Basis of a scenario: the Viet vet, the priest and the shrink, by "DJ" Babb

        I'm currently getting ready to generate a Kult scenario.  One of
the players has created a Vietnam Vet with "powerful" nightmares, and I'm
considering a psychologist (who wants to help the Vet) and a priest (who
the vet turned to for help, and who introduced the Vet and shrink).
        Now, the player of the vet gave him Nightmares, thinking that the
vet's nightmares would come real (for a GREAT example of such a guy, read
"Nightcrawlers" by Robert R McCammon), but I had a better idea.  The vet
has nightmares of the war and the atrocities he committed, but in
addition he has "daymares" as well (even when wide awake).  He can't tell
what's real or isn't, but his body will display moderate wounds and such
that are inflicted in his dream (nothing fatal though).  Also, these
hallucinatory attacks are NOT real, except to the vet, and only happen
when the vet is alone (or thinks he's alone), so that other PCs will
(rightly) assume he's insane.
        However, here comes the twist....
        The vet's mental anguish and torment is such that he'll
eventually (whenever the story starts getting slow or figured out by the
Players) attract the attention of a Nepharite who finds his pain to be
succulent.  As the shrink and priest try to help, the Nepharite will
notice them as well and try to collect them for a little purgatory.

        I'm still pondering about the shrink (but the idea of having him be
the mortal incarnation of the lover of a god in Metropolis sounds good), but
I figure that the beauty of the priest is that he is truly devout and good.
Imagine how much greater his horror when he finally realizes his life of
devotion and faith has been wasted in the name of a God who is "dead" and who
imprisoned him while still "alive" (at least that's how the priest would see
it).

        The psychologist will be a PC, and the priest will be a "UberNPC"
(basically, an NPC I, the GM, play as a fully fleshed PC as opposed to a
nameless cabbie).  There may be a third player, but I prefer SMALL groups
when I play (six people max, myself included).
        Other NPCs:  at this point I don't have too many.

        Nepharite: must be able to "feel" extreme confusion and mental
anguish.  I'll probably have the Nepharite use children to torment the
vet (to trigger Player and NOT character fears), both within the
Purgatory and within the Illusion....

        The Butterfly God: throughout the ENTIRE campaign I'm running
will be the recurring image of butterflies (and perhaps moths).  First
natural and expected (butterflies in a picnic), than slightly odd (dead
butterflies underneath the shrink's bedsheets), and then horrifying (an
entire collection of pinned butterflies springing to life and thrumming
their wings against their pins and cases, bursting free in a beautiful
flight of dead insects).  THEN the God will pull the shrink to Metropolis
to continue their cycle of life (the shrink is actually just a sacrificial
vessel for the God's offspring/incarnation).
        I know this is confusing and not canon (Pazuzu should be
controlling the bugs for instance), but this is just a rough outline.

        I've got some ideas for other NPCs in later games, but they'll
have to wait...

        DJ (sbabb@comp.uark.edu)