Civility must be rewarded.

If it isn’t rewarded, there’s no use for it.

There’s just no use for it at all.
— Dr. Logan, Day of the Dead

An adventure for the World of Darkness

using the Storytelling Adventure System

STORYTELLING ADVENTURE SYSTEM

SCENES MENTAL OOOOO XP LEVEL

10 0-34
PHYSICAL OOOOO
SOCIAL OOOOO
 Civility must be rewarded.
If it isn’t rewarded, there’s no use for it.
There’s just no use for it at all.
— Dr. Logan, Day of the Dead

An adventure for the World of Darkness

using the Storytelling Adventure System

Written by Matt McFarland Developed by Chuck Wendig

Edited by Michelle Lyons Layout by Mike Chaney
Art: Brian Leblanc and Eric Kolbek
© 2012 CCP hf. All rights reserved. Reproduction without the written permission of the publisher is expressly forbidden, except for the
purposes of reviews, and one printed copy which may be reproduced for personal use only. White Wolf, Vampire and World of Darkness are
registered trademarks of CCP hf. All rights reserved. Vampire the Requiem, Werewolf the Forsaken, Mage the Awakening, Promethean the Created,
Changeling the Lost, Hunter the Vigil, Geist the Sin-Eaters, Storytelling System and Parlor Games are trademarks of CCP hf. All rights reserved.
All characters, names, places and text herein are copyrighted by CCP hf. CCP North America Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of CCP hf. The
mention of or reference to any company or product in these pages is not a challenge to the trademark or copyright concerned. This book
uses the supernatural for settings, characters and themes. All mystical and supernatural elements are fiction and intended for entertainment
purposes only. This book contains mature content. Reader discretion is advised.
 Introduction
The World of Darkness is terrifying, broken place. It has all of the problems
and tragedies of our own, familiar world, but monsters also lurk in the shadows.
Their presence makes the world more dangerous in a plethora of ways. Some of the
supernatural beings prey on people in a literal sense — vampires drink the blood of
the unwary, for instance, and crazed beasts hunt down people for their flesh. But
other such beings simply make the world unsafe. They wage their secret wars and
claim their territories and they all seek to keep the unknowing masses out.
Knowledge is like water. It seeks to escape. It finds its own level. It seeps into
everything, and no matter how well-maintained the secret, someone eventually
learns it. In the soul of every living being in the world is the potential to know,
to become part of this secret. And now, one brilliant woman has decided that the
world can no longer afford to be ignorant.
Falling Scales is the first installment in a four-part chronicle. While these
stories are meant to build on one another, they are also written so as to be useful
and playable on their own. The only book necessary to run Falling Scales is
the World of Darkness Rulebook. If your troupe wishes to play through this
Falling Scales

Introduction
story using characters from one of the other World of Darkness games (or even
a mix of several!), information for doing so is provided.

Treatment
The characters in Falling Scales become aware of the Unmasked, a cult
whose members believe that secret-keeping is always destructive. The cult
investigates paranormal occurrences and catalogues them, searching for as
much information as it can. At the lowest levels of membership, though, the
cult behaves very much like a predatory self-help group. It engages in love-
bombing and low-level brainwashing to get people on board, and then freely
uses their time, money and other resources to further its agenda. The leader of
the cult is a woman named Anna Christopher. She exemplifies the idea that
the ends justify the means. She knows more about the truth of the supernatural
than most people ever could without actually becoming something more than
human, and that knowledge has cost her more than just sleep. She feels that
the world is in a state of emergency—the truth needs to come out, and if that
means she has to bankrupt or burn out a few people, so be it.
The characters become involved with the cult after seeing the supernatural
up close. A member of the cult witnesses the same thing they do, but does not
become involved in the grisly scene. Instead, he merely takes pictures and flees.
The next day, a representative of the cult contacts the characters, explaining
that because they have already seen the otherworldly at work, they can join the
Unmasked and bypass the “self-help” front that the group puts on. During this
meeting, though, the cultist (a young man named Nick Holcomb), receives a
call from his higher-ups in the cult and abruptly breaks off the conversation.
He has, it seems, said too much.

1
 and connections and can arrange for the characters to be harassed, evicted and
even arrested. Eventually some kind of confrontation will be necessary, and the
About the characters can dismantle the Unmasked entirely.
Even then, the characters aren’t free. As they work with the Unmasked,
Storytelling Adventure System they find themselves changing. The cult has infected them with a kind of mental
If this is your first Storytelling Adventure System virus, an affliction that changes their souls. This affliction has its benefits — but
(SAS) product, you’ve chosen a fine place to start. as the characters will see in future chapters of this story, it is also progressive.
To keep this story kit lean and focused, though,
we haven’t included a lot of the core premises and
Storyteller suggestions that are at the heart of the
Themes: Courage and Will
SAS. Whether you’re a new Storyteller or an old The citizens of the World of Darkness are not unaware of the supernatural,
hand, be sure to read the free SAS Guide, found at least not entirely. On some level, people know that the shadows are dangerous
at the SAS website: and they avoid them. As in our world, most people have a ghost story to tell. It’s
just that in the World of Darkness these stories are true more often than not.
www.white-wolf.com/sas Despite this widespread suspicion that the stories and legends have more
Here are some of the features available in than just a kernel of truth, people don’t generally dedicate time and effort to
Falling Scales: learning that truth. Why? It isn’t just fear and it’s not just self-preservation.
Most people simply do not have the will to pursue this dangerous vocation.
• Interactive links. Clicking on anything in blue will Those who do usually have lost loved ones or otherwise been directly victim-
Falling Scales

Introduction
take you directly to the section referenced, or to an ized by the supernatural, but people like that form the base of Hunter: The
appropriate character sheet or prop. It may also take Vigil. Some people don’t have anything personal in the matter. Like any good
you to an external website that could be useful. detective, they simply hate mysteries.
• Scenes. Clicking on a scene name in the scene Throughout Falling Scales, try to reward players who take direct, un-
flowchart or the page number in the scene card prompted and decisive action. Maybe that comes in the form of extra experience
will take you to the full write-up of the scene. points, a small dice pool bonus or just a greater likelihood that their plans will
work. The more the characters act without overthinking or having to be led
• Bookmarks. This PDF is fully bookmarked, so around, the more they are embracing the theme of this story.
you can jump to major sections at any time when

Mood: Down the Rabbit Hole

the file is open.

Once learned, the truth can’t be unlearned. Once the characters know, for
a fact, that inhuman beings exist, they can’t go back to ignorance. This kind of
Shortly thereafter, Maricel Lazaro finds the characters and attempts to irrevocable discovery should permeate Falling Scales. As Storyteller, you should
kill them (she may even bring friends along, if you think the characters would underline it when possible. A good way to do that is to occasionally run scenes
appreciate a tougher fight). Once the characters have defeated her—or before with the characters in otherwise mundane situations and mention how their
the fight ends, if they need assistance—several members of the cult arrive. They new knowledge makes them filter other innocuous information.
take the characters to meet Anna Christopher, the cult leader. She informs For example: A character, after playing through A Glimpse of the Un-
them in no uncertain terms that they have seen too much of the supernatural known, goes to a bar to get a drink. A woman approaches him flirtatiously.
not to be members and offers them positions in the cult’s upper echelons (re- Under normal circumstances, the character might think himself lucky and be
served for those with direct experience). Of course, from this perspective, the anticipating what the rest of the evening might bring. But after seeing Maricel
characters can see the harm that the cult does to its lower-level members and Lazaro murder a man in that opening scene, can he really afford to be so trusting?
they can (and should) take exception. For the rest of his life, he will view any such behavior on the part of women as
From there, the characters can either work with (or within) the Unmasked, suspect, even if, rationally, he knows that such creatures are extremely rare.
searching out the supernatural and cataloging it, or they can refuse and have This kind of realization is sobering and terrifying. The Storyteller shouldn’t
the cult attempt to bring them down. The Unmasked have immense power miss an opportunity to remind the players of it.

2
 Falling Scales Across the World of Darkness Mage: The Awakening
Running this story with mages would be a challenge, no question. Even a
This story is meant for mortal characters, with no (or very little) supernatural
influence. However, if you wish to play through Falling Scales with characters that cabal of newly Awakened mages can potentially destroy or easily track Mari-
have already received supernatural templates, it’s by no means impossible. It just cel Lazaro, read the cult’s intentions and even hunt down and finish of Anna
requires a bit more work on your part. Below are some suggestions and considerations Christopher without waiting for any “reveals” from the Storyteller.
for doing so. Additionally, under each scene in Falling Scales, we’ve included any The best advice in this situation is simply to run with it. If the characters
special considerations or rules that might be required for that scene. are being proactive and using their powers creatively, that’s fine. It’s even in-
Note, too, that the memetic infection afflicting the characters has different theme for Falling Scales. You can have the Unmasked follow the characters,
effects on non-mortal characters. These effects are noted under the Memetic making Paradox worse simply by being present. If the characters resolve the
Infection heading below. cult’s plotline too quickly, simply introduce the memetic infection earlier and
shift that to the main plot thread.
Vampire: The Requiem Promethean: The Created
Getting a coterie of Kindred into Falling Scales is fairly simple, because
the opening plotline with Maricel should be interesting to vampires. She is, Prometheans might actually be more susceptible to the cults brainwash-
after all, a vampire herself, but not Kindred. If the characters have an ounce ing methods than mortals. After all, they have no context for many social
of curiosity about their own undead condition among them, that should be an manipulation methods used, and they are, as a rule, lonely and cut off from
irresistible lead. much of society. Of course, the cult isn’t immune to Disquiet and that means
that love-bombing can turn into an angry, torch-wielding mob all too quickly.
Falling Scales

The problem comes when the characters become involved with the cult.

Introduction
The Unmasked don’t make value judgments about vampires per se, but they Likewise, the Created don’t have a larger society telling them to stay hidden
do take special interest in vampires because they are such recognizable super- from people (though they tend to learn that quickly on their own). As such,
natural beings. And that means that simply by paying attention to folklore, the the Unmasked might well be able to use a throng of Prometheans to expose
Unmasked already know many of the characters’ weaknesses (to wit: sunlight, the supernatural, at least to the immediate area.
wooden stakes, a need for blood, distorted reflections, etc.). The characters im- As far as using Prometheans as characters in Falling Scales, some of the same
mediately become science projects because the Unmasked already have enough considerations arise as with vampires and werewolves. The Created are usually
context to know what questions to ask. That also means that when things turn tough enough, physically, that Maricel won’t be much of a threat, and they have
sour between the characters and the cult, the cult might not be satisfied with a diverse enough range of powers that the cult itself might prove only a minor
simply emptying their bank accounts. They might decide to find them at noon issue. But the entire experience should make for some interesting milestones, and
and try to take them for a stroll. the memetic infection presents its own unique issues for the Created.

Werewolf: The Forsaken Changeling: The Lost

The biggest immediate concern with running Falling Scales with a Changelings are, in many ways, abuse survivors. That doesn’t make
pack of werewolves is that they will probably kill Maricel Lazaro during them weak or pathetic (anyone who would call an abuse survivor “weak”
the first scene. If you don’t want to allow that, you can try and set the has their own issues anyway), but it does mean that they are somewhat
scene in such a way that she can easily slip away, but beware of forcing this damaged by the experience. And that, unfortunately, makes them prime
issue. Werewolves are good at hunting and killing, and if you deliberately recruiting fodder for cults. While the Unmasked might not be able to key
shut them down in this area the players might justifiably get frustrated. in on precisely what traumatic experience a changeling is hiding, cult lead-
This might mean skipping No Witnesses, but that shouldn’t damage the ers are adept at recognizing that such experiences are lurking in a person’s
overall story. psychological makeup. It might be better, though, just to get details about
Werewolves aren’t as obvious as vampires, so they probably won’t run a character’s Durance and then refer to it during the game (and reward the
into the same issues that Kindred will with regard to the Unmasked. How- player for portraying the reaction that this engenders).
ever, werewolves need to be careful to avoid exposure, and the Unmasked Changelings make good characters for Falling Scales. You still have
might realize that they can provoke werewolves into Changing in public to deal with their fae powers and how those change the considerations of
places with the right kinds of stimuli (this puts innocent people at risk, the story, but changelings are diverse enough that it’s hard to know exactly
but Anna Christopher has no problem with that). which areas of the story might need tweaking. If the characters are Ogres

3
 and Beasts and combat-capable, then the fight with Maricel might be over
quickly. If the characters are Fairest and socially adept, the cult will pose
less of a problem.
Backstory and Set-up
Before we get into the story proper, some backstory and introduction to the
characters is probably helpful. The Storyteller should pay close attention to the
Hunter: The Vigil events preceding Falling Scales, both because it will help him work this story
Hunters are human, even the ones with supernatural body parts implanted into an existing chronicle (if necessary) and because the players will likely think
or demonic pedigrees. As such, they should work in the story as written. Bear of avenues of approach not covered by the following scenes. If the Storyteller
in mind, though, that hunters who belong to Compacts and Conspiracies are knows what came before and what the principal characters’ motivations are,
less susceptible to the cult’s blandishments because they already have a strong he will be much better able to roll with the proverbial punches.
support system.
On that subject, the Unmasked cult is in essence a Compact (though a
Compact with a larger force behind it, but that isn’t relevant for purposes of Backstory

Backstory and Set-up

Falling Scales). That means that if you want to give Unmasked members the Anna Christopher buried her brother three years ago. He was, officially,
ability to risk Willpower or even use Tactics, this is entirely appropriate. the victim of a mugging gone wrong and bled to death in an alley after being
stabbed in the neck. Anna, however, didn’t accept that — her brother was an
Geist: The Sin-Eaters experienced boxer and knew how to assess a threat. She started digging and
discovered that while his death had been the result of blood loss, almost no
Sin-Eaters are powerful enough that this story might not prove much of a blood was found in the alley.
challenge…but that said, the memetic infection hits them especially hard (see
Falling Scales

