Had some ideas a while back for a Call of Cthulu game. Nothing came of it then, but I'll post the hooks here. The idea is to zoom in on the real life history and ethnography through the vehicle of the supernatural investigation. Of course, all of them, I think, could be done without the supernatural stuff as well. Could be done with dice on the forum.
The Night Train to Harbin
As the bells in the St. Sofia cathedral ring the evening compline, a whistle pierces the night. From much-embattled Vladivostok, a train rattles into the icy Manchurian city. Suspicious glares bathe the locomotive as it brakes squeak and slow the engine into the railyard. Who will disembark the train? What be their creed? Their color? Are they prepared for the bitter cold, the shifting political loyalties, and the ancient magic they will soon encounter?
Creatures Creep in Carpathian Crypts
The smoldering ashes of the Austrian empire puff their last gusts of smoke as a desiel truck rumbles in the courtyard of an ancient Habsburg palace. The first morning light creeps over the mountains to show a group of men hustling artifacts into the truck. Who could they be? A deserter, trying to score a payday now that their war is lost? A cleric, trying to save religious relics from looters? A spy, looking to secure vital information? Will they make it out of the mountains before Green Cadres accost them? Can they know that some of the items they move are much older, and much more dangerous, than the human mind can fathom?
Shifting Sands
Through the roar of the sandstorm, a party of men shuffle east as the moon rises to greet them. The Great War rages here in Egypt as much as in Europe, but it moves a little differently here. When a British patrol is lost in the Sinai, the War Office needs answers. Gathering soldiers, Egyptian allies, and Arab scouts, they sent a second party to find them. Neither the men in Cairo nor the men in the storm, though, are prepared for the answers they will soon receive.
Let me know if this piques anyone's interest. The ideal would be we have about 3-5 people and pick the scenario that everyone likes the most, but if there's a lot of interest and we split into multiple threads for different teams and campaigns, so much the better.
The Night Train to Harbin
As the bells in the St. Sofia cathedral ring the evening compline, a whistle pierces the night. From much-embattled Vladivostok, a train rattles into the icy Manchurian city. Suspicious glares bathe the locomotive as it brakes squeak and slow the engine into the railyard. Who will disembark the train? What be their creed? Their color? Are they prepared for the bitter cold, the shifting political loyalties, and the ancient magic they will soon encounter?
Creatures Creep in Carpathian Crypts
The smoldering ashes of the Austrian empire puff their last gusts of smoke as a desiel truck rumbles in the courtyard of an ancient Habsburg palace. The first morning light creeps over the mountains to show a group of men hustling artifacts into the truck. Who could they be? A deserter, trying to score a payday now that their war is lost? A cleric, trying to save religious relics from looters? A spy, looking to secure vital information? Will they make it out of the mountains before Green Cadres accost them? Can they know that some of the items they move are much older, and much more dangerous, than the human mind can fathom?
Shifting Sands
Through the roar of the sandstorm, a party of men shuffle east as the moon rises to greet them. The Great War rages here in Egypt as much as in Europe, but it moves a little differently here. When a British patrol is lost in the Sinai, the War Office needs answers. Gathering soldiers, Egyptian allies, and Arab scouts, they sent a second party to find them. Neither the men in Cairo nor the men in the storm, though, are prepared for the answers they will soon receive.
Let me know if this piques anyone's interest. The ideal would be we have about 3-5 people and pick the scenario that everyone likes the most, but if there's a lot of interest and we split into multiple threads for different teams and campaigns, so much the better.