TEXT: A Penny Dreadful for Victoriana by Chad Bowser
  Hounds
  Hate 
  of
  The
  
  Hound s of Hate
  1
  The hounds
  of hate
  A Penny dreadful for Victoriana
  by Mr Chad Bowser
  Illustrated &Engraved by Mr Fufu Frauenwhal
  Cover Engraving by Mr Fufu Frauenwhal
  Layout & Edit by Mr John Tuckey
  The Victoriana Game World ©1992-2005, The Hounds of Hate © 2004, Heresy gaming.
  All Artwork is the property of the artist and used with permission.
  FUZION™ is the Fuzion Labs Group™ trademark for its Multigenre game system.
  
  Hounds of Hate
  2
  What has Come Before
  Ten years ago, Victor Johanssen was a young surgeon 
  just beginning his career and looking for a quick journey 
  to the top.  Unfortunately, his journey resulted in several 
  murders.  At the time, he thought nothing of it, because 
  his ‘practice cases,’ as he referred to them, were from the 
  lower class and science had a right to know how the body 
  worked.  If they went missing, he reasoned, nobody impor-
  tant would miss them.  Now, however, one of his practice 
  cases is back for revenge, in the form of a skriker.  Start-
  ing tonight, the skriker is going to make Johanssen regret 
  his earlier moral ﬂexibility when it came to his patients.   
  Ironically, Johanssen has become a Bolshevik sympathizer 
  and champion of healthcare for the unfortunate. He be-
  lieves he has atoned for his patients’ deaths by providing 
  free healthcare for the poor and donations to charities.  
  An unnatural portender of death, the skriker appears to 
  be a large black spaniel with saucer shaped eyes.  As the 
  skriker approaches its victim, all that the victim can hear 
  is sound of dripping and splattering mud – the sound of 
  charnel ground sloughing off the skriker’s legs and paws.
  The skriker has been watching Johanssen for several 
  weeks, and has determined how it will best strike fear 
  into his heart.  All of Johanssen’s closest friends and 
  acquaintances will be attending his 32nd birthday cel-
  ebration tonight, and the skriker plans on eliminating 
  the guests after they trickle away for the evening. To 
  achieve the ultimate terror, the skriker will kill several 
  guests per night over the course of the following week, 
  leaving Johanssen for last.  Each death will bring the 
  skriker one step closer to Johanssen, and revenge.
  Integrating the Players
  The adventure begins innocently enough at a dinner 
  party at the residence of Dr. Victor Johanssen, a Bol-
  shevik sympathizer.  Given his political leanings, it’s 
  a matter of course for him to have members from all 
  strata of society present, and should be no problem 
  getting each character invited. The players are good 
  friends of Johanssen.  Perhaps they’ve visited him for 
  medical aid and they hit it off; they belong to some of 
  the same revolutionary circles; or they saved his life 
  at some point and to repay the players, he offers to in-
  troduce them to his circle of inﬂuential friends.    
  Other than the characters, there will be a few other 
  people present; Johanssen wanted this to be an in-
  timate party. Major players are detailed below, but 
  the GM should feel free to introduce as many as he 
  wants to make the party seem bustling, but still pri-
  vate.  By the time the party is over, the characters 
  should know all the partygoers detailed below. 
  Scene 1: A Glorious Career   
  The party opens with Dr. Johanssen toasting his ca-
  reer and guests, thanking them for their support 
  throughout the years.  He then encourages the guests to 
  mingle and enjoy the various food courses laid out.
  The Partygoers: Listed below are each of the party go-
  ers and what’s foremost on their thoughts. Rather than 
  provide the exact words of each partygoer in a conversa-
  tion with the characters, the GM should use the info be-
  low as a cue and tailor the language for the characters.  
  Dr. Victor Johanssen.  An athletic man going prema-
  turely bald, Johanssen will talk to the characters about 
  any subject they want.  If given the chance to steer the 
  conversation, he will tell the players about the new 
  clinic he’s opening in a month.  He hopes to be able to 
  serve over two hundred patients a month.  Johanssen 
  will not charge for his services, but will ask for dona-
  tions.  While he and his backers provide the majority 
  of the money necessary to keep the clinic open, any 
  little bit will help, and he’s no longer too proud to ask.
