The Strange & Sunken Fate of Karl Heinrich
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by J.C. Connors and Jeff Evertt ABOUT THE ADVENTURE THE WEST GAMBO The Strange & Sunken Fate of Karl Heinrich is a GURPS Hor- The adventure begins in the rough waters of the Atlantic, ror adventure, although it can be easily translated to other near N. Latitude 20°, W. Longitude 35°. The PCs are on- systems. The adventure is set in June 1937, twenty years board the ship SS West Gambo, which has been equipped since the mysterious disappearance of a German U-boat in with two bathyspheres that are capable of reaching the bot- the Atlantic (as recounted in H.P. Lovecraft’s original short tom of the ocean. story, “The Temple”.) The government lead on the expedition, R. THOMAS The adventure is suitable for four to six PCs; the end of the WACHUSETT, informs the PCs that there’s more to the adventure includes six pregenerated characters. expedition than historical discovery. The area around the U-boat seems to be emitting a strange form of underwater Characters introduced for the first time in the adventure are radio waves. The government wonders if U-29 was some noted in ALL-CAPS. Skill rolls are in Small-Caps. Sections sort of experimental U-boat, and wants better readings marked with a map are sidequests and adventure hooks, on the energy source. To that end, each bathysphere has and not important to the overall plot of the adventure. also been equipped with an experimental Fomenko Radio Bathyscope, a primitive device that enables the two teams ADVENTURE SUMMARY to better measure the underwater radio waves. Also, each The PCs are part of a government-funded team that plans to team is equipped with bottom-walking diving suits with investigate the disappearance of U-29, an Imperial German self-contained mixed-gas helium and oxygen rebreathers Navy submarine lost at sea in August 1917. The government that that allow them to explore the wreckage, if it looks safe. has funded two universities, Miskatonic University and Harvard University, to lead the investigation. The plan is for the Harvard-crewed bathysphere to enter the water at 8:25 am, followed by the Miskatonic-crewed After traveling to the site of the wreck, the PCs discover a one at 8:39, about a hundred yards away from the first. massive underwater temple. When the temple is disturbed, The descent down should take about 15 minutes for each the monstrous god in its middle, Gloon the Corruptor of bathysphere. Sure enough, at 8:25, the first bathysphere Flesh and Master of the Temple, notices. Gloon’s awakening successfully enters the rough waters of the Atlantic. creates a dimensional shift that causes a second temple in the nearby Azores islands to appear (and causing most of its Howeer, as the PCs’ crew is loaded into their bathysphere, a population to vanish). Simultaenously, Captain Karl Hein- Perception roll notices something amiss. Two gauges are rich, the original captain of the U-29, reappears mysteri- cracked – a depth gauge that reads depth below 100 me- ously after twenty years. Under the sway of Gloon, he reluc- ters, and an oxygen gauge. A successful Crewman (Sub- tantly converts the island’s remaining survivors into Gloon’s marine), Mechanic (Submarine) or Engineer (Subma- followers – ill-tempered men who will inevitably transform rine) roll determines that while the damage is not critical, into unnatural, benthic creatures whose fate is to infect the not having functioning gauges makes it hard to communi- Atlantic in a hideous cycle of reproduction... cate the depth and oxygen level back to the SS West Gam- 1 v1.1 bo. It is not immediately obvious how the gauges could have been broken. If asked, Wachusett swears that both bathy- The Bathyspheres spheres were inspected prior to being loaded on the ship. A bathysphere is a spherical deep-sea submersible, first invented in 1930. Unlike submarines, bathyspheres do not If the PCs scramble, they can fix the gauges. Fixing a gauge have their own power or air supply – both are supplied by takes ten minutes as long, as they have a replacement part the ship above (although a compressed air cylinder is kept (which can be found by running to the engineering area in the bathysphere for 15 minutes of emergency air). A of the ship and succeeding a Scrounging roll). With a telephone line connects the bathysphere to the ship above. replacement gauge, a successful Mechanic roll fixes the gauge. However, both gauges need to be fixed in tandem to The bathysphere can hold four passengers, although up to make the scheduled drop time. Clever PCs may enlist the six can be squeezed in uncomfortably. Two