"Terror is a one-session scenario for Call of Cthulhu set in the Soviet Union during the reign of Joseph Stalin.
It begins in February 1932 and is centered in the frozen city of Moscow.
Terror is designed to emphasize the atmosphere of Stalinist Russia, and to pit the investigators against each other within an enviorment of paranoia."
-Chaosium Inc.
Welcome comrade! Welcome to The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Mother Russia. The home of the Revolution, workers, farmers and Socialism in one country. It has been 15 years since the Revolution overthrew the Tsar and the captitalist bourgeoisie, and 10 years since the Red Army won over the fiends of the Whites. Now we live in a socialist, workers paradise, every each one of us working their best to make the Communist future a reality. Our Comrade Stalin more so than anyone else, defender of the revolution!
Do not believe the Western propaganda about the so-called 'purges' or starvation in the Ukraine. They are simply not true. That is not how our Communist project works, that is a pure lie. No, we're here to look after you, comrade. The Party is your friend. The Party is your protector. The Party is kind. The Party is just. Trust the Party.
Anything else are lies. Revitionist propaganda aimed at destroying everything Comrade Lenin and Stalin have worked so hard for. Don't believe lies. Believe in the Party.
But what can you believe when the truth are lies, and lies the truth? When the possible is impossible, and the impossible possible? When the truth is just as impossible to believe as the lie, but the lie makes you sleep at night? Who can you trust? Who's your friend, and who's ready to snitch on your to the NVKD as soon as humanly possible?
Especially when you, yes YOU, have been accused of high treason against the State, the Party and Comrade Stalin. What are you willing to do to save the State and Party? And what about yourself? What are you willing to do in the face of the "Terror"?
Do not believe the Western propaganda about the so-called 'purges' or starvation in the Ukraine. They are simply not true. That is not how our Communist project works, that is a pure lie. No, we're here to look after you, comrade. The Party is your friend. The Party is your protector. The Party is kind. The Party is just. Trust the Party.
Anything else are lies. Revitionist propaganda aimed at destroying everything Comrade Lenin and Stalin have worked so hard for. Don't believe lies. Believe in the Party.
But what can you believe when the truth are lies, and lies the truth? When the possible is impossible, and the impossible possible? When the truth is just as impossible to believe as the lie, but the lie makes you sleep at night? Who can you trust? Who's your friend, and who's ready to snitch on your to the NVKD as soon as humanly possible?
Especially when you, yes YOU, have been accused of high treason against the State, the Party and Comrade Stalin. What are you willing to do to save the State and Party? And what about yourself? What are you willing to do in the face of the "Terror"?
Welcome to "Terror", a Call of Cthulhu-scenario for the 6th edition. Unlike most scenarios, you find yourselves in Moscow during the height of the Great Purges. Former loyal party members of the Party and supporters of Josef Stalin, now found themselves accused of the most bizzare charges, just because of Stalin's paranoia. Everyone is a possible suspect and informant at the same time, nobody can be trusted. Not even your own family or friends.
It's during these times that something dark lurks over the Soviet Union. Cosmic horrors, horrors from beyond the stars and our understanding of the known universe. Horrors that make any lesser man crumble in primal fear. And like everything else in the USSR, the Politburo keeps it a state secret for eveything it's worth. While in America you're put in an asylum for speaking of such horrors, in the USSR you'll be imprisoned for not following the Party line; If you're lucky, you might even get shot in the head.
The story begins on the night of February 7th 1932, inside the basement of the NVKD headquarters. Many would enter the basement, operationg as an interrogation center. Few, if any at all would ever see the light of day again, as it too worked as a base of excecutions.
You are one of said unfortunate souls; accused and imprisoned for treason against the State and Party. Whether you're guilty or not, is simply a minor detail not worth bothering with. Both the lowest, criminal scum and the highest intellectual minds of the Soviet Union are to be find in that basement; locked in small, cold and wet cells, awaiting their fate. How you ended up in the NVKD basement is up to you, but your situation is the same.
Hopeless.
This will be a one-shot scenario, with the posibility for further scenarios in the coming future if this one get's to its fitting end. We'll be using the 6th edition rules, because that's what the scenario uses, and that's the rulebook I possess at hand. How we'll do it with character sheets and rolls will be decided on soon, but advice is highly welcome.
If you have any questions, please do ask them. I'll be more than happy to answer them!
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