Dark Woods Week: Mr Saxon, Mr. Celt

Mr. Saxon

Fresh air, old growth trees, physical exorcise - they say nature does a body good. Damned lie, thats what it is - nature does terrible things to bodies, almost enough to make you glad they were dead first. You've had far too much experience with what the wilderness will do to bodies over the past few months.

All the evidence says its just one careful and methodical person. If you could classify it as human - after dismembered body thirty five, its really hard to pin that title on the culprit.

The trail has gone cold as those women dug out of the ravine, and its really gotten to you. So bad, the boss had to force this vacation on you, suggested an old site out of state he recalled from his childhood. It is a nice enough place, but Hawaii wouldn't get this out of your head, much less here.

Strength 4
Quick 4
Tech 4
Wits 4
Range 3
Close Combat 3

Animus: 10
Lucidity: 8
Deadening: 8
Up-Rise: 8 (16 kg in backpack)
Pack: 8 (8 slots/48 kg on hand)


Investigation
Stunt Driving
SA: Rank/Society: Police Officer

Equipment of note:
Mr. Saxon has his back-up .38 revolver and a police radio in his civilian car, but  as this is a vacation, most of his equipment is miles away in the station.

Mr. Celt

 Heh, he,he, he Yes! Its so nice to take a vacation, to get your mind off of work. So many harlots, so little time, but for each the cleaver shall sing its song.

Strength 3
Quick 5
Tech 5
Wits 2
Range 4
Close Combat 3

Animus:10
Lucidity: 7
Deadening: 5
Up-Rise: 8 ( kg in backpack)
Pack: 7 ( slots/ kg on hand)

Animal Handling
Pharmacology
SA: Surgeon

Equipment of note:
Lucky foot (not rabbit...), good machete, really good cleaver, naughty cleaver, doctor's scrubs, assorted medications, basic doctor's kit (stethoscope, small lights, blood pressure cuff), hemp rope,

Dark Woods Week: Alpha and Omega and Something Inbetween

Mr. A (Create your own Alias)

Mr. A is a kindly looking old man who smiles as he recounts the simple pleasures of his youth growing up on a farm. Then, with the very same smile, he can gouge out a man's eyes with his thumb.

Win, lose, draw - bah! He is not the one who plays the games, or determines the winner of the great international games. Mr. A receives an order, someone dies, he returns for the next one. If the autocrats once claimed to be communist, and are now claiming to be democratic - they're still autocrats, and he still does the job. More of them are foreigners these days, but it goes in cycles.

Today, it is an officer from a foreign intelligence service. Perhaps he will like to hear about how Mr. A's grandson is graduating as an engineer before having a hammer shatter the skull. Maybe he will learn about granddaughter's wedding before the screwdriver punctures the aorta. It is a good day with much to be happy about!

Strength 6
Quick  3
Tech 4
Wits  2
Range 2
Close Combat 5

Animus: 11
Lucidity: 5
Deadening: 8
Up-Rise: 10  (60 kg in backpack)
Pack: 6 ( slots/12 kg on hand)

Wood Working
Negotiation
Special Ability: Martial Arts (+1 DR in close combat)

Equipment of note:
A well stocked tool chest is in the back of his seemingly beaten up truck, meticulously organized into the metric tools for fixing the Japanese made vehicle, and the Imperial measure tools for mutilating people. (Even individual sockets are lethal in his hands). There are some sundries like maps of the area, bottled water, pre-packed food, and a sharpened military entrenching tool as well. Unlike most fifteen year old trucks, inside the cab is almost factory fresh, a testament to MR. A's semi-neurotic desire for neat and tidy surroundings.

 

Mr. Z (Create your own Alias)

Cold war? We won! Terror? We're winning! Its great to be a new part of the old game of nations, especially now that it can all be solved. None of this old tech torture, cloak, and dagger stuff - you see what they're doing from space, confirm with drones, and then shut down their networks with a few mouse clicks. Real spies don't get dirty.

There are some nuts out there, and it is more than a nine to five job. Indeed, you've been warned that there is a foreign agent around here, and a brutal one. These days it probably just means he doesn't want sugar in his coffee while talking about bribes, but it pays to be careful.

Strength 3
Quick 3
Tech 5
Wits 5
Range 4
Close Combat 2

Animus: 8
Lucidity: 8
Deadening: 8
Up-Rise: 8 (48 kg in backpack)
Pack: 10 ( 10slots/20 kg on hand)
Access (Free running and climbing)

Swimming and SCUBA
Investigation
Hacking

Equipment of note:
Mr. Z. is actually here for a camping trip, (who would have expected that) and has the necessary gear for rock climbing as well. He also has a small nine millimeter pistol an two reloads in a concealed holster.

 

Capricorn Five (Create your own Alias)

Spies, they're everywhere. Killing your cats, reading your e-mail, genetically modifying your food, and turning your boss against you. You might need a wheel chair to get around most of the time, thanks to that failed attempt to assassinate you (DUI - ha! You barely touched anything that night!) but no one is going to finish that job anytime soon.

Out here in the woods, you've got cover from the satellites and no cell towers to scramble your thoughts. An no one ever notices your stockpile of gelignite and fuel oil. If they cross you, they'll learn about it in the worst way possible, but for now its all safe and legal.

Better yet, nothing much around here is electrical, so when the EMP shuts down the country, it will be like nothing happened to you.

But who are all these people showing up today? No one ever comes here, unless they have some ulterior motive. Sure, the old couple that runs this place are clean (that shifty eyed handyman on the other hand...) Do they know something about the plots and the plan to shut down the power grid? Perhaps they want your land and your supplies for the coming civil war. Well, its all yours, and they aren't going to get it!

