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Previously on Bad Blood, the crews of two rival ghost hunting shows, Spirit Quest and Science of the Paranormal, teamed up to investigate the haunting of a South Carolina plantation house turned bed and breakfast. They’ve uncovered some startling information about the property’s past, including a secret room in the basement marked off by a mysterious symbol. In this session, the players will be locked in all night to perform their investigation, and they’ll unearth something that none of them are quite prepared to deal with. Can they survive it? Listen in to see who lives, who dies, and who goes completely insane!
(More after the break. BE WARNED: THERE BE SPOILERS!)
“Bad Blood” is based on the story “The Shambler from the Stars,” by Robert Bloch, one of my favorite stories of the Cthulhu Mythos, more because of its conception than anything in the story itself. As a young man, Bloch was one of Lovecraft’s many correspondents, and the elder author provided him with significant guidance in his development as a writer. As a joke, Bloch wrote a story in which a young author from the midwest (his proxy) visited an older author at his home in Providence (those of you who know Lovecraft’s biography can see where this is going). When the two of them summon a horror from the stars, an invisible space vampire that can only be seen when it feeds, the younger man flees the house, leaving his friend to die. Lovecraft later wrote a story called “The Haunter of the Dark” in which Robert Blake (Bloch’s character from the previous story) was driven slowly insane and finally killed after he becomes obsessed with the ruins of an old church in Providence. Bloch later wrote a third story in the series–which I have not, unfortunately, had the pleasure of reading–after Lovecraft’s death. As for the two I’ve read, I would recommend them both to anyone who is a fan of Lovecraft’s work and of the works he inspired.
For those of you who are groaning about the liberties I’ve taken with the star vampires–for that is what the CoC core sourcebook calls the Shamblers from the Stars–let me say this: I don’t care a bit. Yes, they are supposed to vacate an area very quickly after feeding. No, the sourcebook doesn’t say anything about them reproducing by exhaling a cloud of spores, or about any kind of hibernation. I added these details both to make the plot work and to put my own twist on a canon baddie. As such, my interpretation of the star vampires might not be Mythos accurate, but it sure is terrifying, and that’s what I was going for.
If any listeners have questions, comments, suggestions or other responses to these games, please feel free to leave them in the comments below, or email us at info@ragnerdrok.com.
To listen to the first half of this game, click here.