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I happen to venture into the White Wolf Forums and came across a thread in the Werewolf: The Apocalypse section entitled: "A 100 Adventure Ideas." I got to reading this thread and I thought I would save them so I could read them all later. Later I thought other might enjoy reading them, so I'm posting them here. Credit for each post is given, with the person's Forum Username. I did not include the individual e-mail addresses because I personally do not have permission to post them on my web site. If any of the persons want their story idea(s) removed from this page, just drop me an e-mail, give me the story number and title and I will remove it as soon as possible. Only the Adventure Ideas are here, I left out non-adventure comments, and the titles were made bold and underlined (when a title was given), other then that I did no editing. -- Enjoy the read!
From the White Wolf Forums
Werewolf: The Apocalypse
Thread Titled: A 100 Adventure Ideas
The Thread was started by: Dalerik on 06/03/2003
1. RITE OF PASSAGE: The character's Rite of Passage sends them to a pristine lake in upstate New York. While they try to survive the harsh elements and hunt for food, they come across a lingering taste of chemicals in the lake. They follow it up stream only to find an abandoned Pentex facility designed for the experimentation of spirits- but they don't know that- all they know is that from the moment they enter, they're being hunted by a monsterous spider (Summoned and corrupted by the scientists) who killed all of the scientists and bred them into a veritable army of arachnid formorii. The characters stumble deeper and deeper into the web as they try to confront what's hunting them and what really happened at the facility. One of the PC's begins to recieve horrible broken visions of what transpired, and the creature's plans- to create an army of dead tainted scientists and absorb a nearby town to create a legion of formor. Their lives, valuable intel on Pentex and the fate of the region lie in their young, inexperianced hands- can they save the day and learn how to function as a pack?
-Posted by: Stalks-the-Ice, 06/03/2003
2. THE EBON TIDE: The characters find out about a sabatoged oil tanker docking in a port near a pristine town on the coast of Long Island. Recent steps have been taken to improve the natural enviroment, which has been making leaps and bounds in the past few years, however, if Pentex breaches the tanker's hull as planned, all will be ruined and corrupted. The PC's take on the First Team designed to sneak onto the boat and blow a hole in the hull, as well as Eco-Terrorists corrupted by fervor, and try to keep the ship safe... And then, as they near the hold, they are confronted by a massive, living slick of oil.
-Posted by: Stalks-the-Ice, 06/03/2003
3. A TALE OF TWO CITIES: A city has been experiancing a recent string of thefts, and a well to do Glass Walker who considers the swanky part of the city thats been hit, his protectorate, recruits the characters to stop the theives- Who he has reasons to believe are Garou. As the PCs delve into the case, they find out that the theives are actually a friendly pack of Bone Gnawers trying to take care of their sick, impoverished charges who are ignored and oppressed by the rest of the world. Can the characters understand the Bone Gnawer's plight and get the situation resolved without violence, or find a mutual agreement to appease everyone?
-Posted by: Stalks-the-Ice, 06/03/2003
4. ICE WOLF: The characters find out about a recent scientific discovery- the frozen remains of an ancient Garou, who has the local science community baffled. Its only a matter of time before this discovery goes global, rending the veil forever. The characters have to get their hands on the remains, but they're not the only one's interested in the body. Other tribes claim the body (For study or interment), The Arcanum/Inquisition/Pentex/DNA take an agressive interest in the find and begin working a mix of espionage and assualt to get it back. Damage control becomes an issue, as does resolution about the Garou claims of the body... And then there is the body it's self- Why was it there? Whats the ancient Garou's story? Was he near an ancient forgotton Caern? Does he have a fetish? What tribe was he? What can he teach Garou about their history, and what sort of insight might he have about the future, or an ancient evil impressed long ago, slumbering near the PC's town?
-Posted by: Stalks-the-Ice, 06/03/2003
5. THE SPIRALS: The PC's are traveling through a railway station, bus terminal or airport, when all of a sudden a young boy enter's a furious rage and starts attacking people. When the PC's subdue the boy, they overhear what he was listening to and find it to be a Wyrmish Incantation, designed to ease the ability of a Bane to possess the listener. The PC's discover a new band has been storming the local scene with their violent, sadaistic tunes. It is easy to figure out The Spirals are actually a pack of Black Spiral Dancers, bent on manipulating Pop culture, and potentially spreading The Wyrms taint to thousands. How do the PC's fight back, especially when the band is in the public's eye? Do they try violence, or do they fight back with a little Gaian ROCK AND ROLL!!!!?
-Posted by: Stalks-the-Ice, 06/03/2003
6. THE GOOD FIGHT: A lone wandering Stargazer comes to the player's sept with an idea- The Wyrm is unnaturally strong. Despite it's desire to upset balance, it is actually subject to balance- since it is so strong in most respect, it must have a dire weakness. The Sept laughs at the wanderer, but something about what he says rings true to the PCs. As they explore his argument, it seems to become truer and truer. Finally, they decide to act under the Stargazer's argument and travel deep into the heart of Antartica, into a Wyrmhole, fighting horrible odds in an effort to destroy The Wyrms Achile's Heel. Perhaps the entire pack, nobly dies, sacrificing themselves to achieve the noblest of all goals, to finally rid the world of the Wyrm's corruption and set things back in order- Would they die for paradise? Ultimately, when the story runs it's course, one of the PC's wakes up- It was all a dream anyway, because the good fight is never as easy as it was in the dream.
-Posted by: Stalks-the-Ice, 06/03/2003
7. FAMILY: The PC's Sept has experianced a series of murders, targeting several Garou. In all cases, there was not a violent struggle, and in all cases, it was in their own homes. Examining the crime scenes only baffles the characters more, as the clues don't match up to anyone, there is no sign of forceful entry, and the motives all turn out to be red herrings. Hopefully, they realise the one thing all the slain Garou have in common is children in their home. Something is manipulating the children into killing their parents- what is it? Is there anyway to save the horribly traumatized children?
-Posted by: Stalks-the-Ice, 06/03/2003
8. HEIST: An elder approaches the PC's. Apparently, a Native American run casino has come across an Ancient Fetish of great power and placed it in a cheap 'heritage museum' they have on the resort grounds. The perfect time to reclaim the artifact comes when it is revealed that for a weekend, security will be diverted to a high stakes poker game held by the casino's owner and patronized by several prominant underworld figures as well as other various high rollers. The pack will have to work togeather to infultrate the casino, and get past security without getting caught. All is not what it seems, as they come across a Bastet Cat Burgler bent on stealing the Poker game's money, who potentially comes off friendly, but double crosses the characters and tries to finger them as guilty. Does the pack send in one member to play the game and keep the guards busy and potentially leave with a fortune? How do the Garou manage to operate covertly and sneak bast security? Do they earn the suspicion of an undercover cop trying to apprehend the bosses and keep an eye out for other illegal activity? Does the cop/Bastet try to genuinely recruit the chars into their machienations at threat of exposing them? What other intrigue could weave them into the web revolving around the big game?
-Posted by: Stalks-the-Ice, 06/03/2003
9. OUT BREAK: A nearby reclusive Red Talon Sept reaches out to the PC's for help when a disease is sweeping the wolf population. Garou themselves are immune, but many precious kinfolk are dying, and all the wolves run a risk of being discovered by human authorities who would kill the regions wolves in an effort to prevent the diseases spreading. Potential for alot of drama, as some sept members accuse other Garou for not caring about wolves. Distrust must be overcome, both for the technology required to fight the disease, as well as for other Garou. The PC's could try to fight the disease spiritually or physically, travel to different septs and try to recruit others to come to the Red Talon's aid, comfort the mourning, track down wolf packs at risk of spreading the disease and drawing attention, and trying to keep the peace as tensions rise in the small sept.
-Posted by: Stalks-the-Ice, 06/03/2003
10. BLOOD LUST: Two septmates who are best friends all of a sudden disturb the peace of a moot by going for each other's throats, for a lousy reason. They demand a dual, and when asked to choose their weapons, they are drawn to a pair of Klaives, mounted in opposition, in possession of the Sept. The Master of the Challenge splits the pack up and appoints them as seconds durring the dual, and gives 5 days for the dualists to train, as well as hopefully come to their senses. The PC's are urged to disuade the dualists from this horrible loss of life- even if the dual is to first blood, neither of the combatants will be satisfied till their opponent is dead. As the PC's spend time training the dualist in their charge, they soon notice a personality surfacing in the Garou. They even slip a couple of times and call their opponent by a different name, or cite some sort of dispute that no one has ever heard of. As the PC's look into the Septs history, or examine the dualists, they soon realise that 150 years ago the same two Klaives that are being used were involved in a fight resulting in the death of two, and it is the two Klaives who are really motivating the two to kill each other, out of their old longing for vengence and hatred for each other. Can the PC's stop this needless and tragic loss of life?
-Posted by: Stalks-the-Ice, 06/03/2003
11. MOOT POINT: The Pack's Galliard (Or the Elder Galliard from the pack's sept) is invited to come to a moot in the region, and compete against other Singers/Storytellers. However, the PC's soon realise that someone is trying to sabotage their Galliard's performance, as well as the performance of other Galliards. In the heavily traditional and ritualized atmosphere of the moot, they cannot conduct their affairs openly, and must covertly try to stop the machianations of the cheater, who turns out to be an Elder. How can they openly challenge someone so high above them without loosing rank? What if they and they themselves are being manipulated? In addition, each of the characters find something to interest them at the moot, be it a shagadelic kinfolk, dancing, drinking, storytelling, competitions of physical prowess, or whatever tickles their fancy. Do they get distracted?
-Posted by: Stalks-the-Ice, 06/03/2003
12. ROMEO AND JULIET: The PC's come across two Garou in their sept who've fallen in a love forged by loneliness and the dangerous nature of Garou life. In each other's arms they find comfort and understanding in a horrible, dark world. They have yet to create a metis, and it's up to the PCs to figure out how to deal with the two characters, before their romance blossoms into further tragedy. They struggle to remain one step ahead of a conservative elder who would kill the two Garou, or have them outcast, and they may very well wind up questioning the litany. Potential for alot of tragedy- do the two lovers elope? Commit suicide? Throw themselves heedlessly into a battle that kills them? Do the PC's decide to rat them out?
-Posted by: Stalks-the-Ice, 06/03/2003
13. ADDICTION: The pack finds out that a young kinfolk has become involved in a dark underground, where humans offer themselves to vampires who drink their blood, just for the rush they get off of being fed on. The PC's have to fight the vampires involved, as well as trying to help the young kinfolk, a depressed teenage, struggle with their addiction-Do they go back to their old ways, or can the PC's save them?
-Posted by: Stalks-the-Ice, 06/03/2003
14. GRIN AND BEAR IT: The PC's come across a Guhral Cub on it's way to find it's burijan, many miles away. Do the PC's kill it, introduce it to their sept, or try to guard the young'n and help guide him towards his destination, amid the peril of being hunted by The Wyrm and caught between a clash of two cultures, and perhaps redeem some of the actions from the War of Rage?
-Posted by: Stalks-the-Ice, 06/03/2003
15. HOPE: A Silver Fang storms into the Sept and announces his plan for a more aggressive assualt on the regions Wyrm Creatues. The Sept's elders argue that they do the best as they can, while also protecting Kin and fighting The Wyrm's more subtle taints. They also argue that to be that aggressive would provoke The Wyrm to be more aggressive, and wipe out the sept in short time. The Fang says to do other than he says is to break the litany and deny what it is to be Garou, and extends and invitation to 'The Real Garou' to join forces with him. If the PC's are unmoved to join him, then the Septs Elders recruit them to go undercover in the Fang's ranks to keep tabs on him for the Sept. In the Fang's army, they acieve many victories, fighting and winning constantly, earning reknown, resources, and fetishes- whatever the characters most desire. Werewolves from many tribes travel from far and wide to participate in the Fang's glorious war. The PC's earn the Fang's trust and become his lieutenants and friends. Finally, the Fang announces the next great step to his plan- to take over the PC's old Caern, ovethrowing 'Wyrm tainted, weak Garou' and letting the richeous and mighty claim the sacred land. Do the PC's go along with The Fang's plan, assuridly gaining a position of presiege in the new regieme, or do they return to their old sept, and fight off the usurpers? The Fang's meglomanaical nature shines through when victory is his, and eventually he turns on the chars and abuses his power when the Caern is his, and the PC's further have to deal with the blood of richeous Garou on their claws- Is the pack divided when it comes time to choose sides?
-Posted by: Stalks-the-Ice, 06/03/2003
16. HOSTAGE: One of the pack is held hostage by BSDs who slowly torture him for information. When they're done, the PC is killed- Can his packmates track him down in time to save him? Do the BSD's break him? Can he escape?
-Posted by: Stalks-the-Ice, 06/03/2003
17. JOLLY JACK'S BACK: The PCs investigate a series of murdered prostitutes. They stumble into the legacy of none other than Jack The Ripper, as they continually have flashbacks to the Garou of Victorian England, and their struggle to stop the murders. It becomes clear that the source of the murders is a traveling museum display centered around Jack The Ripper, where a Wraith or Wyrm Beast is anchored in an artifact on display- they find that where-ever the museum has traveled there have been similar slayings. Constantly traveling between the 1800's and the present, they must investigate the supernatural intrigue of an untold history of the murders, of a monster possessed by a hatred for 'working girls' and the immoral, driven to commit an act more vile than that which they despise. Secerate Societies abound and fun is had by all as they hunt down the mortal responcible, and must narrow down the suspects through investigation and supernatural insight.
-Posted by: Stalks-the-Ice, 06/03/2003
18. THE MATRIARCH: (This is largely hijacked from Brown's The DaVinci Code, a fantastically entertaining book I'm gonna try to post about later) The characters encounter a Black Fury Kinfolk being hunted because of a legacy she has unknowingly inherited. Through a series of codes and secerate histories, the PC's must help her discover a secerate legacy that stems from the birth of christ and would rock the foundations of the catholic church. The PC's are being hunted by those who want the information, or want to destroy it, and must match wits with The Inquisition, Glass Walkers and other Black Furies looking to acquire the information, that places a matriarchal (And therefore, valuable to many Gaians) spin on Christianity and exposes many herisies as the PC's try to find and understand the true legacy of the Holy Grail...
-Posted by: Stalks-the-Ice, 06/03/2003
19. TRUST IN GOD A Spirit closely associated with the pack (perhaps even their totem) appears to them and asks them to perform a sacred quest for Gaia. They must travel to the wild reaches of [Insert Country really far away from Caern] and recover an artifact once lost by a Silver Fang hero which has now re-surfaced in the hands of Wyrm creatures.When the pack reaches their destination the search should appear to be utterly futile...because it is. Clues such as the odd behaviour of spirits, the lack of communication from their totem and the ever-increasing Wyrm taint in their vicinity (when there's no-one around) should eventually lead them to realise one thing; They've been had. It then becomes a race against time to get back to the Caern to help defend it from an assault by servants of the Wyrm (whether they know this or not can add more fun to the situation).Will their caern fall? Will they make it in time? Will they ever look at the spirits in the same way again?
