Cthulhutech: Unveiled Threats by Ettin
Seventh Verse, Same As The First
Original SA postquote:
Blankly, he drew his CS-44 Enforcer from its holster and put it under his chin. Vienna was still outside with the dry heaves. He tried to think of something to say, but nothing really mattered anymore. Without flinching, he pulled the trigger.
Nothing. He pulled it twice more. Nothing.
After wading through the mud and all the other crap they’d endured the last five days, his gun was finally so dirty it wouldn’t fire.
“Huh,” was all Roy could say. He looked at his HK-192, but decided that would just be ridiculous.
Unveiled Threats: Seventh Verse, Same As The First
quote:
This is Unveiled Threats , what might be termed the gear book for CthulhuTech . However, in these pages, you will find much more that simply what most people think of as gear. You’ll not only explore firearms and explosives, as well as hand things for your Characters to own, you’ll also discover new rituals designed for sorcerers to create more exciting and useful enchanted items. There are also artifacts, legendary items of powers capable of amazing things. Finally, you’ll take a look at the weapons and armor of the Migou and the esoteric order of Dagon.
Some of these weapons might be familiar. their statistics have been presented in other books. However, Unveiled Threats actually updates these weapons and gives you a sense of what they’re truly like – so that you can choose the weapons that best suit your characters.
Welcome to Unveiled Threats! carry a gun...
So I'm going to deviate from publication order a little here. Only a little - Ancient Enemies was published just two months before this one, making it the seventh book in the line. On the other hand, this book can be knocked out in a few posts - it's mostly lists of gear, very handy to have for a game but dull for a Let's Read. So we're doing this as a...
ZeeToo posted:
Unveiled Threats as a bit of a palate cleanser
No spoilers yet, but I just want everyone to keep in mind "a break" and "palate cleanser" were words you guys used to describe the contents of this book.
First though, boilerplate intro post! The first thing you get in this book is some more fiction about Sorena and Roy, two Eldritch Society NPCs from that rape furry adventure. Mostly Roy. He's an ex-NEG soldier who got a Section 8 after encountering the remains of a Rapine Storm village where people were roasted on spits and children were turned into crazy mutilated Rapine Storm cultists, and trying to shoot himself. Now he has like a million guns and cleans them all the time and can't get laid. It's a decent story that tells you something about the setting without getting mind-bogglingly awful. Don't worry though, we have the rest of the book for that!
Chapter One: Welcome has returned, like an old friend who conveniently forgot that they owe you money. It's even brought its buddies!
Unveiled Threats posted:
Chapter One: Welcome is what you are reading right now. It’s meant to help ease you into the vision for this rules expansion and give you a reference for what this book contains.
Chapter Two: Dealers of Death provides an in-depth look at the firearms, explosives, and armor of the New Earth Government. It also includes new optional firearms rules and new kinds of ammunition.
Chapter Three: Tools of the Trade provides a variety of new things for Characters to own and use, including peeks options, medical equipment, and vehicles. It also outlines new rules for drugs and a variety of pharmaceuticals.
Chapter Four: Objects de Magie details new rituals designed to give sorcerers access to more and more diversified enchanted objects, from silent communicators to the coveted invisibility cloak.
Chapter Five: Ancient Objects introduces several legendary magical creations, along with their histories. some may be things to quest for, while others may be things to avoid at all costs.
Chapter Six: Ashcroft’s Legacy details exciting, non-mecha arcanotechnology from the Ashcroft Foundation, the Chrysalis Corporation, the Migou, and the Disciples of Death’s Shadow.
Chapter Seven: Alien Hands provides an in-depth look at the firearms, explosives, and armor of the New Earth Government. It also includes new optional firearms rules and new kinds of ammunition.
Chapter Six: Appendices includes the index.
Chapter Seven is actually the Migou/EOD tech chapter.
There's also a note that some of the weapons are "updated and balanced" from the Core Book and Unveiled Threats rules trump Core, a note about metaplot that lets you know this book refers to Damnation View and you don't need to do anything you don't want to...
And, of course, our other old friend.
Unveiled Threats posted:
If You Downloaded This Book
So if you’re one of the people who has downloaded this book illegally off the internet, let’s talk. We want to stay in business. We don’t get to stay in business if you don’t buy our products but you use them anyway. In more personal terms, if you like CthulhuTech , please go out and buy the books, because if you don’t we go out of business or we kill the line because sales suck and boom – no more CthulhuTech . You lose, we lose, everybody loses. Everybody loves something for nothing, but this sort of thing comes with a price whether it’s money or not.
Actually, please don't do either of those things. Don't buy Unveiled Threats , don't pirate it, don't look at the cover wistfully at the FLGS bargan bin while wishing that this line didn't huff incredible amounts of dick, don't have sex dreams about Tagers, don't even think about this book.
Don't do it man.
Guns & Words
Original SA post
Unveiled Threats: Guns and Words
Most of this book can be done in one post, so I'm going to.
Chapter Two: Dealers of Death can be skipped if you don't care about guns, but there's some Chrysalis stuff buried in here! The pre-chapter fluff is about a couple of Chrysalis executives/Dhohanoids bringing weapons to Rapine Storm cultists, and then the chapter opens with a list of the top weapons manufacturers in the NEG.
• Armorcorp: Armorcorp is known for their mastery of materials engineering high-tech defense systems, but they've moved into weapons. They're most responsible for the superconductors used in gauss and rail weapons. As mentioned in the core book, they are a Chrysalis subsidiary and supply the Rapine Storm with weapons.
• Colt Springfield: These guys are an amalgamation of two companies (guess who!) that merged in 2035. They mostly do light weapons and their handguns are used by law enforcement and military agencies all over the world.
