Thursday, November 21, 2019

OSR: Oblex

                                                  from Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes
                                                   Original idea from Nolan Whale

So let's say you're an artificer or an Alchemist.  You want an Ooze, but unfortunately, you don't have the components, information or talent to build an Ooze Egg.  All you have is a bunch of alchemical components, a sharp objects, a few people you have a serious grudge against and no moral compass.  Well do not despair, for there is actually a solution to your highly specific problem.  It just happens to be a bit, messy.

Oblex are created first by mixing together a special Slime base that is non-acidic and includes a few special ingredients, such as frankincense, bone meal and alcohol.  You will also need some knowledge of necromancy and a fresh corpse, the less damaged the better.  Once you have obtained the corpse, mark it with the arcane runes to guide the power of the Negative energy that you will channel through this body.

<Note>  This is a Wizard's explanation of how corpses are animated.  In reality, as this is a lesser Undead, what is really being done is the creation of a lesser Undead, which is done through the summoning of the spiteful Dead from the Netherworld and luring them into corpses.   

Greater, or Demonic, Undead are created through summoning a malignant Spirit of violence, something too weak to be a proper Outsider, or the Soul of an especially powerful or wicked individual from the Netherworld and inviting it into a corpse, to allow it to feast on and torture the lesser souls that remained in the body.

The lesser souls are the Mineral, Vegetative and Animal souls, as described here.  </Note> 

If you have done it correctly, the energy will flow into the corpse and back out through it, into your Slime base.  This will animate it, allowing you to control it as if it was an Undead.  This means that you don't have to worry about losing an Ooze Egg, but it does necessitate the usual safety precautions when dealing with Undead.  However, unlike lesser Undead, Ooblexes are much more useful.

For starters, assuming your corpse was somewhat fresh, it will be able to tell you certain pieces of information that the corpse's former would know. 

Secondly, the Slime base will preserve the corpse as long as the corpse is inside the Ooze, allowing it to appear to be alive. 

Thirdly, you can have the corpse move away from the Ooze or even the Slime base and still function normally, as a lesser Undead.  You can also add other Undead to the same Ooblex, which can enhance an Ooblex's lethality, but make it easier to damage.

This makes the Oblex a cheap and efficient option in comparison to mere Undead servants (Skeletons or Zombies), plus it cuts down on the smell of rot.  They are also more useful than Oozes, as a controllable blob of acid is only good for a few things. 

                                                source unknown


Oblex Corpse
HD 1d4  AC as armor (base 10)  Atk as weapon (base Dagger (+0, 1d6))
Mor Stand and fight on a 20 or less  Saves 8 or less is a success

Undead: Undead do not feel pain or get tired.  They are immune to poison and disease.  They do not need to eat, sleep or breathe.  Any spell that says "Undead" in its title or description is talking about something like this.

Sunlight Vulnerability: Undead take 1d6 radiant damage for every round they spend in sunlight.

Already Dead: Unless decapitated, cut to pieces, burnt to ashes by sunlight or reduced to zero HP by a magical attack or weapon, the Undead has an X-in-6 chance of their body knitting itself back together and recovering from the damage they took, where X is equal to the number of HD they have.

Ooze Repair: These corpses can, as an action, cause the Ooblex Ooze to heal 1d6 HP and recover lost bits of itself.  The Undead can heal all types of damage except that which obliterates the Ooze, evaporates water, or is caused by salt.  If an Ooblex Ooze is destroyed through other means than evaporation, salting or magic such as disintegrate, the Ooblex Corpses can "resurrect" it. 

- Always obey orders
- Pretend to be a normal human
- Retreat into the Ooze to protect yourself
- Grapple opponents and pull them into the Ooze

Oblex Ooze:
HD 1d6+1  AC 12 (-1 per Undead inside it)  Atk Pseudopod + Engulf (+X, no damage)
Mor Stand and fight on a 20 or less   Saves 7 or less is a success

Corpse-Linked: The Ooblex Ooze must have an Ooblex Corpse connected to it via a slime tendril or inside it to function.  If it does not have this, or all the Ooblex Corpses are destroyed, it collapses into a thick slurry.

Hard to hurt: Oozes take no blunt, electrical or acid damage.  They take half damage from fire, ice and sharp damage.  Anything that dehydrates can hurt them severely, however, and salt damages them as well.   

Gelatinous Body: Oozes can fit through incredibly narrow spaces, such as under doors, through cracks, pipes and etc.

Engulf: If a creature is struck by an Ooze's pseudopod he or she is grappled.  That creature must then contest the Ooze in a contest of STR.  The Ooze has a STR score equal to 10+HD.  If the creature wins, nothing happens, and on his turn, he can take an action to try and free himself with a STR check.  If the Ooze wins the contest, the creature is sucked inside it.  Creatures inside an Ooze take 1d6 CON damage a round, as they cannot breathe inside the Ooze, and each Corpse within the Ooblex Ooze can make an attack against any other creature trapped in the Ooblex, doing 1d6 damage automatically.  The trapped creature can still attack the Ooblex or the Corpses inside, though any damage done by non-Quick weapons will receive a -4 penalty.  If an Ooze is killed, he can rescued. 

- Always obey orders
- Use Corpses to lure enemies close
- Protect the Corpses

Ooblex Plot Hooks:

1- The party comes across an isolated inn surrounded by many rumors.  A group of cold-eyed, strangely stiff locals run the inn and seem reluctant to let them stay.  There's something very odd about them.  The locals say they're cultists, or cannibals, or they are all insane.  If investigated, it is revealed that an Alchemist has taken over this inn to use as his base.  His Ooblex killed the family that owned this inn and he has been using their corpses to keep up appearances while he enacts his sinister plan.
2- The local Constable asks the players to investigate reports of naked people dripping slime spotted traipsing around on the edges of town.  He thinks its Folk activity, but no, it's just a perverted Wizard and his zombie concubines.  And if you want something to actually stop, this Necromancer is interested in expanding his collection.
3- A local man of the lower classes has recently hauled himself out of poverty.  He had been living a comfortable lifestyle when he suddenly vanished one night, never to be seen again.  If investigated, the players will find that this man was a grave-robber and that he interrupted a Necromancer who was looking to commit a very different type of grave robbery.  See also: Resurrection Man.
4- A small village recently suffered a tragic loss when their local Alchemist, Wizard or Magic-User recently died.  Secretly, this Magic-User also had many Undead under his control. When he died, those Undead were freed and immediately went on a rampage.  They've been tormenting the village at night, while hiding during the day.  And unfortunately for you, the center-piece of this Magic-User's Undead Creations was an Ooblex full to bursting with ooze-slick skeletons.

                                              by henry peters

Saturday, November 16, 2019

TwK: Campground of Horrors

This is an adventure with its premise stolen completely from The Cabin in the Woods.  I make absolutely no apologies.

                                                         poster from The Cabin in the Woods
Background: In prehistoric times, when humans had just crossed the Bering strait land bridge, these first settlers were terrorized by a quartet of terrible Gods that abused and hunted us for sport.  This probably would have prevented the human race from ever advancing further, had it not been for an advanced race of humanoids that lived in North America as well.  This advanced race had also experienced the predations of these Malignant Deities and sought an alliance with the human tribes.  The Humans agreed and using their magicks and human strength, the Deities were fought and, with a little outside help, chased down across the continent, before being sealed underground through a mass ritual. 

However, while the Gods were sealed below, they were too powerful to be contained for long.  So to reinforce and maintain the shields around the Gods, who came to be known as the Enshrouded, regular sacrifices of five types of people were ordered, so that the Enshrouded would be placated by their suffering and remain in their prison.  This tradition has continued since those ancient times, being taken up by various groups, peoples and organizations.

In modern times, it is run by an independent agency of the United States federal government.  The organization is composed of civilians, but has special privileges and permission to do what it does.  It is also funded like a secret black-ops unit.  Only the highest echelons of the Federal Government, as well as the Shadow State, know what this organization does, but those that do understand the vital role that it plays.  If the Enshrouded are not appeased, if their prison is not reinforced, then they will tear their way free and spread misery and suffering among the vast ranks of mankind.  The release of the Enshrouded could lead to millions, if not billions of deaths, depending on their creativity.  But as of now, the Enshrouded sleep, hopefully forever.

Now, let's see how the players can ruin this.

Potential Hooks-

Level 0-1: The players are a group of clueless college students, young professionals or etc; civilians who are selected as sacrifices and lured to the Campground to be ritually sacrificed.  Let's see if they can survive.  If you really want to enhance the 'Slasher Movie' vibe have them instead start out in the cabin instead of the campground. 

Level 2-3: The players are Understudies who have discovered something weird about this campground.  They stumble upon a sacrifice ritual already begun, with a group of sacrifices about to unleash some kind of hideous monster that will do it's best to kill them.  If the players intervene, they will swiftly be added to the list of people who need to die.

Level 4-5: The players are Understudies who are aware of some cult activity in the region.  They must investigate and track down the source of this cult, then root it out and destroy it.  Their orders are to search and destroy.  Among their targets are the Cult's leadership and the leader's monstrous lieutenants.

                                                                    map of all zones
Zone 1: The Campground:

Seemingly normal if you arrive by road.  Composed of small sites of hard-packed dirt next to the lake.  Very expensive, but very private and scenic.  Miles away from anything, but it has flush toilets, free Wi-Fi and vending machines, along with easy access to the lake and the surrounding woods.

Note that while the Campground seems normal, all the employees and other campers are actually Handlers, personnel tied to the agency responsible for the sacrifices.  All the people above ground are agile liars who are used to having to lie, with well-practiced cover stories.  Most of these people are not warriors though and once the shooting starts, they will mysteriously disappear.

Also, the Campground is ringed by a series of magical wards powered by stray bits of energy siphoned off from the sleeping Enshrouded.  When there are no sacrifices present, these wards are deactivated, but when the sacrifices have entered the Campground and it is time for the killing to begin, these wards will manifest first as a field that exudes for 50' and acts as a charm effect, urging you to turn around and then as a field of blistering energy that disintegrates the flesh of anyone who touches it.  Dying because you were stabbed would be a thousand times less painful than trying to penetrate these wards. 

However, clever players will note that the wards do not burn non-living materials as fast as flesh.  It takes the wards 1 second to burn through clothes, 5 seconds to burn through armor, a minute to burn through an inch of steel and several minutes to burn through anything larger.  Additionally, any living tissue encased in a shield of non-living material will not take damage as long as the non-living material hasn't been disintegrated yet.

1: Road

Made of gravel, well traveled and makes noise when people walk on it.  Perfectly servicable but rarely used.  Seems to wind around the lake, but there is only one path via road into or out of the campsite. 

Secretly, there are anti-vehicle countermeasures, such as concealed spike strips and anti-vehicle barriers that can emerge from the ground with the permission of the Handlers.   

2: Bathrooms

Two public bathrooms, cleaned once a week.  Despite the fact that the staff is rarely, if ever seen and seems to largely work in town, instead of here, the bathroom is virtually spotless and works perfectly.  There is no graffiti and everything works really well.  The only problem appears that the women's handicap bathroom is closed for maintenance and there is a sign that handicapped women should use the one in the men's room.   