-Posted by: Iscariot, 06/04/2003
20. SUFFER THY PEOPLE In a small but functional caern somewhere, the characters find themselves witness to the final destruction of the final garou born descendant of the sept's oldest elder. The Elder is usually easy going, and happy to help the younger garou of the sept, and spirits and kinfolk as well. Some consider the elder to be weak, old and frail - but the said elder is still very much essential to the sept and caern. Finally the last of the garou blood in the elder's family dies (a son, grandson or whatever) and the elder grieves. The elder grives far too much and is beginning to give up on it all, especially with the increasing wyrm activity in the area. Harano draws closer. In the sporadic mood swings the elder punishes youngsters and challenges older garou. The elder begins to ignore some of the sept's rules claiming that "I know better" or "i knew nothing bad would come of it". People begin growing impatient with the elder.Eventually another garou (rival) takes advantage of a challenge thrown his way. He decides to take it to combat. After all the mad, far too old Elder is an affront to the litany. The rival wants position in the sept and will kill the elder, all know it - but most are also sure that the sept and caern may fall very soon after without the presence of such an old and wise being. What will the characters do to avoid the situatio? What will they do to try to avert it? What can they do to avoid punishment from the elder themselves? Will something avert the death of the elder before its too late? Who knows...
-Posted by: DeMontford, 06/04/2003
21. THE HEART OF MADNESS: The Sept suspects an Wyrm plot against them, except, aside from the most fleeting clues that don't amount to anything clear. Then, a Theurge recieves a vision of the Sept falling and everyone dying, shortly before the Theurge herself dies of the pain. The PC's manage to neutralize a BSD, one of the antagonists who's been plaguing them for a really long time, one that they have a relationship with. The PCs are designated to get information from the BSD, because they are assumed to be the ones who know how the fiend's mind works the best. After a couple of psycological games, the pack comes across a ritual, very archaic and very dangerous, that lets Gaian Garou enter the mind of another Gaian Garou, in hopes of reclaiming some of the hero's old memories and experiance. The PC's decide the situation is dire, and they are going to try to enter the mind of the BSD as a pack. After a long grueling ritual, they are cast into Garou History- From the roots of the Imperiglum to The War of Rage, to see how horrible Gaian Garou can truely be. Then they see other events, that historically they have been told to be proud of, but they see an ugly twist onto them. They meet White Howlers and other members of their own tribes from ancient time, and are forced to realise the similarity between the two, perhaps even the fiendishness and nafariousness that even their own kind, and they themselves are capable of. The goal of this history is to show the eerie similarities of of all Garou, and the evil that potentially lurks within. Shake what the chars think about Garou and themselves. Finnish the story with The White Howler's last stand and demise, and make it really similar to what the PCs are experiancing in the real world. When they come back to the real world, have the Spiral bleeding from every oriphus, and laughing maniacally before dying.
-Posted by: Stalks-the-Ice, 06/04/2003
22. Do we bother?? One of the players has a human contact with (incert favorite) US govt agency, they occasionally trade favors. He is calling in one. He wishes you to aid his team track down what is decimating drug smugglers in droves. After waiting, tracking and investigating, you find it to be a pack of wyrm tainted mokole. DO you silence them? Leave them be? Try to cleanse them?
-Posted by: garhkal, 06/07/2003
23. Big trouble in little china. A powerful bear fetish has been located by the hakken garou in hong kong. But they know not what it is or does. Rumors start to fluctuate, and when a stargazer eventuyally does figure it out, he dies of a mysterious disease. Do the pack try to recover it? If they do, what do they then do? Do they try to get it to the gurahl? Do they know of any?
-Posted by: garhkal, 06/07/2003
24. A bright night. A gullible and some what excentric Glass walker kin scientist, is turned to working for Developmental Neogenics Algamated. While working there, he (or she) finally makes a breakthrough on a powerful new drug which when taken forces a garou into breed form for a full month. While in the garou's body they cannot shift, or use any powers. What do the party do to try and stop this being fully developed? Do they figure out why he made it? Can they stop the wyrm's minions getting their hands on it? TO throw a twist in to it, have this new drug have major healing properties (the mirical cure for aids or something like that).. Can they destroy it, and condem the rest of humanity???
-Posted by: garhkal, 06/07/2003
25. MURDER IN SMALL TOWN X/JAWS HYBRID: The PC's travels take them to a small port town. Very eerie, think Steven King novel. As the PC's come in, they find practically the entire town's population at a makeshift town hall meeting in a empty wearhouse by some rickety old docks where a shabby fleet of fishing boats are moored. Apparently a murder has been commited, the corpse recently found hanging like a trophy fish by the docks. The town is mortified. The PC's undertake the investigation and two things persist to happen- Shark attacks and serial killings. Specific people with seemingly no connection are targeted. If the PC's make the right connections, they'll realise over a hundred years ago the town was plagued by shark attacks. A man singlehandedly went out into the water by himself and came back, claiming to have slain the man-eater. Sure enough, the attacks desist. If the characters are really good, they'll realise all the victems are descended from that one fisherman. One of the characters in the town's cast is a wiley old fisherman, horribly scarred. The PCs' must interview subjects, compare alabies and try to piece the case togeather given the limited evidence and lack of motive. Finally, the PCs investigate the fisherman's houseboat, and while they go about searching, they find it has been set adrift from it's pier. The PC's are then hunted by the massive Rokea, who had been hidding in the guise of the fisherman, bent on inspiring fear on the humans who assailed him all those years ago- he wasn't even the man-eater, it was just a coincidence that it left after he was mauled by the fisherman. It gurgles about justice as it rips the boats apart. Can the PC's defeat the beast on it's home territory?
-Posted by: Stalks-the-Ice, 06/09/2003
26. THE SEAT OF POWER: The PC's travel south of the boarder. There they settle into a prominant Bone Gnawer/Child of Gaia/Uktena Sept for a little while. They become familiar with a neighboring sept of Shadow Lords/Uktena and Get of Fenris. One of the leaders of the Sept is a reknown Shadow Lord Vampire Hunter/Archaeologist. He spends his time hunting the Vampires of Mexico City and traveling through tombs, pyramids and museums, studing ancient MesoAmerican cultures. In his many years, he's made many friends and allies and is greatly respected by many for plunging into the heart of the Leech problem, undaunted by anything. Therefore, when the PCs begin to suspect there is something wrong with him, they must still their tongues and make more of a case for themselves. While going to visit an elder Uktena in the mountins, who lives in a traditional Mayan village, the PCs find the village wrecked. Blood soaks the soil and fires still burn in homes. As the PCs explore the site, they find an overgrown stone alter, with the bound body of the Uktena Elder chained in the center. His eyes bug wide open, and in the center of his chest is a gapping, bloody hole- His heart has been ripped out. When the PCs report what happened, suspicion of them grows. They hear of a museum heist on the news, several Aztec, Olmec, and Mayan artifacts have been stolen, and the place seems to have been vandalized. However, any one with a good enough investigation will realise it was forced to look like it was vandalized- Someone is trying to cover up a specific target of the theft. In continuing days, the missing kinfolk are found- bound to the top of a large Aztec pyramid, with their hearts once more torn out. Mexico City Officials deluge the media with reports of some sort of gang activity mimicing Aztec rituals for initiation. A Bone Gnawer with Vampire contacts says that the Vampire comunity is in an uproar as close to a dozen vampires have gone missing in over a weeks time. Perhaps a mysterious Balam emerges from the ruins and rain forests to address the Garou about their repeated transgressions and the danger in what they mettle with. Play up the mystery of old Mexico. The Shadow Lord Vampire Hunter comes into contact with the Sept, blaming vampires, or mages for all of the recent problems, and casually gives the sept locations that they might want to attack. Another Uktena Elder contacts the characters and requests an urgent meeting- however, when the PCs find the Elder, they find her also missing her heart, and people grow more and more suspicious of the PCs. The Sept the PCs are visiting tries to contact a friendly Sept, to ask what they know about the recent events, however, recieve no responce. The Sept has been obliterated. The Sept then sends emisaries to the Shadow Lord/Get of Fenris/Uktena Sept and find it abandoned, the Caern's totem spirit nearly driven mad with fury at the blatant disreguard his former guardians have shown- They have abandoned the Caern for they have found an even greater power that they wish to cultivate and safe guard. At the Caern, they find many of the missing artifacts that were stolen. The PC's are sent to a lost Pyramid in the middle of the rainforest, where the missing Garou are suspected of now residing, and there, to their horror, they find the Shadow Lord leading his fellow Garou in ritualistic cannibalism, sacroficing people, vampires, mages, kinfolk and Garou, and eating their hearts in order to gain power. They have changed into something that is no longer Garou, and they now revere and worship dark Gods that grant them monsterous power. Apparently, the Shadow Lord uncovered some dark rituals and forgotton artifacts. The PCs must return to the Sept and try to find a way to fend off the crazed cannibal Garou before their sept is too consumed.
-Posted by: Stalks-the-Ice, 06/09/2003
27. Ill Fates. After a close encounter with the Wyrm, the Sept Alpha becomes dangerously ill with some sort of disease that seems to affect Garou dramatically. Shortly after, the rest of the Sept begins falling ill. The PC's, being away for some reason, get a message telling them not to return to the Caern, and are tasked with finding the cure before the entire Sept falls to the disease.
-Posted by: silentthunder, 06/09/2003
28. Compassion under fire. This is a set of two short stories, to be played one after another. The first is a rather typical one. A group of fomori rangers are stalking the PCs, harassing them, and trying to find the location of the local Caern. While they never engage, the fomori are easy to find, and somewhat easy to destroy in a bloody rage. The PCs save the day until... You announce you're going to play a game of Possessed/Freak Legion, and ask the players to generate some characters. You play up the tragic side of their loss to the Wyrm, their dependence on Pentex, but insert a tiny hope for redemption. Put the PCs on a recon mission, sent to observe some werewolves, in order to stabilize the region. The players should not catch on if you do it properly, until you show the players the werewolves they are fighting (which are, incidently, the Garou the players were using before) When the final fight comes, show the brutality and cruelty of Gaia's warriors, and how they hardly think of reprecussions of their actions.
-Posted by: stat, 06/09/2003
29. HURRICANE: The PCs are forced to endure the elements when a Hurricane (Or if not appropriate, a snow storm, sea funnel, tornado or flood) strikes their Septs region. They must prepare the Caern to withstand the assualt, as well as check on the regions Kinfolk. When a family of human Kinfolk don't report back on the brink of the storm, the PCs are sent out to check on them and see what happened to their lines of communication. Perhaps theres weather induced rioting when it becomes clear a poorer section of the region is going to be hit very severly by the storm and there isn't enough government shelter available. If the game has a Theurge, perhaps they have their own independant part of the game where they must disuage the elements from reaping havoc upon the sacred grounds. I can just see a Theurge standing atop a mound holding a spear and shouting to a 30 foot wall of water and holding it there, mid air.
-Posted by: Stalks-the-Ice - 06/13/2003
30. Strange Horizons As the players are following a Moon Bridge to a far-off Sept that desperately needs their help, the bridge breaks and throws the players to a Realm in the Umbra few Garou have ever seen. Get surrealistic with the descriptions. The sky is aflame with green fire, the seas are asleep and the rivers are dreaming, the resident spirits swim through the land and walk on the water, looking at the Garou like they are freaks for doing things the other way. Down is across, close is far away depending on when you look, geometry is screwed to the point that there is an eternal staircase and Escher's Waterfall in the distance, just past the blivet that crosses the river. The kind of Realm that M. C. Escher and Salvador Dali would create in their sleep. Not only do the Pack have to find their way out of this Realm, they have to deal with the group of Banes. It's not that the Banes are strong, or even worthy opponents, but even Garou have trouble fighting when Up is corkscrewing around Sideways and Left is Last Tuesday.
-Posted by: DigitalRaven, 06/13/2003
31. The Pure Ones Rather simple concept- you play Uktena, Wendigo, and Croatoan in pre-Columbian America. Requires a lot of research and preparation, but could be a rewarding game.
-Posted by: stat, 06/13/2003
32. Searching for the Survivor. Bringing this over from the New Talen Thread of mine, since this is a kick ass thread concept.The pack is sent to a local church that is governed by an Elder Garou. The pack enters standard old catholic cathedral to find a priest praying before a table of candles. While the pack is talking to the priest, the candles start to go out one by one, then faster and faster. The priest begins to get very upset, and explains the candles are talens informing him of a certain septs population. That they must have been all wiped out. Then have one, maybe two candles stay burning (or light back up after a moment of darkness for enigmatic flavor). And send the pack to locate these survivors and learn what befell the caern.
-Posted by: SnapsAtFireflies, 06/13/2003
33. Maintaining the Binding. The pack's sept is part of a multi-caern binding over a very powerful bane. The energies of the various moon-bridges help to ensure a certain big nasty is kept imprisoned. However at the annual Rite of the Moonbridge (Forget precise rite name, the one they do each year to reaffirm the moon-bridge connections between caerns.) When the rite is being enacted, and the Ritemaster awaits the opening of the bridge to signify the successful completion of the rite at the other caern, nothing happens. Turns out the caern has been wiped out, and a vital part of the mystic energies keeping the bane subdued is lost. The bane then begins to stir, causing massive upheaval in the surrounding areas(type of upheaval left to ST's discretion for what type bane is sleeping, mine is a Fear-bane.) The once long Slumbered minions of this bane reawaken and reek havoc in an effort to strengthen their master. The pack is sent to try and stop these minions rampage of destruction, while the elders decide how to re-establish the missing link in the chain. Do they attack the fallen sept in an effort to reclaim it from the Wyrm? Or do they decide to try and create a new caern somewhere else, reasoning that since the wyrm knows the location fo the previous caern, it will always be at greater risk. The pack could then be sent to scout out the location in either situation. And then take part in the reclaimin/building of the caern.
-Posted by: SnapsAtFireflies, 06/13/2003
34. Sweet Child of Mine One of the pack has a child that is comming close to time for Change and they are sent to pick him/her back to a caern and instruct them on the wonders of being garou. The child has just recently been taken into police/dcf/etc custody. How can the young pack track the child down through the system or through spirit? How does the pack get the child out of state run foster home without damaging the veil or other children and social workers?
