City of Mist Sample Case_ V is for Going Viral.pdf

(1739 KB) Pobierz
A DETECTIVE ROLE-PLAYING GAME IN A CITY
OF ORDINARY PEOPLE AND LEGENDARY POWERS
A new infectious evil named Vector
is operating in the City, using high
school students to spread itself. The
crew must uncover Vector’s network
and figure out its origin before
confronting this horror personally.
Distributed by
Writing, Game Design and Production: Amít Moshe
Editing and Additional Writing: Eran Aviram
Assistant Producer: Omer Shapira
Artwork: Marcin Soboń and Carlos Gomes Cabral
Graphic Design: Manuel Serra
Proofreading: Marshall Oppel
© 2019 Son of Oak Game Studio / Amít Moshe
FIND OUT MORE AT
WWW.CITYOFMIST.CO
PRONOUN USE
Where the third person is required, this book refers
to characters as ‘she’, players as ‘he’, and the MC
as ‘she’ as well. This is an arbitrary division for
the sake of readability and balance in the use of
pronouns; characters, players, and MCs may be of
any or no gender.
CONTENT WARNING
This game contains mild language as well as
strong themes of violence, crime, and immorality.
Parental guidance is advised.
BACKGROUND
Helix Labs is a biotech company
controlled by an undisclosed entity. As
part of its operations, its scientists tried
to open a Rift for a Mythos of plagues,
such as that of the Black Death.
They searched the City for an appropriate candidate by
giving high school students seemingly routine blood tests
through a dummy company called “Global Genetics”. A
number of suitable candidates were found and abducted
in their sleep to a secret Helix Labs facility, where an
attempt was made to infect them with a virus that would
turn them into the Rift. The experiment succeeded with
one
Veronica Chang,
who received the power to infect
others with the virus and control the bodies and all vital
functions of those infected. Veronica dubbed herself
Vec-
tor
and emerged to the City in order to spread the virus
further, shortly after destroying the Helix Labs facility.
As Vector, Veronica has the urge to infect as many peo-
ple as possible. Becoming the Rift of the Plague made
her feel like she is no longer a lonely, unpopular school-
girl but the center of a massive living organism. Veroni-
ca has a more popular twin brother,
Victor Chang,
who
was also identified as a candidate but with whom the
experiment yielded no results. Victor was one of the first
victims Vector infected and she uses him as a front for
her operation and as her representative.
One way of obtaining new people to infect was by
organizing
the Infection Club
– a group of high school
students who regularly meet up at the local junkyard.
During Infection Club meetings, the already-infect-
ed members infect the newcomers and bring them to
Vector. The teenagers then remain with Vector as her
personal guard for a number of days before returning
home and being replaced by other infected individu-
als. Some parents, like
Allison Craig
(Sleeper), have
noticed their children’s long absences and strange
behavior and have started seeking answers.
VECTOR’S CONTROL
Vector has full control over an infected target’s body,
but not over their psyche. Each cell infected with Vec-
tor’s virus is somehow connected to her and does her
bidding. This control has no known range limitation.
Vector can even perceive through her victim’s senses
but she can’t read their minds (yet), so she may lack
details that her victims would know when she tries
to make them pretend they are not infected. When in-
teracting with infected targets anywhere, the PCs are
actually speaking to Vector herself, who is moving
the infected person like a puppet.
PCs that take an
infected
status have the Vector
virus in their system and receive commands from
Vector. Every move that goes against Vector’s
current command treats the
infected
status as an
impeding status (it reduces the Power of the move).
At tier-5, a character is fully under Vector’s control
and cannot take actions not instigated by Vector
herself, except for mental actions. Usually, this is
enough for Vector and she will not try to infect the
character further. However, if for any reason Vector
wants something more
from the character, or tries to kill the character, she
may attempt to completely overrun the character’s
system with her DNA. If the status hits tier-6, any-
thing can happen; it’s up to the MC to decide.
Aiming to increase her influence among adults, Vector
arranged a trade-off with
Stanislaw the Vile
(Sleeper),
a loathsome smuggler and human trafficker. She will
provide rare tech from the destroyed Helix Labs facility,
which he can then sell to his contacts, and in return, he’ll
provide her with a shipment of abducted refugees. Stan-
islaw hasn’t asked nor does he care what Vector intends
to do with them. Vector’s plan is to infect and then send
the refugees to further extend her control throughout the
City, spreading as far and wide as she possibly can.
3
|
CITY OF MIST − V IS FOR GOING VIRAL
THE ICEBERG
Depth 0
The Iceberg diagram represents the locations in the case
and their possible connections.
Hooks
Depth 1
gar at
The Han ocks
D
the
h
The Hig
School
Craig
Residence
Depth 2
Global s
Genetic
Chang
Residence
offee
Beans Cp
Sho
Depth 3
Helix Labs
'
Abandoned
