Page 231 - Chronicles of Darkness

Alternately, the characters could kill Dr. Girard and destroy could invite dangerous attention. The townhouse’s first-floor
his work or convince Dr. Girard of the dangers his light poses windows have electrified bars and he kept a revolver in his
and convince him to destroy it or give it to them. bedside table. (If the Storyteller wishes the good doctor to have
To return to the present, the characters turn on their more rarefied security — perhaps a converted clockwork servitor
light and shine it at the door to the warehouse where they like the ones found on p. 255 — that’s certainly appropriate.)
arrived in the past. If the characters succeed, the light they
built vanishes the instant they return to the present, since Methods
the video describing it was never made. All notes they made
about it also vanish and the auroras never occurred. The only Academics: Hopefully the characters have someone well
records of any of these events are the characters’ memories, versed enough in history that they can avoid potentially-
along with any items they brought from 1901. dangerous anachronisms. The Storyteller should occasionally
ask for a Wits + Academics roll to avoid some egregious error.
Linchpins first create a small, natural-looking leak in the original blue
Crafts: A subtle character could use Dexterity + Crafts to
The most important linchpin is the blue light invented light, letting all of the gases out. Preventing Dr. Girard from
by Dr. Henri Girard in 1901. Working, as he did, with a cult recreating it would involve altering his notes (see below).
dedicated to understanding and subverting the God-Machine, Larceny: Getting through the electrified bars requires a
he had access to science unknown to the rest of humanity. In Dexterity + Larceny roll with a -3 penalty. Failure not only
early 1901, Dr. Girard was experimenting with the esoteric leaves the bars intact, but inflicts five points of bashing dam-
properties of gas-discharge lamps using many hundreds of age and alerts any guards.
different gas mixtures when he noticed that this particular Stealth: Assuming the characters can get into Girard’s
mixture of gases had unusual properties. home, moving undetected requires Dexterity + Stealth rolls…
In addition to allowing characters to travel back to 1901, and remember, the group is only as stealthy as the least
it also causes objects within a few feet of it to briefly freeze in stealthy member.
time for a second or two after the light is turned on. When Expression: If the characters can get hold of Dr. Girard’s
Dr. Girard first turned on the light, he saw a pencil falling notebook, they can, potentially, alter it. This assumes a
off a shelf next to the light freeze in midair for two seconds. grounding in Science (someone needs to tell the forger what
He then made a note of which gas mixture and electrode to write, which involves a roll of Intelligence + Science). The
design he used and began to research this light further. Dr. roll for the forgery itself is Dexterity + Expression (extended
Girard was the only researcher performing these experiments. action, each roll equals one minute, eight successes required).
Excited by his discovery, he tested this light for eight days If successful, the character can alter the formula so that it has
before turning his research over to his superiors. no effect, which hopefully puts Girard off the track.
In 1901, he worked in a laboratory located on the second Intimidation: A menacing character could abduct or cor-
floor of a building used by scientists and engineers who were ner Dr. Girard and use Presence + Intimidation to threaten
all recruited by a senior agent of the cult named Martin him into giving the character his notes on the blue light.
Delrio. He recruited these individuals to perform various Language (French) (p. 45): Knowing French is exceed-
types of advanced research. The building had a single armed ingly handy for getting around Paris in 1901. Although many
guard at the door. Dr. Girard’s laboratory contained pres- educated people, including Dr. Girard, speak English, most
surized tanks of many gases, as well as more than a dozen people do not.
oddly-designed “neon light” tubes. The original blue light was Sleight of Hand (see p. 49): Characters who have some
stored in the laboratory, but Dr. Girard took his notes home knowledge of stage magic or similar methods can more easily
with him every night. Dr. Girard left for home that night at steal Dr. Girard’s notebook from his satchel.
7:00 P.M. and came to work at 9:00 A.M.
The building’s first floor contained offices, while the Escalation
second floor contained four laboratories. One was empty,
while the other two contain experiments involving other God- If the characters obtained Dr. Girard’s original notes or
Machine-related phenomena (if you have already completed the original blue light, they can use or build a light to return
other Tales, you might consider having these labs contain to 1901. Every trip they take to 1901 lets them out on the
remnants of things the characters have encountered — is the same night five minutes later than the last time they visited.
cult following their future exploits somehow?). This building Careless characters could meet themselves, which could cause
and the portion of the city it is in are quite wealthy and have vast amounts of confusion.
electric lights both on the streets and inside the building. Characters could begin altering history by traveling repeat-
Dr. Girard lived half a mile from his laboratory in a small, edly to 1901 and introducing new technologies or assassinat-
but elegant, two-story townhouse also fitted with electricity. ing Hitler or Stalin while they were young men. Although
He lived alone except for two servants who left shortly after minor changes in time go undetected, God-Machine opera-
he returned home. He kept his notebook in his study. His tives notice significant changes in the timeline and attempt
employer warned Dr. Girard that working on these projects to locate and eliminate the characters.

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Tales of the God machine