  Vivian Glazier.  An attractive older dwarven woman, 
  Vivian is one of Johanssen’s primary backers, but she 
  doesn’t like to make that fact public. Glazier’s fam-
  ily earned its money the dwarf way – mining.  As a 
  “...an enormous coal-black hound, but not such a hound as mortal eyes have ever seen. Fire 
  burst from its open mouth, its eyes glowed with a smouldering glare, its muzzle and hack-
  les and dewlap were outlined in ﬂickering ﬂame. Never in the delerious dream of a disor-
  dered brain could anything more savage, more appalling, more hellish be conceived than 
  that dark form and savage face which broke upon us out of the wall of fog”
  Hound of the Baskervilles, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
   
  
  Hound s of Hate
  3
  child, Glazier saw how many of the poor min-
  ers died early, violent deaths, and hopes to pre-
  vent other unnecessary deaths by supporting 
  Johanssen’s clinic.  She is a very pleasant dinner 
  companion, and when drunk may slyly inti-
  mate to a male character that she is a widow.
  Peter and Stephanie Tillinghast.  Bol-
  sheviks through and through, the Till-
  inghast twins want nothing more than 
  total revolution.  These fraternal human 
  twins arrive at the party dressed in 
  worker’s clothes and spend the entire 
  party urging everyone to join their cause 
  and overthrow the oppressive regime.  
  They were treated by Johanssen af-
  ter a failed bombing, and introduced 
  him to the world of Bolshevism.
  Dr. Gregory Hollingsworth.  At 2’4”, 
  Hollingsworth is short for gnome, and 
  probably older than any gnome has a 
  right to be.  He was Johanssen’s men-
  tor when Johanssen was learning the 
  medical trade.  He knows of Johanssen’s 
  earlier murders, and is still disgusted 
  by them.  He’s never forgiven Johanssen for the 
  deaths, but game tonight to support the clinic, which 
  he’s serving at.  If the characters talk to Hollingsworth, 
  they’ll ﬁnd a cantankerous gnome who speaks highly 
  of the clinic.  If they ask about Johanssen’s early career, 
  Hollingsworth will pull no punches and explain about 
  the murders in the name of science.  He feels Johanssen 
  should have gone to prison, but the two police who inves-
  tigated were not interested in pursuing the matter at the 
  time, largely from the inﬂuence of Johanssen’s money.
  Andre Montena:  A French Eldren ex-patriot, Andre 
  is another ﬁnancial backer who wants to help Holling-
  sworth, but believes Johanssen to be a pretentious snob 
  who is acting benevolent toward the poor to appear 
  inline with Bolshevik thought, but has no real love of 
  the masses.  He will laud Hollingsworth, but talk deri-
  sively about anyone else at the party.  He feels Glazier 
  is a rich snob who should be removed from her wealth 
  and the wealth redistributed among the poor.  The Till-
  inghast twins, according to Montena, are a joke who 
  couldn’t carry out a revolution without a guidebook.
  Sebastian Caul:  Sebastian is the third backer of the 
  clinic.  While his family made most its money through 
  shipping, Sebastian has mastered the art of marry-
  ing well and then surreptitiously becoming a widower.  
  He’s providing the money to the clinic as a means of 
  laundering it.  No one at the party is aware of his true 
  purposes.  He pretends be a great supporter of the 
  poor and is friendly towards everyone at the party. 
  Scene 2: Entertainment
  Throughout the party, the GM should sprinkle the 
  following events. The characters should be allowed 
  to overhear or witness these events. These are de-
  signed to make the players suspicious of everyone.
  Sebastian arrives at the party and rapidly becomes 
  drunk.  He hits on any female characters in the party, 
  as well as Stephanie Tillinghast and Vivian Gla-
  zier.  The characters overhear Tillinghast telling Caul 
  to bugger off and see Caul grab her by the shoulders 
  and tell her she’ll be sorry, but he still thinks she’d be 
  better than any woman at the Fox.  At this point, Pe-
  ter walks over and shoves Caul back, calling him an 
  aristocratic fop who’ll regret angering the proletariat.  
  At that Caul moves off and takes another drink.
  The players overhear Johanssen telling Hollingsworth 
  to keep quiet and not tell anybody about that.  If 
  the players approach Johanssen, he’ll laugh and say 
  that the old gnome found out that Johanssen has his 
  eye on Stephanie.  If they approach Hollingsworth, 
  
  Hounds of Hate
  4
  embarrassed by the turn of events and sin-
  cerely apologizes to each of the guests 
  as they collect their coats and leave.
