ISSUE 19 SPRING 2014 Protodimension Magazine is a quarterly publication written and produced by fans of the modern, conspiratorial, horror genre of role play gaming. This magazine is provided freely via online download, and intends to follow all rules regarding fair use of copyrighted and trademarked material. No revenue for the writers and publishers of this fan magazine is generated directly or indirectly. Managing Editor : Norm Fenlason Chief Editor : Tad Kelson Contributing Editor : Lee Williams Art Direction : Norm Fenlason Cover: Leopard Snow Protodimension Magazine is a Trademark of Kinstaff Media, LLC. All rights reserved. While Protodimension Magazine is a trade- mark of Kinstaff Media LLC, all copyrights are held by the respective authors and artists, unless otherwise indicated. The Dark Conspiracy® game in all forms is owned by Far Future Enterprises. Copyright 1991, 1997 Far Cover illustration: After The Contact by Leopard Snow: Future Enterprises. Dark Conspiracy® is a registered trademark of Far Future Enterprises. Far Future http://leopardsnow.tumblr.com permits web sites and fanzines for this game, provided it contains this notice, that Far Future is notified, and Used with the artist’s express permission. subject to a withdrawal of permission on 90 days notice. The contents of this site are for personal, non-com- mercial use only. Any use of Far Future Enterprises’ copyrighted material or trademarks anywhere on this Used with the artist’s express permission.Some artwork © Bradley web site and its files should not be viewed as a challenge to those copyrights or trademarks. In addition, any McDevitt, used with permission. All rights reserved. program/articles/file on this site cannot be republished or distributed without the consent of the author who contributed it. Conspiracy Rules is copyright 2012, Kinstaff Media LLC and is used with their permission. Call of Cthulhu® is the Registered Trademark of Chaosium Inc., and is used with their permission. As a fan-based publication, Protodimension Magazine is Chaosium Inc. is the Registered Trademark of Chaosium Inc. always looking for contributions by the fan community. Please see the Protodimension Magazine website at http://www. Mini Six is a light-weight, Open Game Licensed (OGL) version of the D6 system maintained by AntiPaladin protodimension.org/zine. Submissions can be sent via email to Games. It is optimized for fast and easy play. See their website at http://www.antipaladingames.com/p/mini- [email protected] six.html 2 CONTENTS 4 Dithering in the Dark 2543 TheAll I TrollenbergHave Left Is Terror This Lousy 4266 TheMental White Breakdown People in Words from the chief Another Movie inspiration A horror story by Tad Kelson byShield Eric MadeFabiashi Out Of a Stop Sign byDark Arthur Conspiracy Machen ForDiscussion Players onand the GMs post-apocalypse RememberingUnstable house the rules Heritage 5 Corrigan'sMorning Coffee Fury genre by Norm Fenlason A pitchbrief pick-me-upset in the Dark Conspiracy 47 Theby CWMysteries Kelson ofIII (Tad)Vaal-Al, Part 2 For Dark Conspiracy byuniverse Lee Williams ForDark the history GM fleshed out byMood Geoff Fiction Skellams by Ron McClung For the DramaSystem Series 28 TheFor DarkLast GuardiansRole Playing #1 7 Oliver's Army Fey fiction 8 Nazis,A scenario Cthulhu for andthe “You’re Mutants, Nicked!” Oh My! 52 Ghoulsby Herb At Severson Midnight Interviewsetting with Chris Birch ForAn adventureInspiration seed and Enjoyent by LeeLinden Williams Dunham by Dragdamar H’sard GameFor Mini Business Six Insight 30 TheFor CallLast ofMan Cthulhu on Earth Movie inspirations 1029 TheMoon Toll of of the Madness Wolf 53 Theby EricSiege Fabiashi Begins A vignetteMovie to encounter use as inspiration ForSemi-apocalyptic Inspiration! fiction by CWEric KelsonFabiashi III (Tad) by Tad Kelson For CallSerious of Cthulhu GM Plotting 32 TheFiction Rukh Socotran denizens 1332 TheTown Mysteries and Country of Vaal-Al, Driving Part 1 61 8by Surfaces Norm Fenlason DarkA sample history of ridescatches up ForA ghostly Dark Conspiracy plot seed by RonMitchell McClung Schwartz by Eric Fabiaschi For Dark RoleConspiracy Playing 34 TheFor WhistleblowerCall of Cthulhu Investigating corruption is a 1739 BreshingridgeA Quick Bite To Center Eat 63 Nethoriadangerous business A mad,short storymad location byThe Richard proto-dimension Hayden of accelerated by RonTim BisaillonMcClung Darkentropy Conspiracy Fiction ForMore Dark Mood Conspiracy Fiction by Thomas Euler and Lee Williams 39 DarkFor Dark Seed: Conspiracy The Gin Mill 2440 DerrinOld Rifle for A New Century A liver-challenging proto-dimension ATools character...A of the trade Mouse... by CW Kelson III (Tad) by TadKevin Kelson O’Neill For Dark Conspiracy