The increased appearance of non-terran natives and phenomenon on earth is proof of the existence of not only other dimensions but other inhabited dimensions. Such dimensions, long theorized by scientists and exploited by writers of popular fantasy, operate at different vibratory rates of reality, much like radio signals can exist in different bandwidths. Most of the time, the two do not interact at all.

On occasion, the frequencies come into line for short periods, allowing bridges to form between different worlds. Often this overlap is fuzzy and out of phase, such that at best concepts my cross between the worlds, which may trigger religious events and even advances in philosophies and technologies. Should the harmonics come more into phase, there are sightings of mysterious creatures, odd lights, even unidentified flying objects.

Rarely, there are cases where the vibratory frequencies of these parallel worlds come into synch, such that objects and even individuals can move from one world to another.

I believe that we are loking at a period where another parallel world has come alongside ours. In the next few years, there will be an increase in sightings, and upswing in new concepts, and even the chance of meeting individuals from alternate worlds. I assume these inhabitants to be like us, products of similar evolution. And I for one look forward to meeting them.

Dr. Gary Hoyte, co-founder of The Company
Paranormal Quarterly, Vol 1 Issue 1, 1989.

That was 20 years ago, 10 years before the founding of Terrel-Hoyte Enterprises, known internally as simply, "The Company". Since then, not only has Hoyte proven that other inhabited dimensions exist, but he is learning ways to travel between them. The Company was founded to stop the expansion of evil from other dimensions into ours, and to combat that evil which has already crossed.

The Characters

Your characters all work for The Company as PARCs. You tell your friend that you are a Process Analysis Reactivity Consultant, but this is just a level of subterfuge. Your real actual job duty is to act as a Paranormal Activity Recon and Containment officer: bounty hunters for The Company, who neutralize or capture escaped Shadow creatures, keeping their existence hidden from the general public.

The World

Technology
The world as you know it is sort of a movie version of the modern day. If you go to any blockbuster movie nowadays the "modern" technology is 3-5 years ahead of what it is in real life (or in CSI: New York it's 7-10 years ahead). That's about the technological level in which we will be playing: modern, but with some really cool extra gadgets.

Magic/Psionics
FX (i.e. magic and psionics) are minor but existant players in this game. Magic can only be garnered through intense study of ancient rituals (and only accessed through the Occult class), and is known by very few people. There is no mainstream scientific evidence that magic actually exists, but certain highly secretive organizations (such as The Company) not only can prove that magic exists, but are capable of using it in ways unseen for thousands of years.

Psionics only exist in the telepathic sense (and as such, the Telepath is the only available psionic class). Psionics can't be used to kill people with your mind, but they can be used to perform minor feats of telekenesis, mindreading, and the like. Telepaths are born, not trained, though those who discover they have the gift can harness and increase their powers through personal discipline. Some people, such as side-show psycics and mind readers are actually telepaths but they don't know it. Like magic, telepathic abilities have never been proven by mainstream science, but certain organizations take advantage of this fact.

The company wants to keep the existance of both psionics and magic a secret. Luckily, the average human mind is not capable of experiencing such an out of the ordinary experience, so certain minor overt effects of spells are simply written off with mundane explanations. Despite this fact, any magic users or psionicists working for the company are under strict orders to refrain from using any FX powers with outwards displays in the presense of civilians, unless they also have a way to make the effect look like it came from a mundane source. (For instance, if you cast a fireball while holding a flame thrower, any onlookers will think that there was a terrible misfire). Any violation of this rule will result in swift and harsh punishment by The Company.

Organizations
Unless I tell you otherwise, assume that all outward appearances of the world are the same as the game. For instance, groups such as the Masons, Bilderberg Group, and so on exist in the game, but it might be that all of the rumors we hear about these groups are actually true.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:54, Fri 12 June 2009.