Great White Games/Pinnacle Entertainment Group

[Savage Mommy]

Hello Savages,
I need help. I have a game to run tomorrow night and I'm not ready. I'm running Ripper's right now and I need a combat focused adventure to run. My players have doing a lot of investigation and they need some good old combat. Does anyone know of a good combat adventure that I could run?
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Chris "Savage Mommy" Fuchs
Rocky Mountain Savages
http://www.rockymountainsavages.com
http://groupspaces.com/RockyMountainSavages/

Smiling Jack's Bar and Grill
http://podcast.smilingjacksbarandgrill.com/

[SavageGamerGirl]

Here are some ideas I came up with for a "Victorian monster hunters" game I was wanting to run in d20 Modern but never got around to.

A Soul as Black as Soot
Chimney sweeps are going on strike, afraid to work ever since a series of strange deaths by fire have claimed many of their comerades. They claim someone is specifically targetting them with flaming arrows, but no evidence of such attacks have been discovered.

The Real Story: The culprit is the ghost of a crooked chimney sweep. He robbed wealthy families by sneaking into their houses through the chimney, and has hidden his ill-gotten gain in random chimneys throughout the city. The ghost is able to shoot fiery bolts and is protecting his stash by killing those who get too close to his treasures.


The Hounds of Hell
The wife of a wealthy man hires the PCs to act as bodyguards for her precious son. She explains to them that her son is being stalked by … believe it or not! … spectral hounds. Although she knows how insane this sounds she is absolutely certain of this for she has seen them herself: large, wolf-hound like curs that actually float several inches above the ground!

The Real Story: A wealthy but insane man has hired a magician to summon spectral hounds to kill off the sons of his enemies. His wife knows of the plan and she is as mad as he is and rather likes the idea of spectral hounds doing the dirty work. She hires the PCs to guard her son because he is actually the son of one of her husband's enemies! Should her husband's wicked plan be fully carried out, her own child would be at risk! Not only that, but her husband, a wicked and cruel man, would find out about her adultery with his hated rival. This could be doubly bad for her. To try having the best of both worlds, she hires the PCs to be her son's body guard, telling them about the hounds but not revealing the whole story. That way, the killings of the rival sons could go on, and her own son could be protected.


Fire on the Mountain
Something is killing miners at a mountain top mine. Men are found slaughtered like animals, crushed as if dropped from a great height when there is no way for them to have had such a fall, and even burned almost to a cinder. The miners are threatening a strike, and the company has sent in thugs to keep them working. The work site is becoming a powder keg of heavy-handed strike breakers, scared but angry miners, and company men who just want it all to stop so the work will get done again. Meanwhile, the strange killings go on. The miners are now starting to suspect the strike breakers – but that doesn’t explain the killings that took place before they arrived.

The Real Story: The miners have drilled close to the nest of a drake. They are far too close for the wyrm’s comfort and it is attacking the miners to drive them away from its precious clutch of eggs. If the miners or strike breakers find out about the creature, they want to kill it. If the company men find out about it, they want to capture it and put it on display. All the wyrm wants to do is defend its young – it is the innocent party in this case. The fate of the little dragon and her eggs depends on which side the PCs chose: the miners and strike breakers, the company men, or the wyrm itself.

(This is a Victorian-era science fantasy version of one of my favorite Stark Trek episodes, Devil in the Dark. Inspiration can come from a great many places.)
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'But I don't want to go among mad people,' Alice remarked.
'Oh, you can't help that,' said the Cat: 'we're all mad here.'
The Order of the Dice... OF DOOM!

[The GIT!]

Not knowing what adventures you've already run from the Rippers rulebook, how about trying the Unnatural History or Harvest Home One Sheets? You can download them for free at...

Rippers One Sheets
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Ejector seat? You're joking!

[VonDan]

Dr Jekyll's daughter Hydee has escaped from reform school again and is back with her gang the "East End Kids

Mary Riley the late Dr Jekyll's maid and the only one who knows her true nature is looking for a group to capture her and bring her back


Hydee is not as insane as her father's alter ego but she has the same super upper body strength and iron grip and climb d10

The gang is all low cast teenagers they are hide out in an old toy factory

Maggie has steel cat claws

Bloke has a cudgel shoved in a iron gear wheel to make a spiked great club

Banny is 4.5 feet tall but a "Bantam weight" boxing champ

Finn has throw d10 and a trench coat full of knives

Specs has Mad Science but it is all clock work and they call him a clocker, he is up in the loft with a a spring powered dart shooter that is the bolt power and the ammo is made from flattened and sharpened spoons (that were not worth fagan taking to a fence)

ETC

A big open show of force might insite all the gangers of the east end against some one "picking on the kids"





The Real Story: Naw really I got nothing just pulling stuff out of my...head
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http://s61.photobucket.com/albums/h51/Vondan/

[SavageGamerGirl]

Here's another few ideas I had...

