Author: Yellowbook (---.iticom.net)
Date: 10-31-2001 09:13
I really like this idea and the basic stucture of the scenario. I think the idea of a 'villain' who is both threatening and pitiable works very well, and is a great opportunity to dock the PCs Sanity for their own actions, instead of just things that happen to them.
There are a few potential problems, depending on how the Keeper wants to run this scenario. I'm looking at it mainly from the perspective of someone who's likely to run it as a one-shot, without a regular CoC group.
1. The Pallid Mask: this is potentially a big enough red herring to drag some groups off-task. It's creepy enough that I'm loath to do without it, though. I'd definitely use it in campaign play, and just try to keep Walter Chambers' girlfriend out of the picture as much as possible until after the players have dealt with Turner. In a one-shot, I'd be more likely to leave this subplot out, and just go with the lights, the owl, and the deer (and drop the extra leg -- a normal wounded deer jumping in front of the car is startling enough, I hope).
2. Grogan: I'd definitely leave Grogan out in one-shot play. I'd also be tempted to leave him out in campaign play unless I were starting a campaign, and had some way to keep the PCs from running off to Chicago (though of course, wiser PCs will be working on erasing any evidence that they've ever had any contact with Grogan). Even in campaign play, Grogan is just too salient in this scenario given that he doesn't have anything to do with Turner. Players will jump to the conclusion that the scenario is about Grogan and the Steps of the Timeless Thing, which could waste a lot of time and cause a lot of frustration.
3. The ceremony: This is a bit of a problem to handle, I think. In order to have the PCs present at the ceremony, yet have it go undisturbed, you must have either players with no CoC experience, or engage in heavy railroading. Otherwise, the PCs will most likely kill Turner or otherwise disrupt the ceremony (which is the wisest thing to do here, of course, but would spoil all the fun). I don't know what exactly to do about this. The writeup suggests railroading, but that just doesn't feel right to me...
4. Returning the book: The PCs _could_ run straight off to New York to return the book, rather than waiting a few days. In a modern setting with cell phones, it would be easy to stop them on the way. In a 20's setting, this is harder to solve. The best thing to do would probably be to have the butler's call arrive in the form of a telegram, but that depends on his knowing where they are.
5. Ignoring the call: another problem that might be posed by experienced CoC players, who know better than to get involved. If this happens, or if you can't get the PCs back from New York for a few days, invoke the 'Turner can die if everyone who witnessed the ceremony is dead' option and have Turner start killing off partygoers. This gives the PCs no choice but to take an interest.
Anyway, these are things that Keepers should think about before running this scenario. The rest of it looks pretty free-form and not as vulnerable to far-out PC actions. Be sure to charge PCs Sanity points for anything they do to Turner that can reasonably considered torture. This is one scenario where they won't be getting any Sanity back at the end, so if you're nice or your players expect rewards, be sure to reward their skill checks. Have fun, and happy Halloween!
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