A chronicle for Vampire: the Masquerade
Copyright © 1994 by Shawn D. Williamson (2 Dec 94)
A messenger arrives at the characters hideout, or base of operations. The messenger is a male skin-head, dressed in the usual boots, black leather, and earrings. His name is "Spike".
Spike delivers a letter, addressed to the leader of the group. It is from a Tremere named Gary Jacobs. The letter asks the PCs to meet with Jacobs to discuss a very large favor. If the meeting place is not suitable, he will agree to any large public restaurant or club.
Spike can give no information on the favor Jacobs requests. He is a ghoul and has been working for Jacobs for six months, when Jacobs came to this area. He only knows that Jacobs was formerly from Europe. Spike will return to Jacobs and will not remain.
When the party arrives at the agreed place they will see Spike by a table. He is standing behind a well dressed man seated at the table. The man is wearing a black double breasted suit with just a hint of vertical stripes. (A businessman's "Power" suit.) A blood-red gem tie clasp adorns the tombstone grey tie.
Just behind and to the right of the man is a portable bird stand, upon which a pure white owl sits, staring about the room. It raises slightly and gives a small "whooo" cry as the characters approach. The cry immediately causes the man to jump. He appears nervous and is, himself, constantly looking around him. If asked, he will identify the Owl as Isis, a ghoul protector of his for several years.
After the introductions are made, Jacobs explains the nature of the favor he requests.
"I've been gathering information on many of the vampires of this area. I hope you can forgive me for spying on you, but I think you are the most suited for my purpose.
"Within the next couple of weeks an attempt is going to be made on my life. I would like you to provide security for me, and destroy the assassin.
"The assassin calls himself Paracelsus. He is a wicked, evil thing who attempts to kill me once every ten years. I'm tired of this game. I want it ended once and for all. I want you to destroy Paracelsus."
Jacobs will first offer a boon to each of the characters along with his eternal friendship. Should that not be enough payment he will offer money. (Work out the arrangements yourself, but don't be ridiculous about it. He can probably only come up with $50,000. Soon they will realize the plots involved and wish to kill Paracelsus anyway.)
Jacobs has abandoned all his hideouts, fearing that Paracelsus may already know of them. He had Spike rent a penthouse form him just hours ago. He will agree to nearly any living arrangements for protection.
Jacobs can provide a history of Paracelsus if needed. See "Information on Paracelsus" below.
During the course of the discussion, have one of the characters make a Perception/Alertness check. For one success he notices a waiter carrying a tray of drinks and is almost at their table. For two successes he notices the drinks are all flaming (on fire). For three successes he notices the waiter has a blank look, as if hypnotized or dominated.
Unless stopped, the waiter will casually dump the tray of burning drinks on Jacobs. One of the drinks is an unlit glass of gasoline. Jacobs will suffer three levels of aggravated burn damage. The waiter will swear that he came to the table and took Jacobs' order for several glasses of flaming everclear to be dumped over his head. He realizes now how stupid that would be, but he can't explain why he wanted to do it before.
If any character attempts to check his memories through domination or any other discipline they find his memory to be just what he said. However, there is a gap just before the incident. His memory is completely blank for about 2 minutes just before the characters entered the room. Jacobs, of course, did not order any drinks.
If the character who made the Perception/Alertness check had five successes he also notice at the time that the owl had been staring at the waiter just prior to the incident. It didn't give any type of warning whatsoever.
What's going on:
Jacobs is a pawn and doesn't realize it. He is not Paracelsus's creator. Those are false memories implanted in him. He was abducted a year ago from Chicago by Paracelsus. His memories were altered to fulfill a certain mission: to kill Paracelsus.
Paracelsus suffers from multi-personality disorder. (See Information on Paracelsus, below). One of Paracelsus's multi personalities took over briefly while the others where unaware/uncaring/asleep. That personality saw that Paracelsus must die for all the evil he has done, and to prevent even more death on the world. The personality abducted a young Tremere and programmed him with false memories of the past and made him aware of the assassination scheme.
Paracelsus hunts down one Tremere every ten years. He chooses the victim and watches him for a year before destroying him. The one sane personality in Paracelsus abducted that target and altered his memories in hope the Tremere would have a good chance of finding a way to survive, and to destroy the evil forever. The background he is programmed with is almost completely true. (See cast of characters for the real background).
