TEXT: A CALCULATING SMALL-TIME VILLAIN DRIVEN TO KILL BY FATHERLY LOVE
  
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  Hidden behind the mundane per-
  sona of a used car salesman and 
  concerned father, Walter Stephen-
  son (Geppetto) is the last person 
  anyone would expect to be a serial 
  killer. Butchering and dismember-
  ing his victims, he truly believes 
  one day he’ll be able to make his 
  handicapped son, Freddy, into “a 
  real boy”.
  Written by Jack Godwin 
  As suggested by Zachery Bickett 
  Editing: Eran Aviram 
  Game Production: Omer Shapira 
  Proofreading: Marshall Oppel 
  Art: Hinchel Or (Gunship Revolution) 
  Graphic Design: Manuel Serra Saez 
  City of Mist by Amit Moshe
  © 2019 Son of Oak Game Studio / Amít Moshe
  HOW TO USE WALTER IN YOUR 
  CITY OF MIST GAME
  This PDF describes a small-scale criminal opera-
  tion for the City of Mist RPG, run by the Rift of 
  Geppetto, Walter Stephenson, a maniacal serial 
  killer. You can use Walter and his son Freddy in 
  your City of Mist series in the following ways: 
  • As a component in a case or story arc you 
  are creating, where Walter is used or manipu-
  lated by a different villain to dispose of com-
  petition or specific individuals that hinder that 
  villain’s operation.
  • As a side case, in which the crew is assigned or 
  hired to investigate the vicious murders of Ryan 
  White or any of Walter’s other victims. Alter-
  natively, the crew might stumble into Walter 
  and Freddy’s storyline while at the hospital, or 
  when at the used car lot buying a vehicle.
  • As a ready-to-play random encounter, if one 
  of the crew members or a supporting character 
  encounter Freddy and make a comment about 
  him in Walter’s presence, or have Walter misin-
  terpret their words as degrading, thus marking 
  them as his next victim.
  PUPPET SHOW
  CITY OF MIST   |   2
  
  WALTER’S BACKGROUND
  Walter Stephenson grew up in the Blue-Collar 
  Residential neighborhood, the only child of a work-
  ing-class couple. He lived an average life in every 
  sense of the word, graduating from high school and 
  marrying his sweetheart three months later. Walter’s 
  family could never afford to send him to college, but 
  thanks to his strong communication skills, he was 
  able to secure a decent living as a used car salesman 
  at a dealership called “Cash for Cars”.
  Two years after his marriage, Walter’s wife gave 
  birth to their son, Freddy Stephenson. Freddy was 
  born missing his right arm and leg, with severe birth 
  defects in his heart and lungs, and an underdeveloped 
  brain. Just minutes after the birth of their child, Wal-
  ter’s wife bled to death, leaving Walter alone to care 
  for their son.
  Freddy’s childhood was difficult. Between his missing 
  leg and underdeveloped cognitive capacity, he was 
  never able to learn how to walk, even with a prosthetic, 
  so he had to rely on a wheelchair for mobility. For the 
  first several years, Walter would find himself bringing 
  Freddy to the hospital on an almost weekly basis. As 
  Freddy grew older, he suffered terribly from his endless 
  health issues and constant bullying from his peers. No 
  kid his age wanted to hang out with someone who was 
  only “half a person”, as they often put it.
  Walter encouraged his son to try and find a hobby to 
  fill his time. After trying an assortment of different 
  activities and games, Freddy finally found a deep 
  interest in puppet making. Walter believed his son 
  developed this interest due to his lack of real friends, 
  but regardless of the reason, he was just glad to see 
  his son take interest in anything.
  Freddy’s puppets started as simple designs, mostly 
  sock puppets and paper bags. As he grew older, his de-
  signs grew more complex, eventually moving to wood. 
  While Freddy struggled in most tasks, he seemed to 
  have a real aptitude for woodworking and puppet mak-
  ing. His father, ecstatic at his son’s developing hobby, 
  began helping him create more and more complex and 
  interesting puppets. Once built, Walter would perform 
  for Freddy with the puppets, making them appear 
  almost as though they were alive.
