Adventure Ideas

[Jack7]

Modern/Espionage/Military Mission/Superhero – In Through the Out Door: (I also wrote this scenario as a combination mission for the games Enigma and Hammerstroke.) Somali pirates intercept a cargo vessel moving from Africa to an unknown port in Asia. They hope to take grain, oil, and electronic components for sale on the Black Market. What most of the pirates don’t realize is that the ship has been under surveillance by US intelligence operatives for some time, because the ship, officially flying under the flag of a commercial firm from Hong Kong is really under the control of North Korean military forces. The ship has supposedly been selling missile components to customers in Africa, Asia, Pakistan, and certain parties along the borders of the Russian Federation.

Aboard the ship is a US Agent working undercover, and the hidden hard copies of most of his discoveries (he was taken by surprise at night when the pirates attacked and overwhelmed the ship and had no time to destroy his findings, but he did have an opportunity to alert US forces that the ship had been captured). The US is not particularly worried about retaking the ship from the pirates until it is discovered that an Al Qaeda weapon’s expert, also having discovered the North Korean smuggling operation, is actually covertly directing the pirate operation and has had the ship rigged with explosives and had suicide agents planted secretly within the pirate crew. The AQ weapon’s expert wants the missile components for himself, plans to smuggle what he desires off the ship, then blow it up as a diversion and cover after US forces attack to retake the ship.

Fearing a possible heavy loss of life and the unraveling of their entire eleven-month anti-smuggling operation the Pentagon decides to try and emplace the Hammerstroke Unit into the ship surreptitiously. With a stated mission assignment of recovering the Intel on the Korean smuggling operation, extracting the US Agent, and if possible, freeing the ship and evacuating the crew before the ship is scuttled. If all else fails they are to sink the ship so as to prevent Al Qaeda operatives from gaining possession of dangerous long-range missile components. If Hammerstroke cannot recapture or sink the ship within twelve hours then a US submarine will destroy the vessel and all aboard. But the Team can find no real means of entry to the ship that would seem worth the risk, and/or that would not alert the pirates to the fact that the ship has been boarded. Not, that is, until they join forces with the Enigma Group. Because the Enigma Group has a man, and a new piece of equipment, that might just do the job.

 

[Jack7]

Operation Golden Horn

Modern/Espionage/Military Mission – Operation Golden Horn: (This mission was written specifically for Hammerstroke, but could be played as a Single Agent Enigma scenario.) Gerald Bull helped the former Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein build a prototype Supergun during the Iran-Iraq War for a project codenamed, Babylon. The continued development of such guns and artillery pieces was considered a danger to the security of a number of different nations and interests and Bull was assassinated in March, 1990. Unknown to many people however was the fcat that Bull had a brilliant and innovative undergraduate student at the time who was one of his direct research assistants during his career as a freelance weapon’s designer. This student was of mixed Romanian and Czechoslovakian ancestry, and his name was Tessai Koblenski. Those who knew Koblenski often called him Bull’s “Little Horn,” or his “Golden Horn.” After Bull’s assassination Koblenski fled to the United States for asylum and agreed to help the US Navy develop an electromagnetic railgun for use on next generation warships. Koblenski and Bull had disagreed on the basic principles upon which a supergun should be developed, Bull promoting launching warheads into orbit by means of chemical explosives, Koblenski believing that electromagnetic superguns would be far superior and more versatile guns, if also far more difficult to develop and build.

The US Navy established Koblenski with a new identity and a secure location from which to work. He worked for and with the US Navy until 1998 when he mysteriously disappeared.

In June of 2005 he apparently resurfaced (according to CIA reports) in Bogotá, Columbia. Some believe he had been in the private employ of a Columbian Drug Cartel seeking his expertise to develop microguns that could shoot down US and Columbian military aircraft. Others believe he had been kidnapped by either a cabal of Columbian Drug Lords or perhaps even by the FARC looking to sell his expertise to foreign governments for their operational, logistical, and financial support. Koblenski disappeared again in early 2006, and no Western Intelligence agency was again able to successfully track him.

Recently however a State Dept. employee who was traveling in Sousse, Tunisia received an encrypted message with instructions on how to establish a dead drop at a particular location in the capital city of Tunis. After decrypting the message analysts came to the conclusion that the message likely originated from Koblenski.

