The town is unseasonably cold, even for February, and the townsfolk are worried that they are in for a repeat of the Winter of 1985.
February 14th, Friday night, sometime after the school dance, Valerie Beaumont leaves the school, walks to her car, and is not noticed missing until the morning of Monday the 17th, when the police are alerted that her car was still in the lot. Her keys, purse, and most importantly, her coat are still in the car. Police suspect foul play, but the crime scene is already overrun with students coming to school.
What the police record, but barely comment on, is that her sword is in the back seat of her 1983 Chevy Citation. The characters know that Val would walk coatless and barefoot in the Illinois snow, but she would never, ever leave that sword behind.
The next two days, both Sylvia Velasco (2/19/86) and Renee Sylvi Jäneläinen (2/20/86) went missing.
The police interview everyone. Valerie did not have a boyfriend; neither did Renee. If Sylvia does, no one seems to know who he is. It is also 1986; they are not asking about other options.
One thing is certain. Someone is hunting magical women.
I also wanted an adventure where Candy and Denise were NOT the monster bait for once. Though my players did miss them.
--
Cold Blood is the next adventure I played for Jackson, taking place in February of 1986. It features the NIGHT SHIFT debut of my frozen little misanthrope Dr. Andreas Gelé, aka the Refrigerator. I had to change his usual raison d’être here, since it didn't really fit Jackson's horror vibe. Oh, his normal modus operandi is horrific enough; I just needed something closer to Jackson. So he is not collecting women and freezing them to preserve their beauty; he is instead collecting and freezing witches to understand their magic and, more importantly, their ability to age more slowly.
It's a well-known trope that witches don't age like normal humans. This is true in many games and media featuring witches. And it is true here as well. The witch characters in the game just didn't know this yet. They learn about it when they uncover Gelé's notes. Not just notes, worked-up profiles on all the witch characters, including their suspected ages (he thinks they are older than they are and 'pretending' to be teens). These profiles are terrifying in their clinical detachment and their dehumanizing element. Witches are not people to him. They are things, and he can extract their essence to prolong his own life. He grabs Valerie, thinking she is a witch, knowing only that she has some magic and that he has evidence she is much older than she appears. Both of which are true, but he does not suspect she is immortal. Since she is not responding to his treatments as expected (she is not a witch, really), he freezes her solid to experiment on her later. This would kill a normal human. For Valerie, it just pisses her off.
He goes after Sylvia and Renee next, assuming that as outsiders (an immigrant distrusted by the community and a foreign exchange student), they would not be missed.
This is the first time the witch characters in the game have learned this. They know Valerie is immortal. But other than that, they know nothing else. As my playtest characters, Stephanie knows that she has a grandmother close to 100 (she is actually much older), and Faye's "aunties" are really Urban Hags. Larina's own mother is gone, and her father only has the tiniest of magic (I have him making sparks with his hand at a later point). So none of my playtest witch players or characters know.
Sylvia knows. Because, of course, she does. And it is also the sort of knowledge she wouldn't share unless she was given something for it. Renee knows. But she feels it is not her place to say anything. She is the quiet one, but Renee is also the one who is missed.
This brings in my other layer.
Roderick Morgan, the psychic, knows she is gone.
Morgan: "Where’s Renee?"
Larina: "What?"
Morgan: "Renee Jäneläinen. Where is she?"
Larina: "Why would I know?"
Morgan: "Because Valerie is missing. Sylvia is missing. Now Renee is gone. And every time this town starts eating people, there are witches standing near the teeth."
Morgan doesn't like witches. But not because he is a misogynistic jerk, but because witches are "untidy"; they are too chaotic, and he thinks their psychic baggage causes half the problems in town. He is not entirely wrong. Every time someone uses magic, it is like ringing a dinner bell for the supernatural elements in town. BUT some of the players were under the impression that Morgan hates witches and, by extension, women. I mean, he is an arrogant prick sometimes, but that is too far. I wanted to show that he is absolutely NOT Andreas Gelé, but he can see the road Gelé is on from where he is standing.
Faye: "Are you keeping tabs on us, Morgan?"
Morgan: "Don’t flatter yourself. I keep tabs on all potential threats."
Stephanie (tersely): "Renee isn’t a threat."
Morgan: "No. (quieter) She isn't."
I said before that Morgan and Renee are based on two old AD&D characters that have an uneasy history, Morgan Highstar and Rhiannon. At that time I didn't know what their reactions were going to be in their Jackson versions. Then it became obvious. Morgan likes Renee. At the end of this adventure, he should be a better person. Maybe not by much, but his classification of the witches in town is a little too close to Gelé's notes, and that should bother him. It has changed how I played him afterward.
