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  Cover Art ............................................................................................................................................. 1
  Between Sin & Salvation   by hive ..................................................................................................................................... 1
  Table of Contents ................................................................................................................................ 2
  Editorial .............................................................................................................................................. 3
  Never Give Up, Never Surrender!   by Chris Carpenter ......................................................................................................3
  1999 Origins Awards Update ...............................................................................................................................................3
  Plot Hooks .......................................................................................................................................... 4
  Dr. Nakami’s Quarterly Report to the Institute: The Hoffman Agenda Revealed!   by Wolfgang Baur ...........................4
  Equipment ......................................................................................................................................... 12
  New Concealed Weapons   by A. Shane Murphy ................................................................................................................ 12
  Adventures......................................................................................................................................... 13
  Dancing to the Wrong Tune   by Marcus D. Bone ............................................................................................................... 13
  Dark Races .........................................................................................................................................23
  Pets of Mephistopheles   by A. Shane Murphy ..................................................................................................................23
  The Uninvited   by Lee Williams .......................................................................................................................................24
  Art Gallery.........................................................................................................................................25
  Easy Prey   by Andrew Simmons .......................................................................................................................................25
  House Rules .......................................................................................................................................26
  Generic Horror Adventure Generator   by Dale Robert Thurber ......................................................................................26
  Milieu ................................................................................................................................................28
  Living Dead Girl:  A Deadworld for All Flesh Must Be Eaten   by Christopher Haynes .................................................. 28
  Containment Zones   by Lee Williams .............................................................................................................................. 41
  New Empathic Cells   by Lee Williams .............................................................................................................................42
  DarkTek ..............................................................................................................................................43
  Dark Devices   by A. Shane Murphy ...................................................................................................................................43
  Necromancy Mask   by Pål Wilhelmsen.............................................................................................................................44
  Web Watch ..........................................................................................................................................45
  Which Role Playing Game is Best? ....................................................................................................................................45
  Fiction ...............................................................................................................................................46
  AFMBE Playtest Session   by Rob Beck II ...........................................................................................................................46
  Call To Darkness Part 2   by Mike Marchi ..........................................................................................................................53
  Dark Humour .....................................................................................................................................56
  Overheard at the Game Master Lounge   by Mike Marchi & John Noddings ..................................................................56
  The Loose Ends ..................................................................................................................................57
  The Back Cover ..................................................................................................................................58
  
  EDITORIAL
  EDITORIAL
  EDITORIAL
  EDITORIAL
  EDITORIAL
  33333
  Never Give Up, Never Surrender! by Chris Carpenter
  It has happened to the best of
  products: cars, snack foods, and yes,
  even role playing games. Sometime in the
  life of the product, the company decides,
  “This is no longer a profit generating
  item,” and the wheels of the production
  line grind to a halt. No more Range Rover.
  No more Reggie bar.  And no more… well,
  fill this blank with your favorite role
  playing game. Kult, Chill, Dark
  Conspiracy, and now Dark*Matter. Gone,
  dead, kaput. There is the expected
  grieving, the cries of justice from the
  masses, and eventually the acceptance
  that a favorite hobby will quickly be
  replaced by a new one.
  But times have changed. We are no
  longer subject entirely to the dictates of
  the gaming industry. In fact, with the
  miracle of the internet, games considered
  long-dead have taken on a new life. Dark
  Conspiracy is one of those games.
  Canceled with the closing of Games
  Designers Workshop, its true fans
  languished in obscurity. The ‘net gave
  those fans an outlet with which to reach
  out and find others like them, and
  eventually a whole network of websites,
  mail forums and chatrooms sprung up,
  all in support of a “dead game.” Of
  course, the story does not end there.
  Revived after years of being out of print,
  DC is now in its second edition, with no
  sign of slowing down.
  So, what are you doing to keep your
  game alive? Are you going to sit by and
  let your passion slide? Or are you going
  to do your best to keep your favorite role
  playing game in the hearts and minds of
  its players, by organizing local games,
  writing and sharing adventures with your
  fellow fans, or setting up a fan-site on
  the world wide web? All of these things
  work, we know they do; this publication
  is proof positive of that fact. Don’t worry
  about your writing style, we can’t all be
  professional authors; the key is in your
  enthusiasm, it will shine thru any work
  you do to forward the cause of your
  game.
  I have one last note. Most of you
  have played numerous different games,
  some of which have most likely gone out
  of print. You may ask, out of all the games
  that I have played and enjoyed, which
  should I put my efforts towards? Well,
  the answer may lie in a combination of
  your personal knowledge of the games,
  its entertainment value, and its “capacity
  for growth.” I think, though, that writing
  articles and stories to expand upon the
  known boundaries of games, pushing the
  envelope of what people think can and
  can’t be done within the context of an
  RPG is the most important. This sort of
  outside-the-box approach to game design
  can be the best and the most satisfying,
  because it throws players (and game
  masters) into situations they never
  dreamed of, and can breath new life into
  tired cliché game settings (“You are
  sitting in a tavern…”)
  I think Piet Hein said it best:
  Problems: “Problems worthy of attack
  prove their worth by hitting back.”
  OK, I’ve said my piece, now get out there
  and save that game!
  Chris Carpenter - Associate Editor
  Ballots will be accepted thru June 28, 2000
  The online ballot can be found at:
  http://www.gama.org/academy/vote/vote.phtml?election=Origins00
  Download the traditional print-out/mail-in ballot at:
  http://www.gama.org/academy/pdf_ballots/general_ballot_2000.pdf
  Origins International Game Expo & Fair
  July 13th - 16th, 2000 - Columbus, OH
  Each year at Origins, The Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts
  and Design presents the Origins Awards - which are quite simply,
  the gaming industry equivalent of the Oscars.
  Several games and supplements that fall under the scope of our magazine have been nominated for awards
  this year.  For the first time this year, the Academy is allowing the public portion of the vote to be tabulated online
  as well as via the traditional mail-in ballot.  Be sure to check out the ballot, and vote for your favorites!
  To our loyal fans:  Although DEMONGROUND is eligible for the award for “Best Amateur Gaming Magazine”, we did not
  receive a nomination in this category, and do not appear on the ballot.  However, you can still vote for us!  The ballot
  allows a write-in vote for each category.  To vote for DEMONGROUND in the write-in section for Category 6.1 - Best
  Amateur Gaming Magazine, you would need to write:
  Title:
  DEMONGROUND
  Publisher:
  DEMONGROUND (http://www.demonground.org/)
  1999 Origins Awards Update
  
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  Dr. Nakami’s Quarterly
  Report to the Institute
  The Hoffmann Agenda Revealed!
  by Wolfgang Baur
  For those of you without authorized access to this document, shame on you. For those
  Institute agents who have not read the copy of this document that you were all previously
  provided with, shame on you as well.
  For those new members of the Institute and other unfortunate souls, the tradition of the
  Director’s Quarterly Report (DQR) dates to the very first days of the Institute, when the
  city officials and certain other partners of the fledging Institute needed to be kept apprised
  of its activities. It has always been a somewhat rambling, personal report rather than a
  purely corporate document. The report lists goals, highlights trouble spots, and remembers
  the fallen comrades of the recent past. Under no circumstances should it be released to the
  public, except for the courtesy copies distributed to the persons and groups listed in Appendix
  F. These include a few well-placed government officials and highly-trusted donors to the
  Institute’s cause.
  Supplemental documentation and appendices of each quarter’s report may be obtained by
  filing request form A53, with your supervisor’s signature. Because of its wide-ranging
  nature and the time required for compilation and dissemination, each report is neither
  completely up-to-date nor 100% accurate. Enterprising agents can verify relevant report
  information through diligent fieldwork and their contacts.  Corrections should be sent to
  my office using the TPS cover sheet.
  In addition, the DQR has always been a source of hints and innuendo that don’t always
  add up to those not nearly as relentlessly informed as the Good Doctor himself. To help
  readers seeking to understand his allusions to prior operations and policies, I’ve taken the
  liberty of adding my own remarks as footnotes.
  Wolfgang Baur
  Red Section Cadre of 1998
  Dr. Nakami’s Quarterly Report to the Institute The Hoffman Agenda Revealed! by Wolfgang Baur
  
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  Director’s Quarterly Report
  to the
  Hoffmann Institute
  CCCXXXII
  Prepared in Cooperation and Consultation
  with the
  Intelligence and Analysis Divisions
  HOFFMANN INSTITUTE INTERNAL DOCUMENT
  CONFIDENTIAL
  SHRED OR INCINERATE AFTER READING
  
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  Gentlemen:
  Since my last report, our work has succeeded on two main fronts within
  the United States: in containing the Houston virus from spreading
  beyond Texas and the southwest, and in confronting the Strangers of
  Point Pleasant, West Virginia. Elsewhere, we have suffered a serious
  reverse in Russia and have made an important new contact in Tibet.
  These events are all evaluated in greater detail elsewhere; this
  report, as always, seeks merely to keep you apprised of rapidly moving
  events, and to keep you acquainted with the Institute’s options in the
  case of reversals.
  Yours most sincerely,
  Dr. Itohiro Nakami
  New Strategic Goals
  As many of you know, our efforts to form a stronger working
  relationship in Eastern Europe have failed rather spectacularly. It is
  likely that we were betrayed either by the go-between in Opus Dei or
  by those we negotiated with in good faith among the Gregorians.
  Attempts to minimize our losses are ongoing.
  As a result of this collapse, we have made further efforts among the
  Tibetans. This effort has been partially successful, despite Chinese
  national security efforts to hinder our progress. I recommend to the
  Institute’s board that we devote further resources to this effort, and
  if the Key is indeed where we think it is, I suggest that we follow up
  our initial contacts with a team of White Section preceptors and
  equerries (1).
  HOFFMANN INSTITUTE INTERNAL DOCUMENT
  CONFIDENTIAL
  SHRED OR INCINERATE AFTER READING
  
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  Ongoing Fieldwork
  Temple Cascadia. The forces available here are now at full strength,
  fully trained, and fully equipped with biological containment and
  nanite suppression gear. Our contingency planners have worked out
  responses for the most likely scenarios if the situation in Texas or
  Magnetogorsk should get out of control.  To protect against the
  “worst-case” alternative, I’ve arranged for fast track approval from
  the Board. Any such move will require close coordination with USGov
  and a scorched-earth policy, including a tacnuc option if things get
  out of control. A “terrorist” media cover is still under fabrication
  (2).
  Jerusalem. The archaeological work nears completion, but more funds
  will need to be approved to secure cooperation from the Copts.
  Progress is slow (3).
  Belize. The Institute has recently opened a branch office here; so
  far, it has returned few new results with respect to the Lost City
  (4). Photo-reconnaissance may help. Volunteers are needed for the
  winter survey of new territory.
  Baghdad. The appearance of two “Cities of Jinn” (in central Saudia
  Arabia and in Kurdish-held Iraq) is interesting in that shows signs of
  kinori strength but investigating may lead to political problems. We
  have no field agents in either country, and neither the House of Saud
  nor the Iraqi state seem willing to ask for help. Either Iraqi special
  forces research is far more advanced than first suspected, or the
  kinori are testing a new tool against human targets, or the local
  governments have reached an accommodation with the kinori. All
  possibilities bear investigating.  We need a team of agents with more
  than a passing knowledge of Arabic, Assyrian neo-Aramaic, and/or
  Kurdish.
     Mr. Zamfirescu and his staff have made some interesting discoveries
  regarding historical precedents for some of the phenomena observed in
  Persia under the Shah. Advise contact through the Nestorians. See
  Appendix A (5).
  Aleutians. Despite sending two teams, we have not recovered a body
  from the White Church of Pure Light. The reports to date indicate a
  superior level of technology, either elohim or luciferan, and a great
  interest in rallying a human congregation, or at least a set of human
  servitors. Our primary competitor in this arena is the Hidden Order of
  St. Gregory, which views the White Church as a heretical splinter
  group of the Russian Orthodox congregations of Dutch Harbor and Attu
  (the leader of the White Church is a Russian monarchist and a
  defrocked priest). The FBI continues to be involved in investigating
  the group for firearms, fraud, and child abuse violations (6).
  
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  New Discoveries & Promising Avenues of Research
  Occult Partnership. An agent claiming to speak on behalf of the Comte
  St. Germaine has approached our station director in Jakarta, offering
  a temporary exchange of information with regard to the actions of the
  elohim cults in Alaska and the newly-sighted ghuls of Iraq. While we
  will exercise due diligence in pursuing this opportunity, be aware
  that it is likely a fraud. Our independent efforts in Alaska and
  Kuwait should continue regardless of the outcome (7).
  Nanite Sterilizer. Cooperation with the CXS has proven instrumental in
  perfecting a basic nanite counter-measure. The treatment uses low-
  level radiation to destroy nanites present in a wound or in an area,
  much as an anti-bacterial can reduce the chances of an infected wound.
  This new treatment offers no clear-cut immunity to infection, but
  improves resistance when exposed (8).
  Leads in Prometheus Case. The renegade scientist, Dr. Regor
  Prometheus, is believed to be responsible for the disappearance of a
  family in Omaha and another in San Jose, California. We are
  cooperating with local law enforcement and with the doctor’s recent
  employers at CXS in bringing this fugitive to justice. Current
  theories hold that Prometheus is kidnapping aliens—or rather, of
  abducting anyone he thinks might be an alien. Field Directors are
  requested to remind their staff of his appearance and MO.
  Significant Losses
  Killed In Action:
  >
  Maria Grassl, lost when her car crashed and burned under
  suspicious circumstances en route to Chiapas, Mexico. She is
  survived by her husband Mark and her daughter Faith. Donations
  in her name may be made to the Institute’s Advanced Medical
  Association.
  >
  Thomas Clarsen, of wounds suffered in Montreal while
  apprehending a member of Les Treize Corbeaux. He is survived by
  his mother, Angela, his brother Charles, and a sister, Jennifer
  Murphy (an Institute member in the New York City regional
  offices) (9).
  Missing In Action.
  >
  John Moore, while investigating a case in West Virginia. Blood
  samples recovered from Mammoth Cave National Park match 99.98%,
  and the search continues (10).
  >
  Richard Helzermann, senior computer scientist at the Institute
  facility in Chicago. Believed kidnapped by hostile forces to
  obtain OSIRS data; investigation ongoing (11).
  >
  Mahmud Alahyari. Failed to report for duty in Jiddah on the Red
  
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  Sea; Freemasons and/or kinori suspected.
  >
  Tatyana Valenkova. Our St. Petersburg Special Agent in Charge
  has failed us. In fact, the agent responsible for arranging the
  conference with the Gregorians has gone missing, along with a
  set of papers including talking points, a short list of Russian
  and Ukrainian contacts, the Eastern section budget, and a “good
  faith” analysis of the benefits of cooperation between our two
  organizations. This is a serious security breach, and all
  possible efforts are being made to reverse the problem (12)
  >
  Virginia Clements. Junior member of Archives; vanished while
  shelving tomes recovered from Mission 811A (see Appendix B for
  the relevant Case Report). Believed lost to paranormal
  phenomena.
  >
  Gowri Poonawala, lost in snowstorm in Tibet. Presumed dead.
  >
  Roger Perkins, Agent First Class and Professor Veña
  Sanchevandez, Intelligence Division. Lost in the Florida
  panhandle during escort duty when an Institute plane went down.
  Radio contact lost 3/14; partial wreckage recovered 3/17.
  Presumed dead (13).
  Material Losses.
  >
  Three blood samples from the Mississippi delta mission of ‘96
  (see Quarterly Report #CCCIX) were lost with the car carrying
  Maria Grassl. See “KIA”. They cannot be replaced without another
  break of improbably good fortune, or a serious reconnaissance in
  force in Houston. Board to consider options (14).
  >
  A first edition of On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres
  (Copernicus, 1543) has been stolen from our New York Rare Book
  Depository—the investigation has been hampered by a remarkable
  lack of evidence and missing records.  Another copy was stolen
  from National Vernadsky Library, Kiev; thefts from the Pulkovo
  Observatory Library, St. Petersburg, Russia, and from an
  Augustinian monastic collection in Brno, Czech Republic were
  detected and returned when they were put up at auction. An arson
  at Pulkovo is thought to have been an attempt to simplify the
  theft (destroying records of the holdings) (15).
  >
  One Institute Lear jet. Replacement cost: $6 million.
  New Procedures and Budgetary Concerns.
  >
  All administrative groups should now begin using cover sheets
  for their TPS reports.
  >
  Arms and munitions costs are up sharply this last quarter. We
  are not a private army. Please keep hot incidents to a minimum,
  and allow local law enforcement agencies to make all low-level
  arrests possible.
  >
  Genome analysis reports are to use the new form provided in
  Appendix E.
  
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  1.
  The recent contacts between the Institute and a secretive group of Tibetan Buddhist monks (aka Ascended
  Masters, or Red Hats) is actually not a new contact at all, but the renewal of ties that Nakami first made as a
  much younger man, before the Communist takeover in Tibet in the early 1950s. Since then, the Chinese
  secret service has made communication with the lamas very difficult. Recent ties seem to rely on advanced
  telecommunications gear (including a narrow-beam burst satellite uplink) smuggled in by a team of Institute
  tech ops (one of whom died en route when the team was caught in bad weather). In exchange, the monks are
  training Institute paranormalists.  Note: A group could well be assigned to take spare parts to Tibet, to
  answer a distress call from the remote monastery, or even to take part in this training (ideally, a Buddhist
  or mindwalker agent should be included in party—forward any nominations you may wish to make).
  2.
  The White Section troops are being prepped for a major attack; the agents might be invited along. It won’t
  be pretty—most of these operations leave absolutely no survivors. Casualties are high among the Institute
  staff as well—the sandmen have a number of tricks that they use in defense, ranging from gas attacks to
  radiation zones to EMP pulse generators (sandmen are largely immune to all of these).
  3.
  The Jerusalem project is an excavation of the Templar headquarters, which lie directly under and around the
  Wailing Wall and Al-Aksa mosque. It requires massive bribery and secrecy to keep secret, but Nakami
  expects it to pay off in the long term. Note: The investigators might well be asked to escort or smuggle a
  relic from Jerusalem to the Archival offices of the Institute in Barcelona, especially if any of them are
  devoutly Catholic, Jewish, or Moslem. The Copts referred to in the report at Coptic Christians, an offshoot
  of the faith that dates back to the earliest days of Christianity. Their opponents might be members of the
  Final Church who have gotten wind of a major find in the Holy Land.
  4.
  The lost city in Belize is a long-term pet project of Dr. Nakami’s to find and restore a Grey station ship which
  he believes was abandoned in situ in Central America, deliberately concealed from view by the simple means
  of being buried under an enormous stone pyramid. The Doctor has never provided any evidence for this
  belief of his, and most of the board takes a tolerant view of his obsession with this topic, but the costs are
  high, both in terms of cash and in terms of investigators spending time in the Central American jungle.  Note:
  “Visiting Belize” is NOT a perk or Cancun vacation by any stretch of the imagination—most offices send
  a “volunteer” to take a tour of duty in Belize only as a form of punishment. Malaria, snakebite, heat
  exhaustion, and even attacks by drug lords are the typical result of such a trip. The most recent expedition
  could include your agents, if they are in trouble with their Field Director or if they just need to get out of
  town for a while.
  5.
  The mess in Iraq has only been reported by unofficial channels; Iraqi Republican Guards have been called
  in with flamethrowers, gas, and tanks to destroy a number of old ruins and small villages. From USMil
  sources, some of these attacks have also involved digging apparatus. Those attacks ended quite recently.
  The local population of both Arabians and Iraqis has been discussing a series of goat mutilations as the
  work of jinn, or devils of the desert. An Institute field agent sent to Jiddah, Saudia Arabia, failed to report.
  Note: More agents could well be sent as a follow-up; a Combat Spec is definitely required, as both the
  Saudis and the Iraqis are heavily armed and extremely nervous about the threat. While any mistake here
  could easily be written off as a “border war” between the two sides—if the agents are not careful, it might
  actually be a border war, with them in the middle!
  6.
  The body the Doctor refers to is believed to be a mummified or at least intact Luciferan or elohim body.
  Finding it would be a major discovery for the Institute, as no such body has ever been examined in any detail.
  Naturally, the luciferans or elohim themselves might object to such a desecration of a body—and would
  probably arrive in time to snatch it away from any investigating team. Note that the Aleutian islands cover
  thousands of miles of cold, foggy, North Pacific territory—and any millennial cult that summoned up or
  found such a body would probably object to uninvited visitors.
  Project Annotations by Wolfgang Baur, Department Chief, Special Division
  
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  7.
  The offer from the Comte seems sleazy, unlikely, and even ridiculous in its overblown language. The go-
  betweens that the Comte uses are amateurish New Agers and fraudulent occultists. But the offer is perfectly
  genuine. Naturally, the Comte demands a show of good faith before any cooperation is possible. The heroes
  may be asked to follow up this seemingly bogus offer, learn it is genuine, and then must prove the Institute’s
  sincerity by eliminating or humiliating on the Comte St. Germaine’s ancient rivals in order to gain access to
  some of his store of information. The Comte operates through intermediaries until such time as he learns to
  trust the heroes.
  8.
  The nanite sterilizer resembles a simple handheld incandescent worklight; it combines a wave of low-level
  radiation (unable to penetrate the human skin for more than a millimeter) with a strong, fluctuating
  electromagnetic field that disorients and even cripples nanites. Anyone treated with it gains a +2 step bonus
  to a resistance check against nanite infection. Only someone with access to the engineering section of the
  Analytical division will be able to obtain one of these anytime soon, though the Institute is building enough
  to distribute to all its offices worldwide.
  9.
  Died of sorcerous wounds that would not heal. Heroes may be called in to act on the information obtained
  by this capture, and possibly to study the body.
  10. See The Killing Jar Case Report.
  11. Helzermann was actually abducted by the Chicago molemen after he stumbled onto one of their meeting-
  places (he was pursuing a dumpster-diver a little more aggressively than might be prudent). The heroes
  could well be asked to investigate.
  12. The collapse of discussions with the Order of St. Gregory seems to be a result of rather too much trust on the
  Institute’s part, and a failure by the Intelligence Division to discover the existence of a double agent within
  the Institute. According to this traitor’s defenders, the double agent may have been influenced by nationalism,
  religion, and possibly even by supernatural means to betray Institute secrets to the Order.  Note: In fact,
  Tatyana’s “betrayal” is actually part of a carefully-orchestrated attempt to feed false information about
  the Institute’s intentions to the Hidden Order, a so-called “poisoned well.” A group of agents might soon
  be required to extract her from a Serbian stronghold of the Hidden Order (before her planting of false
  documents is revealed).
  13. See “The Kindness of Strangers,” Dragon Annual #4.
  14. The Mississippian blood samples are somehow related to the Southern Death Cult and voodoo activities in
  New Orleans, and the Zapatistas in southern Mexico (who practice the blood magic of the SDC, in a form
  related to Aztec rituals). The relationship is murky, but the blood samples are said to show anomalous
  genetic sequences (taken from voodoo practitioners while they were “possessed”). These genetic sequences
  may shed valuable light on how FX runs in families. The heroes may be asked to get replacement blood
  samples from the guerillas, without arousing suspicions from the Mexican government and without getting
  shot. Naturally, a SDC member among the guerillas (the man responsible for Maria Grassl’s death) absolutely
  refuses to allow any such action.
  15. The Copernican book discusses the fact that the earth circles the sun rather than vice versa, and it also
  contains (in rather cryptic codes) an Enochian spell of the GM’s choice from FX: Guide to the Paranormal.
  Since the Institute copy has been stolen (perhaps an inside job, perhaps a bibliophile from New York city
  who discovered the Hoffmann collection and got a little greedy), the heroes might well be sent on a book
  hunt. The theft might be related to the disappearance of the Institute Archivalist (likely kidnapped or the
  victim of extortion—or perhaps the perpetrator of the theft).
  Wolfgang Baur was a member
  of the same collegiate secret
  society that bred that infamous
  conspirator, DEMONGROUND
  editor Mike Marchi.
      No, really, he was.
           We’re not making this up.
  
