The Weirdness of Old Stormbringer Hit Points

Hit Points are weird in old Stormbringer, and some of this weirdness continued on even to Elric! where HP don't equal the total they should have according to the rules.

Humans are calculated as equal to a base of CON, with plus 1 per SIZ higher than CON and minus one per SIZ lower. This is fiddly, but not too bad.

But monster HP are just... weird. A lot of them are CON + SIZ - 12. Why minus 12? For Baboons (CON and SIZ 3D6), this could easily give them negative HP.

I would prefer a simple solution, so either the Stormbringer method (CON base + or - 1 per SIZ greater or smaller) or the Elric! method (CON + SIZ/2). If we look at the first monster in the bestiary, Great Black Apes, we get the following.

Great Black Apes

CON 3D6+6 (average 17)
SIZ 2D6+12 (average 19)

Method 1 - So, if we use the Stormbringer method we get 17+2 or 19. This is fine with close numbers, but some monster CON and SIZ are hilariously far apart.

Method 2 - If instead we use Elric!, we get 17+19/2 or 18. Ho hum. Once again, easy for smallish numbers, but can get out of hand for Kyreen and such.

Method 3 - There is a third, lazy ass solution. And I'm all for being a lazy GM and reducing math or work so I can concentrate on story and having fun.

What if we just choose the highest of either CON or SIZ? Then the Ape's HP are 19, same as Method 1 without the math.

Now do the same for PCs and NPCs.

BOOM DONE

Stormbringer redux #23 - Cracking the Class & Genre Connection

EUREKA!

I've messed around several times with conceptions of how to use social class to tie together pre-existing mechanics in a way that emulates the writings of Michael Moorcock.

I think I've done it.

Take a look at this table.

This table organizes the different facets of a character (Class, Game Style, Wealth, Magic, and Bonds) in a useful framework explained below.

Social Class

Characters are created firmly enmeshed in the hierarchy of the Young Kingdom, with several game effects.

Vertical Relations - Characters of higher class will look down on and order about those below them, while lower class characters will fear and fawn before higher class ones. There is little to no repercussions for accosting people of lower class, while lower class people will be punished for bothering those above their station, with the penalty being more severe the farther apart the classes are. For example, a YK noble might have to apologize for insulting a Melnibonean, while a Merchant (urbanite) might be handed over to a torturer, and a farmer executed on the spot.


Changing Class - Characters of higher class can become lower class by choice (ie slumming temporarily) or by misfortune, ie stripped of the rank due to failing their sovereign or native land. Lower class characters may move up one rank by doing two things.

First, they need to choose a profession of the rank desired and learn the skills of that profession.

Second, they need to pay a guild 1000 coins of the currency of the rank to which they aspire. 

For example, a beggar wanting to become a warrior has to obtain the skills (First weapon x 5%, second x 4%, third at x3%, Ride at x 4%), and may have to pay for training if necessary, gather the requisite gear (weapons and armor), and pay a warrior’s guild 1000 LB. 

If a character wants to skip several levels, ie a Beggar wants to become a King, they have to pay 1000 x the number of levels jumped, plus gain the requisite skills, AND engineer the in-game narrative events leading to that change. A Beggar wanting to be a King would have to get the skills, pay 5000 LG (yikes), AND engineer some skullduggery to get that position. And still they would have to face treachery or opposition from outraged NPCs who hate the 'uppity' character.

Game Style

The Game Style suggests what type of adventures the character is suited for. This is not meant to be prescriptive, but as a guide for GMs and players, and the style of game is of course up to players & GM to decide.


Epic, or Elric Mode - In this style, the main focus is power and the cosmic struggle, with the following tenets.

• The powers that be are morally ambiguous, and will do anything to win.

• There is usually lots of discussion and investigation, and characters do not attack while parlaying. Combat is sparse and avoiding it to focus on the goal is the norm. NPC mooks or henchmen should be used as damage sponges where possible.

