RPG-a-Day #1: Scenario

 We're going to try to do this year's RPG-a-Day Challenge here at NUELOW Games; each day has a different theme and will get a different post. Be sure to stop by to join us in victory or defeat as the month progresses!

DAY #1: Scenario

The following is more of an outline that a full-fledged adventure scenario. We hope you'll feel inspired enough to want to flesh it out and use it. (This is also completely raw, first draft text; it is flowing from the keyboard onto the blog and then posted for the world to see. No editing or revision is taking place, so we apologize for dropped words or incomprehensible sentences.)

THE DEADLINE FROM HELL 

A modern-day horror scenario for any game system

Setting Up the Adventure
A party member gets a frantic phone call from a journalist friend. He says that his current story has put him on the trail of a Satanic cult and that they discovered him snooping around their secret lair. He knows they are hunting for him, and he begs the character to come to his home to before they get there, so they can help protect him and get him to safety.

Options

The following situations occur depending on what the character does.

   If the character notifies other party members, asks them to meet him somewhere and then heads to the journalists home: Go to The Chase below.

  If the character notifies other party members as asks him to meet at the journalists home: Go to Converging, below.

   If the character rushes over there without notifying others: Go to The Trap below.

   If the character ignores the plea, he hears that his friend's dead body was found on an isolated stretch of road, burned to the point where only dental records were useful in identifying him. Whoops.

The Chase

As the characters arrive at the journalist's home, they see him being hustled into a cargo van by three burly men. 

   If the party tries to fight them: One cultist per party member that leaps from behind bushes or other cover to stop them. They fight the party to subdue rather than kill them.

   An extra cultist--a particularly large man in a hoodie--stands back and watches. As the party fights, the van takes off. Once all the cultists have been defeated, the man in the hoodie faces the party... and his hood falls back to reveal that he has devil horns. He is quite a challenge for the heroes. As they defeat him, he burns into flame and ash. As they finish the fight, the van leaves, but they can see what direction its heading in, and with some skillful (and fast) driving, they can catch up with it. During their pursuit, the following complications occur:

   --Nuns and orphans in a crosswalk. Driving check to not run them them down.

  --A police car gives chase, only to crash.

  --The van seems to get away, but a party member catches sight of it just as it's almost too late (with an appropriate attribute or skill check), and then a Driving check lets the pursuit continue.

   The van eventually goes to an isolated clearing in the woods, near a burned out cabin. See "The Climax: Defeat in Victory?" below.

   If the party is defeated, go the The Trap below.

Converging

If the characters are arriving separately at the journalist's home, roll 1d4 once on the table below to see what encounters they have en-route. 

   1. No Complications.

   2. A policeman stops the character near the journalist's home. The policeman is a cultist. He ambushes the character and attempts to render him or her unconscious. If the character is defeated, he is found by other characters in the panel van mentioned in "The Chase".

   3. A group of nuns and orphans flag the character down. Their bus has broken down, the head nun's cellphone is dead, and they need help calling the rectory or a tow truck.

   4. A traffic accident happens right in front of the character. Unless he or she makes a fancy Driving check, the character ends up becoming part of the accident, too, when it becomes a pile-up. The character is rendered unconscious in the crash, and he or she is found by the other characters in the panel van mentioned in "The Chase".

   Characters who have "No Complications" arrive at the home to find everything appearing fine. If they wait for other player characters to arrive, they will see the panel van described in "The Chase" pull up. Other characters (if not in the van) arrive in an order determined randomly (roll 1d4). Each time another character arrives, the GM should roll 1d4. On a result of 4, three men get out of the van and head into the journalist's home. The events of "The Chase" unfold. If any character approaches the van, the attack described under The Chase takes place.

  If characters with "No Complication" don't wait for others to arrive, or doesn't wait for anyone to leave the van but heads into the journalist's home, the events of "The Trap" take place.

The Trap

If the characters burst into the journalist's home, they find him kneeling at the center of a pentagram, surrounded by robed cultists. There is one cultist per player character. The journalist remains in the pentagram, watching the fight with an increasingly insanely gleeful look on his face.

   The cultists fight to subdue the player characters. If it looks like the cultists are going to lose, three more join in (having emerged from the van). They continue their attempt to subdue the characters. 

   If the player characters lose the battle, go to "The Climax: Victory in Defeat?".