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  Dark Conspiracy
  Dark Conspiracy
  Dark Conspiracy
  Dark Conspiracy
  Dark Conspiracy
  New Concealed Weapons by A. Shane Murphy
  Reduced-Detection
  Melee Weapons
  The weapons presented here are
  intended to remain hidden from standard
  metal detectors.
  Ceramic Katana
            A new weapon developed by Sun
  Technologies in their fight against the
  Dark Ones.  This weapon uses state-of-
  the-art ceramic materials to create a
  formidable sword.  It was the company’s
  CEO who decided her “troops” needed a
  weapon that was lightweight, strong and
  deadly. This sword was the result and in
  the hands of a trained individual is
  extremely deadly.  The ceramic blade
  never loses it’s edge, weighs only 0.5kg,
  is nonconductive (more useful than you
  might think), and invisible to metal
  detectors.
  Plastic spike
  This harmless looking plastic brush
  holds a nasty surprise.  The bristled head
  can be removed revealing a hardened
  plastic spike.  As dangerous as any 5”
  stabbing weapon, it does have a few
  obvious drawbacks.  Made of plastic it
  not very strong, and with the blade
  lacking an edge, is limited to thrusting
  and stabbing attacks. By the same token
  however plastic is almost impossible to
  detect with most modern sensors.
  Plastic knives
  These knives were made for
  concealment and quick stabbing attacks.
  Constructed of vulcanized plastic, they
  are hard enough to do considerable
  damage, yet are too brittle for any
  extended combat.
  Concealed pen knife
  This is a normal looking ink pen.
  Under the removable cap is a 4” steel
  blade, built more for stabbing than cutting
  it receives a -2 difficulty modifier to
  notice.
  Sun Industries
  HVP Crossbow Line
  Sun Technologies is a weapons
  manufacturer poised on the cutting
  edge. Using modern materials and
  techniques they have recreated the
  ancient crossbow. Fully redesigned
  these are a new breed of “pump”
  reloading weapon, making them as
  dangerous as any hand gun while
  insuring complete silence.
  Sun  XX
  This is a small repeating “pump” style
  crossbow.
  Ammo:
  Bolts - Target: $1 each; Razor
  Tip: $2 each; Carbon Razor $3 each (this
  price includes the shaft which can be
  aluminum, fiberglass, or wood)
  Wt:
  3.0 kg
  Mag: 6 round clip
  Price: $250 (C/C)
  6-bolt magazines are $30 each
  Sun XLE
  A larger version of the XX, can also
  use a large clip.
  Ammo:
  Bolts - Target: $1 each; Razor
  Tip: $2 each; Carbon Razor $3 each (this
  price includes the shaft which can be
  aluminum, fiberglass, or wood)
  Wt:
  3.5 kg
  Mag: 6/10 round clip
  Price: $350 (C/C)
  10-bolt magazines are $50 each
           --- Recoil ---
   Weapon
  Bolt Type
  ROF
  Dam
  Pen
  Blk
  M a g
  SS
  Brst
  Rng
   Sun XX
  Target  Bolt
  PA
  2
  Nil
  4
  6
  1
  -
  20*
  Razor Tip
  PA
  3
  Nil
  4
  6
  1
  -
  20*
  Carbon Razor
  PA
  3
  1-Nil
  4
  6
  1
  -
  20*
   Sun XLE
  Target  Bolt
  PA
  2
  Nil
  4
  6/10
  1
  -
  30*
  Razor Tip
  PA
  3
  Nil
  4
  6/10
  1
  -
  30*
  Carbon Razor
  PA
  3
  1-Nil
  4
  6/10
  1
  -
  30*
        *Can be fitted with a scope, add +15 meters to range
   Weapon
  Rng
  Hit Mod
  Damage
  Weight
  Price
  Avail
   Ceramic Katana
  L
  -
  1d6+STR
  2.0kg
  $3000
  (S/S)
   Plastic Spike
  S
  +1
  1d6-1
  0.1kg
  $25
  (C/S)
   Plastic Knife
  S
  +2
  1d6
  0.2kg
  $75
  (S/S)
   Pen Knife
  S
  -
  1d6-1
  0.1kg
  $45
  (S/S)
  by A. Shane Murphy
  
  ADVENTURES
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  Call of Cthulhu
  Call of Cthulhu
  Call of Cthulhu
  Call of Cthulhu
  Call of Cthulhu
  A Modern-Day Call of Cthulhu Adventure
  A Modern-Day Call of Cthulhu Adventure
  A Modern-Day Call of Cthulhu Adventure
  A Modern-Day Call of Cthulhu Adventure
  A Modern-Day Call of Cthulhu Adventure
  by Marcus D. Bone
  by Marcus D. Bone
  by Marcus D. Bone
  by Marcus D. Bone
  by Marcus D. Bone
  This adventure was intended for either a newly created
  party of Investigators or a group that is yet to delve too
  deeply into the Cthulhu Mythos. A party size of three or
  more is recommended. It is not necessary that these
  characters have adventured together (although allowing
  them some sort of common interest would make the
  introduction much easier.)
  The game is set at the turn of this century, that is in the year 2000, although
  it would work equally as well in either a 1920s Cthulhu setting or even in
  the Cthulhu by Gaslight era. The location is of little importance suffice to
  say that it is based in a city setting and focuses mainly on a Cemetery and
  the surrounding residential homes.
  Dancing to the Wrong Tune by Marcus D. Bone
  
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  As stated above it is considerably
  simpler for the Keeper if the characters
  are part of some sort of mutual
  appreciation society, be it a book club,
  wine tasting group or even a roleplaying
  club. Including a character with some sort
  of musical ability (Art), however small,
  would also be an advantage to the
  investigators. It is important that the
  adventure commences at night, when
  common people have the time to meet,
  and this will form a backdrop for the
  forthcoming events.
  The Stranger in the Night
  The adventure opens as it gets late
  in the evening and the investigator’s
  meeting is drawing to a close, with each
  player looking forward to little more that
  a good nights sleep before the rigours
  of a new day. The group has slowly
  dwindled over the evening as others
  have already headed home, so now only
  the players remain for one more chat
  before moving on.
  Just as it seems there is nothing more
  to do than to say their good-byes one of
  the characters will hear someone at the
  door, followed by a loud thump as
  something heavy collapses against it.
  When someone investigates, they
  discover a man slumped against the door.
  Looking as if he has been mugged and
  beaten, he is bleeding profusely from a
  number of cuts to his head and face. He
  is an older man, graying, with a face that
  is wrinkled and pale, he could be
  anywhere between 50 or 70 years in age.
  As soon as one of the players attempt
  to move him, even if it is just into a more
  comfortable position they will feel, rather
  than see, that his injuries are worse than
  they initially appear.  His midsection has
  been stabbed repeatedly and his clothing
  is drenched in blood. If the characters
  don’t attempt to help, it will still become
  apparent that the man is in a life and death
  struggle, as blood begins to puddle
  around him.
  Any investigator attempting to help
  the man, who is now falling in and out of
  consciousness, will be quickly covered
  in blood. In one moment of clarity
  however the injured man grabs the
  closest character pulling them closer with
  an iron like grip. His mouth full of blood
  he coughs once, spraying the character
  with blood and mucus, before gurgling
  in their ear…“You must play the notes…
  you must … before…”  He coughs again
  as a stream of blood and spittle rolls down
  his face onto his blood-drenched shirt.
  “before… it’s too late.” He looks the
  character in the eyes. “Promise me …
  Promise me you’ll play for them… all of
  you.” He stares at the characters wide
  eyed and will only proceed when all the
  players  agree.  Coughing once more he
  loosens his grip slightly and with one
  hand pulls from his overcoat a hastily
  bound set of papers, which he thrusts
  into the nearest character’s hands. He
  smiles weakly and then slumps once more
  into unconsciousness… a state from
  which he never awakens.
  Whether or not the characters at this
  point have rung the police, they will duly
  arrive about now and take charge of the
  situation. They will, of course, have some
  very serious questions to ask the
  characters and will not take accept any
  appreciate any attempts at vaguaries. If
  the investigators inquire as to how the
  patrol car arrived, the officer will curtly
  explain how a more caring citizen had
  witnessed the poor man entering the
  current location.
  By the time the ambulance arrives, the
  poor man is dead from ‘blood loss
  sustained from stab wounds to his chest
  and abdomen’. There is little the
  paramedics can do except cover the body
  with a plastic sheet and wait until the
  arriving homicide detectives allow them
  to remove the corpse. Also a small crowd
  of bystanders is starting to gather,
  attracted by the lights and sounds at this
  late hour, and this will force one of the
  officers to move the characters inside as
  they continue questioning.
  The ‘interrogation’ of the players is
  fairly straightforward.  Eventually, one of
  the homicide detectives will join the
  questioning.  After that, it will quickly
  become apparent that the players know
  nothing of this ‘mugging’, and they will
  be allowed to leave.
  The Papers
  Hopefully the character who was
  handed the papers will have kept them,
  seeing as they are the only link they have
  to fulfilling the victims last wishes.
  The papers themselves are bundled
  together with a loose piece of string and
  are now covered in blood. Most of the
  papers seem to be random sheets of music
  rather than any set text, and will take at
  least a hour to put them into order.  The
  inventory of papers is as follows:
  •
  The dead mans business card is the
  first thing any of them will notice. It
  lists his address, but no phone
  number. See handout 1
  •
  Most of the rest of the material is just
  sheets and sheets of piano music.
  Most characters will recognize some
  of the titles, Holsts “The Planets”,
  Wagners “Ride of the Valkyries” and
  Tchaikovskys “1812 Overture”,
  among others. There are a handful
  however, that not even a skilled
  musician will recongise.  Although
  unauthored, each of these has an
  eerie title such as “The Dark Man
  Cometh”, “Lurker on the Edge” and
  “The Unwitnessed”.
  •
  The last piece of paper is actually an
  article from a newspaper dating back
  to 1960. See handout 2
  Investigating Further
  The next day dawns the local early
  edition paper holds an  article that hold
  much interest for the characters, but not
  in the way they were expecting. See
  Handout 3.
  How the characters react to this is
  really up to them, but this should prompt
  them to do some further investigation into
  Grey and the history of the Cemetery
  District.
  The Cemetery District
  The Local Library has plenty of
  material on the Cemetery District as it was
  one of the original suburbs of the newly
  formed city. A four-hour search through
  books, journals and old papers tells much
  of the area, which is renown for it’s
  ghostly sightings and multitudes of old
  housing. The most shocking of the
  
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  stories comes from the late 1950’s when
  five murders and as many disappearances
  took place over a period of twenty-four
  months leading into early 1960. The
  police of the time where unable to
  discover the identity of murderer and the
  victims where more often than not ripped
  to shreds and barely identifiable.
  The case was closed in 1965, four full
  years after the last disappearance, the
  police citing a lack of evidence and more
  pressing cases at hand. No one at the
  time could shed any light on the murders
  although for years the Cemetery district
  was a quiet, almost abandoned suburb
  as many locals moved out in fear for their
  safety.
  Jonathon M. Grey
  Suprisingly there is a considerable
  amount of information about Jonathon
  especially in the early 1950’s. Even a
  cursory glance into his background will
  reveal that he was once hailed as the next
  big thing in classical music in the decade
  after the war. A more intense search,
  taking six hours, will uncover more about
  the poor victim’s life.
  In 1952 Grey appeared to be the rising
  star of classical music matching, with
  some skill, the new ‘rock and roll’
  movement that was sweeping the United
  States. He was praised by many and had
  few critics. “The new Gershwin,” wrote
  one reviewer, “whose music endears him
  to his audience, enthralling them with
  willowy fingers that bring life to the
  piano like no other.”
  Grey gained fame and popularity and
  by the late 50’s was a rich and contented
  man destined to be as famous as Mozart
  or Strauss. Late in 1959 he publicly
  declared that he was going to return to
  his home (the city the characters live in),
  and compose his next masterpiece.
  And that was the last thing anyone
  ever heard of Grey. If reporters came
  knocking at his home in the Cemetery
  District he refused to see them, and no
  amount of cajoling would draw him out.
  In the end the musical world moved on
  focusing on new British groups like ‘The
  Beatles’ and the ‘Rolling Stones’,
  forgetting that Grey had ever existed.
  Number One Cemetery Rd
  Maybe even more surprising than the
  depth of information on Grey are the
  details of the house at 1 Cemetery Rd.
  Four hours of research at the Hall of
  Records provides a great deal of
  information about the ancient house.
  It seems that a local tribe of natives
  gave the original owner, Barnard Grey,
  the deed to the land the house stands on
  ‘until the last of their people died’ some
  three hundred years ago, as reward for
  saving one of the chiefs daughters from
  some sort of ‘beast’. In turn this man built
  a homestead that was passed on from
  generation to generation until Jonathon
  Grey took possession from his uncle in
  1960.
  The most disturbing thing about the
  home however is that it is located smack
  in the middle of the cemetery itself. The
  City council was unable to remove it
  when the surrounding land was
  designated a cemetery. The Grey family
  fought to uphold the rights granted them
  under the original native deed. When it
  eventually came down to a court case in
  the early 1800’s, the judge could find no
  cause for the family to be removed, as
  the bloodline of the natives still remained.
  Descendants of the original tribe still live
  today (far removed from the city).
  The Sheet Music
  This is a little harder to find anything
  about, although the common works are
  easily referenced and offer nothing to the
  investigators, the unauthored works will
  take ten hours of hard research relying
  on correspondence with known experts.
  It turns out, as the characters might have
  guessed, that the work is reminiscent of
  the early works of Jonathon Grey,
  although they have now taken a darker,
  more sorrowful tone. These works have
  also never been published and as far as
  the correspondent knows have never
  been heard in any public forum. One
  correspondent expresses particular
  interest in seeing the entire musical score.
  The House in the Cemetery
  Eventually the characters are going
  to want to visit the house where Grey
  lived. It is truly in the middle of the
  cemetery with a long driveway leading
  to it, and enclosed with a sturdy wrought
  iron fence. It is situated in the oldest part
  of the graveyard with some of the head
  stones dating back to the late 1700’s. The
  house itself is a large two-story affair,
  which seems to have been expanded
  many times, as each generation of Greys
  added on what they required.
  If the players think about asking the
  people who live in the neighborhood
  surrounding the cemetery, they will hear
  a number of curious things about the old
  Grey home. Probably the most disturbing
  are the reports of the wild parties that
  seem to take place there two or three
  nights in succession every month. If
  questioned further the neighbor will state
  that truthfully the parties are loud affairs
  of shouting and an eerie piano playing.
  Although probably the strangest thing
  is that nobody can recall ever seeing the
  revelers, either arriving or leaving.
  If asked why they have never done
  anything about these ‘parties’, they will
  admit shamefully that they and others
  have only heard these while deep in the
  cemetery late at night.
  The only other information anyone
  in the area has about the house comes
  from a little old lady whose property is
  one of the closest to the Grey House.
  She will state quite openly that there has
  always been music in the Grey House as
  far back as she can remember, and even
  in her grandmothers time the old folk told
  of the ‘dances’ that took place without
  so much as an invitation to any of the
  neighbors!
  If the players decide to explore the
  cemetery they discover nothing of
  interest except that many of the
  headstones in the area have fallen and
  are crumbling. Considering their age, this
  is of little surprise.
  The 
  house 
  itself 
  has 
  two
  outbuildings.  The first is a tool shed,
  with all the modern essentials for garden
  maintenance: ride on mower, weed killers
  and the like. The other is a garage, which
  is home to 1955 Rolls Royce. The car is
  covered by a tarpaulin and hasn’t been
  registered for the last thirty years.
  
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  Exploring the House
  Surprisingly the front door is
  unlocked, and the first impression the
  investigators get is that someone has
  ransacked the house. Although the
  furniture has been left standing, many
  papers, books and contents of drawers
  have been strewn around the various
  rooms.
  With its many rooms and old décor,
  the house inside and out hasn’t been
  renovated in at least 70 years.  It is like
  walking onto a 1930’s melodrama set.
  Every room is large and obviously built
  to accommodate more than one occupant.
  As such, many of the rooms upstairs
  have not been disturbed for some time
  and most have a visible layers of dust
  covering them.
  The Front Room
  The Front Room looks the most lived-
  in of any in the house.  It has a fireplace
  and a number of comfortable looking
  chairs. It also has a large writing desk
  and a large wall filled with books.
  Most notably the mess in this room
  is greater than any other, papers and
  books are everywhere, many of them torn
  and damaged, whoever was here was
  searching for something specific.
  Because of the mess, the room will
  take a while to explore, but after a good
  hour the characters will come up with two
  items of interest. The first, located in the
  writing desk, is a small leather bound
  journal, which dates back to the 1950’s,
  although it is incomplete it covers a short
  period of Grey’s life. The second is a
  Letter that is found squeezed behind the
  seat of one of the leather chairs, it seems
  to be some sort of instructions to the
  finder, as well as a last will and testament.
  The Journal
  The Journal was obviously written in
  happier times for Jonathon, and covers
  the last 2 years before he moved back to
  his family home in the Cemetery District
  of the city. The journal takes only an hour
  to read.
  •
  The main topic in the early part of the
  notebook is his music and his wishes
  and goals to develop it. He also tells
  of his joy at bringing happiness to
  his fans.
  •
  Early in 1958 he learns of his uncle’s
  death and seems to be very
  downhearted at the news. He also
  mentions the ‘promises’ he made
  before his own parent’s deaths, but
  neglects to explain them in detail.
  •
  Upon moving into the Grey House
  he makes mention to “his Uncle
  joining the others” and how he alone
  had to keep up the house.
  •
  Finally he makes mention of some
  tasks that were left by his Uncle, but
  again, never explains what those
  tasks were.
  The Letter
  The Letter is much more help to the
  investigators, but even that doesn’t
  explain exactly what is going on.
  Although there is no date on it the players
  will get the impression that it is not more
  than a few days old.  Although in that
  short lifespan, it has apparently seen
  some abuse. See Handout 4.
  The Music Hall
  One of the largest rooms in the house,
  this hosts nothing more than a Grand
  piano, an ornate Grandfather Clock and a
  number of box seats around the walls.
  One thing will strike the players is the
  smell of fresh dirt and decay that
  permeates the room, even though by
  sight alone this looks the cleanest room
  in the entire house. Closer examination
  reveals that the floor is covered with small
  scrapes as if a dozen or more cats have
  been running around on the highly
  polished floor. The horrible smell is worse
  by the curtains and the windows of the
  room, especially the large north facing
  one, as do the scrapes on the floor, one
  could assume that what ever it was
  entered through the window.
  The Grand Piano is the key to the
  characters finding out what Grey meant
  for them to do. On it is more music sheets
  all of which have scores that are
  unfamiliar to the party. If any of the
  characters start to play any of the music
  they will hear below the house a rumbling
  sound, like that of a large dog or cat being
  disturbed from their slumber. If the
  characters continue to play the music the
  growling whine will increase, as if more
  ‘voices’ join the first until the noise they
  produce is deafening which will cause 0/
  1 Sanity for every minute it continues.
  This disturbing noise will cease
  immediately the music is stopped.
  The Kitchen
  The Kitchen is much like any other in
  a large house, well equipped and lighted,
  with plenty of counter-space to prepare
  and cook food. Unlike the rest of the
  house the kitchen is in relative good
  order, clean, tidy, and well stocked.
  There are three doors from the
  kitchen, one leading back into the house,
  one outside and a third that leads down
  a dark set of stairs into what is obviously
  the cellar.
  If any of the characters examine the
  large walk in freezer in the Kitchen they
  will be astonished to find that is stocked
  full of animal carcasses, all of which hang
  from hooks.
  The Cellar
  The horrible smell of dirt and decay
  also hangs heavily in the air, and gets
  worse as the characters descend the
  stairs to the cellar.
  The Cellar is dark and poorly lit by a
  single bulb hanging from the ceiling, and
  this light reveals that this room has been
  used for nothing more than storage.
  Scattered around the floor are the remains
  of old furniture and heirlooms, all in very
  poor condition. It doesn’t take a scholar
  to realise that this room hasn’t been
  touched in a very long time.
  Before the characters get a chance to
  examine the Cellar more thoroughly they
  will hear footsteps above them. Someone
  has obviously entered the house; then
  as they listen, they hear the ominous
  metallic ‘click’ of a pistol being cocked.
  The Intruders
  Three armed men have entered the
  house, each armed and in a foul temper.
  They are agents of the Mi-Go, creatures
  that reside on Pluto and whose
  machinations conflict heavily with the
  
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  welfare of mankind. They are also
  responsible for both the fatal beating of
  Jonathon Grey, and the ransacked
  condition of the house. Lead by Jack
  Kramer (see sidebar below), they have
  returned to the house to resume their
  search.  They are  under strict orders from
  their alien employers to return with “the
  Item” they require or face a fate worse
  than death.  Note: The irony of this
  situation is that Kramer does not
  actually know what “the Item” is.  He
  has merely been told he would know It
  when he saw It.
  The presence of the players in the
  house is a complication for Kramer and
  his cohorts. They will naturally assume
  that the characters possess “the Item”
  they are looking for.
  At first the Intruders will try to
  convince the characters to part with “the
  Item” voluntarily.
  Next, Kramer will threaten that if they
  don’t hand it over,  they will be in ‘big
  trouble’.  Any questions the players ask
  to get Kramer to clairify what he is after
  will not be successful.  Kramer or one of
  the others will insinuate that the
  characters know exactly what they are
  after and they had better hand it over
  before things get ugly.
  Eventually one side or the other is
  going to become frustrated to the point
  of attacking the other group. This should
  lead to a quick brawl, as the thugs attempt
  to overwhelm the players so they can
  get what they came for. It should be easy
  enough for the characters to stop the
  thugs from doing any real harm and as
  soon as the three intruders realise the
  players aren’t pushovers they will retreat.
  As they go, Kramer will yell , “You don’t
  know who you’re dealing with. Your
  days are numbered!”
  After this encounter the characters
  may feel a little conflicted. The Letter they
  have requires that they remain in the
  house until midnight, but with people
  threatening their lives this may not seem
  like a wise course of action.
  Note: If the characters offer the
  bundle of papers to Kramer, he will just
  toss them aside (he already saw the
  bundle when attacking Grey the other
  night).  The Letter might be a different
  matter, but Kramer is too single-minded
  to recognized it as a clue to his goal.
  If the Characters Leave
  If the character decide to abandon
  their task, and leave the house, then the
  rest of the day and night will pass without
  incident. However, the morning paper
  reports a very disturbing incident that
  causes the reader and the rest of the party
  to lose 2/1D10 Sanity.
  The paper details the disappearance
  of two teenagers from the Cemetery
  District, the night before. A local attests
  that he heard what could only be
  described as ‘a pack of wild dogs’ around
  the time the two kids were last seen, but
  no one has come forth to verify any of
  his claims.
  If the characters still refuse to do
  anything about the promise they made
  Grey then the adventure is effectively
  over, and the Keeper should severely
  punish the players characters for not
  trying to keep their city and community
  free of the Mythos terror.
  As Midnight Approaches
  If the characters follow the
  instructions left by Grey, they should
  have no trouble preparing for the
  ‘ceremony’ that is going to take place.
  The cryptic reference to the carcasses in
  the Letter should make more sense once
  they find the meat locker (up until that
  point, they may actually consider digging
  up some bodies from the cemetary!).  One
  carcass from the freezer must be removed,
  dragged into the music room, and the
  internal doors in the house must be
  opened. Finally one of the characters is
  needed to play the piano in the Music
  Hall throughout the ceremony.  The
  choice of pianist is up to the players, but
  it is suggested that a character with at
  least some musical (Art) skill be chosen.
  If this character spends a few hours going
  over the music he or she must play (or if
  there is no character with Art skill) they
  will receive a 50% bonus to their skill
  during the ceremony.
  Jack Kramer (and his associates)
  Kramer is a Thug and little more. Although quite bright, he is gullible
  and this has led him to be involved with some very shady employers.
  Always out for a quick buck he has nothing against using violence to
  achieve his goals, but tends to keep the application of such force in
  check, using only as much as necessary.
  Kramer’s associates lack that level of control, but will only go as
  far as Kramer will allow them. They listen to his orders carefully knowing
  full well what their current employers are capable of doing if they fail in
  their appointed tasks.
  They are all armed with .38 Revolvers on their current assignment,
  which is finding “the Item” their employers desire. They in fact don’t
  even know what they are looking for, but have been told that they will
  recongise it when they see it. As a result they are responsible for
  attacking Jonathon Grey, and in turn his death, even though this got
  them no closer to completing their job.
  Damage Bonus  +1D4
  Weapons: .38 Revolvers 40%, damage 1D10
  Club 40%, damage 1D6 + db
  Str
  Con
  Siz
  Dex
  Pow
  HP
  Kramer
  14
  12
  12
  11
  15
  17
  Thug 1
  13
  11
  15
  11
  11
  13
  Thug 2
  12
  11
  12
  10
  11
  14
  
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  The Ceremony Begins
  During the ceremony, the investi-
  gators will be called upon to make many
  Sanity rolls, this may lead to some
  characters becoming temporary insane,
  however it is important that someone is
  playing the piano at all times, for the
  ceremony to continue. Note: It is easy
  enough  for a nearby investigator to take
  over  the playing if their companion is
  starting to show signs of mental fatigue.
  The ceremony can start anytime after
  midnight, with the designated pianist
  striking the first notes of ‘Lurker on the
  Edge’. (on a successful Art roll). The first
  few bars of the song pass with strained
  notes, as the pianist attempts to get into
  the odd rhythm of the music. Still more
  minutes pass before the characters start
  to hear the first results of the melody.
  At first all is quiet… too quiet. The
  music produced by the piano is eerie and
  all pervading. Just listening to it sends
  shivers down the listener’s spine. The
  haunting melody seems to tell a tale of
  misery and remorse. It  is a disenchanting
  tune that claws at the character’s souls.
  Any investigators succeeding a
  Listen roll begins to hear noises from
  below the house, like the howls of
  hounds, it grows louder until even those
  that failed the Listen roll can make it out.
  As the sound grows, one can begin to
  make out the cries of individuals amongst
  cacophony of sound. All too soon the
  howling reaches an ear-piercing volume,
  drowning out even the horrid music from
  the piano. All present lose 0/1 Sanity.
  Just when it seems that they can take
  no more the whole house begins to shake,
  rattling on its foundations. Then there is
  a loud crash below as if someone or
  something has entered the Cellar. The
  noises can be heard clearly now, the
  howling and grunting is interspersed
  with cries of creatures not of this earth.
  The Grey house continues to shake as
  the things below move about, it seems
  obvious that they are drawn towards the
  music. All must lose 1/1D3 Sanity.
  The rushing of hooves and claws
  sound out the advance of these creatures
  as they make their way up the Cellar
  steps. The noise gets louder as they enter
  the Kitchen and then the Hall. All around
  them the creatures can be heard drowning
  out the continuing chords of the Lurker
  on the Edge. Suddenly one of the
  creatures bursts through the doorway
  into the Music Room. It is a rubbery,
  loathsome humanoid, half clothed in a
  torn pair of ancient pants. Its claws and
  canine features seem to wiggle in some
  sort of expectation, looking up at the
  investigators it comes to a sliding stop
  on the polished floors. The smell of dirt
  and decay again assails the investigators
  at the creature stares at them.
  Such a creature is horrible to behold
  but the realisation that it actually
  understands that it is confronted by a
  new and maybe threatening situation is
  almost to much for even the most hardy
  character. Sanity loses of 1/1D6 affect all.
  Behind this first creature others now
  arrive, crowding the doorway like
  deformed school students. They sniff the
  air at the strangers yipping and barking
  to each other in some form of rudimentary
  communication. Slowly, the sounds of
  Seen as evil ugly creatures that prowl on humanity
  edges, waiting for the right time to strike, Greys Ghouls
  seem to be slightly different than most. Jonathon, bound
  by oath treated this commune almost like kin, so much
  so that one wonders whether the rumours of man
  becoming ghoul might have some grounding.
  The History of Greys Ghouls is a long and clouded
  one, stretching back to the houses original owner Bernard
  Grey and attacks on the local native tribe. Once a month
  these creatures have risen from their burrows (the land
  that is now the cemetery) and stalked the innocent
  passers-by for food. That was until one of the Greys
  ancestors discovered the love of music the ghouls
  displayed, and then in turn for their own safety as well as
  that of the community, began to hold dances with the
  aim of feeding the creatures with livestock instead of
  human flesh. That was until Grey arrived in the 60’s and
  by chance discovered his talent for opening gateways to
  other worlds. Here he had discovered a way to insure the
  ghouls forever remained away from the townsfolk.
  Each month he would open the gateway to these
  ‘other worlds’ to allow the ghouls to hunt the inhabitants
  of those plains. Not that this didn’t have an effect on
  Jonathon’s already fragile mind, knowing one day that
  with his passing someone would have to open the gateway
  one more time and allow the ghouls leave earth once
  and for all.
  Greys Ghouls are a fearful sight
  to behold, and although they will not
  attempt to attack the investigator
  playing the piano they do realise
  that something is amiss, and
  menace the other PC’s. They
  number is the dozens and their
  gibbering and mewing will surely try
  the characters nerves. Although too
  many to destroy below is the
  common statistics of a Greys Ghoul
  if the need arises.
  Sanity Loss 0 / 1D6
  Damage Bonus  +1D4
  Weapons: Claws 30%, damage 1D6 + db
  Bite 30%, damage 1D6 + automatic worry
  Armour: Firearms and Projectiles half of rolled damage;
  round up any fraction.
  Str
  Con
  Siz
  Dex
  Pow
  HP
  Typical Grey Ghoul 16
  12
  13
  13
  13
  15
  Also see the entry under Ghoul in the main CoC Rule Book.
  The Ghouls of Cemetery Road (Greys Ghouls)
  
