Moving Underground

Players work for Vanishing Points, a mystery/occult Internet series under the PX-Penumbra umbrella. They’re in Indiana to interview Adam Vanderbilt, an ex-cop who says monsters live near his home.

Five pre-gens are provided: anchor, videographer, producer, psychic and driver. You can
go as low as two: anchor and videographer, the latter sharing producer roles.

SETUP

These last few months, Vanderbilt has been emailing about “monsters” near his home. He’s an interesting character, doesn’t seem unbalanced and has a good line in anecdotes. If the monster angle doesn’t pan out, he’s still got gory cop stories. He’s even offered to cover hotel expenses.

The following footage is needed:

• Entering town/location shots
• Minimum two sound-bite interviews with locals
• Interview with Vanderbilt
• Re-enactments
• Night-time woods “investigation”
• Other B-roll footage

They land at Indianapolis with equipment, rent a car and drive to Kernel, a small community of 80 people outside Harmonie State Park. It’s late afternoon.

TRUTH

Vanderbilt’s correct; monsters live in Kernel. But they don’t live underground. They’re actually the townsfolk, who strip off into their true forms at night. They’ve tolerated Vanderbilt for eight years because no one listened to him – but now he’s got journalists to threaten their existence.

Once the townsfolk realize what’s going on, they’ll want to scare away the crew and retrieve any footage. If it comes to it, they’ll just have to make the crew join them – as monsters forever.

Vanderbilt also has a not very well-hidden “secret” of his own: he was once Delta Green. Though he now hates them, he still has a number to call if things get hairy. And they will.

KERNEL

The road to Kernel is heavily forested, trees blocking the sun. SatNav says it’s 20-miles back to the nearest town. It feels further. A battered wooden arch with the town’s name stretches over the road (KERNEL, EST. 1849). A good place to get intro footage.

Ahead’s the town. It’s small and quiet: town hall, bar, grocery store, school (seemingly closed) – but no hotel. Hasn’t been since 1963, say locals.

Vanderbilt’s phone rings with no answer.

The townsfolk are affable but apprehensive about cameras. Asking for interviews about monsters perplexes them – they don’t know of any monsters. Asking about Vanderbilt they realize why the PCs are in town and roll their eyes.

He lives out in the woods. Take the service road for the Wabash River. You can’t miss his cabin.

VANDERBILT

Woods grow thicker, the service road to mud. Finally, a clearing with a homespun cabin, truck out front. Vanderbilt’s a big guy ready for his third heart-attack; he rushes out, excited to see the crew.

He’s sorry he lied about the hotel but he didn’t think they’d come otherwise. They can stay with him. Nowhere else in town.

The cabin’s clean but rudimentary, with an open-plan living/kitchen area and three bedrooms (Vanderbilt sleeps on the sofa). He’s excited, wants to get down to business. HUMINT tells he believes monsters are real.

When everyone’s ready he takes them out to a shed. Its interior’s covered with horrifying charcoal sketches – hideous creatures that shouldn’t exist (0/1 SAN). He points, tells their names: “Ragamuffin”, “Scratch”, “Pandoole”…

They live in the woods. They live underground. The people in town don’t believe him, but he’s seen them. They’re mostly harmless.

He lets PCs interview him, talking in a calm, thoughtful manner.

• He was a NY State Cop for thirty years until he retired in 2009. He’s been hunting monsters since then.
• He moved to Kernel 8-years ago because he’d heard the town was rife with monsters. He hasn’t been disappointed.
• The monsters are mostly harmless, though he’s been chased on two occasions. Light seems to drive them off.
• Each has its own personality (hence the names he gave them). He describes them – Scutter’s nervous – he eats birds, Prunella’s vain, he’s seen her staring in the river…

Vanderbilt won’t say how he first became interested in monsters nor why he quit the force. He pretends not to hear such questions. If PCs push it or imply they don’t believe him, rage flashes across his face. Then he smiles and goes for a walk. He returns after punching trees.

