The only thing worse than gossiping in New England is people catching you gossiping. People value their privacy, but at the same time the news of the day is more than what gets printed in the papers. It's about what the neighbors were fighting about, who hasn't been coming to church as regularly and what new fads are ruining the youth of the day.
When you combine these very natural human impulses with the riotous changes in technology, world politics and a string of constant major events that took place in the 1920s, it's easy to see how some of the particularly strange happenings going on in and around Arkham, Massachusetts might, well, slip through the cracks a bit.
Whether your game takes you onto the campus of Miskatonic University itself, into the surrounding neighborhoods or even down into the speakeasies and hidden taprooms that lurk somewhere in the town, these are the kinds of rumors your investigators are likely to hear. Keep in mind, however, that these whispers and rumors are geared for the classic decade, and that games set before 1920 or after 1930 may find some of these to be dated, or even outright useless.
This PDF supports Adobe layers and the page backgrounds and images can be disabled to make printing easier.
Here are some sample results:
- Several poisoning deaths have rocked the city over the past few months, making a noted rise in overall deaths due to ingested substances. While there's speculation that these deaths mark a noted rise in unsafe drinking throughout Arkham, there are some who have begun to look at the overall pattern. According to those who are looking more closely, it seems that many of the dead men left behind a wife or a daughter... a wife or a daughter who they prevented from entering greater society, and who would never, ever be allowed to exercise her newly-minted rights as long as that man held his place in their household.
- Jazz is still thought of as a big city fad by many in Arkham, but it's finally begun to infiltrate the city. While it first grew popular around the harbor, it's slowly made its way to the Miskatonic campus over the past several years. There are some residents of the city, though, who claim there are hidden messages within this music... messages that infect the dreams of those who listen to it. It sounds absurd, but some of the voices worried about the influence of this music come from unexpected corners of the city... such as the Miskatonic anthropology department. It seems absurd for such an open-minded science to have this kind of reaction, but ancient depictions of horn-playing figures have turned several logically-minded academics into paranoid conspiracists on this matter.
- Nickelodeons were popular in several parts of Arkham, most notably on the city's north side, but these miniature movie machines fell out of public favor years ago. However, there are rumors about unusual film snippets that wound up in some of these devices. While some of the stories claim the installations were erotic imports that came from Europe, others say they were recordings of actual, gangland murders. A few tales, though, said the film showed robed figures somewhere in the New England woods. The figures looked at the watcher, as if they had interrupted something... and supposedly everyone who saw this film disappeared not long after without so much as a trace of them left behind.
- Arkham tends to produce a lot of unusual artists. However, there are some who've read the works of writers like Randolph Carter and Edgar Gordon who believe there are actually hidden truths between the lines of their stories. Their tales of terrible family bloodlines, dark sorceries and things that lurk beyond the boundaries of the known universe aren't just spine-tingling fantasies to some of their readers; they're trails of breadcrumbs left behind to lead astute readers to the proper conclusions. What those conclusions are, though, even the most devoted (and deranged) readers can't seem to agree.
- A variety of drugs have grown popular in Arkham over the past several years. Opium, in particular, seems to be increasing in use, though there are some populations with a noted preference for native herbs, or even hallucinatory substances like the fumes from roasted henbane, or ingesting particular types of mushrooms. It's been suggested by some that the city should draft ordinances regarding these (and other) substances, even though they're currently legal for all citizens to use as they wish. Some who feel strongly on this topic believe the widespread use of these substances is a potential public health hazard... some on the fringes, though, worry about what users might see if the world peels back enough for them to see its true face.
One page is the front cover, one the front matter and one is ads.
