“The monitoring station in Green Canyon is offline, nothing from the crew. Wind conditions and the tree line prevent an air approach, you’re going to have to go in on foot.”
Setup
The Green Canyon area is a large stretch of untamed woods in Washington State. The canyon itself runs over a mile deep, though only a quarter wide, and traces through Mt. Wilder. The monitoring station is built above the northern side, surrounded by walls of trees on three sides with an extension leading down into the abyss.
Agents will be delivered to the town closest to the station, Ruddy Creek, by the Program. The general store carries basic survival gear and preserved food. There are two small tents available, each can fit two Agents, but it will be a squeeze with no room for gear. Sleeping without a tent leaves the Agent particularly vulnerable to insects, illness, and discomfort. Agents should check themselves for ticks while out in the wilderness, if bitten, roll Luck, on a crit fail the Agent contracts Lyme Disease.
Townsfolk will mention that bears are in the region but are uncommon in this area. They caution the Agents that there is no signal of any kind around the canyon. They know of the station and of the two workers, when the weather is clear, a drone delivery is made once a month with food and supplies.
The Early Trip
The trek to the station will take five days, three and a half at a forced march. After each day of forced marching Agents must make a CON roll. On a failure they are EXHAUSTED the next day.
Agents should make a daily group Survival roll. Use getting lost and losing a day sparingly as a punishment for failure. Instead consider accidents, San loss from stress or isolation, loss or damage of supplies or gear, or a wildlife encounter. A fall crushes a handheld GPS, a water bottle rolls down a hill into a vicious patch of brambles, an Agent stumbles upon an unhappy snake (none in this region are venomous but a bite still may become diseased and costs 1 San from helplessness), etc.
The first two days of the trek are quiet. Ask the Agents how they set up their camp and make note of how they store their food. This lower area is brimming with wildlife, much of it curious about unsecured food. At some point the agents should hear something coming through the brush directly towards them. Two backpackers emerge and greet the Agents warmly. If the Agents called out they respond. The man and woman are coming down from a higher point of the canyon. They would have continued up further along it, but were turned back after they discovered an unnerving stone cairn. They also note a repulsive stench which hangs in the area. Like rotting eggs and dung. The two can be convinced to lead the Agents back to the area, which is within the Sasquatch’s territory.
Sasquatch Territory
By now the Sasquatch have taken note of the Agents' approach. As agents ascend, wildlife thins out, the forest is quiet. A sulfur smell is detected by observant agents. An agent who steps into the woods alone with Alertness 60% seems to sense a shape in the trees which retreats as they investigate San 0/1 Helplessness. If the Agent's food is outside of their tents, it is stolen in the night. The smell is heavy in the air. The earth is too disturbed for clear tracks but Survival 40% traces the path towards the station and the cairn.
All wildlife near the agents disappears costing San 0/1 Unnatural. Agents standing watch or who lag behind may notice eyes in the trees (San 0/1d4 Helplessness). By day four any agent who goes off alone is attacked. A fire and a guard keeps them at bay at night. If there is no guard, two Sasquatch attack one of the tents and attempt to drag an Agent away to be eaten.
The beasts try to separate the Agents if they can bait them into the woods. If they can capture one they will kill the Agent slowly, hoping their screams will lure out or separate the rest.
The Cairn
The Cairn is 3 meters tall, small bones and feathers power out from amongst large rocks. The stones themselves would be difficult to move for a normal human. San 0/1 Unnatural. The hikers will go no further than this and request the Agents come back with them. If unaccompanied at least part way down, roll luck. On a fail an Alert agent might hear distant screams in the night costing San 0/1 from Helplessness.
Finding Food
Scavenging for food requires a Survival roll. On a success enough food for half the Agents is found, if split evenly all Agents are at -10% to all actions the next day. On a fail the found is sickening. Any agent who fails CON spends the next day with a stomach bug, costing a penalty to actions. On a crit fail the food acts as a Lethality 5% poison.
Monitoring Station Charlie-Charlie
The station has had its door ripped off. Search reveals signs of gunfire towards the trees. A proper search of the tree line finds the emergency rifle, bent like a twist-tie (San 0/1 Helplessness). The station door has been ripped off its hinges as well as the cabinets within. The only food remaining is a few frozen meals in the freezer. The only signs of the staff are a number of white chips, blood, and shredded bits of cloth (San 1/1d4 violence). Anthropology or similar determines these are human bone chips, crushed by bite and stripped of all meat and marrow (costs 1 San from Violence). All equipment is the station is untouched and working except for the small satellite antenna used to radio out. Repairing it requires climbing up on the roof and bending it back into shape with Athletics or salvaging a new one with Craft: Electronics before the radio can be used. Calling for help reveals that air evac can’t come for a week due to forecasts but that teams will move to ready stations in Ruddy Creek.The station has another giant antenna, tracking something unknown up in space. A monitor constantly pips with readouts indecipherable to anyone without Physics 80%. The system tracks an extraplanetary signal which, looking at data trends, appears to be approaching Earth at a slow but constant speed (San 0/1 Unnatural). A photo station below appears to monitor the river and seismic activity in the area. A United States Geological Survey cover for the station. There is a single bunk room, a small kitchen/rec room, and a store room. Flares, a bow, a fishing kit, medical supplies, and spare clothes and blankets can be found here. Tables and bunks used as makeshift barricades won’t hold the creatures for long, but they will protect from stray rocks.
Seven creatures howl in the tree line around the station. Rocks are hurled through any unblocked window in salvos, trying to drive the Agents into the open. When the Sasquatch think the Agents are weakest, ideally having given them time to starve, all seven attack.
Escape
Attempting to break through the Sasquatch is possible. The creatures will enter the station if there is no sign of life within. Three descend into the canyon. The remaining four track the Agents. A successful opposed stealth or survival keeps the Agents within detection range. The smell and stalking howls cost San 1/1d6 Helplessness. A crit success loses them for two days.
A path connected to the station leads down into the canyon. Agents who take this path will have the Sasquatch occasionally attack them with stones from atop the canyon or stalk them down. An emergency raft found in the station can be used to navigate the river as opposed to the path. This is much faster, cutting a whole day off of travel, requiring Survival or Boating to navigate the rough waters. Failure crashes the boat or loses equipment, crit failure casts the Agents into the river. Regardless, the canyon path throws the Agents completely off path. With Survival or Navigation they can find their way back to Ruddy Creek. Otherwise it takes them three days before they stagger into civilization.
Survival awards 1d8 San.
Sasquatch
STR 30
Con 25
Dex 12
INT 10
POW 10
HP 28
WP 10
Armor 3
Skills:
Alertness 40%
Athletics 80%
Stealth 80%
Survival 70%
Swim 50%
Attacks:
Strike 80% 1d8 DMG
Bite 20%, Lethality 5%
Throw Rock 60% 1d6 DMG
Stench: Agents entering melee range with a Sasquatch must make a CON save. On a failure they are affected as if by tear gas for 1d4 rounds, on a crit fail they are stunned for the same.
Bigfeet: The Sasquatch is able to Dash up to 30 meters as an action.
San loss: 1/1d6
Credits
Bigfeet, Big Trouble was written by AstroCat for the 2024 Shotgun Scenario contest.
Source: https://docs.google.com/document/d/11BCeW1dS_PAt0tx8Ai_YfMvb6x67UXfwcw2tL_Pb-Qw/edit