Summary

In this game, the Contractors are charged with escorting a man named Bradley on a flight from San Francisco to Honolulu. When they arrive to pick Bradley up from his motel, they discover that he is actually a Caucasian mountain dog. And a vampire.

Their flight is imminent, so they rush through airport security and board the plane, pretending Bradley is a service animal. As gentle-giant Bradley’s thirst for blood grows, he slowly transforms into a hideous, ravenous bat-like creature. The Contractors must find him blood (and a lot of it!) all while concealing the fact that they are transporting a monster. To make matters worse, Bradley’s got a strong aversion to holy symbols, and there’s plenty of those on today’s flight. 

Will they be able to maintain a low profile, or will the plane be soaked in blood when they arrive in Hawaii? Will they spark the wrath of the undercover Sky Marshals aboard the flight? Will they be able to keep Bradley from slaughtering the mormon missionaries in the seats behind them? Will Bradley meet his end at the hands of the Monster Hunter who happens to be on board? And when they land, how will they deal with the authorities? 

 

Meta commentary

So often GMs skip over the airport scenes, and for good reason-- let’s get to the fun stuff! But airports, when not hand-waved away, can be very challenging indeed. They place heavy restrictions on a Character’s equipment and movement and put them into close contact with lots of people. At the same time, they are a setting that is well-known by the Players, so there is a lot of opportunity for outside-the-box thinking. 

NOTE: This Scenario can be difficult to GM. You escalate things at any moment, and it will feel justified. You should push it further than you think you can. 

This Contract requires that Players make plans, act with initiative, and not cede too much power. Contractors who act reactively instead of proactively will get rolled. Furthermore, being a stickler about all the details of flights (the TSA, seating, etc) creates a lot of space for Powers to shine. Because of the heavy restrictions, this Scenario is best as a second or third Game for most Players, but it could be run as their first too. 

When GMing this Game, keep track of as many details as possible, and don’t let players get away with doing things they wouldn’t be able to in real life, such as bringing a sword onto the plane. This Scenario is slightly long and may need to be split into two sessions if you don’t keep things moving. There are three events after the character introductions: meeting Bradley, getting through security, and the confrontations on the Plane. You should try to move Players towards the plane as quickly as possible. You do not want to turn the TSA checkpoint into a full-on heist or debacle. The flight boards very soon, so you can always play up the time pressure to get them to move along. 

Legend / Key

Red Text is text for the GM to reference at game-time 

Green Text is GM text that probably doesn’t need to be referenced at game-time.

Blue Text is text that may be read to the Players as they play. 

Invitations 

Stock Harbinger

See Stock Harbinger and Invites in the Appendix

 

Custom Harbinger

This Scenario is not tightly-linked to any specific Harbinger, so you can use your own Harbinger for introductions. The Scenario itself feels somewhat contrived and specifically sadistic, so it fits well for a Harbinger who sends Contractors on missions for personal entertainment or as a test. 

If you want to roll your own Harbinger, you must consider the Scenario’s resolution. You want to allow the Players to win even if they create a scene on the plane, have the plane swarmed with FBI agents, etc. If you play a sadist Harbinger, perhaps they’re secretly flying the plane and emerge to collect Bradley before the FBI agents come aboard. Or they have government ties and have instructed the dog to be taken unharmed. Either way, it should be obvious to the Contractors that they have won, even if they end up getting arrested.

Requirements

• Characters must be told that they are supposed to escort Bradley on today’s UA1670 flight from San Francisco to Hawaii.
• Tell them the flight boards at 9:00 PM.
• Contractors are told that if Bradly survives until they touch down in Hawaii, they will succeed.
• Oh, and one tip: Bradley has a big appetite and hates holy symbols
• Bradley is waiting in room 222 of the Good Living Inn in San Carlos, California. 
• The Harbinger provides transportation that delivers the Contractors to the Good Living Inn at the exact same time.
• DO NOT let slip that Bradley is not a person. Don’t answer any questions about them or go into any more specifics than above. (feign ignorance if possible). 

Keep notes on which Contractors have shared their contact information with other Contractors

Sendoff to the apartment

You emerge from the vehicle into a parking lot. It’s twilight; the sun has set, but its light still casts the world in shades of violet. A cheap, low-slung motel wraps two sides of the parking lot with room doors that open directly to the outside. By the management building, a retro, neon sign spells “Good Living Inn” in flickering blue letters.