After dinner, he recommends they go into the woods around midnight. Until then they’ll have some time on their hands.

RESEARCH

The library’s shut after 5PM, but PCs can research on phones or in town tomorrow.

Kernel: Not a lot of history at all and even the library lacks local color. Locals offer stories about local nothings.

Vanderbilt: Checking Vanderbilt’s past finds he was fired from law-enforcement after a violent breakdown in 2003 – he’s been lying. Asked about this he babbles there’s a secret monster-hunting squad in the government and he was introduced to them but… Then he clams up.

Monsters: looking for the monsters online (based on the pictures) finds stories about creatures that eat the dead and crawl underground. Someone claims a cult of them, the Keepers of the Faith, exists in NYC. If Vanderbilt is asked about this he gets very, very nervous, like he’s met them.

THE WOODS

Pitch-black and spooky. Vanderbilt leads them deep into the woods. Roll Navigate to not lose him. He points out a mound ahead, helps set up cameras. Turn off the lights and wait.

Crew realize there’s a better shot over yonder. Vanderbilt warns it could be dangerous. Their choice.

Time passes.

Then alien noises. Things move. On the cameras an inhuman thing crawls, spider-like, from the mound. It sniffs the air. Another crawls out. Another. They all look different but are obviously monsters (1/1D6). They disappear into the forest.

If the crew got closer or follow, the creatures sense them. A scream! A lunge! Do PCs flee? Fight? Vanderbilt fires his pistol – “Run! Back to the cabin!”

The creatures give chase.

(Careful PCs can sneak back to the cabin with their footage without being chased.)

SIEGE!

Vanderbilt and anyone who made it to the cabin can bolt themselves in. The creatures clatter at the door, clamber over the roof. “This has never happened before,” says Vanderbilt. It makes good footage though – if the PCs can keep their cool.

Don’t hit them with violence so much as tests of skill to keep the things from getting in. The monsters move too fast, slithering and scrabbling, to be accurately seen – but they’re all sinew and gray flesh. Their long fingers snatch at PCs through smashed windows, they trash the cars, shrieking and screaming.

Going outside’s dangerous. Darkness is -40% penalty (-20% with flashlight) and creatures will try to capture or kill them. Knocked unconscious, PCs are dragged away.

Creatures leave at sun-up. Badly wounded, they pretend to leave, then grab anyone foolish enough to come out.

Wear PCs down with WP and SAN losses. Phones work and police say they’ll be there but don’t arrive until sun-up. The deputy chalks the carnage to Vanderbilt and friends drinking. He implies it’s happened before.

FOLLOWING DAY

Depending how they survived, PCs might want to get out of town or explore more.

The mound isn’t a warren but a tunnel. Crawling through finds it splits into dozens of passages. All open into basements or closets in Kernel’s homes and shops…

Going into town finds townsfolk more surly and unhappy than before. They sneer at stories of monsters and call Vanderbilt as a lunatic. If PCs do sound-bites today, they won’t be usable. If PCs injured a monster, they spot a resident dart away – displaying the same injury as the monster.

PCs leaving town find road-works blocking the road. Locals tear up the tarmac. No other roads out and it’s a long walk. You wouldn’t make it before sundown.

If PCs pick fights or cause trouble locals go from bemused to disgusted to angry. Being outnumbered, PCs get a beating and are tossed to Vanderbilt or dragged off for unspeakable purposes.

BACK TO HELL

If they haven’t escaped, the only place to stay is Vanderbilt’s cabin.

He’s sorry about everything and getting progressively drunk.

PCs should make their dispositions accordingly as monsters return in force at night to offer an ultimatum – hand over any footage and Vanderbilt. Then PCs can go free.

Vanderbilt begs them not to, fights to stop them doing it.

Any captured PCs return as monsters. Let players tease their colleagues how great being immortal is. Offer a pact of eternal life… or kill them.