Secretly, there is a concealed elevator concealed in the women's handicap bathroom that can take someone from the bathroom to Zone 4: "The Complex".   

There is also an electrical box on the back of this bathroom.  If it is manipulated, the person doing so can wreak havoc on Zone 4 "The Complex"'s electrical network, though this won't disable the power totally.
                                                                by Jeff Welborn
3-6: Campsites

These campsites are generally the same, with small grills that have rusty grates, pre-made fire pits and about thirty feet diameter circles to set up your tents in.  Most of these campsites are also reachable by car.  The campsites are almost totally normal, with some exceptions.  Sometimes, the crews miss something.

This campsite, for instance, has a strange mark scraped into a tree.  Anyone who is knowledgeable about the occult will be able to indentify this symbol as an Ankh, a symbol designed to represent eternal life.  However, this Ankh is cracked and the whole carving is splashed with something that dried black.  It's almost certainly human blood.

Though you might not get a chance to find this out, as this campsite is occupied by a woman named Cassandra Knox and a man named Donald Hawley.  Knox is an older woman with fierce eyes and a rock-solid demeanor.  If anyone asks, she will tell people that Hawley is her nephew.  She is lying.  Check the 'Characters' section for more information on her.

Secretly, Knox is the Director and leader of this facility.  She absolutely believes in her cause and considers herself a hero, a Caesarian figure capable of making the hard choices on behalf of the people.  She comes off as self-righteous and fanatical, which is exactly what she is. 

Her weakness is that she is proud and is unlikely to be reasonable.  When she is defied, she responds with force and doubling down.  She will explain the purpose of this facility and what is truly going on if she believes there is no chance of her succeeding or living, but otherwise she will turn up her noses at the player characters.  If she had to choose between the ritual succeeding and her dying or the ritual failing but her living, she would always choose the former.   

Donald Hawley is a young man, but is already balding in his thirties.  He looks like the type that is immensely uncomfortable in anything but business wear.  He is constantly pushing up his horn-rimmed glasses and looks entirely henpecked.  If anyone asks, he will tell people that Knox is his aunt.  He is lying.  Check the 'Characters' section for more information on him. 

Hawley is a down-trodden man, unassertive, hen-pecked and submissive.  He has not a brave or heroic bone in his body and will immediately cave to any threats or show of force. 

If you come by this campsite, you will find that Hawley is...


1- Working on something on his laptop
2- Talking on the phone
3- Staring at the fire
4- In his tent
5- Away doing something else in Zone 1
6- Away, down in Zone 4   

If you come by this campsite you will that Knox is...


1-4: Not here, down in Zone 4.
5: Talking to someone on the phone
6: Working on something on her laptop

If you check their bags, you will find nothing out of the ordinary, except for the fact that they only seem to have formal clothes and lots of computer equipment.  The Director also wears a necklace hanging with a topaz gem that resembles a slitted, yellow eye.  

                                                   source unknown
                                                Bradley Langston and Daisy Denzel

4: This campsite is surrounded by a ring of stones that have faint symbols scratched on them.  Anyone who studies these stones will find that the bottom of each stone depicts a dragon-like entity, scaly and serpentine, breathing forth fire.  Meanwhile, on the top of the stone, one can see a double headed aquila.

This campsite is currently occupied by a black woman named Daisy Denzel and a white man named Bradley Langston. 

Denzel is a tall, powerfully built and very fit.  She has a magnetic personality and is quite kind.  However, she also has an explosive temper and if insulted, she tends to scream at people and make blood-chilling threats.  If anyone asks, she will tell people that Langston is her friend.  She is lying.  Check the 'Characters' section for more information on her.

Langston is a bit older than Denzel, clean-shaved with sun-bronzed skin and a body that only a lifetime of hard labor or physical training can get you.  Langston is polite and cool, but his eyes seem almost lifeless.  He is brisk and formal with almost everyone.  If anyone asks, he will tell people that Denzel is his friend.  He is lying.  Check the 'Characters' section for more information on him.

If you come by this Campsite you will find Denzel and Langston...

1: Spying on someone in the campsites.
2: Away in Zone 4.
3-4: Enjoying each other's company and doing something romantic, lovey-dovey or lewd.

Security Chief Bradley Langston
HD 2   AC 13   Atk Pistol 1d8 or M4 carbine 2d6
Mor 8     Saves 8 or less is a success

Quickdraw: When fighting an opponent with a melee weapon, Langston always go first.

Careful Aim: Langston gets +1 to hit or his target gets a -1 penalty to his save if Langston spends an action aiming.

- Attack quickly, from surprise if possible
- Launch an overwhelming attack that cannot be endured
- Retreat if met with matched resistance

Vice Security Chief Daisy Denzel
HD 2   AC 13   Atk Atk Pistol 1d8 or Staff, (+1, 1D6+STR/1d6+STR)
Mor 8     Saves 8 or less is a success

Parry: Langston can parry one melee attack a round, reducing damage taken by by 1d6+STR. 

- Attack quickly, from surprise if possible
- Launch an overwhelming attack that cannot be endured
- Retreat if met with matched resistance

If you manage to investigate Langston and Denzel's bags, you will find chocolate, champagne, handcuffs, blind-folds, lingerie, fetish outfits and underneath all of that, guns, including pistols and M4 carbines, knives and a collapsible titanium staff.

5: This campsite is usually where the targets are sent.  As such, there is nothing weird here. 

6: This campsite is empty, at the moment.  It seems out of the ordinary, but a clever observer will note that the entire campsite seems entirely devoid of plant life, without even a dry leaf or pine cone present for a 30' diameter circle.  The branches of the trees closest to the edge of the campsite also seem scorched, with burn marks on their bark and the amount of leaves on the overhanging branches much less than should be normal.  The whole place still reeks of burned wood, plastic and pork.  

7: The Lake 

Warm and thick with underwater flora.  Nice enough to swim in once you get far out, but it is quite unpleasant near the shore.  The lake can also be quite forbidding, especially at night or when the early morning fog rolls in and sweeps over the water, plunging visibility to almost nothing. 

There are no houses on the other side of the lake, except for a single, isolated cabin that no one ever enters or leaves.  This is "8". 

8: Abandoned Cabin 

This cabin is part of Zone 2.  Check there for more information. 

9: Electrical Box

This electrical box is part of Zone 3:  Check there for more information. 

10: Power Lines/Transmission Tower

This is a tall, rusty spear of metal thrusting up into the sky and it is what all the high-voltage power lines for the whole campground are connected to.  Knocking over this pole will knock out power for the entire surrounding area, including Zone 4 "The Complex".

                                            source unknown

Zone 2: The "Abandoned" Cabin:

This is an old looking cabin that looks totally abandoned.  It is completely alone on this side of the lake, surrounded by shady trees with the road that passes through the campground looping around the lake to come meet it.  The road continues for a bit, before ending abruptly in a cul-de-sac.  The cabin itself should be prime real estate, yet looks like it hasn't been explored in ages.   

This Cabin is the epicenter of the ritual.  The idea is that the sacrifices are lured to the cabin, where they are to explore the Cabin and find some of the various trigger objects.  If they mess with one of the trigger objects, it summons a particular freak to come up from Zone 4 "The Complex" and punish them.  A full list of the trigger objects can be found below. 

1: Concrete "Patio"

This area is an open corridor between the two sections of the house.  You can enter the front or back yard, as well as "2" and "7" through here. 

2: Living Area

To access this area, you have to go through a screen door.  There is no lock.  This a living room with an ancient TV, stack upon stack of yellowing newspaper wrapped in fraying twine, with dust and cobwebs everywhere.  The furniture is moth eaten and the whole place looks like it hasn't been touched in years.

Yet, if you look closely, you will see things are not quite right.  The dust is unevenly caked on some places and totally absent in others and there seem to be almost no spiders, despite the cobwebs.     

3: Kitchen

This area is dusty, but otherwise very clean, with not a trace of grit besides the dust.  All the cupboards have been methodically cleared out, except for a new bottle of Brain Force.  Brain Force is an unregulated vitamin that claims to be able to boost brain power, concentration and 'spiritual powers', whatever that means.  Eating some of it produces no noticeable effect. 

4: Master Bedroom

This room is relatively spartan, but spotlessly clean.  It looks almost too clean, like no one has set foot in this place in decades.  If you know what it looks like, you will realize the carpet has been raked.  There is little of note in here, except for the fact that the closet is full of very expensive fur coats.  At the back of the closet there is a wolf-fur belt with an sterling silver belt buckle shaped like a wolf's head.  Putting on the belt or messing with it in any way has no noticeable effect. 

5: Bathroom

The bathroom is full of old medicines long past their expiration date, though none older than 2010, if you look closely.  This room is mostly clean, though the mirror is a bit smudged. 

The hot water in the shower still works.  If you take a hot shower or bath, the steam will cause the mirror to fog up, revealing the message that has been painted on the mirror in transparent paint "GET OUT".

There is a plastic bag full of LSD blotter papers concealed in the water tank of the toilet.  Miraculously, the bag is still sealed and the drugs still good. 

The bathroom has two doors, one leading to "4" and the other locked, but flimsly, to "6".  The locked door could easily be forced open.

6: Concealed Room

The locked door leads to this room.  This room is full of strange objects.  It is crowded with antique furniture, far more than any person should have accumulated, unless they collected it.  The room is also full of other curiosities, such as an enormous fortune telling machine that is off, but can be plugged in and tells fortunes for a dollar.  There is also a conch shell that you could blow to make sound and an antique diary describing a family of people from the 1800s who were all under the tyrannical control of a megalomaniacal father who ruled over them like a tyrant.  There is also an even older copy of the Malleus Maleficarum, translated into English.

Messing with these objects has no immediate effect.

7: Gym

This is a small area designed for one person to exercise in.  There is a rowing machine here, dusty yet in surprisingly good condition.  There is also a set of dumbells.  The East Wall is covered in a full length mirror and the North Wall (the one directly facing you when you enter) is covered in banners displaying such slogans as "Hard Work Beats Talent" and "There is no Rest like Victory".  The floor is covered with mats and smells faintly of sweat.  There is also a cupboard in the far left corner.  Opening it you find it empty, except for a large trunk.  Opening the trunk, you will find a set of clean dark blue overalls, with steel toed boots and fingerless gloves.  On top of all that, you will find a leather mask that covers the whole face, hiding everything, with only three small openings, two for each eye and one wide, but narrow one for the mouth. Putting on or touching the mask has no immediate effect.

There is a stereo here, hooked up to an old iPod.  It is loaded with synth music from the 80s, "Maniac" by Michael Sembello and Christopher Lee's metal album, "Charlemagne: By the Sword and the Cross".  

If you investigate carefully, you will find that the cupboard has a false back.  Removing it will reveal a pair of hatchets; a recurve bow and a full quiver; an old, but immaculately maintained revolver; and a hacksaw.  All the weapons are scrupulously cleaned, freshly oiled and definitely have seen use in the past.       

