The Summoning Bell

The Summoning Bell

Ripper Adventure by Pythagoras
(http://www.hardpoints.de)

1 Introduction Greenfield’s
Plan
In this adventure, recommended for mid- Dr. Pericles
Greenfield, an obscure anthro-
novice characters, a powerful artefact that pologist and
victim of the Hyde potion, has
can be used for good or bad is discovered. plans to
release the disease demon wor-
The risk of the Cabal using the artefact shipped by
Penned in return for absolute
leads to interesting fight scenes in the bell control over
his Hyde form.
tower of a cathedral. The adventure is set So, Greenfield
has obtained the documents
in Glasgow but can easily be transferred to of Arthur Penn
and sent up a hapless
other places. henchman to the
bell. Unfortunately, the
protective
magic worked very well and
2 DM’s Background almost fried
the werewolf sent up to the
tower. The
still-smoking wolfman is the
Crimes of the Past first hook the
players encounter…
About a century ago, an evil cultist named 3 Hook
Arthur Penned, who had dedicated himself The PCs are
returning from the theatre late
to a demon of disease, found out that the at night. When
they pass the cathedral,
bell at the St. Mungo’s Cathedral was a they notice a
bright flash of blue light in
powerful artefact, long thought to be lost. the bell tower,
followed by a scream and a
The bell, created from the metal of a can- crashing body.
A quick investigation re-
non that helped repel a demonic creature, veals that the
body is that of a heavily in-
was able to conjure an angel when struck jured wolfman,
who will try to flee (pace
the right way under a very specific star 2, running die
d4, -2 to all agility-based
constellation that occurs only every 2 trait rolls).
 years. The angel would then put his bless-
ing over the town. 4 The Wolfman’s
Story
The cultist did some research and found
out that the magic of the bell could be cor- The first
interesting segment of the adven-
rupted to call forth his foul master in the ture, is a long
talk with the “fallen angel”.
same way. Having devised a ritual, Penned The wolfman is
called Peter West. He a
eventually went up on the bell tower and young
unemployed from one of the worst
did heavy damage to the bell. At the last areas of town,
does not put up much of a
minute he was stopped by Lord Illings- fight but
cannot be injured; otherwise he is
worthe, a Ripper dedicated to the protec- likely to die.

tion of Glasgow. A cover story was made

up and the bell brought to London for re- Peter West -
Wolfman
pair. The Rosicrucians of London put a Gaunt and tall,
West has something of a
powerful spell onto it, weaving the magic Doberman about
him. He is dressed like a
into a seemingly harmless inscription. factory worker
but his clothing has been
While a constant guard was put up to pro- mended several
times. The wolfman car-
tect the bell, knowledge about the artefact ries tools
suitable for damaging a bell as
was forgotten when its guardians were well as a
diagram showing a pattern. The
wiped out by a random Cabal attack. bell in the
tower shows the beginnings of a

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carving. Use the following information to vinced that he will

be safe.
portrait West. Honest: The young
rogue will reveal the
Goals: West is a young goon hoping to full story as far as
he knows it. He tells the
rise in the hierarchy of the Cabal to escape PCs that a Dr.
Greenfield, residing in Lon-
the squalor of the slums. A secondary mo- don Street, has
offered him £ 10 to engrave
tivation is money. a specific symbol
onto the church bell. He
 Fears: Loss of status in the Cabal and the does not know why but
overheard the
wrath of Dr. Greenfield. words “summoning
call”.
Personality: West is uneducated and spite- Deceiving: Two
options exist at this stage.
ful of the rich. He is convinced that the If West thinks they
are going to kill him
only way to get other to do things is by anyway, he will try
to take the PCs with
force. him. He will tell
them about Dr. Greenfield
but misdirect them to
the neighbour of
The Interrogation Greenfield, an obese
merchant named
Wheatern. (This is
not clever but the best
most of us can come
up with after falling
from a bell tower.)
The poor man knows
nothing of the whole
affair and will be
quite shocked when
the Rippers come for
him. If he survives
the encounter, he can
identify Peter West
by description and
point to Dr.
Greenfield.
If, on the other
hand, West gets the impres-
sion that the PCs are
soft-hearted fools and
will let him go, he
will try to take advan-
The table above describes the mental state tage of them. He will
offer to help them to
and is used to determine interrogation re- attack Greenfield,
revealing a lot of infor-
sults. West starts out defiant and Intimida- mation. Then, at the
right time, he will
tion vs. Spirit or Persuasion vs. Smarts can warn Greenfield in
order to gain his grati-
be used to get him to talk. Give the PCs a tude.
bonus if they appeal to his goals or play In any event, in the
case of mutual lies,
with his fears. On the other hand, penalize make sure to roll
Persuasion vs. Notice
a pure brute force approach. often enough.
Defiant: West will not tell his name but
insult the PCs. He shows his violent nature 5
Research
and brags about how
powerful his masters are. If the
PCs are unable to
Hostile: West will feebly get
information out of the
try to attack but due to his
were-creature or want to
action penalty will not be get
some additional in-
able to do much harm. He sight
first, they can per-
is also likely to mention form
some research on the
that others will complete
subject of the bell.
the task he failed at. The
Past: A Research+1
Scared: The wolfman roll
reveals the “official”
will cower and beg to be part
of the back story de-
released. He tells the PCs
scribed under Crimes of
that he his deathly afraid the
Past. A raise gives
of his master. Further
information about the
intimidation does no Ripper
involvement and
good; he must be con- the
protective spell. Also,
the
PCs realize that the

