Wherein your humble scribe, being in a Lovecraftian frame of mind of late, presents an NPC for use with Call of Cthulhu (Sixth Edition).

Sean Patrick McGuinness is a 28-year-old, second-generation Irish-American from the Vinegar Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn. Like his father before him, Sean made his living as a sandhog on subterranean projects throughout New York. But after the Holland Tunnel Incident of October 27, 1924, McGuinness’ career beneath the earth came to an abrupt end.

The official version of that dark day’s events involves a tunnel blowout, the deaths of nineteen men, and the amazing survival of one incredibly lucky sandhog who was actually drawn into the blowout, forced through the mud of the river-bottom and delivered to the surface alive. McGuinness, though, has quite a different story to tell, though he seldom shares it anymore.

Friends and relations chalk up his fanciful talk of Shoggoths and Ubbo-Sathla and other such nonsense to the confusion and hallucinations caused by Bends, which he surely must have suffered as a result of the intense pressure changes he endured. Former coworkers and casual acquaintances have been known to mock McGuinness openly for his bizarre words and strange behavior ever since the event. Meanwhile, odd academics from strange universities occasionally seek him out and listen intently to every word this former teetotaler has to tell though his now permanent whiskey haze.

No matter what truly happened down in the tunnel, two things are certain: first, McGuiness is absolutely terrified of setting foot below ground to the point where he won’t even enter a basement, let alone travel by subway; second, there has not been a night in the past three years when McGuiness has not woken, drenched in sweat, from an intense, thrashing nightmare crying “Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li!” at the top of his lungs.

Sean Patrick McGuinness, Lucky Former Sandhog

STR 16 CON 16 SIZ 9 INT 13 POW 17 DEX 13 APP 10 EDU 10
Hit Points 13 Major Wound 7 Power Points 17 SAN 65

Damage Bonus: +1d4
Weapons: Sledgehammer 60%, 2d6+2 + 1d4
Armor: none
Skills: Bargain 20%, Craft: Mining 35%, Cthulhu Mythos 5%, Dodge 50%, Electrical Repair 45%, Fast Talk 25%, First Aid 30%, Fist/Punch 60%, Geology 10%, Grapple 45%, Headbutt 20%, Kick 35%, Listen 35%, Locksmith 14%, Mechanical Repair 45%, Occult 9%, Operate Heavy Machine 45%, Own Language: English 50%, Sledgehammer 60%