A Shotgun Scenario from Tuesday 8:00
At a quasi-religious remote compound atop Last Dollar Mountain, Colorado, 39 ranchers consumed lethal quantities of jimsonweed to contact intelligent life from another plane. What traveled through, however, appeared to be a beautiful white horse. For a moment, the onlookers were entranced by its beauty. They watched as the high priest attempted first contact. Then, the horse melted and metamorphosed, and it eviscerated the high priest. Splashed with their leader’s gore, the followers at the compound succumbed to the deliriant in a state of shock and horror. Insatiably, The Horse traveled down to Sawpit, CO to stalk new game in its endemic hunting grounds: within their dreams.
Over the following week, The Horse claimed more victims from this small town. When the third cadaver in a row, inaccurately diagnosed with SUDEP, showed up on county coroner Dr. Jeremiah Alston’s autopsy table, he called it in. Enter THE AGENTS.
The Hunt
By seeking to end The Horse’s activities, the agents find themselves in its sights. When an agent antagonizes The Horse or defiles signs of its presence , a stacking penalty of 10% is levied against that agent. Ties are broken by a Luck roll. Each time one or more agents sleep, the Handler must secretly make a 1d100 Hunt roll for each sleeping agent. The sleeping agent with the highest roll is visited upon by The Horse. The Horse is a tireless hunter, and will not relent until all hostile agents are rended from its dominion. Agents will have to stay awake until they deal with The Horse, or flee the county . In their absence, The Horse redoubles its focus on the denizens of Sawpit—with each additional kill risking media attention and mass panic.
Telluride
Fun
belly
Hog Farm
At a show pig farm a couple miles east of Telluride Regional Airport, Case Officer Samuel briefs the agents on the situation. Samuel looks well over the age of 70, and he sports a star-spangled bow tie and a stringy gray beard. Samuel is so decrepit, he makes even speaking appear arduous. He gives the agents a prepaid phone with all relevant contacts pre-entered. It is debatable if Samuel is mentally present at any given moment so a successful Luck roll must be made for him to actually follow through on tasks.
Telluride Morgue
If the agents want to follow up with the coroner’s findings, the morgue is also located in Telluride. Dr. Jeremiah Alston greets them. He has a bristling mustache and wears a lab coat. He can pull medical records and wheel out the bodies for the agents, but he admits to being stumped on the causes of death—“Maybe hypoxia?”, he suggests. Officially, these folks died of SUDEP while sleeping, but none have a history of epilepsy. The three victims are identified as Cheryl Cook, Joseph Tackett, and Oscar Kearsley. Alston notes that all three are strangely suspended in the state of rigor mortis without decay, making it difficult to establish a timeline. Agents with Medicine, Forensics, or Science (Biology) above 40% know to use gut fauna readings to estimate that the time since death for Joseph is 6 days; Cheryl 4 days; and Oscar 2 days. Cheryl has a bruised right wrist, but otherwise, there are no abnormalities or other apparent signs of trauma. Brain, organs, and muscle are all in sound condition.
Sawpit
Nestled among the roots of Last Dollar Mountain, Sawpit is a strip of houses along Highway 145 North. There’s no sheriff, entertainment, or shopping—all that is back at Telluride. Still, there’s a joint for motorists to grab BBQ and fill up the gas tank before trucking on. Also, there’s a single story motel with five rooms for rent standing across the street.
The residents of Sawpit are generally cooperative, with the exception of “Sir” Albert Schooner. Schooner is the self-appointed mayor of Sawpit, and he rides around on a salt-and-pepper horse named Fritz. Albert believes that the federales have encroached on “his” town and that the investigation is a cover for a hostile takeover. He orbits the agents, eventually approaching in a huff and interrogating them on what their true intentions are. The horse, Fritz, is no treat either; he slobbers on anyone nearby, chews on clothes, and bites any accessible fingers. Antagonizing Fritz incurs a Hunt roll penalty.
Investigating Oscar’s death yields no information (Victim of Circumstance).
Joseph’s Trailer
There’s a dirt road due northwest that leads to a prefabricated house sitting on concrete blocks. A successful Bureaucracy roll or a relevant background (EPA/FEMA) will identify it as a FEMA trailer. The mailbox out front says “J. TACKETT”.
