The Most Dreadded Of Tomes...

[Uncle Mike]

You guessed it! The Necronomicon is making it's evil way into the Strange Aeons universe...and it's not going to work out well for anyone involved.  Now, I've started on a 'spell list' for said ancient and mind-bendingly horrific book but I thought I'd ask around and see what everyone else thinks should be inside. At the moment I'm torn between all spells and a 50/50 split of spell and rituals...again thoughts appreciated. 

[Sheerluck Holmes]

I like the idea of spells and rituals - something quick and easy to use, and something that can be used as a plot point kind of thing.

[zobo1942]

It seems that the Necronomicon is the definitive tome - containing pretty much EVERYTHING about the Great Old Ones. However, although it has the answers, it also contains such horrific and soul-destroying information that it can drive you stark raving mad. If your plan is to use the Necronomicon as an item, perhaps the possessor could attempt to cast ANY spell... but with some pretty horrible effects if they fail in the attempt. A few examples:

1) The possessor of the book goes immediately insane.
2) The possessor of the book attracts the attention of some extra-dimensional being which manifests in our reality and tears them apart.
3) Sensing the presence of the book, every cultist/magus/demon on the board gets an immediate free move toward the possessor of the book
4) If a Threshold member, the character immediately realizes the futility of their cause, and joins the ranks of the Lurkers.
5) Accidentally mumbling through a passage marked by Joseph Curwen, the 'essential salts' in the ground around the possessor of the book reform into d3 conglomerates.
6) As long as the books remains in his/her/it's possession, a randomly generated assassin/cultist will spontaneously appear and attempt to kill the possessor of the book.
7) etc...

According to all the stories, the Necronomicon is as powerful as it is evil. However, it also seems that virtually everyone who reads or uses it goes mad, commits suicide, or is already insane and corrupted by evil.

I'm curious to see how this turns out!!

[Yggdrasil]

Will this be an Item in the game, or a real book/pdf containing new, additional rules?

I'd like both ideas ^^

Some Ideas (if its ment to be an additional set of rules:)

The Lurker gets some kind of Map Pieces (lets call them "Force Tokens" for now.) In every Game the Lurkerplayer gets X of these "Force Tokens". Than there should be an option for him to spent Buildpoints to generate additional "Force Tokens" dont know how much they should be worth.

With those "Force Tokens" the Lurker Player could use the unholy contents of the Necronomicon Rule Book(pdf).
For Example:
He could buy special Lurker-Scenarios (only allowed if the Thresholdplayer dont want to play a Special Scenario from the rule Book).
He could buy Special Lurker Models.

Maybe he could buy Special Spells (which You allready Mentioned above)

And it would be cool if he could buy special rituals or Actions during the game (such things as Raising the Dead to gain X Zombies. Making it harder to shoot due to summoning an evil storm...)
Of course it shouldnt be done using those Tokens. There still should be some actions the Lurker Player must perform before using the rituals etc.

What I try to suggest: For the Necronomicon containing all the knowledge of Dark Magic and Old Ones and evil Rituals, it would be stylish if this book would be some kind of "Lurker Goody" which he could use to make the game more and more evil  

[LidlessEye]

Will this be an Item in the game, or a real book/pdf containing new, additional rules?

A bit of both, I expect.  We're considering this as a possible next "layer" over and above map pieces.  Beating Quest Scenarios would give you a shot at recovering Necronomicon pages, which would then allow you to take on tougher challenges.  Obviously not set in stone, but it seems like a good framework to start from.  It would also be easy to add some form of Lurker benefits here - if Threshold fails to recover the pages, who knows what horrors will await them on their next mission?

Personally, I like the idea of having the option to either simply accumulate Necronomicon pages, or attempt to translate them to decipher their eldritch secrets.  Sure, you learn a powerful spell, but at what cost?

[zobo1942]

The 'Fragments of the Necronomicon' idea is really good, versus the book in it's entirety. Perhaps when a certain number of pages are found, the book will acquire different powers or consequences of use...

Lovecraft said "The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown." (Supernatural Horror in Literature, 1927) Having the entire contents of the Necronomicon available immediately as an item removes this fear completely, and quantifies something which should, I think, be unquantifiable.

[fanfavorite]

Yes! Despite the fact I still haven't gotten the rules to pilfer through yet, I always loved the idea of your "Quest" scenarios. With an added layer with the Necronomicon pages I think you could not only extend the content and length of campaigns for the new player, but also add a new level of difficulty (hard mode so to speak) for the experienced player who by now has already had a run through at everything offered.

