Bless the Beasts and Children (Scenario)

References

Pages: 16

Author(s): Todd A. Woods

Artist(s): John t. Snyder (illustrations), Tom Kalichack (maps)

Setting: 1920s Arkham and Falcon's Point

Appears in: Adventures in Arkham Country

Summary

Involving the kidnapping of one or more children in the Arkham area, starting with a disappearance in Arkham proper, and later moving northeast to the small village of Falcon Point beyond Arkham and near neighboring Innsmouth.

Spoilers - Keepers Eyes Only

Players should not read any further.

Synopsis

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Involving the kidnapping of one or more children in the Arkham area, starting with a disappearance in Arkham proper, and later moving northeast to the small village of Falcon Point beyond Arkham and near neighboring Innsmouth.

References

Player Handouts: Map of Arkham, maps of derelict kidnapper's hideout and beach house, map of Falcon Point, newspaper articles; illustrations depicting various NPCs

Locations: Massachusetts (Arkham, Falcon Point, Innsmouth); Arkham Tower Professional Building, Miskatonic Club, Hotel Miskatonic, Arkham Advertise, Arkham Gazette, Orne Library, Arkham Police Department (Chief of Detectives Harden or Hardin (both spellings used in scenario), First Presbyterian Church of Arkham, First Presbyterian Church of Arkham (seems to be the same church; Pastor Harold Snowden), Arkham Cab Company (Dispatcher Gregory Dahlberg), Arkham Farms Dairy, derelict hideout, Massachusetts State Hospital for the Insane

Creatures: Deep Ones and Hybrids, Human Cultists and kidnappers, "insane lunatics", possibly a Shoggoth

Tomes and Artifacts: Snowden's Notebooks (in English, it contains the information Snowden absorbed in his time among the Deep Ones about the history of Innsmouth, the Esoteric Order of Dagon, and Deep One mythos and lore such as Cthulhu, Dagon, and Mother Hydra - given a superficial Christian facade - along with details of Snowden's human psychological experiments; there is a minor sanity loss from reading)

Keeper Comments

The first part of the scenario is nominally set in 1920s Arkham, but could be easily moved to other eras to suit the keeper, and probably to other large cities, by changing the names of some of the Arkham locations; Falcon's Point can likewise be moved anywhere to suit the keeper - the Innsmouth connection is tenuous enough that the small town of Falcon's Point need not be located near Innsmouth (and indeed, the monsters need not even be Deep Ones, if the keeper would like to try something a little different, like alien abductions assisted by Men in Black - though of course the more of these elements that get changed, the more work it will be for the keeper to maintain and support the changes!)

The scenario assumes that at least some of the investigators are residents of Arkham and familiar with recent events in the Miskatonic Valley; it would be easiest to incorporate law enforcement officers and especially private detectives, otherwise they might be linked closely to a visiting millionaire investor and father of one of the kidnapped children, or drawn into the case out of a sense of curiosity or concern, or (if necessary) by promise of a reward for the safe return of the missing child(ren).

There are a couple apparent typos/mistakes in the scenario: for example Chief Detective Harden's name is sometimes spelled "Hardin".

The scenario suggest adding a Shoggoth "for the bloodthirsty keeper", though the numerous Deep Ones who might notice and attack careless investigators are probably more than dangerous enough to sate even a bloodthirsty keeper!