For DarkAtomic Conspiracy Highway 3 DITHERING IN THE ININ THETHE DARKDARK DARKBEWARE THE IDEAS OF MAY... (Or is it The Doom that Came to Issue 19?) WordsGreetings from and the Felicitationschief to one and all, Here we are again at another issue of Protodimension Magazine, We here at Protodimension Magazine look forward to each and byour Tad 19th Kelson in fact. every issue we put out. We also appreciate the support we receive Filled with the odd, the different, the unusual, the gaming related or from all of our fans, contributors, and community members. inspired, and sometimes a little bit more. So on to the show From our last issue you might have gotten the impression that your Good Gaming. Editor is on a Post Apocalypse Kick. Well it is true. For me 2014 is all Tad Kelson about what comes after it all ends for whoever is left. From Nuclear Editor in Chief War to Viral Outbreaks and into Environmental Collapse, I am all Protodimension Magazine about the survivors vs. The World. This has led me so far this year to a couple of different purchases I have made gaming and fiction wise. The Novel “Three” by (review coming after I read it a second time), to The Wreckage Miniatures and RPG Game, from Puppet Wars: Unstitched by Wyrd Games (ok more my interest in Stitchpunk and Cross-Genre Horror but definitely not mainstream), to comics picked up at Megacon. Then there is Kickstarter. I have been known to indulge in a KS or two (mostly just friends anymore). All of this showing there is a ton of stuff out there, as well as here in PDM. Recently we expanded our list of systems and settings we are covering to include ACHTUNG! Cthulhu from Modiphius Games (Shades of KS again).Delightfully it is another mashup of WW II and Cthulhu. So we can look forward to stuff in future issues relating to that system and setting (hint hint). Issue 19 has a nice assortment of articles. A massive adventure for Mini Six, some movie reviews turned into adventure seeds, more weapon information, a different sort of P-Dim, and the end all be all article on mental illness for use in Dark Conspiracy / Conspiracy Rules as well as some other pieces and some fiction. Overall, we think there is something for all of our readers. 4 MORNING COFFEE A brief pick-me-up by Lee Williams MOOD FICTION ammett was pretty certain he was going to from behind the break room’s other door, which led to H get a disciplinary if they caught him, although it his supervisor’s office. hadn’t happened to him before. As he sneaked “Damn!” he muttered, quickly turning off the into the break room he cursed the day when the staff water. “Perry can’t be out of the meetings already” he had all been forbidden to take coffee to their desks any thought. “Maybe he forgot something; I’ll keep quiet a more, and cursed himself double for missing out on minute and see what happens.” his morning brew. While he was at it he also cursed the There was another scraping sound and a bump, like department for instituting a strict, rigid timetable for someone had opened a drawer and quickly slammed it any form of break. This morning though, his superior shut again. This was followed a few seconds later by a was in a meeting with some military officers down on swishing, almost as if a rug was being dragged across the bunker levels, and Hammett happened to know a floor. What Hammett hoped to hear was Perry’s that the security cameras on his floor were scheduled office door close again but he realised the sound was for a full firmware upgrade today. continuing. “The crap we have to wade through just to get hold “I’ll have to slip back out the main door, still no of a mug of instant,” he muttered under his breath. coffee but at least I’ll stay out of trouble” he thought. A few moments of rummaging through the Carefully, Hammett grasped the handle and started to cupboards produced some coffee powder, two sugar quietly ease the door ajar. packets labelled USMC, and some non-dairy cream The other door slammed open, and Hammett substitute. Hammett’s brother had worked in a food looked round. He didn’t see his supervisor wearing his processing plant during his college years and had told ass-kicking expression, as he had expected. him lurid tales about just exactly what was in that stuff. In fact he spent the rest of his life, all 12 seconds of Right now Hammett chose not to remember. it, trying to work out just what the humanoid-shaped Checking the machine revealed the water tank to be thing that looked to be made from random bits of empty, so Hammett grabbed a jug and moved over to octopus and cactus was. the sink. As the water filled the jug, he heard a sound 5 OLIVER'S ARMY A scenario for the “You’re Nicked!” setting ntroduction: This adventure chronological order.