   If the player characters look like they're going to win, the events of "The Climax: Victory in Defeat?" unfold in the house instead of at the remote ritual site. See "The Climax: Victory in Defeat?", below.

The Climax: Defeat in Victory?

If the characters chased the panel van, their pursuit ends in an isolated woodland clearing, near a burned-out building. They are confronted by cultists (one for each character) who fight them to the death while the journalist heads with three individuals from the van to a ritual site nearby that is by a burned out building. Here, there is a Satanic ritual site with a large pentagram on the ground. Once the journalist and others have reached the ritual site, the cultists battling the player characters will try to move the fight toward the pentagram. As the characters are led toward the pentagram, the journalist speaks, with a mad gleam in his eye: "Don't make this any harder than it needs to be--you will die and your "righteousness" will be consumed by Satan and your life energy will become mine! I promised him your lives, he promised me immortality! Surrender--don't let your last few moments on Earth be filled with pain!"

   The battle lasts for six rounds, or until it seems clear the characters are going to win. Then the journa list chants and a burly man with devil horns appears and joins the fight. The battle continues for three more rounds, or until it appears certain the player characters are going to win.

   Then, the pentagram flares with magical energy and smokey figure rises from it, "My charity extends only so far," a voice boomed. "You were given a deadline and you failed to meet it."
   "No! There is still time!" the journalist screams. He rushes to attack the player character who is the most injured. If the player character survives 2 rounds of combat against the journalist, he and all the cultists burst into flame and die screaming as they disintegrate into fine ash.

The Climax: Victory in Defeat?

If the characters were defeated by cultists previously, they wake up in the pentagram at a Satanic ritual site. The journalist is there with three cultists, plus one addition per player character. He speaks to them, with a mad gleam in his eye: "Don't make this any harder than it needs to be--you will die and your "righteousness" will be consumed by Satan and your life energy will become mine! I promised him your lives, he promised me immortality! Surrender--don't let your last few moments on Earth be filled with pain!"

   The battle lasts for six rounds, or until it seems clear the characters are going to win. Then the journa list chants and a burly man with devil horns appears and joins the fight. The battle continues for three more rounds, or until it appears certain the player characters are going to win.

   Then, the pentagram flares with magical energy and smokey figure rises from it, "My charity extends only so far," a voice boomed. "You were given a deadline and you failed to meet it."
   "No! There is still time!" the journalist screams. He rushes to attack the player character who is the most injured. If the player character survives 2 rounds of combat against the journalist, he and all the cultists burst into flame and die screaming as they disintegrate into fine ash.

The Wrap-Up

Further investigation will reveal to the player characters that the journalist joint the cult while investigating it.

  

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#RPGaDay2021

The Terror of the Killdozer!

Here's a series of tables that you can use to randomly generate ideas for an adventure inspired by artwork from the great Gil Kane for a rejected cover for a comic book adaptation of the 1941 short story "Killdozer" by Theodore Sturgeon.

Roll a six-sided die and record the result to make your basic outline. If results seem incompatible, you can re-roll, or you can use them as a mysterious element in your story and/or an avenue to come up with a truly outlandish and unique backstory for the rampage of the Killdozer!

NIGHT OF THE KILLDOZER

A Randomly Generated Roleplaying Game Adventure Outline

A series of mishaps and accidents at a worksite culminate with a bulldozer rampaging through the area, crushing everything and everyone in its path. Will the player characters put an end to the nightmare, or will it put an end to them?

WHEN DOES THE STORY TAKE PLACE [optional]

1. In the early 1930s.

2. In the mid-1940s.

3. In the late 1950s.

4. In mid-1970s.

5. In the early 1990s.

6. In the late 2020s.

REGION WHERE DOES THE STORY TAKE PLACE [optional]?

1. In Main, in the north-eastern United States.

2. Near Hadrian's Wall in northern England

3. Near Four Corners in the American Southwest.

4. In southern Afghanistan.

5. In the Amazonian Jungle.

6. In Egypt, not far from Cairo.

WHERE DOES THE STORY TAKE PLACE (SPECIFICALLY)?

1. At a newly opening mine.

2. At a mine that is reopening.

3. At a construction site.

4. At an archeological site.

5. At a lumber camp near a river or lake

6. At a decommissioned military facility

HOW DO THE HEROES BECOME INVOLVED?