• Adventures are usually sagas stretching over multiple sessions, involving massing armies, travelling to exotic locales to gather objects of power, parlaying with treacherous nobles or sorcerers, and using magic to travel between realms and challenge the gods themselves!

• Any territory or objects of power obtained change the gameworld permanently, and may be met with repercussions.

Pulp, or Moonglum Mode - This style focuses on small scale capers and adventures against clearcut foes, with the following expectations.

• One shot, episodic adventures in which characters band together to search for treasure or fight evil.

• Enemies are black and white, with an occasional reversal or twist adding to the excitement.

• Magic is considered dangerous and evil, and is used with caution.

• Any wealth obtained is half squandered by the time the next adventure begins.

• Should include copious amounts of combat, stealth, treasure and carousing afterwards.

Note that Epic characters can play in Pulp games and vis versa, but are bound by restrictions on Wealth and Magic below.

Wealth

Abstract wealth (High classes) - Higher class characters in Epic adventures do not need to track money, and so long as the character is in their place (ie civilized part of their nation), they usually can obtain whatever reasonable gear they need.

• However, if an Epic character is cut off from their support, either by calamity during an Epic adventure or participation in a Pulp adventure, they roll starting money in their currency and can buy equipment or hire henchmen with that. For instance, a YK Noble who goes adventuring will roll starting money in Large Gold instead of Large Bronze.

• While adventuring, higher class characters are vulnerable to robbery and other loss of equipment.

• High class characters using abstract wealth WILL NOT give money willy nilly to poorer characters. They may hire them for INT x their currency a day. For instance, a Noble hiring a warrior and a beggar will pay the warrior INT x Large Bronze a day, while the beggar will receive INT x Small Bronze a day.

Concrete Wealth (Lower classes) - Lower class characters always need to track money, and must always pay or otherwise obtain any gear they need.

• While adventuring, lower class characters are vulnerable to robbery and other loss of equipment.

• Lower class characters CANNOT simply borrow wealth from high class characters who use abstract wealth. They may be hired for INT x their currency a day, as above. This inequality should spur lower class characters to accumulate enough wealth to change their class and improve their income.

Magic

This means that characters can use magic appropriate to their background.

• Nobles can try to become Agents of their deity.

• Elemental Priest Sorcerers can summon the elemental of their deity, or call on their deity for aid as per the Elan rules.

• Chaotic sorcerers can try to summon demons, or risk calling on their deity for aid as per the Elan rules.

• Lawful Priests or Agents can make or use Virtues, and may summon Elementals or call on their deity. They generally avoid using Demons unless in great need or explicitly permitted to do so. 

• Lower class characters wanting to use magic can either have it gifted (but will still need to bind it with a POW x POW roll), or may alternately increase their social standing and learn the requisite skills to become a Sorcerer, or Noble if they want to apply to be an Agent.

Note that some may cry foul that Agents are limited to Nobles, but all I can say is

Emperor Elric

Duke Dorian Hawkmoon

Prince Corum Jhealen Irsei

Bonds

Most characters are born bonded to their people and place, which comes with attendant benefits and drawbacks.

• They can expect support and civility from NPCs of the same class, nationality, or church, but will be exiled and hounded should they betray their bond.

• The table entries give groups they are especially loyal to, and can be rewarded for protecting or punished for betraying or neglecting.

• They are expected to follow the commands of their liege and protect their nation. Failure to do so can lead to exile, imprisonment, or a death sentence depending on the severity of the betrayal.

• The Dispossessed may not have obligations, but cannot expect any civility or support either.

Do You Need These Rules?

One of the big draws of Stormbringer for me is the real authentic sense of place and people it conveys by the great descriptions, effects of nationality, and of course inspirations from the fiction. If you want the same thing, consider implementing this as a GM guide rather than canon that must be followed slavishly. 

What of Hawkmoon's World?

You could definitely adapt this for Tragic Europe, but it is a sunny Sunday in the waning days of summer and I intend to spend it with sonny.

Take care!

