Mythos society guide to new england pdf download

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From Skirmisher Publishing. Average Rating 17 ratings. Read and use the knowledge contained within this book at your own risk. Bundles containing this product:. Swords of Kos Fantasy Campaign Setting. The Prop Room. The Cthulhu Conspiracy. Six Spells: Mythos. The Noble Wild. Customers Who Bought this Title also Purchased. Reviews 4. Please log in to add or reply to comments. Thomas, most of the images that appear in "The Mythos Society Guide to New England" are black-and-white or grayscale and there are relatively few that are full color!

Because of that we figured there would not be much of a demand for a color version of the book the black-and-white version comes with a full-color cover, of course.

If you would like one, however, just let us know and we will get it set up here for you and anyone else who is interested. Thanks for the reply, I guess that's understandable. No point in making a color version if most of the images are in black and white or greyscale. How many images are in color? If there are only a handful I don't want you to feel pressured into producing a color version. Such would be nice, but if there isn't many images that are color it may now be worth the effort. This isolation has meant that there are many common features of New England that do not extend beyond the boundaries of its member states.

These things are not immediately recognizable as marks of significance, but they are subtle indicators that the visitor to New England is truly that and serve the wayward New Englander equally well as reminders that he has returned home.

The dignified village greens that are a feature of nearly every town in New England, the covered wooden bridges, and the lines of unmortared stone fences that pepper the countryside also hint that this region is distinct to itself. And, in a way, they all emphasize the twin senses of oneness and isolation that are often felt by visitors to and residents of New England alike.

The singular atmosphere of New England can also be seen in its Native American culture. All the tribes of New England, bound by the same geographical and climactic features that helped define the immigrant European society, exhibited similarities of lifestyle, religion, and language that demonstrate their isolation. Although there are many farms and some fine land in the six states of the Northeast, most of the land is rocky and rugged, picturesque but not as fertile as the land of the Southern states or the Midwest.

Vast forests also originally covered much of the better soil of the region, and in many areas still do. All of inland New England is crisscrossed with chains of foothills and mountains, rising high in the north and tapering to more gradual slopes that extend across Massachusetts into Connecticut and continue on toward Long Island Sound.

There, spectacular spires make up the Presidential Range, dominated by Mount Washington, the highest peak in New England at 6, feet. The bald top of this great peak is wracked by weather so fierce that trees cannot sustain themselves above 4, feet by comparison, the Rockies are often forested up to 11, feet. The sparse farmland of New Hampshire begins at the foot of the White Mountain range and extends to the bustling city of Manchester.

Bounded by rocky countryside for much of its length, it broadens to water the Connecticut Valley, a fertile meadowland of farms and villages.

All these ranges have a lush but rugged greenery that may be found throughout New England. A similar uniformity can be found elsewhere; much of the twisting shoreline of Rhode Island, for example, is nearly indistinguishable from the rocky coast of Maine.

The comparatively poor farmland of so much of New England meant that the earlier settlements of the region were clustered along the coast or hugged close to one of the rivers that threaded their way inland.

On the Atlantic shore, the cities and towns all looked to the sea for their livelihood in the past and many do even now. The seacoast towns center around a harbor, and sailing, fishing, whaling, and lobstering were the most common professions of old. These centers therefore tend to face the sea rather than inland, and many stretch along the coast in strips rather than expand landward.

The seaside towns and cities, the oldest in New England, have a feel different from the newer places in the west of the territory. There is a European atmosphere along the coast, and in the steep, narrow, often winding cobblestone streets and clustered two- and three-story houses near the waterfront.

The more elegant and spacious homes of Beacon Hill in Boston or those of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, cling to the heritage of the rich ship-owners, politicians, and other near-gentry of New England. The same atmosphere of otherness is apparent in many of the older communities of New England.

Many are still fairly small, especially inland. The winding backroads of southern and central New England lead to valleys with small farms or single homesteads surrounded by dry-stone fences. These are scattered between similarly-appearing villages, often still featuring a stone waterpowered mill of the Colonial era at the center of town. The more recently-settled lands of Upper Maine and northern New Hampshire do not share this almost-European atmosphere. These areas were not inhabited by non-natives until the late 19th century, and the towns of this region have none of the Old World smallness of the seacoast towns and the rural villages of the south.

In fact, much of the north country around Moosehead Lake, the Rangeley Lakes, and Mount Katahdin shown above is still largely uninhabited and a traveler could walk many miles in this region without finding evidence of another human being. Along the St. John River, on the Canadian border, is a world, a portion of Maine nearly the size of Massachusetts, that is anomalous in New England.

