Back From Beyond - Part IV

Hopefully, the party of Investigators will have made the connexion between Dr. Windrush of the ASPR and the mysterious goings-on in Elsa’s basement. By this stage they might well wish to beard the good Doctor in his den and ask for an explanation.

A Call Upon The ASPR...

Whatever time of day that the group decides to do this, it starts to rain as they make their way there – there isn’t anything pertinent about this; it’s just for atmosphere.

The current address for the ASPR is rooms 15 and 16 on the 11^th floor at 44 East 23^rd Street. When the party arrives, the storm is in full swing: the 11^th floor is largely deserted, other suites being occupied by a legal firm, a low-scale publisher’s, and a private detective’s offices. Rain lashes the windows on this level and the light is dim and Noir-ish. As the party approaches, they notice the door to the ASPR offices is open and there are upraised voices coming from within. A successful Listen Roll will determine the following conversation:

[Unknown Male Voice] ‘What happened, Windrush? I thought your people were going to sweep this Sheridan mess away’

[Windrush] ‘Those weren’t our people...’

[UMV] ‘I’m sorry? “Not your people”? Then who were they, Windrush?’

[W] ‘Just a bunch of amateurs! You have to understand, we have a reputation to protect. I thought if I brought these other people in, it would give us some distance...’

[UMV] ‘I don’t give a damn about your reputation, Windrush. I asked for your people to make this go away. A simple fix. Instead, you’ve brought in outsiders and made the situation worse...’

[W] ‘I’m sorry! I thought I was helping both our causes this way...!’

[UMV] ‘“Sorry” doesn’t help anyone Windrush. Now there are too many people who know what’s going on and that’s a security headache I don’t need. Let me introduce you my colleague – Mr. Grey.’

[W] ‘Oh my God! No! No! NO...!’

(It would be politic of the Investigators to storm in about now...)

The scene that greets them is grotesque and bizarre. Dr. Windrush has been thrown back across his desk; looming over him is a figure in a trench coat and hat, grey of skin, long of limb and with huge almond-shaped black eyes. In its uplifted hand is a moving, jelly-like blob, sprouting quills like a demented sea-urchin and shimmering in constantly-changing colours: the light from this object plays over Windrush’s terrified face. The party needs to make SAN Rolls – 0/1D2. The sound of a gun cocking draws the party’s attention from this tableau to a darkened corner of the room. Stepping forward is the moustachioed man from the Waldorf Astoria.

‘Welcome’ he says, covering the party with his pistol, ‘Mr. Grey here has very sharp ears and heard you coming. I hope that you had time to listen in and catch up – I do hate having to repeat myself.’

This is Government agent Josiah Masterson.

Josiah Masterson - Shady G-man

STR: 12

CON: 11

SIZ: 10

INT: 14

Idea: 70%

EDU: 18

Know: 90%

POW: 15

Luck: 75%

DEX: 12

APP: 15

Move: 7

SAN: 65

HP: 11

Weapons: .45 Revolver 50%, 1D10

Average Damage Bonus: +0

Spells: None

Skills: Hide 55%; Sneak 60%; Govt. Bureaucracy 70%;

SAN Loss: it costs no SAN to see Josiah Masterson

Because he’s a bad guy he now gets to monologue: Agent Masterson explains that the government had become very excited by the proposed research of Dr. Crawford Tillinghast, but unfortunately that fellow had gone mad and tried to kill his best friend with the device, an act which led to his death and the machine’s partial destruction. The Agency (he doesn’t specify which) managed to re-create the device to a serviceable level, and contacted entities from beyond, a representative of which is Mr. Grey. He has been helping the humans refine their technology and the results were encouraging until Elsa began talking about the things which she had inadvertently seen. Masterson called in the ASPR to de-bunk her article but instead of just doing as he was told, Windrush complicated things by bringing in the party for his own selfish ends. Now Masterson has a problem to clean up.

Opening A Can Of Wooptar!

While Masterson is  dishing the dirt, lightning flashes several times and, as it does so, the room is thrown into garish brightness and heavy shadow. In the aftermath (and thunder) the walls and furniture of the room start to fade, becoming see-through and hazy. The party will recognise the effect, however the strange misty light which they saw at Elsa’s place is absent. The players may exclaim that Masterson has brought the machine here!

‘Oh no, not I,’ he smiles, ‘their technology (nods to Mr. Grey) is vastly dissimilar to our own and works much better, without all of the side-effects which plague our device. Mr. Grey you see, has his own machine.’

Mr. Grey now brandishes the spiky blob in his hand and utters a strange ululation. A hot wind like the inside of an oven washes into the room and a demonic chittering is heard. The light in the office has turned a coppery gold and strange fan-like growths can be seen all around, dotting what seems to be a wide plain spreading in all directions beneath a grotesquely large sun.

Suddenly the party is attacked from all sides! By Wooptars!

“Wooptars”

STR: 5-6

CON: 7

SIZ: 2

INT: 7

Idea: 35%

POW: 10-11

Luck: 50-55%

DEX: 20

Move: 8

SAN: n/a

HP: 5

Weapons: Bite 30%, 1D6+db; Tail Spike 20%, 1D3+POT 5 Poison

Average Damage Bonus: -1D6

Spells: None

Skills: Climb 70%; Dodge 50%; Hide 70%; Sneak 60%; Spot Hidden 75%

SAN Loss: it costs 0/1D3 to see a “Wooptar”

Wooptars are the denizens of a hot, far-distant planet, but not Mercury. Elsa described them as seemingly harmless but, in fact, they are quite deadly little buggers. They have a nasty bite and can paralyse large prey with their pointy tails. Fortunately, they are not bright, and they do not use tactics or work together – they favour bravado and single combat. Because they are so quick, they get two attacks per round – two bites, two tail spikes, or one of each – one at the beginning and one at the end of each combat round.