  Freddy Stephenson is now thirty years old, living with 
  his father Walter. He spends most of his time in his 
  workshop working on his next puppet. He also enjoys 
  watching television shows and listening to whatever 
  might be on the radio. Freddy has come to enjoy his 
  daily routines, but his father was never content with 
  them, always desiring more for his son.
  While Freddy never seemed to take notice of the 
  bullying and the looks sent his way, Walter noticed all 
  of them. Whether at school, at the hospital, or on the 
  streets, it always seemed to him that someone was 
  making fun of Freddy or giving him a judgemental 
  look. This enraged Walter and led him to get into more 
  than a few fights over the years. Eventually, this anger 
  took Walter to a much darker place, leading him to kill.
  WALTER’S OPERATION
  Walter’s life as a serial killer began with the mur-
  der of Ryan White, who has recently moved in to a 
  neighbouring house. After hearing Ryan make some 
  rude jokes about Freddy, Walter attacked him near his 
  home that night, striking him on the back of the head 
  and killing him instantly. While the motive for the 
  killing was based on Walter’s furious anger, the mur-
  der itself was done with meticulous planning. Walter 
  did not strike as a lunatic thirsty for blood, but as a 
  careful, intelligent man who always has a plan before 
  making his next move.
  Walter was taking Ryan’s body to a nearby bridge for 
  disposal when he suddenly had a terrible idea: This 
  dead man had limbs that Freddy could use. It was an 
  insane thought, but Walter, metalicious as he was, 
  didn’t just dismiss it. Using a saw from his woodwork-
  ing toolbox, he removed Ryan’s right limbs, throwing 
  the remainder of the corpse into the river. He stored 
  the limbs in a deep freezer until, months later, they 
  would be used in the first of many horrific experiments.
  Over the course of the next couple of months, Walter 
  Stephenson took the lives of two more people who 
  showed scorn towards his son. The mutilated bodies - 
  one limb was taken from each - were carried down the 
  river and out of the jurisdiction of the local police.
  PUPPET SHOW
  CITY OF MIST   |   3
  
  Walter’s love for his son seemed to grow deeper and 
  stronger to the point of obsession. He spent even 
  more time with his son and his puppets, performing 
  puppet shows and making the mannequins seem 
  alive. It was during one of these very puppet shows, 
  right after the murder of his third victim, that Walter 
  discovered he could make the puppets come to life. 
  With simple verbal commands, Walter was able to 
  make the puppets do whatever he asked of them. He 
  no longer needed to do the killing himself, the pup-
  pets could do it for him.
  Since then his MO changed drastically. Using cam-
  era-carrying puppets as scouts, he began devising 
  plans of entry well ahead in advance of the murder 
  itself. On the night of the murder, he would send es-
  pecially-equipped puppets into his victim’s bedroom, 
  where they would silently restrain and kill, leaving 
  even the person sleeping next to the victim unaware 
  of what happened. During each murder, Walter has 
  his puppets cut off one or more body parts and return 
  them to him. The puppets do this by placing the limbs 
  in safe places near the crime scene where Walter can 
  then go and pick them up. The only part Walter has 
  never taken is the head, having no use of another 
  person’s mind.
  Because of Walter’s careful planning and abilities, 
  the authorities are operating at a great disadvantage: 
  Walter’s puppets can enter through small cracks and 
  leave no biological evidence behind, making it nearly 
  impossible to investigate the crime scenes using 
  mundane methods. Worse still, because of Walter’s 
  change of MO, the police have only been able to con-
  nect between the last five murders, as of yet unaware 
  they are chasing the person who is also behind the 
  first three murders.
  Walter targets only people who insult his son in some 
  way. This does not have to be a direct insult, and any 
  slight, real or imagined, can put a person in Walter’s 
  sights. Walter has begun to specifically target victims 
  who share a similar body size and build with Freddy, 
  hoping to find a suitable set of replacement limbs 
  for his son (See A Construct of Flesh sidebar). Walter 
  does have a soft spot for children, however, and while 
  he will not harm a child, he is not above targeting 
  parents for the sins of their children, believing them 
  responsible for their child’s behavior.