The Acadian-descended inhabitants of the area speak French and have much in common with the people of Quebec. This is the land of Aroostook County, famed for its rich soil and fine potatoes.

In the s, this was a rich farming area, especially by the standards of the Northeast, and in the harvest and prices were so good that thousands of potato-growers were able to pay off their mortgages in a single season. Maine, while it can boast a long, rocky, glacier-hewn coastline, has an inland area nearly as big as the territory of the other five New England states together.

In upper Maine, the great industry is lumber and there were sawmills in Berwick and York as early as Most of the Maine ports and river cities grew up as lumbershipping centers. The verdant forests of Maine have suffered under this industry, but much of the state is still shrouded by timber. Upstate New Hampshire is also logging territory and appears almost indistinguishable from much of Maine. Vermont is also covered in forest, but its rugged, mountainous terrain makes harvesting it as difficult as farming the marginal and rocky soil had been in the past.

Vermont has one of the highest percentages of mountainous land of any state in the Union. This has created an impression, not entirely false, that Vermont is apart from the other states of the Northeast. This was the last refuge of the Yankee of old, ruggedly independent, conservative, and resistant to change. Long after farming practices such as ox-powered fieldwork had been abandoned elsewhere, they were still being used in Vermont.

The uneven, rocky acreage only partially accounted for this anachronism. What were handicrafts in other parts of New England were still practiced as parts of everyday life in Vermont. The industrial factories that sprang up in the 19th and early 20th centuries never found more than a foothold here.

The state has more cattle, fewer cities and towns of any size, fewer hired laborers — and thus fewer foreign-born Americans — than any other part of New England. The Green Mountains of Vermont are not the steep, intimidating rocky peaks of New Hampshire; they are softer looking, swathed in green forests and divided by lush meadows, occasionally farmland.

PAGE 14 Chapter 1 But the granite and marble beneath the trees are, along with lumber, among the most important exports of the state. The verdant slopes started to encourage visitors by the beginning of the s.

With developments in the automotive industry and the creation of more serviceable roads, Vermont quickly became a tourist attraction in both winter and summer. Skiing became very popular as the decade progressed. Connecticut and Rhode Island are as alike to each other as they are different from the more rural states of Maine and Vermont. Long before the dawn of the 20th century, both states were centers of industry not only for New England but for much of the East Coast.

From Colonial times, Connecticut has manufactured all sorts of industrial products, including brass fixtures, firearms, machinery, silverware, hats, clocks, textiles, and tools. Rhode Island is nearly as heavily industrialized. By the s, virtually every skyline observable in Rhode Island featured one or more factories.

In fact, the first American factory — a mechanized cotton mill — was begun here by Samuel Slater in The money for the industrialization of Rhode Island came primarily from wealth garnered by merchant sailing ships.

Providence, the capital, and Newport are examples of the luxurious living standards that the factories could bring to some, as well as the meager livings it provided for others. Providence is one of the most attractive cities in the United States. Marble features in the construction of nearly all of the finer buildings, and beautiful churches, libraries, and private homes line the streets of the capital.

Providence looks out to Newport and the Atlantic through the expanse of Narragansett Bay, a mile stretch of water that shelters islands, coves, and beaches that have themselves sheltered generations of seafarers from the furious storms of the deeper water beyond.

East of the mouth of Narragansett Bay lie some of the best-known places in all of New England. In places, the South Shore dunes are more than feet high and spectacular to behold. The sandy coastline of the South Shore is in constant flux, so much so that it can change beyond recognition in places in a matter of years, obedient to the pressures of tide and wind.

The town of Nantucket has preserved much of its rich Colonial heritage, and hundreds of houses and other buildings may be found fronting on narrow, winding, cobblestone lanes. Massachusetts is by far the most populous of the New England states, as well the most urbanized. Less of the unmarred countryside exists here than in less hospitable northern Maine or isolated Vermont. But the Berkshire Hills of the west of Massachusetts still hold some mystery and the area abounds with unsettling disappearances and odd tales.

The flatter land closer to Boston is far more closely settled. In , Massachusetts had a population only slightly smaller than that of the rest of New England together. The people of Boston and its environs, in addition to being numerous, also often were visibly different from the populations of other cities of New England. The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw a great influx of immigrants to Boston, many of whom manned the burgeoning textile mills and shoe factories of the city.

