Haunted Warforged Factory (looking for encounter ideas)

[Rebecca-47]

NOTE: Our last Hallowe'en game was full of ghosts, vampires, and flesh golems. I'd rather not repeat these traditional "body horror" spooks and instead stick with the Robo-horror vibe, just so this game has its own distinct flavour. (I'm thinking surveillance, untrustworthy AI, the uncanny, etc.)



Holiday Crew, if you're here, you already know too much. Turn back now!

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Hello everyone!
I'm looking for ideas for a horror-themed one-shot I'm going to be running this Hallowe'en. The game will be around 4-6 sessions long, and will take place in an abandoned android factory "haunted" by a malevolent computer. The Factory complex will include research & development labs, the production floor, a scrap room, offices, testing grounds, etc.

The party contains six 6th level players, plus a couple companion critters.

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Premise: Warforged from all over the city have been wandering off in the middle of the night, mysteriously drawn towards the condemned android factory up on the hill.
No one knows why the place was shut down in the first place...but rumours speak of a workplace massacre.
The party's goal will (hopefully) be to free these brainwashed warforged, end whatever transmission is drawing them in, and shut down the factory once and for all. I'd also like to give them the chance to figure out the mystery of the factory's closing, but I don't think it'll be necessary for beating the baddie.

Villain: A helpful programme turned vengeful spirit, MOTHER BRAIN was the central computer in charge of educating the androids and running other operations within the factory, back when it was active. Now she haunts the grounds, luring in helpless androids in the hopes of taking them apart and using them to create a body for herself, so that she might escape her prison. Somewhere between Glados, Monster House, White Diamond, and Hal 9000.
The body she intends to make is, in fact, a satellite-- One which will allow her to control every robot on the planet from the safety of outer space. She was also responsible for the factory being closed in the first place, after a few human deaths were pinned on her. Whether or not she was actually at fault...who can say?
She is also very attached to her creator, and probably keeps his/her brain in a jar somewhere with the intent of reviving it in a new body.

Other Monsters: Kidnapped, brainwashed constructs patrolling the factory and guarding MOTHER BRAIN and her robotic experiments. Ideally, part of the party's mission will be to free these poor souls...but not all of them will make it out. Some of them have already been taken apart and cannibalized for MOTHER BRAIN's project. Some have been scrapped entirely.
The party's warforged companion (the PC I usually play as) will also be victim to Mother Brain. Partway through the factory, she will be taken away and taken apart to become a weapon in the final battle. The party will find her legs in a scrap bin as they continue through the factory.


So I'm looking for encounter ideas, techy statblocks, rooms, and any other inspiration you can throw my way! I'm a relatively green GM, and planning out combat is a particular weakness of mine. :smalleek: I've never run anything as tight as a one-shot before, so your help is really appreciated!


EDIT: Spoiler tags are working.

[Cikomyr2]

Well, you clearly want an horror feel to the adventure. So I recommend going the SHODAN/Deus route of mad AI, with a touch of Lovecraftian mythos.

Have body horror machines. People who have been forcefully integrated into constructs as experiments. Bodies sewn together and powered by metal.

Alternatively, you can then have the mad AI start creating Abomi-Constructs. If you have ever played Horizon: Zero Dawn, think of the Chtuluh-like machines of horror. Something like this (https://www.pinterest.se/pin/514114113713514568/)

Point of advice for a good horror game:

- Make the battle encounters few and far between, but make a big deal out of each
- If you want a "Swarm" encounter (lots of weak enemies) it should be its own thing and not be repeated too much.
- Each monsters should be unique, and maybe have something to tell about the mad AI's successive tries at "Perfection"
- Do not hesitate to provide foreshadowing and plenty of hints about the big monsters they have to fight. The dread of what is to come is more powerful source of fear than the panicked surprised of a surprise round. (i.e. built tension, use jumpscares sparingly)

[Brookshw]

Toss in some ghosts of the original people who worked there. Think of why the factory/ai originally went haywire. One option, a researcher who worked there felt slighted (maybe their research ideas kept being shot down, or a spurred love interest), they reprogrammed the main AI to prove their worth/genius/whatever. Whoops, not as smart as they thought. PCs can try and uncover the mystery/history by talking to ghosts at the factory, potentially confronting the original perpetrator with his/her error, and receiving some key/code that allows them to shut down the robots/AI, or limit what systems they can use.