Stormbringer and (Dis)Associated Mechanics

Once again, Ben over at Questing Beast has a corker of a video on his YouTube channel, this time on associated vs dissociated mechanics in roleplaying games.

(His video is HERE)

Basically, Ben differentiates between abilities that exist INSIDE the gameworld and those that exist OUTSIDE it.

Inside abilities, which Ben notes are called ASSOCIATED abilities due to their gameworld or genre connection, include things like spells. Outside or DISASSOCIATED mechanics are Luck points or bennies as in Savage Worlds, and have no connection whatsoever to the genre, gameworld, or what we would call reality. Ben states his preference for associated mechanics as disassociated mechanics take away from immersion, in his opinion. I have to agree to a point, as I found Savage World's bennies distracting, but players around me simply loved them and the game of chance element they added to the session. Since I bang on about the evocative aspects of old Stormbringer, I am all for improving associative mechanics, without ruling out appropriate or entertaining dissociative mechanics.

Ben also notes that some make the distinction between the roles these mechanics allow players to take, whether as ACTORS, AUTHORS, or DIRECTORS of their character's fate. This shows that the question of associated vs disassociated exists not on a binary of extremes, but instead a spectrum of gradual movement from gameworld-limited or connected autonomy to autonomy that supersedes the reality of the gameworld. This resonates well with Stormbringer, both fiction and game, as non-noble mooks are relegated to actors, while Agents / Champions have more power to become authors of their fate, and may even be offered to become directors in exchange for serving Lords of the Higher Worlds.

All fascinating stuff for discussion. How does Stormbringer fare in this regard? I'll be taking a look at the Elan system and Luck to see how it handles associated AND disassociated mechanics.

The Elan System

Stormbringer's Elan system, which I thankfully reviewed a few weeks back, has several functions.

1) It is a form of XP, but with access limited to Priests and Agents. It is accumulated by serving the patron deity of the character, so very associated in terms of emulating the gameworld.

2) It unlocks certain static powers (ie double HP for Lawful agents and lowered Summoning rolls for Chaotics), which is traded off by several flavorful limits to behaviour. This makes a character more than just an Actor, but upgrades them to Author of their own destiny.

(Just my opinion, but I always preferred the Elan system to D&D's blood and treasure XP. Accumulating Elan just seemed to fit thematically better than D&D's one size fits all XP system, where Fighters who wade into combat and others who avoid it are equally judged on their ability to take down foes. Considering older versions of AD&D had optional classes like the Healer, I always found this unsatisfying. Add to that only Agents & Priests involved in the saga of the Young Kingdoms get XP, whereas more pulp characters living day to day don't count in the cosmic struggle, then I find this very evocative)

3) Elan can increase POW, useful for sorcery, a staple of the game. With greater POW a Sorceror can summon and bind entities with greater ease, and also resist supernatural attacks.

The increase of POW also brings us to another staple of BRP games, the Luck roll, which seems fairly disassociated or what Ben calls 'meta' at first glance. As we shall see, it inadvertently connects to the gameworld in interesting ways.

The Luck Roll

As far as I can tell, the Luck roll is not in original Stormbringer games and first appears in Elric! Notwithstanding, there are arbitrary DEX x 3% or CHA x 4% rolls all over old Stormbringer, so there may be a nascent Luck roll in there somewhere.

Luck roll from Elric!

The Luck roll is given as POW x 5% to have a lucky occurrence, although there is no details as to how often it can be used, or under what other conditions. The description of "being in the right place at the right time" or "escaping the consequences of being wrong" seems ripe for abuse. It has become a staple of BRP games, appearing in the Big Gold Book, and I suspect it first appeared in Call of Cthulhu.

Luck roll from the Big Gold Book

In my experience, there are several ways to use The Luck Roll.

1) Luck as Divination. As a GM, I ask for Luck rolls all the time and use them for NPCs to determine things. Does the downed guardsman have the keys to their cell? Luck roll!

