This was originally a module designed to be played over the course a of long evening or weekend, but we needed to break it into two sessions, which still went long! For me, it was a good lesson in pacing and module design, knowing what kind of encounters could be done in one sitting, versus more of a campaign or story mode.
I don't want to print the entire module here, but what I will do is list the parts of the module which those events corresponded to and then give a commentary on the events that occurred.
First, the set up: In this game, we have an alternate NOW, in which BUGS took over the world in 1999 and 2000. It has taken 10 years for what few remnants of humanity who were not killed or enslaved to build enough strength to begin to strike back in earnest. There are several regional and local powers, and one or two national powers. There is NORAD, which is actually the remains of the U.S. government, there are various local and area militias, like the Carbondale Pork District, and there appear to be one or two shadow groups....which are less shadowy after this module.
The people playing are playing themselves, although the versions of themselves have been changed by a world gone BUG. There is alien technology, hybrid technology, mental and physical mutants, and plenty of nutjob people to contend with. So, Carl plays Carl, Molly plays Molly, Joey plays Joey, you get the picture. They each have their own backstories skills and problems.
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This Systems Failure adventure begins with a group of adventurers from the Blackrock underground mining community, a satellite of the Carbondale, Illinois militia group called the Carbondale Pork District (CPD). Although this location is unique, you could easily adapt it to your own game or campaign setting (the idea of a local militia expanding its power is not a new one). Or, you could use the framework presented here for your own group located in Blackrock as refugees, or perhaps you were travelers, who were passing through and were “escorted” by Blackrock security sweeps to the mine, where you have either temporary refuge, or depending on the quality of your character, temporary imprisonment. The citizens of Blackrock (approximately 500 inexperienced but well-armed, men, women, and children) will defend their community to the death. Let’s assume that the players did not come to Blackrock to kill or steal from the inhabitants, because otherwise, this might be a very short adventure!
The founding members of the CPD were friends who were part of a competitive barbecue team, and CPD was their name. To them, it felt right to call their new post-apocalyptic militia the same thing. The CPD were also part of a network of eggheads, researchers, and free thinkers who took refuge during the initial bugging of the Carbondale area in the steam tubes which run under the entire University. Only a few members of the CPD, and the community leaders of what came to be called “Carbonhell” know the full extent of the steam tube network. After commandeering the weapons at the National Guard Armory, and destroying a fairly impressive cadre of BUGS and zombies, the CPD slowly expanded its circle of influence and protection, clearing out all of the BUG influence in the topside community. Although the topside community operates independently of the CPD, they are very well aware that their “hidden defenders” have saved them more than once. Although they have impressive firepower (a few howitzers, tanks, several large vehicles, a store of gasoline and diesel, weapons including .50 calibers, small arms, ammunition, body armor and the like) it is just as likely that the CPD has escaped the retribution of the BUGS because they still are too small, remote, and insignificant a thorn to remove. For now.
Over the years, the members of the CPD have expanded their underground network of communities in old coal mines. Members of these communities have been called “coal rats” or “albinos” by the “topsiders.” In some areas, the two communities do not co-exist well. The topsiders are seen as stubborn and as a security risk, (they obviously announce their presence to BUG or zombie patrols) while the coal rats are seen as cowards and part of a “new underground order.”
In some areas of human habitation, there is only an underground community, for safety and security, but also because of the remoteness of the mine, and/or the complete extermination or capture of the original human population. In a few places in southern Illinois, there still exist topside communities that have no underground counterpart, usually protected forts or very remote towns, that were simply too small and rural to be considered a target by BUGS, or are desperate attempts by topsiders to maintain a foothold of a civil society in what would otherwise be a wasteland. They are slowly dwindling away due to continual raids by roving bands of thugs and gangs of splatterpunks. There does exist a higher than expected number of survivalists who stake lonely claims to their properties, and have been living out of underground tornado shelters for years.
The CPD has worked hard at establishing a cooperative relationship with some topsider communities in which they have an underground presence. Researchers from Carbonhell have developed a number of technologies which improve mining techniques, to mine the coal left in these mines, and steam technology, to use steam as an alternative to direct electrical power to run everything from refrigerators to steam and air compressor cars. Because the CPD has been able to advance some technologies and preserve others, and because they can produce coal for topsider communities to burn for fuel, they have developed good trading relationships with many topsider towns. Topsiders still can grow more food and particularly more livestock and horses than the CPD can. However, every field they till is a big sign which reads, “BUGS, there are industrious humans here!” It’s a double-edged sword, that until the hydroponics gardens that are currently under development are perfected, is a necessary risk.
CPD needs to transport steam boiler tractors, supplies, and new technical personnel to topsider communities in Sparta, Illinois, and to the underground community called Gateway, located in the old Gateway mine east of Sparta, and also to O’Fallon, Illinois, and to Silver Creek, the abandoned mine located just east of O’Fallon.
Scott Furtwengler, one of the original members of the CPD, sends a message via courier to the leaders of Blackrock. He would like four volunteers, with technical, mechanical, and ideally, combat experience or training, to join and protect the convoy heading towards Sparta and O’Fallon.
Characters: Molly, Carl, Joey, Mike, Susan, and Joe. NPCs: Scott Furtwengler, T.J. McFly, Crazy Charlie, Jethro Toledo, Colonel Irons, Benedict, and Sweetness.
Joe, Joey, and T.J. McFly are sent by the CPD to recruit.
Blackrock Council
That evening, everyone is called to the central square in Blackrock, a large, mined out room near the center of the mine. Natural gas lamps provide lighting and a steam powered pump provides air circulation. The hall is paved, the walls are stucco, and concrete and stone benches form a circle around a central stage. This, essentially, is the town hall of Blackrock.
When the players arrive at the central square, the courier, T.J. McFly, Joe, and Joey are standing on the center stage with most of Blackrock’s town council. Big Mike, an egghead, Susan, a greasemonkey, Jackson, a hydropnics expert, Arc, head of security, and Martha, the mayor, form a semi circle around T.J. T.J. is probably no more than 18 years old, but is obviously battle hardened. He wears hard armor, and has a military .45 on his hip, an M-16 across his back, and a bandolier with fragment grenades and rounds for his weapons. He smells different than the members of the players’ community, and the players recall that smell after searching their memories---horse. He smells like a horse, a commodity that Blackrock does not have. [if the players inquire further, they can find out from the crowd that there are five horses currently being stabled in the topside “façade”). The mayor raises her hands, and calls the town meeting to order. She introduces T.J. to the crowd, and assures everyone that T.J. and the CPD have received a warm welcome from Blackrock.
T.J. cleared his voice: “Citizens of Blackrock. Scott Furtwengler and the CPD wish to thank you for your work in the community of Blackrock. Big Mike’s latest invention just might give us an edge against the BUGS, and we appreciate that. But I am here for another important reason. We need volunteers to help escort a convoy to two mining towns north and west of here, to Gateway by Sparta, and Silver Creek by O’Fallon. The trek will take us awfully close to Scott Air Force base, which is bugged, and not as close, but still, too close for comfort, to East St. Louis, or the big BUG house, as we call it. There is also a zombie presence the closer we get to St. Louis. The mission will be dangerous, it involves risk, but it is essential to the continued growth of the CPD. We have solicited for at least four volunteers from each of our mining towns. Who will stand up and be counted?”
[GM, if the players hesitate, roll percentile dice. 01-50, four random townspeople stand before the player characters do, 51-00, two stand up] T.J. will ask those standing to state their names and their professions, and their combat experience, or any experience with BUGS or zombies. They will have none. T.J. says, “People, no offense, but is this the best you can do? We need your warriors, your thinkers, your fixers, your wackos and your exterminators if we intend to get the convoy where it needs to go. The CPD, but more importantly, humanity, depends on you now. Who will stand up?” If the player characters do not volunteer at this point, then T.J. will shake his head, “Well, I guess this is how it goes. Expect a strong response from the CPD. We stand together, or you fall alone.” T.J. will leave unless the party volunteers. If no one volunteers at this point, GM, you can excuse the players and go watch a movie. Have a great night! If the players do stand up, T.J. will ask them their qualifications, and will approve. Depending on the party, Big Mike and Susan may volunteer, and if they do, they will be allowed to travel with the party. T.J. asks if anyone has riding experience. [If players do not have riding experience, and have no other means of travel, then players can start to learn basic riding as a secondary skill from their experience on the trail with T.J.] Other means of travel will be permitted; the only restriction that T.J. has is that people keep up, because time is of the essence. After T.J. approves, he asks the mayor to see to it that these individuals are outfitted with weapons and any armor the town can spare. The party needs to be prepared to leave by daybreak. At this time the GM should prepare a variety of items, including some light body armor, a variety of weapons to choose from, a compass, mess kits, rations, gasoline and/or fuel alcohol, and the like.
Daybreak
In the morning, after breakfast, the party assembles by the topside façade. Big Mike is “supervising” the addition of a piece of hardware to Susan’s “Moonbuggy.” They are arguing. Susan insists on taking her Moonbuggy. Other characters may ride with her or ride horses.
What Big Mike is doing is asking Susan to install one of his electric isolators, a new device which essentially is a BUG trap for small electronic devices, like the solar generator which is part of the Moonbuggy. It is a prototype model, and Susan is none too happy about someone else suggesting a modification to her buggy, but in the end, will grudgingly figure out a way to make it fit.
T.J. will ask “what this thing runs on,” and how much noise or exhaust it emits, and will ask if it is one of theirs (meaning the CPD’s). Susan will get indignant about this and say that it is not one of the CPD’s, but the air system was based on a car she saw Scott driving a few years ago. T.J. is a little leary of even connecting the solar array because of the small chance that a passing BUG might find an opportunity to infiltrate the system.
Whoever wants to ride with her can, and whoever wants to ride a horse can. [If the party member is not proficient in horsemanship or riding, he or she will suffer 1D10 points of temporary injury from bruising and bouncing around all day. If the character rides for more than one day, he or she will endure 1D6 more points of temporary damage, but by the third day, will have regained half back, and half back again each day after that, until he or she has less than two points left, which heal on the last day. If the temporary injury and riding are not continuous, the temporary damage will persist between each day of riding, until more than two days have past. Then damage will heal at the prescribed rate.]
As players travel, the average speed across the hilly terrain south of route 148 is about three to four miles an hour. As the terrain levels, north of 148 and closer to Carbondale, average speed will climb to approximately 10 to 12 miles an hour. It will take four to five hours, depending on encounters to travel the first 12 miles, and one to two hours to travel the next 12. Roll two encounters in deep southern Illinois territory, and roll one more north of 148.
