The Terror Beneath

Book excerpt: An investigative roleplaying game of horrors both ancient and modern, inspired by the works of Arthur Machen and powered by the GUMSHOE system. Britain at the dawn of the 20th century. In the depths of the countryside, cults celebrate ancient rites in hidden clearings and caverns, beasts of legend emerge from their lairs to prey upon the unwary, and powerful beings of folklore and myth stir once more. In the urban sprawl of London and other cities, secret societies struggle for power and dominance, rogue alchemists pursue occult ambitions, and scientists fuse modern technology with ancient mysticism to create new horrors. This is the world of The Terror Beneath, an investigative roleplaying game inspired by the works of the master of horror, Arthur Machen. It is into this world that players will step as unwitting investigators, plucked from amongst an oblivious populace by fate, malice, or blind fortune and set against the machinations of hidden cults, the creations of mad scientists, or the unknowable motives of ancient terrors. The Terror Beneath is powered by the GUMSHOE roleplaying system, designed specifically to tell stories of mystery and investigation. With less emphasis on finding clues and more on interpreting them correctly, an investigation never stalls due to a critical clue being missed, but gives the heroes all the information they need to keep moving inexorably towards the horrors at the heart of the plot...