The Tricky Gray Apocalypse Campaign
You are all people
in the near present who have found yourselves one month out from an apocalyptic
event*. You were each either chosen, invited or kidnapped by the Reverend
Wilhelm Sikorsky to his mountain retreat, the "Temple of the Healing
Earth" located in the White Mountains east of Sedona. Traditionally
Sikorsky is known as a medicine man and healer, something of a mystic, and a
major believer in UFOlogy and the presence of aliens in our affairs, even if we
don't know it. One day, abruptly and unexpectedly, Sikorsky invites all of his
attending guests to the "cave" where he conducts his spiritual
healing ceremonies with the Earth and then....you find yourself unexpectedly
locked away, the cavern entrance in the mountains protected by a sealed vault
door that can only be opened from the outside....
This is where your
tale begins!
Suggested
archetypes include: the wealthy millionaire looking for a relaxing vacation,
the eccentric conspiracy UFO theorist, the healing crystal follower, the
skeptic who was out to debunk Sikorsky's "Cult of the Healing Earth,"
the complete innocent person who was kidnapped from a local diner in the nearby
town of Alpine by two of the cultists and locked in a, anachronistic, secure
prison chamber in the network of tunnels behind the "healing cave,"
or perhaps even a halpess cultist who was just trying to help the newcomers
feel comfortable and is completely oblivious to why the Reverend closed the
foot-thick steel door that you had always been told was designed to keep the
cave a "living" environment by preventing its internal moisture and
atmosphere from evaporating.
Equipment is
limited (obviously) by what you would have reason to bring to this "cult
spa and resort" but stuff you might have in your bags could be inventoried
in the event you escape the cave....
Everyone can start
with 10 XP (so, 2 picks). No arcane anything...no magic, weird science, anything.
Zero magic world. Any profession that fits "today, or not too far from
now" works.
The Apoclayptic
Event:
Each of you is
certain doom is nigh. The apocalyptic event you believe in is as follows (pick
one, because none of you think it's the same):
1. Asteroid 2015
GL5589 has been rumored to be on close approach, passing between the orbit of
the moon and the Earth. You believe (either rightly as an astronomer or wrongly
as a fanatic) that there's a deadly risk it is really going to strike the earth
and the government is hiding this from the populace. (FALSE)
2. You recently
heard about the bizarre outbreak in South America of the mutating Small Pox
Virus that is completely resistant to all vaccines and is deadly so far in 94%
of those infected. The news claims the virus is quarantined and under control
in Brazil, but rumors are that three cases cropped up on the border in the
US...(TRUE)
3. In the wake of
belligerent diplomats and politicians, a major conflagration took place in the
South China Sea between the US and China. Bombastic rhetoric on both sides
could be the lead in to nuclear war....or more noise...but either way you're
not taking any chances. White Mountains are way off the grid....(TRUE)
4. The sudden surge
in UFO sightings in the last several weeks, culminating a month ago in
approximately 200 exotic ufo sightings over Mexico City, Phoenix and Denver
have level heads stating it's a product of military build up due to the South
China Sea conflict, but you know better....this is the culmination of a pattern
that began over twenty years ago, a pattern of invasion....! (???)
5. You can't say
it's the "end of the world" but a month ago you attended a conference
on the American Association of Biology on the adverse risks of CRISPR
technology. One scientist warned that it was already suspected that North Korea
had used CRISPR technology to create a cordyceps sinensus that was extremely
robust and hearty, primarily (it was suspected) to harvest a more robust form
of aphrodisiac for Kim Jung Un. The results were questioned however when it was
found that the fungus could infect and grow on large scale hosts outside of
ants....and rumors were that North Korea had moved it to weapon testing.
Disturbed by the concept, you made your way to the retreat a month later to
clear your head, after an ex-GF suggested it was a great place to veg out, if
you ignored the crystal stuff. (TRUE)
The Set Up
The
post-apocalypse was caused by a startling convergence of events. In sequence
the following events transpired in the last month which led to an unexpected
apocalyptic scenario…an existential crisis for humanity at large:
Day 1
Yellowstone
Erupted. The entire American continent is cast in shadow and darkness, and most
of the mid-western states are essentially gone. In the White Mountains several
inches of ash dust the region, but the real devastation is a winter-storm
effect that blanketed the entire country. Over the course of a month the
disruption to electronics and the basic infrastructure of the country is
devastating.