1-2. They are hired to provide security.

3-5. They are part of the project from the beginning.

6. They uncover rumors of strange events that have happened at 

     the site through the centuries, and they come to investigate.

WHAT IS THE WORK TAKING PLACE?

1. Mining

2. Logging

3. Road Construction

4. Demolition of an Abandoned Mental Hospital/Secret 

    Government Research Facility

5. Archeological Excavation of an Area Once Home to a 

    Mysterious and Long-Lost Civilization

6. Construction of a Housing Development

WHAT GIVES LIFE TO THE KILLDOZER?

1. Spells protecting a buried Atlantean artifact that have been 

    activated because the vault housing it has been partially 

    unearthed and damaged.

2. Angry spirits (3d6, maximum of 13) of those interred at an 

    ancient burial ground on the site.

3. Demons (3d6, maximum of 13) who were trapped in buried 

    containers but were released when they were damaged.

4. Nature spirits (1d3+1) summoned by militant environmentalist 

    mystics who want to avenge the damage the project is doing 

    to the Earth.

5. An alien device has projected its awareness into the Killdozer.

6. Highly advanced circuitry and an IA, created and installed 

    by a mad scientist.

WHO GAVE LIFE TO THE KILLDOZER AND WHY?

1-3. The "who" and "why" are the same as the "what"; the very 

     activity on the site animated the Killdozer.

4. A crazed mystic seeking revenge against the funders or leaders 

    of the project.

5-6. A mysterious cabal that wants to keep things buried on the site 

     exactly where they are.

WHAT DOES THE KILLDOZER WANT?

1-2. To destroy everyone and everything in its path, for the sake 

    of destruction.

3. To avenge the damage to nature that has been caused by the work 

     at the site.

4. To have proper respect shown to the location and the supernatural 

     beings who dwell there via the performance of ancient, now very 

     obscure, rituals.

5-6. To be transported to another world/dimension.

HOW CAN THE KILLDOZER BE STOPPED?

1-2. Explosives. Lots of explosives.

3. Ramming it with other heavy machinery until it's destroyed.

4. Finding a way to communicate with the spirits/demons animating 

    it and putting them to rest.

5. Letting it run out of gas.

6. Uncovering an ancient artifact hidden at the site (or nearby) and 

    turning it on the Killdozer.

IS IT TRULY OVER?

1. Yes. The Killdozer is destroyed and work can continue safely.

2. More or less. The root cause of what animated the Killdozer may 

     cause more mayhem unless additional action is taken.

3. No. Once the Killdozer is stopped, the force animating it seizes 

    control of another vehicle on the site. (Treat as #2 if the solution

    is to put angry spirits/demons to rest.)

4. No. Once the Killdozer is stopped the force animating it possesses 

    workers and the site, turning them into homicidal puppets. 

    (Treat as #2 if the solution is to put angry spirits/demons to rest.)

5. No. Once the kill Killdozer is stopped, the force animating it turns 

    ALL vehicles at the construction site in murderous engines 

    of destruction.

6. No. Once the Killdozer is stopped, a mystical burst of 

    energy transports everyone at the site to the distant past (1-2); 

    an alien planet (3-4); a nightmarish other-dimensional hellscape 

    (4-6).

Meet Myron the Living Voodoo Doll

In issues of the anthology title "Dork" and elsewhere, writer and artist, Evan Dorkin brought us tales of Myron the Living Voodoo Doll. Here's an example of one.

Each strip saw Myron have a mishap and that mishap was passed onto some unfortunate victim elsewhere in the world. For reasons that are probably too disturbing to dwell on, NUELOW Games's head honcho finds Myron hilarious. He also thinks he would be an interesting addition to your games.

AN RPG SUPPLEMENT

Design: Steve Miller * Eye Rolls: L.L. Hundal

Based on "Myron the Living Voodoo Doll" by Evan Dorkin

(Myron the Living Voodoo Doll is used without permission... 

and in the hopes that Mr. Dorkin doesn't sic lawyers or Myron on us.)

INTRODUCING MYRON

Myron is the most unusual of voodoo dolls. He is alive, and he wanders about of his own volition. He does not initially seem different from other voodoo doll, but he has the following unique traits:

   * Myron is self-aware and he can speak. If a person thinks to talk to him, he will respond. He will explain his unique nature, but only if asked. (Myron is too busy contemplating the meaningless nature of existence to volunteer information to those he encounters.)

