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Conspiracy horror is not mystery horror. In a mystery, investigation moves toward clarity. Each clue narrows possibilities. The ending provides resolution—the villain is caught, the truth is revealed, the world makes sense again. Players feel satisfied because they solved something.

In a conspiracy, the investigation moves toward entanglement. Each clue expands possibilities rather than narrowing them. Every answer generates three new questions. The truth doesn't clarify the world—it scrambles it. And by the time players realize they're not solving the conspiracy, they're becoming part of it, it's too late to escape. That's the fundamental difference. Mystery horror says, "There is something hidden. Find it." Conspiracy horror says, "The more you look, the more you see. And the more you see, the more you can't unsee."

The beautiful part? Paranoia is self-reinforcing. As players become paranoid, they treat NPCs differently. They make more aggressive moves. They alienate potential allies. They make choices that isolate them from help. And from the conspiracy's perspective, isolated investigators are investigators who are easier to manipulate, threaten, or eliminate. You don't need to prove that everyone is lying. You just need to make it possible that anyone could be lying. Once that possibility exists, players will construct conspiracy theories to account for it. They'll see patterns everywhere.

The Conspiracy Engine builds webs that respond, hide, split, and deepen as the campaign unfolds. It's not a static scenario. It's a mechanism that runs on player choices and keeps moving after they touch it.

Coming soon.

ttfn,

Keith

It's out. Here's what's actually in the box.

The Prosperitas Protocols Trilogy is three linked modern-day Pulp Cthulhu one-shots, each designed to run in a single three-to-four hour session. They connect into a mini-campaign, but every one of them works as a complete standalone scenario.

Threshold Station — Mojave Desert. An abandoned Cold War bunker where a dimensional breach has been barely contained since 1954. A viral video. A missing woman. A cult that's been watching and waiting for the right moment for decades. The investigators have a few hours before that moment arrives.

Stony Ground Salvage — Florida Keys. A research yacht grounded on a reef, a dead crew that isn't entirely staying dead, and three stone obelisks that were pulled from the deepest ocean trench on Earth and absolutely should not have been. Something vast and wounded is rising to take them back.

The Curator's Collection — New Orleans, the quiet days after Carnival. A private auction at a Garden District estate. A basement that's been prepared for thirty-nine years. A man named Edmund Voss who is brilliant, pragmatic, and almost ready. The investigators have until midnight.

Six pregenerated investigators are included — each one with specific personal connections to all three scenarios, built to create real investment at the table from session one.

Written for Pulp Cthulhu. Your investigators are capable. They can push back. They can win. But it costs something, and by the end of the trilogy the world should feel different to everyone at the table.

Launching on the Miskatonic Repository this week. Here is the link.

The Prosperitas Protocols Trilogy - Chaosium | Miskatonic Repository | Applegarth Games | DriveThruRPG

50% Discount for my readers! - 91de0b0cd4

ttfn,

Keith

Since I’ve mentioned that The Prosperitas Protocols Trilogy is in play test, a few people have asked what I’m actually watching for. It’s not just “does this work.” It’s a lot more specific than that.

Here’s what I’m paying attention to:

• Hook to action time. How long does it take players to go from “we heard about a weird thing” to “we’re in the car / on the boat / at the auction door”? If that drags, I tighten the early clues or raise the pressure sooner.
• Decision points that matter. In each scenario there are a few big choices: how to approach the bunker, what to do with the obelisks, whether to work with or against Prosperitas in the basement. I want those to feel like genuine forks, not “guess what the writer wants.”
• Pulp energy. This is written for Pulp Cthulhu. I’m watching for moments where players lean into bold, cinematic moves and making sure the text supports Keepers in saying “yes” and making that feel mechanically satisfying.
• Emotional beats. Chelsea’s ambivalence about being “rescued,” Rourke’s realization about what Deepwater Recovery actually is, Marcus’s file, Voss’s pitch in New Orleans — those are the scenes I really care about landing. If they don’t, I rewrite until they do.

All of that takes time. The good news is: the bones are solid. Nothing has broken in play. What I’m doing now is smoothing the edges so you don’t have to house‑rule your way through rough spots on game night.

If you’re interested in hearing more about specific changes that come out of play testing, or in seeing an early peek at one of the pregenerated investigators and how they tie into all three scenarios, that might be the next blog post.

TTFN,

Keith