Ten Artifact Hearts For Your Old School Horror Campaign Just In Time For Valentines day

Ten Artifact Hearts 

1. The Heart of Aloth -This heart belonged to a butcher who preserved it in brine. When placed within the chest of a the victim the heart removes all emotion but grants the user a sort of undead eternal life. The heart is empowered by the powers infernal. 
2. The Heart of Chalirdetural- This ancient Aztec jeweled heart is a thing of beauty and grants the user "fertility" and abundance in life but the user must sacrifice one victim every two weeks. The user grows more and more blood thirsty with each passing day. The owner will be under a berserk spell when the heart is found. Others will desire to possess the thing because of its beauty.  
3. Dulrugb's Heart - This brass heart belonged to a barrow king who wanders the Earth searching for it. The heart allows the owner to regenerate as a troll. Any damage is passed on to the ancient barrow king who experiences all of the pain and the ower has the ability to pull from the memories and experiences of the great warrior 
4. Duroba's Promise - This heart allows the owner to become Duroba The Great King of ancient Africa. The user gains +3 on Wisdom and Charisma and becomes a paragon of the manily virtues. He gains infravision as his eyes become windows into the soul of the great king. Eventually the user becomes a vessel for the great king.He gains the infernal blood lust and demonic taint that marked the reign of lust and blood of this ancient monarch. 
5. Farina- This jeweled heart of glass and steel is a modern masterpiece of art. It belonged to mad genius homeless man whose art career was marked by bloodshed and madness. The user gains +1 intelligence and +3 wisdom as the user gains access to the Outer Darkness realms and his mind becomes twisted by the Old Ones. The user gains vast insights into twisted vistas of reality. 
6. Fauavaro's Heart - "The mad medical student of Berlin"  Fauavaro owned this heart and used it on his female victims who were brought back to a mockery of life and undeath. Within the heart dwells the spirit of an ancient twisted Lovecraftian succubus waiting for the next corpse. She will communicate with the owner telepathically, tempting them with the most depraved sins and pleasures. The user gains +2 to intelligence as he becomes a vessel for the forbidden medical secrets of the Mi Go and this ancient evil's cult. -2 wisdom. 
7. Gliaeroturi's Desire - This ancient wood heart belonged to a strange twisted Russian cult and has passed from hand to hand. It has a series of unusual religious drawings carved into it and allows the user access to many 4th level spells twisted by the Old Ones. The user gains no knowledge of them as the heart uses the owner as a mere vessel for them. The user's skin and organs are converted into wood as he uses the spells. After 1d4 months he will be nothing more then a life like wooden doll. 
8. Goror's Guardian - This heart is often placed in corpses by twisted cults. The heart animates the corpse into a demonic vessel. The heart draws its strength from the negative planes and is made from the coldest iron of ancient forbidden nether realms. The vessel gains 4 hit dice, regenerates as a troll, and the heart produces a foul acidic poison so the touch of the monster does 1d4 points of damage 
9. Hendungotu- This ancient heart of glass has passed through the hands of many foul cults and made its way to many places. The Hendungotu is implanted in the chest of its owner and grants access to 10th level spells. This is a whore's promise. The heart is actually the vessel of an ancient Greece lich who takes over the corpse of the user. The heart's energies are such that it will burn out the corpse with 1d4 days of implantation. The lich's higher memories are gone and it is easily molded by whomever owns the heart. Its afterlife has been a blur of cults, bloodshed, and ancient forbidden unrealized promises. There was a girl but the memory is gone. 
10. Kororoth - This wooden heart belonged to Kororoth a fierce warrior of the Lovecraftian tribes of Asia. The heart grants blood lust, bravery, and the sort of false immortality that comes with the Mythos. The owner must sacrifice an enemy each new moon or the heart will curse the user with a berserk spell for 1d4 rounds. The owner must find someone to love him by the time of the full moon.  The heart will twist him in mind as well as body with pain if he should fail. The heart will keep its owner in a state of minor undeath until these conditions are met.

