A scenario for Deadlands: Hell on Earth by Adam "Deadlander" Evans
edited and additional material by Matt Steflik
The adventure begins with the PC's in Cooper's Rest, Nevada and a meeting with a local businesswoman named Ms. Jensen. She briefs them on an old research lab on a small man made island hidden in the Lake Mead area that her foragers went to survey, after she found documents that referred to the location of the facility. She has lost two groups that have entered it so far. The first group was a normal foraging party. When contact was lost a rescue team followed. A short while later, a functioning quarantine alarm went off in the facility and sealed the complex. She insists on providing their transportation to the site, as it's on an island in a lake. Unbeknownst to the posse she is an infiltrator borg sent from Denver. Her mission is to acquire the experimental animals in the facility hinted at in the found documentation and return them for analysis by Throckmorton's scientists. She has a squad of 20 black hats hidden at a log cabin near the island. She arrived at the settlement of Cooper's Rest four months ago with a truck full of salvage (really supplied by Denver) and told the townsfolk she was a forager. She then organised and trained the townsfolk into an effective foraging group, and led them on very successful (albeit staged) finds. Due to this success, she is highly regarded by all members of the settlement. After the four months without any suspicions from the townies, she "found" the documents about the lab, and sent the parties out. She then had the black hat troops sent by raptor to the cabin ready to ambush the foragers on completion of the mission. The squad would then enter the cleared labs to gather the remaining animals and data (why waste her own men with other fools are ready to die for her). Unfortunately fate took a turn for the worse and the lab sealed itself. She had no way of knowing how far the foragers managed to get into the facility or what sort of defences it had. She decided to bide her time and hire a group of wasters to try, but this time she would monitor their progress with a vid cam. Lo and behold our posse rides into town.
Next, the PC's take a boat to the concealed location of the Meta-Com Research Institute. On the way there, they are further briefed on the mission. After dropping off Jensen, their boat is attacked (and possibly destroyed) by a fresh water maze dragon. The PC's then need to get themselves from the cold waters of Lake Mead to the shore of the man made island that the research facility is on.
After this, the PC's need to break into the facility, dealing with several of the research subjects in the process. Finally, after travelling through some of the installation, the PC's will be able to reach the main supply facility.
While acquiring the supplies, the PCs will encounter Dr. Edwards. Dr. Edwards was once the research director of the facility. Unfortunately, everyone else at the facility left not long after judgement day, and the good doctor has lost a bit of his sanity over the years. In the interim, a pair of toxic spirits manifested at the lab and used the doctor's insanity to help him become a toxic shaman. Edwards is quite intent on turning this facility into a pleasant area of toxic waste, and then moving his attention to the lake. As the PC's should wish to prevent this, he sees it as his duty to utterly annihilate them.
After the PC's combat Edwards, they will probably decide that the only real option is to destroy the research facility. After leaving the facility, they may send for another boat to pick them up and leave the complex. At this point, Jensen will make her move. The infiltrator borg will attempt to overpower the posse, with the help of her black hat team.
Scene One: "Scrounging Up a Job" (The Set Up)
Cooper's Rest, Nevada (pop. 38) - Fear Level 3
Read: At the moment, you're sitting around a table in the back room of the local (and only) bar in a town named Cooper's Rest. The small survivalist settlement is located about ten miles north of the ruins of Overton, just upriver from Lake Mead. You've never been in this bar before?you've never been in this town before, for that matter. The combination of those facts leaves you less than comfortable. The bar is a nice enough place, for a middle of nowhere pest hole. You await contact with a "Ms. Jensen" for a nebulous, but rumoured to be high paying, job. You know no details about it yet other than "you seemed like the right people for the work"
(whenever the players are ready - whether they've finished whatever interactions they might have started, or if one of them goes to open the door - continue):
As if on cue, the door to the bar opens and a tall woman walks in. She's looks to be about in her mid-thirties. She's dressed in a white and black jump suit that screams "all business" Without speaking, she walks to an empty chair at your table. Once there, she removes her mirror-shades.
She calmly fixes each of you with her stare, and then speaks {in a powerful, yet feminine voice.} "Did any of you have any problems making your way here?"
Allow the PCs to respond to her question as they see fit. Ms. Jensen will apologize for any difficulties, and then get down to business. She will begin by explaining her trade as a local salvage expert of some renown. Recently, documents that she secured detailed the location of a here-to-fore forgotten research facility in the Lake Mead region. She sent a team of foragers out to locate and survey the site. After finding it and sending back some preliminary data, the group lost contact with her. A second group was then sent in and seemingly met with a similar fate, this time additionally triggering a quarantine lock-down system which imprisoned them inside the complex. Jensen needs the PC's to go in and assist in fixing the situation. The site worked on research in genetic engineering; it's field of specialty involved attempts at activating paranormal genes in small mammals. Jensen hopes that the site will be full of functional equipment and salvage. The second group disappeared and the plant's automatic quarantine functions all activated yesterday evening. Since then no transmissions have been received from the plant. Also, an aborted third attempt failed to breach the locked-down facility. Apparently, the external matrix hook ups may have also been cut. As a consequence, it is believed that the plant's full security system is in fact active, and some of the experimental animals may have escaped.