• Electroarms Inc: The most successful defense firm in the NEG. They mostly deal in "high energy weapon systems" like gauss, particle and laser weapons. They work with other companies a lot and are so close with Armorcorp that a merge might happen eventually. The Eldritch Society is trying to stop it.
• Fabrique Nationale: They focus on chemically propelled weapons and manufacturing really nice ammo for other people's weapons. Chrysalis Corp has a significant stake in FN too.
• Heckler, Koch and Sig: They focus on chemically propelled weapons too. Recently they tried moving into energy weapons by undercutting Electroarms on a charge beam research contract, but an "undetected flaw" caused some weapons to explode and disable their mecha mid-combat. After that disaster they backed out of energy weapons and FN cut into a lot of their market share.
• Norinco Inc.: Norinco is a terrible company that makes shitty versions of other people's weapons. Everyone laughs at them and wonders how they stay in business. The secret is to do a lot of business in parts of society where there's no paper trail! "It is most often Norinco arms that fall off the back of trucks and find their way into the hands of the Disciples of the Rapine Storm".
• Steyr Mannlicher: They look like an old weapons first, but really it's a 30-year-old company using the name. They make all kinds of stuff.
• Ultratech: Ultratech tries to make the most cutting-edge weapons systems, obtains loads of military contracts and tries to improve on Electroarms' designs because fuck those guys.
After that are some new rules on electrokinetic (gauss and rail guns) and needler guns and increasing a weapon's rate of fire, but nobody cares. There's also a weapons catalogue stretching from pages 17 to 38 full of stats, fluff and art. It does a good job appealing to the kind of person who loves getting into loads of detail about guns but is too invested in the game to switch to a better system. Otherwise you can probably skip it, though there's some setting fluff buried in there. Norinco's purpose is basically providing cheaper weapons with worse stats so their fluff is hilarious; apparently Ultratech has tried to sue Norinco for ripping their style but "the Chrysalis Corporation is a difficult opponent in a court of law". Staggering incompetence suits Chrysalis!
Also armour but nobody cares. And bam, first third of the book down!
Chapter Three: Tools of the Trade is everyday tech. The pre-chapter fiction is about a xenomix girl who hangs out in a nightclub and uses sweet future technology to take pictures of guys, run a facial recognition search and look them up on "FaceSpace". From their profiles she learns their jobs, likes and dislikes, etc. and approaches a guy she shares some interests with. Then they literally just stand there rattling off profiles and make cracks about FaceSpace:
Unveiled Threats posted:
“So, Eric. What kind of motorcycles do you ride?” she asked, smile on her face.
He laughed. “You know, I don’t understand why we just don’t just hand out our FaceSpace profiles at the door.”
“Ain’t technology grand?” Kandry replied. “I’m Kandry, by the way.”
“And you’re a modern Nazzadi fusion dancer for fun, and an office manager for a plastic surgeon by day. You’re a fan of sushi and you prefer Human guys. I think we like some of the same music.”
Kandry had to laugh. “Nice to know that I was on your list tonight, too.”
That must be the most common pickup joke in 2086, I swear. Anyway, after Kandry closes the take by wondering what living in a world that had some privacy would be like the rest of the chapter is more futuristic gear. You can reattach limbs with a nanite-filled salve! Also everyone has a PCPU ("peeks"), which are basically smartphones, and there are a bunch of upgrades available like holographic projectors that do keyboards and monitors and such. You can even get an expensive upgrade that lets you send simple commands to the peek with your thoughts! The PCPU section's intro says the most common uses for peeks besides communication are games and porn, but luckily there's no special porn gear.
The Pharmaceuticals section comes with rules for addiction and withdrawl with Addiction Ratings, Safety Windows and Side Effect Ratings. It's mostly just reminding me that when drugs came up in Mortal Remains it turned out the writers were not experts . On the other hand I'm totally okay with that, so let's move on. There's a sidebar telling you you can dump the drug rules if drugs make you uncomfortable, a sidebar of drug slang, and then RULES! because what game isn't enriched by saves vs. alcohol?
The ones that might be worth noting: Arcanix boosts your spellcasting power, but if you use it and fail your test against side effects the
The section ends with Regen X-15A, a hilariously rare black-market medicine made by the Chrysalis Corp which can cure any physical ill by slapping rune-covered bandages on people. It doesn't say how it works, but it suggests that how it's made would make most people terrified and there are "rumours" that Regen X-15 will eventually turn the user into a monster (spoilers: it totally turns people into monsters).
The rest is stats for vehicles. Do you want to know how buses work? I don't. And just like that, we're on Page 71. Let's push on!
Chapter Four: Objets de Magie (sic) lists a lot of new magic spells. The fluff text is some magic professor giving a lecture, shouting down some know-it-all rich girl and doting on another student who turns out to be the professor's secret apprentice, arranged by his father who also wants him to learn an illegal spell that makes you more persuasive. Good times!
The chapter starts by pointing out that even PCs who can craft items shouldn't be allowed to start with one, but offers "new optional rules" - you can either just let them start with one like someone who isn't a jackass or make them purchase temporary items they can craft anyway at character creation!
So anyway, spells!
• Animate Simulacrum lets you animate a doll or a sculpture or something else up to twelve inches tall, and give it commands. The ritual must be cast on an object that would be "capable of movement", and rocks aren't allowed.
• Constitute Potion of Il-Sarr brews a potion that lets you hear super well and read people's thoughts for twelve hours, if you don't mind not being able to turn it off. Ritual requires a "fresh or frozen" mammal brain.
• Constitute Restful Inhalant makes six doses of powder that can be used to put people to sleep. Soldiers can use it to get some rest despite nightmares! There is a paragraph about how it can be used to knock people out against their will with specific rules for doing so. Surprise, rules for wizard date rape! Did you actually read this far? Well here's your prize!
