Blackwater Creek (Scenario)

Details

Pages: 36

Author(s): Scott Dorward

Artist(s): Pat Loboyko, Chris Huth, Chris Lackey

Setting: 1920s Lovecraft Country

Appears in: Keeper's Screen, 7E Rules, Aventures effroyables

Campaign: (none)

Summary

The investigators are outlaws traveling together to Blackwater Creek in search of a supply of bootleg liquor (or, alternately, steadfast university types, dispatched to resolve the disappearance of Professor Roades and his wife, who have gone missing after a Miskatonic University field trip to the Blackwater Creek region), and soon find themselves embroiled in a dark tale of small-town corruption and degeneration....

Links

• (review needed)
• Playthrough by How We Roll Podcast with Scott Dorward as Keeper.

Spoilers - Keepers Eyes Only

Players should not read any further.

Synopsis

Describe the adventure in detail; no bias allowed.

 Spoiler Section (Highlight to Read)

Townsfolk in Blackwater Creek are mutating on contact with a corrupting influence hidden in the steam the town was named after: a toxic substance leaking into Blackwater Creek from a cave uncovered by Miskatonic University researchers and found to contain a piece of Shub-Niggurath. Now, the mutagens in the water are affecting townsfolk, as well as finding their way into the home-made moonshine liquor that organized criminals are about to start distributing to the outside world.

References

Player Handouts:

• maps:
  • map of Blackwater Creek
  • map of Jarvey Farm
  • map of Carmody Farm
  • map of Carmody Farm House
  • map of The Earth's Womb
• illustrations, which some keepers may find useful as handouts:
  • Ezekiel Cade casts his Judgment.
  • The Town Children greet the Investigators.
  • Dick Sprouston sits outside of his shack.
  • Malcolm and Edith Jarvey.
  • Old Pete cries out for his Mother.
  • The Mass from the Creek.
  • Running from the Embryonic Dark Young.
  • The Cornfields.
  • Brendan Carmody, deformed by the Mother.
  • The Cave.
  • The Earth's Womb.
  • Dick Sprouston and the townsfolk lie in wait.
  • A Gifted chosen of the Mother.
  • Declan McBride washes his hands of blood.
• Handouts:
  • Letter from Henry Roades to McTavish (Miskatonic University)
  • Incomplete Letter
  • Roades' Field Notes
  • Selection from Indian Tribes of the Northeast
  • Selection from Myths and Legends of Old Massachusetts
  • Summary of The Confessions of Ezekiel Cade
• 6 Pre-Gen Characters, with Character Sheets and Character Background handouts

Locations:

• Location 1

Creatures:

• Human Cultists, Thugs, Bootleggers, Farmers, Moonshiners, etc.
• Mutants
• "Embryonic" Dark Young
• Shub-Niggurath (mentioned, but does not appear in the story)

Tomes and Artifacts:

• Tomes relating to the local Massachusetts legend of Ezekiel Cade and the Sicaiook tribe
  • Selection from Indian Tribes of the Northeast, by Nathaniel Chapman
    • an anthropological text that includes a chapter on the Sicaiook tribe, "The People of the Black Earth"
  • Selection from Myths and Legends of Old Massachusetts by Oliver Stansfield
    • a history book that includes references to the peculiar legend of Ezekiel Cade, one of a group of fugitive Quakers who settled the Black Creek area, then vanished after making contact with the Sicaiook
  • Summary of The Confessions of Ezekiel Cade, by Ezekiel Cade
    • A diary/tome discovered in Blackwater Creek, recounting Ezekiel Cade's experiences with the Sicaiook tribe

Organizations

• Declan McBride Gang of Boston (bootlegger-themed investigator organization)
  • rival gang led by Michael Whelan (not THAT Michael Whelan!)
  • pre-generated characters:
    • Lenny Valentine (muscle)
    • Mickey Valentine (gunman)
    • Louise "Lulu" Winney (dancer)
    • Stanley "The Kid" Corrigan (driver)
    • Jimmy McBride (dirty work)
    • Manny Ziegler (lawyer)
• Sicaiook Indian Tribe (a Cult of Shub-Niggurath)

Comments

List dedication, trivia, images, anything else of note.

Keeper Comments

Comments to Keepers about this scenario; Possibly how to run it successfully. Keep general DISCUSSION on the talk page.

Setting: The scenario is by default somewhat firmly set in 1920s Lovecraft Country; it could probably be moved to other eras and settings with some rewriting of the handouts, etc. (There's probably no reason it couldn't be set in the modern era with just small changes to the hooks and their handouts.)

Special Notes: Advice for the Keeper is included within the text (Keeper’s Notes). Much of this advice is designed for new or inexperienced Keepers, and so may be obvious to the more experienced; however, some advice may also be helpful in learning how to apply aspects of the Call of Cthulhu rules. By design, this is a "sandbox" scenario: there is no right or wrong way for a group of players to approach the scenario, and no single plot to follow so much as a collection of clues, characters, and locations, and it is possible that a group will tackle things in a different order than expected or bypass some of the locations entirely; consequently, there are a number of ways in which the game can end; these are outlined in the section entitled "Wrapping it all up". While this scenario is designed to bring a new group of investigators together, it is also possible involve an existing party.

Sequel Plot Hooks: None, though home-brewed links to published Shub-Niggurath scenarios might make a popular choice.