Investigator Concepts

[Cearlan]

Rather than having a disparate group of people getting drawn into this one - I thought it would be good to have an over-arcing concept that kinda ties everyone together. In the last version of this adventure run on here, there were two groups that pretty quickly came together. Looking at some of the other games on here the people would not either move in the same social circles or be seen dead in each other's company, let alone rely on them to save their bacon as it were.

Mr Handy is thinking of playing a nun who works at St. Mary's Hospital as a nurse for example. There could be others who knew either Atwater or Cardigan, though Cardigan may be the preferred choice from the two, but not their professors please. There must be some stalwart characters of steady nerve and undeniable courage out there who may even be hired by interested parties, for example, the University, to try and discovered what happened to Richard Cardigan and what occurred to leave poor Henry Atwater in such a state.

[corban]

Name: Jonathan Weeden
Occupation: Doctor of Medicine (psychatrist)

Possible Reason for Going: Investigating Henry Atwaters disturbed state of mind. We have deduced it came from something that happened whilst he was away and in order to help cure him we need to find out what happened. I am going along as part of any investigation to represent the asylum to help look for what could of triggered it to help find a cure for Henry Atwaters.

He looks like this http://pmcmovieline.files.wordpress.com ... nan500.jpg

Would like something like this if Possible

[Cearlan]

The investigators are both fine ... but.The only problem with playing someone from the asylum is that the investigation does not start there so your investigator may have to wait a little before coming in. Having said this, St. Mary's Hospital may be a better alternative than the asylum.

[corban]

No problem with coming from St Mary's at all

[Cearlan]

In fact you could even be the one to refer him to the asylum ... after all St. Mary's is not really suited for someone of Atwater's ... erm shall we say 'sensibilities' and as psychiatrist you would know this better than most. It would also give you an in with the staff there as well.

[Priest]

Would reporter for a local newspaper (linked to the university perhaps?) be acceptable? After all if it was caused by a lightning strike that would be local news.

[Cearlan]

Yeah Priest - sounds good to me. I can think of a couple of angles where you may be known to the Nurse at least - always pestering her for stories etc ...

[Priest]

Right, I'll get on it.

[DrPeterson]

I'll be a local PI, specialising in missing persons, who has been hired by a third party to help the investigation. It would be logical to assume I have a passing acquaintance with our dear nun and the good doctor from when I go ask questions at the hospital. I could know our reporter friend from working at the newspaper archives and/or from appearing at the same crime scenes.

[Cearlan]

Good tie-ins there DrP.

I chose this investigation because I hadn't seen it being run anywhere before - and then Mr Handy pointed out it had run for a while here. In that 'version' on the story, the missing boy came from a well to do family and his father hired his solicitor to chase leads down. Nothing to say the same cannot be done here except the father may not be so well off and comes to you for help.

[Cearlan]

Would reporter for a local newspaper (linked to the university perhaps?) be acceptable? After all if it was caused by a lightning strike that would be local news.

Thought this may be of help Priest. There are three newspapers in Arkham as follows:-

1: Arkham Gazette: 350 W Hyde Street. Arkham's first newspaper, the Gazette was established in 1806 by Aaron Crane, its first editor and publisher. It began daily publication in 1894; before then it was a fat weekly. It is still owned by the Crane family; Michael Crane, 62 years old, is managing editor.
The Gazette is published at 3 A.M. six mornings a week; Sunday papers are run Saturday afternoon at 2 P.M. and distributed that evening. Though it has happened five times since 1900, it takes a big event for a Gazette special edition. Issues currently cost 4 cents, since it's a bigger paper than the Advertiser, publishing about 20% more text daily than its Arkham rival. Sunday issues cost 7 cents.
Of the two Arkham newspapers, the Gazette is the more conservative, featuring town and valley news to the virtual exclusion of international events. It is specially notable for its large number of county correspondents which report family visits and other crossroads events. It has never missed an edition in 122 years of publishing. Willard Peck: the Gazette's chief reporter, 44 years old. Peck's family is of long standing in Arkham.

2: Arkham Advertiser: 389 W Armitage Street. The Arkham Bulletin, the forerunner of the Advertiser, first published in 1821. In 1828, the paper changed hands and was renamed The Miskatonic Valley Gleaner. The Gleaner appeared for four years, then was sold, reappearing as the Arkham Advertiser.
The Advertiser is the more aggressive of the two Arkham papers, even printing extras and what Gedney calls "five-PMs" for Arkham, when news dictates. The Advertiser tends to print more features (especially about technical and scientific wonders, which Gedney favors), comics, and ethnically-slanted international news than does the Gazette.
The regular morning edition runs off at 3 A.M. If news warrants, revised editions—extras—run at 8 A.M., or 11:30 A.M., or 4:30 P.M. These later editions are in small quantity, for local street-sale distribution only. A story is rarely big enough to warrant four editions in one day. Only one edition each appears Saturday and Sunday. The Sunday edition is run and distributed Saturday night. Daily editions cost 3 cents; the Sunday paper costs 7 cents. Special editions are printed for the Fourth of July, Armistice Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter, with as many display ads as Gedney can sell to local businesses.
The publisher and managing editor is 42-year-old Harvey Gedney, whose family has owned the paper since 1832. He employs two full-time reporter/editors, a secretary, a linotypist, a caseman, two pressmen, a circulation manager, an advertising manager, and part-time help and correspondents (stringers) as needed.

3: M.U. Cryer: The Miskatonic University Crier: its enemies call it the Sniveler. The weekly student newspaper's managing editor is Howard Penobscott. He's a Henry Luce fan and an annoying young trouble-maker. Skinny, habitually winking through his wire-rim glasses, Penobscott prefers editorializing to journalism, and glories in tweaking the school administration. Clashes with his faculty advisor and censor, Swanson Ames, are on-going. Penobscott enjoys nothing more than slipping something controversial by Ames, an oblique and distracted man. Even the fair-minded University President Wainscott finds it impossible to like Penobscott, though he admits that his young nemesis is ingenious.

[Priest]

I think Jimmy would be interested in working on a casual basis for the Arkham Advertiser, as a more aggressive newspaper would be more likely to catch the eye of one of the big city papers.

[Mr. Handy]

Good choice! My Escape From Innsmouth character, reporter Alyssa Valentine, also works for the Advertiser for similar reasons (though she worked for the Cryer when she was a student at Miskatonic).