  Walter spends his free time at home, helping his son 
  to craft new puppets that he later uses as untraceable 
  assassins, the rest of his time being spent at Cash for 
  Cars or taking Freddy to his doctor’s appointments. 
  To the outside world, Walter comes off as a concerned 
  father exhausted from the labors of caring for his son, 
  but his dark, violent persona lurks just below the sur-
  face, easily triggered by a whispered insult or a wrong 
  look in his son’s direction.
  A CONSTRUCT OF FLESH
  The police (and probably also the crew) are espe-
  cially puzzled by the goriest aspect of the mur-
  ders: why does the killer take body parts from his 
  victims? The answer lies in the latest power Walter 
  Stephenson gained from the Mythos of Geppetto. 
  Beyond his ability to command puppets to do his 
  bidding, Walter is also able to animate puppets 
  made of flesh.
  Walter doesn’t intend on using his new ability for 
  murder – to him, this power has a very different 
  purpose. Walter does not just kill because he 
  wants to protect his son from those that would do 
  him harm; his ultimate goal is to give Freddy the 
  arm and leg that he should have had from birth, 
  and at last make his son into “a real boy”!
  As of yet, Walter hasn’t tried to attach a new arm 
  and a leg to Freddy. So far, he has been unable to 
  find a way to grant another person control over 
  the limbs, nor has he found a better way to attach 
  the limbs than using simple needle and thread. In 
  his experiments, Walter has created several Flesh 
  Puppets, horrible constructs of severed limbs that 
  serve him just as his other puppets do. While they 
  are vastly more dangerous than his other minions, 
  Walter will not use them unless absolutely neces-
  sary. As the crew closes in on him, this option will 
  probably begin to look like the best chance he has.
  KEY LOCATIONS
  CASH FOR CARS
  A classic example of a used car lot. Stationed on 
  the corner of two busy streets on the edge of the 
  Blue-Collar Residential neighborhood, the lot is 
  filled with cars of many shapes, sizes, and condi-
  tions. The lot is owned by a slightly overweight and 
  balding middle-aged man named Kumar Nadar, his 
  features made far more distinct due to his fashion 
  sense (or lack thereof). He often wears a worn-out 
  stetson hat and an old plaid blazer, at least one size 
  too small. Walter has been working here ever since 
  finishing college and has a good working relation-
  PUPPET SHOW
  CITY OF MIST   |   4
  
  ship with Kumar. The pay comes on time, and the 
  holiday bonus is usually good enough to provide 
  Walter with extra funds to buy new materials for 
  Freddy’s puppets.
  The lot employs a few salesmen other than Walter, 
  but most of them come and go every year or so. Cash 
  for Cars’ roster has one more constant - Lisa Nadar - 
  Kumar’s wife, who acts as the accountant, office man-
  ager, and, as all employees know, the real authority 
  around the used car lot. With a sharp sense for both 
  business and numbers, Lisa makes sure that Cash and 
  Cars stays afloat in the ever changing market, while 
  making sure that her husband is kept busy (and smil-
  ing) on the floor, attending to the customers. Having 
  strong maternal instincts but no children of her own, 
  Lisa helped Walter a lot during the first few years of 
  Freddy’s life. She’s very fond of Freddy and enjoys 
  feeding him her delicious home-cooked meals while 
  talking with him about his newest projects whenever 
  he comes around.
  INVESTIGATING CASH FOR CARS
  Lisa Nadar knows how to keep her books in order 
  and the Nadars are known throughout the neigh-
  borhood as law-abiding citizens, repulsed by any 
  kind of criminal activity. Needless to say, this makes 
  the establishment devoid of any suspicion by law 
  enforcement, which works to the benefit of Walter’s 
  sinister activities. Conforming with the dichotomous 
  nature of his personality, none of Walter’s actions are 
  performed in or around the premises of Cash for Cars. 