The Rise of the House of Usher
The Rippers need to research something (whatever fits with your campaign) and find that the only known copy of the book they need was owned by Roderick Usher. Unfortunately, the House of Usher collapsed under mysterious circumstances decades ago, and has lain in ruins ever since. The book might still be able to be found amid the ruins, so off they go to see if luck is with them.

Once there, they find only a water-logged mound of debris that once was the grand Gothic manor house. However, closer inspection reveals that the catacombs beneath the house are still intact...

Venturing below, the Rippers encounter Lovecraftian style ghouls (non-undead, degenerate humanoids that consume dead flesh). These are the sad remnants of the once proud Usher family. Leading the ghouls are Roderick and Madeline Usher, now the Lord and Lady of the ghoul tribe that are all that remains of their family line. (Treat the Ushers as Wild-Card ghouls, and give Roderick the Alertness Edge -- even transformed he has retained his extremely keen senses.)

Upon defeating the ghouls, the Rippers discover that the Lord and Lady salvaged what they could from their collapsed home, and amongst other things (old paintings, musical instruments, books, etc.) is the book they required.

And a few more I'm tinkering with..

Of Rats and Rippers
Inspired by HG Wells' The Food of the Gods. The short idea is that the Rippers are contacted to help clear out the giant rats and giant insects on the experimental farm where the chemical known as Herakleophorbia IV was tested. During the sweep of the tunnels, the Rippers come across unusually damage-resistant rats and come to find out that they are actually were-rats. The Cabal has also heard of Herakleophorbia IV and sent the were-rats in 'under cover' to retrieve it for themselves. Their ultimate plan is to unleash an army of giant insects on humanity.

Against the Empire
Inspired by HG Wells' Empire of the Ants. A cargo ship from Brazil has run aground off the English countryside, and a group of salvagers who went to claim it have never returned. The Rippers investigate, and find no trace of any edible substance -- not even any traces of the crew or salvagers. Ultimately, they find, down in the cargo hold, a massive swarm of semi-intelligent army ants! They have to find and eliminate the queen ant before the colony can find a way to make it to shore.
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'But I don't want to go among mad people,' Alice remarked.
'Oh, you can't help that,' said the Cat: 'we're all mad here.'
The Order of the Dice... OF DOOM!

[JCDenton28]

This may help or it may not:


In modern settings I like to run the old Shadowrun adventure : night at the stuffer shack.

Basically the players stop for a snack on their way to their next plot point.
Describe in heavy detail the different sections of the store, allow the players to disperse, and then the place gets hit by robbers.

The thieves can be garden variety or "different" if the Gm wishes. Innocents are threatened, the pcs are threatened. Either way a gunfight ensues and missed shots should result in smashed convenience snacks exploding soda cans, etc.

Throw in a granny hobo with a shotgun, a locked back door to get panicked innocents out, tabasco milkshakes as melee weapons, etc.

It's a great filler adventure and allows weary adventures to test their skills against some garden variety thugs.

[SavageGamerGirl]

The Wild Hunt could be wound back 120 years and turned into a Rippers Adventure, too.

http://www.peginc.com/freebies/SWcore/TheWildHuntDownload.pdf

Instead of innocent folks on a bus, the characters are the Rippers, sent to investigate a rash of disappearances in the area. They arrive at a small boarding house (instead of a convenience store) at night, and the Hunt begins before they can start any sort of investigation. The rest of the adventure can be run pretty much as-is.
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'But I don't want to go among mad people,' Alice remarked.
'Oh, you can't help that,' said the Cat: 'we're all mad here.'
The Order of the Dice... OF DOOM!

[sjmiller]

[tigerguy786]

[SavageGamerGirl]

Cool! Enjoy! If you do run these, let me know how it goes.
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'But I don't want to go among mad people,' Alice remarked.
'Oh, you can't help that,' said the Cat: 'we're all mad here.'
The Order of the Dice... OF DOOM!

[SavageGamerGirl]

Some reading, to inspire the mind!

http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Tales_%28Poe%29/The_Fall_of_the_House_of_Usher

http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Food_of_the_Gods_and_How_It_Came_to_Earth#Book_I:_The_Dawn_of_Food
(This is a long one, but only parts I, II, and III of Book I are relevant to the the adventure. If you don't want to read that much, parts IV-VII of Chapter III is all you'd really need to know. That details the raid on the experimental farm, and gives you the names of the others present that you could use as NPCs).

