Welcome to the first (of what we hope is a long line) of trilogies involving three separate role-playing systems. Way back in February of this year, when Rob Vaux was editing SHADIS, and I (a mere assistant to his genius) was plotting his spiralling descent into madness, Marcelo and I planned a little horror story that would involve Vampire, Call of Cthulhu, and something else... at the time we weren't really sure what to put in the middle. After plotting out the major flow of the story, we hit upon the modern thriller Conspiracy X, and the following story was born.

Justin Achilli was consulted first, and after months of prodding he finally presented the first part of this epic: "Halloween", which he titled "Children's Crusade" (the title was struck by the editor who had other plans). Eden Studios never returned our calls about part two and so finally we were forced to hold their cats for ransom until Alex produced something he called Isia (this was swiftly changed to "Alt Saints Day" - are you seeing a pattern?).

John Tynes was the easiest to get excite about this, but the slowest to work. With a company of his own to manage and a host of gaming products coming out this year, with his name on it, Jones decided to brush me off. Finally, "Everland" - later renamed "el Dia de los Muertos" arrived in my mailbox and we rushed to layout this bad boy.

Let me assure you that what was an 8 month plan, turned into last minute, back breaking work because no matter how well you plan... That's how things go. Even Craig Zipse's maps weren't ordered until 2 weeks prior to printing.

So what's the point of all of this? SHADIS never presents the history of an article. Well, Marcelo and I just wanted to share with you how much fun this year has been, and that as tong as we're forced to work together in a rat cage, we might as well tell you how great it is that they fill our water dish everyday.

Gibberish

This adventure took on a mind of its own. What began as mad gibberish scrawled across a dry erase board, quickly became a saga that we could no longer contain. Steve Hough, and Cris Dornaus would be ushered in from time to time to ask their opinions on the color of the ink we'd chosen to write our notes in, and then it was back to the grind stone. Sometime later, the notes were typed and well...

This adventure takes place over three days - Oct 31, Nov 1, and Nov 2 of 1998. Each day is a separate adventure using a separate game system. The maps are usable throughout the adventure and further information about San Diego can be obtained through the net, either with mapquest, or the home page of San Diego proper: wwwsannet.org.

How Do I Use All of This?

I realize that GMs may have difficulty getting players to make three separate "one-shot" characters for three separate games, but we promise that it will be worth it. Really, this sort of thinking stems from how I run my own games. I like chapters that create distinct yet overlapping plotlines. It's fun to stop with the characters the players have and jump into an entirely different angle of the story using characters that come from very divergent backgrounds (much like a novel). jumping from scene to scene is not difficult when you realize that you are trying to tell a story that is bigger than any one individual.

This is the cornerstone of non- heroic gaming. Call of Cthulhu revels in putting mundanes in difficult situations they are not prepared for. Something bigger below the surface is always fun, and it's easier to do this when every time the players are about to solve the puzzle, the rug comes out from under them. [Trust me when I say that Athox's kidnappings in chapter one have more effects than even he understands; if Athox had it all to do again, he may have refused the work.]

After reading this you may realize that part one is much shorter than two and three. That is because Vampires are only out at night. Most of Oct 31, until 7 or 8prn gets lost to the sunlight, and at 430am, the adventure for the Conspiracy X agents begins. GMs are encouraged to start part one earlier in the week and send the party on a quest for impossible red herrings. Bear in mind that all three of the adventures were planned with only one day to solve them to keep the tempo an excitement up. Ultimately, they're your adventures, and SHADIS encourages you to make them work for you. We'd love to hear from all the GMs and how their games went.

Some of the characters are real people in the real world. Chief Jerry Sanders is the real police chief in San Diego, however the real D.A. is named Paul Fingst and not Chin. Some of the NPCs are friends of mine living in San Diego (please don't kill them). The area of San Diego is as accurate as we could get it without driving down there and mapping the entire area ourselves.

Keep track of who's who. Some characters cross over from adventure to adventure. Their condition will affect the story. This is good. Nothing should ever be so inflexible that it breaks when someone bends it. If the PCs in part one encounter the attorney that found Kevin Chin's body - Beth Grant - and she is injured or killed, that changes one possible encounter for the agents in part two, but GMs, let it go, don't resist the PCs attempts at changing the adventure... after all, they're the ones that will be slapping themselves in part two, when they visit her home and she has been mauled by something supernatural...

Oh. One final note about the adventure. Two of the NPCs in part two live in La Costa... where the heaven's gate cult was from. just thought you might want to know. Enjoy.

Thanks to Justin, Alex, and John for working within our ridiculous time constraints. Special thanks to Dave Seay because he says we don't mention him enough. And a very special thanks to Craig Zipse for the maps.