   * Myron can't help but become bonded either to the last person who handles him, or a person that individual chooses to place a curse upon. Whatever harm (or other extreme physical situation, such as being flung across a room) that subsequently befalls Myron also happens to the person who is subject to his inherent voodoo magic. Once bonded to Myron through his voodoo enchantment, (Myron doesn't necessarily want bad things to happen to people, but he is a voodoo doll so he can't help it.)

   * Myron is a tireless wanderer who is forever seeking new horizons. He never remains in one place for more than a few days. He is also one of the greatest escape artists to ever exist. Once he decides it's time for him to move on, there is nothing that prevent him from doing so. (Myron is completely immune to magic that tries to bind him or keep him trapped. Any such attempts cause him to teleport to a random location far, far away... while the person who attempted to magically trap him is subjected to Myron's inherent voodoo curse.)

   * If Myron is destroyed, he reforms 1d6 days later at a random location (see "Where in the World is Myron?, below). If someone had intentionally tried to destroy him that person is now subject to Myron's inherent voodoo curse--until it is shifted onto someone else. (Myron cannot be destroyed by any conventional--or even unconventional--means. The only ways to put an end to his existence and the inherent voodoo curse he carries is to either convince him that he doesn't exist via philosophical debate, or to bring him into the presence of God [the Clockmaker, the Creator, the Big Guy Himself], which will make Myron realize that existence is not meaningless.)

HOW DO THE HEROES ENCOUNTER MYRON? (Roll 1d6)

This table is used to both determine how the party first meets Myron, as well as how they might randomly encounter him again later. 

1-2. They find him among the property of a foe they've just defeated.

3. One of them receives a package from an unknown sender. Myron is inside.

4. His is found laying outside one of their homes.

5. A friend (or even an enemy) contacts them and begs them to track Myron, because he or she has fallen victim to Myron's curse and is suffering from random injuries and other mishaps.

6. He drops into one of their laps. Literally.

The GM should roll 1d20 once per game month after the party's first experience with Myron is resolved. On a roll of 1, they cross paths with him again.

WHERE IN THE WORLD IS MYRON (Roll 2d20)

This table is used to determine where Myron can be found.

2. On a city street

3. In a daycare center

4. In a prison

5. In a city dump

6. At a train station

7. At a bus depot

8. By the sea shore

9. Along a busy highway

10. Along a country road
11. In the highlands
12. In a swamp
13. In a forest
14. In a jungle
15. In a desert

16. On a golf course

17. In a school

18. At a construction site

19. In the mountains

20. In a coal mine

21. In a cemetery

22. In a war zone

23. In a crack house

24. In a teenaged girl's bedroom

25. In a teenaged boy's bedroom

26. In a church

27. In a mosque

28. In a synagogue

29. In a serial killer's lair

30. In a politician's office

31. Floating on a lake

32. On a weather balloon

33. Floating on a river

34. In a high-rise office building

35. In a top secret government lab

36. On Paradise Island

37. On Gilligan's Island

38. At John Wick's house

39. At the home of a player character's loved ones

40. At a NASA or other space-exploration launch site.

HOW LONG DOES MYRON STAY? (Roll 1d6)

Myron stays in any given area for a limited amount of time, even if the party arranges for him to be trapped (as indicated in "Introducing Myron"). This table determines how long he can be found in the area determined by rolling on "Where in the World is Myron?"

1. 24 hours

2. 48 hours

3. 72 hours

4. 1d6 days

5. 1d6 weeks

6. 1d20+10 hours

   After the indicated period of time has passed, the GM rolls on on "Where in the World is Myron?" to determine where he can next be found.

DAMAGE SUFFERED FROM VOODOO CURSE (Roll 1d12)

Each day, it's relevant to determine if a character is injured due to being subject to Myron's inherent  voodoo curse, the GM must roll 1d12. On a "12" he or she rolls on the table below to determine what harm comes to the sufferer. If 1-2 hit points are taken, the character suffers minor discomfort or a sudden appearance of bruises or mild burns. Anything beyond that is painful and possibly lethal. Charactes may roll appropriate saving throws and benefit from any resistances to types of damage they may possess.