Strength 2
Quick  2
Tech 6
Wits 6
Range 5
Close Combat 1

Animus: 6
Lucidity: 12
Deadening: 8
Up-Rise: 8  (48 kg in backpack)
Pack: 12 (12 slots/ 24kg on hand)

Organic Chemistry
Cooking
SA: Blasting and Explosives

Equipment of note:
Twenty sticks of dynamite, two .45 caliber handguns,  a semi-automatic .22 rifle, a foil lined van with wheelchair lift, two year supply of slightly dented canned food, five year supply of toilet paper, HAM radio, old camera, proof Lee Harvey Oswald was innocent, thirty-seven teddy-bears.

Dark Woods Week: Mr. Rook and Mr. Crow

Mr. Rook

Damn It! It was all going so well. A young wife you hate to be away from and a job to keep fulfilled - isn't that all anyone could want? Oh how life can be so cruel. You come home early once, with good news about a bonus, and find another man in your bed.

It is not the place for police to be involved in such affairs, it is a personal matter. We shall go to the woods, give the man a day or two to make his peace, and then make sure such a slight never happens again. Accidents do happen, after all.


Strength 3
Quick 3
Tech 6
Wits 6
Range 2
Close Combat 2

Animus: 8
Lucidity: 9
Deadening: 9
Up-Rise: 9 (45 kg in backpack)
Pack: 12 (12 slots/24 kg on hand)

Equipment of note:
Mr. Rook has recently purchased a .30-06 bolt action hunting rifle and a box of twenty bullets, though he is quite unfamiliar with its use. Despite the pretense of a camping trip, he has brought almost no other gear - if asked, its because the lodge should provide sufficient facilities.

Mr. Crow

Damn It! It was all going so well. A young wife to keep fulfilled, and a job her husband hates to be away from - isn't that all anyone could want?

Its great that Mr. Rook hasn't called the police, most people would take this rather personally. Instead he has offered to go on a trip to the woods, and who knows - maybe after a day or two we'll make our peace. Accidents happen, no slight intended - though this does have me a little worried.

Strength 6
Quick 6
Tech 3
Wits 3
Range 2
Close Combat 2

Animus: 14
Lucidity: 9
Deadening: 9
Up-Rise: 9
Pack : 6

Equipment of note:
Mr. Crow has recently acquired a 12 gauge pump action shotgun  with two dozen slug rounds, as well as miscellaneous camping gear, (Tent, sleeping bag, portable stove, bug spray, matches) since his partner has graciously provided the ride suggested the place. Of course, the fact that Mr. Rook has forgotten to bring orange vests, and that rifles are not allowed in this part of the season is quite odd.

Use:
While all characters in the Dark Woods scenario come with equipment and a motive, the players should be allowed to come up with a physical description and demeanor themselves - after-all, what fun is an RPG if they don't have personal investment or creative control?

Dark Woods Week: Harriet's Outlook

Harriet's Outlook campgrounds has it all - ski slopes, hunting, white water rafting, nature trails, rock climbing, fine fishing lakes, and home cooked meals. The only thing its lacking is a fresh coat of paint. And staff. And fixtures built after 1972. And phone lines. And boats. And maintenance...

OK, time to be honest - Aside from the lodge, hotel, and the old house, there is pretty much nothing but old growth forest.

Harriet's Outlook was established in the late fifties/early sixties back to nature and camping boom. In its time, it was a very impressive place. However, it didn't always meet the bills and rarely kept apace with the times, and now it is staffed mostly by the indeterminately old Harriet, her equally ancient husband, Lawrence, and Scotty, the grandson of the original handyman. Since the land is now a national park, their buildings are grandfathered in, but any big changes would be a forest of paperwork to accommodate guests unlikely to visit.

Still they try their best, and every year they greet a select few guests who truly enjoy their seclusion. This time around, they have three couples seeking this out of the way destination, a church youth group, and a few things that would not exist in a merciful world.

***

The Dark Woods is a horror scenario meant for one Game master and between two and seven players.  Details of the NPCs and creatures will be released over the course of the week. Those interested in playing, may wish to avoid reading the blog entries for the next few days to avoid spoiling any of the surprises.

***

It all begins simple enough. All the characters have their reasons to go camping, when a bad storm washes out the old trails, stranding them at the main lodging of the campground.

There are four building of note in the main area. They are laid out in a rough pentagon - house to the north, and then the motel, the main road, the maintenance barn, and finally the lodge.

The Motel is your fairly standard double level L shaped series of tiny rooms.  The floors are peeling linoleum, the hot water doesn't work, and there are no TVs since there is no reception this far out (Cellular service doesn't work either).

Next is the Hunting Lodge - more a very large converted barn, but what a conversion. Rustic on the outside, the interior boasts a hardwood dance floor, full length bar, TV lounge (Still no reception, but a large selection of VCR tapes), and through the back entrance - a studio for cleaning and mounting game. Lawrence can be found here most of the day, although he claims to not be able to mix anything more complicated than a bottle of beer, he does in fact prove to be a good bartender who can knock back white lightning like water.

Just about anything you could need can be found in the maintenance barn, or in the various lean-too structures built onto its sides. Finding it though, that is another issue. Over fifty years of broken equipment, obsolete parts, nonstandard tools, and even a few misplaced pieces of SCUBA gear is crammed into a space that leaves barely a single path through.

Compared to the rest, the house is in immaculate condition. Its an old greyish ranch style home, with a cellar containing home made preserves and a small moonshine still.

A ways farther back is what appears to be a log cabin with a steeple - an old church barely larger than the main house, well kept if a bit drafty.

Somewhere out there is a boathouse as well, provided it hasn't collapsed. The same goes for the warming shelter near the rusted ski lift, but that is far more than a long walk away.