2) Luck as Saving Roll. BRP suffers from the old school tendency for a string of unlucky rolls derailing a game, leading to no fun. In such a case, as GM I sometimes allow a Luck roll for a narrative solution to the problem.  Get shoved off a cliff and hope a bush breaks your fall? Luck roll!

3) Luck as Bennie for Characters. This is the use described in the BGB, and is closest to players' hearts, as it can directly benefit them. Unfortunately, the rules descriptions are rather vague, and although older players mostly use this rule fairly, I find younger players raised on newer D&D try to game as much as they can out of a constant demand for Luck rolls. Luck roll every five minutes!

At a glance, the Luck roll seems quite meta or disassociated. If we remember that Sorcerers and Agents can increase their POW through the accumulation of Elan, we also realize that they are luckier than non-magic characters. Since Elric's foe Thelab Karna often escapes through luck, and as this is a staple of pulp fiction that inspired Moorcock's tales,  the Stormbringer designers inadvertently made Luck rolls a lot more associative.

However, the Luck roll does have its problems, which I turn to next.

Flaws & Fixes for the Luck Roll

As noted, the Luck roll is unpredictable and prone to being abused. To remedy this, I institute the two following rules.

1) Pushing Your Luck - I agree with Ben that an arbitrary limit of once a day on these powers takes away from immersion. Instead, I reduce the modifier for Luck rolls by 1 everytime they are used in a session. For example, the first Luck roll for a character in a session is POW x 5%, but the next x 4%. then 3% and so on to x0%, or "Your luck has run out!". This makes players more wary of pushing their luck and feels every more triumphant when they succeed despite the odds. The modifier reverts to x5% the next session.

2) Degrees of Luck - To further add to the feel and effect of Luck rolls, you could implement Criticals and Fumbles. If we take the rulebook examples of remembering to bring rope, being helped by a stranger, or having a monster attack hit your mount instead of you, we could get something like this.

Critical (1/10 of Luck) - Lucky enough to turn the tide! You not only brought rope but also a hook; the stranger is wealthy and takes a liking to you; the horse instinctively kicks and gets a free attack on the monster.
Success - A lucky chance, though not supernatural. You did bring rope; the stranger gives you directions; the monster bit your horse instead.
Failure - Nothing happens, player must face consequences of actions.
Fumble - In addition to not being lucky, a complication arises. Not only did you forget the rope, a hole in your bag has lost your half your rations; the stranger is a follower of an enemy cult; the monster strikes you and the impact forces you to make a Ride roll to stay in your saddle!

Of course, the GM should keep in mind the concept of falling forward and, where applicable, look for ways to turn these failures into opportunities of some sort. The ripped bag could incite NPC kindness; the monster could lead you to its lair where some treasure has accumulated; besting the enemy cultist could give you a lead on how to progress the scenario. 

3) Luck Rolls or Pools? - Although Ben largely dismisses Story game systems, they have made some innovations that are worth stealing in OSR games. Case in point, the Gumshoe system, which is used for CoC a la Trail of Cthulhu and Stormbringer a la Swords of the Serpentine, allows Players to use pools to buy special effects instead the unpredictability of Luck rolls. The same thing could easily be implemented in Stormbringer and take the whiff factor out of Luck rolls.

I posted about this a long time ago HERE, but may rejigger this at some point.

Conclusion

The Elan system is a great associated mechanic, and one that even inadvertently makes the meta mechanic of Luck rolls more in line with the genre trope of lucky sorcerers. If you're looking to bring disassociated mechanics more in line with your game, once again old Stormbringer shows the way.

Middle Aged Men & Mental Health (PSA)

Hi all readers out there!

This is a real life PSA message, and I'll be talking about my personal experiences, so feel free to skip if you are here just for gaming goodness.

Alright, let's go.

I am 53. And like a lot of guys my age, I have spent decades supporting others and neglecting myself.

I spent those decades tanking through physical ailments and mental stressors. And I paid the price for it.

