Urban Arcana and Sacred San Francisco - Links Wanted

[WayneLigon]

Right now I'm in the planning stages of an Urban Arcana game. At the present time, the characters will all be members of some kind of law enforcement division, possibly whatever division deals with arcane or magical crimes. Whether this is local or Federal, I have not decided as yet. The main theme of the campaign, as it currently stands, is 'CSI meets Cast a Deadly Spell'.

I'm thinking, right now, of setting the game in San Francisco. What I'd like to find are various incidents of 'Sacred Geometry' in the Bay Area, and any real actual local history that can take an occult turn. I'm not so interested in Anton Levy; in fact, I'll probably make him a mundane crackpot with no powers whatsoever. I need stuff like Emperor Norton, etc.

Any links would be appreciated.

 

[Dr. Confoundo]

Back when i was living in SF, I picked up a smallpress paperback guidebook called 'Dr. Weirde's Guide to Mysterious San Francisco'. It has all kinds of interesting info about the city and its environs, and sounds like it would be very fitting for your game.

Here's an online sampler of some of the stories.

Here's the page on Amazon, though you might find one cheaper somewhere else

 

[WayneLigon]

Very good. I owe you, just for the word 'Karmachanics'.

 

[joshwitz]

Have you read "Our Lady of Darkness" by Fritz Leiber? Basically, it's a "Sacred Geometery" horror novella set in SF. It's a little dated (it was written in the 70's), but still enjoyable, and has all sorts of wacky "dark trigonometries" about specific San Francisco locations.

What I would use:

Grace Cathedral: a great 'sacred' location in SF, especially since it has a large "Amber style" labyrinth.

Twin Peaks or Mount Davidson (tallest peak in city with large cross) or even Prayerbook Cross (see the original Dirty Harry movie).

The ruins of the Sutro Bath House (esp with all the the nearby sea caves).

Landsend/Deadman's Point, GG Bridge, Alcatraz, Angel Island, Muir Woods can all be used as some sort of mystical locations... (why did they build a prison on that island, and why was it abandoned? what's the real reason the bridge is red? "I hear they paint with the blood of virgins to protect the city from otherworldly sea creatures." etc.)

Anywhere in Chinatown...

I once played in a Call of Cthulu game set in St. Louis where the Arch was actually a gate to summon the elder gods. Fun stuff...

 

[WayneLigon]

Grace Cathedral: a great 'sacred' location in SF, especially since it has a large "Amber style" labyrinth.

The ruins of the Sutro Bath House (esp with all the the nearby sea caves).

Thanks! That's exactly the kind of stuff I need

 

[Angel Tarragon]

You might want to try watching a few episodes of Charmed on TNT. It is set in San Francisco. Check your local listings.

 

[mythusmage]

Recommendation

For the police stuff get GURPS Cops. Great sourcebook on modern day law enforcement.

For High Weirdness get yourself a subscription to Pyramid. Ken Hite's Supressed Transmission columns are full of the stuff. As are the two ST compilations Steve Jackson Games has published so far.

Another great source of High Wierdness (which could end up in San Francisco) is The Fortean Times. A British periodical that covers most everything anomalous, out of the ordinary, or just plain odd one could think of, and then some. Lots of leads to strange stuff around The Web and the world.

Hope this helps.

 

[WayneLigon]

For the police stuff get GURPS Cops. Great sourcebook on modern day law enforcement.

For High Weirdness get yourself a subscription to Pyramid. Ken Hite's Supressed Transmission columns are full of the stuff. As are the two ST compilations Steve Jackson Games has published so far.

Check and Check; in fact, it's one of the campaign descriptions in Pyramid that gave me the idea - the one where they describe their Unknown Armies campaign. Hite is my God

 

[Stormborn]

Yes, Hite is a god.

Now where was this thread last year when we were plannign our Honeymoon in San Fransisco. SIGH.