The NET.PLOTS.BOOK Volume IV

----------========== The NET.PLOTS.BOOK ==========----------

Volume IV

Compiled by Phil Scadden

Editors Note:

Here at last is volume 4, the latest attempt to keep GM's supplied with

inspiration. It contains plot and scenarios for mostly fantasy RPGs but at

last I have some cyper plots. (Now for some more horror and space adventures for

Vol 5). Plots have been presented in no particular order - if it isnt

written for your genre, try thinking of translating the core idea. I have

made only minimal changes (spelling and removal of trademarks etc. of a

certain gaming company) to the material as received. I hope everyone finds

this enjoyable and useful.

The book includes a very large appendix of ideas for starting out campaigns.

(seems to be the theme for this volume). Should be no excuse for the tired

old "you meet these people in a bar" hack.

Authorship of individual plots have been accredited individually with email

addresses. Author attribution is at the top of each plot. Authors appreciate

feedback - if you use any of these try telling the author how you did. IT

MAY WELL ENCOURAGE THEM TO CONTRIBUTE MORE PLOTS TO THE NEXT VOLUME.

Finally, my thanks to all who submitted these plots. You make the

net.*.books possible. Of course my mail box is now open for contributions

to vol 5...

Phil Scadden P.Scadden@GNS.CRI.NZ 7/3/95

So where are we... and who are you...?

M. Taylor

mtaylor@tartarus.uwa.edu.au

Medium

Fantasy

Affliction

Exploration

Startup

Dungeon

Players are zapped to new low-magic fantasy world minus their memory and

anything metal they were carrying (If you are a kindly GM give magic

stuff a save to make the trip) and sporting a few new wounds (Its fun to

describe their injuries). In this new world they are poor, ill-equipped,

injured, they don't speak the language(s), their spells don't seem to

work as well and nobody likes the way they smell or they way they look

("Why's that short guy got pointy ears?").

I ran this adventure by starting them in a cavern that looked like the

start of an underground temple complex and stuck a cave-in at the

entrance to the complex. I then suggested their last memories involved

ransacking an underground temple of some kind. This accomplished a few

important things:

* An immediate goal - getting past the cave-in.

* An explanation of their injuries - they'd been set upon by

temple nasties.

* Some additional intrigue - the players didn't realize they

in a new world until a few hours into the game.

* A justification of their teleportation - temples always have

weird, nasty, magic traps in them.

* Most importantly a reason to get out in the society of the new

world - to get men and equipment to get past the cave-in.

* Finally an excuse for a traditional dungeon bash when they'd

done the hard role-playing stuff.

Once they were past the cave-in I gave the players a fun time exploring

the temple complex as a reward. In short order they found an ancient

magic artefact and an idol that looked familiar. They united the two and

wham-bam they were back in the real-world -- in the middle of the fight

they had fled from in the first place :)

The reason I made the new world low-magic was to short circuit magical

short-cuts. The cave-in, the language barrier and other fun stuff could

have been circumnavigated by the right spells.

Run correctly this can be a really hard adventure, going into a new

world with little to no resources and little recourse to magic will

really stretch your players inventiveness.

Grishnak the Merciless

Bryce Harrington

bryce@canal.aero.org

Long

Fantasy

Quest

Rural

Giant

This encounter was designed for a group of 4-8 low-mid level characters of

The encounter is intended to be challenging and to scare the pants off the

PCs. If they feel too cocky, they may not complete the adventure, or may

complete it too soon.

If the party includes a psionicist with the psionic blast power then the

part will have a much easier time with the encounter than otherwise, so you

may want to 1) disable the psionicist's power somehow, 2) beef up Grishnak's

immunity to psionics, 3) cheat on the power rolls. If nothing else, impose

the -7 penalty for trying to contact a monster, even though a hill giant may

still qualify as a humanoid.

If this adventure is too easy for the party, change the giant type to a

stone or fire giant. This *will* change the flavor of the encounter a bit.

One way to toughen up the encounter without changing the flavor is to give

the giant some helpers. A dozen goblins or orcs hanging around might slow

the party enough for Grishnak to get in a few good blows. Give him a couple

of ogres, too, and the party may have some difficulties. For a very high

level party, you may want to beef up Grishnak as a specialized fighter with

a high strength, high skills, and very high damage resistance.

It would work best if one of the party members is a dwarf; for a low level

party, spell casters or psionicists are a must.

I. RUMORS

Before starting the first encounter, it is important to build up a little

fear and respect in the PCs. Make them realize how tough this giant is by

rumors of its atrocities. Here are some rumors which I used in my campaign:

- The town of Inglesham was attacked by The Giant on Middenmonth 8th. Death

tolls vary depending on the teller, but at least two score of citizens found

their way to Grishnak's belly. Inglesham is shaken by the event, to say the

least, and is offering a huge bounty on Grishnak's head. Some say that the

King himself will lead his forces to defeat the brute, others wonder why

their protector has not stepped forth to protect them.

- A young rag-a-muffin boy has been asking in the city of Sherborne for an

organization known as The Giant Killers. The boy says that his entire

family was eaten by a Giant named Grishnak the Horrible. His desire for

revenge is so strong that he will do anything for the organization if they

help him.

[Note: The PCs had just recently decided to name themselves Unar's Hammer,

but had mistakenly spread several earlier names about, like Unar's Giant

Foes and such. The townspeople were a little confused as to exactly what

this virtually unknown band's name was.]

II. TANK

"Around noon you stop at a stream for lunch and a short rest. You've only

been there for a few minutes when you hear: " .... ... MEE

MIE MO MORPH, Me thinks me smell a Dwarf! I'll grind his bones to make me

bread, but first, let's go and bash 'is 'ead! .

Twisting your heads in all directions you finally spot the source of the

echoes as a tall humanoid shape on the top of a hillock several hundred yards

away flings his fist forward to release a huge boulder. Looking around

quickly for a place to hide you see a rocky hill on the south side of the

stream. Across, on the north bank, is a thick and gnarled stand of trees

and shrubbery. Upstream perhaps a hundred yards is a jumble of rocks the

stream flows through."

Ask each player to write down what they do individually. Then have everyone

reveal their plans and move their characters appropriately. The rock will

come crashing down where the PCs were. Make a to hit roll against anyone

still there.

If the players are stupid enough to attack, then they should suffer the

consequences:

Grishnak the Merciless.

Grishnak is really nothing more than a semi-tough hill giant. He's been

ravishing the countryside and causing lots of local trouble.

Mediocre armour, (Many hides sewn together with chain mail, shields, and

metal plates); Good damage resistance; Weapons are: Fist, Club, or Rocks -

range 2-200 yards); Will also try to Grab.

Grishnak is selfish and cunning. He terrorises the local villagers (and

eats them, that's especially annoying to the villagers). He is oddly simian

and barbaric in appearance, with overly long arms, stooped shoulders, and a

low forehead. He is about 16' tall and weighs in at 4500 lbs. His skin

color is a dark tan; his hair and eyes are black as coal.

Grishnak carries a bag containing:

3 big rocks (2' dia boulders)

1 Metal truck with 6lb copper, 10lb silver, 23 crown and

a dwarven gauntlet (copper, worth 100 gp)

3 Children's toys - toy horse, wooden soldier, and a

wooden dragon, 1 short sword, blood stained,

but not rusty at all

Ideally, the PCs will run for the rocks. Grishnak will close, saying,

"Grishnak, now don't squish food with rocks." At the last minute, just

before the giant gets to the characters, he will suddenly stand up straight

and sniff: "Hmm, Grishnak smell pigs. Mmm, pork!" Grishnak will then

stride off across rough terrain quickly outdistancing the PCs.

***

Wait a few sessions before throwing this next encounter at them. The PCs

should hear a few of rumors about the monster's depredation's. Perhaps have

some offers of rewards be offered to them for the creature's death. Here

are some of the rumors I gave out:

- The giant killing specialists known as Unar's Giant Foes are offered a job

to assassinate Grishnak the Merciless by a group of merchants in Caer

Shert. Grishnak has destroyed several villages in the Caer Shert region.

The organization is asked to report to The Benevolent Protectorate Order of

Grain Merchants in the city of Caer Shert.

- A band of ex-soldiers known as the Troll's Nightmare were found dead in

the fields near the base of the Castle Oncliff. They had apparently been

stepped on by Grishnak.

- The town of Inglesham was attacked by The Giant on Middenmonth 8th. Death

tolls vary depending on the teller, but at least two score of citizens found

their way to Grishnak's belly. Inglesham is shaken by the event, to say the

least, and is offering a huge bounty on Grishnak's head. Some say that the

King himself will lead his forces to defeat the brute, others wonder why

their protector has not stepped forth to protect them.

III. OOPTHS!

"There seems to be some kind of obstruction in the road ahead of you and

you approach it with caution. Your stomach knots in horror at the

gruesomeness of the scene: To one side of the road are the crushed remnants

of a gypsy wagon. A horse still wearing its bridle and harness lays dead on

the opposite side of the path, and by the way its ribs have been caved in

and by the way the creature's intestines have exploded from its abdomen you

figure that it must have been squeezed to death.

"Littering the whole area around the wagon are pools of blood and

assorted human body parts, and the way the skin has been torn and lacerated

from the bones, you realize that they had been physically wrenched from the

bodies to which they once belonged.

"Huge, 3' long footprints have left indentations several inches deep in

the seemingly hard packed soil of the path. Several nearby trees have been

completely uprooted. A pile of boulders and a tree trunk, strangely

stripped clean of bark and branches, and well rounded on one end, lays a

ways off near the woods to the left. You make out the tracks of a single

wagon leading off to that forest, multiple trails of blood revealing the

wagon's horrid cargo. Between the ruts are a single set of 3' long foot

prints. The prints do not look to be more than an hour or two old."

Grishnak, as the players should well be aware, has struck. A gypsy caravan

has been raided and its members carried off. It is expected that the

players will investigate. The path to Grishnak is 3 miles:

"You hesitantly enter the forest, but move fairly quickly, as a wide

path has been cleared already. You wonder how the wagon could possibly have

made it through the rough terrain.

"Proceeding through the forest you gradually come to an area where the

ground raises into rocky hills and cliffs. You stop suddenly as the smell

of burned hair and bone assaults your nose, followed by the pitiful sounds

of sobbing humans. A deep voice booms out, "Grishnak say shut up! Food

people giving Grishnak sore ears!" The screaming crescendos and then

suddenly stops. You appraise the surrounding terrain. To the right of the

trail is a 30' high raised hill, to your left the ground is more level. The

sounds of a babbling brook come to you from your left. The path continues

ahead of you and then turns to the right at a point where the rocky hill

comes to an end. You think that Grishnak is right on the other side of the

hill."

The players can climb the cliff and view Grishnak from above if they are

quiet. They will be able to see that Grishnak has made a bonfire right

below the hill. There is a cave in the hill at this point and Grishnak

occasionally goes into it to get something. To one side of the fire, not

far from the cave entrance, is the battered remains of the wagon, and inside

of it are the limp (though living) bodies of 16 gypsies. A small pile of

gypsy heads can be seen next to the wagon. The gypsies seem to be in a

state of shock.

Grishnak is stupid, but not dumb. If attacked, he will defend himself

fairly well, but unfortunately he has not left himself a cache of rocks

nearby, and left his club at the scene of the crime to be able to pull the

wagon back. Grishnak will try to flee if he takes over 1/2 his hit points

in damage.

Here are some things for Grishnak to say:

"Where Grishnak club? Stoopid Grishnak lost club when took rolly box."

"Where Grishnak rocks? No rocks? Oh, yeah, Grishnak empty bag for food

people."

