[Grim Tales] Help me write an adventure

[Munin]

It is?

Huh. Well how about that.
I always have created the villain first, and then worked from there depending on what was within his capabilities. Let's give it a try.

Since Tunguska is in, that narrows our timeframe down to 1908. The only problem I see here is the age of certain LXG characters, particularly Quatermain. Does anyone know how old he would be by that time?

Since we're in Siberia, we probably need to take a look at the political climate of the region at that time. I know Russia is going through some pretty heavy turmoil, particularly starting in 1911, so we might pull some ideas from that.

I'm with Yuan-Ti on the remote research facility. It could be our opening research scene. Siberia is a good location since we are going with Tunguska. Or, we could make it the artic, since we have Captain Nemo and the Nautilus, distance isn't really a factor and it could add to the flavor of the story.
Either way, I think we have our hook. The research facility was an English intelligence operation involving the recovery of a ufo. It's not a recent crash, maybe it happened years ago and was only recently revealed by a shift in the ice.
The station was a top secret project, yet it has gone silent (hints at conspiracy), so the LXG are sent in to investigate.
Initial clues might indicate that it was discovered by the Russians, but later we can throw in a twist and have it be an inside job, or something else entirely.

Well, it's late and I'm pooped. I'll post more tomorrow.

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

Now see, this is where I come at it from a different angle.

I'm not so sure I'd have the LXG investigating the Tunguska event after the fact, as structuring my adventure so that they are, perhaps, the cause-- or at least there to witness it.

At any rate I certainly wouldn't distance the action so far from that event as to have an entire research facility already built, underway, and then go silent for months there.

You've got the where, but I don't know why you wouldn't want the when to be a little closer to the interesting events.

I still haven't heard much in the way of building interesting scenes to recreate (although the chase with dog sleds was a good one).

In this place, at this time, the most interesting thing I can think of is what the hell crashed or exploded in Tunguska and flattened the trees for miles. Wouldn't you want the players to experience the answer to that question instead of getting it second hand from researchers who've beaten them to the action by months or years?


Wulf

 

[Nuclear Platypus]

Well if you're willing to use another Wells character (the time traveller), the League might've been brought to the Tunguska event to prevent something worse from happening.

So...
A group of Russians (maybe led by a future monk from Siberia named Rasputin?) unearths alien technology (a Martian canister that didn't land in England during the original invasion), keeping the Bolsheviks from taking power in 1917 and eventually affecting the outcome of the future.

Hmm. Suppose the alien tech eventually led to the creation of time travel and anyone who's watched the Back to the Future movies knows how bad time travel can be.

Continuing with the time manipulation idea, events alter around the LXG that only they notice. That is til the time traveller from 'The Time Machine' arrives asking for help. The LXG seems to be immune to the time flux due to the McGuffin Axiom (similar to the Marty McFly Rule).

On the other hand, the alien tech might just create stupendous advances in Russian tech like metal that's stronger than steel but lighter than tinfoil, death rays, cannisters of black powder, VCRs that blink "1:00" for Daylight Savings Time, pre sliced bread, the Internet (before Al Gore!), etc. Er.. you get the idea.

 

[Yuan-Ti]

In this place, at this time, the most interesting thing I can think of is what the hell crashed or exploded in Tunguska and flattened the trees for miles. Wouldn't you want the players to experience the answer to that question instead of getting it second hand from researchers who've beaten them to the action by months or years?Wulf

I was thinking the researchers may have caused it by doing something "bad" and that is why the LXG comes to investigate, but I do like the idea that maybe the PCs experience it or are even involved in the "badness."

If we take that angle... the LXG are sent to investigate a remote Russian lab in Siberia which they believe may be trying to contact aliens. They arrive via dog sleds (sorry, my knowledge of the LXG approaches zero) to find that everyone in it has disappeared. As they search it for clues*, one of them spots a lone figure racing off on a dog sled. Chase ensues.

Jumping ahead, they later witness the Tunguska event, which may be a UFO crashing and the LXG may be directly or indirectly responsible. (Alternatively, a UFO doesn't crash but causes the explosion.)

*Clues discovered might include: lab is a communications post, evidence suggests they were trying to communicate with someone off the planet, commander was aware of sabotage, nihilist/communist connection...

1908 - Well, in 1905, Russia had its first revolution. Following the defeat by Japan, there was major turmoil in Russia. The Tsar was able to end the unrest only by promising major reforms in the Duma. These reforms never materialized, setting the stage for revolution of 1917.

 

[Nuclear Platypus]

One of the things I liked about the Chaosium Call of Cthulhu was the timeline that went with it since it had all sorts of goodies, mostly with a Lovecraftian twist.