By , as much as 70 percent of the people of Boston were either immigrants or the children of immigrants. To compound matters, these immigrants were overwhelmingly from areas of Europe that had until then been virtually unrepresented in Massachusetts. Largely made up of immigrants of Northern European extraction, the older residents of Boston were being supplanted by people from southern and Mediterranean Europe. This created social pressures that affected all the citizens and, when the antiimmigration laws of the post-war period were introduced, Boston and the rest of Massachusetts was in the middle of the conflict over enforcement.

In the later decades of that century, however, the population began to shrink, as many farmers simply picked up their belongings to settle in the newly-opened West. This trend continued for several decades until, by , less than 10 percent of the population was engaged in farming.

Weather in the Northeastern States When the first Europeans arrived in what came to be called New England, they were unable to guess the nature of the climate that they would face. Unlike other early settlements further south, the weather was generally less hospitable than that which they left behind in England.

This may seem a little surprising, given that New England is far more southerly than the original home of the settlers, but the climate is modified by the huge landmass that is the rest of America. Winters are colder, and wet, even by English standards, especially along the coasts. Moving inland and climbing in altitude, the winter temperatures drop even further.

In the mountainous regions, of course, snow can remain well into spring, and even year-round on some of the less-hospitable peaks. In the other seasons rain is frequent, although less in summer than spring and fall. Summer provides New Englanders with many days of sun and fair winds, storms are uncommon, and sailing and other water sports are popular up and down the coasts.

The winter storms of both coastal and inland New England are well-known for their ferocity and can be devastating when they arrive, partly because of their unexpected nature.

Indeed, in earlier days, witchcraft was blamed for many of the killer gales of the late fall and early winter. Occasionally, witchcraft was even invoked to calm the storms or to aid mariners in their passage through the wind and waves. Storms are frequent visitors to the mountainous areas inland as well, and the Berkshires of Massachusetts and the White Mountains of Maine and New Hampshire have a well-earned reputation for fast-moving snow storms.

It is specifically devoted to the kind of information that a reader will find most useful for getting a feel for the role-playing possibilities of the s and s. At the end of this chapter is a list of phenomena, some common and some rather esoteric, that players may come across while investigating the region. The interwar period in the Northeast is a time that is more removed from the present than a span of less than a century would suggest.

Obviously, many common conveniences were unknown but, even more remarkable, is the way in which the absence of those things and the relative novelty of other innovations affected daily life. Much has been written about the fashions, cost of transportation, and similar things in s America, especially in and around Boston itself, and such information is readily available in other sourcebooks. A look at the news events and technological advances of the day, however, along with how those things affected everyday life, is worth considering.

Automobiles can serve as a good example of this. Cars were widely available by and, thanks to Henry Ford, were even reasonably affordable, but the society of the era had not had the time to adapt to the changes that the automobile would bring.

While owning a car was not for everyone, people were finding it less of a luxury and more of a necessity all the time. By , more than half the families in the northern United States either owned or would soon own cars under installment plans. Cars were becoming status symbols and fashion statements.

To cope with the increase in car owners, roads were improved all over the country, and were built first and foremost where they were most required. Roads were thus built on the outskirts of cities such as Boston to accommodate these new commuters.

Beyond the PAGE 19 Mythos Society Guide to New England suburbs, however, there was no great need for decent roads and travel in the country was consequently much slower. In the years just after the World War I, 90 percent of all automobiles in the country were still being put away for the winter months, as it was simply too much trouble to drive then. Things changed rapidly, however, and Congress allocated a great deal of money for road construction beginning in At the same time, automobile technology was improving every year.

For short distances, whether driving in town or country, motor vehicles increasingly began to displace wagons and the like. When it came to long-distance travel, however, the train was still the mode of choice. The location of the automobile market began to change about the same time, again thanks largely to Henry Ford. Prior to and during the war, more cars were built in New England than in Michigan, but the balance swung rapidly toward the Midwest after the end of hostilities in Europe.

The trend toward large companies was not limited to the automobile industry. Local and corner stores began to disappear, bought out by large chains. By , for example, Great Atlantic and Pacific had bought out more than 15, small groceries all over the country. Innovations that led to the growth of the auto industry were also felt in other areas.

Great factories, now commonplace, were a novelty in the s, but over the following decade the same sorts of industries were advertising themselves as modern, hightechnology places of employment. The assembly line, developed by Henry Ford for the manufacture of automobiles, was adopted by other sectors as well. Technological advancements made in automobile manufacturing, for example, made possible the expansion of the aircraft industry, and after the war aircraft came into their own.