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  the music straining from the piano
  overcomes their original fears and they
  cautiously enter the Music Room.
  Attracted to the carcass, the first
  creatures in the room immediately attack
  it with vengeance.
  As quickly as that is devoured the
  ghouls, in ones and twos, begin to scout
  out the familiar surroundings and within
  minutes they seemly ready to dismiss the
  characters. Now that the investigators
  have also recovered their wits they are
  astonished to realise that some 20 or 30
  of these creature now occupy the room.
  Thankfully they seem preoccupied by the
  music and have no mind anything else.
  Then the music stops…
  The Dark Man
  As the music sheets comes to an end
  the pianist scrambles to find the next tune
  “The Dark Man Cometh”. In the sudden
  silence, the ghouls become more aware
  of their surroundings, instantly turning
  their attentions on the characters - as if
  re-evaluating the player’s potential as a
  threat.
  As the ghouls begin to close in on
  the pianist and his fellows it might be
  necessary to impress on the players the
  danger of the situation they are in.
  Having a small scuffle break out between
  one or more of the characters and the
  creatures will bring tension to the scene
  as the Musician tries to start the new
  song. An Art roll at –25% (due to the
  pressure) is required to start “The Dark
  Man Cometh”. As soon as he or she
  succeeds in this, the ghouls immediately
  halt their attacks and return to their former
  ‘preoccupied’ state.
  Unlike the eerie tune of the previous
  piece The Dark Man Cometh is a much
  lighter composition, bringing a levity to
  the evening that seems frighteningly
  inappropriate. This strange joy even
  seems to spread to the Ghouls. In front
  of one of the characters one of these
  strange beasts starts to convulse, it’s
  limbs moving in strange directions, as it
  shuffles slightly to the left then right. It
  takes the character a few moments to
  realise what is going on… the ghoul is
  dancing!
  As if a sign, this strange dancing
  action starts to spread among the
  gathered creatures, giving the scene a
  horribly comic look. In response the
  music begins to change tempo, getting
  faster and faster as the creatures continue
  to dance around the room. Eventually it
  becomes obvious to the investigators
  that ghouls seem to be congregating near
  the large north-facing window.
  At first the characters are at a loss to
  explain why this is so, however moments
  later a crack of light appears, not as one
  might expect from outside, but rather from
  a spot half way up the windowpane. As
  the music gets faster and faster the light
  begins to grow, now encompassing more
  and more of the window.
  Interrupted
  As the ghouls continue their dance
  of madness around the stunned
  characters, the gateway created by “The
  Darkman Cometh ” song seems to pulse
  with a life of its own, seemingly inviting
  the characters and the creatures to enter
  its bright domain. The noises of
  excitement that comes from the ghouls
  increase until it reaches a crescendo.
  Then as if mesmerized by something
  outside the room the ghouls suddenly
  stop their inane stomping and as one
  cock their head to the roof. Even though
  the piano continues to play, it becomes
  obvious that someone or something
  approaches.
  For a few dread seconds there is
  nothing but the strained notes of the song
  being played.  Then out in the hallway,
  the front door is splintered in its frame.
  What the players do in the short time
  before the intruders reach the Music Hall
  is of little relevance, as even if they
  abandon their comrade at the piano, they
  will still encounter the creatures that have
  come to call.
  These creatures are the Mi-Go,
  otherwise known as The Fungi from
  Yuggoth. They are the benefactors of
  Jack Kramer and his thugs and have come
  personally to finish the task he was so
  unable. The appearance of such alien
  creatures is quite a shock to the
  characters, whose mental states have
  already been strained by the night’s
  events. The appearance of the Mi-Go
  tops off the immensely strange events
  that have surrounded Jonathon Grey’s
  death. All take 1/1D6 Sanity loss.
  At this point (or during the events
  that follow) the character playing the
  piano may wish to stop. If he or she does
  so, the Gate will vanish from the window
  frame with an audible ‘pop’.
  As for the ghouls, the appearance of
  the Mi-Go sparks them into a frenzy that
  even the music cannot control. They
  immediately attack the Mi-Go with a fury
  that terrifies the characters. Sanity Loss
  of 0/1 for all.
  As one, the ghouls leap to attack the
  newly arrived Mi-Go, who are prepared
  for such an event, and attempt to hold
  the creatures back with the metallic
  wands they carry. These sticks are very
  effective weapons which emit beams of
  bright light that cause anything they
  touch to instantaneously burst into flame!
  It is one thing when the beams strike a
  ghoul, and yet another thing altogether
  when they strike the walls of the Music
  Hall.  Within moments, a handful of small
  fires are igniting all around the room!
  As the battle continues, the
  characters must escape or they too will
  become casualties in this unworldly
  battle. It is important to impress on the
  players that the old house is quickly and
  irreversibly going up in flames and the
  fire will become a threat to their health in
  a matter of moments.
  Escaping the inferno is not too
  difficult and a successful Luck Roll will
  ensure that they can make it outside the
  building before the fire is life-threatening.
  Those unlucky few that fail this roll take
  1d3 damage from burns and cuts as they
  desperately make their way outside.
  Once all the characters have managed
  to make their way outside the fire quickly
  claims the ancient wooden sturcture. In
  a matter of minutes the Grey House will
  become an inferno that destroys all
  around it. Only the two outbuildings
  escape unscathed.
  While the characters watch the fire,
  the more observant among them notice
  that they are being watched by three men
  
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  in a late model Ford sedan - the same
  men that threatened the characters in the
  house earlier. If approached,  they quickly
  make their getaway.
  Conclusion
  Within quarter of an hour the local
  fire department arrives, but the Grey
  House already beyond saving and the
  fireman can do little but ensure that the
  fire does not spread. Strangely there is
  little sign of the combatants that fought
  inside, either they too have been
  consumed by the flames, or by some
  miracle escaped unseen.
  If the characters remain around long
  enough they will be detained by the
  attending officers.  Oddly, the police
  seem uninterested in assigning blame for
  the fire to the players, or even finding
  out why they were at the Grey House at
  such a late hour. They are simply warned
  to keep their noses clean and ‘get lost!’
  Epilogue
  The characters have stopped two
  enemies of humanity on this long night
  and although their nerve has been tested
  on more than one occasion, they remain
  bloodied but unbowed. As a result the
  characters each receive a Sanity Reward
  of 1D10+2 Sanity and the knowledge that
  their hometown is a little safer at night.
  However this adventure may just be
  the first of many, with the characters
  having a number of leads available to
  continue their investigations into the
  Cthulhu Mythos.
  •
  Did any of the characters save the music
  sheets from the fire? If so what results
  might the ‘music’ have now the ghouls
  are no more? Can the Gateway be opened
  once again? And who else knows about
  the music and its effects?
  •
  What of Kramer and his thugs? Will they
  leave the characters alone now that their
  patrons are no more? Are their benefactors
  in fact ‘no more’? Are more Mi-Go
  roaming the Earth at this very moment
  planning the destruction of humans that
  slaughtered their kin?
  •
  The Ghouls are all dead, destroyed by
  the fire that consumed the number One
  Cemetery Road… or did they? If more
  Ghouls roam the underground of the city
  is anyone safe? And who is to say that is
  they are the only creatures to stalk the
  sewers? What if a more dangerous threat
  lurks below?
  Designers Notes
  Designers Notes
  Designers Notes
  Designers Notes
  Designers Notes
  This adventure was actually created some
  five years ago as an introductionary adventure
  for a number of players new to the Cthulhu
  Mythos. Original created as a 1920’s game it
  intentional left open a number of avenues for
  future investigation allowing the players to
  dictate the direction of a short campaign. I
  hope that although updated to a modern setting
  it still holds the possibilities and intrigues it
  originally did. I know that played is the spirit
  was intended will allow ample opportunities
  for an interesting and exciting campaign.
  I couldn’t conclude this with out adding
  my inspiration for the adventure. First and
  foremost I can contribute most, if not, all the
  ideas contained in the above to the Lovecraft
  stories The Music of Erich Zann, Pickman’s
  Model and The Lurking Fear, as I’m sure you’ll
  recongise if you read or have read these stories.
  However I also must say that the original
  premise of this adventure rests firmly on the
  introductionary scenario presented in the 5th
  Edition Rulebook, The Edge of Darkness, to
  which I’m eternally grateful.
  The Mi-Go are the employers of Kramer and is Thugs,
  as well as the Masterminds behind the attack on
  Jonathon. This technologically advanced race is the bane
  of mankind and their fierce determination to keep humans
  a subservient race has meant that many of our greatest
  discoveries have been crushed or destroyed before there
  potential has been truly realised.
  This is true again in the case of Jonathon Grey,
  composer extraordinaire, whose ability to create music
  so powerful that it summoned gateways to other worlds.
  Unfortunately his attempt at controlling the actions of the
  ghouls put him in direct competition with the Mi-Go.
  Unknown to him the Fungi of Yuggoth have laid in wait for
  Greys monthly cycle to begin again, so that they can find
  and recover the item they believe he uses to open the
  gates. Of course what they do not know is that Grey used
  no item at all to allow the ghouls to travel between worlds,
  but rather just his amazing musical talent.
  The 6 Mi-Go in this adventure are all armed with Fire
  Lances weapons designed to ignite anything they touch,
  and only if the characters are extremely fortunate will they
  avoid the wrath of these weapons. More messengers than
  fighters they still pose a grave threat to the investigators
  fore filling their promise.
  Sanity Loss  0 / 1D6
  Damage Bonus  +0
  Weapons: Nippers 30%, damage 1D6 + grapple
  Fire Lances 50%, damage 1D10 (1st and 2nd degree
  burns)
  Str
  Con
  Siz
  Dex
  Pow
  HP
  Mi-Go 1
  10
  14
  14
  20
  13
  14
  Mi-Go 2
  10
  14
  13
  17
  10
  12
  Mi-Go 3
  11
  13
  8
  14
  12
  12
  Mi-Go 4
  9
  11
  10
  15
  14
  9
  Mi-Go 5
  10
  10
  11
  17
  9
  13
  Mi-Go 6
  8
  14
  14
  18
  10
  12
  Also see the entry under Mi-Go in the main CoC Rule Book.
  The Mi-Go (The Fungi from Yuggoth)
  
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  ANOTHER
  CEMETERY
  MURDER!
  The City is again victim of serial
  killer lurking Cemetery District
  Last night Police Officers
  discovered a third, as yet
  unnamed body, near the Cemetery.
  This new victim joins a growing
  list of names that have perished
  in or near our most sacred
  resting-place.
  The Police are baffled to the
  perpetrator of these crimes but
  Chief O’Brien has stated publicly
  that no stone will be left
  unturned until this murderer is
  found and dealt with.
  Jonathon M. Grey
  Composer & Conductor
  1 Cemetery Road
  (City)
  COUPLE
  VANISH FROM
  CEMETERY
  Two Youths disappear from parked car
  in Cemetery District
  Early this morning Officers from
  the Cemetery district were out
  searching for two, as yet,
  unnamed youths in and around the
  City Cemetery.
  Although the Police are saying
  l i t t l e  
  a t  
  t h i s  
  m o m e n t ,
  information has come to light
  that the disappearances are most
  definitely linked with foul play
  and are being treated with all
  seriousness by law enforcement
  agents.
  Player Handout 2
  Player Handout 2
  Player Handout 2
  Player Handout 2
  Player Handout 2
  Player Handout 3
  Player Handout 3
  Player Handout 3
  Player Handout 3
  Player Handout 3
  Player Handout 1
  Player Handout 1
  Player Handout 1
  Player Handout 1
  Player Handout 1
  DANCING TO THE WRONG TUNE
  Player Handouts
  
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  To Whom It may Concern,
  If you are reading this, then it is certain that I am dead. I feel  this must be the case
  as I have been followed now for weeks. I do not know what these people want, but I
  believe they are willing to kill for it.
  If (as I fear) I am dead, then I must beseech you to continue the task that I have
  been charged with - as my Uncle carried that burden before me, and his father (my
  grandfather) before him, so too must you, now perform this terrible task. The very
  souls of the people of this city hang in the balance!
  I know this must all come as a shock to you.  I am certain that I do not know you
  personally (I have contact with so few people these days).  My only hope is that I can
  impress upon you how vital it is that the instructions I write be followed to the letter
  — or dire consequences will result. First you will need my Music  — not the mundane
  pieces that passed for my music, but the compositions wrenched from the depths of
  my own tortured soul.
  The ceremony I will describe must commence  upon the stroke of midnight… no
  sooner… no later.  There are things involved that know only of that fleeting moment
  of time that falls between the death of one day, and the birth of the next.
  Just prior to the commencement of the ceremony, a fitting tribute must be brought
  to the Music Room in my home (there are plenty of these carcasses on hand). All
  interior doors of the house should be opened, and all outside door barred!  At the
  appointed time, the chords of ‘The Lurker at the Edge’ must be played. Do not fear
  those that come. They will not harm those who play for them, those cursed melodies.
  Once all are present, the score of ‘The Dark Man’ must follow, until the light and the
  door arrive. They will do what they must.  I beg of you, do not interfere with them!
  Once they have gone, you must stop playing immediately, no matter the place it may
  be. Quickly then, leave the house and bar the door so no others may stumble upon it.
  Better still, destroy the cursed structure. Whichever course you choose, make
  certain that those hated melodies are never sung again – by instrument or man, as I
  wish no other to experience the horrors that I have witnessed.
  I thank you now, as I fear I will never have another chance. I am sorry to bring you
  into this, but if not you then whom?
  Yours,
  Jonathon Grey
  Handout 4
  Handout 4
  Handout 4
  Handout 4
  Handout 4
  
  DARK RACES
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  Dark Conspiracy
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  Dark Conspiracy
  Pets of Mephistopheles by A. Shane Murphy
  The Mythology
  These creatures are relatively
  new and have no known historical
  counterpart.
  The Reality
  These alien arachnids only
  recently started appearing around
  dens of Insectoid ETs.
  Physical Appearance
  They look similar to a large
  spider, with the shell of a crab -
  complete with a small pair of strong
  pincers, and a hard exoskeleton
  covering their entire body. Their
  body, including legs, is about 1 meter
  in diameter. The dark coloration of
  their shell helps them hide from their
  prey until it is too late (in game terms
  this makes them one level more
  difficult to observe when in the
  shadows). The hardness of the shell
  gives the Spider Crab an Armor
  Value of 1in all hit locations.
  Combat Abilities
  Spider Crabs will attack en
  masse from hiding, without regard for
  their own losses. Once engaged,
  they will never retreat from combat.
  One-on-one they are a nuisance, but
  in great numbers they can be very
  dangerous.  Use extreme caution
  when entering a nest of them! Beside
  their poisonous bite, their only mode
  of attack is a small pair of very strong
  pincers just under their mandibles.
  They also spin large webs that are
  strong enough to catch some animals
  and even humans unlucky enough to
  wander into one. Their web requires
  an Average vs. Strength roll to break
  free.
  Notes
  The Dark Lord known to humans
  as Mephistopholes introduced these
  horrors in just the last few months.
  Even though they are a prolific
  species, food supply and the lack of
  real intelligence has helped to keep
  their numbers small.
  by A. Shane Murphy
  Spider Crabs
  Strength:
  4
  Initiative:
   3
  Constitution:
  8
  Move:
  2 / 8 / 15 / 30
  Agility:
  5
  Skill / Damage:
  4 / 1d6, 1p1
  Intelligence:
  1
  Hits:
  20 / 40*
  Education:
  1
  #  Appear:
   3d6
  Charisma:
  1
  Empathy:
  0
      * AV 1, due to hard shell.
  
  DARK RACES
  DARK RACES
  DARK RACES
  DARK RACES
  DARK RACES
  24
  24
  24
  24
  24
  Dark Conspiracy
  Dark Conspiracy
  Dark Conspiracy
  Dark Conspiracy
  Dark Conspiracy
  The Uninvited by Lee Williams
  his race is one of the more mysterious of the Darkling
  peoples. Much about them is still unknown, even by the other
  Dark races. Uncertain of their true name, since their arrival on
  Earth and activities in Britain and Europe they have become
  known as the ‘Uninvited’.
  Why are they here? It seems that they seek mainly to further
  accelerate the destruction that pollution and ecological ruin
  has 
  already
  brought to the
  world.  Our best
  guess is that they
  require the Earth
  as a colony for the
  rest 
  of 
  their
  species, and are
  changing 
  the
  ecosphere to suit
  their own prefer-
  ences. 
  It 
  is
  calculated that
  this change will
  eventually render
  the planet un-
  inhabitable to
  human beings.
  The atmosphere
  will be filled with
  carbon dioxide,
  causing the temp-
  erature to rise sharply and make it impossible for Earthly life to
  function properly.  If let continue, the ice caps will completely
  melt, acid rain will rise to an un-precedented level, and vastly
  increased amounts of background radiation will be released to
  make the Earth habit-able for them in their original form.
  At the current time, they are believed to be using a form of
  empathic control to inhabit the cloned bodies of humans with
  their own minds and thoughts. In certain ways, they could be
  considered similar to Changelings, but in this case a copy of
  the human concerned is reconstructed after their death and
  then used as a vessel for the mind of the controlling being. The
  complete memories and attitudes of the original human are
  transferred into the controlling entities’ brain, to help them
  blend almost seamlessly into the life path of the now deceased
  original.
  The Uninvited are known to have certain empathic powers.
  Although the exact nature and strength of these are not certain,
  they appear to use the Psionic discipline of Empathy. They are
  known to be capable of Telepathy, at least among themselves,
  as well as having the ability to Project Emotion on humans.
  They do however have an Empathic weakness that may
  well be exploited in order to defeat their machinations. If one of
  their human forms is killed the empathic link causes all the
  Uninvited to feel extreme pain, and as a result renders them
  incapacitated for a few moments. and this may give minion
  hunters an edge.
  The telltale symp-
  toms are that an
  U n i n v i t e d
  reconstruction will
  faint and fall to the
  floor, whilst bleed-
  ing profusely from
  the nose and ear
  cavities. The eyes
  become pure white,
  with no discernible
  iris or pupil. Also,
  they will give an
  extremely high-
  pitched scream,
  barely audible to the
  human ear. These
  effects will in-
  capacitate 
  the
  beings for approx-
  imately sixty sec-
  onds, after which they return to normal but with very low
  reserves of strength.
  The mindset of the Uninvited is somewhat odd. They all
  work together to achieve their ultimate goal, and therefore it is
  conceivable that they share a communal mind. However,
  humans prize their individuality and it may be that the group
  that is active on Earth might be seen as unusual by the rest of
  their species, in that they are capable of functioning as
  individuals. Among themselves, they think of the human
  personalities held within their minds as ‘drivers’ and let the
  stored memories take over when necessary. They always retain
  complete control and never let the stored personality run free.
  As they do not have names in the human sense, they use
  the prefix ‘the’ to define themselves added to the name of the
  replaced human. Thus, a replacement might think of himself as
  ‘the John Smith’ and the original human John Smith (or at least
  his memories) would be thought of as ‘the driver’.
  A New Dark Race
  by Lee Williams
  T
  
  DARK RACES
  DARK RACES
  DARK RACES
  DARK RACES
  DARK RACES
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  25
  25
  25
  25
  Dark Conspiracy
  Dark Conspiracy
  Dark Conspiracy
  Dark Conspiracy
  Dark Conspiracy
  The Uninvited
  Strength
  8
  Education
  10
  Move
  as human
  Constitution
  8
  Charisma
  as original human Skill/Damage
   8 / 1D6
  Agility
  6
  Empathy
  12
  Hits
  30 / 60
  Intelligence
  10
  Initiative
  6
  # Appear
  varies
  Special:
  Telepathy
   8
  Project Thought
  6
  Project Emotion
  6
  Willpower Drain
  4
  Other powers from the Psionic school of Empathy may be
  available.
  Note:
  Figures given here are for a standard Uninvited clone body.
  It is possible that there are other types of clone bodies available
  for special purposes.
  This article was inspired by the 1997 British TV mini-series The Uninvited.
  REFEREES INFORMATION
  In human form, the Uninvited possess somewhat enhanced
  physical statistics. However, in order to sustain their mental
  capacities they will use what appear to be normal ventolin
  inhalers as used by asthma sufferers. These inhalers are filled
  with a chemical mix thought to be similar to the atmosphere of
  their native proto-dimension. A good way to incapacitate them
  is to blast them with a jet of pure oxygen from a cylinder. This
  has the same effect as a pepper spray on a human, and in high
  enough concentration it can even kill them.
  In fact, one of their number was unwittingly killed by a
  paramedic crew after a car crash, when they put him onto
  oxygen to keep him alive until they reached the hospital. When
  this body was subjected to a post-mortem, the pathologist was
  astonished to discover that all of the internal organs in the
  main body cavity were all shrivelled and burnt to cinders. The
  reason for this is unclear but it may be a way of concealing any
  slight internal physical differences.
  Remember, they are already among us…
  This feature is dedicated to the many
  pieces of art we receive that are truly
  remarkable works, that we didn’t
  want to wait for a related story to
  come along to use.
  This time around, we are featuring
  “Easy Prey” by Andrew Simmons.  Just
  looking at this piece, one is given to
  wonder which subject is the predator,
  and which is the prey - which we’re
  pretty sure was the intent all along.
  Andrew has submitted a number of
  pencil sketches (both color and not),
  and expressed an interest in doing some
  more pictures for us by request.  You
  can expect to see a lot more of his work
  in future issues.
  Easy Prey by Andrew Simmons
  
  HOUSE RULES
  HOUSE RULES
  HOUSE RULES
  HOUSE RULES
  HOUSE RULES
  26
  26
  26
  26
  26
  Dark Matter
  Dark Matter
  Dark Matter
  Dark Matter
  Dark Matter
  1 - Abduction
  2 - Advanced Aircraft
  3 - Alchemy
  4 - Alien artifact
  5 - Alien captured
  6 - Alien colonization plan
  7 - Alien escapes
  8 - Andean mummies
  9 - Arcane tome found
  10 - Archaeological find
  11 - Arctic survival
  12 - Assassins
  13 - Astrology
  14 - Atlantis
  15 - Automatic writing
  16 - Bermuda Triangle
  17 - Biowarfare
  18 - Black helicopters
  19 - Blackmail
  20 - Blessed Virgin Mary sighting
  21 - Bombing
  22 - Cattle mutilation
  23 - Channeling con man
  24 - Chemical warfare
  25 - Christian cult
  26 - Circus freaks
  27 - Code breaking
  28 - Computer hackers
  29 - Concentration camps
  30 - Corporate adept
  31 - Cover up
  32 - Crop circles
  33 - Cryogenics
  34 - Crystal skulls
  35 - Dinosaurs
  36 - Desert survival
  37 - Drugs
  38 - Earthquakes, unnatural
  39 - Easter Island
  40 - El Chupacabra
  41 - Electronic voice phenomena
  42 - Epidemic
  43 - Face on Mars
  44 - False memory syndrome
  45 - Fatima
  46 - Files stolen
  47 - Flight 401
  48 - Fountain of Youth
  49 - Frogs (falling from sky /
  mutations)
  50 - Genetics (gene-splicing /
  mutations)
  51 - Golem
  52 - Government takeover
  53 - Haunting
  54 - The Horten Brothers
  55 - Human sacrifice
  56 - Immortality treatment
  57 - Institute attacked
  58 - Interdimensional doorway
  59 - Jersey Devil
  60 - JFK
  61 - Kidnapping
  62 - Lazar, Bob
  63 - Loch Ness
  64 - Lost tribe found
  65 - Lunar cycle madness
  66 - Mass insanity
  67 - Martial artist
  68 - Message from the future / past
  69 - Meteors / meteorites
  70 - Military experiment
  71 - Mindwalking criminal - mind
  control
  72 - Miracle medicine
  73 - Missing corpse
  74 - Missing persons
  75 - Morrison, Jim
  ADVENTURE TOPICS (D4 & D100)
  Adventure Topics have been divided into two tables.  To select a topic, roll both a d4 and d100. The d4 result determines
  which table.  The d100 selects the topic from that table.  On d100 results of 76+, reroll.
  Adventure Topic Table #1 (d4 result: 1 or 2)
  ADVENTURE GENERATOR (D12)
  Adventure Type
  1 - Artifact Chase
  2 - Bug Hunt
  3 - New Contact
  4 - Data Recovery
  5 - Paranormal Investigation
  6 - Extraction
  7 - Infiltration
  8 - Murder Investigation
  9 - Payoff
  10 - Quarantine
  11 - Search & Destroy
  12 - Surveillance
   TYPE OF SCENES (D20)
  1 - 5
  Challenge - basic scene type (minimum 1)
  6 - 8
  Combat - basic scene type (minimum 1)
  9 - 13 Encounter- basic scene type (minimum 1)
  14 - Recap
  15 - Briefing
  16 - Cut-Scene
  17 - Forgotten Scene
  18 - Flashback
  19 - Summation
  20 - Cliffhanger
  * Scenes shouldn’t be that random - some scenes simply must be included, based on your
  adventure - refer to pages 241-243 of the Dark*Matter sourcebook.
  by Dale Robert Thurber
  The following tables are meant to aid in generating ideas for adventures.  Keep rolling on the various tables until you find a
  combination that appeals to you, or inspires you with an idea for an adventure of your own.
  
  HOUSE RULES
  HOUSE RULES
  HOUSE RULES
  HOUSE RULES
  HOUSE RULES
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  27
  27
  27
  Dark Matter
  Dark Matter
  Dark Matter
  Dark Matter
  Dark Matter
  1 - Mothmen
  2 - Moon secrets
  3 - Mountain expedition
  4 - Mysterious fog
  5 - Mysterious suicide
  6 - Mystery objects falling from the
  sky
  7 - Nanotechnology
  8 - Nerve gas
  9 - New school of magic
  10 - New mutant
  11 - New species
  12 - New technology
  13 - Numerology
  14 - Obelisks
  15 - Obtain secret files
  16 - Occult society
  17 - Ooparts (out-of-place artifacts)
  18 - Oswald doubles
  19 - Pagan cult
  20 - Petrified man
  21 - Pollution
  22 - Possession
  23 - Prediction program
  24 - Project Mongoose
  25 - Project Phoenix
  26 - Prophesies
  27 - Psychic network
  28 - Public miracle
  29 - Pyramids
  30 - Quarantine
  31 - Radiation burns
  32 - Rainforest survival
  33 - Recruiting new H. Institute staff
  34 - Religious artifacts
  35 - Retarded mindwalker
  36 - Revelations
  37 - Reverse gravity zones
  38 - Runes
  39 - Ruins
  40 - Satellites
  41 - Satanic cult
  42 - Scandal frame up
  43 - Secret lab
  44 - Serial killer
  45 - Shapechangers
  46 - Sinking building
  47 - Slave labor camps
  48 - Solar flare
  49 - Spaceship enters our solar
  system
  50 - Spirit photography
  51 - Spontaneous human
  combustion
  1 - Alien
  2 - Anarchist
  3 - Bomb expert
  4 - Brute
  5 - “Bug”
  6 - Bureaucrat from within HI
  7 - Channeler
  8 - Con artist
  9 - Crazed animal
  10 - Diabolist
  11 - Demon / devil
  12 - FX-powered person
  13 - Gadgeteer
  14 - Gang member
  15 - Ghost tied to a certain locale
  16 - Hacker
  17 - Hemomancer
  18 - Hermeticist
  19 - Invisible man
  20 - Insane plotter
  52 - Spring-heeled Jack
  53 - Stigmata
  54 - Stock market mindwalking
  55 - Stonehenge
  56 - Super weapon
  57 - Swamp survival
  58 - Teleportation
  59 - Templars return
  60 - Tesla
  61 - Time traveler
  62 - Trephination
  63 - Twenty-three
  64 - Undersea diving
  65 - Unexpected weather (natural?)
  66 - UFO crash
  67 - UFO sighting
  68 - Vampires
  69 - Villains, unusual (see chart
  below)
  70 - Virtual reality
  71 - Virus
  72 - Visions
  73 - Warren Commission
  74 - Werewolf mutation
  75 - Wiccans / witchcraft
  1 - Martial artist
  2 - Mad scientist
  3 - Mind controller
  4 - Militiaman
  5 - Mob Boss
  6 - Mutant, Animal
  7 - Mutant, Human
  8 - Possessed person
  9 - Pyrokinetic
  10 - Religious fanatic / cultist
  11 - Seducer / Temptress
  12 - Serial killer
  13 - Soldier
  14 - Street Punk / Thug
  15 - Terrorist
  16 - Thief
  17 - Vampire
  18 - Voodoo practitioner
  19 - Werewolf
  20 - Witch
  VILLAIN / FOE / ENEMY ARCHETYPES (D6 & D20)
  No adventure is complete without a memorable Villain.  The Villain / Foe / Enemy Archetypes have been divided into two
  tables.  To select a villain, roll both a d6 and d20. The d6 result determines which table the d20 result is compared to.
  Adventure Topic Table #2 (d4 result:3 or 4)
  Villain Table #1 (d6 result: 1 - 3)
  Villain Table #2 (d6 result: 4 - 6)
  
  MILIEU
  MILIEU
  MILIEU
  MILIEU
  MILIEU
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  28
  28
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  All Flesh Must Be Eaten
  All Flesh Must Be Eaten
  All Flesh Must Be Eaten
  All Flesh Must Be Eaten
  All Flesh Must Be Eaten
  INTRODUCTION
  INTRODUCTION
  INTRODUCTION
  INTRODUCTION
  INTRODUCTION
  “Who is this irresistible creature who has an insatiable love for the dead?”
   
