TheStarsAreRight:Introduction

ABOUT THE GAME

GAME HISTORY OVERVIEW

As of this writing the timeline is currently in Fall 1932, in an alternate timeline where fascism has spread more quickly than in real-world history.

Within the United States, the great economic depression occurred about six months later than in the real world, with the result that the effect has been deeper and more far reaching than expected. The US president is currently Charles Curtis, President-Elect Hoover having passed away after contracting The Kansas City Influenza.

Within Europe, Germany's fascists/Nazi's are coming to power quicker and earlier, having been given help from unknown sources to in reestablishing their industrial base.

Rumors have been filtering out of India and China, with people claiming that the old gods and ancestors walk the countryside.

The lost Czar Alexi has been found, and with the help of dedicated royalists, is attempting to reestablish a Romanov rulership in the face of the Communists. The borders of Russia have now completely closed, with rumors of a massive purge wiping out all foes to the true Russia.

Above and beyond all of this - the "Stars Are Just Coming Right" - for those who know where to look. Strange occurrences and Fortean events happen on a daily basis. (A rain of fish over New York, unexplained disappearances, etc.) Factions of the US Government are beginning to exploit the new understanding of just what these changes imply.

An underlying tension seems to be gripping society world wide, as if in preparation for some cataclysmic event. Only a few who delve into forbidden knowledge have some inkling of what it might be.

GAME MECHANICS

We use the Chaosium original D100 system with a couple of additional home brew skills and some alterations to some of the basic sanity rules. While all of the Lovecraft based sorcery and summonings exist, there is also a secondary magic system which is deeply embedded enough than most new characters will not become aware of it until they reach a certain level of experience in play.

GAME STYLE

The emphasis and over all gestalt in this game is focused on character development, hard moral/ethical choices, character interactions, unraveling puzzles, and simply great theater. If you are looking for high levels of physical conflict, or monster-of-the-week stories . . . this is probably not the game style for you. If you are interested in playing through the lives of people dealing with the extraordinary and the tolls that such knowledge brings, solving complex and interactive plot threads . . . this is definitely the place for you.

Characters are given lots of “stuff” – printed newspaper articles, diary excepts, and other sorts of real physical clues to pour through. NPC’s are fully fleshed out, and have their own agendas.

Which is not to say that there aren’t instances when tackling the big uglies from beyond the stars with guns, spells and dynamite is the order of the day. They do happen – just not frequently.

Where to go from here - ?

For a beginning character you can choose from three different starting points -

1. Outer Circle - someone who is up to date on the strangeness of current affairs in the world - but has no direct experience of the occult, magic, or Mythos monsters. A regular person living, a regular life in 1931/1932.
2. Mid Circle - someone who has some limited experience of something weird, either personally or through other connection. Examples are - a strange, and unexplained event in their past, a family curse, an odd family heirloom passed down through generations - etc. This is a person who is just beginning to become aware that the true underpinnings of reality are not as they seem.
3. Inner Circle - someone in up to their neck . . . a working sorcerer (in the Lovecraft tradition), a current (or past) cultist, a religious figure who's gifts have become real . . . someone who is well aware that the "Stars Are Right" - and may be working either to prevent or to help the incursion of the Outside Ones.

Depending on where you want to start will depend on how much background information you’ll. Most of it can be sent via email. But we will probably need to meet at least once face to face before starting play. To get your character built, talk about mechanics, and work out those sorts of details - and to do some solo gaming, to get you in position to meet other folks.

Do you have an idea for a character type or occupation you’d like to play? I don’t have any restrictions of any sort – and we’ve had everything from an Australian Bush Pilot to an Insurance Salesman to a high-class call girl, to a nun come through the campaign.

To give you an idea of the wide range of character types – here’s a list of the major personas that we have in the game:

Antonio Grimaldi (Kevin McHale) – previously a medical student, and sometime rumrunner in the 1920s – Tony is now a man of the world, searching out and experimenting with the more dark aspects of the Mythos.

Maxine Scott (Renee Solberg) – Egyptologist and one of the only women ever to be initiated into a Bedouin Warrior Brotherhood – she is a curious mix of strength, confidence, and innocence.

