Seeking suggestions: "Shadow Chasers"-ish adventure (My NPS group, please stay out.)

[Niveria]

I'm hoping that I can impose on you for some assistance. I'm scheduled to start running a d20 Modern campaign and I'm having trouble coming up with some ideas for the first adventure. I've got an idea for the setting that has me excited, but the problem is coming up with the adventure that will take place within it.

I'll follow this post with the setting, campaign, and adventure concepts I'm working with.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Niveria]

Setting: (Note: I'm taking great liberties with real-world mythology, here.)

The world looks like the world we know. However, Ragnarok (the mythological End Times War) is real. The Aesir, ancient supernatural beings of immense power, once known to the Norse people and other cultures as gods, have been waging this war for centuries against their enemies, the Vanir. The Aesir have managed to imprison the Vanir's great leader, Loki, but his consort, Hel, is working hard to release him in order to bring about the Last Battle. If Loki wins, he will destroy the world and create a new one under his rule.

The Aesir utilize the power of Light (good magic), while the Vanir wield the power of Shadow (evil magic). These two forces coexist in the world. According to legend, it was actually the Vanir who taught the Aesir how to use magic, in the first place. A key aspect of magical power is the use of ley lines. As has always been speculated, ley lines are energy channels for Light and where they meet you get a white nexus. Shadow has similar channels, called hollisch lines, and two or more hollisch lines cross at a black nexus. Supernatural beings can use the channels to travel from place to place and can boost their powers by accessing the wells of power at the heart of a nexus.

To help them in their fight, the Aesir and Vanir each enlist the aid of mortals. Some mortals make pacts with these beings through which they gain the ability to shape the forces of magic and are called Arcanists. Additionally, those whose faith and will are strong enough gain the title of Acolyte and may channel the forces of Light or Shadow directly. Additionally, there are heroic and villainous people who know about Ragnarok and are fighting with more mundane means on either side either to defend the world or in the hope of claiming a piece of the new world that Loki will create if his forces win the war.

The Aesir have gathered together their greatest warriors and formed the Schattenjaegeren. These “Shadow Hunters” are elite soldiers in the fight against Hel’s minions. Whether they wield magic or mundane weapons, these men and women stand against the Sceaduhund, the “Shadow Hounds,” and their cohorts.

There are other beings in the world, created by the raw magical energies of the universe, but these beings are rare. Additionally, as Ragnarok escalated, the immortals drew upon more and more of the power of the nexuses in the world. Since only an unclaimed nexus can spawn Light or Shadow creatures, the random occurrences of these beasts has decreased over time.

Recently, mankind has become vaguely aware of another kind of power in the world: Twilight magic. This power, coming from the very force of mental power and of life itself, can only be wielded by mortals. Along with the discovery of that energy came the discovery of the channels through which it has moved for millennia. Since very few people have walked these lines before, they became known as “Untredan,” or untrod, lines. Their crossroads are known simply as Grey Nexuses. It is entirely likely that this new source of power, held firmly in the hands of mortal beings, will change the very course of Ragnarok. If mankind claims its right to decide its own destiny, the event that Richard Wagner called the “Twilight of the Gods” may have more than one meaning.

 

[Niveria]

Campaign: The Battle of New York

New York City is one of many long-standing battlefields in the End Times War. The city’s limits encompass both a White Nexus and a Black Nexus, making the Aesir and Vanir generals in this area very powerful. The leader of the Aesir’s forces in this battle is Njord, servant of Erda. Like most of those who deal with mortals, the Aesir has taken human form and lives among his soldiers as Thomas Crone, a charismatic fellow, owner of several pieces of New York real estate, and current head of the New York Botanical Gardens Patrons Council. The Council itself is actually the nucleus of the Council of the White Raven, a cabal of Arcanists all of whom have made pacts with Njord. They work with Shadow Hunters in the area to thwart the plans of their enemy, Gullveig.

Also known as Heid, Gullveig is the leader of the Vanir forces in New York. Setting herself up as Lily Barton, a wealthy descendant of European nobility, Heid has formed her own cabal, the Order of the Golden Eye. Heid’s cabal is on the verge of making a tremendous discovery that could lead to victory in the battle and perhaps the whole war.

Unknown to all but a very few people, New York is unique in that it encompasses not only a black and a white nexus, but it also contains a dormant grey nexus. Two Untredan lines here have passed within close proximity to one another for thousands of years.

Recent events have caused those energy channels to change their course, bringing them closer together. The horrible events of 9/11 created a massive outpouring of psychic energy, effectively flooding the Untredan lines with power. As a result, two of these lines have come very close to crossing.

If Heid’s minions could create a similar effect within the city limits, they could possibly open the grey nexus fully. With the help of a powerful telepath on their side, the Vanir could lay claim to the nexus at the moment it opens, adding a significant resource to Heid’s arsenal. If Njord’s cabal were to become aware of the nexus they would have a decision to make. The simplest answer would be to prevent any event that would open the nexus, keeping it safely out of Heid’s hands. However, there are two other options.

Alternatively, they could attempt to lay claim to it, as well. However, creating an event significant enough to change the course of Untredan lines is not easy. Only a strong surge of psychic force can do this. The surge can have a positive or negative source, but it is much easier to create a source of negative energy, like 9/11, than it is to create a positive flood of energy. If Heid’s minions are successful, Njord could possibly be in a position to seize the nexus before the Vanir do, but that would require the help of a telepath capable of defeating Heid’s telepath.

