Skortched Urf' Studios has released the second product in the Department 7 Technology Update line:
Dept. 7 Technology Update: Synthetic Lycanthropy
In 1932, at the direction of Adolph Hitler, Reiner Oswald began research on Project Tier Innen. Oswald, a member of the Thule society and on the payroll of the Nazi party, was a brilliant scientist with a profound knowledge of folklore and the occult. He delved into the myths and stories regarding shape-shifting and lycanthropy, determined to find the kernel of truth hiding within the legend, and to exploit it. By 1936, he had found what he had been looking for: a living specimen that he could study. For six years, Oswald studied his specimen, extracted serums, performed tests, and made notes. By 1942, he was ready to put his theories into practice.
The goal of Project Tier Innen (literally, Project Inner Beast) had been to find a way to unleash the destructive potential of the human body, creating a powerful new kind of soldier that would ensure Hitler’s victory. Hitler had left the details up to Oswald, and Oswald had taken the project title literally, deciding that he would unlock the beast within every human being, creating a predictable, scientific formula that would induce an effect similar to the lycanthropy of myth and legend. Above all, though, these man-beasts would have to be controllable, and able to follow orders and execute complex missions. In short, he had to create the body of a beast with the mind of a man. In this, he succeeded only partially.
Several of Oswald’s test subjects did, in fact, change form. Some became actual animals, while others became grotesque amalgams of human and animal form. None of them, however, survived. Undeterred, Oswald continued his work until 1952, years after the Nazi party had been defeated. In truth, he came very close to success; his final experiment resulted in a hybridized wolf-man, with a powerful and deadly body and the mind of a human. This human mind, however, was the creature’s downfall. This may, perhaps, have been because Oswald had been using convicted criminals as his test subjects because they had been easy for him to obtain. It may also have been because of the intensely painful process of transformation. In the end though, regardless of the cause, his final test subject was considered a failure; the creature had become irrevocably insane, and was terminated.
In the winter of 1953, Reiner Oswald disappeared and was never heard from again. Of his work, no trace was found until 1998, when a man named Charles Wagner discovered Oswald’s long-abandoned laboratory.
Learn what happened after the re-discovery of Dr. Oswald’s lab, and how you can include Synthetic Lycanthropy in your D20 Modern game with six Were-animal Templates, Transformation Classes for PC versions of each, as well adventure hooks and rules for Catalyst 13.
14 Page PDF. Written by Brian Engard and Mark Cathro.
Artwork by Jeremy Hida, Color by VShane.
www.skortchedurfstudios.com
Dept. 7 Technology Update: Synthetic Lycanthropy
In 1932, at the direction of Adolph Hitler, Reiner Oswald began research on Project Tier Innen. Oswald, a member of the Thule society and on the payroll of the Nazi party, was a brilliant scientist with a profound knowledge of folklore and the occult. He delved into the myths and stories regarding shape-shifting and lycanthropy, determined to find the kernel of truth hiding within the legend, and to exploit it. By 1936, he had found what he had been looking for: a living specimen that he could study. For six years, Oswald studied his specimen, extracted serums, performed tests, and made notes. By 1942, he was ready to put his theories into practice.
The goal of Project Tier Innen (literally, Project Inner Beast) had been to find a way to unleash the destructive potential of the human body, creating a powerful new kind of soldier that would ensure Hitler’s victory. Hitler had left the details up to Oswald, and Oswald had taken the project title literally, deciding that he would unlock the beast within every human being, creating a predictable, scientific formula that would induce an effect similar to the lycanthropy of myth and legend. Above all, though, these man-beasts would have to be controllable, and able to follow orders and execute complex missions. In short, he had to create the body of a beast with the mind of a man. In this, he succeeded only partially.
Several of Oswald’s test subjects did, in fact, change form. Some became actual animals, while others became grotesque amalgams of human and animal form. None of them, however, survived. Undeterred, Oswald continued his work until 1952, years after the Nazi party had been defeated. In truth, he came very close to success; his final experiment resulted in a hybridized wolf-man, with a powerful and deadly body and the mind of a human. This human mind, however, was the creature’s downfall. This may, perhaps, have been because Oswald had been using convicted criminals as his test subjects because they had been easy for him to obtain. It may also have been because of the intensely painful process of transformation. In the end though, regardless of the cause, his final test subject was considered a failure; the creature had become irrevocably insane, and was terminated.
In the winter of 1953, Reiner Oswald disappeared and was never heard from again. Of his work, no trace was found until 1998, when a man named Charles Wagner discovered Oswald’s long-abandoned laboratory.
Learn what happened after the re-discovery of Dr. Oswald’s lab, and how you can include Synthetic Lycanthropy in your D20 Modern game with six Were-animal Templates, Transformation Classes for PC versions of each, as well adventure hooks and rules for Catalyst 13.
14 Page PDF. Written by Brian Engard and Mark Cathro.
Artwork by Jeremy Hida, Color by VShane.
www.skortchedurfstudios.com
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