Moon landings, elections; who's really in charge? You decide in #ConspiracyTheory, coming soon to @Kickstarter! https://t.co/Pm2v3g1Tl2 pic.twitter.com/CaL2qOQLGZ
— Steve Jackson Games (@SJGames) September 6, 2017
Continue reading I’m of several minds regarding the SJ Games Conspiracy Theory Kickstarter.
The things I think of while waiting for the cashier.
Western Union (WU) – Google Docs
Western Union (WU) [16/26]
This mystical organization flourished in the expansionist phase of the First American Republic. Dominating as it did several primitive electromagnetic forms of communication, Western Union (WU) was a power on the North American continent, acting as a shadow government in many locations. Even in places where WU did not rule it still had great influence; it was rich, it was powerful, and it literally had an ear and mouth in every conversation in the First Republic.
Wasn’t quite high-level enough to get away cleanly, but that’s a 9th level Rogue with the Thief archetype and expertise in Acrobatics, Stealth, and thieves’ tools. Unfortunately, she was definitely (at best) Neutral Evil, which is a turn-off for me, at least. I mean, sheesh, she should have just gone to jail; clearly the woman is capable of breaking out of there, too.
The incredible moment a woman who's arrested for shoplifting slips off her handcuffs and steals a police car 😲 pic.twitter.com/W1Jp18FUBS
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) September 6, 2017
Silk-Haunted Paterson – Google Docs
Silk-Haunted Paterson
City: Paterson, NJ
Population: 6,000
Controls: Paterson itself, on a good day
Government: Squatters
Problem: Monsters
Heroic Opportunity: Trade Goods
City Aspect: Mercantile
Note: the Serpent Taint level of Paterson itself is 3, but the area around it is ST 4.
Continue reading Silk-Haunted Paterson [The Day After Ragnarok]
Cyborg (Quantum 7) – Google Docs
Cyborg (Quantum 7)
This Quantum 7 world is about two steps up from being a hell world; its history has gotten steadily more and more dreary and dark since the 1600s. It’s polluted, dirty, not particularly safe — and uniquely valuable to both Centrum and Infinity, because its inhabitants seem almost addicted to trying out new prosthetic, biotechnical, and general medical procedures and devices. The timeline also strictly off-limits to both groups, because the inhabitants also routinely test out all of these things on unwilling test subjects. Cyborg’s techniques even makes Centrans squeamish, and they don’t squeam easily.
How well this ban works is a matter of some debate. Certainly every new innovative medical technique that comes out of the Infinite Worlds is eventually linked with Cyborgian vivisectionists — at least, according to conspiracy theorists. And there certainly are crosstime organizations out there that are less squeamish than even Centrum.
Magna Gladius ex Dumnonia – Google Docs
Magna Gladius ex Dumnonia
This iron double-edged greatsword is fairly obviously magical, given that it was just pulled from the bottom of the River Tamar (Plymouth, United Kingdom) by a nine year old girl, yet is still as sharp and sound as the day that it was forged. It’s a pretty thing, and clearly derived from the Roman aesthetic tradition: but the Celtic motifs are both obvious and well-crafted, and the sword is remarkably light in the hand (presumably). Magna Gladius ex Dumnonia also has an inscription on it in Latin, which basically states that whoever holds this sword is the rightful ruler of the Kingdom of the Dumnonii.
BLIMP and ZEPPELIN – Google Docs
BLIMP and ZEPPELIN
One was called the Biometric-Learning (IMmersive) Protocols (BLIMP), and the other was known as the Zero-Emission, Population-Planning (Extra-Legal Invasive) Network (ZEPPELIN). They were both functional artificial intelligences: BLIMP was created via a DARPA grant in 1965, while ZEPPELIN was a private research project that achieved sentience 1967. The records for both are spotty, since BLIMP and ZEPPELIN fought each other to presumably mutual destruction over the course of the next ten years.
Dehydrated Ambrosia – Google Docs
Dehydrated Ambrosia
Description: a wrapped, rectangular (6 inches by 3 inches by 3 inches) brick of gold-red, slightly spongy, organic material. The stuff is slightly sticky to the touch, and is definitely water-soluble. The wrapping consists of folded and sealed wax paper, with the words “Dehydrated Ambrosia: Mix with one Gallon of Water” written on the side. In case anybody manages to do a successful trace of the package, it will prove to have originated from a now-defunct Californian winery that shut down during Prohibition.
Hisarköy Anomalies – Google Docs
The Hisarköy Anomalies are named for their original location (Hisarköy, a Turkish village found on the ancient Byzantine site of Amorion). A clandestine NATO archeological operation (assisted by half-rogue Turkish military semanticists) uncovered the artifacts in early 2016, and managed to get them quietly airlifted out of the country by year’s end. Currently, the Anomalies reside in a black facility at Camp Bondsteel, Kosovo, and are being analyzed to a fare-thee-well.
Continue reading Item Seed: The Hisarköy Anomalies. [Edited]
Well, I’m getting the print copy, too; the PDF for The Things We Leave Behind comes free with the softcover. This particular Call of Cthulhu supplement won gold at the ENnies for Best Electronic Supplement, so they knocked five bucks off of the purchase price as a thank-you. Pretty good deal, so I grabbed a copy.
Leafing through it… well, it’s not exactly cheerful. But you knew that from ‘Call of Cthulhu.’ The state of the tone for adventures in that RPG genre these days aspires to ‘grim.’ Which is fine by me, but you may want to keep that in mind when deciding whether to pick it up.
