GM Quick Reference - Horror

👤 NPC Names (d100)

1920s-1940s era names for investigators, witnesses, and NPCs

1-25

Archibald Whitmore
Dorothy Chen
Harold Blackwood
Margaret Flynn
Edmund Carstairs
Ruth Ashford
Walter Grimsby
Evelyn Cross
Chester Pembroke
Alice Winters
Silas Marsh
Helen Corbitt
Arthur Kane
Beatrice Holloway
Francis Dexter
Clara Thornton
Herbert Stone
Irene Danvers
Nathaniel Ward
Violet Crane
Theodore Marsh
Mabel Pickman
Oscar Gilman
Florence Hart
Reginald Price

26-50

Edith Waite
Lawrence Tilton
Gertrude Bishop
Vernon Dunwich
Lillian Webb
Samuel Curwen
Josephine Blake
Alfred Whateley
Constance Grey
Bernard Hutchinson
Harriet Olmstead
Vincent Armitage
Pearl Sawyer
Douglas Eliot
Sylvia Derby
Frederick Talbot
Hazel Ward
Cecil Chandler
Gladys Martin
Morris Waldron
Agnes Potter
Stanley Frye
Opal Corey
Raymond Gilman
Lucille Upton

51-75

Malcolm Carter
Esther Akeley
Gilbert Peaslee
Winifred Danforth
Percy Delapore
Mildred Ellsworth
Horace Griffith
Norma Phillips
Wilbur Slater
Vera Tillinghast
Ernest Zann
Ruby Cabot
Roland Merrill
Ethel Wilcox
Ambrose Orne
Dora Babson
Clifford Hyde
Thelma Sloane
Howard Derby
Nora Fenner
Randolph Sprague
Blanche Upham
Lionel Manton
Cora Hazard
Mortimer Pabodie

76-100

Lenore Hutchins
Clarence Hext
Bertha Chandler
Lester Boyle
Estelle Riggs
Jasper Heaton
Mae Thornton
Wilfred Blanchard
Ida Fletcher
Monroe Talbot
Velma Dexter
Irving Morse
Phyllis Durfee
Llewellyn Atwood
Stella Angell
Burton Halsey
Minnie Ives
Jerome Wheaton
Audrey Rhoades
Elmer Tilton
Leona Talman
Franklin Wingate
Susannah Marsh
Albert Jermyn
Constance Armitage

🗣️ Rumors & Whispers (d20)

What investigators overhear in libraries, diners, and dark corners

d20	Rumor
1	"Old man Corbitt's been buying strange chemicals from the university. At 2 AM. In cash."
2	"Three students went into the Restricted Section last week. Only two came out. Library says all three checked out fine."
3	"The fish catch has been... wrong lately. Scales where there shouldn't be scales. Too many eyes."
4	"My grandmother says the Hutchinson family hasn't aged in forty years. Same photographs from 1890."
5	"Dogs won't go near the old Armitage estate. Not since the stars were right last month."
6	"The asylum discharged a patient who speaks only in dead languages. He's living at the boarding house on Curwen Street."
7	"There's a book the university won't admit they have. But I've seen the checkout card. Last person who borrowed it disappeared."
8	"The Congregational Church bought 40 pounds of salt last week. They don't have a parking lot to de-ice."
9	"Professor Tillinghast's experiments stopped making noise three days ago. His lights are still on."
10	"Someone's been digging in the old colonial cemetery. Not grave robbing - digging in, not out."
11	"The Starry Wisdom Church is accepting new members. They meet when there's no moon. They never meet during a full moon."
12	"Little Susie Marsh drew pictures of her 'imaginary friends' at school. Teachers burned them. Wouldn't say why."
13	"The historical society discovered a sealed room in Town Hall. Voted 6-1 to brick it back up immediately."
14	"Telegram operator says someone's been sending messages in code to Providence. Same message, every night at 3:33 AM."
15	"The Billington farmhouse cellar collapsed into something. Fire department won't talk about what they found down there."
16	"Dr. Waite has been stealing medical waste from the hospital. Specifically, amputated limbs."
17	"The new art professor's paintings move when you're not looking. Students swear by it. Dean says it's mass hysteria."
18	"Someone bought every mirror in Hurley's Hardware. Paid triple. Wouldn't give a name or address."
19	"The Coast Guard found a lifeboat. No ship reported missing. Everyone aboard speaking the same phrase in unison: 'It saw us.'"
20	"There's a patient in the sanatorium who knows things. Secrets. Your secrets. They say he trades information for cigarettes."