Despite a superficial resemblance to chameleons, they do not change colour or behave in any way like those reptiles. They are very keen-sighted however, and extremely difficult to surprise.

*****

Figure on there being two or three of these critters for every Investigator. Remember that the players are restricted by the dimensions and furniture of the office, while the Wooptars are not so confined. If the party seems to be getting the upper hand too easily, throw an extra Wooptar in per character – there are tons of these guys around!

Mr. Grey seems Hell-bent on taking revenge on Dr. Windrush. While the Investigators try to make headway against the aliens, he draws forth his Electric Gun and attempts to use it on the incapacitated doctor. This will either kill Windrush or just knock him out. After this, Grey will cross over to Masterson and grab him; he will then dimensionally shift himself and the agent away, leaving the Wooptar-world to fade away in their wake. Players will have to make Spot Hidden Rolls during the melee to try and thwart these plans.

“Mr. Grey” – Surgically-Altered Mi-Go

STR: 11

CON: 11

SIZ: 10

INT: 13

Idea: 65%

POW: 13

Luck: 65%

DEX: 14

Move: 7

SAN: n/a

HP: 11

Weapons: Electric Gun: 1D10+Special

Armour: none, but the extra-terrene body causes all Impaling weapons to do minimum possible damage.

Average Damage Bonus: +0

Spells: None

Skills: Hide 15%; Sneak 15%; +20% to all Sciences

SAN Loss: it costs 0/1D2 to see “Mr. Grey” outside of his coat-and-hat disguise

By the 1950s, the Mi-Go will have perfected this form of body modification and will have created a backstory to go with it that will convince the humans who encounter them of their status as bona fide space aliens; most of those humans will work for shady government departments. In time Delta Green will have seen through this smokescreen and will have set about eliminating the “Alien Grey” threat and exposing it for what it is.

For now, the players should have a chuckle at the in-joke but should resist using any meta-knowledge of UFOlogy to affect play. Like other Mi-Go, Mr. Grey cannot be photographed and will deliquesce if killed. He communicates semi-telepathically to those around him in a strange buzzing voice. His Electric Gun is standard issue: it cannot be used by humans unless they modify it by making two Electrical Repair Rolls on it, and even then it will only work if they roll a 1 or 2 on 1D6 when using it. His phase-shifting device – far superior to Crawford Tillinghast’s design – is the sparkling sea-urchin thing which he carries in his hand. Being superior alien-tech, it has 20 HPs and, like a Mi-Go, takes only minimal damage from Impaling weapons.

*****

Grey will simply move to the next part of his plan if stopped from accomplishing any individual step: if someone stops him killing Windrush, he will move to Masterson; if he is prevented from grabbing Masterson, he will dimensionally shift. If he cannot dimensionally shift, he will hurl himself at the window and fall to the pavement 11 storeys below. By the time anyone can get down there to check on him, he will have dissolved into a dissipating puddle of goo.

Once Grey is dead or has escaped to another dimension, the situation will quickly become resolved: the party will be free of Wooptars and left in the offices of the ASPR on a rainy night; Dr. Windrush will be there, either alive or dead, and Masterson will be there too, if he hasn’t vanished with Mr. Grey. Once Masterson is disarmed, or wounded, he will quickly capitulate.

The Wrap-Up...

The conclusion is up to the players. There is no remaining evidence to prove their adventure to outside parties, and there are possibly dead bodies to explain (not to mention wounded party members). If the players decide to fake a break-in with Masterson as the criminal, he will smile and play along: if anyone asks him why he isn’t worried about this, he shrugs and says that he’ll make bail before they slam the cell door – he’s too important a player as far as his ongoing mission is concerned. If this plan is carried out by the party, Masterson is as good as his word: before the night is over, he vanishes mysteriously from his gaol cell and only the party will have any idea how he managed to accomplish this.

Windrush, if he is still alive, will have some explaining to do to the Investigators and they will no doubt make him eat humble pie. In recompense, he will pay for any reasonable damages, or loss, which the party may have incurred and will also sign them up as lifetime members of the ASPR.

Finally, Elsa Sheridan has probably seen too much to return to her workaday life. The players may be keen to take her onboard as a new character or, if she has formed a romantic attachment with a party member, she may become a regular NPC for the group. If she has unluckily died as part of these shenanigans, then the party may resolve to avenge her.

Rewards

Discovering the conspiracy: +1D10 SAN

Elsa dies! -2D8 SAN

Capturing Masterson (however momentarily): +1D4 SAN

*****

Notes:

This is an example of what random pieces of information viewed through Cthulhu Mythos goggles can generate. I discovered the article on Elsa Sheridan in “The Fortean Times” magazine (FT322, January 2015) and realised that two of her critters (the Martian and the Uranian) bore mild resemblances to some Mythos monsters. Thereafter, I simply tied the report into a backdated re-reading of Lovecraft’s “From Beyond” (1934), did some research about 1920’s New York, and the rest is (pseudo)history. Keepers attempting to run this should definitely read “From Beyond” before launching ahead (it’s very short!).

I no longer have a roleplaying group that I can run this sort of thing for, so this is a completely un-playtested scenario. If anyone out there would like to run it – it’s designed to fill a short gap between larger stories in an ongoing campaign – please feel free to do so. Then, if you have any thoughts about it, you might like to drop me a note in the comments below. Enjoy!