The notable encounters that the party ran across:
As they move forward, they hear a voice through a megaphone say, “Stand down, or the horses get it!” If players look carefully, they see a barrel of a large gun sticking out of a small slit in the side of a hill. If players don’t lower weapons, he will fire a warning shot and issue the command again. If players comply, players will see a hidden door in the side of the hill open, and Crazy Charlie will come out, in full military surplus gear, carrying two 9 mm pistols, 2 9mm sub machine guns, a bandolier of grenades and ammo, nightvision goggles on top of his head, and two Bowie knives strapped to each thigh. “You are trespassing on Hill Charlie. Let me look at your noses,” he commands. Once he is clear that the players do not work for the BUGS, he asks if Uncle Sam sent them, and then finally asks who sent them. Players can respond that they are on a mission, but two of his skills, in interrogation and communication means that he has a 90% base chance of detecting a lie. Once he is convinced of the player’s intentions, he has no interest in them, but he will ask if they have encountered any BUGS or zombies. He is afraid that a killer bee is after him! If players kill him, or earn his trust and betray him, there is a veritable armory of goods to ransack, up to the GM’s loose discretion. However, players from Blackrock will appreciate the value of a slightly paranoid gun nut living in a bunker just a few miles away.
In this encounter, the players successfully earned his trust, and began to barter with him. He traded his nightvision goggles (which were broken) for some moonshine. He told them what he really wanted was some chewing gum. They promised that if they found some, they would get back to him.
Chickens...
Yes, here is a great example of why role-playing games are so fun. There is absolutely no way I could have predicted that the players first encounter with some chickens would take the next hour, or be so funny. They come across wild chickens. They decided to try to herd them and catch them. They can't. They decide to try to hit them with rocks (see, cuz, they don't want to waste the bullets...). Then, Carl, who like others, has some mental powers, though they have not been "officially" revealed, took control of a chicken and caused it to march into Mike's waiting hands like a robot. Chickens...
The players see a man on a horse in front of them. He is injured. He is Jethro Toledo, a freelance exterminator, (10th level) who just had a nasty run-in with some zombies. He will tell the party that he works for the Harrisburg Irregulars, a small militia group that works independently of the CPD in this area of the world. They hired him to do long range scouting and patrols, and he was ambushed by a group of zombies in a jeep earlier. He killed all of the zombies, but not before they were able to call for help. He doesn't know how long ago the encounter occurred (he has lost a lot of blood). The players have 1D10 minutes to help Jethro and to set up some kind of counterattack. If Jethro doesn’t get first aid help now, he will pass out. If he doesn’t get professional help, he will die sometime in the next 8 hours (1D8). If he stays conscious, he will tell them he has a hideout not far from here, and try to give them directions to it. As the players tend his wounds, they see the dust cloud and hear the chug of a truck engine (see encounter 4, 12 zombies in a truck). If the players are near Jethro and he does die, he has a dying wish, that someone please deliver a letter and a locket back to his wife and baby girl in Ohio.
Jethro thought he was going to die so he gave the letter and locket to Joey, who promised to deliver the note and the locket to his wife and baby girl in Ohio. Jethro was stabilized, although he lost consciousness.
In the distance, the players see what looks like a military jeep. This is the patrol that Jethro surprised. They can hear what sounds like a large diesel truck approaching. In the truck there are 12 zombies, with two .50 caliber machine guns. If players kill the zombies without a call on the radio, players have 1D4 hours before they zombies are missed, to loot the jeep. There are many typical valuables on the jeep, including simply taking the jeep, and are worth the potential risk to get.
The players were warned by Jethro Toledo, so were able to prepare an ambush, in which they used a small radio controlled truck to deliver a homemade bomb under the truck. They delivered a concerted attack, blew up the bomb, and looted the zombies. They were able to scavenge the Jeep, if I remember correctly.
If the players reach Carbondale, the going gets easy. T.J. never lets his guard down, but he does loosen up a bit in his saddle as he passes familiar checkpoints. Players make it to campus without incident. Jethro is taken to an infirmary. He has lost a lot of blood, but looks like he may recover.
Scott welcomes the party like old friends, and invites them to his personal study, and bids you to wait there while he speaks with T.J. Ask each of the players to roll a 20-sider [a roll against Charisma, which Mike or Susan must succeed]. Twenty minutes later, when he returns, he may have some questions for the party, but in general, is very happy to see everyone. He is amazed at how much weight Big Mike has lost! He asks everyone to join him for a beer and some barbecue. Everyone who does gains back 2 additional hit points that night resting. There is no area the players can explore. Every area is locked and presently guarded. They are guests, but they are not citizens of Carbonhell. If a player questions why they are carefully supervised, Scott will point this fact out to them. In the event that players attempt to explore despite his friendly warning, Scott or one of the Security personnel will escort you outside of the Carbondale boundaries, and instruct you not to return, on penalty of imprisonment or death.
Based on Scott’s reaction to the party, and their responses to his questions he may confide in Big Mike or Susan later on that evening at dinner. If he does, he will say this: “I’m glad that I have friends here that I can trust. There are some among the leaders of Carbonhell that feel that our outreach missions put us at too much risk, but I ask you, would you to even be here if we didn’t reach out and start the mining communities?” Of course Mike and Susan and any of the residents of Blackrock owe their safety to the program of underground expansion and continued research to the CPD. “In order to continue to justify our expansion, I have had to promise the political leaders of Carbonhell that the CPD intends to increase our communities’ offensive and defensive capabilities. The only way I know how to do that is by infiltrating Scott Air Force base, which you will be close to when you stop by Silver Creek. Scott AFB is overrun by BUGS and zombies. It will have to be a stealth mission. If you are caught, you will likely be beyond my help. I can’t force you to do this for me, but I am asking. I need people I can trust, who don’t owe an allegiance to the mayor or some other politician. You won’t hurt my feelings if you say no, but if you say yes, I think that we increase our chances that anything we get will be used rightly. What do you say?”
If the players say “Yes,” then Scott will give them a mission briefing and plans to Scott Air Force base, and will give you contact and location information for one Colonel Irons, a tough old bird who Scott knew from his hometown in Highland, Illinois, who he knows still lives in a secret bunker not far from the base. It is through this contact that Scott has the intel that he has. This person has access to some key areas of the base which the BUGS or zombies may not have been able to access, or might not know exists. Scott will tell the players that Colonel Irons has been in access tunnels recently below the base that show absolutely no traces of BUGS or zombies. The colonel has told Scott that there is some “pretty weird shit stashed at the base that people haven’t seen for 60 years,” if Scott knew what he meant.
If the players ask how Scott has this kind of information, or how he has any word of the far flung world, Scott will take an opportunity to tell the players that he has recently instituted a “Pony Express” throughout the southern Illinois area, which will be expanding to Blackrock shortly. On the way to Sparta, they will make at least one stop to relieve one of the Express riders.
The next morning, Scott will have a mission briefing, and give you the map to Sparta/Gateway and forward to O’Fallon/Silver Creek. [GM, have players roll a D20 check against INT]. If the players notice that Scott has access to mapquest maps and what looks like recently printed directions, he will tell them that “apparently, we build satellites to last,” and the CPD has a secure room, with a secure hardline, with a secure satellite connection. Scott knows that “we can’t continue to depend on them for much longer,” and that the CPD has been storehousing maps for future reference while they still can.
The players’ job is to help safeguard two large flatbed wagons which include parts for two steam tractors, one for Sparta and one for O’Fallon, and several air-powered tools for the mining communities of Gateway and Silver Creek. There are also pallets of clothes, dried and canned foods, and some weapons and ammunition.
The players will be part of a convoy including two flatbed wagons pulled by two teams of four horses, Susan’s Moonbuggy, a gas-powered jeep with a mounted .50 caliber, four wagon drivers/horsemen, 16 other volunteers from different mine communities, T.J., and 6 other CPD militiamen. Joey was one of those volunteers from the Ziegler/Royalton mining community, for example.
Checkpoint Jim
The plans are to take the convoy to checkpoint Jim, one of the first outposts of the newly established Pony Express. Checkpoint Jim is located northwest of Carbondale, at the red star located just west of the junction of route 7 and 151. This is approximately 17 miles away, but will take most of the day to cross the hilly terrain that surrounds Kincaid Lake. The wagons’ top speed are between 10 and 15 miles per hour, even on clear paved road. Most of these road are not clear, and have had 9 years to decay. There are several miles in which the convoy can follow a paved road, [but their chances of being seen by someone or something raises by 15% for every 15 minutes they spend on a paved road from a base of 15%.] The plan is to take the paved road to Murphysboro, go off road northwest of town, pick route 7 up about 7 miles outside of town, and then take it for approximately 10 miles to Checkpoint Jim. Depending on the route, and whether roads are taken, there may or may not be several encounters. However, until the caravan reaches Murphysboro, the only encounters will be by CPD patrols. From the town on, however, there are likely to be curious, and possibly hostile, encounters.
In Murphsyboro, depending on how quickly the party makes it through town, there will be at least one encounter. As soon as the party crosses route 127, roll on Table 2, Town Encounters, and then wait until the party passes by the Hardee’s on the right (a half a mile ahead) to let the encounter unfold.
An old timer remembered a hidden shelter off of Fourth Street, and thinks that it must still be pristine. He will try to avoid you, but is too slow to be missed. As you approach, he says, “I ain’t got nothing, and I ain’t lookin’ for nothing, either.” It’s up to the players to investigate. If they investigate, (say by surreptiously following the old man) they will see him lift an old, well-hidden cellar door. Inside, there are a few things of value to the man, but not really to the players. If they approach the old man in the cellar, there is a 50% chance he will have a heart attack on the spot. If he does, there is a 70% chance that he will die, no matter what first aid is administered.
The players chose not to follow the old man, thus averting the whole heart attack thing.
T.J. and other CPD militia will recognize the graffiti of the Murphysboro Appleknockers, a red, spray-painted apple with a nasty green worm through its heart. T.J. says, “Oh great. I thought we ran these clowns out of town.” If asked, he will relate to the party the history of animosity between Red Delicious, the leader of the Appleknockers, and the CPD. Last year, the CPD thought that they had finally ended the threat of Red Delicious, a punk gangster, who ruled his little burg with an iron fist. He had waylaid one too many caravans of CPD cargo. During a midnight raid, the CPD struck in force at the courthouse, where he kept “court,” and killed him. Or so they thought. This graffiti is fresh, however. Perhaps he isn’t as dead as they hoped, or possibly another punk picked up his mantle?
[Red Delicious is dead, but a couple of local thugs have began to use his symbol, to terrorize the few citizens who live in the area, who still scavenge through the ruins of the town for salvage. There is a 20% chance/turn that one of the thugs will spot the caravan, and will attempt to set up an ambush on 17th Street, from behind the Dairy Queen. Keep track of the number of turns the party is in town. If they are spotted, there is a base chance for anyone with tracking skills or Military Basic to spot the attackers. This skill check will be made with a -30% modifier because of cover. If an attacker is detected, then the attackers will get no surprise bonuses at the DQ. It is also possible that the party might try to outflank the attackers, and surprise them! If the attackers detect the party, but are not detected, they will get one free surprise attack on the party as they approach the DQ. Then, normal melee will ensue.]
