Berlin Wicked City Remix 2 - (Scenario 2 - Part 1)

Dances of Vice and Ecstasy

Dances of Vice and Ecstasy is a scenario with tons of interesting ideas, but it always feels to me that it has potential for more, because it leaves many of its better ideas unexplored. In this instalment, I will talk only about problematic plot points and try to (re)define clearly the agendas of the main NPCs. In the next instalment I will discuss how to use better some of the ideas the scenario introduces but does not explore well.

(Warning: many spoilers for Berlin, Wicked City from here on)

Problems and NPCs 

There are two main potential problems with this scenario: some unclear motivations of NPCs that can be clarified, and one great idea that the writer proposes but does not explore. Let’s start by addressing the problems and the NPCs. In a second instalment I will discuss how to enhance the scenario.

Non-consensual Sex

The first scene of the scenario occurs in a cabaret where Anita Berber’s dance acts as a spell, enthralling the audience, including the investigators, upon failing a POW roll, and compelling them to participate in an orgy. I realized some players might find this humorous, while others would be uncomfortable. The scenario, as written, offers no options to players upon failing the POW roll. I decided to use the rules on pushed rolls to my advantage, allowing any character who fails the pushed roll to escape with temporary insanity, leading them to leave the cabaret in panic and wander through Berlin, half-amnesiac.

Even this did not completely solve the problem. In one session, a player allowed his character, John Blackwood, to be taken over by the spell. The following day, as per the scenario, the investigators are invited to Anita’s hotel room, where she welcomes them naked. John Blackwood, silent at the beginning of the interview, suddenly produces a knife and savagely attacks Anita, killing her. The other investigators, suspecting she is a witch, do not intervene and even prevent Anita’s husband from protecting her. This resulted in both Anita and her husband being murdered by the investigators, and ended the campaign, as the players were shocked by their own actions. Blackwood’s player explained his character viewed the hypnotic dance as rape and sought revenge. This event scarred the gaming group, and we stopped playing together shortly after.

To mitigate this, emphasise when Albin Grau asks the investigators to understand Anita’s abilities, suggesting she is unaware of her magical power and that it happens spontaneously, which he finds fascinating. The scenario implies, though not clearly, that Chatin-Hoffmann, Anita’s husband, is behind the spell. We will discuss his role and other key NPCs further.

The Piano Recital

Following the interview with Anita, the scenario moves to a piano recital by Chatin-Hoffmann, sending the investigators into a nightmarish dimension, making them forget everything about Anita and Chatin, only to remember two years later. The scenario assumes all investigators attend the recital, but what if one decides to search Chatin-Hoffmann’s hotel room instead? How do you justify that investigator jumping two years into the future and forgetting the investigation? This situation only occurred once in my experience, and I advanced the scenario two years without complaints, though it never felt logical.

Additionally, the recital sends characters to a nightmarish alternate Berlin where they can be killed, but this has no consequence as they will remember it as a dream two years later. I will suggest later how to use this more effectively in the next instalment.

NPC Motivations and Agendas

In the scenario, the “sorcerers” (Albin Grau, Gregor Gregorius, Chatin-Hoffmann, and Belshazzar) have unclear agendas. Chatin-Hoffmann is portrayed as either naive, incompetent, or an evil mastermind, using his wife’s death as part of a ritual to summon a goddess with Grau, Gregorius, and Belshazzar. Initially, the others are not working with him, but two years later they collaborate to resurrect Anita and summon Astarte without explaining how they started working together. Their historical personas do not fit the role of fanatic sorcerers/cultists, and they are shocked by the consequences of their actions after the summoning.

I propose a story where the sorcerers are misguided dabblers in the occult, experimenting without access to Mythos magic and inventing their own spells. Grau and Gregorius are less amateurish than Chatin-Hoffmann and have financial interests. Grau is near bankruptcy due to a lawsuit over Nosferatu, and Gregorius relies on his bookshop and wealthy patrons interested in the occult. Their motivations do not extend to bringing about the Great Old Ones or ruling the world; they seek illumination and financial stability.

Chatin-Hoffmann: In 1926, he is interested in the occult but knows little. He has read some books on ancient Babylonian arts and Gregorius’ pamphlets but has no contact with him or Grau. Believing Anita’s charisma is due to a spiritual connection to Astarte, he proposes an Astarte dance ritual, which enthrals the audience and catches Grau’s attention. Chatin-Hoffmann also tries a mirror and music spell during his recital, inspired by Gregorius’ pamphlets, achieving unexpected results as the audience enters a deep sleep and is transported to an Alternate Berlin. In 1928, he conspires with Gregorius to summon Astarte.

Gregor Gregorius: Influential in Weimar Berlin’s occult circles, Gregorius plays a significant role in the events leading to the scenario. If players seek him out, be prepared with knowledge about him, the Fraternitas Saturni, and the Weida Conference, especially since Crowley appears in the next scenario. In this scenario, he masterminds the plan to summon Astarte using a doll resembling Anita and her body fluids. This plan starts when Chatin-Hoffmann realises his wife is on a path of self-destruction and will die soon. My assumption here is that Gregorius has for some times wanted to use Anita as a vessel to summon Astarte, but Chatin-Hoffmann refused because he thought that might be dangerous for Anita. When it is clear that Anita is going to die, they decide to create a golem based on her instead, and use that golem as a vessel for the goddess. However, when they succeed, and realising what the goddess is capable of, Gregorius panics and hides in his bookshop while the goddess rampages through the city. A note here: most occultists in history wished to summon deities to interact with them, and learn with them, not to release them upon the world. I assume here that Gregorius is a "realistic" occultist instead of a typical mad Lovecraftian cult leader.

To learn more about the Fraternitas Saturni I read the book "The Fraternitas Saturni" by Stephen Flowers.Flowers is an occultist himself and believes in the stuff. He has a lot of info about their beliefs, rituals, and history. Otherwise, I discovered that wikipedia and chatgpt were pretty good at providing knowledge about the Pansophic Society, the Fraternitas Saturni, the Ordo Templi Orientis, Gregorius and Crowley, so you may try to save time and just play around with that instead of reading the full book.

Albin Grau: Interested in the occult, Grau is aware of the plan but plays a less active role. I made him focus on the golem prostitute business due to his financial troubles. He knows the plan, and the results, and hides in his apartment in panic once Astarte roams Berlin.

Belshazzar: gets well paid by Baron Grunau for making the dolls; although he is interested in the occult implications of his work, he doesn’t know beforehand that Gregorius and Chatin-Hoffmann are not just trying to create another celebrity look alike, but imbue her with the personality of the real Anita, and then use her to summon Astarte. Like the others, he panics when he sees what they have summoned.

Erma Core: as written, she is little more than a slightly incongruous plot device with an intriguing backstory. It is not clear why she thinks the investigators are the right people to help her. We will explore what to do with her in the next instalment which will be about the golems.

I realised I cannot do this scenario in one go. In the next instalment, I will work on a weakly developed but awesome idea that this scenario proposes, ie, that some of the occultists are involved in a scheme to use celebrity look-alike golem prostitutes to make money and collect bodily fluids.

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