-Posted by: NoSheep, 06/14/2003
35. Life's a Beach (slightly based on true story) The beaches on Daytona and east coast of Florida have been suffering an amazing amount of eroison over the past few years. There has also be a great deal of building right next to the water and other man made problems. The local sept has noticed this but so far has been unable to stop it. More and more sharks are also found off of the coast making swimming dangerous. A helicopter fly over shows many sharks just off shore almost like a gathering.Does the sept try to figure out what is going on? Several tourists are killed on land in a horrible bloody way. The drs are saying that the only thing that could do this was a shark but the body was five miles inland.Can the pack connect the killings to the shark gathering in time? Can they find some way to make contact with the Rokea? And biggest question of all, why would the Rokea care?
-Posted by: NoSheep, 06/14/2003
36. Strange Harbours[1] Following the events of Strange Horizons or a similar story, the characters get to their destination, a Sept that desperately needs their help. When they arrive, they find something is wrong. A Sept that contacted Glass Walkers for help is under the control o the Red Talons. The Wendigo are called to the assistance of the Fenrir. That kind of thing. The Sept that called for them is renowned for being xenophobic, and yet is opening themselves up to Garou that would not otherwise be seen there. Other little details are all wrong. New York is the Big Pear. A character's girlfriend has never heard of him. Magadon is run by Kinfolk and is secretly working to benefit Gaia. That sort of thing. Small things that could be missed without paying attention, but that the players will notice if they are awake. What's going on? Well, the characters have found their way into one of the many alternate realities known as a Mirror Zone. Little details are different about the world around them, but one that remains is that the Pack was called upon for help against a grave emergency. The only Garou knowledgeable enough about the Umbra to possibly help them return is dying, and the Pack has to decide if they will potentially sacrifice their chance to return home to instead defend a Caern, upholding the last and most crucial of the Litany Laws, or whether they will decide that they cannot risk the defeat of the Sept they were originally sent to help to help a world they do not know.
[1]: Yes, I have a fetish for naming my stories "StrangeFoo". I'm kinky that way.
-Posted by: DigitalRaven, 06/15/2003
37. Strange Paths[2] The characters have to make their way back from the Mirror Zone which they were recently trapped in. This is no easy task, however. In order to return to their home reality, they must first regain a Fetish known as a Stone of Homecoming, a powerful Fetish capable of always guiding a Garou through the Umbra to the place she calls home. There's just one problem with this otherwise damn fine plan: There's only one Stone of Homecoming known to the Garou, and this Stone is lost in a cave far down the Iron Path of the Abyss realm. Logically, the characters would go trundling off in search of this stone. Who should stand in their way but the Lost Legion, a group of ghosts disturbed from their normal place of rest (the Shadowlands), requires the characters to help them find their way home. The Legion does pose at hreat, with their weapons and their shifting plasm and the lack of any fear of death. The question then becomes, how does one help the Lost Legion (or "How many Wraiths with Moliate 3 does it take to overwhelm a Crinos Garou")? And if the characters manage to solve this little problem, how do they go about retrieving the Stone of Homecoming from the pool of pure liquid despair that contains it? And how do they know that the reality they are in is their own?
[2]: Whip me more!
-Posted by: DigitalRaven, 06/15/2003
38. I like the parrallel dimensions thing. I was a big fan of that old TV show 'Sliders', if anyone else remembers it. It can be an interesting way to make the characters look at the game differently... I personally always liked toying with the idea of The Wyld replacing The Wyrm as the dominating member of the Triat or putting the PCs in a world where humans know of Garou, just to show them the importance of the Veil. Garou huddled in the darkest corners, just trying to eke out survival, SWAT teams constantly hounding them, Garou-sniffing security dogs in every major bus station, airport or government building, lots of propaganda on the TV... I could just see the PCs flipping through the channels to come across Sesame Street... "Elmo want to sing a song about the Werewolf Menace!... Oh there's so many ways to kill a Garou, like silver and fire, hacking their necks untill they expire..." People fanatically going to church because they believe Faith can hold Garou back, and the few scattered remnants of the Garou Nation are considering diving into the Umbra to escape the constant persecution.
-Posted by: Stalks-the-Ice, 06/16/2003
39. THE CLAIR WITCH PROJECT (Wouldn't want to infringe on any copywrites, heh-heh... I've never seen the Blair Witch Project, but I've read about it on the net, and I like it's mythology): The PCs find themselves in some sort of small town, that has a legend about a witch who lives out in the hills. Set the story in the twilight of winter, as the last of the reds and oranges bleed from the tree's and there is a bitting chill on the wind. This is a nice horror setting, because its sort of removed from the usual threats the Garou face, almost a world unto it's self. Although supersicion is kept private to all the townspeople, clearly they all have a fear deep in their hearts of what lurks on the outskirts of their town. They keep to themselves and are weary of outsiders. If the PCs listen to a couple of stories from older folk, or perhaps ask a couple of questions in a local bar, they'll hear the stories... A witch who was railroaded out of town in the colonial days, swearing vengence... the stories of missing children... even an incident where an entire search party (or group of game hunters that ventured into the wrong part of the woods) was found ritualistically killed and mutilated... Even a serial killer claiming to be in the thrall of the 'Witch'. All of these stories span centuries. If the PCs check the town hall's records, they'll find information about the incidents, such as crime folders, newsclippings, journals, a couple of disturbing photos. Perhaps the characters are drawn into the woods one evening by distant voices, or Sense Wyrm flaring up, perhaps they try to locate a missing child... The important thing, is that they get out into the woods. They follow a trail, clearly, for a while. Once they've distanced themselves from the town it becomes clear there is nothing at all natural about these woods. No birds, no crickets, no stars. Cairns piled up, stick figures in the tree's, ruinic carvings... They are clearly lost, and cannot find their bearings through any means natural or supernatural. Their nights are haunted by nightmares, they hear whispers on the evening wind, amid the rattling of dead leaves they hear the sound of little girls talking, along with the voices of other victems. Difficult to make out, like something being whispered. Maybe they see ghostly figures in the night at a long distance, and no matter how they try, the silhouete remains at the same distance. Then, the shape disapears, and the character finds themself completely lost from their packmates. Perhaps they are haunted by visions of their own deaths, or a stench of rotting corpses for just a second as the wind shifts. They come across mutilated animals bound to tree's, piles of rodent skulls. All of these should be used sparingly and remotely, to build up a sense of mystery and suspense. They notice things from the legends they've been told in town, patterns, things that line up with what they've read historicaly, an amalgum of many different myths, some a fusion of native american with old world european. They come across the occaisional landmark that just... shouldn't be there. Time and space do not add up. Finally, they come to a very old house, emerging from the evening mist as the sun sets. As they make their way through the house, they find blood, runes and they simply cannot find their way out. In the end, the culprit was a Verbena, gone rogue and almost nephandus, living in the woods for centuries, reaping her vengence on the towns people who drove her out all those years ago, and practicing her dark magice out in the woods. Come up with an innovative way for the PCs to defeat the witch, who remains ellusive to the last. Harry them, traumatize them, make them afraid. Perhaps it involves their apologizing to her, or finding the remains of all the victems in a crypt in the basement... maybe the witch will not be satisfied until one of the PCs has died and her thirst for blood has been saited... temporarily...
-Posted by: Stalks-the-Ice, 06/19/2003
40. TAINTED LOVE: The PCs attend a moot and... one of them has a rather intimate encounter with a charming Kinfolk lass. When the PC wakes up, quite hungover, he finds her making breakfast, and talking like they're spending their futures togeather. This could go three ways...
1). The Kinfolks Garou family show up to congratulate the PC on 'joining the family' and ask when they're going to hold the wedding. They get threatening when concerning dishonoring their kin... Can the PCs get their buddy out of this dilema?
2). Another Garou had rather strong feelings about the Kin girl, and slanders the PC and his entire pack, publically, demanding satisfaction, and a duel over the Kin. The Garou doesn't really want to risk death over a one night stand, but can't stand by while he is slandered... And gets the startling feeling that he's being used as a pawn in the girl's game...
3). The girl doesn't take too kindly to being turned down by the Garou and proceeds to subvert the Garou's life, making it hellish. It starts off small, hundreds of emails, love letters, disturbing poems, stalking the Garou, taking lots of pictures. Then rumors spread around the Sept about the Garou... His packmates begin having creepy encounters with the girl who tries to seduce them to get back at the Garou. She has high status among Garou, and alot of friends. Very few people believe the pack. Things take a turn for the worst when she begins traficking with The Wyrm and making attempts on the Garou's life. Even if they manage to take down the girl, they are reguarded as being responcible for her demise, even though it becomes clear the girl has been obsessed with this Garou for quite some time prior to their tryst.
-Posted by: Stalks-the-Ice, 06/19/2003
41. HARRY POTTER AND GAIA'S BRUTAL VENGENCE: The PCs come across the location of a lost Caern that was brutally stolen by a group of English Mages. Research teaches them that it is used as a training academy for the dirty Caern-Rapers, and thus it's defenses are weak due to the inexperianced mages that populate it. It could also strike a crippling blow to the next genoration of England's magic weilding scum, especially if they manage to neautralize a prophesised Mage, whispered about by anyone in the know of anything occult, who recently undertook his first years in the school's enrolement. The Pack's Sept organizes and mounts an assualt, easily tearing apart the insolent little uniform wearing brats, returning with many trophies, notably many broken broomsticks, stupid looking hats and a pair of coke bottle-horn rimmed glasses, snapped in half.
-Posted by: Stalks-the-Ice, 06/19/2003
42. THE RETURN OF TURTLE: Many have prophecised that Turtle will return to the Garou in the End Times. Driven into a deep depression by the loss of his children, the Croatan, Turtle has been very far removed. After the successful completion of The Rite of Passage, the PC's Pack begins hunting for a totem, however, find many totems reluctant to accept them. Other Garou grow suspicious, and the Pack gains an odius reputation. Queries into the spirit world go unanswered. The Pack continues on many missions and tasks, and if they conduct themselves with Honor and stick-to-it-ivness, they get many strange Omens. Perhaps an enemy falls into a body of water and is consumed by hundreds of viscious snapping turtles. The tests of the PC's honor becomes stricter and stricter, and they recieve visions of the demise of the Croatan. Moving images, but also loving ones. Finally, the PCs travel through the Umbra one day and find a great cave. They follow the Umbral passages and finally come to an underground lake. As they sit on the shores of the lake, a large island begins to move towards them. A massive turtle pulls it's self from the lake and shifts it's weight. Turtle has called to the PCs. Long has he dwelled in sadness and guilt at his children's demise. He has shared this pain with the PCs, and finally comes to a point of honor- Now it is critical that honor be maintained- he has wallowed in grief long enough, though it will never leave him, Turtle remains stalwart and is willing to re-enter the war. Turtle demands honor of his new charges, and blesses them as 'The stable earth beneath their bretheren's feet- the support that shall never waver.' and charges them to help be bulwarks in hopeless battles, as well as heralds of honor, joining him in an effort to inspire other lost totems and gift the last genoration of Garou with their legacy- the forgotton secerates of their pass. To stand idly by while the fires of Apocalypse consume the world would be honorless, and Turtle, as the PCs have learned, is all about Honor.
-Posted by: Stalks-the-Ice, 06/19/2003
43. THE BURING OF THE VEIL - The PCs live in a small rural area with a Megadon Pharmaceuticals plant. After an engagement with some formori, the PC's have accidently lifted the Veil in front of a large group of humans. However things get worse because the people who saw them were afraid of what they saw, but did not panic. To make matters even worse, stories start to fly about in the local paper, about a "mass delusion" where a group of people saw what appeared to be some kind of a mutant, half man, half wolf creature. It is eventually found out that people are beginning to recall what they saw with perfect clarity to their psychologists that they saw what they believed to be a Werewolf. Panic begins to sweep the town more and more as more sightings of werewolves and mutants. It is discovered that the local Red Talons are purposefully rending the Veil in order to prove, that the delirium does not affect humans anymore. This is the best excuse they need in order begin the impergium once more as humans have finally shaken off their primal and unconscious fear of the Garou. The PCs must investigate why this is happening. They should help from an outside Sept, or conduct their own experiments, they will discover that the phenomenon is only occurring in their small town, as the Delirium still affects parts outside the small town. It's up to the PC's to discover what is causing those in their town not to be affected by the Delirium and keep the local Red Talons at bay to prevent a Second Impergium.
-Posted by: beemanfunk, 06/19/2003
44. London's Burning It's London at the turn of the century and everyone's got a feeling of milennial doom, and that includes both the local Garou and the Corax at the tower. There's a lot of tension in the air, and fuses are running short. When one of the city's five Corax is found murdered with all the telltale signs of an attack by Garou, the Corax go on the lookout for Black Spiral Dancers. In the meantime, a promising Fostern is killed apparently by one of the Corax. Any other time, they may be able to talk about it, but people have a mad-on to hurt something, to make the last, bloody move. The Garougo for the Corax. The Corax, seeing the city's Glass Walkersbearing down on them like the steam-train from hell, either fly off or start with the dirtiest tactics they can find.It's shadow warfare in the death-in-alleyways sense, and nobody's happy. The characters' Pack arrives to help the London Sept with another matter but swiftly gets drawn into the conflict. Seeing the newcomers, one of the remaining Corax tries to present their side, hoping the PCs might help cooler heads prevail before there's a major breach of theVeil. And in amongst (and guilty of) all of this, there's a Fomori that's a serial arsonist setting the city ablaze.
-Posted by: DigitalRaven, 06/19/2003
45. No Direction Home This one requires a character with parents that are alive and wrote the character off as dead a while back in his history. The Pack is sent to investigate and deal with what's going on in a small town, where everything's the American Ideal. There's old Mrs. Murphy who runs the General Store who has everything you could need. All the houses have white picket fences and children playing happily outdoors. The owner of the local bar never forgets a face and always has a friendly smile and knows just when to extend a tab. Even the air smells a bit sweeter. ALl of this is due to the townbecoming a "cultural preservation site", a new scheme set upby the local government to try to make places more perfectto live in, and once they're that way to keep them like that. Even the name of the town has changed. It takes awhile, but finally some of the faces should begin to click with one of the characters -- this is the town he grew upin! Now, however, it feels nothing like. The vital spark that makes every place unique is gone from this town, and from the eyes of people he used to know. And when his parents walk right past him without paying him any heed,well... Oh, the government plan is a tool of the Weaver instigated without anyone's knowledge, and sufficient chaos should be enough to ruin it... but that would require thecharacter taking a very hands on approach at destroying his home.