One Contractor checks their watch and sees that it is 7:27 PM. If they check, they will see that SFO is 30 minutes away. Flight UA1670 boards at 9:00PM. 

Room 222 is on the second floor and easily found. It appears normal, except its windows are incredibly dark. One cannot even see the blinds through them.

When the Contractors arrive, they should quickly become aware that they are under an intense time limit. They may try to buy tickets, but if they do not, you can give them a prod to buy tickets as they leave the motel. Cautious Contractors may want to check for traps, but hopefully the time pressure will prevent them from wasting too much time doing so.

Room 222

The door pushes open as you knock; the latch has been taped with duck tape. Inside is pitch black. You hear no answer.

<someone enters>

An incredible weight crashes into you, knocking you over and pinning you to the ground. Above you, a slavering maw filled with viscous teeth opens wide and attacks you. . . with a series of slobbery licks across your face.

<when they switch on the lights>

The dog is an immense caucasian mountain dog. Its coat of shaggy brown fur has gone thin and grey with age, though the dog itself is lively and spry. It barks a greeting and continues to lick at your face. Its breath smells like roadkill.

This dog is Bradley, and the tag on his collar says just as much (and no more). He is a big, friendly oaf of a dog, but he is not well-trained and thinks that he is much, much smaller than he actually is. The GM is encouraged to try to breathe a little life into Bradley as a character, to have him react to the Contractors by barking or tilting his head, to pursue things he’s curious about, try to walk outside before they’re ready to go, etc. The GM should give a powerful WOOF when he barks. Be likeable! 

Bradley transforms into a monstrous wyvern-like bat creature whenever he is agitated (upon seeing / hearing / smelling holy things of any religion OR when in combat, threatened, or angry). He also transforms slowly the hungrier he gets. See Bradley’s Stats in the Appendix for more information. 

The Contractor who has been tackled, the person checking the collar, or anyone who touches Bradley has a good chance of noticing that he is cold to the touch. A further investigation (Perception + Medicine, difficulty 5 if you choose to make them roll) reveals that he has no pulse or body heat, and has slightly elongated canine teeth. For all medical purposes, he should be dead.

Investigating Bradley as a supernatural creature calls for an Intelligence + Occult roll, difficulty 6. One success is enough to learn that he is undead. Two successes may give some hint that he is a vampire. Three or more successes gives general applicable vampiric information that can be told to the Contractor as it becomes relevant, (Most Vampires cannot eat normal human food. Vampires are destroyed by the sun, Vampires shift into bats, etc). Each Contractor only gets one shot at this roll, and the result lasts the entire Game. 

Even a cursory glance around the room will reveal a leash and service animal harness on the bed and  a small stack of papers on the desk. These are service dog papers for each of the Contractors present. They present the dog as a seeing-eye-dog for the blind.

(NOTE: You can change the disability or leave it unspecified if you do not want someone pretending to be blind).

If the Contractors investigate the room, have them roll Perception + Investigation, difficulty 6. Any number of successes will find an empty metal dog dish on the ground near the bed and a can of paint in the bathroom sink that has very recently been used to paint the windows black. It is still wet, and the paint on the windows is still tacky. Three or more successes will find that the dog dish has a thin rim of coagulated blood caked under the lip and a few fresh bloodstains on the carpet beside it. 

At some point, either during the investigation or after they leave the apartment, Bradley will attempt to wander off and must be stopped by basically physically guiding him back on track. Whoever does so should roll Charisma + Animals, Difficulty 6. Even one success is enough to guide Bradley around, but it is a clumsy, physical affair. Three or more successes provides the insight that this dog is very poorly trained and, while friendly, is not well bonded with the Contractors and sees them more as equals than masters. Training him and asserting dominance will require some form of reward for positive reinforcement, generally treats.

No treats or dog food are present in the room.  Bradley is disinterested in any normal food or dog treats. He desires only human or canine blood. Steaks and similar may get him drooling, but he does not bite or eat them, and will start licking the Contractors’ arteries incessantly as he gets hungry. 