IV. THE BATTLE

My PCs defeated the giant through a great plan, which took them 3-4 hours to

put together (no kidding!) The cleric cast silence, light, and heat metal

on the giant, in that order. As soon as the silence was on the giant, the

metabolic psionicist snuck in to the giant's cave and attempted to use

double pain. Unfortunately the giant woke up at that point and the fight was

on. The light successfully blinded the giant, and with the silence as well,

it was mighty difficult for him to hit anyone (I think the only damage came

from the giant randomly backing into the fighter). Most of the damage came

from the fighter's blows and the cleric's heat metal spell. The

thief/psionicist kept failing to strike the giant with double pain, at least

until the very end.

The giant finally fell and the party was, to say the least, very excited.

They cut the giant's head off and proceeded to carry it through the towns

Grishnak had terrorised.

V. EPILOGUE

There had been such a build up to the giant encounter that I felt there had

to be some sort of major rewards. Rather than simply giving out treasure, I

awarded fame. The party went around and collected bounties, and as they

travelled they were accepted as heroes throughout the lands. Here are some

of the rumors that the PCs received following their defeat of Grishnak:

- Word of the exploits of Unar's Hammer has reached the Humber

coast and the cities of Yartshire and Sherborne. The tales of

the defeat of Grishnak the merciless are second only to the

stories of Gipin's defeat of Navagoras the Magnificent.

- A group calling themselves "Heros of the Dark Fist" has claimed

responsibility for the defeat of Grishnak the Merciless. They say that

Unar's Hammer had accosted them after their defeat of the giant, while they

were still weak, and stole the giant's head. They proved their claims by

showing they had possession of Grishnak's hands and feet.

THE BROKEN IDOL

Loren Miller

loren@hops.wharton.upenn.edu

Medium

Fantasy

Investigation

Urban

Village

This plot assumes that player characters are members of an extended

family, or clan, and all live in the same castle/villa/manse. My

campaign is a RuneQuest campaign set in Carmania, which is a cold and

snowy land that was the heart of a splendid ancient empire conquered

and kept by warfare, and is now the heart of a growing merchant

network.

Strange ship docks at the clan village, word is sent to the clan to

pick up Farwalker, the chief's half-brother and wandering-merchant/

capitalist-oppressor-pig who has been gone for many years. He is sick,

very cold, and is clutching something in his hands. His hands cannot

be pried apart without breaking his fingers, something the chief (in

my campaign his nickname was Stoneface, but the PCs called him

"chief") would be very upset about.

Chief installs his brother in a sickroom, and appoints a PC to

watch him, alternating with other family members. A rivalry would be a

good thing to encourage here, because it makes the rest of the plot

possible.

Word comes that someone has been killed in the village. PCs are

sent to investigate. Discover several brutal murders. Chase the

murderer around, path leads to the clan house/castle/villa/manse.

While the PCs are out of the room, the rival searches through uncle

Farwalker's clothes and finds something, half of an ivory idol, and

removes it to his rooms. Then he comes back, pretending nothing has

happened. In the meantime, the murderer has snuck into the sickroom,

put out the lights, and is killing uncle Farwalker as the rival walks

in and lights a candle to see what's going on. The murderer is a yeti

or some other huge, hairy, tough humanoid (in my campaign it is a snow

troll from the glaciers) which was looking for an idol that Farwalker

took.

The PCs come in about the same time that the rival is being ripped

up by the murderer and join the battle. What happens after this is up

to you, but the PCs will probably discover the half idol, should

interrogate the rival, may want to find where the idol came from, may

want to return it, and may have to deal with more attempts to recover

the idol. And... the idol might be cursed, or blessed, or an

ingredient in a world-shattering magical ritual.

The Borrowers re-visited

Phil Scadden

P.Scadden@gns.cri.nz

Short

Fantasy

Sci-Fi

Affliction

Any

Ever enjoy "The Borrowers" as a child? Consider the possibilities of suddenly

shrinking the players to say 15 to 40 cm. Cats, dogs, rats become serious

monsters, a 3 foot wall becomes a major obstacle. To get back to normal size

they need say a potion found only on a high shelf. Make this a test of

ingenuity with utilising ordinary objects. Any genre will do!

Jericho Jones and Kruger Bioprime

Colin Steele

colin@aol.net

Long

Cyberpunk

Investigation

Wilderness

Rural

Urban

City

A CP2020 scenario follows.

TRADEMARK NOTICE. Cyperpunk(tm) is a trademark of R. Talsorian Games Inc.

Copyright (C) 1992 Colin A. Steele

This document is free. Permission is given to redistribute it and/or

modify it under 2 conditions:

1. My name stays on it.

2. No profit is made from redistribution or modification.

This is not meant to be a fully fleshed-out adventure. There are many

gaping holes, that you, the GM, are gonna have to fill. My intention

was to create a framework which was sufficiently fleshed out to be

useful, but flexible enough to be adapted to your campaign.

Thanks, and enjoy.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Jericho Jones

Rocko, a small-time fixer known to one party member, contacts the

party with a "favor" to ask. He has a client, Malachi Jones, who

needs to have his son returned to him. To emphasize the "favor"

appeal, make one of the characters, preferably a nomad, somehow owe a

favor to Malachi Jones. If the characters are stupid enough to do

this as a "favor", Rocko pockets a big wad of cash. If the characters

are smart, Rocko makes them the real offer. His client offers 10,000

eb for the return of Jericho Jones, the son of Malachi Jones, the

chief of the Jones Tribe. Jericho is hiding out in Sky Mesa, with the

tribe of nomads living in the area.

The characters accept the job, and travel to Sky Mesa.

They arrive in the middle of a firefight. The tribe of nomads living

in Sky Mesa is getting the shit kicked out of 'em by the local

wastelanders, the Fury. Jericho is nowhere to be seen. If the

characters look *specifically* at the Fury's tactics, they'll notice

that the Fury is being semi-methodical, as if looking for someone.

The characters join in on the side of the Sky Mesa tribe, of course,

and eventually chase off the Fury. Again, if the characters are being

careful and keeping their eyes open, they'll see part of the Fury's

gang hop in an AV-4. (An extremely odd possession for a wastelander

gang.) But, the AV-4 has no markings, and it speeds off into the night

before the characters can do anything more. The rest of the Fury

takes off in cyberbikes.

The massacre is a sight. Women and children are just so much

lunch meat. Many RV's and trailers are ablaze. If the characters are

helpful, offering medical aid, etc., they will be taken to see

Jericho. Play the massacre up for maximum compassion effect.

The characters meet Jericho. Jericho explains that he and his father,

Malachi, had a huge falling out last year, and Jericho has been at Sky

Mesa ever since. Jericho was trying to prove to his father that

Kruger Bioprime, a mid-size multinational, is bad news. It's obvious

that Jericho is a righteous dude. He cares about people, and is

trying to create a better life for the people of Sky Mesa. In fact,

he's the de facto leader of the Sky Mesa tribe.

You ask, "Why is Jericho down on Kruger, when Kruger Bioprime has been

downright friendly with the Jones Tribe?" As part of a "multicultural

activism campaign" to "improve the public's perception of Kruger

Bioprime", they have been helping the Jones Tribe fight to regain some

land titles to property in Salt Lick.

Jericho never bought the corp's bullshit. He has always suspected

something more sinister, but hasn't been able to prove anything. To

boot, the corp has been winning some of the court battles, and the

Jones Tribe now has legal rights to some property in Salt Lick. That

makes it even harder for Jericho to talk sense to Malachi.

Jericho lays the cards on the table. He asks the characters to help

him find the dirt on Kruger. If the characters are of the mind just

to collect their money, Jericho will outbid his father - offering to

double their fee. Of course, he's full of it. The Sky Mesa tribe can

only pay about 1/2 of the 10,000 eb the characters were originally

offered for the job. But anyhow, Jericho'll play both on the

characters pocket book sense, and on their sense of justice. And, he

adds, if they can indeed turn the tables on Kruger Bioprime, the Sky

Mesa tribe will "owe them".

Now if the characters just want to bag Jericho, fine. Let 'em.

They'll have no problem bringing him in to 'ole Pop. They'll collect

their fee, and head off into the sunset. What they won't know is that

the Sky Mesa tribe springs Jericho from incarceration in the Jones

tribe. Much later, they'll read in the news about what Kruger

Bioprime is really doing in Salt Lick.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

The Real Fax

Kruger Bioprime *is* bad news. They've got Malachi Jones on the

payroll, keeping him quiet and rich, while they wrestle deeds out of

the legal system and into Malachi's hands. Don't even ask what

they're doing to the unwitting members of the Jones tribe.

The story goes something like this:

With some serious hush money, Kruger convinced Malachi to let them

build a secret R&D/training base on one of the parcels of land. The

base was completed over a year ago and code-named Cadence Canyon. The

original purpose of the base was lost when a violent internal coup put

Katherine Washington in power at Kruger. A smart Kruger exec, by the

name of Charles Marsh, was bucking to get a promotion to associate VP,

and took over as the Candence Canyon project leader. He realized that

Cadence is in the middle of nowhere, and has a more or less captive

population. It's perfect for dumping hazardous waste, new product

testing, covert op training, you name it! Mr. Marsh sent several

memos around to this effect, which is perfect dirt for Jericho to dig

up. If he can.

Kruger planned to use the Jones tribe for product testing/op training,

and they've made good on the plan, so far. Malachi doesn't know it,

but Kruger has already been testing a new virus on a small segment of

the Joneses. The virus hasn't broken out yet, but it's a new form of

anthrax which cannot live in soil. (Perfect for military

applications!) About 10% of the tribe is infected. Kruger plans to

try out their cure on 1/2 of the infected 10%, and let the other half

die to see how effective the virus is. (Kruger doesn't know it yet,

but their manufacturing process is for shit, and this is the only run

of the virus that will be useful. It'll take them about another year

to produce a second batch.)

Although Malachi doesn't know about the virus, he suspects something

might be up. Kruger knows this, and when Malachi reaches the breaking

point, which they know he will, they'll waste him. Then, according to

some keen legalese, the deeds revert to Kruger. Imagine that! Then,

Kruger can do whatever they please with the Jones tribe.

Through their two moles in the Jones tribe, Kruger learned that

Jericho was trying to dis 'em. Wanting to protect their investment,

Kruger ordered Malachi to "lean" on the Sky Mesa tribe. So, Malachi

hired the Fury. Big mistake. The Fury was too cybered up and

psychoed out for Malachi to control. Plus, their leader is kinda

greedy. So, when Kruger asked them to go ahead and waste Jericho, for

10,000 eb, they didn't think twice. They took it upon themselves to

*wipe out* the Sky Mesa tribe, and put Jericho's head on a stick in

front of their leader's tent. Malachi realized his mistake, and,

wanting to save his son, hired the characters to kidnap him. He

doesn't know that the Fury are playing both ends against the middle.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Diggin'

So, the characters team up with Jericho Jones! Now the fun starts.

They've got to get some dirt on Kruger, ASAP. In the previous

episode, the characters got hired to find Jericho and return him to

Malachi Jones. They landed in a firefight between the Fury and the

Sky Mesa tribe. Little did they know that the Fury were in the pay of

Kruger Bioprime *and* Malachi Jones. Kinda ironic, huh?

The Fury are planning another raid on Sky Mesa, and have some scouts

observing the movements of the tribe. If the characters move Jericho,

the Fury will know about it, and will attack at the first opportune

moment. Otherwise, they'll stage an attack on the Sky Mesa camp the

night following.

Perceptive characters will know that a) they Fury were using an AV-4,

and b) they were hunting for someone. If the characters make a point

of it, one of the Sky Mesa bunch will volunteer a few digital photos

of the AV-4, taken during the raid. The characters may decide to

analyze these. Another clue: if there are any bodies of Furies,

perceptive characters who make a coupla' skill checks will find out

that the Furies are sporting some keen *new* cyberware. Finally, if

there are any living Furies, they might be interrogated to reveal some

useful clues.