Dead drop arrangements were made and a series of exchange communications were undertaken. The CIA learned that Koblenski (supposedly) was being held captive and forced to work for an unknown client who wanted to continue Bull’s work of developing an indirect fire supergun, but this time in an electromagnetic form. A prototype had already been developed and had shot a 12-kilogram warhead with spent uranium encased inside into a sub-orbital trajectory. The gun itself was buried underground at an unspecified location in Tunisia, only the barrel pointing upwards, (which was also buried except for the tip of the muzzle) which was ordinarily covered and camouflaged when not in use.

Because of the unique ammunition developed by Koblenski the fired projectiles will be able to “self-direct” once in orbit, meaning they can land anywhere within effective orbital range once repositioned for reentry. The gun is not a direct fire gun as with most railguns, but is rather an indirect fire gun that will use very specialized and very dangerous warheads. It is speculated by US gun experts that very sophisticated targeting computers would be needed to assure targeting accuracy and proper calculations for effective employment of the gun.

The contact has alluded to the fact that the gun, since it uses electromagnetic energy to fire the warheads, will be practically untraceable, even at the moment when fired, that the warheads employed are specifically built to produce an extremely low profile radar and detection signature (appearing as small as a single bird on a tracking screen – though often the projectiles move too fast for normal tracking methods anyway), and that in some way they are self-directing and self correcting as to targeting (details are vague). Add to this the fact that the gun itself can be built and housed underground and you have a very dangerous stealth weapon of enormous destructive capabilities. The contact has alluded to the fact that the ultimate aim is to produce an underground super-railgun with dirty-bomb and chemical and biological warheads on the order of 30 or more kilograms, that can be launched into orbit, repositioned and that will strike as silently and as stealthily from above as the user desires. It would be nearly impossible to stop such projectiles via means of a current “Shield Defense Program.”

Despite the fact that the dead drop has been under constant surveillance by the CIA and several exchanges have been made no identifications of any contacts has been successful. Indeed the CIA has never even seen a human being make any exchange at the agreed upon location, yet outgoing messages are taken and incoming messages are left for later interception. The unknown contact however has made many indirect and coded allusions to both Bull and Koblenski that make Intel analysts reasonably certain that the contact could only be Koblenski. The contact apparently wishes rescue and to assist with an operation designed to find and/or destroy the prototype super-railgun he supposedly has been helping to develop.

The Hammerstroke Unit is sent in to try and find out how messages are being left at the dead-drop, and by whom, to find Koblenski if he is still alive, to gather any real evidence about the super-railgun (assuming it really exists), and to discover any other information that might be useful to both the CIA and the Pentagon in this case.

 

[Jack7]

The Tesseract and the True Cross – (This is the briefing of the actual adventure. For Background Information on this dungeon see here: Time Riddles) The capital city of Kitharia, Samarkand, is under threat of invasion. A large army, moving from the West is already en route to besiege the city. With the Kitharian border force already stretched thin patrolling the frontiers, and with their main force exhausted and in a process of rebuilding after the Second and Third Mastred Wars (in the outer colonies against the Mastred and their giant allies), little lies between the current invading force of Caladeem and the capital city. If the Caladeem reach Samarkand before the border units can respond to try and help blunt the attack, and before word can be sent east to the main army (still in a process of reorganizing with inexperienced units), then the capital itself may be surrounded and cut off from resupply. An effort thereafter to lift an already firmly established siege and rescue the capital could be extremely costly and with insurrection against the Samarl (The Priest King of Samarkand) from within a real possibility due to his support for pursuing Thaumaturgy over Elturgy the entire government could be in danger of collapse. Desperate to save his government and to pursue his overall intention of displacing Elturgy with Thaumaturgy the Samarl seeks help from any source available. According to an ancient prophecy uncovered by his chief historian the city can be saved from the invasion by obtaining a peculiar relic, one that is supposed to have originated in another world and that should not be recoverable for another 600 years. Further researching the bizarre prophecy, and employing the Samarälear (The Seat of Sacred Sight) for guidance, the Samarl decides that the prophecy must refer to the human relic of the True Cross. Furthermore any existing pieces of the Cross are on Earth (Terra) not on Ghantik, yet the Samarl feels it must somehow be possible to obtain possession of it or it would not be prophesied about. (But is the Samarl correct, or is he merely reading into the prophecy what he wants to see?) Since the prophecy gives a clue about the possible location of where to begin looking for a piece of the True Cross, the Samarl immediately readies a secret expeditionary mission and sends the party of the Caerkara to find the relic if possible, and return it to Samarkand as soon as it is retrieved. The party has less than three weeks to reach their destination, locate the site, find the relic (if possible) and return to the capital with the relic. Even then it is unknown how the relic might be employed to turn aside or stave off the invasion. All possible resources are made available to the party of the Caerkara to get them underway and to the first site as soon as possible, including use of the Samarl’s secret Airboat.