  When the characters leave, they ﬁnd the 
  London fog even thicker tonight than normal.  
  They’re only able to see a few feet in front of 
  them, but sounds echo clearly through the fog.  
  They can hear the shouts of people, 
  the clatter of hooves and carriage 
  wheels and the baying of hounds.
  As they fumble their way through 
  the streets, have them make Listen 
  checks against a DV 18.  Successful 
  characters will hear the sounds of 
  water dripping and mud slurp-
  ing from the next street over, 
  as though someone were wad-
  ing through deep, wet mud
  If they investigate, they ﬁnd 
  little piles of mud that seem-
  ingly stop in the middle of 
  the street.  Now, have them 
  make Listen checks against a DV 18. Those 
  who succeed hear the same noises, com-
  ing from the street they were originally on.  
  If they investigate, they ﬁnd more little piles of 
  mud that pick up on this street at coordinates 
  that coincide with where the drops left off on the 
  other street. The drops continue for a few hun-
  dred yards and seemingly stop in the middle 
  of the street.  By this point, the fog is rolling in 
  even thicker, limiting their vision even further.
  After they continue for a few more minutes, have 
  them make a third Listen check against a DV 
  18. If a character succeeds at the check hear the 
  slurping/dripping noises coming from right be-
  hind them.  When they whirl around, there are 
  more droplets of mud that stop about two feet 
  behind the characters.  If they follow the drop-
  lets back down the street, the trail only contin-
  ues for about thirty feet before it disappears.
  Any sensate medium character who makes a suc-
  cessful Sense the Supernatural check against 
  a DV of 14 feels a deep, penetrating sense of 
  foreboding doom.  Any channeling medium 
  character who makes a successful See the Su-
  pernatural check against a DV of 14 cannot 
  see the skriker, because it’s already teleported 
  he’ll tell them about Johanssen’s early mistakes.
  At some point, Peter will saunter up to the play-
  ers, open his coat and show them a large bottle.  “It’s 
  ether, chaps, and it’s for the rich bastards here.  We’ll 
  take ‘em down and rob ‘em blind.”  He then claps 
  a player on the back, stumbles over to a divan and 
  slumps down, falling asleep in a matter of minutes
  This event should be the last one the players witness:
  The players overhear loud shouting in the foyer and wit-
  ness Montena and Glazier shaking ﬁsts at each other.  
  Montena tells Glazier she needs to give up her riches 
  to the poor, or she’ll fall under the feet of the prole-
  tariat.  Glazier responds with rising on her tip-toes and 
  informing Montena in a matter of fact voice that he’s a 
  hypocrite. If he’s going to rile the dogs, he’d better be 
  prepared to lay with them.  To which Montena responds 
  that he’ll sick his dogs on her and that’ll be the end of it. 
  At this point, Glazier storms into the room, of-
  fers her apologies to Johanssen and says she’s 
  leaving. She then storms out of the house.
  Scene 3: Fond Adieus
  Glazier’s leaving deﬂates the mood for the party and 
  the remaining guests quickly trickle out.  Johanssen’s 
  
  Hound s of Hate
  5
  away, but does see the faint luminescent paw 
  prints of a large dog slowly fade to nothing.
  From this point on, the skriker leaves the 
  characters alone for the rest of the night, hav-
  ing already made its kill for the evening.  The 
  GM should feel free to have the characters 
  continue to make periodic listen checks, and 
  maybe even hear the sounds of mud slurp-
  ing and water dripping.  If they investigate 
  those sounds, there’s nothing to see, however
  Scene 4: Rude Awakenings
  The characters are awakened in the morning by 
  the sounds of a street news vendor calling out 
  the headlines.  “Dockyard strike shuts down 
  shipping!”  “Queen preparing for trip to Paris!” 
  “Socialite Vivian Glazier murdered in her study!”
  That last headline should insure that the charac-
  ters buy a paper, or at least steal one.  The article 
  reads that Glazier was found in her study around 
  4 a.m. by her maid.  Glazier’s clothes were torn 
  and body rent, as if by a large dog or great cat.