This was the final bit of confirmation that Anna needed. Vampires were
below). Like mages, Sin-Eaters might move through Falling Scales quickly and real, and in that second of cold certainty, she admitted to herself everything
think that they have dispatched a troublesome opponent (two, really, given she’d always suspected. Werewolves, ghosts, monsters — all of them shared a
both Maricel and the cult) with little problem, until they discover that the world with normal humans. Those humans knew nothing, not because they
voices of their geists are growing faint. couldn’t learn, but because they chose to ignore. Anna decided to make a dif-
ferent choice.
Supernatural Tolerance She founded the Unmasked with the intent of hunting down supernatural
Some of the systems in this story refer to “Supernatural Tolerance.” This is the beings and learning the truth about them, but she realized early on that doing
trait that measures the strength of a character’s otherworldly knowledge, energy or so would be hazardous to her life. Instead, she started offering “the truth” to
potency. Though it goes by different titles in the various games (and means different people who had “seen things they couldn’t explain.” She couched her language
things), the trait is often added to contested resistance rolls. A character’s Supernatural in a lot of religious and life-coaching double-talk, both to appeal to a broad
Tolerance trait is Blood Potency, Primal Urge, Gnosis, Azoth, Wyrd or Psyche. spectrum of clients and to throw any supernatural beings off her trail. But what
she discovered was that she wasn’t alone. Many, many people in the greater
Terminology Denver area alone had heard the howls at night. They explained to their
children that those were just coyotes, but some part of them suspected that
Throughout Falling Scales, we refer to non-supernatural characters (which in-
the wails, those horrible noises that seemed to grow just slightly louder under
cludes the hunters of Hunter: The Vigil) as “mortals.” Strictly speaking, werewolves,
the full moon, were wolves. Those people were willing to give good money to
changelings and mages are mortal, but the word “mortals” makes for smoother read-
Anna Christopher to be given some context, some way to make that bone-deep
ing than “non-supernatural human being.” Likewise, we use the term “supernatural
certainty make sense.
character” to refer to vampires, werewolves, mages, Prometheans, changelings,
Was it simple greed that motivated Anna to found her group, or was it
Sin-Eaters and ghouls. Again, hunters don’t fall under this umbrella.
the possibility of saving some lives or raising some awareness? Even Anna isn’t
entirely sure. As her support group grew and people drove in from Boulder,
Colorado Springs, and even further afield, she lost some of her focus and con-
centrated more on the money-making aspect of the group. It was only a few
weeks later that she got a visit from the vampire that killed her brother.
The vampire attempted to bind her, feeding her blood and turning her
into a slave, but the memetic infection was already at work and she resisted
the attempt. The vampire returned, every few nights, for repeated “therapy,”
4
 and every time Anna grew a bit more suspicious. He wound up hastening the •­­ The­ Eyes are the Gateway to the Soul. Anna trains people to use their
infection; she progressed to stage four within a month — at which point her peripheral vision rather than to make eye contact. As such, cultists don’t
soul became inviolate and he couldn’t bind her. Anna realized what he was seem to focus on non-cultists, though they hold conversation normally.
and what he was doing and sent a small group of her most trusted clients to They look over shoulders, off to the side, or slightly down. This gives them
deal with him. They pulled him from his haven in the middle of the day and an unfocused and disembodied affect, but also makes it difficult for powers
burned him. They were later arrested for arson and trespassing, but sent away that rely on eye contact (such as the Dominate Discipline) to work.
with minor fines (after all, there was no evidence of foul play — vampires’
bodies turn to dust on Final Death). •­­ The­Ears are the Gateway to the Mind. Low-level cultists hum almost constantly
Anna was still free, but her eyes had been opened to even greater truths. when they aren’t actively engaged in conversation, and sometimes when they
She sought out the paranormal, following up on the stories that her clients told are. More informed members keep an earbud in their left ears, playing soft but
her. She tracked down the occult beings of the Denver area, and saw werewolves, constant music or white noise. This ostensibly gives the members something
ghosts, spirits, mages and creatures too strange to name. The things she learned to focus on, again in case of magic that works through sound.

Backstory and Set-up

convinced her that she would need to alter her organization’s setup a bit. She
•­­ The­Voice is the Gateway to Betrayal. Anna admonishes the cult members
“promoted” some of her members, explained her real reasoning in structuring
to remember that someone is always listening. Her rule of thumb: Never
the Unmasked the way she did. Some she only told that the supernatural was
say anything out loud that you wouldn’t put on a billboard. Her trusted
real (which they suspected anyway) and that she wanted them to recruit others
cult members are therefore masters of inane chatter, practiced at sounding
and learn their stories. Others were given specific information and sent on mis-
interested without saying anything of value. Some of them give away what
sions, hunting down and recording known supernatural beings. These people
were chosen for unfailing loyalty and complete submission to the Unmasked seems to be personal information but simply lie about it, making up whatever
Falling Scales

— if caught or killed, they wouldn’t reveal their associations. Although Anna answers seem most useful.
didn’t know it, those people were also infected. The end result of the Gateways is that cult members seem interested but unfo-
The Unmasked cult has grown and spread across the region. Anna, cused, present but not engaged. The low-level members just come off as intoxicated,
however, remains the true head of it. The group holds quarterly seminars in stupid or vapid, but people like Abe Church and his soldiers blend into crowds,
Denver where all members are expected to attend (obviously they have no listen to conversations from across rooms, and go from blending into the background
way to enforce this except social pressure, but that’s enough). Anna has fast listening to an mp3 player to right next to a target holding a knife in seconds.
become a millionaire, and works intently to spread her cult (and the memetic In terms of game systems, low-level cult members all receive the Meditative Mind
infection) as far as she can. Merit. Experienced and trusted cult members also receive a +1 modifier to Stealth and
As Anna worked, she discovered that there were limits to what she could Subterfuge rolls. The Storyteller determines which bonus(es) a given member has.
learn about the arcane by simple observation. She needed a way to control
the circumstances in which she would see them use their powers, but the only
way to do that was to call them out. For that, she needed bait. Fortunately, Set-up
Anna runs a cult. Low-level members or members who have risen in ranks The characters need to be together when the story starts, but they don’t
too quickly for her comfort are given suicide missions. She sends them into necessarily have to know one another. They simply all need to be able to see
known supernatural territory or points out a target and tells her members Maricel feeding. Some suggestions:
to pick a fight (generally giving them a story about how dangerous a given •­ The­characters­are­all­attending­a­late­showing­of­the­same­movie.­Maricel­
creature is, but providing the cultists with a substance that will purportedly is feeding in the alley behind the theater, if you want to be traditional. If you
repel the creature — which is, of course, useless). She makes sure her trusted feel slightly more daring, though, you might have her feeding in the theater
team of bodyguards and technicians is nearby to record the carnage. proper, maybe stuffing the victim’s mouth with a scarf so he can’t scream.

The Face of the Cult •­­ The­characters­are­all­members­of­a­local­organization­—­church­group,­

Anna Christopher and Abe Church train the cult members in basic medita- scout group, teacher’s association, union, book club, parkour club, what-
tion techniques, from the lowest warm body up through the trusted lieutenants. ever the players might find cool. They’re out meeting and doing whatever
The idea is to keep supernatural beings from gleaning information from the it is they do together when they stumble across Maricel and her victim.
cultists’ minds. It works on three principles. Anna refers to these principles as Best to play this kind of scene up for the awkward moment when they
the Gateways: find the Aswang and realize, no, they’re not kissing — she’s killing him.

5
 •­­ The­characters­are­paparazzi­or­assorted­hangers-on­of­a­celebrity­(pick­
or create an appropriate star). The star manages to lose them — but New Elements
Falling Scales makes use of material from World of Darkness: Antagonists.
they find Maricel instead.
Specifically, Maricel Lazaro is an Aswang, a type of vampiric (but non-Kindred)
•­­ The­characters­are­all­friends­in­the­area­for­a­high­school­reunion.­
creature native to the Philippines. Her traits and relevant powers are found
Maricel might have dragged her victim into the back of the hall where
in The Cast, below.
the reunion is being held, or she might have grabbed the class president
in the parking lot. In any case, have the players come up with some
appropriate high school history for their characters, and then use this
story to put those relationships into a new context.
Memetic Infection
The Unmasked spread an infection among them. Perhaps they discovered
•­­ Have­each­player­come­up­with­some­recent­tragedy­—­death­in­the­fam- it, or perhaps they created it. It’s possible, even probable, that they had no idea
ily, messy breakup, generally lonely existence, it doesn’t matter. They what they were doing when they introduced this “disease” to their member-
all meet randomly, perhaps just stopping in to the same diner to grab ship. But the fact remains that the infection is there, virulent, and probably
a cup of coffee one night, but they see Maricel and her hapless victim incurable. The infection takes the form of the most insidious thing in the
(maybe her victim is the line cook) in the kitchen. The characters are world: an idea.
strangers, united by nothing more than circumstance, but the misery The base of the idea is simple: The supernatural is real. The memetic infec-
they were feeling before they met provides the cult with an emotional tion plays on the human brain’s tendency to look for patterns and recognizable
“in” later. shapes. This is a tendency that human beings evolved to help them survive — a

New Elements
Falling Scales

shadow that looks like a threat elicits a response from the brain as though the
threat were real, even if it isn’t. A false positive (shadow perceived as threat)
The City of Denver won’t be fatal, but a false negative (threat perceived as shadow) might be. It
is this tendency that makes people in the real world hear voices in static and
(The information presented here on the city of Denver is necessarily sparse
and focuses on the information most likely to be useful in Falling Scales. A imagine they are ghosts, or patterns in burnt toast and imagine they are mes-
Storyteller preparing to run this story might wish to find some photographs and sages from God.
other information online about the Mile High City. The Rocky Mountain region In the World of Darkness, this evolution takes on an interesting twist,
is also covered in the Werewolf: The Forsaken supplement Hunting Ground: because the paranormal actually is real. The human brain still has the same
Rockies, though most of the information on Denver in that book deals with tendencies — if anything, people in the World of Darkness are probably more
the werewolves and their battle against a powerful spirit in the Denver area. prone to seeing human figures in shadows or flickers of movement in empty
A quick online search can turn up data, photographs, history and hopefully rooms. The memetic infection is an idea that lodges in that area of the brain
inspiration for your Denver-based game.) and then begins to adapt it.
Denver is the capital city of Colorado and is located between the Rocky As the infection progresses, the infected character becomes able to sub-
Mountains and the High Plains. Its elevation is exactly one mile about sea consciously recognize supernatural beings through normally imperceptible
level, earning the nickname “Mile High City.” Denver’s population is roughly “tells.” These tells are, again, reminiscent of something already present in the
600,000 in the city itself, with another 1.5 in the greater Denver area. human social experience: microexpressions. Microexpressions are involuntary
Denver boasts five light rails as well as a bus system, but also accommodates and almost imperceptible changes in affect and facial expression that correlate
cyclists and is considered extremely “walkable” as a large city. to emotion or reaction. It is possible that, by recognizing microexpressions, an
Denver has a large number of parks — more than 200 in the city alone. observer can detect lies or hostile intent (though, as always, it’s not nearly as
In the World of Darkness, this allows werewolves more latitude then they clear-cut as television shows make it out to be). But, again, in the World of
might get in cities without as much greenspace. Werewolves aren’t dependent Darkness, things are a little difference.
on forests and parks, but such areas allow them to spend more time in wolf Vampires instinctively shy away from bright lights and reflective surfaces.
form without being noticed, and this, in turn, allows them to keep themselves Werewolves touch their packmates without thinking about it and sniff the
under control. Like many heavily populated areas, Denver has a good number air much more often than human beings. Mages stare into space or lose focus
of vampires, mages and other supernatural beings. multiple times per minute (sometimes casting spells, other times distracted by
the sheer amount of information they can perceive). Prometheans’ expressions
are often completely wrong, since they aren’t human and do not have the hu-
man reflexes necessary for true microexpressions. Changelings’ expressions vary,
6
 but usually have to do with kith: a Snowskin closes her hands slowly (to break that she has not explicitly identified, but she can add them to her “library” if
the ice on her knuckles), while a Tunnelgrub moves around corners headfirst. she does so.
Sin-Eaters glance over their shoulders, into corners, or into empty rooms as When the character has had contact with multiple forms of the arcane
though they expect to see someone there (and often they do — either a ghost or has had direct, interactive experience with such a being (being bitten by a
or the geists that share their minds). werewolf, fed on or Dominated by a vampire, undergone a memory alteration
Any supernatural being displays these sorts of tells, but most people have spell), the infection progresses to stage three. In this stage, not only is the
no way to know what they are seeing. At best, a mortal observer might simply character’s brain seeing the patterns that mark other beings as otherworldly, but
feel that a given person is “weird” in some way, and even then they only tend the infection is altering her soul so that their powers don’t affect her as strongly.
to notice in obvious cases (low-Humanity vampires, Prometheans, etc.). The She is, in essence, developing antibodies. She has no conscious control over this
memetic infection boosts the subject’s ability to detect these “supernatural effect, however, and the resistance is low enough that a powerful supernatural
expressions.” Anna Christopher might have had this ability naturally, but her being might not notice it. The character can also instinctively recognize when
ability to spread it to others marks it as something other than a savant-like a supernatural effect is used on her directly, however, and develops the ability
talent. The infection progresses in four stages. to feel such effects used in her proximity.
In stage one, the characters gains lim-
ited ability to recognize supernatural beings.
Note, though, that unless he has seen un-
equivocal evidence that the paranormal ex-
ists, this ability manifests as a simple distrust
of (or fascination with) certain people. The
Falling Scales

character often tries to assign commonality

between people that trigger this response,
even if none exists. Again, people are adept
at finding or making up patterns: if a stage-
one infected tends to see such characters in
a particular neighborhood, he’ll probably
assume it’s the neighborhood, and not the
people, that cause the reaction. Strange
though not necessarily unpleasant dreams
often accompany this stage, but no other
side effects present themselves.
The infection progresses to stage
two when the character encounters the
paranormal in an unambiguous context.
Hearing EVP or seeing a table move dur-
ing a séance doesn’t count — but seeing a
werewolf change shape or a mage call up fire
from her hands certainly does. At this point,
the character gains the ability to recognize
certainly types of supernatural creatures,
but only the ones that she has some direct
experience with. That is, if the character
has seen a werewolf shapeshift, she becomes
able to recognize werewolves even if they do
not employ their powers or otherwise makes
themselves known. The character cannot,
at this stage, detect supernatural beings

7
 The final fourth stage of the infection renders the character immune from it. Success indicates that the character knows that a power is being
supernatural alteration. While a supernatural being can kill her, she cannot used, but the character can only identify the source if the being
be Embraced, Awakened or otherwise changed into something other than a using the power is present and visible.
mortal. Her soul is so firmly protected that no form of magic can remove it,
which renders her immune to some forms of magic or Numina. Also at this stage, the character can recognize supernatural beings, no
matter what the type, with a Wits + Composure roll. In effect, she has the
Merit: Memetic Infection Unseen Sense Merit for any type of being. However, she can only recognize
such beings when she can see them. Ghosts and other invisible creatures do
Prerequisite: Non-supernatural, exposure to the infection not attract her attention.
The character has contracted a memetic infection. The player does not Every week of game time after progressing to stage three, the character’s
need to spend experience points to increase this Merit. Rather, it increases player rolls Intelligence + Resolve, keeping track of successes. When the player
under the conditions discussed above (the game systems for these increases are accumulates 30 successes, the character has progressed to stage four.
listed below as appropriate).
••••­­ At­this­stage,­the­character’s­soul­has­rooted­itself­in­place­so­fi­rmly­
•­­ The­character­develops­a­limited­form­of­the­Unseen­Sense­Merit­(p.­ that it cannot be altered by any magical or otherworldly effect. This
109 of the World of Darkness Rulebook). Instead of being limited to renders the character wholly resistant to the Embrace (if this is at-
one form of supernatural contact, it works on anything otherworldly tempted, the character simply dies, which is probably small comfort),
in nature. However, it manifests simply as fascination or dislike of the Awakening and the First Change. If the character is kidnapped by
target in question. The character doesn’t feel cold chills or anything the Gentry (which normally results in the character becoming a
overtly frightening or uncomfortable; the sensation is wholly internal.