The players do detect that someone is watching them, and are not surprised by the trap that awaits, but they still continue right up to the line that was drawn on the street which was the place where the appleknockers were prepared to fight.
If the Appleknockers have time to set up their ambush, there will be 6 thugs inside the DQ, 2 behind it and to the side with Sweetness, and two thugs on the second floors of the buildings on either side of the street. There is a faint line from a dragged foot in the intersection. When the party crosses this line, the snipers will fire, and since they will be slightly behind the party, they may succeed in turning the party around. If the party turns, then all of the thugs in the DQ will start firing. If the thugs do not succeed in turning or panicking the party, they will open fire from the DQ, still getting a surprise attack, unless a party member is scanning the DQ during the firefight. It is possible that the party may notice the faint line in the road. Do a check +5 below INT to see if a player notices it and thinks this may be a trap. If they already suspect an ambush, someone in the party or an NPC will notice the line.
Sweetness has been using the DQ as his HQ (he thought that was funny), and if the party searches the building, in addition to any gear on the splatterpunks, they will find assorted medical supplies, including alcohol, gauze, wraps, a temporary hardcast pack for an arm, morphine, and valium. They will also find forceps, metzenbaum scissors, scalpels, several needles and sterile thread for stitching wounds.
The party handles this threat fairly easily, killing the gang and freeing the citizens from the tyranny of the appleknockers. They collect their spoils and move on.
Outside of town, they continue on. [GM, be nice. If the party barely survived the town, then don’t hammer them into the ground with encounters. It will be bad enough, soon enough. However, if they passed through unscathed, make them roll some dice!] Once per hour, roll a D6. On a 1-5, there is an encounter on Table 3. On a 6, there is no encounter except for the beauty of nature as a bald eagle flies in the distance, or a beautiful stream whispers by, or you could choose to allow an encounter off of Table 1-1.
Ahead, the party hears some loud noises. A work brigade of approximately 100 zombie construction workers are rebuilding a damaged bridge. There are several earth moving machines working. On the other side of the bridge, there is also an Abrams M1A1 tank, a Bradley fighting vehicle, two troop transport trucks and a greyhound bus. Clearly the BUGS are wanting to build easy access back into southern Illinois. T.J. and other CPD militia are practically drooling over the tank, but they are also afraid of so much new BUG activity so close to home. If given the choice, they will try to ambush and fight, and have a detail drive the tank back home. However, the party decides to avoid the fight, and the move on, undetected.
The party makes it to Checkpoint Jim. However, something has happened. Checkpoint Jim is deserted, although horses are found. The party deduces that perhaps BUGS found the people, but did not discover the cave where the checkpoint is hidden. Normally, I would have read "If there are enough CPD militia to trade out, then 6 militia will trade places with 6 of the Pony Express riders. The Pony Express riders urge the group to camp for the night, even if they made it to Checkpoint Jim early and easily. They tell the party that there has been a lot of BUG activity, and this is a relatively safe place to camp for the evening, because their camp is still well hidden." But, in this case, I let everyone in general the cave was undisturbed. Several of the militia decide to stay to restock the checkpoint, and other decide to stay to ride horses back to Carbondale tomorrow. As is the standard operating procedure for the CPD, there is a concealed cave entrance just off of the road, which opens up into a large hall, big enough for the small vehicles, the horses, and all of the men. If the party decides to rest in the cave, there will be no encounters through the night. If they stay outside, then a D6 needs to be rolled every four hours. On a 1-3, roll results on Table 1-2 (30%) or Table 3 (70%). The party rests.
In the morning, early, the party can start again. Depending on the density of encounters, T.J. might suggest that traveling off road might be slower, but safer. Off-road travel will still get them to Gateway before nightfall. If the party travels off-road for the remainder of the trek to Gateway, then roll once an hour for encounters on Table 1-2 (40%) or Table 3 (60%) only on a result of 1-3 on a D6. If the party stays on road, then they could possibly make it to Gateway before noon, but will roll encounters once an hour on Table 1-2 (20%) or Table 3 (80%) on a 1-5 on a D6.
On the way to Gateway, the party sees two groups of BUGS, each approximately the same size. In each group,there are several Assassin BUGS and maybe also some Army Ants. It is hard to tell. [6 Assassin BUGS per group and 2D8 Army Ants per group] In between the groups are 8 zombies with a large flatbed truck. On the truck is a huge diesel power generator. The two groups of Assassin BUGS are jockeying for position to apparently see “who goes first.” It is clear that the situation is not stable. Soon after the machine is turned on, the two groups begin to fight viciously, and the players can see and hear screeching and clicking, and watch as the Army Ants tear each other to pieces, and the Assassin BUG groups viciously bite, tear, and shoot each other with their energy weapons. At the end of the fight, there are 1D6 Assassin BUGS and four zombies left (four were unintentionally killed in the melee). The Assassin BUGS circle around the generator, and connect their legs and mouths directly onto the generator. The party can choose to ambush, avoid, or hide.
Smartly, they wait until most of the two groups had killed themselves and some of the zombies. Carl decides to sneak up close and use his mind powers to attack one of the BUGS, but the BUG resists, and amazingly, Carl is spotted, and the BUG hits Carl with bio-energy, and then the party began to fire with the 50 caliber. Some of BUGS seem to teleport to the jeep, and one lands right in front of the 50 caliber and gets turned into a pinata full of red hots. Each of the BUGS are dispatched, and Carl telekinetically lifts one of the surviving zombies up in the air, and as the zombie attempts to radio out, Carl drops him to his death. The players can't tell whether he got the call off. Carl is injured in the fight, but uses most of the rest of his psionic powers to heal himself.
Gateway
As the party approaches Gateway and the town of Sparta, black smoke and fire can be seen belching into the sky. Even in the distance, the party can see people running wildly around forming bucket brigades to try and stop the burning of several structures. As the party comes closer, two figures approach quickly on horseback, wearing the now familiar symbol of the CPD on their arms.
The Mayor, Felicia Darden, is accompanied by her man-at-arms, a mercenary named Benedict. He looks exactly like a person might expect: Hard, vicious, and dependable, as long as he is paid. As the Mayor approaches, Benedict has his hands comfortably on two Ithica model shotguns (with pistol grips). The Mayor says, “CPD. WTF?” T.J. responds with the correct code back. “CPD. FTW!!” Benedict takes his hands away from his shotguns. Once the protocol is followed through, Felicia practically bursts into hysterics. “We were hit, from above, on the ground, by hundreds of BUGS! All at once, from who knows where! There were at least three killer bees, a couple of Bombardier Beetles, a few Assassin BUGS, and several hundred ANTS. We killed dozens, but not before about half of the town was laid waste. My son…he knew if he….he knew if he killed a killer bee…” she trailed off.
Benedict finished, “He might disorient the ants. But it killed him. I took out two of the killer bees with a TOW missile launcher, and set several of the Ants on fire from some Molotov cocktails, but unfortunately, they didn’t die right away, and set half the town on fire.”
Felicia continued, “Easily half of the Army Ant force, along with one of the killer bees stormed Gateway.”
T,J, then asked, “Did they follow protocol?”
“Yes,” said the Mayor. “The second tier sentries waited until the force had breached the mine guard posts, fought and killed the sentries, and passed into the mine. Then, they used acetylene torches to weld shut and seal the steel-plate doors to the mine. All ventilation and sewage shafts were also welded shut. There are no hardlines in the mine, and no way in or out of this tomb. Even if the BUGS convert to energy, they can’t pass through bedrock or steel.”
The players have a decision to make. To either drop off the supplies and possibly spare some volunteers to help the town, but continue on with their mission, to send back a message to the CPD and await further instructions, or to attempt to rescue the citizens of Gateway. “T.J. asks the party, “Well, what do you want to do?”
If the players’ vote is to leave, T.J. will ask for permission to communicate with Carbonhell before the party commits to a decision. If they party asks how he intends to communicate, he will tell them he has two methods. First, he is carrying a satellite phone. He has kept it hidden, but Scott insisted he take it, particularly if he got in trouble further north. At this, T.J. will look at the party knowingly. Second, if the party doesn’t want to risk using the satellite phone or he can't get through, he has parts to a motorcycle he can assemble on one of the wagons. He will assemble it and be back in Carbonhell, with luck, in a couple of hours. It can go off road, and has a much higher top speed than any of the current vehicles the party is using. His preference, considering the situation, is to use the satellite phone. If he uses the satellite phone, there is a 1% cumulative chance, every minute it is on, that a straggler ant will be close enough to infiltrate the device. If it infiltrates the device, it will cause it to cease functioning, and will not leave until it is forced to.
After T.J. makes a connection with Scott, he hands the phone off to one of the party members, and asks them to brief Scott on their situation, while he offers assistance to survivors, and begins to unload appropriate supplies for triage and medical support for the injured.
Scott will ask the party for a detailed description of what has happened since they left. As he listens to the party, he says, “I was afraid of this. BUG activity has increased against all militia strongholds. The change was long in coming, but I think the BUGS have decided to mount their own guerilla war.” If Scott has not yet approached the party, or if he earlier approached Mike and Susan and they declined, he asks about their willingness to help T.J. with a secret, separate mission. If they say yes now, go over details of the Scott Air Force Base mission, with added details about the reconnasaince aspect of the mission. If they say no, he says that perhaps the party should wait in Sparta for reinforcements, and drive one of the wagons back home.
Scott will also ask the party, if they are willing, while reinforcements are on the way, to try to rescue any of the citizens of Gateway. If the party says yes, then prepare for a BUG hunt! If the party says no, again, Scott will ask the party to render what aid they can, and keep out of the way when the fighting begins. Of course, if the citizens of Gateway have to wait for reinforcements, there might not be anything worth fighting for left. It will take approximately 4 hours after Scott receives the message for a group to be assembled, and make a forced march to Sparta. Forty mounted CPD militia will make it there first, followed by 200 armed footsoldiers.
If T.J. must ride the motorcycle back, (say, if the satellite phone is disabled, or the party convinces him to keep from using it) it will take T.J. 1D4 x10 minutes to assemble the bike, and 1D4 hours to make it back, if he makes it back. As he prepares to go, he pleads with the party to mount a rescue for the trapped citizens. They can either choose to do so or not. If T.J. makes it back to Carbonhell, it will take a minimum of 4 hours after T.J. arrives for the rescue party to be assembled and reach Sparta.
The party can bow out at any time, but what is the fun in that? If they do, the other volunteers will remind them that these pioneers are just like they are, and wouldn’t the party want help if their homes were attacked?