The posse's objective is threefold. The first objective is to find a way into the plant, and deactivate the quarantine and security systems. The second objective is to confirm the presence of and then contain any experimental animals, which have escaped from their holding cells. The third objective (and the most urgent) is to find the members of the first two teams, and get any survivors out. If the installation is completely out of control (all animals have escaped, most of the equipment is damaged, etc.), the posse is authorised to destroy the installation only after they have recovered as many survivors as possible.
Because the mission involves such potential hazards and a lot of missing townies, Jensen is authorized to pay each posse member $150 in trade or equivalent in goods recovered. If the plant and its contents are recovered intact, each waster will receive a $50 trade bonus. However, there are two stipulations. The first is that one waster will be required to wear a mini-vidcam on their shoulder throughout the mission for documentation purposes. The slug from this will be turned over to Jensen at the end of the mission. The second is that Jensen will provide transportation to and from the site. It will be via boat, and when the wasters are ready to leave, they need merely flip a recall switch on the mini-vidcam's harness. The boat should arrive within 5 minutes of the recall request.
The PCs can negotiate with Jensen (bartering: 7d10). She is authorized to pay up to $500/waster, and up to a $150/waster bonus. Every raise they get will raise the base fee $25, and the bonus $10. She will mention that severe or unnecessary damage to the complex and it's contents will lower the size of their bonus (an excessive use of grenades, C10, radiation/syker abilities, or heavy weapons might be a bad idea). Allow the PC's to finish negotiating. Jensen will then hand them an IOU redeemable at her salvage establishment in town for half of their payment (not including the bonus). She will then activate her walkie-talkie, saying something the wasters cannot hear. After that, she motions for them to follow her, and walks out the door of the bar. When the wasters follow her outside, go to scene 2.
Bounty:
Accepting job: 1 white
Accepting job for free: 1 red
Somehow detecting Jensen is a Borg: 1 blue to the waster that finds out
Scene Two: "Don't Rock the Boat"
At this point, Jensen will begin to explain the fine points of the old laboratory, based upon the information gleaned from the documents she recovered. The primary function of the lab involved attempts to awaken paranormal genes in rodents. The primary animal being experimented upon was the rabbit. However, there were some experiments involving rats, squirrels, and other rodents. There was also one department attempting to expand some of this work into the primates by working with monkeys.
Several of the research departments had acquired a certain degree of success. Preliminary reports indicated that several of the specimens had potential military/security applications. However, Jensen does not know the precise details - she only found a few documents on the place. Her best guesses as to the creature's abilities include the possibilities of syker like powers, neurotoxins, and some degree of body armour. More accurate information of course is probably in the laboratory computers, if still active.
She will then provide the wasters with a list, detailing the last records of several security codes within the facility. Several password codes are provided as well, that should allow any computer jock access to the mainframe and get it back on line. However, the pass codes may not access all of the individual labs. This is because the complex was designed in such a way that the walls were mobile. This allowed for facilities to be easily re-configured as different work areas were required. However, as a consequence, the security capabilities were also constantly reconfigured. Due to the practices of various individuals, some of these systems may not be accessible with the master pass codes.
If the PC's ask any questions concerning the cause for this crisis, Jensen will explain that there are several possibilities. The ones she mentions would include an electrical problem within the system, the escape of one or more of the experimental animals, or even a security breach (after all, it's the first time anyone has been in the place since the war).
Lake Mead Area, Arizona - Fear Level 3
Explain to the PC's that it's about an hour boat ride down river to Lake Mead. The trip will take the group past the abandoned ruins of Overton (Jensen led several scavenging forays into this ruined city, but found that "something" lived there that led to the disappearance of several scavengers. As Overton wasn't her primary target in the operation, she decided to leave well enough alone and focus on different areas. This area could be explored in another adventure). Once on Lake Mead, the boat will travel east along the coastline, which is very rocky and covered with scattered, forested areas. After about a half an hour's travel on the lake, the boat will beach in a small clearing along the shore with another boat moored to a ramshackle pier which has seen recent repair work. Ms. Jensen will then exit the boat, explaining that the boat will carry them the rest of the way without her. She will monitor their vidcam signal from this location from the link in her laptop. After quickly wishing them good luck, she will walk off towards a dark cabin not far from the shore to wait for the boats return. The boat will then depart once more. There are now no other passengers on this boat. The only other person on it is the pilot. His compartment is separated from that of the PCs, and he is a townie from Cooper's Rest. Note: Only give players that ask a chance to make a Cognition check (TN 15). If they make this check, tell them they can see very faint shadows of figures in the trees. What they do with this information is up to them. The figures are Jensen's Black hat squad, hiding and awaiting their orders. If the posse chooses to fight the Black Hats at this time, play it by ear. Hopefully they will still go on to the lab.
After another half an hour of travel time along the coast, the boat will turn into a narrow inlet with high rocky walls. The inlet itself was cleverly camouflaged, making excellent use of surrounding terrain to disguise it's location. Observant PC's will notice with an Onerous (TN 7) Cognition check that the inlet appears to be man-made, and that it was built up artificially to partition off a portion of the lake. After several hundred yards, the inlet widens to reveal another small lake-sized body of water; in effect, a smaller man-made lake has been created along side and attached to Lake Mead. The air seems cooler here, and the lake is lined with steep, rocky cliffs here. A thin mist covers the still water. As the boat coasts out onto the still waters of the smaller lake, the posse will spot the artificial island the facility is built upon for the first time. They may also notice two things. On a Hard (TN ) 9 Cognition check, there is clearly a camouflaged scientific outpost on the island. It actually occupies almost the entire visible surface. The second item of note is spotted on an Incredible (TN 11) Cognition check. Posse members that make this will realise that there is a large dark shape rapidly approaching the boat they are in. They have one round to act.