   Myron is destroyed if he takes more than 30 hit points of damage. He reappears at a random location 1d6 days later. While Myron is out of commission, there is no need to see if a cursed character suffers an injury.

Types and Amount of Damage

1. Cold Damage: 2d10

2. Crushing Damage: 2d10

3. Drowning Damage: 2d10

4. Electrical/Energy Damage: 2d10

5. Falling Damage:  2d10

6. Fire Damage: 2d10

7. Cold Damage: 4d10

8. Crushing Damage: 4d10

9. Drowning Damage: 4d10

10. Electrical/Energy Damage: 4d10

11. Falling Damage:  4d10

12. Fire Damage: 4d10

If you enjoyed this post, consider supporting Evan Dorkin's current comics efforts via his Patreon page.

d20 System Feat: Like a Phoenix

Here's a d20 System feat similar to something we may already have done something similar to in Secrets of the Immortals. If we didn't, we probably should have.


LIKE A PHOENIX [General, Minor Power]
When the character dies, he or she is instantly reborn in a blast of fire.
   Prerequisite: Strength 12, Constitution 13, Charisma 12

   Benefit: Whenever the character is reduced to -10 hit points, his or her body explodes, causing 1d10+10 points of fire damage to all living beings within melee range. Any non-magical items carried or won by the character are reduced to smoldering ash, as is the character's body.
   The player of the deceased character should roll initiative for the following round. On the indicated initiative, a swirl of embers and smoke solidifies into the character's body, at full hit points, and cured of any temporary penalties to attributes or levels. The character is completely nude when resurrected in this fashion.

   Special: Whenever the character is recreated from his or her ashes, the character loses a maximum of 500XP (to the minimum needed to retain his or her current level). The character's age is also reduced 1d6+6 years (to the minimum starting age). Additionally, the player must roll a successful Fortitude save (DC18). If the saving throw fails, the character suffers a permanent loss of 1 Constitution point.

   If the character's Constitution is reduced to 11 or lower, this feat no longer provides any benefit.

(All text in this post is presented under the Open Game License, and it may be reproduced in accordance with its terms.)

Puzzini's Elixir of Immortality

This post was inspired by "Forever and Ever" by Steve Ditko, one of four short stories that are included in the forthcoming NUELOW Games comics/RPG-hybrid book "Immortal Tales by Steve Ditko". (Some version of this material will be included in it.)

On May 23, 1568, the Italian alchemist Mario Puzzini sent messengers to his fellow practicioners of the Arts that he had successfully created an elixir of immortality. When his fellow alchemists arrived at his laboratory a few days later, however, they found the place ransacked and Puzzini and his assistant missing. Puzzini was never heard from or seen again, and the heaps of ashes found in the fireplace was believed to all that remained of his notes regarding his many alchemical discoveries--including the secret of immortality.

A few years later, rumors began to arise that the assistant, Georgio, has been spotted in different places throughout Italy and Europe. It was further claimed that he was living proof that Puzzini's immortality formula had worked--or, more specifically, immortal proof that the formula had worked. It also came to be widely believed that Georgio had murdered Puzzini and stolen his secrets and that the ashes in the fireplace was to throw pursuers off his trail. As time passed, rumors became legends, and those legends passed into near-forgotten obscurity... but well-informed alchemists continued to hold out hope that Puzzini's formula could still be found, either due to an immortal being walking the Earth.

The truth is that Georgio did indeed become immortal by drinking Puzzini's elixir. The mixture was flawed, however, and it was Puzzini himself who destroyed his lab and burned the notes and formulas; the aging alchemist was so angered and disappointed by his failure that he quit the art of alchemy on that day. He did, however, let Georgio keep the notebook containing Puzzini's final attempt at creating an immortality elixir, so that he Georgio might have a chance to perfect it, or do undo its effects.

Unfortunately for Georgio, Puzzini's notebook was taken from him by an unscrupulous mystic from whom he sought assistance during the late 1700s and he has no idea what has become of it. But maybe he can cross the paths of a group of heroes who have the skills and motivation to help free him from what he has come to view as a living Hell, and perhaps even succeed where Puzzini failed.


PUZZINI'S ELIXIR IN THE d20 SYSTEM
This section describes how to use Puzzini's Notebook to create his elixir of immortality and what happens to a mortal who consumes it. .