On the Way to the Airport

The Contractors must arrange their own transportation to the Airport. An Uber is sufficient.  

Unless they spent an absurd amount of time in the motel room for some reason, it is likely to be  7:45 PM when they leave.

The Contractors essentially have about half an hour (max) of wiggle room which they can take either before or after the TSA checkpoint. Before is probably favorable because they have more options to prepare. Let them prepare as they will, but keep the time pressure real. Half an hour goes quick!

If the Players have not yet purchased plane tickets, choose the Contractor with the highest Wits and have them realize they need to buy tickets. 

Due to how soon the flight is, there are few seats available. The Plane is a 737 dreamliner with a single aisle and six seats to each row (4 to a row in First Class). There are two open seats next to each other in first class, two open seats next to each other in Comfort Plus, and two beside each other in coach. 

You can change up the seating arrangement if you’d like. Splitting the group can cause things to take more time, but they will be able to communicate with a chat room in the in-seat entertainment, and they can always get up and go talk to each other. The advantage is that it creates more dynamic situations with more interesting positioning overall, and allows the Contractors to “factionize,” and plot privately. It did not feel very constraining when I ran the game.

Wise Contractors will spend this time figuring out how to sneak weapons past the TSA, preparing their bags, and gathering supplies. Very wise Contractors may find a better way to secure Bradley or even obtain blood to feed him.

At Airport Security

Inside the airport, the hustle and bustle of the day has calmed somewhat as travel-worn passengers arrive from parts unknown and sleepy travelers queue up at the TSA checkpoint and prepare for their red-eye flights.

Any American Contractors with the Wealthy or Rich Assets (or who travel frequently) will have TSA Pre. Pilots and flight attendants from the USA can breeze through security pretty much freely. Everyone else must go through the standard security checkpoint.

NOTE: do not spend too much time roleplaying / playing up the stakes of the TSA checkpoint. Try not to be too much of a dick either. The goal here is to strip equipment, not derail the Game. If the Contractors are caught with something they shouldn’t have (even a weapon) TSA will take it and give them the option to continue through. 

If they have spent some time pre-checkpoint doing something, it is now 8:25, and Bradley is showing the first signs of his transformation. His ears are standing up, hair retracting, teeth sharpening, and he may be starting to lick at his handler’s ankles. If not, this will happen after the checkpoint. It should not affect their run through the checkpoint, but they will notice it. If the Players don’t realize what’s up a Charisma + Animals roll, Difficulty 6 can provide an answer.

In line at the TSA checkpoint, a FORBIDDEN MATERIALS sign lists-- after explosives, knives and guns-- magic or supernatural creatures or objects.  

Bradley’s handler must convince the TSA that they are blind and  in-need of a seeing-eye dog. This requires a Charisma + Performance roll, Difficulty 5 with dark sunglasses, 7 without. The Difficulty is increased by 1 if they do not have any points in Animals. One or two successes will result in some awkward questioning, but a few excuses will get them through. Three or more successes allows them to pass without issue. A failure or botch means that they will be taken aside to be searched more thoroughly. This more thorough search will always find any contraband.

Other Contractors pass through security as normal. Any obvious contraband is discovered (full water bottle, large weapons, etc) and taken away. For each piece of smaller contraband (pocket knives, etc), roll 1d10, difficulty 4 if the Contractor is in TSA Pre, 7 otherwise. If the roll is successful, the contraband is not found. Any weapons or items that were cleverly concealed are not found. 

To amp up the stakes, you can choose the Contractor with the most contraband and make a little event for them. The person right in front of them in line (a young woman with green dyed hair) is stopped. They pull a package of alcohol-infused makeup-removal swabs from her bag and throw them away).

Checking or Gate-checking bags (or Bradley) is not possible due to how soon the flight is leaving.

If they spent time doing stuff before TSA, they must essentially run to the plane to catch it. They /may/ have some time to buy a snack or something, but not to do anything more involved. 

Are any of their bags too big to carry on? As in real life, don’t be too draconian, but if any of them have a steamer trunk or something, they’ll need to downsize. 

