D20 Modern Dungeon Crawling

[Tellerve]

I was going to mention that article Rolzup, only I couldn't remember where it was, just what it was about. Glad you found it...very neat stuff.

I've read American Gods which I thought was quite good, so I definetely wanna pick up Neverwhere and read it.

Good stuff everyone.

Tellerve

 

[Dana_Jorgensen]

You could try the lost egyptian city of the dead supposedly located in the Grand Canyon

http://www.gci-net.com/users/v/vrartist/story2a.html
http://www.rense.com/general6/egy.htm

Or the lost subcontinent hidden beneath arctic ice

http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/dp5/inner3.htm

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...

 

[Bran Blackbyrd]

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!

 

[Inconsequenti-AL]

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...

 

[C. Baize]

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...

 

[Rolzup]

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...

There's a book with a similar theme by horror writer Christopher Fowler: Roofworld.

Quite good, and well worth seeking out. Would make a great source of ideas for D20 Modern.

Rolzup

 

[Kesh]

18: Ship Adrift

The characters are hired/asked/ordered to locate and board a cargo vessel which has gone adrift at sea, and ascertain the fate of its crew. Plenty of opportunities here, as they try to make their way to the bridge, the engine room, inspect the cargo, etc.

Perhaps the ship was smuggling a dangerous creature from another continent; a disease was carried onboard by a passenger/crewmember; a curse was placed on the ship/crew by a native; sea creatures possessed and/or captured the crew; alien abduction at sea; or, everything seems perfectly normal, the engines simply broke down and shorted out the radio as well.

 

[Tellerve]

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...

Your talking about these guys...

http://perso.wanadoo.fr/parkour/parkourenglish/

Although I'm not sure of the movie's name, or even that they did one. Nonetheless, very impressive stuff.

Tellerve

 

[Soundbyte]

Another possible location is a network of subway tunnels. You can link these with sewers if you want to combine the two. It's amazing how massive some subway systems are -- apparently in New York, abandoned subway tunnels go down nine or ten levels, and have never been completely mapped. If you're interested in a fun book about it, Reliquary (by Lincoln Child and Douglas Preston) is set in the New York subway/sewer systems.

Soundbyte

 

[The_Universe]

18. Cliff cities of the southwest.

Instead of the (IMO) silly lost egyptian temple in the grand canyon, try basing a dungeon off of one of the empty cliff-cities of the American Southwest, the ancient dwellings of the Anasazi, the ancestors of the Hopi tribes that live in the area now. Perhaps the mortal inhabitants left a dark reminder of what drove them from the cities in the first place, or perhaps they have returned, and are not what we have long thought them to be. Even easier, just assume that a modern group has moved in and claimed the city as their own, filling the ancient, mysterious structures with modern traps and technology.

19. Masonic Temple/Lodge

Large meeting places for the group most blamed for conspiracies in the world, these buildings tend to look like medieval citadels in urban cityscapes. Laborinthine structures with lots of symbolic architecture, these make for great "dungeons." Watch out for secret pyramid symbolism, all American leaders since WWII, and erotic-satanist rituals: all a part of the modern conspiracy mythology that belong here.

20. Off shore Oil Rig

Huge, isolated structures with cramped, tight hallways and few ways to contact the outside world. Chase a bad guy here, or find something that Man Was Not Meant to Know that the drilling has disturbed in the ocean floor. Whatever floats your boat.

21. Secret Nazi Base beneath Antarctica

(IMO) Unlikely to actually exist, this would nonetheless make an awesome adventure for D20 modern in which we bend reality, just a tad. It could be filled with everything from futuristic UFO technology to inbred mutoid lunatics forced to survive on supplies left here at the end of WWII. Either way, it's bad.

22. Mammoth Cave

Real-life cave system that stretches beneath most of the mid-western United States (from Kentucky to Kansas and Missourri at least), it's an underdark with its own ecosystem. Only a small percentage of the caves and tunnels are mapped, making this the potential home of nearly everything in your Menace Manual, or the gateway to a "Hollow Earth."

23. Secret Volcano Lair

Taking a cue from Bond books and films and Austin Powers, this is COMPLETELY unrealistic, but still makes a good entry for a dungeon crawl of some sort.

24. Ancient Egyptian Necropolis (just being excavated)

See Raiders of the Lost Ark, and the Mummy. I need not say more.

25. Early Christian sanctuaries/Tombs

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

26. Ancient Indian Temples

Temple of Doom

27. Secret Tunnel System Beneath Glastonbury Tor (England)

New Age mystics and UFO enthusiasts alike have reported that there are strange things (including the Holy Grail!) beneath Glastonbury Tor in western Britain. Whether there are aliens or the cup of Christ hidden below the hill, your adventurers can hack and slash their way to discovery--assuming they can find the secret entrance.

That's all I have right now. I'll think of more later.