• Craft Axin's Pass turns a pick, hair-pin, key or something into a "mystical lockpick". If you get your hands on the modern version, you can enchant a key card to bypass computerized and electronic locks instead. It can be used twenty times and can be recharged.
• Craft Crystal of Mizrahar makes a mystical holographic recorder. You can make it something innocuous but magic can spot it.
• Craft Distant Whisper makes a magical comms device. "While wildly useful, the New Earth Government has outlawed these devices, for they allow people to communicate with no outward signs that they are doing so. Thus, they have become the tools of terrorists and cultists, who have ruined it for everyone else." Ritual needs fresh mammal ears.
• Craft Insect Claws enchants rings or gloves or boots or something that let you climb walls. Fortunately they are permanent.
• Craft Oculus of Revelation makes a thing that lets someone wearing it see magic like they're using Eldritch Faculties. You invest Ruach in it when you make it and expend it for magic-seeing time. The ritual requires dead human eyes, but is legal.
• Craft Shocking Totem enchants a small object so you can zap people. Combat rules!
• Craft Amulet of Waveless Voice makes you more chaming when you talk to people.
• Craft Figment Lock is like Glamour Lock but better. It can change your entire appearance! (Provided you are okay with the same height, weight, general body shape and gender.) You can give yourself tiger stripes or fire-engine-red skin or whatever though.
• Craft Hidden Death makes a small object sprout magic knives whenever you want, for sneaky wizard shankings.
• Craft Infernal Machine gives a computer (or a peek!) limited AI. They are super banned.
• Craft Talisman of Fortune makes a good luck charm that lets you reroll dice a few times. They are banned in a lot of places (athletics competitions, schools, casinos, etc.), and only allowed if it wouldn't hurt anyone else.
• Craft Traceless Pass makes an object (like jewelery) cause the user to leave no forensic evidence and not show up on recording equipment. People can still see and hear you and tell when you interact with things. Ritual needs the ashes of an executed criminal.
• Bring Drinker of Blood is actually just another crafting spell that makes weapons do Hybrid damage and soak up blood. The weapons are marked with arcane symbols and very obvious and the OIS will disappear you if they catch you with one, but it's permanent. Ritual requires a live sacrifice at least dog-sized.
• Craft Shroud of Shadow makes an invisibiliy cloak that basically copies a Shadow Tager's stealth power. It's permanent!
And just like that, the first 83 pages of this book down. Next time: A pleasant chapter, guaranteed to lift your spirits.
The Happy Sunshine Post
Original SA post
Unveiled Threats: The Happy Sunshine Post
So, Chapter Five: Ancient Objects . It's a pretty cool chapter! The items in here are powerful artifacts, the kind adventures are based around. Let's run through them!
Anakhara Stone
The Anakhara Stone was allegedly brought to this dimension by Bakhi to tempt people in ancient times, until someone realised it was a bad idea and stole it. Fast-forward to now and the artifact has been discovered in a hidden temple in Rapine Storm lands by treasure hunters (Arudiny and
So what does it do? Well, if you touch it it drains all your
Also Ghasts, Spawn and other monstrous races can use it without problems because fuck you that's why.
Circlet of Ghabbaz
This thing has come up before, in the Core Book and Damnation View. It gets expanded here! It's an ancient circlet the Children of Chaos needed during the rape furry adventure .
Unveiled Threats posted:
The power of the object is as such that even someone picking up the intact Circlet would not be aware of the artifact’s power. However, the magics that power it would have an impact – the individual in question’s sex drive would kick into overdrive for at least the next 48 hours.
In short, such a person needs to succeed at a Hard Tenacity Feat Test or spend all his energy seeking a willing sex partner. He is willing to couple with anyone who says yes, regardless of his normal standards.
I feel like we dodged a bullet.
Anyway, this thing has showed up a few times in the past, but recently it's been assembled by the Chrysalis Corporation - who lost it during the events of that adventure like a bunch of chumps. It's probably either in the Underground or the hands of Congregation of the Earth Mother survivors.
So what does it do? Well, if you're wearing it when you bone someone of the opposite sex, or a wizard wears the circlet while watching you bone (no, really), you are guaranteed to conceive. You will probably get more than one baby. The pregnancy is smooth and has no complications! If it's a mortal and a Horned One you get "a litter twice the size", which you can carry because magic. Finally, someone who knows how to really use it can heal any wound, cure any disease and extend your lifespan.
The problem is that the Circlet is intended for use by followers of Sweet Shub. Specifically followers who are assholes. Transmogrification rituals become easier to cast and harder to resist, and it makes rituals like the Congregation's Call the Soul's Beast super easy. Finally, with a lot of power - 200
Karytyk Crystal
This is a suitcase-sized piece of ~mysterious technology~. It's got some kind of scanner, a recorder and a chemical sniffer, some kind of screen thing, and some kind of data ports nobody has figured out how to use. The Crystal is basically a universal translator - any kind of language in any form can be translated into something the user understands.
The Chrysalis Corpration found it on Callisto, back when they weren't Chaos-run. When they launched the Hermes Project and put FTL communication satellites around the solar system they took the chance to explore a few places before the NEG could, and totally excavated some Jovian moon ruins. These days Chrysalis uses it to decode Migou transmissions. It was probably built by the Elder Race.
(This is actually expanded material from Ancient Enemies , as is the next thing. I'm sure you guys will live though.
)
The Nexus of Amazoara
This is a "complicated clockwork device" discovered in "secret catacombs beneath Paris". It was once owned by the middle-ages sorcerer Loic Bontecou, but it is definitely older and probably a Great Race creation. Chrysalis has it now.
