Page 191 - Chronicles of Darkness

it to a group of special ops soldiers. One recommendation Players should be aware that they are likely to lose a few
would be to change groups; fade out on the first group con- characters along the way. The God-Machine doesn’t act out of
cluding The Hatching (probably some of them dying in the revenge, but if someone proves troublesome, the God-Machine
Statue of Liberty), and fade in on the members of Operation: isn’t above sending an angel to handle the problem. Players
Bell Jar discussing what rumors they’ve heard about “that might even consider succession if they choose Fates for their
weird shit on Liberty Island” as their helicopter flies them characters — one character might choose “killed in public”
to their base of operations near West Nautical 36. Another as his Fate, and decide in advance that a bystander witnesses
possibility (again, playing with the idea of shifting time and this death and cannot ignore it. She has to become involved.
causality) is that as the time reversals happen during The
Hatching, the characters’ backgrounds shift slightly. They Sequence
begin The Hatching as police officers, federal agents, and so
forth, but by the time they finish, they are and have always Wellington School for Gifted Children (p. 205) 
been soldiers. The 300 Block (p.197)  The Invisible Citadel
Operation: Bell Jar  What Is It Good For (p. 219)  Proposition 279 (p. 223)  This Is Hell
(p. 231)
This is probably the easiest transition. The characters
finish their successful operation at West Nautical 36 (or,
perhaps, fail miserably) and are deployed to Iran as a support Progression
team. If a player needs to make a new character, that new This track starts off with the characters educating gifted
character should already be in Iran and can meet up with young people at the Wellington School. There, they become
the incoming soldiers. From there, the characters find the aware of the God-Machine in a kind of peripheral way. In
Flag of Elam and embark on their slip through time and the fact, the God-Machine doesn’t have to figure into Wellington
history of war, but the Tale works as written. directly (since the main conflict stems from the fact that the God-
What Is It Good For  The Scarlet Plague Machine can’t influence the area), but by the end of the story,
the characters should have a very real sense that something is out
The Scarlet Plague is almost apocalyptic in scope. The there and that it does not have any respect at all for humanity. If
characters might return from their tour of time to find that any characters meet their Fates during this story, players might
the events of The Scarlet Plague are already underway, or you consider taking the roles of former students of Wellington.
might take a few months — or even years — of downtime. If Sarah Andrews (p. 249) might make for an interesting choice.
you do, ask the players to consider if their soldier characters
have moved on to other professions. Once the events of the Wellington School for Gifted Children
Plague start up, they should reassemble on their own once it  The 300 Block
becomes clear that this disease comes from the God-Machine It might actually be wise to have the characters design the
— and by now, the characters have certainly seen enough to 300 block as part of the setting for the Wellington story, even
know the God-Machine when they encounter it. if the school itself isn’t part of that setting. Then, once the
Rage Against affair at Wellington has been settled, the characters really start
to notice the strangeness right there in their neighborhood.
the God-Machine This story should really bring home what the God-Machine
is willing to do in order to keep the wheels turning, and the
The God-Machine is vast, unknowable, and possibly om- characters are all faced with an unpleasant choice, here — kill
niscient. It has designs for the human race, some of which other people, or choose to stand up and fight.
are decidedly unpleasant. And, perhaps worst of all, to the The 300 Block  The Invisible Citadel
God-Machine people are just one more tool in the box, one
more spinning cog. In this chronicle, the characters get to The characters should find the footlocker that leads them
fight back against the God-Machine and, perhaps, end its to the Citadel somewhere on the 300 block, at the end of
influence on the human race. the story. Maybe they prevent a sacrifice and discover the
footlocker in the would-be victim’s home — or maybe they
Themes find it in the home of one of the landlords. Either way, the
challenge for the Storyteller is presenting the information
This track is very humanist. The characters here should in the footlocker as enough of a temptation that the charac-
see all of the power, all of the cosmic scope of the God- ters follow the lead. Bringing in a new character to replace
Machine and respond, “No.” Every machine can be broken. someone who died or met her Fate during the 300 Block
Any system is just one malfunction away from shutdown. might provide a good opportunity for this — maybe the new
Human spirit, anger, persistence, and plain old stubbornness character is wealthy and has been chasing leads about the
are themes here. Citadel all over the world. She might think the Citadel is
a place for inspiration and enlightenment, but this should
make the truth all the more horrifying.

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Shards of the Divine-Building the God Machine Chronicle