Sorcerer setting idea, free of charge

[Nev the Deranged]

Just a quickie Sorcerer setting idea that tumbled out of the dark closet in the back of my brain the other day. I'm dropping it here in case it strikes anyone's fancy. It's more of a mini-scenario, suitable maybe for a one shot/demo kind of thing.
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Present Day. Present Time.

Demons do not, nor have they ever, existed.

Until today.

Somewhere in a top secret underground facility, a small, dedicated group of men and women are in the final stages of an experiment which has the potential to change... everything.
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In my version it's a government bunker under Lake Michigan, but where it is and who runs can be tailored to whatever you like. I would call it either the Faust Project if you make the goal to contact classical "demons" of some kind, or maybe Project Oversoul if you make the goal to generate entities out of... I dunno, human life force or whatever. Basically, they're trying to create a separate but obedient entity that can assist the human in tasks that cannot normally be undertaken (at least not without really expensive and clunky mechanical assistance). Each human gets their own, and each one is tailored to the needs that human specifies. All the rituals and everything are flavor-to-taste, although I personally would steer clear of "scientific application of existing occult lore" and make it more high-concept-science, quantum physics or collective unconscious /gestalt / whatever, in any combination you like.

My idea for the story is that the first volunteer for the actual Procedure is an NPC. He or she gets in the tank, or on the dais, into a webwork of wires and nodes, or however you want to envision it. They follow through with the Procedure.

It works.

The First Sorcerer (ever!!) decides he/she doesn't want to cooperate anymore. Perhaps they go insane (even if temporarily). Perhaps the demon prods them. Perhaps they just don't feel like it. Maybe the players know why, maybe they don't. But the bunker is sealed- no way out for them, and no way in for the cavalry. They'll have to take matters into their own hands, and if they plan to survive the ensuing chaos, each of them will have to enter the Device and submit themselves to the Procedure. Maybe they each have different reasons for doing so. Maybe they will choose to join the rebellious First, maybe they do it to save the rest of the world from the results of the Project and want to destroy all trace of it.

As you can see, even though I have specific ideas where I would go with this concept, and what kinds of flavors I would use, it's pretty flexible.

Like I said, more suitable for a demo or a one-shot than a campaign, not because it wouldn't be easy to expand the scope or location of the scenario if you really wanted to, but as far as available backgrounds, covers, and kickers for the PCs it might be kind of limited. This is definitely the kind of scenario that would lend itself to pregens.

I realized after jotting down a few notes that the idea for this had bits of a few things... take your pick of "experiment gone bad" movies like Hollow Man, whatever. But one of the big influences was the excellent Deconstructing God module for the ADRIFT text-adventure program. Less of a game and more of an interactive short story, Deconstructing God is worth downloading the (free) ADRIFT parser and the module all by itself.

Um... anyway... hopefully that was enough to strike sparks on somebody's flint. Enjoi. ^_^