The Scottish Play
Here is another of the mysteries I made for Monster of the Week.
Yes, I know Crit Show has a Macbeth based mystery, but I honestly hadn't listened to that episode yet when I ran this. I enjoyed watching my players perform little rituals to null the curse. Though you might want to change the name of one of the NPCs or you'll beset by cries of Stella throughout the session. You've been warned!
Content Warnings: witchcraft
"The Scottish Play"
Overview
A local theater is putting on Macbeth, but the production seems cursed. Unexplained accidents, strange occurrences, and even a death have befouled the local repertoire theater at the behest of a local coven of witches. The hunters must break the curse or the theater is sure to close.
Teaser
A production of Macbeth is performing a rehearsal of Macbeth Act 3 Scene 3. The First and Second Murderers are attempting to assassinate Banquo and his son Fleance, at the orders of Macbeth. The two Murderers are joined by a Third Murderer and the foul work begins. The stage fight is astounding, smooth movement, furtive parries. In the end Banquo lies dead, the director cries cut, and the scene ends. However the actor playing Banquo does not get up as a pool of blood oozes out from underneath. The bloody dagger of the Third Murderer lies besides the dead actor.
Hooks
- One of the hunters is an actor/stage hand in the local repertoire theater.
- They hear about the strange happenings on the news
- Flyer for the final showing of Macbeth at the local theater.
Countdown
| Day | The actor playing Banquo is killed during rehearsal. No one knows who played the Third Murderer during the rehersal. |
| Shadows | During rehearsal a light fixture falls killing a stage hand; Stella receives a new letter threatening her in Olde English. |
| Sunset | More accidents occurs at the production: e.g., small fires, people crushed to death by the fake cauldron, stage blood eating away Lady Macbeth’s skin, etc. |
| Dusk | The production is cancelled. |
| Nightfall | The demon possesses the director who gathers the cast and crew under the ruse of a last production. It will consume their souls instead. |
| Midnight | The theater burns down. The witches move to another town and join another theater. |
Notes
When the name of the play, Macbeth is spoken, other than as called for in the script while rehearsing or performing, results in a curse acting upon someone in the theater. To prevent the curse from occurring after an offense, the offender must perform the cleansing ritual.
The curse has been enacted by a local coven of witches angered at the portrayal of witches in Shakespeare’s play. The witches wish the play to suffer enough accidents to shut down the production.
Custom Moves
The Curse Activates: When someone utters "Macbeth" inside the theater outside of script rehearsal or performance, roll +Weird:
- 10+: The curse targets someone nearby—mild injury (1-harm), hallucination, or supernatural event.
- 7-9: The curse strikes the speaker—mild harm or misfortune.
- 6-: The curse intensifies—accident escalates into a deadly event (2-harm or worse).
The Cleansing Ritual: To remedy the effects of the curse a cleansing ritual must be performed by the offender(s). The ritual includes turning in a circle three times, spitting over one's left shoulder, and then reciting a line from another of Shakespeare's plays. Lines which offer appeasement are:
- "Angels and ministers of grace defend us" (Hamlet 1.IV)
- "If we shadows have offended" (A Midsummer Night's Dream 5.ii)
- "Fair thoughts and happy hours attend on you" (The Merchant of Venice, 3.IV)
Appease the Curse: When someone performs the cleansing ritual after invoking the curse, roll +Weird:
- 10+: The ritual succeeds. The curse is averted without further consequence.
- 7-9: The ritual mostly works, but the magic lingers. GM picks one:
- A nearby lightbulb bursts.
- The speaker suffers a momentary nosebleed.
- A ghostly voice whispers a line from Macbeth in their ear.
- 6-: The ritual fails. The curse escalates—GM makes a hard move (harm, hallucination, bad luck, minor possession, etc.).
Threats
Malphas
Demon: Trickster (motivation: to create chaos)
Malphas appears as a large humanoid raven wearing tan trousers. Malphas tricked the witches into placing hex bags in the theater to enable him to possess people. As the chaos ensues his power grows and soon he will be able to possess a human fully.
Powers:
- Read Desires: Malphas can read the strongly held desires of mortals. He will often tempt them with these desires to reach his own goals.
- Possess: Can temporarily possess a person during emotional highs.
- Change Form: Malphas may take the form of a man with a hoarse voice, instead of his raven form.
Attacks:
- Demonic talons: 3-harm hand
- Throw stage equipment: 3-harm far.
Armor: 1-armor (tough).
Harm Capacity: 10
Weakness: Hex bags are destroyed, big magic banishing ritual, holy weapons
Sarah Macdonald
Witch: Right Hand (motivation: to back up the monster)
Sarah is a very persuasive member of the local witches coven. She has convinced the other witches to perform a ritual summoning Malphas. Malphas had the coven to join the cast and crew of the theater under the guise of revenge for the horrible way Shakespeare has portrayed witches. She is a witch in the play.
Powers:
- Use Magic
Attacks:
- Knife: 2-harm close.
- Pepper Spray: 0-harm close small.
Armor: None
Harm Capacity: 7
Weakness: Human
Amy Wilson
Witch: Scout (motivation: to stalk, watch, and report)
Amy is your average middle of the road hedge witch serving as a stagehand for the production. She isn’t a firebrand, takes the backseat to more strong willed individuals, but eagerly reports potential issues to Sarah.