Arriving at the spot where they are told to start looking for the relic, the Caerkara, finding nothing, decide to dig and see if the relic has been covered, or buried in some manner. They dig their way into a bizarre chamber that then transforms and reseals itself behind them. Exploring further they find an enclosure made of a strange substance, seeming like a cross between metal and marble, but when they try to penetrate it with Elturgy it becomes liquid and they pass through it into what appears to be a long hallway. The passage through which they entered seems to have disappeared and all attempts, both physical and Elturgical, to break out of the trap into which they have fallen utterly fail.

The party has actually penetrated into a very peculiar and unique dungeon. Within this dungeon is a device, originally called the Gwǽlķythőrĵ, which routinely patrols the entire area of the dungeon. At any time it discovers any living creature within any area it inhabits it will automatically send that creature either forwards or backwards in time to some other time point in the history of the dungeon. The Gwǽlķythőrĵ is the time device alluded to in the Background Information on this dungeon.

The Eladarin Wizard named Curåijộryl had designed it as both a guardian for his established home, and as a device that would allow him to live forever. Because of the events described in the background the device escaped his control and became a sort of renegade automaton, trapping the very Wizard who had created the device, driving many of his incarnations mad, making the rest desperate to escape their endless tesseract and prison. Only twice has anyone ever been believed to have escaped the prison, both were incarnations of Curåijộryl. Once an incarnation of the Wizard escaped outside of the dungeon and into another world (the human world, our World). Unable to return to his native world he began studying the human world and human customs, becoming fascinated with religion and Thaumaturgy, and spent his remaining years as a monk and chief librarian in a monastery and chapel in Syria, hoping to discover anything that might lead him home. He never did find anything of any real use regarding his own world, but through his researches he did discover a peculiar set of references which eventually led him to the city of Jerusalem, where he uncovered several important artifacts, including a piece of the True Cross which he brought back with him to his monastery and secreted in his living quarters at the library. Until his death it remained his prize possession. Several other time incarnations of Curåijộryl became aware of the “hole” in the tesseract that led to Terra (Earth) but none ever pursued it for though they eventually figured out the hole probably led to the human world, they also assumed it was one way. (In this they were correct.)

One other incarnation of Curåijộryl eventually escaped the dungeon, this time into the distant past of his own world (Ghantik), through means unknown, but that incarnation was by that time thoroughly insane and ruthless, having been driven utterly mad by the constant time fluctuations. It is that incarnation of the Wizard that Ghantikan history remembers as brutal, vicious, evil, powerful, and cruel. And it is that incarnation of the Wizard Curåijộryl that is spoken about often in legend, lore, and story.

Because of the nature of the Gwǽlķythőrĵ it existed in the dungeon at any and every era simultaneously. Players were moved around constantly in time, and sometimes in space, always to another incarnation of the dungeon. Sometimes a more primitive version, sometimes a more advanced version. And each version contained different artifacts, versions of the Gwǽlķythőrĵ and of Curåijộryl, different creatures, etc. For purposes of creating this dungeon I drew seven different maps of the place, which Curåijộryl had originally christened Saŗaouỹl (the place of the Returning), each map showing different stages of construction. The most primitive map contained seven rooms; the most complex had eighty-four areas including rooms, corridors, hallways, secret areas, laboratories, etc. There were fourteen different versions of the Wizard Curåijộryl, and four different versions of the Gwǽlķythőrĵ.

