Alabama Adventure - Would Love Ideas & Suggestions

AteoFiel · Aug 25, 2004

Follwing the lead from the excellent Medallions Story Hour, I am currently planning a campaign based in Gadsden, AL (MSA about an hour from Birmingham with a population of 100k).

The kickoff for the adventure is going to be tied to Camp Sibert. A site that was used for Chemical Warfare training during WWII. It also was used to hold German POWs as well. Occasionally, old shells and such will turn up on people's property as well.

I'm thinking of going Dawn of the Dead/Resident Evil with it. Any recommendations or comments??

HeapThaumaturgist · Aug 26, 2004

Well, I don't have any ideas out of hand about that area of the state, but I must say I think it's a very good idea.

Hopefully Ledded and some of the Medallions crew will stop by and help out.

Heh. I move away from Alabama and it suddenly becomes the most happenin' place for the RPGs I love the most.

--fje

Krieg · Aug 26, 2004

Well you can't have a game set in 'Bama without at least one NPC named Tater.

Seriously though isn't Germany Mountain down towards Talladega supposed to be have a long list of strange events and hauntings? It is certainly creep enough at night.

There are reports of ghosts of Confederate Soldiers being seen around Ft. Rucker.

Other than that most of my experience revolved around the Gulf Coast area.

You have the Gulf Shores UFO sightings, Ft. Morgan is supposed to be haunted and there are the occasional big foot sightings.

AteoFiel · Aug 26, 2004

Yeah, I'm hoping the Medallions crew will peek in and toss their two coppers worth in.

Thanks for those other tips Krieg, I'll dig up info on those places. I'll also toss in an NPC somewhere named Tater.

Stormborn · Aug 26, 2004

Don't know much about Gadsden area, but some places of note zombie/undead horrors:

Shades Valley, one of the main valley's inthe b'ham area, was originally the Valley of the Shades of Death. Perfect place for the ghosts of angry Creek warriors to begin to masacre people.

Green Mnt. in Huntsville is rumored to be the site of Satanic rituals, so you could have cultists there.

And not directly realted to the undead, there is the legend of the Madoc, Welsh that settled near Mobile and married natives, you can check that out here:
http://www.data-wales.co.uk/madoc.htm

Pierce · Aug 27, 2004

AteoFiel said:
Follwing the lead from the excellent Medallions Story Hour, I am currently planning a campaign based in Gadsden, AL (MSA about an hour from Birmingham with a population of 100k).

The kickoff for the adventure is going to be tied to Camp Sibert. A site that was used for Chemical Warfare training during WWII. It also was used to hold German POWs as well. Occasionally, old shells and such will turn up on people's property as well.

I'm thinking of going Dawn of the Dead/Resident Evil with it. Any recommendations or comments??

Heyo,

I really like the old chemical weapons idea. You could even start things up with that and have it be a running theme throughout the entire campaign.

Some ideas:

- Lake monster. You've got Lake Black Creek up there - use it! Make a Loch Ness type monster, or if you really want to go the grits-n-gravy route, make it a giant catfish. Every lake has a tale about a giant fish normally called something like "Grandpa" or "the Commodore" or something. Make this one real.

- Look up anything from your local history and work with that. Out of the nine episodes of Medallions so far, four or five have had their basis in local history. Most of the others have at least a tangential connection to it. Not just creepy stuff, either. You can take someone like the founder of the town or a major early leader and make something sinister about them.

- Stormborn mentioned the Creek people. There's lots of old Indian stuff in the area - mounds, gravesites, etc.

- Any kind of local landmark is good too. When your players can really visualize where they are, it makes it that much more fun. The caveat to this is to not be a slave to reality. If you need a pool hall in the town square and there isn't one, don't be afraid to change it up.

- Don't get tied down in one area. Our crew has spend a good bit of time outside the city, both in the surrounding rural areas and even over to Mississippi and Georgia. You've got Chattanooga (cool city, lots of good history), the Smokies (Bigfoot, baby!) and Huntsville (AKA Roswell East). Find an excuse to get them on the road.