Many of these items will be found within the lairs of various cults across the planes. They may also turn up with the evidence rooms of police stations, museums, etc. Some of these items are things of beauty and twisted artwork they float down the stream of eternity. They bring misery and deviltry wherever they are found. Even though they are curse they sometimes fetch thousands of dollars to collectors of such things and other times mere paltry sums. The road to the lower realms are littered with treasures such as these.
Because of the aura of the supernatural associated with these items they will often rebuild themselves if damaged. Many times there will be a guardian monster who will look after the well being of such things. They have been known to track down those who would destroy such items. These monsters will be exceptionally twisted examples of their race and have max hit points. 

Top Five Delta Green Call of Cthulhu Resources

 Back in the 90's I was playing a metric ton of CoC  and getting into the 20's and 30's era. The 1990's hand book from Chaosuim was alright for what it did. A few adventures, some updated stats, and what have you you.
Back when I was going to conventions and had money I ran into John Tynes and Pagan Publishing. They shoved Delta Green in my hands and my modern gaming has never been the same. Pagan are a bunch of intelligent  gamers who write the stuff gamers want. They do it damn well.
Delta Green is a legend among CoC gamers and there's a reason for it. I'm not going to rehash in loving tones why you need this book. Needless to say that Delta Green still remains one of my favor books for Call of Cthulhu.
You can get a pdf over Here and the original hard copies sell for stupid money.  

Here's what I use Delta Green for even with other games. The artifacts, some of the modern groups, the reports on the various Mythos monsters, mining the adventures for all their worth, and the NPCs themselves are perfect. With the NPCs be sure to change the names to protect the guilty and insane. 

 Delta Green Countdown has been out of print for many years and its still a viable resource for any CoC or modern game. There is a ton of stuff to use here. The world spanning conspiracies, the indepth history of the mythos in the modern world and its continuing impact. The NPCs, monsters, expansions of other mythos material, the guns, the gats, and the girls. This book takes it all and knocks it out of the park. Here's a look at some of the stuff:
 "The Insects of Shaggai, alien parasites subverting the leadership of a nation; Pisces, the U.K.'s attempt to harness the unknown; The Army of the Third Eye, terrorists fighting a bloody battle against alien invaders; GRU SV-8, a band of desperate operatives fighting darkness in the ruins of Russia; The Skoptsi, occult fanatics with an eight-hundred-year legacy; The Outlook Group, where Majestic-12 tests its elite; Phenomen-X, a syndicated TV news show that pokes its camera in all the wrong places; Tiger Transit, a former CIA airline now in the clutches of a Tcho-Tcho drug cartel; The D Stacks a the American Museum of Natural History, where Dr. Jensen Wu classifies the unclassifiable; The Keepers of the Faith, traditionalist ghouls fighting the lean and hungry Heretic ghouls beneath the streets of Manhattan; and the Hastur Mythos, a twisted skein of surreal destruction weaving its way through humanity. "
 The book sells for stupid collector's money. I've seen it going for 140.00 dollars but you can download it right over HERE

The Unspeakable Oath is perhaps the single best resource for CoC that was put out in the 90's and I'm happy to report its back! 

Arch Dream Publishing did a great job with the mag and its very well put together. There are ton of stuff to mine from this magazine if your willing to do so. Here's the link for #18 HERE

Eyes Only  is  God sent and a nightmare at the same time for a DM. The book is fantastic and really gets into the heart of the matter when it comes into the world spanning conspiracies that inhabit the Delta Green universe. The book covers a ton of the material introduced Delta Green and CoC. Yes this is another essential book. This book involves both the Mi Go and The Philadelphia Experiment.
This is some of the stuff I've mined from it: 

• Machinations of the Mi-Go explores the history, goals and science of the Fungi from Yuggoth, including the plot that shaped the American government for decades.
• The New York occult underground explodes with The Fate, an in-depth look at Stephen Alzis and his servants and enemies, including new Cthulhu Mythos tomes and a guide to playing characters in the Network.
• Project Rainbow brings a staple of conspiracy fiction, the Philadelphia Experiment, seamlessly into the Mythos- stealth technology meets the Tillinghast Resonator with nightmarish results. 
   Here's a working link to where you can still order the book. The link over at Pagan's site has been dead for a while. You can get it right over Here
   One of my other favorites from Pagan is one that doesn't get a lot of air play these days. 
  
