General RPG Rules DiscussionDiscuss the rules of any game except D&D or Pathfinder, such as Arcana Evolved, Mutants & Masterminds, Star Wars Saga, d20 Modern, and the like.
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1. PCs investigate an abandoned factory on the outskirts of town...only to discover it has many underground levels. What's down there? And why?
2. PCs investigate long-abandoned subway tunnels in broken-down part of metropolis to find that the tunnels are far deeper and more extensive than they realized...and who dug all these new tunnels that aren't on the city plans?
3. PCs go tomb raiding in South American jungle. Those Aztecs sure knew how to build an elaborate tomb...
4. PCs investigate the huge mansion outside of town, the one reputed to be the site of horrific occult activity and genetic experimentation.
5. Over the past hundred years the Drow have constructed an elaborate and luxurious city...located 1/2 mile *under* London.
Any other ideas? I love this aspect of Modern: the steam pipes, the rusted machinery, the haunted houses, the abandoned subway tunnels...
1. PCs investigate an abandoned factory on the outskirts of town...only to discover it has many underground levels. What's down there? And why?
2. PCs investigate long-abandoned subway tunnels in broken-down part of metropolis to find that the tunnels are far deeper and more extensive than they realized...and who dug all these new tunnels that aren't on the city plans?
3. PCs go tomb raiding in South American jungle. Those Aztecs sure knew how to build an elaborate tomb...
4. PCs investigate the huge mansion outside of town, the one reputed to be the site of horrific occult activity and genetic experimentation.
5. Over the past hundred years the Drow have constructed an elaborate and luxurious city...located 1/2 mile *under* London.
Any other ideas? I love this aspect of Modern: the steam pipes, the rusted machinery, the haunted houses, the abandoned subway tunnels...
6. Catacombs built before the current city was incorporated still exist, with entrances in "historic" buildings and a few, selected crypts. PCs either investigate out of curiosity, or follow a nasty down there.
7. The Convention Center (or opera house, or theater, or stadium, or...) has an elaborate hallway system that seems to be the hide-out of a local criminal (human or Shadow beastie... either way).
8. PCs are recruited for a Search-and-Rescue in the vicinity of a long-abandoned mine.
9. Steal the tunnel system (and the plot, for that matter ) from The Rock. While grabbing ideas from movies, pull out the dragon's den from Reign of Fire (or at least the look-at-the-cave-we-found-on-the-construction-site part of it).
10. Sewer systems - according to BtVS, they're freeways for the undead... according to urban legend, they're the home of all sorts of beasties.
Just a few more to add to your list
__________________ ...and then ledded said, "Modern Backdrops will save you more work than you'll ever know"
(Cool! That's exactly what it's supposed to do )
...<jezter6> ...she's not your typical super girlie type...she's this awesome gamer chick that guys can actually RELATE to type
(You know, I kind of LIKE that description )
11. PCs investigate an area where an old lab used to be . It is rumored that there was illegal experimentation going on. But what kind is unknown.
__________________ "From the beginning, no one has ever stood in Heaven. Not you, nor me, nor God Himself. But soon, that unbearable vacancy on the throne in the sky will be filled. From now on... I will stand in Heaven!"-Sousuke Aizen-Bleach
__________________ ...and then ledded said, "Modern Backdrops will save you more work than you'll ever know"
(Cool! That's exactly what it's supposed to do )
...<jezter6> ...she's not your typical super girlie type...she's this awesome gamer chick that guys can actually RELATE to type
(You know, I kind of LIKE that description )
12. An office building. Instead of trying to get to the bottom of the dungeon complex, the PCs must make it to the top to face the BBEG who looks over the city like the Kingpin (of Daredevil fame).
__________________ Be bloody, bold, and resolute! Laugh to scorn The pow'r of man, for none of woman born Shall harm Macbeth Avatar by Sialia
13. Any kind of abandoned institutional building is good for creep-outs. Old hospitals, prisons, schools, mental wards, orphanages... you get the idea. Ghosts of past inhabitants, new bugaboos have moved in and taken it over, children (or the elderly, or the gas-station attendants) in the area are inexplicabily drawn to the place and perform strange rituals. Obviously this has been used lots of times in movies and literature, but hey - there's nothing new under the sun, right? In fact, one of my wife's favorite creepy movies is Session 9 about an asbestos clean up crew that's hired to gut and renovate an old mental institution and end up getting "10-little-indian'ed."