New Elements
Falling Scales

changeling), the unfortunate infected is, in all probability, killed

The player rolls Wits + Composure. If the being is using a power or ef- in the Hedge as the Thorns cut her flesh rather than her soul. The
fect meant to hide its strange pedigree, apply this penalty to the roll. character also does not leave a ghost upon death.
The infection progress to stage two when the character sees unequivocal
proof of the supernatural. Memetic Infection
••­­ At­this­stage,­the­character­develops­the­Unseen­Sense­Merit,­focused­
on whatever type of being triggered the infection’s progression. Unlike
for the Supernatural
the normal version of this Merit, however, the character can add other Supernatural beings are not immune to the infection, but it takes root in their
beings to her storehouse of knowledge by being exposed to them. souls in different ways. The infection does not progress in stages for such beings. In-
stead, when such a being is exposed, the player rolls to resist infection with a penalty
Example: Lucy contracts the memetic infection and witnesses a werewolf equal to the infected character’s stage. The dice pool used to resist infection varies
changing shape. This propels her into stage two, so she effectively has the depending on the character and is listed below.
Unseen Sense Merit (Werewolves). Some time later, she sees a vampire feed
on a helpless drunk and then race away at speeds almost too fast for the eyes to Vampires
follow. The infection now allows her to detect werewolves and vampires. A vampire is more than a dead human. Some piece of the soul remains
The infection progresses to stage three when a supernatural being uses a — it’s what allows a vampire to masquerade as a mortal. This also means that
power on the character. as Humanity fades, this shred of soul becomes weaker until (at Humanity 0)
•••­­ The­player­adds­two­dice­to­all­resistance­rolls­and­passive­resistance­ it gutters out entirely. If the vampire contracts the memetic infection, though,
to supernatural powers. For instance, resisting an application of the disease goes to work on bolstering that soul and keeping it from degrading
Dominate might require a Resolve roll; the infection bestows a +2 further. This enables the vampire to hold on to her Humanity more easily (+2
bonus to this roll. A Dominance Gift might have the werewolf’s to all degeneration rolls), but at the expense of her otherworldly powers. All
player subtract the target’s Composure; against a character with this Discipline rolls suffer a –2 dice pool modifier. In addition, the vampire gains
infection, the werewolf’s player subtracts the target’s Composure +2. the benefits of stage two infection.
In addition, the character can instinctively tell when a supernatural Vampire characters resist infection with Intelligence + Resolve.
being is using a power on her, even if the being is do so while hiding
or otherwise invisible. If the being uses a power in the character’s Werewolves
proximity, the player can make a Wits + Composure roll to detect A werewolf’s soul is promised to Mother Luna. The infection strengthens
the human part of the Uratha, at the expense of the wolf. The player applies

8
 a +2 modifier to rolls to resist Death Rage, but suffers a –2 modifier on all rolls Contract, this rule does not apply, and the player can also spend an additional
made in Gauru, Urshul and Urhan form. This restriction is lifted if the char- point of Glamour on the Contract to obviate the need for the roll (greasing the
acter actually enters Death Rage (as the human mind goes away entirely). In wheels, as it were). Changelings also gain the benefits of stage two infection.
addition, the character gains the benefit of stage two infection. Changelings resist infection with Wits + Wyrd.
Werewolf characters resist infection with Harmony.
Hunters
Mages Hunters are human beings, and so they deal with the memetic infection
Mages’ souls have a connection to one of the Supernal Realms. Unfortu- as described above.
nately, the memetic infection sees this connection as something to be eroded
and cured, meaning that a mage who contracts the infection finds magic much Sin-Eaters
harder to perform. All spells that an infected mage wishes to cast incur a –2 The Bound have already died and their souls joined with a quasi-ghost
penalty. If the spell is normally covert in aspect, the player may choose to obvi- called a geist. The infection, of course, attempts to separate them, and this wreaks
ate the penalty and cast the spell as vulgar. The infection does, however, confer havoc on the character’s Synergy. All rolls to avoid losing Synergy are made at
the normal benefits of stage three (resistance to supernatural manipulation), a –2 modifier. However, it also insulates the Sin-Eater’s soul and mind against
and adds two dice to the mage’s use of Unseen Senses (see p. 110 of Mage: further intrusion. Sin-Eaters gain the benefit of stage three infection, above.
The Awakening).
Mage characters resist infection with Intelligence + Resolve. Origins of the Infection
Where does the memetic infection come from? It’s a good question and
Prometheans

New Elements
one that future installments of House Divided will explore. For now, though,
Falling Scales

Prometheans do not have souls. Instead, the Divine Fire burns within them,
you might have infected characters dream of crowds of people that all seem
animating them and providing the drive to become human. Should the Created
predatory or strange, vast landscapes made of shifting, undulating black dust,
manage to complete the Pilgrimage, the Divine Fire blazes bright, catalyzing the
or a sky full of red smoke and the beating of wings.
alchemical working that turns lead (the Promethean pseudo-life) into gold (a
truly human soul). The infection, however, doesn’t recognize any of this, and
starts trying to normalize the Promethean as much as possible. The problem is
that if the Divine Fire goes out, the Promethean is nothing but dead meat.
The player must roll Resolve + Azoth every morning. Failure indicates
that the character suffers a point of aggravated damage. This damage can be
healed normally, but the character needs to be careful lest such injuries pile up.
The good news is that if the character makes progress toward become human,
the infection tries to speed up the process. The character gets +1 Vitriol from
every successful milestone.
Promethean characters resist infection with Stamina + Azoth.

Changelings
Changelings still have their souls, just not all of them. The Thorns shred
the soul while the changeling is being dragged into Faerie, and the holes, as it
were, fill with Glamour. What returns from the Hedge is, therefore, not entirely
human, and the infection isn’t quite sure what to do with that. In game terms,
as with vampires, the infection helps changelings maintain a normal outlook.
Rolls to avoid losing Clarity receive a +2 modifier. Unfortunately, the infection
fights the portions of the changeling’s “soul” that enable magic, meaning that
occasionally the Wyrd reads the changeling as a normal human. Every time an
infected changeling enacts a Contract, roll a chance die. On a dramatic failure, the
infection has successfully masked the changeling’s true nature from the Wyrd for
a split second — but this is enough to make the Contract fail. If the roll succeeds,
the Contract can be enacted normally. If the changeling fulfills the catch for the
9
 The Cast Description: Anna is a brusque, businesslike woman in her early 40s. She
dresses conservatively, but carries a purse much too large to be fashionable. In
it, she carries three wooden stakes, a metal mallet, a silver knife, a flask of holy
water and a tiny, one-shot pistol. The pistol wouldn’t have much of a range,
Anna Christopher but she keeps it in case she is ever faced with the prospect of being taken by
the monsters — to use on herself.
Quotes: “Knowing is always better.” Storytelling Hints: Anna is driven and genuinely wants to help people, but at
“Everyone’s scared. They’re not scared because the same time she hates what the supernatural has done to her and feels that someone
monsters exist. They’re scared because monsters exist and should be held accountable. That sense of injustice is her justification for doing some
everyone’s killing themselves pretending they don’t.” pretty horrible things, and if someone were to take her to task for it, she might well
crumble — or she might just admit that she feels that the ends justify the means.
“Kill them? I don’t want to kill them. I just want
Anna is also growing more paranoid as she travels and sees more varieties of arcane
to see them on the news.”
being. She doesn’t want her cause to be hopeless, but she’s starting to suspect that
Virtue: Hope. Anna truly cares about the fate even awareness might be too great a goal to achieve.
of the world. She wants people to see the truth and Name: Anna Christopher
claim some control over their destinies, rather
Concept: Cult Leader
than being led around by the nose. She knows
that that this doesn’t come easy to people and she Virtue: Charity
wants to help them free their minds. Vice: Sloth
Falling Scales

Vice: Pride. Why, Anna often wonders, Mental Attributes: Intelligence 3, Wits 3, Resolve 4
do so few people even care about the world Physical Attributes: Strength 2, Dexterity 2, Stamina 3

The Cast
around them? Never mind the supernatural, Social Attributes: Presence 4, Manipulation 4, Composure 4
why are people so shortsighted that they squab-
Mental Skills: Academics 3, Computer 2, Crafts 1, Investigation (Supernatural
ble over meaningless details when criminals hold Occurrences) 4, Medicine 2, Occult 5, Politics 1, Science 2
high office and cheat the country? Anna has high
Physical Skills: Athletics (Running) 3, Brawl 2, Drive 1, Firearms 2, Larceny
hopes for people, but in her darker moments she is 1, Stealth 1, Weaponry (Club) 2
capable of some impressive displays of spite.
Social Skills: Animal Ken (Odd Behavior) 1, Empathy 1, Intimidation 2,
Background: Anna’s family might be cursed, Persuasion 2, Socialize 2, Streetwise (Haunted Places) 2, Subterfuge (Body
or might simply have had a multi-generational run Language) 2
of bad luck. Her grandmother vanished one night, Merits: Allies 5, Contacts (Police, Political, Medical, Occultist, Hunters) 5,
three days before her 60th birthday. A crude bundle Iron Stamina 2, Meditative Mind, Memetic Infection 4, Resources 5, Status
of sticks dressed in her clothes was found in the bushes (Cult Leader) 5
the next morning, but the woman herself was never Health: 8
seen again. Her mother and father both died in a “gas Willpower: 8
main explosion” while on vacation in Chicago when Morality: 4
Anna was 18. She raised her younger brother with help
Size: 5
from her aunt (until her aunt went insane following an
encounter with a strange man carrying a brass wand), Speed: 10
and her brother, as mentioned above, died under a Defense: 2
vampire’s fangs on the streets of Denver. Initiative: 6
So much supernatural influence happening around her, Armor:
but never to her, might have been what made Anna develop Weapons/Attacks:
the memetic infection. Or, perhaps something her family’s
Type Damage Dice Pool
history simply attracts the night-folk and her body simply de-
veloped the infection as an antibody? It’s impossible to say, but Pistol 2L 6L
the results have made Anna very rich and very dangerous. Blackjack 2B 7B

10
 Abe Church
Name: Abe Church
Concept: Bodyguard
Virtue: Prudence
Quotes: “Think you’ve seen something? Let me tell you. You’ve seen nothing.”
Vice: Gluttony
“Aim for the head. Training says center mass, but screw that. Headshot. Even if Mental Attributes: Intelligence
bullets don’t hurt, you might put out an eye.” 2, Wits 3, Resolve 4
“Where’s my…shit. Hand me that flask? Take a hit if you want.” Physical Attributes: Strength 5,
Dexterity 3, Stamina 4
Virtue: Prudence. Abe didn’t get out of Somalia by being a cowboy. He doesn’t Social Attributes: Presence 3,
take stupid risks, and he weighs the consequences of his actions carefully. He is, Manipulation 2, Composure 3
however, a true believer in Anna’s cause, and that skews his vision a bit. Mental Skills: Academics 1,
Vice: Gluttony. Abe never met a hard liquor he didn’t like. His drink of choice Computer 2, Crafts 3, Investiga-
tion 1, Medicine (Field Medic) 1,
is fine vodka, but anything over 40 proof works just as well. He always keeps a flask Occult 2
on hand and he mixes drinks well, but at the end of the night it’s about how much Physical Skills: Athletics 3, Brawl
he can put down, not the quality. 4, Drive 3, Firearms (Automatic)
Background: Abraham Church joined the Army, just as his father and 4, Larceny 2, Stealth 2, Survival 3,
brothers had done. He wound up officially dying in the line of duty in Somalia, Weaponry 2
but that was because the government decided he was worth more as a secret Social Skills: Animal Ken 1, Empathy 1,
Expression (Inspiration) 2, Intimidation 3,
asset. He worked for a branch of the government dedicated to hunting down Streetwise 2
Falling Scales

and destroying (or capturing) supernatural creatures for several years, until a Merits: Brawling Dodge, Direction Sense,
mission in Texas cost him his team. Disillusioned with the way the government Fast Reflexes 2, Fighting Style: Boxing 5,
lied to citizens and resentful that they’d taken his family away, he faked his Fleet of Foot 3, Iron Stamina 3, Memetic
Infection 3, Resources 3, Status (Un-
death again and made his way to Denver. masked) 3
There, he attended one of Anna Christopher’s seminars and fell in love with Health: 9
her message. He offered his services and Anna, no fool, made him her personal
Willpower: 7
bodyguard. Over time, he has built up a team of highly trained, driven men who
Morality: 5
are just as loyal to him as he is to Anna.
Size: 5
(Use the Gangbanger, Police Officer, SWAT Team or Monster Hunter traits
Speed: 16
from the World of Darkness Rulebook, pp. 205-7, to represent Abe’s team. If
Defense: 3
your troupe consists of relatively inexperienced mortals, use Police Officers or
Initiative: 8
even Gangbangers. If they are supernatural beings or highly experienced mor-
tals, use SWAT Team. You might also use one of each, representing a variety Armor: Flak jacket (p. 170 of the World
of Darkness Rulebook; this jacket in-
of experience and training levels among the bodyguards.) cludes a collar that provides an extra
Description: Abe is in his late 30s with deep lines on his face and persistent point of armor to attacks aimed at the
stubble. He buzzes his hair and eschews loose clothing and jewelry (not wishing throat)
to give opponents anything to grab). Abe has a tattoo of an ornate cross on his Weapons/Attacks
right shoulder and a series of numbers — his family members’ birthdates — on Type Damage Dice Pool
his left. When he knows he’s going into the field, Abe wears a flak jacket with Pistol 3L 10L
a custom-made collar to repel bites to the throat. Abe only smiles if someone SMG 2L 10L
buys him a drink. Knife 1L 8L
Storytelling Hints: If he had been on the run by himself any longer than he Punch 0B 9B
was, he’d probably have turned himself in or killed himself. Abe is a soldier, and he Notes: If the Storyteller has access to
is at his best when given clear orders. He doesn’t harbor grandiose dreams of taking Hunter: The Vigil, feel free to give Abe
any Advanced Armory devices that you
on the supernatural, he just doesn’t feel comfortable unless he’s at war. Working feel appropriate. He cannot replace
for Anna, he always will be. ammunition, however, so he uses
such devices sparingly and only in
emergencies.

