Convalescence, my first Call of Cthulhu scenario, was a labor of love (and Lovecraft) and the focus of my first effort as part of the RPG Writer’s Workshop from Storytelling Collective. After quite a few successful outings as a Keeper — I mean, I survived them, and isn’t that the important thing? — it was time for me to write my own adventure. But Convalescence was a bit of a heavy lift in terms of effort and I decided I wanted to try something a little more streamlined. Could I pack what I needed to run an adventure into two pages? I’d seen some samples of other attempts, and I’ve absorbed a lot of wisdom from Professor Dungeon Master and Sly Flourish on how to boil an adventure down to its essence. so I thought I’d give it a go.
And that’s how my investigators wound up in London for Dissonance – A 2-Page 1920s Adventure for Call of Cthulhu, which also has a supplemental set of Maps for Dissonance for those who need something to print or for virtual tabletops. It was great fun to research the founding of the BBC and weave that into an adventure about, in this case, the Regency Airwave Concern. There are more than a few historical references, but the intro to the story goes like this:
The new national radio service is in its first week of broadcast from London, but last night, the regularly scheduled programming was briefly interrupted by unintelligible raving. Most think nothing of it. The station manager can’t shake the feeling that there’s more to this than meets the ear. But he has his eye on a few new friends he’s made at his favorite club who might be able to help him. Will the investigators take him up on his offer for a backstage tour to find out what makes a radio station tick?