  “Living Dead Girl” is a world setting for Eden Studios’ ALL FLESH MUST
  BE EATEN, a survival horror roleplaying game that allows you to play in a
  world infested by the walking dead. This particular deadworld was inspired by
  Rob Zombie’s song “Living Dead Girl,” and is based on a number of sources,
  including Chaos! Comics’ EVIL ERNIE, the three RETURN OF THE LIVING
  DEAD films, and the AFMBE deadworld “Mein Zombie.” 
  The “Living Dead Girl” deadworld is set in the cosmology of two other
  Eden Studios roleplaying games, ARMAGEDDON and WITCHCRAFT, and
  Zombie Masters are encouraged to purchase and explore these games (which
  use the same Unisystem as AFMBE) for more detailed information.
  Chroniclers of ARMAGEDDON and WITCHCRAFT are certainly invited to
  make use of this material for their own campaigns as well. Likewise, several
  different Story Ideas have been provided for Game Masters, each with
  suggestions of how they might be adapted to other RPGs.
  If you have any questions or comments, please give me a piece of your
  mind. The Living Dead Girl tells me that pieces from the frontal and occipital
  lobes are particularly tender, and make for an excellent roast, or can even be
  diced for a quick snack...
  Christopher Haynes
  christopherhaynes@home.com
  by Christopher Haynes
  HISTORY PART ONE
  ”When once the restraining talisman
  of the Christian cross is broken in
  Germany, then the fury of the ancient
  warriors, the berserk rage of which the
  Nordic poets sang, will surge up again.
  The old stone gods will rise from long-
  forgotten ruins and rub the dust of a
  thousand years from their eyes; and Thor
  with his giant hammer will leap up and
  smash the Gothic cathedrals. And when
  that crash comes, it will be like nothing
  heard before in history.”
  - Heinrich Heine
   
  The gods of mythology and the
  angels and demons of religious belief have
  a common origin, an origin that dates
  back to the time of Creation. Gods and
  angels are the descendants of Sephyr,
  the Tools of the Creator, elemental beings
  that shaped our reality. The Sephyr
  
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  evolved into two distinct orders of
  beings: the Seraphim and the Titans. The
  Seraphim were the beings of spirit, the
  emissaries and servants of the Creator.
  The Titans were embodiments of different
  aspects of reality, such as War, Death and
  Justice, and they were the first to come
  to Earth to set themselves up as deities. 
  The rise of monotheism was not mere
  happenstance; even as human mission-
  aries gained converts throughout
  Europe, the pagan pantheons were being
  besieged and overwhelmed by the
  Heavenly Hosts. The Titans were forced
  to stay out of the affairs of man, and most
  of them became the Old Gods,
  remembered only in folk tales and ancient
  myths. Centuries later, some Titans
  returned to the world, but in utter secrecy.
   
  Margo Schreck was born in Munich,
  Germany in 1928. Her mother Emma died
  during childbirth, but her father, Dr.
  Herman Schreck, raised his daughter as
  best as he could. Dr. Schreck was not
  only a brilliant biologist, but also a war
  veteran, and his experiences as a medic
  during World War I still haunted him.
  Fascinated with overcoming the
  inevitability of death, Schreck’s research
  brought him into repeated contact with
  other prominent German scientists of the
  1930s.
   
  In 1933, Dr. Schreck joined Munich’s
  National Socialist party and, over the
  following years, became a young
  colleague of other Nazi doctors, such as
  Karl Clauberg, Sigmund Rascher, and
  Horst Schumann. Both Schreck and
  Rascher had a special hatred of the
  Roman Catholic Church (as did most of
  the Nazi party), but Herman became
  increasingly drawn to the growing “New
  Heathen” (Neuheiden) movement and
  the traditional Nordic Faith that had been
  followed by the Vikings and, before them,
  the diverse Germanic of Europe and Asia.
  The Norse Gods were worshipped by
  large numbers of people until as late as
  900 AD, when a combination of Christian
  missionaries (and Christian persecution)
  and the Seraphim’s attack on Asgard
  ended their existence as an active
  pantheon. In late 19th and early 20th
  Century, however, there had been many
  flourishing esoteric orders in Germany
  and Austria that sought to establish a
  reborn Germanic identity and to
  reconnect the people with their repressed
  archetypes. One of the most significant
  of these Orders was founded in Germany
  in 1912 - the German Order, and from this
  sprang the Thule Society. 
  Both societies - which eventually
  became almost interchangeable in ideas
  and even membership - were originally
  composed of the German officer class and
  professions, who were convinced of a
  massive international Jewish conspiracy
  backed up by occult practices. To counter
  this they established their own Nordic
  occult-based Freemasonry, complete with
  elaborate rituals and robes, Viking
  helmets and swords. More importantly,
  the Thule Society - which took its name
  from the fabled land of Ultima Thule, a
  sort of paradise on Earth - began to recruit
  new members from the lower classes and
  disseminated anti-Semitic material in its
  various newspapers. One of these, a
  Munich newspaper named the Völkischer
  Beobachter, eventually became the
  official journal of the German Workers’
  Party in 1919. A year later the party
  became the National Socialist German
  Workers’ Party (NSDAP) under the
  leadership of Adolf Hitler. 
  The Thule Society was active in
  efforts to overthrow the Bavarian
  Communist Government and journalist,
  poet, and occult student Dietrich Eckart,
  who was a major intellectual influence
  on Hitler in the early years, aided their
  propaganda effort. The swastika flag
  adopted by the NSDAP was the
  brainchild of another Thulist, Dr. Friedrich
  Krohn. Krohn suggested a swastika on a
  white disc with a red background - red
  for blood and the social ideal, white for
  nationalism and purity of race, and the
  swastika for ‘the struggle for victory of
  Aryan man’. Hitler was delighted but for
  one detail - the traditional ‘right-handed’
  swastika was to be reversed, forming an
  evocation of evil, spiritual devolution
  and Black Magic. 
  With the victory of the NSDAP, the
  occult tradition was carried on in the
  Third Reich mainly by the SS
  (Schutzstaffel), whose Reichsführer,
  Heinrich Himmler, was also an avid
  student of the occult. Josef Goebbels
  pretended to an interest in the occult and
  in astrology in order to please the Führer,
  and Rudolf Hess may have dabbled in
  occult matters, but Himmler was the one
  true ‘sorcerer’s apprentice’ in Hitler’s
  inner circle. Reinhard Heydrich, head of
  the Security and Intelligence Service
  (Sicherheitdienst - SD) reported to
  Himmler in 1939 that he had discovered
  the case of a witch called Margareth
  Himbler, burnt in Germany in 1629. The
  similarity of names encouraged Himmler’s
  interest in German witchcraft, and
  eventually, in 1935, an SS occult research
  department, the top-secret Ge-
  heimnisvolle Korps (Occult Corps) was
  established as a branch of Himmler’s
  Ahnernerbe (Ancestral Heritage Bureau).
   
  The center of the Occult Corps became
  Castle Wewelsburg in Westphalia, which
  was bought as a ruin in 1934 and rebuilt
  over the next 11 years at a cost of 13
  million marks. The central banqueting hall
  contained a vast round table with throne-
  like seats to accommodate Himmler and
  12 of his favorite officers, making his
  “Order of the Black Knights” a Dark
  Covenant of 13. Beneath this hall was a
  Walhalla, or ‘Hall of the Dead’, where
  plinths stood around a stone table and
  the covenant could practice their
  witchcraft in secret. 
  Himmler was so obsessed with
  witchcraft that the Occult Corps
  eventually looted more than 140,000
  books on the subject from libraries across
  Nazi-occupied Europe. He believed that
  the persecution of witches in the 17th
  century represented a kind of Holocaust
  of the German race carried out by the
  Roman Catholic Church. “The witch-
  hunting cost the German people
  hundreds of thousands of mothers and
  women, cruelly tortured and executed,”
  Himmler said. He deployed the Occult
  Corps to discover traces of an old
  Germanic magic that survived the witch-
  hunts. Among their discoveries was the
  Black Magic of evil seers and mediums:
  necromancy. 
  “Conquer death and we shall conquer
  
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  the world,” Hitler instructed the Occult
  Corps in 1936, and Dr. Herman Schreck
  was among the first scientists recruited
  to do just that. Just as Valhalla’s dead
  warriors would fight again when the
  Twilight of the Gods came, Germany
  would use magic and science to create
  an army of immortal soldiers who could
  never be stopped. Project “Götter-
  dämmerung” had begun.
  HISTORY PART TWO
       
  “Herman Göring would later say
  Adolf Hitler was never the same after the
  suicide of his beloved niece... Curiously,
  shortly after her death, Hitler looked
  with disdain on a piece of ham being
  served during breakfast and refused to
  eat it, saying it was like eating a corpse.
  From that moment on, he refused to eat
  meat.”
   
  - The Rise of Adolf Hitler: Success
  and a Suicide
   
  From 1938 to 1942, while Dr. Schreck
  and his staff experimented with gasses,
  chemicals, and serums while combing
  through the Himmler’s stolen texts, his
  daughter was an active member of the
  League of Young Girls (Jungmädelbund
  - JM). The JM was a constituent
  organization of the Hitler Youth (Hitler
  Jugend - HJ), which placed particular
  emphasis on pre-military training. In 1942,
  Margo turned 14 and joined the League
  of German Girls (Bund Deutscher Mädel
  -BDM) and was outfitted with the navy
  skirt and white blouse that marked her as
  one of the future mothers of the Greater
  German Reich. She attended weekly
  meetings where she did handicrafts, sang
  songs, and listened to lectures on
  National Socialist ideology with a
  particular emphasis on racial theory
  (Rassenkunde). Like all girls in the BDM,
  Margo joined the boys from the HJ in
  training for duties in the anti-aircraft
  batteries and particularly in working on
  the land. 
  BDM girls stood waiting on the
  platforms of railway stations ready to ply
  troops in transit with drink and food.
  They also worked as secretaries and
  receptionists for the railway stations and
  the armed forces. The girls assisted the
  Red Cross and served in military
  hospitals, where they provided first aid
  during air raids, often at considerable risk
  to their lives. They acted as nursemaids,
  supervised kindergartens, worked in KLV
  (Kinderlandverschickung) camps for
  evacuated children, and helped in old
  peoples’ homes. They helped to look after
  war widows, refugees and the homeless
  by bringing them food and coal, repairing
  their homes, tending their gardens, and
  helping them replace their papers and
  ration cards. They formed choirs to
  entertain the sick and wounded, and
  produced plays for their amusement. 
  During her years in the BDM Margo
  often visited her father in Project
  Götterdämmerung’s secret laboratory in
  Munich. It was there in 1944 that she first
  met the project’s liaison to the Occult
  Corps: a handsome SS (Schutzstaffel)
  officer named Walter Fuhrmann. He was
  a superior physical specimen, proud of
  bearing, sound in morals and ideals, and
  had the mental toughness to execute the
  most distasteful assignments. Walter
  initially served in the SD and gained a
  great deal of experience in counter-
  intelligence before joining the Occult
  Corps and, in time, the secret Order of
  Black Knights.  
  Walter had met many BDM girls at
  social events arranged to bring SS men
  together with young women of several
  Nazi organizations. These get-acquainted
  sessions were casual and quite proper,
  and for most of the men of the SS, the
  meetings frequently led pre- or extra-
  marital relationships. Walter had been
  given every encouragement and
  opportunity to sire children in great
  numbers, for Himmler had decided that it
  was the patriotic duty of every SS man to
  sire at least four children; he usually
  denied promotion to childless officers
  such as SS-Obersturmbannführer
  Fuhrmann. 
  The SS had other uses for the BDM
  as well. To mobilize all remaining strength
  for the war effort, the SS began recruiting
  older BDM girls for the new SS Female
  Assistance Corps (SS-Helferinnenkorps
  - SSHK). Normally when a BDM girl
  reached 17 she joined an organization
  called Glaube und Schönheit (“Faith and
  Beauty”), in which she would receive
  advanced training in domestic science
  and preparation for marriage. In 1944,
  however, it was far more important for
  the girls from this BDM auxiliary to free
  SS men for front-line duty by working as
  telephone operators, telegraph clerks,
  radio operators, and female assistants for
  special purposes. 
  Efforts were made to recruit the
  daughters of SS families, and Margo was
  not only related to SS Brigadeführer
  Julius Schreck, but her father also worked
  for the SS occult research department.
  Eight weeks after being inducted into the
  SS academy (Reichsschule-SS) on the
  northern outskirts of Munich, Margo was
  sworn in as a member of the SSHK and
  attached to the Occult Corps as Walter
  Fuhrmann’s assistant. 
  Himmler wished to protect the girls
  of the SSHK from chauvinist abuse, and
  had placed special emphasis on
  professional relationships with male
  members of the SS. His men were expected
  to deal with the girls in a “clean, decent,
  and knightly-comradely fashion.” Within
  a year, however, Walter and Margo had
  fallen in love. Although Margo had been
  thoroughly indoctrinated in her duty to
  bear children for the Reich, in or out of
  wedlock, Walter felt the need to solemnize
  their relationship. Of course the
  Reichsführer-SS was hostile to the
  “hypocrisy” of monogamy, but he
  continued to tolerate conventional
  marriage. SSHK assistants who wished
  to get married had to get permission from
  Himmler and the Race and Settlement
  Main Office, but before Margo received
  their approval, disaster struck. 
  In 1945, Project Götterdämmerung’s
  laboratory was hit during the Allied
  bombing raids on Munich and
  Nuremberg, which hitherto had remained
  virtually untouched. Margo became
  trapped in the rubble, and some of the
  project’s gas canisters ruptured,
  poisoning her before she could escape.
  By the time Walter reached Margo’s
  body, she was already dead. 
  
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  Dr. Schreck and several of his staff
  survived, but he was driven mad with
  grief. Although the secret to immortality
  still eluded them, Project Götter-
  dämmerung had tried using magical
  formulas to develop a serum that could
  violate the magical Life and Death Cycle.
  If such a serum was injected into the
  bodies of men, it would allow the dead to
  continue inhabiting their own flesh long
  after they should have surrendered it. The
  Nazis could then conceivably create an
  army of undead beserkers, “draugar,”
  who could never be stopped. 
  Unfortunately, Project Götter-
  dämmerung had little success with
  necromancy up until now, and the newest
  formula was still untested. Now Dr.
  Schreck was determined to make it work.
  He would use the new serum to raise his
  daughter’s dead body. As the
  pigmentation seemingly leached out of
  her body and she began to stir, Herman
  cried out that his white-skinned daughter
  had conquered death, for she was now
  Hel, the mythological Queen of the Dead
  made flesh. Indeed, Dr. Herman Schreck
  was the first to discover that Margo was
  gone, and in her place was a living dead
  girl named Hela… and flesh was what she
  hungered for.
  HISTORY PART THREE
  “Nothing in Germany is more alive
  than our dead.”
  Baldur von Schirach, Reich Leader
  for Youth Education in the NSDAP
   
  Hela was more than just Hel’s avatar,
  however; she was, in a sense, her
  daughter. In Norse mythology, Hel was
  the ruler of Helheim (“house of Hel”), the
  Realm of the Dead in Niflheim (“house of
  mists”), and was the most feared and
  hated of the Nordic Titans. She was the
  youngest child of the evil god Loki and
  the giantess Angrboda, and the Norse
  gods had abducted Hel and her brothers
  from Angrboda’s hall and cast them into
  the underworld - a place of icy fogs and
  mists, darkness and cold. There Hel built
  her a great keep with towering walls and
  gates, Eljudnir (“home of the dead”), and
  distributed those who were send to her:
  the wicked and those who died of
  sickness or old age. She welcomed them
  into her hall (Damp-With-Sleet) and
  shared her provisions with them; her
  plate was Hunger and her knife was
  Famine. The dead might even dream of
  her embraces or share her Sick-Bed. 
  Also in Niflheim was Nidhogg (“tearer
  of corpses”), a monstrous serpent which
  gnawed at the roots of the World Tree
  Yggdrasil. The Dread Biter lurked in
  Nastrond, where it ate corpses to sustain
  itself until the final conflict, a
  Götterdämmerung that would forever
  change the world. Eventually, both the
  Seraphim and the Titans had realized that
  Nidhogg was actually an aspect of
  Leviathan - an entity from beyond Reality
  that was seeking to enter our world and
  ultimately destroy it. Like the angels and
  the other Old Gods, Hel also had visions
  of the war with Leviathan that was to
  come. When Dr. Schreck reanimated his
  daughter’s body, Hel slipped out of her
  prison (it would not be the first time -
  during the Black Plague, which ravaged
  Norway and other parts of Scandinavia
  to an even greater degree than the rest of
  Western Europe, Hel was said to travel
  the countryside).  
  Hel then created an avatar by
  imprinting a portion of her own soul on
  Margo Schreck’s, modifying it to some
  degree. These modifications affected
  Hela’s appearance, personality and
  inherent powers, although Margo’s
  original soul and her rearing and
  environment also had an impact. The
  result was a strange mixture of human
  and divine. As Hel’s avatar, Hela was the
  spiritual offspring of Hel, a human being
  whose soul was modified into a closer
  resemblance to the Essence matrix of the
  Old Goddess. The result was a woman
  who shared many traits with her spiritual
  “parent,” from powers to personality, but
  who was an independent creature with
  her own free will and destiny.  
  Margo retained some of her old
  intellect, and even though she was now
  a zombie, she still had a kind of animal
  cunning and could even talk, although it
  was not a pretty sound. Nobody knows
  what she said to her father, but by the
  time Walter and the surviving scientists
  learned what Dr. Schreck had done, it was
  too late to save him. Hela had murdered
  Herman and anyone else who had
  encountered her since she rose from the
  dead, and while there wasn’t necessarily
  much left of their bodies after she had
  eaten, her victims also rose to become
  her undead slaves. Walter and his men
  were now facing an entire pack of zombies
  under Hela’s psychic control; monsters
  fueled by rage and fresh meat, and with
  each casualty their numbers were
  growing. To make matters worse, their
  queen recovered from any damage that
  was done to her. No matter how many
  zombies the Nazis destroyed, Hela herself
  seemed unstoppable, and soon Munich’s
  bombed-out ruins were overrun with the
  walking dead. 
  Munich’s top Nazi party official, Paul
  Giesler, was Gauleiter (district leader) of
  Bavaria and the holder of an honor badge
  in gold for his earlier service as a Storm
  Troop leader. Giesler hoped that the
  problem could be contained and
  eliminated before it spread any further -
  particularly to neighboring Dachau,
  which provided new material to Project
  Götterdämmerung for Dr. Schreck’s
  studies. Located 12 miles north of
  Munich, Dachau was one of Germany’s
  worst and most notorious camps, and had
  been the scene of medical experiments
  
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  carried out on hundreds of inmates by
  Dr. Schreck’s old friend and colleague, SS-
  Untersturmführer Dr. Rascher. Neither
  Giesler nor anyone else in Munich
  wanted to see another harrowing of hell
  in that place. A local organization of
  German insurgents led by United States
  Army captain Ruppert Gerngross,
  however, misunderstood Giesler’s
  intentions and prevented the authorities
  from destroying the bridges leading out
  of the city so that the Americans would
  have little trouble getting into town when
  the 7th Army came. 
  As an ever-growing army of the
  undead feasted on the people of Munich,
  Walter wondered if the collapse of
  Germany and the rise of the walking dead
  tallied exactly with what could be
  expected of the Black Order’s pact with
  evil powers. Did the essence of such
  magic lie in sacrifice: an orgy of blood
  and destruction? Hela’s judgment was
  clouded with rage, and she somehow
  amplified the hate and bloodlust inside
  each and every zombie. The creatures
  seemed bent on destruction for its own
  sake, not only killing humans, but
  destroying buildings or anything else
  that got in their path. Telepathically
  connected by Hela’s psychic powers,
  even the most stupid zombies showed
  an amazing ability to work together,
  especially when it came to hunting down
  the living. 
  Finally, the surviving scientists
  created an experimental weapon: a
  Mauser that fired a projectile that injected
  liquid nitrogen into the target. If Hela’s
  brain could be targeted, the gel might
  render her “unconscious” for several
  minutes, which might be just enough time
  for the humans to transfer her to another
  facility for study. Also, without their
  queen to keep the lines of communication
  open, the undead would be leaderless
  and much more manageable - especially
  those zombies whose brains had already
  been damaged or rotted away. Walter
  decided that he would be the one to fire
  the rifle, and a single shot aimed at Hela’s
  forehead put her down. With no time to
  spare, the young officer helped the
  scientists place her body in a specially
  prepared drum that would keep Hela in
  suspended animation. 
  In the meantime, the remaining
  German troops tried desperately to isolate
  the infected residents and the dead.
  Giesler refused to allow anyone to leave
  the city under any circumstances, forcing
  Walter and his fellow survivors to remain
  behind as Hela’s drum (along with the
  remaining records of the project’s
  experiments) was placed on a military
  truck headed for a nearby Occult Corps
  research facility in Nuremberg. 
  What they didn’t know at the time
  was that the Americans had already
  reached Nuremberg, and were now only
  days away from Dachau and Munich. The
  truck never reached the facility; an attack
  by the 7th Army on the German convoy
  killed the soldiers before the Americans
  could learn just what it was they were
  transporting. It wasn’t until the Army
  liberated Dachau and encountered a
  small, cheering crowd in Munich that the
  Americans discovered the horrifying
  truth: the ruins were filled with the walking
  dead. In several neighborhoods, the
  German troops were still busy fighting
  for their lives against the monsters, and
  the men of the Army’s 45th Division had
  a long, vicious room-to-room fight with
  hungry zombies in Munich’s SS-
  Reichsschule. The Americans soon
  learned what the Germans had already
  discovered - their guns were almost
  useless against the undead. 
  The 7th Army fought for as long as
  they could, before ultimately calling in
  tactical air forces that dropped enough
  bombs on Munich to destroy the last
  remaining zombies. The War Department
  brought Hela’s drum back to the United
  States, where it was eventually handed
  over to the Army’s Chemical, Biological,
  and Radiological Warfare support unit.
  The drum was shuffled around for years
  and finally placed in a storage dump near
  New York City. The site was forgotten
  until 1991, when a group of neo-Nazi
  youths secretly gained access to the
  dump and found what they were looking
  for. The skinheads took Hela’s drum and
  delivered it to Walter Fuhrmann.
  HISTORY PART FOUR
   
  “Join hands with the heroes in
  America, Britain, Iceland, Denmark and
  other White countries who have raised
  the holy Swastika banner and defended
  it with their blood. It has risen from the
  ashes of Berlin, and never shall it be
  hauled down again.”
  - George Lincoln Rockwell,
  founder of the American Nazi Party
   
  Walter had made a narrow escape from
  Munich in 1945, when the city’s hungry
  zombies had ambushed the unsuspecting
  7th Army. He’d hoped to reach the
  research facility in Nuremberg, but he
  soon discovered that the Americans now
  occupied almost all of Bayern. There was
  nothing he could do to rescue Margo and
  it was no longer safe to remain in
  Germany; the Third Reich was on the
  verge of collapse. Even Hitler knew that
  all hope had gone, although he waited in
  his bunker until April 30, 1945 before
  committing suicide with Eva Braun, whom
  he had just married. The date was
  significant: it was the day that ends in
  Walpurgis Night - the high feast of the
  powers of darkness. 
  As much as Walter loved Germany
  and the Reich, this was no longer a place
  for him now. Every day the Allies were
  arresting more of his old comrades;
  zealous members of the Red Army had
  shot many of them on sight. Husbands
  and fathers, sons and brothers were being
  made to watch while whole squads of
  Russian soldiers violated their women.
  German militiamen were doused in
  gasoline and set aflame. Babies with their
  heads bashed in littered the floors of
  ravaged homes. Soviet troops were urged
  on by propaganda leaflets proclaiming
  “The hour of revenge has struck!” 
  Walter knew that even if the Soviets
  didn’t kill him, the Americans would
  certainly make him reveal secrets about
  the Fatherland he was not prepared to
  divulge. Escape was the only option. He
  had to find some type of escape out of
  Germany; out of Europe. He had heard
  rumors of a way out that could be used
  to his advantage - if they were true.
  