The giant insects and giant rats should be about 6x normal size. The main opponents on the Experimental Farm are giant wasps and giant rats. You could probably use the stats for a dog or wolf for the rats. The giant wasps can still use the Swarm rules, just describe them as being the size of a barn owl individually.

http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Empire_of_the_Ants
As a Rippers adventure, my idea works best as a prequel to the Empire of the Ants. The ants shouldn't be quite as smart as those in the story, representing an earlier phase in their evolution. Smart enough to try Tricks or stage tactical retreats, but not smart enough to use tools.
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'But I don't want to go among mad people,' Alice remarked.
'Oh, you can't help that,' said the Cat: 'we're all mad here.'
The Order of the Dice... OF DOOM!

[SavageGamerGirl]

God Bless You, Every One...
This is a recruitment adventure, in which the Rippers have to convince a wealthy man to donate money to their cause.

The wealthy man is Timothy Cratchit, now in his late fifties. He partnered with his father and brother after Ebenezer Scrooge passed away, and thanks to the business acumen he learned under Scrooge's apprenticeship and his own innate generosity, he is well-known as a shrewd businessman and generous philanthropist. The addition of a trust fund endowed by Scrooge himself has made Mr. Tim Cratchit one of the most wealthy 'new rich' men in London.

Here's his issue... he knows of the Rippers, and is well aware that the supernatural exists. Knowing the story of how his benefactor Mr. Scrooge gained his redemption, of the four spirits -- one human and three possibly angelic -- Tim Cratchit is concerned that the Rippers are a bit *too* thorough in their duties. There are good spirits out there, he is certain of it, and before he donates anything to their lodge he needs assurances from the Rippers that all is done to determine the true motives of any ghost or apparition they encounter before they take steps to eliminate it.

You can use the Social Conflict rules as the Rippers discuss their methods with Mr. Cratchit. If they achieve 2 or fewer successes, Tim Cratchit does not donate to their lodge. On 3-4 successes, Mr. Cratchit insists on accompanying the Rippers on the next mission that involves ghosts, so he can see for himself the techniques used to discover whether a spirit is good or evil. Once convinced, he donates £50 per month to the Rippers' lodge. On 5+ successes, he is convinced without further evidence that the Rippers' cause is just and has no concerns about how they deal with ghosts. He donates £50 per month to the Rippers' lodge.

Treat Tim Cratchit as a Wild Card Innocent, with the Lame Hindrance, and Knowledge (business) d8, plus any other skills at d6 that you feel are appropriate.
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'But I don't want to go among mad people,' Alice remarked.
'Oh, you can't help that,' said the Cat: 'we're all mad here.'
The Order of the Dice... OF DOOM!

[GranFalloon]

[SavageGamerGirl]

More fodder for Rippers adventures, based on actual people:

Delphine LaLaurie
In the time of the Rippers it's been 50 years since Delphine LaLaurie supposedly died in Paris. Perhaps she faked her death, or was brought back to life by the Cabal? But for what purpose?

H. H. Holmes
The Rippers take part in the Pinkerton investigation of Holmes' "Murder Castle" in Chicago in 1894. This being a Rippers adventure, the party finds more than they bargained for...
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'But I don't want to go among mad people,' Alice remarked.
'Oh, you can't help that,' said the Cat: 'we're all mad here.'
The Order of the Dice... OF DOOM!

[SavageGamerGirl]

I'm also trying to come up with a Rippers adventure based on The Yellow Wall-Paper, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.

The story is about the slow descent of a woman into madness, written from her perspective.

The Rippers adventure that's percolating in my brain will be about the wallpaper itself. There's something about the pattern that forms a one-way gate from the spirit world to our world... and every now and again, something slips through. That's why the woman in the story was seeing other 'creeping women' crawling around behind the pattern.
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'But I don't want to go among mad people,' Alice remarked.
'Oh, you can't help that,' said the Cat: 'we're all mad here.'
The Order of the Dice... OF DOOM!

[VonDan]

Or the paper could have been printed with rye ink infected with Argot and she was eating the paper
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http://s61.photobucket.com/albums/h51/Vondan/

[SavageGamerGirl]

That's so mundane, though! For a Rippers adventure, it has to be spooky and supernatural.
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'But I don't want to go among mad people,' Alice remarked.
'Oh, you can't help that,' said the Cat: 'we're all mad here.'
The Order of the Dice... OF DOOM!

[VonDan]

The spooky and supernatural part is she bought the paper off the internet from "Cheap wall paper Manchester" off the internet in 1899
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http://s61.photobucket.com/albums/h51/Vondan/

[sonofthunder]

This thread is full of GREAT ideas! Please share more. I am looking for ideas for my Rippers campaign.

[SavageGamerGirl]

Another bit of historic inspiration for Rippers...

Mercy Brown
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'But I don't want to go among mad people,' Alice remarked.
'Oh, you can't help that,' said the Cat: 'we're all mad here.'
The Order of the Dice... OF DOOM!