Basically it predicts natural disasters. You set it on a map, wind it up with a key and it rolls over the map before pinpointing locations of upcoming disasters and projecting an image with the disaster and a star map to give its approximate time and severity. It took them years to figure out what it did, and the breakthrough came when a researcher planning a family vacation happened to put a map near it. They mostly use it to protect their assets and mount relief efforts before anyone else can to make themselves look good.
There might be others that predict weather patterns, or natural resources, or people! The drawback is if you use them the Hounds might come at you. The Children of Chaos are only protected by Nyarlathotep. If a player uses one to peer through time, he rolls a d10 and they show up on a 1.
The Rictus Knife of Ephrates
Another furry adventure item! It's an sacrificial knife from an ancient civilisation called Ephrates that got wiped out by magic. It came into the hands of the liche Julien Roux, who sold it to the Chrysalis Corporation - except in that adventure the Tager PCs intervened and stole it away, only to discover the Children of Chaos didn't really need it and their victory was illusory. Oh yeah, and this book retroactively revokes it for anyone following the metaplot:
Unveiled Threats posted:
While locked safely away in a magically protected vault in Seattle, the artifact somehow has disappeared. Whether the Rictus Knife was stolen or if it was simply taken by an unscrupulous party within the Society is unknown. However, rumors say that it has once again found its way into the black market, for those with a large enough pocketbook and dark enough urges to seek it.
Basically, most sacrificial knives channel the victim's
The Skull of Tears
It's a human skull "shot through with spidery black veins of an alien substance". Sometimes it cries blood, and if you touch it you suddenly feel super cold. Nobody knows how old it is. Spooky! The black stuff exists in more than four dimensions and seems to be a projection from Outside. It might be alive. Legend says that this is the skull of "a serial murderer and sadist" from the dawn of Man, and it might be connected to Gurathnaka. The skull is connected to N'athm, who might have made it and probably have it again after it caused a mess in Los Angeles and disappeared.
Being near the skull (in the same house, or maybe next door) causes sanity-eroding nightmares like you're using a N'athm as a body pillow - succeed at an Average Insanity Test or gain an Insanity Point. Staying really close eventually causes waking hallucinations. If you're a dream magician with "questionable moral fiber" or the right kind of jerk cultist, though, it will make your Dream or Transmogrification magic much easier, cheaper, potent and harder to resist. The N'athm are immune to its effects and can use it to give intense insanity-causing nightmares - Challenging, this time - to anyone within a city block.
Worse, they can amplify their power when fucking with a single person. Instead of needing a piece of their body they only need to have seen him, and can plague him with terrifying nightmares - Hard Insanity Tests every day. It is basically a time bomb for assholes. Nothing seems to block its power.
It is probably the worst thing in this book.
The X'an-Tuum Violator
Haha no I was just fucking with you.
Everything past this point is spoiler-blocked, so reading it is your fault.
Unveiled Threats posted:
According to its most primitive steam-driven plans, the Violator appears to be a massive engine, with varying phallic probes on automated articulated arms and intravenous stations around nine reclining chairs – each designed to hold and restrain a Human being. It is designed to be built above a ritual space, functionally raining down whatever it collects onto the spell below.
So yeah.
Unveiled Threats posted:
However, the few madmen who have actually built this device have created something more advanced. The X’an-tuum Violator found in the 1940’s was built on internal combustion principles, powered by a gigantic airplane engine. The automated articulated arms with phallic probes were more advanced, as the victim was suspended in such a way that he could be positioned in any way the sick operator desired.
Yeah, that reason.
Unveiled Threats posted:
It is obvious to anyone upon even casual examination that it is a sick device designed for some kind of torture. Either that, or it is a sex machine for the extreme fetishist.
Yep.
This thing was invented by some Swiss guy 250 years ago who said he go visions from beyond that dictated everything (hence the weird name), and eventually the authorities found his notes and executed him. Eventually the plans found their way to the Nazis , who built one under the Dachau concentration camp. The Allied soldier who discovered it destroyed it immediately. Lately there have been "rumours" that the Disciples of Death's Shadow have built several, rumours which specify locations like "just north of the Los Angeles arcology".
What does it do? Well,
Unveiled Threats posted:
The X’an-tuum Violator is a disgusting machine that is designed to induce emotional states in victims, via drug interactions. They are then raped by the machine’s various probes to gather Ruach.
By
Thankfully they at least had the sense to say you can destroy it.
It just occured to me that the drug section got a sidebar that talked about how drugs are much more complicated in real life with all kinds of consequences, and if you find the whole idea distasteful you can just remove it. What the Violator gets is art. Takes up the whole right side of a page. Luckily it's a pretty big machine and the people are mostly outlines; the most detail you get is breasts on a couple of rape victims.
Enjoy your palate cleanser.
Bonus Palette Cleanser
Original SA post Unveiled Threats: Bonus Palate Cleanser!Peep this thread on the CthulhuTech forums.
Stabby Mc Stabsalot posted:
So, I was flipping through the book and I came to the magical items section. Then I came upon the X'an-Tuum Violator.
WTF?!?!
What kind of mind invents somoething like THA?!?! 0_0
You people need to stay far away from me! I have a gun, and I know how to use it!
I'm just kidding. Love the book though. Nicely done guys.
Jack posted:
Writers come up with terrors because they're supposed to for certain projects. Some of the stuff I came up with working on the various hell-like places for Exalted and Kindred of the East for White Wolf was vile. I mean, that was the point- it was hellish and terrible. I was recently reading Dead of Night 2nd Ed. and again, some of the "this emulates the splatter horror genre" or "this is supposed to be unrelenting alien infestation horror" bits are freaking creepy.
