Author Topic: The Shadow Over Isigny-sur-Mer (Read 9683 times)

jbemmett · « **on:** February 11, 2016, 07:00:06 PM »

For the last few years I’ve been considering running some sort of game at one, or more, of the East Coast historical miniatures conventions. I finally pulled the trigger this year and submitted the following for Cold Wars being held in Lancaster, Pennsylvania 17-20 March.

“MI6 has been receiving reports of strange events and sightings – dimensional rifts, nightmarish visions, unearthly beasts – in the vicinity of Isigny-sur-Mer. As part of the multinational counter-occultism force Majestic, you have been sent to investigate the activities of Clementine Thalberg, a chief operative of the Nazi occult society The Black Sun. Will you and your fellow players be able to keep your sanity in check long enough to thwart her plans in this co-op Lovecraftian/WWWII mash-up?”

Using the Strange Aeons rules as the core and adding in elements from Arkham Horror, I’m running a co-op Lovecraftian game in a WWII setting. Some of the story elements came from the Achtung! Cthulhu source books. Here’s the “briefing” that the players will be receiving at the start of the game.

“As part of the multinational counter-occultism force Majestic, you have been sent forward to further investigate the activities of the Nazi occult society Die Scharze Sonne (The Black Sun). French Resistance in the area has provided credible reports that Clementine Thalberg, the leader of the Shub-Niggurath worshiping Handmaidens of the Dark Mother, has been operating in the locality of Isigny-sur-Mer. It is possible that Thalberg may be in possession of the Hanseatic Codex – a medieval manuscript that purportedly describes the pagan practices of an all female sect of Shub-Niggurath worshipers.

Upon rendezvousing with your Maquis contacts, Daniel Say and Audrey Mainville, they inform you that the recent occult rituals and arcane practices taking place in the vicinity have caused several inter-dimensional portals, or “gates”, to open in the outskirts of Isigny-sur-Mer. These gates have allowed mysterious and horrifying creatures to enter our world, and have altered the energies in the region causing strange events and nightmarish visions that bend and strain the psyche and constitution of even the most resolute.

Daniel and Audrey tell you that the local priest, Father Ancar, is a student of the arcane and occult and has been keeping a careful watch on the ongoing activities of Thalberg and her followers. Perhaps it would be worth your while to seek him out in the local church…”

I’m starting this thread to document my progress and experience as a first time GM at a convention and to share some of my work in progress. Perhaps others will find something valuable or inspirational within.

Cheers!

jbemmett · « **Reply #1 on:** February 11, 2016, 07:30:13 PM »

Here's the 4'x6' board I'll be using. The characters will start on the short edge by the village square, make their way to the church and then to the woods beyond. The small Elder Sign tokens represent areas where players may have optional "encounters". The larger circles represent "gates" where random monsters spawn from. Since the last playtest I've reduced those from 6 to 4.