Difference between revisions of "User:SavageBob/Sandbox"
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==Summary== | ==Summary== | ||
| − | + | The investigators must find out what has happened to Harlem artist Clayton Morris: He's disappeared, but his face has mysteriously appeared in one of his paintings, now owned by his sister. Their investigation unveils the intersections of Harlem's art, crime, and occult worlds as they learn about Morris's unparalleled ability as a dreamer of big dreams. | |
==Spoilers - Keepers Eyes Only== | ==Spoilers - Keepers Eyes Only== | ||
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===Synopsis=== | ===Synopsis=== | ||
| − | {{spoiler| | + | {{spoiler|With her brother, Harlem artist Clayton Morris, already missing, his sister gets spooked when her brother's face appears in a painting he made for her. The investigators look for the missing artist, but they soon find that much of Harlem is under some kind of spell that makes them irritable, insomniac, and depressed. The trail eventually reveals that Morris had been troubled ever since his wife, Lena, was shot and killed when a petty crime went wrong. Seizing on his desire to get her back and his unprecedented ability to enter the Dreamlands, the White members of the occult Temple of Leviathan made him a deal: They would help him bring Lena back if he could find the plans for a dream battery in the Dreamlands—a device that drains the dreams of people nearby while allowing its user to channel that dream energy to conjure up their heart's desires. Morris, however, learned that the Temple was using their dream batteries to drain people of their hopes and dreams and redirecting that energy to fuel the Temple's carnal desires. When he confronted them on this, they had him killed by the mob. The investigators must recover the dream batteries fueling the Temple's dark rites and stop the group before it is too late.}} |
===References=== | ===References=== | ||
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===Keeper Comments=== | ===Keeper Comments=== | ||
| + | Keepers should read the scenario carefully; as written, it contains a few bottlenecks in which key clues are gated behind skill checks. The scenario can be simplified, as well. Some ways to do this include: | ||
| + | #Rather than splitting the creation of the dream batteries between two artists (Morris, the discoverers and drafter of the plans, and Dreyfuss, the sculptor of the physical batteries), merge the two roles into one person. In this change, Morris either becomes a sculptor, or the dream battery becomes a two-dimensional drawing of some sort. Either way, Morris has both found the plans for the batteries in the Dreamlands, and he has created the batteries himself. | ||
| + | #The criminal faction in the scenario can be removed to simplify things by having one of the rich cultists kill Morris rather than hiring a gangster to do so. Such a change would also make the cultists more present as villains; the scenario as written doesn't really introduce them until the scenario has almost concluded. | ||
| + | #The ritual the investigators must foil comes out of nowhere. Keepers may wish to seed information about the cult and their ritual earlier, and established it as a bad thing the investigators needs to stop. Revealing that the ritual will take place puts a clock on the scenario that can lead to some interesting suspense. | ||
| + | #The fact that the investigators have to collect four dream batteries may cause the scenario to drag on too long. To shorten things, reduce the number of dream batteries to two: one of these is in Morris's apartment, and the second is the one the cult is planning to use for its ritual. | ||
| + | #The scenario does not clarify why Morris was able to use the dream battery to conjure a Dreamlands version of his wife, but the cultists have not able to do similar things and must instead conduct a ritual. To reconcile this disparity, the final encounter may involve not the thwarting of a ritual, but rather the crashing of a hedonistic soirée wherein the cultists have already conjured up dream figures for their own carnal pleasure. In this version of the scenario, the final scene involves fighting dream creatures, trying to determine what is real and what is illusion, and recovering the dream battery to stop the madness. | ||
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Revision as of 01:18, 23 May 2020
Details
Pages:
- (1st ed.) 24
- (2nd ed.) 25
Author: Alex Mayo
Artists: Brennen Reece, Alex Mayo
Editor(s):
- (1st ed.) Rachel Wolfe, Jill Spivey, Jeffrey Eaton, Jennifer Harlett
- (2nd ed.) Dixie Cochran, Jill Spivey, Adam Alexander, Mike Mason
Setting: Harlem, New York, November 1927
Appears in:
- (1st ed.) Harlem Unbound
- (2nd ed.) Harlem Unbound, 2nd ed.