In 2011 I started a PhD in Japan. My life was pretty mellow before that, but my slack job teaching ESL at a nice uni allowed me the leeway to start my final degree on the side.

Then, in 2013, my son was born.

In 2014 my 5 year contract ended I had to change from my supportive workplace to a hotbed of workplace harassment and a 5 hour daily commute.

On top of which my wife was suffering post partum depression.

The stressors kept piling up. And I kept working like a beast.

I would wake at 6, train to my hellish workplace, teach a few hours, then return. In the crowded trains winding between Kyoto & Osaka, I would sleep or more likely do research and write my thesis on my tablet. I estimate about 80% of it was written in trains. Once a week I would also go to my seminar and fight over my ideas for the thesis in French. Stumbling home in the dark, my wife would basically throw our insomniac son at me. I would bathe him, then carry him around the neighborhood talking and singing to him until he fell asleep 1-3 hours later. Then I would crawl into my room and research for a few hours until I slept or passed out.

Then my supervisor began harassing me. I was incensed, began counter harassing him, went to a lawyer, and fought my way out of that dark workplace with a settlement while at the same time finishing off my thesis, a monumental effort most people tackle while single and not working.

In 2016 I graduated with a PhD in Global society studies, and moved to a supportive workplace an hour closer to home. The wife and I were slowly drifting apart, and I was unimpressed to have finished a PhD but still be stuck working as an ESL instructor.

Then, in 2018 I snagged a prof position on a beautiful island in Kobe Bay. It was a small but supportive university with interesting content classes. I was head of the seminar program, I loved my office with its view of the bay and palm tree lined boardwalk.

For an instant, I was happy. I travelled for research once a year, hitting Germany, Spain, and the US.

Then in 2019 we learned our beautiful, smart and sweet boy was autistic with ADHD. I didn't care, I love him. There was an American style autism center in front of my uni and two international schools he could commute to on a flexible schedule. The island also had ridiculously cheap condos, so I suggested we move there to reduce my commute and raise sonny in a supportive environment.

My wife refused. All her Japanese wife friends and their foreign husbands asked us why not.

There was no answer. I couldn't talk with her without a major eruption. At the same time she had insisted on starting an MEd, so I kept on commuting and sacrificing for family. I watched sonny more and more, especially when his ma went on internships to Vietnam and Australia. At those times when it was just he and I, we were incredibly happy.

Leo started elementary school in 2020, just as Covid exploded on the world. My wife kicked me out in February, and I spent days in a hotel filled with Covid patients when there was yet no vaccine in sight.

That is when I knew we were done. I limped on working, then sonny became violent as he was left behind and neglected at school, then sent for long hours to Japanese play schools everyday.

I wondered, how can I get my beautiful boy back?

In 2021 I began volunteer teaching at my son's school three days a week before heading off to work. Many Japanese teachers were nice people but untrained in adaptive methods, so I modelled the special ed techniques I had learned during my BEd in Canada. I also fought to let my son stay home and away from crappy for-profit play centers that exist to allow parents to work work work.

If you ask my son now, the only good memories he has of school in Japan was when I was there. I helped him through 2021 and 2022, then in November that year he came home and said, "I quit school. I'm not going back."

His mother and I agreed. We would let him recuperate at home and help him study when we could.

She finished her MEd and started teaching at a university in Kyoto. That summer she turned to me and said, "I am not doing anything for him anymore. Cooking, cleaning, YOU have to do it all."

I said, "OK. I'm taking him back to Canada then."

Once again I had to go to lawyers and fight an abusive person with power over me in Japan. But she wasn't physically or mentally able to handle our boy. She finally agreed I would have custody. On the day I was awarded tenure at work, I quit. My colleagues were sad, but understood.

On March 10, 2023, sonny and I got a plane from Tokyo to Vancouver, then slowly made our way back to the east coast visiting friends and relatives across the country. And I have my smiling boy back.

