The Lights, Camera, Action! scenario format will be instantly recognizable to the longtime SHADIS reader. They're likely to return in full- blown form next month; meanwhile, here are some Kingly scenarios to whet your appetite. Pawns and Kings Lights The Storm Knights arrive in a town in the midst of chaos. They learn that the Four Horsemen had only just arrived and had settled down for a bit to eat (in a little roadside diner as The Colonel always demands), when a pack of eidenos erupted onto the scene. The King and the crew were unable to stop the eidenos from snatching away Johnny Appleseed just before they disappeared into a manhole cover. The three remaining Horsemen chased after them and have not been heard from since. just a chance to meet four legends should be enough to get your players to chase after Elvis and Co., but if it isn't, have the party arrive just as the eidenos are attacking. Camera Down in the sewers, the Knights discover that not all is as it seems. The tunnels are pitch black and appear to be almost one hundred years old, complete with crumbling brick walls, filthy water and old (unusable) gaslight lanterns. If they try to find their way back to the surface, they'll find that their efforts are unsuccessful. Action The eidenos are being misled. The one responsible for the abduction is the Gaunt Man, He's heard rumors of the return of the King of Rock'n'Roll and he has a sneaking suspicion that Elvis is much more important than he realizes. The Gaunt Man is right. Elvis is a living, breathing Hard Point, and the Gaunt Man's plan to bring him to Orrorsh (via the Land Below) is working perfectly. It's up to the Storm Knights to save Johnny and help Presley before the High Lord of Orrorsh can steal away the King. "I'll Make You Famous" Lights In a small town in New Mexico, a spur of violence has taken the townspeople off guard. In addition to the mindless bloodshed, sightings of "demons" And "devils" have begun to drive the townsfolk mad. The mayor begs the Storm Knights for assistance. Camera Just when the Storm Knights have it all figured out (obviously Tharkold is trying to drop more stelae), something very bizarre happens. A young man with a lantern jaw and a two pistol rig confronts one of the Storm Knights. He's wearing outlandish Western clothing and speaks with incredible wit and cunning. Before the Storm Knights have a chance to even recover from his verbal assault, the young man lets loose with his pistols and tries to gun them down. Action The gunslinger in question is William Bonney, aka Billy the Kid. But he's not the William Bonney of history, he's the William Bonney of mythology. He's handsome and witty and not quite a bad guy - he just likes gunning people down. He's killed almost forty people since he arrived here, and his violence is becoming infectious. Billy is the product of Tharkold, an attempt to extend that cosm's influence. Jazrael has studied the Four Horsemen for some time, and she's managed to learn Elvis' secret of regenerating Core Earth legends. Now she wants to reincarnate her own. She's begun with Billy The Kid, and plans on advancing to John Dillinger and William Tecumseh Sherman soon. She's managed to implant Billy with enough subtle cyberware to control his actions without his knowledge, and hopes to repeat the process with other "creations." When she's successfully brought back Dillinger and Sherman, she intends have all three meet up and begin asserting a more "brutal" reality onto Core Earth. Whether the Four Horsemen participate in this scenario or not is solely up to the GM. Ideas Hopefully, this article has given you enough ideas to bring other Core Earth heroes back to fight alongside your Storm Knights. Every country has figures like these, and if your campaign isn't set in America, you can substitute Elvis and his companions for different heroes. West End has already touched on King Arthur, but Beowulf, Don Quixote, Sherlock Holmes, Heracles and Cyrano de Bergerac are also strong candidates (just to name a few). If you want to bring heroes out of other Cosms, it will require a little more care, but can still work admirably: imagine a cybered-up Joan of Arc or a vampire-hunting Richard Burton... Whoever you choose to bring into you campaign, keep in mind that they are very special, and should stay that way. Too many legends wandering around will ruin their impact, so use them sparingly. But no matter who they are or how many, they should all embody characteristics that keep the hope of their culture alive; they are beams of light standing against the encroaching darkness of the High Lords. Hail to the King, baby! Back to Shadis #23 Table of Contents Back to Shadis List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master List of Magazines © Copyright 1996 by Alderac Entertainment Group This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com