'Journey to the Center of the Earth' happened in the late 19th - early 20th Century IIRC. What if the underground people wanted to conquer the aboveworld? Or the vampire lord Dracula has again returned?

Hrm. What about the Boxer Rebellion? But it was in 1900 I think. Perhaps its a clash of East meeting West. The LXG could meet conceivably meet an elderly Wong Fei Hong (1847 to 1924) and gain assistance from his young wife (16 in 1903), who was also an accomplished martial artist. Going with this route might have Fu Manchu attempting to push the West out of China, aided by black magic (eunuch sorcerors!), and re-establish a Chinese dynasty with him as the emperor of course.

So will the LXG assist their native (European) countries or help the Chinese keep their freedom? "They may take our lives but they will never take our FREEDOM!" *ahem*

Ok, action scenes HAVE to have legions of kung fu henchmen vs the PCs. I believe some Chinese attempted to master an art that made the immune to white man's bullets (one of the Once Upon A Time In China movies had such a villain) so there's gotta be some bullet-time action going on with an eventual Matrix-y "Dodge this." line delivered.

Eunuch sorcers lobbing spells around, not caring about the mooks (Kill all you want. We'll recruit more.) and summoning monsters / demons to lay some smack down (think the final fight between Lo Pan's minions vs Jack and the gang in Big Trouble in Little China). Gotta have a six demon bag, full of wind, fire, all that jazz. The PCs really need to shake the pillars of heaven but remember the Chinese have a lotta hells.* Take a page from Jackie Chan Adventures, have some villains based off the Chinese horoscope or the I Ching's 8 trigrams. Speaking of which, maybe a good chi wizard like Uncle from Jackie Chan Adventures: "One more thing... " and "Only magic can defeat magic!"

Hmm. Chase scenes. Leaping from rooftop to rooftop, wallspring jumping, the works, anything that'd make Jackie Chan proud. Rickshaws racing through the streets like in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Maybe even a rickshaw / horseback (chariot?) chase on the Great Wall.

As for the final battle, maybe the BBEG (Fu Manchu) absorbs his minions (12 animals / 8 trigrams) to become FAR more powerful but the PCs have a few tricks up their sleeves as well like the Armor of God or the symbols of the 8 Immortals. Let your PCs go Feng Shui on evil!

How's that?

*Yeah, I know. I watch too many movies a few too many times but if my calculations are correct, if this thread hits 88 replies, you're gonna see some serious... nevermind.

 

[ragboy]

"They may take our lives but they will never take our FREEDOM!" *ahem*

According to babelfish, this should be rendered...

他們也許需要我們的生活但他們從未將採取我們的自由


Oh, and I've officially stolen your idea. I've been looking for a way to introduce GT to my kids. You hit all the buttons that they'll respond to (Jackie Chan, Crouching Tiger, etc. etc.).

As to the on thread discussion:

I've always used the bait and switch method. Get the heroes to the area for a Completely Different Reason. So, the first scene might be Quarterman and his friends hunting a Yeti, chasing some criminal from a previous adventure, or otherwise thinking this is a quick con-adventure.

I also like to start in the middle of the action, which some people find disconcerting at first, but always seems to get the players more interested (read: Scared). (There's nothing like saying, "You've traveled to the swamp to find the legendary Man-Croc. As night falls, you hear a crashing through the woods near your camp. Roll initiative... as everyone scrambles to find dice with those deer-in-the-headlights looks. "But I was sleeping in my armor!" )

With a short couple of sentences describing where they are and why, the yeti bursts out of the woods and it's ON. When the yeti's dead, the brainy-type character discovers a strange substance on the creature. Analysis indicates it's some Volatile Chemical. So, they track the creature's movements and get embroiled in the real story.

Perhaps they run into some mooks guarding the facility, or (after a quick search on Google -apparently Russia was in love with moviemaking around 1908). Perhaps a fledgling Russian director and crew have seen (and filmed) something they shouldn't have. The party comes upon the remains of the crew and track the lone survivor down. He's dying but has the canister of undeveloped film, etc.

 

[Munin]

I'm not so sure I'd have the LXG investigating the Tunguska event after the fact, as structuring my adventure so that they are, perhaps, the cause-- or at least there to witness it.

I may not have made myself clear in my earlier post...
The initial investigation is separate from and leads to Tunguska.
One idea is that the cause of Tunguska is taken from the station to the detonation site. The party follows the clues there, perhaps engages some mooks in a chase scene, and winds up causing or witnessing the event.
There is no way in heck I'm going to include something that dramatic and not have the party involved in it.

During the research scene the party learns that alien technology was taken from the station and who appears to be responsible for the theft, but they don't know what was taken, or if they do, not how devastating it could be.

