Hello,
I put together this scenario for the contest a while ago. Obviously, I wasn't the winner, but I had a lot of fun putting it together and plan on writing some more scenarios in the future.
I'd really like to get some feedback on how to make it better - what works, what doesn't, etc... Any constructive critiques would be much appreciated!
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WHY I FEAR THE MOON: A STRANGE AEONS SCENARIOCreated by zobo1942
LOVECRAFTIAN CANON JUSTIFICATION:"...small island in the Miskatonic where the devil held court beside a curious stone altar older than the Indians."
- HP Lovecraft, 'The Colour Out of Space'BACKGROUND & INTRODUCTIONFrom times past, a small island in the middle of the Miscatonic River has been rumoured to be a meeting place for evil. Rumours abound of secret gatherings which occured during the Salem witch trials. Strange lights and nausiating odours have been reported. Old wives' tales of the island 'calling forth lightning from the heavens' were whispered around hearths as violent ocean storms slammed into the coastline, the populace cowering behind locked windows and doors. However, after the local constabulary apprehended a small smuggling ring using the island as a base of operations the public, newspaper reporters and police all concluded that the 'spooky stories' told about the island must have been rumours spread by the smugglers to keep curious eyes away. Even the strange-looking stone carvings and the supposed 'altar stone' the police discovered were written off as props used in the smugglers' community-wide psychodrama.
The real story is a terrifying tale of physical and spiritual corruption that would drive most of the residents insane with fear if they knew what was going to happen... tonight, when the moon reaches it's zenith.
For decades, a group of rivermouth-dwelling Deep Ones and half-breed cultists have been slowly contaminating the local population and gaining influence within it. Indeed, the police raid which ended the smuggler's use of the island was engineered by the clandestine operations of city-dwelling cultists. Through the cult's activities, attendance locally in traditional religious institutions has decreased, but so slowly as to be remarked upon as 'a sign of the times' or, sadly, blamed on increased immigration.
Unbeknownst to all but a few occultists, the small island and it's ancient monuments lie at a confluence of ley lines, through which telluric currents of uncommon magnitude flow. The cult has been using the island and it's ancient stone circle to perform heinous rituals and sacrifices. The blasphemies the cult has perpetrated at this location have been performed to weaken the barrier between dimensions and cause the opening of a spacial rift, creating a path by which a being of the outer dark – an Eldritch Cthuloid Daemon, capable of hearing and understanding the whispers of great Cthulhu itself - could walk to our earth from it's dwelling place beyond dimensioned space and measured time.
Threshold cannot allow this to happen.
The primal mystery of the ocean, through which even thought cannot pass, acts as a barrier between the alien mind of the great Cthulhu and it's cultists all over the planet - even into the reaches of deep space. Throughout the ages, cultists and seers have had to divine and interpret the wishes of their master through their dreams, visions and intuition. They have done so, and acted upon the information as they have interpreted it - erratically, often incorrectly and, occasionally, in direct opposition to the true wishes of their god.
Should the rift open - and that supernatural extra-dimensional alien being be allowed to enter our reality - a true line of communication will be opened between great Cthulhu and it's cult for the first time since the hideous monolith-crowned citadel of R'lyeh sank beneath the waves, silencing the mental voice of their sleeping god. Cultists worldwide would sense the voice of their master reverberating through their subconscious, enabling different sects to work in concert to bring about the unbinding and resurrection of Cthulhu's physical form... the consequences of which would be unthinkable.
"Don't forget the lemon, boys. I've got a feeling seafood's on the menu."
- 'Bullets' McGuire, Threshold OperativePRE-GAMEThreshold believes that they have all the intellegence they need to make a successful raid on the ritual site found on the island. Guns have been cleaned and loaded. Arcane counter-measures have been taken. The agents of Threshold, confident in the superiority of their intellegence and feeling a little arrogant, approach the island. However, there are some things of which Threshold is completely unaware.