  Scene 5:  The Game’s Afoot
  What the characters do now is up to them, but the GM 
  should encourage them to keep delving deeper.  There are 
  several possible avenues of investigation.  As the char-
  acters head out to investigate, they notice that the thick 
  fog has lifted and the sun gleams through the clouds.
  Glazier’s residence:  This is a nice, upscale house sur-
  rounded by a wrought iron fence with a carriage house in 
  the back.  Police are still milling about inside the house 
  and on the street.  If the characters want to gain access, 
  Bull!, Charm, or Impress checks, against DV 14, should 
  get them past the police.  Once inside, the characters 
  have no trouble ﬁnding the body; they need simply look 
  for the largest congregation of police.  The body is still 
  where the maid found it.  If the players Scrutinize the 
  body, a check against DV 10 reveals the claw marks.  No 
  windows are broken in the study, so the attacker must 
  have come in through the front door.   If they decide to 
  search outside the house, a Scrutinize check against a 
  DV 18 turns up several dried piles of mud outside the 
  study windows.  A Sense the Supernatural check, 
  DV 14, turns up some additional, luminescent blue 
  claw marks on the body. It will take the characters 
  a few hours to fully search everything of interest. 
  The police assume a rabid hound slipped 
  through an open window and attacked Gla-
  zier and then slipped out again.  
  Montena’s residence:  The characters may recall 
  Montena’s statement that he should sic his dogs on 
  Glazier.  The easiest way for the characters to ﬁnd 
  Montena is to go to Johanssen’s, since he knows the 
  address, and Montena also left his card at the door. 
  If the characters hunt down Montena at his residence, 
  they’re greeted by several large Irish Wolfhounds prowl-
  ing around the outside.   Regardless of the time of day 
  the characters approach Montena’s, a chill wind starts 
  to blow, clouds blot out the sun and a fog rolls in.  When 
  the players arrive at the gate, the dogs begin bark-
  ing and growling, their hackles rising.  The characters 
  can push through the throng of eight dogs with little to 
  fear. They won’t attack until ordered by their master.  
  There’s no answer to a knock on the door.  If the players 
  begin to search around the house, a Scrutinize check 
  (DV 18) turns up more mud droppings.  Should a character 
  peep through a window, they see Montena’s body spread 
  on the ﬂoor, blood seeping into the thick Persian carpets.  
  A Pick Locks (DV 14) will get the players through the 
  door.  Bashing in a window is another viable route of en-
  try, but runs the risk of attracting attention.  A Luck check 
  
  Hounds of Hate
  6
  (DV 14) ensures that they’re not noticed. Montena’s body 
  is torn apart in the foyer.  What looked like his body lying 
  on the carpet was actually several pieces of his body in 
  close proximity to each other.  A Sense the Supernatural 
  (DV 14) check results in another feeling of impending 
  doom.  A See the Supernatural (DV 14) check results 
  in more phantom claw marks and fading paw prints.  The 
  fading prints lead away from the body to the northern 
  wall of the foyer, where they stop.  A Scrutinize (DV 
  18) turns up nothing unusual about the wall where the 
  paws stop.  The skriker merely chose that wall to teleport 
  through.  Other than the characters, no one knows Mon-
  tena’s fate yet, because he chooses not to keep servants.
  This can happen on any day the characters ap-
  proach Johanssen’s residence in the early evening.
  Johanssen’s residence: As the characters approach, 
  they see Johanssen usher in an obviously upset woman. 
  If they decide to listen in on the conversation, a Listen 
  (DV 14) check allows them to overhear the heated con-
  versation. The woman accuses Johanssen of killing her 
  sister several years ago, and is threatening to make him 
  pay.  Johanssen explains it was an accident.  The woman 
  then storms out, cursing Johanssen and promising him 
  he’ll ﬁnd an early grave and his clinic will never see the 
  light of day.  As the characters approach the front door, 
  a Scrutinize check (DV 10) shows several large drops 
  of mud.    If Sense the Supernatural was used when 
  the woman was still in view, a successful check (DV 14) 
  would once again reveal the overwhelming presence of 
  evil.  If See the Supernatural was used when the woman 
  was still in view, a successful check (DV 14) would show 
  the woman to actually be a large spaniel-like dog.  
  If the characters try to follow the lady, she turns a 
  corner and by the time the characters round the same 
  corner, she’s gone, but the fog is beginning to roll in.