8: Backyard

The backyard borders right up to the lake, with a concrete barrier to separate the land from the water.  Jumping off would probably hurt and only put you in 2 feet of water, but you would otherwise be fine.  There is also a large metal rod sticking out of the lawn with a set of horseshoes nearby.  Messing around with the horseshoes or doing anything besides playing with them has no immediate effect.   

There is very little special about this dock, other than it is old and that there is a life preserver set up here.  There are no boats tied up here.

Trigger Objects Table
1- The Brain Force in Room "3".  This summons the Striding Brain.  See Room "17" in Zone 4.
2- The Wolf-hair belt in Room "4".  This summons the Werewolves.  See Room X in Zone 4.
3- The Fortune Telling Machine in Room "6".  This summons the Psychic.  See Room Y in Zone 4.
4- The Conch in Room "6".  This summons the Fishmen.  See Room Z in Zone 4.
5- The Malleus Mallificarum in Room "6".  This summons the Witch.  See Room A in Zone 4.
6- The Diary in Room "6".  This summons the Buckner family.  See Room B in Zone 4.
7- The Mask concealed in the dresser in Room "7".  This summons Hacksaw Joe.  See Room C in Zone 4. 
8- The Christopher Lee Record in Room "7".  This summons the Vampires.  See Room D in Zone 4.
9- The horseshoes outside in the backyard, Room "8".  This summons the Centaurs.  See Room E in Zone 4.
10- The LSD in Room "5".  This summons the Maggot-Children.  See Room F in Zone 4.

If the player characters aren't the sacrifices, you can also roll on this table to see what the Sacrifices do disturb and what horror rises to kill them.

                                                 by batel cohen

Zone 3: The "Secret" Lab:

This is a box of metal painted grey, weathered and overgrown.  There is a door on the side labeled with the words, "High Voltage, No Entry" but touching it does no damage.  Opening it you will find the hinges a bit rusty, but the door opens with little trouble.   

1: Fake Electrical Box

This is the interior of the box.  It appears to be a small, barren room with bare concrete floors and a series of panels built on the West wall.  These panels are covered in gizmos and doodads and all sorts of gauges, but don't appear to actually be connected to anything.  Flipping the switches or pushing the buttons or fiddling with the dials doesn't do anything. 

There is one thing of note in this room.  Part of the concrete is obviously discolored, in a perfectly square place.  If you investigate it, you will realize that this part of the concrete is a panel that can be lifted up, revealing a shaft that plunges down into the darkness, with metal ladder rungs embedded in the sides of the concrete shaft. 

2: Descending Shaft

The shaft is 30' down and as long as it is during mid-day, some sunlight will make it down to the bottom of the shaft, enabling you to climb down without torches.  During other times of the day though, it is quite dark and at night, climbing this ladder would be complete recklessness.

Surprisingly, the metal rungs of the ladder have not yet become to rust and as you go down, you don't see much in the way of spiderwebs or even structural damage. 

3: Security Station

This room has a non-functional metal detector that you would have to walk through, as well as a portable wand one.  There is an X-ray machine to put bags through, also nonfunctional.  These machines, if plugged in, would be found to work perfectly.

The only strange thing about this room is by now, you can smell the scent of rot.

4: Darkened Corridor

This corridor is empty, but absolutely pitch black.  If you did not bring light or it is any time past or before 12-4 o'clock, you are stumbling in the dark.  If it is at those times, you can just barely see shapes in grey against the black of the corridor, but nothing else. 

If explore this corridor, you will find it has a branching corridor going off it.  Going that way will lead you to "5" while going straight ahead leads to "7".

The scent of rot is much stronger here and as you go forward and pass "5", it becomes almost overwhelming.

5: Secure Corridor

This corridor is much the same as "4", but it has some strange things on the wall.  There are dark splashes on the wall, which look like dried human blood, or maybe ink.  Considering the smell, you find the former more likely.  The scent of rot  here is almost overpowering.  This is because in the hallway, you will find a corpse dressed in what looks like a policeman's or security guard's uniform.  The corpse is badly decayed by now, almost putrefying, but even so, it's pretty obvious what killed him, as the corpse has a scissors sticking out of his eye.

The corpse also is clutching a pistol in its hand and the pistol itself appears fine, but upon closer inspection it is revealed that the gun is unloaded and the safety is on.   

6: Control Room

This room is full of computer monitors and computer towers.  Surprisingly, they all function perfectly well.  They are splattered with blood, but otherwise are totally untouched.  The computers are password protected, but the passwords are written on a piece of paper concealed in one of the desks.  Opening it will reveal a long series of video files that detail  the abuses inflicted upon a young girl who the scientists in the recordings consistently refer to as "Subject 15" or just "15".  The last recording is interrupted halfway through by "Subject 15" who storms in at a dramatically convenient time and apparently murders the recorder. 

But there is no corpse in this room. 

This room also has a book shelf that if investigated, reveals a hidden switch.  Pushing it will cause the bookshelf to swing open, revealing "8".

7: Cell

This room looks like the cell shown in the video footage found in "6" after a hurricane swept through.  The cot that once sat in the corner of the room has been torn to shreds, the tiles on the walls are cracked and smashed and the front wall, the one facing "4" which looks like it was once made of some kind of thick glass, has been shattered with the resulting pieces scattered across the floor, through "4", so that they crunch under your feet. 

8: Secret Entrance to the Complex:

You see a long, concrete staircase that looks like it hasn't been used in years descending down into the earth.  Down and down and down it goes.  If you follow it to the bottom, you will find yourself in "The Complex".

                                                           by Tobias Till
Zone 4: The Complex:

The Complex is a vast underground complex that the Handlers use to monitor the Campsite and ensure the sacrifices are successfully killed.  It has everything a sophisticated compound might need, from running water to generators to computers and internet.  It is shockily mundane in comparison to what actually lurks within the facility itself.

1: Tunnel to Chesterfield

This is a long, mostly unlit underground tunnel with train tracks on the bottom.  The tunnel is an unknown number of miles long and leads to the basement of a non-descript building in Appomattox.  There are other doors occasionally along the tunnel walls, even where there shouldn't be.  These doors lead to the Underground (ie the top level of Mythic Underworld) proper.

There is an amounted tram that runs back and forth between the Complex and the building twice a day, leaving at 8 am and at 6:30 pm.   

2: Tram Station

The tram pulls up at something that resembles a subway station, except this is very clearly the end of the line.  The fact that the tunnel goes further on and has been blocked by a wall of cinderblocks is very pointedly ignored by all the people who use the tram. 

As for the station itself, it is bare bones, with white tile reminiscent of an asylum and large pillars to hold up the roof. It is scrupulously clean.  The door to enter "3" is blocked by a bored looking security officer with a pistol and clipboard who will be scanning IDs. 

If the time is anywhere between 7 to 8 am or 5:30 to 6:30, the platform will be crowded with 1d12+4 bored looking, professionally dressed people in business wear, most of the men in shirtsleeves and ties, with jackets draped over their arms, the women dressed smartly in sensible skirts and flats, with nice blouses.  The atmosphere is surprisingly somber at any time of day, though during the later part of the day, you can tell that the workers are very relieved.

Office Worker
HD 1  AC 10  Atk Fist or Improvised (+0, 1d4)
Mor 4  Saves 7 or less is a success

- Never fight unless you have to
- Flee at the first sight of danger
- Beg for your life, insist you were only doing your job

Security Officer
HD 1  AC 12  Atk Pistol 1d8 or Baton (+0, 1d6 or 1d6 nonlethal)
Mor 7  Saves 7 or less is a success   

- Bring in the sacrifices alive
- Kill any intruders
- Retreat from serious resistance

3: Lobby

The lobby is a very austere place, with no front desk or anything to greet its inhabitants.  The room is a steel cube, almost featureless along the walls and ceiling in terms of architecture.  There are large posters hanging on the walls, saying things like "We're all counting on you" and "We won't be remembered, but we'll have saved the world". 

There is only one door leading out of here, an open passageway leading to a vast, empty hallway.  This hallway stretches hundreds of feet to the East, occasionally dotted with doors and branching corridors.  The closet door is to the West, and is indicated by trio of signs that reads "Administration", "Accounting" and "Human Resources".  Following those signs will lead you to "4".

The next closet door is a set of double doors that lie directly ahead.  Going through that door will lead to "5".      

4: Offices

This door leads to a long, narrow strip of offices and cubicles.  This area always has 8 Office Workers tapping away at their terminals, one occasionally rising to deliver a paper to one of the glass-walled offices stationed irregularly along the wall.  The whole place is very sparsely populated and mostly quiet, the only real noise being occasional whispered conversation and the tapping of keys.  

At the end of this room there is a door marked "Electrical" and it is locked, but only with a key.  Opening it wouldn't be difficult if you could break down a pressboard door.  Behind the door you will find the circuit breakers for the facility.  You could shut down the power to the whole facility here, though unless you destroyed the controls, it could be switched back on.   

5: Viewing Room

This room is dominated by walls of old looking, but still perfectly functional computer equipment, connected to a series of television monitors.  Three enormous screens cover the front wall, with a large terminal in the center big enough for five people to operate.  The television monitors are connected to concealed cameras all over the campground and in the abandoned cabin, along with the Secret Lab.  Two senior Office Workers will be here, along with a Security Officer assigned to guard them.  They will guide the situation along its course, attempting to ensure that the Sacrifices are killed in the proper way.

That order is, of course, first the Harlot/Whore must die.  The others, not counting the Virgin, namely the Athlete/Warrior, the Scholar/Priest and the Fool/Joker must die next.  The order does not matter, but they must all die.  At last, when only the Virgin is left, her fate is irrelevant.  Whether she lives or dies, the Office Workers do not care, as long as the others are killed first.

If the players manage to wrest control of the central terminal from these Office Workers, they will be able to do do a number of things, though considering the age of the equipment and the complete lack of user friendliness, it's likely that they will do nothing instead.  If the players walk in here and try to do something on the control panel, have them roll 1d6.  They have a 4-in-6 chance of doing something unrelated, or nothing at all.  Roll on the "What did that button combination you pressed do?" table.  If they roll a "5" or "6" then they achieve what they want to do.  If the players threaten one of the Office Workers here, the Office Worker will be extremely reluctant to do so, but will be able to use the control panel with no chance of error.  And if the players start randomly flipping switches and hitting buttons, count that as an automatic error.

                                              Carrie-Anne Moss, from Marvel's Jessica Jones

6: Director's Office

This room is the office of Cassandra Knox.  It is a luxurious office, appointed with wood-paneled walls and plush carpeting. Her desk is massive, made of solid stone and bulletproof.  She has a number of buttons at her desk that allow her to do various things, such as calling Security Officers for backup or locking her door automatically, though her control is limited.  Mostly she is limited to calling up central control "5" and ordering them to do as she says.  The desk also has a hidden ventilation shaft under it that the Director will climb into and crawl away, if she cannot escape any other way.  If she does not fear this though, she has two doors to leave out of, one visible on the West wall from when you enter, leading over to "5" and the other concealed behind a bookshelf (see below).

