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Long Game 60: The Shadow Over the Forests of Hell


Elandera

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Professor Charles Rowley paged through the reports from his survey teams nervously as his carriage bumped and rattled along the old dirt road. He began to read through them yet again, despite having memorized their contents, hoping perhaps to reassure himself that said papers were, in fact, real.

The contents of the document that Rowley clutched was that of a report from a field expedition and shade survey in the northeastern area of the Forests of Hell. The shade distribution had appeared perfectly unremarkable, and while they had discovered several new clearings along their path for waystops, the surveyors had written home of the simple inanities of being away. This, too, was quite ordinary. The archives of the Miskatonic University contained hundreds of letters of a similar theme.

What the archives of the University did not contain was what the survey had discovered outside Fort Innsmouth. Rowley flipped to the page detailing the massive increase in shade sightings as the team had approached Innsmouth. The report spoke of seemingly intelligent shades, and a malevolent presence. It was after this final page that the report ended. The team had been discovered a week later, their campsite ravaged. Their bodies were found surrounding a bloody script of arcane rituals and heretical scrawl. The only other papers that he held were the drawings of the horrifying scene.

Rowley shivered and felt for his silver pocket watch, only relaxing when he felt it within his grip. Some thought it ironic that a professor of the occult could have so much anxiety around the macabre, but reading about mysteries and actually investigating them were different matters entirely.

The carriage jolted to a halt, startling Rowley. He looked out the small window in the vehicle, and caught his first sight of Fort Innsmouth. It was an average sized fort, with the surrounding town built around the bay of the ocean. Fishing vessels dotted the water, with a few bigger trading ships sticking out among the smaller schooners. From a distance, the buildings appeared quite rundown, and the streets seemed to twist at angles not possible for a fort of Innsmouth’s size.

Rowley gingerly stepped out of the carriage, shoving the papers in the back of his pocket and then grabbed his trunk from the back. Even as he entered the city proper, he could feel the presence of something darker, a sinister quality in the air.

A sign in a nearby building advertised an inn just down the road, and despite its squalid exterior he hesitantly stepped in. The main floor of Shivering Shade was just as grimy as the outside, with very little to remark about other than that of the apparent innkeeper. The man’s face seemed as rough as that of an old boat, with the same number of scars. His body was bent with age, and his hands were covered in the callouses that could only come with a lifetime of working the docks.

“What can I do ya for?” The man asked as Rowley walked up the counter.

“I simply need a room for a few days.”

“I can do that for ya. Just need your name.”

“My name? Charles Rowley, err Professor Charles Rowley.”

“A professor, eh? What kind of professor are ya to be coming out to Innsmouth.”

“I’m a Professor of the Occult at the Miskatonic University, in Fort Arkham.”

“Occult, eh, so ya out here to investigate the deaths?”

“Of the surveyor team? Yes, how did you know that?”

“I said nothing about a surveyor team, Professor, we’ve been having killings of the occult nature for months.”


Welcome to LG60: The Shadow Over the Forest of Hell! This is a mash-up between Brandon Sanderson’s Shadows for Silence in the Forest of Hell and H.P. Lovecraft’s The Shadow Over Innsmouth. Snipexe and Elandera will both be GMing.

Premise: Strange discoveries have cast a frightful shadow over the people at Fort Innsmouth of Threnody, nestled between the ocean and the Forests of Hell. People at other forts called them crazy for delving into the ocean to mine. Maybe they were mad, but it began only after the expeditions. They found an evil lurking within the depths. An evil that drove men into madness with quiet whispers in the night. An evil that awoke in the hearts of those who saw it an insatiable desire to release their will and serve. An evil that caused men to kill.

Rules:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/18ZLvYTFUXikgQNHW61AORBkS-gBGC-uUXu6zEvBpMSs/edit?usp=sharing

Spoiler

Alignments:

Fort Folk - Destroy the new occult order before Father Dagon, the ruler of the Deep Ones, rises.
Esoteric Order of Dagon - Sacrifice Fort Folk to the Deep Ones. Once the Order has made enough sacrifices, Father Dagon will rise and destroy all who remain.
Neutral - They have their own motivations for their actions, which may not always align with any other group. No neutral win condition will end the game.

Roles:

Spoiler

 Governor - They are the leader of Fort Innsmouth, and greatly disturbed by the new cult growing among the people. Their role as Governor gives them a great voice among the people, so their vote during the lynch counts twice. The Governor starts in a PM with the Bodyguard.