The party is okay with TJ using the phone. There are no encounters because of it. The party decides to help the community of Gateway, and we commence to a BUG Hunt, ala Aliens. Joey decides to stay topside and help return the generator that the BUGS stole from Sparta. [Actually, Joey had fallen asleep, and it was late, so we decided that this was the best solution to keep game continuity]
Gateway To Hell
If the party decides to mount a rescue, then they will be joined by the surviving CPD militia on the wagons, T.J. (if he is there), five of the volunteers from other communities, five volunteers from Sparta, (three of whom are actually citizens of Gateway) and Benedict, at the direction of the Mayor. He glances in disdain at the rag tag group mounting a counter-offensive. The Mayor says, “I’ll make it worth your while.” [If T.J. used the phone, then keep a careful count of hours. Reinforcements will arrive in 4 hours. Set up a D4 counter on the table. Don’t tell the players what it is for. :D If T.J. did not use the phone, and is riding the motorcycle, then instead of rolling encounters, roll one percentile. T.J. has a 75% chance of making it back to Carbonhell alive, and in a timely manner. If he makes it, reinforcements will arrive in 4 +1D3 hours. Make your counter a 6 or 8 sider.] The Mayor will relate that the doors have been sealed now for almost two hours. The BUGS decimated their town and killed hundreds in less than 15 minutes.
Two welders with cutting torches will join the party at the steel doors of Gateway. Everybody is outfitted with weapons, ammo, chemical lights, and what scraps of armor can be assembled. The force makes its way down from the surface mine operation along a gentle slope, which years ago, a chain and gear driven elevator car took men down by the dozens. The elevator car had been removed, and now people walked up or down the slope to get to the mine entrance, 150 feet below ground. Benedict or T.J. will oversee the formation of the force at the gate. T.J. or Benedict will suggest that once inside, the force break into several commando groups, fanning out from the main entrance, and covering the entire mine. One of the citizens of Gateway is assigned to go with each group as a guide. The player characters and one Gateway citizen will form one group. It is possible that a hundred BUGS or more are waiting right on the other side. The welders cut the doors, and move quickly out of the way. Ask the players what they are doing. Do some fake rolls. Build the tension.
[Gateway is a huge room and pillar mine which has was mined for nearly a century, and still had active veins when the BUGS invaded in 1999. It has had eight years of construction for living inside. It is a maze. This is a situation in which it is just not feasible to map while they move. The citizens from Gateway assigned to each party will help keep the parties moving and will reduce the chance that BUGS will be missed or might be able to double back and ambush the parties. If the Gateway citizen is separated from a party or is killed, the chance that the party will get lost will go from 0% to 75% chance, and the chance that BUGS will be able to sneak in behind a party goes from 25% to 85%.]
The steel door falls forward with a clang. There are no BUGS waiting on the other side, even though their obvious scratch marks are on the inside of the door. Gateway is dark. All power is off, but even in the doorway, the party can see that several hard lines have been cut or disconnected. Several small electric devices, like a radio, lie broken on the ground. The parties walk in, and as the last one crosses the threshold, the Mayor says, “Seal it up.” Some citizens lift up the door, and the welders seal it behind the parties. Once it is sealed, it takes a few moments for player’s eyes to adjust. Players can choose one of three directions. Benedict says, “I go alone. And whatever the hell you homesteaders do, don’t shoot me or each other. These chemical lights only glow so much. Oh, yeah, be careful, and I’ll see you down by the long wall.” [Unless players have night vision goggles, or night vision pisionics, everyone attacks at a – 6]
[The GM says] “This part of the mine is like a small town. Walls have been whitewashed, floors are paved, and “streets” have names. Even in the dim light, one can see the town is clean, bright-colored, and very new looking. The “streets” are long, and between 20 and 40 feet wide. The stretch much farther than what your dim light affords you to see. The large pillars of rock and coal have been painted, some to look like houses, or murals of open air scenes. Some are convincingly real, with forced perspective. Clearly, there are some artists in town. Or, at least, there were.” [Please see Map 5-1 for mine entrance] From where the party stands, signs show that First Avenue is down the street to the right, Second Avenue is straight ahead, while Third and Fourth Avenue are down a long road/hall to your left. Benedict quickly is lost in the shadows as he stealthily moves toward First Avenue. Roll a random encounter each turn. Random encounters for the main entrance map are on Table 4. The GM should continue to describe the scene: “As you walk slowly down the corridor, you begin to see signs of fighting; blood on the white-washed walls, bodies burned by electricity or shredded like pulled pork. In some places, you see stacks of BUG corpses, blown to pieces by multiple close shotgun blasts. Bluish-green ichor stains the streets. Houses have their doors torn off of their hinges, and walls burst open like a microwaved egg. Sometimes, you swear you hear the clicking of the BUGS, but can’t locate a source.”
As the party explores the ruins of Gateway, if they enter a door to a shop or building, or enter a specific area, like the Scullery, besides the random encounters, there is a 40% chance that they will encounter 1D4 Army Ants. Once any party encounters any BUGS, and there is loud noise or shots fired, this will alert BUGS to the party’s presence. In 1D8 rounds, 1D10 x 10 Army Ants, 4 Assassin Beetles, and one Killer Bee (if still alive) will begin to converge on the party’s position. If there are multiple encounters making noise, the BUGS will be confused and may separate to attempt to attack all the contacts. If there is general melee and other parties can locate the party fighting, they will converge in 1D6 rounds. Sound bounces around everywhere and is very disorienting. If some other party is fighting, unless one of the characters has a specific skill of caving or underground orientation, it will take 1D6 rounds to converge on the sound. Once BUGS are engaged, each round, check to see if BUGS have successfully circled around the party for a sneak attack. Also, if there are any available machines, BUGS will escape into them if pressed.
If the large force of BUGS is alerted, this accounts for approximately one half of the force still underground. One half of the force has the rest of Gateway’s citizens trapped in a large storage area. However, the noise and commotion caused by the party, and the obvious lessening of the BUG forces give the citizens the courage they need to strike! They begin a counter-offensive, and are able to herd the BUGS back toward the main entrance, where they will get bottlenecked at the connecting passage between the main room and the long wall room. If they party is not already there, as they finish their own battle with BUGS, they will encounter the second wave, and hear the shots and shouts of humans, too! [the GM must remember that the killer bee, if not yet dead, will be leading this group and will fight to the death. Also, any Assassin Beetles left will try to blend in and hide or mimic a human to separate out a party member in melee]. After the BUGS are bottlenecked, any party member standing in the line of fire, stands a small chance (1%) of being hit by friendly fire. [There are a total of 157 Army Ants, 6 Assassin Beetles, and 1 Killer Bee in the mine. Before the final battle with the Ants is over, for any of the NPC’s there is a 35% chance that they have been killed by BUGS or friendly fire.]
The party makes a stand about three blocks in, after not falling for a trick by an Assassin BUG, and leaving a group of kids welded behind a door. After an explosion, the remainder of the BUGS converge on their position, and the other group one section down from them make their stand. They kill approximately 88 BUGS between them. Susan is nearly killed. Molly nearly dies. No one escapes injury.
As the players complete the mop up, unless they have a watch, or unless they have a special skill at estimating time, they really do not know what time it is. They are spending their time going house by house, finding survivors, and eliminating any straggler BUG. [Based on the time, it may be that players are greeted to the cavalry topside. If so, they will see Scott Furtwengler leading his force to meet the party. It may be that the players finished before he arrived, but after the players collapse from their wounds and effort, they awake to find Scott from the CPD looking over them]. Players will mop up, seek medical attention, or simply rest after the fight.
If party members are hurt, then the Sawbones with the CPD will set bones, administer medication, tend to wounds, etc. If there are players that can’t travel, or are too wounded to continue, Scott will tell them that the mission to Silver Creek is on hold until a scouting party makes it back from a long-range recon, which may take days, anyway.
That night, as a makeshift triage unit is working on injured people, Scott asks for any players who are able to attend a memorial service for all of those who fell in battle.
Regroup
When the party are all well enough to travel, (whether that is right away, or whether that is two weeks later) Scott will call a war council. Scott informs the group that now more than ever, supplies must get to Silver Creek. Word has reached Scott of larger scale attacks in their area. A much larger force of BUGS and zombies marched straight down interstate 64, burning most of Belleville, Mascoutah, and O’Fallon in the process. Scattered resistance was crushed. It is likely that thousands of surviving free-thinkers were captured and taken to BUG Central in East St. Louis. The folks at Silver Creek were able to save many hundreds of people, sheltered inside Silver Creek, and as of their last transmission, were able to still keep secret the entrance to the mine. Years ago, they built their own entrance, complete with a steam-powered lift, and left the original mine entrance as a decoy, using explosives to block the original tunnels in. To anyone who did not know any better, the mine looked abandoned.
Furtwengler thanks the surviving volunteers from the wagon train, and tells them that they will be accompanied back home by the CPD. Even though the mission may turn into a military mission, he asks the players to continue and get supplies to Silver Creek. If they have not already agreed to the Scott Air Force Base mission, at some point, privately, he implores them, one last time, to help him.
Silver Creek
The next morning, the party, plus T.J. (if alive) will join 2 wagon drivers, 6 CPD irregulars, four horses, and one of the wagons loaded with supplies, weapons, and gear for Silver Creek. If the party has the Moonbuggy, Scott will offer to outfit it with one of their .50 calibers. It will come with 5000 rounds. It will be ready as the party leaves.
Roll for encounters each hour on Table 5. Off the road, there is a 50% chance of an encounter; on the road, there is a 90% chance. Off road, use Table 5-1. On the road, use Table 5-2.
Depending on encounters, the party should be able to make good time to Silver Creek. It is approximately 45 miles away. The terrain flattens out, and even though there is much more BUG activity, large grain fields maintained by zombies add a lot of cover over open country. If the party needs to rest, or is injured, they will make a scheduled stop at Checkpoint Dave, halfway between Sparta and O’Fallon, another Pony Express stop. It is approximately 22 miles away. Players should get there within four hours.
As the party approaches, they see smoke and obvious signs of a fire fight. Checkpoint Dave has been destroyed. The horses have survived with minimal injuries, but all of the people there have been badly burned or ripped to pieces. If the party inspects the site, they will find that the cave used by the CPD was not discovered. Inside, they will find a fully stocked Pony Express station except there are no riders left. Three of the CPD militia will volunteer to stay to man Checkpoint Dave, and one volunteers to ride back to Sparta to resupply the garrison. After a brief rest, unless there are injuries among the party, the CPD will want to move forward again.
As the party continues, roll for encounters each hour on Table 5. Off the road, there is a 50% chance of an encounter; on the road, there is a 90% chance. Off road, use Table 5-1. On the road, use Table 5-2. Depending on encounters, it should take approximately four hours to reach the outskirts of O’Fallon.