In the Director's desk you will find a small black book that lists all of her passcodes.  She has a keycard on her body that she can also use to access anything in the facility.  Using either you will be able to bypass most security, but if the power is still up, the Security Officers will be able to watch your progress and set traps for you. 

The other features in the room are a series of bookshelves and trophy cases filled with books, charms and religious iconography from dozens of cultures.  There are Aztec and Mayan relics, a few pieces of literature from the 30 years war and some tracts by and about the Heaven's Gate cult.  There are also some books on the Occult, ancient martial arts and oddly placed historical events.  There appears to be no common theme, except for the fact that all the books, images and iconography seem to involve killing or human sacrifice, with very few exceptions.

Behind one of the bookshelves, there is a secret passageway that leads to an elevator with only one button, an arrow pointing down.  You will need the Director's ID or her access code to get into this elevator.  If you can though, it will take you down even deeper, to "24".       

7: Break Room

This room has everything an employee might need in an office environment.  A TV constantly playing Fox News that's always "muted", a coffee machine, a fridge, a microwave and a about three plastic tables, each surrounded by 1d4 plastic chairs.  The rest are stacked up in the corner. 

There is a door at the back, leading to "8", the dormitories.  There is usually 1d4 Office Workers here, eating, sipping coffee, having lunch or slacking off.  See "2" for their statblock. 

8: Employee Dormitories

The employee dormitories are for employees who have to stay overnight.  This barracks is for the Office Workers.  The bunks for the Security Officers are located elsewhere.  Here you will find bunkbeds stacked three high, with a thick curtain dividing the room in half.  One side is clearly the domain of the women of the facility, judging by the color-coordinated pillows and the fluffy quilts, while the other side is the domain of the men, as marked by the shabbiness and how many of the beds aren't made, along with the faint smell of beef jerky.  Someone has left an enormous bag of it on their bed, slightly open. 

There are small lockers at the end of each bunkbed, with three small cubbies.  They can be locked but there is a 4-in-6 chance that any randomly selected one isn't.  If it is, it is either empty or contains only basic toiletry supplies, floss, toothpaste, etc.

At night, there will be 1d6-1 male Office Workers here and 1d3-1 females.  During the day, there is no one here, but there is a 40% chance every 10 minutes that an Office Worker enters this room to retrieve something, check on something, or pass through to "9".  The door to "9" is located right near the end of the curtain, so by standing in the doorway and turning around, you could observe both sides of the curtain at once. 

9: Communal Showers + Shared Bathrooms

This room is divided into four sections.  As you enter the room, on the far left hand side of the room, you will find the door leading to the women's bathroom.  At the far right hand side, the door leading to the men's bathrooms.  Then, in the middle of the room you will find two other doors, each leading to the baths.  There is a public shower area, as well as large pools for soaking and bathing.  There is a door that connects the male and female baths, but it is always kept locked. 

Finally, at the rear of the men's bath, there is a hallway that leads to a storage room.  However, at the end of this hall, there is actually a secret door.  Heading down the stairs through Zone 3: "8" will lead you to this door, which can be opened and admit you this barely used hallway. 

There are usually 1d3 Office Workers in each bath and 1d3 in the bathrooms, with the appropriate sex in each.  There is also a 50% chance that there will be a Security Officer mixed in with the Office Workers.  If the Security Officer is in the baths, he or she will obviously be disarmed, but if they're in the bathroom, they will still have their weapons.     

10: Security Station

This room is divided into two.  Half of it is dedicated to the barracks for the 10 Security Officers, who tend to sleep over more than the Office Workers.  The other half is a narrow room dominated by a wall of television screens, each linked to one of the Complex's internal security cameras.  The Director can also access these on her terminal, though she is loathe to do so.

Security Officers will use this room to find you and send reinforcements to that location, unless you start destroying the cameras, hidden up at the corner of each room, or do something else about that.

This area also contains the armory, with a locked door that contains a small, side room with walls lined with lockers.  These lockers are full of guns.  There are 1d20 pistols here, most 9 millimeter, but a few of other calibers as well.  If your players have a suggestion, give it to them, presuming they're not asking for something ridiculous.  There are also 1d6 shotguns, 1d6 rifles and 1d8 M4 carbines, along with plenty of ammunition for all the guns present.  Finally, there is a M82 Barrett .50 semi-automatic sniper rifle and 1d20+1 rounds available for it, along with some magazines.  The magazines hold 10 rounds for the Barrett, by the way.

11: Conference Room

This room is a conference chamber, with dozens of chairs arranged a huge, wooden table.  There is a large occult symbol scratched into the oaken table and as any scholar of the occult will be able to tell you, that symbol is a massive symbol signifying containment, protection and warding.

Another thing of note is that the chairs at the far side of the door, leading to "12" seem more damaged than the others.  They have rips in the fabric, are stained with water and other fluids and generally just look worse treated.  There is little of note in this room.

12: Security Checkpoint

This room is a full security checkpoint, with a full-body scanner and an X-ray machine for bags.  However, it is facing away from "11".  Approaching from that angle, you could seemingly walk right through without going through security.  Depending on the time based on the schedule, there will be a number of Security Officers here.

13: Security Doors

Heading through "12" you will find a long hallway that seems to incline gently down, with no doors along the way.  This hallway then leads to an intersection; turn right and you will find another, even longer hallway blocked off by a pair of pair of doors made of bulletproof glass that require a key card of a Security Officer or the Director to pass.  However, if the Security Station is still operational, or the Main Console in "5", these doors can be remotely locked down.  If that happens, only the Director's personal override code can open these doors.  Destroying these security doors will trigger every alarm in the facility, assuming the electricity is still on/flowing. 

Turn left and you will find a shorter hallway that leads to a secret elevator.  The elevator has no buttons, but if the electricity can be manipulated or you simply knock the top of the elevator off, you could go up to the elevator shaft to the hidden elevator concealed in women's handicap bathroom, in Zone 1: "2".

                                                      from Starlit Creations
14: Myrtle's Room

Following the long hallway of "13", if you can manage to get past the security doors, will lead you to a long hallway full of steel doors.  The first one you will come to is labeled "Myrtle Ford".

This door is not locked.  Opening it you will find it leads to a small suite, with a modest kitchen, a small living area with a tv, coffee table, a few old wingtip chairs and a scratching post.  There is a large, orange tomcat that lives here, along with Ford.  You will probably find him sleeping on one of the chairs of laying across the old TV.

The TV is perpetually tuned to the shopping channel. 

The last room is the bedroom, where you will find a series of paintings hung up on the wall.  Each painting is a swirling, expressionist work each depicting one of Ford's spells and the effects it would have.  For example, the one storing Hellflame shows a black fire burning a man alive, while it leaves his clothes and shoes untouched.  Depending on the spells Ford is currently carrying in her mind, a number of the paintings will be empty, mere black canvas with nothing on them.  Taking any of these paintings and smashing them on the ground will cause the spell depicted to be cast as a level 1 spell and randomly effect 1 person within range.  After that, the spell escapes and is lost.  There are 8 paintings in total, one is always black.  However, more may be black, depending on what Ford is doing at the moment.

On the other hand, someone can touch a non-black painting and attempt to absorb the spell.  This requires a WIL save.  On a sucess, the person stuffs the spell into their mind and can cast it by burning FS or using Power Dice (if they're a Problem).  If they fail their save, the spell possesses the character, trapping the character's original consciousness in their mind.  Essentially, treat the person's body as a spell-borne homunculus for the duration of the possession. 

The spell will likely want to escape and experience embodied existence, but spells aren't too bright and are ill-suited for embodied existence.  If a spell successfully possesses someone, it should save.  On a success, it will willingly leave the person within 1d20 hours.  On a failure, the spell will stay with the person for 1d6 days.  This will all change, of course, if the spell decides to cast itself.  It will do so based on its personality.  To see what a spell is like, roll on the 'Spell Personality Table' below.

Spell Personality Table
1- Hellflame.  Nihilistic, depressed, seeks oblivion.  Has no real motivation to do anything but wait for death.
2- Vampirism.  Cynical, hard-working, bored with life.  Desires freedom, but wouldn't really know what to do with it.
3- Meshi Meshi Meshi Meshi Meshi Meshi Ora!  Honorable, proud, forgetful.  Wants to prove he is the best combat spell here.
4- Food Poisoning.  Malicious, spiteful, thinks she's smarter than everybody else.  Overlooks details, gets tunnel vision.
5- Technopathy.  Anal, detail-oriented, couldn't relax to save his life.  Tends to miss the forest for the trees.
6- Soul of Things.  Whimisical, laid-back, friendly.  Just wants to watch the clouds roll by.
7- Overdrive.  Caring, compassionate, quick to anger.  Ready to throw down for any reason.
8- Me and My Shadow.  Sleazy, charming and totally untrustworthy.  Self-indulgent and short-sighted.  Arrogant.  

Now, for the occupant of the apartment.  Myrtle Ford is a Sorcerer-King, though she won't describe herself as such.  She is an old woman, in her 50s or 60s, old and distinguished.  She is one of the few surviving Magic-Users or Practicioners left on the planet (at least, human ones).  When Ford isn't working, she will be dressed like Glinda the Good Witch from the Wizard of Oz movie and will prance around, humming some of the songs from the movie.  Ford is condescendingly compassionate to most people, treating other humans like they're children with no idea what they are doing. 

Her weakness is that she cannot stand not to be liked by people.  She will kill and hurt people if she has to, but she only does this because of the positive attention she gets from the others.  If anyone seems ungrateful of what she has done for them, she will become intensely antagonistic toward that person.  This is how she acts when she has to hurt people, dismissive and cold, an ugly sneer usually present.  She thinks of people who are ungrateful to her and those she needs to get rid of as beasts in human clothing, trash to be disposed of.  Her conscious is not troubled by these deaths. 

Finally, whenever Ford is working or killing, she changes her clothes to something much more practical, but also "hagish" or "witchy".  

What is Myrtle Ford doing?
1- Putting on her make-up 
2- Watching Television
3- Playing with her cat
4- Studying her magical tomes
5- Chatting to someone on the phone
6- Cooking


Myrtle Ford
HD 5  AC 13  Atk Steely Fingertips (+2, 1d6/1d6)
Mor 10   Saves 11 or less is a success

Spellcaster: Ford has 9 spellcasting dice and a number of spells prepared.  Her spellcasting dice burn out on a 5 or 6.  If she is in her apartment, she has the spells Technopathy and Soul of Things prepared, the rest being in their portraits, with the exception of Out of One.  If she is working she has Technopathy, Me and My Shadow, Meshi Meshi Meshi Meshi Meshi Meshi Ora! and Vampirism prepared.

Chaos: If Ford casts a spell with 2 or more spellcasting dice, she has a 2-in-6 chance of invoking Chaos.  If she does invoke Chaos, roll on the table below.

