Adventure Ideas: Page 2

Note: The adventure idea below has sentimental value to me as it's based on one of the earliest adventures I ran with the release of BTS-2. It was my intent to introduce the PC's to the rainy days of Washington State (they'd all just moved from Los Angeles, CA.)

Someday, perhaps as a fundraiser for the this website, I may write up the adventure as I ran it at my table; AKA my version of the story, events, lore, and NPC's, etc.

The Rain Man

The player characters (PC's) are driving long distance (4 hours or more) to a location where they've been called to help with investigating a supposed / apparent paranormal / supernatural activity. The call was urgent; whatever the situation is, the investigators on-hand is not enough to deal with the activity. Or person something happened to the investigators and the team needs to replace them. Whatever the reason, it was an urgent call, asking for the team to head out ASAP.

By the time the team is on their way, its night, its dark, its raining, and they're driving along a dark road with lots of turns, foliage, steep hills, and other obstructions, making for poor driving conditions and visibility.

The GM or someone on the team should prompt the PC's into briefing themselves, discussing and making plans for the upcoming case (or simply just having a conversation) while driving. The GM should determine ahead of time who's driving, and at an unexpected moment during the conversation, the GM shouts for the driving PC's name to look out!
Example: “JOE, LOOK OUT! SOMEONE'S ON THE ROAD!”

After their driving skill roll is made, regardless if they succeed in dodging the person or not, once they've skidded to a halt and/or look behind them, no one's there! Its as if the person they almost ran over (or did ran over if the roll was bad) simply vanished into thin air! As the group reflects on what they saw (“it happened so quickly, but I noticed that...”), its obvious that something was amiss.

For example, the GM can provide details like: “Joe, you're sure it was a man judging by his physique, and he was wearing a hooded rain coat; but it looked old and tattered.

Mark, you thought you saw what looked like a dangerous weapon in his right hand (GM can determine what).

Marie, you didn't notice any of these features as your eyes were drawn to his, for they seemed to be glowing; glowing brighter than the head lights of the car. You couldn't make out his face however as the hood obscured it.”

They should deduce that something paranormal happened here. If any psychic PC's investigate near the spot where the person was standing, they'll get the appropriate psychic senses, trails and/or scents of paranormal / supernatural activity.

If the PC's discuss the incident further, the GM could gently encourage their discussion via a whispering devil on their shoulder, or with an NPC, offering some food for thought.
Example: “Someone appearing out of thin air in the middle of the road in front of your car... this is a classic paranormal event, and events like this often times happen for a reason. It could've been an entity, it could've been an illusion, it could've been a vision of a past event, or it could've been a premonition for all you know. But whatever it was, you have a nagging feeling that someone was trying to tell you something, or at least get your attention. But why?”

From here, a small town just happens to be a few miles ahead. A lit up advertisement billboard sign stands out like a beacon in the gloom of the rainy night, announcing that the next exit will lead them to a gas station. This is fortunate as the vehicle needs gas and the team can get drinks, snacks and bathrooms breaks while they're there. If the team's hungry (“Ya know, its about dinner time...”), there's a diner or hotel restaurant across the street from the gas station where a sign promises to have the “best burgers / shakes / pies / pizza / etc. around” (whatever food the PC's enjoy).

While at the gas station or restaurant, if one of the team inquires about the man in the rain coat, the local(s) suddenly tense up and turn away (“Umm... excuse me, I have other customers to attend to...”) and / or becomes hesitant / reluctant to talk about it.

While the locals are reluctant to talk to the PC's, someone else within earshot (probably a town eccentric) WILL come forward, introduce themselves, and tell the PC's about an old local legend; the legend of a serial killer (long before there was such a thing) who wore a tattered hooded rain coat while stalking & hunting people in and around the town down during rainy days, murdering them with a machete (or whatever deadly weapon the GM chooses).

Town Eccentric: “Who he is, or was, is a mystery; if anyone ever knew who he was... well, they took that secret to their grave. Most of us call him the 'Rain Man' since he appears on rainy days and always wears that damn rain coat. As far as why he only comes out during the rain, or why he kills people at random, or even at all... Who knows? Maybe he's on some quest for vengeance? Maybe he's possessed by the devil? Maybe he's just a sicko? I don't know why. But what I do know is that he's been haunting our town for more than a hundred years. Death... that didn't stop him, it just slowed him down. What I also know is that he still comes back during the rain, seeking out his next victim. Now, if you'll excuse me... I need to get home, lock my doors and hide until the rain lets up.”