Facility
saken
The For ard
Junky
Depth 4
The Derelict
House
DEPTH 0:
THE HOOK
nothing of all this. She contacts the crew to ask for
their help in finding her daughter, noting she has
been missing since yesterday afternoon when she did
not come back from school. According to her:
These disappearances have become a troubling
phenomenon among the students.
Unfortunately, since the missing kids always
come back after a few days, the police do not take
Emily’s disappearance seriously.
Allison doesn’t really know who Emily is hang-
ing out with these days; at this age, it seems to
change every other week.
Allison Craig points the crew to “City High” High
School or to her own home, the Craig residence.
The crew may become involved in the investigation in
the following ways:
• The crew may receive information about Stani-
slaw the Vile having docked in the City and hiding
something big (a container full of abducted refugees,
but don’t reveal that yet) in a hangar at the docks. If
the crew investigates, Stanislaw doesn’t know who
ordered the shipment (Vector) but he knows who
it’s for (his contact, Victor Chang). The contact who
informs the characters about Stanislaw’s operation
also gives them an address: Pier 71.
• Emily Craig
is one of the high school students
currently missing. She has been a member of the In-
fection Club for about a week and later joined Vector
at her current hideout. Her mother,
Allison,
knows
4
|
CITY OF MIST − V IS FOR GOING VIRAL
DISPLACED PERSONS
CRAIG RESIDENCE
Most kids who go to “City High” come from mid-
dle-class families who live in the surrounding residen-
tial neighborhoods, some in comfy apartments and
others in private suburban houses. The Craigs live in
the latter. Talking to Allison Craig (Emily’s mom) and
investigating around the house could provide the crew
with some clues on where Emily is.
Reading Emily’s diary or her social media
shows
she’s been hanging out with a new set of friends,
kids like Victor Chang or Adam Reynolds.
Tracking Emily’s phone or trying to locate her
with magical means
will reveal her last known
location was ”Beans” Coffee Shop, where her
phone was turned off or her magical signature
gets muddled
DEPTH 1:
Simple research
can locate the Global Genetics of-
fices, the company’s only address on City records.
Only if the crew delves into Victor Chang’s pri-
vate life
will they discover he has a twin sister at
this point. Otherwise, everyone seems to overlook
Veronica’s existence.
PIER 71
The City’s docks are massive and stretch over many
square miles, but parts of them are rundown and rarely
visited by dockworkers. Smugglers routinely use these
piers and the adjacent hangars. The hangar at Pier
71 is guarded around the clock by Stanislaw’s goons,
and the smuggler himself can be found there most of
the time. The container of refugees is only one of the
smuggler’s current deliveries, but it’s the biggest, and
the goons keep a close watch on it (they’re also tasked
with feeding the poor people, doing so without much
enthusiasm).
The trade is expected to take place tonight (or later
this week, if you don’t want to rush the crew). Vector
sends several of her infected students to make the
trade by handing over the Helix Labs tech to Stanislaw
and then infecting her new victims.
If interrogated, Stanislaw will reveal that
Victor
Chang was his contact
and that he was the one
who ordered the horrible shipment, but Stanislaw
doesn’t know why and didn’t ask. This could lead
to the “City High” High School or to the Chang
residence.
Stanislaw got a tech sample from Victor as
a downpayment for the shipment.
He had it
assessed so he knows it’s government-grade tech.
He already fenced it for a hefty sum.
If the crew sneaks in,
they can find the techni-
cal assessment notes in a vault in a small office
on the gallery level of the hangar. Stanislaw will
burn it after the exchange is complete.
Stanislaw’s own investigation, following Victor
Chang, led him to Global Genetics as the possible
source of the biotech (pointing at Global Genetics
offices).
“CITY HIGH” HIGH SCHOOL
This is a typical high school for its neighborhood.
Investigating at the school can reveal the following
clues. To make the investigation more challenging, you
can add the story tag
covering for each other,
to repre-
sent the high-schoolers closing ranks and hiding the
missing kids (whether or not they are involved with the
Infection Club themselves).
Socializing with the kids or following them
can re-
veal details about the Infection Club (they’re kind of
Goth or Emo), their hangout (”Beans” Coffee Shop),
and the fact that Victor Chang is their leader.
Emily’s friends
may reveal she started hanging
out with “the cool kids” last week, after one of
them, Adam Reynolds, invited her to sit with
them at ”Beans” Coffee Shop. They say Emily has
been acting strange ever since.
A company by the name of “Global Genetics” ran
some free health checkup blood tests recently.
The school nurse, other staff, or students might
remember the name of the company, or a flyer
advertising the test can be found in a locker.
5
|
CITY OF MIST − V IS FOR GOING VIRAL

Plik z chomika:

Inne pliki z tego folderu:

Inne foldery tego chomika:

Zgłoś jeśli naruszono regulamin