Chaos of Myrtle Ford
1- Everyone within 50' must save.  The first person to fail their save turns into a 1 HP frog with no abilities for 1d10 minutes.
2- A spooky, clammy fog suddenly blankets the area and visibility is dropped to 10'.
3- The sky is covered in clouds and for 1d10 minutes, it starts raining blood.
4- The spell rebounds and effects a different target.
5- Myrtle screeches as you hear her bones creaking as she is bent backwards, like a giant, invisible hand is squeezing her body.  She loses her next action and can barely move as her body contorts.  Next round she can act though. 
6- Mocking, demonic laughter fills the air as thunder splits the sky and a hot wind, reeking of sulfur and meat washes over everyone within 100'.  No other effect.

At Will Casting: She can cast Out of One as a level 1 spell at will, without using up her spell casting dice.

Special Power: As an action, Myrtle may target one object within 100'.  The object begins to glow, smoke subtly and grow hot to the touch.  After 1 round, or she desires it, that object explodes, dealing damage to everything within 50', save for half.  The damage of the explosion depends on the object.  A baseball would do 1d6 damage, a watermelon 1d8, a bed 1d10, a car 1d12 and a tree 1d20.  She may only use this ability every 1d4 rounds.

Death Curse: If Myrtle is near death, she can, as an action, curse someone.  She will say to that person, "Since you broke my foundation, you shall become it.  Watch forever from behind walls of stone, wretch!"  That person will then be cursed to slowly petrify over the course of 1d20 hours.  The only cure for this petrification is to file an injunction with the Heavenly Bureaucracy or with the Elemental Court of Earth.

Weakness: She is damaged by sunlight as an Undead, taking 1d6 damage a round she is in sunlight.

- Sneak up, cast Meshi Meshi Meshi Meshi Meshi Meshi Ora! from a hidden position
- Launch a surprise attack on the strongest opponent
- Retreat and repeat
- Use Vampirism against helpless targets or if you are wounded
- Use Me and My Shadow for defense primarily
- Only make things explode to distract or if you have to

                                                          source unknown
15: Werewolf Suites

This door is not locked and is labeled "Vitruli".  Opening it, you will see this area resembles the interior of a log-cabin, except with cement walls.  There is a fake fireplace and a large TV displaying scenic environmental shots, when someone isn't watching something on it.  There is a kitchen with stone countertops and quality appliances.  The furniture in all this area is overstuffed, smells faintly of dirt and damp and wet dog and has a fine layer of dog hair all over it. 

This area is occupied by 1d3 Werewolves.  If there is only 1 Werewolf, her name is Janet Vitruli and she has the ability to become a full Wolf-Man (as per a level 5 Werewolf), though she'll also be able to become a Lycanthrope or a regular Wolf.  Janet is a fierce and independent woman who hates being bossed around by the Director, but also does not believe she could escape alive.  She also fears for her her sister and lover, Jon Taylor.  She will do whatever is necessary to protect them.  

If there are 2 Werewolves, she is joined by her younger sister named Dana Vitruli, who can become a Lycanthrope or a regular Wolf.  Dana is much more compassionate than Janet and hates what she has to do.  She understands it is for the fate of the world, but she still hates killing.  She loves her sister almost as much as she despises the Director.  If she had the chance to flee with her sister, she take it.  She also doesn't really like Jon Taylor, but she wouldn't want him to die. 

If there are 3 Werewolves, they are joined by Jonathan Taylor, a lesser Werewolf who can only transform into a regular Wolf.  Jon Taylor is terrified of his situation and chafes under the thumb of the Director.  He has heard the reasons why this Complex exists, but he thinks its all bullshit and this is just some ridiculous set-up for rich perverts to watch teenagers get eaten.  He would leave the second he thought it was safe, but he fears the Director.  He also loves Janet and Dana Vitruli, though he loves the former as a woman and the latter as a sister.


For these Statblocks, I will not be including specific Statblocks, but general ones instead.  Whenever a Werewolf Transforms, have them use the statblock based on whatever form they took.

Untransformed Werewolf
HD 1  AC 11  Atk Rifle 2d6 or Shotgun -variable-
Mor 8    Saves 7 or less is a success

Shotgun: Shotguns do 1d12 damage at close range, 1d8 at medium range and 1d4 at long range.

Transformation: Werewolves can transform as a full action.  When they transform, they shed all physical effects and injuries affecting their former form and gain that new form's HP.

- Sneak up, ambush or launch a surprise attack
- Pretend to be normal humans if caught
- Avoid using guns unless necessary

Werewolf- Wolf Form
HD 2  AC 14  Atk Bite (+2, 1d6+1)
Mor 8    Saves 8 or less is a success


Wolf: In this form, a Werewolf could only do things a Wolf could, though they retain their human intelligence, will and personality.  But they obviously can't do some things, like climb trees or use things that require opposable thumbs.

Stalker: In this form, a Werewolf gets +4 to any bonus to sneak, as long as there is sufficient cover, shadow or darkness.

Tracker: In this form, a Werewolf gets a +4 bonus to track any particular person or animal.

- Sneak up as close as possible
- Attack, then retreat if you can't take down the enemy
- Chase them for miles, never let them rest
- Transform back to heal yourself, wait a moment, then transform back

Werewolf- Lycanthrope Form
HD 3  AC 12  Atk Bare Hands (+0, 1d6+1)
Mor 8    Saves 9 or less is a success


Weapon Damage Bonus: In this form, a Werewolf gets a +1 bonus to any melee damage they deal.

Opposable Thumbs: In this form, a Werewolf retains his human body, so he can manipulate objects and use guns, though in this form, using guns or anything more sophisticated than a sword might be too much hassle for him.

Not Quite Human: This transformation is slight, but if you know what to look for, it's definitely noticeable.  Lycanthropes are always slightly hunched and very muscular, so much that their muscles seem to knot and writhe beneath their skin.  Their eyes are also yellow, a fact that is hard to discover in low light.

- Pretend to be human
- Sneak up
- Grapple someone and use them as a human shield

Werewolf- Wolf-Man Form
HD 5  AC 14  Atk Claws or Bite (+1, 1d6+1/1d6+1)
Mor 8    Saves 10 or less is a success



Opposable Thumbs: In this form, a Werewolf retains his hands, so he can manipulate objects and use guns, though in this form, using guns or anything more sophisticated than a sword might be too much hassle for him.


- Burst through the door and start cracking skulls
- Show no fear
- Use weapons if that might help

                                              original source unknown, taken from here

16: Maggot-Child Containment Area

This door is a heavy steel gate, followed closely by a wall of thick, shatterproof glass.  Opening these doors requires the Director's keycard or her authorization codes.

Behind the doors you will find what resembles an ape habitat at the zoo, but with an urban twist.  There are faux skyscrapers rising up toward a concrete sky, with glow in the dark planets and stars stuck to the ceiling.  There are many small tunnels, nooks and cubbies to hide in and the ground is littered with trash and newspapers that is periodically replaced. 

This is the realm of the Maggot-Children.  These bestial creatures do not possess full human intelligence, or so it is believed.  This is mostly accurate, as most of them only seem to be talented mimics who can repeat what is said.  They are about as smart as chimpanzees, but they are not totally irrational.  They can be taught how to speak, to a limited degree, though very few of them ever seem to truly grasp what they are doing. 

As such, if you enter the Maggot-Children's habitat, they are likely to attack you, unless the door is open, then they will leave through their.  However, unless stopped, the Maggot-Children will return here, as they regard it as their home.  The only person who can reliably enter the Maggot-Children's habitat and leave alive is Anansai, who gives them instructions on behalf of the Director.  The Maggot-Children regard Anansai as a deity and do whatever he says, unless it is clearly suicidal.


HD 3  AC 13  Atk Claws (+3, 1d6/1d6) or Fangs (+0, 1d6 STR)
Mor 10   Saves 8 or less is a success

Mimic: Maggot-Children can mimic any sound they hear, like a parrot.  You must succeed a saving throw to determine the sound didn't come from the original source.  Is that a really a baby crying, or a cat meowing pitifully? 

Sneaky: Maggot-Children gets +2 bonuses to any stealth check, or +4 if they have time to disguise themselves using the detritus of their environment.

Fangs: Maggot-Children inject venom through their fangs that introduces infirmity in their victims, making their muscles relax and not be able to contract as well.  If the STR damage ever done by this venom ever equals or exceeds a creature's STR score, that creature falls to the ground, paralyzed.  The paralysis will wear off in 1d6 hours, if nothing else is done.  However, if someone is paralyzed, the Maggot-Children will try to drag them away. 

- Lure someone away from the group
- Inject the strongest with venom
- Drag off anyone paralyzed
- Kill the rest

Those who are dragged off by Maggot-Children are injected with various other types of venom then cocooned in trash, their feces and an organic sludge that quickly hardens into a porous white chrysallis around the captured person.  After 1d4 days of this, the person dies and a new born Maggot-Child tears its way out of the cocoon to take its, tottering steps.

                                           original source unknown, from here

17: Anansai's Room

This door is not plain steel, but more closely resembles a sealable hatch with an additional keycard lock on it.  Nothing short of explosives or the Director's keycode (or her override codes) will enable you to open the door.  This will lead to a cell with a glass wall and a small slot for passing items through, similar to a book slot.  The glass is bulletproof and three inches thick.  There is another door that needs to be unlocked to open this cell and requires the Director's passcode or keycard, or remote authorization from her terminal. 

Behind it, you can see a large cell that is designed for one occupant, a human brain the size of a blue ribbon winning largest pumpkin at the state fair, with dozens of tentacles stretching out from the base of the brain to hold it up and enable it to walk and move.

The brain's name is Anansai [Ah-nah-see].  It named itself after an African spirit/deity most famous for overcoming greater foes through cunning.  Anansai is certain that his captors (Handlers) are unaware of the significance of this name and he's completely correct.  He, unlike many of the other Instruments, actively loathes being here and is determined to strike out on his own.  If released, he would gleefully aid anyone who wanted to destroy this facility.

However, he is not to be trusted.  Anansai seems intelligent, but he is far smarter than anyone realizes and being aware of this fact, he pretends to be ignorant of many things.  He also has big plans, for himself and for this world. 

Anansai's weakness is that he is not brave.  He will flee if he thinks his life is in danger.  He is completely unwilling to risk himself.  If he even suspects something is a trap, he will leave.


Anansai the Striding Brain
HD 6  AC 12  Atk Tentacles (+3, 1d6/1d6/1d6 + grapple) or Brain Storm (2d8 electrical, save for half)
Mor 6    Saves 10 or less is a success

Telepathy: Anansai is a telepath and can speak with any creature with a mind telepathically.

Sense Minds: Anansai is able to sense the presence of all minds around him with 100'.  If you are within this area, he will know you are coming.  He cannot be surprised by anyone within this area.

Tentacle: If Anansai hits you with a tentacle attack, you are automatically grappled and must succeed in a STR contest with him to break free, or damage his tentacle in some way.  Note that your arms are likely restrained when he grabs you, unless the Referee says otherwise.  Anansai may also do 1d6 damage to you a round by squeezing you as a free action, as long as you are grappled.