  This book reprints a the early adventures of Call of Cthulhu from the Unspeakable Oath. Because of the nature of Delta Green I've used this book as a springboard for both modern adventures. They're perfect for the 1920's blow back that is still echoing through history to haunt Delta Green in the modern times. You can pick this one up right over HERE

5 Magic Items Lost Between Worlds For Your Old School Horror Campaign

1. "A twisted piece of plane wreckage in the shape of a wand" -  This piece of twisted wreckage from a downed military craft of unknown origin seems to bleed during the new moon. It may be used by a necromancer to summon 1d4 shades of the dead who have died in air related accidents. When tucked under a pillow this item grants dream access to alien skies on ancient horror filled worlds. The item will disappear if taken aboard a plane with terrific scream 
2. A Brass Key - This key opens the dreams of madmen and the not quite sane. The user inserts the key into the ear of the victim. The victims dreams will appear in cloud like visions above the fool's head. A wisdom check is needed to access the correct dream and there is only a 20% chance of finding out anything useful. The victim will be unhurt by the experience but will suffer from horrifying nightmares of jailers and demonic locks for 65 days after the experience. The key must be stroked regularly or it may send these visions to the user. A certain nightmare demon is looking for this key. 
3. "Piece of a door frame made from a piece of rusted metal"  -This door frame opens a door to hell when it is inserted into a broken door frame. The doorways will be open for 1d4 rounds and the trip is one way. The piece has a history of stranding users in hell. The frame will also grant one vision of hell per new moon and whispers the torments of the damned on Sundays 
4. "A simple locket and lock with a twisted chain of gold" This odd item belongs to a member of the high court of fairy who used it as a tool to woo and drive a victim insane. The locket contains the poor woman's soul and her ghost will serve the owner without fail for 1d4 days. The lock contains her dreams and her will. When opened it will grant an illusion of such beauty that those who experience it will be held as if charmed for 1d4 days. The chain of gold when put upon the neck of a lover or would be lover will act as a dominion spell. There are agents of both death and fairy who are searching for this item. Should the fey catch up with the owner they will strip him or her of their most precious dreams. The agents of death need this item to make the girl's soul whole again. There is a 60% that they may punish the owner by cutting up the owner's soul instead. 
5. A Crystal Ball - This crystal ball contains the soul of the gypsy fortune teller who owned it. After a fierce battle with the demon Orcus the demon lord trapped her soul in this bauble and cast it into the void.
    The ball has the following powers: Darkness, charm, minor lightning strike ofr 1d4 points of damage 20' range and Show Dark Fate. The ball will show future events but only the most vile aspects of them. The ball will cry and bleed when its powers are used. There is a 20% of the spirit of the ball possessing the user. There is a 10% chance of Orcus knowing that the ball is being used and seeking out the owner.
   

Note that there agents from across the planes searching for these items. They may stay with the owner temporary only to seemly to move on to another owner. These items seem to have an evil  streak about them and cause mayhem and woe to those who possess them. 

1d10 Deep One Random Finds For Your Old School Horror Campaign

" After the latest raid on the lonely Island of Esbrook off the coast of  Maine. Our party found "things" left behind never created by the hand of mortal man. The marines drove them off but the price in man power was incredible. For some reason the sea seems to sing to me this evening. That damn strange flute even now sits on the desk. Its angles seem to glint and dance in the light like the luxuriousness of certain fish in the Abyss of the Atlantic." 

Corporal Martino USS Ulysses missing off the coast of Maine 1925 last diary entry 

