Let's Create a One-Shot Horror Adventure

Ok so here's the deal. Spring break is in less than a week and I'll be spending a week in a beach house full of my friends, of which four of them actively game. I've talked it over with them and we're all interested in playing some over the break, probably during the night over a few beers. As the sole experianced GM I'm the one who's going to be running this game. It'll be great fun but coming up with a good adventure on such short notice is going to be tough. Hence ENWorld to the rescue (I hope). So by all means please deluge me with any good D20 Modern Horror ideas you have !!


Here are some of the general ideas and things I've come up in between my cramming for exams.

1. There will be between 4-6 players, I plan on pre-generating all the PCs, all btw lvls 3-5.
2. I want the PC's a bit cut-off from the rest of the world.
3. Zombies will be good, zombies are always good.
4. More zombies might be better.
5. I'd like to include a Lovecraftian/Occult feel to the game.
6. It will be set in the present.
7. Extremely low-magic.
8. Not overly combat oriented, I'd like a few encounters that will challenge the players in some other ways.
9. There will be roughly 8-12 hrs. of game time available to me so it can't be too short or too long. Also the game will probably be broken into two sessions so a good built in cliffhanger would be awesome.

So that's it, its vague I know but I'm just in the brainstorming phase so far.

Later and thanks in advance for any ideas,

John

squamous

johndaw16 said:

1. There will be between 4-6 players, I plan on pre-generating all the PCs, all btw lvls 3-5.
2. I want the PC's a bit cut-off from the rest of the world.
3. Zombies will be good, zombies are always good.
4. More zombies might be better.
5. I'd like to include a Lovecraftian/Occult feel to the game.
6. It will be set in the present.
7. Extremely low-magic.
8. Not overly combat oriented, I'd like a few encounters that will challenge the players in some other ways.
9. There will be roughly 8-12 hrs. of game time available to me so it can't be too short or too long. Also the game will probably be broken into two sessions so a good built in cliffhanger would be awesome.

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Do you have a copy of Pagan Publishing's "The Realm of Shadows"? (yes? good! no? what kind of Lovecraft fan are you? ) You could probably snip out the first few scenarios of that campaign book to nicely accomodate what you're trying to do; you'd just have to "chop out" the links to the later part of the campaign.

Small changes: the book sets the adventure in the '30's; it would take almost zero brainpower to update it. Also, you requested zombies--this includes Lovecraft's ghouls, but hey--that's pretty close, right?

Point 2- put um on an island
Points 1,5,7,8
If you're not set on running d20 Modern, Darkness & Dread is great for running a game with the feel you're looking for. I got it during the recent sale and it's a gem.

Hey guys sorry to say that all I have to work with books wise is the D20 Modern book. And thats all. So as much as I'd love to try and use some other stuff I just don't have the time or money to go out and get supplemental books.

The island idea is a good one, I was thinking about it already, maybe someplace warm and tropical just like the island we'll be on.

As to what kind of Lovecraft fan I am. That's a hard one WF I've read a sizable chunk of his works and have liked most of them. His style sometimes leaves a bit to be desired but his plots and ideas are just phenomenal as is the setting he creates. I'm not too familiar with any CoC related stuff though, all I've ever read was plain and simple Lovecraft.

Other ideas that have come to me, if I go the island route which I'm leaning to right now maybe I should include some likely ghost ships or something like that. I'm envisioning an island in S. Lousiana or S. Florida, someplace hot humid and surrounded by marshes.

Anyways keep the ideas flowing. PLEASE !!!

John

Have you ever seen the movie Shock Waves where there are Nazi Zombies and a Mad Scientist? I loved it. It is a horror movie from the 70's and I think something like that would work well. If you haven't seen it, let me know and I will tell you more.....

Here's an idea I was thinking of running at a Chicago Gameday in the future.


d20 Modern - Friends - The One Where Joey Inherits a Beach House

Yes, everyone's favorite t.v. characters--the Friends gang--are off to the beach! It's a hot summer day in NYC and everyone's getting just a little testy. It's a good thing Joey has just inheritied a beach house from a long-lost uncle! The gangs heads for the shore; hilarity ensues.

It's strange that Joey never heard of this uncle, but with such a large family it's possible. And his last name isn't Tribbiani, it's Marsh. And this little town with the beach house--Innsmouth, MA. "Never heard of it," Joey mutters to his friends. "But it's gonna hear from us!" shouts Chandler in excitement.

My original write up (over on yog-sothoth.com) was this:

Let's see. Joey gets a letter from a lawyer, concerning his inheritance from a distant relative in Innsmouth, MA. The gang, thinking "free weekend at the beach," all head up the coast with him. The rest, as they say, practically writes itself. Joey looks just like the local man who drives the bus, Rachel is mesmerized by the unique jewelry she spots in town and wants to buy some, Ross is chasing Rachel (what else is new), Phoebe finds all the Innsmouth men very attractive, and Chandler & Monica....let's see....Chandler sells a "Date with Monica" to a Deep One hybrid for $10 as a joke--only to realize in horror that the buyer wasn't kidding as the hybrid tries to drag Monica out to Devil Reef....

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but that's kind of rail-roady. Still, the set-up could be fun, especially if your friends really hate the show Friends (or really love it).

Barendd Nobeard said:

d20 Modern - Friends - The One Where Joey Inherits a Beach House

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I think setting it in the beach house is a good idea. Then have some extra rooms and a moldy subbasement.

Werewolves and Vampires will help you and so will the advanced class versions on RPGnow.

Committed Hero said:

I think setting it in the beach house is a good idea. Then have some extra rooms and a moldy subbasement.

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....which leads to a heretofore-undiscovered cave system....

Thanks guys these are some good ideas so far, sorry KP I haven't seen the movie you are talking about. Nazi's and Zombies sounds interesting though, but maybe a rogue Soviet or Cuban Communist scientist from Cuba would be a better bet considering the Southern U.S.'s proximity to Cuba. A little less far fetched LOL . That's a thought maybe run a bit with a rogue scientist hiding out cranking zombies out covertly. I'll have to think on that one.

Nobeard the Friends idea is an interesting one. I'd be much more likely to make the PCs just generic characters rather than base it on the show though. None of my players watch or even like the series. But the inheritance thing is always good, gives a pretty easy reason to have all the players in one house.

So to recap I've got a few ideas running around in my head and a few things I can say I've decided on. Using a beachhouse is good, and I like the setting of a warm semi-remote island in the S. of the U.S.

Other ideas I've been thinking on are including a voodoo-occult aspect to the game. If you've ever read the sections about the voodoo magic that Ledded's PC in the Medallions D20 SH uses you'll know what I'm talking about. Think the feel of the old voodoo lady in "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil". Another alternate idea I've been kicking around is working in some ghosts of the Civil War. Ghostly slaves, zombie Yankees and Confederates, crazy plantation owners, and maybe the ghost ship of a blockade runner could be cool. Or the last thing I came up with, which incidently is similar to the first D20 adventure I wrote up, has to deal with the concept of maroon settlements of runaway slaves, outlaws, and other outcasts. Its a great source for some spooky stories of the past to creep their way into the mundane lives of unaware PC's . Keep it coming, later.

John