I just pray the book doesn't fall into the wrong hands.

Another cool factor would be to somehow escalate your Threshold group's potential power why also simultaneously the Lurker's too as they struggle to piece together the book at the same pace as the player. In this sense it would allow an escalating, very thematic threat to surface in the new scenarios. After all the book serves many "masters".

[Uncle Mike]

Thinking of having the option of letting the Threshold use Necronomicon spells (with some BIG potential disadvantages...) or 'trading' them in for a boost to Base Points? Thoughts?

[zobo1942]

I think letting Threshold agents read from the Necronomicon is a great idea.

'Lovecraft Circle' literature is full of the 'good' guys consulting evil and forbidden tomes - Lumley's 'Titus Crow' has a bookcase full of rare and forbidden tomes, and I doubt Dr Armitage in 'The Dunwich Horror' got the recipe for 'The Powder of Ibn Gatze' from epicurious.com

There needs to be a risk involved, as utilizing the spells and rituals in the Necronomicon would require traffic between the scholar and extra-dimensional alien creatures of horrific psyche-distorting evil. Some people are strong enough to resist - some are psychically mutilated by exposure to such horrendous revelations.

In addition to the potential consequences I listed in my previous post, it may be worth thinking about what the basic results of reading/ultilizing a cursed tome would be. I think they would be:

a) You get the result you wanted
b) You don't get the result you wanted
c) Nothing happens
d) 'a', 'b', or 'c' + you go insane
e) 'a', 'b', or 'c' + you attract the attention of some thing, cultists, creatures, or...
f) 'a', 'b', or 'c' + you die

Also, in my opinion, continued exposure to a cursed tome could weigh the chances more toward 'a' and 'e', if some kind of modifier could be derived to simulate that.

[Uncle Mike]

Some good ideas so far gang! Zobo, I am in agreement about keeping the books total contents unquantifiable...and from a rules writing perspective it's great as well...you can always think up yet another cursed page or two...

[The_Beast]

***
I just pray the book doesn't fall into the wrong hands.
***

I thought the whole point of '...but with some pretty horrible effects if they fail...' was that, whomsoever's hands they fall into, there's a good chance they will BECOME the wrong hands... ;->=

For those who wish the tome to remain near legendary, remember whatever fragments are found may be 'reputed to be' or 'copies attributed to' that most hideous of artifacts, right?

Sorry for jumping in on a game I'm not currently participating, but the ideas and discussion are fascinating.

Doug

[LidlessEye]

No need to apologize Doug - I find it helpful to get non-player's perspectives, as your ideas come unclouded by existing game mechanics.  Makes for some non-euclidian thinking!

Must say I like the idea of there being false or mistranslated pages about.  This would introduce a risk factor to not translating your pages, as it's the only way to ensure they're genuine. 

And on the subject of becoming corrupted by the book, I can see a great scenario (or even Black Dossier) opportunity there, as the poor Agent tasked with translating one page too many goes Rogue and begins to raise their own cult.

[zobo1942]

All good stuff.

As I mentioned in one of my previous posts, having an agent/team corrupted by the Necronomicon would be fabulous - and would make for some very cinematic gameplay.

However, if a player gets attached to one of his agents it could pose a problem - after all, as far as I know, there is no way to remove the knowledge gleaned through occult study - except, possibly, through the use of a memory-erasing alien device, as those used in "The Shadow Out of Time" by the Great Race if Yith to 'deprogram' a person whose conciousness was replaced.

Are you thinking about something like starting the last scenario is a story arc without the 'main' character - whom the remainder of the Threshold team has tied up a la Hannibal Lector - and when the book is burnt on some cursed altar (or similar) the character is freed from the psychological domination of the book which has corrupted them? Interesting idea...

Another question... What is this 'Black Dossier' you speak of? Would this me a series of linked scenarios to play in order to act out a multigame storyline?

I'm intrigued...

[Alfrik]

Think of the sanity gain for destroying fragments of the book! Take that forces of evil!

[LidlessEye]

...and when the book is burnt on some cursed altar (or similar) the character is freed from the psychological domination of the book which has corrupted them?

Ooooh, I like this!

Black Dossiers are our format for campaigns, typically running about 4-6 games.  Depending on the specific Dossier, this may be either a linear or random progression.  The first, "Time's Forgotten Land", appears in Shocking Tales #2, and you can expect to see several more in Shocking Tales #3.

Gaining sanity is an idea we've had knocking about for a bit.  Institutionalize a Threshold model for a few games to relieve them of their phobias, though destroying unspeakable pages of foul tomes would certainly be another valid approach!