1d10 Deep One Random Finds

1. Deeply pittied sacrfical knife with odd glyph symbols that glints in the light. Wickedly sharp and looks to almost be a boning knife. +1 Knife of sharpness 
2. Hooks and chains with barbed ends. 300 yards of chain that could be used for something of tremendous size. The ore that it is made from is oddly bluish green and its rusted at odd places. The hooks have bits of dried flesh, ichor, and something less identifiable on them. Wickedly sharp, black in places, and broken at certain points the barbs do 1d4 points of damage. 
3. Effigy of Mother Hydra - This +1 war club of a heavy iron material sings with the spell "Call Deep One" when held. One nights of the full moon it will call 1d8 Deep One warriors to the user. 
4. Odd Blue Green Coins - Made from a weird semi luminous material these slightly radioactive coins are used in the rites to call a shaggoth or Father Dagon to the those who pay the price. The coins are deeply pitted and rusted in places. There is dry human blood on them and they are also slightly radioactive. 
5. Deep One Cross Bow Bolts - These wicked barbed weapons have bits of dried human flesh on them and other things. They are a +1 weapon but must be modified to work on a human cross bow. They are made from iron and something else that is alien and they have an oily sheen to them. 
6. Weird Gill Flute - Made from fish bones, dried whale flesh, and twisted metal. This flute echoes with the song of Cthulhu when held. It may call a 1d4 hit point storm/elemental when played. There is a 20% of the deep ones noticing the user playing this item and attracting their attention 
7. Figurine from Beyond - This multi-armed monstrosity conforms to no known human god. The thing is 4 inches high and is covered from its multiple heads to its pedestal in glyphs. On the nights of  the full moon it whispers and sings three spells of 2nd level to the user. On nights of the new moon it sings a song of insanity. 
8. A Necklace of Human Teeth And Finger bones - This necklace rattles when danger to the user is nearby and threatens the user. 1d20 ghosts follow the owner. They will wait for the user to show weakness and then tear the owner apart. 
9. The Frog Glass - A lump of molten glass with a single inhuman eye  floating in it.The thing shows various Deep One cities. When you hold the item it sings the praises of madness and the Old Ones. There is a 60% chance of a shaggoth or worse noticing the user. The thing automatically allows the breath water spell once per day. 
10. The Spell Staff of Depravity - This twisted staff of coral and human bone allows the user to transform into a Deep One once per day. It has the following spell like powers : Darkness, Charm person, Mass illusion, Field of the Eel 1d4 points of damage 20 foot radius, and call Shaggoth. All powers usable once per day. There is a price for the power however. The second the owner picks up the staff their genetic structure becomes one with the Deep Ones and is polluted forever more. Using the powers of the staff marks the soul of the user as the property of the Great Old Ones and all that comes with it. 

Random Swamp Monster Encounter Table For Your Old School Horror Campaigns

Random Swamp Monster Encounter Table 

1. Four hit dice pile of muck and human bones that used to be your friendly neighbor. Hits with 1d4 points of damage per strike 
2. 3 hit dice corpse combination/undead zombie thing that hungers for flesh and revenge 1d8 per strike plus 30% of disease 
3. 2 hit dice muck mites each bites for 1d3 points of damage there are three of the little bastards 
4. Full swamp god, this 43 hit point piece of land is capable of telling the future or your dark destiny and kicking ass for 1d8 points of damage per strike 
5. Wolly swamp man, this cantankerous old bastard is a part of nature and a 3rd level wizard who knows where the gold is buried. Very dangerous and devious character a real part of the rural legends of the area 
6. "That which dwells" an undead gesalt made from the souls of lost adventurers and explorers. This 8 point collection of insanity spins tales and ironic punishments with its 1d6 point strikes. 
7. "Old Silas" part hoodoo priest/part muck monster and all bass ass jazz player.Who spins the legends of the swamp and the call of the xombis in his area. 4 hit point monster/ 12 level bard/ xombi master/ 3rd level wizard. Made from the bones of those wizards lost in this swamp. 
8. "The new business man" Former mob boss who is now a mindless engine of destruction. Only feel of gold brings him peace. Made from 1d8 hit points/ bits of his former gang. Strikes for 1d8 points of acidic/sewage damage. Has 300 in gold coins within his rotting body 
9. "Group On" the former bus load of a group of coupon clipping shoppers who have tumbled into the swamp. 5 hit point muck monster that attacks with 7 pairs of rusty scissors. 1d4 points per of damage per strike. 30% of this thing talking/screaming/raging about the latest bargains. 
10. "They who smell fear" a combination swamp god whose chaotic nature causes untold misery for those around it. A 40 hit point nightmare of misery, corpses, swamp rot and nastiness. A strike from its hellfire laced fists does 1d6 points of burning damage. A devil tries to tempt heroes into slaying it so it can return its miserable soul back to hell. 