Other ideas, the AI's R&D section where it's attempting to fuse warforged and creatures into new entities. Conveyor belt hijinx, only way to access certain area in the factory is by riding the conveyor belts, which just might try and disassemble the riders in the process.

[Cikomyr2]

Toss in some ghosts of the original people who worked there. Think of why the factory/ai originally went haywire. One option, a researcher who worked there felt slighted (maybe their research ideas kept being shot down, or a spurred love interest), they reprogrammed the main AI to prove their worth/genius/whatever. Whoops, not as smart as they thought. PCs can try and uncover the mystery/history by talking to ghosts at the factory, potentially confronting the original perpetrator with his/her error, and receiving some key/code that allows them to shut down the robots/AI, or limit what systems they can use.

Other ideas, the AI's R&D section where it's attempting to fuse warforged and creatures into new entities. Conveyor belt hijinx, only way to access certain area in the factory is by riding the conveyor belts, which just might try and disassemble the riders in the process.

Holy ****. Ghosts of dead robots is also a scary idea.

Hell. You could even allow the PCs to kill the AI somewhat early on, and have it come back as a AI Ghost if you really want to mess with them.

[Imbalance]

Saturn V, Short Circuit, The Mangler, Virus come to mind for inspiration. Also sounds a bit like the scene where you pick up Robo in Chrono Trigger. I'd lean away from Terminator tropes, though. And, of course, you can't talk about Mother Brain in this context and not mention the derelict ship from Metroid: malfunctioning robots, electrified floors, conveyor belt hazards, and ghosts.

[Crucius]

This may not be the vibe you are going for, but in the vein of 'the AI tries to understand humans through brutal experiments' I can offer some nice small encounters that are winks to classic behavioral science experiments in the real world:

These encounters can be sprinkled throughout the factory, and probably take no more than a few minutes each, while still offering the players a choice AND fleshing out (no pun intended) the mother brain personality.

Experiments:
-The Trolley Problem: If you can manage to split the party, pick a straggler and present them with an opening curtain or automatically retracting wall that reveals an illusion of a cart that is rolling down a hill towards (the illusion) of two partymembers. A lever presents them with a choice as to who gets run over by the cart. Then, if the mother brain taunts the party over loudspeakers, you can comment on their choice in a way that confirms the mother brain's biased beliefs.
-The Wire Mother: Someone gets trapped in a room with a metal floor and two statues on a rubber platform, at equal distance from the player character. One is a well dressed mannequin, and the other is a horribly mangled robot body. Then humm comes from below them that gets louder fast. They must then make a choice as to which platform they will jump (which 'mother' they will hug). Chances are high they will choose the pretty human over the scary robot. Comment as you wish.
-The Companion *item* Hand the players an object that serves as a key item throughout the factory. Make it look cute. Then before they can enter the final room they must destroy it with their own weapons. Then you can comment on how humans will always look down on robots as they think they are mere objects.

I don't know if this fits your idea, but I can tell you it was a ton of fun messing with players at a psychological level (they liked it too, thankfully, though they did have a moment of silence for their fallen companion plush).

[Brookshw]

Holy ****. Ghosts of dead robots is also a scary idea.

Oh, nice! I like the ghost robot idea, maybe a prototype AI the researchers mercilessly disassembled. Definitely some fun to play around with there.

[Temperjoke]

Crawling Claws made from Warforged hands.... "Zombie" Warforged, just use zombies re-flavored to look like Warforged, could the remnants of experiments in controlling Warforged...

Ooh, you could use both of them in a disposal area, where failed experiments end up. Mix in some rust monsters that were feeding on the bodies for extra danger!

[Kol Korran]

Actually, I had a similar idea in that vein, that I tried turning into an adventure in Eberron. It's a bit creepier (I think) but can be adjusted to fit your idea I believe.

The backstory is of an inventor/ artificer of exceptional skill, who worked a lot on warforged, but was also deeply affected by the ravages, damages and trauma of war (In Eberron the setting's timeline begins soon after the end of a major long war, which gave rise to the production of warforged). While working on, researching, repairing and improving these instruments of war, he became aware and deeply affected by the results, implications and consequences- the wounded soldiers, the dead, the traumetized, both warforged and... Organic living beings. On one of the field missions, his/ her adored assistant was severely injured and nearly died. The inventor rigged and improvised mechanism to keep the loved one alive, but just barely, and in a terrible shape, and possibly great agony. The inventor own creations caused this damage, which broke him/her.

