”During the winter of 1927-28 officials of the federal government made a strange and secret investigation of certain conditions in the ancient Massachusetts seaport of Innsmouth.”

The Shadow over Innsmouth

An unusually cold and windy February night in 1928 authorities staged a raid on the port city of Innsmouth, Massachusetts. On direct order from President Calvin Coolidge the city was put under martial law and large parts of the city were either burned or blown up with dynamite. Innsmouth residents were arrested and shipped off to secret camps and facilities. Meanwhile off the coast of Innsmouth the Coast Guard attacked a large barrier reef with torpedoes and depth charges. The reef was known as Devil Reef and was completely destroyed.

This was Operation Covenant, a secret and officially denied raid. After that night in Innsmouth it was clear to President Coolidge that this was not an isolated incident. With horror he realized that several of the country’s authorities reported on events they could not explain.
Events that in a disgusting and horrific manner resembled Innsmouth.

In the fall of 1928 the president ordered the Secret Service to create a secret department. A department whose sole purpose was to investigate these incidents. Since the department did not officially exist, it had no name, but was internally called Calvins Inquiry or CI. They recruited agents from all walks of life and soon CI had divisions in several major cities across the country. When President Coolidge in 1929 did not try to be re-elected, he gave one last order to CI. Neither his successor, Herbert Hoover, or the general public were to know of CI existence. They would continue to operate in secret. This last order is known as Calvins Protocol, and is to this day followed by CIs agents.

When Calvin Coolidge died of a sudden heart attack in January 1933 the last official link between the CI and the authorities died with him. Calvin Inquiry continues to investigate and examine unusual and horrific events and phenomenon across the country. A thicket of bureaucracy protects them from prying eyes and are financing the activities.

Setting
The story begins in autumn 1935 in the area around New York City. During the campaign, the investigators will visit both large cities and small villages. Travel abroad may or may not occur. The setting is mainly urban.

Style
The style is mainly Purist. The tone is cruel, cold, dark and unforgiving. The weather is always bad, dark and cold. The Great Depression has hit the country’s population hard and many are suffering. Violence is always a last resort and conflicts is dangerous for everyone involved. Authorities should be avoided, and many are incompetent, corrupt and can cause major problems for investigators.

Investigators
Investigators are members of Calvin’s Inquiry. They are knowledgeable investigators or experts in their field. Who either were recruited after they survived a strange phenomenon, or was especially selected for their vast knowledge. They were recruited by Jonathan Whitcher who became their handler. All contact is done over the phone, by mail or by telegram. Reports are sent to post office boxes. It is quite possible that the characters have another job in addition to CI, but their order from CI is most important.

Continuing NPCs

Jonathan Whitcher
Character handler and only link to Calvin’s Inquiry. It is Jonathan who informs the characters on their mission and make sure they get paid.

Rules Variations
Sources of Stability is not used. Maximum level of the Health and Stability is 12. The rule for serious injuries from firearms are used (p62 of the rulebook). The Magic ability replaces Stability when användr magic (rules from the Rough Magicks supplement). As a rule of thumb Pulp rules are not used.

Pitch
X-Files meets Road to Perdition with a Cthulhu Mythos twist.

Sources and Inspiration
This frame is basically a mash up of the Project Covenant frame from the rulebook (p207) and the Mythos Detectives frame from Arkham Detective Tales (p5). With added Puristic feel.

Note
Since my native language is Swedish, and since we play in Swedish, most of the campaign will also be written in Swedish. Exceptions may occur when I have the desire and time to translate my work.