Brain Storm: Anansai may fire a blast of bio-electric lightning from his frontal lobes.  This does 2d8 electrical damage, save for half.  Anansai may also channel this lighting down metal objects or through metal surfaces.  The lightning produced by Brain Storm functions identically to ball lightning and can pass through glass without breaking it.

- Use 'Brain Storm' on anyone with a powerful ranged weapon, then retreat to where you cannot be shot
- Ambush those that try to follow
- Fry everyone who is left

                                                      by Christ Kuchta

18: Hacksaw Joe's Room

This door is not locked, nor is it labeled.  No lock could contain the man behind it.  This room is one large space, resembling the bat cave from Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight.  There is one corner dedicated to exericse, with rubber mats on the floor, a boxing ring, free weights and a treadmill. 

Another corner is dedicated to a small shrine, centering around the statue of a naked figure with manys arms that resembles a human being made of swords, axes and knives soaked in gore.  In its hands, the figure holds a freshly severed head, a knife, a candle and a large orb surrounded by flickering fire.  Additionally, the figure is trampling on a dismembered corpse.  This statue has been anointed with fresh blood and is surrounded by flickering candles.  Incense is burning behind it, but there's something strange about it that makes the scent seems much more pungent than normal incense. 

A kitchen takes up the third corner, though it looks barely used. 

The fourth corner is taken up by a cot and a footlocker.  The footlocker contains dozens of copies of the same outfit, a white t-shirt and jeans, all tailored to fit an immensely muscular man.  There is also a TV in area, hooked up to a dozen consoles.

What is the man who lives here doing?
1- Eating. 
2- Sleeping.
3- Playing Video Games.
4- Working out.


Hacksaw Joe
HD 7  AC 15  Atk Bare Hands (+5, 5 damage) or any Melee Weapon (+5, 1d6+4)
Mor 11    Saves 12 or less is a success

Rivers of Blood: Every time Hacksaw Joe kills someone, he gets a permanent +1 damage bonus for the rest of the day.

Wager: Hacksaw Joe can impose a -1 to hit penalty on himself for a +1 damage bonus.  Do not factor in this bonus damage until after a hit has been confirmed. 

Explosion: Whenever Hacksaw Joe rolls for damage for a successful attack, he may roll again.  If the new roll is less than or equal to the original roll's base damage, he may add it to the damage done.  If it is higher, he may use that as the damage his attack dealt, and ignore the first roll.  He may do this once per day per weapon.

Storm of Steel: 1/Day, on a hit, Hacksaw Joe may make 1d20 additional attacks against 1 target.

- Be unafraid of everything except large caliber guns and shotguns
- Pick a target and then neutralize with extreme prejudice
- Be surprisingly sneaky

                                                      from American Spirit

19: Antonelle O'Brien's Room

This room is not locked and is labelled with "Antonelle O'Brien".  It opens to reveal a small apartment for a young, single girl.  It is quite dirty, with a garbage bag in the corner full of old candy wrappers and take-out containers.  Her clothes form a large pile at the foot of the bed, mostly comfortable, utilitarian stuff; sweat and yoga pants; leggings; stockings; hoodies; soft t-shirts, all surrounded by a variety of shoe boxes.  Most of the boxes are full of nice, but rather impractical heels.  The only kind that look like they've been out of the box more than once are the green and brown stained sneakers and the sling-back pumps.

The bed itself takes up the rest of the far wall and is never made.  The only other thing of note in the room is the trio of computer monitors that make up the epicentre of the room.  They're constantly on, playing something or displaying data of some sort.  The room stinks of sweat, cheap food and feminine perfume.

Antonelle herself resembles a teenage burnout.  She never wears make-up and rarely bathes.  She looks like she hasn't changed her clothes in a week, not an inaccurate assumption, and her hair looks like she cut it herself, which she did.  She's not unattractive, if you like skinny girls with no curves, but everything about her is likely unappealing.  But her eyes- those are the strangest part about her.  Antonelle's eyes are dark and penetrating, skewering you down to the soul.  They don't seem to suit her appearance.

Antonelle is a lazy, myopic and sensually motivated.  She is only really concerned with avoiding pain and indulging her desires.  She has no real long-term goals and regards planning as an unavoidable difficulty that she prefers to place on other people.  If Antonelle has a weakness, it is that she is slothful.  She will overlook details and she rarely takes any danger seriously.  That being said, if caught by surprise, the limits of her abilities will reveal themselves. 

What is Antonelle O'Brien doing?
1- Nibbling on something unhealthy, deep fried or covered in chocolate.  Possibly all three.  
2- Watching something pirated.  Either an old movie, anime or something pornographic.
3- Playing video games.  If she's in a game with Joe, she always makes sure not to target him.  Though that usually isn't a problem, as Joe is a much better player than her.
4- She's actually not here, but is out for a conjugal visit with one of the other residents of the Secure Wing.  Her current entertainment is 1d4 [1= Hacksaw Joe, who promised to be gentle; 2= One of the Werewolves; 3= One of the Vampires; 4= One of the Fishmen.]  Replace what one of those mentioned was doing with this.
5- She is telepathically eavesdropping on the thought-streams of the other residents of the Complex and the Campground.  She is gathering information and passing it on to Anansai, in the hopes that he will include her in whatever scheme the Brain is cooking up.
6- Chatting telepathically with Anansai or one of the other residents.  She mostly talks to Anansai and the two are collaborating on potentially escaping, though O'Brien doesn't have a plan and doesn't think that Anansai has one either.  She is wrong, by the way.  Anansai does have a plan.  He always has a plan. 


Antonelle O'Brien
HD 3  AC 10  Atk Improvised (non-firearm) Weapon or Fist (+0, 1d4) or Teke (+6, 1d8+2/1d8+2)
Mor 10   Saves 9 or less is a success

Telepathy: Antonelle O'Brien can speak to any creature with a mind within 100' of her, telepathically.  She cannot be surprised by anyone with a mind entering that area.  This is an ability she is concealing from everyone but Anansai, who is the one creature whose mind she cannot read.  The Director knows she can read the minds of others, but they don't know she can speak telepathically across large distances.  

Teke: Antonelle O'Brien is a teker, or a telekinetic.  She can use her mind to manipulate matter.  For game purposes, imagine as if she has two invisible hands that she can summon and dismiss at will.  Each hand has a STR of 16(+2) and functions as a direct attack as above.  She can also reduce the damage of any attack against her by that damage dice of that roll, or use the "hands" to grapple people or hold things.  But on parrying damage, she must hold back the number of hands she wishes to use to protect herself and can only protect herself from a matching number of attacks or less.  She can stop two bullets if she makes no attacks, but if she makes only 1 attack, she'll have to hope that second bullet misses.  She must be within a 30' range to use her Telekinesis on a person or object.

Psychic Powers: Antonelle O'Brien can hear the surface thoughts of anyone who is within 100' of her, surface thoughts being their current or "loudest" thought.  She can also read a mind more closely if she has at least an action to focus on that mind and do nothing else.  Unwilling creatures may save to prevent her from mining any useful information from their minds. 

- Pretend to be tougher than you are
- Shun cover and stealth
- Show them what a badass you are

                                                    from Manifest Destiny

20: Centaur Biodome

This door is a steel gate, marked with the sign, "Ponies".  It is not locked, but it leads almost immediately to a huge, steel door that looks like it could stop an anti-tank round.  This door requires the Director's Keycard or her override codes, or a Security Officer's badge. 

Opening the door will lead to something that resembles a large habitat resembling a zoo exhibit for some kind of large animal, such as a zebra.  There will be a few trees glowing under artificial lights and some long grass, but most of the habitat will be composed of short grass or hard-packed dirt. 

There is only one structure in this area, resembling a stable with no gates and a large open space.  The whole outside structure of this building is also covered in a faux rock shell made of plastic, so it resembles a stony hill, and it is draped in living ivy and moss so it looks more natural.

The creatures that live here resemble thick, study horses from the waist down.  Above that though, their upper torsos, heads especially resemble buffalos, though they still possess five fingered hands.  But their skin is covered in brown fur and they ripple with muscles.  They tend to paint parts of their body, especially their faces and bare chests, dabbing themselves with ornamental designs. 

In terms of intelligence, the creatures that live in this habitat are basically feral, only about as smart as a mentally handicapped person.  They additionally cannot speak, due to the shape of their mouths, but they are not crude beasts.  They know enough to make art, such as paintings inside and outside their habitat, sing crooning songs to each other and to make and manufacture stone tools.

The creatures can vaguely understand human speech and divide humans into two categories.  The humans down below the earth are to feared and appeased, as they can inflict pain from long range (firearms) and they have magicks (medicine, technology).  They also live in terror of Anansai, who sometimes acts as the spokesmen for the Director.  Like the Maggot-Children, Anansai is God to them and they quake with terror whenever he speaks to them.  However, while they cannot understand Anansai and believe him invincible and untouchable, some of their kind having never seen him in the flesh, they know that humans are not. As such, whenever they are released, they take great pleasure in butchering the humans they are allowed to kill.  The Centaurs do not wish to take their revenge on this facility, merely to escape and be free.  If presented with a chance for that, they would do so immediately.


HD 2  AC 15  Atk Stone Tomahawk or Hammer (+2, 1d8)
Mor 10    Saves 8 or less is a success

Charge: If a Buffalo-Centaurs charges someone, they can make an attack with an additional +1d6 damage on a hit and then keep moving past them.

Bullet Sponge: If a Buffalo-Centaur is being fired upon, unless the firearm's wielder rolls max damage, the Buffalo-Centaur may reduce the damage of 1 firearm attack per round by 1d6.

- Charge in, attack the most important or dangerous person
- Retreat, then repeat as necessary
- Avoid being surrounded

                                                 source unknown

21: Buckner Family Storage

This door is labeled "Buckners" and is not locked.  Instead the room you will find 1d6+1 corpses vacuum sealed in plastic and some freely cleaned farm tools and other weapons hanging on the wall.  If you open the bags, the corpses will do nothing.  If you mess with their tools, they will do nothing.  The Buckners are zombies, bound to the control of whoever holds the Patience Topaz, a yellow stone being worn on a necklace by the Director.  Only under her orders will the Buckners stand up and do anything.  Otherwise, they will remain where they are.

Unbeknowest to anyone but Antonelle O'Brien and Anansai, the Buckners are souls that were recalled from Hell and bound to their rotting corpses.  They feel nothing but rage, hatred, jealousy and sadness.  They are bound to obedience to the holder of the Topaz, but if it were destroyed, they would be free.  If freed, the first thing the Buckners would do is either hunt down the Director, kill her and mutilate her body or they would go on a rampage and mindlessly attack anyone living nearby until they were destroyed.


Buckner Family Member
HD 2  AC 12   Atk As Weapon
Mor 12    Saves 8 or less is a success




- Always Follow Orders
- Never retreat unless ordered to
- Never surrender unless ordered to
- Never fear, for nothing could be worse than this

                                           from something Vampire, source unknown

22: Vampire Dormitory

This door is not locked and the original label has been scratched off.  In its place is a piece of paper with the word "Mortally Challenged" scrawled on it.  Opening this door leads to an expansive suite of rooms decorated by a goth with absolutely no taste.  The furniture is all black leather and there is a plastic skeleton in a hawaiian shirt, sunglasses and a straw hat sitting in an easy chair, posed like you just interrupted his reading.  The book the skeleton is currently holding is "Interview with a Vampire".

