Pulp Cthulhu - Isle of Madness.pdf

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ISLE OF MADNESS
A PULP CTHULHU SCENARIO SET IN THE 1930'S
CREDITS
Written by Ed Possing
Cover photography by Archie Binamira
Cartography by Ed Possing
Call of Cthulhu
is a Trademark of Chaosium Inc. and is used
with their permission via the OBS Community Content
program.
For more information please visit Chaosium’s website:
www.chaosium.com
The
Chaosium
and
Miskatonic Repository Logos
are used under license.
Isle of Madness © 2017 Ed Possing
INTRODUCTION
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction..............................................................3
Background...............................................................3
Heroes...................................................................... 4
Dramatis Personae....................................................4
Gilbert Caspian.........................................................................4
Roger and Elizabeth Goodall...................................................4
Doctor Rex Caspian..................................................................5
Timeline.................................................................... 5
Chapter One: The Devil's Storm.................................5
Fire On the Water.....................................................................6
Shark Attack.............................................................................6
Chapter Two: Island of Mystery.................................7
A Short Reprieve.......................................................................7
The Island.................................................................................7
Ambushed By Devils................................................................8
The Devil-fish...........................................................................8
Roger and Elizabeth.................................................................8
The Sea Cave.............................................................................8
The Fate of the R.M.S. Northern Light....................................9
Whirlpool..................................................................................9
Onward.....................................................................................9
Eel Vines.................................................................................10
Perimeter Fence......................................................................10
Chapter Three: House of the Metal God....................10
The Cliffs.................................................................................10
Doctor Caspian's Compound.................................................10
Barracks..................................................................................10
Pool of Horror.........................................................................11
The Mad Scientists Lair..........................................................11
The Volcano............................................................................12
Waking Mother.......................................................................12
All Hell Breaks Loose.............................................................12
The Secret Dock......................................................................12
The Boat..................................................................................13
Conclusion...............................................................13
Rewards................................................................... 13
Appendix: NPCS, Beasts, and Monsters....................14
Island Map...............................................................16
Isle of Madness is a hair raising 1930's Pulp Cthulhu scenario taking
place on a secret island hidden in the North Atlantic Ocean—an
island occupied by terrible fish-man amalgams, referred to as devil-
fish due to their strange red coloring, and a mad scientist intent on
mastery of everything below the surface of the seas. This is a short
scenario suitable for up to six players. This scenario can be run as an
introductory scenario for a new group or as a side-trek for an
established group of heroes between chapters of a campaign. While
set in the North Atlantic Ocean, the scenario can take place on any
ocean of the keeper's choosing with minimal alterations. Essentially a
tale of survival and escape, Isle of Madness is light on investigation
but heavy on action.
It is the late 1930s and the heroes' seaplane encounters bizarre and
violent weather while crossing the North Atlantic Ocean from New
York on the way to Hamilton Harbor, Bermuda. Freak lightning
strikes take out the controls and the plane crashes hard into the briny
waves below.
Survivors of the crash find themselves in hostile waters, attacked by
sharks. The heroes swim to a mist-shrouded island in the distance.
There they encounter strange fish-men amalgams who try to capture
them. Through either stealth or capture, the heroes arrive at the
compound of the island's master, a deep one hybrid scientist named
Doctor Caspian.
An outcast of deep one society, shunned because of his pursuit of
science, Doctor Caspian intends to control the oceans and everything
in them. To that end he has been using his weather machine to disrupt
flights and ship passages to bring fresh humans to his island so that
he may enslave them. He then transforms them into his twisted notion
of a deep one army through horrific experimental procedures. Finally,
as his crowning achievement, he has created a giant robot – a replica
of Mother Hydra – which he intends to use in his final battle against
the deep-ones who rejected him. If the heroes are unable to escape
they will join his army of horrific devil-fish in Caspian's war.