All of the clues will point the characters back towards a particular

fixer in Night City. From that fixer, they'll be able to make the

connection to Kruger Bioprime.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

A Thousand Words

The photo analysis will yield a vehicle ID number - but only after

some serious skill checks, time and cash. The characters can try it

themselves, using Photo&Film skill a program called DigiDesigner Pro,

and 8 hours. Or, they can call in some contacts to have it done, for

about 2000 eb. Once they locate the contact and upload the photos,

it'll take 2 hours. If they use a contact, success is guaranteed (but

don't tell them this).

The vehicle ID can be tracked down to a AV-4 reported stolen from a

Kruger Bioprime branch office in Night City six months ago. Included

in the NCPD files concerning the case are some interesting clues. The

case notes indicate that at the scene of the crime, investigators

found the tag symbol of the gang known as the Icemen. No gang members

could be apprehended for questioning, so the lead was never properly

pursued. In addition, a pattern of vehicle theft was developing,

though not necessarily correlated with the Icemen. AVs and expensive

cars were disappearing at a fairly high rate, for about 3 months

around the time that this particular AV-4 was stolen.

The next step for the characters might be to find and question some

Icemen. This should be fairly difficult. The Icemen are a small

gang whose primary reason for existence is to supply the members with

enough cash to support their drug of choice - ice. Ice is a

little-know, highly addictive hallucinogen. The users can be easily

identified by one of the drug's side effects - the user's skin

temperature is significantly lower than normal. With some street deal

and some luck, they might be able to hook up with Frost, the leader,

and chief junkie, of the Icemen. From her, the characters might be

able to find out that Micky hired the Icemen to do most of the vehicle

theft, including the AV-4 in question. Then again, Frost might just

decide that the Icemen need to have some fun, and jam on the

characters heads! GM's discretion on this one.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Furious

If there were any of the Fury still alive, the characters might want

to squeeze a little information out of them. None of the 'dorphed out

Furies is going to be of much value, but each successful

Interrogation/Intimidation/whatever skill check (average difficulty -

+15) will yield one of the following clues:

1. Zap was in Night City two weekends ago.

2. A bunch of Furies got treated to lots of shiny new cybergear at

a place called Rael's in Night City.

3. Zap stole the AV while he was in Night City.

4. Zap and part of the gang did a road trip to Salt Lick three weeks

ago. While there, Zap said he had business to take care of and

left for a couple of days.

5. Zap says we're supposed to kill Jericho Jones.

6. Zap's input, Jet, broke up with him last week and moved to Night

City.

Clue #1 can be used to search police records to find that a person

matching Zap's description was picked up on disturbing the peace

charges in a Night City club called the Rainbow Nights. The

characters might be able to find out from a savvy waitress that Zap

was seen talking biz in the corner with Micky the fixer.

Clue #6 can be used to track down Jet, and find out from her that Zap

got a big wad of cash from "some fixer" to "waste Jericho Jones".

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Bright Lights

If the characters check out the cyberware on the dead Furies, and make

an average (+15) CyberTech skill check, they'll determine that it's of

local manufacture, and find out its serial number. They can chase

that down by either making the right connections (for 200 eb and an

average Streetwise or easy Streetdeal skill check) or by an difficult

CyberTech skill check. The designer is Rael Sanchez, a Night City

ripperdoc operating out of Rael's Bodysculpting and Tatoo. (p. 98 in

Night City).

Time to head into the city! Note that the Fury is too dense to report

the characters' movements to Kruger Bioprime. Their laced-out brains

are filled with only one thought - ultraviolence on Jericho Jones.

If the characters pay a visit to Rael's Bodysculpting, and make an

average (+15) notice skill check, they'll see that Rael has some

concealed security cameras. If they grease Rael's palm enough, or

intimidate, or whatever, he'll let them take a peek at the footage

taken when the Furies came to visit. After about 2 hours of watching

the Furies bounce around the clinic, harass other customers, and have

black cyberware installed, they'll catch Zap, the Furies' leader, say

to Rael, "Good thing Micky gave us cash!" Hmm.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

You're So Fine

Characters who are fixers and are familiar with Night City will

automatically have heard of Micky. Characters with Streewise skill

will recognize her name on a successful skill check of average

difficulty. Micky is a fairly well-known edgerunner who works

primarily out of a dingy gym on the edge of the Zone.

To get info from Micky our heroes will either have to pay, bully, or

hack her data system. It'll take some serious finagling to see Micky,

in any case. If Jericho is with the characters, she'll take off and

order her bodyguards to kill Jericho. If not, she'll demand 12,000 eb

for the information. She can be bargained down as far as 5,000 eb.

Or, the characters can try to intimidate/persuade/fast

talk/seduce/interrogate. But, she's one tough cookie, and her

bodyguards won't take kindly to interrogation or intimidation.

The characters could also try to wrest the data from Micky's data

systems.

One way or another, the characters find out from Micky that Charles

Marsh hired her to deal with the Fury. (Jericho's fears are indeed

true!) Micky has done other work for Mr. Marsh and Kruger Bioprime,

including the vehicle roundup carried out by the Icemen. Furthermore,

she knows that Charles is working on some sort of secret base. She

doesn't know where. She'll even reveal that Malachi Jones is paying

the Fury to lean on the Sky Mesa tribe. Micky thinks this is a truly

amusing state of affairs.

Jericho's reaction to the information Micky provides is a mixed one.

Jericho is outraged at the news that his own father hired the

wastelanders to rough up the Sky Mesa tribe. He also doesn't

understand why. Jericho is properly justified, and not unsurprised

when he learns that Kruger Bioprime is trying to kill him. It only

hardens his resolve to make Malachi see the light.

The real question is, do the characters think their job is done? If

the characters are of a mind to teach Kruger a lesson, then just push

on.

Of course, Jericho feels that this is just tip of the iceberg, and

that they should try to push a bit further. He'll try his best to

persuade them to do so, and if he can't he'll vow to "do it on his

own" if he has to. Once again, the GM should play this up for maximum

compassion/anti-establishment/potential-monetary-gain effect. If the

characters bag out, fine. Jericho promises to send his brother to pay

them (which he'll do, but only with 5,000 eb.) They'll read about the

battle that Jericho, the Joneses, and the Sky Mesa tribe fight against

the Kruger ops at Cadence Canyon.

If the characters want to continue, then Jericho decides it's time to

tell Malachi. He'll travel home to Salt Lick, and meet his father,

who is overjoyed to see him. They'll go have a heart-to-heart. Since

Malachi doesn't know that the characters are working for Jericho,

unless they told him, he'll credit the characters' accounts with

10,000 eb. If they don't have an account, he'll surreptitiously slip

'em the cash. Either way, they won't find out about it until after

the next episode in the adventure.

Malachi and Jericho will emerge a couple of hours later, and call an

emergency meeting. The Sky Mesa tribe will travel down to Salt Lick

to join in.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

The War Council

The chiefs of the Jones tribe and the Sky Mesa tribe have decided to

let the cat out of the bag. Malachi will announce, with great shame,

the whole story about Kruger to the tribes. He tells them about the

secret base, and about his suspicions. Jericho tells them about the

Kruger connection to the Fury attacks. The tribes are incensed!

A quick vote is taken by the tribes, and the decision is unanimous -

they must rid Salt Lick of Kruger Bioprime. They begin to draw up

their plans to do so.

Malachi takes the characters aside, and thanks them for returning his

son. He tells them about their payment, and tells them, gravely, that

he is forever in their debt for saving his son. He informs them that

they are not obligated to join in the battle against the Cadence

Canyon base. He offers them a car to return them to Night City, turns

on his heel, and leaves.

Now, what kind of people are the characters? Here's the real test.

Do they leave the battered tribes to fight alone against the sinister

Kruger Bioprime? They might. In fact, it's really good theatrics if

they do, and then have second thoughts, and come screaming back into

the middle of the firefight at Cadence Canyon, just in time to turn

the tide against the highly trained Kruger ops.

But, if they don't, that's OK too. They'll read about the horrendous

battle at the podunk town of Salt Lick, and the allegations of the

Jones tribe that they were used as guinea pigs. Jericho will call

them three days later from a hospital bed, and tell them that their

payment is on the way. He also tells them that the tribes discovered

that the corp had infected some tribe members with the virus, and that

they had gotten the cure from a lab in the base. He thanks them, and

hangs up. The next day, an AV-4 - the same one that the Fury was

using - shows up, and a Sky Mesa nomad hands 'em the keys.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Cadence Canyon

The Jones and Sky Mesa tribes may have some difficulty in their

attack, because the Kruger facility is well guarded. Cadence Canyon

is at the end of a dirt road, off of what used to be highway 145.

Highway 145 winds out of Salt Lick to the north, towards the

foothills. It's a narrow, two lane asphalt road badly in need of

repair. Boulders, rocky outcropping's, and bare earth surround the

base, and the only cover is a few scraggly trees and bushes.

The tribes plan to attack at 1 AM. The Jones's weatherman predicts it

will be a moonless night, so the nomads may be able to surprise the

guards and effect a successful breakin. Jericho will lead a

hand-picked band of Sky Mesa nomads in a stealthy rear attack, while

Malachi will take a much larger group and use them in a frontal

assault.

There are 6 guards, 2 "Section 7's" (highly trained security ops), a

research team of 9, 4 administrative personnel, and 2 executives at

Cadence Canyon. A fairly sophisticated electronic surveillance

network monitors the facility at all times, which the nomads will have

to defeat or circumvent in order to get in.

It is a two-floor facility, with the labs on the ground floor, and the

offices on the second floor. There is an AV pad on the roof, and the

security team makes regular patrols in the AV (about every hour and a

half).

The rest of the details are up to the GM...

Cast of Characters

MALACHI JONES

ROLE: Nomad (65 Char. Pts)

INT: 6 REF: 10 TECH: 5

COOL: 7 ATTR: 7 LUCK: 7

MA: 6 BODY: 8 EMP: 9

RUN/RND: 18 LEAP: 4

LIFT: 320 CRRY: 80

BTM: -3 IP: 0

SAVE: 8 REP: 0

_____________________________________

Location: Head|Torso|R.Arm|L.Arm|R.Leg|L.Leg:

: 1 | 2-4 | 5 | 6 | 7-8 | 9-0 :

Armor SP: 0 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 :

-------------------------------------

_____________________________________

:Light Ser. Cri. Mor0 Mor1:

:OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO:

Stun: 0 1 2 3 4 :

-------------------------------------

:Mor2 Mor3 Mor4 Mor5 Mor6:

:OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO:

Stun: 5 6 7 8 9 :

-------------------------------------

CAREER SKILLS

family: +5 ( ) endurance: +4 (BODY)

awareness/notice: +3 ( INT) wilderness survival: +1 ( INT)

athletics: +9 ( REF) brawling: +2 ( REF)

driving: +3 ( REF) melee: +4 ( REF)

rifle: +3 ( REF) basic tech: +6 (TECH)

PICK-UP SKILLS

strength feat: +1 (BODY) swimming: +1 (BODY)

interrogation: +1 (COOL) oratory: +1 (COOL)

human perception: +1 ( EMP) interview: +1 ( EMP)

accounting: +1 ( INT) shadow/track: +1 ( INT)

stock market: +1 ( INT) fencing: +1 ( REF)

martial art(___________): +1 ( REF) pilot dirigible: +1 ( REF)

AV tech: +1 (TECH) first aid: +1 (TECH)

forgery: +1 (TECH) pick pocket: +1 (TECH)