11
 Maricel Lazaro a nightmarish maw of fangs and her butterfly distorts and wrinkles into a near-
unrecognizable monster (in this form, she receives +2 to Intimidation rolls).
Quotes: “I miss my bus. Can you give ride?” Storytelling Hints: Some predators and supernatural beings are at least
partially human or try to minimize the damage they do to people. Maricel
“My husband is out of town.” doesn’t care; she views human beings the way people
“Shut your eyes. It will be better.” might view lobsters in a grocery store tank — repulsive
Virtue: Faith. Maricel may be a monster, but she also believes in general, but appetizing in the right circumstances.
that God chose her to be what she is and that anyone she kills is While some Aswang marry and even love (after a
taken unto His bosom. Her view of God and humans is perhaps fashion), Maricel feels vaguely queasy at the no-
somewhat condescending, and she considers herself apart from tion of intimacy with a human being. She fakes
(perhaps better than) His order, but she does believe in it. it well, though.
Vice: Lust. Maricel doesn’t like people, but she was raised Notes:
around human beings and appears to be one of them. That Digest Blood —Aswang must consume 15
means she has to contend with sexual attraction from and, points of blood a week in order to maintain
if she’s being honest, to them. She hates that she feels the their diurnal human appearances (a human
desire to mate with people, but since male Aswang don’t being holds a number of “blood points” equal
exist (and she isn’t sexually attracted to women), she to his Health dots). If the Aswang does
copes with the occasional fling followed by blood- not drink enough blood, it loses one Health
point per day until it drinks a week’s worth
Falling Scales

soaked indulgence in her hunger.

Background: Maricel is an Aswang — a of blood to return itself to full Health. With
blood-drinking creature originating from the every two Health points lost through failure

The Cast
Philippines. Aswang are born, not made the to ingest enough blood, the Aswang loses
way most vampires are, and the curse is passed one dot of Presence. For every five Health
from mother to daughter. Maricel’s mother met points lost, the Aswang loses a dot of
and married an American soldier stationed in the Manipulation and a dot of Composure.
Philippines, moved to the USA, and Maricel grew All Attributes are immediately reinstated
up in California. She learned of her true nature when the Aswang drinks enough blood to
when she was 17 and has been hunting and return herself to full Health. Aswang heal
killing ever since. She left home and worked damage in a manner similar to vampires;
her way across the southwest, eventually set- consuming one point of blood heals two
tling in Denver. points of bashing damage or one point
Like all members of her species, Maricel of lethal damage. The Aswang must con-
needs to kill an adult person roughly once a sume five points of blood to heal one point
week. Sometimes she hunts homeless people, of aggravated damage.
sometimes she stalks hospitals and feeds on the Fearsome Teeth — The fangs of an
comatose, and sometimes she seduces travelers. Aswang inflict lethal damage, and the attack
She disposes of bodies using the parks system roll receives a +1 modifier. Maricel must initi-
— she has learned that there are areas of the ate a successful grapple attack before biting (p.
national parks where rangers just don’t go 157 of the World of Darkness Rulebook).
(she has been fortunate, thus far, not to run If the Aswang wishes to feed from a foe
into any of these areas’ feral protectors). in combat, she goes about the procedure as
Description: Maricel is a beautiful Fili- normal. Instead of biting to inflict damage,
pino woman in her late 20s. She has delicate however, Maricel may choose to consume
features, long black hair and a butterfly blood that turn. In this case, she inflicts
tattoo on her left shoulder blade. When no damage other than that caused by the
she is feeding, however, her mouth becomes blood loss.

12
 Siren Song — The Aswang have seductive and alluring voices, even in
their hideous nocturnal form. Their call attracts human men, causing them Valentine Wilcox
to do things they might not otherwise do, such as step into a dark alleyway Quotes: “Burnin’, burnin’, burnin’ — feels nice, don’t it?”
with a strange woman. The Siren Song works only until the man views the “Hey, boy. Supposing I burn off your balls and make you a girl.”
Aswang’s true nocturnal form, at which point the Aswang’s control over the
man is broken. The Storyteller rolls Manipulation + Expression for Maricel in “Lock the doors! Bolt the windows! Smoke rises, flames
a contested action against the victim’s Resolve + Composure. If Maricel wins, leap high! Woo-hoo!”
the victim follows her voice in a daze (–2 on Reaction to Surprise rolls; p. 46 Virtue: Fortitude. Wilcox has been burning for
of the World of Darkness Rulebook). Siren’s Song only works on targets that years, and he is determined to stay “alive” until the
can hear the Aswang’s voice directly; it does not work over a telephone or very last bit of meat sizzles and falls from his
through any other electronic device. bones. The fact that he died years ago hasn’t
Name: Maricel Lazaro quite sunk in to his stubborn
Concept: Hungry Predator head yet.
Virtue: Faith Vice: Lust. Valentine
Wilcox lived to watch people
Vice: Lust
writhe as he held them down.
Mental Attributes: Intelligence 2, Wits 3, Resolve 2 Men, women, he didn’t care. In
Physical Attributes: Strength 4, Dexterity 4, Stamina 4 death, he’s just as much a fan of
violation as he ever was. Now he
Falling Scales

Social Attributes: Presence 4, Manipulation 4, Composure 2

Mental Skills: Academics 1, Computer 1, Crafts 2, Occult 2, Science 1 just adds fire to the mix.
Physical Skills: Athletics 3, Brawl (Grappling) 4, Larceny 2, Stealth (Stalking) 3,
Background: Valentine
Weaponry 3 Wilcox worked the stock room
Social Skills: Expression 3, Intimidation 3, Persuasion (Seduction, Playing at a Denver department store
Dumb) 3, Streetwise (Hiding Bodies) 3 over the Christmas season, five
Merits: Fast Reflexes 2, Fleet of Foot 3, Iron Stamina 3, Language (English, years ago. A group of
Spanish, Native: Filipino), Striking Looks 4 the other stock boys
Health: 9 caught him beating
up some skinny kid
Willpower: 4
dressed in an elf cos-
Morality: 3 tume, pants around
Size: 5 his hips, about
Speed: 15 to do something
Defense: 3 damned unpleas-
Initiative: 8 ant. They pulled
Wilcox away, beat him to death
Weapons/Attacks
and threw his body into the dump-
Type Damage Dice Pool ster to deal with later.
Bite 1L 10L (after successful grapple) Wilcox, though, was never one
to lie down when there was violence
to be done. Even as a young ghost he
was clever and powerful; he started a
fire in that dumpster, burning up his
own corpse and everything around him.
The department store owner, as it hap-

13
 pened, had let the insurance lapse, and the neighborhood was already falling
into disrepair. The store sits empty even now, burnt and charred, and Valentine
SCENE
Wilcox waits in the ashes for someone he can hurt.
Description: When he Manifests, Wilcox looks like a burning corpse.
FLOWCHART
Bones show through charred flesh, both eyes have melted and a careful viewer
can occasionally see a tooth pop like a chestnut.
Storytelling Hints: Wilcox is aware that he’s dead, on some level. He’s A GLIMPSE OF THE UNKNOWN
lost his personality, for the most part, and only his sadist rage and love of fire
remains.
Name: Valentine Wilcox
Concept: Murderous Ghost
Virtue: Fortitude CONTACT
Vice: Wrath
Attributes: Power 5, Finesse 4, Resistance 5
Corpus: 10
Willpower: 10
NO WITH US OR

INFECTION
Morality: 0

(CAN BE RUN AT ANY TIME)

Falling Scales

Size: 5 WITNESSES AGAINST US

Speed: 19
Defense: 5
Initiative: 9
Armor:
Notes: Anchor: The Store. Numina: Ghost Sign, Magnetic Disruption, Telekinesis FIELD ENEMIES
RESEARCH LIST

THE UGLY TRUTH

THE SET-UP

FREEDOM
14
 A Glimpse of the Unknown
ters produce weapons (unlike other vampires, Aswang aren’t resistant to
bullets), in which case you can use the Foot Chase rules on p. 65 of the
World of Darkness Rulebook.
Maricel should escape, but don’t force it. If the characters come up with a good
Mental • Physical ••• Social •• plan to trap her or catch her, let the dice fall where they may. Yes, this may cause some
problems later in the story (in No Witnesses, specifically), but those are easy to work
Overview around and the players will enjoy the accomplishment of their efforts paying off. That
said, Maricel’s strategy is simple — run, hide, and escape. If the scene takes place in a
In this scene, the characters witness Maricel feeding on a hapless victim. public area, someone will call the police even if none of the characters do. They might
She escapes, but as the characters question what they saw, they also notice a well stop and detain a character on the run, even if he’s running after the real killer.
man taking pictures of the carnage — and of them. The other thing in this scene that the characters need to notice is the man
snapping pictures. He has a professional quality digital camera and is photograph-
Description ing Maricel, her victim, and the characters. If they call him out or attempt to get
his camera, he pulls the memory card and runs (assume 6 dice for Foot Chase, 5
At first glance, they might be kissing. But then you see the woman’s head worry at dice for combat, 2 Defense). If the characters catch him, he yells for help but does
the man’s neck like a dog trying to pull a chunk of meat loose from a bone. The arterial not attack. If they fight him, he fights back, but with the intention of running. If
spray arcs over her head, and she quickly covers the wound with her mouth. Blood streams he reaches the nearest busy street, he jumps into a waiting car and it speeds off.
from her lips as she tries to swallow it all. She lifts her head, and you look into the face
of a monster.
Falling Scales

Storyteller Goals
Start off the scene by establishing the location.
Give the characters a bit of time for dialog, if appropri-
ate, but don’t let any of them leave the area. Once the
players have had a chance to find their pace, describe
Maricel tearing a man’s throat out.
Maricel doesn’t make her attack in plain
sight, but she’s positioned herself within the
character’s line of vision, possibly by mistake.
Don’t ask for Wits + Composure rolls to notice
her — you want the characters to see her, and
as a rule of thumb, don’t ask for rolls if failure is
going to mess up the story’s continuity.
The Storyteller’s main goal for this scene is
to scare the characters (and the players, if you can
manage it). Maricel is not the brooding, careful
vampire portrayed in some media. She is fast,
strong, and hideous, and she does not care in the
slightest that she has just killed a man.
If the characters approach her, she snarls at
them, attempting to scare them off. She won’t
stand and fight if she is outnumbered, though,
and she certainly won’t stay long enough for
authorities to show up. She runs if the charac-

15
 Character Goals
Witness the supernatural. Determine their reactions in the face of horror
Contact
and crisis.
Mental •• Physical •• Social ••
Facing Down Maricel
Dice Pool: Resolve + Composure vs. Maricel’s Presence + Intimidation
+ 2 (9 dice)
Overview
The characters meet Nick Holcomb, a mid-level member of the Unmasked.
Action: Instant and contested He tells them about the cult — more than he should. He receives a phone call
Hindrances: Character has combat training (+1) midway through the conversation, instructing him to break it off.
Help: Character is afraid of blood (–2)

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The character flees the area immediately, running
Description
“Just a sec,” he says. “Need to take this.” He answers his phone, and his expres-
blindly for safety, and will not stop until he has put some considerable distance
sion changes from earnest and jovial to ashen. He hangs up after less than a minute
between himself and Maricel.
and says, “I’m sorry.” And then he gets up, and walks away.
Failure: The Storyteller rolls more successes than the player. The character
recoils and will not approach Maricel, but does not necessarily flee the area and
Storyteller Goals
Falling Scales

can still attack with a firearm, if he has one.

