Review of the Japanese Call of Cthulhu scenario, Chanting Sutra Network (読経ネットワーク), written by Lom (ろむ), the second entry in the Japonism collection of modern-day Japan scenarios released by the Victims of INT (INTの犠牲者卓).
In Short:
A techno-thriller scenario that works its way through a procedural investigation in Kyoto up to a wild climax. Hits a unique sweet spot of social investigation and pulpiness, and traditional Japanese temples and shrines with near-future science fiction.
Spoilers-light for Players and Keepers:
Like its preceding scenario in the Japonism pack, Do Gods Dream of Digital Drugs?, Chanting Sutra Network is a technology-centred scenario set in modern day Japan, this time amidst the traditional cityscape of Kyoto. It is a relatively free-form investigation, with the players being given a couple loose clues after the inciting incident, then being let free to roam Kyoto and pull on threads.
The scenario text takes up 10 pages, including a few stat blocks, maps, and a short Kyoto sightseeing guide. There are no pregenerated investigators, but most types of character will fit, though ideally at least one will have some good electric repair or computer use skills. As with the other two Japonism scenarios, it is slated for a 3 to 4 hour play time, and my run was exactly within that time limit. As with any scenario, and especially a largely free form investigation, players may race straight to the finale, or double the play time by chasing their own tails.
Kyoto as a setting is well used, with shrines taking centre stage. As investigators explore the city, some extra pictures could be used to anchor the sense of place. There’s no shortage of pictures of Kyoto out there.
With fun mixes of technology and mythos, social investigation and pulpy action, and combined with a unique setting and premise, Chanting Sutra Network is a fine addition to the Japonism scenario collection, and well recommended as a one shot, or as part of a continuing campaign in modern day Japan.
Japonism has now been translated (by me!) into English, and is available on DriveThruRPG.
Below are spoilers, but before you go, maybe you would be interested in some of the below reviews or replays?
MJRRPG scenarios, Chaosium-released scenarios, Miskatonic Repository scenarios, Japanese scenarios
Sutra Chanting Network is fairly straight forward to run, only requiring extra preparation or work from the Keeper in the initial set up to fit the investigators into the scenario opening, and potentially during the final scene if the Keeper wants to prepare for extra possibilities.
The scenario opens at a small shrine festival. One of the investigators should be related to the head priest of the shrine, and at least the one investigator, if not the whole party, should be familiar with the scenario’s key NPC and ‘villain,’ Sayama Gai, and his wife, Shizu. Unknown to the party, Gai is essentially dead, his body occupied by a host of space bugs. But that doesn’t come up until much later.
At this festival, the head priest’s chant changes to a sutra that none of the investigators can understand. Then, POW rolls for everyone, and any who fail, along with a number of NPCs, lose some POW while white clouds drift out of their mouths to float away to the north. The unconscious head priest, Gai and Shizu, many attendees, and potentially an investigator or two, are carted off to a hospital.
The investigators soon discover that a computer chip was implanted in the head priest’s neck, and after talking with the police, learn that two similar incidents recently occurred. And so the investigation begins!
One potential hiccup here is if the investigators think to check Sayama Gai or Shizu. Gai doesn’t have a chip implanted, but Shizu does. Both are unconscious until after the investigators leave the hospital, but if they push too hard and the Keeper doesn’t let them check, they might be tipped off early on. I’d suggest letting the doctors be persuaded with a Hard Interpersonal roll to have the two scanned. Gai would turn up nothing first (the bugs don’t appear on any sort of X-Ray, CT scan, etc.), and the doctors only continuing with Shizu if pressed.
If Shizu is about to be scanned, the chip activates, and Shizu begins chanting, forcing anyone present to do another POW roll. She goes comatose afterwards, and Gai still remains unconscious until the investigators leave, with the doctors absolutely refusing to artificial awaken Gai in case they cause permanent damage. They can promise to call the investigators as soon as he wakes up though.
Ideally that won’t happen, and when I ran the scenario the players immediately forgot the Sayamas existed until the last scene.
From their they can investigate the two scenes, one a university AI campus, and the other an electronics store. The scenario text is easy to follow without any complications, and the investigators should be led to a Dr. Oyama Nobuaki, a professor and CEO of an IoT chip company. Through more social investigation with students, employees, and Dr. Oyama, the investigators should piece together that the chips are highly modified versions of Dr. Oyama’s chip, and are somehow controlling those implanted with them. They also learn that Gai worked at Oyama’s company, and has been acting strangely lately.
Eventually, either the investigators deduce where to go (a shrine to the north that is run by the Sayama family), or they get a call from Shizu (or the hospital) that Gai woke up and left the hospital, likely heading to hills behind the family shrine, as he’s been wont to do since a strange incident on a trip to England.
The investigators don’t find anything at the shrine itself, but need to hike up into the hills behind the shrine. After potentially dealing with monkeys, boars, or a homeless mountain-man, they find Gai in a clearing using an alien computer and standing in front of a giant glowing crystal.
And then things go bonkers.
The shrine from the bottom of the hill flies overhead on jets, lands in the field, and robot arms with a chainsaw and a rocket launcher pop out of its roof. Madness. The investigators need to get past this insanity to stop Gai before he finishes whatever he is doing (and he seems to be rambling about summoning something called ‘Azathoth?’).
Hopefully the party was trusting enough to work with the IoT company’s people, who could help them develop a program that can hack through a security weak point in the chips, allowing the investigators to shut down the mecha-shrine if they get close enough to it. Otherwise, well, better hope they have good Dodge skills!
My players, like any well experienced CoC players, were suspicious of everyone and didn’t get any help. One was playing a computer programmer, and up until that point had spent a good chunk of time and Luck studying the chips they’d ‘obtained’ from people’s necks, and trying to program some sort of system that could detect or interact with the chips. Being a kindly Keeper, I allowed the program to do the same thing as the company’s code would have, except to use it an investigator would have to physically enter the shrine.
Even without neutralising the robo-shrine, the investigators could still manage to get to Gai if one or two of them act as distractions. Still, it is a brutal scene, and I could see a fair number of groups deciding to run away, or get mowed down in a fight. Failing to stop Gai is something of reward in itself though, as Azathoth descends on Kyoto, engulfing the old city in his madness.
If I ran the scenario again, there isn’t really anything I would change, and I do hope to run it again some time in the future. It’s a wild little scenario that starts quickly, then let’s the players have room to breathe and progress at their own pace, while also giving them enough rope to help or hang themselves with depending on how suspicious they are. This is a similar theme to the preceding scenario, Do God’s Dream of Digital Drugs, where most NPCs are happy to help if the investigators just explain themselves, and I find it a very nice change of pace, while also being very funny to watch players tip toe carefully around every character in case they’re secret cultists.
The craziness of the ending is also a sight to behold. I’d challenge any group not to laugh in delight when a giant robot shrine flights through the sky. And then slowly sink into despair as they realise they have to deal with this thing. Beautiful.
Again, Japonism is available on DriveThruRPG.
Thank you for reading, but before you go, maybe you would be interested in some of the below reviews or replays?
MJRRPG scenarios, Chaosium-released scenarios, Miskatonic Repository scenarios, Japanese scenarios