  If the characters continue to Johanssen’s residence, he’ll 
  greet them with a forced smile.  A Perception (DC 14) 
  check will tell the characters that something is obvi-
  ously bothering him.  If asked, he’ll tell the characters 
  that Vivian Glazier is dead.  He won’t bring up the 
  woman the characters saw unless pointedly asked.  
  Then, he’ll explain that in his early career, his inex-
  perience resulted in a few unfortunate deaths.  This 
  woman was apparently the sister of one of those ac-
  cidents and is now threatening to expose him.
  If the characters tell him that Andre Montena 
  is also dead, Johanssen will take a step back, 
  looking even more shocked.   So far, two of his 
  backers are dead; what does that mean for the 
  clinic?  He tells the characters that he needs to 
  ﬁnd Sebastian Caul, and could use their help.
  If the players search out any other party goers dur-
  ing the course of the ﬁrst day, they’ll ﬁnd them safe in 
  their homes, sleeping off the after effects of the party.
  Scene 6:  Red Velvet
  Johanssen ushers the characters into his hansom 
  and tells the driver to take them to Sebastian Caul’s 
  residence.  As the hansom heads into Caul’s neighbor-
  hood, the fog begins to roll in again.  The driver com-
  ments “’Tis an unnatural soup we been having lately, 
  tain’t it sir?”  Johanssen looks out in the fog, and, as 
  dogs begin to howl, says “Yes, Thomas. Yes, it is.”
  When the hansom arrives at Caul’s palatial estate on the 
  outskirts of the city, the fog is again so thick that the 
  characters can only see a few feet in front of them.  
  Johanssen exits the hansom and goes to the door, 
  ﬁrmly gripping his bronze headed cane like a club.  
  The characters are free to accompany him to the 
  door, but do not have to. Either way, Johanssen soon 
  returns to the hansom.  Caul wasn’t home.  The but-
  ler suggested they check the Gentleman’s Club.
  The Gentleman’s Club is practically deserted.  The 
  doorman explains that the fog is keeping away most 
  of the regulars.  Johanssen demands to know if Caul’s 
  there.  The doorman responds that he was here, but left 
  about an hour ago.  If pressed on Caul’s destination, 
  the doorman will saw that he’s not sure, but he thinks 
  Caul was off to meet a lady.  Johanssen snorts that Caul 
  would never meet a lady over her own volition; they’d 
  never have him unless his coin was good and plenty.
  Johanssen returns to the hansom and tells the driver to 
  head home, there’d be no ﬁnding Caul tonight.  Any char-
  acter who remembers Cauls conversation with Stephanie 
  Tillinghast will recall Caul telling her that she’d be better 
  than any woman at the Fox.  If the characters don’t remem-
  ber Caul’s comment, an Intellect roll (DV 14) will clear 
  the fog from their memory. Johanssen responds that he 
  has no idea who or what the Fox is.  Thomas turns back 
  to the cab and says “The Fox?  ‘Tis a brothel, sir. Over 
  in the West End.” Johanssen gazes at Thomas and says 
  “To the Fox, Thomas. I gather you know where it is?”
  As the hansom arrives at the Fox, the front doors of the 
  brothel burst open and several naked women and men 
  run screaming into the fog.  As the characters enter, 
  they’re greeted by an entry room draped in thick red 
  
  Hound s of Hate
  7
  velvet.  On the carpet is a path of muddy paw prints.  
  The path leads to room off the main hallway.  If the 
  characters push the door in, the ﬁrst thing their eyes 
  set upon is Sebastian Caul, naked and eviscerated on 
  the bed.  On the ﬂoor is a naked woman.  The blue 
  velvet curtains are stained red with Caul’s blood. 
  A First Aid (DV 10) check reveals that the woman has 
  merely fainted, and is not dead.  A second First Aid (DV 
  14) check revives her.  As soon as she opens her eyes, she 
  sees Caul and starts screaming.   Several minutes of the 
  characters trying to soothe her nerves is necessary to end 
  her hysteria.  If the characters ask her what happens, she 
  starts sobbing “A hound it was! A great shaggy beast!  It 
  appeared in the corner, knocked me off my john and tore 
  into him.  As it ﬁnished, it gazed at me with huge eyes and 
  said… the damned beast spoke like a man, it did… it said 
  (4+the number of character + plus any other party goers 
  the GM added) to go!  Then… then… then it walked over 
  to the door and disappeared.  That’s when I passed out.” 