In line to board, you may choose to have Bradley spot someone with a crucifix necklace, one of the mormon missionary’s bibles, someone with a cross necklace, etc. He will bark at them and transform a bit more, but be easily pulled away and revert to his old form. This is mostly a way to communicate the fact that Bradley’s agitation / hunger is transforming him into a supernatural creature that must be concealed. Another option is to have a passenger with a small, shivering dog breed in a carrier approach Bradley’s handler and try to introduce their dog. The dog has a cone on its head, and Bradley will smell its blood, transform a bit more, and try to slither his tongue through the grate to get some blood from the dog. 

On the Plane

The Plane is a standard 737 Dreamliner. 

Keep track of which bags will go in overhead storage or below the seats and where their equipment is. If Bradley was not purchased a seat, make sure you mention that he is sitting in the aisle (which will greatly increase his exposure to the other passengers). 

At this point the game opens up. The Contractors must feed Bradley at least 5 Pints of blood (giving 3-4 pints of blood is lethal, and the average person has about 8 pints of blood in them). They must do this while maintaining a low profile, before Bradly transforms too much. They must also keep him from the religious folks and symbols on the plane, and, if things get too heated, deal with the Air marshals or even a monster hunter. 

 

The Missionaries

There are a pair of Mormon missionaries seated two rows behind wherever Bradley is sitting. You can use other religious devouts if you want, but they will generally wear religious symbols, invoke holy names, etc. 

You can use them as you will to antagonize Bradley or the players. You can have them go around and hand out steel cross necklaces that have printed on the back: www.churchofjesuschrist.com. Try having them do the handouts during food service (between the drink and food service carts) so there is not an easy way to escape. When things get tense, you can have them pray out loud and invoke holy names etc. 

Use them at the same time Bradley is getting hungry to test the contractors or after he’s been fully fed if you’d like to keep the game going.  

 

The Marshals

There are two air marshals on the plane (or perhaps one if you have newbies without Powers or only two Contractors). They are well-trained with their sidearms (sig sauer) and have hand-to-hand training as well. Dex: 3, Brawn: 3, Firearms: 3, Brawl 2. Sig Saur: Dex + Firearms, Difficulty 7, +3 Damage. For those unfamiliar, in a fair fight, these stats make them rather deadly. Expect them to kill a Contractor or Bradley in one to four attacks. Their bullets will only cause explosive decompression if they strike a window. 

Contractors that are scanning the cabin for something or looking over the passengers may notice the Air Marshals. Give them a Perception + Alertness (or Investigation) roll, difficulty 6/7, with a few successes allowing them to notice that one of the passengers looks like an undercover air marshal.

The Marshals do not get involved over petty events (even a dog attack). They will get involved if passengers attack each other with lethal force, someone is murdered, there is a monster on board, or someone attempts to take over the cabin. 

 

The Monster Hunter

The Monster hunter fills a similar role to the Marshals in that they punish the Contractors for being too obvious or waiting too long to act. Unlike the Marshals, the monster hunter will only get involved in the situation if rumors of a monster go around, someone is found exsanguinated, etc. 

You can pretty much use whatever Monster Hunter you want, but they must be able to uncover Bradley, kill Bradley in a 1v1, and should not be so powerful that they are unkillable by the Contractors combined. Also, they should generally not act until the players have messed up and everyone knows there is a monster on board.

Here’s an example Monster Hunter you can use: Jann Tsu. Jann Tsu is a 35 year old Chinese American woman who was imbued with ghostly powers when her mother sacrificed herself to save her from a witch’s curse. She has a black, horizontal bar tattooed over her eyes like a visor and wears a hooded robe that would likely look like a hoodie at a glance. She has sworn to spend her life hunting evil creatures wherever she goes, even if that includes her much-needed vacation in Hawaii.

Her powers allow her to summon a ghostly sword that she can swing for +3 damage, however, it can only injure creatures that have killed a human. She can also touch a corpse to see the last 30 seconds of their life, and she can summon spectral chains to restrain any target’s legs for two rounds. She has 3 Brawn, 5 Dexterity, 4 Wits, and 4 in Melee. Her robes give her two Armor with no penalty.

 

GMing the Plane

As the GM, you have a lot of freedom about how to mess with the Contractors. You can have a mormon missionary approach and try to hand out religious paraphernalia (and then be attacked). You can have a passenger notice Bradley’s bizarre look and start to make a fuss about it. You can have Bradley get so hungry he transforms enough that everyone sees he’s supernatural and the air marshals / monster hunter try to kill him. Basically, the idea is to put the Contractors through their paces, stir the pot, and above all PUNISH REACTIVE NON-ACTION. 