This particular shape is a fresh water version of a maze dragon. It is an old research project that got out of its containment unit in the lower level of the lab. It is too big to leave the smaller lake through the inlet. It will emit an EMP blast around the boat on its first action; roll 1d20 for any equipment like radios, the boat engine and the vid unit that might be effected. On a roll of 16, the item is dead (the posse better hope they have a doomie on board). Moments later, they'll hear the sounds of roaring. The dragon will attempt to come up under the boat to sink it. After breaking the boat, the dragon leaves the locale, diving to some deeper point in the lake and disappears. The PC's now need to make their best effort to escape before the boat sinks beneath the waves - this smaller body of water is approximately 50 feet deep.
Anyone who stays inside of the boat if it breaks up suffers drowning damage. These clever individuals then need to make a swimming roll vs. a TN of 11 or they begin to sink with the ship. Have PC's make Deftness rolls for any gear that they were carrying in their hands. The TN is a 5 for each item held. If they fail to get at least a success, the item is dropped and sinks rapidly towards the dark bottom of the lake. Any other gear they are carrying survives, and is assumed to be reasonably waterproof. (for simplicity's sake, this includes ammo). Treat other escape attempts as you see fit.
After the party has finally oriented themselves, explain to them that they are about 150 feet offshore of the island. They are also around 1000 feet away from the shoreline (and there really isn't much of one here - the cliff walls slope fairly steeply to the water line). At this point, the swim to the island would be much easier.
When the PC's make it to the island, go to scene 3.
Bounty:
Spotting the dragon: 1 white
Saving the boat and pilot: 1 white
Killing the dragon: 1 red
Spotting the Black Hat shadows: 1 red to the player that spots them.
Killing the black hats: 1 blue
Scene Three: "Watership Down"
Meta-Com Research Institute, Island Facility (exterior) - Fear Level 4
Read: Having dragged your rather wet selves to the shore of the island, you survey your surroundings. A long wooden pier that has seen some recent repair extends out from a pitted concrete staging area. The rusted, collapsed remains of a chain link fence seem to surround what once was a immaculately landscaped compound, not gone over to a riot of weeds and thick ground cover. A small metal shed has collapsed in on itself off to the right of the main building and has rusted into a solid pile. The main gate of the complex, now collapsed and rusting on the ground, is plainly visible about fifty up from the shore. A sign that obviously once hung on the gate lays in the dirt, but weathering and time have obliterated what it once said. Only the partial, cryptic message "Me Co Re In" remains readable. A gravel path leads to the double security doors from the gate, and shows obvious signs of recent clearing of vegetation. On either side of the path is a large overgrown hedge. Above the doors, a red light flashes, with the word "Quarantined" plainly visible behind a thick armored glass panel. A damp wind blows through the hedges making an eerie rustling sound?at least you think it was the wind.
The island itself is about 750 feet in diameter. Obviously man made, it is roughly egg shaped. The PC's approached from the narrower side of the egg. A pier extends about 50 feet out into the water from this end of the island. The complex itself is only one floor aboveground, and is box-shaped, about 100 feet on a side. The portion of the island that the complex does not occupy is covered with scrub brush, and the occasional small tree.
Before the PC's approach the path, have them make Onerous (TN 7) Cognition checks. All those who get a success notice that there is some movement in the bushes. When they get about half way up the path a rabbit will hop out into the middle of the path. Allow the PCs to react to it as they see fit. However, when they come within 5 feet of it, it will attack. For statistics, see Plasma Rabbits in the Boot Hill section at the end of the adventure for details. As soon as the rabbit attacks (or the PC's attack it), seven more of the creatures will hop out of the bushes and join the fray. If the PC's are able to dispatch these things, reinforcements will show up 5 combat rounds later in the form of eight additional rabbits. These rabbits will continue to arrive in this process until 40 have been slain, or the PC's enter the complex.
All attempts to open the main gate of the complex will fail. The doors themselves are very heavily reinforced metal, with thick, airtight seals (the doors are capable of withstanding an ungodly amount of damage). Similarly, all of the exterior windows have been covered with similar shielding and locked. None of the codes provided by Jensen will work, and no amount of hacking or attempting to deactivate the quarantine lockdown protocols from the exterior pad next to the door will be successful. If the posse conducts a search of the outside of the building (TN 6), they will find the shielding on one window has sustained damage - a large, grapefruit-sized hole has been melted through a reinforced metal shutter from the inside. Two consecutive Incredible (TN 11) Strength rolls are enough to bend the damaged shutters open enough to allow an averaged sized human enough space to enter. If a posse member uses some sort of tool (such as a pry bar) to assist in this process, the TN is lowered to 9. The area around the building is severely overgrown with tall grasses and weeds (the gardener that took care of the landscaping hasn't been around in over a decade). If the rabbits attack the posse while they are off of the path, searching around the building, raise the TN to hit the rabbits by a step to simulate the dense ground cover. The rabbits will not pursue the posse into the building (they're very happy to be out).