I suspect, and of course I could be wrong, that some of the reason this stands out a bit in Ctech is because the other big Cthulhu games often (not always but often) play down some of the clearly physically horrific stuff that is implied or outright stated in many of the stories (new and old) this all comes from. But C-techs anime, mecha, and military themes seem to encourage and even necessitate more detail in the terrible things the monsters are doing.
But to me they were always doing it in the indescribable shadows of the Mythos. For example, the Deep Ones always wanted to spread their unholy seed and convert any humans they did not devour to come live with them under the sea in the what can probably best be described as "Clive Barker presents HR Giger's the Little Mermaid." This was, with some slight variances, always the plan. It's just that in 1930s pulps you didn't say things quite so bluntly as one does in a setting book for an rpg in 2010 (but hey, for those who miss the subtly remember we also get so much less racism and the like).
I know a few folks get all bent out of shape over this stuff (not so much in this thread or even on this site) but I admit there's a part of me that appreciates horror that includes the truly horrible. Especially in action-horror- since it becomes something to fight.
In fact, I think you can generally go farther into the crazy with action horror because "Oh hell no! We have to stop that. No really, get me a cannon and a machete!" is often a viable option. It's harder, at least in my experience, to pull that off in settings and stories where the protagonists have less of a chance because then it just becomes this weird spectacle of crazy.
sunphoenix posted:
LOL... oh... don't get me wrong... the next time my players need to infiltrate a "Dionysus Club", they will probably find ...for the more 'exotic' and ... "wicked" of entertainments in the club is a lottery for a 'not-so-'random patron, especially a 'Newbie' to win a 'prize'. The 'winner' is taken into the basement and placed into a X'an-Tuum Violator under false intentions totally unprepared for the experience to have their... 'session' holographicly displayed for the patron's amusements.
I'm sure their are settings and they turn it up to max for 'virgins', a real 'Scream and Cream' fest...
sunphoenix posted:
Too True... always... as 'sticky' subject...
Stabby Mc Stabsalot posted:
Haha! Zing!
zero posted:
Have yet to get Unveiled Threats so I dunno what the thing looks like, but just reading what you've been saying so far, I'm reminded of the special machine Munchausen uses to summon the Kyo-O in Urotsukidoji 2.
KjetilKverndokken posted:
Yes, i was waiting for it, a thread on the book, if someone has read it - up on rpg.net, and someone is already complaining aout the item, that ctech is just a ig rapegasm or whatever....
Gawd...
sunphoenix posted:
{Sigh}...they have missed the entire point.
Honestly... if we had the technology to make something like that device... SOMEONE WOULD DO SO...
Just human nature.
Darkeus posted:
Again, very interesting.
It does go with the theme of the game but....
Very Hentai in other ways, not like that is a horrible thing...
Matthew Grau posted:
And yes, you can blame the Violator on me. However, as you can infer from the tone in the book, I am as disgusted with it as you are. After all, this is a Lovecraftian game. It would be disrespectful of me to not go there.
zero posted:
Well, that, the adventure with the Horned Ones and the Beckon the Unexpressed spell (with the caster having the Medical skill *cough*school nurse from Bible Black*cough*) can go to make a massive h-theme campaign if wanted...
Matthew Grau posted:
The reality is most people are going to have an opinion about material that is likely to be considered offensive that is very nature of offensive material. (And gamers, in most cases, are even more opinionated than non-gamers that is part of the passion that is the greatness of the hobby.) I could point out numerous analogs in other fiction, games, or movies even video games. They happen as a part of dark art, usually where appropriate. And there are always people who disagree.
CthulhuTech is a dark, messed up universe, as we all know and love. If every book was filled with nothing but horrible offensive things, then I would worry (and get my head checked). However, there is call sometimes to remind people of the dark end of the street and those are the parts of CthulhuTech that are like the Violator. For every person who is wildly offended by it, there is another who already has an idea of how they're going to use it in an adventure.
I'm sorry there are those out there who find it offensive or mishandled. However, the Violator was edited by no less than two other people besides myself before we sent it to press. We knew it was offensive (how could it not be), figured people would get the Overfiend homage, and thought it was handled in an adult fashion.
There are more than 120 pages of other content in Unveiled Threats. It's easy to ignore the Violator. Please take a moment to enjoy the rest of the book.
ThunderWave posted:
Skywalker posted:
I think perhaps the main reason is that this is the fourth time something like this has happened in a CTech book.
Only fourth? Every time I've seen it come up, it's been tasteful. Well, as tasteful as violation can possibly be. I've seen much much worse in other gaming books. You want to talk about obsession with violation, why don't you go talk to the creators of FATAL. They have some explaining to do.
martian_bob/9084021 posted:
Anyhow, here's my two cents. The Violator isn't my favorite thing in the book, sure, but all of the folks bitching about how it's not Lovecraftian or subtle enough need to take a breath and remember that this is a game where you can use your giant living robot to punch a Star-Spawn right in its stupid face.
After a moment of quiet reflection, one may notice that there is a difference in tone between this and, say, "Pickman's Model" or "The Color Out Of Space". Oh, it is a subtle and nuanced shift indeed! But for those who take the care to note the intricate contrasts, the distinction is apparent.
Stabby Mc Stabsalot posted:
For the mana? Really? I thought it was a device for making porn movies....
Err....
*Quickly stashes the camera and directors chair*
Honestly? I don't find the device offensive at all. In fact, it fits right into a setting with people brainwashed to serve as prostitutes, and all the other insane insanity that goes on in C-Tech. For some reason, when I read it, the device just seemed particularly *ahem* kinky to me.....
sunphoenix posted:
...hmmm need hot butter, some mud... 2 gallons of KY Jelly, one blonde, one brunette, one red head {better make that two}, one Amlati Xenomix, and a White Sidoci Xenomix with Project Emotion and Magnetism... heck go for broke throw in a Bubasti and a mind-wormed 'controlled' Vassiamon just to spice it up a bit...
