Zid
2010-10-01, 06:20 PM
My current IRL group has recently been playing through the Scales of War AP in D&D 4E. After spending several meets just playing through combats, I thought it would be nice to try someting completely different for once. I would like your critque of my adventure idea
Next time we meet they will be told to generate a new character for our next meeting. I will tell them that the setting will be current day NYC, but nothing more about system or setting.
It will start in media res, in the NYC subway. They will all come up with reasons for their presence in the almost abandoned subway station. The only other members there will be an old woman and younger woman, dressed in a black trenchcoat with long, black rain-wet hair. Another party enters the station- several men in suits, escorting a man in a white suite with mirrorshades, and a young man, early teens. Suddenly, the woman in threnchcoat attacks the party, killing several of the suits, apparently bodyguards, before being shot to death herself, possibly falling onto the rails as the oncoming traing rushes in.
The PCs will be taken to the nearest police station, and after a short interrogation be released and given a ride home. They will be sitting in the same waiting area, forcing them to interact somewhat with another. When one of the PCs wake up the next day, a brown envelope is stuck into his or her postbox. It contains a picture, showing all of the PCs (who do not know each other before) and the woman from the night before, standing in front of a 60īs-style Wolkswagen bus. On the back of the picture is written "Before Osler Asylum".
My hope now is that the PCs will try to get together, and discuss whatever this picture means. None of them remembers it being taken. If they donīt the police will get another copy, and take them in for interrogation again.
Hopefully, they will investigate Osler Asylum. Turns out it was closed down about ten years ago, due to budget cuts. It is now abandoned. As the nosy investigators (we regularly play Call of Cthulhu) head out to Osler, of course arriving at night, and also of course, having a traffic accident in the rain with something that ran away, but probably is just a deer, they will find the place abandoned. It is large (modeled after Arkham Asylum), and also contains archives. In the archives, they will be able to find that [a number equal to the PCs +2] patients were admitted at the same date (if they are persistent, they will find that one of them is holding a newspaper on the picture). All these patients are called A, B, C.. and so on. A single line is written in each journal- Admitted to Intensive Treatment, dr Jahd.
Intesive treatment is locked off, smelling of wet dog. In the lowest levels, they will find strange machines, obviously designed to torture patients, but many also have strange caps designed to place your head in. even further in, they find cell block system. All cells are abandoned, and as they are about to leave, they see something moving in one of the cells. It is a man. Filthy beyond belief, but seemingly well-fed, his eyes are that of a mad man. "Brothers, sisters", he says. "Finally, the time of freedom has come." He answers all their questions with cryptic, mad answers. After some time, he says: "Now that you have killed the guardian, you can finally release me." Suddenly, a predatory roar fills the cell block, and the PCs realise they havnīt killed any kind of 'guardian'. As the PCs flee from some kind of hopefully unseen horror, the man screams and falls back into his cell. The PCs flee.
What is really going on?:
The gaming world is my own take on In Nomine, and the PCs are angels. Several years ago, they were sent to rescue a pregnant woman from Osler Asylum, as her child had both a great Destiny and a great Fate. They failed, and were taken to the pits of Osler, were a demon of insanity and technology worked on them. Knowing that killing them would only mean that they would return again, they were brainwashed, implanted with false memories. This also means that anything that happened before that incident is false. Partners and parents are agents of Hell, children are not your own. My idea is that the PCs will gradually find out that all their history is a lie, and gradually reawake their powers as angels. Perhaps they will go after dr Jahd, finding that he travelled to Europe (a little detective story in itself), and then finding the memories he stole from them.
The woman in the subway in the start of the adventure is of course another angel, but one who managed to escape. By using her small influence on Destiny, she managed to get all the PCs at the same place at the same time. She hoped the attack would awaken their latent memories, but was wrong. The boy is of course the child the PCs were meant to save.
So, I would really appriciate any input you have. I will flesh out this adventure idea further, and need someone to discuss my ideas with.
Next time we meet they will be told to generate a new character for our next meeting. I will tell them that the setting will be current day NYC, but nothing more about system or setting.
It will start in media res, in the NYC subway. They will all come up with reasons for their presence in the almost abandoned subway station. The only other members there will be an old woman and younger woman, dressed in a black trenchcoat with long, black rain-wet hair. Another party enters the station- several men in suits, escorting a man in a white suite with mirrorshades, and a young man, early teens. Suddenly, the woman in threnchcoat attacks the party, killing several of the suits, apparently bodyguards, before being shot to death herself, possibly falling onto the rails as the oncoming traing rushes in.
The PCs will be taken to the nearest police station, and after a short interrogation be released and given a ride home. They will be sitting in the same waiting area, forcing them to interact somewhat with another. When one of the PCs wake up the next day, a brown envelope is stuck into his or her postbox. It contains a picture, showing all of the PCs (who do not know each other before) and the woman from the night before, standing in front of a 60īs-style Wolkswagen bus. On the back of the picture is written "Before Osler Asylum".
My hope now is that the PCs will try to get together, and discuss whatever this picture means. None of them remembers it being taken. If they donīt the police will get another copy, and take them in for interrogation again.
Hopefully, they will investigate Osler Asylum. Turns out it was closed down about ten years ago, due to budget cuts. It is now abandoned. As the nosy investigators (we regularly play Call of Cthulhu) head out to Osler, of course arriving at night, and also of course, having a traffic accident in the rain with something that ran away, but probably is just a deer, they will find the place abandoned. It is large (modeled after Arkham Asylum), and also contains archives. In the archives, they will be able to find that [a number equal to the PCs +2] patients were admitted at the same date (if they are persistent, they will find that one of them is holding a newspaper on the picture). All these patients are called A, B, C.. and so on. A single line is written in each journal- Admitted to Intensive Treatment, dr Jahd.
Intesive treatment is locked off, smelling of wet dog. In the lowest levels, they will find strange machines, obviously designed to torture patients, but many also have strange caps designed to place your head in. even further in, they find cell block system. All cells are abandoned, and as they are about to leave, they see something moving in one of the cells. It is a man. Filthy beyond belief, but seemingly well-fed, his eyes are that of a mad man. "Brothers, sisters", he says. "Finally, the time of freedom has come." He answers all their questions with cryptic, mad answers. After some time, he says: "Now that you have killed the guardian, you can finally release me." Suddenly, a predatory roar fills the cell block, and the PCs realise they havnīt killed any kind of 'guardian'. As the PCs flee from some kind of hopefully unseen horror, the man screams and falls back into his cell. The PCs flee.
What is really going on?:
The gaming world is my own take on In Nomine, and the PCs are angels. Several years ago, they were sent to rescue a pregnant woman from Osler Asylum, as her child had both a great Destiny and a great Fate. They failed, and were taken to the pits of Osler, were a demon of insanity and technology worked on them. Knowing that killing them would only mean that they would return again, they were brainwashed, implanted with false memories. This also means that anything that happened before that incident is false. Partners and parents are agents of Hell, children are not your own. My idea is that the PCs will gradually find out that all their history is a lie, and gradually reawake their powers as angels. Perhaps they will go after dr Jahd, finding that he travelled to Europe (a little detective story in itself), and then finding the memories he stole from them.
The woman in the subway in the start of the adventure is of course another angel, but one who managed to escape. By using her small influence on Destiny, she managed to get all the PCs at the same place at the same time. She hoped the attack would awaken their latent memories, but was wrong. The boy is of course the child the PCs were meant to save.
So, I would really appriciate any input you have. I will flesh out this adventure idea further, and need someone to discuss my ideas with.