Leo loves Newfoundland. To him, it is a fairyland where he is accepted, left alone, and the cooler weather suits him. I had never intended to live back here, but I am happy to save my son. He entered a good school in town, and was loved by teachers and students alike.

In 2023 we lived for 5 stressful months at my family house, with relatives who couldn't accept my son's disabilities and meltdowns. I got my DELF B2 French certificate, signed up to teach, found us a car, a house to rent, and a fulltime job. No easy tasks in a land that had grown dysfunctional in my absence. I exercised everyday to get back in shape, and cooked healthy Japanese food for sonny and myself. Work was hard as Canadian junior high schools had gone from peaceful spaces of learning to overcrowded and understaffed diploma factories with endless problems. I had initially thought to take it easy and substitute the first year, but caved into family pressure to get a fulltime job.

This was a mistake, and I was exhausted and rundown every day. Yet I pressed on for sonny's sake.

I also reconnected with a friend from my undergrad days. She was still beautiful, a fellow PhD and single parent of a special child. We fell in love, and I seriously thought of spending my life with her in my hometown, a celtic redhead goddess at my side. I loved being at her house or with her family, and put up with her need to socialize in bars downtown every week.

On the first day back to work in January 2024, life fell apart. Again.

At school, students were out of control after the holiday, and I lost my cool and yelled at some to STFU. I was suspended, and the district officials who interviewed me were accusatory and aggressive. In February I had panic attacks, trouble breathing and teary eyes. I reached out for my lover.

And she left me. Scott Galloway says men usually get left when they have mental or financial crises, but always when they have both. And so it went with me.

NB I don't blame her or hate her. She has her own history of trauma, and I was needy when she wanted space. It might have happened eventually even without a crisis due to our opposing attachment styles, but came as another huge shock to me. Especially when her friends mocked and badgered me when I reached out to ask her for another chance.

I spent spring in a depressive state, living only for sonny's happiness. I took counselling through my Employee Assistance Program, which had ballooned in response to the burnout factories schools had become.

Then in April, sonny quit school again. He had been doing so well back at Canadian school, even starting to make friends. I realized he had tried so hard to please me and masked his feelings so long, I accepted his decision. I had begun substitute teaching at good schools nearby, and began enjoying my time at work again. I realized this is what I should have done from the beginning. But it was too late, and I was alone again.

Although the EAP counselling had gotten me over the shock and depression, I still felt weak and vulnerable. I had cut out old friends who called me stupid, a relative who constantly attacked me over how I raised my son, and the ex girlfriend's circle, who drove me off Twitter and gaslit me, saying she had grown tired of me in November when she had still professed her love for me in late January.

I needed a change. That is when I encountered Nick Pollard online.

Nick calls himself 'the people displeaser', and he teaches how to stop people pleasing and start building and communicating clear boundaries that protect and elevate your mental health. After binging his instagram shorts for a month, I started his Boundaries Bootcamp with a cohort of people similarly wounded and isolated by their inability to make boundaries that keep assholes out and let the right people in.

I feel better than I have in years.

For the first time since sonny was born, I am relaxing and enjoying my summer.

I am applying for uni positions, as that is where I enjoy teaching and researching most.

I published a book chapter about my experiences with sonny in Japan. in a volume about barrier free learning

I just shot a scene as a background performer in a hit TV show made here.

Some of my RPG art and writing will be in a UK zine this year.

I have embraced the pleasure of my own company, and those few who have been supportive and loving.

I have dropped the need to people please, and cut off a swathe of 'friends' who pushed my boundaries and called me sensitive for complaining.

I started a Call of Cthulhu game with old friends instead of wasting time, money, and my liver downtown.

Dear friends,

If you are anything like me, please make the change before it is too late.

Get off social media, get counselling if you need it, eat right, and exercise.

Surround yourself with loved ones, exclude any negativity.

Live for you.

- Tedankhamen

CoC Player Innovations

This Call of Cthulhu game I am running now really has my blood pumping!