The players have four encounters. The first is with a NORAD troop transport and soldiers, who encourage them to turn around, but they artfully avoid a firefight. Later, the party finds the wreck of the NORAD soldiers' van, destroyed, empty, and on fire. They are able to salvage some cool "Bug Juice" weapons and some BUG traps. Next, they encounter a psycho, who does his best to trick the party into letting him travel with them, all the while planning their horrible, sexual murders. However, the empaths in the party sense his thoughts, and realize he is a freak, and someone splits his head open. Lastly, on their way to the I-64 interchange, the players see lights in an old church, and on closer inspection, see a sign that looks like a BUG, and realizes that it is the home of some cultists---the Priory of the Arthropod. They decide to avoid it for the time being.
As the players approach the I-64 interchange, T.J. or the CPD militia man in charge will order a rest in a secluded spot not far from the cloverleaf. If it is not yet dark, the CPD soldier will say, “We wait here until dark,” and conceal the wagon. If it is dark, the CPD militia will ask you to wait, and tell you that only the militia may know the way to the mine entrance. They will be back shortly. Within the hour, the party hears some noises right by the wagon. It is the soldiers, returning. First they tell the party that the mine is secure, and that nearly 400 citizens were saved from what used to be the free citizens of O’Fallon. They tell the party that the BUG traffic on I-64 is intense. No one among them had ever seen so many BUGS. Power had been restored along the highway, and the lightpoles reminded them of old times, even though they saw several BUGS zapping in and out of junction boxes beside the poles. The soldiers say that there is an underpass a couple of miles east of their current position that they want to drive the wagon up to, and then approach the mine from the other side of the interstate. They ask that the party remains at this position. [At this point, the side mission to Scott Air Force Base begins, unless the party decided not to engage in the mission. Since T.J. is alive and the party is completing the Scott Air Force Base mission, as soon as the soldiers leave, he will debrief the party. The party needs to find the rendevous with Colonel Irons. The map is their only clue to his location.
Great Scott!
[GM---ever since the party stopped, they have been under surveillance by Colonel Irons, code name,“Ironman.”] He will make a call like an owl, and will be answered back. Before they look for too long, they hear the call of an owl. It repeats. If it is not answered, then a few moments later, a red dot will appear on the forehead of one of the players, and they will hear a simple command: “Identify yourselves.” The red dot is a laser sight. If any player does anything other than comply, he will fire. If he hits, he will likely kill the player. [GM: If Colonel Irons doesn’t hear the signal back, his first instinct will be to kill all of the players, because he suspects that they are compromised by brain grubs. However, he knows the CPD militia did make it to and back from the mine, and that they attempted to hide from the BUG presence on the highway, so he is not sure. He will attempt to make contact, but will not hesitate to kill them all if he is not sure of their loyalties. Also, from this point on, in the text, I am going to assume that T.J. is there, and not continue to make references to whether he is there or not.
Irons will tell you that he has recently been inside the Air Base, through tunnels that very, very few people know exist, and believes that there are some places in the Air Base the BUGs have not infiltrated, and there are some weapons, supplies, and a few “special items” that he wants in Furtwengler’s hands as soon as possible. He doesn’t trust the Government morons to fight their way out of this bug-infested picnic, and believes that what is left of the U.S. government would only waste any opportunities they might find here.
[GM: Colonel Irons was also one of the few people who knew anything about the real Majestic 12, and the “artifacts” that have been housed at Scott Air Force Base for nearly 70 years (since, ahem, the Roswell incident). There are two magnetic monopole drives, an antigravity weapon, a particle force beam weapon, and the retro-engineered projects that were created from this technology, which includes a force field generator, an antigravity platform, a Gauss gun, two variations on the rail gun concept, and a “force point generator,” which produces a mass imploding miniature black hole, but were mothballed in the 1990’s due to severe budget cuts. In 1999, there were only a half a dozen Air force personnel still alive in the country who knew about most of the projects housed underground at Scott Air Force Base. Irons is one of them. None of the current zombies at the base, nor any of the BUGS are aware of the existence of the deep underground passages or rooms. Irons has waited until now, when the time was right, and a party of trusted individuals were assembled to make one raid to remove these devices, and as much of the other weaponry as could be removed at one time. Irons has his own plans, which will be to lead the party to the gear, load up everything that they can carry (and the antigravity platform can hold) and then in order to assure that they will make it out unhindered, he plans to attempt to steal one of the VTOL aircraft, or something else if he can get his hands on it, and attempt to reach NORAD or Area 51 before the BUGS get him or his plane.
Under The Ant Hill
Irons will lead the party to a hidden sealed hatch, located less than 500 yards from the fencing of the airfield. He has studied the guard rotation, and knows exactly when to make his move. He signals the party to move. Instruct everyone to roll a D20, under DEX, to avoid making noise. There will be no detection and everyone will be able to make it inside the hatch unless a player fails a roll. If a player fails, he will fall in a loud heap, tripping over a root, and it will be clear the noise was heard. At this point, Irons will command the players to “Get in the damn hatch!” and he will close it after them. Before it closes, Irons gives them a control unit of some kind, that had been strapped to his arm. He hands it to whoever is closest in the party. The party will see him shouldering his sniper rifle, and he will take one last look at you and say, “Majestic.” The hatch closes.
This is exactly what happens! Mike's character fails his DEX roll, then Carl fails his DEX roll and all the zombies are alerted to their presence. So, Irons gives them his controller, and leads the zombies away. Classic!
[GM: Again, at this point, assume that Irons is with the party. But, if he is not, he will expertly lead the zombies who heard the noise away from the hatch, and will attempt to either make it back to his own bunker, unseen, or will commit to his plan of taking a VTOL and baiting as many BUGS and soldiers to follow him as is possible. There is a 50% chance either way for his actions. If he chooses to go to the base, once in the hangar, he has a 50% chance to see the hangar in which 1947-C, the saucer recovered from Roswell, New Mexico, still exists, unguarded. If he notices, he will change his plans and choose to attempt to fly the saucer, even though he knows it is missing one of its magnetic monopole drives.]
After the hatch closes, any NPC’s will break chemical lights, and encourage the party to do so as well. The hatch is the top of an access tunnel, which goes 100 feet straight down. Players should roll once under their DEX to make it down the long ladder with no incident.
Ahh, the simple DEX roll. Which Mike fails. As he slips down the ladder, T.J. gets his leg caught in the ladder, and as he is pushed down and backward, his shin splinters and he is nearly killed from the shock of the compound fracture. The party is able to get him down, and they do their best to seal the wound, and then they morphine him up, and prop him up in the room at the bottom of the ladder.
At the bottom of the tunnel, they emerge into a large clean room, 20 feet wide, 40 feet long, with a ceiling nearly 20 feet high. At the opposite end of the room, the players can see that there is a large, manually locked sliding door. Irons will tell you that this is the way out on the way back. There is a tunnel on the other side which gradually rises and leads to a well-hidden exit approximately 15 miles away, running somewhat parallel to Interstate 64. There is only one other door in this room, an ellipsoidal concrete and steel passage, approximately 12 feet wide and 10 feet high at the apex.
This lighted passage runs parallel to one of the runways and service roads on the surface. After a long distance, the players come to a sealed door. A light is blinking above it. There is a keypad and a speaker next to the door. None of the symbols on the key pad look familiar to the players. The players must enter in the numeric code [only Irons knows this] or if Irons is not there, then the password “majestic” will unlock the arm controller he gave to the party. Then the party can look through his files and find the proper entrance sequence for the door. The door will not open any other way. [If the party is struggling to figure out what to do, have each roll a D20 INT check, -3 if a player has computer background, for insight into a voice password to unlock the arm controller] The door opens with a soft whoosh of a seal being broken. What does the party do?
Hopefully, they will go in. Above several doors in this area, the word “Majestic” is stenciled. There are 12 rooms in this wing. [GM: see Map 6 for Majestic 12].
Room 1, Medical Bay 1. In the medical bay, as the doors open, the stale smell or rot hits the players like a right hook. There are several dead, decomposed humans on some tables. Notes on the tables tell the story of captured soldiers, who had unusual purple marks under their noses, who were obviously compromised by alien “grubs.” Attempts to kill the aliens also killed the hosts. Dissection showed subtle changes in organs and regenerative capabilities of the host bodies. There are grub specimens in liquid filled tubes on the back wall of this room. They are dead. A grease monkey or others with scavenging skills might find other items of usefulness in here, at the GM’s discretion.
Room 2, Medical Bay 2. In this medical bay, which is identical to the first one, there are also specimens of some kind in large fluid-filled tubes. There is no mistaking three small alien bodies floating, dead. There are no notes, or any other tools out, but there are two laptops on one of the lab benches. The laptops are encrypted, and contain detailed notes on the physiology and anatomy of the three alien corpses. [They also contain detailed information on the recovered alien technology and the retro-engineered devices which have been developed in this facility.] No other mundane items of value are in here. There are some locked cabinets and drawers, but without explosives, it is beyond the players’ capabilities to open these drawers. In the back of this room, is a device that looks like a table. It is approximately 4 feet wide, and 8 feet long, but is over a foot thick, and clearly a device of some kind. [If Irons is there, he will tell the party that this is an antigravity platform, the only one of its kind, and is exactly what the party is looking for, among other things. If Irons is not here, then the party will discover it if they look through the room for more than one round. Any one with computer experience will be able to identify the keypad for accessing functions for the device. In the armband controller, there is the password for the device. See the end of the module for stats on the antigravity platform.] If the platform is activated, it will slowly rise to between three and four feet high. Players will notice right away that it moves like it is weightless, but has no motor. Once activated, it will be able to carry a maximum of 2.5 tons for 12 hours. Any object under the weight limit placed on the platform will not affect the mass or inertia of the platform. It will still move as if weightless. There are no other items of interest in this room.
Room 3, Mess hall. This is a large open hall with seating for about 50. The mess hall was left in disarray. trays, and long since rotted or dessicated food sits on many tables. In the kitchen, most items in the large refrigerators have went bad, even though the refrigerators still work. In the walk-in freezer, there are sides of beef, pre-packaged patties, chops and many other types of meat and frozen vegetables. This area has remained at minus 20 degrees for 10 years. Most of the food is still edible, but freezer burned. It is frozen solid, and will last for some time out of the freezer. The dry goods pantry is a gold mine. Some canned food is still good, but others like peanut butter and some sealed cans, have gone bad. Some food, like honey, is as good today as it was when it was stored away. There are cans of coffee, and several large bags and industrial-size cans of items like corn that were irradiated and have a shelf-life of many years. This food is still good.
There are also a fine assortment of pots, pans, dishes, and silverware, if any were so inclined to investigate. If the players check, there is running, clean water, a modern convenience that most have not had in years.