-Posted by: DigitalRaven, 06/19/2003
46. 28 Days in the Sept After all these stories it's time for a bit of a break. So, out comes the Baron Munchausen and off you go, taking the roles of the Sept Elders who have joined together for a couple of crates of beer and a truly fucking massive pizza, telling tales of life in the Sept over a month that would otherwise have been glossed over as downtime. Just what doe straining a Lupus cub to make use of his Homid form entail? How does one deal with the needs of a Kin husband that's more than content to just cuddle? Play it up and go light-hearted, just avoid the slapstick. Gentleman's Duels are replaced by Challenges, played out the same way. Gold coins are replaced by Rank tokens. For those that don't have Baron Munchausen, each player acts the role of a Sept Elder and spins a yarn about 5 minutes long, telling a story as described above. Other Elders can join in or contradict at will, and Challenges may be called which are resolved with three rounds of Rock-Paper-Scissors.
-Posted by: DigitalRaven, 06/19/2003
47. GIVE ME WHAT I WANT: Give the players what they want, kind of easily, without alot of hard work. For example, a PC who likes Fetishes and weapons. He gets a large weapon, a spear, an axe, a klaive, a poleax... In the heat of combat, whenever he uses it, the rest of the pack take the damage that the weapon deals out. For a PC who wants alot of gifts, have a spirit begin approaching them, offering to train them in Gifts, for a favor to be obtained at a later time. This has all kinds of evil potential. For a PC who wants political influence, have a major Elder take them under their wing... Start using them as a tool that gets the PC get alot of reknown, and attention. Then, have the Elder demand the PC do something against her packmates, either scandalize them or have them eliminated... The Elder made the PC, the Elder can break them just as well- He can turn a Silver Fang into a Bone Gnawer with a couple of the right words well placed. Perhaps have the PC do some of the Elders 'Dirty work' and have the Elder threaten to blackmail the PC. You have a Gun Bunny? Have them come across a crate of weapons, relatively unguarded. Then have the FBI come crashing down on the PC for holding weapons schedualed to go to terrorists. Perhaps have the guns be involved in some sort of murder and then have the shells the PC leaves at a battle traced to them. Pretty much, whatever the player wants- give it to them- Not even what the character so much wants, but the player. Tempt them. Then break them.
-Posted by: Stalks-the-Ice, 06/23/2003
48. KILLER WHEELS: The PCs come across a really fantastic car. This could be a secondary plot that builds up over time as the chronicle progresses. I personally picture that movie 'Christine'. A sweet ride, at a cheap price. Eventually, the PC's find out the automobile is actually a fetish... Possesed by a terrible Bane or incredibly fickle 'Goddess' type spirit (I picture one of the more vendictive Greek Goddesses), hellbent on killing them. Perhaps it is jelous, perhaps it demands to be the only object of attention in their life... Perhaps it wants to devide the pack, or separate one member of the pack from the rest. The car can have it's breaks falter at one particular time, or attract alot of unwanted attention, or uncontrolably swerve when they're driving to hit a child or an old lady to get the Pack in trouble. Perhaps it flat out drives into them, or has an alarm that constantly goes off at night. Perhaps it attacks their loved ones, allies and kinfolk. Perhaps the 'wheel man' is slowly becomming possessed and tainted by the car... perpetually hearing a sweet female voice in the back of his head... perhaps the vehicle even tries to get the player to seduce his packmates. As a climax, I can see a fight with an automobile being interesting... How many health levels does a car have?
-Posted by: Stalks-the-Ice, 06/23/2003
49. THE GIFT OF TWINKDOM: The PC's have vanquished the antagonist! Hurray! While they are subsequently looting the antagonist's lair, they find themselves oddly attracted to a rather simple article- An indiscript ashtray. Once more, a secondary plotline... The PCs are haunted by people bent on destroying the ashtray, and the longer they're in posession of it... This sad, pathedic, child-like voice, asking them to free it (Coughing frequently, from all the second hand smoke it's inhaled)... Do they unwittingly unleash Samuel Haight back into the World of Darkness?
-Posted by: Stalks-the-Ice, 06/23/2003
50. OPEN THE DOOR: The PCs are unknowingly hounded by a Marauder Mage. They're stuck in a room, and every time they open a door they find themselves in a different illogical situation, such as...
-A Mafia Execution
-A Pentex Shareholder's Meeting
-A Group of Hunters preparing for a strike
-A Bar-Mitzvah celebration
-A jewelry store (filled with Silver)
-A TV studioAnd other various things... very peculiar and surreal...
-Posted by: Stalks-the-Ice, 06/23/2003
51. Judge Doom A pack of Judges of Doom visit the sept, while there they accuse a close freind of Pack's of being a hidden Black Spiral Dance. During a trail they unearth damning evidence. What does the Pack do? Do they stand by their freind when even his own Pack won't? Or do they beleive the Judges?
-Posted by: madman, 06/24/2003
52. SUMMER IN THE CITY: The PC's hometown is suffering from a heat wave. The elderly and very young are suffering heat strokes, electiricty is dying out, mosquito's are breeding like it's going out of style, plants are dying, resevoirs are getting depleted and riots are threatening to break out. Werewolves are the only ones with the spiritual affinity to do anything about it, so the pack undertakes a quest to appease the weather. Why are such things happening? Is anyone doing it? Perhaps a Garou looking to punish the humans, or bent on inspiring chaos and destruction within the town? Play up the heat. Maybe even have some strange spirits manifesting. Very interesting ambiance potential, with the sticky, brutal heat making everyone suffer and everything seem like a big chore. The pack is forced with a collasal moral descision to make- Do they buy the Septs air conditioner at Home Depot or K-Mart? Or do they just try to sweet talk the local Wendigo Theurge to make with the icy wind?
-Posted by: Stalks-the-Ice, 06/26/2003
53. HUMAN HANDS: Suitable for an urban-centered game. I could see an all Glass Walker/Bone Gnawer run game being pretty fun in this setting. A series of gristly murders are taking place in the subways of the city. A Garou who works on the local police force, or rides the subway as a vagabond finds the crime scenes to reek of The Wyrm, implying some Wyrmish presence is either there or was there recently and still lingers. Hand the PC's a subway map. If they question various transit police, conductors or homeless people, they'll find the aproximate time the murders took place (3:37am), and the sort of people that were on the train. Alot of red herrings here, but a common thread is red sweatshirts. They'll also find out that the police hastily wiped away something written in the blood of the victems. Jumbled phrases mostly, but one of them remember's a symbol and draws it out for them- A seven pronged shape. If the PCs put two and two togeather, they'll trace out on the subway map a 5 pronged figure, with almost the exact same proportions as the symbol drawn for them by the witness. They have two murders until the figure is complete. Now they have to track down the killer and figure out what they're doing and how The Wyrm is involved. This part is largely up to the PC, but they'll hopefully realize that a mortal cult is behind this. The owner of an antique store came across a large ancient dagger and then began communicating with a Wyrm creature, bound in the Subway by the city's old Garou, protected and hidden by a labyrinth of passages and tunnels. The mortal developed a cult following based on The Wyrm beast's hollow promises of power and immortality if it is liberated. The killings weaken the creatures mystical bindings, and if the PCs allow the next two murders to happen, the creature will be liberated and the entire city (including the PC's Sept) will be in danger.
-Posted by: Stalks-the-Ice, 06/28/2003
54. VALUABLE COMMODITY: The PC's have a contact who informs them about a cargo ship being moored in a local harbor. Red tape prevents it from docking and unloading. However, the PC's find out that it is infact, loaded with migrants and refugees from another country who came seeking refuge and citizenship. The ship's crew have other plans, and a large underworld auction is being held- for 600 Mortal souls. Vampires, Demons, and Mages show up, as well as officials from Pentex, and other mortal agencies show up (Slave laborers, organs to harvest, people to trick out into prostitution). Everyone has a stake in the cargo- Sacrifices for a Wyrm ritual, blood for vampires, souls for Demons, test subjects for Mages... It's up to the Garou to deal with the events. This many people in the wrong hands could cause something horrible, or tip the balance of power in the city in The Wyrm's favor.
-Posted by: Stalks-the-Ice, 06/28/2003
55. POMPEII 1: The PC's are invited by a prestigious Garou archaeologist to do some investigating on Pompeii's supernatural history. However, when they get to the gates of the ancient city, it turns out they've only been drafted to do manuel labor. While they work at night, they're free durring the day to do as they please. They revisit the site they're excavating and find it to be a lost Glass Walker Caern. They manage to locate a network of ancient tunnels that lead into the Caern's bawn. They find a recorded history of the Sept's alliance, betrayal, and battles with Rome's Ancient Vampires. The two banded togeather to fight off the other Garou weary of the more city minded creatures. Ultimately, while the Glass Walkers and Leeches were at eachother's throats, a band of Red Talons evoked Vesuvius's spirit and sent it to wreck Pompeii... However... Buried beneath a villa hidden by ash and dirt, in a vault lays a creature that died centuries before the city was erected, and still slumbers, waiting to awaken. Perhaps the PC's run across a Vampire who recalls some of what happened in Pompeii, louping about in the hills, but they find the spirits are very quiet about this particular event.
-Posted by: Stalks-the-Ice, 06/28/2003
56. THE RITE OF THE RUINED CITY: As a sidestory to the previous one, a mysterious Sept of Red Talons operates in the ruined parts of Pompeii, as they have for centuries, as a monument to one of their greatest achievements- wiping out two human cities. The Talons, however, are dismayed, in that they have forgotton the ritual that wiped out the city in the first place. They have an alliance with the Garou archaeologist, where they exchange information, however, the archaeologist doesn't really know that the Talons are seeking clues to reconstruct the ritual that awakend Vesuvius. They theorize it could work for many other natural forces, Vesuvius aside. When questioned about their interest in the city, The Talons answer with simple evasive Talon logic. It's up to the PC's to figure out what they're doing, and if they either want to help the Talons, or hinder their efforts- The effects of destruction on such a massive scale must also be considered- Although wilderness eventually claims the plains of ash, if such a ritual is enacted on a massive scale, all over the planet, on the eve of the Apocalypse, it might give The Wyrm an edge that could seal the fate of Gaia.
-Posted by: Stalks-the-Ice, 06/28/2003
57. THE TOYS OF THE GODS: For many years a Garou Sept has been at a stalemate with a group of Vampires/BSD Hive or whatever the antagonist is. While both sides have been fighting heavily, no real progress is made. One of the PC's pack recieves a vision, or prophesy, or wisdom from a totem about a 'weapon that can win the war in the right hands, once and for all' hidden in the hills. The pack embarks on a journey and find a cave. They go through the cave, after many physical trials, and come finally to a chess board, sitting on a large flat rock. The chess board is simple. One half of the board belongs to a sickly, almost oily set of black pieces. The other, belongs to a set of shining silver pieces. Behind the silver pieces, and next to the table, is a glypth reading 'Gaia'. On the opposing side, a glypth reading 'Wyrm'. The PCs find they are unable to disturb the board, with the exception of moving the silver pieces in any legal move permited in chess. You guessed it. The chess board is a representation of the Garou and their antagonists. Every piece the PC's control represents a Garou life or an asset. Depending on how you built the Sept, grant each piece a physical counterpart. Play the game with the PCs. For each piece they loose, they can see a fleeting vision of the death's of their comrades. Hopefully they'll realise the weight of this game. If the King is lost, the Caern has fallen, and the cave begins to fill with molten silver, killing the PCs.
-Posted by: Stalks-the-Ice, 06/28/2003
58. INTO THE FERAL LIGHT - A Sept in Appalachia is brought news of a thriving Black Spiral Hive located in an abandoned coal mine, located in a holler only two days travel (in lupus) from their Caern. After a brief Hearing, the PC's pack is assembled and sent to investigate, and if they find the Hive, destroy all the Spirals who infest it. Upon arriving, the stench of the Wyrm is strong, but *something else* is stronger.
The Hive is filled with the remains of numerous Dancer's as well as humans (presumably kinfolk and, in the case of the older corpses, miners from several decades ago). Deep within the broken tunnels of the mine the Pack finds their mark - a Black Spiral Dancer in Crinos - cowering in a state of near catatonia.
Of course the characters could just mutilate the lone Dancer and call it a day. However, if the Dancer is slapped and threatened into lucidity, he will eventually be able to utter the truth of his Hive's fate in a drawn out and horrific recounting.
The Hive was purged by a group of Garou who were deeply and adversely affected by the extremely aggressive, chaotic, and insane spirits of the Wyld that were summoned by a botched attempt at raising a Caern a good ways down the valley. These hybrid entities are beyond and without reason and serve the Wyld as its Thralls. The destruction of the Hive was one of many Garou sites that the Wyld Pack has destroyed and devoured on its rampage.
-Posted by: xaosheruka, 07/03/2003
59. Greener Pastures The Pack head to a remote Red Talon Sept far in the wilderness, as they're getting quite the reputation for dealing with peoblems. The Sept's land has been bought up by a firm who want to develop the site into mines or oil wells or whatever's applicable, and the majority of the Talons at the Sept realise that the standard M.O. of killing a few humans in new and unusual ways to scare them off is not going to work this time. Instead, it would just draw more attention, and flypasts from men in their helicopters with their machine guns and their "hunting permits". Hence, them getting the characters involved. In general, this is a bog-standard "foil the evil corporation" plot as has been detailed a number of times, but there's a twist. Close to the Sept is an area thoroughly permeated by the energies of the Wyld. As the Talons dictate that no Garou should take a form other than Lupus or Hispo in the Bawn (so as to discourage humans looking for more of their kind), the Wylding has the simple effect of rewarding Garou who abandon the higher reasoning provided by their human parts in favour of acting like half-wolf/half-spirit. It's nothing sinister, but the characters will feel a yearning sooner or later to stay with the Talon Sept, as the simpler way of life looks *better* than the politicking and the lies and the pollution that they left behind. When their home Sept needs them back and they don't want to leave is when the fun starts.
