Introduction
4:45 p.m. Two KGB officers, a nuclear physicist and a doctor are sitting in the Chelyabinsk KGB chief's office. A woman of 57, Evgeniya Antropovna, a colonel, is standing in front of them near a map. She tells them that an unknown emergency has happened in the area of the closed city of Ozyorsk-17. Troops have surrounded the city and aren't letting anyone in or out. Contact with the local agents was lost. The group needs to reach the place, figure out what has happened and send all the gathered information by radio. The team will be promptly delivered to the city and will receive the necessary equipment. The senior KGB officer is assigned to lead the team. As additional information, she can tell about the existence of the "Beacon" — a nuclear weapons production facility.
At 6:23 p.m., the team approaches their destination in a UAZ-450V service vehicle rocking on gullies. They are equipped with four AK-47s, four Makarov pistols, four cartridge clips for each of them, two RGD-5 and one F-1 grenades each, one field radio set, a Geiger counter, a medical bag and a field surgical kit, bayonet knives, entrenching tools and a ground map. The driver slows down a little and shouts to the players in the back to jump out of the car and run to the forest, otherwise the military will catch them. Players make a Dexterity check. On failure they get -1 HP, on critical failure -2 HP and dislocate one limb. A couple of minutes later they hear or see an APC passing by and shooting at something along the way.
Forest
Players walk through the forest towards the city. Two or three encounters from the table might happen along the way. After that, they approach a concrete wall with barbed wire on top, that they need to get over.
The master determines the encounter by choice or by a roll of die D6.
| 1 | Vortex | 4 | Shadow |
| 2 | Wolf pack | 5 | Moose |
| 3 | Mushroom hunter | 6 | Forest hut |
Vortex — a player is forcefully pulled into the center of an invisible circle. A player needs Athletics or Strength check to get out. On failure their character breaks a limb, on critical failure it is torn off.
Wolf pack — players run into three animals that tear them and each other apart.
Mushroom hunter — an elderly man with his eyes and ears scratched out is sitting on a stump and shouting about a thousand people screaming in pain.
Shadow — one of the players notices a creature overgrown with moss and lichen, with long arms and legs. It is following them but cannot be found.
Moose — there is a moose carcass lying on the ground, its legs are unnaturally twisted, and the body is covered in huge blood blisters, ready to burst at any moment.
Forest hut — a wooden one-story one-room building completely covered in writings and amulets. In the middle of the room there is a pictogram drawn in fresh blood.
City
Having climbed over the fence, the characters will easily notice a giant radar antenna in the distance. Its location coincides completely with the location of the plant. The city itself will consist of an area of bungalows on the edges and brick three-story apartment buildings in the middle. After passing through the residential area players stop in front of the street that runs along the fence to the plant.
| 1 | Cobweb | 4 | Radiation |
| 2 | Mob | 5 | Pool |
| 3 | Military squad | 6 | KGB man |
Cobweb — every player must make a Vigilance check. In case of a failure, they hit one of the barely noticeable silver strings and get -20% to all checks after 15 minutes and -40% after 30 minutes. In case of a critical failure, they pass through it. One hour later their heart stops (resuscitation is possible).
Mob — a staggering group of horribly burned people slowly walks down the street, screaming in pain. Some of them have no eyes or three arms, limbs of different lengths, some are as if soldered together, and others have strands of muscle floating in the air in all directions like hair. When they see the characters, they will walk toward them begging loudly for help with outstretched arms.
Military squad — players run into three army men patrolling the territory, who are evidently hostile to everyone.
Radiation — the Geiger counter shows extremely high levels of gamma-radiation. Passing around the field will take 10 minutes.
Pool — every player must make a Power check. In case of a failure, they see their feet slowly sink beneath the surface, as if in liquid. Upon critical failure, they fall into the pool up to their waist and keep sinking.
KGB man — in one of the buildings characters notice a KGB officer wearing a uniform. He will fire back upon the team until he sees their IDs. Then he will apologize and hand over a package of documents, asking to deliver it to his boss in Chelyabinsk KGB department without opening it no matter what, and then shoot himself. He is supposed to look scared, but quite normal. Inside the package there will be a stack of papers with the inscription on each: "They have opened the world of our dreams, ideas, thoughts, reveries".
Plant
Hiding in one of the shelters players notice a couple of APCs periodically pass along the fence, patrolling the territory. They walk along the road and find a breach in the wall guarded by a group of soldiers. The soldiers can be somehow distracted or destroyed using grenades. If the Search check is a success, players can discover a climb through a fallen tree to the fence. On critical success they can even find a small hole at the base.
Once inside, players will see a huge complex of technical buildings. It is as if all the personnel have died out. Only a few military platoons and a couple of IFVs stand at the main checkpoint. The radar antenna, visible from afar, is now even larger. And there is some kind of a pillar of faint neon glow behind the plant buildings.
As players get closer, they will realize that this pillar hangs to the right over the flat field. There are giant concrete slabs beneath it to the right and the left. In front of them stands a man in a dirty white coat with a strange device in his hands. The pillar itself is about 100- 160 feet high and looks like some kind of mirage, constantly shimmering, but with no clearly distinguishable edges. The closer a player gets to it, the louder the Geiger counter screams, but the voices and faces of different people become clearer in the light. The scientist does not react to the hails and other actions of players. He can be killed. Those who approach him will see an emerald light in his eyes and a strange device with a big red button. If he is alive, he will surely say to them: "I cannot destroy this."
Players have two options:
- They press the button. The device starts beeping annoyingly, and in a couple of minutes a flash of blinding white light hits their eyes.
- Players go away and leave things as they are. On their way back, they see a squadron of Mi-1s flying to the plant and tanks, armored carriers and trucks entering the city.
In any case, the master does not say what happened to their characters next. He only reads out the following text: "According to the official declassified data, on September 29, 1957, Sunday, 4:22 p.m. local time, the explosion of the can No. 14 of the “S-3” complex used to store high-level waste occurred as a result of the builders' negligence during the construction of this complex. Afterward, 400 square miles were contaminated, 12.7 thousand people were relocated, all property, food, fodder, buildings and trees were buried, and the land was plowed over. We know what happened in a nearby town of Kyshtym based on eyewitness accounts. However, the tragic events that took place in the closed city of Ozyorsk existing to this day are still marked top secret. We can only guess what had happened there before the special commission arrived."
Appendices (stat blocks)
Military squad (1 person)
STR 12 CON 10 DEX 12 INT 9 POW 14 CHA 9 HP 11 WP 14 ATTACKS : Kalashnikov 50% damage 1d10, 100 m, Let 10%
Pistol 40%, damage 1d6, 20 m Unarmed 50%, damage 1d4
KGB man
STR 12 CON 12 DEX 13 INT 11 POW 14 CHA 11 HP 12 WP 14 ATTACKS : Kalashnikov 60% damage 1d10, 100 m, Let 10%
Pistol 50%, damage 1d6, 20 m Unarmed 50%, damage 1d4
Wolves
STR 8 CON 8 DEX 15 INT 5 POW 5 CHA 0 HP 8 ATTACKS : Bite 80% 1d4 Let 10%,
Tear to pieces 90% 1d6 Let 30%,
Jump up 70% 5 m 1d2
Credits
Ozyorsk-17 was written by Gotlibshtein for the 2022 Shotgun Scenario contest.
Source: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Kg9YKfYHTHWWE5StImCZxUoc4-YeNZgcJbp379dXjUk/edit