What do the PC's do? They're supposed to be on their way to an investigation elsewhere, one that's at least two hours away. Their help is needed elsewhere. There are people waiting for them to start, or assist with, or back up, or pick up an investigation where another team had left off. Note: There should be some urgency to whatever paranormal activity is happening at the original destination; the PC's should be on the horns of a dilemma with this decision.

On the other hand, the PC's are in this town right now, and its experiencing a paranormal activity; one that's been going on for over a century. The people here are obviously terrified of the Rain Man. These people need help, even if they're too proud, or stubborn, or scared to admit it.

Also... its raining, and the paranormal activities taking place here means the Rain Man is out there, right now... potentially searching for his next victim. Even worse, the forecast says it will rain for the next day or two; the Rain Man will have plenty of time to hunt. Someone will likely be murdered before the rain is over.

Do the PC's simply leave? Abandoning this town to its haunted fate?

Does the party split up? Do some of them stay in town while the rest head to their original destination? Will those that stay in town be enough to deal with the Rain Man? And if something happens to either team, the other is at least two hours away before they can arrive to help.
Note: It the team splits, those who stay will need to rent a car, take an Uber, or get a ride from someone to get around. Also, whatever gear they have on hand is all they got, and carrying around obvious weapons could bring trouble via the County Sheriff Dept..

Does the team leave to investigate and solve the problem/trouble they originally came this way to investigate, and then return to this town to help? Hopefully before something bad happens?
Note: Of course, if the PC's leave and come back later, the Rain Man will have claimed a life (or two) before the PC's return. The County Sheriff will be out patrolling for a killer. The locals will be on high alert and even less talkative to the outsiders now. Even the town eccentric will be angry and less likely to help (or even want them there) after being abandoned by the PC's when they “knew” something was about to happen.

Town Eccentric: “Why should I help you now? You had the chance when it mattered, but y'all fled! And now, someone was killed, just like I told you would happen! You could've prevented that! And you know what else? The person that damn 'Rain Man' killed... he was a friend of mine; I don't have a lot of those, and now... I have one less.”

The Paranormal Activity

So just what is happening in this town?

Could it be an entity? And if so, why? What's attraction the entity?
Could it be a Haunting Entity or a Harmful Entity (see the Madhaven sourcebook), picking up on the residual P.P.E. of a vengeful man who's anger at the townsfolk wasn't resolved before he died? Was it something the townsfolk did that made him so angry? And if it was the townsfolk, whatever happened to him took place around one hundred years ago. What will it take to resolve a 100+ year bout of anger?

Could there be something that's drawing an Entity or evil presence to this town/area? And if so, how can it be sated / removed / destroyed to free the town of the Rain Man's curse?

Could the Rain Man be here as the result of someone's deliberate action? For instance, could it have been summoned by a mage, or a pact witch, or a supernatural being? And if so, to what end? Why would anyone summon such a horrible being and unleash it on the town?

Could it be a demonic being haunting and hunting the locals in the guise of the century old local legend? And if so, why? It is enjoying the terror it inflicts on the town? Is it a empathic vampire who needs to feed on the fear of the locals? Does it need the P.P.E. energy of the people it kills?

Or could it possibly be that its the very same individual the local legend is based on? In other words... is it the Rain Man himself? Somehow still alive after all these years? Does the Rain Man come back to town (or still lives in town), committing murders during the rain before leaving or going back into hiding? And if so, why? Is it a way of obtaining / maintaining some form of immortality? Is it part of a deal with a devil to stay alive?
Note: If going with this angle, the Haunting Entity the PC's nearly ran over on the road is an imprint or a Doppelganger of his persona, recreating the same actions as the man its imitating.

Small Town, Big Troubles!

A small town located at least a few hours away from where the PCs live is on a downward spiral towards becoming a town full of madness!

Acts of violence and bouts of insanity are becoming common place and local law enforcement is ill equipped and unprepared to respond to the escalating problems, especially when some of their own deputies are starting to exhibit signs of madness.

If they don't get involved sooner, the PC's get an anonymous call for help. By the time they arrive however, the town is experiencing random issues at any given moment: assault, self mutilations, attempted murder, severely hallucinating... anything and everything is going on here.

Even worse, the players wont be able to solve this problem in a matter of minutes, and the longer they're in town, the more they start having violent hallucinations themselves (long dead enemies rising from the grave to kill em, bugs crawling in and out of their skin, inanimate objects speaking to them, etc.)