BACKGROUND
-3-
Doctor Rex Caspian carries the Innsmouth taint. Originally from
Innsmouth, MA, Caspian left the town of his birth as a young man in
1901 and enrolled in Miskatonic University in Arkham to study
advanced Physics and Chemistry. Inhumanly intelligent, he quickly
rose to the top of his class and excelled in the theoretical and
practical applications of several fields of science and medicine.
Aware of his cursed heritage, he intended to achieve as much as he
could scientifically before his glorious transformation into a pure
deep one.
THE HEROES
This adventure works well with either a new or an established group
of 1930s pulp heroes. The scenario presumes the heroes are traveling
across the Atlantic for reasons that have nothing to do with Doctor
Caspian's island of lost souls. Perhaps they are red-lining to the next
phase of a ongoing campaign. Perhaps they are strangers to each
other on a passenger flight bound for Bermuda, unaware of the fate
about to befall them.
Alternatively, they may be investigating a rash of mysterious lost
ships and planes in the area. That mission is well suited for a party of
heroes associated with organizations such as Caduceus or even the
Vanguard Club as detailed in the
Pulp Cthulhu
sourcebook.
But that complete transformation never occurred.
By 1927, Caspian remained stuck in transition, doomed to be a deep
one hybrid, neither accepted completely in the world of mankind nor
in the underwater cities of the deep ones. In particular, the deep ones
he considered family rejected Caspian for his pursuit of scientific
discovery and invention over the simple and arcane ways of the deep.
He was turned away from the sea, the one place he knew he truly
belonged. Shunned and enraged, he vowed revenge. He plotted to use
his abilities as a top scientist and inventor to make himself ruler of all
the seas – especially over those whom rejected him.
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
GILBERT CASPIAN
Gilbert is Doctor Rex Caspian's loyal deep one brother. In many
ways he is Doctor Caspian's opposite. Where Rex wished to be a pure
deep one, Gilbert wished to stay human. Gilbert is a hulking pure
deep one, purple grey in color, with clawed and webbed hands and a
mouth full of tiny sharp teeth.
Gilbert pines for the days before his deep one transformation and
likes to dress up to the nines in human fashion. His favorite outfit is a
sharp pin-striped suit. He's a formable opponent as a deep one, but
has the added advantage of being armed with an electric harpoon gun
of Doctor Caspian's design. For the most part Gilbert does his
brother's bidding and attempts to capture the heroes for the devil-fish
army. However, should they engage him in talk of current events of
the world, he participates eagerly. He is especially prone to
compliments on his suit.
In the early 1930's he started to move on his plans. First, he needed
his own deep one army to control. But none of the deep ones, save his
loyal brother Gilbert, would have anything to do with him. So he
decided to create his own version of a deep one army. He began by
setting up operations on a small volcanic island in the Atlantic Ocean,
a base to muster his forces. Using a weather control device of his own
design, he began to down planes and capsize ships close to his island.
Survivors who managed to make it to shore were captured and
transformed into devil-fish to serve his will. The process of these
operations usually broke the will and the sanity of its victims and the
wretched amalgams willingly and obediently fell into line behind
their new master. At present, his forces do not yet rival the power nor
the sheer numbers of the true deep ones. But eager to begin his
conquest, Caspian has embarked on one final, terrible creation.
It is now the late1930s and he is in the process of creating a giant
robot, capable of traveling to the deepest underwater city and destroy
any resistance it may encounter—a mechanical replicant of Mother
Hydra herself. It is not tested, but Caspian expects it to be ready soon.
As work on robot Mother Hydra ramps up, Caspian continues to
grow his amalgam army at a furious pace.
His activities have not gone unnoticed by the deep ones from from
the underwater cities
Y'ha-nthlei
and Fre-silic C'ye off the coast of
North America. A deep one army has been assembled and gather
close to the island, just out of range of Caspian's sensors, waiting for
the right moment to engage their enemies. They cannot allow
Caspian to continue his plans and prepare to destroy his compound
and all his blasphemous creations. The time approaches.
RODGER AND ELIZABETH GOODALL
This unlucky couple was transformed into devil-fish six years ago.
Unlike most devil-fish, they retain memories of their past life – a
luxurious life at that.