1d10 Random Uncanny Ghostly Encounters Table For Your Old School Horror Campaigns

1d10 Random Uncanny Ghostly Encounters Table

1. This tragic lady phantom needs a party to avenger her death and is willing to exchange knowledge of the other side for the favor. There are however complications.
2. A former crime boss has ill gotten gains that he wants to share for a price. 
3. An ex hit man's ghost needs to protect his son from himself. Can you help?
4. The spirit of a little old lady needs to be put to rest. Her killers must be brought to justice lest her monstrous spirit kills again. Can you help? 
5. The ghost of a snitch has some damned secrets to tell and they've been driving men mad for the last 13 days. 
6. The specter of a janitor knows all of the secrets of his former building including the treasure of gold that they killed him for. Can you help put him to rest? 
7. The wraith of a call girl needs the help of some heroes. Her killers are still at large and are going to kill her sister upon the next full moon. 
8. That ghost you saw out of the corner of your eye is actually the daughter of a wealthy socialite. She's not dead yet but will be soon. Her spirit is already haunting her killers. Namely you and your crew 
9. A group of ghostly former adventurers needs help in tracking down their own killers. They appear to be getting very hungry for human souls. Can you help?
10. A magic sword that used to devour human souls has been broken and it has released 1d10 of the most dangerous specters from history upon the city. Only your party can help put them to rest. 

Post Modern Horror Done Right - Unknown Armies

Warning this post deals with some Mature Themes 

New School/ Old School or whatever school there is one game that does surreal horror right and I used to play it right along side of a number of games. 
 Trust me yes you do. 
How the hell do even begin to explain the crazy and out there world of Unknown Armies.
Lets let Wiki explain it instead 

Unknown Armies (abbreviated UA), subtitled "A roleplaying game of power and consequences", is an occult-themed roleplaying game by John Tynes and Greg Stolze and published by Atlas Games. The first edition was paperbound and published in 1998 (with the original subtitle of "A roleplaying game of transcendental horror and furious action"); the revised and expanded 2nd edition was published in a hardbound format in 2002 (with a second printing in 2004 and a third printing in 2007).

The game is set in a modern-day "occult underground," populated by loose networks of shadowy cabals and practitioners of magic. The style and setting of the game draw on a number of influences, including the fantasy novels of Tim Powers, the crime novels ofJames Ellroy, the films of David Lynch, the Illuminatus! Trilogy, and comic books such asGrant Morrison's The Invisibles. The game creates an extensive postmodern mythology of everyday weirdness and magic that lurks in the shadows of the mind.
 I didn't play it with any of the above material instead I used an ancient Peter Jackson movie that just seemed to go right along with it. 

 That's right I used Bad Taste mixed in with Unknown Armies, Over The Edge and threw it in a blender. 

The results were shall we say very interesting to say the least.
The game was one of the longest running campaigns for a "new school" game. If you want to know more information about the surreal and dark horror of Unknown Armies then by all means visit John Tynes webpage for a metric ton of support for the game right over Here

Out of the older editions books that were the most useful were the following: 

1. One Shots: Five Stand-Alone Scenarios This is one of the beginning adventure books 
2. Lawyers, Guns, and Money: The New Inquisition Sourcebook You need this book
3. Postmodern Magick: The Unnatural Sourcebook (usually abbreviated PoMoMa) Essential to gaming 
4. Statosphere: The Invisible Clergy Sourcebook
5. Hush, Hush: The Sleepers Sourcebook
6. Weep: Six Scenarios of Woe and Ruin
7. To Go: The Occult Roadtrip Campaign
   Really sets the tone and gets things moving  
8. Break Today: The Mak Attax Sourcebook
   Essential 
9. The Ascension of the Magdalene

If your interested in buying the game and getting things moving buy the new edition. Right over Here

Because of the way the system works for the game it can be run with any number of other games.

 

 The way I ran the game was everyone was going after everyone else and almost everyone thought that they knew the actual truth and various groups simply took advantage. There wasn't any truth and the whole thing kept creating alternative worlds.
The magic system made Mage look like a tinker toy and there is enough material to keep every horror rpg fan satisfied.
If you want to get a taste of what its about. Here's a basic adventure to get a feel for the game. That's right HERE

UNKNOWN ARMIES AND THE OSR 

I've got a metric ton of money invested in OD&D and AD&D so I used the various fantasy worlds as the collective human unconsciousness and various dream worlds. There are have been some very surprised adventurers from various game worlds that have essentially popped in to the "real world" of Unknown Armies.
The percentile system of the game makes conversions to the various D&D style tropes very easy and essential. The game is straight up violent and deadly.