-Posted by: DigitalRaven, 07/13/2003
60. A Tangled Web This one needs a "Mature Themes" warning, in that it deals with sex and the repercussions of such. A group of players who can't treat such things in a mature manner (and that means no snickering at the back) shouldn't bother with this one. It's not meant to be lighthearted comedy, it's meant to be muddled and hard to deal with without hurting someone. The story requires one of the characters to have a Kinfolk with whom s/he is honourably mated, and to have made overtures about reproducing before hand. After a long time away from the Sept (see any of the fineadventures above), the Pack return home to bad news. One oftheir mates, a particularly promising Kinfolk, has beenrendered barren or sterile[1]. Nobody knows how it happened,but both the Spirits and moden medicine will prove it: thereis no way this Kin is having anything to do with traditionalsecual reproduction. Since the character has recentlycompleted great deeds (again, see above), the Sept had hopedthat she would take the time to raise a child. The Septindeed still thinks that this is a good idea, offering thecharacter full use of proven Kin "studs" for the purpose ofsiring the child. Whilst a lot is said about how thecharacter's Mate will not be ill-treated or thought any lessof -- and how the stud will only be the father in thebiological sense -- there is a definite attitude that she isa second-class Kifolk. Perhaps surprisingly, this comes morefrom other Kin than from the Garou of the Sept. The truth isworse than it seems. The Kin who is chosen as the stud has aproblem. He believes that he is most worthy of mating with aGarou and of siring a Garou child simply because he doesn'tbring anything to the Sept that other Kin already do.Feeling shunned by his "people", he decides to exert bothcontrol and revenge in the only way he can think of -- Sex.He found a way to render the character's Mate sterile, andhas claimed in private that he has a cure. The only way theMate is getting the cure is if he renounces all claim on thechild. Without that, his situation is only going to getworse. Does the character discard her Mate in favour of thestud? Or does she continue to be Mated to a Kin who can nolonger produce children? Does she go along with the charadethat the child is nothing to do with the stud, and if shedoes what's the next step the stud will take? Can the Matebe cured? Is there any right answer?
[1]: To break from tradition, the Kin will be referred to asmale and the Garou as female. This is only ever a conceit tosave time, not to suggest that this is the only way it couldplay out.
-Posted by: DigitalRaven, 07/13/2003
61. THE CROSSOVER THAT WORKS: Nothing too complex or ornate. Simply put, the PCs find themselves hounded by people or beings that seem to be everywhere that they are. Any attempts to get close to them meet with evaision. Finally, while the PCs are sleeping, or at a weakspot, they come face to face with a well trained, heavily armed group of soldiers who manage to take them down, possibly simply, with gas or tranquilizers, or brutally beating them into submission. This game involves alot of 1 on 1 playing, as the pack is bound and separated by their assailants in some sort of bizare prison. Play up that they're weakend, that big brother is infact watching them, and that they really have no idea whats going on. Have the PCs unable to step sideways, somehow. Have them questioned about their recent activities. I'd say make the antagonist DNA or Pentex, or even the Arcanum, but I don't think that they would be good choices because the players already know of them. Any supernatural you feel would be interesting should be tossed into the mix, also being held, studied, prodded, poked, and vivisected. The rub of it all comes when a PC formulates a plan of escape, that requires either the manipulation and co-operation of the other denizens of the facility, or if the PCs are slow to pick it up, a vampire or something comes and makes the proposal, begrudgingly. The mood should be very uncomfortable, and confrontational between the inmates. Once they manage to get out, if anything survived the escape, they come to the hard part- do they assail those who helped them escape (Combat the Wyrm, always), or do they get out of there? Do the other supernaturals attack them when they get out?
-Posted by: Stalks-the-Ice, 07/14/2003
62. THE APOCALYPSE CLUB: A group of Fianna (And other hangers on of other tribes) blow into the Septs territory (I'm seeing them as a motorcycle gang) and start causing a ruckus. The PC's meet them and they call themselves 'The Apocalypse Club'. Their philosophy is Garou life is miserable, and they might as well enjoy themselves before The End of the World, which they are sure is soon. Its a futile battle anyway. Better than actively participating in the misery of Garou lives. They're heavy partiers and cocky risk takers with no respect for the litany or Garou tradition. I see them as being bullies who threaten the veil. The PCs deal with them- Does their carefree lifestyle appeal to them? Does the Club go too far and need to be put down? Do they come in peace, or with hostilities? Can they be convinced to help the sept in a big fight comming up?
-Posted by: Stalks-the-Ice, 07/18/2003
63. Don't Fear the Reaper One of the Sept's Garou has outlived himself. Growing older and older, he is in the unique position of being still alive. He has thrown himself into suicide missions but has beaten the odds every time. However, he is not a young Garou and is taking ill. His joints are afflicted with arthritis, and he stubbornly demands that he will not suffer the Sept to tend his sickness, instead demanding to be allowed to die like he feels he should have months ago. He sets off into the Umbra to find one last battle -- and the PCs are the Pack the Sept relies on to record the tales of his deeds. The group finds a powerful spirit, along with a cloud of attendant Banes. The Elder challenges the Spirit to single combat, leaving the characters to deal with the Banes (a reasonably easy task). When they get the chance, they see that the Elder's fighting style is brash like an untamed Fostern, and only luck is keeping him alive. Every opening is ignored by the Spirit, but that's not enough. The Elder makes a stupid mistake, and falls. The wounded Spirit then figures that the characters would make a good main course. Once they beat it off they still have to return to the Sept and decide how the tale of the Elder's Last Battle will be recorded for all time. Make it obvious that this is the main kicker, but don't make the Elder into an uber-NPC. As soon as the characters have almost finished the Banes, whack, the Elder is dead. The tale of his fall is the important part.
-Posted by: DigitalRaven, 07/22/2003
64. And a sequel: Angel in Aspic The Elder from the last tale had a bit of a secret, which his Kin confidant knows -- He was cursed by a Spirit to find it nearly impossible to die. Said spirit is a near Incarna-level Jaggling embodying the concept of Death, and the Elder encountered it on his last foray into the Scab, in the Umbral reflection of the city morgue. The Death-spirit was apparently tired of the way humanity monopolised it's time and attention -- even going far enough as to leave it wearing the shape of the Angel of Death -- and wanted an escape to the old ways, culling the weak and overseeing the end of life among everything that lives. The Elder refused to help it, for whatever reason, and it placed a curse upon him that as he ignored it, so would it ignore him. For all anyone knows, the spirit is still trapped in the morgue. There's more to it than just finding and freeing the spirit. It's a talkative sentient embodiment of concept, explaining to all who listen how it wishes the world were like it was before "Everything went insane". Freeing it is a matter of unbinding it from the location by destroying the anchor, a human skull -- yet another symbol of how much humans monopolise it's time. Don't overdo the spiel, but make it plain that this is not an interesting or happy Jaggling. Hopefully, this will rub off on some of the characters. This is the point where the shape of the spirit becomes apparent for the clue it was: The Death-spirit is (Was? Soon enough!) a member of the Brood of the Nameless Angel, the Majelin Incarna of Despair[1]. Whilst it isn't amazingly hard to kill, it has subtle charms that it has been employing causing the characters to doubt their own potential, which can be just as bad.
[1]: Break out the Book of the Wyrm. Grin. You know how to do this.
-Posted by: DigitalRaven, 07/22/2003
65. When to Let Go? (yes, this does have some similarities to 20: Suffer thy people. This one's an SL I took part in online.) The beloved Grand Elder at the local caern [name, setting, etc up to you] is getting old. Very old. However, (s)he's still extremely charismatic, with a natural gift for leadership that's been honed by years of practice and, on his good days his sharp mind and the better part of a century's worth of experience make him one of the best strategists the sept has. The problem is that the good days are steadily becoming less and less frequent. Were he any less popular with the rest of the sept, no doubt the portion of the Litany about not suffering thy people to tend thy sickness would already be under serious consideration. As is, out of devotion and a desire to hang on to someone who's still occasionally a valuable asset, the other Elders there keep finding one reason after another why that doesn't apply here, or can't be invoked yet. However, as his leadership becomes worse and worse (although not really less inspiring to most of the Garou around him) he begins making bad decisions in his position that increasingly call into question whether he's still fit to act as Grand Elder for the sept, or even to remain a part of it. Unfortunately, the Garou there who are in the position to make such a decision have been with him for a long time and, perhaps still hoping that he'll recover and once again be the leader he was, still do nothing about it.
-What should the characters do about their leader who no-one is willing to admit is no longer fit to lead?
-Would it be possible to help him to regain his mental facilities, possibly with the aid of the right spirits?
-If not, should they take other measures to deal with it?
-And what about the consequences of his poor command decisions?
-What can the characters do to help the other packs with the sept who are being put at risk by following orders?
-What can they do to prevent themselves from being sacraficed to the elder's senility as well?-Posted by: Vizigoth42, 07/23/2003
66. Witch Hunting There is the smell of wyrm taint around the PCs' sept. Even amid the high levels of gian energy of the caern. Repeated searches in to the bawn have yeilded nothing. soon they begin to suspect one of their own. Chars with sence the Wyrm notice that all of the energies of corruption seem to spiral to a focal point around one the septs newest cubs. If confronted about this the cub will proclaim her innocense, she will also claim iggnorance of why the seems to conduct the energy. These claims ring true to the ears of the Philidox. The other Garou wish to kill her, for the wyrm has often given its children the powers of deception. The cub is understandably terrified. What do the PCs do?
-Posted by: deaddude, 07/23/2003
67. HELL ON EARTH A Star Gazer comes to town, convinced that a group of Wizards hiding in the areas Asian community are trying to suck a majour city into the high-tech hell known as the 'Wicked City' as an offering for its masters. He implores the Sept to help him, and the Elders assign the Pack to do so. The scary part is as they investigate the group the Star Gazer beleives are Wizards, the pack discover that he is right!!!
Before they know it, the Wizards have began a long, slow ritual, and all sorts of corrupt Weaver spirits and Cyber-Formorians are popping up.
-Posted by: madman, 07/23/2003
68. THE GATHERING STORM This is a nice one to drop into the middle of a story, especially if you want to snapshot the players away from something for a while. If a player is a Shadow Lord he will not be privy to anything that the tribe is up to.
Word reaches the sept that the Shadow Lords have disappeared. Not all of them, but a large portion of the tribe has simply vanished with only a "skeleton crew" behind to guard Caerns which they alone have control over. If the right spirits are asked the say that the Lords have retreated to the mountains of their spiritual homeland but other than that they cannot say. Spying on the Lords should be a near impossible task (you're dealing with masses of Garou here) and the other tribes are loath to do anything as the Lords technically haven't done anything wrong - they're just being suspicious.
When the Lords return they have an openly hostile attitude towards many Garou but specifically the Fangs. Caerns are taken overnight because others are "Unworthy" or "Lacking" in their defence of the caern...perhaps even with proof of such. The Garou cry out at one, with the voices of the Fangs louder than any, that the Lords are finally proving their treacherous hearts and clawing for the Throne. Political ties are ruined, even with the Margrave who is nowhere to be found in such pressing times.
Then a voice comes to the players Sept, a Shadow Lord who claims that he has been ignored elsewhere. He is a known criminal, having received many rites of scorn for "questionable" acts against the Fangs and other Garou to better his tribes standing and his story is thus:
'With the rise of the Shadow Curtain in Russia an aspect of Thunder, Typhon, was cut off from the whole. Typhon was corrupted by the Wyrm and began making moves to usurp Thunder's control of the Tribe, masquerading as Thunder himself. By presenting himself to packs as Thunder and replacing Grandfather's brood with his own he was able to spread his influence in the Motherland. As the curtain fell he was able to spread his influence farther and farther. How Thunder did not see this I do not know but I do know this; false belief in Typhon has weakened Grandfather and his Tribe is lost to him. Worse still is that there are figures within the Tribe who know what's going on and are allowing it to happen. We are being manipulated and no-one will listen!!!'
He cannot prove what he says, as it came to him in his nightmares many weeks ago and now he hears it carried in the storm and on the wind. Even the spirits say that he's talking nonsense.
Of course he is laughed away as a trouble maker, perhaps even interrogated as a possible 'smoke-screen' for the Lords and sent away from the Sept with a close eye to be kept on him. The next day he is found dead along with the Garou sent to watch over him.
The Elders, while keen to determine the cause of death of one of their own (which will be attributed to a Fomori attack) put it down to either coincidence or as a play by the Lords to make this idiot's story credible.
Of course we hope the players are thinking "What if he's right? Have we all been duped, especially the Lords? More terrifyingly are Garou allowing this to happen? Where is the Margrave (and other key elders) to explain this? Was this Lord killed to keep his mouth shut?"....
I've used an idea similar to this myself. It can play out in a number of ways depending on how you want the story to go - for or against the Shadow Lords. I like the way it plays with lots of things:
- Prejudices and the views of the Garou towards perceptions of the enemy.
- It also allows the players to tackle the political field on a larger scale than they would normally use as they try and rally allies to whichever side they choose.
- I also like to chuck around the idea that Spirits can be political too, that they can lie to and manipulate one another with as much ease as the Garou do. Like my earlier story it examines the often misconceived perception that the spirits are infallible.I do understand that some folks might have arguments that some of this is hokum but I like the idea.
-Posted by: Iscariot, 07/23/2003
69. The alpha has been kidnapped by stealth-spirits! Are the rest of the pack members bad enough Garou to rescue the alpha?
-Posted by: Squizzle, 07/24/2003
70. Vampires By Day For this story I am basing vampires off of the article in the White Wolf Quarterly that suggest vampires are the product of blood banes possessing a dying body. I have thrown out all the VtM metaplot so as to put my players on the same footing as their characters, that is, they know very little about vampires. I have kept the breakdown of vampires that is laid out in the Storyteller's Companion as a starting point of what my players are able to learn.
For this story's purposes a vampiric siring is simply a rite of possession. For it to succeed, the victim has to be near death and imbued with the blood of a vampire. (Although I like the idea that vampire vitae is not essential, which would allow for new vampires with out a sire. Someone near death could be offered a chance at revenge by a blood bane and ta-da, new vamp.) The weaknesses of a vampire arise from the death of the mortal shell, which is necessary to make the possession complete.
Well the crux of the story hangs on an agent of the wyrm trying to figure out a way to recreate the rite of possession with out the victim dying. The failing is that the resulting "vampire" is a savage beast with only a trace of intelligence left. Over a very short period of time all reason disappears leaving a snarling bloodsucker that can move about during the day. Well once you have a good stockpile of these, turn them loose near the werewolves territory and watch the fun ensue.
Several facets of this story can be altered to fit your needs but here is how I set mine up. The wyrm agent is a fomor scientist who can alter his/her smell to seem like an agent of the weaver. There are actually very few vampires in my story and they remain hidden from the werewolves so as not to endanger the important research under way. The one clue that the beasties are being made in the lab is the presence of either metal bands or tattoos on their ankles listing serial numbers. The creatures are very bestial in appearance but revert back to their original appearance when they die. (This allows players to recognize the occasional beastie after death.) They have claws and fangs that can do agg. damage, can soak lethal, have six dice for every action, two actions per round, and like to mob up.
So it's a bit of a mystery who or what is behind all this. Your players who have played VtM well be second guessing everything of what is going on. And how do you protect the veil with these crazy blood happy attack monsters running around? What if your players wipe out the vampires involve? Do they have friends (with phosphorous?) And the evil agent behind it all... who is he/she working for? Can they call in reinforcements? Or if you kill them, who will come looking for payback?