The PC's will end up staying at the one place in town that can accommodate them all,
a remodelled, historic landmark bed & breakfast called “The Barracks” (or whatever you choose to label it). This building is the oldest structure in town, in fact it was the first structure built in the area and was used as an outpost for Spanish/French/Indian traders early in the country's history. It has been remodelled and converted several times over the years, being everything from a bar & grill, a restaurant, office space, even a flea market. However, in a small town its hard to make a sizable long term profit and so the building changes hands regularly. The current owners (The Rockwalters) are retirees who enjoy the small town life and like to stay busy, running the converted bed & breakfast while trying to make enough to keep it running.

There are three issues for the PC's to deal with/solve here:

1. The violence, hallucinations and madness are escalating before the PC's very eyes. There are times the players witness people attacking each other, and will likely be assaulted by raving loons who suddenly snap out of it moments later. People may come out shooting at the players due to suddenly becoming extremely paranoid about the strangers in town, and other situations that put the PC's into harm's way.

2. All the insanity, wild emotions and energies are now attracting supernatural beings. Gormagluts, Gremlins, Banshee's, Devil Ghosts, Poltergeists, Haunting Entities, Scaring Crows and the like would find the town an attractive place to live in.

3. Finding and dealing with just who or what is responsible for this ongoing nightmare.

Optional suggestion of who's responsible: The new owners of The Barracks may seem to be friendly, helpful and concerned about the town, but in reality they are the cause. One of the unique aspects of their B&B is the large amounts of storage space in the back half of the building, which coincidentally was built into the side of a large hill with no windows or easy access to them. They were built to store wines and dry goods to keep safe during its trading post days and were built sturdy, so they've stood the test of time. The Rockwalters opened a few of these brick walled rectangular rooms with arched ceilings (which makes for a unique atmosphere) and converted them to into bedrooms and a central kitchen area, other sections of this unique B&B includes a reading room, a sauna, and an entertainment room with game tables, chairs, dart boards, video games and more.

However, the owners kept the largest storage rooms secret (complete with secret doors in the walls) and have built their own micro brewery within one of them. This is where they brew various concoctions such as ales, beers, whiskey, alcohol along with more malicious concoctions with a variety of hallucinogenic funguses and alchemical potions and have been serving it to both their customers and the locals bars. Their craft work has improved over the last several months, and their brews are getting stronger and more intense. The PC's will most likely eat and drink at the B&B (its good, reasonably priced and convenient food and drink after all), so they WILL begin to suffer similar issues along with the rest of the town. There's only a few other places to dine at in this small town (and the local brews and house beers are tainted as well), and the food just isn't as tasty (or as surprisingly addictive) as the food and drink and hospitality at the B&B.

The Rockwalters have also been learning and dabbling in the mystic arts since their retirement, and amongst their other talents have learned the art of summoning Scurry Scree and Scurry Talus creatures (The Rifter #46) to protect and watch over the B&B, so if the players snoop around (or deduce who's responsible), the Rockwalters wont be unprotected and will most likely be well aware of the PC's actions. They've also learned a method of making vitality potions that restores their bodies back to their early twenties. While they look like they're in their mid to late 60's, they both fight like Chuck Norris in his 20's! They also hurl magic spells as part of their fighting talent.

The Rockwalters moved to town a year ago for the unique convenience of building a unique and only sizable B&B location at least an hour in all directions and therefore getting access to wayward drifters and travelers alike, whom they've started performing alchemical experimentation on in yet another storage chamber hidden deep behind the B&B. These experiments could be unleashed on the PC's if they snoop this far back into the bowels of the inn.

They're also excited by the prospect of a new housing and commercial division opening up just outside of town soon; it seems various developers have finally discovered this small town and is considering building strip malls, restaurants and new homes here, all of which adds to the town's population and potential tourism.
“The more, the merrier” is what the Rockwalters say, and they've got plenty of their craft brews to go around.

The Book Keeper

Note: This adventure was designed for either regular player characters or Victim player characters. The start of it can take place at a public library, a private library, a used book store... wherever books are be found in large quantities.

This adventure idea begins while a player character is observing an impressive collection of old, rare books. One of the books in particular catches their eye, a unique looking and out of place book hidden amongst the others. Its a very old leather bound book, simply titled “œThe Bestiary” (or The Prison, or The Menagerie, or something similar and aptly titled). It even has a lock to keep it shut, but it can be easily bypassed (if nothing else, the rusty old lock relents the moment the PC investigates it).
If using the P.C.C. option below, the lock simply unlocks itself when the PC tries to open the book.