Joseph Tackett’s trailer stands in a small grassy yard littered with scrap parts, a rusty project car on cinder blocks, and horse-themed lawn ornaments. Inside, the agents find themselves immersed in a dizzying array of horse-themed memorabilia that, ordinarily, wouldn’t be out of place among rancher folk… but this looks more like an obsession.
Living room / Kitchen
The main area of the trailer is a sty of junk food trash, documents, magazines, and more horse-themed items. Sorting through this mess takes 4 hours (or 2 with a successful Accounting Roll) and provides three items of note:
- An envelope addressed to Joseph, containing a pamphlet with a provocative suggestion: “PLEASE BE READY TO PRESENT YOUR WISHES TO OUR GUEST!”
- A polaroid photograph of 40 happy individuals in front of a firepit. Joseph himself stands half-cropped out at the edge of the photo. There’s writing on the back: “Last Dollar Mountain”, and a date for ten days ago.
- An itemized medical bill:
- Treatment of anaphylaxis caused by seasonal allergic rhinitis $3600
- 1 box tissues (Kleenex) $500
Bedroom / Bathroom
Piles of used tissues and pill blister packs surround the bed. Several styrofoam cups sit in puddles of condensation on the nightstand, next to a mostly-full box of 24-ct Benadryl and a bottle of aspirin. A horse-themed calendar is found next to the bed with a date for seven days ago feverishly circled and scribbled: “ INVOKATION DAY”.
Nothing in the bathroom, except a 60-ct box of Benadryl.
Cheryl’s Yurt
Cheryl’s home—a yurt—sits at the edge of town. Inside, there’s a bedroll and a kitchenette. Botanical posters are taped to the walls, and track-mounted blacklights cast an eerie blue glow. Looking through the kitchenette with a Search of 20% or above reveals a false panel in one of the cabinets, containing a cache of psychoactive substances, and a small trip journal with a rainbow-marbled cover. It charts what substances were taken and what their effects were. The final entry, 5 days ago, describes the use of jimsonweed and visions of a white horse. It recounts her moving to pet the horse, only for it to viciously bite into her right wrist. Struggling, she clawed at the horse’s snout and, when it let go, she instantly resurfaced from her trip.
Last Dollar Mountain
North of Sawpit, there’s an empty dirt parking lot feeding into a single hiking path up Last Dollar Mountain. Along the trail, agents will encounter abandoned campsites and balconies with coin-operated viewfinders—the view is nice. The trail ends about halfway up, and the agents will need to proceed the rest of the way themselves.
The New Sneffels Community
Cresting the hill, the agents stumble upon the aftermath of a mass suicide event. 39 bodies, just beginning to decay, litter the campgrounds, clutching paper cups containing trace amounts of green liquid. The deceased have the same invitations as the one found in Tackett’s home, and IDs that list their address: Sneffels, Colorado. The body by the fire pit —a bearded man in his 40s—lies in rigor mortis covered in lacerations and bruises. Under the effects of a deliriant, agents see this corpse for what it really is: pulpy, bloody residue. (1D4/1D6 SAN)
The grounds of the compound consists of one freestanding log cabin, a communal fire pit, and 22 tents, some of which are half-collapsed. To the east lies some rows of packed dirt—a respectable attempt at growing corn.
Standing among the sea of bodies, agents who make a Search roll at a 20% penalty will find an M1 carbine under a pillow i n one of the tents.
The Cabin
Inside the cabin, there’s an Adirondack bed, a locker, a writing desk, a dusty American flag. A coach gun can also be found in the log cabin. On the desk, there’s a journal in which the writer thrashes the United States Air Force and their culpability in the forced relocation of a ranching community two months ago, signed by one Chester Sykes, “Ambassador of the New Sneffels Community”. Tucked away under the mattress, agents find a brochure entitled “The Red Man’s White Horse” that tells of a Native American legend about a wish-granting spirit horse. History 20% or any research reveals this to be bogus history fabricated decades ago for a tourist trap in Norwood, that has long since closed down in 1976. Nearby, there’s a minifridge containing 6 full bottles of pale green liquid.