When the PCs have overcome the rabbits or have entered the building, go to scene 4.
Bounty:
Finding the damaged window before more rabbits arrive: 1 white to the clever player
Killing all rabbits: 1 blue (that's a lot of stew)
Scene Four: "Dying in the Dark"
Meta-Com Research Institute, Island Facility (interior, ground floor) - Fear Level 5
Read: "The window behind the metal shutter has been shattered. Most of the glass shards lie on the damp carpet on the floor of the room beyond. Despite the feeble light filtering through the thick vegetation outside, the room is pitch black inside. Apparently, whatever activated the quarantine procedures also shut down the lights inside. You know that you are in a room, and that there is some office furniture around you, but other than that, it's rather tough to tell. As you step into the room, you hear the crack of a gunshot and ricochet as a bullet hits the armoured shutter behind you. A shadowy figure rises from behind a desk, a pistol held toward you in the dim light."
The figure is one of the members of the previous rescue party. Roll for surprise vs. a TN of 5. She has a holdout pistol with one round remaining (.22, Range 10, 2d4 dam) and is ready to fire it again. Knowing typical HoE players, there is a decent chance that she will be gunned down during this time. However, if possible, try to keep her alive. Hopefully an intuitive posse member will figure out the situation and try communicating with something other than bullets.
If they don't kill her immediately, the woman will drop the gun, and collapse in tears in the chair behind the desk. She will say something to the effect of "Thank God?Rescuers!" If the PC's are reasonable enough to go and comfort her, she will immediately latch on to whomever gets to her first. She will attempt to lean on the PC in question, loosing a barrage of tears, and an obvious need for some sort of security.
Slowly, the woman will reveal her story. Her name is Debbie Evans (famous at last my dear). She was a member of the rescue party left to guard the exit, and was trapped inside when the quarantine went into effect. She is not entirely certain how she managed to survive this long (mostly through blind luck). She had found the hold out pistol in a drawer in the desk, and had used up all of the previous ammo on a large black "hound critter" that had attacked her yesterday. She ran into the office they posse is currently in to hide and lost contact with the others. She thought it safer to remain here near the exit than go wandering about on her own. She has not slept or eaten since that time. All she can say about the "hound critter" was it seemed to ignore her bullets and was very fast - it was there one second and gone the next.
Debbie is absolutely terrified, and wants to leave the building immediately. However, she also refuses to be separated from the PC's. If the PC's allow Debbie to tag along with them, she will be incredibly grateful and loyal to them for this assistance. Debbie is utterly useless in a combat situation. She is also somewhat less than completely mentally stable. Play her as a paranoid, slightly disillusioned valley girl with all around low-average skills (2d4 to 2d6 Mental and Corporeal Skills).
The room has taken some weather damage from the Plasma Rabbit's impromptu exit from the building, and the room is an absolute shambles. It appears to have been a small secretarial office. Most of the equipment has been smashed and a file cabinet has been tipped on it's side in front of the door exiting the room (Debbie's doing). It requires an Onerous (TN 7) Strength roll to move out of the way.
The hall outside the office is very dark. Anyone who has lowlight vision can make out some shapes in this light. They can see the other party members, and they can tell that there is a rack of some sort containing four flashlights next to the door. Each of these flashlights has a 10-point battery, with one charge left; Keep track of this time, when they run out, the PCs may no longer have a light source. Without some sort of light source, all of the PC's actions to see or hit things will be at -6. After the PCs activate one of these, they will find themselves in a 35-foot long hallway (remaining descriptions are given on the assumption that the PC's are using a light source). There are two doors on the left (one of which, closest to the sealed complex doors, leads back to the office), three on the right, and an elevator at the end of the hallway. The last door on the right is labelled as the stairwell.
The second door on the left leads to a small meeting room. A holovid display is set up on the far end of the room. A meeting table dominates the room. 12 chairs surround the table. The room is otherwise empty and a layer of dust covers everything.
The first door on the right leads to a small display room. A number of dusty display cases fill the room. The cases are filled with plaques, trophies, letters of commendation, and tri-vids of small animals. All of the animals displayed seem to have a particular mutation of some sort. The awards are in areas of genetic engineering and paranormal research. All are addressed to individuals associated with a company called Meta-Com.
The second door on the right is labelled as the bathroom. If the PC's open the door, they will first hear a sort of lapping sound. If they continue to open it, a single Ailing Hound (see Boot Hill section for information) bursts from out of a bathroom stall. It was drinking from the toilet until they interrupted it. As it is rather annoyed by the interruption, it will attack the party (if the posse is trying to move about without a light source, the hound gets +2 on it's initiative).
The third door on the right is the stairwell. The stairs go down for two floors. There are two flights of stairs per floor, for a total of 6 flights. If the PC's keep the door open for more than a few moments, they will hear a flapping sound. If they enter the stair well and go down a flight or more of stairs, they will encounter 4 Flying Plasma Rabbits (see Boot Hill section for information). These creatures will attack on sight, with an automatic card up their sleeve, unless an Onerous (TN 7) surprise check is made.