Hope this stuff helps. I'll keep thinking and let you know if I come up with anything else.

Rafael Ceurdepyr · Aug 27, 2004

And don't forget about Fyffe, AL, where an alien (or alleged alien) appeared to someone back in the early nineties, plus cattle mutilations galore: Press conference by Fyffe police. The wilds of Jackson County are quite scary to me*, and Bridgeport has quite the ghost town feel. No offense to Jackson Countians, I have ancestors there.

*We were looking for some dead ancestors--in cemeteries--and were in the middle of nowhere among some fields when we heard a chainsaw nearby. My spouse and my friend both started telling me this was REALLY where Texas Chainsaw Massacre happened. Untrue, and I knew it, but scary all the same.

VirgilCaine · Aug 27, 2004

Pierce said:
Heyo,
- Lake monster. You've got Lake Black Creek up there - use it! Make a Loch Ness type monster, or if you really want to go the grits-n-gravy route, make it a giant catfish. Every lake has a tale about a giant fish normally called something like "Grandpa" or "the Commodore" or something. Make this one real.

Catfish actually get really big, several hundred pounds and Large sized. Not in North America (Asia), but then, what with all kinds of military dumping going on in the area, experimental drugs aren't out of the realm of possibility.

Pierce · Aug 27, 2004

The Commodore!

I talked with OldDrewId and pointed him to this thread. We brainstormed a little more about the Lake Monster encounter. How's this sound:

The characters start seeing reports of missing boaters on the local news. Its written off as alcohol-related accidents at first, but the reports soon become too frequent even for that. Then a pier/boathouse gets torn up, looks like big chunks have been bitten off. The characters investigate and their boat gets bumped around a bit (keep the suspense going by not showing the monster). Imagine the scene of the bunch of em on a pontoon boat all staring at the big blip on the fish finder! Maybe someone falls in (fail your Balance check DC 15? In you go! Hope you put a rank into Swim!), somebody has to keep the boat in working order so they can get back to shore. Don't let them kill the beastie yet, there's more in store!

They make it back in, make plans, gather resources, heal up (if needed) and go back out on the lake. Lots of searching, but nothing turns up. Finally, they notice a section of the bank has been torn up - something big has moved through! They follow, eventually coming to another lake. Now they have to track down the beast here!

Here's the rub - the monster is a giant snakehead fish that's been moving through the area. Maybe it got irradiated, maybe the chemicals in the area did it, maybe it's a government plot. You can use the fish's origin as a path into a longer running adventure. Whatever the cause, the players have to stop it. Do a little more research into breeding and feeding habits to add realism to the encounter.

One last idea: combine this scenario with my original suggestion of the giant catfish. The Commodore is a giant cat that lives in the first lake. A couple of different things may happen:

The Commodore drives the snakehead away. The players encounter and kill the Commodore, thinking that ends the threat. Nope! Here it comes again in the new lake.
Even better (and scarier!) - when they return to the lake after the first encounter, they find the carcass of the Commodore with huge chunks torn out of him. It's scary enough to find a huge catfish - but what the heck did that to him?!?! Bwaahaahaa!

After writing this, I like it even more. Their initial clue gathering could include talking to some old coot who fills them with stories of the Commodore (even giving them the name!) - planting the idea in their heads. Makes it even better when they find the Commodore's torn up corpse.

Again, I hope this helps. Let us all know how it turns out.

VirgilCaine · Aug 27, 2004

Pierce said:
Here's the rub - the monster is a giant snakehead fish that's been moving through the area. Maybe it got irradiated, maybe the chemicals in the area did it, maybe it's a government plot.

"No, wait, the govenrment made 'em. Big surprise for the Russians!" :lol:

Even better (and scarier!) - when they return to the lake after the first encounter, they find the carcass of the Commodore with huge chunks torn out of him. It's scary enough to find a huge catfish - but what the heck did that to him?!?! Bwaahaahaa!

I'll have to use that in D&D.
Well, gee, we know this was the BBEG, but what could have killed him like this?