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Adventure ideas for campaign based in the Antarctic
I'm planning to start a d20 Modern campaign based in the Antarctic. It'll also contain elements from d20 CoC and possibly d20 WoD and will be loosely based on the film The Thing.
i.e. a small research crew working in the Antarctic that stumbles across all kinds of nastiness and has to deal with the results.
Given the central conceit, what adventures would you suggest I hurl at them to avoid a "monster of the week" scenario?
I'm planning to start a d20 Modern campaign based in the Antarctic. It'll also contain elements from d20 CoC and possibly d20 WoD and will be loosely based on the film The Thing.
i.e. a small research crew working in the Antarctic that stumbles across all kinds of nastiness and has to deal with the results.
Given the central conceit, what adventures would you suggest I hurl at them to avoid a "monster of the week" scenario?
Many thanks!
Seeing as how you mentioned CoC, I'd look towards H.P. Lovecraft's "At The Mountains of Madness" for inspiration.
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Well, in order to avoid "monster of the week", how about a previously unknown civilization that lives on the continent.
Something like a primitive culture/civilization of either Nenanderthals (my first choice due to their hardiness) or primitive modern man. 50,000 to 100,000 years ago, a group of these people set out from South Africa or the southern tip of South America (during the summer of course). - I'm not sure of their motivation though. - They find themselves trapped in ice as winter approaches and have to head further south (inland) in order to find shelter. They find a tunnel through the ice (created by a volcanic fumarole) that leads them underneath the ice sheet. Underneath the ice sheet, and also underground in complex cave networks (think the Underdark), they find an alien but thriving ecosystem: underground and under-ice lakes warmed by geothermal/volcanic heat, full of strange fish and creatures; a thriving moss/lichen vegetation flora, some that even glow and provide light; and possibly, animal life which has become extinct throughout the rest of the world - rare marsupials and maybe even anklysaurs (would make great beasts of burden for this culture).
Going with the Cthulu feel, have the civilization be a little more like Morlocks. Also perhaps under the control of some "Elder God" (like an Aboleth or something). (Or maybe two civilizations, one primitive but relatively normal, and one Morlock-like subjugated by and venerating an "Elder God".)
Not to suggest the campiness, but the old "Land of the Lost" series might have the type of feel you're looking for in a long term campaign. Maybe the characters are somehow cut-off from returning to modern civilization and they must learn to survive in this strange world while trying to find a way back home.
Another idea, kind of going the "AVP" route, there are ruins of a much older Cthulu/Alien-esque civilization buried under the ice or underground in the Mountains. Possibly inhabited by primitive humans, possibly inhabited by modern but alien humans, or just inhabited by aliens themselves.
Just remember, Antarctica is bigger than both Australia and Europe. That's a lot of real estate, with 97% buried under ice. There could be an entire civilization under the ice, or in cave networks in the underground/mountains, that could survive undetected for centuries. Also, with Antarctica once connected to Africa and Australia while a part of the super continent Gondwana. It once had a flourishing ecology with temperate forrests dominated by ferns and dinosaurs, and then now-extinct marsupials while still connected to Australia. Anything from that past should be fair game.
Anyways, just some ideas to knock around that may help you get the ball rolling.
__________________ Mark "El Mahdi" Armstrong - Semper Operor Verus
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The environment needs to be a key factor in just about everything. Power goes out in a building which forces characters outside to fix the electricity. Wind batters the buildings and makes crazy eerie sounds. Think about horror movies and how the music gets terribly ominous only to be broken by a cat leaping out, but then apply that to something to do with the weather.
That was what stood out for me most. Lots of skill based non-combat encounters at first, slowly building to The Thing,
Zil - I do have a collection of Lovecraft's work and so will take a look into "At The Mountains of Madness"
Mercutio01 - I agree that initially it will be a slow progression from "normality" where scary events turn out to be mundane but that progressively become more sinister!
El Mahdi - I think it could go either way as you suggest; from the initial premise depending on what my prlayers respond to I could easily imagine going down either an AvP route or a Lost World - not sure how I'd combine both!
Tharkun - I like the idea but I suspect that would be based on what time I set it in. I had presumed modern era . . . although it could be a long abondoned laboratory that was investigating the sinister events.
I've also managed to buy but not yet receive (it's in the post) Call of Cthulhu d20 Nocturnum which hopefully will supply additional ideas.
Some ships in the 18th and 19th century would go pretty far south to get into the 'westerlies' (about 40-50 degrees South latitude). Might be interesting to find one frozen in a glacier... who knows what sort of evil and sinister things the sailors resorted to with their ship frozen in for the winter?
Whatever direction you decide to go, sounds like it will be a fun campaign.
Cheers and Good Gaming.
Thanks El Mahdi - I hope so
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dedekind
Some ships in the 18th and 19th century would go pretty far south to get into the 'westerlies' (about 40-50 degrees South latitude). Might be interesting to find one frozen in a glacier... who knows what sort of evil and sinister things the sailors resorted to with their ship frozen in for the winter?
That's a really great idea! I'm hoping to have several adventures that have relatively mundane beginnings . . .
Two words: dire penguins!
But seriously, this wiki article Geology of Antarctica - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia has a map of the landmass beneath the ice. I would have a fissure open in the ice that allowed the investigators access the world deep beneath the ice, and play up the feeling of “all the ice constantly pressing down upon this chamber.
1) Depending upon the era in which your campaign is set, you may have more down there than just researchers. Various nations- Germany, Russia and so forth- have had expeditions to or temporary bases on Antarctica.
2) As was nicely done in the Stargate SG-1 and Atlantis series, internal political tensions can also be a source for "adventures." Perhaps someone higher-up demands they check out a piece of land controlled by someone else (a spy mission)- not their usual job, but they're being asked to do it. Or perhaps they get recalled from Antarctica, either to be replaced or to justify their continued presence at the base to higher-ups...and have an adventure along the way (shipwreck? pirates? madmen? Atlanteans?).
3) In keeping with previous posters suggestion, a lost civilization a la Lovecraft (or someone else) could be a real boon to the campaign.
Discovering a city (ruined? inhabited?) under hundreds or thousands of meters of ice, or hidden beyond a certain fog-obscured mountain range sets the basis for countless adventures.
The Thing? Perhaps one of the city's inhabitants...or a guardian...or invader...
Or maybe it has features like some other lost cities, like portals that project those who enter them to other worlds (the stories of John Carter of Mars or Erick John Stark of Skaith; TV shows like Sliders or Stargate, etc.).
I really like this idea. I've recently acquired the d20 Modern Dark Matter book which is full of good ideas - in particular the conspiracy theory that some Nazi's at the end of WWII headed to Antarctica . . .
With d20 modern campaigns, I always liked throwing the occasional d20 fantasy scenario at the party to help throw them off guard. I took portions of the revised Ravenloft book from WotC and adapted it into a post-apoc campaign rather successfully, once.
For something in the antarctic, I could see you using the 3.5 Frostburn book to get some monsters as well as perhaps put the party up against a bunch of random dwarf-like creatures, etc....
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