Thumbing through the book displays yellowed and musty leaves of paper with extremely detailed illustrations of horrifying and hideous looking monsters. The written portions of it will be a mix of Latin, English, German, and a variety of lost languages all stirred together into an virtually illegible mess.

All is normal the first time the PC looks through the book, but the second time they crack it open, they'll be surprised to discover that many (if not all) of the illustrations are missing, as if they've simply vanished off the page! Alternatively, if the PC does not open the book a second time shortly afterwards, another option would be to have the PC come across a unique looking creature they'll recognize from the book, enticing them to investigate the book a second time. Either way, it will eventually become obvious that the book was in reality a prison for supernatural horrors, and the PC let them all out!
The question now is how do the players get them all back inside the prison?

Perhaps researching the book or translating the word scramble of various languages (which takes a lot of researching and time) will obtain the instructions of how to return each of the monsters back to their prison. Imprisoning them can include any number of methods, and more than likely each monster will require its own method of capture and imprisonment. Examples of recapturing them could involve specific or specialized rituals, touching the monster with the book, killing the monster and opening the book to the correct page to absorb the creatures essence/ energy back into it, and the like.
Bizarre sacrifices and rare materials could be needed to imprison some of the worst of the monsters, or a PC might even have to make a pact with a particular demon to re-incarcerate one of the most dangerous monsters in the entire book!

Other aspects to discover along with way:
  The monsters seem to be unable (or are unwilling) to travel very far from the book, making them a little easier to find. Perhaps the book still restrains them somehow, or they're waiting for something... or someone.
  The book, as well as the monsters it once imprisoned, seem to be invulnerable. Whenever the book, or any of the monster it that it once imprisoned are destroyed (and not returned to the book)all materialize the next morning! Whenever the book is destroyed, it shows up near the new Book Keeper (the PC who found it) the following morning/day when they wake up. A destroyed monsters materialize, but do so in a completely different location. So while the can resolve the problem a monster was causing by destroying it that night, unless its returned to the book somehow, it will revive elsewhere and begin its horrors all over again.
  Other strange events will happen around the book, making life interesting for the new “book keeper”.

If anything is certain, the monsters that have escaped will be terrors everywhere they go until they're returned to the book. Even worse, they will not be imprisoned willingly, or peacefully. Returning the monsters to the book can be an ongoing quest for the PC's on a regular basis if the GM desires. Perhaps something to do between other adventures and investigations.

Other angles of the book can be considered as well, such as discovering and learning about who made the book, why they made it, HOW they made it (as it seems like such an impossible book of legend on BTS Earth), and why they left it in the open to be found so easily (perhaps learning that someone stole it and left it out to be found).

Book Keeper P.C.C. option: At the discretion of the GM and an interested player, an alternative form of the Ordinary Human P.C.C. can be converted into what is called the Book Keeper P.C.C. with minimal effort. All of the details of the Ordinary Human remain the same, but they gain a few unique abilities, such as the book becoming attached to them and will only work in the book keeper's hands. Being able to sense the escaped monsters when close to them, gaining a minion protector (such as a loyal Hell Hound after dark for example) or gaining any unique abilities or weapons to aid them in returning the monsters to the book is up to the GM.
   I have a request about this option; whoever goes with this angle, please contact me and tell what you came up with; I'll compile the ideas here for other GM's and players to consider. Who knows, if there's enough interest I may design a Book Keeper P.C.C. and add it here for convenience, probably expanding on this adventure idea in the process.

Monster Note: Instead of using monsters from the main book, this would be a good opportunity to use the S.D.C. versions of creatures from other Palladium Book sources, such as the RIFTS Dark Conversions book, RIFTS Conversion Book One, Chaos Earth books, and so on. Even coming up with your own unique monsters would work as unique monsters that can only be found in this book is a great angle to consider.

There's something freaky going on in those woods!

Human expansion has been pushing more and more into the thousands of acres of old forest at the edge of the city. The most recent development is a large hospital, with medical specialist buildings and a medical research center clustered into one large hub. This hospital is now happily celebrating its first year anniversary in operation.

However, not all the activity here is to be celebrated, for acts of vandalizing have been going on all over the hub for the last few months and increasing in frequency. Destruction of property (both outdoors and indoors), theft of a variety of things, and in a few cases, doctors and various staff have been ambushed and robbed! More security and even a few police offers have been hired to watch the building, but they'll proven ineffective at even slowing the thefts down.