Success: The player rolls as many or more successes than the Storyteller.
Nick finds the characters sometime a day or two after the incident with
The character is frightened, but is free to approach or even attack Maricel if
Maricel. If the characters were all strangers to one another and therefore not
he wishes.
as likely to meet up again, he finds them on the same night (perhaps when the

Contact
Exceptional Success: The player scores more successes than the Storyteller
characters are released from questioning or from a hospital). If they are friends
and rolls an exceptional success. The character feels a call to action when he
or colleagues, he gives them a bit more time to recuperate.
sees Maricel’s attack on her victim, and his next action receives a +2 modifier
Nick doesn’t want to frighten the characters. He assumes (incorrectly,
(provided it is intended to help directly in some way). If you have access to
as it turns out) that since he was promoted into mid-tier membership in the
Hunter: The Vigil, you might consider allowing the character to make use of
Unmasked because of his experiences with the supernatural that the charac-
the “Risking Willpower” rules (p. 65 of Hunter) going forward.
ters would get the same treatment. He spoke to Anna Christopher, who told
him to recruit them, but he misunderstood — she just wants them to attend
Supernatural Characters a meeting and hopefully fall prey to the brainwashing techniques. She has
Most supernatural characters are accustomed to blood and death, and so no intention of making them higher-level members until she’s had time to
the roll to approach Maricel isn’t necessary. Likewise, such characters might assess them and figure out what they can offer. But, again, Nick is a bit more
easily be able to catch or kill the Aswang — let them. In that case, though, the enthusiastic than smart.
characters become targets of the Unmasked’s investigation. The photograph He approaches the characters and asks them about their experience last
takes as many pictures as he can before fleeing, as above, but probably flees as night. He assures them that he is not a cop, nor is he affiliated with the govern-
soon as the characters notice him. If they manage to take down Maricel without ment in any way. He, like them, has run afoul of the paranormal and wishes
revealing their nature, then nothing changes at this point. to discuss it with them. The characters might naturally be suspicious. If they
don’t want to talk about what they saw, he doesn’t press the issue. He does tell

Consequences them the name of the man who died last night, however (Marshall Greer),
and that he left behind a mother in a nursing home. “I’m not telling you that
Depending on their actions during this scene, the characters might be in- to guilt-trip you,” he says. “It’s nothing you need to feel guilty about. Just say-
jured, cowering in fear, interviewed by police or media, under arrest, or lauded ing — someone died last night, and that was just last night.”
as heroes. In any event, proceed from this scene to Contact. He explains the Unmasked as a group of people with a lot of money and
influence, who search out and catalog the supernatural. They’ve encountered
ghosts, vampires, werewolves and weirder things. They aren’t out to destroy ev-

16
 erything otherworldly — a lot of it, Nick says, is actually pretty much harmless, Failure: The characters don’t hear anything.
and some supernatural creatures actually seem to protect people. But humanity Success: The characters hear a voice on the other end of the phone yell-
being completely in the dark but still so afraid isn’t helping anyone. ing at Nick, obviously angry. They can’t make out words, but it’s clear that
If the characters show some interest, Nick talks more about the Unmasked. Nick is in trouble.
He tells the characters that: Exceptional Success: The characters can hear a woman’s voice yelling
• The Unmasked has a tiered membership. The folks on the bottom level at Nick, and they hear the phrase, “you didn’t have permission to tell them
don’t necessarily know anything about the supernatural, they’re just look- anything, you stupid—.“
ing for “the truth.” That’s where Nick started out.
• The group takes care of its own. Bail money, rent money, medical care
Supernatural Characters
with no questions asked, legal representation — the Unmasked has a lot of If the characters are known to be supernatural, then Nick’s error is even
members from a lot of walks of life. “I hear that at least one former mayor more egregious — he assumed that the Unmasked would welcome the chance
of Denver is a member,” says Nick, “but I haven’t met him.” to talk with real supernatural beings, and these characters are apparently will-
ing to help normal people out! (This might be an overly optimistic assessment,
• Ascending in membership happens when you see the supernatural firsthand. depending on how the characters acted toward Maricel.) The scene plays out
For some people, like the characters, that happens randomly. Sometimes more or less the same way. If the characters can read Nick’s mind or memo-
the group takes promising members out looking for such occurrences. ries, they see his induction into the cult, his encounter with the supernatural
• Nick isn’t sure what the higher levels of membership require, because he and, of course, Anna Christopher (you can make these details up to suit your
isn’t there yet. chronicle). The characters might also be able to supernaturally listen in to the
Falling Scales

phone call, in which case you’ll need to fill in the rest of what Anna says. It’s
The characters might wish to ask questions of Nick. He’s happy to answer
more of the same — Nick’s an idiot for exposing the group and he needs to
any questions he can about the Unmasked or the otherworldly in general.
get out of there now.
Nick is well-informed for a mortal, but he’s nowhere near as knowledgeable as
In any case, if Nick exposes the cult to the supernatural, he winds up

Contact
he thinks he is. He is able to tell the characters some basic information about
dead the next day. Officially, he shot himself in his home. He does not leave
supernatural beings (Storyteller’s discretion as to how much).
a ghost, but if the characters have a way to determine what really happened
If the characters ask about the leader of the Unmasked, or when you feel it
(the Time or Death Arcana, a Sin-Eater’s Clinical Precision), they see that he
would be dramatically appropriate, Nick gets a phone call. The characters can
was murdered.
attempt to listen in (see Systems). The call only lasts a minute or so, and afterwards
Nick apologizes to the characters and leaves as quickly as he can. He gets in his
car and leaves the area; if the characters follow him, he drives to a police station
and threatens to tell the authorities that the characters are harassing him.
Consequences
The characters might choose to follow Nick or start looking into the
Unmasked. If you want to let them make some headway before proceeding to
Character Goals No Witnesses, feel free. It shouldn’t be more than a day or two before Maricel
comes back to kill them, however. If they’ve already destroyed the Aswang,
Meet Nick. Learn about the Unmasked.
then see the Consequences section of No Witnesses.

Eavesdropping on the Phone Call

Dice Pool: Wits + Composure
Action: Instant
Hindrances: Hard of hearing (–2), other characters talking (–1), ambient noise
(–1 to –5)
Help: Quiet environment (+1), Meditative Mind Merit (+1)

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The characters don’t hear anything, but Nick notices
them listening and assumes they do. Anna is automatically hostile and defensive
when they meet in With Us or Against Us.
17
 No Witnesses
How she finds the characters is another matter. Pay attention to how the
characters live, what they do, how much of an online presence they have. How easy
would it be to track down these people? It might take Maricel some time, which
means you can seed hints that someone is looking for them. A character with a
Mental •• Physical ••• Social • secretary might receive a mention that “a strange woman” came looking for him,
while a character with kids might hear (terrifyingly) that his “sister” tried to pick
Overview the children up from school. If the characters guess that Maricel is after them and
decide to hunt her down first, fine. Proactive players should always be rewarded.
Maricel tracks down the characters with the intent of killing them. They should The trouble with that approach, from a Storytelling perspective, is that at
wind up killing her, however, possibly with some help from the Unmasked. best it leaves one character to deal the monster while everyone else watches,
and at worst that one character gets killed and eaten. What this means is that
Description the best time for Maricel to strike, from your perspective, is when the other
characters are nearby but not actually with the target.
You don’t understand what the voice is saying. You don’t need to. The voice is That means that you will need to choose your moment carefully. You can
smooth, so much so that you swear you feel it stroking your body as you walk toward also help set up this moment by making suggestions. If you phrase a question as,
it. Of course you’re walking toward it — how can you not? And then she steps in “What do you do?” or “Where are you going?” the players will give you whatever
front of you and you see the teeth…but you’re still lost in that voice. answers make sense to them, and you might or might not be able to work with
those answers easily. If you say, “Are you all going to stay together tonight?” or
Storyteller Goals
Falling Scales

In this scene, confront the characters

with a dark reality of life in the World
of Darkness: Supernatural beings do
not want their business known. Maricel
doesn’t know whether the characters
could identify her, or whether they have
any intention of pursuing the matter, and
she doesn’t care. All she knows is that
she can kill these people and consume
their blood, and since they interrupted
her feeding, she feels justified (to her, it
makes perfect sense).
This scene might seem like a straight-
forward ambush, but in order to make it
convincing and satisfying to all involved,
you need to take a few things into ac-
count. Maricel isn’t stupid, and she’s
not going to attack the characters while
they’re together and alert. Her prefer-
ence would be to attack while they are
asleep, but that requires finding out where
they live and breaking in. She’s capable
of picking locks, but her usual hunting
style is based on seduction and isolation,
and that’s what she tries to use with the
characters.

18
 “Are you going to post a watch?” more often than not, the players will take your • Maricel is able to climb walls and, if followed, tries to push people from
suggestion. Steer the players toward a situation that would allow for Maricel to buildings. Falling inflicts one point of bashing damage for every three yards
attack and be frightening without actually killing anyone outright. fallen.
When she does attack, Maricel makes use of her Siren Song power. She
tries to entrance a lone male character away from the group and surprise him Supernatural Characters
(see Reaction to Surprise on p. 46 of the World of Darkness Rulebook). If she
If the characters are supernatural and Maricel knows it, she isn’t going to
can wound the character enough to incapacitate him (see Incapacitation, p.
try to kill them (she’s not stupid). In fact, in the unlikely event that she even
173 of that book), she leaves him there and goes after another character.
survived the first scene, she’s probably going to get out of Denver. This scene
Because the situation can vary so much, you need to make sure to describe the
therefore becomes irrelevant and you have two choices about what to do to
setting and have Maricel make best use of it. She is lithe enough to climb walls,
replace it.
slither through narrow windows, and slip into cars while people’s backs are turned.
The first option is: Don’t bother. Just have the Unmasked show up and
However, she is not as resilient as many supernatural beings. She can’t heal damage
ask the characters to take a meeting with Anna. If you want to throw them off
magically as other vampires can, and so she avoids taking stupid risks.
balance and demonstrate how effective the cult is, have the Unmasked find
The multiple opponent rules in the World of Darkness Rulebook (p.
the characters near their homes or havens, but don’t make it so invasive that
90) are not forgiving to individuals taking on groups of people. As such, if the
the characters feel they have to respond with threats or violence.
characters attack Maricel en masse, she flees. At your discretion, she might have
The other option is to have the Unmasked follow the characters and step
prepared a trap for the characters — perhaps she douses an area with gasoline
in whenever they get involved in a fight or some other tense scene. If they’re
and lights it as the characters chase her, or she has a car waiting and can run the
supernatural characters, they probably have other concerns going. You can run
characters down (note, by the way, that being hit by a car causes lethal damage,
Falling Scales

a side story (even if it only takes a scene or two) that draws the characters in
not bashing, despite what the World of Darkness Rulebook says). Remember,
and gives the Unmasked an opening.
though, that mortals heal slowly, and no one likes having those ugly X’s on their
If the characters are supernatural but Maricel doesn’t know it (especially
character sheets for the rest of the story. Scaring is better than scarring.
likely if they are mages or changelings, which Maricel has no way to detect),
If the characters are having trouble taking Maricel down (or trouble catch-
run the scene as written. Maricel runs at the first sign that the characters aren’t
ing her), the Unmasked arrive to help. They move with precision and train-
mortals, however.
ing, using tasers and silenced pistols. You probably don’t need to roll dice for
them, just describe their actions in a couple of sentences. Their attack should
be over as quickly as it begins. If the characters succeed in destroying Maricel,
the Unmasked show up just as she dies. Do not bring in the Unmasked to aid the
Consequences
If the characters have already destroyed Maricel, either skip this scene or
characters until it is clear that they have lost.
replace it with some other supernatural occurrence. In either event, when the
One of Unmasked approaches the characters and tersely explains that Anna
characters are ready to meet with Anna, go to With Us or Against Us.
Christopher would like to meet with them. If they balk at doing it right then,
he tells them that the Unmasked can provide a safe haven for a while, too.

Character Goals
Kill Maricel. Don’t die or be badly injured.

System
Use the combat system in the World of Darkness Rulebook, but consider
the following rules and reminders:
• Multiple opponents decrease a combatants Defense by one for each
melee attack after the first.
• A surprise attack might allow a killing blow (damage inflicted based
on dice pool, rather than a dice roll, so Maricel can inflict 8 points of bashing
damage if she sneaks up on someone and hits them).

19
 With Us or Against Us
influence. She isn’t sure that these will work, given that the characters have
already seen more of the supernatural than most of the base-level cultists.
That said, if the characters go along blindly with everything she says, she
figures they might be good ground-level fodder and lets the main body of
Mental ••• Physical • Social ••• the cult get to work on them. If, however, the characters bring up objections
or worthwhile points, Anna engages in discussion with them.
Overview She isn’t being entirely honest, of course. She wants to use them as
“collectors,” and good collectors are hard to come by because they tend to
In this scene, the characters meet Anna Christopher. The meeting is not
die. Since the characters have already faced down a vampire (an Aswang,
a pleasant one, however.
more specifically, not that they’re likely to know the difference), they would
make for good collectors. After the discussion has gone on as long as the
Description