Powers:
- Use Magic
Attacks:
- Knife: 2-harm close.
Armor: None
Harm Capacity: 7
Weakness: Human
Megan Davies
Witch: Cultist (motivation: to save their own skin at any cost)
Megan is a witch who joined the coven believing it is a new-age sanctuary for women. She is quite freaked out by the curse and its effects. She is working in the front of the house.
Powers:
- Use Magic
Attacks:
- Pepper Spray: 0-harm close small.
Armor: None
Harm Capacity: 7
Weakness: Human
Bystanders
Terry Collard
Bystander: Witness (motivation: to reveal information)
Terry is the theater manager. His primary concern is keeping the theater open. At first he was happy about the publicity of the disturbances, hoping it would increase public interest, but after Eric’s death he has turned morose. After prodding he will reveal he too has a letter from the witches demanding the shutdown of the production.
Martin Blaylock
Bystander: Skeptic (motivation: to deny supernatural explanations)
Martin is the production’s director. Martin has worked on a few productions of Macbeth before with no issues. Thus he believes the curse is nonsense used by lesser artists to drum up interest. Loves to throw shoes at people who anger him.
Elias Trenholm
Bystander: Busybody (motivation: to interfere in other people's plans)
Elias, a classically trained actor in his 40s, is playing Macbeth, utterly convinced he’s the best thing to happen to the production. Arrogant and overbearing, he inserts himself into every decision and scoffs at talk of a curse. Always half in costume and speaking in theatrical flourish, Elias might actually believe he is Macbeth.
Stella Lattimore
Bystander: Witness (motivation: to reveal information)
Stella is a local woman portraying Lady Macbeth in the play. She too has received threatening letters from the local witches coven.
Joshua Lattimore
Bystander: Witness (motivation: to reveal information)
Stella's husband. He was originally cast in the role of the Third Murderer. However, on the day of the murder of Erik Pinkard, the actor playing Banquo, Joshua was in the hospital recovering from an injury suffered on the set of the play.
Locations
The Alabaster Theater
Location: Wilds (motivation: to contain hidden things)
The Alabaster Theater is a local theater house falling on hard times. Mr. Collard has put on a production of Macbeth in hopes of invigorating attendance.
Front of the House
Location: Crossroads (motivation: to bring people and things together)
The lobby, ticket booth, foyer, and restrooms. Grand in its faded elegance, with red carpet worn thin, playbills from decades past framed on the walls, and the scent of mildew just beneath stale perfume. The chandelier above the lobby occasionally flickers, casting warped shadows that seem to move independently.
Potential Elements:
- Cursed Playbill Stand: A rotating stand of programs. Any player who idly picks up the Macbeth program sees their own name on the cast list as a role they didn’t audition for.
- Mirror in the Restroom: The mirror reflects something wrong—characters move slightly off-time, or a second figure stands behind them, vanishing if turned toward.
- Stella Lattimore’s Letter: Hidden in her coat in the coat check. Contains a veiled reference to “those who mimic the fates without permission.”
Stage
Location: Deathtrap (motivation: to harm intruders)
Where the performance happens. The house has seats in various states of disrepair. The stage features false doors, trapdoors, ropes, and the massive cauldron for the witches’ scene. When the curse is active, this entire area is alive with danger. Martin is here directing the rehearsal.
Potential Elements:
- The Cauldron: Occasionally bubbles without any stage effect running. One rehearsal saw it fall unexpectedly, crushing a crew member.
- Ghost Light Flickers: Actors report seeing figures behind the curtain. One camera set up overnight caught a hazy figure rehearsing soliloquies—backwards.
- Blood-Stained Stage Boards: Marks from Erik’s death still faintly remain no matter how much they’re cleaned.
Backstage
Location: Hub (motivation: to reveal information)
Cramped hallways, cluttered dressing rooms, prop and costume storage. Magic has begun to subtly warp the space: costumes bleed colors, props hum faintly, and whispers emerge from the walls.
Potential Elements:
- Hex Bag Hidden in a Wig Box: One of the five anchoring the curse. Feathers, bone dust, and script clippings.
- Megan Davies’ Spellbook: Locked in a prop drawer, full of "new age" charms—but the last few pages are written in a language she doesn’t understand (Infernal).
- Sarah’s Ritual Circle: A faint chalk circle underneath the costume rack, with bits of burned parchment around it—where the demon was first contacted.
Catwalks
Location: Hellgate (motivation: to create evil)
Above the stage and house, a maze of rigging, pulleys, and spotlights. The air is cold and electric. Up here, shadows stretch too long, and every footstep sounds like it echoes forever. Anyone who ascends alone may not come down the same.
Potential Elements:
- Another Hex Bag: Suspended in a lighting rig. Hard to reach, guarded by a shadowy figure who vanishes when approached.
- Possessed Spotlight: Moves on its own, locking onto characters even when powered off. Emits an eerie red glow.
- Thin Veil Location: Standing in the exact center of the rigging grid, one can hear whispering from the demon. If a player listens too long, they may receive a "bargain" or suffer harm.
Someone failed a COOL roll!