Paracelsus has the Animalism discipline. He is currently possessing the Owl and Dominated the waiter to burn Jacobs. He knew it would not kill him. He just wanted to have fun. (Although it doesn't address this in the rules, this story will assume that if the animal(s) that Paracelsus inhabits are killed, he instantly returns to his own body. He receives one aggravated wound and cannot use that discipline again till it is healed.)
Paracelsus is amused that Jacobs is hiring body guards. He is aware of what his "rogue" personality did, and sees it as another facet of the game: destroying all the Tremere in the world, and promoting the rise of evil. He will, of course, try to kill them all as will.
Information on Paracelsus: (from Jacobs)
Jacobs says he created Paracelsus in 1375 as an experiment. He wished to see the result of reviving a recently killed corps with blood form more than one clan of vampire. He used three types of blood to embrace the corps: Malkavian, Nosferatu, and a little of his own Tremere blood in order to bond it.
The resulting creature was completely insane. It appears the man, in life, suffered from what is known today as multiple personality disorder. That, combined with the Malkavian influence and the ugliness of the Nosferatu, drove the creature completely mad. But in a criminally insane sort of way.
Jacobs decided the experiment was a failure. He staked Paracelsus though the heart and left him outside in the woods for the sun to wipe out the evidence of the experiment. However, that stake was found at Jacobs' door step the next evening. Somehow Paracelsus escaped.
Ever since that time Paracelsus makes an attempt to kill Jacobs every ten years.
Rumor has it that Paracelsus has tried to reproduce only once. His blood tends to drive insane anyone who drinks it. His only progeny was rumored to be Jack-the-Ripper. This may only be a rumor, but Paracelsus WAS seen in London during that time.
Jacobs will insist on taking Isis and Spike with him to where ever the characters want to take him. Once they all are in a position of safety (assuming the party takes him to some kind of safehouse) Spike will receive a call on his cellular phone.
The call is from Cindy, his girlfriend and fellow ghoul. She was sent to find a Nosferatu named Gillian. He supposedly had information on Paracelsus.
Cindy believes she has located him. She is at a Cafe downtown, The Coffee Club. It's not much of a place, but Gillian supposedly comes here to listen to poetry and enjoy the conversation.
She will wait there and attempt to contact Gillian alone, unless the player characters wish to be there also.
It is a run-down old building. This part of town used to be a main shopping district. Now it is nearly dead. The Malls have sucked all the life from it.
The Coffee Club is on the first floor of the building. The upstairs hasn't been used for several years. The bottom floor has lots of windows to see in.
The Club is well lit. There is no real permanent furniture here. All the tables and chairs are the fold-up type. The owners have done a good job in keeping the business alive, but everything is beginning to show wear and tear.
Toward the front of the room is a small stage. A young female Punk with purple hair is reading poetry on the stage. She reads off a list of meaningless words which happen to rhyme. ("Time, crime. Heals, steals. All, fall. Wounds, blooms.")
There is one corner of the room where the lights don't work. It's not quite dark there, but shaded. A lone table with chairs is in the corner.
The Nosferatu, Gillian, is sitting at the table. He is using Unseen Presence (Obfuscate 2nd pip) to remain undetected. Cindy was looking for him in particular and therefore saw through the Obfuscation. She will point him out to the characters so they may also see him. Otherwise they will need to roll Auspex with two successes to see him on their own.
If the characters are known at all in Los Angeles, then Gillian will know who they are by sight. He makes it a point to know who everyone is in Los Angeles.
Gillian is like most other Nosferatu - ugly as sin. He does have a pleasant voice, however. He will greet the characters kindly and offer to get the mortals (if any) a drink.
Gillian's Information:
Gillian had heard of Paracelsus before, but had never met him. About two weeks ago he heard the name again. There were two gangbangers, Crips, talking in an ally about a new gang in town. They called it the "Eternal Sons".
One of the Crips said there must be voodoo involved because he heard the Sons believed they could live forever. They both laughed at that. One made a joke about testing out his uzi on them and see how long forever was.
Then one said to the other "I wonder who they're the Eternal Sons of? Sons of bitches if you ask me. Ha ha ha ha ha." A voice came from the other end of the ally and said, "Sons of Paracelsus."