Finally, if the PC's attempt to summon the elevator, they will see by a small glowing light on the panel that it still has power. It requires a pass code to be activated, however. If they attempt to use any of the codes provided by Jensen, they will fail to work. A Hard electronics roll (TN 9) or Incredible tinkering roll (TN 11) will summon the elevator. When it arrives, it is not only well lit, but 1 Syker Chimp (see Boot Hill section for info) will be waiting inside armed with a Northern Alliance assault rifle (6 rounds remaining). It is seated atop the dead body of a previous foraging team member. All that is on the body is a broken flashlight (although the batteries still hold a charge and could provide another flashlight with an additional hour of power) and an extra (empty) ammo clip for the rifle. He appears to have been killed by lots of metallic scraps and shrapnel bits, protruding from his face, torso and arms (a Telekinetic Storm from the Chimp). Debbie can identify this as Paul Heffer, a member of the first team.
By this point, the PC's should have figured out that the creatures from the labs have clearly escaped.
If the PC's go down to the first basement level, go to scene 5.
If they go to the sub-basement level, go to scene 6.
Bounty:
Saving the woman: 1 white
Securing ground floor: 1 white
Killing Ailing Hound: 1 red
Killing Flying Plasma Rabbits: 1 white
Killing Syker Chimp: 1 red
Scene Five: "This Place is a Zoo!"
Meta-Com Research Institute, Island Facility (interior, basement) - Fear Level 5
Read: "Exiting from the stairwell (or elevator) you find yourself on a slightly raised platform surveying a rather massive room. A ramp leads down to the floor of the huge space, which has been separated by mobile walls into working cubicles and laboratory space, giving the whole chamber a maze-like appearance. There is at least partial power on this level, evidenced by light flickering intermittently from banks of damaged florescent units in the ceiling. Several ceiling panels have been torn loose, and damaged wiring hangs down "vine-like" amidst a tangle of exposed pipes and tubing (some of which leak water and other unidentifiable liquids onto the floor below). The whole area is cast alternately in areas of light and darkness. All about you are heard the noises of a variety of animals, and the area is warm and damp - filled with a mixed stench of animal musk, waste and chemicals. The combination of scientific equipment and loose animals seems to give whole new meaning to the term urban jungle."
This is basically one large, square room, about 1000 feet on a side. It is divided up into a number of separate laboratories by a series of mobile walls. While containment fields had previously isolated all the individual animals, the loss of power shut down these fields. The resultant escape of the animals yielded a variety of dead animal bodies and several human bodies in lab coats, as traditional predator prey reactions resumed. It also yielded the variety of animals, which are seen in other areas of the complex. The floors are littered with the broken remains of equipment, reams of paper covered in indecipherable data, tipped open and empty cages and a mixture of noxious chemicals, occasional gore and animal waste.
Many cubicles do still have intact equipment that functions. The computers in this area stored the various lab notes of the scientists. If any of the PC's attempt to use them however, they will find that only auxiliary power is running in the area. There is enough for the lights, but all of the lab equipment is offline and powered down. Unless they have the Power Up miracle, a Hard computer related science check (TN 9) or Incredible tinkering (TN 11) is needed to bring the machines back online. Once activated, files can be accessed using the pass codes provided by Jensen. The common thread through the various labs is that Meta-Com had discovered a transposable set of paranormal genes. The primary efforts of the lab seemed to be involved with examining just how these transposable elements would react when inserted into various organisms. Apparently their movements through different species to different locations within the genome yielded dramatic variances.
The maze-like set-up of the room combined with the inconsistent lighting makes this a dangerous and confusing area to move about in. Each time the posse stops to check something out (examine broken equipment, check out a cubicle, etc.), have one member of the posse make an Onerous (TN 7) tracking roll to find there way again. Failing this roll will cause the posse to lose their way (it will seem like passages that were open before are now closed, etc.). This basically just means it takes the posse longer to get through the maze, adding an extra minute of travel time for each failure. All this moving about is bound to attract some attention. Every five minutes the posse is in the room, roll 1d8 with a TN of 6 (add one to the result if the posse is being stealthy). On a result of five or more, no "wandering monsters" are encountered. On a 4, the posse meets up with 1d8 Plasma Rabbits or 1d6 Flying Plasma Rabbits. On a 3, the posse encounters 1d4 Walkin' Dead (dressed in lab coats of course). On a 2, the posse encounters 1d4/2 Ailing Hounds. On a 1, the posse encounters 1d4/2 Syker Chimps. In each case, have the posse check for surprise before rolling initiative the first time - the animals are much more familiar with the room than they are.
Posse members may attempt to scrounge this area for useful items (TN 7), and the marshal can choose to insert random small but useful non-weapon related pieces of equipment as they see fit (extra batteries, random components for Junker device construction, medicine, data slugs, bandages, etc.). Each attempt at scrounging in a given area takes approximately 5 minutes. At the end of each scrounging attempt, do an automatic roll for "wandering monsters" like you did above. Going bust on a scrounge roll means the individual disturbed a hiding critter that automatically gets the jump on him with a free attack - chose anything from the list above that fits the situation best. The posse should not receive bounty for random creatures encountered in this fashion.