Room 4, Officer’s quarters. This suite of 4 rooms is clearly the officers’ living quarters. Most rooms are sparsely decorated. There are some personal effects in each room. One of the rooms was once Colonel Irons’ room. Closer inspections will find three officers’ sidearms (.45 caliber handguns) and full clips.
Room 5, Staff quarters. This room essentially is the lobby for the underground hotel which housed soldiers and scientific staff who worked down here. There are 20 sleeping rooms, each large enough to accommodate 2 people comfortably. In any particular room, there aren’t any key items to find, but there are personal effects, pictures, razors, video game consoles (super-advanced, like the original Playstation), books, pornography, and the like.
Room 6, Showers and bathrooms. Room 6 comes directly off of the “lobby” of the hotel of room 5, but also has access to public restroom facilities from the main hall of Majestic. There are no encounters or items of value in here. Players notice a tile on the shower floor is loose. If the shower room floor tiles are removed, players can see a place in the floor which had concrete poured later than the rest of the floor.
Room 7, Armory. Room 7 requires a specific command sequence to open the door, and either Irons has this, or it is in the arm controller. Once inside, there are three large caged rooms, with well-organized shelves of different kinds of weapons. In cage 1, there are handguns, clips, ammunition, holsters, sights, and cleaning kits for weapons. There are also small projectile weapons, such as gas and smoke grenades, and fragmentation grenades.
There are: 12 Colt .45 pistols, and 2000 bullets. There are 60 loaded magazines in boxes. There are 6 ASP 9mm pistols, with 500 bullets and 12 loaded magazines. There are three .44 magnums, with 120 rounds in boxes. There are also 6 Stun/Flash Grenades: This type of grenade is designed to confuse and disorient terrorists or criminals who are holding hostages in confined places. The grenade makes a loud exploding boom and a bright flash (and some smoke) which startles and blinds the terrorists. Many stun/flash grenades, like the M459 'Starflash,' provide a brilliant shower of white-hot sparklettes for enhanced effect. Covers a 6 m (20 foot area). Victims are — 8 to strike, parry, and dodge, - 1 initiative and lose one melee attack/action for the next 1D4 melee rounds. 24 CS/Tear Gas: This type of chemical gas is often used for riot control. The grenade releases a cloud or vapor that reacts with the eyes and skin of all who are exposed to its chemical agents. Typically, the gas causes the eyes to burn/sting and water profusely, causing great discomfort and make seeing difficult. It also burns the throat and nasal passages, causing coughing and difficulty breathing, as well as irritating exposed skin. Only a gas mask can completely protect a person from CS/Tear gas type attacks. The effects last for 3D4 minutes after leaving the tear gas filled area. Area of Effect: 7.6 m (25 ft) radius, enough to fill a large room. The gas is most effective in small, confined indoor areas/rooms. It is not as effective outdoors where the wind can carry the gas away. Victims are —10 to strike, parry, and dodge, — 3 initiative and lose one melee attack/action for the next 1D6+ 1 melee rounds.
There are 36 Smoke Grenades: P. V. 1, releases a cloud that covers an approximate 6 m (20 ft) radius; used for troop cover and crowd dispersement/riot control. Obscures vision in and through the smoke cloud and causes minor difficulty breathing. Infrared optic systems cannot see into or through smoke. Those in the cloud are — 5 to strike, parry, and dodge and — 1 on initiative. Attackers firing into/through the cloud are shooting completely wild! Aimed shots or controlled bursts are impossible (the shooter cannot see the target)! There are two Browning SA Pneumatic Grenade Launchers. This weapon is a low-velocity gun designed to be used either free standing or mounted on a light vehicle. It is equipped to fire any 48mm grenade, including M5 tear gas, stun and smoke grenades. Caliber: 48mm, Overall Length: 810mm, Weight of Launcher: 3.5 kg without feed system, Rate of Fire: 15 rounds per minute, Blast Diameter: varies with type of grenade, Damage: varies with type of grenade; riot control, Approx. Effective Range: Launcher: 150 m (492 ft). There are 24 MECAR Disorienting Grenades. This projectile is made to be used as a shoulder-fired rifle grenade to penetrate light structures such as doors, windows and so on. It can also be used to disorient, shock and stun human targets by the use of intense illumination and sound. Length: 321mm, Weight: 360 grams, Approx. Effective Range: 150 m (492 ft) when fired from a 5.56mm or 7.62mm rifle with a 22mm diameter muzzle or adaptor. Note: P.V. 4, Damage (5) 4D6. There are 1200 M67 Delay Fragmentation Hand Grenades. The M67 is one of the standard grenades in service with the US Army. It is a small, round grenade well suited for being thrown. Length: 89.7mm, Diameter: 63.5mm, Weight: 71 grams, Delay: 4 to 5 seconds, Number of Fragments: 600+ , Blast Diameter: 12 m (40 ft), Damage: 2D4x 10, Range: Thrown: 40 m (131 ft). There are 200 An-M14 TH3 Incendiary Hand Grenades. This grenade is used primarily to provide a source for intense heat to destroy equipment. It generates heat up to 2200 Centigrade and burns for 30 to 45 seconds. The grenade is normally thrown but can be fired from a rifle by using a special M2 series projection adaptor. Length: 145mm, Diameter: 63.5mm, Weight: 42 grams, Delay: 2 seconds, Number of Fragments: N/A, Radius of Effect: 3 m (10 ft), Damage: 3D4x 10, Range: Thrown: 25 m (81 ft). There are 24 holsters, 6 pistol mounted sights, and 6 weapons cleaning kits.
In cage 2, there are machine guns, shotguns, clips, ammunition, carrying cases and straps, scopes, and cleaning kits for weapons. There are: 36 AR-10 Assault Rifles. Cartridge: 7.62mmx51, Damage: 5D6, P.V.: 6, Feed: 10 round mag., Weight: 4.1 kg, Barrel Length: 508mm (1029mm), Muzzle Velocity: 845 m/s, Rate of Fire: (cyclic) 700 rounds/min., Approx. Effective Range: 550 m (1804 ft). There are 2500 rounds in boxes. There are 16 MWG 90 round magazines for the AR-10. There are 6 Pancor Jackhammer Mark 3A2’s. Cartridge: 12 Gauge, Damage: 4D6 buck, 5D6 most conventional slugs, 6D6 for rocket assisted and special rounds, P.V.: 5 for most, P. V. 6 for rocket assisted, glaser and armor piercing, Feed: 10 shot rotating cylinder, Weight: 4.57kg, Barrel Length: 525mm (787mm), Cyclic Rate of Fire: 240 rounds/rnin. Note: The casing for this shotgun is made almost entirely of a highimpact plastic called Rynite SST and fiberglass! The internal workings are steel. A fairly inexpensive sound suppressor is being developed for this weapon. The suppressor can be discarded after a limited life. It is designed to allow such payloads as armor piercing, flechettes, fragmentation loads, canister loadings, chemical rounds, and rocket-assisted projectiles, as well as conventional loads. There are 1200 12 gauge slugs in boxes. There are 16 Remington M870 Mark 1 U.S. Marine Corps Shotguns. Cartridge: 12 Gauge, Damage: 5D6, P.V.: 5, Type: Slide action, Feed: 7 shot tubular mag., Weight: 3.6 kg, Barrel Length: 533mm (1060mm). There are two scopes, a dozen cases for guns, 6 large hard cases for ammunition, and four cleaning kits.
In cage three, there are heavy machine guns, rpgs, missile launchers, and grenade launchers. There are suits of ceramic and plastic armor. There are 4 7.62mm M60 General Purpose Machine Guns. Cartridge: 7.62mm x 51, Feed: disintegrating belt link, Weight: 10.51 kg, Barrel Length: 560mm (1105mm), Muzzle Velocity: 855 m/s, Approx. Effective Range: 1000 m (3280ft; bipod) or 1800 m (5905 ft; on tripod), Rate of Fire: (cyclic) 550 rounds per minute, P.V.: 6, Damage: 6D6. There are 6 boxes with three belts each, 300 rounds per belt. There is one .30 Caliber Model 1919 A4 Browning Machine Gun Cartridge: .30 Ml or M2, Feed: 250 round belt, Weight: 14.06 kg., Barrel Length: 610mm (1044mm), Muzzle Velocity: 860 m/s, Approx. Effective Range: 1000 m (3280 ft), Rate of Fire: (cyclic) 400-500 rounds per minute, P.V.: 5, Damage: 5D6. There are no rounds for this weapon. There are two .50 Caliber Browning Heavy Machine Guns. Cartridge: .50 M2 Ball (12.7 xmu), Feed: 250 round belt. Weight: 39.1 kg., Barrel Length: 1143mm (1653mm), Muzzle Velocity: 810 m/s, Approx. Effective Range: 6000 m (19,685 ft), Rate of Fire: (cyclic) 450-600 rounds per minute, P.V.: 7 + , Damage: 1D6 x 10 + 10. There are four 40mm MM-1 Multiple Grenade Launchers. This is a high-powered grenade launcher which can be operated by a single man at a high rate of speed. The MM-1 is a revolver type weapon which can be easily and quickly reloaded with any US and foreign 40mm grenade (up to 101 mm/4 inches in length). Furthermore, it is extremely reliable and as easy to maintain as a service revolver. It is useful in any number of tactical situations and can be an especially effective addition as emergency firepower for boats, helicopters, and tank crews. Caliber: 40mm, Length of Launcher: 635mm, Weight: 5.7 kg, Feed: 12 shot cylinder, spring-assisted, Sustained Rate of Fire: Approx. 30 rounds per minute (cyclic: 144 rds/m), Velocity: 76 m/s, Blast Diameter: 6 m (20 feet), Damage: 1D6 x 10, Maximum Effective Range: 350 m (1148 ft). Note: It can also fire smoke, inert batons, illumination grenades, HE, flame, fragmentation, shape charge (HEAT), CS/chemical gas, and stun/ flash grenades. There 36 loaded magazines for these weapons.
