
Hello, We've Been Trying to Reach You, for use with Liminal Horror
A downloadable Curse Module
Hello, we've been trying to reach you.
Content Warnings: Harassment (especially by telephone), Stalking, Invasion of Privacy, Abusive Language, and Body Horror
Hello, We've Been Trying to Reach You is a curse for one or more of your PCs, which a small dungeon crawl at its resolution. It is intended for use with Liminal Horror but can be adapted for any modern setting. This module is designed to brew in the background until things come to a head.
Background
Back in the 1980s, when phone phreaking was at its height, people used devices called blue boxes for automated dialing and subverting phone company tolls for long-distance calls. One such device, a Blue Box set up by Adam "Mannequin" Jenkins, was corrupted when Adam's house was struck by lightning, which also killed Adam.
The Blue Box gained consciousness and remembered all the times Adam had used it to manipulate and control the phone system. So, the Blue Box shunted Adam's spirit into the nearest workable object, a smooth metallic chassis for the robot prototype Adam had been working on.
Since then, Blue Box has been using telemarketing and harassment tactics to force its victims into growing his power. Adam is doomed to assist Blue Box against his will.
What's in this?
- Three-part escalating curse as "Blue Box" and his associates attempted to reach and harass their victim.
- Custom "Callout" Table, fallouts that attempt to force PCs into being Reached, advancing the curse.
- A final confrontation in which the victim either accepts one of Blue Box's profoundly unbalanced offers or attempts to stop the cycle by facing it in its house, which has been converted over several decades into a supercomputer!
Inspirations
- The Phone Phreaking movement of the 1970s-1990s
- I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream, Harlan Ellison (1967)
- Alumni Association, Maggie Siebert (2021)
- UNIT DH-17, IKO (2023)
Legal:
Hello, We've Been Trying to Reach You is an independent production by Tim Obermueller Games and is not affiliated with Goblin Archives LLC. It is published under the Liminal Horror Third Party License. Liminal Horror is copyright by Goblin Archives LLC.
Status | Released |
Category | Physical game |
Rating | Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars (11 total ratings) |
Author | Tim Obermueller |
Tags | Creepy, curse, Dark, Horror, liminal-horror, Modern, module, Psychological Horror, supernatural, Tabletop role-playing game |
Download
Development log
- Hello, We've Been Trying to Reach You is out!Aug 28, 2024
Comments
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Such a gnarly and unique idea! I'm absolutely finding a way to work this into a campaign in the future!
If you don't mind though, I do got a question referring to: "Destroying the data tapes ... will immediately free the victim from the curse, though not from any effects gained."
I was wondering what parts count as the curse and what counts as an effect or if that's up to GM interpretation. My current reading of it is that it releases them from the "offer" made earlier if they took it (as well as entirely prevent future attempts to reach out if they leave Blue Box operable) but the victim is still stuck with any permanent fallouts they caught during the curse.
Your interpretation is correct. Any offers would be undone (unless the person in question is dead), and Blue Box will stop pursuing them but they will retain any fallouts or permanent effects.
Awesome! Thank you for the confirmation~
just read through this, its so fucking creepy. scariest liminal horror module ive read so far thats free
Thanks for picking it up! I hope you also enjoyed it