-Posted by: Mrelzebub, 07/24/2003
71. The Prophesy *The grayish waves move back and forth, crashing on jagged stones and shear cliffs, a ghostly voice "cooommmme, we are past the stones and up the cliffs awaiting your arrival", bleach white surrface, blinding, made of Ivory?, No, Skeletons. "ignore the dead, we are waiting" the voice calls from a spire, rain, lightning, "coommmmmmmme coommmme COOOOMMMMMMMMME" The face of dying Garou, the Ghostly voice fades and the corpse like Garou speaks, her voice surprisingly strong, "Find me pup and all will be explained"
The Garou wakes screaming, or howling mournfuly, the other chars and most of the sept appear in moments, when the garou explains what happened, the other garou chuckle and tease him for haveing waking them all over a nightmare. They are silenced when the eldest among the gathered, a wise and much respected Theurge, steps forward and places a circle of salt around the embarrased character. He burns a handfull of herbs and thumbprints the ashes on the chars forehead and eyelids. The elder then places some more herbs in a bowl and gets them smoldering, The smoke begins to take on shapes from the dream. When at last the smoke-form crinos has vanished the elder rises, " It was no mere dream that this pup has had, no, it was a vision unlike most, I will contact the spirits and ask them for guidance. You", he glances at the characters, "will stay with me. The rest of you should get some sleep". The pack stays and gathers around the elder who sits silently, with his eyes closed for hours. (the players should make stamina rolls to stay awake. When at last he rises, he proceeds to slap all of the characters who have fallen asleep. After they are all awake he speaks, "The garou you seek is named Alek, Stride of Seven Leages". A Silent Strider Galliard who has made a name for herself as an explorer of the Dark Umbra, she is actually quite healthy, she just has the smell of death on her, and it colored the vision. Why did it have to be a Strider? Damn wanderers never stick around long annough to have a good chance of catching them." And he sends the characters away. If the find the Strider she claims no knowlege of the characters fate. She says she'll travel with them out of curiosty of what the vision(s) means. Along their travles The pack is (seemingly) randomly ambushed by banes/fomori/BSDs/whatever. In the battle that insues the strider is mortally wounded and dies. Even though she is viably dead, she begins to speak in a voice that is not her own,
"A child of earth and moon shall be born,
Whose head will shriek for its fate.
Whose triumph the great corrupter will mourn.
Whose comeing the dragons await.
Twards the isle of death where fortunes are lost
To the spire of saddness, atop mournfull shard
Whose promises lure but at sanities cost
Your fate resides in the Boneyard".What do the PCs do? What and where is this mysterious Boneyard? Well it is your game, and I care very little, so you decide.
-Posted by: deaddude, 07/25/2003
72. The Blood Red Sea A fisherman is rescued from his sinking ship by the coast guard, he claims that a three large sharks of different species scuttled his boat. This story gets back to the characters' sept. Could they be Rokea? The almost unheard of wolves of the sea. Could it just be a bizare occurrence? The sept leader sends the chars out to investigate. When they get there they find that more boats have been sunk and four fatalities have been reported. Several experts on shark behavior have been baffled by the new aggression of the animals. Whats more, conventional shark deturent (netting, electric signals, ect) have failed to stop the sharks. The fisherman are suggesting the use of drasitic measures. The truely strange thing is that only fisherman boats seem to be being attacked. On the first night in town one of the chars (probably the theurge) is contacted by a remora spirit. "set out to Sea tomorrow we shall find you." So the chars rent a boat and head off they sail for hours without incident when suddenly dorsal fins break the waves, and begin to circle the boat. A woman climbs on board "We have been waiting, and we know why you have come. We did not sink those craft. We have seen what happens when we sink human ships. They come with more ships and kill hundreds for every one life lost to the sea. Something is hopeing that the humans will blame us." ----- What do the characters do?
-Posted by: deaddude, 07/29/2003
73. And just to add my own nutty idea, have your players eventually make a visit to CyberRealm. On the way there, have them be sucked into some sort of spiritual pocket of telemarketing. Drive them nuts with the constant sounds of ringing phones and monotone salespeople. Perhaps they need to haggle a long-distance plan to escape, or simply ask to be taken of the "call list".
-Posted by: MentalM, 07/30/2003
74. A storm rages in the underworld. The restless dead emerge to war with the quick. The red eye gazes as the fallen God rises to see his kingdom in ruin. The blood runs thin through out as dawn rages against dusk, and demonic hellspawn runs the earth once more.
-Posted by: Stalks-the-Ice, 07/31/2003
75. Like a bat out of Hell. A group of Bat Spirits rebel against their wyrm-tainted bretheren. Malfeas is in Civil War!!!!!!! A Children Of Bat sept enter into the fray, hoping to save these rebels.
-Posted by: madman, 08/04/2003
76. HARRIER: Simple plot, could be made more complex, or addapted to fit into your story's metaplot. Based off of TB: Red Talon's section about Hunters (Capital H). A group of (H?)hunters, armed with twinkish amounts of silver enter cross over a line of territory that puts them dangerously close to the Caern. To attack the group head on would probobly result in the death of at least one of the PC's, who's pack is on guard duty. However, they are in the woods, and they can turn the tables on these would be werewolf hunters by using the territory to their advantage. Using a map of the region, keep track of where everyone is, while the Garou harry the hunters and try to wear them out and take them down when able, and make sure that they don't retreat. They shouldn't leave that forest alive. Don't let them sleep at night. Scare them. Co-erce them into going through poison Ivy. Wear them out by making them run, or taunt individual ones into leaving the main group. Use spirits to pesture them. This obviously would work best for a young pack in a rural setting, and one of the less technologically inclined tribes (Ie. no firepower. Defeats the real challenge when you can use a sniper's rifle to drop a hunter at long range).
-Posted by: Stalks-the-Ice, 08/05/2003
77. TEXAS TEA: The characters manage to recieve a deed to land that they managed to save from being developed as housing, or a strip mall, or perhaps they recieve it for other reasons. Reguardless, when they get the land, they find out it has hundreds of millions of dollars worth of oil under it. People are looking to develop it to get the oil. Maybe the government tries to buy it out, or Pentex starts getting really agressive. The clincher, is challenging the PCs- With the millions, they could do alot of good for the Garou Nation, save alot more land then the space with the oil in it- but can they sell out? Challenge each of the PC's with money problems to make it all the more tempting.
-Posted by: Stalks-the-Ice, 08/05/2003
78. UNTITLED: One of the packmember's kinfolk has a child with a terminal illness. It has maybe 3 months to live. The pack is called by this kinfolk's spouse who believes something horrible is going on. In the kinfolk's search for aid to save the child, they come across a fraud, and believes that the child is actually recieving help, when clearly they are just being fooled for their money. When the PC's pay the family a visit, they find that the child is reeking of Wyrm taint. If the PC's pay this fraud a visit at his clinic, they find a syrum being used, that stinks of the Wyrm. Further investigation reaveals it is vampire blood, being harvested by mortals in a facility, and being distributed as a wonder drug. The PC's have to deal with the spread of people addicted to Vampire blood as well as the inevitability of the child's death, and the kinfolk's faith in the practice of administering the syrum.
-Posted by: Stalks-the-Ice, 08/08/2003
79. THREE WOLVES AND A BABY A good one after a perticually intense story.Have one of the characters wolf mothers find them and drop a baby on their doorstep, pleading with them to mind it for a week and to make sure they don't give it up to anyone. After a day or two of trying to care for this child the sept will contact the pack demanding they return the child to the sept. They will not tell them why, only that they must. That night have a small pack of BSD attempt to steal the baby from their protection, have the sprials lose somehow. The next day the sept will send some of its warriors to collect the child, the mother will also return early to collet the child. The mother and sept warrior group will collide and the pack must chose.
Do they help the mother who raised them and disobey their elders and to hell with the consequences?
Do they does as they are ordered and tear a child from its mothers claws, doubtless making a powerful life long enemy in the process?
What is so special about this child?
-Posted by: 47, 08/08/2003
80. ALIEN RACE: The PC's are ordered by a sept Elder to run under the command of a Red Talon elder for a while (A lupus of another tribe will do, perhaps even a Talon. But a conservative Garou works best). The purpose of this story is to re-enforce that the PC's are alien creatures to humans, while not being a big gory blood splatter fest. They're not of the Wyrm, but they are not human beings. This also isn't supposed to glorify murder, infact, if played right, it should make the PCs feel horrible. The Red Talon orders them to run security for the sept at night, under the pretense that it will help them commune with nature and build a stronger sense of what it is to be a wolf. However, they are their to learn a lesson that is neither wolfish, nor the way of man- it is something that is Garou. The Elder approaches them and orders them to kill a group of men hunting deer near the boarder of the Sept. They are not an immediate source of danger, and aren't really that good at killing the deer they're after. They're really just hanging around, knocking back brews and bonding away from the city, their families and their jobs. Maybe they litter a little bit, or don't put out their fires exactly. The hunters put up no resistance, aside from maybe trying to grab their hunting bows or a bolt action .22 calibur rifle. They're simply too horrified. If they look over the corpses of the hunters, they find wallets filled with photos of children and loving families, maybe even something a child hand crafted for them to bring with them. The Red Talon goades them on as human lovers, ignoring what it is to be Garou- that humans are not their people anymore, if they are homids. The humans would persecute Garou if they realised they were there. Humans have ruined the planet, and breed to the extent that they are choking Gaia. This, however, seems to just be Garou Nation propaganda. These men were doing no harm, even respecting the land. The players need to dispose of the bodies and try to make sure the authorities don't search the region further, although it was far enough from the bawn to be safe. They need to feel dirty and horrible about what they've done- like they truly are monsters. If the PCs ignore the orders of the Elder, they may have a moral victory, but they may be penalized, or simply chewed out and sent back home in disgrace, but perhaps earning the attention of someone prominant who respects what they've done. This story strives to add a personal element to the theme of savage horror, and bring in what it means to follow orders that are unjust, or challenge what they think of as justice.
-Posted by: Stalks-the-Ice, 08/08/2003
81. POSSESSION: A Child of Gaia Theurge is caught with a good deal of Marijuana (It takes alot of cheeba to get a Crinos high) that was to be utilized for spiritual purposes (Sacrifice for spirits/Payment for favors/Utilizing for vision quests/Meditation). Rather then just take out the feds and risk rending the veil as well as needlessly taking innocent life, the Theurge has opted to try more peaceful means. He is being held on account of possession with intent to distribute. How do the PCs handle things? Do they try to take the stand as defense? Do they sidestep into the preceint to remove the evidence? Do they bribe the cops? Do they try to utilize allies/contacts? Do they try to make a deal with the cops that benefits them and their cause? Blackmail? Further, was their any foul play involved at the sept, IE someone trying to keep the Theurge in prison, or perhaps even setting them up?
-Posted by: Stalks-the-Ice, 08/08/2003
82. IN POUND-ED: A Red Talon cub comes to the PC's asking their help (Or perhaps its the sept's elders, trying to cover up a first change, whatever the case, a human gets iced and it looks like a werewolf did it). He recently assailed a human he found. Those who find the body believe it was a wolf attack. They comb the region and capture a wolf, and bring it back to an animal control center for testing, to make sure there isn't a strain of rabies floating around. Once they check out the wolf, it has a date with the gas chamber. The PCs are to liberate the wolf, which is actually kinfolk, and possibly mother, brother, mate, sister or father to at least one local Garou, if not one of the PC's themselves. How do they do it? Do they raid the place and try to free the wolf by force? Do they try to see if it can learn resist toxin? Do they substitute one of themselves to 'play dead' in hopes that they can use a gift or fetish to survive the gas and fake death? Do they masquerade as Animal Control officials moving the wolf to another facility? Do they rally the local anti-animal cruelty extremists to help free the wolf? Can they convince the local Red Talons/Lupus that the humans were just trying to protect themselves, other wolves and their livelyhood by destroying a sick wolf, and that a counter attack would only bring more dangerous attention?
-Posted by: Stalks-the-Ice, 08/08/2003
83. WHEN THE STARS THREW DOWN THEIR SPEARS... News somehow reaches the pack that there is some trouble in the Aetherial Realm. The Sept of the Stars and the realm it inhabits, now unguarded by the Stargazers, is under attack from the Star spirits that travel through the skies. They are not tainted by the Wyrm and only explain their actions with the enigmatic phrase "A thousand doors, a thousand masks, hiding unknown treachery".What is hidden within the Sept's tower? Can the characters unlock the labyrinthine code of walls and mirrors to reveal the truth behind this strange occurence?
-Posted by: Iscariot, 08/08/2003
84. M*A*S*H: The PC's are called to a neighboring sept that has just raided a hive or WICK. They don't go in time to deal any of the damage, but they are called in to help supplant the security of the Caern as well as tend to the wounded, which seem to be arriving in waves. Hopefully they'll establish some sort of triage, deciding who has a chance to live, and who has to die. Wyrm poisons torment the wounded, limbs need to be sewn back on, fetishes/gifts used, as well as good ol fashon medical practices. Some homids may even need to be loaded into a station wagon and sent to a human hospital to be delt with if the Caern gets overworked. Play up the horror of war, and the need to pick and choose life and death for others. Wear the PC's down- no gnosis, run out of medicine, just trying to keep people alive. Make them calloused by the end of the game. Have them deal with mourners. Let them all contribute in the way they are all best able- maybe some missing people need to be recovered, and a group of the balziest Ahrouns around need to go see if there are any potential survivors, or some family needs to be comforted, or some shell shocked cubs need to be talked to, or spirits of healing petitioned. Do the Wyrm's forces try to stage a rapid counter attack when the Caern's defenses have taken alot of losses?
-Posted by: Stalks-the-Ice, 08/08/2003
85. HEADS WILL ROLL: One of the PCs (Preferably with high Ancestors background, has re-occuring dreams where they are taking part in some sort of archaic battle, and they loose, their heads being hacked off. Finally, they recieve visions from a very upset Ancestor spirit... lacking a head. It becomes clear to the pack that the spirit will only know peace when the head is found and properly disposed of. The head was taken as a trophy, with the belief the head is the seat of a warrior's power, and somehow supernaturally imbued, thus not permitting the spirit to know completeness and peace. The next part is up to the ST. Who took the head? I have a couple of ideas-
1. The Fianna- These Garou have fought other Garou many times, and many are known trophy hunters. Perhaps the head sits in a vault in Silver Tara. Getting there would be hard enough, trying to challenge/negotiate to get the head back would be difficult.
2. Humans- An ancient family line of werewolf hunters keeps the head in a trophy room. They would not be so happy to negotiate with their enemy.