The two Crips spun around and nearly shot the man. The man was big. Real big. About 6'6". He said to them, "My name is Karloff. I'm one of the Eternal Sons of Paracelsus. And we will live forever. You can find out more about us if you wish." The man then pulled a knife and slit open his arm. The Crips watched in amazement as it healed before their eyes.
Karloff told the Crips to meet at an abandoned warehouse, number 17, at the pier if they were interested.
Gillian said he didn't follow them because he had other things to attend to right then. Besides, it was just another ghoul showing off to the mortals. It wasn't till the next day when he remembered the name Paracelsus.
It's strange that a warehouse in such good condition would be abandoned and unused. Everything about it looks sturdy. The windows aren't even broken out. Another odd thing about it: the fence that surrounds the area had a brand new lock on the gate.
One success on a Perception/Security roll will discover the motion sensors near the loading doors of the building. The only other way in is through one of the three small windows about 15 feet up on the wall.
Once inside, the warehouse is completely empty. Only a single story office complex is in the north east corner (opposite the loading door entrance). The floors are swept. There is no dust buildup anywhere. There are occasional oil stains.
The office complex is about 45' by 60'. There are no windows and only a single door. Another Perception/Security roll will indicate more motion detectors and a concealed camera looking directly out of the door.
Inside there are two rooms: a reception area, and the main office. A woman sits in the reception area monitoring the security system and doing paperwork. She will be surprised by any one entering unless she saw them on the security system. If so, she will have contacted Karloff by telephone. He will send a hit squad (see next scene).
The woman is Angela. She says she is the executive secretary for Immerman imports. She does not know anything about vampires, assassination, etc. If asked why they are working so late at night she says that since their main company is based in Germany, they must work at night to be on the same schedule as them. She doesn't like the night shift, but the pay is good.
A sign on the office door says "Mr. Paracelsus, President." Angela will say he is in, but busy with paperwork. She will page on the intercom if they insist.
A business man is in the main office. He is a ghoul. He says his name is George Paracelsus. If asked about Gary Jacobs he will get an exasperated look. "Oh brother. Is it that time again? He gets this way every few years. We're not on speaking terms anymore."
George paracelsus will explain that he is a ghoul. He was made a ghoul originally by Jacobs, but didn't like the types of experiments he conducted. Jacobs was being seduced by the Sabbot, and began studying demon summoning spells. George Paracelsus didn't like it so he left. Ever since then Jacobs has threatened him with death to hide his involvement with the Sabbot.
He now works for a Ventrue named Immerman who lives in Germany. He works as president of the company, and as long as he continues to make a profit, Immerman sends him two viles of blood per month.
George says he is a simple business man, and that Jacobs is the insane one. If asked about Karloff, he is the director of security for the company.
If further asked about the company, Immerman Exports deals in computer software and hardware. The Ventrue Immerman runs the company to raise money for whatever projects he has in Germany. The warehouse is empty now as they just shipped everything last night. He is now in the process of buying more equipment to ship.
Gillian, he'll say, is another accomplice of Jacobs, and probably his Sabbot mentor.
What's going on
By this time the characters should be confused as to what's happening. George Paracelsus is another pawn in the great game. The true Paracelsus hired George to operate this company as a money maker for him. He altered the memories of the encounter to make George believe he was working for a Ventrue in Germany. He also had George change his last name to Paracelsus in order to confuse anyone inquiring about the real Paracelsus. It was a legal name change about 5 years ago.
Only last night did George have another quick memory change, adding the information of Jacobs and Gillian. Those memories will be removed in a few days so as not to clutter up George's thinking.
The Eternal Sons usually do meet here, but only for recruitment. George knows nothing of this. Karloff takes care of it outside. Those that he approve of are sent to a main hide out.
After the characters leave the warehouse, have them be the victims of a drive by shooting. Two men on motorcycles will catch up to them about 10 minutes after they leave the warehouse.
The first one will fire an uzi at them. He will aim specifically for those who went inside (Angela called in a description of them to Karloff either when the characters set off the alarm, or when they went in to see Mr. Paracelsus.) The second one will aim for the tires of the car. They will speed out of sight. They were wearing jackets bearing "Eternal Sons" across the back.
If the cyclists should be captured, they will say that they were sent on this mission by Karloff, their gang leader. They will give the location of the gang hang out if forced to. (Choose an appropriate location. The building is a 4 story with an underground garage.)