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  Travelling to Fusen, a small town outside
  of Munich, Walter took refuge in Neu-
  schwannstein, the lovely picturesque
  castle that dominated the region. Inside
  the Nazis had hidden mountains of
  artistic treasures, and the Allies had not
  dared to bomb the area. Compared to the
  rest of Germany, Castle Neu-
  schwannstein was a virtual paradise of
  tranquility. 
  Walter soon learned of an org-
  anization code-named “ODESSA” which
  was equipped with three seperate
  tentacles reaching around the globe.
  Tentacle One was assembled by
  Wehrmacht officer Reinhard Gehlen from
  the vast Nazi intelligence service - in its
  new guise it would be known as the
  “Gehlen Organization” or, simply, “the
  Org.” Tentacle Two, the work of SS-
  Standartenführer Otto Skorzeny, was a
  system of “ratlines” used to desert the
  sinking Reich and relocate prominent
  Nazis in South and Central America,
  Mexico, the Middle East, and Indonesia.
  Tentacle Three, also the work of Skorzeny
  (in collaboration with his father-in-law
  Hjalmar Schacht, president of Hitler’s
  Reichsbank), handled foreign transport
  of Third Reich assets. Once abroad,
  Tentacle Three established dozens of
  front companies. Through ODESSA,
  Vessler explained, escape was possible. 
  After making the necessary
  arrangements, Walter found himself in
  Syria for a time before reaching the
  Brazilian city of Sao Paulo. Despite the
  fact that Brazil sent troops to fight
  alongside the Allies in Europe, its
  government had also allowed other Nazis
  fleeing Germany to settle in the country.
  In Sao Paulo, eight of them had already
  filled a bank vault with millions of dollars
  worth of cash, gold bars and jewelry
  stolen from victims of the Holocaust and
  plundered from occupied Europe. The
  hoard was deposited in the name of
  Albert Blume, a German who came to
  Brazil before the Second World War and
  acted as a banker for other Nazis who
  fled to South America later. 
  Just as ODESSA had helped Walter
  and his colleagues escape to Brazil, so
  did the U.S. military round up Nazi
  scientists and bring them to the United
  States. The War Department had
  originally intended merely to debrief them
  and send them back to Germany, but
  when it realized the extent of the
  scientists’ knowledge and expertise, the
  Americans decided it would be a waste
  to send the scientists back home. The
  War Deparment decided to keep the Nazi
  scientists in America and make them U.S.
  citizens. By September 1946, “Project
  Paperclip” was bringing even the most
  ardent Nazi scientists to the United
  States to work on America’s behalf during
  the Cold War, and the operation for
  eleven more years until, in 1957, the West
  German government protested that the
  U.S. had stripped it of its “scientific
  skills.”
  In the meantime, while his fellow
  expatriates found jobs as “security
  advisers” in Latin America, Walter
  learned a great deal from Blume. Drawing
  upon ODESSA’s hidden assets while
  working for a number of banking and
  financial industries in Brazil, Walter
  amassed a sizable fortune of his own
  before moving to Milwaukee, Wisconsin
  in 1958. Shortly thereafter he became an
  official supporter of George Lincoln
  Rockwell’s newly created “American Nazi
  Party” as well as other neo-Nazi
  organizations, and used his money and
  influence to gain control of them - but
  these were not his only goals. Walter
  secretly began recruiting Nazi scientists
  who, despite their newfound positions
  in the American scientific community,
  were still loyal to Germany. Walter knew
  they could be of great use to him
  personally, for he was still obsessed with
  finding Margo Schreck. 
  Walter continued to recruit more
  scientists over the years until finally, in
  1991, his neo-Nazi agents discovered an
  old Army file that had been lost in 1947.
  Inside was an inventory of several supply
  dumps in the New York area, including
  the one that Hela’s drum had been stored
  in. Now 78 years old, Walter would be
  reunited with his fiancée at last. A
  gathering of forensic specialists,
  neurologists, biologists, chemists, and
  toxicologists followed Walter to
  Manhattan, where they could begin work
  behind the façade of a small research
  center. Between them, these twelve
  scientists had devoted more than three
  decades trying to unlock the secrets of
  Project Götterdämmerung’s achieve-
  ments. Now they could finally put that
  research to use.
  HISTORY PART FIVE
   
  “And now on foreign soil National
  Socialism has gained its first conscious
  martyr - a man who did nothing save to
  enter the lists for Germany which is not
  only his sacred right but his duty in this
  world: a man who did nothing save
  remember his homeland and pledge
  himself to her in loyalty. He, too, was
  murdered, just like so many others... We
  understand the challenge to battle and
  we take up the gage! My dear comrade!
  You have not fallen in vain!”
  - Adolf Hitler
   
  The scientists released Margo from
  her drum and began a protracted series
  of tests. They reproduced Dr. Schreck’s
  formulas, and discovered that even the
  serum he’d injected into his daughter had
  no effect upon their cadavers. When
  combined with the gasses that had
  saturated Margo’s corpse in 1945,
  however, the resulting compound did
  animate lifeless tissue. Walter’s staff was
  ultimately able to synthesize a poisonous
  gas that was identical to the combination
  of nerve agents that had raised Margo
  from the dead, but yet the corpses
  reanimated by the gas were no more
  powerful than the zombies that Hela
  herself had created in Munich. It seemed
  that the Queen of the Dead’s origin would
  remain a mystery. 
  Walter ordered the research
  contingent to keep Margo as comfortable
  as possible, but they also took many
  precautions to ensure that she couldn’t
  harm them. Hela craved human flesh; from
  the moment the scientists freed her, it was
  all she could think of. Walter still hoped
  that, if she were kept in a controlled
  environment and remained well fed,
  perhaps his beloved Margo could be
  
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  reasoned with and could even return with
  him to Europe someday. Accordingly, his
  scientists made great progress in their
  attempts to re-educate and to rehabilitate
  her.
  During this time, Hela discovered that
  she had the power to project her soul to
  the domain of the dead. Because she did
  not transport herself physically, Margo
  appeared to be sleeping when she used
  this power, and indeed, at first it seemed
  like a dream to her as well - but it was real.
  There she saw Nidhogg gnawing
  perpetually at the deepest root of
  Yggdrasil. There she met the monstrous
  hound Garm, with four eyes and a chest
  drenched with blood, which lived in the
  Gnipa-cave and guarded the entrance to
  Helheim. In Eljudnir, she met Hel’s
  manservant Ganglati, the Shambling Man,
  and her maidservant Ganglot, the
  Lurching Woman. Finally, she met Hel
  herself, and learned whom she was
  beholden to. 
  The link between Hela and Hel was
  already very strong; even in Munich Hel
  used her avatar as a source of information
  by seeing through her eyes or sensing
  everything going on around her.
  Likewise, Hel had even “spoken” to
  Earth’s new Queen of the Dead, be it to
  offer advice or to give orders. But even
  in Munich, when Hela was purely a
  creature of instinct, Hel had found it was
  not so easy to take over her mind. Rather
  than try to force Hela to do her bidding,
  Hel would ask for her obedience. 
  During her waking hours, she and
  Walter would often spend much time
  together, but unfortunately, Margo could
  not resist her addiction to flesh. After just
  a few hours without eating, the ravenous
  hunger would finally overcome her and
  Hela’s instincts would take over. When
  that happened, Hela saw no difference
  between old friends and fresh meat. The
  flesh had to be living and breathing as it
  was being consumed, which meant that
  Walter’s neo-Nazis were responsible for
  feeding Hela by finding at least two or
  three victims each day. At first, the
  scientists had attempted to feed Hela by
  immobilizing a human and allowing her
  to eat a particular limb or organs from the
  victim, so that a single person could be
  kept alive from one meal to the next.
  Unfortunately, the scientists quickly
  discovered that Hela’s bodily fluids were
  just as poisonous and effective as the
  gas they had synthesized: she needed
  only to bite a living being and the chain
  reaction would begin. Over time, Walter’s
  men would abduct more than 10,000
  people from New York City and the
  surrounding region. 
  Because the neo-Nazis were discreet,
  they were able to continue their work for
  nine years without any real trouble from
  the local authorities. Although a number
  of infected corpses were either studied
  or stored in suspended animation just as
  Hela had been, most of the victims were
  incinerated onsite in special crema-
  toriums before they could become a
  threat, and their ashes were carefully
  disposed of. By 2000, however, agents in
  the FBI’s Manhattan field office had
  drawn their own conclusions from the
  local investigations into missing persons.
  When the connection was made to Walter
  Fuhrmann’s research center, the FBI
  learned more than enough about him and
  his connections to the neo-Nazi
  movement to suspect that he was
  involved in some kind of modern-day
  continuation of the Holocaust. 
  The FBI immediately raided Walter’s
  research center. Special agents
  surrounded the facility and fought a
  number of heavily armed guards and
  skinheads before finally closing in on the
  research contingent. Some scientists
  tried to fight back while others attempted
  to escape, and in the confusion the
  center’s zombies were accidentally
  released - including Hela. For the people
  trapped inside the building with them, it
  was as if all Hell had broken loose.
  Despite his advanced age, Walter fought
  his way past panic-stricken agents and
  hungry zombies (whose rapidly growing
  numbers now included dead neo-Nazis,
  scientists, and FBI agents) before finding
  Hela, who was already feasting on living
  flesh. Incredibly, instead of attacking
  Walter, she agreed to come with him.
  Together they nearly escaped from the
  center, but an FBI agent confronted them
  both and shot Walter in the head. The
  old man was dead; his brains had literally
  been blown out. 
  Hela killed the terrified FBI agent
  before returning to Walter Fuhrmann’s
  dead body. Margo Schreck loved Walter,
  but Hela loved the tender taste of his
  brains even more. Hela then took the
  clothes from a dying skinhead while her
  angry, starving zombies overwhelmed
  the remaining FBI agents and attacked
  the reinforcements. For the first time in
  fifty-five years, the Queen of the Dead
  was free, and her thoughts were clouded
  with rage. She wanted revenge, and
  reawakened intelligence combined with
  the powers of a goddess meant that she
  would have it!
   
  STORY IDEA
  NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD GIRL
   
  “This is what we thank these dead
  for: in one of the worst periods of German
  history, they set the example.”
  - Adolf Hitler
   
  This Story is unique in that it allows
  Cast Members to take part in the living
  dead girl’s history before the present day.
  Specifically, during the events of 1945,
  when flesh-eating zombies walked in
  Munich. Such an adventure could either
  begin with the creation of Hela and her
  subsequent rampage through the city’s
  ruins, or shortly after the Queen of the
  Dead was placed in suspended animation
  and transported to Nuremberg, in which
  case she would play no direct part in the
  adventure and her zombies would not
  have the “Teamwork” capability. 
  Using the archetypes and character
  creation rules from the AFMBE
  deadworld “Mein Zombie,” Cast
  Members can play either Allied or
  German soldiers. If the adventure begins
  with Hela’s creation, German soldiers
  loyal to Walter Fuhrmann and Gauleiter
  Paul Giesler would be responsible for
  protecting the project scientists while
  simultaneously trying to destroy her
  zombies. The creation of the experimental
  Mauser (see AFMBE p166 for details)
  and Hela’s eventual capture would
  
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  depend on their success. Failure to stop
  Hela in time could even lead to the
  creation of a small army of disfigured
  zombies in Dachau! 
  Other Germans, and any Allied
  soldiers in Munich at that time, could
  possibly be insurgents like Ruppert
  Gerngross. Such player characters would
  be at more of a disadvantage than
  Walter’s men, because they would not
  initially know what the zombies were or
  where they had come from. Also, they
  could be in just as much danger whenever
  they encountered German soldiers. Could
  soldiers of both sides work together? Or
  are the differences too great? 
  If the adventure begins after Hela
  was captured, then Cast Members could
  take on the role of Allied soldiers in the
  7th Army who had already liberated
  Dachau and just arrived in Munich. They
  too would be threatened not only by
  zombies, but by the last remaining German
  soldiers as well. Again, could soldiers of
  both sides work together? Because the
  Allied soldiers in this adventure would
  not be responsible for guarding anyone,
  and an Avatar would not be among the
  antagonists, this adventure would be a
  much more traditional “seek and destroy”
  zombie scenario than the previous one.
  Characters from the Army’s 45th Division
  might find the room-to-room fight with
  hungry zombies in Munich’s SS academy
  especially challenging.
  STORY IDEA
  CLEAN AND FLOSS
   
  “He who lives the life of a criminal
  wants to avoid being seen as one. His
  dark behavior forces him to wear the
  mask of the ordinary man, the mask of
  the harmless.”
  - Julius Streicher,
  publisher of Der Stürmer
   
  In this Story, Margo Schreck hid in
  Manhattan after escaping during the raid
  on Walter’s research center. She soon
  discovered that New York City was
  indeed the city that never sleeps, packed
  with more places to go, more things to
  do, and more people to feed on than
  anywhere else in the United States of
  America. 
  Her experiences in Munich had
  taught Margo that if she alerted mankind
  to her presence, and made her true nature
  known to them, the humans would band
  together once more to hunt Hela and her
  zombies to extinction. This time, the
  Queen of the Dead would feed as
  necessary but keep a low profile, so that
  she could remain above the law, above
  society, and above everyone else’s
  judgment but her own. She would answer
  to nothing but her own insatiable hunger.
  Presently, Hela is careful to not use
  her powers where humans could see
  them, and she disguises her prey’s
  disappearance or cause of death so as
  not to arouse the suspicions of the
  authorities (a process she calls “cleaning
  and flossing”). Using her powers over
  the undead, Hela ensures that the
  zombies she creates are either destroyed
  or learn her ways. 
  Zombie Masters might consider
  allowing Cast Members to play FBI
  agents who are still searching for this
  much more subtle version of Hela in the
  New York City area. Alternatively,
  BUREAU 13: STALKING THE NIGHT
  FANTASTIC game masters allow their
  players to take on the role of Bureau 13
  agents, while NIGHTLIFE City Planners
  can just as easily substitute Target Alpha
  for the FBI. CONSPIRACY X Game
  Masters might adapt the Living Dead
  Girl’s history to their own campign setting
  and use both The Watch (during the
  events of the “Night of the Living Dead
  Girl” Story Idea in 1945) and Aegis (for
  any modern day adventures) in place of
  other government agencies. 
  NIGHTLIFE City Planners as well as
  WORLD OF DARKNESS Storytellers
  may also consider using this version of
  the Queen of the Dead in their own
  campaigns as well, although players with
  undead characters might not appreciate
  it. For example, Hela could use her
  powers to rise through the ranks of one
  of NIGHTLIFE’s anti-human factions
  (such as The Complex), or to seize control
  of The Sabbat in VAMPIRE: THE
  MASQUERADE. In any event, her
  motives would be similar to those in “The
  Final Solution” Story Idea: the creation
  of a new Fourth Reich with herself as its
  Führer. For game masters of super-hero
  RPGs, this version of the Queen of the
  Dead might even make an interesting
  super-villainess.
  STORY IDEA
  THE FINAL SOLUTION
   
  “Only when the dying society still
  has enough life-energy to produce a
  spiritual giant, a godlike throwback to
  the ancient heroism of its people who is
  able to shock and drive the civilization
  out of its natural historical night of sleep
  and death, in spite of the suicidal
  opposition of the dying peoples who
  long only for ‘peace’ and the slumber of
  death, can a society once again rise for
  a while.”
  -George Lincoln Rockwell,
  founder of the American Nazi Party
   
  In this Story, by the time the
  Department of Defense realized what had
  happened, the living throughout the
  northeastern United States and Canada
  were already fighting a battle just to
  survive. Hela’s zombies took everyone
  by surprise and gained a great deal of
  ground before the authorities gathered
  the wherewithal to respond. 
  New York and the neighboring states
  and provinces were the first to fall into
  chaos, partly because the undead were
  pulling down phone and power lines, as
  well as destroying power plants and
  electrical 
  substations, 
  leaving
  communities without power or phones.
  The panic among the populace only
  made matters worse. Many went outright
  mad at the sight of their dead friends and
  relatives eating the flesh of the living,
  and arson, looting and even outright
  robbery became commonplace. Flaming
  cities have become deathtraps for
  millions, caught on congested roads by
  the zombies, and there seems to be no
  way of stopping this endless tide of the
  walking dead. It simply grows larger and
  larger with every passing hour. 
  For Hela, this is only the beginning
  
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  of her Final Solution: every man, woman,
  and child on earth must die. The driving
  force behind the undead, the Avatar of
  an evil goddess would also be the heart
  and soul of a new Fourth Reich: a
  kingdom of zombies, with a living dead
  girl as its queen and Führer. 
  Hela’s path of destruction has so far
  earned her an army of zombies 95 million
  strong and mastery of the United States
  east of the Mississippi River. That area
  is dominated by zombies, although there
  a few pockets of humans in this region,
  notably in Chicago and Detroit. Hela’s
  mission accelerated greatly after her
  subjugation of Washington DC, but the
  new president has set up a command post
  under Davenport, Iowa, and started
  several military and scientific operations
  against her. 
  As these operations continued to fail,
  the Fourth Reich pushed toward Middle
  America. The United States government
  hastily constructed a fortified wall on the
  west bank of the Mississippi River and
  put the remaining U.S. under martial law.
  Under pressure from foreign nations, the
  U.S. has officially ceased operations
  against Hela, hoping to placate her. As
  things stand now, the country is a nation
  divided, but it’s only a matter of time
  before the Queen of the Dead resumes
  her westward expansion. 
  Zombie Masters may allow Cast
  Members to play normal humans
  desperately trying to survive, or possibly
  survivors dedicated to destroying Hela
  and 
  stopping 
  the 
  slaughter.
  Alternatively, ZMs may allow Cast
  Members to play intelligent zombies or
  humans who have joined Hela’s undead
  army. Hela’s influence has become so
  widespread that she even has allies
  among the living. With the Fourth Reich
  seeming almost inevitable, some among
  the living (particularly neo-Nazis) are
  beginning to think about their lives after
  death. Many living humans have become
  the new Führer’s supporters and
  informants in exchange for preferential
  treatment after their demise! 
  NIGHTLIFE City Planners who wish
  to make use of the KINRISE supplement
  could use this Story Idea as a background
  for their own post-holocaust campaign.
  In this case, a European or Asian nation
  may have decided that the spread of
  zombies had to stop, and ordered a full
  nuclear strike against North America for
  the sake of mankind. The resulting
  “Spasm War” would change the face of
  the planet, but just as in KINRISE the
  undead would survive the nuclear winter.
  ZMs may adapt the AFMBE deadworld
  “After the Bomb” to such a campaign
  setting as well.
  STORY IDEA
  KINGDOM COME
   
  “A horror will spread across the
  world, driving into the hearts of all those
  who did not want to hear or see at a
  time when the misery could still have
  been halted!”
  Julius Streicher, publisher of Der
  Stürmer
   
  This Story Idea’s premise is almost
  identical to “Living Dead Girl: The Final
  Solution,” but it takes a much more drastic
  turn. In “Kingdom Come,” Hela’s zombies
  not only spread throughout the
  northeastern United States and Canada,
  but throughout the entire world as well.
  While New York and the neighboring
  states and provinces were falling into
  chaos, intelligent and problem-solving
  zombies boarded flights at John F.
  Kennedy International Airport and
  climbed aboard ships headed for the
  Atlantic Ocean. Soon the dead were
  rising around the world, and the slaughter
  had begun in earnest.
  At least one European or Asian nation
  must have decided that the spread of
  zombies from North America had to stop,
  and ordered a full nuclear strike against
  the United States and Canada for the sake
  of mankind. The resulting “Spasm War”
  changed the face of the planet, as the
  attack on North America started a chain
  reaction. The United States struck back.
  Fallout and stray hits brought other
  nations into the war, while some panic-
  stricken nations fired their missiles at
  everyone. Before anyone knew it, World
  War III had started and finished. 
  The electromagnetic pulse (EMP)
  from the first blasts had wiped out most
  electronic devices; United States citizens
  who were already tuned into the
  Emergency Broadcast System for
  information about the zombies never
  knew what hit them. All major
  metropolitan centers became raging
  bonfires; their inhabitants became
  torches of flesh. Yet elsewhere it was
  getting very cold. The sun was gone; the
  crippling cold of nuclear winter had
  begun.
   
  The mass exodus of survivors from
  the burning cities caused quite a few
  problems. The military was already trying
  to quarantine the zombies and any
  infected victims, but the civilians wanted
  nothing more than to escape the burning
  wreckage. The ensuing battle was ugly.
  The military was better armed, but not
  nearly as desperate as the mobs of
  refugees, or as dangerous as the
  radioactive zombies that had survived
  and still hungered for human flesh! 
  Hela may or may not have survived
  the war herself, and the would-be
  Führer’s presence (or the lack of it) would
  make a significant difference in the world
  to come. Zombie Masters are free to
  decide for themselves whether she did
  or not, but in any event they might
  consider adapting the AFMBE deadworld
  “After the Bomb” and its own Story Ideas
  to this setting. NIGHTLIFE City Planners
  who wish to make use of the KINRISE
  supplement could use “Kingdom Come”
  a background for their own post-
  holocaust campaign.
  STORY IDEA
  TWILIGHT OF THE GODS
   
  “A priest recently asked me: “But
  what about eternity...?” I replied: “A day
  in National Socialist Germany is better
  for me than all of your Heaven.”
  Dr. Robert Ley, Reich Organization
  Leader and head of the German Labor
  Front (DAF)
   
  In this Story, the Time of Reckoning
  is at hand. Götterdämmerung has begun. 
  
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  Magic and the supernatural have
  become a factor in the lives of every living
  person. Beings of tremendous power walk
  the Earth again — the Old Gods of
  mythology side by side with Angels and
  Demons and even stranger creatures.
  These beings have returned to the world
  to fight an enemy that threatens their very
  existence, and that of our entire universe.
  Leviathan has risen in the East, and has
  already seized over half of the planet.  
  Led by the Dark Apostle, the Believers
  of Leviathan want nothing less than the
  total submission of humankind. Only
  when every living human being worships
  Leviathan will this being manifest itself
  on our reality. Traitors, both human and
  supernatural, lend their resources to the
  monstrous armies of the Dark Apostle,
  tilting the balance to his favor. If the
  Believers triumph, the world as we know
  it will cease to exist, transformed into a
  reflection of the twisted mind of
  Leviathan, the Outsider who was cast out
  by the Creator at the beginning of time. 
  The call of Leviathan is seductive,
  offering power and the fulfillment of one’s
  darkest desires. And, slowly but surely,
  the number of converts is growing. 
  This is the setting of the ARMA-
  GEDDON roleplaying game, but with an
  important difference. While the other
  Norse gods have been especially active
  in their war against Dark Apostle’s
  Church of Revelations, Hel knows that if
  she destroys every living man, woman,
  and child on Earth, Leviathan can never
  succeed. Her Avatar, Hela, is responsible
  for carrying out this Final Solution. As in
  “The Final Solution” Story Idea, Hela
  envisions a new Fourth Reich of the
  undead, with herself as its queen and
  Führer. Her zombies oppose the war
  machine of the Army of Revelation and
  clash in battlefields around the world. In
  the Otherworlds, the war rages as well;
  even the Nine Worlds of the Norse gods
  are not exempt from invasion by the
  followers of Leviathan. 
  Obviously, Hela’s aspects would
  ensure that The Church of Revelations’
  order of undead beings, the Undying
  Knights of Sheol, would be much less
  effective in the “Twilight of the Gods”
  setting than they are in a traditional
  ARMAGEDDON campaign. To make
  matters worse for the Knights, Hela would
  view their chief agent, the reanimated
  corpse of premier Nazi troubleshooter SS-
  Standartenführer Otto Skorzeny, as a
  traitor to the Reich and would go out of
  her way to destroy him personally.
  Adepts of the Fifth Circle might also wish
  to reconsider using their powers to raise
  hordes of the recently dead. 
  Zombie Masters have several options
  in “Twilight of the Gods.” They may
  either Cast Members to play humans
  desperately trying to survive in a Great
  War where souls are the ultimate prize, or
  as in AFMBE’s “Rebirth into Death”
  deadworld, they may might allow Cast
  Members to play neo-Nazis and
  intelligent zombies who have joined
  Hela’s undead army. ARMAGEDDON
  Chroniclers have even more options
  available to them, and may also allow
  player character True Immortals,
  Inheritors, Nephilim, Kerubim, Seraphim,
  and even other Avatars to help determine
  the fate of mankind.
  STORY IDEA
  TAINTED MEAT
   
  “Our holy hate will bring us victory
  and save all of mankind.”
  - Ernst Heimer,
  Julius Streicher’s second-in-command
   
  This Story Idea’s premise and
  adventure hooks are almost identical to
  those in “Twilight of the Gods,” but with
  one major difference. In this Story, Hel
  created her Avatar to seek out and
  destroy anyone who bears the Mark of
  Leviathan. In Munich, Hela’s hunger was
  insatiable because it can only be satisfied
  by the flesh of True Believers, and not
  by that of normal human beings. Her
  zombies crave this Tainted meat as well,
  and will do anything to get it! 
  In the “Tainted Meat” setting, Walter
  Fuhrmann was a Gifted man who learned
  a great deal from the Order of the Black
  Knights, and cultivated his occult
  powers throughout his life. He learned
  the truth about Nidhogg long before the
  future Dark Apostle, Johann Goering,
  was born, and he discovered why Hela
  had been created. Walter imagined that if
  he could only find his beloved Margo,
  perhaps she could be reasoned with and
  made to understand just what it was that
  she really hungered for. 
  Accordingly, when Margo was finally
  brought to Walter’s research center, his
  scientists made great progress in their
  attempts to re-educate and to rehabilitate
  her. But the Adversary would not allow
  that to happen, and it ensured that the
  center was raided and that the men inside
  of it were killed. Hela, however, had
  already learned more than enough about
  Leviathan... and the Queen of the Dead
  had escaped. 
  The rules for both Hela and her
  zombies in a “Tainted Meat” campaign
  are also slightly different. They still
  possess the “Life Sense” ability, but in
  this deadworld it only senses True
  Believers and any other beings bearing
  the Mark of Leviathan. Likewise, their
  hunger is only satisfied by the Tainted
  flesh of creatures that bear the Mark.
  Neither Hela nor her zombies prey on
  normal human beings unless such food
  is not available (such as in Munich in
  1945), in which case the desperate and
  starving zombies will take any meaty bit
  of living flesh they can sink their teeth
  into. 
  Of the various “Living Dead Girl”
  Story Ideas, “Tainted Meat” presents the
  most sympathetic version of Hela and her
  zombies. As with “Twilight of the Gods,”
  Cast Members to play humans
  desperately trying to survive in a Great
  War where souls are the ultimate prize, or
  Zombie Masters may might allow Cast
  Members to play neo-Nazis and
  intelligent zombies who have joined
  Hela’s 
  undead 
  army. 
  Again,
  ARMAGEDDON Chroniclers have even
  more options available to them, and may
  also allow player character True
  Immortals, Inheritors, Nephilim, Kerubim,
  Seraphim, and even other Avatars to help
  determine the fate of mankind. 
  *   *   *
  
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  Statistics:
  Strength:
  11
  Dexterity:
  5
  Constitution:
  8
  Intelligence:
  4
  Perception:
  8
  Willpower:
  6
  Dead Points:
  n/a
  Speed:
  26
  Endurance Points:
  n/a
  Essence Pool:
  82
  Known Qualities/Drawbacks:
  Adversary (humanity) 5
  Attractive 4 (+4 to any task or test that involves making an
  impression on other people.)
  Beholden (Hel, Norse Goddess of Death, see Armageddon
  pp198-199) 5
  Covetous (human flesh; Difficult Willpower Test must also
  be made every hour with cumulative penalties) 3
  Cruel 2
  Contacts (Neo-Nazis) 4
  Delusion (Prejudice: rabid white supremacist) 3
  Fast Reaction Time (+1 on Willpower Tests to resist fear.)
  Hard to Kill 5 (+5 bonus to Survival Tests.)
  Nerves of Steel 3 (+4 bonus to Fear Tests.)
  Obsession (Genocide.)
  Situational Awareness (+2 to any Perception-based rolls to
  sense trouble or danger.)
  Zealot (National Socialism.)
  Skills:
  Acrobatics 2
  Beautician 2
  Brawling 5
  Climbing 2
  Dancing (Folk) 2
  Dodge 2
  Driving (Motorcycle) 3
  Driving (Truck) 2
  First Aid 2
  Guns (all) 1
  Hand Weapon (Axe) 2
  Hand Weapon (Club) 1
  Hand Weapon (Knife) 2
  Humanities (German) 2
  Intimidation 3
  Language (English) 2
  Language (German) 5
  Myth & Legend (Norse) 4
  Notice 2
  Occult Knowledge (Germanic) 1
  Riding (Horse) 2
  Running (Dash) 1
  Seduction 1
  Singing 1
  Stealth 4
  Swimming 2
  Thrown (Knife) 1
  Thrown (Javelin) 2
   
  Attack:
  According to weapon type or see below
  Weak Spot:
  None
  Getting Around:
  The Quick Dead (base Dexterity 3, base speed 18)
  Burrowing (No more than a couple of feet per minute.)
  Leaping (Can leap up to 6' in height and forward up to 12'.)
  The Lunge (+2 Initiative in close combat.)
  Aquatic (Underwater Speed: 3.)
  Climbing (Climbing Speed: 3' per turn.)
  Strength:
  Monstrous Strength (base 7)
  Damage Resistant (All weapons except fire and chemicals
  do half damage.)
  Iron Grip (Strength for gripping equal to 14.)
  Claws (D6(3) x Strength in armor-piercing, slashing damage.)
  Teeth (-3 to hit in close combat, damage equals 6 per turn.)
  The Hug of Death (-2 to hit in close combat, Strength once
  hugging equal to 14, damage equals D4(2) x 10 per turn.)
  Senses:
  Like Nothing You’ve Ever Seen
  Life Sense (Range: 80 yards.)
  Scent Tracking (Perception 16 for purposes of smelling.)
  HELA - The Living Dead Girl
   Sustenance:
  Who Needs Food? (But see also Covetous.)
  All Flesh Must Be Eaten
  Intelligence:
  Language
  Long-Term Memory
  Problem Solving (Note that 15+ Dead Points inflicted to the
  head will immediately reduce the Hela’s intelligence to
  “Dumb as Dead Wood” until the damage is regenerated.
  It takes 15 Dead Points to grow a new brain, or 20 Dead
  Points to grow a whole new head.)
  Teamwork (Range: see the aspect “Death Speech” below.
  Note that this feature is a does not work if Hela is
  currently inanimate or “Dumb as Dead Wood.”)
  Spreading the Love:
  One Bite and You’re Hooked (Mixing bodily fluids or blood
  with Margo Schreck affects both the living and the dead.
  An infected but otherwise unharmed victim usually dies
  within several hours and goes straight from living to
  undead. Infected corpses rise up as zombies in 3-30
  minutes.)
   