... hell sounds like a night to remember!
...better have an intensive care unit ready...
'Don't care if a do Die!!!'
Urotsukidōji references: Respectful to Lovecraft.
The Chrysalis Corporation Is Dumb As A Sack Of Shit
Original SA post
Unveiled Threats: The Chrysalis Corporation Is Dumb As A Sack Of Shit
Alright, so basically what happened was I posted the Nazi rape machine and then life got in the way. Now I need a break, though, so I'm writing this!
So, Chapter Six: Ashcroft's Legacy . It is the arcanotech chapter! Skipping the opening fluff (for now, anyway) and the usual fluff about arcanotechnology we already know, let's see what items we've got! Each of these is like a page and a half, by the way.
• Integrated Side-Effect Enhancer: an experimental implant like the Engel/Nephilim Interfaces, created by a Dr Ngarivhume (you can tell he's a bad scientist because he is not Dr Miyakame, The Best Scientist). It tries to take advantage of the side-effect mentioned in the core book, where pilots of D-Engine vehicles feel "attuned" to their vehicles, by creating something that lets them learn to pilot anything up to mecha and advanced fighter craft in a matter of hours. Also this is great:
Unveiled Threats posted:
the Ngarivhume Lab published their seminal paper “Effects of Enhanced Operator Extension Side-Effect in Rodents” in May of 2085. Footage of ISEE-equipped rats navigating a maze in shoe-box-sized cars were such a cultural sensation that a children’s movie called “Rat Race,” featuring a team of rodent race car drivers, came out that winter. Cars, boats, even toy-sized mecha, the rodents could learn to pilot just about anything.
Also the rats turned into antisocial jerks who didn't want to bang any more, but Dr Ngarivhume thought that might make the ISEE look bad, so he declined to investigate and fast-tracked human trials. Subjects learned how to use their vehicles and spontaneously knew how to maintain them, but in a shocking upset they also started losing things like "empathy" and "emotion". Ashcroft people thought they might be identifying with the machines and recommended regular breaks, but then one of the test subjects tried to hack off his son's leg with a pocket knife because it was broken. The project was put on hold and Dr Ngarivhume kicked off it, but the NEG military might be pushing to keep going anyway.
You can get the ISEE as a Drawback, provided you're not an Engel pilot, Nephilim handler, para-psychic, sorcerer or Tager. You have a Student level of expertise in piloting any vehicle you spend time in, but start with an Insanity Point and have to test against more once per month like Tagers. They also have to make increasingly hard Insanity Tests for every hour they pilot it until they spend a day away from them.
• Dimensional Vibration Communications Portal (Vibe): a solution to the Migou shooting down communications satellites, discovered when one Lt. Kelany got too close to D-Engines with faulty shielding and went mad. Because of Vibrations and Dimensions and Technobabble, Vibes enable text-based communications from thousands of miles away with no signal loss.
Downsides! Ashcroft was worried (since it was literally based on introducing flaws in D-Engine shielding) and a recovered Lt. (now Colonel) Kelany thought making devices based on that one time she went crazy was a bad idea and stalled it, then this happened:
Unveiled Threats posted:
Barely a week after Col. Kelany’s order to stop Vibe deployment, the impossible happened. Nothing materialized physically through the Vibe portal, but the twisted, malign thoughts of some unknown malevolent extra-dimensional beings seeped their way into the transmissions carried on the Ashcroft Foundation’s harmonization frequency. Seventeen staff members were found dead at four separate research facilities in apparent murder-suicides, committed by the Vibe operators. Before taking their own lives, the operators had set their Vibe sets to broadcast the same message in Morse code, continuously repeating: “TEKELI-LI”.
And so humanity was warned: "STOP STEALING SHOGGOTH CABLE".
The Vibe is super important, though, so they are working on improving it. Some people still use them, just heavily warded.
• Remote Control Implant: Migou tech! They had the tech to fight humans, but they weren't expecting the Rapine Storm to sic terrifying monsters on them. Their solution is an implant that can be punched into a captive creature by a mecha, which lets them hijack their nervous system and control them like a puppet. One of these turned up inside a Gug in Damnation View when the PCs interrupted a training exercise, as can be seen here:
Unveiled Threats posted:
However, a mishap during a training exercise forced a change in their timetable. While laying waste to a village during a training exercise,
Then some of them started breaking free and going apeshit bananas all over Migou bases. It turns out they get to save against long-term control; the Migou also think Disciples of the Unnamable sorcerers are finding ways to break their control, and are working on fixing it.
• Cloning Pods: Apparently there's a faction of Migou who worship Gurathnaka and don't like the restrictions Migou society places on contacting "the dark powers of the universe". They got a vision that two of their failed, underfunded projects - one to find a way to recycle organic matter and one to make Blanks that wouldn't turn up on brain scans - could be combined to something amazing, and they managed to set up a secret base in Norilsk, Russia and give it a try!
The first team had devised "large, fungal organic digesters" which could turn organic matter into a sludge that wasn't refined enough for their nanofactories, but grew and operated without any energy requirements. The second team had concluded that the only way to do the brain thing would be to disintegrate it and then reconstitute it in a way the Migou desired, but they couldn't figure out how to do that. But combined:
Unveiled Threats posted:
Ironically enough, the majority of the knowledge Gurathnaka imparted to his faithful to solve this problem had been known to the Humans for centuries. The key lay in distilling an entity into its essential materials (in practice, a few ounces of fine powder and a few more of liquid), then recombining them while casting a ritual that would mold the brain during its regeneration.