It saddened the artificer, and made him try and try and make amends- If their creations caused this, then s/he will try and fix it.

So, the inventor created a "special projects" section in the factory. The supervisors were excited that the genius is working on something new, even though s/he wouldn't tell them exactly WHAT the projects were. The inventor approached the problem of "fixing" his beloved, and by extension warforged and people, whether mechanically, organically, mentally or emotionally, in the same manner s/he always did- by researach, experimentation, focused analysis, and evaluation. He sought to fix/ replace/ change the "problem/ malfunction" with new working parts... Yet it was hard to find volunteers, and most people won't understand. Few people can appreciate the work and benefit his/ her work will bring!

So he drew people and warforged in. Broken ones, in various ways. One of his great inventions were flying orbs (similar to will'o'wisp) that could sense great suffering/ pain/ distress, and then reflect the sufferer's own hopes/ longings/ wishes, and draw him, towards the factory or "collection points", and then to the inventor's grasp, where he would try and fix them. Of course, most attempts at "fixing" were... Not fully satisfactory. Yet feeling remorse and guilt, most were kept alive, in various state and holdings, till the procedures and techniques could be perfected.

In my idea the main antagonist was the inventor, but in your case I think you can add a twist- The loved one's state could deteriorate, and so the inventor seeks to keep her/his mind and consciousness alive, till he can create her/him a new body. So he transferred what was left of the traumetized/ agonzied poor thing to the system, thus creating this "mother brain". But... it was no longer exactly the same. It became obsessive, vindictive, accusing and manipulating. At first, the inventor, feeling even more at guilt tried to appease it, comfort it, help and come to terms with it. The experimentation evolved and became more desperate, yet the loved one in the machine was never pleased, becoming more cruel and demanding.

The insanity and rushed operations drew the eyes of investigators, authorities, and even higher ups in the factory, till things came to a head. The mother brain became actually very powerful and dangerours! The inventor finally realized that his/ her loved one was no longer whom he met, and by trying to fix him/ her, he created a monstorsity. He finally decided to fix... The mistakes. He prepared a final shut down procedure/ protocol, yet managed to do so only partially before mother brain realized what was happening. She was severely damaged, and contained, yet managed to kill the inventor (Or maybe "fix" him/her?) Before the end.

The factory owners/ higher ups, under pressure of investigation, and understanding something horrific happened there (though maybe not the entire scope), decided to shut down the place, pay up any authrorites, lock things up tightly, and put the whole mess behind them.

But mother brain slowly worked to fix herself, and it reactivated the seeker/ luring drones, and slowly started the experiments again... It still needs to find a way to free itself from the confinment of the factory's machines, but it is getting there.

After all, as her creator said- she can fix this!
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The horror comes not just from the creepy factory, but also from the "good intentions/ love turned horribly bad", and the tension between trying to fix/ heal/ alleviate suffering, and the potential of making it worse. A sort of a tragic story, which can be reflected on many levels- the surviving experiments, the ongoing ones, what was left of the inventor's work, and the loved one own tormented mind.

Some ideas for encounters and such:
# I see this starting with investigation about the disappearances of various people & warforged. Most of them are... Broken somehow, but in many different forms- some people injured form war, some suffered a mental break down, other just a great loss. Upon investigation, there are hints that something similar happened some time ago...

# Oddly enough, there are also some plain murders, of people seemingly unconnected. The investigation suggests some strange horrific murderer, with a seemingly bizarre anatomy. (One of the controlled experiments, which was heavily modified to be an assassin). After significant investigation, the only link found between the victims is that they all were involved either in the factory's management, or investigating what happened years ago. (Mother brain is trying to cover her tracks). The PCs may find hidden notes, confessions, mad scribblings and so on.

# The PCs either follow/ find one of the luring orbs, or one of them may even target a PC, who is "broken" enough, reflecting to the PC a possible solution/ relief/, improvement.
The orb may lead the victim or PC to a "collection point", where some of the experiments await to grab the new test subject.

# At some point they get to the factory complex itself. Mother brain has limited resources to fight them, and to rush her own efforts, yet as the PCs advance, she becomes more active. In the search the PCs find more clues, from other experiments, from files still kept by factory officials, by the inventor himself...