The cyclists know what vampires and ghouls are. They say they have drank the blood and shall live forever serving the true master of the world, Paracelsus.
If they are captured alive, the cyclists can give the following information on Karloff. If not, there will be an opportunity later.
Information on Karloff
The cyclist encountered now, or in the future will have this information on Karloff.
He is huge, about 6'6" and solid muscle. Karloff has worked for Paracelsus for many years. They know that they are not the only gangs under Paracelsus's control. One of them heard Karloff say he had just returned from similar recruitment missions in Miami and Boston.
Karloff is special. They think he was given special blood, because he's a lot tougher than they are. One day at the hangout this guy was cleaning his uzi and accidentally pulled the trigger, shooting Karloff in the back about 10 times. Karloff was knocked down and everyone thought he was dead. But then he got up, walked over to the guy who accidentally shot him and drove his 12" bowie knife into the guy's neck. He was so pissed off he cut the guy's head clean off. He just stood their staring at him for a few minutes. Then he ordered someone to cleanup the body.
Nobody messes with Karloff. Nobody.
By possessing Isis, Paracelsus will know all the plans the characters have made. He will now attempt to kill Jacobs in a very big way. Create some form of assassination attempt that's sure to attract a lot of attention. The following are suggestions.
If they have Jacobs in a building, such as a house or business offices, Paracelsus will have a member of the Eternal Sons hijack a gasoline tanker and ram into the building, causing an explosion with a few sticks of dynamite he detonates in the cab.
If they have Jacobs on a boat, an Eternal Son will hijack another, larger, boat and attempt to ram the ship.
Let the characters have a chance of defeating the attempt. If they have some form of security system, allow it to detect the hijacked truck/boat early so they may try to divert it. As a last resort, a late night news helicopter will have the story on TV. Let the characters see that it is near them, then let them see or hear in the report it is an Eternal Son that is doing it.
If the Eternal Son is captured alive he will have the same information on Karloff as in Scene 6. He, too, will say he was sent by Karloff on this mission. He will reveal the location of the gang hide out only if tortured.
If the Son is not captured alive, allow one the characters own appropriate background sources to reveal the location of the hangout. As a last resort, Gillian will have just discovered the location and will contact the characters.
It's in a poor part of town. The type of area that one can set up a crack house and the neighbors would be too scared to report it. Especially since the Sons have told the neighbors not to cause problems for them, or there will be trouble and death in the family.
It is a four story building. Nearly all the windows have been bricked over. Only the ones at the top floor are not bricked over, but they are barred. The only entrance on the first floor is a large iron door. It looks as if it were recently installed. There is a camera in the doorway and a buzzer/intercom. There is no keyhole or lock visible. Apparently the only way through the door is to have someone inside buzz the door open.
The only other 1st floor entrance is the underground garage. There is another security camera and buzzer/intercom at this entrance. This entrance is closed with an electronic garage-door type gate. A vehicle could most likely crash through it.
There is no fire escape on the side of the building. The only other option would be to enter through the roof exit. Unless the characters can fly or climb the side of the building, they only way to the roof is to jump across the 15 foot gap from the closest building.
Karloff's location will depend on whether he has received a warning that the characters are coming. He will be resting in the top floor of the building if he is unaware of them. This is his private floor.
If he is aware they are coming he will gather 10 Sons and await them in the garage. He will expect them to enter there.
If the characters attempt to break in through the front door, they will set off an alarm and Karloff will gather 10 Sons and meet them on the 1st floor.
The barred widows on the top floor also enter to Karloff's private floor.
Any Sons encountered will be dressed in different types of jeans, shirts, etc., but all wear a black leather vest with "Eternal Sons" on the back. Most will have a pistol of some sort, and a couple will have uzis.
Karloff wears only boots, black leather pants, no shirt, and a plain black leather vest. He has a large 12" bowie at his left side and a pistol at the other.
There are only 30 Sons recruited so far. Five of them are not in the building and won't be encountered in this scene.
This is an underground parking garage. The street entrance slopes downward to this level.
There are about 10 motorcycles here and 15 cars of different makes and models. A stairway leads up. An elevator is here. The elevator is marked with "Garage" and floors 1-3. An extra space is marked "private." It doesn't have a button: a key is needed.