The redesigned digester breaks down an unconscious person placed in it, the Migou do a ritual, and the digester puts them back together again, but loyal to the Migou in a way brain scans can't pick up. So far the Migou have cloned Blanks, unaltered Humans and a few Ghasts for shits and giggles, and the process seems to work on anything. The drawback is that Gurathnaka imparts "a fraction of his nightmarish harted" into the clones, turning them into aggressive assholes the Migou can barely control. The heretical cultists who set this whole thing up haven't done much with it yet, because Gurathnaka hasn't told them to.
Unveiled Threats posted:
Human society is largely unaware of the cloning pods, though a New Earth Government patrol discovered an abandoned pod field in Mongolia. Taking a sample back to the base, the arcanotechnicians there managed to get the odd fungus to grow on some agar growth medium and used it to clone an apple. One of them, a para-psychic, nearly went mad after sensing emotions emanating from the cloned apple – and that it... hated her.
It looked like an apple, but in her heart she knew it wasn't. In that instant, she completely understood the concept of an apple that was not an apple.
• QBattery: Oh boy, here we go.
This is a Chrysalis Corporation invention, originally designed to help perform rituals requiring blood sacrifices without attracting attention. The early "murder cube" version was just a soundproof box with a stray animal inside that got murdered and drained of blood when you pushed a button, but murder cubes large enough to hold people weren't exactly the level of secrecy they were looking for. The solution was simple: Smaller humans!
The QBattery has a baby inside.
(That is not the dumb bit.)
They were originally created with newborns in 2069. In 2081, the FSB arrested some corporate sorcerers who happened to own a dead baby cube. They couldn't confiscate it thanks to "strong intellectual property laws", even though the cube was trailing fucking blood , and Chrysalis busted out a coverup story about a prototype energy source worth billions that was totally bankrolled by some politicians ready to swear they had checked it out and nothing about it was weird. Originally they were just going to wait a while and pretend the project failed, but a Ciraqen had a great idea, and a few years later they were ready to release!
The QBattery contains a fetal child, hooked up to some devices to keep it alive and a mask stuck to its face to protect it and monitor its vitals. The battery slowly drains its life force, providing 60 points of Ruach at 3 per hour until it shrivels into a husk. When it came out Chrysalis-controlled media hailed it as the best thing since sliced D-Engines; everyone else thought they were full of shit, but its heavy shielding "prevented all but the most cursory inspection of the device’s inner workings".
So what's the drawback? Well:
Unveiled Threats posted:
The product, while moderately successful, hasn’t made as big a splash as some expected. Most business analysts agree this is due in large part to the unprecedented level of control the Corporation imposes on obtaining one. Any individual wishing to secure the device must first apply to Chrysalis for a QBattery Operator’s License, a process which involves a written exam and full background check. Hidden in the fine print of the application are provisions essentially stripping the applicant of their privacy and allowing the Chrysalis Corporation to access all facets of the applicant’s life, regardless of whether or not the license is granted.
Oh yeah, also any location containing a QBattery is considered Chryalis property as far as entry, search and seizure by Chrysalis forces is concerned. Also, Chrysalis approves each individual sale and tightly controls who gets them, mostly only selling them to other corporations as part of larger deals. Also, the fluff text at the start of this chapter? It's about Ashcroft Foundation scientists who have a QBattery anonymously delivered to them and, suspicious of the control Chrystalis exerts over them, disable its defenses, get inside and discover its dark secrets. It ends with them wondering who they'll tell, because Chrysalis is huge and can cover up all kinds of --
Wait, aren't you guys the biggest corporation in the world, with influence at every level of government? Even if you can't crack this case wide open with your billions of dollars, you don't have to tell anyone! Ashcroft can just dedicate resources to fucking Chrysalis over, and now they have an excuse. Oh, and one of the scientists states "we're within a year of having a competing model that will make the QBattery obsolete".
So, to recap: The QBattery is a dead baby-powered magic battery the Chrysalis Corporation made public to turn a profit, only nobody wants to buy them because it's a huge hassle and Chrysalis usually won't let them anyway. Making it public also made the Ashcroft Foundation, their biggest (and bigger!) competitor, grow suspicious and get their hands on one, and now their cover has been blown in front of their potentially biggest enemy, who are going to make a non-dead-baby version that'll blow theirs out of the water anyway.
Why would Chrysalis think any of this was a good idea?
This isn't the end of the chapter but it sure is the zenith. Next time: More stuff I guess.
Sex Leeches
Original SA post
<Kai_Tave> Hey Ettin, where are my Ctech reviews
<Kai_Tave> It's like you gave up after the
literal nazi rape machine
<Kai_Tave> for SOME reason
<TurninTrix> i would
<Kai_Tave> tbf the nazi rape machine is like peak cthulhutech
<Kai_Tave> it's never going to be quite as entertainingly terrible after that.
This is true but fuck all y'all:
Unveiled Threats: Sex Leeches
Last time:
Arcanotech chapter, baby-powered magic batteries, the Chrysalis Corporation are dumb as shit, blah blah. Let's talk about more dumbshit inventions!
•
Extreme Therapy Aid And Receptacle:
quote:
The initial proposal for the research which would come to challenge the Ashcroft Foundation's dominance in the treatment of psychological disorders was penned by Chrysalis Corporation's Director himself. Humanity had become disturbingly adept at combating madness, the very playground of the Old Ones, and could not be allowed to gain full dominion over this potent force. Besides, insanity was proving to be a growth industry with limitless potential and there were shareholders to keep happy.