CYBERWARE

CyberOptics: Infrared

ARMOR

Armor EV SP EB

Flack Vest 1 20 200

WEAPONS

Weapon Type AC CN AV DAM SH ROF REL RNG EB

Dai Lung Streetmaster Med. AutoPistol +0 J E 2D6+3 12 2 UR 50m 250

H&K MP-2013 Lt. SMG +1 J C 2D6+3 30 32 ST 150m 450

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

JERICHO JONES

ROLE: Nomad (65 Char. Pts)

INT: 7 REF: 10 TECH: 10

COOL: 5 ATTR: 10 LUCK: 3

MA: 8 BODY: 5 EMP: 7

RUN/RND: 24 LEAP: 6

LIFT: 200 CRRY: 50

BTM: -2 IP: 0

SAVE: 5 REP: 0

_____________________________________

Location: Head|Torso|R.Arm|L.Arm|R.Leg|L.Leg:

: 1 | 2-4 | 5 | 6 | 7-8 | 9-0 :

Armor SP: 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 :

-------------------------------------

_____________________________________

:Light Ser. Cri. Mor0 Mor1:

:OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO:

Stun: 0 1 2 3 4 :

-------------------------------------

:Mor2 Mor3 Mor4 Mor5 Mor6:

:OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO:

Stun: 5 6 7 8 9 :

-------------------------------------

CAREER SKILLS

family: +5 ( ) endurance: +2 (BODY)

awareness/notice: +4 ( INT) wilderness survival: +3 ( INT)

athletics: +6 ( REF) brawling: +3 ( REF)

driving: +5 ( REF) melee: +1 ( REF)

rifle: +5 ( REF) basic tech: +6 (TECH)

PICK-UP SKILLS

resist torture or drugs: +1 (COOL) streetwise: +1 (COOL)

social: +1 ( EMP) accounting: +2 ( INT)

hide/evade: +3 ( INT) library search: +1 ( INT)

stock market: +1 ( INT) AV tech: +3 (TECH)

disguise: +1 (TECH) electronic security: +3 (TECH)

CYBERWARE

CyberAudio with: Wearman

Rippers (2D6 dam)

CyberOptics: Infrared

ARMOR

Armor EV SP EB

Kevlar T-Shirt 0 10 90

WEAPONS

Weapon Type AC CN AV DAM SH ROF REL RNG EB

Militech Arms Avenger Med. AutoPistol +0 J E 2D6+1 10 2 VR 50m 250

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CALEB JONES

ROLE: Nomad (63 Char. Pts)

INT: 6 REF: 10 TECH: 9

COOL: 4 ATTR: 2 LUCK: 9

MA: 10 BODY: 6 EMP: 7

RUN/RND: 30 LEAP: 7

LIFT: 240 CRRY: 60

BTM: -2 IP: 0

SAVE: 6 REP: 0

_____________________________________

Location: Head|Torso|R.Arm|L.Arm|R.Leg|L.Leg:

: 1 | 2-4 | 5 | 6 | 7-8 | 9-0 :

Armor SP: 0 | 0 | 20 | 20 | 0 | 0 :

-------------------------------------

_____________________________________

:Light Ser. Cri. Mor0 Mor1:

:OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO:

Stun: 0 1 2 3 4 :

-------------------------------------

:Mor2 Mor3 Mor4 Mor5 Mor6:

:OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO:

Stun: 5 6 7 8 9 :

-------------------------------------

CAREER SKILLS

family: +3 ( ) endurance: +2 (BODY)

awareness/notice: +8 ( INT) wilderness survival: +5 ( INT)

athletics: +3 ( REF) brawling: +3 ( REF)

driving: +3 ( REF) melee: +4 ( REF)

rifle: +5 ( REF) basic tech: +4 (TECH)

PICK-UP SKILLS

strength feat: +3 (BODY) oratory: +1 (COOL)

social: +1 ( EMP) botany: +1 ( INT)

education & gen. knowledge: +1 ( INT) history: +1 ( INT)

stock market: +1 ( INT) system knowledge: +1 ( INT)

dodge/escape: +1 ( REF) submachinegun: +2 ( REF)

forgery: +2 (TECH) gyro tech: +1 (TECH)

CYBERWARE

CyberOptics: Camera

CyberOptics: Targeting scope (+1 to smartgun att.)

Reflex Boost (Sandevistan - +2 init. rolls)

ARMOR

Armor EV SP EB

Hvy. Armor Jacket 2 20 250

WEAPONS

Weapon Type AC CN AV DAM SH ROF REL RNG EB

H&K MPK-11 Hvy. SMG +0 L C 4D6+1 30 20 ST 200m 700

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

MICKY THE FIXER

ROLE: Fixer (53 Char. Pts)

INT: 7 REF: 4 TECH: 6

COOL: 8 ATTR: 3 LUCK: 10

MA: 3 BODY: 2 EMP: 10

RUN/RND: 9 LEAP: 2

LIFT: 80 CRRY: 20

BTM: 0 IP: 0

SAVE: 2 REP: 0

_____________________________________

Location: Head|Torso|R.Arm|L.Arm|R.Leg|L.Leg:

: 1 | 2-4 | 5 | 6 | 7-8 | 9-0 :

Armor SP: 0 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 :

-------------------------------------

_____________________________________

:Light Ser. Cri. Mor0 Mor1:

:OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO:

Stun: 0 1 2 3 4 :

-------------------------------------

:Mor2 Mor3 Mor4 Mor5 Mor6:

:OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO:

Stun: 5 6 7 8 9 :

-------------------------------------

CAREER SKILLS

streetdeal: +5 ( ) intimidate: +6 (COOL)

persuasion or fast talk: +3 ( EMP) awareness/notice: +5 ( INT)

brawling: +3 ( REF) handgun: +2 ( REF)

melee: +3 ( REF) forgery: +4 (TECH)

pick lock: +5 (TECH) pick pocket: +4 (TECH)

PICK-UP SKILLS

endurance: +1 (BODY) swimming: +1 (BODY)

oratory: +1 (COOL) chemistry: +1 ( INT)

composition: +1 ( INT) library search: +1 ( INT)

physics: +1 ( INT) programming: +1 ( INT)

stock market: +1 ( INT) martial art(___________): +1 ( REF)

pilot gyro: +1 ( REF)

CYBERWARE

CyberOptics: Infrared

CyberAudio with: Wearman

Rippers (2D6 dam)

ARMOR

Armor EV SP EB

Spiked Leather Jacket 0 5 150

WEAPONS

Weapon Type AC CN AV DAM SH ROF REL RNG EB

Federated Arms X-22 Lt. AutoPistol +0 J E 1D6+1 10 2 ST 50m 150

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ROCKO

ROLE: Fixer (50 Char. Pts)

INT: 7 REF: 5 TECH: 5

COOL: 5 ATTR: 4 LUCK: 8

MA: 9 BODY: 4 EMP: 3

RUN/RND: 27 LEAP: 6

LIFT: 160 CRRY: 40

BTM: -1 IP: 0

SAVE: 4 REP: 0

_____________________________________

Location: Head|Torso|R.Arm|L.Arm|R.Leg|L.Leg:

: 1 | 2-4 | 5 | 6 | 7-8 | 9-0 :

Armor SP: 0 | 0 | 20 | 20 | 0 | 0 :

-------------------------------------

_____________________________________

:Light Ser. Cri. Mor0 Mor1:

:OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO:

Stun: 0 1 2 3 4 :

-------------------------------------

:Mor2 Mor3 Mor4 Mor5 Mor6:

:OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO:

Stun: 5 6 7 8 9 :

-------------------------------------

CAREER SKILLS

streetdeal: +2 ( ) intimidate: +8 (COOL)

persuasion or fast talk: +4 ( EMP) awareness/notice: +3 ( INT)

brawling: +2 ( REF) handgun: +3 ( REF)

melee: +3 ( REF) forgery: +4 (TECH)

pick lock: +5 (TECH) pick pocket: +6 (TECH)

PICK-UP SKILLS

interview: +1 ( EMP) anthropology: +2 ( INT)

composition: +1 ( INT) geology: +1 ( INT)

hide/evade: +1 ( INT) zoology: +1 ( INT)

archery: +1 ( REF) martial art(___________): +1 ( REF)

pilot gyro: +1 ( REF) cyberdeck design: +1 (TECH)

electronics: +1 (TECH)

CYBERWARE

CyberAudio with: Radio Splice

Slice 'n Dice (2D6 dam)

CyberAudio with: Digital Recording Link

ARMOR

Armor EV SP EB

Hvy. Armor Jacket 2 20 250

WEAPONS

Weapon Type AC CN AV DAM SH ROF REL RNG EB

H&K MPK-11 Hvy. SMG +0 L C 4D6+1 30 20 ST 200m 700

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

MICKY'S BODYGUARDS

ROLE: Solo (49 Char. Pts)

INT: 9 REF: 9 TECH: 3

COOL: 3 ATTR: 2 LUCK: 9

MA: 3 BODY: 6 EMP: 5

RUN/RND: 9 LEAP: 2

LIFT: 240 CRRY: 60

BTM: -2 IP: 0

SAVE: 6 REP: 0

_____________________________________

Location: Head|Torso|R.Arm|L.Arm|R.Leg|L.Leg:

: 1 | 2-4 | 5 | 6 | 7-8 | 9-0 :

Armor SP: 0 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 0 | 0 :

-------------------------------------

_____________________________________

:Light Ser. Cri. Mor0 Mor1:

:OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO:

Stun: 0 1 2 3 4 :

-------------------------------------

:Mor2 Mor3 Mor4 Mor5 Mor6:

:OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO:

Stun: 5 6 7 8 9 :

-------------------------------------

CAREER SKILLS

combat sense: +4 ( ) awareness/notice: +4 ( INT)

athletics: +5 ( REF) handgun: +7 ( REF)

martial art(___________): +5 ( REF) melee: +1 ( REF)

rifle: +4 ( REF) stealth: +2 ( REF)

submachinegun: +7 ( REF) weaponsmith: +1 (TECH)

PICK-UP SKILLS

swimming: +1 (BODY) intimidate: +1 (COOL)

seduction: +1 ( EMP) social: +1 ( EMP)

botany: +1 ( INT) chemistry: +1 ( INT)

shadow/track: +1 ( INT) dodge/escape: +2 ( REF)

operate hvy. machinery: +1 ( REF) paint or draw: +1 (TECH)

photo film: +1 (TECH)

CYBERWARE

CyberOptics: Infrared

Reflex Boost (Kerenzikov - +1 init. rolls)

Vampires (1D6/3 dam)

ARMOR

Armor EV SP EB

Light Armor Jacket 0 14 150

WEAPONS

Weapon Type AC CN AV DAM SH ROF REL RNG EB

Fabrica D'Armes M2012 Hvy. Assault Rifle +2 N P 6D6+2 30 4 VR 400m1400

Dai Lung Cybermag 15 Lt. AutoPistol -1 P C 1D6+1 10 2 UR 50m 50

Sternmeyer SMG 12 Hvy. SMG -1 L E 3D6 30 15 VR 200m 500

H&K MP-2013 Lt. SMG +1 J C 2D6+3 30 32 ST 150m 450

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rael Sanchez

ROLE: Medtechie (62 Char. Pts)

INT: 7 REF: 4 TECH: 8

COOL: 6 ATTR: 9 LUCK: 9

MA: 8 BODY: 7 EMP: 4

RUN/RND: 24 LEAP: 6

LIFT: 280 CRRY: 70

BTM: -2 IP: 0

SAVE: 7 REP: 0

_____________________________________

Location: Head|Torso|R.Arm|L.Arm|R.Leg|L.Leg:

: 1 | 2-4 | 5 | 6 | 7-8 | 9-0 :

Armor SP: 0 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 0 | 0 :

-------------------------------------

_____________________________________

:Light Ser. Cri. Mor0 Mor1:

:OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO:

Stun: 0 1 2 3 4 :

-------------------------------------

:Mor2 Mor3 Mor4 Mor5 Mor6:

:OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO:

Stun: 5 6 7 8 9 :

-------------------------------------

CAREER SKILLS

medical tech: +5 ( ) human perception: +4 ( EMP)

awareness/notice: +3 ( INT) diagnose illness: +1 ( INT)

education & gen. knowledge: +7 ( INT) library search: +3 ( INT)

zoology: +1 ( INT) basic tech: +6 (TECH)

cryotank operation: +2 (TECH) pharmaceuticals: +8 (TECH)

PICK-UP SKILLS

stock market: +2 ( INT) teaching: +1 ( INT)

cybertech: +8 (TECH)

CYBERWARE

CyberAudio with: Phone Link

Rippers (2D6 dam)

ARMOR

Armor EV SP EB

Med. Armor Jacket 1 18 200

WEAPONS

Weapon Type AC CN AV DAM SH ROF REL RNG EB

Dai Lung Streetmaster Med. AutoPistol +0 J E 2D6+3 12 2 UR 50m 250

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ZAP

ROLE: StreetPunk (65 Char. Pts)

INT: 10 REF: 5 TECH: 8

COOL: 7 ATTR: 4 LUCK: 10

MA: 9 BODY: 2 EMP: 10

RUN/RND: 27 LEAP: 6

LIFT: 80 CRRY: 20

BTM: 0 IP: 0

SAVE: 2 REP: 0

_____________________________________

Location: Head|Torso|R.Arm|L.Arm|R.Leg|L.Leg:

: 1 | 2-4 | 5 | 6 | 7-8 | 9-0 :

Armor SP: 0 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 :

-------------------------------------

_____________________________________

:Light Ser. Cri. Mor0 Mor1:

:OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO:

Stun: 0 1 2 3 4 :

-------------------------------------

:Mor2 Mor3 Mor4 Mor5 Mor6:

:OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO:

Stun: 5 6 7 8 9 :

-------------------------------------

CAREER SKILLS

intimidate: +2 (COOL) streetwise: +3 (COOL)

persuasion or fast talk: +2 ( EMP) awareness/notice: +2 ( INT)

brawling: +2 ( REF) melee: +2 ( REF)

rifle: +2 ( REF) stealth: +6 ( REF)

submachinegun: +4 ( REF) pharmaceuticals: +3 (TECH)

pick lock: +1 (TECH)

CYBERWARE

CyberAudio with: Amplified Hearing

Vampires (1D6/3 dam)

Slice 'n Dice (2D6 dam)

ARMOR

Armor EV SP EB

Flack Vest 1 20 200

WEAPONS

Weapon Type AC CN AV DAM SH ROF REL RNG EB

H&K MP-2013 Lt. SMG +1 J C 2D6+3 30 32 ST 150m 450

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CHARLES MARSH

ROLE: Corporate (51 Char. Pts)

INT: 7 REF: 5 TECH: 3

COOL: 2 ATTR: 7 LUCK: 7

MA: 7 BODY: 4 EMP: 9

RUN/RND: 21 LEAP: 5

LIFT: 160 CRRY: 40

BTM: -1 IP: 0

SAVE: 4 REP: 0

_____________________________________

Location: Head|Torso|R.Arm|L.Arm|R.Leg|L.Leg:

: 1 | 2-4 | 5 | 6 | 7-8 | 9-0 :

Armor SP: 0 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 :

-------------------------------------

_____________________________________

:Light Ser. Cri. Mor0 Mor1:

:OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO:

Stun: 0 1 2 3 4 :

-------------------------------------

:Mor2 Mor3 Mor4 Mor5 Mor6:

:OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO:

Stun: 5 6 7 8 9 :

-------------------------------------

CAREER SKILLS

resources: +6 ( ) personal grooming: +7 (ATTR)

wardrobe & style: +2 (ATTR) human perception: +5 ( EMP)

social: +1 ( EMP) persuasion or fast talk: +3 ( EMP)

awareness/notice: +1 ( INT) education & gen. knowledge: +4 ( INT)

library search: +7 ( INT) stock market: +4 ( INT)

PICK-UP SKILLS

anthropology: +1 ( INT) history: +1 ( INT)

wilderness survival: +2 ( INT) athletics: +1 ( REF)

dance: +1 ( REF) pilot dirigible: +1 ( REF)

AV pilot: +1 ( REF) submachinegun: +1 ( REF)

cyberdeck design: +1 (TECH) first aid: +1 (TECH)

pick pocket: +1 (TECH)

CYBERWARE

CyberAudio with: Amplified Hearing

ARMOR

Armor EV SP EB

Heavy Leather Suit 0 4 50

WEAPONS

Weapon Type AC CN AV DAM SH ROF REL RNG EB

Arasaka Miniami 10 Med. SMG +0 J E 2D6+3 40 20 VR 200m 500

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

GENERIC JONES TRIBE NOMAD

ROLE: Nomad (50 Char. Pts)

INT: 4 REF: 6 TECH: 5

COOL: 10 ATTR: 4 LUCK: 2

MA: 4 BODY: 6 EMP: 9

RUN/RND: 12 LEAP: 3

LIFT: 240 CRRY: 60

BTM: -2 IP: 0

SAVE: 6 REP: 0

_____________________________________

Location: Head|Torso|R.Arm|L.Arm|R.Leg|L.Leg:

: 1 | 2-4 | 5 | 6 | 7-8 | 9-0 :

Armor SP: 0 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 :

-------------------------------------

_____________________________________

:Light Ser. Cri. Mor0 Mor1:

:OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO:

Stun: 0 1 2 3 4 :

-------------------------------------

:Mor2 Mor3 Mor4 Mor5 Mor6:

:OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO:

Stun: 5 6 7 8 9 :

-------------------------------------

CAREER SKILLS

family: +4 ( ) endurance: +3 (BODY)

awareness/notice: +4 ( INT) wilderness survival: +1 ( INT)

athletics: +7 ( REF) brawling: +4 ( REF)

driving: +5 ( REF) melee: +3 ( REF)

rifle: +6 ( REF) basic tech: +3 (TECH)

PICK-UP SKILLS

wardrobe & style: +1 (ATTR) intimidate: +1 (COOL)

perform: +1 ( EMP) anthropology: +1 ( INT)

hide/evade: +2 ( INT) AV pilot: +1 ( REF)

aero tech: +1 (TECH) cybertech: +1 (TECH)

pharmaceuticals: +1 (TECH)

CYBERWARE

Big Knucks (1D6 + 2 dam)

ARMOR

Armor EV SP EB

Spiked Leather Jacket 0 5 150

WEAPONS

Weapon Type AC CN AV DAM SH ROF REL RNG EB

Kalishnikov A-80 Hvy. Assault Rifle -1 N E 6D6+2 35 25 ST 400m 550

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

GENERIC FURY

ROLE: StreetPunk (35 Char. Pts)

INT: 4 REF: 3 TECH: 4

COOL: 7 ATTR: 2 LUCK: 2

MA: 5 BODY: 4 EMP: 4

RUN/RND: 15 LEAP: 3

LIFT: 160 CRRY: 40

BTM: -1 IP: 0

SAVE: 4 REP: 0

_____________________________________

Location: Head|Torso|R.Arm|L.Arm|R.Leg|L.Leg:

: 1 | 2-4 | 5 | 6 | 7-8 | 9-0 :

Armor SP: 0 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 :

-------------------------------------

_____________________________________

:Light Ser. Cri. Mor0 Mor1:

:OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO:

Stun: 0 1 2 3 4 :

-------------------------------------

:Mor2 Mor3 Mor4 Mor5 Mor6:

:OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO:

Stun: 5 6 7 8 9 :

-------------------------------------

CAREER SKILLS

intimidate: +1 (COOL) persuasion or fast talk: +4 ( EMP)

awareness/notice: +1 ( INT) brawling: +1 ( REF)

dodge/escape: +2 ( REF) handgun: +1 ( REF)

martial art(___________): +3 ( REF) melee: +2 ( REF)

submachinegun: +1 ( REF) pick lock: +2 (TECH)

pick pocket: +3 (TECH)

CYBERWARE

CyberArm with: Heavy Pistol

ARMOR

Armor EV SP EB

Heavy Leather Suit 0 4 50

WEAPONS

Weapon Type AC CN AV DAM SH ROF REL RNG EB

Sternmeyer Type 35 Hvy. AutoPistol +0 J C 3D6 8 2 VR 50m 400

Sternmeyer Stakeout 10 Shotgun -2 N R 4D6 10 2 ST 50m 450

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

GENERIC SKY MESA NOMAD

ROLE: Nomad (50 Char. Pts)

INT: 8 REF: 6 TECH: 7

COOL: 6 ATTR: 2 LUCK: 7

MA: 3 BODY: 5 EMP: 6

RUN/RND: 9 LEAP: 2

LIFT: 200 CRRY: 50

BTM: -2 IP: 0

SAVE: 5 REP: 0

_____________________________________

Location: Head|Torso|R.Arm|L.Arm|R.Leg|L.Leg:

: 1 | 2-4 | 5 | 6 | 7-8 | 9-0 :

Armor SP: 0 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 :

-------------------------------------

_____________________________________

:Light Ser. Cri. Mor0 Mor1:

:OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO:

Stun: 0 1 2 3 4 :

-------------------------------------

:Mor2 Mor3 Mor4 Mor5 Mor6:

:OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO:

Stun: 5 6 7 8 9 :

-------------------------------------

CAREER SKILLS

family: +5 ( ) endurance: +4 (BODY)

awareness/notice: +1 ( INT) wilderness survival: +4 ( INT)

athletics: +4 ( REF) brawling: +4 ( REF)

driving: +3 ( REF) melee: +7 ( REF)

rifle: +3 ( REF) basic tech: +5 (TECH)

PICK-UP SKILLS

personal grooming: +1 (ATTR) interrogation: +1 (COOL)

seduction: +1 ( EMP) persuasion or fast talk: +1 ( EMP)

accounting: +1 ( INT) geology: +1 ( INT)

language(___________): +1 ( INT) mathematics: +1 ( INT)

programming: +1 ( INT) teaching: +2 ( INT)

heavy weapons: +1 ( REF) pilot dirigible: +1 ( REF)

electronics: +1 (TECH)

CYBERWARE

Big Knucks (1D6 + 2 dam)

CyberOptics: Antidazzle

ARMOR

Armor EV SP EB

Heavy Leather Jacket 0 4 50

WEAPONS

Weapon Type AC CN AV DAM SH ROF REL RNG EB

Uzi Miniauto 9 Lt. SMG +1 J E 2D6+1 30 35 VR 150m 475

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Generic Kruger Solo

ROLE: Solo (65 Char. Pts)

INT: 7 REF: 8 TECH: 6

COOL: 9 ATTR: 8 LUCK: 6

MA: 7 BODY: 6 EMP: 8

RUN/RND: 21 LEAP: 5

LIFT: 240 CRRY: 60

BTM: -2 IP: 0

SAVE: 6 REP: 0

_____________________________________

Location: Head|Torso|R.Arm|L.Arm|R.Leg|L.Leg:

: 1 | 2-4 | 5 | 6 | 7-8 | 9-0 :

Armor SP: 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 :

-------------------------------------

_____________________________________

:Light Ser. Cri. Mor0 Mor1:

:OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO:

Stun: 0 1 2 3 4 :

-------------------------------------

:Mor2 Mor3 Mor4 Mor5 Mor6:

:OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO:

Stun: 5 6 7 8 9 :

-------------------------------------

CAREER SKILLS

combat sense: +5 ( ) awareness/notice: +4 ( INT)

athletics: +4 ( REF) handgun: +6 ( REF)

martial art(___________): +3 ( REF) melee: +3 ( REF)

rifle: +5 ( REF) stealth: +6 ( REF)

submachinegun: +4 ( REF)

PICK-UP SKILLS

personal grooming: +1 (ATTR) strength feat: +1 (BODY)

oratory: +1 (COOL) streetwise: +1 (COOL)

gamble: +2 ( INT) hide/evade: +1 ( INT)

system knowledge: +1 ( INT) archery: +1 ( REF)

dance: +1 ( REF) pilot fixed wing: +1 ( REF)

basic tech: +1 (TECH) demolitions: +1 (TECH)

play instrument: +2 (TECH)

CYBERWARE

Reflex Boost (Kerenzikov - +1 init. rolls)

Vampires (1D6/3 dam)

CyberOptics: Infrared

ARMOR

Armor EV SP EB

Kevlar T-Shirt 0 10 90

WEAPONS

Weapon Type AC CN AV DAM SH ROF REL RNG EB

Uzi Miniauto 9 Lt. SMG +1 J E 2D6+1 30 35 VR 150m 475

H&K MPK-11 Hvy. SMG +0 L C 4D6+1 30 20 ST 200m 700

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Corporate Report: Kruger Bioprime

Industry: Biotech. Custom Organisms for the defense and agriculture

industries.

