On Tuesday, 3 Jul 2012, Andrew Pritchard wrote: >Have we decided what we're playing? I am intending to run something, to give Dave a bit of a rest. This is the intro and some of the background for a Cthulhu d20 game I am proposing to run. Don't worry about the system; I haven't actually been home to pick up my d20 Modern / Cthulhu d20 sourcebooks, so actual character creation will have to wait, but if people want to ask me about character concepts, or ask questions they have resulting from the briefing, go ahead. The big wrinkle over standard d20 is that you leave half your skill points unspent, deciding during play what it would be useful to be able to do. We'll see how that works out. Here's the intro: Two weeks ago, on the 23rd April 1889, you received telegrams summoning you to London to the offices of your employer, Mawson Investigations. On the morning of the 24th, you were immediately shown into the office of the elder Mr Mawson, who explained the urgency: "Gentlemen. I've called you here because I have an urgent need for underwater operations, and most of you have experience with the Edison galvanic submersible and diving suits. It will be your responsibility to train the remainder of this group in the use of these devices as best you can." "One week ago Mawson accepted an assignment from a group of Lloyd's Names to investigate the losses of ships in the North Atlantic sailing to and from the Dominion of Canada and the northern United States. These losses are occurring about two days from the East coast of the Dominion, and have reached unacceptable levels. I immediately telegraphed our office in Montreal and started an investigation - you will be supplied with details on that. However, a further opportunity has arisen, for which your services are required." "The Navy has decided to send an additional squadron to patrol the area led by the battleship Trafalgar, under the command of one Captain Mound. I have been able to persuade my contacts at the Admiralty to allow Mawson to attach what will officially be a liaison group from Lloyd's of London to the squadron, and furthermore to carry the Edison submersible and its support equipment in place of one of Trafalgar's scout dirigibles." "You will appreciate that this arrangement was not arrived at without a considerable quid pro quo, one arguably not justified by the renumeration for this assignment. However - and I must emphasise, gentlemen, that the following information is not to be divulged to any other persons whatsoever - there is an additional task that could only be accomplished with the use of the submersible." "One of the sinkings whose position is most definitively known is the SS Lafayette, last seen stopped on the 15th March to make repairs after a boiler-room fire, with wreckage found two days later in much the same location. It is not widely known that she numbered among her passengers one Baron Vladimir Ilyich Terentyev, an ambassador from the Tsar travelling to the United States. It is known to almost no-one outside this office that the Baron was carrying military plans pertaining to Imperial ambitions on the West coast of the American continent. Furthermore, there is every reason to believe that the Russians still consider the plans lost; the implications of these new submersibles have not yet been fully appreciated." "Retrieve those plans, gentlemen; or, failing that, determine the cause of these sinkings. You will be provided with as much information on all the sunken vessels as possible, including passenger manifests; in that way, the Baron will merely be one passenger amongst a multitude, if your papers are inspected. Two of you, I know, are already familiar with the appearance of Russian diplomatic bags - and their resistance to immersion. Here is a recent likeness of the Baron; it is not to leave this room." "Once again, I emphasise, to all other persons, your assignment is simply to investigate the sinkings. If you do lay your hands upon the plans and cannot return with Her Majesty's ships, endeavour to convey them to the Montreal office, sealed; they have instructions. In extremis, study and destroy them, and inform me personally of what you remember." "The British naval squadron is assembling at Penzance; you will be on the overnight train from Paddington. Speak to Mr Jackson about any weapons or equipment you require; if he cannot meet your needs directly, we will reimburse you for any reasonable purchases made in the metropolis. As those of you with a naval background will understand, however, it will be difficult to accommodate more than one sea-chest apiece aboard Trafalgar. However, there is a modest quantity of storage space aboard the submersible." [If there are any female characters, Mawson will describe the additional arrangements for them.] "I have sufficient time for any questions you may have." About player characters: All player characters work for Mawson Investigations, a large firm which handles a variety of work - everything from detective work to strike-breaking. Every PC has been involved with at least one piece of work which was not strictly legal or which would invite public opprobrium; serious enough to explain Mawson's trusting them now. None of the PCs have met previously, but the sea journey has allowed them to become acquainted. Every PC receives one rank free in Submersible Operations and Diving Suit. Every PC must have either: Three ranks (including the free rank) in one or both of those skills or Three ranks in some other skill which they can convince me is pertinent to the assignment (for example, a former naval officer, a galvanic engineer, or a Russian speaker) or A particularly juicy and blackmail-worthy reason why Mawson trusts them absolutely. Mawson employs women, but only when necessary. Any female PC must also have three ranks in some skill which I agree is sufficiently unusual; or have sufficient Charisma and social skills (eg Sense Motive, Bluff) to justify her being employed to ferret out secrets from impressionable men. Regardless of their opinion of the fairer sex in general, any Mawson employee will have the wit to recognise she must be capable in some regard. Leave half your skill ranks unspent. During play, you may assign them to any skill fitting your background, as you find it convenient. You may take up to two ranks in Cthulhu