The living space is completed by a full kitchen with an island and a small bar, complete with stools.  There also two fridges.  One is full of food and perishables, the other is full of packs of blood sealed in plastic bags.  Past the kitchen there is a short hallway leading to the Vampires' rooms.

There are 1d8 Vampires in this dormitory, with a maximum of 8.  When you determine the first number, you may select up to the number of Vampires available from the list below, or use this list as a table and roll randomly to determine the occupants of this dorm.

1- Angela.  Level 1 Vampire.  Really thinks this whole 'being creatures of the night' thing is such a faux pas.  She has currently dyed her hair a brilliant blue and is being annoyingly positive and chipper.  It's totally insincere but none of the other girls have the nerve to call her out on it. 
2- Zerai.  Level 1 Vampire.  She was depressed before she got drafted into this ridiculous unit, so she started writing poetry.  It's not very good, but goodness she tries so hard.  She will try to read you some of her best pieces. 
3- Isa.  Level 1 Vampire.  The only man of the group.  Depending on the amount of women he's with he's either enjoying himself immensely or walking on eggshells.  Besides hanging out with cute girls in skimpy leather outfits, he likes fighting and showing off his Vampire powers and his modest sharpshooting skills.
4- Onemine.  Level 3 Vampire.  She's the whitest (literally and metaphorically- being a WASP) of the group, but insists on using a Japanese alias and having the others call her senpai.  If Isa is part of this group, he calls her Oneechan, which is something she enjoys so much.  She's a weeaboo.  She wears a ridiculous coat of red leather and carries around a claymore that she definitely doesn't know how to lift.  However, when she activates her Superhuman Strength and starts swinging it around, it suddenly looks a lot less funny.
5- Victoria.  Level 2 Vampire.  She is determined to make the most of this whole situation and has started dressing in Edwardian era dress and behaving courteously.  She keeps trying to affect a Received Pronounciation accent, but she isn't very good at that.  She is essentially larping at being a Victorian-era gentlewoman.  Whenever someone points this out of she gets messed up, she tends to break things. 
6- Catrien.  Level 2 Vampire.  She saw how Onemine became infertile and lost almost all of her sexual drive a couple of months ago and realizing that she isn't that far behind, she is starting to get worried.  As such, she has begun wearing incredibly provocative, borderline fetish outfits and doing her best to attract a man, any man.  At this point, with her biological clock thundering in her ears, she would throw herself at any vaguely good (or good seeming) man she found. 
7- May.  Level 1 Vampire.  May was lonely and rejected most of her life, so being able to spend so much time in the company of others of her kind was at first, a blessing.  However, as time as gone on, May has begun to wonder if this was actually a terrible mistake, as most of the others here seem to be completely mad. 
8- Annie Bell.  Level 2 Vampire.  She is charming, polite and loquacious.  Also, unlike any of the other girls or Isa that may be here, she enjoys killing.  Annie Bell is a psychopath who wants to and enjoys hurting people.  She regards other humans as trash, though most of the time she can conceal this fact.  This is also her weakness, as she cannot conceive of a situation where she might lose to another human.  


Level 1 Vampire
HD 1  AC 12  Atk Pistol 1d8 or Bite (-4, 1d12)
Mor 7    Saves 7 or less is a success

Blood Points: All Vampires have a certain number of Blood Points, which fuel their abilities.  Level 1 Vampires have 2 of these, but can have a maximum of 9.

Bite: Vampires make their Bite attacks at a -4 penalty unless the target is restrained, sleeping or helpless.  They can choose to do 1d12 or 0 damage on a bite.  However, every round that a Vampire is drinking someone's blood, they take 1d6 damage as their vitality is sucked away.  If a Vampire wishes to, this damage can be nonlethal, so if the creature would be reduced to zero HP, it is instead reduced to 1 HP and passes out, as long the Vampire stops drinking there.  Finally, for every 6 damage of blood drained from someone, the Vampire gains another Blood Point.

Regeneration: As a free action, a Vampire may spend a Blood Point to regenerate 1d6 HP.  This allows them to reattach severed limbs, repair shredded tissue and is otherwise spectacular to watch. 


Level 2 Vampire - Statblock Changes:

- 2 HD, AC 13

- Start with 3 Blood Points instead of 2. 

- Add the Ability: Superhuman Strength: Vampires can spend a blood point as a free action to increase their strength.  This lets them make attacks with a +1 bonus to attack and a +2 bonus damage on a hit.  These bonuses also stack, so if you spend 1 Blood Point you get these bonuses, or if you spend 2 Blood Points, you get +2 to attack and +4 to damage.  You may spend no more than 4 Blood Points on one attack.  Additionally, each time these Blood Points are spent, the enhancement to strength only lasts for that turn and the rest of the round, expiring at the start of the Vampire's next turn. 

Level 3 Vampire - Statblock Changes:

- 3 HD, AC 15

- Start with 4 Blood Points instead of 2. 

- Add the Abilities:

Superhuman Strength: [See Above]

Incredible Speed: Vampires can spend a Blood Point as a free action to increase their speed.  This gives you +X to initiative on a d20, where X is the number of Blood Points you spent.  If combat has already started, you may instead move up X spaces in the initiative order.  You also get a +X bonus to any save against firearm damage. 

                                                     by douzen

23: Fishman Apartments

This door is not locked and is labeled "Fishes".  Some joker has scrawled "A is sleeping with" in red marker above the sign. Someone has tried to erase the scribbles, but the marker only smudged a bit, but was otherwise impenetrable.  Opening the door will lead you to a large, degraded living space.  The room has no television, books or other entertainments, only a series of fluffy cushions, some dirty mattresses and a few water-damaged couches with what looks like stab marks in them.  The whole room reeks perpetually of lake water, mud and fish.

There is also a moon pool at the end of this room, leading to the murky waters of the lake.  You can walk down the steps into the water, but from there you'll have to dive down into the water.  The walls of this place are decorated with strange, dream like paintings and small works of statuary, depicting strange places you have never seen before, of ziggarauts under the sea and marble structures jutting out of the bottom of coral reefs.  The statues are similarly strange, depicting fishlike humanoids of various types, from ones with squidlike tentacles to small, flat ones with rippling fins running down their bodies like the embroidered layers of a fancy dress.  There are also 1d4 pieces of alien jewelry, either hanging on the statues or on the hall, each one beautiful and unique, inlaid with mother of pearl and fire opals and fine, green or blue gold.

There are a maximum of six Fishmen living in this 'apartment' of sorts, though most of them spend the majority of their time in the lake, even sleeping mostly buried in mud at the lake bottom.  This space is mostly only used for entertaining what few guests they have. 

Now the Fishmen are actually highly intelligent, but the Director and her people haven't realized this.  Anansai and Antonelle O'Brien know this, because the latter made contact with the Fishmen telepathically and realized this.  She of course, told Anansai this, right after she started sleeping with one of the Fishmen.  However, unless the party have telepathic powers or are very observant, they might think the Fishmen unintelligent brutes.  This would be vastly incorrect. That being said, as their mouths do not work the same way ours do, they cannot speak our languages, though we can learn theirs, with enough time and effort.  Antonelle has not bothered to do this, as telepathy is so much easier, plus it is more intimate.  She's also lazy, of course.

Below is a table for the number of Fishmen that might potentially be in this table.  One of the Fishmen will always be in a committed relationship with Antonelle.

There are 1d4+2 Fishmen in this dormitory, with a maximum of 6.  When you determine the first number, you may select up to the number of Fishmen available from the list below, or use this list as a table and roll randomly to determine the occupants of this dorm.

1- Dragonmouth.  He resembles a humanoid Dragon, with a pointed muzzle full of sharp teeth, reptilian looking eyes and a wide tail to help him swim.  He lacks wings, obviously.  His real name is Uzai ga'Yrutil and he is a singer.
2- Cardinal.  His scales are a bright red and he has a large crest on his head.  In water, this looks regal, but in air it seems quite silly, or maybe sad.  His real name is Moiza yi'Tolpir and he is an apprentice priest, suffering from spiritual troubles and doubting his faith.
3- Bigmouth.  He has a huge mouth, big enough to swallow an entire dachsund with room to spare.  He also has dozens of razor sharp teeth and adding in his beady look, it makes him look like he is constantly leering at you.  His real name is Erti wu'Anghee and he is a warrior, albeit reluctantly.  He always wanted to be a story-teller, but he always got the poems mixed up in his head. 
4- Neptune.  The most "human" looking of the group, with almost handsome features and deep, expressive eyes.  His body is slim and well-formed, if strangely proportioned in places.  His real name is Wuxi av'Nogril and he was a slave.  Now he is unsure of his relationship to the others, who are likewise unsure of how to treat him.  He has tried to earn the approval of the others by serving and aiding them whenever possible and being excessively brave in combat.
5- Nosey.  Has a long bone ridge dividing his face in two that lines up with his nose, like an ancient Greek military helm. His whole body seems hard, covered in thick ridges of bone with dense layers of muscle underneath it.  He has the body of some kind of subterrean marble statue.  His real name is Durz wu'Botpai and he was a member of the elite military class.  He relishes this opportunity to avenge his people upon the humans.  He dislikes working for humans, but as long as it benefits him, he is willing to endure the current state of affairs.
6- Orange.  Is covered in purple scales and has oddly shaped eyes of bright orange.  All the others seem to defer to him, but no one outside of Antonelle, Anansai and the Fishmen know why.  His real name is Wnia zi'Galgos and he is a Prince, Royalty. His one desire is to return to his people in the ocean.  He will do anything to achieve this, except needlessly risk the lives of his compatriots or himself.  If he is a part of the group, the other Fishmen will do anything to defend him, any members of the military castes willing to give their lives for him in a moment.


Fishman (Deep One) Statblock
HD 3  AC 14  Atk Bare Hands (+2, 1d6+2)
Mor 8    Saves 9 or less is a success

Powerful Limbs: Fishmen have incredibly strong bodies.  For purposes of dealing damage, grappling or destroying things, Fishman have a STR of 16(+2).

Water Breather: Fishmen can breathe water as well as air.  They suffer no penalties from breathing air.

Strong Swimmer: Fishmen are powerful swimmers, easily faster in the water than any non-aquatic creature.  In water, they are just slightly slower than a horse's canter.      

- Ambush near water if possible
- Drag into water
- If you can't, grapple and disarm

24: Hall of Stories

This Director's secret elevator leads down to this hall.  The walls down here are not concrete, but natural stone supported by arches of concrete and thick steel pillars.  The walls are covered in ancient, soot-stained pictures and reliefs.  They all depict gruesome human sacrifice, of ancient, unnamed tribes of humans.  The ones closest to the elevator seem to be almost recognizable as Aztecs, but the iconography becomes more and more unfamiliar as you go down the hallway.  Near the end, humans are reduced to mere stick figures and they are seen with other creatures, communing with them in some way.  Near the the hall, right before "27", the figures doing the sacrificing do not even appear to be humans, with humans only watching them from the corners of the paintings.