Largely relegated a reconnaissance role in World War I, the airplane of the post-war period became heavier, faster, and more reliable. America was nonetheless still slow in moving ahead with commercial air traffic and the first regularly-scheduled passenger service between New York City and Boston was begun only in Over the next five years, airplanes became capable of carrying a PAGE 20 dozen or more passengers in comparative comfort and security.

In the s, women became increasingly active in aviation and many joined the male barnstormers and trick exhibition pilots in the air. Other women saw these pioneers exemplify the new roles opening up to women all over America. In this period, women found careers in the new factories, in offices, and in many previouslymale professions.

The onset of World War II brought thousands more women out of their traditional places. Many of these changes to American society can be seen as comparatively positive but others had less beneficial effects. The same decades that saw the beginnings of real social freedom for women, considerable technological improvement, and the growth of industry that made the United States a growing economic global giant globe also bore witness to political isolationism from Europe, severe immigration quotas, Prohibition and its attendant rise in organized crime, and the development of a national paranoia of communism.

Shortly after the end of the World War I, America turned its attention inward. Many people felt — especially strongly in the Northeastern states — that the Great War had been something in which America should not have become involved. Many European countries owed huge debts to the United States and it did not appear that they would be in any position to honor them.

Additionally, because the war had never threatened to expand beyond Europe PAGE 21 Mythos Society Guide to New England and the United States had never been directly threatened, there were those who felt that leaders in Washington had been meddling when they agreed to work with the Allies. The tide of immigrants from southern and eastern Europe made many people nervous in the years following the Great War.

Many were concerned over what this wave of people with differing mores and traditions would do to regions inhabited primarily by descendants of immigrants from northern Europe. New England, especially its urban areas, was immersed in these concerns. This was followed by still more restrictive acts in and Mitchell Palmer, who served under Woodrow Wilson, this increased worries already heightened by the budding isolationist tendencies appearing in In the climate of the period immediately following the war, it is not surprising that the 18th Amendment to the Constitution — making the manufacture, export, import, transportation, and distribution of alcoholic beverages illegal — was passed.

Known as Prohibition, the amendment was passed in and came into effect in And yet, Americans seemed to regret Prohibition almost as soon as it began. A new occupation, bootlegging, was born. In 10 years, the federal government made more than half a million arrests for bootlegging, securing over , convictions. Alcohol seeeped into America through constantly-shifting leaks in the borders with its neighbors to the north and south. Seaports such as Boston were surrounded by fleets of ocean-going ships full of all manner of wine and liquor, and many smaller ports were even more subject to continuous smuggling.

Fast motorboats ran the gauntlet of slower coastguard vessels, bringing their illegal cargo from the large ships into port PAGE 22 by the truckload. Here the alcohol was transferred to waiting bootleggers who would distribute it with cars and trucks. It was a lucrative if rather risky business in which all kinds of people participated. Shipments were often intercepted, not just by law enforcement but also by other criminals.

Not surprisingly, with so much money to be made a career criminal class arose and organized rapidly. Almost any adult was aware of the location of a convenient bootlegger. Efforts of the government to enforce the law were severely hampered by the utter ambivalence of the majority of Americans, who accepted and encouraged the criminal activity all around them.

Added to this were many active dissenters who spoke out against Prohibition, including Connecticut and Rhode Island, which refused to ratify the 18th Amendment at all. Finally, because the ownership and consumption of alcohol was not a crime, actual enforcement of the law was made even more difficult. Perhaps the most deleterious effect of Prohibition did not occur until its repeal in A that point the now well-established criminal element that had catered to the desire for alcohol turned its attention to other activities when the 18th Amendment was no longer on the books.

Seeking for other sources of income to replace the loss, criminal organizations turned to drugs, prostitution, and gambling. Buoyed up from a post-war slump by rapid investment that led to recovery in the mids, the stock market grew as more people threw greater amounts of money into circulation in hopes of getting rich.

By the end of the decade, the collapse was unavoidable. A downward spiral of prices, production, employment, and foreign trade caused the initial crash to bottom out rather than head into recovery. Every kind of business suffered. Industry discharged employees, who defaulted on payments and could not find other jobs. Factory payrolls dropped by half and roughly one-quarter of the working people of the U.

Shanty towns grew up around dumps in major urban centers. Unscrupulous operators opened up garment mills and other corrupt factories where they virtually dictated whatever wages that they cared to offer. The economy continued in this condition until mid In January of that year, the Hoover Administration drafted the Reconstruction Finance Corporation to inject money into railroads, banks, agricultural agencies, industry, and commerce.

