What is Lights, Camera, Action? Long-time SHADIS readers will recognize this feature immediately. Need an off-the-cuff storyline for your RPG campaign? Match the party's current situation to the one described in "Lights," then switch on the "Camera" and drag them into the "Action"! Not only is this feature back after a short hiatus, but it will also continue regularly -- some readers became quite passionate about it! We encourage that, and would love to see your scenarios. Send them in; there's a good chance they'll be used. Dead From the Hills by John Wick Lights: The party is about to embark upon a journey across some mountains and into a vast desert. There's a small town in the foothills of the mountains, and so the party decides to stop there to stock up on supplies. Unfortunately, the town is deserted. Signs of struggle are everywhere, but there are no bodies. The party discovers the local cleric, an old man who's mind has been broken. All he is capable of saying is, "The dead... the dead! The dead came from the hills and took them away!" Camera: In the hills just beyond the town is a series of tunnels that run deep under the mountains. These are abandoned Ork tunnels that have been occupied by hundreds of dead men and women, walking in a near-mindless trance. They can smell living flesh, however, and attempt to devour it whenever they can. As the party crawls deeper into the hills, they discover living men wearing charms that allow them to command the Dead, The tunnels dip even deeper into the earth, and as they do, the party begins to suspect that these walking Dead may even be the villagers that once lived in the small town at the foot of the hills. Action: The masterminds behind this plot are a Necromancer and a Vampire. The Vampire came to the Necromancer, telling him of a legendary artifact called the Dathuduri Stone. This stone allows the wielder to drain the life energies from hapless victims, thus giving life to the wielder, making him quite immortal. It also turns the victims into those mindless, flesh-devouring zombies the party has been hacking into. There is a problem between the two masterminds, however because the Vampire wants the stone to restore his humanity. He is not sure if the stone can do this, but he is willing to try anything to regain his humanity, even if it means helping the party defeat the Necromancer. NDE by Matt Staroscik Lights: This scenario is best suited to a modern-day horror RPG. To work, it requires that on of the PCs or main NPCs become deeply unconscious or have a near-death experience -- this can occur due to a heart attack, gunshot wound, blow to the head, or any other serious injury a busy investigator might acquire. A bout of temporary insanity or a drug overdose could even be enough to set up the scenario. It is best to let this traumatic event to occur naturally during the course of the game -- don't force such a dramatic scene to happen before its time. Camera: Twenty years ago, a serial killer was tracked down and killed by the FBI. Sam Bennet was shot to death in, coincidentally, the same place the unlucky character was hurt. Bennet's spirit, not resting easy, was able to take advantag of the PC's weakened condition to insinuate himself into the body. Over the next few weeks, Bennet will become stronger and stronger, an will eventually totally submerge the hapless PC personality. Aspects of Bennet's personality will be evident sooner, but the PC's friends won notice anything amiss -- at first. Some different clothes, some old music... it all seems harmless enough. Action: Bennet still feels he has work to do -- namely a lot of killing. He intends to deal with the FBI agents responsible for his death as well; their families, but will not pass up targets of opportunity. Bennet is able to take control of the PC during times of weakness, such as during sleep. While he is in control, he has access to all the PC's knowledge and skills. He will do his best get some work done covertly, but after waking in a field by a shallow grave a couple of times, the PC will quickly realize there is a problem. If he isn't found quickly, the PC will became Bennet. Then, they will live the nightmare of Bennet's sick killing spree -- perhaps being shot again, driven mad if the other PCs don't help in time. The PC's friends get suspicious and spend some time in the library conducting research, they will get enough clues to get them going. Once a party learns the truth, Bennet's spirit can be exorcised in many ways, but they should all be gruesome, expensive, and dangerous. Back to Shadis #25 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 (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com