Bodyguard - Their goal is to protect the Governor. If the Governor were to die via attack, the Bodyguard would die in their place. They will not die if the Governor is killed via the lynch. The Bodyguard starts in a PM with the Governor.

Gravedigger - The gravedigger is experienced with the macabre, but is unnerved by the strange shades they find as they make final resting places for the dead. The job has also made them strong and good with a shovel. They have a kill available, which may be used more than once based on the number of players. If used against the Deep One, it will be guaranteed to succeed. If it is used on a Fort Folk, they will be rendered insane for the next turn.

Archaeologist - As an expert in the ancient and occult, the rumors coming from Forth Innsmouth have sparked their curiosity. They ventured to the fort in hopes of finding a treasure, but found themselves discovering new artifacts hitherto unseen by man. They can go on a dig once per Day Turn, with a 66% chance to find one of the following items:

  • Forbidden Idol - Causes dreams of madness and insanity. Their vote will change to a random player. A no-vote can become a vote in this way.
  • Hidden Transcript - Provides details of a random PM, though the participants will not be known.
  • Pallid Mask - One-time, passive item to hide their identity. It will result in a “no action taken” or “no PMs” result from an action spy or PM scan attempt. This includes random scans like those generated from insanity
  • Elder Sign Pendant - One-time, passive item that protects a player from an attack by the Order.

The Founder - They led the expedition to begin underwater mining, and discovered the existence of the Deep Ones. Visited by visions and promised greatness, they quickly became a follower. They are persuasive, and can convince a player to change their vote. However, they are always on the border of insanity. They cannot become fully insane, but any of their actions have a 20% chance of failing.

Deep One - The Deep One is a servant of Dagon from the depths, chosen to help lead the effort to prepare Threnody for their kind to eventually rule. To simply look upon them is to become insane. During the Night Turn, the Deep One can choose to reveal their true form to a target player, rendering them insane for the next turn. The Deep One is immune to insanity. The Deep One also cannot fall to any mere mortal. It takes 33% of total Fort Folk votes to lynch them, and kill attempts against the Deep One only have a 25% chance of success.

Dagon’s Will - The name applies to both the members of the order, and the action to follow the will of Dagon. Every night, a member of the order can sacrifice a player to Dagon. Because of the danger from the shades, only one of them can be present to make the sacrifice. Any member of the order may use this ability, but it must replace their own action.

  • Self Sacrifice - Members of the order can use an additional action to sacrifice one of their own during a Day Turn. This can only happen if that player agrees, or that player has not posted in two cycles and there is a unanimous vote among the other members. If the latter occurs, the Order will be able to convert one player to the occult ways once per game.

Bounty Hunter - They don’t much care for the Fort Folk or the Esoteric Order of Dagon. They just like collecting rewards. They have three kills per game, to be used during a Night Turn. Their win-con is to kill two people with a role on the following list. If they target someone with one of those roles, they are immune to the shades.

  • Criminal
  • Necromancer
  • Archaeologist
  • Bodyguard
  • Governor
  • The Founder
  • Dagon’s Will
  • Journalist

Journalist - Their job is to uncover and reveal the truth. There are a lot of people hiding a lot of things around Fort Innsmouth. Their win-con is to successfully spy on three people without going insane. If they take the Discover the Hidden action, it has only a 10% chance of failure as opposed to a 20% chance. They can send an anonymous newspaper article to the GM that will be posted in the next day’s write up. If they fail their win-con, they turn into a vanilla Fort Folk, but retain the ability to send in anonymous articles.

Criminal - No one knows what crimes they’ve committed, but everyone in Innsmouth knows they’re on the run. Every Night Turn, the player can choose to steal a random item from a player of their choice, with a 20% chance of failure. Their goal is to steal 5 items without being discovered by an action scan.

Necromancer - They have the ability to communicate with Shades. Their dark work is shunned by the Fort Folk, considered to be the same as the rituals of the Order. However, the necromancer works for the good of the Fort, and shares their win-con. For one cycle after a player’s death, the Necromancer can use the ability to receive one PM from the dead player. The shade’s memory can be hazy, therefore, they cannot directly reveal the identities of the Order, and the PM can only be 100 words or less. This ability takes a toll on the sanity of the Necromancer. It can only be used 4 times, and each time there is a 20% chance of going insane for the next turn, on top of the chance from Unforgettable Horrors.

Inherent Abilities:

Some players will have inherent abilities that will give them advantages in some situations.