25: Hazardous Item/Relic Storage

The door to this room is locked with a heavy steel door, requiring the Director's override code or her keycard to access.  This room is little more than a cave, with jury-rigged electric lights hanging from the ceiling and some supports to hold up the complex.  This room is also full of large, steel boxes locked with electronic combination locks.  These locks can be unlocked by the Director's or Chief of Security's keycard or access code, but the locks are not so tough that they couldn't be smashed open at your leisure.  Those boxes are also each carefully labeled with skulls and crossbones, radioactivity, chemical reaction, flammability or biohazard stickers.  Each one also has a large sticker on top saying "By Order of the Director, as the contents of this container represent a Class-2 Threat to the personnel of this facility, the Blessed Tithed and to the people of this region, this container is to be sealed and placed in Hazardous Item Storage.  All attempts to open these containers will be prosecuted with the strictest sanctions possible.  Do not open - Violators will be prosecuted."  Then it is signed and stamped by the Director.

Everything in these boxes is terribly powerful and incredibly dangerous.  It is either cursed or evil or both.  If you have a favorite cursed item, it is stored in one of these boxes. 

If you don't have any idea, roll on the table below.

This box contains...
1- Maria the Saint Maker, one of the Seven Swords of God.
2- One of the Corrupting, Cursed Items.
3- The cursed Ring of Eros.  When you wear it, the next person you look in the eyes falls madly in love with you.  This effect persists until you remove or are separated from the ring.  After the ring and you are no longer touching, the effect wears off and the person realizes they were manipulated.  Depending on how you treated them during this time, they may or may not hate you.  They will definitely harbor some serious resentment, though.
4- A page torn from an ancient, blasphemous tome that details how to make an incredibly deadly, tasteless, odorless poison out of lemon juice, cinnamon, sugar and the blood of a strangled infant.  The recipe, if followed correctly, produces 1 dose of the poison per infant killed.  Any creature who drinks, is touched by or has the poison injected into him must save or die.
5- The Mirror of the Multitude.  Anyone who looks into this mirror causes an identical copy of themselves to be formed.  The copy will be physically, exactly the same, but will not possess any rare or unique items the original had.  This applies to anyone who looks into the mirror.
6- An ancient looking jewelry box made of shiny, lacquered wood carved to resemble flowering vines are wrapping around it, with a nude woman sprawled across the top, a few leaves tastefully covering her crotch, while an enormous snake is curled around her chest, covering her nipples.  The snake's head is slightly above her head, holding an apple in its mouth.  The woman is reaching up to grasp the apple.  Opening the box will reveal a small mirror surrounded by the words, "Your Wish is my Command".  Anyone who makes a wish while holding this box will have it come true.  However, if the wish made is selfish or self-serving, the wish will be twisted so it ironically destroys the person who made it.  Generous or noble wishes that benefit others more than the wisher will be granted without twisting them.  The box can grant 1d6 more wishes before it loses its magic.

                                                            by LoranDeSore

26: Cell for Special Prisoner #006

The door to this room is locked with a heavy steel door, requiring the Director's override code or her keycard to access.  It resembles a prison cell scratched out of bare rock.  There is only one prisoner, chained to the far wall.  There is a key laying near the door, a large piece of tarnished steel.  The prisoner is a radiant, hermaphroditic figure, with a woman's voluptuous breasts and a curvy figure, but also broad shoulders and a square, heroic chin.  The creature's hair is knee-length, dirty blonde and its eyes are a dazzling sea-green.  The prisoner will pretend to not believe you are real and call you a hallucination.  This a ploy to get you to come closer.

The prisoner will ask you to release it by destroying part of a series of symbols inlaid in the floor in precious metals.  Any scholar of the occult will be able to tell you that what you are looking at is a circle of containment, meant to keep something magical out, or in.  The prisoner will offer to aid you if you let him/her go.  If you refuse, the prisoner will ask for a drink.  If you cross the magic circle, the prisoner will attack that person, take them captive and threaten to kill them if their companions do not destroy the circle. 

If the circle is destroyed, the prisoner is freed.  If released, the prisoner will tell you his/her name, Sirazi.  If you have angered him/her, Sirazi will show you his/her true form. 

Sizari's true form is that with a millipedal body with dozens of scurrying legs, with nine of those legs being thicker than others and resembling arms.  This millipedal has four eyes clustered on its head, two on either side and two facing directly forward.  The creature is covered in scales of bright orange, white and black, making it resemble a great monarch butterfly or a birch forest in autumn.     


Sirazi, Angel of Combustion, Demon of Arson
SHP 6  AC 12 Atk Fire Blasts (+5, 1d10/1d10) or Bare
Mor 10  Saves 13 or less is a success

Damage Threshold 6: Sirazi only takes damage from sources if the amount of damage equals or exceeds his Damage Threshold.  If a source of damage cannot equal or exceed the Threshold, instead ignore it, as if it did no damage. 







Demonic Gifts: Sirazi has two Demonic Gifts- he is immune to fire and non-magical weapon damage.  He can also light himself on fire as a full action.  When he does this his melee attacks do +1d6 damage. at will. 

- Value your own life above all else
- Take a Host that your enemy would not like to kill

27: Icons of the Blessed Sacrifices

Following "24" down to the end, you will come to a room hewn of natural stone, a cave far below the Earth.  There are no electric lights here, nothing but carved stone.  The room is enclosed on three sides with stone, but as you walk, the floor juts out pass the walls, till it reaches a precipice, a spike of stone jutting out into the dark.  Looking down, you can see a seemingly endless drop down into the darkness.  Throwing something off the edge, you will hear it fall for almost half a minute before it hits something.

As you approach the end of the precipice, you will hear voices in your mind, alien ones that do not belong to you, urging you to jump.  You can resist these voices with no save, provided you are not on drugs, insane or delirious from blood loss or head trauma.  If you are, save or take their advice and try to hurl yourself into the abyss.

Besides the drop into the abyss, there is also five statues in this room, two along each wall and one near the exit.  In no particular order, they depict a young man, naked and muscular, holding a javelin, ready to throw, his body frozen in the point of motion; another young man, holding an overflowing goblet, capering, a gleeful expression on his face; an adrogynous young thing, possibly a man but not necessarily, wearing a robe and peering intently at a tablet of clay in their left hand, a stylus in the other; a young woman wearing a tight dress that bare ones breast, gesturing to the viewer to come toward her, a sultry expression on her face; and lastly, a kneeling young girl with flowers in her hair and a gentle smile on her face, her eyes closed in an expression of peace.  Each of these statues has a stone pool at their feet, each one stained with dried blood.     

These five statues represent the five victims that must be sacrificed.  A Whore/Harlot, a Warrior/Athlete, a Scholar/Priest, A Fool and a Virgin.  As each one of the sacrifices is killed, the pool of blood at the statue's feet will fill up.  The blood will be warm and steaming.  After the sacrifice corresponding with each statue is killed, that statue will also begin leaking blood from any suitable orifice, such as crying tears of blood, having it spill from an object, out of an opened mouth, etc.  The blood, statues and pools are non-magical.

                                        ( Witches at their Incantations, c 1646, by Salvator Rosa )

If the ritual is to be completed successfully:

For the ritual to properly be conducted, the Whore/Harlot must be killed first and then all the others, with the exception of the Virgin. The Virgin may be killed, as long as all the others are dead.  She may also be permitted to survive.  Either is acceptable.

If anyone else dies before the Whore/Harlot, or if one of the other sacrifices dies first, or if one of the sacrifices besides the Virgin survives till sunrise, that counts as a failure.

If the ritual is completed successfully:

Nothing special happens.  Life goes on.  Nothing strange occurs.

If the ritual is not completed or is otherwise botched:

The whole cavern shakes and rumblings come from deep underground.  Far below, in the abyss, you hear impossibly deep, impossibly loud laughter.  Then suddenly, out of the abyss, you see four enormous monsters stretching out their appendages and rising up to squeeze themselves into the cavern.  If the player characters are there, up to four of them receive a vision.

One sees himself perfected, his rough edges rounded off, his body toned to perfection.  He is taller, more vigorous, dripping sensual beauty.  He's currently surrounded by women, dozens of them, all looking upon him with worshipful eyes.  Some of them are eagerly approaching, others lay exhausted because of his previous ministrations.  Then, one of the girls does something to upset him.  He casually grabs her and while barely looking at her, snaps her neck.  He then tosses her body aside like it is trash.  All the other girls do their best to ignore this act and continue with feverish intensity.

One sees himself up on stage, being awarded some honor for great scientific achievement.  The crowd is cheering and he is smiling, because he knows that his rivals down in the crowd are seething with rage.  Time skips forward in the vision and he is standing on a slight ridge, observing an isolated desert town.  To either side of him stand other scientists, men in suits and a few generals.  Nothing happens at first, then a missile streaks in and strikes somewhere in the town, which then disappears in a flash of blinding blue light.  The flash dies down after a second, leaving the town completely undamaged.  Then, on either side of you, about half of the people with you collapse onto the ground, their skin melting and peeling off their bodies.  At this everyone starts questioning him, demanding to know how his calculations were wrong.  To this, the character responds with, "So it was a bit more powerful than I expected.  We'll recalibrate it and try again."                   
One sees himself surrounded by enemies in a desperate, pitched battle.  All around him his comrades are bleeding and dying. At this, he becomes enraged and leaps out of cover.  Time slows down for him and his senses increase, revealing every single enemy within a huge radius.  The character begins firing, moving his body to seamlessly evade every shot and shoot all of the enemies.  He is completely untouchable, his enemies falling like blades of grass before him.  Then suddenly, he is all alone, his enemies slaughtered.  One of his comrades asks, "How long have you known how to do that?"  In response, the character shoots his comrade in the face with the same precision.

One sees himself standing on the balcony on top of a building, in a penthouse suite.  Behind him, there is a racuous party going on inside.  A beautiful woman wearing a wedding ring and a slinky black dress walks out.  She asks him what he is doing out here while all his friends are inside.  In response, he says that none of those people are his friends.  She protests and he tells her that she isn't his friend either, nor is she his wife anymore.  She becomes indignant at that and flashes her ring, demanding to know what he is talking about.  He doesn't listen to the woman though, just grabs her by the shoulders and throws her off the balcony, sending her plummeting twenty stories to the streets below.  He then reaches into his jacket and pulls out a gun.  He flicks the safety off, then conceals the gun in his pocket and walks back inside to see his "friends".

After these visions come up, ask the character if any of them want this fate for themselves.  Anyone who says yes is possessed by one of the Enshrouded.  If the player characters refuse, the Enshrouded ignore them and sweep up into the facility, each possessing one suitable person and escaping out into the world.

Once the Enshrouded are loose, they will bring with them sweeping, but unavoidable, societal change, along with plagues, wars, black science, decadence, sexual licentiousness on a scale never before seen, general chaos and tyranny.

And then, things get worse.

                                            source unknown