The Reborn Taint

We ran our new miniseries The Reborn Taint at Gen Con in Indianapolis this summer, using Chaosium's game system Call of Cthulhu. Three games, three different times and sets of characters. Each session is complete, but playing more than one will be even more enjoyable. The series, and a possible fourth and final game, will be available (soon, we hope) as a PDF. We may do print-on-demand via Lulu.com, or submit the series to Chaosium if the completed book is within their monograph guidelines. Which would you prefer to see?

Let us know if you're interested in live playtesting (if you're in the DC area) or in playtesting the scenarios with your groups at home, so we can send you the material.

Moving from the Congo Free State in 1897, to 1920s Iraq during the British Mandate, to the fast-paced modern day, the stories confront investigators with great danger... at first for themselves, and later, for all humanity. Will you recognize the abomination as it grows amidst the man-made horrors of colonial exploitation, famine, war, and plague? Can you do anything to prevent it? Succeed or fail, when it's all over, you'll bear the indelible mark of the Reborn Taint.

Comprised of three linked stories, each a separate game, The Reborn Taint spans more than a century and takes its protagonists around the world. Three groups of investigators, separated by decades and spanning the globe, strive to prevent a fateful chain of events. If they fail, humanity, mired as it is in self-generated evil, will face events so terrible they may even transcend morality.

Part II: Eden Defiled
1920, Iraq. As the British crush a native uprising, a scholarly foundation seeks ancient knowledge in a troubled land. Civilization first flowered here between Tigris and Euphrates. What other fruit lies beneath Babylon's ruins, and should it be allowed to grow?

Part III: A Bitter Harvest
2006. A WHO/CDCP team races to defeat a horrible, ultra-virulent disease threatening the globe. What caused this horrible blight, and can you defeat it before humanity withers on the vine?

Three separate games

Each game session is complete and self-contained, and can be enjoyed by itself. Players are welcome (and encouraged) to take part in more than one session to get the full "Reborn Taint" experience. Characters are pre-generated, and each game's player characters are separate. Players who participate in more than one of the segments will not be playing the same PC. Two GMs, the authors, will co-run the sessions, to make sure things run smoothly and ensure plenty of attention for all the players. We stress good roleplaying.

Join us this August 10, 11 and 12^* ... See if you can survive The Reborn Taint!

The fine print

The Reborn Taint involves mature themes and is intended for adult players. Like the Call of Cthulhu game, the series is a work of fiction, but the stories are set amidst real historical events, in real-world locations, and the events depicted are potentially disturbing.

Though the series was inspired by history, all characters depicted, names used, and incidents portrayed in it are fictitious. No identification with actual persons or organizations is intended nor should be inferred. Any resemblance of the characters portrayed to actual persons, living or dead is purely coincidental.

Experience with the Call of Cthulhu system will be very useful, but is definitely not required. Check out Chaosium's introductory material and free quickstart rules.

Status (Monday, 14 August):

Gen Con Indy 2006 is over! We hope you had a great time playing. See the top of the page for information on what's going on now, and what we'll be doing in the future with this series.

Status (Monday, 7 August):

• Seeds of Darkness (RPG00607) runs Thursday, 10 August from 4 pm to 8 pm in Room 207 at Table 16.
• Eden Defiled (RPG00608) runs Friday, 10 August from 4 pm to 8 pm in Room 207 at Table 16.
• A Bitter Harvest (RPG00609) runs Saturday, 11 August from 4 pm to 8 pm in Room 207 at Table 16.

The Convention Center map is here.
It's a PDF file, so you'll need Adobe Reader.

Check our site and the official Gen Con schedule for updates. You'll have to search - just chose RPG as the event type, and search on the words "reborn taint".

Part I, Seeds of Darkness, was playtested at the University of Maryland Terrapin Gaming Club's TerpCon Fall 2005. Part II, Eden Defiled, was playtested at TerpCon Spring 2006.

All three games are now sold out. If you want[ed] to play and didn't get in, there are a few things you can do:

• People sometimes cancel their registration for various events, and it's possible that spaces may open up. At the con itself, check the event listings on the TV monitors at the various event registration booths. If people have canceled and returned their tickets before a game, the empty slot will show up.
• Show up at one or more of the games with a couple of generic tickets. Quite often, there are no-shows who haven't returned their ticket for one reason or another.

Whether you've gotten in or not, please email us and let us know of your interest, as we may run the events at another convention, and we're planning to publish the entire series after Gen Con.

^* Game dates and times are subject to change as the Gen Con staff prepares the convention schedule. Check the official schedule for the latest information.