Iron Will - Players with an iron will are resilient to the horrors of Innsmouth. They cannot become insane by Unforgettable Horrors or by the Deep One’s touch. They can become insane if they take actions that have the insanity consequence, but their chances are reduced by half. If they choose to Worship at the Altar of Dagon, there is only a 20% chance they will become insane for the next turn.
Silver Bones - Players with silver bones won’t go out without a fight. They will survive one sacrifice, shade attack, or lynch. Getting attacked will not trigger broken survivors.

Actions:

There are several actions available to any player.

Spoiler

Worship at the Altar of Dagon - The ways of the Order are intriguing. Some may find themselves wanting to know more. At Night, they may search out Dagon’s altar and find themselves worshipping him. If a player chooses to visit the Altar, they have a 50% chance of receiving a vision containing pieces of all PMs sent the turn before. However, the visions take a toll on the mind, causing the probability of insanity from Unforgettable Horrors to increase by 5% every turn until the player goes insane. Note: If the player does not receive the vision, they do not have the +5% chance for insanity.

Discover the Hidden - The darkness of night hides many things, from the sinister to the strange. It can also help hide people. A player may choose to use the dark to spy on another player’s actions. This action is only available during the Night Turn. However, lurking in darkness can lead to discovering things best left unknown. Using this action has a 20% chance of resulting in insanity, causing the attempt at spying to fail.

Listen at the Door - Players can listen at the door during the Day Turn and hear PMs of two players of their choice. Unfortunately, they have a 33% chance of being caught, resulting in being roleblocked for the next turn.

Whisper to the Wind - Send an anonymous PM during the Day Turn to one player, to be sent at the end of that cycle.

Mists of Releh - An ancient spell that will obscure one player’s vision with a layer of unholy mist. During either the Day or Night turn, a player can cast the spell to redirect the actions of a player of their choice to another random player, including themselves. Doing so has the potential to enact a terrible price on the user. The chance of them going insane next turn is increased by 20%.

Voice in the Crowd - Any player can choose to send their lynch vote to the GM through a PM, and they will add it to the vote count anonymously. Vote redirects will apply to this action. Unfortunately, there is also a 20% chance their voice could be drowned out and their vote will not be counted.

Use Item - During either the Day or Night turn, a player can use an item in their inventory.

Item Pass - Pass an item to a player of your choice during the Night turn.

Items:

Spoiler

Necronomicon - One-time use item, to be used at Night, that provides a hint at the identity of the Deep One with the cost of one’s sanity the following turn. This does not reset one’s chances of going insane from Unforgettable Horrors.

Silver Dust One-time use item to protect from Wrath of Shades. If a player is holding it when Wrath of Shades is successful, it will automatically protect the player. It can also be used on another player as a preventative action, bringing the chance of enraging the Shades to zero.

Fenweed Poison - Can be used one time during the Day Turn against a player to nullify their actions for that Night Turn.

Pallid Mask - One-time, passive item to hide their identity. It will result in a “no action taken” or “no PMs” result from an action spy or PM scan attempt. This includes random scans like those generated from insanity

Elder Sign Pendant - One-time, passive item that protects a player from an attack by the Order.

Hidden Transcript - Provides details of a random PM, though the participants will not be known.

If a player is lynched, their items will be distributed among those who voted for them.
If a player is killed, their items, with the exception of the Necronomicon, will be destroyed. The Necronomicon will be passed to a random player.

Misc. Rules:

Spoiler

Insanity - Players rendered insane will be unable to talk in PMs, vote, or take action for one turn. After a player goes insane, all of their actions have a 10% chance of failing, but every night they also have a 5% chance of receiving a vision containing pieces of PMs sent that turn. Players who go insane will be announced in the write-up.

Unforgettable Horrors - The whispers haunt at night. Visions of unearthly creatures seep into dreams. None can hide from them. None can forget them. At the end of every Night Turn, each player (except those with an Iron Will) has a 10% chance of going insane.

Broken Survivors - Players who are attacked and survive will be insane for one turn.

Wrath of Shades - Those who draw blood have a 5% chance of their precautions failing, thus they will be attacked by shades and killed. This will not include the lynch. Every time blood is drawn, the chances of enraging the Shades increases by 5% Once someone dies to the Shades, the percentage resets.

