The city of Bucyrus, Ohio, seems to have a serious problem.

At first it was a few pigs on Kurt Kornvelf’s farm. They were found torn to pieces, like a savage animal had attacked them with an insatiable bloodlust. Most locals assumed their deaths to be the work of coyotes or a loose dog, but Kurt swears he saw something far bigger and more terrifying running off afterwards.

Then, a few days later, old Humphrey Herman was found similarly torn to death by his mailbox. Though a stray dog again was blamed for the attack, some began to wonder what kind of canine would behave that way.

Then two more residents were killed back to back in the same grim manner. Whispers of a serial killer- human or animal- began to grow.

As the yearly Bratwurst Festival quickly approaches, the city is eager to track down whatever is slaughtering its citizens before the event starts. But with only Kurt Kornvelf’s witness testimony of an unfamiliar creature being responsible, just how the officials plan to locate this killer is a point of disagreement.

You and your fellow players are members of Cryptid Reconnaissance, Understanding, and Discovery (CRUD). Your group’s founder, Nelson Nirdlinger, has received an invitation from the mayor of Bucyrus, Melora Mwale, to come and investigate the strange happenings. She is hopeful CRUD can use its supernatural expertise (though presently all theoretical) to help determine what is plaguing the community and put and end to the terror before the start of the Bratwurst Festival in less than a week.

Will you and the CRUD team be able to assist Bucyrus in its time of need? Is there truly something supernatural at play or is there a logical explanation for these recent attacks? What kind of toppings do you like on bratwursts?

Find out in…

THE BEAST OF BUCYRUS

When the Dark Lord of Mordor rose once more to power by reclaiming his Ring of Doom, he swiftly uncovered the treachery of Orthanc and sent the White Wizard into flight. When at last his forces captured Saruman, however, the fallen Istar had already divested himself of the prize Sauron desired most from him: Saruman’s new-made Ring of Many Colours.

Not even the torture pits of Barad-dûr could wrest aught of it from the Wizard’s lips, and, at last, his fana brutalized and broken beyond the bounds of endurance, Saruman’s spirit fled its casement of flesh, vanishing into the Realms Unseen, from which there could be no return for him, as ordained by the Lords of the West when first the Istari were dispatched from the Undying Lands on their errand of mercy. In truth, even absent the injunction of the Valar, Saruman’s spirit was too much diminished by the loss of essence forged into his Ring for him to conjure forth a new raiment of mortal seeming, and so what little remained of him was condemned to wander naked, insubstantial and all but powerless. Sauron reckoned that punishment enough for the nonce, for the many fronts of his war to dominate all life on Middle-earth were far more pressing than a trinket wrought by a traitor’s hands. In time, the Dark Lord reasoned, after all the crowns of these lands east of the sea are laid at his feet, would there be ample opportunity to pursue the lost Ring of Curunír and claim it as his own.

Sauron, in his arrogance, never imagined that any other had learned of this errant Ring of Power, for what mind across the length and breadth of Middle-earth was ever so keen and incisive as that of Tar-Mairon, heir to Melkor’s dark throne? What Man or Elf or even Ainu was ever so cunning as one who might yet prove himself greater, still, than even the mighty Morgoth Bauglir?

But the Ring of Many Colours was not a secret known to the Dark Lord, alone, and a Ring of Power—even one crafted by the hands of a lesser Maia than Sauron—is a mighty thing, indeed; a device which might aid the Free Peoples in turning the tide of Sauron’s war of conquest.

Thus, in secret, three years after the fall of King Delugûr of Angmar reborn, a handful of heroes are gathered at the behest of the reconvened Council of the Wise, for Saruman’s Ring is perhaps not so lost as the Lord of Mordor imagines it to be…

The rules have no meaning and you make them!

Modern day. Focus on writing story, especially witty banter, character development and backstory.

Modern day dark humour.

Every day is the same.

You get home, your jealous siblings have a pop at you. Asking where you have been. Accusing you of being involved in the latest scandal.

But you’re on top of it now. Each evening you come up with a ridiculous story to explain circumstances, wind them up, lay a false trail…take them down.

I would want any player to tell me if I need to adjust to increase their access or inclusion.

All my games are fully inclusive

This story is constructed for just one scene. We can have all the usual enthusiasm of building our characters and starting the game, and tell our tale in one scene.
Of course, if things go well we can add in a second or even a third scene.

The story explores the themes of creativity, humour, sibling relationships, and controlling behaviour.