It took years for any effect to come out of this program, which left average Americans to fend for themselves. It was really only with the election of Franklin Roosevelt and the promise of the New Deal in that the economy began to turn around.

And, although the stock market did not truly recover until , people began to feel that the worst was behind them. With the recovery of the economy, technological innovation, which by no means had been stagnant during the preceding years Populations of New England States in and Massachusetts Connecticut Maine Rhode Island New Hampshire Vermont United States T otals Totals PAGE 24 3,, 1,, , , , , ,, 4,, 1,, , , , , ,, Chapter 2 began to have an impact upon the average American once more.

Improvements in automobiles, aviation, automation, and construction had all continued but did not have great social effects until after , and much of the technology of the s was derived from discoveries of the previous decade. With the retreat of the Great Depression, a sense of ease began to enter the fabric of American society. Labor-saving devices of all sorts came into vogue and leisure time became something for everyone and not merely the well-to-do. Popularity of professional sports grew as more people had both the time and the money to attend.

This increase in leisure time allowed for the pursuit of other avenues of expression. This in turn inspired a renewal of the stillactive revulsion felt by many Americans during and after the Red Scare. Communists changed their tactics at this time, joining existing unions and other popular organizations, rather than sticking to the strictly and publicly communist unions of the s.

This had the effect of heightening the paranoia already evident across the country. You may simply want to read timely event listings to them at the beginning or end of a session. Or, you may wish to introduce the events more fully into your campaign. Imagine the confusion on the part of the players, for example, if you were to bring them in on the rescue efforts surrounding the Great Molasses Disaster.

The scenario you devise might be full of action and very exciting but have nothing sinister or otherworldly about it, but the players will be constantly on edge while they explore the broken rubble of a tenement, awaiting the appearance of some crawling abomination.

Managing to rescue trapped survivors will go a long way toward relieving the ever-present feeling of futility found in many Cthulhu Mythos campaigns. It will also help to keep the players off balance, so they will never know what to expect from a scenario.

In any adventure, especially a horror one, the unexpected is crucial to maintaining mood and suspense. The huge 2,, gallon storage tank for the United States Alcohol Company blows catastrophically, sending molasses pouring in all directions.

Near the blast, it flows with sufficient force to throw four freight rail cars off the track, and a fifth is forced right through the wall of the terminal. Thirteen people, along with dozens of horses, are known to have been killed. January 16, the 18th Amendment to the Constitution makes the manufacture, import, export, distribution and sale of alcoholic beverages illegal. Rhode Island and Connecticut refuse to ratify. June 2, , Captain Mansell R.

Scattered reports come in of people hearing a plane in the area, as well as over Long Island Sound. A massive search is organized, in which thousands participate, including hundreds of Boy Scouts. September 9, nearly 2, members of the Boston Police Department go on strike, causing panic and the formation of citizen patrols. Governor Calvin Coolidge promptly hires new patrolmen.

Embassy in Russia is shut down, although the consulate in Vladivostok remains open until May The United States does not reestablish diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union until Attorney General A. With no warrants or reason, Palmer authorizes raids on private homes and businesses and thousands of people are arrested.

In New England, many join in the craze and hundreds are incarcerated without foundation. Palmer becomes, for a short time, famous and adored. The air of outrage at the needless deaths creates a sense of urgency among the authorities, who cast about nervously for information on the killers.

Following up on eye-witness reports, the police arrest year-old shoemaker Nichola Sacco and year-old fish-seller Bartolomeo Vanzetti. Both Italian immigrants, they also have the misfortune to be armed with pistols when they are apprehended. Some the earliest settlements in the New World lie check by jowl with rugged country that, to this day, is all but untraveled by humanity.

The sea, with its rocky shoals, rugged coves, unknown depths, and centuries of legend and lore holds sway over the minds of the region's inhabitants. The mountains and forests are just as mysterious and deadly, keeping secrets centuries and even millennia old, some of which mankind would be better not off not knowing. Between these wild areas are the settled portions, farms and orchards inland and harbors filled with ships and the folk that sail them on the coast. Between these wild areas are the settled portions, farms and orchards inland and harbors filled with ships and the folk that sail them on the coast.

Man prevails in such places, but in the shadowed lanes, forgotten cellars, and lightless passages beneath his world there is still much that is unknown and unsettling. Read and use the knowledge contained within this book at your own risk.

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