3. A group of mages inherited the head from their ancestors, who once warred with the Garou. They're actually a very modern group now, buisness men who use their proficiency in magic to make a profit and support their chantry, and they're friendly with the Garou if approached in that respect. However, they get very upset concerning returning the head- its part of their cultural heritage, and they feel they have a right to it.
4. Black Spiral Dancers. The trophy sits deep in a pit, in the trophy room of an ancient foul Black Spiral warrior.
Some story twists: The owner of the head to challenge the Garou to mortal combat- if the PC's win, they get the head back. If the NPC wins, they get to take a new head to keep the old one company.
Perhaps there is some sort of concession that the head's owners would make to get the head back, a trading. Perhaps the Garou own something of theirs, or perhaps its information they're after. It could come down to bartering an agreement out.
Perhaps the heads owners respect the spirit world, and after understanding the situation, would be willing to hand over the head.
If the PC's re-capture the head reward them as you see fit, though the addition of a newly-headed ancestor spirit would be appropriate. Perhaps they are able to give an important forgotton history, or the location of a lost Fetish/Caern that was taken. Or, you can use the Ancestor spirit to advance your story however you would find useful.
-Posted by: Stalks-the-Ice, 08/09/2003
New Thread Started after the first one reached 75 posts.
Thread Titled: A 100 Adventure Ideas II
Thread started by: Stalks-the-Ice on 08/09/2003
86. RAGABASHED: Ragabash traditionally look for weaknesses and exploit them in their enemies, or aid their allies in covering their hides. This story crafts a fair antagonist. A Ragabash of moderate Rank Gone bad. After a mediocre experiance in Garou life, despite having a talent for ferreting out weaknesses, this Ragabash went renegade. Exploiting weaknesses, blackmail, in both the mortal and Garou relm. This Ragabash is also willing to work for the highest bidder, and then probobly betray them for a greater profit. I'm thinking Glass Walker, Shadow Lord or Silver Fang. Perhaps the Ragabash tries to blackmail an elder in the sept, and its up to the PC's to do the elders dirty work. Perhaps the PCs themselves are the target. Perhaps they just feel the ragabash is just too great a threat. What it comes down to is outwitting a genius, and maybe trying to get them back on the right side of the good fight. A nice twist would be the Ragabash turning the tables on the PC's and giving them some information that might trick them into doing his dirty work, or turning on the Elder.
-Posted by: Stalks-the-Ice, 08/09/2003
87. Wesley Crusher Syndrome. Halfway through a wild, heart-pounding adventure, your sept alpha asks you to take along a young pup for his right of passage. The pup's young, clumbsy, but manages to survive by sheer luck. Hillarity ensues.
Hillarity suddenly screeches to an end when the pup awakens from a meditative trance, claiming to have had a vision about a local Red Talon pack turning and attacking the other garou.
Lots of political tension ensues. The Talons, when they find out, are understandably angry. We play up the difference in the tribal structure here - still a lot of paranoia and intertribal distrust. If you don't have Talons, replace with any other suitable tribe. If the PCs don't jump at the chance to play diplomats, the elder nudges them into the role.
With the two tribes on the verge of all-out war, the pup nervously shuffles his.. ermm.. footpaws (?) and says "Well.. I was kidding about the visions, I only did it to get attention" or some such. PCs are left to decide how to deal with it.
-Posted by: Dave, 08/09/2003
88. LETS BUILD A SNOW MAN: This story is centered around good RPing, so it might not work for some groups craving action, and certinly isn't appropriate for a starting game. It is, however, a Wild West game! The PCs are escorting some migrating Kinfolk out west. After following some faulty directions and mishap, they find themselves in a situation where they're trapped in a valley in the dead of winter as a blizzard hits. The trip is already taking longer than it should, and the food supply is nearly gone. The pack realises they're gonna have to either push through and get aid or try to stay put till conditions let up, perhaps for weeks or months. There is no food to be find, and even a player with high survival can only turn up minimal nourishment. Certinly not enough for a werewolf pack and kinfolk. The regions game is also gone. If the PCs try to get out of the valley, give them hell. It shouldn't be at all easy. If they stick around, eventually have one of the kinfolk die, of exposure, frostbite, starvation, or maybe something else. Have tension run high. Lots of potential insanity from the nervous kin realising they're surrounded by starving werewolves. Eventually, it comes down to this- Everyone is starving and there is at least 180lbs of good meat on the dead kinfolk that isn't doing anyone good just sitting there. Do the Garou break the litany? Does the devourer Wyrm pay them a visit, or drive the kinfolk insane, wanting to eat more and more, and eventually targeting the Garou? How does it play out?Mmmboy! Tastes like chicken.
-Posted by: Stalks-the-Ice, 08/10/2003
89. The End Has Finally Come- The End of the world has finally come. Wars rage across the face of Gaia, whole tribes may have given their lives to stop horrible things from happening. Encourge the St to be as creative as possible for the changes to the setting. The pack should be slightly-less war-inclined than most. The World-Tree squirrle spirit (whose name I can't remember right now), comes to the pack in a dream. He asks the pack to find a group of just normal humans to take away from the world so that the squirrle can hide them within the limbs of the world tree for use after the massive fight.How does the pack handle this?
The squirrle gives the pack directions but he can't offer much more than that. Does the pack resent being sent on the errand? Does the pack care about humanity enough to even want to save some?
More importantly, how do they get a group of normal humans to work with them?
-Posted by: NoSheep, 08/10/2003
90. UNDERSTANDING: The eve of Apocalypse is nigh, and the world can feel it. Which is why the PCs are confounded when they are asked to escort a group of Fae to the gates of Arcadia, by the Ard Righ himself. Bron requests the PCs do this, as a part of a Fianna agreement with the Fae and possibly to gain their favor in the comming battle, and perhaps gain their oath to fight beside the Fianna. The PCs' think its wasteful and know its a bad idea (I'm thinking it needs to be a Fianna only game, or maybe a Fianna/Silver Fang mixed pack game, or maybe a mixed pack game entirely with a trustworthy reknowned Fianna in the mix). The PCs meet up with the Fae, still with a bad additude, but as they move through the Umbra with their charges, they realise how tragic things are for the Fae, and gain true insight into their world. Big teary scene at the End when the Fae get to where they're going, and perhaps when the PCs return home to prepare for the comming battles with an idea of something beautiful that has been lost, perhaps a fear, a death of innocence, and the loss of a truely remarkable people- Or perhaps they draw strength from it and hold onto hope steadfast.
(Who wouldn't have been moved by Black Hat Matt's essay on the end of Changeling? For those of us with gamers who refuse to participate in a Fae game, its hard not to want to at least incorperate them in somehow)
-Posted by: Stalks-the-Ice, 08/10/2003
91. GANGS OF NEW YORK: Historical story. Hope your players don't get out much and RIP OFF THE MOVIE! A bunch of Fianna, Bone Gnawers, and alot of other tribes in the mix come fresh off the boat to America and have to carve themselves a bloody niche to live in, by combating the xenophobic native Garou who want to drive them back to the sea. Mmm... Slum politics!
-Posted by: Stalks-the-Ice, 08/11/2003
92. CLUEDO: The pack wakes up in the Caern one morning and realise (one way or another) that they have no recollection of the previous few days. Their minds have blanked!! Not only that, but each of them has on them a disturbing piece of "evidence" connecting them to the murder of one the Elders that a "friendly" grou of Garou from the sept has come to talk to them about; blood, a piece of clothing, a rather convincing looking murder weapon, that sort of thing.
Given that the characters can't remember a thing (Truth of Gaia will help them prove this) and that the other Garou are sure that there was only *one* attacker, the pack are now in a race against time to find what happened, who the killer is and why they're being framed [1,2] before another Garou pins the crime on them conclusively.
(This of course assumes that the pack are fairly well trusted around the caern and the Elders are therefore willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.)
[1] It could be that one of your players *is* the killer. He may have killed the Elder in Frenzy or cold blood (it helps if they didn't actually like the elder) but I'd be sure to clear this with the player first.
[2] I ran a story like this in which *all* the players murdered the killer, even though the Elder was only killed by one man. In this story a rather unstable Vortex had manifested and travelled through the area, screwing around with all sorts of probabilites. The end result was that the evidence pointed to all of the pack while simultaneously pointing to one individual. It took some rather clever thinking on the part of the players to get the spiritual connection to the vortex from a seemingly enrelated incident in the papers :)
I got the inspiration from this from DS9. The particular episode is one in which Garak informs Dr Bashir that all of the multiple stories he has told about his past are true:"Even the lies?""Especially the lies..."
-Posted by: Iscariot, 08/12/2003
93. On the subject of Trek-inspired plots, someone switches the local harbalist garou's moss for moss that's got 24-hours more growth. There's no applicable storyline, but it's a laugh.
One of your PCs (prefferably a city-based garou, maybe a GW would work best) has a mobile phone. One day while using it, he hears a strange clicking in the background. Investigating this, he finds out that Pentex has been using the phone to keep tabs on this person's movements. Slowly, other things become gradually obvious - maybe he's being followed by a black sedan, or perhaps he notices that there's a camera recording him from behind the glass of his tv set. Use this to isolate him from the rest of the pack - keep the events more and more unbelievable, until (if he does decide to tell the rest of the pack at all), he sounds like a crazed conspiracy-theorist. Given that they decide to do anything, it should be fairly easy to defuse the situation with some threats and broken stuff, but this can also set up as a precursor for later events. And it works well to throw a spanner into a pack. Make 'em work for it.
-Posted by: Dave, 08/12/2003
94. TEEN ANGST: The sept has uncovered a lost cub that no one knew of. This young teenager feels ostriscised and troubled because they cannot fit in. They are just comming into lycanthropy, and while they have yet to have their first change, they're starting to feel rage building up within them. Because of this, the young'n has decided to pull a school shooting. Calling togeather a coterie of fellow miscreants, they have trained and planned for their attack. It is up to the player's pack to obtain this lost cub. If they find out about the shooting, it will be theirs to deal with, as there is urgency, and it will almost definately be carried out by the young'ns friends.
-Posted by: Stalks-the-Ice, 08/21/2003
95. TRAILER PARK OF DOOM: The local sept of a fairly rural caern has to look into a set of grisly murders, mostly children, at a trailer park in the nearest town. This is known to be one of the nastier places humans reside in, and frankly, nobody other than the Bone Gnawers and a few Children of Gaia even have hope for the residents there. The only reason it's come to their attention is that a couple of kinfolk nearby have also turned up dead, and all of the murders seem ritualistic, and have the Wyrm written all over them.
Tensions have mounted, as yet another kinfolk sent to check things out has been murdered, and this time is related to one of the more militant sept leaders. The more militaristic tribes are up in arms, and want to just wipe this place off the map. Perhaps there's even some news coming in that it's really cover for a Hive or something.
The PC's are contacted by a less angered party, probably a Child of Gaia, or a Bone Gnawer concerned over a handful of kinfolk living there, who want to root out the real problem before losing the entire place. Besides, should't Gaia's warriors be spending the energy on what they can prove is truly a breeding ground of the Wyrm? This works best if the PC's tend to be slightly more concerned with humanity or realize the local sept is misdirecting it's anger.
On arriving to the park, they realize it really is one of the nastiest places people have ever set up. Even small children are hostile and taunting, but, although there are banes feeding off it all, nothing seems to be actively causing the problem. Whatever it is doing this, it can't actively be in the park.
Since this is mostly a mystery type of story, there should be a good deal of investigation. Show the PC's some depraved, possibly red herring humans[1], as well as the occasional poor soul, who is worth keeping alive, and stuck here due to economic reasons only. Also, sure enough, there are a couple Bone Gnawer kinfolk, who've been scoping it out for a while, as well as making due. Treat them well, and they'll have all sorts of info. But then, who wants to treat BG kinfolk well, let alone trust them?
If the PC's don't just decide to put these people out of their misery (which, hopefully they won't, as there are a several unlucky innocents here), they'll find the real answer is in the woods behind the park. It's bad enough that for years, people have been throwing trash back here, and well, there's even the "militia", which trains back here. Well, they claim to be the militia anyway, but in reality are just some redneck youths who like to play army, and do so with real guns.[2] No, the real answer is just a bit farther back into the woods. . .
Once the PC's find whatever's there, this is where the real fun starts. The real killer is a fomori created from a teenage boy who "made a pact with the devil" to get out from his abusive, supposedly religious father. If the PC's hit the right door, they may have met his father, who honestly doesn't come off as the type to be abusive. There should be some real tragedy in realizing that this poor kid has simply traded one abusive master for a larger one. . . one that sends him to kill. There might be more back here, though. . .
As for anything else in the woods, it's up to the ST based on the power of the pack, as well as what the mood of the game is. If you wanted to focus on the mystery mostly, and have the real killer truly be just this kid, and all that anger among the local sept be over nothing, go for it. If you want this to lead into at least a little more splatter for the pack, who spent all this time searching, then add a cult. If you really want to take that riled up sept and send them to do dirty work, well, sure enough, there's a small BSD hive operating back here, that's just been under the radar of the sept for a while, due to the more obvious trailer park.
Personally, I prefer the first option, because it focuses on the mystery aspect, and really does show the local sept that sometimes going on a hunch isn't a good thing. At any rate, though, the theme here is that humans can be unwittingly doing the Wyrm's work, with only a teeny bit of extra supernatural stuff going on, but that there's also, even amongst the worst taint, some folks who really are worth saving.
[1] On running this once, I made the trailer park manager rather corrupt, and she also happened to have a skin condition that led to very, very dry and flaky skin. Sense Wyrm did go off, for all the wrong reasons, and the paranoid PC happened to take the bait that she had dry, almost scaly feeling hands. Needless to say, she nearly got killed.
[2] Again, a trigger happy player mistook these mostly harmless teenagers for trouble, and ended up killing all by the one who got away. If it weren't a one-shot game, he'd have had hell to pay later.
-Posted by: TripleE2.0, 08/21/2003
96. Rescuing a wolf kinfolk from a pen, papers linking the other wolves of the zoo to a nuclear research lab are found. It seems at least 6 wolves has been bought/caught and then shipped off to this remote place. There a Pentex station with captured wolves, and perhaps even werewolves is the arena for research on the wolves that are attacking the plants. Since it is nuclear it is hazardous for the PC's and a great Wyrm Creature is watching the umbra. The characters must find the floorplans, a guard scheduele, etc and break in the conventional way!
It really works best if they discover several clues to this pentex station, preferably in other adventures. Maybe the chieftain's mate is captured or a new cub. Make it really count to get inside. Explosives should not be an option because of the nuclear reactor(s).