The Lurkers have arrived at the summoning circle. Armed guards surround the ritual site, sacrifices have been made and the unholy chanting of the cultists and their leader are in the process of creating a resonating wave of raw psychic power which they will project into the aether, tearing a hole in the fabric of reality itself.
REQUIREMENTSNone.
STARTING THE GAMEThe Threshold agents are the first on the board (see 'Sneak in and wallop 'em!' Special rule, below)
ENDING THE GAMEThis scenario would be an excellent ending to a campaign – it is, at it's core, an out-and-out war between the forces of order and those of evil. What will end the game is nothing less than the complete destruction of the opposing force. Should the Threshold forces succeed in eliminating the Lurkers, they may roll Twice on the Treasure table, as described on the 'Treasure Hunt' scenario (SA, p60).
LURKERSAny number of lurkers may be used. Given the nature of the scenario Deep Ones, half-breeds and human cultists would be more suitable than beasts or undead.
SET UPThe playing surface is an island, with boundaries and dimensions defined by the players. A realistic geographic layout should be the shared goal of both players. The summoning circle is located close to the centre of the table, and is hidden from casual view by trees, hills, cliffs and boulders. What Threshold doesn't know is that the cultists, their Deep One allies and the recently imprisoned smugglers have been secretly excavating a series of tunnels with entrances and exits located in the riverbed and on the surface of the island.
LURKER PLAYERThe Lurker player must place all of the cultists involved in the summoning in the appropriate spots on the board. These will usually be surrounded by armed cultists on guard, ensuring the ritual goes as planned. The summoning requires the Magus and three (3) additional 'acolyte' models to complete, while up to five (5) could be used to reduce the time needed to brind the ritual to it's climax. In this scenario, the additional models are usually 'tainted' humans. The Deep One allies (comprising up to 50% of the Lurker player's BP) are kept in reserve, and are assumed to be in the watery tunnels which honeycomb the island. Note: the BP of the Eldritch Cthuloid Daemon is NOT to be included in the total BP of the Lurker player.
THRESHOLD PLAYERThere are several landing sites located around the island, determined by how the scenery is set up on the table. Threshold agents and their crews can begin their invasion of the island from any of them, and can split thier forces to move in from different directions.
SPECIAL RULESSneak in and wallop 'em!The Lurkers have no idea that Threshold is on their way, in force, to elimimate them and stop the completion of their foul ritual. As the Lurkers are gathered at the ritual site and are focused on performing the proper chants and making sure the stars are right, Threshold has the opportunity to sneak up on them and open fire before the Lurkers are aware of thier presence.
After the Lurker player places all of his models to be used in the summoning and any 'guards' on the board (ie. All non-'reserve' models), the Threshold player performs several d6 rolls, finding out how close they can get before their presence is discovered. On the first turn, a d6 roll of '6' means they have been detected. On the second turn, a d6 roll of 5-6 means thay have been detected. On the third round, a d6 roll of 4-6 means they have been detected. Threshold agents are scented automatically after these three rounds: Lurkers react to the smell of human fear like rednecks react to the smell of warm budweiser and greasy barbeque.
All Threshold forces are placed on the board simulaneously after making a number of 'moves' equal to the number of 'undiscovered' rolls prior to game start. When they are discovered, they can open fire on any Lurker models they can see immediately.
Where the hell did they come from?!Prior to any models being placed on the board (Threshold or Lurker), the Lurker player determines the locations of the hidden exits to the tunnel system beneath the island's surface by rolling a series of dice. There are four hidden tunnel openings hidden on the surface of the island.
To determine the location of the tunnel openings, the length and width of the board are divided by 12. The Lurker player the rolls 2d6 for each dimension (length and width) for each of the four hidden tunnel openings, writing down the results. Multiplying the rolls by the value determined previously will give the player geometric length and width coordinates for the locations of the hidden openings. If the location of the hidden opening is located in impassable terrain, it may be moved up to 3” in any direction until it reaches terrain which would allow movement. If this is impossible, then the coordinates may be re-rolled. The tunnel exits are not placed on the map until utilized.