windows on help of a nearby West Gambo engineer to help (assume a the exterior, made from 3-inch fused quartz, allow a view ship engineer knows where parts are and has has Mechan- to the ocean outside. ic-14 skill). Although an authentic bathysphere of the 1930s had no GM’s Note: The adventure keeps it ambiguous whether or not real way to exit while underwater, the bathyspheres in this the bathysphere was sabotaged, or was simply broken during adventure are equipped with a pressure hatch, so it’s pos- transport. Neither scenario affects the outcome. For a more sible for the investigators to get in and out of the sphere. detailed sabotage scenario, see Extending the Adventure at the end. er still mysteriously flickers back on after about ten more DESCENT minutes of inky black terror – and another Fright Check The ocean is rough, and lowering the bathysphere is diffi- at +1. cult. The bathysphere hits the water especially hard... each PCs should make a ST roll or take 1 HP of damage as they Either way, the flood lights come on to reveal an extraordi- slam into the metal interior. A low groaning sound loudly nary sight – the bathysphere is suspended above an enor- interrupts any conversation as the bathysphere is subject to mous underwater temple. Weirdly, a dim light emanates the increasing pressure of the sea. from the structure, as if the stone pillars of the temple glow. There is still no sign of the other bathysphere... causing the Staring out the portal of the bathysphere, and making a Vi- PCs to wonder whether it got pulled up by the West Gam- sion roll, spots the faint floodlights of the other bathysphere bo. Neither is there sign of the U-29. through the murky water. THE SUNKEN TEMPLE However, after a few minutes, power in the bathysphere The PCs can maneuver their bathysphere upwards and suddenly goes out. The bathysphere’s floodlights go dark. downwards by giving simple signals to the West Gambo. The telephone does not work either, although oxygen still seems to be pumped from down the West Gambo. Oddly, the PCs see a human-like figure at the entrance to the temple, as if resting outside it, unmoving. By equipping A few moments later, the PCs feel and hear something bang- themselves with their bottom-walking diving suits, the PCs ing on the outside of the bathysphere, as if a thump of bod- can exit the bathysphere, one at a time, and visit the temple. ies pushing it around. Each PC must make a Fright Check at Note that, PCs use the lower of Diving Suit skill (default +2. A Vision roll at -3 spots the gray form of a dolphin rub of DX-5) or their actual DX-based skill when underwater. past the bathysphere’s portal. However, no roll will be able to spot the other bathysphere... its lights have also vanished. The bottom of the ocean is covered in a thin layer of silt, but underneath that layer of silt are hard stone walkways. An Engineer (Submarine), Crewman (Submariner), or The PCs realize that they have discovered the center of Electrician roll reveals that power is still coming down some ancient underwater city. from the West Gambo, but wires fried on the bathysphere, preventing any of its systems to work. The PCs can repair Thirteen steps lead up from the ancient road to the the vast the electrical problem on their bathysphere by rerouting door of the temple. Its stone doors stand over forty feet the wiring and successfully making a Electrician roll. tall, and are decorated with strange, indecipherable sym- However, the telephone remains dead after the repair, truly bols and images, including three unusual symbols. (See shorted out. If all the PCs fail the repair attempt, the pow- Handout A). If someone tries to translate the symbols, and 2 succeeds at a Hidden Lore (Mythos) roll, the temple im- mediately awakens (see below). The body is bloated and leaning agains the door of the tem- ple. It is dressed in the clothes of German Imperial Navy officer. Strangely, the ocean has not yet fully decomposed this man. They have discovered one of the officers of U-29, Lieutenant Klenze, who drowned when he left the sub- marine, but whose body eerily floated to its destination anyway. Anyone examining the bloated corpse must make a Fright Check! As the PCs spend time at the door to the temple, a sinister force detects their presence. Each PC must make a Will-2 roll or be drawn to one of the faces on the door. The GM can either roll randomly, or ask each player which image he is drawn most to. • The Inverted Volcano – A green fire engulfs the investi- gator’s diving suit. The PC immediately takes 1d damage. Anything more than 2 HP of damage destroys the oxygen in his suit as well.