Fate of Cthulhu Timeline • The Ascellan Conspiracy

In this 58-page timeline for Fate of Cthulhu, trade Eldritch Gods for an insidious alien invasion spanning almost a century. Resistance agents seek to disrupt four critical events along the timeline – with the ultimate goal of preventing First Contact in 1932.

This PDF includes the Ascellan Conspiracy timeline, modified rules for an alien invasion scenario, examples of Ascellan technology and corrupted stunts, game aids, as well as nine pre-generated PCs.  

June 2027. Earth has fallen. Somehow, we were invaded - and we barely noticed until it was too late. The President of the United Nations revealed themself as Supreme Leader K’Tel. World leaders proclaimed Earth would now join the Ascellan Confederacy. Across every continent, large spheres began humming and glowing. Strange blueish electric arcs flew over the skies. In a blink, millions of people around the Earth suddenly became Ascellans. No one knew who to trust anymore. Humanity was told to submit, and build a world fit for their Ascellan rulers.

Ascellans have been conquering worlds one by one, projecting their DNA and consciousness across time and space to invade minds. Their Vanguard arrived 95 years ago, and carefully laid plans to ensure humanity was slowly conditioned to become Ascellans – or serve them.

From what the Resistance could piece together, the Ascellans made First Contact with Earth in 1932, when researchers at Bell Labs intercepted a signal from Sagittarius. After taking control of their hosts, the Vanguard continued its machinations at the 1939 New York World’s Fair to extend their influence across the globe. The Ascellans then set their eyes on the Moon, infiltrating the Apollo 11 program in 1969 to retrieve a crashed probe. Finally, the Vanguard took control of research facilities to expand their numbers through a secret cloning program at the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh in 1999. The conditions set, all the Vanguard had left to do was wait for the Second Conjunction in 2027.

Using stolen Ascellan technology, the Resistance has discovered the means to travel back in time No jump beyond 30 years has been successful, and the test subjects have come back… different. Armed with details of the Ascellan Conspiracy, your team has been tasked to go back in time, and prevent four key events from occurring. Each mission is vital to increase humanity’s odds of overthrowing the Ascellans, as there is no guarantee whether your team will survive the four time jumps required to stop First Contact in 1932.

As you alter the past, you team will face great risks. Unknown to the Resistance, all alien tech is built with a secondary purpose: to gradually transform local lifeforms into an acceptable host for Ascellans. Beaming slowly turns time travelers into Ascellans, eventually becoming the very enemy you seek to overthrow. You will soon realize that the strange new abilities you gain and other Ascellan technology you find along the way can give you an edge – but using them accelerates your mutation into a full-fledged Ascellan. In addition, the more you modify the past, the more you will experience backlash from the dissonance between your original selves and the new timeline your actions create.

Did the Resistance truly succeed in unearthing the century-old Ascellan machinations, or are you walking into a trap? Will the past be as you remember it? You may not quite know what is in stock for you, but your mission is clear: you must unravel the Ascellan Conspiracy!