The purpose of the dungeon was to escape to a time when the Gwǽlķythőrĵ could be controlled, or to gain control of it by other means, and then locate the Wizard and try to elicit his help to find the piece of the True Cross. Then somehow find a way to escape the dungeon and return the relic to Samarkand. Unknown to the party they keep meeting different incarnations of the Wizard, some in disguise, as they are transferred form one time era to another.

It did not matter how long one was in the dungeon because one was constantly being transported through time within the dungeon, so time in relation to the outer world was ordered very differently.

 

[Jack7]

Futuristic/Sci-Fi/Mission: An Academic Exercise – (I wrote this scenario as an espionage/SAR/recovery mission for both the Artifice and Spheres of Influence games.) The identical twin brothers of Virgil and Vincenias Tueller lost their parents at age two. Their parents disappeared mysteriously in a privately funded exploration of deep space, far outside the border space of the Federation, in the Gamma Quadrant (though some believe the mission was actually directed at the Galactic Core). When the parents of the boys and their research vessel failed to reappear or make any contact with their Federation Operations Center after 8 months absence, they and their entire crew were presumed either lost, or dead. Since a family friend, an Addisite, had cared for the boys it was decided that they could both remain under the care of the alien until such time as the legal affairs could be decided. After four years unofficial custody the Addisite legally adopted the boys, without challenge, and he raised both youngsters on the Addisite homeworld, just beyond Federation influence, within the orbit of the Colonial Confederation. Both boys were raised as Addisites though both had numerous contacts and interactions with the human colonists who made up the majority of the population of the Colonial Confederation.

At the age of twelve it was discovered through a routine genetic medical examination on the Addisite home world that the two boys were not identical twins at all, but rather, clones. Furthermore since cloning, except under conditions of extremis, was illegal in both the Federation and the Confederation it was decided that the background of the boys should be further investigated. It was then discovered that the human couple that had claimed to be the parents of the boys were not the genetic parents of the clones (not either one) and that furthermore the process that had been used to clone the boys was of a technique seemingly unknown to any Federation or Confederation database. It was decided to conceal this information from both children until they reached the age of maturity.

The boys grew and stayed with their adoptive parents until the age of twenty-three when both enrolled in college. Vincenias eventually entered Starfleet Academy where by the age of 29 he obtained the rank of First Lieutenant in the Military/Naval Police. At the age of 32 he became a Squad Commander in the Federation’s elite Hostage Rescue Team.

Virgil pursued an academic life becoming a moderately successful, though very unorthodox theoretical research physicist. By the age of 31 he had taken the Heisenberg Research Chair at the University of Kollok, in the Sirius Star System. On or about the time of his 33rd birthday Virgil disappeared. He was supposed to have met his brother and father jointly at Mars Station for a shared birthday dinner and because their adoptive father had decided meet them together to tell them both about the peculiarities of their background. Their Addisite father had brought documentation regarding the fact that their human parents were not their real genetic parents, that they were not twins, but in actuality clones, and to disclose any other available information about their mysterious past. Virgil never showed for the dinner.

Three days later Vincenias was approached by Star Fleet Intelligence to ask his assistance with locating his brother, and to see if he would agree to be part of a Search and Rescue Mission.

Vincenias was instructed that his brother was not just a theoretical physicist, but that he was a man of many and diverse talents. He was a covert intelligence agent, a brilliant cryptologist (well ahead of his time), had his own genetics laboratory, was an unofficial adviser to several important think-tanks, had in secret written dozens of classified scientific papers, and was also an inventor, specializing in the creation of new weapons and defensive systems. Because of his background and his numerous secret contacts throughout the Federation and with different alien species Starfleet Intelligence is most anxious to recover Virgil, and to recover him safe and unharmed. In particular Virgil had recently perfected a new form of visual apparatus (part bio-molecular machine, part nanotech, with a genetic coding sequence which acted as a computational and control program), which could be implanted within a human eye with non-invasive surgical techniques, and that allowed the human wearer to see at night as if in broad daylight. Furthermore it also allowed men to see in various ranges of the electromagnetic spectrum, and even to possess both telescopic and microscopic ranges of vision. This advance gives human military forces and the Star Fleet a huge advantage over alien species, and since the technology is both new and completely secret Star Fleet Intelligence fears that someone may have surreptitiously discovered Virgil’s invention and seeks to develop a version for their own species. Then again, despite obvious appearances to the contrary, Virgil has become secretly but immensely wealthy due to his covert projects and motive could be as simple as economic extortion or theft. Vincenias has also complained of “visions” during this time in which he has seen the missing Virgil and some analysts believe the brother-clones may be in some type of long range telepathic contact with each other, even though there has been no previous reports of such capabilities between the two. To further complicate the matter the civilian Federation Intelligence Agency has reasons of their own to recover Virgil and so they are also working to find the missing man, and Star Fleet Intelligence fears that Federation Intelligence will botch the operation and endanger Virgil’s life.