There are 2 40mm Mark 19 Mod 3Automatic Grenade Launchers. The Mark 19 is actually a machine gun which fires 40mm grenades! The system was developed by the Navy for use on river patrols in Vietnam. It can be used with a tripod or mounted on a vehicle (jeep, truck, tank, boat, helicopter, etc.). The ammunition used is a unique belt system in that the belt links stay with the cartridge case and are ejected after firing. It can be fired manually or by remote control using an electrical solenoid. It is an excellent weapon to use against both personnel and light armored vehicles. It is used by all US Military Forces. Caliber: 40mm of virtually any variety, Length of Launcher: 1028mm, Height: 206 mm, Weight: 34 kg, Feed: 20 or 50 round belt, Sustained Rate of Fire: 325-375 rounds per minute, Velocity: 240 m/s, Blast Diameter: 6 m (20 feet), Damage: 1D6 x 10, Approx. Effective Range: 1600 m (5249 ft). Mountings: Turret, pedestal or tripod. Note: It can also fire smoke, illumination grenades, HE, AP, flame, fragmentation, shape charge (HEAT), CS/chemical gas, and stun/flash grenades. There are 4 50 round belts for these weapons. There are 16 AAI Close Assault Weapon System (CAWS). This shotgun type weapon was developed for use by the Navy for quick fire, close combat situations. Its recoil is slightly less than an M-16 rifle, which makes it easy to control in burst fire. The ammunition for this weapon was specially developed and is slightly larger than a normal 12-gauge cartridge, ensuring that it will not be used in sporting-type weapons. However, it is possible to use a commercial 12-gauge shell in the CAWS unit. The anti-personnel cartridge is loaded with eight flechettes, each weighing one gram. The accuracy of this round is so good that all eight flechettes will strike within a 4 meter (13 ft) circle at 150 m (492 ft) range. At this range the flechettes will penetrate 76mm of pine or 3mm of light steel! Caliber: 12 gauge special and commercial 12 gauge, Length: 984mm, Weight: 4.08 kg, Feed: 12 round box magazine, Velocity: 240 m/s, Blast Diameter: 6 m (20 feet), Damage: lD6x 10, Approx. Effective Range: 150 m (492 ft). Note: It can also fire smoke, illumination grenades, HE, AP, fragmentation, CS/chemical gas, and stun/flash grenades. There are 24 12 round box magazines of antipersonnel cartridges. There are 2 140mm Brunswick RAW HE Rockets. RAW is an acronym for "Rifleman's Assault Weapon." This weapon could be considered an extension of the concept of rifle launched grenades, however, it is a different concept in terms of size and effectiveness. The RAW was developed for urban warfare. Many times infantrymen engaged in close combat in cities are faced with the problem of an enemy who is cloistered in a building and completely protected. What was needed was something to create sizeable holes in masonry and concrete, this is what the RAW does. It has a larger than normal charge of explosives and is able to be accurately placed and exploded. Caliber: 85mm, Weight: 2.72 kg, Length: 305 mm, Feed: Single-shot, Rate of Fire: 4-6 per minute, Penetration: 100mm, Blast Diameter: 1.5 m (5 feet), Damage: Frag. 1D4X 10, HE 1D6 X 10, HEAT 2D4 X 10, Approx. Effective Range: 300 m (984 ft). Possible Payloads: HE, smoke, flame, chemical, fragmentation, shape charge (HEAT), AP, smoke and stun. There are three boxes of 16 each 85 mm shells.
There are 4 SMAW’s. The SMAW (Shoulder Launched Multi-purpose Assault Weapon) is designed to destroy hardened emplacements or light vehicles. It is a two-part weapon: a launch unit including the firing mechanism and optical sight, and reloadable 9mm spotting rifle used in the British LAW 80. The rocket is supplied prepacked in a sealed tube which is attached to the launcher and discarded after firing. Caliber: 83mm, Weight: 13.4 kg (launcher ready to fire), Length: 826mm, Launch Velocity: 220 m/s, Feed: Single-shot, Rate of Fire: 4 rounds per minute, Penetration: 300 mm, Blast Diameter: 15 m (50 feet), Damage: Frag. 3D4xlO, HE 4D4 X 10, HEAT 1D4 x 100, Approx. Effective Range: 500 m (1640 ft). Note: It can also fire smoke and illuminating rounds. There are 4 cases with 4 sealed tubes each in them. There are 12 suits of full combat hard armor. Class IVB/C (P.V. 1-6, rifles & All Special Rounds) Resistant to rounds with a penetration value of up to P.V. 6, as well as many rifle rounds and ALL special rounds for handguns (including armor piercing, hollow point, explosive, Glaser, THV and ATE, even if the special round bonuses gives it a P.V. of seven or higher). 5.56mm X 45mm 7.62mm x 39 7.62mm x 51 NATO US .30 Carbine FMJ Impact Damage: Cartridges with a P.V. of 1 or 2 do one point of damage. Bullets with a P.V. of 3 or 4 do two points of damage from the force of impact. Bullets with a P.V. of 5 or 6 and special rounds do 1D4 damage from the force of impact. Higher caliber, and rifle rounds not listed will penetrate the armor and inflict 75% of their damage and full shock. Shock: Bullets with a P.V. of 1 or 2 have no noticeable effect on the wearer of the armor. P.V. of 3 to 4 will cause a stinging impact, as if getting punched in the chest. This causes momentary shock that lasts for about four seconds and the character loses one of his attacks/actions for that combat/melee round. Shotgun blasts, special rounds, and bullets with a P.V. of 5 and 6 feel like getting kicked in the chest. The character will be knocked off his feet. The momentary shock from impact lasts about 30 seconds or two full combat/melee rounds. This armor will impart an AC of 15 against other not projective attacks.
If players spend more than one round in cage 3, have them roll under their WIS. If a player rolls under his or her WIS score, the player will notice light scratch marks on the floor that seem to lead behind the wall with ceramic armor on it. [There is a hidden door here, which requires a specific password from Irons or his arm controller, and behind it lies cage 4, in which is housed two prototype alien hybrid rail guns, and one Gauss gun. There are also 10 clips for each weapon. See the description of these weapons at the end of the module.]
Room 8, Lab 1. Requires password. Upon entry, players will see a large, clean, metallic, but sparse room with an unusual device in the center of the room. It is on a steel table. It is spherical, on a support stand, and is approximately 2 feet in diameter. The main globe gives off a slight bluish light. [Lab 1 is dedicated to a retro-engineered device which is a force field generator. It weighs approximately 380 pounds and will take two or three people to attempt to manhandle it onto the antigravity platform. Any one with computer skills will be able to access the interface for this device, but the specifc command keys are not known, even by Colonel Irons, though he does know what it is. The key commands are in one of the laptops that were in the first medical lab.] Any player attempting to lift the device on his or her own, roll a D20 +5 against STR to determine success. It is unwieldly. If more than one player attempts to lift together, roll D20 unmodified for each against STR. Besides this device, there is nothing else of value in here.
Room 9, Lab 2. Requires password. In this lab, which is long and narrow, there are two work benches and workstations at each end. Suspended chest high at each end are two long and thin metallic tubes. They appear to be floating in air. They look alien, and are definitely made from a material that is unlike anything the players have seen before. Monitoring devices are giving continuous read outs. A command prompt is flashing at each ends’ workstations. Unless the command keys are entered, a sharp and continuous electrical jolt will shock anyone who attempts to touch the cylindrical objects. [The objects are two alien magnetic monopoles. See description at the end of the module.] If players do something stupid, like shoot them or cause structural harm to either device, then they can trigger a failure of the containment system, which can result in a 100 megaton explosion. Whoops!
Room 10, Lab 3. Requires password. In this lab, long and narrow lab, players will notice what appears to be a firing range, with sensors built into the walls, floors, and ceilings, and velocity monitoring equipment (speed guns) along the walls, ceiling, and floor. There are some dents in what looks like very strong steel panels. At the end of the room closest to the door is a workstation, and on the bench is a fairly small, silvery-grey weapon, that looks like it might fit over the shoulder of a small person, almost like a tiny bazooka. [This is an antigravity gun, and it looks like a children’s sized weapon because it was made for the little alien guys in the med lab. Please see the end of the module for the description of the antigravity gun.] Along one of the walls close to the entrance is a large silver tube, with what appears to be an open man-sized sliding hatch. It does not appear to be functioning, and even Irons does not know what it is. [It is a matter transmission device, which was installed a year after Irons retired. He does not know what it is. It will only function when its partner device is also powered on. Its partner device is not on this base.]
Room 11-A, Lab 4. This is another long laboratory, which almost looks like a firing range. Down the length of the lab, there are movable steel walls, and several large metallic and concrete “targets.” Some of them have neat holes drilled through them. At the entrance of the lab, there is a workstation desk and some unlocked metal cabinets along the wall. In the metal cabinets, there are some lab coats, and some contamination suits. [In the back of the corner cabinet, if the players are stating they are looking for anything else, they will discover a small keypad with blinking lights and a speaker panel. This is the control for the secret access panel for the relays that will be important in a few minutes! Without the proper code, which Irons does not have, it will not open. Forcible entry will trip the failsafe. Don’t bait the party by giving a hint that something is there. Proceed with the next description.] The party sees a strange, alien-looking mounted turret. There are some controls which have obviously been retrofitted to it. [This is a particle force beam weapon. It weighs approximately 430 pounds, and will take at least three people to lift it carefully onto the platform. There are no instructions for operation, but the retrofitted controls are a standard joystick and fire button. Please see the end of the module for complete description.]
About halfway down the lab, on the right-hand side, the players can see a large door with a glowing blue light around it. This door requires a password. It is the entrance to room 11-B, Lab 4. As players enter the doors, once the party is in, the doors behind them shut and a red light above the door flashes. An automated voice says, “Decontamination protocol in effect,” and a fine mist sprays down from the ceiling, and exhaust fans in the floor create airflow through the bottom of this entrance chamber. After this occurs, a green light above the door on the other side of this room flashes, and the voice says, “Decontamination complete,” and the other door slides open.
This lab looks similar to 11-A, except the weapon at this end of the room is obviously man-made, probably retro-engineered like some of the other devices you have found so far. It sits on a pedestal, and is about the size of a .50 caliber machine gun. It looks built to be slung over the shoulder and aimed at the hip with both hands. It weighs approximately 28 pounds, so is deceptively light. As soon as it is touched, a small screen lights up on its side, which reads, “Charged.” Above the word is an LED which looks like a power indicator. On the work station behind the weapon, in a desk drawer are some notes on the “Force Point Generator,” or FPG, as the prototype is referred to. The notes essentially describe the features and problems associated with the gun [these features and problems are described in full in the description of the weapon in the back of the module.]
Room 12, Control Room. This room requires a password to enter. [Either irons will have it or it will be in the armband controller.] This appears to be some kind of mission control room. There are temperature controls, reactor controls and several monitors for each room [even in hidden or undiscovered rooms] in Majestic. There are dozens of monitors recording activity in the Air Force Base above as well. The party can see several aircraft in a hangar. In most areas, there are dozens or hundreds of BUGS, and hundreds of zombies. In one room, there is a Lightning Bug, with a dozen killer bees. They appear to be looking at monitors and pointing to different areas, unaware that they themselves are being watched. There is a monitor of what looks like a lab very similar to the previous lab rooms you were in. There are several other hangars. In one area, the party can see what looks like a flying saucer. It appears to be floating. [Let that sink in for a moment!]They also see Irons, pinned down, looking like he is going to try to get the saucer.
