Military base dungeon crawl: Need help with game idea

On the outskirts of the city where my characters live, there is a military base that has been abandoned since the early 70s. It was sealed with lead and concrete, and occasional patrols ensure that the curious and conspiracy-minded can't get in.

However, the patrols are not really so much to keep people out, as to keep something in.

The base is much more extensive than anyone guessed, with an underground complex stretching 4 levels or more. Deep in the bowels of this base, a unique experiment was undertaken. If successful, it would have provided us with the ultimate weapon to win the Cold War.

Unfortunately, it was not successful. It went horribly wrong. Something was unleashed. It rampaged around the base and was in danger of escaping when, with a last desperate transmission, the survivors heroically engaged the failsafes, lowered the lead blast shields, and sealed themselves inside. They all died, and later on the military reinforced the blast doors with concrete in hopes that they could keep it in and keep other people out until it eventually died (if it would ever die).

Problem is, it's still very much alive, just trapped, along with the tormented spirits of its victims. It is up to Our Heroes to put the spirits to rest and destroy the evil before it can rally the minions it's already creating and escape.

----------------------------------------------------------------

There's just a few problems with this.

1) Why can 5th level PCs deal with this when the military couldn't deal with it for over 30 years?

2) What would such a military base look like? As in, basic floor plan.

3) What the heck should the great evil be? What should it's minions be? Keep in mind it has to be able to survive 30 years of relative isolation (maybe some rats or bats could get in through air vents), and it should not be able to escape.

1. The military lacks the correct knowledge to deal with the problem, specifically as relates to whatever FX you want to introduce. The PCs are with some sort of group that finds out about the base, suspects what's in it, and send them to finish what the military couldn't. The details will have to depend on where you see the campaign going- if it's more horror, or Urban Arcana, or whatever. At any rate, the military has probably forgotten about (or covered up) the incident, and mostly just thinks it's an old missle silo or something.

2. Can't really help here. There's an adventure called "Weekend Warriors" (can't remember the publisher) that's supposed to have a lot of base maps. I haven't seen the product, myself. Otherwise, you might want to check some sites on computer games such as Half-Life and look for maps from the game; they could probably be adapted without too much trouble. You'd still have to fill in room details, of course.

3. Again, the great evil could be alien, or more demonic, or fantastic, depending on the flavor you want for the campaign. Perhaps the evil feeds of people's psyches- since the lower levels have been sealed off, it's been dormant, awaiting someone to feed from (such as the PCs). It's minions could be mind-controlled undead that were left behind when the evacuation occurred. Or, if you have the Menace Manual, something like a star doppelganger could be trapped down there- totally sealed, waiting for someone to let it out so that it can continue to devour and duplicate humanity. Or the creature could have some sort of affinity for technology, or telekinesis, and it's "minions" could be animated objects, contructs such as garbage men, or the building itself.

TheFan said:

There's just a few problems with this.

1) Why can 5th level PCs deal with this when the military couldn't deal with it for over 30 years?

2) What would such a military base look like? As in, basic floor plan.

3) What the heck should the great evil be? What should it's minions be? Keep in mind it has to be able to survive 30 years of relative isolation (maybe some rats or bats could get in through air vents), and it should not be able to escape.

Click to expand...

First of all, I love your idea. Just reading it gave me tons of ideas for my own adventures. I really enjoy it when people post things like this--makes these boards a great resource.

Okay, now on to your questions:

1) For the same reason that only Frodo can take the ring to Mordor...namely, it doesn't have to make much sense, just make it happen. How about a lone military commander sends the PCs there on a fishing expedition that isn't authorized? He tells them something like, "I'm not even supposed to be talking about this, but I'm sending you in. You're the only ones I can trust..." etc.

2) A recent Dungeon/Polyhedron had a Delta Green adventure with some pretty good maps...but really, any basic "dungeon" map would suffice. Just turn slime-covered stone walls to slime-covered steel walls. I really like the previous suggestion of using floorplans for Half-Life or similar video games...I've done that before and they are superb resources.

3) Depends if you want to go pseudo-scientific or occultic. But my vote would be a star doppelganger for the great evil (DAMN those are cool) and mindless zombies for the minions. You GOT to have zombies, dude...and limited ammo, and...and...and...

Excuse me, I'm off to plan my own game.

As far as designs of the base, think Half-Life. Each level of the base would serve a function, some would provide their own obstacles (defense systems, toxic leaks, etc). Perhaps power would have to be restore to activate life support in certain areas, or to make elevators and computers systems get back online.

The monsterous force that inhabits the lower levels could have modified the look and function of the layout, through biological activity (think Aliens) or some sort of planar/time/space shift.

What if there were staff and soldiers who got locked inside and now have created their own society (it's been 30+years). Their children would be in leadership positions now and perhaps have a very twisted perception of outsiders. Perhaps some mutation or mixing has occured between these people and the evil entity. These people could be allies or foes, depending.

As far as designs of the base, think Half-Life. Each level of the base would serve a function, some would provide their own obstacles (defense systems, toxic leaks, etc). Perhaps power would have to be restore to activate life support in certain areas, or to make elevators and computers systems get back online.

The monsterous force that inhabits the lower levels could have modified the look and function of the layout, through biological activity (think Aliens) or some sort of planar/time/space shift.

What if there were staff and soldiers who got locked inside and now have created their own society (it's been 30+years). Their children would be in leadership positions now and perhaps have a very twisted perception of outsiders. Perhaps some mutation or mixing has occured between these people and the evil entity. These people could be allies or foes, depending.

Speaking of the devil...

News on the front page says that the Weekend Warriors base map is available as a free download, here:

http://www.12tomidnight.com/Menu/downloads.htm

I've only looked through it briefly- the package is huge. A lot of the buildings look to be above ground, but could probably be connected by halls into a large Resident Evil type complex without too much difficulty.

Yeah. I bought the thing yesterday, and not 2 hours later, I saw that the only reason I bought it, was available for free....

*sigh* Oh well... I'm quite certain there are plenty of ideas I can rip from it. And the maps were nearly worth the price in themselves, as I have no clue how a base is laid out.

I'm certainly not dissatisfied with the purchase, and I may have purchased it, anyway based on the maps... I need to actually go through the adventure and read it, though.
If the 12 to Midnight guys are reading... Know that when I've read through it, good and well, I'll leave a comment on RPGNow... I think everyone should comment on RPGNow about products they buy there.

C. Baize said:

Yeah. I bought the thing yesterday, and not 2 hours later, I saw that the only reason I bought it, was available for free....

*sigh* Oh well... I'm quite certain there are plenty of ideas I can rip from it. And the maps were nearly worth the price in themselves, as I have no clue how a base is laid out.

I'm certainly not dissatisfied with the purchase, and I may have purchased it, anyway based on the maps... I need to actually go through the adventure and read it, though.
If the 12 to Midnight guys are reading... Know that when I've read through it, good and well, I'll leave a comment on RPGNow... I think everyone should comment on RPGNow about products they buy there.

Click to expand...

do me a favor, is there a picture of a woman in camo crawling through the brush with a assault rifle?

Reason I ask is that i sent in a bunch of pix of my sister and they said they used some and that was one of them.


Thanks!

There is such a picture, though I can't exactly say it's your sister. Not knowing her, and all.

C. Baize said:

There is such a picture, though I can't exactly say it's your sister. Not knowing her, and all.

Click to expand...

can you post the picture for me?