After the Threshold agents have been discovered and open fire, the Deep One/cultist reserves will begin pouring out of the openings, attacking the Threshold agents and their crews in desperate rage. Up to two Lurkers can exit each tunnel at one time, and additional models can exit the tunnels and be placed on the board when there is at least a 5” radius around the exit.
“And yet I saw them in a limitless stream - flopping, hopping, croaking, bleating - urging inhumanly through the spectral moonlight in a grotesque, malignant saraband of fantastic nightmare.” - HP Lovecraft, 'The Shadow Over Innsmouth'Cross the Gulf of Space in One Gigantic Step...It takes four (4) complete rounds of play, with the Cult Leader and three (3) 'acolyte' cultists not being disturbed during that time, for the Lurker cultists to breach the walls of reality and allow the Eldritch Cthuloid Daemon to arrive on the table. However, if five (5) models are involved in the summoning and remain undisturbed, the Eldritch Daemon will arrive in only two (2) complete rounds of play. During the period of the summoning, none of the models directly involved in the summoning can perform any other action. If the Lurker player starts with five (5) models involved in the summoning, and several of them are killed, reducing the number of summoning cultists to three (3), add an additional round to the time required to complete the ritual. If the total number of acolyte cultists involved in the ritual drops below three (ie. Cult Leader + three cultists) then the ritual fails and the Eldritch Cthuloid Daemon will not apprear.
Eldritch Cthuloid DaemonSame stats as the 'Godling' (as noted on p41 of the SA Rulebook), with the following modifications:
Due to the trauma of being birthed into our dimension, the Elder Cthuloid Daemon only has two wounds, and no spells. However, it has a powerful psychic attack called 'From Beyond' (see below).
'From Beyond'Being an extra-dimensional creature of profound evil, the Eldritch Cthuloid Daemon has the ability to strip away the veil of reality as it is interpreted by the fleshy minds of mortals. On a successful 'to hit' roll against any model in it's line of sight, the victim of this psychic assault will be able to see the universe without the limitations imposed by our five senses. The model will immediately be afflicted with Teratophobia and Haphephobia as noted on the Major Injuries Table (SA, p20), and suffer from Catatonia, as noted on the Insanity Table (SA, p18). If the Eldritch Cthuloid Daemon uses this attack, it is in place of all other attacks it could make.
Designer's Notes:The idea behind the 'model deployment' special rules is to allow for scenario replayability by introducing several elements of randomness. The location could be altered to be a cavern complex, a deserted village, a graveyard or even a compromised prison or psychiatic hospital, depending on the collections of terrain or modelling projects undertaken by the players.
The 'From Beyond' special rule is meant to illustrate the 'brain-spasm' which would occur should the true nature of the universe be shown - in it's entirety - to a being equipped with the primitive sensory and cognitive apparatus of a human. It's strength is it being used as a way to make those characters attacked with it vulnerable to assault by other models.
The model deployment special rules also create the opportunity for each side to play to it's character. Threshold agents arrogantly feeling that, in their inate human superiority, they are about to easily win an important victory against the forces of evil, and the evil characters, when confronted by their adversaries, sprewing forth an inhuman tide bent on their destruction, punishing them for that arrogance.
Also, the Threshold forces thinking that they have the upper hand and then being sudennly surrounded by ravenous evil from beneath the waves is a very cinematic event and encourages players to roleplay and discover the heroism of the characters on the board, while exploring new ways to use terrain features and other models as a combat advantage.
The BP of the 'Eldritch Cthuloid Daemon' are not included in the BP of the Lurker player to emphasize the gravity of the situation and the helpless horror which would occur if the ritual reaches it's fruition. An excellent model to represent it would be Reaper's 'Eldritch Demon':
http://www.reapermini.com/Miniatures/dem...095_p_2_cs 
27 January 2008, 03:49:17 PM