-Posted by: Maleficum, 08/24/2003
97. Countdown to Doomsday: As the Final Battle approaches in the year 2004, the fate of the free world will also be decided by the coming presidential election. A promising young Senator and would-be President (one the characters have heard much about) wins the Democratic primary and is on the road to the White House. However, the PC Garou have had a vision in which the new President, who is either Wyrm tainted/supernatural (Nephandi?)/or just plain power-hungry, ushers the country into World War 3, complete with nuclear devastation on a global scale, ensuring the Wyrm's victory and dreams of oblivion. What do the PCs do? Can they stop the man, who is probably protected by supernatural and mundane forces? Maybe public assasination is the only way, and possibly further rending the veil.
I obviously borrowed a lot from Stephen King's Dead Zone for this one, but I like the idea and I'm planning on running it for my players.
-Posted by: gutterball, 08/28/2003
98. DEBT OF HONOR: The pack have been given the task of escorting a wayward Garou back to his own sept to face punishment. He had committed [insert crime of your choosing] againts his sept and was caught on the run near the character's Caern.
Whilst travelling to their destination some unforseen circumstances crop up, such as:
1) Attack from outside forces
2) The chance to help others against the WyrmThe criminal in question becomes central in helping the characters get through this new trial, afterwards asking for their mercy and to let him go. Maybe he explains the extenuating circumstances of his crime or maybe he's just hoping that his good deeds have won him a pardon. Can the characters turn a blind eye and let him escape or do they continue with the duties handed to them?
-Posted by: Iscariot, 08/30/2003
99. The Unthinkable: A pack of Red Talons has violently siezed a nuclear silo, slaughtering everyone inside, and managed to arm the missile inside. Both military forces, and Garou have been tipped off, perhaps by a Red Talon that has a good idea of what kind of destruction such a weapon can cause. He believes the pack is completely ignorant of what a nuclear weapon does, and believes they think they are just turning one of humanity's weapons against them. The player characters must race against time before the Red Talons either manage to launch the missile, or the military forcefully enters the silo, causing more bloodshed, and possibly damaging the Veil. Can the characters convince the Red Talons to stop their plan, or will they have to use more violent means. The Red Talons obviously had help in executing their plan. Are there others inside the silo helping the Red Talons? Perhaps the Red Talons have been manipulated by enemies within the Garou Nation, who want to see the tribe be ostrasized and destroyed.
-Posted by: Bruce, 09/01/2003
100. The local sept currently has a cease fire of sorts with the local vampire population. (for whatever reason will work in your story)
One of the provisions is that one of the sept leaders and one of the vampire leaders meet ever couple of months to work out conflicts. Each leader gets to have some bodyguards and this time your pack is it.
During the meeting it gets attacked by hunters. During the fighting the pack looses sight of the elder for a bit, only to find him as the fighting is winding down. The elder demands to be taken back to the caern at once and that he has important information for the rest of the sept.
Along the way the players start getting hints that something is wrong, and at some point realize the elder isn't the elder person they started out with (probably a vamp looking like him/her)
Will the players figure out the imposter before his/her nefarious scheme succeeds?
Can they stop said scheme?
Where is the real elder?
How much renoun do you loose for misplacing the person you are protecting?
-Posted by: Rillchan, 09/12/2003
101. Invasion: This scenario could easily be expanded into an entire chronicle.
Over a week's time, all the major Septs in Britian and Ireland are assaulted by combined forces of Black Spiral Dancers and Fomori. At first, the attacks are small, and the enemies retreat after being engaged, almost like they are probing the Sept's defenses. But, the attacks are becoming more frequent, and occuring on a larger scale. It should become apparent to the characters, or maybe an Elder NPC if the characters don't come to the realization, that in order for the BSDs to attack so many Septs at once, there must have been a major influx of the Wyrm-Wolves into the British Isles.
If the characters manage to capture and interrogate a high-ranking BSD (or servant), they will discover, to their horror, this is the case. The Black Spiral Dancers, sensing the end is near, are mounting a campaign to conquer the British Isles, and strikes a blow that the tribes, particularly the Fianna, might not recover from.
The characters' pack will be tapped to help start building alliances among the tribes in the British Isles, to start building a coordinated defense, or go beyond Britian to find allies to help in the defense.
Or, they could go another route. Someone may realize that with so many Black Spiral Dancers invading the British Isles, they may have left their Hives with little defense. The characters might be able to organize a counter-offensive, in hopes of either eliminating the Hives, or forcing the Black Spirals to withdraw from their invasion.
-Posted by: Bruce, 09/12/2003
102. Buried but not Forgotten: A new find in the Valley of Kings sends the Silent Striders on a frantic search for allies. It seems that some archeologist have found new tomb in the VOK, and are waiting to have permission to open it. Thing is, the Striders don’t want what ever is buried to awaken. Egypt is dangerous for them, (as well all know) but it seems that keeping this secret is worth any risk. Your Garou are asked to travel to Egypt to play their part in all of this.
This offers a lot of different options for the ST:
1. What is buried there? Perhaps a Metis of great renown is buried there, big time break of the Veil if he’s found. Or perhaps an old ancient enemy has lain in rest, only to awaken once his tomb is open and disturbed.
2. The garou can either be a part of the group trying to keep this buried, fighting off what ever enemies come out of the wood work, or working to keep the archeologists, from opening the tomb.
3. Then again, what are they guarding anyways, the Striders aren’t telling, even though they need the help. Overly curious characters could be in for a surprise&ldots;
-Posted by: ravyn, 09/16/2003
103. Reintroduction: The players awake. They remember little about anything, and don’t recognize the forest they are in. They know they are werewolves, but little more than that. They have no concept of tribes, breeds or auspices. For some reason, they don’t want to leave the area, (abut 5 square miles of forest.) Players keep sensing that they are being watched&ldots;What now?
What has happened is that the characters have been experimented on by DNA, thing is, they have had their memories wiped clean. Amnesia, they know how to live, and shift, but no specifics as to what they are. DNA has “reintroduced” them to this territory, much like wolves being reintroduced to the wild. The scientists are interested to see the garou in their natural habitat. Each character has a radio chip implanted in him, also, a little electronic chip. Know those dog fences that you bury, and attach the little thing to their collar, so they wont cross the invisible line? Think that on a bigger scale to keep these fuzzies from straying to far. DNA have many well hidden cameras and agents studying the werewolves. What happens when the characters figure this out?
-Posted by: ravyn, 09/16/2003
104. Future Tense: This can being one of two ways, with the characters waking up in the future, or you preparing them with this info for a future chronicle.
Well, the veil is broken. People know about the Garou, and have known about them for a long time. The garou had been all but wiped out, in the great scouring, when the veil first came down. But sloly humanity changed its tune, and stopped the killing before they destroyed all of Gaias defenders. The Garou are now part of a program trying to reintroduce the werewolves back to the wild. Chances are they are part of a breeding program, and are being trained, by zoologist and biologists to be able to survive in the woods. Thing is though they can take a human form, the emphasis should be that they are not seen as people. I suggest taking all the info off of those Discovery channel type programs and apply it to this.
And alternate way of doing this, is the characters to find them selves in a zoo, in a very similar predicament that the California Condors are in.
-Posted by: ravyn, 09/16/2003
105. Haven’t we seen this before?: This might have had some similarities to a story in an anthology, but its not a rip off&ldots;I assure you.
A garou (perhaps a a PC or Kinfolk) is in the city, and visits an Art gallery displaying a bunch of new works by a prominent artist. Thing is these works look very familiar. The images are of Garou! Yup, nine-foot-tall-screaming-fuzzies. The art can be In any style the ST wishes, perhaps very abstract, or realistic. Either way, the news gets to the local Caern, and causes quite a stir. Who is this artist? Does he/she know anything about the garou, or is this just some weird coincidence? Its up to the players to find out.
-Posted by: ravyn, 09/16/2003
106. No wonder they hate us: This works best if the characters are away from “home” or for those who don’t have a base of operation, this works best in new territory.
The characters are sent to a local where there is a lot of talk about werewolves. Maybe just a lot of rumors, or maybe the town is trying to use its legend as a tourist attraction. The players elders believe that some one is breaking the veil, be it Gaian or Spiral they don’t know, but they don’t like it. The characters explore, and find that the town has a lot of info on classic werewolves, and it seems that everyone accepts the fact that something is out in the woods. Needless to say, when the full moon is rising, this town closes up shop, and no one leaves their well locked houses until dawn. Characters out in the local woods find a figure running though, howling, growling and attacking any livestock that happens to be left out. (Maybe the city leaves a cow or sheep tied out during this night to keep it away form the houses.)When the characters catch this figure, or follow it until dawn, they find it turning into a human, classic style. Perhaps the mayor or some one else they’ve met. Seems that he was bit by a werewolf and changes every full moon.
Whats going on: The figure is a classic werewolf, he knows nothing of Gaia, or the Garou. He’s just cursed, and silver hurts him badly. The ST has a lot of ways to take this one: Perhaps he’s a fomori, or other sort of possessed type of figure, or maybe he’s just a real “classic” werewolf. But if that’s the case, then there has to be more. So what do the characters do with him? What happens if one of them is bit by him?
-Posted by: ravyn, 09/16/2003
107. Dirge: The world without the Silver Fangs. A co-ordinated attack by the Wyrm's forces has cut the head from the Silver Fangs, and precision strikes both physical and spiritual have dealt with the rest. There are maybe ten survivors the world over, and they are brought to a Grand Convocation of the Garou Nation. There, they find that Falcon has deserted them, lost to mourn her children. In all but the bodies of these few, the Tribe is dead. Most of the remaining Fangs (because you may have more level-headed PCs) talk of expending their energy in one last strike against the Wyrm, bringing the vengeance of Helios, Luna and Gaia to bear in their unbridled Rage. Others wonder at how the Wyrm managed to co-ordinate so many forces, to destroy those Garou without enough losses to count as a real battle. A young Glass Walker Theurge by the name of Etherkiller isn't so sure. She's spent her life trying to map the datasphere, the lines of the Weaver's web that transmit information across the planet. Recently, she has seen a spike in activity, especially near the sites of these so called great battles. While the rest of the Garou Nation mourns their dead, she works with her Pack and any others she can convince (hint hint) to investigate. She believes that this was the work of the Weaver, not the Wyrm, and that all is not as it appears. Sure enough, investigating the battle sites will indicate that the Silver Fangs were torn into the Umbra and relocated to the very top of the CyberRealm, in a ploy to get Falcon to lead the Tribal Totems away from the Garou by showing their leaders as weak. The obvious choices are to tell the Garou Nation (they'll listen eventually, these are the PCs damnit) or go find Falcon. Or both. Either way, some Wagner when descending on the Cyberrealm to crack it open like an egg would be more than appropriate.
-Posted by: DigitalRaven, 09/16/2003
108. Funhouse Reflections: This one comes in two parts, but is presented as one. London in the mid-1980's is a strange place. It's even stranger in the World of Darkness. The characters are part of/are visiting/whatever a Sept somewhere in the city which is critically low on Garou. They have been asked to recruit four newly-Changed Garou across the city. This takes them across the spread of the city, from people living below the poverty line to the upper-class homes of those profiting under Thatcher, silver spoon types next to people without enough money to pay their water rates. It's up to the Pack to educate them in the ways of the Garou. Don't skimp on this. They have to make sure that they know and understand the Litany and respect their Elders -- by any means necessary. The second section has the Cubs ready for their Rite of Passage. While they are preparing, word comes back of teenagers and children being abducted. They follow no pattern any of the Theurges can divine, but the last two have been Kinfolk to the local Garou and they want this thing sorted. Rites have however located the next target. Three guesses who gets the job. It turns out to be an underground organisation kidnapping and brainwashing teenagers into it's service, performing strange rituals deep below Parliament to ensure that the Government remains in power. But can the characters explain to the new Cliaths the difference between this cult and the Garou?
-Posted by: DigitalRaven, 09/16/2003
109. Orbital: If you thought Dirge was a cop-out, read on. Etherkiller is back, with grave news for the Garou. She's found nexi in the information flows, and they do not look good. Conversing with more traditional geomancers, she's worked out that these points lay in the perfect positions to manifest not the Wyrm, but the Weaver. With rumours of the Apocalypse being close, the Glass Walkers gather and decide their plan. The other Garou must fight a holding action against the Drones, Men in Black (Weaver-spirits, put down that Mage book) and other creatures of order that are breaking through to calcify Reality. When the incursions happen, the Walkers are nowhere to be found. They are preparing a Rite to do to the Weaver what the Croatan did to Eater of Souls, a Tribal sacrifice to castrate the insane spider. The PCs should be in the thick of this. If there is a GW PC, they are brought to the meeting and must decide whether to tell their Packmates or to remain silent and save their worry. As the fighting increases and spills onto the city streets and Umbral reflections the world looks on in horror. One by one the battles are won, but the cost in Garou blood is great. The PCs' place in the battle is the final stand. They must battle back everything the Weaver can throw at them that their Glass Walkers may finish their Rite. And even if they do... what will the world be like tomorrow?
-Posted by: DigitalRaven, 09/16/2003
110. Descent to Guilt: The Pack are formed (or discovered as pups) by a Caern, and the head Theurge (who has been on a dangerous mission into the heart of a Bane pit) is very friendly to them during their first days. When they get comfortable the Caern Leader (an Antagonist) returns, and is outraged at the inappropriate and unworthy young Garou, he sends them on a combat orientated mission which should be their deaths, but they survive.....just. When they return, the Leader is outraged, thinking he was rid of them, so he is about to send them on a harder mission, when the Head Theurge, thinking him out of line, challenges the leader for leadership of the Caern. In a great battle that decides the player’s fate, the Head Theurge slays the Old Leader Ahroun and becomes the Caern leader. Then more missions ensue, as the Head Theurge chooses the players as his active pack, they run errands for him, each progressively more unusual and questionable. Eventually (over months) the Caern weakens and on a moot it is attacked. The Head Theurge throws the Players onto a moon bridge as the Caern falls, and he stands off alone against a Great Bane (or a Nexus Crawler). The Players discover their Caern leader; the Head Theurge is alive but captured by the Wyrm, and go on a quest to rescue him, this time racing against the clock. When they finally confront him, he is very defiantly of the Wyrm, and reveals that he has been since the first dangerous mission into the Bane Pit (maybe he is just a shell hiding the bane, and able to hide his Wyrm taint), and he has caused the fall of the Caern, with the help of the players (their dodgy missions). He offers them the chance to join the Wyrm and a new life. If they refuse a great final battle ensues and if victorious the players are left in despair, they will probably wonder if they can trust again. Finally they wonder how to restore the Caern, and repay their debt.
But of course, that is a different story......
-Posted by: Bodie, 09/16/2003
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