The situation will deteriorate in any number of awful ways if the Contractors don’t form a plan and take action BEFORE things get to that point. If you want to communicate this without causing a complete debacle, you can have Bradley attack a missionary or passenger or something and then allow the Contractors to pull him away. The passengers will read the situation as a dog attack, and the flight crew may demand that Bradly be kept in one of the galleys (near the restrooms) for the duration of the flight. 

Even if something goes terribly wrong and the entire plane sees Bradley become a monster, kill someone, or a Contractor is caught murdering a passenger or something, the Game may still be winnable. If the Contractors can take control of the cabin, or really just keep Bradley alive until they land, they will win the Game. The major risk here is the LEGAL fallout for the Contractors. Anyone who causes a lot of trouble may be arrested when they land, interrogated, and, in a worst case scenario (they reveal that they are a Contractor), implanted with a bug and made into an unwitting spy for the FBI.

 

Other Notes 

The Plane will never reverse direction and land back at SFO. Even in the event of explosive decompression.

There is a needle in the cabin’s first aid kit that can be used to draw blood, but the stewardesses will probably notice any non-stealthy or distracted attempt to access.

The passengers desire order and personal safety over all else. They will not unify and attack the Contractors or Bradley unless Bradley is just running wild, and even in that case they will attempt to run first. The entire cabin can be controlled by a one or several people brandishing a weapon, especially if they state that they only wish to land in Hawaii with the dog intact and have no intention of taking over the plane or anything like that. 

Emergency exits cannot be opened during flight due both to air pressure and locks controlled from within the cockpit. 

Decompression of the cabin will cause air masks to drop from the ceiling. Anyone who goes more than two rounds without wearing one will potentially be rendered unconscious due to hypoxia. The plane will reduce altitude, which allows the air to be breathable, although it is still extremely cold. Uninsulated passengers and contractors risk injury from the cold. Bradley does not really need air and doesn’t mind the cold.

When GMing combat with a group (eg. a plane full of passengers), don’t roll initiative for people who aren’t going to meaningfully engage in the combat. You may want to add one or two “hero” passengers to any encounter, at your discretion. If you do, choose a traveler archetype for them such as traveling japanese businessman, father of two screaming children, uniformed military guy, etc. They have average stats (1-3 in attributes, 0-1 in abilities)

If anything extreme occurs (like a combat) involving the character who is pretending to be blind, make them roll Wits + Performance if they don’t have glasses to see if they remember that they’re supposed to be blind.

 

Aftermath

It is very important to follow up on the aftermath here. It can be done quickly right away or done 1-on-1 after the game if you’d like, but Characters should either be scott-free in Hawaii or in custody by the time you call the session complete and name the winners and losers. Players will rarely resist arrest when faced with overwhelming odds, so it’s unlikely that resolving the Characters’ immediate fates will take more than a couple minutes. 

Characters mostly have plausible deniability. 

If they cop to being contractors, the gov will put a “bug” in them matrix-style. They awake in their cell and are ushered out. Gaslit that they hit their head and have a concussion. Maybe they have footage of some of it.

If anything noteworthy happened (like someone was murdered or Bradley was discovered) be sure to post a World Event in your Cell to commemorate the occasion! The “excerpt from a news report” is always a popular format. 

Appendix

Bradley’s Stats and Transformation

Brawn: 5, Dex: 3, Wits: 2, Perception: 3, Intelligence: 1, Charisma: 3 (dog)

Brawl: 4, Investigate: 3, Alertness: 1, Athletics: 2

Bradley’s undead hide grants him 2 Armor. 

When agitated, Bradley attacks with his teeth with Brawn + Brawl, Difficulty 5, dealing + 1 Damage. This attack cannot be soaked with Brawn. If his attack deals at least 4 Damage, or if the target is incapcitated, he latches onto their neck with his teeth and drains their blood. This inflicts a Severity-4 Injury that worsens be 3 Severity each round as he sucks them dry. He does not generally stop until they are completely exsanguinated. 

Bradley can sniff out the location of anyone whose blood he’s tasted. 