Summary
The investigators must find out what has happened to Harlem artist Clayton Morris: He's disappeared, but his face has mysteriously appeared in one of his paintings, now owned by his sister. Their investigation unveils the intersections of Harlem's art, crime, and occult worlds as they learn about Morris's unparalleled ability as a dreamer of big dreams.
Spoilers - Keepers Eyes Only
Players should not read any further.
Synopsis
Spoiler Section (Highlight to Read)
With her brother, Harlem artist Clayton Morris, already missing, his sister gets spooked when her brother's face appears in a painting he made for her. The investigators look for the missing artist, but they soon find that much of Harlem is under some kind of spell that makes them irritable, insomniac, and depressed. The trail eventually reveals that Morris had been troubled ever since his wife, Lena, was shot and killed when a petty crime went wrong. Seizing on his desire to get her back and his unprecedented ability to enter the Dreamlands, the White members of the occult Temple of Leviathan made him a deal: They would help him bring Lena back if he could find the plans for a dream battery in the Dreamlands—a device that drains the dreams of people nearby while allowing its user to channel that dream energy to conjure up their heart's desires. Morris, however, learned that the Temple was using their dream batteries to drain people of their hopes and dreams and redirecting that energy to fuel the Temple's carnal desires. When he confronted them on this, they had him killed by the mob. The investigators must recover the dream batteries fueling the Temple's dark rites and stop the group before it is too late.
References
Player Handouts:
- Shooting of Lena Thoreau (newspaper article)
- Lena Thoreau’s Obituary in The New York Amsterdam News (newspaper article)
Locations:
- Pearl Wilkins’ apartment
- Clayton Morris’ apartment
- Clayton Morris’ studio
- Cecil Dreyfuss’ workshop
- East Harlem Policy Office
- Madame Yonday’s (occult shop)
- Temple Sanctuary (abandoned theater)
Creatures:
Tomes and Artifacts:
- Dream battery
- The Morris Collection (notes and sketches)
Organizations
Comments
Keeper Comments
Keepers should read the scenario carefully; as written, it contains a few bottlenecks in which key clues are gated behind skill checks. The scenario can be simplified, as well. Some ways to do this include:
- Rather than splitting the creation of the dream batteries between two artists (Morris, the discoverers and drafter of the plans, and Dreyfuss, the sculptor of the physical batteries), merge the two roles into one person. In this change, Morris either becomes a sculptor, or the dream battery becomes a two-dimensional drawing of some sort. Either way, Morris has both found the plans for the batteries in the Dreamlands, and he has created the batteries himself.
- The criminal faction in the scenario can be removed to simplify things by having one of the rich cultists kill Morris rather than hiring a gangster to do so. Such a change would also make the cultists more present as villains; the scenario as written doesn't really introduce them until the scenario has almost concluded.
- The ritual the investigators must foil comes out of nowhere. Keepers may wish to seed information about the cult and their ritual earlier, and established it as a bad thing the investigators needs to stop. Revealing that the ritual will take place puts a clock on the scenario that can lead to some interesting suspense.
- The fact that the investigators have to collect four dream batteries may cause the scenario to drag on too long. To shorten things, reduce the number of dream batteries to two: one of these is in Morris's apartment, and the second is the one the cult is planning to use for its ritual.
- The scenario does not clarify why Morris was able to use the dream battery to conjure a Dreamlands version of his wife, but the cultists have not able to do similar things and must instead conduct a ritual. To reconcile this disparity, the final encounter may involve not the thwarting of a ritual, but rather the crashing of a hedonistic soirée wherein the cultists have already conjured up dream figures for their own carnal pleasure. In this version of the scenario, the final scene involves fighting dream creatures, trying to determine what is real and what is illusion, and recovering the dream battery to stop the madness.