If they hand over Vanderbilt and footage, the monsters take them and leave. PCs can leave town next morning.

If they refuse, it’s a fight to the death. Vanderbilt tells them there’s one chance – a number to call, a coded message: “I need six tickets to the Opera.”

If they call, an Outlaw kill-team arrives in 1D3 hours, fights to the cabin, kills the monsters.

The Outlaws demand any footage. Then shoot Vanderbilt.

They give PCs a head-start before coming after them.

FADE OUT…

PRE-GENS/NPC STATISTICS

> SHARON PARK, 24, Reporter On the Rise
STR 10, CON 10, DEX 11, INT 11, POW 14, CHA 14
HP 10, SAN 70, BP 56
SKILLS: Alertness 60%, Athletics 50%, Art (Presenting/Anchor) 80%, Bureaucracy 50%, Computer Science 40%, Disguise 60%, Foreign Language (Choose) 20%, History 40%, HUMINT 60%, Occult 30%, Persuade 70%, Psychotherapy 40%, Search 50%
ATTACKS: Karate 40%, 1D4
Impromptu Weapon 30%, 1D6
Firearm 20%, varies
BONDS: Disapproving Parents 14
Disapproving Sister With An M.Sc Who Thinks I Can Do Better 14
My OnlyFans 14
That Guy Who Told Me He Worked With CNN And Said He’d Get Me On Lead Story 14
MOTIVATIONS: Get out of this dead-end nerd-stravaganza ASAP; Got to prove I’m more than just a pretty face; I’m not chipping a nail doing that; I’m not a diva, I’m a professional

> CODY JARVIS, 27, Videographer and Conspiracy Theorist
STR 13, CON 12, DEX 13, INT 11, POW 11, CHA 12
HP 13, SAN 55, BP 43
SKILLS: Alertness 70%, Athletics 60%, Art (Videographer/Editing) 70%, Craft (Electrician) 60%, Craft (Mechanic) 40%, Drive 50%, First Aid 40%, Firearm 40%, Forensics 40%, Heavy Machinery 60%, HUMINT 30%, Navigate 50%, Occult 70%, Search 40%
ATTACKS: College Wrestling 40%, 1D4+1
Impromptu Weapon 30%, 1D6+1
Firearm 20%, varies
BONDS: Sharon Park, I Wish She’d Like Me Like I Like Her 12
Drinking Buddies 12
Long-distance online girlfriend in Canada (no, really) 12
MOTIVATIONS: Find a girlfriend; Prove the occult is real (and film it!); Try to keep everyone happy; Area 51 is totally my next vacation destination

> GRETCHEN SKOBAL, 33, Producer and Professional
STR 09, CON 09, DEX 14, INT 15, POW 12, CHA 12
HP 11, SAN 65, BP 53
SKILLS: Accounting 60%, Alertness 40%, Art (Scriptwriting) 30%, Bureaucracy 60%, Computer Science 50%, Criminology 30%, First Aid 30%, Foreign Language (Choose) 50%, History 40%, HUMINT 50%, Law 40%, Persuade 50%, Psychotherapy 50%, Search 60%
ATTACKS: Flail Wildly 40%, 1D4
Impromptu Weapon 30%, 1D6
Firearm 30%, varies
BONDS: PX-Penumbra 12
Long-term Partner 12
Brother in the Army 12
Drew Casacuberto, My Secret Weapon for Viewer Hits 12
MOTIVATIONS: Make Vanishing Points the best damn online show; If you can’t film it, fake it; Keep everyone happy (especially Drew); Balance the books