  Johanssen checks her over quickly, tells her she’ll 
  be alright and suggests she acquires a robe.  He 
  then turns to the characters and says it looks like 
  the clinic’s done for.  All his backers are gone. 
  Johanssen tell the characters to take his hansom 
  and go home.  He’ll take care of everything here. If 
  they leave, their adventuring is done for the night
  If they stay, Johanssen checks Caul’s body and 
  sends a runner for the police.  Interviewing any 
  of the other employees or guests will inform the 
  characters that they ran screaming when a large 
  bloody dog started walking down the hallway.
  Scene 7: Another Day
  The morning’s headlines shouldn’t surprise the 
  characters.  All the papers are awash with head-
  lines talking about the murders and murderous dog 
  on the loose. If a citizen sees a large dog, they’re to 
  stay away and contact an ofﬁcer immediately.  
  If the characters travel to Johanssen’s residence, 
  he’s not there.  The butler says he took the hansom 
  early this morning and hasn’t been back since.  
  The characters should be surprised when Johanssen 
  shows up around 5pm.  Regardless of where the char-
  acters actually are, he’s able to ﬁnd them.  Johanssen’s 
  white as a ghost and mumbles that he needs a drink.  
  Johanssen takes a long drink, followed by a long drag 
  on a cigarette before turning to the characters.  “This 
  morning, I went to Hollingsworth’s residence.  He was 
  in the yard, mauled.  Once the police arrived, I then 
  came over here to see if you were still… alive.”  
  Someone will suggest checking on the Bolshevik twins.  
  If they don’t, an Intellect check (DV 10) will suggest 
  it.  The autumn sky is already darkening when they 
  get into the hansom to race to the Tillinghast home.  
  More of a hovel than a home, the Tillinghasts live in 
  a ramshackle dive by the docks.  Chickens prowl the 
  front yard, searching the dirt for seed, and a couple of 
  tosher hounds wander aimlessly through the muck.  
  As Johanssen hops out of hansom, grabs his cane, and 
  walks to the door, a fog begins to swirl around his feet.  
  He raises his ﬁst to knock and the door opens awkwardly 
  a few inches at his touch.  As the characters approach, 
  he looks toward the stoop and takes a step back.  Just be-
  hind the door is a woman’s leg.  Johanssen recovers and 
  pushes inward.  The door gives and the leg, just the leg, 
  spins to a stop in the doorway.     Scattered through the 
  one room dwelling are the remains of Stephanie Tilling-
  hast.  By the backdoor, still clutching the handle, is the 
  arm of Peter Tillinghast.  The smell of cordite still ﬁlls the 
  air.  Apparently they fought the beast, and not long ago.  
  Scene 8: Denouement
  A successful Listen (DV 14) check allows the charac-
  ters to hear moaning coming from a door near the back 
  door.  If the characters open the door, Peter slumps out 
  into their arms.  A Body (DV 18) check for the person 
  opening the door is necessary to keep them from getting 
  bowled over by Peter as the tumbles out of the pantry.  
  He’s lost a great deal of blood and is barely conscious, 
  but his eyes show recognition when he sees the char-
  acters.  If they ask who did this, he responds with “It 
  was…damnedest thing…big dog appeared…nowhere…ed 
  Stephanie…tried…run…managed…hide…dog said…be 
  back…” and then coughs up blood all over the characters.  
  As Peter sputters, the characters hear an unearthly howl 
  come from outside.  Everyone must make an opposed 
  resolution roll against the skriker’s Howl roll.  If the 
  skriker wins, the character is horribly unnerved and is 
  at -4 for all rolls for the remainder of the day.  If they go 
  look, the density of the fog is amazing.  The character 
  could not see his hand at arms length.  But, glowing in 
  the fog is a large bluish black spaniel with huge round 
  eyes, mud dripping from its legs and jaw.   It gazes at the 
  character in the doorway and says, “Send out Johans-
  sen.”  If the character complies and sends out Johanssen, 
  despite Johanssen’s pleading to not let the dog have him, 
  
  Hounds of Hate
  8
  the skriker lunges at Johannsen, tearing out his throat.