(If the lock should be picked, or the panel simply ripped apart, the character will see their are two options for the key. Turning it one way will take them to one floor. Turning it the other way will take them to another. (Turning it to the right will take them to the top floor. Turning to the left will go to the hidden basement level.)
This is the entrance floor. A small room near the main metal door will have TV monitors connected to the security cameras. A Son sits here with phone. If he detects anything unusual he calls Karloff and sounds an alarm.
The rest of the floor has a couple sleeping/drunken Sons. This floor has a couple living rooms, bathrooms, and a very large room (several wall broken out to make it big) probably for meetings/training. There are weight benches, etc.
Only bedrooms in a main hallway on this floor. 8 Sons are sleeping/boozing/whoring, etc.
This floor has no inner walls. It is a large open area painted black. Spray painted pentagrams adorn the floor.
In the center of the room is an alter. It is a large, thick stone table, larger than a coffin. On top is a straight razor, a brass bowl and a funnel. One end of the table has a small hole in it. At the base of it there is a small faucet.
There are words carved in the side of the table/coffin:
To live forever!
Do this at least once every three weeks.
- Draw one pint of blood from yourself (or another).
- Feed it in the hole at the top.
- Wait for half an hour.
- Drain the blood from the faucet at the side.
- Drink.
If the characters open the coffin (solid stone, requiring a 5 strength/potence) they will find a vampire staked through the heart. The vampire is in torpor and will not awaken for several more years. If they find a way to awaken him, he knows nothing of vampires. He was just walking down the street (in April, 1983) and was struck from behind. He has had terrible nightmares of being buried alive.
A tube runs from the hole in the top of the coffin down his throat. Another tube is stuck in his arm and leads to the faucet.
There will be several Sons here feeding the coffin.
This floor is in much better condition than the rest of the building. He has a large canopy bed, usually with a whore sleeping in it.
There is a large table in one corner with papers. There are plane tickets from Miami, Boston, and Seattle here. A few notes with names and locations in these cities give the impression of further recruiting taking place.
Read the Highlander rules to fully understand fighting an immortal. For the time being this will have to do:
Karloff has a quickening level of 6. This allows him several powers.
Karloff will try to conceal his immortality. (An immortal told his story to a movie producer a few years back, resulting in the Highlander movies. Now immortals worry when fighting Kindred incase they get the idea of chopping off their heads.)
Karloff's blood, like all immortals, will give no sustenance to a kindred. If the kindred continues to drink, it will fill up his blood pool, but he will not be able to use the blood. It will be as if he filled himself with water. The kindred will have to cut open a vein to get rid of the useless blood.
The blood will taste bad, but not as bad as a mummy's blood. They can drink him dry but will not be able to kill him. He will heal each blood point at the rate of one per round.
If Karloff defeats the party he will only stake them in the heart and leave them. He'll have their bodies thrown in a dumpster a few blocks away. (The dumpster will provide protection from the sun if they aren't rescued sooner.) Someone in the party will hear a brief conversation as they are being taken away: One Son will ask Karloff "How come you didn't cut off their heads?" Karloff will answer "'Cause they're not like that other chap." This is their only clue that he is an immortal.
The elevator from the Son's hang out leads to a sub- basement. It is not accessible from the building's stairs. It is pitch black. The stench of death lingers here. One wall has been broken through, leaving a 10 foot wide gap leading to the city sewer system.
Two very large Mastiffs are lounging here. Those with Auspex will be able to see them. Those without Auspex, or those who didn't bring a flashlight, will only hear them. They instantly (and extremely quickly) jump to their feet, growl and stare at the characters. The hounds will do nothing if the characters get back in the elevator. Unless the characters say "Paracelsus is my master" the hounds will attack.
(Hell hound Ghouls: Str 4, Dex 4, Stam 3. Potence 2, Celerity 1. They are blood bound to Paracelsus and are very insane. No domination attempt or animalism attempt will work against them.)
Paracelsus is hiding nearby in the sewer using Obfuscate. He has possessed another Ghoul, a rat. (His body is elsewhere.) He will summon a horde of rats with Animalism. (All stats are 1, however, 20 of these rats are ghouls and have Potence 1 as well.) The rats will pour through the hole from the sewer.