  
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  KNOWN ASPECTS
  Immortality
  Hela heals 1 Dead Point per Willpower level every 5 seconds (one combat turn). If a limb is severed and not reattached, a
  replacement will grow out. Even beheading is not final! Unless her body is completely destroyed, such as being burnt to ashes
  or dissolved in acid, she will regenerate any damage and eventually return to unlife. Being at ground zero for a large explosion
  (something that inflicted 300+ points of damage) would also do the trick. It takes the same number of Dead Points to grow a new
  limb as it does to destroy one and 100 or more to regenerate her entire body — see “Flesh Notes” (AFMBE p147) for specific
  values.
   
  Death Sight
  This is nearly identical to the aspect described in Armageddon, p191. Hela is uniquely attuned to the approach of death. She
  can sense terminal disease and imminent death among those around her (as per the “Death Sight” power in WitchCraft p240).
  Through those same senses, she can also see ghosts and other errant spirits wandering the Earth.
   
  Death Speech (Strength 16; Art 5)
  Hela can communicate telepathically with any undead, even if they do not possess the “Language” ability. This aspect works
  like the power “Mindtalk” (WitchCraft p228) except that it cannot be used with living creatures. The range of this connection is
  36 miles per Willpower level of Hela and, if the target does not resist, the undead being spoken to. Hela automatically establishes
  contact with any zombies descended from her; this forms the basis of their Teamwork ability, and their connection may be
  considered a Gestalt (see WitchCraft p226).
   
  She can also use this aspect to read both the minds of undead creatures and those of corpses whether the body is currently
  undead or not. An inanimate brain that has suffered 15 points of damage or more, however, cannot normally be read. As before,
  the range of this aspect is 36 miles per Hela’s Willpower level. If the target is undead and Hela has already gained lordship over
  it, then the individual’s Willpower level is added to the range. See the full description of the “Mindsight” power (WitchCraft p227)
  for more details.
  Finally, Hela can use Death Speech to send a deafening psychic “scream” that can inflict (D4(2) x Death Speech Strength)
  points of damage on the undead, as per the “Mindkill” power in WitchCraft p234. Surviving victims lose all actions for 1 Turn, and
  will be at a penalty of -4 on all Tasks and Tests for 1 additional Turn per Success Level of the attack. The range of the scream is
  limited to 2 yards per Strength level unless Hela has already gained Lordship over the victim(s), in which case the range is the
  same as normal Death Speech. If Hela screams at zombies that are descended from her, they are automatically destroyed and
  cannot be reanimated.
   
  Domain of the Dead
  This aspect works differently than the one listed in Armageddon p191. By concentrating for one turn, Hela can project her
  soul, as per the “Soul Projection” power (WitchCraft p221), to Helheim in the Realm of the Dead known as Niflheim. Because she
  does not transport herself physically, Hela spends no Essence points and there seems to be no time limit. Hela appears to be
  sleeping when she uses this aspect.
   
  Death Lordship (Strength 16; Art 5)
  This ability combines Hela’s “Domain of the Dead” aspect with “Death Speech,” and in practice resembles two magical
  powers: “Mindrule” (WitchCraft p228) and “Death Lordship” (p239). Hela can only use this aspect against other undead,
  including the Restless Dead and Vampyres. She automatically rules any zombies that have descended from her; they have no
  defense. Other undead may attempt to resist her commands.
  To first use Death Lordship against an individual undead creature, Hela must be within 2 yards per Strength level. Victims can
  then be made to follow her instructions via Death Speech at its normal range, and if necessary Hela can even replace the victim’s
  mind with her own, taking total control. See the description of these two powers for more details.
  HELA - The Living Dead Girl  (continued...)
  
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  All Flesh Must Be Eaten
  All Flesh Must Be Eaten
  All Flesh Must Be Eaten
  All Flesh Must Be Eaten
  Skills:
  Brawling 2+
  Possibly more skills depending on Intelligence (see below)
   
  Attack:
  Bite damage D4 x 2 (4) slashing or according to weapon type
   
  Weak Spot:
  None
   
  Getting Around:
  Varies (Ranges from “Slow and Steady” to “Life-Like” depending on the body’s physical condition.)
   
  Strength:
  Varies (Ranges from “Ninety-Pound Weakling” to “Dead Joe Average” depending on the body’s physical condition.)
   
  Senses:
  Varies (Ranges from “Like the Dead” to “Like the Living” depending on the physical condition of the sense organs.)
  Life Sense (Range: 20 to 40 yards.)
   
  Sustenance:
  Who Needs Food?
  All Flesh Must Be Eaten
   
  Intelligence:
  Varies (Ranges from “Dumb as Dead Wood” to “Problem Solving” depending on the brain’s physical condition, and can also
  include “Language” - note that 15+ Dead Points inflicted to the zombie’s head will immediately reduce its intelligence to
  “Dumb as Dead Wood.”)
  Teamwork (Hela’s zombies can communicate telepathically with her and each other. This connection is limited to within 36
  miles per Willpower level of Hela and the individual zombies. Zombies descended from Hela automatically establish contact
  with their queen when they are within range; this forms the basis of their Teamwork ability, and the connection may be
  considered a Gestalt (see WitchCraft p226). Note that this feature does not work if Hela is currently inanimate or unable to keep
  the line of communication open with her zombies.)
   
  Spreading the Love:
  One Bite and You’re Hooked (Mixing bodily fluids or blood with a zombie affects both the living and the dead. An infected but
  otherwise unharmed victim usually dies within several hours and goes straight from living to undead. Infected corpses rise up
  as zombies in 3-30 minutes.)
   
  Special:
  Varies (Possibilities include “Diseased Corpse” and “Noxious Odor.”)
  Regeneration (Living Dead Girl zombies regain 1 Dead Point per minute.)
  Power: Varies (ranges from 25 to 62+)
  LIVING DEAD GIRL ZOMBIES
  Statistics:
  Strength: 1 to 2
  Dexterity: 1 to 2
  Constitution: 2
  Intelligence: -2 to level held during life
  Perception: 1 to 2
  Willpower: 2
  Dead Points: n/a
  Speed: 2 to 4
  Endurance Points: n/a
  Essence Pool: 6+
  
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  What is a conzone?
  Originating in the thankfully brief period of SPP rule in
  Britain, the economic containment zones (or conzones) were
  set up to allow the repressive government to keep the socially
  deprived people tucked away. Later, they were to be used as
  camps for the accommodation of those who opposed the SPP.
  Out of sight, out of mind, as the saying has it. Now the SPP are
  gone, and yet the new Republic’s government keeps the
  conzones alive, albeit under a different title and for allegedly
  different reasons. This change, as the media call it, a ‘Social
  Compromise’.
  Now known as Special Category Estates, these areas are
  filled with those people claiming welfare benefits who are unable
  to find accommodation elsewhere. Indeed, it is part of the
  conditions placed on many welfare claimants that they are
  required to reside in the Estates, until they can find long-term
  employment. This happens infrequently at best, as living in a
  conzone or SCE carries a stigma which itself makes it harder for
  the occupants to find work. Many of these people would in
  fact be slightly better off if they became ballotmen, selling their
  voting rights to corporations in exchange for basic food and
  housing under the terms of the Voting Proxy and Private Welfare
  Act. However, many Britons still find this to be unpalatable
  and so seek welfare assistance from the vastly over-stretched
  new government. In certain ways these areas are very much
  like corporate housing compounds but are instead run jointly
  by the Home Office and the newly formed Department for Special
  Category Administration.
  Although the original conzones were formed temporarily
  and in haste by the SPP, it looks as though they are here to
  stay, albeit in a modified form. What long-term effects this may
  have on the Republic are as yet unclear, but it is certain that
  future governments will have to address the poverty and social
  deprivation that exists in these areas. Otherwise, like the
  unloved SPP, they may arouse the wrath of the populace at
  large, tipping the country into fresh unrest. Then again the
  government must be careful not to over react, as they did in the
  town of Exeter when a suspected political coup was quashed
  with the help of the Army. Fully a quarter of the buildings in the
  Exeter conzone were damaged or destroyed, with 7 civilian
  fatalities sustained during the indiscriminate firing. In the end
  these ‘revolutionaries’ turned out to be a group of 13 former
  low level SPP officials, who combined could muster only 6
  assault rifles and 3 submachine guns. Planning originally to
  rob a local bank and use the funds to flee abroad, all but two
  were killed in a running battle with the soldiers. As a result the
  Conzies around the country have become noticeably more
  distrustful of the government. Indeed, this may be why the
  current government is a little nervous when discussing the
  SCE issue in public.
  Life in the zones
  The basic day to day rules for living in a Conzone/SCE are
  relatively simple. If you want to leave the area, for example to
  go and exchange your food vouchers, you pass through the
  ‘forts’ that stand at the official entry/exit points. Your ID card is
  scanned and logged into the police computer. Upon your return,
  you are checked off the list. The act of leaving a conzone,
  legally or otherwise, is known as going into ‘the world’. Access
  to the zone is denied between 10pm and 6am, when a full curfew
  is in effect and armed police patrol the perimeter of the zone in
  an attempt to keep the area secure. If an occupant is late in
  returning, they will be questioned before being allowed back
  in, but anyone trying to get out after 10pm is arrested on sight.
  Those absconding from the Conzones are usually tracked down
  within hours by Britain’s own bounty hunters, Breakers, and
  are brought straight back to the local authorities.
  Are you living in a zone? Then you can expect to be called
  conzie or dreggie when you go out into ‘the world’. These
  epithets, originally insults, have quickly become badges of
  pride among some conzone youth gangs. Many of these youth
  gangs in the larger conzones even look strange to outsiders.
  Having never known anything else, they form into groups who
  go all out to look completely different to all of the other groups,
  while also trying to alarm the other residents of the zone.
  Whether a ganger or not, so far as the rest of the population is
  concerned as a conzie you speak differently, you smell different,
  your ID card is a different colour and you are subject to different
  Containment Zones by Lee Williams
  “Unless we are able to develop a coherent philosophy of social order, and apply it, the streets of many of our cities will be
  policed by quasi-military formations within five years. Two forms of policing will therefore emerge. One for those enclaves where
  the combination of relative poverty, social breakdown and alienation have become pronounced; the other, more benign, where
  the successful people live. The former will operate without the consent of the residents and take on repressive characteristics.
  The detection of crime in such areas will plummet through lack of public co-operation. These occupied zones will be the breeding
  grounds of crime and will be potentially riotous.”
  - John Alderson, former Chief Constable of Devon & Cornwall Police, quoted in The Observer newspaper, 1986
  by Lee Williams
  
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  laws. Whatever your age, even if you make it in the world you
  will never quite shake off the label of ‘conzie’.
  As might be expected, petty crime is rife in certain zones.
  However, serious offences such as murder are not at all common,
  mainly because everyone gets to know everyone else. Anything
  that would upset the somewhat quirky local moral code is
  generally dealt with internally. The police often find those who
  have defied local conventions tied to the gateposts of the entry/
  exit stations when they come off night patrol at dawn, with
  cards around their necks explaining the alleged offences. Most
  often the offenders are unharmed, but have been carried away
  from their homes in the night by mobs and subjected to a terror
  campaign before being left for the police. If there is no basis for
  the allegations, then they are usually moved quickly to other
  zones. Often however, they admit their offences and are tried in
  Court for them. Although the official line is that the Regional
  Police Commissioners are strictly against the inhabitants taking
  the law into their own hands, the local patrol officers are secretly
  grateful for the assistance.
  The zones are also very good places for Breakers to ply
  their trade. Most Breakers have at least one contact in each of
  the major zones, and some are also adept at blending in with
  the locals should it become necessary. Indeed, several are from
  these areas and take a certain pride in the fact that they were
  instrumental in starting the street fighting that led to the
  downfall of the SPP a few years back. As mentioned earlier, one
  of the most common duties of a Breaker is the apprehension
  and return of runners, usually teenaged conzies who illegally
  leave the zones to look for excitement or who just like causing
  bother to the authorities.
  The Social Compromise
  Simply put, the Social Compromise is a leash on one’s
  freedoms; as a bank or other financial institution would place
  certain restrictions on those who borrow money from it, so
  does the government in placing certain social restrictions on
  those who seek aid from them. This of course means the
  restrictions on movement and so on. Although the more
  democratic parties oppose this, they are as yet unable to come
  up with a better solution. Therefore, the politicians argue
  endlessly about the future of the conzones, whilst the conzies
  themselves don’t even tend to vote at all and don’t usually
  care. From where they are, it doesn’t matter in the slightest who
  is in charge, as they won’t change anything anyway.
  Vision Things
  Goals
  Information Brokers, Trainers
  Methods
  Shadows
  Empathic Philosophy
  Mystics
  Organisation
  Anarchic group
  Assets Rating
  Few
  Size
  18 members
  Level of Activity
  Medium
  Relations with other Cells
  Cautious, but they try to
  maintain good relations with
  any others they encounter
  Headquarters
  Manchester
  Relations with ETs
  None as yet
  Description: The Vision Things were originally a local fan
  club for a British Goth band. At one of their annual conventions, a
  Ravager decided to join the fun. Since then, the survivors have formed
  into a relatively secret cell, gathering information on weird happenings
  as best they can and utilising their somewhat limited knowledge of
  Empathy to train newcomers in what they see as the mystical arts.
  Although their Gothic roots and ideas sometimes cause merriment
  and even outright disbelief in others, they have been able to keep the
  Manchester area reasonably clear of Darkling activity. Not to be
  underestimated in the struggle against the Darkness
  The Runners
  Goals
  Gain power for the Dark races
  Methods
  Any
  Empathic Philosophy
  Mystic
  Organisation
  Dictatorial unit
  Assets Rating
  Adequate
  Size
  8 members
  Level of Activity
  High
  Relations with ETs
  View ETs as tools to use for
  their own purposes
  Relations with other Cells
  Good to begin with, later they
  intend to lure other cells into
  elaborate traps
  Headquarters
  London
  Description: The Runners are a group that is run by Igors, in
  thrall to a Dark Lord who intends to have the British Isles as his own
  domain. They will use any method to reach their goals, but will continue
  the appearance of a genuine cell until the last possible moment. They
  will hunt down any who succeed in opposing their plans, sometimes
  waiting for years before striking.
  by Lee Williams
  New Empathic Cells by Lee Williams
  
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  Dark Devices by A. Shane Murphy
  Empathic Screamers
  This relatively new darkling device is best described as “a combination of an organic computer and an esperlink”. The main
  component in the device is the brain tissue of neuropaths. These samples are cut into thin slices and arranged in a manner similar
  to an organic computer. The pain receptors in each slice is then bombarded with constant stimuli which results in the tissue
  “screaming” in empathetic agony. This has the effect of making all rolls using human empathy, darkling empathy, animal empathy,
  telepathy and all cascade skills two levels more difficult, if they are attempted within the screamers area of effect. If this puts the
  difficulty past impossible, then that roll will automatically fail!
  The size of the “Screamer” determines its area of effect.  While the average portable Screamer can effectively block out a
  diameter of up to one kilometer, non-portable Screamers are much more powerful.
  Wt. 4 kg
  Price: N/A (-/-)
  Dimensional Viners
  Appearing like other viners, these organisms have been bred with a new mutation: making any use of Dimension Walk (and
  all cascades) 2 levels more difficult to use inside their confines. How this is accomplished is unknown. Speculation has it that one
  of the Dark Lords aimed to be able to house its minions in an area free from Minion Hunter incursions. To be affected by the D-
  viner one must be inside its boundaries, merely being near one has no effect. It is an all or nothing process, and the roll is only
  limited if the Hunter is enclosed on all sides.  Dark Elves have adopted the name D-Viners for these mutant constructs.
  Wt: variable
  Price: N/A (-/-)
  Inferno Blades
  These knives appear as black, non-reflective 8” commando knives. Though at first glance these seem completely normal, they
  are, in fact, far from it.  The Obsidian people make these blades in Gehenna for other dark minions who serve the same master.
  When the weapon is drawn, the metal blade begins to generate vast amounts of heat.  Why it does so is open to speculation,
  however it appears to be an inherent property of the metal itself and not the Proto-Dimension where it was forged.  Measurements
  of the blade itself indicate that the metal reaches temperatures as high as 600 degrees Fahrenheit. The handle and sheath of the
  knife are immune to this effect, remaining cool to the touch, even when the blade is drawn.  Thus, it is safe to carry and use, so long
  as one doesn’t touch the blade.
  Wt: 1.0 kg (including sheath)
  Price: N/A (-/-)
  Rng
  Hit Mod
  Damage
  Weight
  Inferno Blade
  S
  +2
  3d6
  0.5kg
  Three new Darkling devices for Dark Conspiracy
  by A. Shane Murphy
  “What is the one piece of equipment that is absolutely essential to a Minion Hunter?
  I’d say without hesitation - a good pair of running shoes.
  “Because sooner or later, the shit is going to come down hard, and it’s not going to be
  a matter of whether you can outrun the monster, but whether you can outrun the other
  potential happy-meals-on-legs fleeing with you.”
  - Zena Marley (Early 21st -century mercenary-philosopher)
  
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  Necromancy Mask by Pål Wilhelmsen
  Description
  Necromancy Masks appear as exquisitely carved or crafted
  masks, sometimes painted, but unadorned by jewels, rare metals,
  or other valuable materials. Masks are representative of their
  origin, and will be made of materials common to the region.
  Such materials include a variety of woods, bamboo, bone, stone,
  hide, or shell.
  History and Origin
  The exact origin and number of the Necromancy Masks is
  not known to the Hoffman Institute, except that they seem to
  appear independent of culture, history or ethnicity. There are
  two known masks, The Oseberg Mask and The Lagos Mask.
  Captain Neal Westward of the British army brought the
  Lagos Mask to London from Lagos, Nigeria in 1862. The mask
  had been taken from slavers in a lesson of Imperial justice. It
  was later donated to the British Museum after a few years at
  the Westward estate in Surrey, England. Since 1948, British
  Museum officials have refused to let anyone outside of the
  museum staff study it. Rumors say that it may no longer be in
  the possession of the museum, due to theft or by design.
  The Oseberg Mask was buried with the Oseberg Queen
  and her longship in 838 not far from Tonsberg, Norway. The
  ship had been plundered sometime during the Middle Ages of
  all valuables, but the thieves had missed, or not dared to take,
  a few occult items. The mask re-entered history again when the
  Oseberg ship was discovered and unearthed in 1904. Most of
  the findings from the Oseberg ship were made public and even
  displayed at the Vikingskiphuset museum in Oslo, Norway. The
  mask’s magic abilities became apparent in 1928, six months
  after the mask had been moved to a storehouse near a cemetery.
  When Hoffman Institute agents visited Oslo in 1928 to
  investigate a series of killings with occult aspects, evidence
  pointed toward the mask, and so it was  moved to a safer location.
  The Oseberg mask has been missing since World War II,
  possibly in the possession of the Nazis or Odessa.
  There have probably been even more masks. For instance,
  the Roman sorcerer Cornelius Agricola hinted in his journals,
  “…the death mask of Judas Iscariot has powers over the restless
  dead.”
  Necromancy Mask
  Form:
  Clothing (wooden mask)
  Purpose:
  Enhance FX (Necromancy) Powers
  Powers:
  FX battery (Good),
  Heighten FX energy (Ordinary)
  Drawbacks:
  Hostile Consciousness (Slight),
  Zombie Curse (Moderate, Special)
  The mask stores 4 FX energy points, and renews itself at a
  rate of one every 6 hours. If worn continuously by its master it
  renews itself at a rate of 1 point per hour. The stored FX points
  must be used for Necromancy spells. The mask also provides a
  -1 bonus on all necromancy spells while worn. There is a 1 in 6
  chance that the mask will be recalcitrant when the wearer tries
  to use it. If so, the mask has an intelligence of 8, and must be
  convinced to function using an Interaction: charm skill check.
  These abilities are fully detailed in Dragon Magazine 268.
  A mask cannot be used unless the wearer is skilled in
  Necromancy, and is its master. To become a mask’s master, the
  wearer must spend 1 FX point to make a complex Necromancy:
  animate dead skill check (5 successes.) Any failure will require
  the user to start over from scratch (and spend another FX
  point,) but will also animate a Zombie (pg. 85 Beyond Science:
  A Guide to FX) within 1000 meters of the mask. On a critical
  failure, the Zombie will be possessed by a Zombie Demon (see
  below.) These Zombies will try to find the hero, kill him or her,
  and take the mask. The mask will refuse to control the Zombies,
  even if the hero has become the mask’s master in the interval.
  Any undead created by the mask’s master become subjects
  of the mask. A mask’s master does not have to wear the mask to
  command it’s undead, but the mask must be worn to utilize its
  other powers. If the mask, for any reason, gets a new master, all
  undead created by the former master are put under the control
  of the new one.
  A mask with no master animates one corpse within 100 meters
  every full moon (nothing happens if there is no corpse within
  range.) The Zombie will seek out the mask by all means available
  and try to use it.  Any Zombie that dons the mask will
  automatically become a Zombie Demon, and automatically
  becomes the mask’s master.
  An FX Artifact for Dark*Matter
  by Pål Wilhelmsen
  
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  Zombie Demon
  STR 13
  INT 13
  DEX 12
  WIL 14
  CON 12
  PER 3
  Durability: 16 / 16 / 4
  Action check: 14 + / 7 / 3
  Move: sprint: 22, run: 14, walk: 4
  Reaction score: 3 / good
  FX energy points: 10
  Attacks
  Energy drain 19/9/4 d6+2s / d8+3s / d4+2f EN/O
  Claws 20/10/5 d4+3s / d4+2w / 1-2 m LI/O
  Any available hand weapon
  Defenses
  - 2 resistance modifier vs. mental attacks
  - 3 resistance modifier vs. melee attacks
  Skills
  Unarmed (13)- brawl (20); Stealth (12) - Hide (15), Sneak
  (13); Stamina (12) - endurance (14), resist pain (18);
  Tactics (13) - Infantry (15);
  The Zombie Demon may also have skills the corpse had in
  life, particularly weapon skills.
  FX skills
  Necromancy (13) - animate dead (16), energy drain (19),
  fortitude (16)
  The Zombie Demon seems to be a physical manifestation
  of the mask’s spirit of independence. It will stop at nothing to
  retrieve and wear the mask, destroying anyone associated with
  the mask, including witnesses and anyone in the general
  vicinity of the mask. Its ability to interact with its surroundings
  is limited by the degree of the decomposition of the body.
  Some are able to speak, while others are limited to growls or
  often silence. After the mask is secured, the Zombie Demon will
  simply flee, beginning on a master plan of the GM’s design,
  including raising an army of the undead, or seeking other
  Necromancy artifacts. The Zombie demon will over time learn
  more skills related to modern day society and possibly new FX
  powers if given time to perform rituals and research.
  Which Role Playing Game is best?
  It is the age-old question.  Ask a thousand people, and you’ll get a couple hundred different answers - but
  they’ll have a thousand different reasons for their decision.
  Well, lucky for us, there is a ready-made forum in which to hold the discussion: FreeVote.com – which,
  according to their web site “is a free service for anyone to use. It allows webmasters to create virtual “voting
  booths” where web surfers can come and vote for things.” It’s easy to set up, and it’s easy to use. Simply set up
  a booth, provide a link to it from a web page, and watch the tallies start rolling in.
  Now, someone has opened up the question that burns in every gamer’s heart, and has allowed us a chance to
  see the results of pure popular vote.
  http://freevote.com/booth/best_rpg
  In the interest of keeping the playing field as level as possible, and avoid ballot-stuffing, the booth has been
  configured to allow only ‘registered users’ to vote.  Each user can cast one single vote per week.  You can vote for
  a new game each week (to suit your ever-changing interests), or you can reaffirm your commitment to a particular
  game.
  Either way, the die has been cast. The race is on. Get out there and vote!
  May the Best Game Win!
  Which Role Playing Game is Best?
  