With Us or Against Us
players find it engaging, Anna asks them if they would be interested in col-
lecting data on the supernatural for them. She isn’t interested in hearing
Anna Christopher extends her hand, and shakes yours firmly. “Good evening,”
“no.”. If they refuse, she bluntly informs them that the Unmasked isn’t in
she says quietly. “Well, the first thing you need to know is — you aren’t alone. We’ve
the business of leaving loose ends. They can work with the society and be
seen them, too. We know they’re there.” She looks at you expectantly, as though
rewarded, both in terms of lifestyle and knowledge — or they can refuse
anticipating a reaction of thanks.
and see what happens.
The tone of the meeting should begin as a stilted, but friendly, discus-
Storyteller Goals sion. Other people are in the apartment as well, including Abe Church. The
Falling Scales

characters can see books on shelves, coats on the rack, and coffee already
This scene introduces the characters to Anna Christopher, but more made and waiting in a carafe. The people in the place behave normally,
importantly, it should let them begin to the see the Unmasked as what it checking phones and interjecting into the conversation when appropriate.
is — a cult. But if the characters refuse to join up and Anna has to give her ultimatum,
The Unmasked bring the characters to an expensive apartment in down- the atmosphere in the room changes. The phones go away. The other people
town Denver (it isn’t Anna’s. It belongs to one of the wealthier members of watch the characters intently and remain tensed, apparently in case Anna
the cult). She meets them and offers them medical care and rest. Once they orders them to attack. Abe moves to Anna’s side and the characters see
are ready to talk, she tells them a bit more about the Unmasked. that he is armed (though he does not draw a weapon).
She states that the group (she calls it a “society”) is composed largely If the characters ask about how the cult gets its funding, use the systems
of scholars and philanthropists, people with money and time to spare. She below. They need to earn Anna’s trust for her to let any real information slip.
founded the Unmasked because of what happened to her brother, she says,
and now is trying to learn about the supernatural with the aim of exposing
it. This isn’t because she feels that the world’s population will rise up and
destroy the vampires, werewolves and so on — if anything, she expects
Character Goals
Meet Anna Christopher. Learn about the cult.
that people will embrace these creatures. But she wants to bring the social
pressures of society to bear on these beings.
Consider: Vampires can kill people because they have no check on Gaining Anna’s Trust
their behavior. The police can’t touch them (mostly because they don’t Dice Pool: Presence or Manipulation + Persuasion vs. Anna’s Composure
know to look for them). But what if every police department in the coun- + Subterfuge (6 dice, 7 if her Body Language Specialty applies)
try knew that the body bled dry in an alley was probably a vampire’s work? Action: Instant and contested. Characters may use Teamwork (p. 134 of
What if there were vampires working for the police department? Vampires the World of Darkness Rulebook).
need their sustenance, true, but couldn’t they get that without committing Hindrances: Characters were opposed to the idea of coming to meet
murder? Likewise, while Anna is aware that werewolves have a society of Anna (–1), characters are overtly religious (–1), characters show sympathy
their own, she sees no reason why it couldn’t co-exist alongside the “mun- to Maricel (–2)
dane” world. Help: Striking Looks Merit (+2 or +4), characters display knowledge
Anna is not trying to brainwash or influence the characters. Her normal of the supernatural (+1), characters destroyed Maricel before the Unmasked
methods involve praise, love-bombing and other basic, crude methods of stepped in (+2)

20
 Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: Anna decides that the characters aren’t really worth her
time and kicks them “downstairs” to the lower levels of the cult. She instructs
Field Research
her subordinates to “induct” them, which, again, means brainwashing.
Failure: Anna lies and tells them that the society’s finances come from Mental ••• Physical ••• Social ••
her inheritance and from the generosity of the members.
Success: Anna lets slip that the lower-level members of the society make
up much of the funding of the Unmasked. She doesn’t ask for membership
Overview
dues, she says, but the society needs money to function and members are happy The characters look into supernatural occurrences as members of the
to donate. Unmasked. In the process, they might find that they’re coming around to the
Exceptional Success: Anna trusts the characters instinctively, and men- cult’s way of thinking.
tions that the Unmasked, like many societies, is adept at convincing people
that giving away their money is the right thing to do. She doesn’t outright use
the words “cult” or “brainwash,” but compares the Unmasked to other organiza-
Description
tions that make use of such tactics. The man turns and opens his mouth wider than should be possible. At first you
only see legs — thousands, maybe millions of tiny legs — and then the spiders come
boiling out of his mouth, his eyes, his nose and his ears. His body deflates like a bal-
Supernatural Characters loon losing its air, and the swarm of arachnids vanishes into the cracks and crannies
If the characters are known to be supernatural beings, Anna meets them of the alley. Everything goes quiet. The only sounds you hear are the faint whirrs and
Falling Scales

in public and takes whatever precautions are appropriate. If the characters are clicks from your cameras.
vampires, for instance, she meets the characters as close to dawn as possible
(but offers shelter for the day, of course). If they are werewolves, she keeps
her distance and keeps transportation handy. In any event, bodyguards and,
if possible, snipers are nearby. She also curbs her rhetoric about exposure, and
Storyteller Goals
This scene only happens if the characters decide to work with the
focuses instead on learning to coexist. She will not, under any circumstances, Unmasked in searching out and cataloging the occult in Denver. If they
reveal information about how her cult works to supernatural beings. immediately decide that they have no interest in working with the Un-
masked, skip this scene and go to Enemies List.
Consequences Since the characters are clearly “in the know” to a larger degree than
most members, Anna asks them to track down and find information on strange
If the characters agree to work with the Unmasked, proceed to Field Re- happenings. She doesn’t put them at risk at first (not knowingly, anyway),
search. If they refuse, proceed to Enemies List. and she’s happy to provide rewards and comfort so that the characters can
focus on this vocation. If the characters agree to undertake this, she gives
them enough money to quit (or take leave from) their jobs and have money
left over — the equivalent of two dots of the Resources Merit. Of course,
prolonged contact with cult members means that the characters run the risk
of becoming a bit brainwashed (systems for this can be found below).
This “scene” can go on as long as you want. If the players groove on the
idea of being occult investigators for a well-funded cult, then maybe that would
be a fun direction in which to take the chronicle for a while. Falling Scales
will still be here when you feel it’s time to implement the rest of it.
We’ve included several suggestions for supernatural occurrences that could be
used for this scene. How much of this scene includes combat, investigation, inter-
views of witnesses or just poking about in “haunted” houses is up to you; this scene
is mostly to give the characters greater exposure to the supernatural (which, if you
choose to use the Infection scene, also advances the memetic infection). You can
also use material from any other World of Darkness books you might have access to.

21
 Many of them include plot hooks
that can be easily fleshed out, and
Glimpses of the Unknown is a
book devoted to exactly the sort
of thing that can be used to fill out
this scene.
Here are a few ideas. The lo-
cations mentioned are real places
in Denver, and you can get more
information and photographs
from a quick search online.
• Our Closest Cousins: Den-
ver Zoo includes an exhibit
called Monkey Island, in
which various species of pri-
mate (including Capuchin
monkeys) climb about and
amuse the zoo-goers. Of late,
however, they have taken
Falling Scales

to staying in middle of the

island, quietly doing some-
thing that the spectators
can’t quite see. The keepers
don’t find any evidence or
trace of their activities, but
recently a zoo employee that photography is not allowed is that many of the staff
mentioned online that she (who don’t go outside while the place is open, and are
saw what she thought was a Capuchin scampering through the zoo carrying never seen coming and going) don’t appear in photographs. The Truth?
what looked like a cell phone. The Truth? Spirit possession, a vampire using The place is a vampire haven, the staff are spellcasters who are paranoid
Animalism. about their images being recorded.
• The Gardener: The Garden of the Gods is a massive park located outside of
Colorado Springs (which is about an hour out of Denver, but still within the
cult’s area of interest). The Unmasked has known about werewolf activity Character Goals
there for some time and doesn’t do foolish things like sending fact-finding Learn more about the supernatural. Become entrenched in the cult.
teams out there are night, especially on full moons. Of late, though, they’ve
noticed that a particular park ranger is taking groups of people (always young, Resisting Cult Brainwashing
but never children) into the park, and they aren’t leaving until after the park
Dice Pool: Resolve + Stamina vs. Presence + Persuasion
closes. The going theory is that he’s trying to find mates for the werewolves.
Action: Extended and contested (one roll every time the character is
The Truth? Wolf-blood looking for werewolves about to Change, some other
around one or more devoted cult members for more than an hour)
supernatural predator looking for victims.
Hindrances: Character is drunk or fatigued (–1), character is injured (–1),
• Unsinkable: Margaret Brown, known in her life as “Maggie” but by history character has contracted the memetic infection (–1)
as “Molly,” was on the HMS Titanic when it left on its fateful maiden voy- Help: Character has strong religious or ethical convictions (+1), character
age. She survived and lived in Denver for much of the rest of her life. Her is aware that the Unmasked is a cult (+2)
home is now a museum, and like many such stately homes, does not allow The character is attempting to accumulate eight successes (this is based on Anna’s
photography. The Unmasked picked up on a rumor, though, that the reason Willpower rating, since she is the one ultimately trying to brainwash the characters).

22
 The Ugly Truth
The cult is trying to accumulate 20 successes, since Anna really wants the characters
to abandon their lives and join the Unmasked full time, devoting themselves to her
cause. As such, it is unlikely that the cult will succeed in their brainwashing attempts
(which spurs Anna to set the characters up later; see The Set-Up).
During the brainwashing, though, if the cult ever winds up with more successes Mental ••• Physical •• Social ••
than the character, the character starts to feel sympathetic to the cult’s vision. If
this happens, take the player aside and explain that the Unmasked is starting to
make sense to her character, and she should portray the cult’s ethos as becoming
Overview
more intrinsic to her. The Gateways (p. 5) are a good way to do this — if you have The characters learn the unsavory facts about how Anna’s cult works.
portrayed the cultists as behaving as indicated, then a character doing the same
thing should get some raised eyebrows from the rest of the troupe.
If the brainwashing should succeed, of course, then the character is effectively Description
out of play and becomes a loyal cultist. This may seem like an arbitrary and harsh She’s all of fifteen, too much eyeliner, spiky black hair and sparkly jewelry. She’s
trick of the dice, but the truth is that the exact same thing would happen if the walking into the club and the bouncer isn’t stopping her, because he knows why she’s
character were to die in a firefight with the cult. This way, at least, the rest of the there. She enters, the heart monitor quickening as she grows nervous, and now all
characters might be able to kidnap and deprogram the character (using the same you can see is what the camera in her hair is picking up.
game systems, just substitute the deprogrammer’s Willpower for Anna’s). A blur steps in front of her. It’s vaguely human shaped, but it’s just a blur. The

The Ugly Truth

other images are crisp and visible, if green and white from the night vision, but this…
Roll Results thing is just a smear of light. It gets brighter as he leans in, and you don’t quite hear
Falling Scales

Dramatic Failure: If one side rolls a dramatic failure, that side loses all what he says. But she follows, into a corner, into the dark. She’s not leaving this club
accumulated successes. alive. Her heart rate had slowed somewhat, but it quickens again as she walks.
Failure: The character makes no progress toward the goal. “Eight seconds,” notes the man monitoring the video feed. “He must be really
Success: The character makes progress toward the goal. If the player’s on his game tonight.” The tech glances up at you. “Normally, they don’t wander off
character reaches eight successes, she has resisted the brainwashing and no with him right off the bat like that.”
further rolls need be made. If the Storyteller reaches 20 successes, the character The heart monitor slows.
has become fully brainwashed, joins the cult, and provides Anna with all the
information she has on the other characters.
Exceptional Success: If the Storyteller reaches his goal with an exceptional Storyteller Goals
success, no special effect occurs. If the player does, the character not only resists During this scene, the characters learn the truth about the cult. This
the brainwashing but realizes what the cult was doing and how. can take one of two forms — either the characters learn that the cult
routinely sends people to their deaths in order to bait the supernatural, or
Supernatural Characters they find that the cult bilks members out of their life savings and forces
them to compromise professional ethics to further the cult’s agenda. Which
Supernatural beings are unlikely to find themselves in the position of being
avenue you take really depends on how you want the rest of the story to
investigators for the Unmasked. Anna doesn’t trust them and is only willing to
go and what kind of time you have.
converse with them if they provide information about and demonstrations of
If you want the players to go directly from this scene to Freedom, con-
their abilities (which most such beings are understandably reluctant to do). If
fronting Anna and taking down the cult, then you should probably have
this scene does come about with supernatural characters, perhaps because they
them realize that the cult is killing people. If you want to play through
have managed to keep their natures secret, run it as written, but simply keep in
the Set-Up, though (where the characters are the ones that get led into a
mind that any display of arcane powers puts them on the Enemies List.
dangerous supernatural situation), then this scene should take the form of
discovering where the cult gets its money and influence.
Consequences By this point in the story, the characters should at least suspect that
the Unmasked is a cult. As such, when they discover that the group is
This scene, again, can go on as long as the troupe finds it interesting. When you
siphoning “donations” from its rank-and-file, it shouldn’t come as much
feel it is appropriate, have the characters discover the truth about how the cult gets
of a surprise. The goal here is to present the information in a way that the
its money (proceeding to The Ugly Truth). If the characters break ranks before that,
characters realize they’ve seen something they shouldn’t have.
go to Enemies List or, if Anna gets wind of their impending betrayal, The Set-Up.
23
 If you are coming to this scene from Field Research, you might have
the characters debrief with Abe Church over some vodka. Abe takes their
Supernatural Characters
statements and makes some conversation about what they’ve seen, and then Supernatural beings are likely to discover the cult’s true agenda much
leaves the room to refill his flask. While he’s gone, the characters might look sooner. They might have access to powers like remote viewing, mind read-
over some documents on a desk or files on a computer screen. Either way, ing, talking with ghosts or spirits, divination and so on. As such, this scene is
use the system below to figure out how much information they glean. likely to take place sooner and without necessarily resorting to doing the cult’s
If the characters confront Abe about what they’ve seen, he sternly research for them.
advises them to forget about it. After all, they aren’t contributing donations,
they’re doing much more important work and not everyone is qualified
to do that. If the characters go along with it, Abe informs Anna. If they
Consequences
refuse, he tells them they’d better just back away from the whole organiza- If the characters agree to keep working with the cult, go to The Set-Up.
tion if they can’t handle it. If they quit on principle, go to Enemies List. If they immediately go on the
offensive, go to Freedom.

Character Goals
Learn the truth about the cult and what it does to people.

The Ugly Truth

Interpreting the Data
Falling Scales

Dice Pool: Intelligence + Academics

Action: Extended (each roll requires one minute, five successes needed)
Hindrances: Drunk (–1)
Help: Specialty in Finance (+1)

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The character misinterprets what she is seeing —
instead of money coming in to the cult, it looks to her like the cult is paying
out more money than it could possibly have. This probably won’t make any
sense to the characters, but it might make Anna look altruistic.
Failure: No successes are made toward the total. Abe is only gone for
five minutes, so if the characters don’t accumulate the number necessary
successes in that time, they lose their chance (unless they can distract,
intoxicate or incapacitate Abe).
Success: The characters accumulate the requisite number of successes
in the time allotted. The data they’re looking at shows an influx of a mas-
sive amount of money in the form of donations from members. In many
cases, the members have mortgaged houses and cashed in retirement plans
to make these donations.
Exceptional Success: The characters accrue the necessary number
of successes and score an exceptional success. In this case, the character
finds places where the cult is laundering money (the donations are shady
or come from illegal sources). Using this information, if the character has
a quick way to record data (a smart phone, a camera, the Eidetic Memory
Merit, a jump drive) she can divert some of this cash later, giving herself
a ready source of money at the cult’s expense.