Paracelsus will enter with the rats, but will stand back by the entrance and will stay hidden with obfuscate. He spent will power when possessing the rat so that he may use his disciplines and Thaumaturgy. He will form a Palm of Flame and place it on the clothes of one of the characters (from the Path of Flames).
Paracelsus will leave the rat's body if it looks like the rat is about to die. He will return to his own body when the characters discover the stone door. (see end of scene)
Just outside the hole in the wall, the sewer waters are about hip deep. The tunnel is only 6 feet in diameter. A very large, Ghouled alligator lies just underwater. If anyone steps in the water it will attack. It is possible to walk along a narrow ledge to avoid the water. An underwater light was purposefully placed here to attract attention so they would step into the water. The water is filthy so they can't see what is there without feeling under water.
To the right of the broken wall the tunnel goes 50 feet to a large barred gate. It is to prevent anyone from entering. If pressure is applied to it as if to bend or move the gate, it electrifies for 10 seconds doing 6 dice of damage. Beyond the gate is normal sewer.
To the left of the broken wall there is another gate 50 feet down. Just before the gate is a round stone door. If the party has not encountered the alligator it will follow underwater to this door. It will attack the party if they come near the door.
The stone door will require a strength/potence of 6 to move. It slides sideways and upward. Unless they block it open it will slam closed behind them.
The first room is a small alcove, about 10'x10'. A doorway leads out to another room. Above the door is scratched with crayons:
Abandon hope all ye who enter here
Welcome to disneyland
Arbeit Macht Frei
A man is chained to the wall. His wrists are held above his head. The party should make an Int roll to recognize him. This is Jeffrey Daumer, the homosexual rapist/murderer/cannibal.
His information: He was captured by Paracelsus about 6 months ago. Another man was placed in the prison where he was kept. Plastic surgery and domination was used to make the man look and act like the real Daumer. Paracelsus likes to collect insane murderers and turn them into vampires. He has to hang here for a year before Paracelsus will embrace him.
Through the door way is a 30'x30' room. Another doorway is across the room. There are coffins all over the place. 45 to be exact. Daumer can tell the party that each one contains a murderer, rapist, or insane criminal. They were taken from area mental hospitals, jails, etc. Each one has a steak through his heart. They all look Nosferatu. Each one is in Torpor, waiting for Paracelsus to awaken them.
At this time a Nosferatu enters from the next room. He has scrags of black hair and a swastika carved on his forehead. (Yes, it's Charles Manson) His eyes are wild like windows upon a twisted mind. He will take one look at the party and promptly Obfuscate. He will speak to them invisibly.
"Hey there boys. What are you doin' here. I've heard the music, and the music says you have to die!" He will say as he moves around. Once the conversation becomes boring for him he will shoot random characters with his 45 automatic. If he is discovered by a character with auspex, he will shoot that character first, then fight hand-to-hand with a steak knife (always aiming for the stomach).
The final room is another 30'x30'. Paracelsus is here with two more Ghoul mastiffs. He is sitting behind a desk. The wall above the desk looks like it used to have a window there, but it's been bricked over.
Paracelsus is wearing small wireframe reading glasses. He looks up with a confused look. "Yes, may I help you." He will carry on a polite conversation and attempt to convince them that he has nothing to do with what is going on. He is just capturing the mentally disturbed and holding them in his own jail.
During the conversation he will make eye contact with whoever tries to speak with him. He will say something like "so you see, I'm completely normal. You should be defending me instead of persecuting me." (He is attempting to Dominate the subject.
If it looks like there will be combat, Paracelsus will summon his final guardian, Clark the Gargoyle. (Or if the characters simply charge him when the first arrive Clark will burst through the wall above Paracelsus and land between them.)
"Oh! I see you've met my friend Clark. Nice chap isn't he? I found him near death in London a little over 100 years ago. He was so grateful I saved him that he decided to be my body guard for eternity. Of course, I had to convince him of that, If you know what I mean," he says tapping his forehead.
If any party member tries to use Dominate on the Gargoyle, it will fail, unless they speak latin or greek.
If the battle is going bad for the Clark, Paracelsus will call out, "Jeffrey, will you be so kind as to pull out the stakes from all those vampires out there? Send them in here, will you? Thanks." (Paracelsus knows that Jeffrey can't free himself, but hopes that the party will have to send someone back to make sure. That should give a combat edge for him.)