Amid all that, the heroes' plane now flies perilously close to Doctor
Caspian's secret island and a mysterious storm gathers...
Hiding in their sea cave, they prefer to wear ragged cloaks and cover
their faces with hoods. Their scaly skin has the characteristic red
tinge shared with other devil-fish. Their faces are misshapen and fish-
like. They lack noses and ears and their pale lips are stuck in
permanent frowns. Elizabeth still has the long brown hair she had
before the transformation, though disheveled and laden with seaweed.
Unlike their devil-fish brethren, there is intelligence behind their
large black eyes. They are able to speak with some effort. They
attempt to aid the heroes, though won't get near Caspian's volcano
complex if they can help it. They are consigned to their sad exile.
They would leave the island if they could, but where would they go?
The Devil's Storm
– The heroes, traveling by plane over the
Atlantic, encounter a sudden and devastating storm that brings them
crashing down into the ocean. As the survivors of the crash tread
water in the violent sea, they are attacked by creatures below the
waves. The outline of an island appears in the distance. The heroes
must make the swim to shore before succumbing to the waves and the
hungry sea.
DOCTOR REX CASPIAN
Caspian is the complete ruler of this volcanic island. He is short and
bald and grossly deformed. His eyes are far apart and his lips spread
into a too-wide mouth. His head is mottled with patches of scales and
he stinks of the sea. Stumbling about with a broken gate, he gasps
like a fish out of water. When the heroes encounter him he treats
them coldly and analytically, barely recognizing them as human until
they pose a threat to his operations. At best he considers them an
annoyance, like escaped lab rats. At worst he views them as bugs that
must be crushed under foot. He cannot allow them to live if he fears
they will ruin his plans.
Island of Mystery
– Making it to shore, the heroes find themselves
on a small horseshoe-shaped island. On the other end of the island the
heroes see a variety of industrial structures and a volcano with a
strange metal statue built into its side. Soon after landing ashore, the
heroes are attacked by the devil-fish. The heroes may find a brief
respite as two hooded strangers come to their aid. From them, they
may learn of a sea-vessel moored somewhere at the other end of the
island. But the devil-fish's attack is relentless and the heroes must flee
or be captured.
Keeper's Notes:
House of the Metal God
– The heroes arrive at the compound of
Doctor Rex Caspian, either by stealth or as prisoners. Caspian orders
any free heroes to be captured and put into the transformation
chamber. Failing that, he orders them to be killed. The heroes fight
off the devil-fish and Caspian's deep one brother. During the melee, if
it looks like the heroes will prevail, Caspian attempts to activate his
masterpiece, a 30-foot-tall robot replica of Mother Hydra, to destroy
them. Regardless of the heroes actions, a party of deep ones raids the
island and moves to attack Caspian's forces. As they attack Caspian's
base, they cause a reaction that leads to an eruption of the island
volcano and destruction of everything on land. An escape tunnel and
a strange underwater boat is the heroes' only chance for escape.
There are likely to be several survivors, passengers and flight crew,
that make it to shore with the heroes. They have not been given
stats and are intended to be largely disposable for the purposes of
this scenario.
Ideally, they are meant to enhance the horror the heroes find
themselves in. The keeper is encouraged to provide stats and
personalities as necessary but should not allow them to have key
roles in this story except as victims.
CHAPTER ONE: THE
DEVIL'S STORM
Read or paraphrase the following to the players:
TIMELINE
The events of this scenario may follow the timeline below, though
not necessarily so. Whatever path the heroes take, keep the action
moving forward. The heroes should feel harried and compelled to
proceed without much chance to catch their breath.
“Traveling over the Atlantic on a Sikorsky S-42 flying boat
airliner, you are about four hours into a five-and-a-half hour
flight. The trip has been largely non-eventful, though strong
headwinds have slowed your progress more than you'd like. You
hope to land in Hamilton Harbor, Bermuda within a couple
hours. You share this flight with 25 other passengers and a flight
crew comprised of two pilots, an engineer, a radio operator, and
a steward.
-5-

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