__________________ Pierce, aka Brother Guyzell Cooper, the evangelist with a shotgun.
Read the Medallions d20 Modern Story Hour! See what the critics are saying:
-- Niiiiiiice. - jonrog1
-- What a great read, thank you, all of you - fenzer
-- ...how a magic system should work in a modern game. - Caliber
-- just last week i was declaring jonrog1, destan, and sepulchrave the trinity of story hours. now, greatness comes in fours! - darkbard Episode I ("Pilot") is now complete. Episode II ("Tangled Web") has begun!
13. Any kind of abandoned institutional building is good for creep-outs. Old hospitals, prisons, schools, mental wards, orphanages... you get the idea. Ghosts of past inhabitants, new bugaboos have moved in and taken it over, children (or the elderly, or the gas-station attendants) in the area are inexplicabily drawn to the place and perform strange rituals. Obviously this has been used lots of times in movies and literature, but hey - there's nothing new under the sun, right? In fact, one of my wife's favorite creepy movies is Session 9 about an asbestos clean up crew that's hired to gut and renovate an old mental institution and end up getting "10-little-indian'ed."
I love that movie. And remember the Silent Hill games? (1 and 2, at least; haven't played the third one--I recently retired from video gaming to focus more on RPGs). The demonic school in the first and the hospital in the second...sweetness.
Under the Skliffasovsky clinic the Diggers encountered people dressed in monk's robes, carrying torches around a strange-looking altar made of stone. They were performing some sort of service and singing. When they saw the Diggers, they hurriedly disappeared.
Also, take a look at _Neverwhere_, by Neil Gaiman. The book is better, but the BBC series is also pretty darned good.
Rolzup
Last edited by Rolzup; 24th January 2004 at 03:45 PM..
and of course, that one leads into the Hollow Earth Theory, which was put forth initially by some oceanographer in the 1600's as an explanation for some ocean currents (current flows through deep sea subterranean tunnels near one pole to exit near the other) and grasped without proof with a death grip after certain reports were filed after expeditions in both polar regions in the late 1800's (probably due to hallucinations induced by various forms of poisoning that occurred from the brand new canning techniques used to preserve food at the time). No need to post links for this one, since it's easiest to find on the search engines.
One last modern dungeon crawl idea I haven't been able to locate recently involves a network of deep transcontinental tunnels that would allow people to travel literally from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean via passage beneath North America. One of the sites that followed this actually managed to connect some near surface tunnels that would get you from central Texas almost the Arizona, and told a little tale that some of the tunnels were flooded and big enough to sail submarines along, and that early in the nuclear sub program, a USN sub managed to sail 500 miles up one these flooded tunnels from the Pacific Ocean. Unfortunately, this particular concept has been tough to find many sites on in the past, and apparently impossible now...
14: Abandoned Military Facility.
This could include bunkers, secret test facilities, Area 51 type installations, The Maginot Line, or even bunkers underneath a dictator's home.
Example: The forests of the Northwestern US are quite large and often remote. Many miles from civilization in one such forest lies a series of subterranean tunnels belonging to a branch of the military involved in many top secret projects. The locals do not know what is in the forest, and no one is allowed within five miles of the facility without clearance. People have, however, seen vehicles entering and exiting the remote dirt road to the facility. A few weeks ago something happened in the facility that caused all activity there to cease. No one has come or gone since then.
Virtually no one outside of the facility knows of its existence and thus, no one has come around to see what, if anything, is wrong.
The players could be members of the military or a similar organization sent to find out what's wrong, or they might just happen upon one of the entrances. What lies waiting for them inside? What has quieted the activity within? Who knows...
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15: Sunken ships.
This could include aircraft carriers, cruise liners, battleships, submarines, pirate ships or even an alien craft that splashed down in the ocean.
Example: In bayou country there is an area referred to as the Black Trench. It was discovered around 1958. The 'Trench" is approximately 100 feet long and of unknown depth. The water should have been ice cold because of the depth, but it was actually warmer than the surrounding water. It was ignored as a geographical oddity by the scientific community until it was discovered that it was the extremely high level of radiation that was warming the water and either killing or mutating any wildlife that made their home in the trench area. The scientists studying this area kept this information quiet while they did their research, to no avail; The military stepped in after a month or so and kept everyone else from getting close. Presumably they sent divers into the trench. They didn't stay for long, especially surprising for a government operation.