Creating Puzzini's Elixir of Immortality

The method for creating Puzzini's Elixir of Immortality is described in a notebook that consists of 100 pages of parchment bound within plan leather covers. The pages are covered with writing and formulas written with a spidery script. It takes 3d4+2 hours of total time, as well as a successful  (DC14) or Knowledge: Arcane Lore (DC19) skill checks to understand its content and successfully understand the content and thus apply it to the creation of Puzzini's Elixir of Immortality.

   Once the material in the notebook has been mastered, the character must have access to a well-equipped alchemist lab and at least 3 ranks in the Knowledge: Physical Sciences skill or 5 ranks in Knowledge: Arcane in order to actually create a dose of the Elixir. A successful brewing process takes a 12 hours of uninterrupted work and careful monitoring of distillation and the mixing and remixing of the liquids and two successful Knowledge: Physical Sciences (DC18) or Knowledge: Arcane Lore (DC15) skill.

   The nature of the elixir that is created at the end of the process depends on the success or failures of the skill checks.

If both skill checks fail during the brewing process, the resulting elixir has the following effect:

* The consumer must roll a Fortitude save (DC13). If the saving throw fails, the character's Constitution attribute is immediately reduced by 1 point. He or she falls very ill and is sickened for ten days, minus his or her Constitution bonus (adjusted if necessary). The character regains the Constitution point upon recovery from the illness.

If one skill check fails during the brewing process, the resulting elixir has the following effect:

* The consumer immediately becomes 2d10+10 years younger. If the elixir is consumed by a player character, the age cannot be less than the minimum starting age for the character's race, but NPCs can be reduced to infancy. The character's levels Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma attributes remain unaffected, but adjustments may have be made to Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution attribute scores if the character has been reduced to young adulthood or even younger. The character ages as normal, just starting from the point to which the clock was turned back.

If no skill checks are failed during the brewing process, the resulting elixir has the following effect:

* The consumer immediately becomes 2d10 years younger. The age cannot be less than the minimum starting age of a player character of the consumer's race.

* The character no longer ages, and is immune to all aging effects, natural and magical.

* The character is immune to all physical harm from any source, including radiation, toxins, and poisons. As soon as he or she is about to take damage, the character immediately becomes insubstantial. He or she remains in this state until the source of the potential physical harm is no longer dealing damage.

* The character is seized with a lack of ambition and is disinterested in improving him- or herself. He or she has a 50% penalty on all earned experience points (round down).

* The character is drained of creative impulses and finds it hard to focus on intellectual matters. He or she has a -6 penalty to all Craft, Knowledge, and Perform skill checks. The character has a -2 penalty to all Bluff, Intimidate, Hide, Search and Spot skill checks.

*The effects of the elixir persist for 10d100+100 years. Once its duration ends, the character begins to age normally and all penalties to experience point gain 

Creating an Antidote to Puzzini's Elixir of Immortality

Creating an Antidote to Puzzini's Elixir of Immortality requires access to a well-equipped alchemy lab, or a well-equipped modern chemistry lab with either access to Puzzini's original formula or a sample of the correctly brewed elixir to analyze. 

   If a character is starting from Puzzini's formula, he or she must first successfully reverse engineer it. This requires 2d6+4 hours of intensive research, as well as a Knowledge: Arcane Lore (DC14, reduced to DC11 if the character has 5 or more ranks in the Knowledge: Physical Sciences skill). If the skill check fails, the character cannot create a successful antidote until gaining an additional rank in the Arcane Lore skill; at that time, he or she can try the skill check again. (However, the character must still spent six hours of uninterrupted work, distilling and mixing liquids in order to create a sweet-tasting but otherwise unremarkable potion.)

   Once a successful formula has been devised, it takes six hours of uninterrupted work, distilling and mixing liquids, as well as two successful Craft: Chemical skill checks (DC12). The end result is one dose that, if consumed within 24 hours of its creation, will end neutralize Puzzini's Elixir of Immortality and all of its effects. The character once again ages normally, can suffer injury and death, and is no longer subject to any skill check or experience point penalties.

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If there's any interest whatsoever, we can provide some random adventure outline generation tables involving where Puzzini's journal can be found. Just let us know.