24
 The Enemies List
doesn’t immediately result in Children’s Services swooping in to take the
children away (indeed, absent a clear and direct danger to a child’s life, this
is actually uncommon), but someone from the state will visit the character,
ask a lot of uncomfortable questions of both parent and child, and, again,
Mental ••• Physical •• Social ••• now the character has a paper trail. If the cult makes another phone call
a week later (after planting some evidence this time, perhaps) the state
Overview employees won’t be favorably disposed toward the character at all.
Storytellers, take note: Few things motivate a parent faster than threatening
The characters discover exactly how deep the cult’s influence goes. Anna
Christopher turns on them. their children. That’s not a suggestion that you use this idea, that’s a reminder
that if you do, expect an immediate and powerful response. Again, caution.

Description • Drug Possession: The character finds his car surrounded by police officers
and dogs. In the backseat is a tightly wrapped brick of white powder that
You didn’t even see the police car as you drove by the parking lot, but it pulls turns out to be heroin (or a package of bills, or whatever you’d rather). The
out to follow you. It’s behind you for perhaps fifteen seconds before the roof lights character in this case will probably be immediately arrested and charged
activate. As you pull over, you realize this isn’t a speed stop. Both cops get out of the with possession (possibly with intent to distribute, depending on how much

The Enemies List

car, and they both have their hands on their weapons. of the drug is in the car). The so-called “War on Drugs” means that the
“Step out of the car, please.” character can look forward to hard time unless he can prove that those
drugs were planted, which is difficult to do (particularly if the character
Falling Scales

Storyteller Goals •
already has a record — which the cult can easily discover).
House Robbed: The character arrives home to find his door kicked in, a
This scene happens when the characters have angered Anna Christopher window broken, the house trashed and anything of value gone. The police
and she declares them enemies of the Unmasked. She brings to bear the full come out and take a statement, the insurance company wants a list of what
brunt of her influence, and that, unfortunately, can make the characters’ lives was taken (with serial numbers, if possible — not that they’d accuse the
very difficult. character of lying to get a better TV set!), and the character either has to
Exactly what she can do to the characters depends on their occupations sleep in the house tonight, wondering if every noise is the thief returning,
and personal lives. Below are some possibilities: or spring for a hotel. Even if no one is hurt and the only things damaged
• Investigated at Work: To be arrested or charged with a crime requires some were just that, things, it’s hard to describe the sense of invasion and viola-
evidence. To be fired or censured for an infraction, though, often requires tion that goes with a burglary. If the character had anything incriminating
only an accusation or some circumstantial evidence. The character might in the house (drugs, weapons, evidence of other crimes), it’s gone.
find that money goes missing from the till and the evidence points back • Policies Cancelled: It’s amazing what can be done online, just in terms
to him, or his server admin might discover some highly not-safe-for-work of commerce. People can purchase phone service, turn on utilities, and
material on his computer. In any case, even if no criminal charges are buy house and car insurance. That means, of course, that they can cancel
possible, the character might lose his job. any of these services, too…and so can anyone with their information.
• Falsely Accused: The Unmasked exerts a frightening degree of control The cult might cancel the character’s car insurance, which the character
over its members. Many of them are so thoroughly brainwashed that they won’t know until he needs it. Likewise, if the cult cancels the character’s
would lie for the cult, even if that means accusing an innocent person of cell phone plan, the character can easily get it fixed — if he knows to do
assault. The character might find himself giving statements to the police so before he really needs to make a call.
about his whereabouts on a particular night. If the character was, in reality, • Licensure Revoked: Doctors, lawyers, electricians, teachers, therapists,
out chasing vampires that night, he might not have a good alibi. Again, a nurses, cabbies, fisherman…they all require licenses. Most of these license
single accusation might not be enough to get the character arrested, but records are online (many for public viewing). Anything kept online can be
it’s never good to have the police open a file. cancelled by someone with access, and the cult can call on many people
• Children’s Services: Warning — this is a triggering topic for many parents. with access to many different databases. A doctor character might be hit
Use with care. If any of the characters have children, the cult can make with a malpractice accusation on the same day that his license turns up
anonymous calls report neglect, unsafe conditions or even abuse. This revoked. It might be a computer glitch, but if he’s already facing a malprac-

25
 tice claim, the hospital and the insurance company might rather suspend Help: Striking Looks (+1 or +2), character makes conversation with the
him while they work out the details. witness before asking questions (+1)
• Credit Cards Cancelled: It’s easy to cancel a credit card. The card com- Roll Results
panies arrange it that way so that if your cards are stolen, the thief has Dramatic Failure: The witness not only refuses to talk, she also informs
limited time to go on a spending spree before you call the handy number a manger, a police officer or whoever might be appropriate based on the cir-
on the website. That said, again, a cult member with the right information cumstances that the character was trying to “con her into giving up informa-
can cancel a character’s credit cards and even lock her bank account. This tion.”
won’t last more than a few days, but going without access to money for a Failure: The player rolls fewer successes than the Storyteller. The witness
few days can be extremely difficult. finds the character suspicious and refuses to talk, or can’t remember anything
• Arrest Warrant: Fabricating an arrest warrant isn’t easy, but it’s not im- of substance.
possible for characters in the right line of work. Once again, the first the Success: The player rolls as many or more successes than the Storyteller.
character is likely to hear about it when she gets pulled over and cuffed, The witness remembers someone connected with the matter at hand. For
and the police are unlikely to respond to “I have no idea what you’re talk- instance, if the character goes to the police station to inquire about a baseless
ing about” or “there must be a mix-up” with, “Oh, sorry about that, off you warrant, the officer on the desk remembers the warrant and who gave it to her.
go!” Once the character is processed and the lawyers get involved, it will The Storyteller might have the character roll Intelligence + Composure to

The Enemies List

probably become obvious that the warrant was baseless…unless that just remember the culprit as someone connected with the Unmasked, or might just
gives the cult time to get going. seed this person in earlier interactions with the cult (“A cop with strawberry
blond hair and a cleft palate scar? Son of a bitch, that guy works for Anna
Falling Scales

The Storyteller’s goal for this scene is to scare and frustrate the characters,
but not to get them put away for life. The damage here might not be easily Christopher!”).
reversible, but it shouldn’t be impossible to overcome if the characters take Exceptional Success: The player rolls as many or more successes than the
action. Anna, for her part, is trying to get the characters to back off. At some Storyteller and achieves an exceptional success. The witness not only remembers
point when the characters have all taken a hit, Anna contacts them (through the incident, but realizes it is out of place and takes the character’s side. The
an anonymous intermediary method — typed note in the mailbox or on the player can buy this witness as an Ally if she has two experience to spare.
car, that sort of thing) and tells them to stay away.
This, hopefully, will be enough to compel the characters to look into the Searching a Burglarized Home
cult or to confront Anna. If they take Anna’s advice, avoiding the cult entirely, Dice Pool: Wits + Investigation (this rolled can benefit from Teamwork;
then they have effectively given up and the story is over. see p. 134 of the World of Darkness Rulebook)
If they start looking into the strange occurrences in their lives to find who Action: Extended (15 successes needed, every roll requires 15 minutes
is responsible, they might find the Unmasked at the heart of it. The systems of searching. Increase the number of successes if the area being searched is
below provide some examples of how this might work. The characters might particularly large)
search their computers for evidence of intrusion and hacking, they might speak Hindrances: Police have been in the area and conducted their own search
with a secretary or other character who has been part of the cult’s plot (someone (–1), bad light (–2), area is normally very cluttered or messy (–2)
who drew up or forwarded a spurious warrant, for instance), or search a home Help: Area hasn’t been touched since the break-in (+1), good lighting
after the cult has burglarize it. (+1), area is normally well-ordered and clean (+2)

Roll Results
Character Goals Dramatic Failure: The character finds no evidence of a break-in. At the
Stay out of jail. Minimize damage to life. Take the fight to Anna. Storyteller’s discretion, the cult members responsible might have left behind
a trap for the character. If so, it shouldn’t be able to inflict more than three
Interviewing a Witness points of lethal damage.
Failure: The character makes no progress toward the goal.
Dice Pool: Manipulation + Persuasion vs. Resolve + Composure Success: The character makes progress toward the goal. If the player
Action: Instant and contested achieves the requisite number of successes, the character finds evidence point-
Hindrances: Character is hostile (–1), character is dressed inappropriately ing toward the cult. Again, this might be something that identifies someone
for the venue (-1) that the character has already met and knows is a member, or might point to

26
 The Set-Up
the cult itself (a business card or a matchbook from an establishment that the
Unmasked frequent, for instance).
Exceptional Success: The player achieves the requisite number of suc-
cesses and scores an exceptional success. The character sees the burglar in the
area carrying something from the house, and can follow or confront the thief
Mental ••• Physical ••• Social ••
as he sees fit.

Supernatural Characters
Overview
Anna Christopher sends the characters into the lion’s den.
Supernatural beings who earn the ire of the cult might be treated differently.
Characters who can easily live normal, human lives (mages, for the most part)
receive the same treatment, but other characters are, in many ways, more vulner-
able to the Unmasked’s attacks. Vampires, for instance, have to remain hidden
Description
The bottom floor of this building is burnt out and covered in charcoal. Black
during daylight hours or else they burn. The cult doesn’t necessarily want to kill dust kicks up around your feet and you’re grateful for the masks that Abe gave you.
the characters, but if they arrange for the police to raid a vampire’s haven during
the day, the resulting fiasco goes well beyond an inconvenience. Changelings In the corner, a swirl of dust, must like one of your footprints — but there’s
often try to stay relatively hidden for fear of attracting the Gentry’s attention; no one there to make it. You clutch the copper pennies that Abe gave you for pro-
even if the cult doesn’t know any particulars about the Lost, just forcing them tection as the ghost of Valentine Wilcox shimmers into view.
out into the open can be hazardous. What the cult does to supernatural beings,
Falling Scales

then, might be roughly the same, but the stakes are much higher, both for the
Storyteller Goals

The Set-Up
characters and anyone in their vicinity, if things go wrong.
This scene sees the cult try to sacrifice the characters to a murderous ghost.

Consequences Anna has decided that they are more trouble than they’re worth (she didn’t,
after all, invite them into the cult, and so she doesn’t have much control over
If the characters give up and agree to stay away from the cult, go to After- them), and she wants to get a sense of what this ghost can really do.
math. The characters still have the memetic infection to deal with, of course, Traits for Valentine Wilcox can be found above. He is a violent, powerful ghost,
but if they don’t make trouble for the cult, the cult won’t make trouble for but to him, the fire that killed him continues to rage and so he doesn’t leave the store.
them (unless you wish to have Anna use them as patsies for crimes that the The Unmasked send the characters in with shaped charges to place around the build-
Unmasked commit, or lightning rods for supernatural activity, in which case ing, so as to level it and get rid of the ghost. This will work, but Abe has orders to blow
go to The Set-Up). the building before the characters get out (if the ghost doesn’t kill them first).
If the characters decide to confront Anna and the Unmasked, go to Run the combat using the normal systems. Systems for placing the charges
Freedom. can be found below. Once the charges are in place or if the characters attempt to
run, have the players roll Wits + Composure. If this roll succeeds, the characters
hear beeping from the charges. They have one turn to get rid of the explosives
and get out of the area before the blast goes off.
This all assumes, of course, that the characters don’t see right through
what Anna is doing and disarm the bombs the first chance they get. That still
leaves them to deal with Valentine, of course. The bombs have the following
traits: Blast Area 3, Damage 6. See the rules on p. 178 of the World of Dark-
ness Rulebook.
(Note: If you’d rather not run a combat with a ghost and have access to
a book with a creature that suits you better, change this scene to your heart’s
content. The rules for ghosts are available in the World of Darkness Rulebook,
which means that ghosts make for nicely accessible opponents.)
If the characters flee the building amidst explosions and collapse, one
of Abe’s soldiers panics and fires a burst at the characters. This might miss

27
 altogether or cause some wounds, but it should also serve to hammer home
what’s going on. If you want to give the characters a chance to thin out
Supernatural Characters
the bodyguards’ ranks now, have them fight for a couple of turns before If the characters are supernatural beings, this scene might play out as written
fleeing. Maybe Abe leaves and orders his men to abort, but two of them or it might be over in seconds. A mage with even a low score in Matter can pre-
figure they can handle the characters and stay behind to mop up. vent the bombs from detonating, while any Sin-Eater worth her salt can handle
Valentine. In this case, the cult is very interested to watch supernatural beings
take on a ghost…and Abe has his finger on the detonator, just in case.
Character Goals
Survive the fight. Destroy Valentine Wilcox. Consequences
After this scene, it should be pretty obvious that Anna is trying to kill the
Placing the Charges characters. If they go to exact some payback, proceed to Freedom. If they flee
Dice Pool: Wits + Crafts the area, go to Aftermath.
Action: Instant
Hindrances: No Explosives Specialty in Crafts (–3); dark (–1); combat
with ghost happening behind the character (–1 to –3)
Help: Explosives Specialty (+1); Valentine is lured away (+1)

Roll Results
Falling Scales

Dramatic Failure: The bomb explodes, dealing damage as detailed above.

The Set-Up
Failure: The character places the bomb incorrectly and it will not destroy
the building when it detonates.
Success: The character places the bomb correctly. If all four bombs are placed
correctly, the building comes down when they blow up and Valentine is destroyed.
Exceptional Success: The character manages to place the bomb in exactly
the right spot, and the damage it does to the structure makes up for one other
bomb being placed incorrectly.

Disarming the Bombs

(Note: This roll would normally be contested against Abe’s successes in
arming the bombs, however, Abe designed these bombs to be easy to disarm
because they are being used in a populated area.)
Dice Pool: Wits + Crafts
Action: Instant
Hindrances: Dark (–2); no tools (–5); No Explosives Specialty in Crafts (–3)
Help: Explosives Specialty (+1); Good light (+1); appropriate tools (+1)

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The bomb explodes, dealing damage as detailed above.
Alternately, the bomb is still armed, but the character is positive it is disarmed.
Failure: The bomb is still armed, and any further attempt to disarm it
suffers a –1 modifier.
Success: The character disarms the bomb.
Exceptional Success: The character disarms the bomb, and any attempt
to disarm the others receives a +1 modifier.