We next have a chase, leading to Tunguska. The first major combat of the adventure occurs, the climax of which is the explosion. It's a real wow moment, when they realize exactly what is at stake if they fail. If the party causes the explosion, so much the better, we just need to have some way of keeping them alive!

Then the party realizes the second canister is heading toward London. Now the chase is on to stop the antagonist before the city is completely destroyed.

Now, if you'll pardon my ramblings...

It's hard for me to picture what kind of action can take place at the research station until we decide who our bad guy is. But it is easy for me to imagine that the bad guy would leave behind someone to watch the station, to eliminate any teams sent by the English to investigate.

Rasputin is an interesting figure of the region during that time. He arrived in St. Petersburg from Siberia in 1911, where he quickly gained prominence with the royal family. He was born in Tobolsk, which is in Siberia.
We could easily imagine agents of Rasputin hitting the research station, retrieving the canister (if that's what we go with) and returning it to Siberia. If the station is not in Siberia though, how did he find out about it?

If the ultimate goal is the destruction of London, it could be a competing nation has hired the bad guy to topple the English government as a preemptive strike. Germany would be a good candidate. Or, it could be that a force inside England wants the government completely eliminated to set up it's own regime. Maybe industrialists run amok?

Another problem is the Tunguska region itself. Tunguska is in the Krasnoyarsk region of Siberia. Literally the *middle* of nowhere. I originally assumed we could have Nemo transport the party there, but I don't see an inlet that would get us even close to the area. I know that The Trans-Siberian RR traverses the region, we could use that. Of course, the Event is in June, so maybe the seas aren't completely frozen.
Looking at a map, though, there are some major rivers in the area. Maybe Nemo could get them close, and then they could travel on foot or sled to the location. Or we could go with a more extraordinary means of travel.
Tunguska is also in the middle of the taiga, a coniferous forest so huge you could hide the U.S. there and lose it.

Must stop now, my brain is starting to hurt....

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

It's hard for me to picture what kind of action can take place at the research station until we decide who our bad guy is.

Well, this is my point about deciding what Scenes you want first. You've pigeonholed yourself into a research station, yet you have no idea what kind of action can take place there. Let go of the research station if you have to, if there's nothing cool about it.

"Ok, ok... We have a research station... Now... What happens there?"

Do you see how this approach can limit you?

There's not a lot I can do to help direct the brainflow here beyond directing you back to my first post. You're trying to write a story in a very traditional way, setting aside your locale and your plot and your villain and attempting to figure out how to make it fun and cool.

My suggestion is to start with the fun and cool scenes and then build a story that makes sense around those elements.

Loosen up a bit. Let the reins out a little.


Wulf

 

[Munin]

Loosen up a bit. Let the reins out a little.

Wulf, man, you're trying to teach an old dog new tricks here! I kinda feel like Neo from the matrix But I'll try.

If we go back to The Thing for a minute, one of the things that really sticks out in my mind from the movie is the harsh environment. That was as much of a factor as the creature itself. The freezing bitter cold, the blowing ice, the dark, the isolation. Knowing that when the lights go out a freezing death awaits you.

It's got potential I think. The party is there, digging for clues, when suddenly the lights go out. Someone has cut the generator! (do they even have generators in 1908?)
Then the bullets start flying. Does Griffen keep on his clothes or risk the cold to use his invisibility? Can Hyde be trusted in the crampt, dark corridors?
Is the ambusher’s goal to kill them outright? Or just to kill the heat and let nature run its course?


Thinking about the Tunguska Event, I think the coolest thing to do is have a battle over the skies of Tunguska. Oddly enough the explosion is said to have taken place in the atmosphere, so at least we'd be historically accurate.
Flying airships would be great, and very close to the LXG feel. The two ships engage, the LXG battle it out on the decks, the enemy ships tries to escape and is shot down, and then a brilliant flash of light..what's that racing toward us? A shockwave???

Those are two scenes I can think of with enough 'cool' to be included.

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

Wulf, man, you're trying to teach an old dog new tricks here!

Well, yeah. I thought that's what I was supposed to do.

Does Griffen keep on his clothes or risk the cold to use his invisibility? Can Hyde be trusted in the crampt, dark corridors?

You're getting ahead of me here but this is great thinking: Specifically, how does your adventure play against the LXG. The heroes are an integral part of the plot, scene, and overall coolness.

You get those books yet?

Thinking about the Tunguska Event, I think the coolest thing to do is have a battle over the skies of Tunguska.

You've been trying to figure out how to get the LXG there-- no reason Nemo can't have a bad-ass (spiky-looking) Zeppelin.


Wulf