Stats
“Sir” Albert Schooner
STR 9 CON 9 DEX 11 INT 9 POW 15 CHA 11
HP 9 WP 15
Skills: Alertness 60%, Firearms 50%, HUMINT 30%, Ride 50%
Weapons: Colt Walker.44 (1D8)
Dr. Jeremiah Alston
STR 10 CON 12 DEX 11 INT 13 POW 15 CHA 10
HP 11 WP 15
Skills: Alertness 50%, First Aid 50%, HUMINT 30%, Medicine 40%, Surgery 45%
The Horse
Apex predator of the Dreamlands
STR 20 CON 24 DEX 28 INT 23 POW 27 CHA (22 [as horse] - 0 [after transformation])
HP 50 WP 20
Skills: Alertness 60%, Athletics 80%, Disguise 40%, Stealth 60%, Swim 80%
Attacks: Bite 40% 1D10+2, Trampling Hooves 40% 6D6 (See Trampling and Crushing)
Planar Tangibility: The Horse can only be harmed or interacted with while it is being actively perceived. It can only be perceived in REM sleep, under the influence of deliriants, while comatose, or at the verge of death.
The Thin Veneer: If The Horse is being perceived outside of REM sleep, it must roll Disguise in competition with each observer’s POW to maintain its appearance as a beautiful white horse. Upon failure, agents witness its transformation (as seen in The Hunt) and must roll SAN.
Territorial : The Horse skulks the confines of the Last Dollar Compound where it had first crossed over. During the night, when potential prey is asleep and alone, it heads down to Sawpit to hunt.
The Hunt: Those who fall asleep and are Marked by the Horse experience a sleep paralysis nightmare in which the horse materializes and stands over them. Here, the victim must make a POW roll to force themselves awake. Upon failure, the horse begins to melt, with layer after layer peeled away, and the agent witnesses its blurry, ghost-like movements that overlap upon themselves, frames of motion lingering momentarily. The Horse bares a canine grimace as it begins to descend upon the paralyzed agent (1D6/1D10 SAN). The agent must make a contested POW roll against the horse to escape and wakes up upon success. If the agent fails, they are violently consumed by the horse and dies in their sleep. Their body bears no signs of trauma but does not leave rigor mortis.
Trampling and Crushing: Upon a successful attack, The Horse can divide damage from a trample between up to six targets within reach. Each victim can make a Dodge roll in these circumstances.
SAN Loss (True form): 1D6/1D10
Deliriants
Agents have three options available, each with their own consequences:
- The Last Dollar Smoothie (The Green Liquid)
The most potent, and lethal option. It is ultimately fatal without treatment and physostigmine. Agents under its influence must make a CON roll every 5 minutes. If they fail they take 1D4+1 damage.
- Cheryl’s Trip Stash
Cheryl’s unprocessed datura leaves can be extremely useful to agents with the right know-how. Agents with Chemistry or Pharmacy over 40 (or on a successful roll) are able to use it effectively, producing a recreational dosage—the agents take no damage while under its influence. In inexperienced hands, it has the same effects as the green smoothie.
- 84 Benadryl
This OTC solution is the safest but is not without its side effects. Each pill is 25 mg; agents experience delirium at 400mg, or after consuming 16 pills. Agents must make a CON roll every 10 minutes and upon failure lose 1D4-1 WP.
Taken orally, these take one minute per CON score to kick in. Side effects include anxiety, visual haze, glossolalia, irregular heart rate, the feeling of increased weight, and visual, auditory, and tactile hallucinations. All of these symptoms increase in effect and frequency when agents become stressed while under the influence.
Timeline Quick Reference:
- Invocation day (7 Days Ago)
- Joseph’s death (6 Days Ago)
- Cheryl sees it (5 Days Ago)
- Cheryl’s Death (4 Days Ago)
- Oscar’s Death (2 Days Ago)
- Agents are Briefed in Telluride
Credits
Behold! The Night Mare was written by Tuesday 8:00 for the 2022 Shotgun Scenario contest.
Source: https://docs.google.com/document/d/189qa8jvAbJjZkBZIcL0jsxdfCpjbJ2Hl8COZEhLqXvU/edit