Kind of self-referential, but then this entire game line is highly esoteric anyway.
Continue reading Dust Sigils [Esoterrorists]/Tag: esoterrorists
Tweet of the Day, I Don’t Believe It For A Second edition.
Sure, it’s a ‘prop.’ …Suuuuuuuuuure.
Okay it is a prop – but that story is still what the Esoterrorists RPG would use as an example of a ‘veil-out:’ where you come up with a fake story to explain away a supernatural event. In this case: giant rats in the sewers! Nah, man, it’s just a movie prop.
Classic.
In the Mail: Worldbreaker [Esoterrorists]
I gotta say: Pelgrane Press has excellent customer service. I had ordered WORLDBREAKER a while back, but I guess it was supposed to get fulfilled by a third party at the time and never got shipped. I noticed the problem recently (I had gotten the PDF, too, which is why it didn’t register to me that the print copy hadn’t been shipped) and when I brought it up they resolved the issue right away. No fuss, no muss, no nonsense. It’s one of the many reasons why I buy their products.
The Silver Album [Esoterrorists].
Silver Album [Esoterrorists] – Google Docs
The Silver Album [Esoterrorists]
Description: The Silver Album superficially resembles a CD-ROM; and it indeed functions as one. It is, however, considerably heavier than a regular CD, mostly because it is made out of solid platinum. It can still be played on most DVD players, thanks to (hopefully) some extremely clever engineering.
You *want* this Esoterrorists Bundle of Holding.
For sixteen bucks and change this is a great deal for Esoterrorists RPG PDFs. Lemme put it this way: I’m not picking it up because I own all of the books already. Most of them in print. Heck, I have the first edition rules from when it was all about the GUMSHOE rules and only had bits and pieces touch on the actual ‘sane conspiracy horror / supernatural investigation’ game world*. By all means, get this series.
Moe Lane
*It’s different from many other supernatural investigation game settings in that the conspiracy that the PCs are working for is essentially benevolent (while still being ruthless on demand) and remarkably intolerant of sociopaths within its own ranks. No steady spiral out into broken relationships and substance abuse for the Ordo Veritatis, thanks; you start to feel the strain, they get you competent psychological counseling. Because when you’re trying to patch holes in reality made by unnatural occurrences and human suffering maybe you shouldn’t be doing either yourself?
Vorpal Nerf Gun [Esoterrorists].
Vorpal Nerf Gun (VNG) – Google Docs
Vorpal Nerf Gun (VNG)
Appearance: a heavily-etched and carved plastic toy resembling a six-round revolver, and shooting foam darts. The VNG operates perfectly well as a foam dart shooter, but something about the configuration of the gun and the carvings makes it peculiarly suitable for disrupting Outer Dark Entities (ODEs). In game terms, the VNG acts as a two point pool dedicated to situations involving Special Means of Dispatch for a particular ODE. Unfortunately, any use of the VNG itself damages the membrane. Thus, determining the cost/benefit of use versus nonuse is sufficiently tricky that trying to do so in the field is strictly forbidden.
John George Vandenberg [Esoterrorists]
John George Vandenberg [Esoterrorists] – Google Docs
John George Vandenberg [Esoterrorists]
Musical Plumber
Born May 15, 1960, Fort Wayne, Indiana. Bachelors in Music, Curtis Institute of Music, Philadelphia. Masters and DMA, New England Conservatory of Music, Boston. As ‘George the Goof,’ three-time Grammy winner, five gold records, seven platinum, Academy Award for Best Musical Song (“Why Didn’t You Tell Me You Were Elvis?,” Singing To Ourselves), 1995. Married Sandra Brennan (country singer, poet), 1996: two children (Abigail, born 1999; James, born 2003).
Group: Consolidation [Esoterrorists].
Consolidation
There are unfortunately just a few too many missing-person reports and almost-sanitized crime scenes to allow the Order to dismiss Consolidation as being a government-horror urban legend – or a garbled account of OV activities. Consolidation exists independently, and it represents an ongoing problem. The group must be shut down as quickly as possible.
Consolidation exists, simply put, to kill human beings with psychic abilities before they can be corrupted into becoming Esoterrorists. Their regular method is to detect – somehow – a target with budding psychic powers; once they have found one, a member of Consolidation will approach the target and offer to train the new psychic in his new abilities. The target is then brought into what appears to be an accepting and warm community of mystic explorers and visionaries, hiding out of sight from the mundane world ‘until the time is right.’
Well, *that* was a pleasant enough billing error.
Pelgrane Press accidentally overcharged me ten bucks for a copy of The Esoterrorists‘ Worldbreaker, so they gave me fifteen bucks in store credit to make up for it. Well, they also offered to just refund my money, but they know their customer base: I cheerfully said Feel free to make that mistake again, friends to the computer screen and then promptly ordered that copy of The Gaean Reach that I had been eyeing. And that’s because six bucks net is a lot easier for me to scrounge up than twenty-odd for what is basically an impulse buy of a game I probably won’t get around to playing.
All in all, that is how you handle a customer problem: own up to it, show remorse, offer meaningful restitution – and you can end up keeping your customers happy and even make another sale.
Operation HATRACK MELANCHOLY [Esoterrorists]
(The following non-commercial, fan-created material is meant for use with the Esoterrorists RPG. The Esoterrorists is a Trademark of Pelgrane Press Ltd.)
Blame this.
File HATRACK MELANCHOLY: for the last year and a half, local Esoterrorist cells throughout the United States engaged in a series of bizarre, yet not immediately obviously dangerous, operations. A low-ranking Esoterrorist would travel to a locale several hours away from her* regular base of operations (presumably to keep the Order from tracking her) and surreptitiously install placards, notices, and/or at least one small statue in public, but out-of-the-way, locations. In all cases, the material commemorated distressing events that did not happen, or made bizarre and subtly alarming allegations that were not true, or were simply loaded down with Esoterrorist-significant keywords and imagery.
These behaviors were originally missed by OV observers primarily because, to date, they have not affected the membrane: not every unpleasant event or artifact results in supernatural harm, and there is no evidence that any harm has been inflicted here. An OV surveillance team had, through sheer chance, come across a low-level Esoterrorist engaged in this behavior; and once the Order knew what to look for we were able to run real-time observations on selected operations and the aftermath. And we found… nothing. There was a definite flicker in the membrane when one of the artifacts placed at the various sites were found for the first time, but it was barely above the level that people get when they see a squirrel that was hit by a car. Transitory spikes, nothing more.
Continue reading Operation HATRACK MELANCHOLY [Esoterrorists]