There are however several vague witnesses accounts stating that the vandals and muggers always run into the woods when they flee the hub. There is one eye witness (Dr. Simmons) whose report stands out. He claims that he was jumped by a pack of what he said looked like “œpeople who were all hideously deformed and freakish looking, wearing little more than loin clothes or dirty smocks and scrubs stolen from the hospital. In fact, Id say they were almost tribal looking!”

When they ambushed him, they stole none of his valuables; instead they stole his briefcase, which held all of his research materials. When interviewed by the PC's,
Dr. Simmons is a researcher in gene therapy and has been working with a research clinic that specializes in retroviral research. He goes on to state he believes that he was close to a breakthrough on curing certain genetic defects. However, all the thefts, vandalizing and attacks on the building left him paranoid to the point of writing his notes down by hand while keeping the rest in his head. The stolen briefcase held the only copy of all his research, and he wants is back. He's willing to reward the PC's monetarily to bring it back to him, on the condition that they tell no one about what they see in the woods.

So what's going on exactly? What are these “œthings” coming from the forest? Why are they destroying property, stealing medical supplies and research paperwork? Why did this only start in the last few months? If the PC's don't react quickly, will the events escalate to kidnapping? Or murder?

If/when the PC's go into the forest to investigate; they've got their work cut out for them as its THOUSANDS of acres of uncharted, thick woods, which makes searching or even tracking anything difficult at best. And if they do find discover the source or the hideout of the vandals, they are most likely going to react with hostility towards the PC's (or are they?). Who/what are these vandals to begin with? Are they freaks of nature living in the woods? A clever corporate espionage tactic from a rival hospital or research firm? Escaped mutations or creatures from past experiments? And why does Dr Simmons want his research back so badly? And why does he want the PC's to keep silent about that they find?

When bad science goes really bad

The PC's are on patrol or is in some way confronting/combating a random monster outdoors, most likely on a city street or in an alley. In the midst of combat, a dark figure in black Ops gear springs out of nowhere and helps slay the monster. This mystery man only uses hand to hand weaponry and carries no guns or ranged weaponry. He's incredibly agile and shows great feats of strength, but he's jittery and shaky, moving in sporadic and uneven, jerky motions and movements. He doesn't speak to anyone and acknowledges them as little as possible. As soon as the monster is destroyed, the man flees the scene as quickly as he came. If the group chases after him, he will perform high leaps over rooftops, climbs the walls like a monkey, uses smoke screens for cover, etc. He will only fight if cornered, and he will prove to be a tough opponent if he does, but only until he can escape again. The man has no intention of killing the PC's.

They will eventually run into this man again (or another one dressed like him) while dealing with another supernatural being. He/they will act the same way as the first man had. However, the PC's will luck out this time, discovering that one of them was injured from the fight and collapses soon after from exhaustion and blood loss. Examining him (removing face mask and shirt) reveals that the man is scarred and stitched up in a way that Frankenstein's monster can sit back and admire, and the base of his skull has a small metal contraption surgically attached to it. Toying with it kills him (the tech will lead them to a company called œMed-Gate). If not, he will wake up and talk gibberish to them (suffers from “word salad” condition) and seem dazed and confused. If asked to write any info down, all he will do is scribble the words œ“Med” and “Gate”. Within moments of writing this, the man goes into an extreme epileptic shock and dies!

œMed-Gate is a large medical science lab company, whom happens to have a research lab in the city. If the PC's investigate, they are not only probably going to have to break all sorts of laws, but also anger a potentially sleeping giant as this lab is secretly working on making human war machines for military applications. The experiments they are performing on people are nothing short of horrific and inhumane. More than likely the soldiers they're creating are being tested against the supernatural to gauge their capabilities against superior opponents.

Note: This tech is like a crude beginning or a testing phase of tech that's similar to Juicer or Crazie technology common to RIFTS Earth. But using it requires lots of constant medical treatments and maintenance on the soldiers and most of them don't last or survive long. This tech puts their nerves into a perpetual state of wanting to move in every direction at once (like have a non-stop seizure) and cranks up their adrenaline to critically accelerated levels amongst other augmentations to enhance them.

This process wears the human body out quickly and therefore they'll always need more test subjects (which may cover a kidnapping angle mentioned earlier in the campaign). Currently the cons FAR outweigh the pros, but all the inhumane experiments on people may evolve this tech into something worthwhile in the DECADES to come. Destroying this lab may stop these experiments from going any further, but at what cost to the characters? How might Med-Gate respond?

Side Note: Capturing psychic individuals, like a player character perhaps, would be a great opportunity for MED-Gate researcher, but their experiments will destroy the PC's mind and body in the process.