Pyramid #3/81: Horrific Creations

[Kromm]

It is almost done!
Now the last incantation
Wait, that can't be right . . .

— Last words

A recurring theme in horror, dark fantasy, and conspiracy stories is "knowledge best left unused." This might take the form of an artifact, a technology, a ritual, or something less tangible. The common thread is that people who tinker with it believe they know what they're getting into and view their goal as beneficial (at least to them!), but in reality are meddling with forces beyond their ken and control, and are likely to find madness rather than enlightenment, destruction rather than creation.

Like any tome of forbidden lore, Pyramid #3/81: Horrific Creations provides a variety of ways to get into trouble. Items best left alone, horrific monsters best avoided, and deals best not made . . . choose your fate. Then again, maybe your fate will choose you, so it's best to be prepared:

• An hour ago, a Project SANDMAN team went radio silent right next a massive subduction zone; now the PCs are the only ones close enough to do anything about it. Iraqi Irruptor Blues, an adventure (by our own PK) for GURPS Horror: The Madness Dossier, pits the heroes against irruptors, toxic memes, and an unexpected psychotronic invention, as the Red Kings attempt to overwrite our history with their own Chaldean Babylonian "paradise."
  
  
• Utterly alien monsters can be terrifying, but in some ways it's even worse when the creatures are part human – when the similarities provide a stark contrast to the differences. In Too Similar, Too Different, Michele Armellini explains how and why to use human-monster crossbreeds in your game. Learn how to build these creatures, both thematically and game-mechanically. The four sample racial templates should inspire you, or at least give you nightmares.
  
  
• If you could wield a powerful enchanted sword, vanquishing your foes with ease simply by sacrificing one of their souls each year, would you? The answer may change (in either direction!) after you fall asleep and dream of the Hellblade and its dungeon. In this month's Eidetic Memory, David Pulver presents both a magical weapon and the Hell that resides within the cursed blade. Feed it, destroy it, hide it, force your way in and conquer it . . . the choice is always yours to make.
  
  
• You've heard rumors about how to sell your soul, but you'd better make sure you know the Anatomy of a Crossroads Bargain before you seek out the Devil. Learn what sorts of problems such a deal can solve and what kind of power it can grant – but also the cost to you, both physically and spiritually. And if you're clever enough, you might even be able to discover the "escape clause" that gives you a chance to cheat, overcome, or escape your fate.
  
  
• Sometimes the most powerful occult tools are the simplest. Any spiritualist or necromancer respects the common Bell, Book, and Candle – but these unique versions are incredibly potent! Command armies of the dead, call upon spectral agents of darkness, and learn the wisdom of ancient souls . . . if you can accept the cost.
  
  
• Those who traffic in enchanted items and potent magic often keep a piece of Altus Brat handy. And why wouldn't they? This amazing bread can bring a person back from the dead, if only for a limited time. Of course, it's important to understand its inherent drawbacks. After a while, that isn't the person you used to know – and eventually, the monster within will take its final form and lay waste to everything you hold dear.
  
  
• And the most terrifying creations yet may be our usual features, including a Random Thought Table that explores the balance between "useful" and "dangerous," and an Odds and Ends that give the Hellblade-wielder a chance to find the way out.

— PK & Kromm

[Astromancer]

Cool and useful. Also, some of this stuff can be retooled for a wider variety of games.

[Michele]

Yes. Indeed, J. Edward Tremlett's scary paraphernalia, not relying on any one system, need no retooling at all to be used anywhere. And they're worth reading even just only for the backstory and drawbacks.

[Anders]

That was creepy.

[PK]

I'm curious how useful the general readership found my Madness Dossier adventure. I've heard several people say how much they love Hite's book but weren't really sure what to do with it, so I wrote "Iraqi Irruptor Blues" with the intent of creating a good "campaign starter." In fact, this is the exact adventure that I used to launch my own Madness Dossier campaign.

I waffled between trying to keep it generic and portable (to make it something you could drop into a different game with a few changes) and diving directly into the Red King weirdness that makes Madness Dossier so, well, Hitean. In the end, I figured that the only way to do this setting justice was to go all-in, with lots of Anunnaki weirdness based (loosely) on real-world Mesopotamian history. Was that the right call? Is anyone out there playing Madness Dossier -- or finding themselves inspired to play it by this issue of Pyramid?

[Langy]

Originally Posted by PK

I waffled between trying to keep it generic and portable (to make it something you could drop into a different game with a few changes) and diving directly into the Red King weirdness that makes Madness Dossier so, well, Hitean. In the end, I figured that the only way to do this setting justice was to go all-in, with lots of Anunnaki weirdness based (loosely) on real-world Mesopotamian history. Was that the right call? Is anyone out there playing Madness Dossier -- or finding themselves inspired to play it by this issue of Pyramid?

I haven't read my copy yet, but yes - that was the right call (even if I don't decide to use the adventure or run a Madness Dossier campaign).

[simply Nathan]

An evil weapon that is also a dungeon? Keen!

[Humabout]

Originally Posted by PK

I'm curious how useful the general readership found my Madness Dossier adventure. I've heard several people say how much they love Hite's book but weren't really sure what to do with it, so I wrote "Iraqi Irruptor Blues" with the intent of creating a good "campaign starter." In fact, this is the exact adventure that I used to launch my own Madness Dossier campaign.

I waffled between trying to keep it generic and portable (to make it something you could drop into a different game with a few changes) and diving directly into the Red King weirdness that makes Madness Dossier so, well, Hitean. In the end, I figured that the only way to do this setting justice was to go all-in, with lots of Anunnaki weirdness based (loosely) on real-world Mesopotamian history. Was that the right call? Is anyone out there playing Madness Dossier -- or finding themselves inspired to play it by this issue of Pyramid?

I don't have Madness Dossier, so I initially filed this kne for "Read Last," but since you asked, I read it last night before going to sleep. Even if a lot of the terms were foreign to me, it sounded really cool and made me kind of want to check out Madness Dossier. Don't know that I'll use the adventure at all, but I cijld probably strip it of MD stuff and reuse it if so desired, even with the heavy reliance on MD. All of that said, I think you made the right call going for it. If it had waffled about what it was, it would have come across kind of weak, I think - just another covert kidnapping type of thing. So nice article, PK! I enjoyed the read!

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by PK

I'm curious how useful the general readership found my Madness Dossier adventure.

The weekly group I play in had a short Madness Dossier campaign during the playtest (log here) and I read your episode reports on LJ.

This adventure is a lot more coherent in this form, and it's clear that you play Madness Dossier as more "super-powered" than we did. We mostly played it as a scientifically styled special-operations (in the British, rather than American, style) game, with glyphs and NLP, and the joys of an unlimited budget, but no psi or Taishers, and a strong requirement to maintain cover.

I doubt I'll play (having read) or run this adventure, but it's dead interesting as another view of the setting.

[J. Edward Tremlett]

I'm glad people liked my trio of terrible items :)

I liked the idea of the demon blade dungeon, too. I wonder what would happen if you jammed it into my book...

hmmmmm