Running the starter pack scenario for my weekly group
After having some fun with The Haunting, I’ve picked up the Starter Set and am working through the two scenarios designed for a full group. The Edge of Darkness took a little more preparation but we got a couple of sessions out of it.
Setting
After being summoned to the deathbed of Rupert Merriweather, the group is asked to right a wrong – they need to clean up the mess Rupert and his fellows left behind in the sleepy hamlet of Ross’ Corners.
The Dark Brotherhood released a terror trapped in amber; one man died, another went insane, and the rest bricked it and ran away. That was near 50 years ago. Holding the belief that the monster is bound to the place of its summoning until those involved are dead, only now is he passing the buck. Rupert, you fool!
Investigators receive a golden sarcophagus, Rupert’s diary, and a few other pieces of information shortly before Merriweather shuffles off this mortal coil. Will they succeed where the Dark Brotherhood failed?
Props and handouts
The starter set comes with all the handouts you need, and they are absolutely fine. There is some excellent community-created content out there that can look great when you ruffle up the paper and make them appear old and tatty. Teabags and coffee – it’s just like being back in primary school. Here’s what I used:
- Cthulhu Reborn’s GEEDUNK mirror (newspaper clippings and notes)
- Tessa’s Cthulhu props (title deed)
I didn’t use the GEEDUNK journal because I didn’t want to build it, but also because the dates were wrong. It’s possible that the details have changed for 7th edition. I later discovered that Tessa’s Cthulhu props page has an updated journal. Instead I grabbed an old notebook, smacked it around, soaked it in tea, and left it to dry.
As I transposed Merriweather’s journal, it became abundantly clear that it’s an awful lot text right at the start of the scenario. In hindsight I should have made it more succinct. I wrote a few paragraphs on one of the middle pages and then tore most it out. What might have been contained?
The notes and Marion’s letter received similar treatment; I bound the yellowed notes with a needle and thread. I did not have time to learn the art of goldsmithing and fashion a sarcophagus.
Locations
Here are the official locations for Edge of Darkness:
- St. Mary’s Teaching Hospital
- Miskatonic University’s Orne library
- Ross’ Corners general store
- The farmhouse
And here are the additional spots we ended up exploring:
- The Parkinby-Andersons residence
- Professor William Blake’s home
Playthrough: Session one
Our players characters were:
- Sir Malcom Delagrange, Doctor
- Olexander Meyron, Industrialist
- Leyland Cross, Photographer
- Kapiushan, Assassin
The scenario’s beginning went much as written. The group endured a lengthy read of Rupert’s journal and headed to the library to research the sarcophagus inscriptions. They really, really wanted the De Vermiis Mysteriis. A heist ensued upon discovering that it was a restricted book and deducing that it was locked in a security cage behind the reception desk.
Turning to the first page, the book read ‘Call me Ishmael’. Alas, the novel’s dust jacket had been switched and their efforts were in vain.
Discovering that Professor William Blake was an expert in ancient languages, the investigators hired him to translate the inscriptions on the sarcophagus. He took possession and instructed them to meet him in his office after a few hours. The group find his office empty, with only some reference books and what is presumably a translation of the hieroglyphics on his desk.
Raiding the university office and acquiring Blake’s address, they visited his home and found the back door smashed open. Nothing else seemed disturbed – the window in the study was open and the pages of an antiquities catalogue were flitting in the wind. A successful roll would have discovered an entry for the sarcophagus. To whom did William speak, and who broke in? Did he escape, or was he taken?
Kapiushan decided to take a trip to the farmhouse whilst the rest of the group slept. At night. Alone. To be fair, he is new to Call of Cthulhu.
He poked his head into the attic! The dice were with him and he escaped with only minor bruising. A brief encounter with Red Jake occurred in the basement, after which the hobo bolted for the door. The trunk was investigated and taken back to the gang. End of session one.
Playthrough: Session two
After meeting up for breakfast, the contents of the trunk were investigated and Meyron arranged for one of his associates to analyse the jars of chemicals. Discovering that Marion had taken the sarcophagus from his uncle, William Parkinby-Anderson, they arranged a visit to make enquiries.
An avid collector of antiquities, the ancient William hobbled through with his guests to an impressive personal museum. After some small talk and enquiring about the sarcophagus, he fills them in on its history. He is also staggered to find it missing. The box contains nothing but hay! Further lines of questioning regarding his nephew’s dealings with an occult group caused outrage and they were asked to leave.
The booklet states that the sarcophagus was stolen from the Parkinby-Andersons in 1871, and that’s public knowledge available from the library. I mixed it around a little as the characters didn’t look for such information.
The investigators receive a phone call informing them of Merriweather’s death and they decide it’s time to get the show on the road. The players really fixated on finding another piece of amber in which to trap the creature. After failing to discover the missing three in Parkinby-Andersons’s museum, they make do with Meyron’s deceased mother’s brooch. Meyron also recruits the assistance of two able-bodied fellows from one of his factories… and his chauffer.
The farmhouse finally receives a visit after a short stop at Ross’ Corner’s general store. The immediate grounds are investigated and a mutilated raccoon is discovered. Red Jake had long gone and all of the important information had already been gathered.
Kapiushan decided to stick his head into the attic again! This time he was not so fortunate. The rest of the gang witnessed his eyes explode as a translucent form pierced his face and yanked him into the roof space. After some roaring, the crunch of bones snapping and an unpleasant squelching sound, his lifeless form was tossed back through the hatch. Sanity rolls for all.
How fortunate that Harold, a factory floor worker, was available as a replacement.
They made their preparations and settled in for the night. Suspecting that the ritual may require a living creature to contain the monster, Doctor Delagrange sedated a rat from the basement and sliced its leg tendons. The poor thing. I had crossed out a couple of words in the ritual and replaced them with antonyms – this suggested that Marion’s alterations might be used to reverse the process.
The ritual began, and periodic attacks from reanimated corpses ensued – as suggested in the booklet. That included Maggie McPhirter and the recently deceased Kapiushan. One player decided that it was in character to go out and help Maggie, but a brief exchange of shotgun shells ended that endeavour. Oh, and the bear turned up. The players figured out that the creatures couldn’t cross the wards and wisely stayed inside.
In hindsight this encounter was easier than it might have been; enemies came at them piecemeal and the wards were not torn away. I have somewhat of an aversion to drawn out combat and repetitive rolls but I could have thought about it in advance and tweaked the encounter.
The creature appeared distinctly to each of the characters, but only one managed to dispel the illusion with a successful psychology roll. A little more lost sanity. They refused the monster’s entreaties and bargaining, finishing the ritual and sealing it away.
Conclusion
Edge of Darkness is a decent enough scenario that should probably be a bit more concise or slightly more fleshed-out. Player research and planning is not really necessary for the farmhouse encounter because everything they need is in the trunk. If the players were passing through Ross’ Corners and witnessed the monster then it would likely be a one-session game. If the players received less information from Rupert (such as his death mid-monologue), then they would need to do a bit more leg work. The diary could be stashed in his house, and other materials moved around.
I would probably opt for the latter and require more time outside the farmhouse. The published scenario gives you lots of potential hooks which could be built upon without much effort. The Merriweather journal makes the reading very front-loaded and could do with being shorter. The ritual as written is good and we have lots of options to pressure players into action.
On the whole this is a fine scenario to use as a skeleton. I would definitely recommend adding your own touches and perhaps creating avenues that will lead to future adventures.