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[Secret Society] The Ferouk Institute

On March 15, 2026

A Conspiracy X 1st Edition Society by Angus McNicholl

The conspiracy is real, yet it remains hidden from those blinded by their desire for safety and security…

First drafted in the early years of Conspiracy X 1st edition, this article explores one of the many organisations complicit in the ongoing conspiracy against humanity, the Ferouk Institute. This Russian hospital hides dark secrets behind its faded, crumbling walls, with some claiming it still serves as a training centre for Directorate X (the now-disavowed enforcement arm of Project Rasputin).

So just what is the truth? Well, read on and find out more about this secret society…

Note: Permission for hosting this article was kindly granted by Angus and forms part of the material he drafted for Conspiracy X in the early 2000s.

Operation Harvest Moon – A ‘The Esoterrorists’ Scenario

By Marcus Bone

On December 30, 2025

In Scenario, The Esoterrorists

But there’s a full moon risin; Lets go dancin in the light; We know where the music’s playin; Lets go out and feel the night.
Neil Young, Harvest Moon from Harvest Moon, 1992

OPERATION HARVEST MOON is a THE ESOTERRORISTS adventure (published by Pelgrane Press) designed as a one-off ‘convention-ready’ scenario or as a way of introducing new players to the world of The Esoterrorists. It also works well as a cold opening to a much longer series of dark and dangerous missions.

With the discovery of a body in the lower reaches of Blackbear Mountain (one of the many peaks within Wyoming’s Bighorn National Forest), a Search & Rescue team is urgently summoned to determine whether others might be trapped by the early-season change in weather. But what starts as a civil response may quickly become a life-or-death experience, where the hunters become the hunted.

The Membrane is weakened. What has come through?

Unbound Magazine – Issue #0 – May 2025

By Marcus Bone

On May 20, 2025

In Unbound Magazine

This pilot issue of Unbound Magazine, a repository for some of the weird and wacky ideas I’ve had over the years, but which have (almost) never seen ‘formal’ publication. Basically, is my way of doing something with the thousands of words I have on my hard drives. Within these pages you will find –

An outline for a Liminal: The Hidden World scenario, OF LIZARDS & BEES, in which the characters are drawn to a world of Fae bargaining, betrayal, and games of power.

A review for a neat Unknown Armies 3rd edition scenario, BRING ME THE HEAD OF THE COMTE DE SAINT-GERMAIN, and

A short, one-night scenario, THE SIGNAL, written for Dale Elvy’s excellent EPOCH horror game (and which was first run over a decade ago at a local convention).

Oh, and before I go off to tinker with some other scenario, game or review , if you have some wild or whacky scenario or article you’d like to contribute, please do drop me a line and maybe I can release it in a future issue?

[Opinion] Out of Time: Setting Con X in the 1990s

By Marcus Bone

On March 30, 2025

In Conspiracy X, Opinion

A Conspiracy X Opinion Piece by Marcus Bone

Having lived through two editions of Conspiracy X, I have some specific – not always logical – thoughts on how and when I like set my Con X scenarios. This opinion piece outlines my thoughts on setting Con X in the 1990s, the benefits of doing so and the challenges than come with trying to run a game in a decade which began over 30 years ago.

Note: This is planned to be the first of several articles on Conspiracy X, it’s background, mechanics and game play, that I hope to write. These will be collected here on unboundbook.org as they are released.

Just a Little Knowledge: A Casting the Runes Scenario

By Marcus Bone

On March 18, 2025

In Casting the Runes, Scenario

A Casting the Runes Scenario written by Marcus D. Bone

Just a Little Knowledge is a scenario outline written to act as an introductory adventure for the Casting of the Runes roleplaying game. Designed to bring together a small group of investigators, it exposes them to the world of the supernatural and occult horror that lies hidden just beneath the surface of polite Edwardian society.

Set during the bleak autumn of 1908, the characters are about to be drawn into a mystery involving a book, a Cathedral and the sins of the church. Here they will uncover a secret buried for centuries that now released threatens dozens, if not hundreds, of innocent lives if not returned. So, are your Investigators brave enough to discover Just a Little Knowledge?

Inspired by the recent publication of Linden’s The Marshwood Vampire adventure and my own reviews of Casting the Runes publications, this scenario is hopefully the first of many for this great game I will release here.