  He knows better than to mess with Lisa’s observant 
  eye. Though nothing has been discussed between the 
  two, Lisa seems to know that Walter is hiding some 
  secret; something has changed about him, these past 
  six months or so.
  The Nadars are a private couple and would not be 
  quick to reveal information about their employees to 
  snoopy strangers coming in with questions. In fact, 
  they would probably report such suspicious activity 
  to the police. However, if they ever become suspicious 
  of any illicit activity that’s taking place in their own 
  establishment, they’ll probably be more lenient to 
  provide information.
  THE STEPHENSON’S RESIDENCE
  Walter and Freddy’s place is a small, one-story home 
  squeezed in between two almost identical houses on 
  a quiet cul-de-sac, located in one of the older parts 
  of the Blue-Collar Residential. The street is home to 
  hard-working, middle-income families, mostly get-
  ting by from paycheck to paycheck.
  The Stephenson home is distinguishable by the 
  handicap ramp that has been set up to make the front 
  porch accessible for when Freddy uses his wheel-
  chair. Inside, the small kitchen and living room are 
  fairly plain, but the garage has been transformed into 
  a workshop for Freddy’s woodworking. This work-
  space is filled with tools, flat tables, and even a lathe, 
  though Freddy is not allowed to operate the lathe by 
  himself. Working materials of many different kinds 
  are placed all around the floor - blocks of wood, fab-
  rics, buttons, and zippers - alongside puppets of many 
  shapes and in varying degrees of assembly.
  The two upstairs bedrooms are as plain as the rest 
  of the house. Walter’s bedroom is a boxy but awfully 
  tidy room with a narrow closet, containing Walter’s 
  “extensive” wardrobe of three suits - everyday, Sun-
  day, and holiday. Despite being in his 30s, Freddy’s 
  bedroom appears to fit a boy a third his age - viv-
  id-colored furniture and a racing-car bed. A multi-
  tude of puppets occupy every open space of Freddy’s 
  bedroom floor, from finger puppets to stick figurines, 
  through sock puppets and marionettes, all are lying 
  silently, “waiting their turn” to play with Freddy.
  INVESTIGATING THE CUL-DE-SAC
  Among the nearly identical-looking houses around 
  the cul-de-sac, one can also find the home of Ryan 
  White’s family. The Whites have remained in the 
  house even after Ryan’s disappearance. In fact, with 
  just one provider for the family, Lynda White, they 
  feel lucky to even have a home. The two siblings, 
  Sarah and Oliver (ages 16 and 14) have been trying 
  to help their mom the best they can, taking odd jobs 
  in and around the neighborhood.
  Most families in the neighborhood don’t pay much 
  attention to what goes on in other people’s homes, 
  but ever since Ryan’s disappearance, the people of the 
  cul-de-sac have started to act as more of a commu-
  nity, with Friday potlucks and many a Sunday spent 
  in the nearby park. The Stephensons have not shied 
  away from this and are considered quite the life of 
  the party, with Freddy showing off new designs for 
  puppets and Walter entertaining the younger kids. 
  Not everybody is happily accepting of the quirky 
  Stephensons; Oliver White in particular is suspicious 
  of Freddy, and if asked will comment that: ‘I know he’s 
  not alright in the head, but that just makes me think he’s 
  capable of hurting someone without showing remorse.
  PUPPET SHOW
  CITY OF MIST   |   5
  
  WALTER IN PERSON
  There are two sides to Walter Stephenson’s personal-
  ity. When meeting someone for the first time, Walter 
  comes off as a tired father who has been stretched 
  to his limit. He is always polite, but his patience is a 
  bit short. Above all else, Walter’s concern for his son, 
  Freddy, is very apparent. He enjoys boasting about his 
  son’s creations, and will take great offense to any-
  thing rude said about him.