HQ: Dallas

Regional Offices: Night City, D.C., Chicago, Boston

Name & Location of major shareholder: Anthony Linsky, Geneva.

Employees: 1200; Troops: 110; Covert: 6

Background:

Kruger is a 10 year old company. Kruger specializes in

hard-to-design, hard-to-produce custom organisms for special

applications. Most of its business is with the US provisional

government. However, it is trying to diversify, hoping to be bought

out by Militech. It went public 5 years ago, and is doing well, but

not well enough to attract much new investment or interest. The Board

is hoping for a breakthrough with the Cadence Canyon project.

Equipment and Resources:

4 AV-4's (legally owned)

2 AV-4's (illegally obtained)

The home office and the Cadence Canyon facility have non-surgery

capable infirmaries.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Micky's Data Fortress

****

**CV T***

** *** *

*X12 A *

*34***G***BL*

** **

Legend

X = CPU

1,2,3,4 = MU

* = Data Wall

G = Code Gate

T = Terminal in Micky's Office

V = Micky's MetroCar

C = Security Cams in the Gym

L = Alarm

Data Walls: +4

Code Gate: +2

System INT: 3

System Skills:

Accounting

Library Search

Stock Market

Driving

Pharmaceuticals

Defense Location Code Notes

Watchdog M1 A -

Killer IV M4 B -

Stun M3 - In M3

File Type Location Locked?

HomeWare interface questions Inter-Office M1 no

New ACS alias Inter-Office M1 no

C. Bazer address/phone # Inter-Office M1 no

zombie process Inter-Office M1 no

dial-in line changes Inter-Office M1 no

NEW OPTIONS & MORE Inter-Office M1 no

RE: Memorandum ambiguities Inter-Office M1 no

Micky's Black Book Database M4 yes

Prime Client List Database M4 yes

Shit List Database M4 yes

Memo: creating warez that sells Business Records M1 no

Memo: dialogic stuff Business Records M1 no

Memo: CyDeck performance tests Business Records M1 no

Venn Diagram of Life Autumnal Business Records M1 yes

Q2 financials (draft) Business Records M2 yes

People we have Blackmail on Grey Ops M3 yes

Meeting reminder Grey Ops M3 yes

Did you get my voice mail? Grey Ops M3 yes

Kruger Grey Ops M3 yes

Financials Transactions M1 no

Balance Sheet Transactions M1 yes

Reincarnation

Ray A Reaux

reaux@csgrad.cs.vt.edu

Long

Fantasy

Startup

Any

Tired of your old campaign? Are the PCs getting somewhat institutionalized,

with no new challenged. Do you want to create a new campaign world, but

still retain the old PCs. These are suggestions for switching campaigns

gracefully, but also spectacularly. The idea is to give a reason and

background for the shift, and make it something more than "Bob, the game

master is tired of his old campaign, so he said that we found a cubic gate

and want to go plane hopping."

In order to switch campaigns, "kill" the PCs. Actually put them in a no-win

situation where they will all die. Remember, you want ALL the players

DEAD! Leaving one or two alive can cause problems since he or she may want

to resurrect the dead PCs. Also, do not arbitrarily kill them, make them go

out with a BANG, not a whimper. It is kind of unheroic to be told "Well

John, you were walking in a dark ally, and some assassin snuck up behind you

and stuck a knife in you. You're dead."

[In my campaign, I had the PCs fight an entire wagon train of vampires and

attendant werewolves. However, the PCs, being their normal perverse

selves, almost destroyed the vampires. They tracked the wagon train back to

the nasties' lair, which had an entire village of vampire and werewolves.

Even high level characters will be overwhelmed by an entire village of

vampires and werewolves, and the characters did destroy a lot of them in a

knock-down drag out fight, and they went out with a BANG.]

The idea of course is not to destroy the PCs but to give an imaginative way

to shift campaign worlds. So introduce several NPCs before they go to their

doom, and have one of them be a disguised demigod on a recruiting mission.

It would be great if the NPC is introduced early, (not as a demigod but as

someone of moderate competence but not overshadowing the PC), the rationale

being that he or she is scouting the PCs' abilities. When a PC dies, the

NPC demigod collects their spirit/soul.

The follow-up campaign can start on a different plane or, as in my campaign,

sometime in the future. It is up to them to learn about the new world that

they are in, and the stranger the world from what they know, the more

interesting it will be for them to explore. This is a good opportunity to

"retune" the PCs, that is adapt their possessions to the new campaign by

removing unwanted items.

[I started with the same PCs finding themselves naked on top of a butte.

They saw two bodies near by, an unconscious man, and a summoning circle.

They later found out that they have been summoned by the three into their

future to either redeem or destroy their people. Turns out an evil force

called the Blood God had convinced humans to wipe out most of the other

races, and had then enslaved the humans, all but one nation of "good"

humans. The old gods were no longer worshipped, and forgotten.]

If you shift them into a campaign setting into the future, you can tantalize the

PCs with things familiar from their time. For instance:

[The PCs discovered that there was a "Tomb of Heroes" built just after their

"death" and dedicated to them for their heroic services in the past

campaign.]

History can also provide interesting side plots such as trying to get

information about what happened to their people, or even how to regain what

they have lost. For instance, to regain their favorite magic items, they

might have to look in old dusty tomes to find it, and once they do, how do

they get it back from whoever owns it now, if anyone. And their magic items

may now have history, after all would it not be interesting to know that the

that their +3 longsword named Brightwind was used in the Orc Campaign and is

now known by the Orcs as Crouch Splitter. You can also have the magic items

change, gaining/losing powers. Or else, as in my campaign:

[ The PCs went to the Tomb, where each found their best magic item from past

with a special supplemental power thrown in by the demigods so that they

could meet their god-ordained test. Along similar lines, they found that an

old NPC they knew, a dragon, was now the grandaddy of all dragons and the

only good dragon left alive.]

Prophecies and old histories work well. And what is written is never the

same as what actually occurred. You could have fun with the effects of

distortions on historical recollections. "Hmm, is that the church I

established. Their interpretation of my writings was never what I intended,

I guess I have to set them straight." Or perhaps their battles have been

exaggerated out of proportion by minstrels. " Hey, he's singing about me

when I held the pass at Dragon's Beak. Did I really hold it against 50

trolls by myself, I thought there were only 7, and I thought you were there

Uruk."

If you are prophecy minded, the PCs might have to unravel prophecies to

figure out why they are where they are. And if you do time translation,

since it is into the future, you don't have to worry about paradoxes.

[ The PCs had to wade through old books of history they found in the Tomb of

heroes and tomb of kings to find out that their reason for being there was

to be judged by the gods. They found clues in old folk songs which spoke of

them and their deeds, as well as what the gods had inspired prophetic bards

to compose. They had to look at prophecies from the Red Book of Calcalsan

the Mad, an ancient prophet who lived after the PCs time, and was known for

his convoluted, but always correct prophecies.]

If you use this campaign shifting method, you need an epic villain,

something other than that nest of werewolves to kill. A quest format may be

appropriate where everything leads up to a final confrontation.

[In my campaign, the PCs were up against the Blood God who was an ancient

elf who had disguised himself as a human to lead the humans to destruction.

He wanted revenge because humans had destroyed his wife and nation in ages

past. The PC's eventually got to the Blood God, after wading through giants,

dragons, and his ogre legions, but was at a dilemma as to what to do with

this elf, the last of his race. They chose to kill him instead of showing

mercy. The major gods judged humans as flawed and rabid, with no capacity

for mercy, and decided to destroy the world and remake it.]

This led to another, more spectacular way of changing campaigns.

[ In my campaign, several of the lesser gods, including the one who had

chose them, sided with the humans and took the most worthy of them with them

through a tunnel of light to another plane. So began a third campaign, the

exploration of a new world, rebuilding of a civilisation, and the evolution

of the PCs into demigod hood. ]

Sutekh and Adaz move house or Real Estate, cheap. Adventurer's Dream

Jeff Stehman

stehman@onyx.southwind.net

Medium

Fantasy

Quest

Building

Undead

[Editor's note. What was written below was not intended for the net.plot.book

but as a kind of follow up on Jeff's great net stories about Sutekh and Adaz

now happily married and living in the temple. The plot idea at end is a great

one and after talking with Jeff, decided that this was as good a way to

present it as any! Hope you find such housing for your PCs]

Now, Sutekh tries to be a reasonable man. Understanding that living on the

grounds of a temple in the boondocks is not his wife's idea of paradise, he

agreed to quit his job and move to a city. He even went so far as to allow

her to make most of the arrangements for the move, hire the servants, etc.

He finds out, belatedly, that they are moving into a huge mansion they could

not reasonably be expected to afford. How are they managing this, he asks.

It's being given to us, Adaz replies. Why, he inquires. We promised to

renovate the house and raise the standards of the neighborhood, she replies.

Oh, I see; and how, might I ask, are we going to do that? Don't worry, she

answers, it will only be a few days work-- maybe a few nights, too. Blink,

blink. Are there undead in this house?

Got it in one. It seems ancestors of some rather well-to-do family have not

been resting in peace. Many of them meddled in dark arts and set themselves

up as protectors of their own crypts. Over the years, this trickled down to

those who had nothing to do with light arts, much less dark arts. The

current heir is understandably a little upset, as he would is hoping for a

little peace and quiet upon his death. In order to break the curse, a new

family must take up permanent residence in the house. Naturally, no one is

that stupid, except Sutekh's wife. The heir claims that the undead don't

bother anyone as long as their personal space is not violated. (Over the

years their personal space has grown to encompass most of the house.)

Undead, however, are a rather touchy subject from Sutekh. He recently had

the crap beat out of him by one vampire, spent five weeks in an infirmary,

and then got bitten by another vampire. The heir promises that there are no

vampires in the family, but he is rather vague on what all is in there. Oh,

a variety of things, he says. Wee.

Adaz has apparently already taken the time to clear a wing of the house for

living space, while Sutekh is expected to take care of the rest of the

house. (Notice that he hasn't actually volunteered for anything yet, nor

been offered a choice.) At least she has been kind enough for an old

clerical friend to help in this endeavour, but she sees this as an ideal

opportunity for her husband. You see, while staying at the temple, any

time he was called upon by king and country to use his talents as a spy, he

was gone for two weeks to two months. (Phantom Steed is his best spell;

cuts travel time *way* down.) And that was two or three times a year.

Inconvenient when one has a three year old son whose growth one would like

to witness. But now that is all a thing of the past. When he gets the

irresistible urge to fill his hand with steel, he need only walk down the

hall!