Then Paracelsus will reach in his desk and pull out a pistol. This pistol is special. It is pitch black Luger from WWII. This pistol, in fact, has a demon bound to it. Whoever shoots it gets an extra 5 dice.
The black luger was not owned by Hitler, but Paracelsus had it inscribed with "Adolph" just for laughs. It has a demon bound to it. The demon's influence gives 5 extra dice above and beyond the shooter's normal skill. But only a person of low humanity can shoot the pistol effectively.
Someone with high humanity will be able to use it effectively the first couple of times, but after that the demon will begin tricking the person into shooting friends and innocents. It starts with visual hallucinations; making an innocent appear as the enemy and vice versa. It can also jerk to one side, causing the full dicepool to be targeted against an innocent bystander. The goal, of course, is to cause the shooter to lose humanity. That is what the demon feeds on. (See the file "demon.txt" for a full explanation of demons.)
Paracelsus will begin firing on the party. Although he has no firearms skill, the 5 dice from the pistol and his dex give him 9 dice. He will concentrate on one person at a time.
If the Gargoyle is about to be defeated and Paracelsus is afraid of losing a physical battle he will obfuscate and flee. He will accidentally drop the pistol as he leaves (actually the demon made him drop it.) The characters will see an iron door drop over the "window" where the Gargoyle burst through and hear it lock in place.
If the party tries to follow through the iron door, they must get it open within two rounds. Otherwise Paracelsus will have gone through another iron door, locked in place, and escaped up a manhole. He will be gone.
Examining Paracelsus' papers will discover that he has similar operation in Boston, Miami, Seattle, and London. There are names of murderers and insane criminal along with names of mental institutions. Some have been checked off, some have not.
Paracelsus's goal was to capture the vilest beings alive. He turned them into a vampire and staked them through the heart. He would wait until they entered torpor, remove the stake, and bury them or hide them. Years from now they would awaken and carry on an insane frenzied rampage of murder and mayhem. He planned this for no reason at all. Maybe to destroy the masquerade?
He met Karloff about 5 years ago. They became friends since they both wanted murder and mayhem. Karloff wanted the masquerade broken hoping that other immortals would come out of the woodwork to fight the insane vampires. Then he would hunt them down and take their quickening. The Sons of Paracelsus gang was his idea as a diversion to keep himself occupied.
If Paracelsus was killed the characters now have the option of finding the other insane vampires he's hidden the other cities, or contacting the elders of those cities and letting them try to find the hiding places. Paracelsus left no records of where they are hidden. In 10 to 50 years they will awaken one by one and start rampaging. The elders must be ready.
If Paracelsus lived he will leave the area and continue his work elsewhere. He will still want Jacobs killed, but may wait a few years. Or he may hire an assassin to do it. Who knows what evil lurks in the mad.
GARY JACOBS, Tremere Nature:Conniver Demeanor: Cavalier Generation 11th, Embrace 1935 Apparent age: 35 Str 2 Charisma 3 Perc 3 Dex 2 Manip 4 Int 3 Stam 2 Appearannce 3 Wits 2 Alertness 2 Animal ken 3 Bureaucracy 3 Dodge 2 Drive 3 Finance 2 Intimidate 1 Etiquette 3 Law 2 Empathy 1 Music 2 Occult 3 Subterfuge 1 Stealth 2 Science 2 Disciplines Conscience 2 Auspex 2 Self Control 2 Thaumaturgy 3 Courage 1 Presence 2 Dominate 2 Humanity 6 Willpower 7
Jacobs was captured by Paracelsus and his entire background was replaced. He no longer has any memory of what or who he used to be. He believes that he is the creator of Paracelsus.
SPIKE, ghoul Str 3 Charis 3 Perc 3 Dex 4 Manip 2 Int 2 Stam 4 Appear 3 Wits 4 Alertness 3 Firearms 3 Law 2 Dodge 3 Stealth 2 Medicine 3 Brawl 4 Melee 3 Science 3 Streetwise 3 Survival 2 Leadership 1
Spike was made a ghoul and blood bonded to Jacobs about 6 months ago. Before that he was a street thug. He acts as Jacob's body guard
CINDY, Ghoul (Spike's girl friend)
Str 1 Charis 2 Perc 2
Dex 3 Manip 1 Int 3
Stam 2 Appear 5 Wits 3
Alertness 2 Computer 2
Dodge 2 Stealth 1 Investigation 3
Brawl 1 Melee 1 Linguistics 1 (french)
Streetwise 2 Survival 1 Finance 3
Repair 4
Cindy was the Homecoming queen, but since she never really studied anything she never got a good job after school. She used her one true skill: fixing cars. She fixed cars for anyone who wouldn't hit on her. She will usually leave her face smeared with grease so the guys wouldn't notice what a fox she is.