Drinking blood heals Bradley, reducing the Severity of his most severe Injury by 1 for each pint of blood he drinks. He can drink a maximum of 10 Pints of blood a day.

TRANSFORMATION: 

Bradley transforms partially/fully into a wyvern-like bat creature (same size as he normally is, which is quite large) under certain conditions. This transformation does not affect his stats, but it may affect his demeanor if he is hungry.

He has 5 states aka Transformation Levels:

1. Normal dog
2. Ears stand on end, lose most of their hair, and grow to chihuahua-esque proportions. Needle-like fangs are clearly visible when panting. Looks like a very unusual dog breed unless a close examination is done.
3. Elbows splayed, forelegs lengthen, elbows splay a bit, nose begins to point, other teeth become needle-like, tongue lengthens and thickens, begins to drool uncontrollably. Can pass as a normal dog at a distance.
4. Nose and ears are fully bat-like, forelegs become wings, granting him a wyvern-like stance. Can fly short distances. Cannot pass as a normal dog.
5. Blood lust. Will attack any human until he is fed. 

Bradley’s Transformation Level equals the number of hours elapsed since they find him minus  the number of pints of blood they have fed him. Once they feed him 6 pints of blood, he is fully sated and will remain in dog-form unless agitated. 

At Transformation Level 2 / 3, he will incessantly lick at the skin of his handler or nearby humans, potentially starting to nibble as well, though he will not break the skin. 

Agitation increases his Transformation Level by 1 or 2, depending on its severity. The presence of blood or holy symbols, smells, or sounds will agitate him. He will fully transform in combat (and revert to an agitated state after).  

Calming Bradley requires removing the negative stimulus and making a standard Charisma + Animals roll. Difficulty for controlling Bradley with a Charisma + Animals roll is equal to 5 + his Transformation level. 

A system for exsanguination

Normal blood loss is accounted for by the standard Injury system, but for cases where blood is specifically drawn (e.g. by a medical professional or a vampire), this system may be more suitable.

A Character who has lost blood without Injury is given an Injury representing blood loss. This Injury’s severity = twice the number of pints of blood lost. If a Character loses blood once and then gives blood later, the existing Injury’s severity is increased. 

Unlike other Injuries, the recovery time for blood loss may be greatly reduced via a blood infusion. Each day a Character receives blood, their blood loss Injury is reduced in severity by one level. 

Stock Harbinger and Invites

This Scenario is not tied strongly to any one Harbinger. I encourage you to create your own Harbinger, but I’ve also created a “stock” Harbinger here to serve as a stand-in in case you don’t have one. 

Cody

Cody is a trickster fairy, similar to Loki or Coyote or other such figures. He appears as a tall white man about 40 years old, with short orange hair, a deep widow’s peak, and some acne scarring. He does not lie, but he loves to play with people’s perceptions, use their assumptions against them, and mislead them. 

His goals are inscrutable, and his Contracts often achieve no discernable outcome besides sewing chaos. 

His Powers are vaguely-defined and, for our purposes, limitless. Generally he does things that cause entropy or chaos (such as causing someone’s shoes to tie together so they trip or breaking a fire hydrant so it sprays on someone he doesn’t like), often with no more effort than a wink. He can make time appear to be frozen, and often uses the opportunity to cause a bit of harmless mischief (such as turning someone’s drink upside-down in their hand or over-salting someone’s food). He uses his powers very sparingly, generally only once per Contractor, but it is enough to demonstrate that he is the real deal. 

Introducing Characters (signing “the Contract”)

The first introduction for each Contractor is special and different from all the others. The encounter is their big choice to take their lives to the next level. Picture the first few conversations between Morpheus and Neo, Frodo and Gandalf, Mr. Wednesday and Shadow, Harry Potter and Hagrid, etc. 

Although they are not mentors and they are not introducing the character to the supernatural for the first time, they are a creature that is clearly something very special. It’s rarer than a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to even meet such a creature. And they are extending a hand. Come, you may join the ranks of the beyond special, if you are willing to risk your life. 

And indeed, a great many end up losing more than that. 

But they will accept because their characters were literally designed to accept that deal-- and I mean, it’s kinda tempting, right?