  On the flipside, Walter’s second persona is a cold, 
  calculating killer. When Walter is in the moment of 
  killing and dismembering his victims, all pretense of 
  emotion seems to leave him, and even surrounded 
  by puppets, it almost seems as if he is the one made 
  of wood. He shows no remorse for those he kills, and 
  is very difficult to throw into a rage, unless Freddy is 
  threatened in some way.
  WALTER’S ABILITIES
  Walter possesses the power to bring puppets to life 
  and have them obey his every command. When awo-
  ken, the puppet seems to hang in the air, as though 
  an invisible puppet master was controlling it. The 
  puppets are not capable of cognitive thought and are 
  simply following the commands of their master.
  Walter’s growing connection with the wooden puppets 
  has made him lose touch with his emotions. Whenever 
  Walter uses his abilities, he seems to become drained 
  of all feelings, almost as though he was a puppet 
  himself. This prevents him from becoming enraged or 
  being sympathetic towards his victim in any way.
  USING FREDDY AS A DECOY
  The crew might first suspect Freddy of being the 
  culprit behind the murders, seeing as he is the one 
  who creates the dolls. This could also lead them to 
  think that he is in fact the Rift of Geppetto, or the 
  Rift of Pinocchio. As the MC you might want to steer 
  your players toward such a conclusion, by either 
  stressing his doll-making capabilities or by utilizing 
  Freddy’s tendency to lie and his Itchy Nose move.
  Note that even a simple conversation with Freddy 
  might reveal that he is in fact innocent, and more-
  over, does not in the least suspect his father of 
  being a murderer. In fact, suggesting as much will 
  make Freddy uncooperative, due to his protective 
  nature and infantile mannerisms.
  The fact that Freddy wants to protect his father 
  could (and should!) be used to present a moral 
  dilemma of how to engage Walter without hurting 
  his innocent son.
  WALTER STEPHENSON (GEPPETTO) yyy
  While Walter bears few means of physically hurting 
  others, he makes up for this lack of strength with 
  cunning and the incredible power to bring puppets 
  to life. Walter tries his best to stay out of the fight, 
  letting his mindless servants do the dirty work, but 
  he would also prefer to go down swinging than to 
  risk leaving his son alone without a father.
  HURT OR SUBDUE 3  /  APPEAL TO THE FATHER IN HIM 5
  • A Loving Father: When Walter enters the scene, 
  give him overprotective. Whenever anyone insults 
  or threatens his son, give him furious-2.
  • Wooden Heart: When Walter’s psychopathic per-
  sona is revealed, remove all his emotional statuses 
  and give him cold-and-calculated-3. This status 
  can be renewed as a hard move.
  The puppets come in many forms and with varying 
  complexities. Ranging from simple sock puppets to 
  intricate wooden marionettes, and operated by hand 
  or by strings, these puppets serve as both cheap 
  entertainment for Freddy and the neighborhood kids, 
  and as Walter’s silent couriers of violence.
  • Make a Puppet Out of You: When you attack 
  Walter, if he can see you, he first takes control over 
  one of your limbs, imposing hitting-myself-2 (If not 
  resisted, this status may prevent the attack).
  • Clever Planning: Twice per scene, when the 
  crew is at the Stephenson Residence  or a place 
  Walter has previously surveyed, the MC can use a 
  soft move to remove up to two tiers of beneficial 
  statuses or place a simple but deadly trap.
  • Bodyguards: When Walter or Freddy take a status 
  from which his puppets can protect them, the 
  puppets take the status instead. As a hard move, 
  Walter can call additional puppets and command 
  them to act (create a new Puppet Danger).
  • Strike with a hammer (blunt-trauma-3)
  • Call forth his puppets and orchestrate their actions
  • Lunge at his victim, showing no emotion or remorse
  PUPPET SHOW
  CITY OF MIST   |   6
  
  FREDDY STEPHENSON (SLEEPER) y
  Freddy is missing both his right arm and leg. The miss-
  ing limbs have been replaced by wooden prosthetics, 
  but Freddy still depends on his wheelchair for mobility. 
