BOOK I-Campaign Book

GENERAL

Try and present an 'atmosphere' to the players. Take time over narrative pieces e.g. describing the church bells which may be heard in Paris, Lausanne, Venice. As the scenario is linear, you must try not to communicate a feeling of time pressure. Instead let the players settle into a romantic 'travelogue' feel and slowly change it into Gothic horror. It is also essential to have batteries of NPCs ready for use on the train and at each stop. It is important to avoid an episodic feel wherein things only happen at stops. Also try to conceal the fact that the PCs are being followed by Makryat until halfway, say Venice, as this threw a real spanner in the works for me.

Make contingency plans for the introduction of up to 3 characters per player. You will get deaths so it is best to have character motivations and friendships written up in advance, possibly with introductory ideas for each stop along the line.

MEHMET MAKRYAT

The real weak element in the campaign. This guy has to be kept alive and in the background and is supposed to be prodding the PCs along getting them to do his dirty work. I was not comfortable hanging the scenario on him as a plot hook so I added a twist (see below). Be really careful with this character.

This is one instance where it helps to have PCs who are classical investigator types. It goes some way towards justifying Makryat's interest (and Mephistos (see below)) interest in the PCs if their reputation precedes them.

THE BROTHERS OF THE SKIN

An odd cult not necessarily your standard Mythos mob. I found them a bit too grey for my taste. A cult that has the key to immortality would make many influential contacts. I settled for a pan-European network of arrogant immortals (the Jigsaw Prince being a good example) selling their souls to Nyarlathotep in exchange for continuation of their decadent lifestyles. Make them paranoid and territorial (c.f. Nancy Collins vampire novels) and you have a logical excuse for both Mehmet Makryat's doings and the cult's inability to coordinate actions against the PCs as they move around Europe. I gave them links with Omar Shakti (Brotherhood of the Black Pharaoh) to round off the Middle Eastern angle.

FENALIK

For such a major NPC he gets very little to do. Go read the 'Necroscope' trilogy by Brian Lumley. If that doesn't give you ideas on making Fenalik an unforgettable NPC then it is time to hang up your Elder Sign. The twist was to have Fenalik suffering from leprosy which he caught during the Crusades (he masqueraded as a knight). Vampires aren't immune to leprosy so the Simulacrum becomes very important to Fenalik. He was known to the Brothers of The Skin but avoided them until his incarceration. His coma in the Parisian asylum leaves him too weak to take on the world but not so weak that he cannot act as a guardian angel for those possessors of the Simulacrum. All he has to do is make sure they get the entire thing before his leprosy kills him.

The trick to Fenalik is not to make him too obvious in the early stages, and not to make appear too omnipotent. If he displays too much combat prowess, especially in Postumia, the investigators are likely to take to the hills and never be seen again. And Fenalik knows this.

ROMANCE

Try and develop a romantic mood for this scenario. It works best if you juxtapose players falling in love on the Orient Express with their battle against Mythos forces. Adds to that holiday feel at the beginning and an extra impetus at the climax.

Humour can also work well - play some of the comic characters to the hilt and develop a few more. The horror is always more apparent if the players look up from their chortling and realise that there is a hunting horror bearing down on them...

GYPSIES

I found it worthwhile to develop the use of gypsies in the campaign. Use fortune tellers, caravans glimpsed from the passing train, gypsy entertainers. They add a mysterious and romantic feel, and it makes things easier presenting the Makryat/gypsy in Istanbul. If you want to go the whole hog then the gypsies could be a source of Mythos knowledge and/or replacement NPCs. It helps with the awful Belgrade section too.

RELIGION

How can you resist the possibilities of a scenario which uses the Crusades as historical background? The Vatican makes an appearance in Trieste, why not add to the mix. A small group of Vatican occult experts looking for the Simulacrum made excellent red herrings and a good source of emergency clues.

I used a common historical thread based around Knights returning from the Crusades. Try writing some background detail for each section wherein, many years ago, said Knights have made their presence felt in dealing with ancient evils. My precedent for this was the background info from 'Necroscope' on the Fernczy nobles. Fenalik is an easy substitute and a few twists will give you a trail that PCs can uncover. Pretty soon they will realise the scenario is leading them back along that trail to Istanbul.

RECOMMENDED VIEWING

'From Russia With Love'
'Hellraiser'
'The Lady Vanishes' (Alfred Hitchcock)
'The Dance of the Vampires' (Roman Polanski?)
'Don't Look Now'
'Nosferatu' (the original)
'Interview With The Vampire'
'Gothic' (Ken Russell)
'The Name of The Rose'
'The Phantom of The Opera'
'Horror Train?' (old Hammer movie with undead monster transported from archaeological dig killing off passengers)

SUMMARY

More than any other scenario 'Orient Express' relies heavily on the Keeper being able to roleplay many NPCs at once. If you haven't got those NPCs ready or you cannot wing it with confidence then do not run the scenario. It takes a number of months to play out the scenario; don't waste your players' time unless you are ALL committed to completing the journey. And don't waste the scenario either, it may be expensive, it may have flaws, it may be non-standard CoC, but it IS a good roleplaying scenario which you won't forget.