In essence, this is them signing the titular “Contract,” though it is often more of a verbal contract than anything formal. 

It can be a good idea to run some or all of these solo ahead of the session if you would like to save time, because initial introductions can eat into a session, especially if there are multiple. 

Playing Cody

Cody likes to play with statuses and first-impressions. Since he is quite a high-status character, he usually appears as someone annoying or unremarkable. He might dress in rags and beg the Contractor for money, be a problem customer at a cafe, or work a service-industry job. 

For this game, he will approach around 6:30PM. 

He will interact with the Contractor in some way and tell them he has a job for them. If they ignore him or try to dismiss him, he will either do something supernatural to get their attention (usually related to his costume’s role) or appear again and again-- perhaps in the same or different costumes-- in a way that is clearly supernatural (“how’d you get there?”).

A very common early tactic is to neg the Contractor and then immediately pivot to praise their potential. He likes to keep people off-balance. Some Contractors may dial 911 on him only to hear his voice on the other end of the receiver. 

As with all Harbingers, he’s adept at controlling situations. As much as he enjoys things getting out of hand, he also has a job to do and will resort to more drastic measures if needed. These include freezing time or teleporting himself and the Contractor somewhere remote and potentially hostile until the Contractor is forced to engage him and/or beg to go home. 

He knows their ambitions. He presents himself as an opportunity for greater things, and the Contract as an audition or try-out. The job is risky, perhaps even deadly, but if they succeed, they’ll be rewarded with an opportunity to rise above their station. He’s a little vague at the specifics of the reward beyond it being an “awakening of their potential,” but, if pressed, he’ll allude to his own powers and imply or tell them they’ll be getting supernatural abilities. Success also opens the door for similar jobs from other employers in the future. 

If they agree he will smile. If they do not have their equipment, he will hand them one of their suitcases. “I packed it just like you would.” (basically, let people start with whatever’s in their Equipment lists).

He whistles, and an airport shuttle (the sort you would see making runs between an airport and a small motel) drives up. It drives up no matter where the Contractor is-- the city, the desert, a boat on the ocean. It doesn’t crash through things if it can help it. 

The driver is a middle-aged man in a chauffeur’s uniform. As the Contractor boards, Cody will say, “good luck!” Or, if you prefer, he might give a little clue: “Be proactive!” or “Be careful not to give up what little power you already have!” or “get a snack before you take off. Don’t want to get hangry.” 

if you are pre-running intros one-on-one to save time during the session, you can pause here

The only other passengers seated on the shuttle are the Contractors that have already accepted the offer. Each time a Contractor boards the shuttle, give them a moment to describe their Character to the group, introduce themselves, and have a bit of a conversation. Forming the group one-at-a-time like this is very important, especially for larger groups. 

While in motion, the shuttle drives at what appears to be a normal pace, but traverses great distances. Forests, desserts, cities, and monuments come and go. There are no skips or seams or blurs or fast-forwarding. The chauffeur knows nothing about the game and doesn’t talk much. If asked how they are traveling he will say “It’s just a matter of knowing the right roads to take.” and leave it at that. 

He will give the final Contractor a large manilla envelope to open with the rest of his companions. The envelope has each Contractor’s name printed plainly on both sides. 

Inside, there is only a single, small letter on a piece of hello-from-hawaii stationery. 

“

Dear Contractors,

I’ve got a friend, Bradley, who's never been on a plane before. I’d like you to take him to hawaii. 

I’ve got the flight picked out already: UA1670 leaving from SFO at 9:00 PM. If Bradley is on that flight when it takes off and survives until it lands, you’ll be handsomely rewarded.

He is waiting for you in room 222 of the Good Living Inn in San Carlos, California. 

Take care!

-Cody

PS: Bradley has quite an appetite, and a strong distaste of holy things, so do your best to accommodate him!

”

Let the Contractors discuss the letter for a few seconds (and maybe look at the clock), and then have the Airport Shuttle make its final stop. The Contractors emerge into the parking lot of the  Good Living Inn and the Game begins. 

At the end of the Game, Cody emerges from the cockpit of the Plane wearing a captain’s cap, calls Bradley to him, thanks the Contractors, perhaps comments on the state of things, tells them whether or not they’ve succeeded, and then closes the door (after which, he and Bradly are gone).