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knowledge of the bell was lost due to the the PCs intercepting
him at the bell tower,
annihilation of the local Ripper lodge. where he gives the
attack on the bell a sec-
The Ritual: A Knowledge(Astronomy) or ond try.
similar allows to calculate the appropriate
date for the ritual – which is a week from 7 Wrap-Up
now. If the PCs did not
catch the doctor but
 Dr. Greenfield: Streetwise or some appro- know when to be at
the bell tower, they
priate Knowledge reveals the address of can intercept him
(and his wolfmen, 1 per
Greenfield, his ties to the “Silver Bonnies”, PC). If they know
nothing, they will wit-
a werewolf street gang, and his love for ness a wave of
typhoid in the city, after
exotic items. A raise reveals that he is most Greenfield has
released the demon.
likely a Hyde. Finally, if they wrap
everything up, the
6 Dr. Greenfield’s Study PCs might consider
stealing the bell to
avoid future
problems. This end should
Dr. Pericles Greenfield, an anthropologist, lead to some
interesting situations (after
lives in a formerly well-off area of town all, how to steal a
bell). If the bell is left
that has been in decline over the recent where it is, it might
be a target of future
decades (London Street in Glasgow). His attacks.
place is on the first floor, with his landlady
and 2 other bachelors living in the same 8 Handout: Bell
Inscription
house. If the PCs ask for
it, give them the text of
Greenfield’s place is stuffed with all kinds the bell inscription:

of curiosities from all over the world and In the year of grace
1594, Marcus Knox, a
he will not hesitate to use those against the merchant of Glasgow,
zealous for the in-
PCs should they raid his place. These items terests of the
reformed religion, caused me
are: to be fabricated in
Holland for the use of
• A rippertech extract made into a his fellow citizens
in Glasgow, and placed
bomb that causes a swarm of flies me with solemnity in
the tower of their
to be conjured. (-3 visibility penalty cathedral.
on most actions, 1d4 damage per My function was to
announce, by the im-
round. Disperses after 10 rounds.) press on my bosom,
(Me audito venias doc-
• A Chinese halberd made of cold trinam sanctam ut
discas) [Come, that ye
iron (treat as spear). may learn holy
doctrine.] and I was taught
• A cursed wooden mask from Africa to proclaim the hours
of unheeded time.
that grants +2 on Intimidation 195 years had I
sounded these awful warn-
checks when worn. ings, when I was
broken by the hands of
If the PCs attack the Doctor, he will try to inconsiderate and
unskilful men.
get away using his potion and jumping In the year 1790, I
was cast into the fur-
from his window (taking 2d6 damage in nace, refounded at
London, and returned
the process). to my sacred
vocation.
Greenfield is a Wild Card Hyde with Reader, thou also
shall know a resurrec-
Level-Headed, Combat Reflexes, and tion, may it be to
eternal life.
Quick.
Once outside, Greenfield will yell for the
help of his Wolfmen henchmen (1 per PC),
who will try to delay the pursuers. If the
PCs capture the Doctor, he will reveal the
full plan, being easily cowed. If they do
not capture him, the doctor will continue
with his plan and can only be stopped by

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