The Valley of the Immortals

Legends tell of a valley where people are forever young. This post provides tables to randomly generate an adventure outline for characters who set out to find the fabled location.

WHERE IS IT LOCATED? (Roll 1d6)

1. In the Austrian alps, near the border with Italy.

2. A mountainous island in the Atlantic ocean.

3. A mountainous island in the Pacific ocean.

4. In the northern Andes mountains

5. In the Ethiopian Highlands.

6. In the hills above Loch Nevis, Scotland.

HOW IS IT HIDDEN? (Roll 1d6)

1. Surrounded by steep hills/cliffs. (Mountaineering skills, knowledge of secret underground tunnel system, or flight needed to access.)

2. Thick forests/rugged terrain, no easy road access.

3. Only reachable by boat, but surrounded by navigation hazards.

4. Magical misdirection. (Requires a special compass to find, or counter-magic.)

5. A thick fog and cloud-cover surrounds the outer edges, causing those who enter to lose their way and bypass the valley, unless they are members of the community or aware of the one walkable path in and out.

6. Roll two more times on the table, rerolling any additional results of 6. The valley is hidden by a combination of both described methods.

WHAT IS THE SOURCE OF THE IMMORTALITY? (Roll 1d6)

1. A magic fountain at the center of the valley. All who drink from it become immortal.

2. A strange property in the soil causes those who live here and eat food grown here to become immortal.

3. A shape-shifted dragon lives among the immortals. It has placed an enchantment on all who live in this valley, because it wants company.

4. An ancient artifact is buried deep in the ground, and its radiation makes humans and humanoids who dwell in the valley immortal.

5. The church, the school, and pub all conceal gateways to the realms of the gods; the magical energy seeping through gives all sentient beings in the valley eternal life.

6. No one in the valley is immortal. A strange energy field causes time to pass differently in the valley, with each hour spent within equal to a year beyond. (Skip "How Long Must a Person Be in the Valley to Become Immortal" if this result is rolled).

HOW LONG MUST A PERSON BE IN THE VALLEY TO BECOME IMMORTAL? (Roll 1d6)

1. 24 hours..

2. One week.

3. One month.

4. Through All-Hallows Eve.

5. During the Winter Solstice.

6. As soon as the person enters the valley.

WHAT HAPPENS TO THOSE WHO LEAVE THE VALLEY? (Roll 1d6)

1. Nothing. The immortality will stay with them until they die through violence or starvation.

2. Nothing, but the aging process resumes the aging normally.

3. They begin to feel achy and sick. It goes so bad within two days that they must stay in bed for 1d6+6 days. After that, the age normally. If they return to the valley before the sickness passes, they immediately feel better.

4. Nothing they eat or drink provides nourishment. They will die of starvation if they do not return to the valley.

5. They become insubstantial but glow faintly. If they don't return within 24 hours, they disperse like glitter on the wind.

6. The time they spent in the valley catches up with them, and they age one year for each minute spent outside the valley, possibly dying of old age and crumbling to dust.

HOW DO THE IMMORTALS KEEP THE VALLEY SECRET? (Roll 1d6)

1-2. They don't. They like visitors, as it helps them keep up on the outside world, and rely on the discretion of the outsiders, or the general populations unwillingness to believe that a valley of immortals could even exist.

3. They imprison and eventually execute those who do not want to stay in the valley willingly.

4. They tell those who want to go that they will suffer a painful death upon leaving the valley's life-extending zone. (This may or may not be true.)

5-6. They do nothing to stop them, but they contact a cult of assassins devoted to keep the valley's secret and these assassins then hunt those who have left.

Valentine's Day Adventure Seeds

Why did the PC's sweetheart miss the romantic dinner? (Roll 1d12)
   1. Abducted by aliens.
   2. Abucted by enemies of the player characters.
   3. Abducted by an insane ex lover
   4. Caught up in a hostage standoff at a Starbucks
   5. Deep cover agent status reactivated, now on a mission
   6. Fell through a dimensional portal that opened in the living room
   7. Was in an accident, now has amnesia
   8. Is possessed by an ancient spirit on a quest for revenge
   9. Taken hostage by terrorists at Nakatomi Plaza
  10. Still sleeping off last night's bender
  11. Got lost along the way, stumbled into a meeting between rival gangs
  12. Abducted by a mummy who thinks he or she is its long lost love, reincarnated