scenario/adventure writeup -- the museum

[ynnen]

i'd love to see more people post some of their home-made campaign or adventure ideas. to get the ball rolling, here's one i've been developing that i plan on running next week. what are some of the scenarios you've developed?

==============

BACKGROUND:

the characters are in second grade (eight and nine years old). the class is taking a field trip to the natural history museum in the downtown area. it's the first time any of the children have been to this museum. to start out with, i printed out permission slips and signed them to give them the feel of being a kid again. it's pretty straightforward, but it becomes important later.

growing bored of the traditional exhibits, one of the children in the PCs group dares one of the PCs to venture into one of the roped off exhibit areas -- labeled "The Human Animal"... it's a secluded hallway dimly lit by a series of flickering work lights. several glass cases can be seen along the walls.

unbeknownst to the teachers, the proprieter of the museum is looking to win the favor of Baba Yaga in Closetland. he has set aside the exhibit to capture unwary children and make them mannequins in his warped museum displays -- helplessly trapped watching others watch them, unable to call out for help.

several other children are already trapped here. the PCs may uncover the secret, but will be hard pressed to do anything about it.

REACHING THE MUSEUM:

the school bus arrives at the museum early in the morning. they're renovating the museum, and several wings of exhibits are closed to the public. as they arrive, the teachers split the children into groups of six to go on the museum tours. because of the number of children, several museum volunteers are assigned groups, as well.

the characters are put under the charge of one of these volunteers -- Mr. Wilhelm, a sharply dressed man in a pressed black suit. he's balding and has a long scar on his cheek leading up to his eye, which is covered by a dark black eye patch. he speaks with a German accent. he walks with a slight limp, aided by a silver-tipped walking cane. overall, the kids are already a bit unnerved by this man.

the children are here to look at a variety of exhibits on ancient cultures and history. from time to time, they will see workers in drab clothing updating one of the exhibits -- cleaning out the stall, arranging mannequins, putting props and items in place, etc. they work with mechanical, detached indifference, and have very plain, unremarkable features.

THE DARE

whether the PCs take the dare or not, at least one child from the group will sneak into the hall (Toby Jensen)... after a few minutes, he doesn't return. what do they do? will they tell Mr. Wilhelm? will they go after him themselves?

Mr. Wilhelm will be very upset with the children, and will likely send one child off looking for a security guard while he goes into the hallway. he too, fails to return, as does the child sent looking for security. in fact, the museum has become completely empty, except for a few exhibits with the drab workers attending to their duties.

there are a lot of good opportunities here to create a sense of panic, frustration and tension.

EXPLORING THE EXHIBIT

if the children decide to take the dare or eventually follow their missing classmates down the "Human Animal" exhibit, they'll find some compelling and frightful things. the atmosphere should be tense and spooky.

the exhibits are covered in thin sheets of fabric that sway in the cold currents of air created by the air conditioning system, which whirs and clanks periodically. the dim worklights buzz and flicker. one might pop and go out as the children approach.

one of the exhibits, labeled "Donner Party" looks like a campfire or outdoor scene in an artic setting with several mannequins hunched over another mannequin on the ground. an arm fell off one of the mannequins and lies next to it. the floor of the exhibit is slick and dark, looking like wet red paint.

another exhibit, labeled "Gingerbread House" shows an unfinished set of wood panels painted to look like candy canes and cookies. most of the set resembles a crude kitchen with over-sized utensils, knives and butcher's block. a large metal cauldron sits in the center of the floor, and mannequins of a small boy and girl sit inside.

several other exhibits like this one continue down the hall. most show signs of cannibalism. some mannequins may even look familiar. is that one in the cauldron Tony Jensen?

TRYING TO LEAVE

if the children try to leave the exhibit -- or the museum -- eventually they will encounter the museum's curator, Horace Thompson. he will speak to the children over the museum's PA system. with a loud pop of static and wail of interference, the PA system shouts into life.

"Where do you think you're going? The exhibits need to stay in the museum. My workers will be along shortly to collect you and set you back in your proper place."