How Does it End?
At the end of the adventure, the witches and Morgan are standing together. My not-so-subtle message here? Together they are stronger, and that is where the magic is, not in a blood or tissue sample.
So, here is the problem I was having with my adventure. I have Gelé here. He has kidnapped Valerie, Sylvia, and Renee. In my game, they were rescued by Morgan, Larina, Stephanie, and Faye. Pretty much every bit of heavy firepower I have in this game. And Larina, at this point in her life, is pretty well known for her very poor anger management skills. She wanted to burn him alive at his first "Ah, Fräulein Nichols." How do I give the characters and the players a satisfactory ending and STILL make it so The Refrigerator could come back?
Well, as it turns out, I gave myself a "Rule of Two" roll that his machines would fail. I rolled a "1." A success that, in this case, is also a failure. The machines begin to blow up with Gelé melting before their eyes. Everyone got out, and I had Val toss out a 'See you in Hell, Andreas.'
So, just like his horror godfather, Dr. Phibes, Dr. Andreas Gelé might return.
Presently, I don't have any plans to bring him back to Jackson, but he might appear in other NIGHT SHIFT games.
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| Dr. Andreas Gelé by Eugene Jaworski |
5th level Inventor, Human Male
Background: Scholar
Base Abilities
Strength: 11 (+0)
Agility: 13 (+1)
Toughness: 14 (+1) n
Intelligence: 18 (+3) A
Wits: 16 (+2) n
Persona: 10 (+0)
Vit: 25 (1d6)
DV: 8
Fate Points: 1d8
Check Bonus (A/N/D): +3/+2/+1
Attack bonus (base): +2
Melee bonus: +0 Ranged bonus: +0
Languages: English, German, French
Skills: Medicine, Cyronics, Engineering
Saves: +4 to Intelligence and Wits saves. +1 to Toughness.
Inventions
Freeze Ray
Effects (1st-3rd level)
- Chill Ray
- Hold Person
- Sleep
- Slow
Effects (4th-6th level)
- Control Temperature
- Finger of Death
- Wall of Ice
Effects (7th-9th level)
- Destroy Life
Cryochamber
Effects (1st-3rd level)
- Hold Person
Effects (7th-9th level)
- Sleeping Village
Heroic Touchstones
Level 1: +1 to Toughness saves.
Level 2: +1 to hit with unique attack mode (Chill Ray gun)
Hair: Black with Gray streaks
Eyes: Blue
Height: 6'0"
Archetype: Science Nerd / Evil inventor
Quote: "Ah, you see Fräulein, only cold logic can prevail here."
Quirks: Arrogant and thinks he is smarter than everyone in the room. He is usually right about that.
Theme song: Cold as Ice - Foreigner
And because I have not posted him yet and to show the similarities between these two.
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| "Just Mogan." |
4th level Psychic, Human Male
Student at St. Michael's Catholic Academy and High School
Background: Nerd
Base Abilities
Strength: 14 (+1)
Agility: 14 (+1)
Toughness: 10 (+0)
Intelligence: 18 (+3) A
Wits: 16 (+2) n
Persona: 16 (+2) n
Vit: 20 (1d6)
DV: 8
Fate Points: 1d6
Check Bonus (A/N/D): +3/+2/+1
Attack bonus (base): +2
Melee bonus: +0 Ranged bonus: +0
Languages: English, Latin
Skills: Computers, Writing
Saves: +4 to Persona saves, +1 to Wits saves
Psychic Abilities
Danger Sense, Supernatural Attacks, Supernatural Power
Psychic Powers
Precognition 4 (Supernatural)
ESP 4
Biofeedback 1
Heroic Touchstones
Level 1: +1 to Wits saves
Level 2: Pick Locks skill (35%)
Hair: Black
Eyes: Blue
Height: 6'0"
Archetype: Student
Quote: "Witches are messy. They are untidy and frankly get on my nerves."
Quirks: Arrogant. Never uses his first name; he prefers to go by "Morgan."
Theme song: Tom Sawyer - Rush
Morgan isn't quite Andreas Gelé, but he can see the path from where he is standing. The thing that makes Morgan, ultimately, a good person is he chooses not to take that path. Oh, he can still be an asshole, but he's not an evil asshole.
I also had pulled out my copy of Beyond the Supernatural 1st Ed since I knew I was going to be stating him up eventually. Not done with his BtS sheet yet.
Night Shift® is a registered trademark of Elf Lair, LLC.
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