Paranormal Investigation Ghost-hunting Society

Name(s): Paranormal Investigation Group (AKA "PIGs")

First Appearance: Hello Cthulhu Forums circa 2005

History and Scope

Active primarily in the Miskatonic Region and surrounding areas between the mid-1990s to present. A small group of Miskatonic University students by day and amateur ghost hunters by night, the PIGs formed in the late 1990s in a lull between RPG and wargaming sessions as a distraction from studies, eventually growing to become the University's only sanctioned ghost-hunting and antiquarian club, under sponsorship of the University's History and Media Arts departments.

Identification, Psychology and Behavior

The group is well-regarded by the Miskatonic University's History and Media Arts departments for its dedication to preserving the historical sites it visits and its contributions of photographs and "B Reel" footage for the school newspaper and other media projects, and is similarly well-regarded by the Physical Sciences department for the group's skeptical approach to paranormal investigations with a heavy emphasis on debunking.

Members of the group are largely Miskatonic University students, with faculty and staff sometimes acting as guest participants in the investigations. The group's membership has traditionally been made up largely of skeptics (especially in the group's first generation), but membership is inclusive and has included psychics, demonologists, spiritualists, a few cryptozoologists, and at least two self-proclaimed witches over the years.

The club's Mission Statement and Code of Conduct calls for respect and preservation of historical sites and natural resources, a "take only pictures and leave only footprints" approach to investigating and exploring sites of paranormal interest, and a "eliminate the possible until whatever remains, however improbable, is the truth" emphasis on debunking claims over credulous belief in them.

The group's logo portrays a cartoon pig in glasses and a white lab coat with a ghost in a sheet looking over its shoulder, and the letters PIG nearby. The logo appears on the group's van, stationary, t-shirts and badges, coffee mugs, and other such materials, some of which are sold at fundraisers leading up to the group's yearly major Halloween investigation of a featured (usually famous) haunting.

Resources

Tomes, Artifacts, Sites

• artifact: a rusting white 1970s era van, a relic of the Group's earliest investigations
• equipment: a collection of cameras, tape recorders, white noise generators, electromagnetic radiation detectors, and other scientific instruments and recording equipment used on the investigation
• location: the Paranormal Investigation Group has been granted the use of a pair of connected empty storage rooms in the grimy, disused basement of the Miskatonic University Media Arts Department for meetings, reviewing video and sound footage, and secure storage of equipment, records, tapes, etc.

Allies, Creatures and Deities

• The Carnacki Institute, International has occasionally worked with the PIGs on investigations both in the United States and the United Kingdom, and once even in a joint investigation of a New Zealand ghost town by invitation of a ghost hunting group in that country. Three of those investigations aired on the Institute's wildly popular Ghost Finders: International television program.
• The Paranormal Investigation Group is closely partnered with a younger sister group, BRPS: the Bangor Regional Paranormal Society (or "BuRPS"), and sometimes assists with that group's investigations in Bangor, Maine, and surrounding areas

Trivia; Heresies and Controversies

• The Paranormal Investigation Group (PIGs) was created as part of a 2005 play-by-email scenario involving Y.Whateley and other fans of Hello Cthulhu from around the world (Stone87, Sarky, Shadowwalker, Yronimos, Lord Zim).

Keeper Comments

• If desired, the Paranormal Investigation Group can be used as a plot hook/framing device for a group of MU students and faculty/staff to get involved in an international Mythos investigation campaign.

Appearances

• Call of Cthulhu Scenario: (originally created for a fan-made play-by-email scenario)