Players are bringing their A-game, and so far they have made 2 innovations that have blown my mind.

1) SAN AS MORALE

I mentioned this before, but a player had the bright idea to use SAN as morale. One of the 3 investigators had just taken a slash from the leader of 4 knife wielding cult thugs. A cowardly PC ran off, while the 2 remaining pulled their guns and managed to wing their assailant.

How would we determine if the gunfire would scare off the thugs?

One player chimed in that we could use SAN. If they succeeded, they would realize it was crazy to bring knives to a gunfight. If they failed, they would charge into gunfire. They passed, and naturally fled the scene.

I only realized later on reflection how genius this decision is.

In Call of Cthulhu especially, SAN is an important resource. Ironically, cultists and their ilk have less of it, and thus are more likely to disregard danger in their service to their dark gods. Normal NPCs, however, are more likely to make the sane choice of running from danger. This means cultists and their ilk are more likely to keep coming in the face of superior firepower, which the PCs often have.

This is a Grad A+ houserule that I am keeping.

2) OUTSOURCE RESEARCH

One of the possibly tedious procedures of CoC is research, namely rolling for success repeatedly over days. This is why the Gunshoe system used in Trail of Cthulhu does away with rolls for clues in favour of automatic clues based on abilities.

My players went a step further.

One of them spent a morning researching, but wanted to go adventuring the next day. His solution? Rock up to the university and hire grad students.

As a former broke grad student, I can affirm that this is brilliant. Said player's character quickly got sliced up in an altercation, and the week he is in hospital students have done all his homework for him. He is out $5 a day for 3 grad students for 7 days, on total $105, but with a sheaf of clues to go on.

Worth every penny!

CONCLUSION

Call of Cthulhu 1-6E is an old mechanical system. However, my players are showing that with a bit of thought on how to connect the flesh of roleplaying to the mechanical bones of the D100 system they can make useful innovations. And Keepers should be just as willing to snag a player suggested houserule for their arsenal as they are to implement their own.

TGIF!

The Aftermath of The Haunting Session One

First, our wounded soldier is taken to Boston general. The First Aid on site would have netted 1D3 immediate healing, but that failed. Natural healing with rest is 1D3 per week, comes in after 7 days. If First Aid is applied successfully the first week of recuperation, +1D3 is netted (2D3 total). If instead Medicine is successfully applied, +2D3 is gained (3D3 total). So if J's character can be attendant physician and he makes the Medicine roll, C's soldier gets 3D3 healing. If the roll is failed, only 1D3.

Next, the Boston PD takes everyone's statements. Since you are all reputable citizens attacked by blade wielding toughs during the course of a lawful investigation, you are found to be the victims. The police cordon off the scene and determine that the house has not been broken into, and considering its ill repute, they decide not to go inside, but leave it locked. They do find the bloody switchblade in the grass, and the sigil on its handle turns out to be that of a cult involved in a major police action a decade ago, one that shocked the entire city. Of course you have all heard of the Church of Our Lord Granter of Secrets, the child disappearances and subsequent police raid that left several cultists and police dead in a fire at their downtown church, and lead to a massive cover up. The burnt ruins of the old church are still a mouldering eyesore southeast of downtown between the city center and the docks.

Police have fingerprinted the knife and found it to be of one Enki Giminez, a Catalan immigrant and former member of the above church. They have put out an APB and hope to apprehend Giminez and his group by the end of the week.

Mr Falstaff is quite alarmed at this turn of events, but is steadfast in his support of the investigators in getting to the bottom of the affair. He visits Hollinsworth in hospital to thank him for his efforts in protecting the property and assure him that the estate agency will continue the investigation until the matter is cleared up.

Falstaff also promises to try and find other investigators to bolster the group, and urges all members not to go unarmed, but carry a concealable firearm or other means of self defence.

Finally, the grad students will make their reports at the end of the week. Since there is no use in making multiple NPC rolls, this will just be several clues which should clarify what is going on with the house and lead the investigators towards a resolution.