The Sinking Chest

by Alex Strang

Lights:

The party is traveling in a dungeon.

Camera:

The party comes upon a large chest, surrounded by rubble. They will also see a gaping hole in the ceiling, above the chest, unless they are on the very first level of the dungeon, in which case there will be no hole. The hole will seem to be the bottom of a very dark, vertical tunnel. If a character tries to climb up this tunnel, the earth will be very unstable, and he will easily fall back down.

The chest seems old, very beaten and definitely locked. If the party succeeds in unlocking the chest, they will see a group of tiny people inside! These "little people" will shout as loud as they can "Close the lid! Close the lid!"

It will be difficult to hear their tiny voices, but as soon as someone leans close to listen, the entire party will become miniaturized and trapped in the chest with the other tiny adventurers. The lid will close and lock itself, then the chest will smash its way through the floor to the next level below!

Action:

There is a strange monster who lives at the very bottom level of the dungeon. He set the chest on the uppermost level as a trap, and now awaits his treasureful of prisoners. The chest swallows adventurers, and sinks ever lower, one level at a time. When it reaches its master, it will spit out the prisoners, but it will keep their gold. (It likes gold.)

The Interview

by Fredrich Passow

Lights:

An email message promising a high paying job summons the PCs to the local Splatterball arena. It tells them to go to a certain section and wait to be contacted.

Camera:

It's amateur night at the Splatterball arena and the crowd is small but rowdy. The PCs find a mismatched group of shifty-eyed mercenaries - people just like themselves - already in "their" section. The two groups will probably interact. Before anyone is seriously injured, a nameless suit arrives. It seems his secretary made a mistake and contacted two groups for the same job. (Yeah, right.) But he has an idea. Since they just happen to be at the Splatterball arena, and it just happens to be amateur night, why don't they play a quick challenge match to see who gets the job?

Action:

Splatterball is "capture the flag", played in a maze of paint,stained office cubicles on the floor of a small sports arena. The "flags" are one meter balls of gold plated plastic, which start the game on pedestals at each end of the arena. To win, a team must move the other team's ball to their own pedestal. Each team gets nonlethal versions of their favorite guns, and 100 paint pellets. A computer video system judges hits. After three hits, a player is "dead" and out of the game. Players are free to make unarmed attacks, but anyone who breaks bones or causes any other serious injury is out of the game.

We'll Make Great Pets

by Tonia Walden

Lights:

This adventure can be used in a module where dimension hopping or weird stuff is not uncommon. The party is recruited by an old man to retrieve an important artifact - he says he is one of the few remaining members of his tribe who still believes in the old ways and he needs this artifact to convince the young people of his tribe to believe in the ways of his ancestors.

Camera:

The old man will give the party directions to recover the artifact and they will be surprised to find that it is only in the next town and is supposed to be buried next to an old tree. If they ask the old man why he just can't go and get it, he will explain he is too old for such a dangerous journey - this should probably confuse the players. if they agree, just as they are about leave, they suddenly feel incredibly tired, as if they have been drugged, and they fall into a deep sleep.

Action:

The old man is an Indian shaman and he hasn't really explained that the artifact is actually on a spiritual plane - a parallel world to this one, a world where there are no humans. All humans ate represented by their "totemic" animal and a quick drive to the next town suddenly becomes a long journey through dangerous woods.

The players wake up and find themselves transformed into small animals such as chipmunks or foxes (gamemasters discretion: pick something that you think fits the character's personality the character who is always running around and chatting could become a squirrel; the vain character becomes a cat; the vicious, sneaky type becomes a weasel).

They then have to complete the adventure in this form and should be encouraged to get into the mindset of the animal and think of different ways to overcome obstacles now they don't have opposable thumbs. The artifact probably has different forms - in the animal world it could be a tree branch, but in the human world it appears as a beautiful carved staff.

The Gift

by Scott Meredith

Lights:

The party discovers a group of their traditional enemy (orcs, goblins, lawyers, etc.) sneaking through a heavily wooded area carrying a good-sized chest.

Camera:

The baddies will run if able to, and will fight to the death to protect the chest. After defeating the baddies and opening the chest, the PC's will discover a beautiful silver cup with lots of gems and runes, and handles shaped like drag. ons. They will undoubtedly be quite proud of their treasure.

Action:

The cup has a couple neat magical powers, GM's choice. It was also the yearly offering from the baddie tribe to a really nasty monster (e.g a dragon). The big nasty will know about his gift, and be expecting it. He will be highly upset with the PCs for stealing his present and will stop at nothing to get it back (perhaps wrecking their hometown and kidnapping a PCs family member). The baddie tribe will send out assassins to retrieve the cup and return it to the big nasty to avoid reprisals against them by him.

The Old Humanoid in the Inn

by Fredrich Passow

Lights:

The PCs are visiting an orc-ravaged land. The locals know the lair is nearby, but no one knows where.

Camera:

As the PCs relax after a good meal, the door opens and a stranger shuffles in. He is only four feet tall, and wears a floor-length robe, a deep cowl, and very long sleeves. The cowl scans the room and fixes on the PCs. He shuffles over and gives a traditional speech: His people have been enslaved by orcs.

Will the PCs please rescue them? They have no money, but he can lead the PCs to the lair, where the orcs' treasure will be theirs for the looting. (Yes, he really says "looting 11.) The adventurers have heard it all before, but never in the squeaking, snarling voice of an old goblin.

Action:

The stranger is The Venerable One Ear. (Venerable is the title of any goblin who survives into double digits.) His tribe has, in fact, been enslaved by orcs. He escaped through pure luck, and the orcish habit of fighting, drinking, and sleeping on duty. He knows the way back to the lair, and how to pass the sentries, traps, and barriers that defend it.

Although he is telling the truth, and does not plan any sort of double-cross, he is still an evil little goblin. But he is an evil little goblin who wants his tribe back. He will faith. fully lead the PCs past the traps and barriers, then try to run away before the first battle. He does not care who wins, as long as some of his tribe escape in the confusion.

The Model

Fredrich Passow

Lights:

The PCs have a reputation for helping people in trouble, especially people in trouble with major corporations.

Camera:

A famous fashion model just survived an assassination attempt. She thinks the hit team was sent by her own corp, and wants to hire the PCs as bodyguards. The PCs have heard rumors of attacks on other models and entertainers, but so far all the victims seem to have survived.

Action:

A few months ago, a lab owned by the corp in question developed a process for making near perfect computer models of real people. Performers had always been a bit of a pain, so the corp brought many of them to the lab, "to shoot ads for a new personal computer", and recorded them. When the copies passed public inspection, the corp sent hit teams to quietly kill the origi. nals. The PCs can fend off a few attacks, but the only long-term solution is to break into the lab and destroy the recordings.