🔍 Quick Loot (d20)

Personal effects found on victims, in rooms, or during investigations

d20	Item Found
1	Diary with last three pages torn out. Remaining text mentions "the arrangement" and a date next week.
2	Photograph of seven people at a party. One face scratched out. Back reads "Innsmouth, 1927 - Never Again"
3	Ring of keys. One labeled "Archive - Do Not Duplicate". It's been duplicated - there are file marks.
4	Pocket watch stopped at 3:33 AM. Inscription inside: "Time means nothing to the patient."
5	Torn piece of map showing coastline. X marked at a point that doesn't match any known shore.
6	Small vial of thick, silvery liquid. Smells like ozone and copper. Label in Latin: "Memoria Deletum"
7	Library card for a university you've never heard of. Checkout history shows books that don't exist.
8	Child's drawing in crayon. Shows a family. One member has too many limbs. Child labeled them "New Daddy"
9	Telegram: "STOP INVESTIGATION STOP THEY ARE WATCHING STOP TOO LATE FOR ME STOP" No signature. No date.
10	Matchbook from "The Green Door Club - Members Only". Address leads to a condemned building. Matches smell wrong.
11	Notebook filled with same phrase in different handwriting: "I will not speak of what I saw beneath the church."
12	Cultist medallion. Depicts something between an octopus and a dragon. Metal is warm to the touch. Always.
13	Prescription bottle. Label: "Dr. Armitage - Take 2 when the stars are right. DO NOT DREAM." Half empty.
14	Ticket stub for a ship that sank in 1912. Dated last week. Seat number: 666.
15	Handkerchief embroidered with initials that match a missing person from 1889. It's still damp with tears.
16	Small stone idol. Features indescribable. Touching it causes brief, vivid dreams of drowning in stars.
17	Bundle of letters in cipher. Decoder key on separate paper. Last decoded line: "The sacrifice is willing."
18	Ivory dice. Always roll the same number. Number changes each day. Today it's 13.
19	Funeral card. Person named died "twice" - two death dates listed, three years apart. Same cemetery both times.
20	Unsealed envelope containing a single tooth, a lock of hair, and a photograph of the investigator from an event they don't remember attending.

🎭 NPC Personality Quirks (d20)

Quick traits to make witnesses and contacts memorable

d20	Personality Quirk
1	Constantly checks over shoulder. Won't sit with back to door. "You'd understand if you'd seen what I've seen."
2	Speaks in whispers, even in empty rooms. Insists "they" can hear through walls, floors, everything.
3	Chain smoker. Lights next cigarette with current one. Hasn't slept properly in weeks - you can tell.
4	Obsessively clean. Washes hands repeatedly during conversation. Won't shake hands. "Contamination spreads."
5	Quotes scripture constantly, but from no Bible you recognize. Verses mention things that shouldn't be in holy texts.
6	Laughs at inappropriate times. Especially when discussing deaths. It's clearly a coping mechanism that's failing.
7	Writes everything down immediately. "If I don't write it, I forget. Or worse - I remember it differently."
8	Deeply superstitious. Salt circles, iron nails, won't say certain words. You'd mock them if you hadn't seen things too.
9	Never uses names. Refers to everyone as "friend" or "colleague." Says names have power. Won't elaborate.
10	Twitches when lying. But also twitches when telling certain truths. You can't tell which is which.
11	Speaks only in questions. Never makes statements. "Would you believe me if I told you? Why would you?"
12	Intensely academic. Corrects grammar mid-crisis. Uses footnotes verbally. "According to Webster's Third Edition..."
13	Deeply religious but vague about which religion. Prayers seem to be in multiple languages. Some you don't recognize.
14	Collects things obsessively. Keys, buttons, teeth. Won't say why. Gets agitated if you ask about the teeth.
15	Jovial and helpful, but eyes are dead. Smiles never reach them. You wonder what broke behind those eyes.
16	Speaks to someone who isn't there. Argues with them. Sometimes they make good points. You start wondering.
17	Former skeptic, now true believer. Overcompensates. Sees conspiracies everywhere. Usually wrong. But not always.
18	Won't enter certain rooms. Won't explain why. Just stands at threshold, pale and shaking. Knows something.
19	Perfectly calm discussing horrors. Describes atrocities like grocery lists. Either in shock or far too accustomed to this.
20	Knows things they shouldn't. Finishes your sentences. Answers questions before you ask. "We've had this conversation before. You just don't remember yet."

⚠️ Investigation Complications (d12)

When things are going too smoothly, roll for obstacles

d12	Complication
1	Police Interest: Local police suddenly interested in investigators' activities. Someone called in a complaint. Or something worse.
2	Witness Disappears: Key witness vanishes. Apartment looks lived-in but abandoned mid-activity. Food still warm on table.
3	Evidence Destroyed: Critical evidence destroyed in "accident." Fire, flood, or simple misplacement. Awfully convenient timing.
4	Being Followed: Investigators definitely being tailed. Black car, or shambling figure, or something in the corner of vision.
5	Conflicting Information: Two reliable sources give contradictory accounts. Both seem certain. Both can't be right. Or can they?
6	Time Pressure: Situation accelerating. Next occurrence happens sooner than expected. Pattern breaking down. Running out of time.
7	Unexpected Ally: Someone offers help. Too much help. Knows too much. Are they involved, or trying to stop it? Both?
8	Personal Connection: Investigation intersects with investigator's past. Family member, old friend, or place from childhood involved. Coincidence?
9	Authority Interference: University dean, hospital administrator, or church elder demands investigation stop. Won't explain why. Threatening consequences.
10	Break-In: Someone searched investigators' rooms. Nothing stolen but everything touched. They know what you know now.
11	Red Herring: Compelling lead points to elaborate hoax or mundane explanation. Time wasted. Real threat still active.
12	It Knows: The thing they're investigating becomes aware of them. Next clue is a message clearly meant for the investigators. It's watching back.

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