  If the character asks the dog why it wants Johans-
  sen, it responds with “He killed me ten years ago, 
  and now I’ll take him back with me to Hell. Now, 
  send him out!”  The skriker, an undead portent of 
  doom, cannot be dissuaded from its revenge.
  If the characters refuse to send out Johanssen, the skriker 
  lunges at them, and they have to ﬁght the skriker.  It will 
  not be an easy ﬁght.  Statistics for the skriker, as well as 
  its methods of attack, are at the end of the adventure.
  The skriker will always try to attack Johanssen, but will 
  not ignore the characters if they successfully hit it.  If it 
  manages to kill Johanssen before the characters kill it, 
  the skriker will melt into the ground, never to be seen 
  again.  If the characters inﬂict enough damage to reduce 
  the skriker to zero health, it erupts in a blue gout of hellﬁre 
  that will burn all within 10’ for 2d6 lethal.  The skriker 
  is only momentarily set back; it will return for revenge 
  in ten years, with the characters now on its list as well
  Addendum: The Vengeful Dead
  As has been presented in the Victoriana main rules, ghosts 
  are created when a person dies with tasks undone or a 
  strong connection to the living world preventing the spirit 
  of the deceased from moving on into the spirit realm.
  Sometimes, however, at the moment of death a person 
  is so full of bestial rage or malign hate that their very 
  spiritual form is consumed and twisted by those emo-
  tions. In such circumstances the deceased returns not 
  as a normal ghost, but as a specter or a skriker.
  Specters are creatures composed of malign hatred. 
  They are bitter, implacable and twisted beyond recogni-
  tion. Skrikers are spirits consumed by bestial rage – to 
  the extent that their very spiritual forms are bestial; 
  equipped with jaws and claws to vent their spiritual rage 
  and vengeance. Both specters and skrikers are deﬁned 
  by the focus of the rage or hatred; they are compelled to 
  act against their focus swiftly, incessantly and spectacu-
  larly. As a skriker features prominently in the adventure 
  skriker stats follow, for those who desire, specter stats 
  can be found as a web addition at the heresy gaming 
  web site. An enormous amount of spiritual energy is 
  expended in this spontaneous transformation and as a 
  result specters and skrikers invariably spend their early 
  time as a barely sentient incorporeal spirit recharging 
  their resolve from the living before they are able to mani-
  
  Hound s of Hate
  9
  fest in their true form. Manifestation is accomplished 
  by the draining of resolve from any living creature that 
  passes by the place of death. That creature’s resolve is 
  consumed in a contested Mental competence roll (Resolu-
  tion roll for players). Every time the spirit wins, it steals 
  resolve from the target equal to its margin of success.
  Unless the victim is a medium who is able to se spirits, 
  they are unaware of the nature of the attack, and the attack 
  manifests as feelings of fear, terror, gripping cold, and a 
  general sense of malevolence engulﬁng them. A victim 
  who loses half their resolve in one attack immediately ﬂees 
  the area in terror, and a victim who loses all his resolve in 
  one attack will certainly pass out, and at the game master’s 
  discretion the victim might literally be killed by fright.
  Once the specter or skriker gains resolve equal to 
  [mental competence x 3], they are fully reborn in 
  their twisted spiritual form, with all their abili-
  ties, and they are free to fulﬁll their agenda of ven-
  geance against the focus of their existence. 
  Specters and skrikers are powerful, primal spirits and 
  their pent up rage and hatred is seldom simply limited 
  to just the focus of their undeath, any living creature 
  with the taint of the target’s spirit is a viable victim. In 
  the case of a murderer being the focus, the murderer’s 
  family, accomplices, and frequent acquaintances will 
  also be targets as the spirit wipes their focus and all 
  traces of its passing from the world of the living.
  Thankfully, once the focus is destroyed the spirits 
  very reason for being is gone and the massive amounts 
  of spiritual energy fuelling the tempest rapidly dis-
  solve [the spirit loses 1 from each competence each 
  hour] and the spirit can ﬁnally discorporate.
  Over the years necromancers have attempted to harness 
  the primal force of specters and skrikers. Some have 
  done so with a small margin of success. Regardless of 
  the forbidden knowledge of necromancy, the simplest of 
  rituals can prevent a specter from rising. The presence 
  of silver on the body can disrupt the spiritual energies 
  coalescing around the body in the ﬁrst place – giving 
  rise to the old custom of placing silver coins over the 
  eyes of the dead ‘to pay the ferryman’ – another old cus-
  tom frequently ignored in the modern age of reason.