If the players wander through the area for more than 10 minutes (or make an Incredible (TN 11) Cognition check, taking any auditory bonuses into account), they will hear the sound of someone speaking. If they choose to follow the voice (Onerous (TN 7) tracking check, again taking any auditory bonuses into account), they will find a man in a rather dirty coat walking around a lab table. The oversized cubicle is first notable in that it is dimly, but consistently, lit. One computer console shows some extensive rewiring to a rather old car battery, which seems to have yielded a dim light source. Seated upon chairs around the table are two fairly recent corpses. They appear to be covered in bite marks that have gone acquired a black/bluish colour, and bubbling pustules and sores cover areas of exposed skin. Both bodies emit a strong chemical odour. In front of each of these corpses is a beaker. Each filled to the brim with some sort of frothing liquid. Traces of the liquid can be seen around the corpse's mouths. The man in the lab coat is standing at the end of the table, and seems to be carrying on an animated conversation with one of the dead (and quite unresponsive) bodies. At the same time, he is sipping from a beaker in his own hand.
If he sees the PC's, he will introduce himself as Richard Young and invite them into his cubicle for "a spot of tea." This former member of the first scavenging party is quite mad - play him attitude-wise as a sort of cross between the Mad Hatter and Hannibal Lector. He will regularly refer to the dead men as his "children." If Debbie is with the group she can confirm Richard as a member of the first scavenging team, and identify the corpses as two more members of the rescue party she came in with (Clive Dobbins and Adam Goodson). If the PC's do join him for tea, he will actually produce some drinkable (non-toxic) coffee from a pot behind him. Just how he managed to get the coffee heated will remain a mystery, as there is no apparent hot plate or similar device in the cubicle.
The man was driven insane by the incidents that have happened since the power failure. He has absolutely no memory of his career prior to the blackout. Though, if pressed, he will refer to the time when "everything was dark." He will then quickly change the subject, refusing to talk about that any further. Young will be utterly unwilling to leave the area, unless the PC's agree to take his "children" with them. If the PC's decide to dump Debbie off on this guy, he will happily allow her to join his tea party. However, Debbie will not be easily persuaded to stay with him.
If asked about the frothing beakers he will tell them "the kind man downstairs said it would cure all of our troubles" at which point the two bodies will animate and attack. While these look like Walkn' Dead, treat them as Toxic Zombies without the skeletal frame bonus or coop - acid touch and goo bombs (spit from the mouth) still apply. When the party retaliates, Young will attempt to hide beneath the table until the fight is over. One of the zombies will attempt to attack Young. If Young should die, his corpse will rise as a similar toxic zombie in twenty-five minutes (unless of course he dies from a head wound). Young will happily accompany the posse after his "children" are destroyed as if nothing had happened. While probably unknown by the posse, Young's toxic condition can be diagnosed with an Onerous (TN 7) medical roll, and can be cured with an Incredible (TN 11) Lay on Hands attempt from a Templar (this will also inexplicably cure his madness).
When the players are ready to leave this level, four Anarchy Chipmunks (see Boot Hill section for information) attack the posse at the door on their way out (have the posse roll for surprise before initiative). These animals look like perfectly normal chipmunks (no not harrowed)
When the PCs finally get frustrated with this level and continue on to the next one, go to scene six.
Bounty:
Defeating the zombies: 1 white
Saving Richard: 1 red
Saving, diagnosing and curing Richard: 1 blue
Scene Six: "Do you smell something?"
Meta-Com Research Institute, Island Facility (sub-basement) - Fear Level 5
Read: Exiting from the stairwell {elevator} you find yourselves in a long hallway. The floor ahead of you is coated (to a depth of about three inches) in a green slimy substance. The entire area is lit by a dim blinking red light over the stairway door, very similar to the one you saw outside of the complex. The only sounds are those of dripping fluid, and the occasional sound of an electrical discharge. The air is filled with an acrid chemical stench. This is definitely not a healthy environment.
The green substance is a form of toxic waste. It will have an effect on the PC's immediately unless they are harrowed. After every twelve rounds (1 minute) of exposure (either by breathing the air in this area or by contact), each PC must make an Onerous (TN 7) Vigor check. Covering the face with wet cloths or covering exposed skin to prevent contact will reduce this roll by a step. Failure causes weeping eyes and nausea (-2 penalty to all rolls). Going bust on this roll results in a loss of 3d8 wind and -4 penalty to all rolls. This substance is also highly flammable. Any explosions or open flames will ignite the substance (this holds true in both scenes 6 and 7). If an ignition of the toxic waste occurs, most of the sub-basement will quickly be in flames. Any characters that are standing in this will take 3d10 massive damage every round from the fire (see fire rules on page 103 in HoE main book). Before anyone uses a flame attack, have him or her make an Onerous (TN 7) knowledge roll to realise just how flammable the substance might be. Creatures encountered on this level are uneffected by the toxic slime.
The hallway forms a cross with another hallway 25 feet straight ahead from the elevator/stair access. Before the intersection, there is one door on the left and one door on the right approximately 15 feet from the elevator. Past the intersection, there is also a door on each side of the hall (10 feet from the intersection). This hallway also terminates after 25 feet from the intersection in a door. The light cast from the red bulb does not extend to the rooms.
The first door on the left is a simple, dark maintenance closet. It contains a variety of cleaning tools, including floor scrubbers, mops, and cleaning chemicals. Several of the chemical vats have leaked and are adding their contents to the slime on the floor.