28
 Freedom
A larger concern might be: What are they going to do if they find Anna?
Murder her in cold blood? This should certainly merit a potential loss of
Morality for the characters and Anna will call the police if they approach her
violently. Are the characters prepared to be wanted fugitives in order to get
Mental ••• Physical •••• Social •• out from under the cult?
In any case, this scene ends with the characters beating the cult, using
whatever strategy they feel is appropriate. Let them win, but make sure they’re
Overview ready to confront the consequences of that win.
The characters confront and destroy the Unmasked.
Character Goals
Description Defeat Anna and her cult.
Abe fires a shot in your general direction. “How you think this is going to end?” he
calls. “You were going to come in here and kill us?” You can practically smell the vodka Sneaking Into the Building
on his breath. “I can’t imagine this ending well for you. Let me show you what I mean.” Dice Pool: Wits + Stealth
You hear a faint chink sound, and then a baseball-sized object comes flying toward you. Action: Instant
The grenade lands a few feet away, and you can faintly hear Abe’s chuckle. Hindrances: Character has the Giant Merit (–1), character has a distinc-
tive and not concealable feature (–1 to -–3)
Falling Scales

Storyteller Goals
Help: Character enters in a crowd of people (+1), character wears a disguise
(see p. 87 of the World of Darkness Rulebook; +2)
In this scene, the characters take on the cult and win. They should be able
to expose or kill Anna Christopher and dismantle the Unmasked’s influence. Roll Results

Freedom
How exactly they accomplish this depends upon your troupe. If the char- Dramatic Failure: The character gets to the elevator and believes herself
acters are militant and well-trained, maybe they break into the cult’s head- unseen, but then the elevator stops midway up. The police are en route and
quarters, trash the files, kill Anna and burn the place down (assess Morality the character is likely to be arrested for trespassing (and possibly weapons pos-
rolls as necessary). Or, maybe they report Abe to the US Army, which brings session, depending on the circumstances).
black-suited agents to the area post haste and sees both he and Anna escorted Failure: The security guard at the front desk of the apartment building (on
away in a helicopter. Perhaps they can get the IRS to look at their evidence site 24 hours a day) spots the character and asks for ID. The character might be
of money laundering, or the FBI to hear them out on kidnapping and murder. able to bluff his way in, but the guard watches the character carefully.
In any event, whatever strategy the characters come up with, it should have Success: The character makes it to the elevator without being spotted,
a chance of working. but still needs to get into the apartment (see below).
Every troupe is different, and every troupe is going to experience Falling Exceptional Success: The character makes it to the elevator without
Scales differently. The World of Darkness is not a setting in which going in raising an eyebrow, and does so while one of the cult members is out smoking
guns blazing is generally the best idea, so the characters might well take their (meaning that he won’t be upstairs facing the characters).
time coming up with a plan. This is fine — let them take all the time they
want, but unless the Unmasked thinks they are dead, the cult won’t be idle. The Breaking Into the Apartment
malicious activity from Enemies List continues. If The Set-Up ended with the Dice Pool: Dexterity + Larceny
characters escaping and fighting their way past the bodyguards, Anna knows Action: Extended (20 successes needed, every roll takes 10 minutes)
that they must be planning something. Give the players a day of planning time Hindrances: No tools (impossible), old or shoddy tools (–2), failed roll to
(in game), but anything past that and Anna should make the first move. sneak in (–1, as security will call up)
As far as going after Anna, her headquarters is difficult to break into. The Help: Appropriate tools (+1), Meditative Mind Merit (+1), Exceptional
security systems are expensive and difficult to bypass, Abe has his men looking success on the roll to sneak into the building (+1)
for the characters, and their pictures have been circulated to all members (and Every thirty minutes, have the characters in the hallway roll Wits + Stealth
labeled as “traitors”). Getting in will require Stealth and Larceny rolls, but if (they can use Teamwork on this action) in a contested roll against one of the
that’s where the characters are strong, then this is a good approach. guards inside (six dice). If the player fails to match or exceed your total, the

29
 Infection
guards hear something and come to investigate (whether the characters can
remove their equipment and hide in time is up to you).

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The character trips an alarm. The guards inside are Mental •• Physical •• Social ••
alerted and police are probably already on the way.
Failure: No successes are added to the total.
Success: The character makes progress toward the total. If the player ac-
cumulates 20 successes, the character opens the door. Overview
Exceptional Success: The character accumulates considerable successes. Characters contract the “memetic infection.” This scene can happen any time.
If the player succeeds with an exceptional success, the character manages to
sneak into the apartment with no one the wiser, meaning he can set himself
up for a surprise attack. Description
She walks towards you and you feel the tips of your fingers start to twitch. It’s
Supernatural Characters something in the way she moves, how she turns sideways when she reaches a doorway.
And then, as she looks at you, you see the odd pattern in her eyes — her eyes don’t
As in other scenes, supernatural beings are probably capable of destroy- look natural. Just for a minute, you feel like you’ve seen through a mask….
ing the cult in decisive ways that mortals are not. But beyond that, this scene
doesn’t change much. A pack of werewolves simply has the option of chasing
Storyteller Goals
Falling Scales

Anna down and tearing her to pieces, while a group of mortals probably doesn’t.
Morality rolls might still be appropriate, however. This scene can happen anytime the characters encounter the supernatural after
they have met with someone who is already infected. They encounter a supernatural

Infect ion
Consequences being — maybe not one that is any kind of threat — and discover that they can see
things that they previously could not.
When this scene has been resolved, go to Aftermath. The progression of the infection is described above. When running
this scene, it’s important to give the players descriptions of what their
characters see and feel, rather than suddenly imparting knowledge. Think
about what kinds of subtle movements and expressions a given creature
might exhibit (using the suggestions on p. 6 as a jumping off point) and
present the character’s new perspective in those terms. As the character
comes into contact with other beings and the infection progresses, the
player can learn to draw conclusions based on the data he has. But in this
scene, the dramatic moment is the first moment when the character looks
at a supernatural being and knows that something is wrong.
Note, too, that nothing during this story marks the character’s new abilities
as an infection — unless they notice these powers spreading from one character
to the next. As the stories in this series continue and the infection changes
form, however, the nature of it should become very clear.

Character Goals
Discover new abilities.

Recognizing “Tells”
Dice Pool: Wits + Composure vs. creature’s Manipulation + Subterfuge*
Action: Instant and contested
30
 Hindrances: Drunk (–1), Morality 4 or less (–1)
Help: Specialty in Microexpressions (+1), Morality 8 or more (+1) Aftermath
Roll Results At the end of this story, the characters might be wanted fugitives. They
Dramatic Failure: The character sees disturbing expressions in almost might be in prison. They might be sitting pretty with money they stole from the
everyone around her. The character suffers a –1 penalty to all Social actions cult in a Leverage-like heist, or they might simply have backed away, pretending
until she sleeps, at which point she can attempt this action again. they know nothing, putting their heads in the sand.
Failure: The character cannot discern the expressions of a given creature; In any event, they have gained knowledge and, more importantly, the
the creature appears human. memetic infection. The have also destroyed, or at least run afoul of, the Un-
Success: The character notices the expressions of the creature, and they masked, and therefore the beings pulling the strings of this organization. You
remain mostly consistent for that type of creature. How specific the expressions can choose to make this obvious — maybe all charges against them are dropped
are depends on the creature in question — as mentioned on p. 6, changelings following a firefight at the cult’s headquarters, and the characters’ lawyers know
are much more varied than vampires in how they present. only that the District Attorney suddenly called up and dismissed the case, saying
Exceptional Success: The character gains considerable insight into the that new evidence came to light clearing the characters. Or, it could be a bit
creature. The Storyteller should give the character some useful piece of informa- more subtle. Perhaps the characters expose the cult to the press, resulting in an
tion about the type of creature (“he seems to avoid using silverware; he treats outcry and demonstrations as family members of the cultists try to “save” their
it almost like it’s hot”) or the particular being (“he keeps staring at the cat, but loved ones. Following a protest, Anna Christopher is found hanged, apparently
walked through the kitchen to avoid it”) that she is observing. having committed suicide… except that her office was locked from the outside
*Note that vampire characters cannot have more dice in this pool than
Falling Scales

after she died. In any case, the characters should become aware that someone
they have dots in Humanity. or something else was keeping tabs on the Unmasked but that it has no interest

Aftermath
in them, at least for the moment.
Supernatural Characters
Supernatural beings suffer the infection differently than mortals, meaning Experience
that this scene might have some more severe impact. Take your time with such Experience points are handed out after each chapter according to the sug-
characters, let them realize that while they might be able to learn more about gestions in the World of Darkness Rulebook, pp. 216-217. After the story is
the beings around them, they are also paying a price. over, there are a few additional points that can be awarded:
• The characters destroy the cult without killing anyone (+1 point)
Consequences • The characters catalog more than one type of supernatural being (+1 point)
Since this scene can happen at any time during the story, progression from
• The characters destroy Valentine Wilcox (+1 point)
it depends on where the Storyteller chooses to put it.

31
 ­••
No Witnesses
­•
A Glimpse of the Unknown
mental mental
SCENE: physical ••• SCENE: physical •••
social ­•­ social ­••

HINDRANCES HELP HINDRANCES HELP

Character has combat training (+1) Character is afraid of blood (–2) Multiple opponents decrease a None applicable
combatants Defense by one for each
melee attack after the first.

A surprise attack might allow a killing

blow (damage inflicted based on dice
pool, rather than a dice roll, so Maricel
can inflict 8 points of bashing damage if
she sneaks up on someone and hits them).

Maricel is able to climb walls and, if

followed, tries to push people from build-
ings. Falling inflicts one point of bashing
damage for every three yards fallen.

STs Scare the players, introduce the supernatural. STs Maricel’s last stand. Bring the cult in to help or witness.

Witness the supernatural. Determine their reactions

PCs in the face of horror and crisis. PCs Kill Maricel. Don’t die or be badly injured.

SCENE: Contact
mental
physical
social
­ ••
•
••
••
SCENE: With Us or Against Us mental
physical
social
­•
•
•
•••
­

HINDRANCES HELP HINDRANCES HELP

Hard of hearing (–2) Quiet environment (+1) Characters were opposed to the Striking Looks Merit (+2 or +4)
idea of coming to meet Anna (–1)
Other characters talking (–1) Meditative Mind Merit (+1) Characters display knowledge of the
Characters are overtly religious (–1) supernatural (+1)
Ambient noise (–1 to –5)
Characters show sympathy Characters destroyed Maricel before
to Maricel (–2) the Unmasked stepped in (+2)

STs Introduce the cult. Drop some hints about how it works. STs Introduce Anna. Drop more information about the cult.

PCs Meet Nick. Learn about the Unmasked. PCs Meet Anna Christopher. Learn about the cult.
 ­ ••
•
The Ugly Truth
­ ••
•
Field Research
mental mental
SCENE: physical ••• SCENE: physical ••
social ­•­• social ­••

HINDRANCES HELP HINDRANCES HELP

Character is drunk or fatigued (–1) Character has strong religious Drunk (–1) Specialty in Finance (+1)
or ethical convictions (+1)
Character is injured (–1)
Character is aware that the
Character has contracted Unmasked is a cult (+2)
the memetic infection (–1)

Introduce more of the supernatural.

STs STs Show the characters how immoral the cult really is.
Entrench the characters in the cult.

PCs Learn more about the supernatural. PCs Learn the truth about the cult and what it does to people.

SCENE: Enemies List

mental
physical
social
­ ••
•
••
•••
SCENE: The Set Up mental
physical
social
­ ••
•
•••
••­

HINDRANCES HELP HINDRANCES HELP

Interviewing a Witness — Interviewing a Witness — Placing the Charges — Placing the Charges —
Character is hostile (–1) Striking Looks (+1 or +2) No Explosives Specialty in Crafts (–3) Explosives Specialty (+1)
Character is dressed inappropriately Character makes conversation with the Dark (–1)
for the venue (–1) witness before asking questions (+1) Valentine is lured away (+1)
Combat with ghost happening
Searching a Burglarized Home — Searching a Burglarized Home — behind the character (–1 to –3) Disarming the Bombs —
Police have been in the area and Area hasn’t been touched since Explosives Specialty (+1)
conducted their own search (–1) the break-in (+1) Disarming the Bombs — Dark (–2)

Bad light (–2) No tools (–5) Good light (+1)

Good lighting (+1)
Area is normally very Area is normally well-ordered No Explosives Specialty in Crafts (–3) Appropriate tools (+1)
cluttered or messy (–2) and clean (+2)

STs Demonstrate how dangerous the cult is. STs Tip the cult’s hand. Push the characters to take the fight to Anna.

PCs Meet Nick. Learn about the Unmasked. PCs Survive the fight. Destroy Valentine Wilcox
 ­ ••
•
Freedom
mental mental
SCENE: physical •••• SCENE: physical
social ­•­• social

HINDRANCES HELP HINDRANCES HELP

Sneaking Into the Building — Sneaking Into the Building —
Character has the Giant Merit (–1) Character enters in a crowd of people (+1)
Character has a distinctive and not Character wears a disguise
concealable feature (–1 to –3) (see p. 87 of the World of
Darkness Rulebook; +2)
Breaking Into the Apartment —
No tools (impossible) Breaking Into the Apartment —
Appropriate tools (+1)
Old or shoddy tools (–2)
Meditative Mind Merit (+1)
Failed roll to sneak in (–1,
as security will call up) Exceptional success on the
roll to sneak into the building (+1)

STs Facilitate the destruction of the Unmasked. STs

PCs Defeat Anna and her cult. PCs

Infection ­•
•
mental mental
SCENE: physical •• SCENE: physical
social •• social ­

HINDRANCES HELP HINDRANCES HELP

Drunk (–1) Specialty in Microexpressions (+1)

Morality 4 or less (–1) Morality 8 or more (+1)

STs Reveal the memetic infection. STs

PCs Discover new abilities. PCs