Radiation warning signs were placed around the trench, the public was advised to stay away and not to eat any fish from the area. In the late 1980s the government revisited the trench and stayed for a year. When they left, they did so in a hurry. Two helicopters went with them; one was a Chinook with a large, crated object hanging below it; it left for Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. The other was full of men in diving gear being taken to the nearest hospital. They all died that night, save one; he appeared to be getting better and was transported to a military hospital. Immediately following his transfer he mysteriously entered a coma. A month later, as per his family's wishes, he was taken off life support and died. This turned out to be a clerical error, his family had not given any such permission; indeed, they had not even been told which hospital he had been transferred to.
The radiation levels are reported to be lower now, almost fifty years after the Black Trench was 'discovered', but eating the fish is still not advised...
The conspiracy nuts say an alien craft crashed, or was at least housed in the Black Trench and that deep in the water there are a number of channels that lead in and out of the trench. They are convinced a piece of alien technology was removed from the trench and that more may still be hidden in the inky depths.
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Here's a quicky.
16: Illegal Drug Facility
Privately or as part of an anti-drug task force the PCs raid a cocaine factory in the jungles of Colombia. When they get there the place is deserted. The workers appear to have left in a hurry. Many kilos of drugs are just lying around, batches of drugs sit unfinished, doors are left standing open and the buildings are unsecured. There is no sign of anyone at all (or there are grisly human remains here and there, whatever suits your purpose).
The locals tell legends of strange creatures that call the jungle home, did one of these creatures make off with the factory's staff, or were the workers informed of the raid beforehand? Did a rival drug lord kill the people here? Who or whatever emptied the factory may return.
Alternately the PCs could be sent in to see what happened to the members of the anti-drug task force when they aren't heard from for a few days.
Whoever the PCs are, they may find themselves attacked by the drug lord who owns the factory when he comes to see what's wrong at this facility. They might also end up working with the drug lord and his private bodyguards/army when the creatures (whatever they are) that killed the factory workers return for another meal!
__________________ DM: Mendorn the Transmuter's legs turn into goat legs and he grows horns. Your charisma drops by 2 and your dex goes up by 2.
Dan: My PC grew goat legs and horns? Why?
DM: You drank potions you found strapped into the armpit of a dead bugbear. Their idea of acceptable side-effects might be different than yours.
Jason: Come on Dan, you know you should never drink a bugbear armpit potion...
Last edited by Bran Blackbyrd; 11th February 2004 at 06:39 AM..
The PC's bust into a towerblock. They move from room to room slaughtering everyone and stealing their TV's. They hock these down at a local market.
That'd seem to capture the feeling of raiding an orcish castle quite nicely
/'Blood' related sugestion.
More seriously...
Hunting a gang who roam the rooftops of a city. They use 'deathslides' and short jumps to connect their domain up... all looks pretty much like regular wiring from the streets below. They've even built temporary shelters up there.
From 'Roofworld' - great book by an author I can't recalll...
Hunting a gang who roam the rooftops of a city. They use 'deathslides' and short jumps to connect their domain up... all looks pretty much like regular wiring from the streets below.
Hey.... that's interesting... and it reminds me of a French movie that came out a couple of years ago about a bunch of kids that ran around the city performing all kinds of crazy acrobatic, tumbling, climbing, jumping, and aerobatic feats of daring... Can't remember the name of the movie...
That would make an interesting talent tree for the Fast Hero, though...
Americanarchy Storyhour updated 8 March, 2004 Editor:
Modern Backdrops, and a bunch more D20 Modern and one D20 Fantasy product. Technical info provided for Valherjar: The Chosen Slain
We'd be fighting 2nd tier Goa'Ulds, too... While we wouldn't have the glory of killing Amon Ra the ruler of a thousand worlds and terror of the System Lords, we WOULD get to fight his younger brother... Bubba Ray. Manager of the Ra-Mart, and terror of those who abuse the quarter fed riding Unas out front of the store.
Freelance Status - Now - Writing mechanics for Modern Backdrops II Next up - Editing YotZ project [X] Then - Writing project I hope will be picked up and purchased by everyone.
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) from The Rock. While grabbing ideas from movies, pull out the dragon's den from Reign of Fire (or at least the look-at-the-cave-we-found-on-the-construction-site part of it).
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