The first door on the right shows some scorching around the edges and is warped slightly in its frame from extreme heat. An Onerous (TN 7) strength roll will open the door, revealing the remains of a boiler room. In here were the heating and energy facilities for the complex. However, these facilities have clearly seen better days. The main boiler looks as if someone dropped a few kilos of C-10 into it. It is clearly irreparable. This area also seems to be the primary source of the green slime, which coats the floor. If the PC's actually enter this room and poke around, they will immediately encounter an Ailing Hound. The creature is enraged at being accidentally trapped in the room. It's starving and will attack the party as soon as they enter.
The second door on the left (past the intersection) contains the main computer facilities of the complex. A thin layer of the toxic slime from the hallway covers the floor closest to the door, as well as most of the room. Huddled in the corner farthest from the door (out of the slime) are four living members of the previous foraging teams. Two Syker Chimps also occupy this room and are "playing" with the humans. As the posse enters, the Chimps attack. When running this combat, make sure to mention to the PC's that stray shots could hit the captives. For every shot that misses roll for innocent bystanders, including a factor of two additional numbers to represent the two computers in this area (on a 1d6, 1-4 are humans while 5 and 6 are computers in determining where hits go from friendly fire). The computers will resist any damage with an AV rating of 4. If the machines accumulate enough damage to its durability (10/2), the PC's will be unable to acquire any information from them. If a computer survives the encounter, the posse may dump all of the data to a portable storage slug reader (hanging from it's harness on one of the walls) on a Fair (TN 5) computer related science check or Onerous (TN 7) tinkering check. This storage unit may be worn as a backpack. This data dump will take 20 minutes. During this time, make sure the PC's continue to make Vigor checks against the toxic waste. After the combat, the captives will gather their gear and go to await the posse at the exit (the group is unarmed except for knives and makeshift clubs). The first three are survivors of the first party: Mark Hannett, Aaron Evans (Debbie's brother) and Sharon Grafe. The last one is from the 2nd group: Jason Southie. They have no idea about the last missing member of the rescue group, Mike Fortey. The last they saw of him, he was screaming in terror and running as fast as he could down the corridor when the Chimps attacked (sorry Mike).
If the PC's choose to trigger the self-destruct sequence for the complex, this is where they would set it in motion. Triggering the system requires the use of the pass code from Jensen's list and a fair (TN 5) Professional: Computing check. The self-destruct will then go off five minutes from the time it is triggered. Before triggering the sequence, give the user a Fair (TN 5) knowledge check. A success will reveal that destroying the facility in this fashion may release a lot of hazardous toxins and mutagenic chemicals into Lake Mead. Anyone still inside of the building at that time will suffer 10D20 massive damage (buh-bye).
The second door on the right (past the intersection) contains the laboratory supply room. This room once contained an assortment of chemicals vital to the research done upstairs. However, all of the chemical containers have now been smashed or ruptured. The chemicals have been freely mixed, adding to the toxic waste covering the floor.
If the PC's open the door at the end of the far end of the hallway, go directly to scene seven.
At the intersection, the hallway to the left extends ten feet and then terminates in a door. In the room behind the door is a small emergency medical facility. While the flooring of this room is also covered with toxins, there are some pieces of equipment that could be quite useful to the posse. If they check the room thoroughly (Fair (TN 5) scrounging check), they will find several items: two sealed environmental suits, a medical kit with a 20 reliability (check them out on the gear page here at Gimme Shelter), and a med chip reader with 2 med chips (Waste Warriors). Environmental Suits have an AV of -2, and while wearing one, a PC does not need to make a resistance roll against the toxins. If a PC sustains any damage while wearing a suit, the suits integrity is compromised and will no longer keep out the toxic fumes (the armor bonus still applies however).
The hallway going to the right at the intersection also extends for ten feet before terminating with two doors, facing each other. Each one leads to a bathroom (one men's, one women's). Both bathrooms contain normal lavatory fixtures. The gent's has a rather terrified Mike in one of the cubicles. He has shut and locked the door, and is standing on the toilet seat. Upon entering, all the posse will hear is a very low whimpering sound. Play it by ear as to how the posse react and their attempts to extricate him from the head.
If the PC's attempt to leave without opening the door at the end of the hallway, it will open as they leave. At this point, Dr. Edwards (see Boot Hill section for information) will try to prevent them from leaving. The 2 Toxic spirits will accompany him from scene 7.
Bounty:
Saving the captives: 1 white
Killing the Ailing Hound: 1 white
Killing the Syker Chimps: 1 red
Scene Seven: "I Think We're In Over Our Heads"
Meta-Com Research Institute, Island Facility (sub-basement) - Fear Level 5
Read: "As you open the doorway, you hear a harsh cackle of evil laughter. Upon entering, you see the source of the laughter swimming in the middle of huge pool of toxic waste. The room itself looks as though it were once an underground docking bay. A pier stretches out into the pool of waste from a loading platform on which you now stand. The pool of bubbling chemicals terminates at the edge of the cavern. As you enter the room, the man in the pool looks towards you, and says, "Oh, are you the new ones that Jensen sent in to empty the place? The others have been most entertaining. Well, I'm afraid this facility may well now be beyond cleaning up right now. Then again, I'm rather fond of it this way. I would hate to have anyone mess around with all my hard work. What do you think of what I've done with the place?""