Carl Ellis (Chaz Engan) – originally a radio engineer, now through his experiences and delving into the occult origins of things, Carl is now a mystic and a visionary. Though some would say that he is beginning to slide into madness due to having “seen too much”

Edward Chandler (James Johnston) – Industrialist, one time presidential candidate. The general public believes that Chandler is missing - presumed dead, but the US government is secretly looking for him – to bring him to trial for crimes of high treason against the US.

Master Feng (Tom Johnston) – Chinese Sorcerer, of indeterminate age. Feng pursues his own agenda, sometimes helping, sometimes hindering the others – powerful in the ways of oriental folk magic.

Auda Abassi (Daniel Roher) – Auda is a conflicted man, beset by personal demons and his own growing insanity ... removed from a position of great political power in Egypt, Auda is attempting to come to terms with his growing understanding of what the arrival of the Outside Ones will mean.

Theo Weiss (Steve Hill) – Harry Houdini’s brother – Theo has retired from the stage, to work with Carl in an attempt to hinder the arrival of the Outside Ones. Theo’s actions over the last six months have begun to cause others to doubt both his sanity and the morality of his decisions.

Throckmorton Updyke – (Brian O’Rieva) – a portly, elderly bookseller from London (and godfather to Theo’s wife) – Throckmorton has recently had a couple of experience that prove that the ordered world is not as he has always believed.

Eleanora Jefferson – (Tess O’Rieva) – Elly is a black woman from the deep south – who’s now deceased cousin-in-law was a friend of Carl Ellis’. Elly believes she is guided and helped by the spirits of the dead who speak to her.

Representative Clay Morrison – (Mike Blum) – 78 year old ex-lawman, ex-miner, ex-cowhand, etc., from Carson City, Nevada – Clay is a fount of stories of the old west, as well as an experienced “critter wrangler” with a goodly number of Mythos encounters beneath his belt. He owns radio stations and newspapers in Nevada now, and got himself elected to Congress.

Frank Kelly (Ken Perata) – Lawyer from Detroit – now working with the US Government’s organization that is attempting harness the power of the Outside Ones for its own use.

George Fuller (Andrew Bond) - U.S. State Dept. Representative - mysterious government figure intermittently involved in various group's activities.

We are just tying off a couple of plot threads, and groups are reconfiguring – but here are a couple of overviews of how things are trending as of this writing:

The Mystery Of Bailey – In the English countryside a strange and peculiar religious cult has been gaining strength and adherents. Rumors abound about what goes on inside the insular village of Bailey. Yet despite the requests of the locals outside of Bailey – no investigation by press or British government has occurred. Could there be a cover-up . . . powerful patrons who want to insure that nothing interrupts the “services” there? (Good for Outer Circle or Mid-Circle level characters)

Search For The Elders – The characters are attempting to uncover, investigate and/or neutralize conflicting groups of Fae . . . people who have contracted a viral disease that gives them vampire-like symptoms. One of these groups is believed to have offered themselves up to become avatars of the Outer Gods, and thus working towards accelerating the time when the Outside Ones will walk the earth. (Good for Mid-Circle or Inner Circle characters)

Revitalizing Russia – On the heels of announcing the return of the lost Tsar Alexi - an apocalyptic event has swept through Russia, killing the majority of its population – a new outbreak of the 1918 Influenza? The work of the Communist Regime? Or something more sinister? (Good for all levels of characters)

The Jr. Jmen – This group is comprised of experts culled from several areas (physician, lawyer, military, investigative) working under the auspices of the US Government. Previously called in to deal with minor “incursions” they are now ramping up to deal with the more widespread effects of the Outside Ones probing into our reality. (Good for all levels of characters – this group has been on hiatus – but if there is enough interest it could be reactivated.)

If none of these strike your fancy – let me know, and once there is a basic idea for your character down, plot lines can put together something more in line with your tastes.

SCHEDULING

Because of everyone’s busy lifestyles – I put together a schedule of game dates about 6 months in advance. The understanding being that unexpected things happen, and we may have reschedule a date, or meet without one or two players.

Schedule wise what that means is that if you are running only one character you'll game about once every four to six weeks – some people run more than one character, so they game about every three weeks or so.