  NEW NECROMANCY SPELLS
  Supplant Focus
  Resolve cost: 6 (30)
  Range: worldwide
  Duration: resolution/days
  This potent ritual allows a Necromancer to supplant 
  the focus of a specter or skriker with a new target of 
  his choosing. To enact this spell the necromancer must 
  have a personal possession of the new target, and a 
  personal possession of the spirit’s current focus. Once 
  the 3-hour long ritual is complete, the specter is fooled 
  into hounding down the new target for a period of days 
  equal to the caster’s resolution. If the spell fails, the 
  necromancer becomes an additional focus for the spirit 
  – most necromancers do not take this ritual lightly!
  Specter’s Cowl
  Resolve cost: 3 (26)
  Range: self
  Duration: resolution/rounds
  In order to cast this spell, the necromancer must have a 
  cloak with a hood – or at least a blanket to throw over 
  his head to create a makeshift hood. Once cast, the 
  necromancer’s hood appears to be a bottomless void, 
  with an intensely disquieting effect on those who gaze 
  into it. Those who gaze into the hood must make an op-
  posed resolution roll against the necromancer. Targets 
  who succeed are shaken with fear and act with a –4 
  modiﬁer to all rolls for a number of rounds equal to the 
  necromancer’s resolution. Targets who fail the resolu-
  tion roll are driven mad by the necromancer’s bottomless 
  gaze for a number of hours equal to their own resolution.
  
  Hounds of Hate
  10
  Skriker
  Mental Competence:  
  12
  Physical Competence:  
  15
  Health:  
   
  35/15 
  Skill Picks: 
   
  Hide & Sneak (10), Dodge! (8), Teleport (10)
  Combat Picks: 
  Bite 2d+3 lethal (10), Gaze (8) – opposed roll against opponent’s 
  resolution, or the target is stunned for 2 rounds, Howl (8) – opposed roll 
  against opponent’s resolution or the target is at a -4 for all rolls for the 
  remainder of the day. The howl can only affect a person one time a day.
  The skriker is the undead manifestation of a person wronged.  Appearing as a large bluish black 
  spaniel with saucer shaped eyes; the skriker is a fearsome foe.  It is constantly dripping remnants of 
  its internment in the earth.  In combat, the skriker prefers to attack with its powerful jaws in order to 
  cause as much pain as possible.  It likes to stalk its foes, using its howl to unnerve them.  If necessary, 
  it will use its gaze to make powerful foes more susceptible to its attacks.  Prior to engaging in combat, 
  the skriker will emit an unearthly Howl.  Anyone who fails an opposed Resolution check contested 
  against the skriker’s Howl roll, is unnerved and has a -4 to all rolls for the remainder of the day.  
  For 1 hour a day, the skriker can assume the form it had in life.  The skriker 
  is able to speak and understand any languages it knew when alive.
  The skriker is also able to teleport at will, up to one hundred yards away.  It must 
  make a successful Teleport check (DV 18) or it is unable to teleport.  
  Anytime the skriker is out and about, the surrounding landscape ﬁlls with an impenetrable fog. The 
  skriker has no control over this ability, it is merely an aspect of the returning from the grave.
  Chain Spirit
  Resolve cost: 4 (28)
  Range: sight
  Duration: resolution/hours
  This potent incantation binds a specter to the necroman-
  cer’s will for the duration. Once cast, the necromancer 
  must match his resolution+necromancy versus the spirit’s 
  highest competence rating. With success the spirit fol-
  lows orders as a greater undead for the spell’s duration. 
  Vengeful spirits resent being bound in this fashion and 
  so most necromancers who use this spell will also use 
  a geas to protect themselves from their new servant.
  Specter’s Touch
  Resolve cost: 2 (26)
  Range: touch
  Duration: 1 touch
   This spell allows a necromancer to paralyze a target 
  with fear. Upon a successful touch, the necromancer 
  and his target contest their resolution +necromancy. 
  If the necromancer is successful the target loses half 
  of their current resolve and are at –8 to all actions for 
  a number of rounds equal to their resolution as they 
  are gripped with an intense, unreasoning terror. 
  
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SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Victoriana/Victoriana The Hounds of Hate.pdf