The drab, mechanical workers are mannequins themselves, parodies of people the children may recognize now -- Mr. Wilhelm, one of their teachers, etc. the workers are very slow, cumbersome and clumsy. the children should be able to outrun and outwit them with ease. if this continues for some time, Horace Thompson will interrupt with another announcement:

"Enough of this. The exhibit needs to be ready for tomorrow's Grand Opening. Your parents were gracious enough to sign you over to the museum for the duration of the exhibit. What did you think those permission slips were for?"

if the children look at their permission slips again, sure enough, they now read what Horace mentioned -- that the parents agree to let their children be used in the exhibit (that ought to cause some fear). -- another great place to introduce a new prop (the "true form" of the permission slip).

GETTING OUT?

there might be a few things a gamemaster may allow as a means of escaping the museum, some more obvious than others, the main doors and windows of the museum, however, are locked.

1) breaking through the glass of one of the windows and crawling out (a daunting task -- the windows are thick and reinforced against break-in).

2) crawling into the ductwork somewhere and crawling out that way.

3) turning the lights fully on in the exhibit, exposing those mannequins and things for what they really are.

4) making a big mess and destroying as many of the exhibits as possible, ruining Horace's plans.

5) locating the office where Horace is using the PA system and confronting him directly.

THE ENDING

if the characters are creative and overcome the obstacles to the gamemaster's satisfaction, they have thwarted a nefarious plot, indeed. but to add an extra "edge" to the frayed nerves, there are several ways to have the kids get in trouble, despite their best efforts:

- if they've destroyed property, security guards get to them just in time to catch them in the act. they're returned to their school group or taken to the office where their parents are called, etc.

- if they break out, you could easily have an alarm go off, alerting others. they have to explain why they set off the alarm.

- if they didn't do well, perhaps they are trapped in the exhibit now, and watch as others pass by them... and seeing twisted, grinning faces from time to time in the crowds -- slavering and licking their lips in anticipation.

[peteramthor]

I like it.  I have used mannaqiun type creatures before, especially after playing silent hill 2.  But the museum angle is nice.  

A few things that may come into play.

What is Horace getting in return for the exhibits?  You stated he is trying to win baba yagas favor, but to what end?

How linked into closetland has the exhibit become?  

Just wondering.

Another options I may use is the old wax statues for the workers and such.  Then the PCs could run through turn up the heat and all the lights in attempts to melt them down a bit.

But as I said.  I like it.  

PeterAmthor
my life in hell
http://peteramthor.darkgod.net

[ynnen]

you raise some good questions -- but little fears is far different than any other RPG i've played... as such, i'm not as concerned as fulfilling every little detail, since it's highly unlikely the characters would ever uncover the extent of the truths...

a lot of those gray areas you point out are the sorts of things i just improvise during a session.

i love the idea of wax dummies -- a novel approach, and very appropriate... as well as a self-contained means for clever characters to overcome the problem.

another idea i had was to have Horace read from the permission slips over the PA system (so the characters don't have them -- they had to turn them in).

if the characters can find Horace and destroy the permission slips, then Horace no longer has permission to use them in the exhibit (a quasi-belief based way of defeating him).

[peteramthor]

Ah destroying the permission slips I like that one.  You could go another step with it and make it to where the children no longer see the exhibit once they have destroyed them.  Makes it worse on them if they know there are others trapped in there, cause now they have no way of rescueing them.

I cooked up some game stats and such for Mannequins over on the bitterreign.com little fears forum (and holder of the official little fears listserv).  I still need to finish them out and playtest the rules a couple times.  Now I am working on the stats for wax dummies as well.

I have to agree about not working out every little detail.  I am the same way.  Was just wondering if you had thought of anything along those lines.

PeterAmthor
my life in hell
http://peteramthor.darkgod.net

[peteramthor]

I thought up some rules and such for mannequins and put them over in the new monsters section.  Have to say this thread got me thinking about them.

Later.

[ynnen]

i'm interested to see how those turn out... one of the big challenges i have for LF is coming up with good non-human encounters that would be eery, creepy and moody but not necessarily just big fanged critters.