Yes, that's right, it's an adventurers dream home. What are you up to

today dear? I was thinking about flushing that wight out of the west wing.

Okay, but try not to be late for lunch. Heck, there's even treasure in

those crypts.

Anyone want to buy a house *real* cheap?

The Changeling Curse

John Hays

John_Hays@Brown.Edu

Short

Fantasy

Quest

Any

The curse of an ancient evil Wizard King of an extinct, or nearly so,

race*, placed with his dying breath against the Human, Dwarven, and Elvan

races begins to rise after several centuries. A wizard, who was but a

young boy at the final battle has finally determined the location of the

Wizard King's lab. Due to his advancing age and the dangers involved he

needs a party of adventures to retrieve the papers of the long dead King,

so he can determine the nature of the curse, and plan to defeat it.

* The race was a race of Changelings, capable of assuming the form and

specific appearance of any humanoid. The Wizard King planned to have the

Dwarves and Elves annihilate by having his race attack the two in the

others' appearances. The Elves and Dwarves became so entangled in the

war, that they couldn't see what was happening until the humans made them

listen and see what was happening. Then the three races joined forces to

eradicate the changelings.

Secret Nation

Alaric B. Williams

alaric@abwillms.demon.co.uk

Medium

Sci-Fi

Cyberpunk

Investigation

Intrigue

Any

Netrunner PC is asked by journalist to intercept terms of treaty/declaration

of war due to be sent from enemy HQ to Whitehouse. PC is to hack into

communications node in the middle of the Pacific, set up a filter for that

message, and basically sit and wait for it. Simple enough.

However, while waiting, with a puff of error messages, a shocked looking NPC

materialises in the Node. He was connected through to his girlfriend on

holiday somewhere when the line broke up and he appeared here. He knows

little about comms and is mostly shocked. When the PC tells him to send a

hangup code, which should clear the problem, it doesn't seem to work. Just

brings up cryptic error messages that give slight clue:

'NODE #2342876123@NORTHPOLE - Invalid security access block, request

packet denied'

Typical computer gibberish. Anyway, the message duly turns up, and the PC

flits off to sell it to his journalist, who will publish it long before the

official release date, getting tonnes of money.

Anyway, a couple of missions later, the same NPC who was in the Node is

found in the PCs house - sitting in the lounge when the PC gets home. He is

a mostly cybernetic type, who head butted a speeding bullet a few years ago,

and has lost most of his personality. He is a programmed killing machine

under the control of a secret nation on the North Pole.

Anyway, he is very obtuse in talking, and sounds kinda mechanical and flat.

Answering all the PCs questions, although not very usefully, he takes the PC

outside to a small unmarked van. Any attempts at attack he will simply dodge

with unbelievable speed, thanks to his super hi-tech cyberware. If

necessary, he will pick up and carry the PC. But he will not hurt them.

When he gets them to the truck, inside is a powerful microwave transmitter

and a weird gadget, which is a very advanced network access device - it

scans in your entire molecular structure, converting you to energy in the

process. As you are actually in there rather than having senses fed back to

your brain through cables, the interaction quality is superb, plus the fact

that you can be rematerialised at another similar doorway.

This doorway leads to an assembly hall at the North Pole nation, who are a

secret society trying to sort out the screwed up economic state of the

planet for purely moral reasons. They have several underground bases, and

are alleviated of the problems of cold arctic conditions by having

everything exist in computers. They only materialise in the real world to

fix things and perform assassinations etc. in the real world. They have good

motives, but will kill, lie, and cheat to reach them.

Anyway, their interest with the PC is what was he doing intercepting that

treaty? They are suspicious that if they have successfully kept an entire

nation secret by keeping it solely in a few kilos of computer, another group

might, possibly intent upon world dictatorship, and they suspect the PC of

being an agent.

Which basically leaves the PC with a few choices:

1) Work out a way of convincing them of his purely monetary motives for

taking the data

2) Try and escape, possibly to alert world governments of the secret nation

if they are vindictive

3) While doing one of the above, stumble across a REAL other secret nation

devoted to world power!!!

4) Join the secret nation and get some cool software/cyberware,

becoming one of their real world operatives

UFO Conspiracy

Nils Jeppe

Nils_Jeppe@digital.fido.de

Short

Cyberpunk

Investigation

Intrigue

Any

One neat plot idea I have for a Cyberpunk(tm) game, but haven't tried yet, is

that the players have to uncover the UFO Conspiracy: The U.S. government, in

alliance with some other nations and large corporation's, has made a secret

treaty with an alien race from Zeta Reticuli. The aliens offer the humans

technology; in exchange, they are allowed to abduct people and cattle and to

perform experiments on them, use women to implant alien foetuses (sp?), etc.

The government is trying to cover up this, of course, so the players will have

all kinds of fun with government, cooperation and later on, alien agents. The

scenario would include interviewing abductees, examining landing sites, or

perhaps even a crash site, breaking into corp/government data bases (to unearth

secret information), infiltrating military bases, and so on. It would probably

work best as a Cyber style games (or even Lovecraft Mythos games); and perhaps

shouldn't be fashioned into your existing long term campaign, because it has a

VERY large impact on your world. Should be a cool one-shot or short term

campaign. PS, to get ideas I would recommend getting onto the various UFO

related newsgroups/echoes on the various networks.

Sheep killer

Mark Green

mark.green@almac.co.uk

Short

Fantasy

Investigation

Rural

Werewolf

A small village named Stonemire is plagued by a series of sheep killings

during winter. A fair has stopped nearby whilst the mountain passes are

frozen. A friendly Troll living underneath a nearby bridge is arrested for

the killings. A Bugbear has moved into a nearby deserted Watchtower and when

vanquished has been feeding sheep remains to his guard dog. However, the

true killer is a werewolf travelling with the fair/circus. A final fight

takes place in an old windmill. I involved a sub-plot about a local Swanmay

living beneath a waterfall and a Kobold bandit group camped out on the

nearby frozen lake. The winter effects (icicles collapsing in the swanmay's

lair, the frozen lake combat, the effects of snow on tracking) play a large

part in this scenario, which was paced for two start-up characters. They

must trade some maps found at the Kobold camp to their local Sage in

exchange for the loan of silver weapons to defeat the Werewolf. They find

out about this necessity in a book on Shapechangers in the Study of a Zombie

at the graveyard. Other plots abound in this sleepy village!

The Alchemist's Palafitte

Mark Green

mark.green@almac.co.uk

Short

Fantasy

Exploration

Building

A Palafitte (Large wooden construction on stilts) sits out on a lake. It

was the Temple of an alchemist, and is shaped as a large cross. Each of the

four wings has an "elemental" theme; Earth, Air, Fire and Water. The central

Tower cannot be entered until a special elemental treasure has been

collected from each of the four quarters. The Palafitte is filled with

Manikins, animated human dummies who attack slowly, are highly armoured, but

have "strings" which can be severed. The central tower contains floating

globes which are the remnants of the soul of the old alchemist, and cast

spells at the party. This adventure was run for five startup characters.

BLUE VELVET

Graeme Adamson with Karl Kaufmann

graemea@iaccess.za

Medium

Fantasy

Quest

Affliction

Urban

City

Scenario: The PCs have been transported to Earth, circa 1995, either on a

quest, or mysteriously for an unknown reason. They cannot leave until they

have recovered a plane travelling artefact (the Blue Velvet Orb), which is

located at the top of the Post Office tower in London (or city of your

choice), and used it at a particular location at a particular time (the

artefact will guide them there as the time approaches.

Start: They find themselves in a small room, and can hear a lot of noise

behind the single door. Behind the door of this storeroom is a huge hall

currently being used for a Fantasy Role-playing tournament. They will

likely get comments about their great costumes, and will initially hear

things coming from the 100 or so gaming tables like "Fireball! Hit the

floor!". Feel free to embellish. If any trouble is caused, the police will

be called by the organisers.

Problems:

1: Magic spells and effects have a 25% chance of failure; if a spell

fails, there is a 70% chance of it doing something strange (like a Fireball

becoming a burst of flowers), a 25% chance of it fizzling, and a 5% chance

of it backfiring.

2: The Post Office tower is locked (mechanically and electronically) and

guarded.

3: The PCs will speak English with a strange (noticeable) accent.

4: The will have to con some jewellers into accepting their gold/silver coins.

5: The appointed time is a week away, so they'll have to find lodging.

6: The appointed time and place: Wembley Football Stadium at kickoff time

of the FA Cup Final - in the centre of the soccer field (and the tickets are

sold out).

7: All Earth items will disintegrate gradually after they leave.

8: All the usual problems you'd expect when a bunch of D&D adventurers go

wandering around a modern day city.

9: Clerics cannot regain spells. They can however use their learnt spells

(with no chance of failure, but they have to last a week).

This adventure was a classic in our campaign. The GM at the time is now

playing a woman the characters met at a fencing tournament they stumbled

onto, and who accompanied the party back. Some notable events: the paladin

scored a critical hit on an opponent at the fencing tournament, apologised

to the victim, who was badly winded, then did it again! (two twenties in a

row from an 8th level paladin with 18-odd strength - he was disqualified).

The party was arrested, and had to escape from Scotland Yard. The FA Cup

Final was delayed slightly after a Fireball went off (giving us enough time

to get to the centre of the field and go).

The Forgetful Queen

Graeme Adamson

graemea@iaccess.za

Medium

Fantasy

Intrigue

Any

This plot revolves around a low-level female PC. There can be other members

in the party, but this plot focuses on her.

BACKGROUND: The female PC believes she is the daughter of some low-class

rural folk in a small country. She is aware that she bears a resemblance to

the current queen who is married to a young king. The queen disappears,

believed kidnapped, and forces are mobilised to try to find the missing queen.

The PC, while adventuring in other lands, gets attacked several times by

assassins (more than several; more like many), and discovers from one of

them that they were hired to kill the queen by some of the nobles. This

should happen a number of times, making the PC and her companions very

annoyed. She is sure that she definitely isn't the queen. In an attempt to

find out what's going on, she returns to her home country (still under

attack from assassins).

There she is discovered by the local Thieves' Guild, and they fill her in on

some of the details; namely: she is actually the queen, but was mind wiped by

the king's Grand Vizier under orders from the king, after she discovered

some of the king's nefarious dealings. She was given the memories of a rural

woman with an uncanny resemblance to her, and switched with her to keep her

in a safe place (ie. out in the country). Later he decided to kill her, so

as to bring suspicion of treason upon some of the more powerful nobles,

giving him the chance to eliminate them. The PC accidentally escaped though,

and found herself adventuring, while the rural woman's body has now been

found, and all believe it to be the queen, except some nobles, who want to

kill the PC so as to be able to present two bodies and thwart the king's

plot. The Thieves' Guild offer to help because of the instability the state

of the country is causing to them.

They can smuggle the PC and her companions into the palace, where she can

confront the king and his crony. During the fight (or whatever develops), the

Vizier should get killed, to prevent him reversing the mind wipe. If the king

is killed, the throne passes to her, or alternatively to the next male heir

(GM's choice).

_____________________________________________________________________

APPENDIX I

HOW TO START A CAMPAIGN

A perennial favorite question on the net is ways to start a campaign. A

recent incarnation of this was from Joshua Felsteiner

(phr01ya@techunix.technion.ac.il) who wrote: [edited slightly] " Hi , I am a

new GM who has formed a group. The problem is how to have the players start.

I don't know how to tell the story of their arrival to the world! I mean how

they met or born? or are they already formed as a grouped from the beginning

and I should start from that point? I want to make it better than that. Any

help?"

Here is collection of responses to this question and similar. Have fun.

