Alabama Adventure - Would Love Ideas & Suggestions

[Pierce]

Ya - that's always a good "gotcha" moment. When the players think they know what's going on and suddenly have to think in an entirely different way.

Man, I've been picking up more than I realized from OldDrewId (he's the quintessential RBDM, don't ya know!).

 

[AteoFiel]

Fantastic ideas, guys. Keep them coming..

 

[ledded]

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.

Just wanted to stop by, I don't know how I missed this thread so far...

Pierce's lake monster idea is *fabulous*, maybe even tie it into the chemical weapons munitions and leakage, but I'd totally run with that one for at least one 'episode'.

Local American Indian legends are rife with ideas, totally spilling over with great ideas. Don't forget you have the Noccalulu falls area in Gadsden for inspiration, among tons of others.

Krieg, I grew up around Talladega and it is indeed an area filled with tons of old Muskogee (Creek) legends and ghost stories. Germany mountain has it's own share of ghost stories, and I lived fairly close to it in my youth (south of Talladega towards Winterboro). It is a *very* creepy place at night, a very dark pine forest with all kinds of strange sounds because of the way wind comes down out of the mountains through there (or so they say ) Check out this article about the supernatural in Talladega.

Mentioned in the article are the Alabama Foundation for Paranormal Research in Huntsville, the North Alabama Ghost Hunters Society and the North Alabama Paranormal Research Society of North/Central Alabama in Chilton County; all are ghost chaser organizations that investigate reported sightings and whatnot, you could easily have a PC that is a member of one, or get called in when one of these guys find out that one of their ghost chasings chases *back* ;^).

Cheaha mountain near Talladega is full of tons of old indian legends, and many of the area names around the entire North/Central part of the state are taken from muskogee people, legends, places, etc.

This site has some very good ghost information about the state of Alabama, and mentions many locations in North/Central alabama, including Germany Mountain. I've heard of several of those stories before.

A couple more tidbits:

The Sleeping Giant is a mountian that resembles a man lying on his side, and there is supposedly an old indian legend that a man indeed was put to sleep there but kept growing larger and the land grew over him. Boy, would it suck if he woke up?

Ever hear of Shades Valley in Birmingham? Considering that most of Alabama is covered up with rivers and forests, there are vestiges of American Indian habitation everywhere. However, there isnt that much at all near Birmingham, particularly south of Red Mountain. There is one possible reason that I learned about from one of my college professors. The name "Shades Valley" is taken from a translation of the original Muskogee or Cherokee word (which I can't remember) for the region. The original word is more properly translated as "Shades of Death Valley", and was shunned by the local inhabitants before European settlers came because they believed it was inhabited by the walking spirits of the unsettled dead, those that had died by sudden accident, violence, or because they refused to leave this world, and the Muskogee and Cherokee were instensely wary of the region. Red Mountain itself has shown evidence of being a place where Indians gathered to perform certain very important rituals, however there was not a true settlement within miles of it.

EDIT: Whoops, Stormborn, just saw your post after I posted up. Sorry 'bout the repeat. Although you are only the second person from B'ham I've ever heard of actually knowing this little trivia.

Anyway, some good searches will yield some good stories all around the state, and there are so many things to be found in the local newspapers to help. Like Pierce said, real-world events as an anchor to an episode is a way to suspend disbelief. Give people something they are familiar with, then find a good hook to lead them down the road to insanity, all in the pleasant background of their own hometown .

As far as your original idea, you could have folks living near the old base suddenly disappear, then a deputy or two disappear when they investigate. The PC's hear of it and go to check it out, nobody's at home, cop car sitting there with the door open. Maybe they find a scared child who is pale and strange, that later attacks them Zombie style (jonrog1's idea, if you havent read that, then you *need* to). Find a way to get them to investigate further into the woods, maybe an evidence or blood trail with scraps of deputy uniform, then attack them with zombies at dusk in the woods; someone was digging around on their property and busted open an old shell, whose chemical-warfare contents made 'em go zombie-fied. Much screaming and running ensues. This way you can throw some zombies at 'em without messing up the entire city with zombies, plus you have a great opportunity to either bring in some Black Ops/Men in Black kinda guys that are alerted by their research into the Lazarus Project, or make them totally figure out how to deal with it before it spreads to more populated locations. And to me, Zombie attacks in the woods are much scarier than just in the town.