The mission is for the Crew of the Federation Stealth Craft the Stark, and Vincenias Tueller, to try and find out what happened to Virgil Tueller, then try to locate him, and if possible to effect a rescue and recovery. Intercepted Federation Intelligence reports hint that they suspect Virgil was kidnapped by Orion Pirates who are working for an undisclosed client who wants to extract information from their hostage.

However Star Fleet Intelligence believes that Virgil may have left of his own free will and was thought to be in disguise and heading towards Kzin space for a meeting with an old Kzinti genetics expert with experience in alien genomic structures. The mission will eventually lead to encounters with the Kzin, the Romulans, the Crakken, the Academicians - an obscure scientific and religious cult, and against the Vagr.

 

[Ydars]

I always wanted to run a fantasy scenario based on forbidden planet; i.e. that an item in the PCs general environment feeds off of human dreams and creates very powerful monsters that serve the unconscious desires of the PCs and NPCs without any of them realising. I would call this scenario "City of the Dead Gods" because the inhabitants of the town/city might come to believe that ancient gods were walking amongst them at night.

This could actually be used as a nice backdrop to a campaign because it would make the PCs home base town/city a bit more interesting. You could really have some fun with it; for example if the baker secretly loves the barmaid at a local tavern, his thought-monster might kill someone who insults her leading to an interesting mystery. Or maybe his avatar goes all King-Kong and climbs a tower with her in its arms whilst the mages battle the creature and try to rescue her.

I can see many ways of dragging this out for many sessions without any explanation of what is going on. It would also be fun to get the PCs in trouble when their thought-monsters go on the rampage and act out their desires and they get the blame. Imagine if the PCs were trying to buy something but give up when the price is too high and find out something smashed the shop open that night and stole it. "What do you mean you were asleep when this happened citizen! Can you prove your whereabouts last night?"

 

[Jack7]

I always wanted to run a fantasy scenario based on forbidden planet; i.e. that an item in the PCs general environment feeds off of human dreams and creates very powerful monsters that serve the unconscious desires of the PCs and NPCs without any of them realising. I would call this scenario "City of the Dead Gods" because the inhabitants of the town/city might come to believe that ancient gods were walking amongst them at night.

That really is a very good idea. That film was way ahead of its time. It would make a great adventure template/idea for any number of different RPG genres.
You should write it up.

And somebody should definitely do a modern remake of that film.

 

[Jack7]

The Invulnerable Immortals

D&D/Fantasy Adventure - The Invulnerable Immortals: (I wrote this scenario specifically for my D&D milieu. However with a little adaptation it could work in any background/setting.)

Byzantine spies have discovered that supposedly the Persians have come into possession of a new form of armor, armor that is so strong and tough that it seems to be invulnerable to normal weaponry. Byzantine agents have even seen the armor in demonstration when a twelve-pound ballistae stone, thrown by a captured Roman artillery piece was used against the armor. The force of impact from the projectile killed the wearer, but the stone itself shattered against the armor, and seemed only to very slightly dent it. Arrows fired from the strongest bows merely bounce off the armor and no blade or spear seems able to penetrate it.

If such reports are true then such a development threatens to shift the balance of power in the East, making Roman armies both susceptible to Persian forces and unable to counterattack effectively. Already overstrained by fighting joint wars against the Persians and the Muslims, both the Emperor and the Byzantine War College are in a state of near panic over word of these reports.

However, there is one glimmer of hope. Other Byzantine spies at the Persian court have discovered that the Persians have not built such armor themselves, that instead they are purchasing it at great expense from other, and as yet unknown parties. At present only a small squad of Persian Warriors, ten to be precise, possess such armor. They are ten of the Persian Courts most trusted royal bodyguards, of the Persian Special Force known as the Immortals. But the Persian King intends to buy many more suits of such armor and is dispatching his ten Immortals to Bactria, (shadowed by a secret force of 50 other Immortals) disguised as merchants and with a caravan train of gold, an odd assortment of animals, and other goods with which to purchase the armor.