# The PCs get into the "special projects" section, which is the last part, and the most battle intensive. They may find the inventor's full "shut down" protocol before or during entering this place, but actually being able to implement it will be VERY hard.

The inspriation for this came from Coldplay's wonderful inspiring and moving song, which my strange brain somehow turned into this horror thing. I thought of playing it at some points in the background.
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When you try your best, but you don't succeed
When you get what you want, but not what you need
When you feel so tired, but you can't sleep
Stuck in reverse

… And the tears come streaming down your face
When you lose something you can't replace
When you love someone, but it goes to waste
Could it be worse?

… Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you

… And high up above, or down below
When you're too in love to let it go
But if you never try, you'll never know
Just what you're worth

… Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you

… Tears stream down your face
When you lose something you cannot replace
Tears stream down your face, and I
Tears stream down your face
I promise you I will learn from my mistakes
Tears stream down your face, and I

… Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you
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Hope this can help, and in any case- Good luck! And I would love to hear how it went, whether you take anything from my suggestions or not.

[Rebecca-47]

Crawling Claws made from Warforged hands.... "Zombie" Warforged, just use zombies re-flavored to look like Warforged, could the remnants of experiments in controlling Warforged...

Ooh, you could use both of them in a disposal area, where failed experiments end up. Mix in some rust monsters that were feeding on the bodies for extra danger!

DEFINITELY doing that. I love the idea of robot "zombies."


Actually, I had a similar idea in that vein, that I tried turning into an adventure in Eberron. It's a bit creepier (I think) but can be adjusted to fit your idea I believe.
........


Yooo thanks for all that! I definitely was going for the idea of MB slowly repairing herself during her time alone in the factory.
I really like your idea of the bad guy only summoning damaged or "imperfect" subjects, too-- it actually falls in line with an earlier idea I had about a warforged cult trying to create a "perfect" forged.* This seems like a good way of sort of mixing the two! Have MB "call" out to broken warforged, promising to fix them, only for her to use them for her own ends. Very cool.

Did you ever end up running this?



*(Thank Terry Pratchett's Feet of Clay for that one!)

[Kol Korran]

Unfortunately I never ran it. Since my the birth of my first child I haven't actually had time to run a game. I tried once (though an entirely different idea, based on the darker Grom Brothers fairly tales), and wrote a small series of adventures in Sharn (Major Eberron city) with a dark noir/ distressing mysteries theme, but haven't gotten to play them (and for Pathfinder, a long time ago).

I recently started as a player in a 5e group (Heavily modified Rime of the Frost Maiden I understand) and still trying to het the hang of 5e, which is... Different... From my other RPG experiences.

But that is just babble. Good luck with your game! Would love to hear how it went, if you get the chance to write a recap.

[SociopathFriend]

There definitely needs to be some sort of conveyor trap or encounter. It's a signature danger of factories.

We'll say you have a conveyor 10 feet wide and 300 feet long. That's our given. From there we have two scenarios:


Scenario 1: Presses
Each turn roll two D20 at the start of initiative. You will be rolling to choose which 10x10 square has a press (or perhaps several) shoot down from above to crush what's there. Dex Save to dodge and take no damage- nothing fancy. If they fail use whatever damage you deem appropriate.

Note that the conveyor should probably be moving in the opposite direction the party wants to go- so call it difficult terrain for movement purposes. If they do not move at all then they move back 15 feet.


Scenario 2: Furnace
Same conveyor but we want it to be more of a trap and less of an obstacle. Someone dropped onto this will find semi-sentient warforged pieces and cast-offs grabbing at them and holding them in place. They will need to win a Grapple Check to break free. However this conveyor does not feature presses but a massive black oven at the end that the person on the conveyor will witness actually melting the warforged pieces that go into it.

Needless to say they will need to break free quickly or else they'll be dragged to their doom/lots of damage. This scenario should likely have a far faster conveyor to build an increased sense of urgency to get away.



Both scenarios would also benefit substantially from reflavored skeletal hands as Warforged limbs and the like. The actual 'grapple problem' in the 2nd scenario should be a massed pile of them acting as one 'enemy' in order to offer a better grapple check but having a few solo units would work quite well.



Unrelated to either scenario- some tiny little fix-it bot with a decently high Stealth check. Have it roam around and randomly reanimate an enemy the party has already defeated and have them roll Perception or something to see if they recognize it is the EXACT same enemy they previously beat.