Anyway, by 2 cents plus some :^)

 

[ledded]

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.

I have heard quite a few stories from Divers who worked on inspections at Logan Martin Dam near Pell City/Talladega who have reported, at the deep side of the Dam, extremely large catfish... I know of at least one guy who was a diver who refused to take a contract there after seeing something at least 4-5 feet long 'move' down at the bottom there, but he told me that he was never was sure what it was (everyone assumed to be one of those really big catfish). Yeah, there's all kinds of fun monster stuff you can glean from local legend and half-fact for that.

 

[Prest0]

A site that was used for Chemical Warfare training during WWII. (snip) I'm thinking of going Dawn of the Dead/Resident Evil with it. Any recommendations or comments??

You might find Weekend Warriors useful. It's a zombie adventure-- though as a 1-shot the heroes aren't necessarily expected to live. Here's a blurb: One weekend a month and two weeks out of the year. That's what they say-- but with the need for troops in the middle east, you've been called up for active duty stateside. Well, it could be worse, right? After all, what could possibly go wrong while guarding a remote military research installation in the New Mexico desert?

It shouldn't be too big of a deal to change the location from NM to AL. If nothing else, you'll want the military base map pack.

 

[ledded]

You might find Weekend Warriors useful. It's a zombie adventure-- though as a 1-shot the heroes aren't necessarily expected to live. Here's a blurb: One weekend a month and two weeks out of the year. That's what they say-- but with the need for troops in the middle east, you've been called up for active duty stateside. Well, it could be worse, right? After all, what could possibly go wrong while guarding a remote military research installation in the New Mexico desert?

It shouldn't be too big of a deal to change the location from NM to AL. If nothing else, you'll want the military base map pack.

That's right, and don't forget Ft McClellan in Anniston (not too far from Gadsden) has/had one of the largest chemical weapons schools in the US military, plus the Chemical Weapon storage/incinerator facility at Bynum (just right outside of Anniston) which holds enough Nerve Gas slated for destruction in the basement, that if somehow released all at once, has the potential to kill 1/3 of the population from Lincoln, AL all the way into Georgia.

 

[AteoFiel]

Thanks again for all the great ideas, guys. I really like limiting the Zombie action so as not to destroy the whole town (at least not yet).

 

[Stormborn]

AteoFiel, are you by any chance a Pyramid (sjgames.com e-zine) subscriber? If you are do a search for Alabama in the archives, I know I have seen a Delta Green scenario there set in a small N. AL town.
Do you read Planetary? Imagine the 4's program set in H'ville, its perfect. And if such a thing exists maybe the zombies aren't so accidental.
Ever read Drawing of the Dark by Tim Powers? Not set in Al but involving a very special batch of beer. Change it to Moonshine or Hard Cider, distilled for generations by an ancient redneck clan in Alabam, and it can be a great adventure macguffin.

ledded, not a problem, people seemed to be suprised with what I know on a regular basis, and that particular fact is an obscure one.

Everyone who lives near B'ham should read Low Red Moon by Caitlin Keirnan (spelling?).

You know, I am all the time reading of these great occult games that take place in Chicago or New York or LA. I think compiling all of these occult/unnusual links to AL is a great idea.

 

[Pierce]

Don't overlook the obvious!

Also never forget that Man is the scariest beast in the jungle. Any male gets at least a little uncomfortable when they watch Deliverance (though that's GA, not AL, dagnabit!). The classic X-files episode "Home" is another example of people not takin' too kindly to strangers in these here parts. You don't have to go with hillbillies, either. Eric Robert Rudolph hid out in Western NC/Eastern TN and evaded capture for - what, 5 years? Bootleggers, pot farmers, gun-nuts and survivalists can be found throughout the area. Obviously (and unfortunately) the Klan is still a presence. And Heaven help you if you interrupt the local High School Football game! While playing a campaign with some fantastical elements is great fun, those elements aren't absolutely necessary for a good plot.

Postscript: I realize after I wrote this that it could potentially slide into a discussion that Eric's Grandma wouldn't appreciate. I nearly went back and edited out the potentially offensive references, but hopefully everyone can be adult about it. Just brainstorming here, folks!

 

[Pierce]

Low Red Moon on Amazon. It's on my wish list now. Hey, my birthday's Sunday - you never know!