 

- PMs are open. Be sure to add both GMs to all PMs. We will notify you if the IM should be included as well.
- Players can take one action during each Day and Night turn
- Two-vote minimum for the lynch
- Tied lynches will be decided at random

Player List:

Spoiler
  1.  Xinoehp512 - Enasni
  2. Rathmaskal - Rathinal Maskworth
  3. Fifth Scholar - Ruthful
  4. Cadmium Compounder - Tim
  5. Araris Valerian - Fade
  6. Shanerockes
  7. Amanuensis - Innocent
  8. Butt Ad Venture - Patrick Punnington
  9. StrikerEZ - Mr. Freegift
  10. Ventyl - Nogard fo Redro
  11. ILuvHats - Kill-sin Pimple
  12. Start - Mindful
  13. Ark1002 - Arr. K Thousantoo
  14. Devotary of Spontaneity - Lord Ghent

Spectators:

  1. Lumgol
  2. Kasimir

Quick Links:

Rule Clarifications:

Spoiler

 

The game will begin at 12 p.m. PST on Tuesday, October 1st.

Edited by Elbereth
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Do I get to be the first signup?

 

Edit: :(

Edit #2 - Questions

  • Voice in the Crowd - in this case, do you not submit a vote in the thread?  Or can you submit a vote in the thread and use this action to override said vote?
  • Insanity - can't vote = vote will not be counted?  Or get yelled at if they try to vote? Oops, no need to answer - if they're announced in the writeup, there's no advantage to either option
  • Insanity - Are the percentage chances additive or evaluated separately?  ie, If I use Discover the Hidden, is it a 20% chance and then a 10% chance?  Or is it a 30% chance?  (It looks like most other places, you explicitly note it as an increase in chance)

Thanks!

Edited by Rathmaskal
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It’s been a long while (2 LGs? Only 2? Shhhh) since I’ve joined a game (you’re seriously addicted to this, aren’t you? I said to be quiet!), so I’ll sign up for this as Ruthful, a kind old lady who just hopes ancient terrors won’t disturb her grandchildrens’ visits to her house every Saturday. In the spirit of October 31, we’ll also have side characters coming in later, assuming I get the time to RP :ph34r: 

(I’ve not read either work, so RP ought to be fun :P)

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Oh, for those of you unfamiliar with Shadow Over Innsmouth or HP Lovecraft's writing, here's a link to a version you can read online, or download as an ebook. It's through the University of Adelaide. They also have a lot more of his works, if you're interested in reading before the game.

 

On 9/20/2019 at 0:24 PM, Rathmaskal said:
  • Voice in the Crowd - in this case, do you not submit a vote in the thread?  Or can you submit a vote in the thread and use this action to override said vote?
  • Insanity - can't vote = vote will not be counted?  Or get yelled at if they try to vote? Oops, no need to answer - if they're announced in the writeup, there's no advantage to either option
  • Insanity - Are the percentage chances additive or evaluated separately?  ie, If I use Discover the Hidden, is it a 20% chance and then a 10% chance?  Or is it a 30% chance?  (It looks like most other places, you explicitly note it as an increase in chance)

You can submit one in the thread, but if you choose to take this action, your PM vote will override the in-thread vote. If the PM vote fails, both votes will fail.

Discover the Hidden is a separate calculation. So it will have the 20% chance, then 10% chance from the standard insanity. That is because the act itself may cause insanity (running into a horror of the night).

EDIT: Oops. Forgot I had just posted :blink: Sorry mods!

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14 minutes ago, Rathmaskal said:

OK, two more questions:

  • If I vote in thread and then use Voice in the Crowd, how is that going to be reflected in the writeup?
  • If Alvron plays, is he just automatically insane for the entire game?

All vote manipulation will show the same way. Numbers will reflect actual count, names will appear as they do in-thread.

Yes. Definitely. :P

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I have never played a RP game before, but this looks so cool, so I might as well give it a try. In honor of the Puritan juror who lived during the mid 17th century, I'll sign up as Kill-sin Pimple.

Edited by ILuvHats
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Mindful waded out into the shallows. The water was cold today, but she gritted her teeth and bared it. She hurriedly went about her task, gathering seaweed from the ocean floor. It was an odd crop, but Mindful needed all the food she could gather. As she reached the shore, she was careful to slow down, lest she provoke the Shades. With her crop gathered, she set about stringing it up on a clothesline. Given a week or so, it would be dry enough to eat. The other villagers didn't care about it, preferring to harvest fruits and vegetables that grew on land. For Mindful though, there was something attractive about going out into the sea. Since swimming didn't count as running, she could move as fast as she wanted to, and the ocean held a strange allure to her. Still, rumors of cultists were abounding. She hoped to the God Beyond that she wouldn't be lumped in with them.

I'm signing up.

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