The Sons of the Constitution arrive at the Crystal Healing Ranch to take over, having heard rumors that there’s plenty of resources hidden in the healing cave….they find the ranch abandoned, seemingly devoid of life….a pickup truck is attached to the cave door to pull it off. The noise alerts the lurkers in the woods….for it turns out that the compound survivors were all part of a unique ritual, one which Reverend Sikorsky had intended to be the “point of ascension” for his flock to join the Messengers of the Stars.
The Messengers did indeed hear them, and descended, to take possession of each of the cultists. Only those in the healing cave, ironically, were allowed a chance to live….
The new Hunters, lean and oily with black and gray skin, transformed from their human hosts, quickly make short work of the Sons of the Constitution….and the human abominations protected in the Healing Cave are next….!
Day 2-15
In the
middle of this event, China abruptly makes a move, strongly and decisively
moving in on the west coast under the pretense that it is providing aid and
assistance initially, but rapidly taking pains to secure territory on foreign
soil. Two weeks in to what started as humanitarian aid, the west coast
collapses into anarchy. Nuclear weapons are abruptly engaged, though few know
who made the actual call….rumors of a rogue five star general Arnold Mcallahoun
usurped control from the President and made a decisive first strike against
China abound, but the reality was that China quickly retaliated. The
devastation to most major population centers and military installations in the
US was swift and devastating….and the remainder of the country collapsed.
Day 4
Rumors of an
immense creature, blackened and ruinous, veined with burning light, moving
through the devastated Midwest, are largely disregarded as the ravings of PTSD
survivors of the event.
Day 10-20
In Asia,
North Korea uses its weaponized Cordyceps fungus as a bioweapon against China
and South Korea, sparking additional local conflict and war. The cordyceps
virus proves even more devastating than anticpated due to its manufactured airborn
quality and the virus spreads across the Pacific and throughout Asia rapidly.
By day 20, Canada, the US and Mexico are facing an unprecedented catastrophe as
desperate people are turned into fungal zombies. Worse yet, the fungus behaves
strangely in the “Super Small Pox Virus” which has been hitting South America
during this time….people who succumb to the super pox and then are infected by
the cordyceps seem to live on unnaturally past the life span of their body and
mind….
Day 12
In a
crushing state of alert, stories of refugees from Idaho, both covered in ash
and bombed by a Chinese attack, are compounded by stories of thousands killed
while seeking escape when the immense creature that was previously sighted days
ago appears and seems to “drain” the life of all around it for a mile.
Day 21-29
Desperate
militia groups, civilians, rogue military and more are seeking out pockets of
safety and resources throughout the country to batten down the hatches in the
wake of a grotesquely overwhelming nuclear war coupled with the super volcano
eruption. The teeming masses of fungal victims from the coast and the south are
initially seen as one more aberration but as their numbers increase, the
survivors realize that the only hope is to find a way to hide out, and wait for
the devastation to past. Meanwhile, along the southern borders the first of the
infected “pox” victims succumbing to the cordyceps fungus begin to attack
survivors in that region.
Day 30
Acting
President of the US Mcallahoun declares that the state of Emergency has moved
from martial law to a need for all citizens to arm themselves and maintain
defense of local interests until “such time as the United States can restore
its essential governance and infrastructure.” He signs off and the national
broadcast goes dead….
The Awakened
“Nata’aska”
(use Enjerar
stats, but they carry serrated blades)
Ancient beings reglected in Amerind folklore, the nata'aska have awakened to aid in purging the earth as the gitche manitou arises to destroy the world....
The Volcano
Monster is called the Gitche Manitou….the Great Being
(Use the
living god stats)
The gtiche manitou, also known to Amerind belief, has at last awakened with the eruption of Yellowstone. It's destructive path will be vast and encompassing! The gitche manitou is here to usher in the fabled era of the Fifth World. This will be brought about through a number of mechanisms, and a number of ancient mythical beings, most of which have long since been forgotten by mankind.
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