The characters come in because they are being recruited into the Schattenjaegern. They begin by working for the New York Regional Investigations Agency (NYRIA) which has been contracted by the New York municipal authorities to investigate sensitive or unusual crimes. The agency is actually a front for the Shadow Hunters, who use the agency both as a source of funding and as a means to select especially skilled fighters. As a result of their first assignment with NYRIA, the characters will discover the existence of the immortals, magic, and Ragnarok and will be given the option of joining the Shadow Hunters.

 

[Niveria]

Adventure 1:

The characters are tasked with investigating the strange death of a successful defense attorney, Derek Brodie. The man seems to have died for no medical reason. However, autopsy reports show an amazingly high level of adrenaline in his blood, indicating that he was under incredible physical and emotional stress when he died. Although it is not medically possible by conventional standards, it is almost as though the man was literally frightened to death.

The characters will somehow find that Joshua Cain, the son of a wealth New York family, is tied to the death. Brodie was hired by the Cain family when Joshua was implicated in the bizarre death of a young woman he met at a club. There was no evidence to tie Josh to the crime other than the fact that he was probably the last person to see her alive. Her body showed massive trauma to the chest and abdomen, but the wounds did not yield information on the type of weapon used. (It turns out that Josh is a 1st-Level Arcanist who cast Magic Missile at the woman in a fit of fury when she rebuked his drunken advances. I’m assuming for the sake of the story that such an attack could kill a low-level ordinary on a good roll.)

The lawyer’s investigation raised questions about Josh’s activities and he got a little too close to discovering his involvement with the Order of the Golden Eye. That event would mean certain doom for Josh, so in order to prevent the lawyer from learning more. He stole the Amulet of Artemisia, the most valuable possession of the arcanist cell to which he belongs. He used his minute knowledge of the amulet to kill Brodie, but was unable to return the amulet before his masters discovered its theft. They, of course, decide that Joshua must die before their secret is completely blown.

This is where the characters come in. Through the course of their investigation, they find their way to Josh’s apartment and arrive as a “spectral assassin” or something slays Josh. Depending on the course of the ensuing battle, the characters either gain possession of the amulet or they don’t. The clues they find eventually lead them to the final battle (of the adventure) in The Viper’s Den, a club that serves as the headquarters of the Golden Eye cell to which Joshua belonged. In the end, the Aesir should become aware of the group's skill and enlist them as Shadow Hunters.

My problem is that the group I’ll be GMing for tends to lean more heavily on the combat side. I’m interested in hearing your ideas for a chain of three or four adventure scenarios that leads from the first encounter with the forces of Shadow in Josh’s apartment, to the battle in the Viper’s Den.

 

[Katowice]

Why not just pick up a copy of the Darkmatter PDF at rpgnow.com? I think it's $5.00.

 

[jonrog1]

Don't forget human minions -- of Josh' s family is that powerful, a group of mob or family "cleaners" targetted at the PC's would be a fun combat and also confuse the issue with a third-party.

 

[PosterBoy]

Blood and Relics

We just release something today (Blood and Relics) that might help for this style of setting:

http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=1645&

You can download a preview of it here.

http://www.rpgobjects.com/dlm/download.php?id=15

That should give you a taste of the style/tone of the material.

-chris

 

[ThoughtBubble]

Ok. So tie one has to be from Derek to Joshua.
How subtle do you want to be about this? IF you don't mind having something weird happen, have some event to warn off your party. Threats of violence (or attempts) from some the people cleaning up Joshua's mess. After all, most people would be scared off easily, just not player characters.

You could also drop a line that Derek started acting strangely after his last case. That might be enough to have them look into Joshua and his family, just to see what was going on.

Here's a little brainstorm for part one:

1. Party goes to the morgue to see the state of the body, finds out unusual circumstances of death. Some new drug seems likely, but there's no sign of it. The person leadign the autopsy suggests consulting his family about any known addictions.

2. Derek's family talks to the PC's. During the conversation it will come up that Derek hadn't been himself for some time before his death. The latest case had shaken him up tremendously, and he started spending oddly long amounts of time in some disreptuable nightclub.

3a. If the party reads up on the case, they'll find out about Joshua and another unusual death that might be tied to him. Joshua will do his best to cooperate while letting out no information. If the party does well, he might let it slip that people are after him. If he can play it right, maybe he can get the party to act as a sort of ignorant protection.

3b. If the party heads to the nightclub, they'll find out some more aobut the murder of the young woman, and that Derek had been poking around. An attempt is made on the party's life, but setup to look like an act of organized crime. A false lead might be dropped indicating some drug tie ins.

4. Filler involving one of those false leads.

5. Arrival at Joshua's apartment brings the specter and the amulet into play.

6a. If joshua survives, it's a pretty small jump to the nightclub.

6b. If Joshua doesn't survive, then questioning his family might bring about similar knowledge about that nighclub. Alternately, while looking for information about the amulet (which makes it important for the party to at least get a good look at it), the party attracts some more attention from people out to kill them. The battle's short and brutal, but there's a clue on the thugs. Say a tatoo of a specific gang that hangs about that club.

That's about all I have right now, but I hope it helps out a little.