So after some deliberation, some pizza, and some movie watching, my group and I have decided to forgo regular D&D in favor of trying something new. It's definitely an odd idea, but it certainly has merit in my eyes.
Steam Punk + Dungeons and Dragons + Big Eyes Small Mouths + Call of Cthulhu!
Our first adventure took place in an 1890's Victorian Style Greyhawk City. Currently, the party consists of Lupin the halfling gun mage (using the one from Iron Kingdoms), Lucy the cat-girl shapeshifter (from BESM), and Derive the human swordsage.
Trouble in Paradise
Spoiler
"So what are we doing again?" Lucy asked for the umpteenth time.
Lupin shook his head and sighed resignedly. "Alicia Green has had a very nasty accident, and her older sister Mary wants us to look into it."
"At the theater?" the woman asked as she scratched her long furry ear.
"Yes, The Paradise Theater," Lupin answered. "Metro Arts is restoring it, and Alicia was a volunteer there. Why can't you remember this?"
Lucy looked sadly down at her feet. "I'm sorry. I'm really high right now."
Derive snorted in laughter. The halfling sighed once more and led his companions down the dirty street. The theater itself was a very grand old building in this otherwise rundown neighborhood. Across the street from The Paradise an abandoned carriage sat in the gutter, its wheels stolen some time ago. It was covered in strange orange graffiti, and a dead dog sat in the open doorway, its erupted stomach roiling with maggots.
As the three investigators approached the theater, a woman on a ladder called down to them. She placed a sign on the marquee, then climbed down to greet them properly. She flashed a wolfish grin at them.
"Howdy," the woman said, "I'm Sara Landry. Ya'll must be them folk Mary sent, ya?"
Derive nodded grimly. "That's right."
"We need to go inside and look around, right?" Lucy slurred as she drunkenly staggered into the ladder.
"Er, what's wrong with her?" Sara asked concernedly.
Lupin shrugged his shoulders. "More than I'm qualified to diagnose."
Sara laughed heartily. "Ya'll can go inside if ya'll like, but don't go and fall off them scaffolds, ya hear?"
"Balance and Tumble are skills I'm good at," Derive replied confidently.
The three investigators entered the theater lobby and saw an elderly gentleman and a young elf woman working together to fix the four sofas in the room. After a brief introduction, Frank and Jeanette allowed Lupin, Lucy, and Derive to enter the theater proper.
The main hall of the theater was massive, with a curtained stage and a vaulted ceiling. The walls and ceiling were decorated with delicate carvings of nymphs, satyrs, and other fey creatures. The soft melody of Malaguena being elegantly played on the guitar echoed throughout the room. A scaffold was propped up near the left wall.
"That must have been where Alicia had her fall," Lupin stated.
Suddenly, a scuttling noise echoed from behind the curtain. Derive was the first to move, dashing up the stairs to the stage and throwing the curtains aside. A faint light in the shape of a doorway faintly sparkled at the far end of the otherwise dark stage. Cautiously, Lucy crept toward the doorway and reached out toward it. To her surprise, her hand was repelled by a sheet of cold glass.