Mythos. This represents not actual knowledge of the Mythos but weird occurrences in your past; unknowing exposure to it. What, precisely, will emerge during play - perhaps usefully. Or, you may prefer to preserve your Sanity and take none. About the universe and equipment. This is a slightly divergent Victorian era. (In my defence, I had this idea before steampunk was trendy.) "Galvanic" equipment can do much of what can be done with modern electrical equipment (except for computing, radio, or television), and the power sources have an implausibly long endurance. However the equipment is expensive, and requires care and attention - relevant skills may come in handy. While the system is to be Cthulhu d20, this isn't going to be classic horror Call of Cthulhu; more Indiana Jones with tentacles. A failed Sanity roll will cause temporary incapacitation, not insanity (but a character with zero Sanity is still permanently completely insane), and combat will not be quite so hideously lethal as normal CoC. The Edison submersible is shorter and fatter than modern submarines, carrying a dozen in conditions of hideous discomfort. While the air recirculator and galvanic battery provide for a week's continuous submerged operation, no provision is made for sleeping or cooking; the submersible is stocked with basic dried consumables. It requires a crew of 4 to operate it normally; the captain is up front in a glass observation bubble, controlling the powerful searchlight mounted below him, and he gives orders to the helmsman and trimsman (the latter controls the buoyancy of the vessel, and keeps it on an even keel) who are seated just behind him. At the stern of the vessel, an engineer is needed if the engines, lights, ventilation etc. are to operate for any length of time. Simple fold-out seats line the curved corridor between bow and stern; with eight men seated on them, going down the corridor is barely possible. Entry is via a hatch in the top of the vessel, but there is no periscope; on the surface, the captain might cling to the ladder and view the world from the hatch. The corridor is also home to the head (about which the least said the better), supply lockers, and the curve accomodates the large airlock which occupies most of the port side. There is about a sea-chest's worth of free space in the supply lockers for each party member. The diving suits are stored in the airlock; there is nowhere else they can be accommodated. There are twelve suits, regardless of the size of the party. The diving suits are bulky, heavy, and rigid - imagine something roughly of the shape and size of Space Marine armour, but unpowered. The backpack provides a day's air and power for the helmet mounted lamp; this projects only a narrow beam, but since the wearer has only a narrow field of view and the neck joint does not rotate, this is sufficient. Out of the water, the wearer can move only slowly and with difficulty, and any sustained activity will rapidly cause severe fatigue. Underwater, one is still slow moving, but without the need to support the weight, a normally fit person can move in the suit with no more effort than brisk hiking in rough country demands. Thankfully, the suit gauntlets are fitted to the wearer, and are surprisingly unencumbering; a very skilled character might, for example, essay to knit while wearing them. Under the best possible conditions, donning a suit takes eight minutes; a character with a good Diving Suit skill, assisted by an unsuited helper who also has a good Diving Suit skill. Doffing one takes five under similar conditions. A character who is already suited cannot provide physical assistance, although they can observe the operation (and advise, if highly skilled); but two or more characters can suit or unsuit together, which will take about twelve minutes to suit up, eight to unsuit. A character donning a suit unaided will need at least twenty minutes, or fifteen to remove a suit. When suiting or unsuiting, characters make a Diving Suit roll with a DC of 15; a failed roll slows the operation, and a very badly failed roll may damage the suit or have serious consequences for the occupant. A character who is completely unaided may not "take ten" on this roll. Each suit is equipped with a communication cable, and a socket into which another suit's cable can be plugged, allowing the occupants to speak; these chain together, so a line of suits, each plugged into his neighbour, lets everyone hear everyone's voice. The cables are easily jerked free - this prevents them being damaged if a wearer should fall. Each suit also has a spring-loaded harpoon gun attached to the backpack; this flings a harpoon about fifty feet underwater. If the harpoon can be retrieved, it takes about a minute to wind the gun's mechanism up again; each suit also carries three spare harpoons. Additionally, each backpack has a coil of stout rope, a grapnel, a hammer and pitons, and a modest amount of space for the wearer's own possessions. The airlock also contains a cutting torch and tools and supplies for repairs to the outside of the submersible and to the diving suits; these are stored in a watertight locker, although many of them are obviously fit for underwater use. Trafalgar is one of the largest and newest battleships in the Royal Navy; her two turrets mount two 13.5" guns apiece, with a secondary battery of quick-firing 4.7" guns on the broadside. She has also been largely adapted to new galvanic technology, with electric lighting throughout, platforms for two scout dirigibles fore and aft (the aft platform replaced by the submersible and a launching crane; normally these platforms are dismantled if the ship anticipates a serious fight, so the guns can fire directly to the fore or rear, with the dirigibles ditching in the sea if need be), an experimental automatic gunnery computator; and much of what on most ships would be accomplished by steam or human power is done by modern means, from shell hoists to stoking. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Trafalgar_%281887%29 represents Trafalgar as she was in reality, with http://www.maritimequest.com/warship_directory/great_britain/battleships/trafalgar/hms_trafalgar.htm offering some later photographs. -- David Damerell Kill the tomato! Today is Middle Day Again - a public holiday. Tomorrow will be Second Monday, Presuary.