  FICTION
  FICTION
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  FICTION
  FICTION
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  All Flesh Must Be Eaten
  All Flesh Must Be Eaten
  All Flesh Must Be Eaten
  All Flesh Must Be Eaten
  All Flesh Must Be Eaten
  A cool breeze blew across
  Washington Street that brisk April
  afternoon. Green-gray storm clouds,
  which had been threatening all day,
  lingered overhead. The trees along the
  edges of Washington Memorial
  Cemetery, which were just coming into
  bloom, swayed gently and brushed their
  leaves against one another. Along this
  section of Washington Street, nature’s
  serenity was quashed by the cacophony
  of horns, engines, and overworked
  mufflers. The largest commercial district
  on the East Side of the city surrounded
  the once-isolated cemetery; a swell of
  strip malls, mega-stores, cineplexes and
  lube shops.  Traffic was especially bad
  today, especially around the Meijer
  superstore. A long line of cars had begun
  to back up in its immense parking lot to
  match the lines beginning on the main
  thoroughfare.
  Billy Ray Hutch cursed his luck. He
  had just come into town to get some new
  tires for his F350. He didn’t even have to
  go that far into town. Lighter traffic was
  only a few blocks away, and a few miles
  beyond that, his trailer. He needed to get
  some bug lights too, he thought to
  himself, but not today. Looking at the
  cars streaming in and out of Meijer, he
  figured he’d just try for them at the Kroger
  in Greenfield. “Uh-oh”, he said out loud
  to no one in particular. “Here cumz the
  damn Nashun’ o’ Islum folks again.”
  While traffic was this slow, it seemed as
  if some people who had been standing
  by the cemetery’s entrance were starting
  to make their way amongst the cars. Billy
  Ray naturally thought the donation crews
  were out in force today.
  Mike Perkins couldn’t believe it. He
  was late opening his store and all because
  some hilljacks from Greenfield wanted to
  come into the city today. He couldn’t be
  delayed longer or his regulars might get
  tired of waiting and leave. It didn’t seem
  appropriate to some of them, apparently,
  to linger too long outside of an adult
  bookstore. “Damn, five minutes late
  getting their jerkin’ material and they’re
  all up in ya!” Now even worse, it seemed
  someone up ahead just hit some fool
  trying to cross the street. “I knew it!
  Gonna be late! Damn’t!” The accident
  escalated as cars slammed into each other,
  jumped lanes, and skidded into
  embankments. Soon both directions of
  traffic were completely clogged.
  Blake Anderson was walking to
  Arby’s to grab some lunch before return
  to his work in the sporting goods section
  of Meijer. “What the hell’s going on?”
  he said to Cathy, a co-worker he’d been
  trying to get lucky with. “Looks like a big
  pileup on Washington. Damn, don’t
  these people know how to friggin’ drive?”
  “Oh my God”, said Cathy, “I think I saw
  someone get hit. Oh Jesus, that was
  gross.” She cringed and recoiled into
  Blake’s shoulder. Blake let out a little smile
  and put his arm around her “Yeah that’s
  awful. Poor guy.” He gently patted her
  on the back. “I’m so in,” he thought. Now
  there were screams from the woman who
  had been driving the car that hit the poor
  bastard. “Must be pretty bloody.” Cathy
  looked up at Blake as he said this. He
  AFMBE Playtest Session by Rob Beck II
  by Rob Beck II
  Rob brings us a narrative of his AFMBE playtest session
  
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  internally sighed, knowing what she was
  going to ask. “Shouldn’t we do
  something?” He looked at her. “Ok, you
  go call for an ambulance. I’ll go up there
  and see what I can do.” She flashed him
  a smile that let him know he’d scored
  some huge points. “What the hell,” he
  figured, as he enjoyed watching her
  bounce away. “Maybe there’s something
  I can do.” He headed up to where a crowd
  was beginning to form near the accident.
  “Why are so many people screaming?”
  he wondered. “Could the guy look that
  bad?”
  “That’ll be $13.25, sir.” Arno Friedman
  beamed the smile to the guy counting
  change in front of him. “Jesus Christ, sure
  costs a lot o put a little gas in the tank
  and grab a soda!” Arno slurped his
  Yoohoo. “Yessir, certain is, but we do
  appreciate your business!” The man, like
  most other customers who came through
  Arno’s Bigfoot gas station, was fairly
  nondescript. Most were just entering or
  leaving town, and needed a little gas.
  Arno basically ignored him as he took
  his money and made change. The
  saccharine smile stayed plastered on his
  face throughout the whole transaction.
  “Thank you and come again.” Arno
  slurped his chocolate soda again as he
  watched the man leave, absent-mindedly
  noting his height as he exited. He started
  his spot check of the floor and grabbed a
  fresh Yoohoo on his way past the
  refrigerator. He shook the bottle as he
  cleaned his employee of the month
  picture. Just as he was finishing up, he
  heard the crash of metal on metal. He went
  to the door to look, but only saw stopped
  traffic. He missed the screams, though,
  as he headed to check stock in the rear of
  the store. He also missed the figures
  lumbering out of the cemetery and into
  traffic.
  Billy Ray, by this point, had seen the
  accident, and exited his truck to see if he
  could help. He had grabbed the first aid
  kit from his truck and stumbled forward
  through the stopped cars. He bumped
  into a short, leather-covered black man
  getting out of his new Trans Am. “Man,
  watch where the hell you’re goin’!” the
  little man blurted out. “Hey mister” Billy
  Ray looked a little annoyed “case you
  didn’t notice, there’s some hurt people
  up there!” Noticing now that the man he
  bumped into resembled Lenny from “Of
  Mice and Men”; he toned down his
  hostility a notch. “Sorry man, just didn’t
  see ya. I was wonderin’ what in hell’s
  name was going on up there.” They both
  looked over at the crowd assembled in
  the middle of the accident. Several people
  seemed to be leaning into cars. Some
  were huddled around figures on the
  ground. Mike and Billy Ray also noticed
  how dirty and filthy these people seemed
  to be. The smell began to assault their
  noses at this point; a kind of sickly sweet
  mixed with a coppery smell.
  At that point, one of the people who
  had been leaning into a car window
  stood up and looked at them. He certainly
  appeared to be an accident victim, one,
  at least, who had died maybe a week ago.
  Gray flesh sagged on his face. His sunken
  eyes were yellow and pussy, and his
  mouth was full of gore. The woman he
  had been leaning over didn’t look too
  good anymore either. She was still belted
  in to her seat, but a large section of her
  neck, along with her ear was missing. That
  same ear slid, chewed and bloody, out of
  the gray man’s mouth as he let out a
  throaty moan and reached his hands out
  towards Billy Ray and Mike.
  “Shit! Cannibals!” yelled Mike. Billy
  Ray yelled “Cultists!”, stepped up, and
  used the medical kit as a club on the
  “man’s” head. It fell back a bit, but
  rebounded to standing. Several more
  figures like that one started rising from
  similar scenes of gore all over the area.
  People still in their cars and within sight
  of this mass raising hit the gas and tried
  to make a break for it. This only worsened
  their situation and those around them.
  Mike’s car was among the casualties,
  taking a nasty side impact. “C’mon!” Billy
  Ray shouted to Mike as he tried to make
  it back to his truck.
  Blake had run up to the scene only to
  find mass confusion. After seeing a
  woman and her children scream wildly in
  their car, while two “men” beat on the
  windows, he decided something had
  gone horribly wrong. He reached the one
  banging on the passenger door and was
  almost overcome by the sickly sweet
  stench coming from him. The “man’s”
  eyes were clouded over, but he still
  seemed to notice Blake. Blake nimbly
  dodged his lunge and spun almost
  completely around to kick him in the head.
  Blake heard the neck snap, and watched
  the body slump towards the ground. He
  then body checked the other attacker and
  sent him flying several yards.  “Hey
  lady!” he yelled at the woman in the car.
  “Open the damn doors, grab your kids
  and follow me!” After a couple of good
  bangs against the glass, he got her
  attention. She unlocked the doors and
  he grabbed two of the kids, still screaming,
  from inside the car. She dragged the third
  out and began to follow Blake. The child
  let out an ear-piercing wail as the first
  “man” that Blake had kicked reached up
  and grabbed the poor boy’s leg and took
  a fair bite out of it. Blake stopped, dropped
  the two kids he was holding, and started
  stomping on the thing’s (it had ceased to
  be human to him) head repeatedly until
  the skull cracked and gray matter oozed
  out. The woman had, by this time,
  grabbed her three children and was
  running for the imagined safety of the
  Meijer. The one boy’s screams had
  obviously roused her from her shock.
  Now sensing the others near him,
  Blake realized how precarious his
  situation was. Four fresh “things” were
  slowly shuffling towards him. Three
  looked long dead, like they had just come
  out of some morgue, but the fourth wore
  a nice new suit and still had fresh blood
  all over his white dress shirt. “Shit, the
  people they kill are getting up! No good”
  he thought, as he weighed his options.
  He roughly shoved past two of them and
  made his way to…wherever he didn’t see
  one of them. Not too far away now, there
  appeared to be two still living men. One
  was obviously a redneck and the other
  was a black man in what Blake could only
  describe as “really pimpin’ clothes” They
  were making their way towards a thinner
  part of the traffic jam near its ever
  expanding edge, specifically towards a
  big Ford pickup. “Well, safety in
  numbers”, he thought, and he bolted
  
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  through the stopped cars and the
  screaming.
  “Hey!” Blake yelled to get their
  attention. “Hey hell you sumbitch, I ain’t
  stoppin’ for nothin’.” The redneck was
  obviously bright too, Blake thought. By
  this point, the two had made it to the
  pickup and were jumping in. Blake was
  now practically on the hick and leaping
  into the bed of the truck, he yelped “Mind
  if I bum a ride?!” “Owww! Shit!” Blake
  yelled as he landed on the big tires in the
  bed of the truck. “Mind the tires.” Billy
  Ray smiled as he started the truck. Mike
  was already in the passenger side and
  had produced a pistol from his jacket. He
  could see more of the cannibals shuffling
  towards them and methodically any
  people or cars full of people in their way.
  “Damn, need gas, like now.” Billy Ray
  sighed as he watched his fuel light come
  on. He had thought he had enough gas
  to make it home, but hadn’t counted on
  the traffic or the dead people. Mike,
  somewhat agitated by this statement,
  “Well fuckin’ get gas then damn’t! Don’t
  just roll it around in your inbred head!”
  Billy Ray slammed it in reverse and
  shoved the car behind him out of the way.
  He then shifted into drive and plowed
  through the cars between him and the
  gas station. “They were abandoned
  anyway” he smiled as he glanced over to
  the almost stunned Mike. Up over the
  median and over to the Bigfoot, Billy Ray
  left the engine running and jumped out
  to fill the tank. “Damn city! Gotta
  prepay!” he yelled. “Well, what the hell
  are you waiting for, an invitation?” Blake
  yelled. “Fuck it! I’ll pay!” Mike jumped
  out of the car and ran for the store,
  reholstering his pistol.
  Arno had been watching with some
  amusement as the pickup tore through
  traffic and over into his gas station. The
  crashing noise had brought him out from
  storage to see what was the matter. He
  moved behind the counter and placed a
  hand on the .357 magnum he had
  strapped beneath the counter. The other
  hand remained firmly affixed on his
  Yoohoo. As the leather-clad black man
  ran into his store, he slurped. “Can I help
  you?” he beamed. “We need fucking gas!
  Fill it up on 5!” Mike shouted. “Will that
  be cash or charge, sir?” Arno didn’t skip
  a beat. “What? Ah hell, charge it. Damn
  world’s comin’ to an end anyway. Won’t
  have to pay the damn bill nohow.” Mike
  fished through his wallet and handed him
  a credit card. Arno swiped the card and
  turned on the pump. “Thank you sir and
  have a nice day.” Arno slurped. “What’s
  going on out there?” he asked, half-
  interested. “Oh, nothin’ much, just the
  dead risin’ from their graves and such”,
  Mike muttered sarcastically. Arno’s icy
  shell cracked. “What?!” he asked more
  seriously. As if to answer that, a Honda
  came ripping through the path made by
  Billy Ray’s truck. Two figures hung out
  the passenger windows. It crossed into
  the gas station’s lot, crushed two gas
  pumps, and then plowed through the
  front of the store. Billy Ray and Blake
  dove for cover outside, and Mike and
  Arno dove behind the counter on the
  inside.
  As he ducked, Arno yelled “The cash
  register only has $50 or less and the
  cashier does not have keys to the safe!”
  The car’s momentum had been primarily
  absorbed by the concrete posts in front
  of the store, and had come to a rest in
  front of the register. The woman in the
  driver’s seat had a face full of airbag, a
  bag that was rapidly staining crimson.
  Arno slowly lifted himself off the floor.
  Upon seeing her, his first thought was to
  move over to her and check to see if she
  was still alive. His sense of smell was
  overwhelmed with the odor of gasoline
  and ozone from torn electrical wires. As
  he moved toward her, another figure rose
  from the passenger’s side of the car. From
  the looks of him, he thought initially he
  had been a passenger that had faired
  much worse than the driver had. The
  putrescent smell, Y-incision on the chest
  and low moan told him that maybe this
  passenger was already beyond help. “Oh
  shit, it’s the inevitable zombie
  apocalypse!” Arno screeched as he
  reached behind the counter for his pistol.
  He’d seen the Romero films. He knew
  how to put one of these things down.
  All they needed was one shot to the
  head, and it was all over. He took aim
  and squeezed one off right between its
  eyes, or at least where its eyes would
  have been if it hadn’t stumbled over
  some rubble. His shot landed harmlessly
  in the thing’s chest as it lunged toward
  the counter. Arno backed up and
  bumped into the side of the counter. His
  second shot went wild and missed the
  creature entirely. Sweat was visibly
  beading on Arno’s head as he took
  careful aim. The thing was close enough
  to grab him and its one remaining eye
  fixed on and let out a low, gurgling moan.
  Arno could smell its fetid breath and feel
  the strength of its vice-like grip grab at
  his shirt. It opened its mouth as it slowly
  descended on him. Fear and desperation
  accomplished what hundreds of hours
  of zombie movies couldn’t. His hand,
  acting almost independently of the rest
  of his body placed the pistol in the
  thing’s mouth and squeezed the trigger.
  A loud clap and gooey gray-red mist
  spread out from the back of its head. The
  creature fell to the floor in a heap.
  “Did you get it? Yeah, yeah you did.”
  Mike said as he cleared the debris. “Damn
  thing nearly got me.” Arno audibly
  sighed. “Always thought I was a good
  shot.” “Everyone ok in there?” Billy Ray
  and Blake had come to check the
  situation. “What? Was one of the damn
  
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  things in the car?” Blake asked, looking
  at the headless body.
  As if in answer to that, the woman
  with the face full of airbag whimpered.
  Mike and Billy Ray rushed to her side.
  She had been bitten, right in the shoulder.
  There was a lot of blood and the wound
  looked like it was turning septic. “We
  gotta get her to a hospital.” Billy Ray
  said. “Well, whatever, let’s just get the
  hell outta here.” Mike seemed very
  impatient. “Don’t know how much gas
  has pumped by now, or if it’s still
  pumpin’.” Billy Ray said. He carefully
  opened the car door, unfastened the
  woman and began to work the airbag
  down. The air was pierced by half a dozen
  low moans coming from the street. The
  four men looked up to see the creatures
  heading in their general direction.
  “Damn’t redneck, get to pumpin’!” Blake
  yelled. “I’ll get the girl.” Billy Ray ran for
  his truck, followed closely by Arno and
  Mike. As he lifted her from the wreck,
  Blake heard another low moan coming
  from back near the 2-liter display. A
  second thing had apparently been
  hanging on to the car. The creature rose
  up and immediately fixed on Blake. “Holy
  shit!” he shouted, and with the woman
  in his arms, he ran for the truck. Arno and
  Mike were unloading rounds into the
  approaching creatures, but not having
  the best luck with hitting them in the
  head. More of the things could be seen
  in the distance. Some were in the fast
  food restaurants that lined the streets.
  Some had made it to the giant cineplex.
  Abandoned cars littered the road and
  grass. Many had partially devoured
  bodies in them that were beginning to
  stir. Those that had lived were the ones
  who abandoned their cars and fled.
  “We’re damn near out of ammo here!”
  Mike yelled. “Hell with it, let’s get. We
  got enough gas to clear this hellhole!”
  Bill Ray shouted back. Blake had made it
  to the truck. “One’s on my ass! Let’s bail!”
  Arno helped him load the woman in the
  back, and Mike jumped in the front
  passenger’s seat. Blake had heard the
  ammo comment. “Hey, there’s a lot more
  ammo and tons of guns at the Meijer.”
  Mike dashed his hopes. *Pop* “Well
  Meijer is on the other side of the traffic
  jam and I can see about fifteen dead
  fucks heading for its front doors. I think
  its safe to say it’s closed for business.”
  Blake protested “Damn’t it wouldn’t be
  so hard to get past them. This truck can
  mow ‘em down!” Billy Ray ripped out
  the gas nozzle and left it lying on the
  ground, still pumping. He jumped in,
  started the engine, and roared out of the
  area.
  Behind them, they could see the
  creature coming out of the gas station to
  join those from the street. They all
  stretched out their arms longingly. Arno
  fired a couple of shots at the spraying
  gas, hoping to spark some fumes.
  Whether it was that, or the small electrical
  fires starting in the store, something
  ignited the gas covering the ground. The
  explosion immolated every one of the
  creatures. “Guess I gotta find a new job.”
  Arno mused.
  Driving through the rear access road
  to the mall, Billy Ray was focused on
  getting out of the city. That is, until Arno
  shouted, “Wait! Pop’s Guns is right
  there! We need more guns!” Without
  looking away from the road, Billy Ray
  added, “They overcharge on ammo.”
  “Who gives a shit!” yelled the still mildly
  hysterical Blake. “If you don’t want to
  go back to Meijer, we damn well can stop
  here!” Billy Ray relented and jumped the
  median on 10th Street, screeching into the
  strip mall parking lot. The braking
  slammed everyone hard against the
  truck. “Damn’t! Why the Hell did we have
  to leave my car!” Blake was picking
  himself off the bed of the truck. Brushing
  him and the woman off, Arno replied
  “Would you rather go back to the zombie-
  infested Meijer to retrieve it?” “Why
  not?” Blake was persistent. “We blew
  away some of those bastards with just a
  couple of guns. We can probably get
  enough guns here to clear out the rest!”
  “Forget it, man. Lucky we got outta there
  alive. Now let’s get in there, buy some
  damn guns, and fuck off!” Mike leapt out
  of the truck and headed for the store.
  Arno and Blake put the woman in the
  front seat and locked the doors, then once
  sure she was relatively safe, they
  followed Mike and Billy Ray in. A chilled
  calm floated down amongst them. Only
  Billy Ray dared to fracture the silence of
  the moment. “Well, I got plenty o’ guns
  at home. I’ll just browse a bit and maybe
  buy some ammo.” Before going in, Mike
  gave him a “What planet are you from
  again?” look. Billy Ray smiled a toothy
  grin in reply.
  “Good afternoon. Can I help you?”
  The middle-aged man wearing glasses
  and flannel stood behind the counter. He
  occasionally let his eyes drift to Mike as
  if checking up on him. If Mike notice, he
  didn’t let on. “Yeah, we need guns. Lots
  and lots of guns.” Blake saw no reason
  not to get to the point. Arno was a bit
  more level headed. “Umm…yeah, we’re
  looking for something with good
  stopping power.” Blake began pointing
  at weapons. “We need the two Remington
  870’s there, those two .30-06 Remingtons,
  and we’ll need scopes for those. We’ll
  also need…” He paused and looked back
  at the others. “Do we want revolvers or
  semi-auto?” “As auto as we can get ‘em”
  was Arno and Billy Ray’s replies. “We’re
  going for high capacity here”, added
  Arno. “Ok then.” Blake looked over the
  pistol case. “Gimme those two H&K
  USP’s…those are .45’s right? And those
  two Glock .45’s.” Blake looked like a kid
  in a candy store. “I’ll need to see a permit
  for whoever’s buying” as “Pop” grabbed
  the paperwork for sale.  “Otherwise,
  you’ll have to wait on the handguns. By
  the way, who is paying for all this?”
  Everyone looked at Mike. Mike sighed
  and flipped out a VISA as well as his
  concealed carry permit. “Better check and
  make sure they ain’t stolen.” An old man
  at the other end of the store also clad in
  flannel and a farm cap eyed Mike
  suspiciously. Mike looked sideways at
  him and said, “I thought I recognized you.
  Don’t you buy ‘Hot Ebony Buns’ at my
  store?” The man quickly put his head
  down and exited. Brushing him off, Mike
  added “We’ll need plenty of ammo for
  those as well.”
  As Pop and his son started putting
  together the order and paperwork, a
  scream echoed from outside, followed by
  several gunshots. The man who had just
  
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  left the store was being advanced upon
  by something that probably wasn’t alive
  that morning. A festering corpse, riddled
  with bullet holes, lunged forward and
  latched onto his neck. It pulled a sizeable
  piece of muscle loose and then took
  another chunk out of his cheek. His
  scream turned to gurgles, as what was
  left of his throat filled with blood. In
  seconds, he was a bloody heap on the
  ground. Pop and his son appeared
  stunned. Arno, however, had seen too
  many movies not to be ready for this.
  And this time, he didn’t miss. As the
  creature approached the door, Arno
  leveled his pistol at the thing’s head and
  squeezed off a round. It dropped solidly
  against the door. The woman in their truck
  was half-heartedly screaming and crying.
  Arno and Blake went out to calm her
  down, pushing the door open and
  knocking the corpse aside.
  Pop finally snapped out of it. “What
  the hell was that thing?!” Billy Ray said
  very matter-of-factly, “Near’s we can
  figure, they’re former residents of the
  cemetery over yonder. Just can’t figure
  how it got up here from Washington
  Street so fast. That’s like a mile or
  sumthin’.” Mike reminded him “Well, you
  not being from around here hilljack, you
  might not realize that the cemetery
  extends all the way to 10th Street.” He
  pointed to the road bordering the strip
  mall. “Looks like all the dead fucks didn’t
  just head for Washington. Some came
  this way, and if that’s the case, they’re
  already in the neighborhoods out here.”
  “You mean” said the still recovering Pop
  “that there’s more of those damn things
  out there?!” Arno had come back in to
  help carry weapons and joined the
  conversation. “I’d guess hundreds,
  maybe over a thousand by now. And
  that’s just here. Doesn’t include all the
  mortuaries, hospitals, the morgue and any
  more zombies these create. Then there
  are other towns and cities. Imagine what
  the coastal cities are gonna be dealing
  with.” “So” Mike raised his eyebrows
  and motioned towards the door. “If you
  don’t mind there ‘Pop’, we’d like to get
  the hell outta here with our hardware.
  Maybe you should think about doing the
  same.” Pop nodded slowly, as if his head
  was moving through molasses. “Yeah, I
  think you’re right. Look, don’t worry
  about the paperwork. Just clear out and
  take your stuff. John!” He looked over at
  his son. “We’d better get packing. Good
  luck boys.” They all nodded, grabbed
  their new toys and headed out the door.
  The redneck that had recently died
  was beginning to try and stand. A quick
  pistol shot to the head ended his troubles
  and the group loaded themselves back
  into the truck. Blake had the woman
  settled down finally. They moved into
  the back seat, small as it was. Arno
  stayed in the flatbed with one of the rifles.
  Blake looked over at the woman’s
  shoulder. She was semi-conscious and
  was developing a fever. “We need to get
  her to a hospital soon.” Mike said,
  “Community’s not far west of us. We can
  drop her off there then get the hell out of
  town.” Looking through the rear glass at
  her, Arno was sure she was finished. He’d
  seen enough movies to know that
  nothing good ever happened when a
  person was bitten. He didn’t share it,
  though, feeling that his newfound friends
  might disagree.
  The hospital was confused, but not
  overwhelmed. Victims had come in, but
  only in small numbers. Mike suggested
  to an orderly who took the woman from
  them that they might want to get some
  armed people watching the doors just in
  case. The orderly just looked at him
  funny when. “These hospitals are gonna
  be meat factories. “Arno couldn’t hide
  his disgust. Mike shook his head. “Just
  too stupid to listen. Hell with ‘em. We’re
  getting outta here.” As they were leaving
  the emergency room entrance, Arno
  happened to look up at the TV. One of
  the local reporters, who possessed a
  seemingly solid piece of hair and a
  practiced grin sat reading the latest report
  while people in the background ran about
  frantically. His steady, monotone voice
  resounded in stark contrast to the chaos
  around him. “Reports have been coming
  in for the past hour of attacks by what
  authorities are labeling as ‘an army of
  assassins’. Attacks similar to what have
  been reported here are trickling in from
  all across the country. Just a few
  moments ago, we were told that one of
  our network affiliate crews on
  assignment in Beijing were attacked by
  similar individuals, so this appears to
  be 
  developing 
  into 
  a 
  global
  phenomenon.” He paused and put a hand
  to his ear. “I’m just receiving word that
  St. Vincent’s hospital on the northwest
  side has been attacked by these killers.
  Casualties are said to be high, but
  luckily it appears that we have more
  people injured than actually killed.” His
  monotone voice never wavered.
  
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  “Authorities have advised that you are
  to lock your doors and not allow
  entrance to any strange person. Even if
  you think you know them, authorities
  warn they might be under some kind of
  cult influence. Should they appear odd
  or in a state of confusion, do not let them
  into your home. Police are trying to set
  up emergency stations where people in
  attacked areas or unable to make it to
  their homes can go. If you feel threatened
  or in danger, you can flee to these sites
  and receive protection. The Governor is
  considering calling out the National
  Guard to patrol the streets and rescue
  stations and to relieve some of the
  pressure on the police. He will announce
  his decision within the hour. We will
  keep you informed on these strange
  happenings as new information becomes
  available.”
  Blake had been staring blankly at the
  screen, but finally spoke up. “I bet that
  news anchor is an undercover zombie.
  Only someone who’d returned from the
  grave could be that wooden.” Arno
  almost allowed himself to laugh. With
  that, the four headed back for the truck.
  Arno took one last look at the emergency
  room, noting all the bite victims. “More
  chum for the feast” he mused to himself.
  Once back in the bed of the pickup, he
  felt like he was escaping from Hell.
  It was about an hour drive to Billy
  Ray’s doublewide trailer, with another
  hour added in for stops at Mike, Arno,
  and Blake’s east-side apartments. They
  had managed to escape the city before
  exit due to traffic congestion became
  impossible. The yard was littered with
  broken 
  appliances 
  and 
  busted
  automobiles. Blake thought as he got out
  of the pickup “Under stereotype in the
  dictionary, there’s a little picture of this
  redneck. He smiled at Billy Ray. Everyone
  jumped out and looked around. His
  “home” was surrounded on three sides
  by farm fields. The seed had just been
  planted, though, so there was a clear line
  of sight for about a mile. The back of the
  trailer bordered a small patch of woods.
  They would have to keep an eye on that,
  Mike thought.
  Billy Ray and Blake spent the next
  hour trying to put together some gear
  they would need from his trailer’s vast
  array of garbage. Arno and Mike amused
  themselves noting all the NASCAR
  paraphernalia lying about. Mike finally
  got bored with that and turned the TV
  on. The same reporter, a bit more haggard
  than when they had first seen him, was
  talking about the same thing. The biggest
  difference was a list of schools and
  hospitals was scrolling across the bottom
  of the screen.
  “The situation has been steadily
  deteriorating over the last few hours.
  These persons have attacked several
  neighborhoods. The casualty totals we
  have seen coming in appear to be quite
  high. As you who have been watching
  are aware, the Governor has released
  the National Guard to take over law
  enforcement duties in all metropolitan
  areas in the state. They should be hitting
  the streets anytime now. Please, if you
  can, try and make it to a rescue station.
  Do not try and stay in your homes. You
  can not be assured of safety if you stay
  in your homes.”
  *Click* Arno turned off the TV. “Yes,
  better to get us in cattle pens first so it’s
  easier to be slaughtered. Why don’t they
  just have us charge the zombies in human
  waves?” Mike shook his head. “You’re a
  bit of a doomsayer aren’t you?” “What
  tipped you off?” Arno walked back to
  help Billy Ray and Blake. Mike took one
  of the newly scoped rifles out into the
  encroaching darkness and began to scan
  the horizon. He lifted the sight to his eye.
  Three shuffling figures could be seen
  lumbering in his direction from across an
  open field, maybe three hundred yards
  away. The odd figures had limp postures
  and blank expressions, visible even in the
  low light of the early evening. Mike
  chambered a round, took careful aim, and
  fired. The northern-most one dropped.
  The survivors let out a moan he could
  hear all the way from where he was
  standing. He reacquired and fired twice
  more. Both went down in heaps.
  Billy Ray, Blake, and Arno came
  running out with their weapons at the
  ready. Mike turned to look at them. “S’Ok,
  just a few off in the distance. I got ‘em.”
  