She met spike about a year ago when his engine blew out. They became fast friends. Spike insisted that she be a ghoul as well when he got involved with Jacobs. She didn't like it at first, but she's learned to like Jacobs a lot. Maybe more than Spike.
PARACELSUS, the eternal evil one Nature: Insanity Demeanor: Architect Generation: 7th Embrace 1375 Apparent age: 50? (It's so hard to tell with Nosferatu) STR 3 Charisma 3 Perception 3 Dex 4 Manip 6 Intelligence 5 Stam 5 Appearance 0 Wits 3 Conscience 0 Self Control 0 Courage 3 Alertness 3 Animal ken 5 Bureaucracy 4 Brawl 3 Etiquette 4 Investigation 3 Intimidation 6 Music 3 Law 2 Leadership 2 Security 4 Medicine 3 Subterfuge 4 Occult 5 Stealth 3 Politics 4 Animalism 4, Auspex 3, Obfuscate 5, Potence 1, Dominate 3, Thaumaturgy 2 (Path of Flames) Retainers 2 (see list), Resources 5, Status 1 Humanity 0, Willpower 8, Bloodpool 20/5. Unbondable. Insane.
Paracelsus was the result of an odd experiment. A Tremere named Gorden Thames wanted to see what would happen if a recently executed murderer was revived with the blood of several vampires mixed together. He chose blood from a Malkavian, a Nosferatu and his own Tremere blood. The result was a violent, criminally insane vampire named Paracelsus.
Thames should have destroyed his creation when he discovered just how insane Paracelsus was. He thought that by blood bonding the creature he would have complete control over it. He had no idea that Paracelsus was unbondable.
Paracelsus learned to hide himself from his master's eyes. He would watch Thames conduct his Thaumaturgical experiments, and learn them. When he felt the time was right he staked Thames in the back and drained all of his blood.
Paracelsus' insanity caused him to behave randomly at first. He had no real goals until he met Karloff about 10 years ago. He got the grand idea of destroying the masquerade.
GILLIAN, Nosferatu
Str 3 Charisma 2 Percep 4
Dex 3 Manip 3 Int 2
Stam4 App 0 Wits 4
Acting 3 Animal ken 3 Bureaucracy 1
Alert 5 Drive 1 Computer 4
Athletics 2 Etiquette 2 Law 1
Brawl 2 Firearms 2 Linguistics 3
Dodge 3 Music 3 Medicine 1
Empathy 1 Stealth 4 Occult 3
Leadership 2 Survival 4 Politics 1
Science 1
Animalism 4 conscience 4 Humanity 8
Auspex 2 self control 3 Willpower 7
Obfuscate 3 Courage 3
Potence 3
KARLOFF NIESMIERCH (an immortal from the Highlander genre. See
the Immortals handbook for rules on handling.)
Strength 5, Dexterity 4, Stamina 5
Charisma 2, Manipulation 4, Appearance 2
Perception 4, Intelligence 3, Wits 4
Talents: Alertness 3, Awareness 4, Athletics 3, Brawl 7, Dodge 5,
Intimidation 6, Leadership 4, Streetwise 5, Subterfuge 2
Skills: Drive 4, Firearms 5, Melee 8, Repair 4, Stealth 2,
Survival 6
Knowledges: Computer 1, Finance 3, Investigation 2, Law 3,
Linguistics 5, Medicine 2, Occult 4, Politics 3, Science 2
Backgrounds: Arcane 3, Contacts 2, Fame 1, Resources 3
Quickening 6
Willpower 8
Weapon Two Handed Sword (difficulty 7, Str+6=11 dice)
Karloff will appear familiar to any Mummies. Have them roll their intelligence. If they get four successes they will remember him as the war chief of King Tut. They will know his is not a mummy, but will have no explanation of why he is still alive, unless he became a vampire.
For further rules on Immortals, see the immortals rulebook.