reveal traces of blood, along with red fibers caked in. His fingerprints match those found at the scene, though he will fight to escape once this is discovered)
- Pvt. John White: 19, Native American, 6’2
Alibi: Was asleep at the time
(A successful persuasion or strength roll will make him admit to stealing morphine from the medical tent)
- Sgt. Jacob Reeves: 30, White (Italian), 5’10
Alibi: Was doing administrative duties in the tent
(A successful persuasion or strength roll will make him admit to sending Pvt. White to steal morphine from the medical tent)
Conclusion:
If Hartley is accused, he will be dragged to the sight of the murder and lynched over a tree for the french people to see, as per Eisenhower’s orders. However during the march, he will attempt to escape to the sea by murdering his captors and/or the players. Should he succeed, all agents will lose 1d4 san for allowing him to escape, along with another 1d6 once the crimes begin again.
If another man is accused, the same will happen to them despite their pleas of innocence. However, within the next week another two murders will occur, leading to the loss of 1d10 for the cold blooded murder of an “innocent” man, and another 1d6 for not stopping the crime.
NPCS:
Private First Class Stephen Hartley
United States Army 79th Infantry Division
STR 17 CON 15 DEX 12 INT 13 POW 12 HP 16 WP 12 ARMOR: 1 point of thick scales or flabby hide. SKILLS: Alertness 30%, Athletics 40%, Persuade 30%, Swim 75%,, Unnatural 10%. ATTACKS: Knife-like talons 55%, damage 1D8, Armor Piercing 3. Grapple 55%, pins the target.
See Deep One (Lesser) Stat block on page 194 of the handlers guide for more info.
Player Characters:
Staff Sergeant Willard Hull
United States Army 14th Criminal Investigation Section (Military Police), lead of investigation
Str 11, Con 13, Dex 12, Int 12, Pow 13, Cha 11 HP: 12, WP: 13, San: 65, BP: 52
Skills : Alertness 50%, Athletics 50%, Bureaucracy 50%, Drive 40%, Firearms 60%, First Aid 40%, History 20%, Military Science (Land) 60%, Navigate 60%, Persuade 50%, SIGINT 20%, Unarmed Combat 70%
Armor: Steel MP Helmet (1 Point)
Attacks: M1 Carbine (60%, D12, 3 AP)
Sergeant Calvin Skinner
United States Army 14th Criminal Investigation Section (Military Police)
Str 11, Con 11, Dex 13, Int 12, Pow 12, Cha 13
HP: 11, WP: 12, San: 60, BP: 48
Skills : Alertness 70%, Athletics 50%, Bureaucracy 30%, Criminology 20%, Drive 60%, Firearms 60%, First Aid 40%, HUMINT 20%, Law 20%, Melee Weapons 40%, Military Science (Land) 40%, Navigate 40%, Persuade 30%, Unarmed Combat 50%
Armor: Steel MP Helmet (1 Point) Attacks: M1911A1 (60%, D10), Blackjack (40%, D6)
Special Agent Oscar Dewitt
United States Army Criminal Investigation Service
Str 11, Con 13, Dex 13, Int 11, Pow 12, Cha 12
HP: 12, WP: 12, San: 60, BP: 48
Skills: Alertness 50%, Bureaucracy 60%, Criminology 50%, Drive 50%, Dodge 20%, Firearms 70%, First Aid 40%, Forensics 50%, HUMINT 60%, Law 30%, Persuade 70%, Search 70%, Unarmed Combat 60%
Armor: None
Attacks: M1917 (70%, D10)
Private First Class Jean Pascal
United States Army 4th Infantry Division, assigned as translator for the investigation
Str 13, Con 11, Dex 11, Int 13, Pow 12, Cha 12
HP: 12, WP: 12, San: 60, BP: 48
Skills : Alertness 50%, Athletics 50%, Bureaucracy 30%, Drive 40%, Firearms 40%, First Aid 40%, Foreign Languages (French 40%, German 20%), History 20%, HUMINT 20%, Military Science (Land) 40%, Navigate 40%, Occult 20%, Persuade50%, Psychotherapy 20%, Unarmed Combat 50%
Armor: M1 Helmet (1 Armor)
Attacks: M1 Garand (40%, 1D12+1, 5 AP)
Credits
Taken by Force was written by Rat for the 2023 Shotgun Scenario contest.
Source: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1o43Er_jMkLF4kDxnrOtgphjpgfTv3uy8yUP_sigIcEw/edit