Long stressful week at work and I didn’t get back to my experiment of using Elder Sign location cards as a story narrative for Cthulhu Hack as much as I would have wished.

Long stressful week at work and I didn’t get back to my experiment of using Elder Sign location cards as a story narrative for Cthulhu Hack as much as I would have wished.

Here is the next step in the story:
Location card is below. This is fairly easy to translate to the story-or so I thought.

(GME, Interrupt scene: Attach possessions)

Walter staggers out of the bathroom clutching his bag, the small journal making it feel like a ton of bricks digging into his shoulder. He runs directly into a guided tour, this is probably the best way to see the museum, and hear what others say about his exhibit.
(GME: Sneak into the group? No)

The docent catches him, “I’m sorry sir this tour is full, you will have to wait for the next one.” (Fast talk-Pass)
I was in the group, and had to use the rest room, she lets Walter in, and he settles in right in the middle of the group.

The docent leads them to a new room, large and dark, the harsh lights turned down to protect the old and priceless artifacts inside. Along the walls on one side are religious cultic masks. In the center of the room is a long glass case filled with shrunken heads, and packed along the opposite wall are very old books, scrolls, talismans, and cups used in sacrifice rituals. Several of them have dark brown stains, obviously ancient dried blood.

Walter notices as the docents voice trails off into the rooms background noise the number of strange symbols, paint patterns, and shapes that jump out at him. One item in particular calls him, drawing him in. There is something fairly familiar about it, but Walter can’t quite put his finger on it.

But the more he thinks about it, trying to place where he has seen it before, he finds himself strangely hypnotized, this object…a palm sized talisman mesmerizing him, speaking to him. Just about the time he is swept away the docent calls to him as they leave the room. With great, uncomfortable effort he pulls himself away to rejoin the group.

Before Walter realizes he is stranding in his own exhibit, rare and unknown mummies from South America. Each mummy stands in a glass horizontal case, some wrapped, some unwrapped, several maps, signs, notes, and drawings lie on the wall in between the mummies. He reaches into his bag to grab his notepad to take notes from the people around him, and grabs hold of something strange, unknown, hard, round, and on a leather string. Very reluctantly he pulls his hand out of the bag, in his palm is a talisman.
(Attach possessions from GME interrupt scene)

(GME: Same one? Yes/remember taking it? No…RANDOM EVENT: Usurp exterior factors)

This was in a locked case! He is horrified to find it in his bag, and now touching it. The mental pull is even stronger now.

(Sanity check: Pass-but just barely-I totally expected to fail this one).

Walter just barely manages to keep his mind from unraveling. He realizes that he is holding the talisman so hard that his hand is cut by the edge of the talisman and starts to bleed. He has never stolen anything in his life, and is horrified that this thing is in his bag (it belongs in a museum!)…despite that the urge to keep it, to desire it, is overwhelming. He faces arrest if he is caught, this war is waging in his mind.
(This is how I used the usurp exterior factors random event-maybe a bit thin, but that is all I could come up with)

(Charisma check: Pass) He makes the decision to put it back…but it is hard to tear himself away.
As he stands in the room he suddenly realizes that he is all alone in his exhibit, looking at his watch he has lost (1D6) 2 hours! Where did that time go, and how will he get this talisman back into the exhibit?

He empties his bag to make sure there are no other surprises. (GME: anything else? No) Inside he finds: pistol, flashlight, smokes, lighter, journal & pen, that strange little book & the talisman.

(GME: Is Walter locked in? Yes / Is it dark? Yes / See light anywhere? Yes)

Walter looks at that strange little book and that talisman and notices something that makes his blood run cold…both have the same symbol. A skull surrounded by lightning.

(Sanity check: Pass-again I expected to fail that one as well)

(GME: Is Walter all alone? Exceptionally NO!)

End scene.