The room the posse is now in is an oval shaped cavern, approximately 60 feet in length, and 40 feet in width. The last 40 feet of the length are all filled with the greenish, bubbling toxic waste (don't forget those Vigor checks). The pier is 8 feet wide, and extends approximately 20 feet into the muck. Edwards (see Boot Hill section for information) swims about in the waste right next to the pier. This room also serves as Edward's medicine lodge - any powers cast in this room cost double the strain with the exception of Syker abilities (their only draw back is that failed power attempts still cost them strain). Edwards will be more than willing to talk with the party. In fact, he'll gloat over the wonderful job he's done of "fixing up" the place. After a few moments of conversation, he will pull himself out of the sludge and step onto the pier. Edwards will inquire at this point as to how much money Jensen is paying the posse. He will then offer to double this amount. While he cannot actually do this, he thinks this might distract the wasters long enough for him to slay them.
If they walk out onto the pier to approach him, two Toxic Spirits (see Boot Hill section for information) will emerge from the surrounding sludge (have the posse make surprise checks) and attempt to dump the PC's off the pier and into the sludge. Any who fall in must first make an automatic Vigor check against the sludge (Incredible (TN 11) due to complete exposure) and need to make an Onerous (TN 7) swimming check to avoid going under. Failing the swimming check not only results in taking drowning damage, but also results in the PC automatically gaining a mutation (drawn from the table in the HoE main book) as they suck the sludge into their systems (unless they already have 3 mutations - then you pull for a greater mutation from CoTA). They will need to make an additional Fair (TN 5) climbing check to get back onto the pier. Failing the climbing roll results in another dunking for each failed attempt (redo those Vigor and Swimming rolls). The two Toxic Spirits will then move onto the loading dock and proceed to attack the remaining PC's. Edward's tactic is to jump back into the sludge pool, and invoke the invisibility sludge favor, and try to use the acid ball favor on the PC's. To spot him in the sludge once invisible takes an Incredible (TN 11) search roll. Once spotted, a PC doesn't have to roll again until Edwards goes "underwater" and re-emerges somewhere else.
If the PC's immediately attack Edwards, the Toxic Spirits will leap to his defence.
When the PC's either defeat or escape from Edwards, go to Scene 8.
Bounty:
Killing Edwards: 1 blue
Killing toxic spirits: 1 red
Scene 8: "We've Got Some Good News and Some Bad News"
Lake Mead Area, Arizona - Fear Level 3
After the PCs have escaped from Edwards, the spirits, and the lab, (hopefully with the survivors in tow), they will probably call in Jensen. A boat will arrive with a pilot only. If any townies are with the posse they will comment that they don't recognise the pilot. Don't forget the vid cam is probably still running, unless it was EMP'ed or damaged in the facility, so Jensen will be seeing whatever the posse sees. This should alert the posse to something fishy (forgive the pun, it's on a lake after all). If the posse questions the disguised Black Hat driving the boat he will panic and try to leave/run. If caught and questioned his chip will explode if he's put under any duress (3d10 damage, burst radius 1).
The posse will probably have a dozen questions and thoughts running around their heads now, but they should now be heading back to the rendezvous (whether or not they actually expect Black Hats would depend on their experience). They will probably be out of strain and hurt so give them search rolls (TN 7) as they approach the cabin, letting them spot the Black Hat encampment in the woods regardless (depending on the state of the group). They should be able (even without powers) to break the black hats with surprise on their side. Ms. Jensen will give her part away in all this by shouting orders to the black hats. Let her get away or die as suits your campaign, but its always handy to have a pissed off infiltrator cyborg stalking your party now and again.
Returning the townies to Cooper's Rest will be a mixed blessing. On the one hand, the town is happy to have their people back, as well as excited over the information about/salvage from the facility. On the other, they feel betrayed by Jensen's elaborate ruse and the knowledge of the Combine's involvement. Still, a good storyteller might be able to put a positive spin on it - it's just going to be a bit trickier than usual. Although Cooper's Rest has a Fear Level of 3, the tale tellin' TN is 9 (success will reduce the Fear Level and net a legend chip for the pot). If the truth were known, it wouldn't be as tricky. Throckmorton set up Jensen's op with a limited belief in its probability of success. The area's close proximity to Vegas called for subtlety on the Combine's part, and he could not risk Silas' knowing of his actions so close to the base of operations of the Cult of Doom. When the mission fails (especially if the facility is destroyed), Throckmorton will consider the whole thing a bust and will most likely not trouble the citizens of Cooper's Rest directly again.
Even though Jensen is gone, the posse can claim their original pay from Jensen's former scrounging business partner, Clay Tompkins. Tompkins is a townie and had no idea as to Jensen's true nature - now that she's gone he's the sole owner of the store in town. He's an honest, stand up kind of guy and will be happy to honour the deal made by Jensen with the posse. In fact, if the posse was particularly successful, Tompkins will arrange for them to be paid an additional 2% of the original agreed upon fee for each missing town member brought back..
This leaves a few threads open for the marshal to follow. If the facility is destroyed via the self-destruct program, what happens to the lake and its denizens when the waters become contaminated? If it's not destroyed, perhaps the posse must secure the aid of another toxic shaman to help clean up the mess safely. Maybe Silas gets word of the "mutant animals" of the island and decides to send his own team to investigate the stories. There's always the idea of a recurring villain in the form of Jensen should she escape as well (Throckmorton might leave well enough alone, but Jensen will probably take the posse's actions personally). Last but not least, what lives in the ruins of Overton, Nevada?
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