[GM: Again, if Irons is not here, then as players investigate rooms, they may “accidently” trip a failsafe at the doorway of 11-B {code was changed after Irons left} which causes a self-destruct sequence to start, if you so choose, or when they are in room 12, their intrusion sets off the sentries over in the Gruen Lake facility.] If the party investigates, they find, on the monitor that looked like it was focused on one of the labs, what now looks like a very active lab, with several people moving around. They don't have the telltale purple stain below their noses. This clearly isn't a video feed from here. [Roll a D20 under INT. If the players look closely, one may notice a clock set to mountain time.] While the party is looking, they watch someone stop in front of the monitor. They hear sound from the speaker panel next to the monitor: "Majestic, this is Gruen Lake Research Facility (GLRF). Copy." There is a red button under the com panel. If the players press it, they can communicate to their counterparts at GLRF. If they tell their story, particularly the part about Colonel Irons telling them to get out because in about 20 minutes, the base will be destroyed, the GLRF will ask them to hold for a moment. [At this point, announce to the players that a military alarm starts to go off, and a soft female voice reports, “T-minus 20 minutes until reactor core implosion” Then, set a TIMER on the table clicking down, with exactly 20 minutes of time before it expires. GM, you must make your rolls and say your parts quickly here, to build the suspense of real time decision making!] In less than a minute, a man in black fatigues will appear in the monitor: He says, with no introduction, “Please listen carefully, because we do not have time to waste. We can not allow the reactor under Scott AFB to go critical. You will not be far enough away in 20 minutes, and we do not have time to initialize the matter transmission device in Majestic 10 to get you out. There are three fail-safe switches that must be turned off and then back on simultaneously to stop the reactor from going critical once the self-destruct sequence has been initiated. If you do not break and make contact simultaneously, then the whole series must be set back to ‘on’ and you must try again. Please, we're running out of time.” If there is argument, the man in black says, “Listen, you don't get it. The reactor is a miniature black hole, held in place by three magnetic monopoles. Most of its mass exists in several dimensions beyond our own. If the monopoles fail, before the black hole evaporates, it will take a spoonful of Earth back with it, about seven miles wide. We don't want that. For Christ's sake, the removal of that much mass will change our orbit! And now, you have one less minute to do this job. Please.”
The players will either decide to do the job, or run like hell. Obviously, they can not outrun the implosion on foot---they would have to run at top speed for three and a half miles at the minimum. Some of the soldiers might be able to, and if anyone has running as a skill, they might be able to. Players could use the antigravity sled and the antigravity weapon to move very quickly, if they could figure out how to use them.
If they decide to shut down the reactor, then the man in black says, “Thank God. Go back to Majestic 11-A and on the back wall of the cabinet in the corner, you will find a keypad. Type in this code. 49gfnd9043 and then say, ‘Narnia.’ Now Go!” As the players leave, have them roll under their WIS. If one makes the roll, they can see Irons in one of the monitors, firing a weapon, pinned behind some crates in the hangar with the flying saucer.
Room 11-A will require a password to get in. In room 11-A, the players see the cabinet in the corner. There is a keypad in the back of the cabinet. Once they enter in the code and say the word, a seam appears on the otherwise seamless wall, and a large panel, with three large toggles is revealed. To the right of the third toggle, is a digital counter, which as of right now, shows [current time on the timer] minutes, seconds, and milliseconds in a countdown.
Each player who flips a switch must roll under his or her strength to flip the toggle. Then, the player has a base 10% chance of flipping it at the proper time with the other two players. If any player fails a roll, the switches must be reset and attempted again. After each attempt, the players become better at it, and increase their chances of flipping simultaneously by 10%. After the third attempt, the switches move more freely, and do not require a strength check. Players will have time for as many attempts as they can orchestrate in real time.
If the players succeed, then in room 11, a monitor at the workstation will flip on, and the players will hear and/or see the man in black. He will say, “Congratulations. You just saved the world. Unfortunately, you have about two minutes to get out of the Majestic area. It seems Colonel Irons succeeded in getting 1947-C in the air, [or the Osprey, or the Warthog, depending on his choices] and some Army Ants have taken an interest in the hatch he came up from [or, the hangar directly above you]. We will seal Majestic from the inside, flood it with expanding structural foam, and leave it until we can secure the base from our side.” Players must gather up the artifacts, the retro-engineered gear, and any other devices they are taking NOW. It will take almost two full minutes to manually seal the entry door to Majestic.
If the players fail at resetting the switches, at exactly 00:00:07, the countdown stops, a monitor above the workstation flips on, and the players will see and/or hear the man in black. He will say, “We were able to establish a link to the failsafe over-ride circuit, and “tricked” it into accepting that three timed pulses we sent via a phone modem were the switches being reset. Unfortunately, in doing so, we compromised the area. Bugs definitely know you are down here. You have about two minutes to get out of the Majestic area. We will seal Majestic from the inside, flood it with expanding structural foam, and leave it until we can secure the base from our side.” Players must gather up the artifacts, the retro-engineered gear, and any other devices they are taking now. It will take almost two full minutes to manually seal the entry door to Majestic. Again, they may see Irons in 1947-C or in a military aircraft. However, now they will also have to contend with 4D10 Army Ants two Assassin Bugs, and one killer bee that have made their way down into Room 11-A! [Have players roll INT + 8. A successful check will allow a player to recognize that the BUGS are not using any of the hardlines down here to travel. Again, GM’s this is because the power in this facility comes from the alien technology, and is of a type that is abhorrent to the bugs. They can’t eat it, can’t travel in it, and it actually causes them pain to be near it. All Ants in the facility will attack with a -5 to their rolls.]
If the players can not get the door to the Majestic area shut before they hear the hiss of expanding foam, they have to run for it down the hall. They can outrun it at their maximum speed. However, if a player does trip or fall, and is caught up in the foam, the player may not have time to recover. If the player is engulfed in foam, if he or she spreads out, he or she can ride it like a wave. Once they reach the entrance room at the end of the tunnel, they will have only a few foam-free moments to get the locked panel doors open. If they get trapped in foam, any physical skill check is done at a -80%. It doesn’t mean that a character can’t do the action, but it might take much longer. A player trapped in foam will suffocate in 2D6 rounds. After a player is in foam for longer than 12 rounds, the foam hardens like a brick. It will melt when a specific solvent is applied at a specific temperature.
This time, Carl fails his roll, trips, and the party can't get the door to Majestic 12 shut! They are able to outrun the structural foam, but only by the skin of their teeth! On the way back down the hallway, one of the party notices a previously hidden door. The party attempts to use some explosives to blow it open, and they appear to succeed, but they decide that now is the time to go.
As players make it down the long exit tunnel, if Susan is there, and/or if T.J. is there, then one of them will remember that the party left a wagon and possibly the Moonbuggy back by the base. Susan will not want to leave the Moonbuggy. It is her baby! Players will have to decide if they are going back to the rendevous point.
Loading Up
If the party decides to retrieve the Moonbuggy, wagon, horses and CPD team, then they will find topside looks much different. First, although the GM should roll for encounters, there will be no BUG encounters. The skies above Scott Air Force base are on fire! It is still dark, but players can hear several VTOL jets and other planes are circling the base, and every so often, from somewhere else in the sky, a bolt of what looks like lightning strikes one of the planes and it bursts into flames. Buildings on the base are on fire, and the thunder of explosions can be heard and felt even a few miles away. As the players approach their rendevous point, they will find the rest of the mission’s personnel are waiting for them.
The soldiers at the camp will relate a wild, hard-to believe story that just a little bit ago, a flying saucer rose up above the tree line from the base, and then beams of energy shot everything that moved. There were huge explosions at the fuel dumps and along the runways. Every jet that tried to take off was shot down. They could see several killer bees attempting to engage the saucer, but they couldn’t enter the saucer in energy form, and were shot out of the sky. Several bombardier beetles hurled energy bombs as the saucer veered close to the ground, but they didn’t seem to have any effect. Even a Lightning BUG converted to energy and engaged the saucer for few moments, but after a huge aerial explosion, the saucer glided across the sky, and the Lightning BUG was nowhere to be seen. After that, they saw hundreds of streaks of energy converging on the base and other hardlined areas as BUGS from all over the area were retreating! At some point during their story, they will notice that you are pushing a 4 x 8 platform that floats, and will accept that perhaps you could believe their story.
The players will catch a glimpse of the saucer, and after a few more explosions, it will seem to disappear to the west. The players must load the wagon with their gear. If they do not, in 12 hours, the platform will enter an automatic recharge period and will not work. The only thing left is to deliver the goods back to the CPD. GM, roll encounters as the players return. There will be no BUG encounters on the way home.
Spreading The Word
As the players make it back to Carbondale, they are met on the road by CPD cavalry. Hundreds of citizens gather out of doors unafraid, for the first time in years. Word has spread that a major blow was delivered to the BUGS in O’Fallon, and that they have drawn back from all southern Illinois territories with the exception of BUG TOWN in East St. Louis. Scott Furtwengler ordered a cavalry unit and a heavy weapons unit to escort your wagon back to a secure location (the truck loading docks on the side of the Neckers Building on the campus of SIU). Scott will ask to take possession of the “special items.” He will be willing to negotiate with certain items, particularly if the party is interested in future missions.
Future Hooks
During the mission, Carl has a vision of his mother. He wants to lead a small group with heavy weapons to liberate the East. St. Louis BUGTOWN and get his mother back.
Personnel at the GLRF are interested in getting what they consider their hardware back to their secure facility. They will come looking for their goods. Unbeknownst to the players, the devices have tracking devices built into them, which acts like homing beacons.
This action did not escape the notice of NORAD, who are very willing to negotiate with the new power in southern Illinois. The come as soon as they can, bearing gifts. It is possible that Carl will sense the presence of his father.
Colonel Irons will not forget his friends, particularly Scott, but also the party. This saucer is 1947-C. 1947 A and B exist in two other locations. He needs pilots to form a new air force. Any takers?
The party wants to solve the mystery of Metropolis, which was bombed out of existence shortly after Mike and Susan left it. Why were the BUGs intent on irradiating people, and how were certain psionic talents induced in these people? What was the ultimate goal of this “experiment?”
The GLRF find the players several weeks after all the hoopla has died down about the event at O’Fallon. Several men in black approach the party with a mission: Re-open Majestic 12, and salvage a weapon which might send all the BUGs back where they came from! Or, re-open Majestic 12 to complete a simple task: travel back in time and prevent the BUG invasion from ever happening.
Whatever the players decide, they are likely to enjoy their new found powers in a world fraught with Systems Failure!
The end didn't quite happen like the module. The players had to get T.J. out, and they took the long hallway out. At the end, (not 15 miles, but just a few) they see the carnage in the sky. At this point, the party retrieves their Moonbuggy, and decide that they are going to go back to the treasure trove. That is where the adventure ended. The next one, (if there is a next one) will take place at some further chapter in their lives....
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Systems Failure---Spreading the Word, pt. 2
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