> DREW “D.C.” CASACUBERTO, 35, Fake Psychic
STR 12, CON 11, DEX 11, INT 13, POW 13, CHA 12
HP 11, SAN 65, BP 52
SKILLS: Alertness 40%, Anthropology 50%, Archeology 40%, Bureaucracy 40%, Criminology 50%, Foreign Language (Choose) 50%, History 60%, HUMINT 50%, Occult 60%, Persuade 60% (Faux Empathy), Pharmacy 50%, Search 60%
ATTACKS: Unarmed 40%, 1D4
Impromptu Weapon 30%, 1D6
Firearm 20%, varies
BONDS: Dealer in Illicit Substance 12
Cody Jarvis, Making Me Look Good on Camera 12
The PX-Penumbra Faithful 12
Grandmother Who Also Faked her “Psychic” Powers 12
MOTIVATIONS: Don’t let anyone know I snort my pay-check; Work with Gretchen to make my “premonitions” accurate; Ensure everyone believes you’re psychic (only Gretchen knows otherwise); Upstage that bitch Sharon

> ANTON MORRIS, 30, Ex-Con Gopher
STR 17, CON 14, DEX 12, INT 10, POW 11, CHA 08
HP 16, SAN 55, BP 44
SKILLS: Alertness 50%, Athletics 70%, Craft (Locksmithing) 40%, Criminology 80%, Dodge 60%, Drive 70%, Firearms 40%, HUMINT 50%, Law 40%, Melee Weapons 40%, Persuade (Intimidating) 70%, Pharmacy 40%, Stealth 30%, Unarmed Combat 70%
ATTACKS: Jail-yard Curb-Stomp 70%, 1D4+2
Light Impromptu Weapon 40%, 1D6+2
Two-handed Impromptu Weapon 40%, 1D8+2
Firearm 40%, varies
BONDS: My AA Sponsor (Six-Months Sober!) 08
Ex-Wife and Daughter 08
The Purple Peacock Gym 08
Gretchen Skobal, Who Got Me This Job 12
MOTIVATIONS: Not going back to jail again, no way; Ms. Skobal believed in me, giving me this job – so do right by her; I’m the toughest guy in the room; Stay sober, keep cool

* * * * *

> ADAM VANDERBILT, 63, Monster-hunter
STR 11, CON 10, DEX 11, INT 11, POW 11, CHA 06
HP 11, WP 11, SAN 45, BP 44
SKILLS: Alertness 60%, Drive 40%, Firearms 40%, HUMINT 50%, Occult 40%, Persuade 50%, Unarmed Combat 50%, Unnatural 2%
ATTACKS: Unarmed 50%, 1D4
.357 Magnum 50%, 1D12
Pump-action shotgun 50%, 2D6 (in closet in cabin)

> MONSTERS, in all shapes and forms
STR 20, CON 20, DEX 15, INT 12, POW 13
HP 20, WP 13
SKILLS: Alertness 60%, Athletics 70%, Stealth 60%, Track (by scent) 65%, Unnatural 30%
ATTACKS: Grasp and wrench 40%, 1D6 AP3
Bite 40%, 1D10
LOOK HUMAN: During the day, the monsters look like (are?) regular folk. Any injuries they suffer carries over to their alternate form. All stats and skills also remain the same.
IMMORTALITY: Monsters never grow old or perish by natural causes.
INHUMAN AGILITY: With an Athletics roll monsters can scale and clamber up and over surfaces no normal human being can.
SAN LOSS: 1/1D6 in their monstrous form; 0/1D6 the first time seeing or hearing a former colleague/friend has become a monster – 0/1 thereafter

> WET-WORKS (x4)
STR 12, CON 12, DEX 12, INT 10, POW 10, CHA 10
HP 12, WP 10, SAN 30, BP 20
DISORDER: Hardened to Violence
SKILLS: Alertness 60%, Athletics 60%, Firearms 60%, Heavy Weapons 60%, Melee Weapons 60%, Military Science (Land) 60%, Swim 60%, Unarmed Combat 60%
ATTACKS: Unarmed 60%, 1D4
Knife 60%, 1D6
Pistol 60%, 1D10
AR-15 60%, 1D12
Hand grenades 60%, lethality 15%

Credits

This was an entry to the 2020 shotgun scenario contest. Written by Agent Obtuse.