In Bactria, near the Khyber, the Persians are to make the exchange with their unknown contacts in order to secure an initial shipment of two hundred such suits of armor. The Persian Court thinks the expedition is a secret known only to them, but now that the Byzantine Court is aware of this matter through their spy network they plan countermeasures.

The Thematic War College at Constantinople is readying a raiding force of 300 Cavalry soldiers that will be sent riding to Bactria as soon as they can be assembled, properly briefed, and dispatched. But the Emperor has sent word by fast messenger to the Basilegate Team, already operating in northern Armenia, to proceed with all due dispatch in disguise as Greek traders to intercept the Immortal Caravan and watch them, to report on movements, and to, if possible, learn more of the armor and the exchange situation. If necessary the Basilegate is to engage the Immortal force in delaying and sabotage operation so that the raiders can reach and (hopefully covertly) kill the Persian Shadow Force before the trade is made.

In any case the Basilegate is charged with the mission of following the ten Immortals and trying to discover exactly who they are trading with, to disrupt the transaction, and to then escape alive so that they can report back to the Emperor as to who the Persians are dealing with, and why.

 

[the Jester]

There's a lot of good stuff in this thread, Jack. Well done.

I'm glad I spotted it- there's a lot of ideas I can definitely mine from the mass of stuff you have up here. Thanks a lot for all the hard work!

 

[Jack7]

there's a lot of ideas I can definitely mine from the mass of stuff you have up here.

Glad to help Jester, assuming I did. That's what I was hoping, that others could use these ideas to develop their own projects.

I'll post more recent scenarios (as well as older ones) from time to time as I write and run them.

 

[Jack7]

Manna and the King

A Christmas Adventure. This adventure was played three years ago by my players and is designed to be played at or around Christmas time. It can be modified in any way, but was originally played by the party of the Basilegate. It is in synopsis form only.


Manna and the King - The Emperor of Byzantium is contacted by the Khan (Krum) of Bulgaria (a traditional enemy of the Empire) who is requesting assistance for his kingdom and his family. A plague has stricken the Bulgarian Kingdom and has killed several thousand, and infected many others. Those infected usually die within a few weeks, the mortality rate is high and the chances of survival once infected are low. The Khan has promised the Byzantines that he will cease all border hostilities, will cease his plotting against the empire, will become allied to the Byzantine empire and will even consider personally converting to Christianity (as well as converting his court) if the Byzantines can prove a miracle by curing his daughter of the plague.
The emperor, sensing a chance to convert an ancient enemy and to make a powerful ally of the Bulgars, consults the Abbots of the church for any possibility of a miracle. After consulting ancient texts the church authorities decide that the best chance to cure the girl is to have her anointed with the manna, the reputed miraculous healing liquid that accumulates around the tomb of Saint Nicholas every year a few weeks before Christmas Mass.
The emperor dispatches the Basilegate with orders that they are to accompany an embassy of monks and a living Saint to Myra, the ancient burial place of Saint Nicholas (Santa Clause), recover some of the manna and then transport it in a reliquary to the court of the Bulgarian khan where it will be used to try and cure the Bulgarian princess.

When the party arrives in Myra they discover that the grave of Nicholas has been desecrated, his body stolen and the recently collected manna missing. Rumors abound about a vicious and hideous creature who has murdered several priests and monks and who was responsible for robbing the grave.
At the same time the party learns of accounts about a strange party of men, whom some swear are not really men at all, which preceded the Basilegate to Myra and had also been asking questions about the creature who had robbed the grave of Saint Nicholas. The entire area is in near riot due to the desecration of their patron Saint along with the appearance of the unknown and murderous creature. The Basilegate has less than two weeks, at most, to find the body of the Saint, recover it from the creature, rebury the body, obtain the manna and travel to the court of Bulgaria to try and save the life of the Bulgarian princess.

As they begin their search a strange light in the night sky begins to shine extremely brightly, and they are approached by three odd men, whom many locals think are angels, but others think are Magi from Baghdad.
(BC/CC/TC)