Talk about it startups

Brian Trosko

btrosko@netaxs.com

Short

Any

Startup

Any

I stick the players alone in a room for 15 minutes to a half an hour at the

start of the first session, and let them ad-lib it out. When I get back from

the store, where I've bought munchies, they tell me, and I take that data

and use it for adventure hooks. The only catch it, the players themselves

have to be reasonable about it. It might work for you, but then again, it

might not.

Friendly startup

Mike Masten

deadlock@hopi.dtcc.edu

Short

Any

Startup

Any

The player characters could be childhood friends that decide they want to go

out adventuring together before they settle into permanent jobs or something

in their community.

They all could have known someone that was a mutual friend to them and this

friend was killed/kidnapped/whatever. Therefore, they decide to help this

friend in need or a relative of this friend if the mutual friend is dead.

"The room grows misty..." startup

Phil Scadden

P.Scadden@gns.cri.nz

Medium

Fantasy

Startup

Any

An obvious way to start a campaign, and a mechanism very like that of plots

much loved by fantasy authors, is to simply announce as the party gather

round that they have been transported as of now, as is and as dressed,

straight into the fantasy world. This is probably best for shortish high

fantasy campaigns, as no opportunity to role-play anyone other than

themselves, but many players will enjoy this for a shorter period.

The extent to which they are exactly themselves can be varied. Within the

fantasy world they might suddenly find they have special powers, items on

them (eg pens, house keys, rings, etc) might be mighty items (as in Thomas

Covenant series) in the new world. Can also have tranformations from skinny

literature student to muscle-bound hulk with a innate sword-fighting skills.

I'd stick with personalities and particularly their real knowledge being

unaltered.

Language is special one. What I would do let them be aware that what they

hear other people speak is a strange tongue but within themselves, they can

understand the speech (except for words special to the fantasy setting that

wont translate). Eg "Graco" might be a monster from the GM's drug-crazed

imagination - they might get descriptions of Graco from NPC or find out the

hard way but it wont translate. With a little practise, they will find they

can speak back but not words that dont translate. Eg "semi-automatic

rifle", "saltpeter", and "bidet" might be good words that fail translation!

A typical opening might be telling them, " the room suddenly fills with

mist, and you feel the chill of an autumn night. Slowly the mist clears and

you find yourselves together within a circle of standing stones below a

bright night sky of strange stars. A eerie green fire licks at the standing

stones but even as you watch it grows dim and dies. You are obviously in a

high place, with deep valleys below you. Small clusters of flickering lights

indicate these are inhabited. As you look around to try and get your

bearings, you eyes are drawn to a dull light hanging over a mountain far

away. Sometimes red, sometimes greenish, the light seems somehow

unwholesome. You become aware of dark figures beyond the stone circle..."

Swinging this on players gathered to plan what do to and stopping the

narrative at that point is probably best way to introduce it. Enough has

been said to rouse the players curiousity. If they like the concept, you can

get into gritty detail of deciding what changes to make in the transition

(if any), high or low fantasy, assigning game values to their own

characters, etc.

Some thoughts on character death needed. Players are playing themselves and

are obviously likely to feel the world events somewhat more personally than

playing a made up character. Re-introducing a PC in another character isnt

quite the same either (but could be done, especially if the player didnt

enjoy playing themself). One option is to have players body slowly turn to

mist. To get the player back again should involve returning to gate,

expending gross power, and some drawbacks for the player concerned.

High fantasy ("we have brought here to save the world") is probably best

setting but only if player enjoy a little railroading. A much freer campaign

could begin with hearing an NPC beyond the standing stones say: "Oh

(expletive fails translation)! This isnt who we wanted!". They cant be sent

back but arent going to be persuaded to save the world either.

The real fun in this campaign setting comes from players trying to use their

20th century knowlege and technology in the fantasy world. I wouldnt rule

any technology out but would be very tough on adjudicating whether player

efforts would work or not. Playing fair, they should not bring in knowlege

from reference works that they didnt have in their memory at the moment the

game started. (A good reason for making the start a surprise and then

arguing for it). Ie they would have to know he formula for gunpowder etc.

off top of their heads when the game started to attempt it. Of course, the

GM can make life a little difficult without being obstructive with a little

care about what is in the game world. Eg (on gunpowder again), saltpeter

wont translate. Game world has never heard of it. Even if players knew the

gunpowder formula, do they know how to find or make potassium nitrate?

Likewise, steel (as opposed to wrought iron) may not be a known technology.

Do they really know enough engineering and metallurgy to create a furnace to

produce it? Of course, GM needs to bone up a bit on medieval technology but

since this is fantasy, only what the GM is confortable with need be there.

Consistancy is the thing.

Group Creation startup

Brian W. Gruidl

gruidlbw@garnet.cray.com

Short

Any

Startup

Any

What I like to do is give my group a brief idea of what is in our world and

let them create for themselves. I'm VERY open to their embellishing, but

will not allow magic items, special powers, etc. I then talk to each player

and "tweak" the character to fit into a certain area of the world. When we

reach agreement, I let him (all men - SORRY) search out information about

his region, politics, etc.

With respect to getting the group together, I have set up an Order of the

Tree (historically significant), whose charter is to seek adventure. This

gets rid of the uncomfortable "you meet in a bar" scenario.

Adventurer's children startup

Guy Robinson

guyr@emtex.com

Short

Fantasy

Startup

Any

They are the children, relatives or apprentices of an former party of

adventurers that have by and large retired or have been killed. It

therefore becomes natural that they might be gathered to attempt a to form a

second generation of that same party.

I would have the local survivors of the former party around to act as

mentors, role models and the source of an occasional hand if your players'

characters need to be rescued or ransomed. I would not make them too high

level (4-8 perhaps) so their capabilities are notable rather than

awe-inspiring.

If you adopt this I recommend you work out what ended the adventuring career

of the original party and make up character sheets for them using the rule

book guidelines on creating experienced characters. Perhaps there are some

matters left over that will warrant the new party's attention at some later

date.

You could have local landmarks bear signs of their experiences like the

place where the houses that the vengeful dragon burned down but which were

never rebuilt or the temple built around a fabulous altar stone brought back

from an expedition.

Treasure Map

Jay S. Robinson

jsrobins@silver.ucs.indiana.edu

Short

Any

Startup

Quest

Any

I'm starting a campaign tonight with a group of new players and was mulling

over the same question. I've come up with the idea that there used to be a

fellow we'll call Bob. Now Bob had a lot of gold/treasure/ whatever and

wanted it to be safe so he hid it/buried it/etc. and made a map. He then

tore this map into x number of pieces and got rid of them. (He had x kids?)

Anyway, after generations have gone by, the PC's find themselves in

possession of the pieces of the map, or at least a few of them. Those

pieces each contain enough info to get them to their home town, wherever

you're starting them out at. (Let me guess, Shadowdale.) And if this sounds

too bland, have some of the PC's not have parts of the map, but have vital

knowledge to the missing pieces. There are plenty of ways to elaborate...

Just an idea.

Kings choice startup

Craig L Wigda

clwigda@gdwest.gd.com

Short

Any

Fantasy

Startup

Any

The king summons several adventures for a mission (say 50) after a short

question and answer session you are asked to enter the door to your right.

And there is the party. Pick which characters are in the room in which order

and give them some time to talk to each other. Then the king comes in a

briefs them on their mission.

I have used this so I could have characters that were moderately experienced

but had not worked together. I hate it when I'm at a con and the GM says you

are a party of adventures that have adventured together for x number of

years. Then you all fight among your selves or do not act as a group.

New employer startup

Craig L Wigda

clwigda@gdwest.gd.com

Short

Any

Fantasy

Startup

Any

You are down and out on your luck or last party of adventures you worked

with are all dead/retired/kicked you out (character picked one) and you are

looking for a new group to adventure with because you are broke/have no home

to go to/have yet to full fill some purpose (again each character picked

one). After spending all day searching out clues to adventure or employment

you return to your room at the inn to find a note with a strange item (in

the adventure I ran it was a coin made of mithril). Note tells you to meet

(location of GMs choice, mine was the bar so the employer could see them

before talking to them, plus he started a fight in the bar to see how they

handled themselves).

I used this so I could have characters that were moderately

experienced but had not worked together. I hate it when I'm at a con and the

GM says you are a party of adventures that have adventured together for x

number of years. Then you all fight among your selves or do not act as a

group.

Wadda yer mean "Are we monsters?"...

Robert Hall

robert_hall@vnet.ibm.com

One-line

Fantasy

Startup

Any

You could just have them all be the subject of a monster summoning spell... :)

Lost in a dungeon startup

Daniel Romig

DCR124@psuvm.psu.edu

Short

Fantasy

Startup

Affliction

Dungeon

What i have done once or twice is to start the group in a dungeon. Don't

tell them how they got there just say, you wake up in a 10x10 room and you

see x strangers. Have everyone describe themselves and go from there. You

can make the dungeon large or medium, you must however, make it big enough

so everyone has to work together to get out. This builds trust in the group,

lets them get to know each other and that they can work really good as a

team. When they get out, they can say "hey", "we did pretty good getting

treasure, magic, whatever and maybe we should stick together"

This is good once in awhile but runs dry after the second or so time. I used

this before and it worked out fine.

"Wrong Company" Startup

Barbara Haddad

melchar@shakala.com

Short

Any

Startup

Urban

City

One option (that I find superior) is have them all come from the same

town/city. Have a tavern where all the 'wrong' people hang out [rebels,

artists] so that they will have a chance to drift together, meet each other

and decide to go out together and adventure. You might have a lot of fun

making their city of origin a fun place in and of itself -- have their

families play parts -- you can referee it for several games -- AND then

they'll always have a place to return to............

.....and it helps settle in the player's mind that their PCs ARE

rebels ..... that the 'normal' people live in cities and _stay_ there...

Bail with hooks startup

Chris Bourne

Shuldro@treehome.demon.co.uk

Short

Any

Startup

Affliction

Urban

If you have a campaign world/city/town which you've worked out in advance,

you should be able to prepare a sheet or two of background info about major

religions, a map of the general area showing major towns, that sort of

stuff. Give this out while they are rolling up characters. It's something

for the fast ones to read while they wait about :)

My favourite way of beginning an adventure is in jail - the party have all

been arrested in a riot/bar brawl. They may not have been involved, but the

watch just grabbed the nearest half dozen citizens and locked them up.

They can then be offered the standard approach by an influential stranger

who can get them off the hook IF they perform this leetle service for them...

Unless your players have played in your world before, it isn't a bad idea to

have an adventure which demands they travel right outside their own area, so

you don't have to go into huge detail about their previous life history.

Ideally you want an adventure which takes place somewhere NONE of the

characters will ever have been before.

As for background, any players who don't want to work out great detailed

backgrounds of their own can be told 'You are a dwarf from the mountains in

the north'/'You ran away from your farming home and became a thief, because

you didn't like your stepfather' etc. If the player doesn't actively seek a

detailed background, they will be happy with a minimal excuse for existing.

Those who do want a detailed background are capable of inventing their own

as a rule. They will say things like 'Are there villages in the hills, I

think my character lived on the edge of the wilderness learning to track and

hunt' To which you reply 'Uh, yeah, there's a village called Hillfort that

would do well. I expect your character hunted bighorn sheep, maybe wolves in

the winter, that sort of thing. There will have been orc raids to deal with

too...but only once every few years.' Then make a squiggle on the map for

the player's village (which you just invented).

Startup Ideas

Michal Bartek

mbartek@acs.ucalgary.ca

Short

Any

Startup

Any

1.) Everyone meets in a bar and spontaneously decides to trust their

lives with each other. (Heard this one before?)

2.) The campaign starts just after everyone has been kidnapped by an evil

force. The characters MUST work together to save their skins.

3.) Some common goal (defeating evil group) draws them all together.</