This device is a chair designed to suck the crazy out of your head and store it. It's described as a chair "similar to one a dentist or gynecologist might have" - I wonder what kind of dentists Grau has been to - with restraints, tentacle-like probes that wrap around your head and do technobabble at you, and a bowling ball filled with green fluid where all the crazy goes. It's a painful experience and people who use it need to be on suicide watch for a few months afterward because it makes people depressed for a while ("like someone had violated their very essence"), but it can remove one Insanity Point per week can cure anyone in ten, so Chrysalis still makes a mint in its treatment centers. They won't sell or license the tech to anyone, even the NEG. It's almost like all Chrysalis tech has a hidden catch or something.
The catch here is the Extreme Therapy Receptacle, where all the crazy glows. When the green fluid turns into black sludge the Receptacle is sent back to the Corporation to be "recycled", but really the Corporation hoards the ones filled with crazy. There are some attached rumours about how it's really a brainwashing device and they're planning to use the crazy Receptacles to open a rift, so I'm guessing they're true.
Anyway, sex leeches.
• Erogenous Enhancement Leech:
quote:
For those obsessed with fornication, the Strange Aeon is a good time to be alive. Sex clubs, swinger's parties, and the loosest morality laws in human memory all create an atmosphere where casual sex and indulgence in just about any fetish or fantasy barely causes one to bat an eyelash. For the wealthy and powerful, it's even better. While a century ago a businessman might have to fly halfway around the world to force himself on a twelve year-old boy, today he can just go down to his local Dionysus Club on his lunch hour – provided, of course, that he’s a member in good standing, having violated his own morals and set himself and the world around him down the road to decay and depravity.
quote:
While a century ago a businessman might have to fly halfway around the world to force himself on a twelve year-old boy,
I think you'll find it's "twelve-year-old", CthulhuTech .
Anyway! Some people are hard for the Dionysus Club to slowly corrupt with increasingly debauched rewards, because they're fine with just going straight to their biggest fantasy. Those guys get the Erogenous Enhancement Leech. I was just going to type up a description while saying "Erogenous Enhancement Leech" a lot because it's hilarious, but here:
quote:
After being placed within about ten inches of the genitals, this pus-yellow organism, a little smaller than the human kidney, attaches to the host via dozens of small suckers along the underside of its segmented body. Once attached, it begins secreting a hormone into the blood stream that ampli-fies pleasurable sensations to astronomical levels. The process is completely painless, although it's unlikely the host would notice even if it wasn't. The experience is so overwhelming, so all-encompassing, that every other experience pales in comparison.
Being a parasite, the leech only produces this enzyme in order to feed on its host. Once the host reaches orgasm, the leech has compromised the biomystical energy of the host body to the point where it can drain the host's Orgone. Unless the host is a sorcerer or para-psychic (something the Death Shadows are careful to avoid), the only sensation felt is one of contented exhaustion. No permanent damage is done, the host walks away with a healthy glow, and the organism crawls off with a full belly.
The Erogenous Enhancement Leech drains 2/3 your total Orgone per orgasm, and if you have "more than one orgasm per 24-hour period" with it, the Erogenous Enhancement Leech starts draining your willpower instead - victims start temporarily losing Tenacity. The Dionysus Club uses the Erogenous Enhancement Leech this way to turn people unfit for promotion but too useful to kill into puppets.
quote:
One such victim was a prominent politician in the New Earth Government Senate, known for his strong moral stance and focus on family values. To the surprise and revulsion of his colleagues, he introduced legislation to drop the age of consent to pre-pubescent levels, setting off a firestorm of criticism against him and his political party. Weeks later, he was implicated in a child prostitution ring, resigning from the Senate in disgrace and further lowering the average citizen's opinion of their government.
Oh, also:
quote:
The secret to breeding and tending the erogenous enhancement leeches is a closely guarded secret within the Death Shadows cult, known to very few.
Somewhere out there is a scientist whose specialised, prestigious role is being the Pokemon Daycare of Erogenous Enhancement Leeches.
• The Pass: The last item in this chapter is pretty simple - an app made by the Disciples of Death's Shadow where gamblers can bet on anything, from whether a local store will close this month to whether a politician has a mistress to the results of military operations. The Disciples take a 3% cut of every wager, and they also snuck something into the app that takes the emotional "temperature" of gamblers and thereby get a read of the general mood in the NEG. Pretty handy!
The final chapter is Chapter Six: Alien Hands . It is pages and pages of Migou/Esoteric Order of Dagon weapons and armour, great if you like that kind of thing but boring to read. There's a nice fiction piece at the start about a Deep One hybrid weaponsmith who is super proud of his work, though.
And... that's it, actually. It's done finally! That was Unveiled Threats , the book I decided to skip to because it was quick almost literally a year ago. Enjoy, fuckers.
. . .
Okay, now that's done, let's talk future posts.
First: I'm gonna try and do more of this shit, but I don't know what. There are two books left, take your votes:
Ancient Enemies: A Tager/Dhohanoid sourcebook, and the one I skipped already. It goes into a lot of detail, so there's some pretty goofy shit! Optional rules for Tagers upgrading Guyver-style that badly need houserules, new kinds of Tagers that weren't thought through very well, surprisingly boring new Dhohanoids, and more!
Burning Horizon: The 2013 release, a metaplot sourcebook for 2087. As in, sequel to Damnation View. There's no rape furries in this one, but if hearing about ridiculous metaplot that makes no fucking sense if you think about it for two seconds and way better new Tagers is your thing, this book is absolutely for you.
Second: People keep asking me about my previous posts, but the original thread fell into the archives before it got goldmined, so a lot of them can't be read right now. I was thinking of just copying and dumping all my posts into a single CthulhuTech thread for the ages, but there are problems with that, so I'm not sure. Who's got ideas?