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  Arno looked at the others. “They know
  we’re here. We’d better get your stuff
  and go. We’ll just have to stop at a store
  and get the rest.” “Now wait.” Billy Ray
  held up his hand. “I know I can find that
  radio and lantern if you just give me a
  few more minutes.” Blake was ignoring
  both of them. “What the hell do you mean
  ‘They knew’?! How can they know shit,
  man. They’re dead. They know they’re
  fucking dead and I bet that’s pretty much
  it.” Arno looked at him somberly. “I’m
  pretty sure they can smell us or
  something. It’s some predatory instinct
  thing, or something. They just know
  where the food is.” Blake pointed his
  shotgun north. “Well, the Burger King’s
  that way. Let’s get the hell outta here.”
  Billy Ray resigned himself to the fact that
  they would not help him look for anymore
  of his lost camping gear.
  They gathered what gear and food
  they could and head north. The pickup
  was again low on gas. Billy Ray unveiled
  a large custom Chevy van he had behind
  his trailer. The van had plenty of captain’s
  chairs, wall to wall carpet, and porthole
  side windows. Even the perturbed Blake
  muttered “pimpin’”. They passed
  through the normally quiet town of
  Greenfield.  U.S. 40 was clogged with cars
  trying to get out of the metropolitan area.
  Some fancy sidewalk driving and a few
  side roads later, the group managed to
  make it to a strip mall with a grocery store.
  “First we hit the Kroger’s, then Radio
  Shack.” Mike seemed to be the only one
  with any real plan. The Kroger’s was
  surprisingly quiet. Three cashiers even
  stood lazily behind their registers, each
  with a distinct look of boredom on their
  face. “Evenin’ y’all.” Billy Ray crowed as
  he grabbed a shopping cart. Mike
  whispered to Blake as he grabbed a cart,
  “Bet they’re more taken aback by the fact
  that a ne-gro is in their store more than
  the whole Hell on Earth thing.” Blake
  stifled a laugh and moved to follow him
  down the produce aisle. Arno looked
  over the three disinterested workers.
  “How’s the chum tonight?” he said in a
  quick, peppy voice. They looked at each
  other with a confused gaze. “All my
  questions are answered.” Arno grabbed
  a third shopping cart. They spent the next
  thirty minutes grabbing anything they
  thought would be useful. Flashlights,
  canned food, bottled water, and other
  items that might serve them well were
  taken. They shouted back and forth
  across the aisles to remind each other of
  this or that. “Don’t forget batteries!”
  shouted Arno. Mike quickly followed
  this. “Don’t forget the Jurgens lotion.
  You don’t know how long we’re gonna
  be stuck out in the country!” Blake
  snorted.
  As time passed, they became aware
  that the store was beginning to fill up
  with people. Billy Ray realized it was time
  to go and shepherded the others forward.
  They were a bit rough making their way
  to a register. A lady in front of them was
  fishing through her purse. “If I could just
  find that forty cents off coupon…” Arno
  looked on in disbelief. He then shouted
  “Lady, fuck the coupon! It’s the zombie
  apocalypse. You can spare the damn
  change I think!” “Well I…” she was cut
  off by Billy Ray, who gently lifted her out
  of line and to the bagging area. Mike
  managed to get out “We’ll just pay for
  hers too” to the bewildered cashier. They
  were rung out in record time. Arno paid
  with his ATM card. The general
  consensus was that since Mike had
  bought the guns and ammo, it was the
  least the rest of them could do. As they
  exited, they were greeted with a quickly
  filling parking lot. They had to flash guns
  to keep people away from the groceries.
  It was in this tense moment, that things
  took a turn for the worse.
  Screams were heard from the edge of
  the grocery store’s parking lot. In the
  confusion, some of the creatures had
  stumbled up to the mass of cars and
  people. The agitation of the crowd turned
  into a frenzied panic as people tried to
  escape. Billy Ray was the first to respond.
  He raised his USP and took aim. Arno
  followed. People ducked and split all
  around them, trying to avoid the
  weapons. The dead were felled within
  minutes. The parking lot emptied almost
  as quickly save for the wounded that lay
  here and there. Those who had been
  bitten were scattered on the fringe and
  those who had been trampled were
  scattered through the rest of the parking
  lot. Screams and moans could be heard
  above the fleeing engines. “Almost
  deserve to be eaten. They ain’t even
  helpin’ the wounded.” Mike was finishing
  loading groceries in the car. “What can
  you expect from zombie chum?” Arno
  added. “Man, you really are a broken
  record!” Blake was helping throw
  groceries in the van. Billy Ray holstered
  his sidearm. “Maybe we should help…”
  “It’d only slow us down, and there’s too
  many injured. How many of those will be
  zombified before we can get to them?
  And how many zombies will we allow to
  catch up to us if we do?” Billy Ray hated
  to admit it, but the convenience store
  clerk had a point. “C’mon.” Mike had
  finished loading groceries. “Let’s grab
  some goodies from the Radio Shack and
  get the fuck outta here.” Everyone
  nodded in silent agreement.
  A good hit from a sledgehammer
  opened the door at the Radio Shack. They
  collected walkie-talkies, a radio, plenty
  of batteries, and a couple of laptop
  computers. Billy Ray kept watch as they
  looted the store. He noticed that quite a
  crowd was gathering at the McDonalds
  down the street. That crowd, almost as
  one, walked up to the windows and
  started beating on them. The terrified
  patrons screamed and tried to flee past
  the horde. Only a few made it. “Zombies
  are at the McDonalds.” Billy Ray shouted
  in a lazy drawl. “Well, there’s no
  accounting for taste.” Blake replied. “Let’s
  go!” The four of them got back in the
  van and headed north, hoping to find
  some safety in some form.
  As they drove north along State Road
  9, the last vestiges of Greenfield vanished
  behind them. Ahead were nothing but the
  stars and endless fields of tiny plants.
  They had escaped, for now. “By the way”
  Blake said looking around at the other
  three in the van. “My name’s Blake. What
  the hell are your names anyway?” The
  van roared off into the darkness. A silent
  figure that had been walking south turned
  north to follow the van. A low, throaty
  moan escaped its lips…
  
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  Call To Darkness Part 2 by Mike Marchi
  Part Two
  by Mike Marchi
  “Wil was a Neuropath.  He had latent mental abilities that were
  awakened by the gunshot trauma. Sara explained that he had
  tremendous potential, but lacked the training to be able to control his
  abilities.  In those early days, he was pretty much the psychic equivalent
  of a siren.  He advertised his presence wherever he went.”  Her eyes
  lost focus again as the memories returned.  “Eventually he attracted
  the wrong kind of attention…”
  Siren Song
  Enise Westfield winced as the telltale precursor of pain
  tickled at her left temple.  Thinking about Wil always gave her
  a headache.  The tingle of discomfort reminded her again why
  she chose not to think about him much these days.  But the
  straightjacket that prevented her from even rubbing her own
  throbbing skull, reminded her of how little choice she had in
  the matter.  Ever since she had become a resident of Ward D, it
  seems that people had done everything in their power to
  constantly remind her of why she was there.
  Now the latest in a series of shrinks was seated before her,
  asking the hard questions.  Searching for a justification for the
  act…
  The jolt of pain shot all the way through her head this time,
  like a red-hot knitting needle sliding instantly through her skull,
  in the left temple and out the right.
  *   *   *
  Doctor Nicholas Mercer watched the madwoman curled up
  and sitting in the corner floor of her cell, waiting for her to
  continue her tale.  She seemed to stop and try to push past a
  painful memory.  There’s more here than meets the eye, he
  thought.  What is going on inside that head of yours, Enise.
  Tell me, and maybe I can help.  That last thought struck him as
  odd.  He had only been listening to her for a very short time,
  but already felt an odd connection with this haunted woman.
  The clinical scientist in his own head clucked in disapproval.
  This is most definitely not the time to start feeling an
  attachment to a patient. Especially not this one!  But still, the
  unscientific side of his brain took a moment to consider the
  possibility.
  She was very tall, athletic, and had deep auburn hair,
  cropped short - most likely by the hospital staff.  Her once-
  attractive face was now drawn and pale, her cheekbones
  exposed beneath darkly ringed, sunken eyes.  Yet despite the
  frame around them, the eyes themselves were her most striking
  feature.  Even the light of madness behind them could not
  disguise the beauty of those deep green eyes.  As she sat
  before him, rocking back and forth, He couldn’t decide how to
  handle the situation.
  The woman before him was a surgeon of some renown.  She
  had been found after-hours in the operating theatre of County
  General hospital, unattended by any other hospital staff.  A
  janitor had walked unannounced into the surgery, to find Doctor
  Enise Westfield, dressed in full surgical scrubs. The bright
  stainless steel scalpel held aloft by a blood-stained, latex-clad
  right hand dripped with gore.  On the table before her was a
  man - ‘was’, being the operative word.  He may have begun
  that day as a man, but he ended it as the single most damning
  piece of evidence against his own long-time friend and
  associate, Doctor Enise Westfield.  In his mind’s eye, Nick
  remembered the crime scene photos of the victim.  The photos
  left little to the imagination.  Each slice in the victim’s flesh,
  each cross-section of tissue that had been deftly trimmed out
  of his body and tossed in the scrap bucket of OR-3 was
  catalogued ad-nauseam.
  He had been asked to evaluate her mental state, to see if
  she was fit to stand trial for the murder of Wil Ohmsford.  The
  more she spoke, the less certain he was that she was sane.  But
  he felt a strong compulsion to hear her out.  To follow her tale
  (or was it her delusion) through to the end.
  “Please continue, Enise.  You mentioned a word I’m not familiar
  with, ‘neuropath’?”
  The woman raised her eyes to look at him, without moving
  her chin, which was clenched down against her chest.  Her
  short quick breaths indicated that she was in a lot of pain.
  Perhaps more than he had originally thought.
  “It’s not my fucking word,” she snapped suddenly.  “I didn’t
  make it up.  Sara did.”
  Nick had been doing this enough to know that this first
  session had reached an end.  He would get nothing more out of
  her, as long as she was experiencing this pain.  “All right, doctor.
  I think this will do for now.”
  Her breathing eased up just a bit.  She lowered her eyes
  again and resumed the rocking motion.
  Nick stood up and began scribbling something in his
  notebook.  “I’ll be back later, Enise.  We’ll talk again when
  you’ve gotten some rest.”
  *   *   *
  “Right this way, Doctor.” Emma opened an office door with
  ‘Visitor’ embossed on the frosted glass window.  “Make yourself
  at home, and I’ll transfer Mr. Garafallo’s call when it comes.”
  “Thanks, Emma,” Nick smiled at the administrative assistant
  for the Psych Ward D, and stepped through the door into the
  guest office.  The room was ten feet square, with a desk,
  credenza, bookcase, and two chairs - one for the lucky ‘visitor’
  who got to use the office, and the other for his or her own
  guest.  A single small window, no more than two feet square,
  was inlaid with a wire mesh and sat high up the painted cinder-
  block wall.  The dim shadow of bars could be seen on the
  
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  outside of the window.  A single, dim light fixture sat flush with
  the twelve-foot ceiling, casting a sick yellow glow in the room,
  too low to even read comfortably by.  Fortunately, there was a
  lamp on the desk, the wrought iron base painted to match the
  utilitarian gray walls.  The lamp cast a circle of illumination on
  the desktop, revealing a chunky black rotary telephone, and
  the keyboard for the computer workstation on the corner of the
  desk.
  Nick sat down in the desk chair, noting the annoying squeal
  that the casters made as it rolled along the worn wood floor.
  He stared at the phone for a few minutes, wondering
  when Emma would pass the District Attorney’s call
  through.  The office was disturbingly quiet, the only
  background sounds coming from the hiss of the steam
  radiator, and the buzz of the incandescent bulb in the
  desk lamp.  Even the computer terminal was silent -
  turned off.  Don’t have a login for this system,
  anyway, he noted with chagrin.  His inventory of the
  office supplies in the center desk drawer didn’t take
  nearly as long as he’d hoped, there being
  all of two black stick-pens, a red Swingline
  stapler, and a single pale yellow pad of
  post-it notes.  He was just getting ready
  to see what books were on the shelves,
  when the shrill bell of the black telephone
  shattered the silence.
  He waited for the second ring before
  picking up the receiver, using the time to
  regain his composure after being startled
  by the sudden sound.  “Hello?”
  “Nick!  Glad I could catch you.
  How is it going?”
  “It’s going fine. How are you?”
  “Just peachy. But I’m not inquiring
  about your health. What about
  Westfield?  I need to know if she’s
  sane or not.”
  “It’s hard to say, Rob…”
  “Oh for Chrissakes, Nick.
  What the hell have you been doing
  out there all afternoon?”
  “Evaluating your suspect.”
  There was a long pause from the
  other end of the phone, followed by
  a sign.  “Of course, Nick.  I’m sorry.”
  As he listened, there was a soft knock on the office door,
  followed by Emma slipping into the room, sliding a thick manila
  file folder onto the edge of his desk, and exiting just as quietly.
  Nick flipped open the file folder on Enise Westfield and began
  paging through the material as the District Attorney continued.
  “How much more time do you need?  This wouldn’t be such a
  big deal if the hospital had kept a lid on it. But the Mayor
  seems to be trying to use this case for some political leverage.
  I don’t pretend to understand his reasons. But he’s got to
  know which way to spin this. Was she a brilliant surgeon who
  cracked under the stress of an overloaded hospital, or is she a
  cold-hearted killer who eviscerated her best friend, and was
  stopped before she could cause any real public harm?”
  Nick’s brow furrowed as he noted several omissions in the
  file.  “I’d say I’m going to need the whole weekend at a minimum,
  Robert.  I’d like to do some bloodwork, and check out her
  scans.  Rule out chemical imbalance.”
  “Haven’t they done that stuff yet?”
  “Her chart says that she wouldn’t let them draw the labs.
  Apparently broke three needles off by thrashing at
  precisely the wrong time.  The staff here is too
  jaded to endure that kind of resistance.  It’s
  not worth the trouble to them.”
  “Shouldn’t they just have sedated her?”
  “Hey Robert, I won’t tell you how to
  catch crooks if you won’t question how we
  shrink heads.”
  “Fair enough, buddy. I think I can hold
  the dogs at bay for the weekend.  But I
  want that evaluation first thing Monday.”
  *   *   *
  Nick stood at the door to
  Enise’s cell for a long time,
  watching her fitful attempts at
  sleep. The auto-injector pounch
  felt bulky and out of place on his
  belt.  In the injector, a dosage of
  enough sedative to bring down
  a rhino. It’s just a precaution.
  He reminded himself.  It’s also
  a betrayal of trust.  He
  countered.  Any hope he had
  of unravelling the enigma of
  Doctor Enise Westfield lay in
  establishing a rapport
  based on trust.  She was
  nearly there, finally sharing
  a few snippets of infor-
  mation in conspiratorial tones.
  ‘Powers of the mind’, she had said.  ‘Wil
  Ohmsford was a neuropath.’  At first he
  had thought that she meant to say
  psychopath, and was offering it as defense
  for her actions.
  But after convincing Emma to give him access to the
  computer terminal in ‘his’ office, he had spent a couple hours
  researching the terms she had used. Neuropathy, as in telepathy
  or empathy.  The powers of the mind, indeed.  He had avoided
  these subjects throughout his clinical career.  They were the
  stuff of supermarket tabloids, and flew in the face of logic.
  His reverie was broken by the arrival of Rachel, along with
  two very large orderlies.  The men were dressed in the traditional
  white scrubs of their profession, and between the two of them,
  looked like they worked out by tossing sides of beef back and
  forth across.  These guys are huge!  And they’re just another
  
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  precaution.  Another betrayal.  I hope we don’t need them.
  Enise was sitting upright and staring intently at him even
  before he had closed the door.  “Good evening, Enise.  I trust
  you’re feeling a little better.”
  The woman’s head twitched to one side and she winced in
  pain.  Nick had to wince himself at the sound of the tendon in
  her neck snapping along with the motion.  She just stared at
  him, saying nothing.
  “Enise, I was wondering if I could have your permission to
  run some tests…”
  As soon as he said ‘tests’, her eyes widened in obvious
  fear.  She shook her head in the negative.
  “Please.  I believe it is necessary – to help you.”
  “No.”
  “You are a doctor. You know many things can influence
  human behavior.  Something’s not right. We both know that.”
  “NO!”
  “Please, Enise.  I really…”
  He never got a chance to finish the sentence.  With a fluid
  motion, Enise lept off the bed and plowed into him, throwing
  him back against the side wall of the cell – no easy task
  considering she still wore the straightjacket.  The reaction from
  the hall was immediate.  Rachel and the orderlies were in the
  room, and all over her in a heartbeat.
  The three staff members hit Enise hard, bearing her to the
  ground. Enise strained against the straightjacket. Teeth
  clenched, beads of perspiration standing out on her red,
  straining face.  She was obviously trying to pull her arms free
  of the constricting material.  Nick stood transfixed against the
  wall of the cell, watching the others struggle to hold her down.
  The chords on her neck stood out, her face constricted in pain
  and anger.  Nick heard a series of loud popping sounds fire off
  in quick succession.  My god, those were the seams on the
  jacket, he thought.  Rachel and the larger orderly finally
  managed to hold the squirming madwoman down, while the
  second fought to secure the straps to her legs.  Enise yowled
  like a wounded cat, all semblance of the intelligent, coherent
  physician stripped unceremoniously away.
  The orderly lost his grip on her right ankle, and paid the
  price, taking a kick to the solar-plexus that sent him flying across
  the room.  She’s stronger than she looks.  Nick had seen patients
  in highly agitated states often exhibit superhuman abilities, but
  this was something more. Enise tried to use the now-free leg to
  try to dislodge Rachel.  The short black woman swore an oath,
  “Smitty, get your ass back up here, and secure that leg!!!”  Nick
  could only watch in fascination as the fallen orderly, Smitty
  dragged himself up onto all fours, and then into a shaky, semi-
  upright position. With amazing agility, he reached out and
  snagged the edge of her foot, drawing it in close to his body
  and trapping it between his body and his beefy arm.
  Finally restrained, Enise let out a bloodcurdling shriek.
  The sound broke Nick out of his stunned paralysis. He
  knew he only had a moment before Rachel, Smitty and the
  other orderly were knocked free of their tenous perch. The
  auto-injector found purchase against her left thigh, and forced
  a stream of warm sedative into her bloodstream.
  “Oh god, no.  Don doo tthissss...”  and then she went limp.
  *   *   *
  Nick sat in his borrowed desk-chair for a long time, staring
  at the lab reports on Enise Westfield.  He couldn’t quite wrap
  his brain around the results. Considering the effort it had taken
  to get the samples, they had drawn twice the normal amount of
  blood and tissue, knowing that if a test went wrong, getting
  another sample would prove very difficult.  When the first set
  of tests had come back, Nick had immediately demanded they
  be repeated.  The numbers were identical in both instances.
  In the hour that followed, Doctor Nicholas Mercer picked
  up the receiver on the phone twice, both times with the intention
  of calling Robert Garafallo. Both times he had reseated the
  handset before getting past the first number on the rotary dial.
  Finally, he did pick up the phone, but it wasn’t the District
  Attorney he called.  “Hello, Janice?  It’s Nick.  Hi.”
  Nick pulled one of the pens and the post-it pad out of the
  desk drawer and started drawing sharp little angular patterns
  on the paper.  “Yeah.  It’s been a long time.  Listen, I need a
  favor, Jan.”
  He began subconsciously bouncing his left knee with a
  nervous twitch.  He didn’t even reallize he had started doing it
  until he rapped his kneecap against the leg of the desk.
  “Do you still have full-time access to the  genetics lab?”
  He paused again and resumed the rhythmic drumming.
  “No, it’s not like that, Jan.  I need something checked out,
  and it has to be someone I trust.  Whatever else may have
  happened — I still…”  he trailed off.
  “Really?  Thanks Jan.  I owe you one.”
  *   *   *
  “Leave us alone, Rachel.” Nick spoke in a level voice, but
  his heart was pounding in his chest.  He fought to keep himself
  calm, and hoped to God, the security woman wouldn’t see the
  sweat on his forehead, or catch the smell of fear that radiated
  off him in waves.  In his hand, he clutched a sweat-stained and
  crumpled copy of the fax from Janice.
  “Nobody is supposed to be alone with her, Doctor.  Not
  after what happened last time.”
  “Rachel, look at the patient for a moment.  She is wearing a
  straightjacket and strapped to her bed.  I don’t think I’m in any
  danger.”  I wish I really believed that.
  Nick looked directly at Rachel, praying that the expression
  on his face was one of calm. Rachel bought the façade, and left
  him alone with Doctor Enise Westfield.
  When the door latched shut, and he turned to face his
  restrained patient, she was already looking back at him.  “Did
  you find what you were looking for?”  she asked.
  Nick swallowed hard and took a step closer.  “I…”  He had
  to fight off a sudden urge to stop there, and forced himself to
  lean closer.  He stopped with his face only a foot away from
  hers.  Then, very quietly, he spoke so that only she could hear.
  “What are you?”
  To be continued...
  
  DARK HUMOUR
  DARK HUMOUR
  DARK HUMOUR
  DARK HUMOUR
  DARK HUMOUR
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  Last night I threw a rather nasty creature at the group. It had nearly killed two party
  members and was using a third as a human shield. So they were standing there, pumping
  bullets into the thing, completely ignoring the danger to their own guy!  In a last ditch
  effort to escape, the creature propelled itself backwards out the fifth floor window...
  While still holding their friend?
  Nope.  It used him to push off, which more or less
  sent him flailing toward the guys with the guns.
  So it wasn’t dead?
  Not at the time it leapt out the window. It’s not the
  fall that kills you, you know. It’s the landing.
  Ah.  So the landing killed it?
  Well, the players looked out the window, and saw it lying in a
  crumpled heap on the sidewalk. They wanted to be sure, so the
  marksman took careful aim and put a slug through its skull.
  Probably prudent.
  Probably.  Then they thought it over, switched to full
  automatic fire, and emptied a full clip into the body.
  Well, that ought to have done it.
  You’d think so.  But they still had their doubts, so they tossed a
  grenade out the window. It landed in the unmoving creature’s
  lap, exploded and vaporized the thing’s midsection.
  What a waste of firepower!  Did
  they get on with the game then?
  Well, no. They still weren’t sure. So they grabbed a glass case full of
  Army Ants and tossed that out the window onto the body below.  The ants
  swarmed out, and stripped the body to bone in less than 20 seconds.
  Wow. Were they convinced yet?
  They still weren’t quite ready to buy it. So they split into two teams and
  went down there.  Approaching it carefully from two different directions.
  So, of course, when they got there,
  the creature was gone, right?
  Of course it wasn’t gone! They killed it seven times over!
  Hell, the pavement was starting to take structural damage!
  Considering how paranoid they were, they
  probably tried using a flamethrower next.
  No, actually, I think they were finally getting the picture.  With guns
  trained on the skeleton, they approached from four different directions
  to poke at the bones with the butt of a rifle.  They couldn’t decide which
  one of them should try that, so they agreed to all poke it simultaneously.
  Did you inform them that the
  creature was truly dead?
  Never had a chance. They were attacked by the Army Ants. The
  swarm killed the entire group in less than a minute.  There was no
  one left to tell.  Now, if they had used that flamethrower...
  Overheard at the Game Master Lounge:
  Overheard at the Game Master Lounge by Mike Marchi & John Noddings
  
  THE LOOSE ENDS
  THE LOOSE ENDS
  THE LOOSE ENDS
  THE LOOSE ENDS
  THE LOOSE ENDS
  57
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  The Loose Ends
  DEMONGROUND Staff
  DEMONGROUND Staff
  DEMONGROUND Staff
  DEMONGROUND Staff
  DEMONGROUND Staff
  Founding Editors
  Marcus Bone
    marcusbone@demonground.org
  Mike Marchi
    mikemarchi@demonground.org
  Geoff Skellams
    geoffskellams@demonground.org
  Associate Editor
  Chris Carpenter
    chriscarpenter@demonground.org
  Layout Assistant
  Becky Marchi
    beckymarchi@demonground.org
  DG9 Contributors
  DG9 Contributors
  DG9 Contributors
  DG9 Contributors
  DG9 Contributors
  Article Authors
  Chris Carpenter
  Wolfgang Baur
  A. Shane Murphy
  Marcus Bone
  Lee Williams
  Dale Robert Thurber
  Christopher Haynes
  Pål Wilhelmsen
  Rob Beck II
  Mike Marchi
  John Noddings
  Cover Art
  “Between Sin and Salvation”
  by hive (euchinus2@aol.com)
  Banner Art
  Eyal Faingersh
  Interior Art
  Eyal Faingersh
  Andrew Simmons
  Becky Marchi
  Mike Marchi
  Interior Graphics
  Mike Marchi
  New Zena Marley Quotes
  Marcus Bone
  Atlas Games - UNKNOWN ARMIES:
  “Unknown Armies, published by Atlas
  Games, is Copyright © 1998 Greg Stolze
  and John Tynes. DEMONGROUND is not
  affiliated with Atlas Games, Greg Stolze,
  or John Tynes.”
  Chaosium, Inc. - CALL OF CTHULHU:
  “Chaosium Inc. - Publishing games for
  25 years.  Call of Cthulhu is the Registered
  Trademark of Chaosium Inc., and is used
  with their permission. Nephilim is the
  registered trademark of Chaosium and is
  used with their permission. Chaosium Inc.
  is the Registered Trademark of Chaosium
  Inc.”
  Dynasty Presentations - DARK
  CONSPIRACY: “The Dark Conspiracy
  game in all forms is owned by Dark
  Conspiracy Enterprises Copyright 1991 -
  2000 Dark Conspiracy Enterprises.  Dark
  Conspiracy is a trademark of Dark
  Conspiracy Enterprises.  Dark Conspiracy
  Enterprises permits web sites and
  fanzines for this game, provided it
  contains this notice, that Dark
  Conspiracy Enterprises is notified, and
  subject to a withdrawal of permission on
  90 days notice.  The contents of this site
  are for personal, non-commercial use,
  only.  Any use of Dark Conspiracy
  Enterprise’s copyrighted material or
  trademarks anywhere on this web site and
  its files should not be viewed as a
  challenge to those copyrights or
  trademarks.  In addition, any programs/
  articles/artwork/files on this site cannot
  be republished or distributed without the
  consent of the author who contributed
  it.  Contact Dark Conspiracy Enterprises
  through Tantalus, Inc.  PO Box 2310 Key
  West FL 33045.”
  Eden Studios - CONSPIRACY X, ALL
  FLESH MUST BE EATEN, and
  WITCHCRAFT: “All Eden Studios, Inc.,
  CJ Carella and George Vasilakos
  copyrights, tradedress and trademarks
  are used with express permission of their
  owners. Applications for permission may
  be addressed to:
  website@edenstudios.net.”
  Pagan Publishing - DELTA GREEN:
  “Delta Green is an award-winning setting
  of modern conspiracy and Lovecraftian
  horror from Pagan Publishing.  Delta
  Green ©1999-2000 The Delta Green
  Partnership.”
  Wizards of the Coast - DARK MATTER:
  “The TSR logo, Alternity, Dark*Matter,
  Gen Con, and RPGA are trademarks of
  TSR, Inc. TSR, Inc. is a subsidiary of
  Wizards of the Coast, Inc.”
  Origins International Game Expo & Fair
  is a trademark of GAMA (The Game
  Manufacturers Association)
  Living Dead Girl title block based on a
  movie poster for “I Walked With a
  Zombie” © 1943 RKO Radio Pictures
  Playtest Session title block based off art
  by Earl Geier which appeared in the Dark
  Conspiracy 1st Edition rule book.
  Next Issue
  Next Issue
  Next Issue
  Next Issue
  Next Issue
  You may have already noticed that
  this issue is our largest to date.  That,
  combined with our driving desire to ‘raise
  the bar’ with each subsequent release is
  forcing us to shift to a Quarterly release
  schedule.  So Volume 10 will be our Fall
  2000 issue, and will be available around
  the end of September.
  We are also instituting a writing
  contest. See the back cover, and check
  out our web site for more details!
  Legal Matters
  Legal Matters
  Legal Matters
  Legal Matters
  Legal Matters
  
  The Back Cover
  www.demonground.org
  DEMONGROUND: Reflections of a Darker Future
  The Magazine of Modern Conspiracy/Horror
  proudly announces
  THE DEMONGROUND THEME-WRITING CONTEST
  Beginning with Issue 10, we at DEMONGROUND will be bringing you a new quarterly feature.  We thought
  it would be interesting to see how each of the different game systems would address specific themes in the
  conspiracy/horror genre.  For instance, in this issue, we presented several different articles dealing primarily
  with Zombies.
  As with this issue, each quarterly installment will not just contain contest-themed material.  Only a specific
  portion of the magazine will be devoted to presenting the BEST articles on the theme.  The rest of the
  magazine will continue to be devoted to a variety of conspiracy/horror material of any theme.
  The themed articles presented in the magazine will be considered the ‘finalists’ in the contest.
  The rest is up to you, the DEMONGROUND reader.  Shortly after the release of Issue 10, we will present
  a ballot on the DEMONGROUND web site.  Only registered subscribers of Demonground will be allowed
  to vote for contest winners, and each registered subscriber will be able to cast one vote.  At the end of the
  tabulation period, the winner will be declared, and will receive a PRIZE!
  Keep a close watch on the DEMONGROUND web site for more details and specifics of this contest.
  We know you’re all anxious to get started, so here is our first theme topic:
  DEMONGROUND Issue 10 Theme
  ALIENS
  If it involves creatures from beyond the stars, it’s fair game for Issue 10
  Please indicate at the start of each contest entry that it is intended for the Theme Contest.  Remember,
  it may not be possible for all contest entries to appear in the magazine.  Finallists will be chosen by DG
  staff members.  Final choice of the winner will be carried out by popular vote from among registered
  Demonground subscribers ONLY.  See the DEMONGROUND Web Page for further details and full
  presentation of the terms and conditions of the contest, as well as specifications of the Prize.
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Demonground/Demonground 009.pdf