  He spends most of what time he has outside of hospi-
  tals working on elaborate puppet designs, using special 
  tools designed by Walter that connect to the end of his 
  wooden arm. These attachments include a hammer, a 
  screwdriver, a hook, and a small paint brush.
  Freddy is unaware of the devious purpose his father 
  has given the puppets, choosing to make puppets 
  because they are “just like him” and are “the only 
  real friends” he has ever had.
  HURT OR SUBDUE 1  /  THREATEN 3
  • A Loving Son: When you try to use Freddy 
  against his father, he first gets loyal-3.
  • Itchy Nose: If you spend a Clue to ask Freddy a 
  yes/no question and you know his tell (he scratch-
  es his nose, turning it red and itchy), you always 
  get a straight answer. On a 7-9, the MC cannot 
  choose to give you fuzzy clues.
  • Guilt Trip: When you hurt or threaten Freddy, it 
  breaks your heart and you take remorseful-3.
  • Move into the line of attack to protect his father, 
  or to protect a friend from murderous puppets 
  (Make Something Horrible Happen)
  • Beg you to leave his dad alone (hesitant-2 or sad-2)
  • In a fit of rage, stab you with one of his prosthetic 
  attachments (stab-1)
  • Fearfully hold on to his puppets and watch events 
  unfold
  • Angrily cry and chastise someone for being bad
  SOCK PUPPETS y
  The first puppets Freddy created were simple sock 
  puppets, with glued-on googly eyes and a smile 
  drawn with a red marker.
  BURN OR TEAR 2  /  DISENCHANT 1  /  COMMUNICATE –
  • Collective: This collective has several members 
  and a size factor of 2.
  • Open the Drawers: Once per session, as a hard 
  move, if the Sock Puppets are at the Stephenson 
  Residence, they can open the drawers and increase 
  their collective’s size factor by 1.
  • Wrap itself tightly around someone’s neck (constrict-
  ed-throat-2) or tie itself over someone’s eyes (blind-2)
  • (As a collective) Surround someone, bouncing 
  silently towards them
  FLESH PUPPET yyy
  A hideous creation of Walter’s design, these puppets 
  are made from the stolen body parts of the serial 
  killer’s victims. These constructs are a grotesque 
  combination of sewn together arms and legs, bound 
  together by a single torso at the center.
  The Flesh Puppets can’t be ordinarily disenchant-
  ed because Walter placed tiny bits of himself (hair, 
  fingernail clips) in them.
  DISMEMBERED 6  /  COMMUNICATE –
  • Nightmarish: The first time in a scene the Flesh 
  Puppet moves, everyone who sees it takes ha-
  rrowed-3. In the next downtime, if you still have 
  this status, you cannot take a recovery action that 
  requires rest.
  • Bloody Mess: Whenever the Flesh Puppet takes 
  a status on the dismembered spectrum, it inflicts 
  gory-mess-2 on anyone close to it.
  • Blood Everywhere: When the dismembered 
  spectrum is maxed out, add dismembered limbs and 
  pools of blood to the scene.
  • Leap atop its victim, pinning them below its wei-
  ght and unnatural strength (held-down-3) or flail 
  its arms and legs wildly at its prey (battered-4)
  • Stand still, in all its horrifying glory
  • Rush towards a victim, limbs flailing
  WOODEN PUPPETS yy
  This classic wooden puppet comes in many forms. 
  Most resemble people, but a few of Freddy’s cre-
  ations may also resemble animals. Regardless of 
  their given form, Walter has since modified these 
  puppets to wield tools and knives, making them 
  dangerous additions to his mindless army.
  BREAK OR BURN 3  /  DISENCHANT 2  /  COMMUNICATE –
  • Collective: This collective has a few members and 
  a size factor of 1.
  • Wooden: When Wooden Puppet enters the scene, 
  give it hard as wood.
  • Attack with an attached tool (gashing-wound-3, 
  cracked-bones-3, or deep-cut-3)
  • Creep towards their victim, creaking and squeaking
  PUPPET SHOW
  CITY OF MIST   |   7
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/City of Mist (PbtA)/Adventures/Puppet Show.pdf