Last Chance Troubleshooter's Guide
Quick Adventure 1:
Resident Evil 1-3
As a little extra bonus to the troubleshooter section, or maybe a whole new section, we'll bring you a ready-made adventure. Since this is also the first one, I'll include a few tips on how adventures are put together along the way. Our topic this month is going to be an adventure based upon the popular video game series "Resident Evil". Culminating with the final "Nemesis" installment. Now just for ease of conversion this is going to be based upon either the Beyond the Supernatural or Nightbane game premises.
I. The Setup- First and foremost the immediate problem you run into when beginning a campaign will be getting your group together. Since your characters are invariably as mixed and varied as your friends are, their characters are just as diverse. With the "RE" scenario we have here there are a number of ways to go about this. If they are starting out split apart, use this to your advantage. Mercenary players could be part of the group hired to do RECON and/or find survivors ala RE3. First level characters could start as residents of the town and are trying to investigate the strange happenings about (i.e. RE1). If your character is searching for something (Loved one, artifact, clues to their past, Eyes Wide Shut plot) he/she could find some clues that lead them into the thick of the action. If your player group is already assembled you might want to use this as a transitional adventure between campaigns. Such a group low on supplies or ammo would seek refuge in a quiet little place like Raccoon City. Raccoon City is also rich in art and history with a thriving number of "Private Collectors" as well as being the site of a bustling research facility for a major pharmaceutical corporation, both rife for theft and corporate sabotage (RE2) for any players with ambiguous morale standards.
These are just the tip of the iceberg. I'm sure you can come up with something just as good for your own motley troop. Try and stay away from railroading your players and just put in a little extra prep time. Just about any problem your characters will throw at you can be managed or at least controlled with preparation. Just make sure you have everything you need (vital stats, npc's, settings, maps etc.) written down and organized before you start. Get the story set in your head before you tell it and never worry about changing the scenario on the fly, that's why this game is so fun.
II.
The Setting- Raccoon city is your average mid-west town. It doesn't matter where it is, nobody cares. It can be cold or warm or raining to beat all hell. It's up to you and what you want to do. I personally think it'd be funnier if you make the whole troupe drudge through hip deep snow while zombies crawl after them. But I'm a little sadistic. The time doesn't really matter but if you want to stay true to the game it's dusk now and you have to survive till morning. When the characters arrive, the town will appear normal from the outside but closer inspection or the closer they get to the center of town, the more destruction they'll find. Bodies will litter the streets, spent ammunition will be everywhere, not to mention the total chaos of abandoned car accidents, numerous fires, and just plain FUCKED UPPEDNESS.
Just when you spring the whole zombie trap on them depends on you and how you started out. If they started as residents they could or should have clues before you do. Make them subtle, like vague sightings at night or maybe they see someone that they don't quite know but it's a face they recognize (actually a neighbor that died ten years ago i.e. Night of the Living Dead). But if your group is all outsiders, let them just get to a point when corpses surround them. Moans and subtle movement should start and the entire scene should culminate in a Horror Factor roll and an attack.
III.
The Story- This is the meat here. You have to motivate a rowdy group of dice rolling mongrels into fighting, running, and surviving their way through the entire town before dying, escaping, or killing off every last undead S.O.B. in the vicinity. It all comes down to which game you want to run and how you want to run it. There is a little of everything built into this game that just fits perfectly with R.P.G.'s and when you put yourself in control you have the makings of a killer campaign.
If you're not into the hack and slash aspect of it, there are plenty of puzzles to solve and mysteries to uncover. Where are all the zombies coming from? Who caused all of this destruction? Where did all the townspeople go? Who is responsible for this? Are there any survivors? What is the government going to do about this? Who's the big Dude in the black trench coat? And why do I feel the need to wet myself every time I hear footsteps that aren't mine? These are all questions you can have them ponder as they avoid the nastiness within.
If you do want to get elbow deep in rotting intestines, boy are you in luck. There are plenty to go around. Even better, this is a great place to throw everything but the kitchen sink at your players. If they are tough as nails, overwhelm them with numbers. If they are armed to the teeth, introduce them to the Nemesis. We'll get into the assorted monsters and villains later but masses of zombies make pretty good sheep dogs for your more stubborn group members.
The basic story for Resident Evil was the Raccoon City S.T.A.R.S. unit (SWAT team) is sent to a mysterious mansion in the woods trying to find out the cause of mysterious disappearances and murders. It turns out the house is owned by Umbrella Inc. Not only is Umbrella the largest employer in the area, it's also a chemical weapons developer for the government, and the mansion was an experiment gone wrong for it's latest virus.
Resident Evil 2 follows the adventures of Leon, a rookie cop showing up for his first day of work in Raccoon City and Claire, the sister of one of the original S.T.A.R.S. members from the first game. Leon is just in the wrong place at the wrong time and Claire is searching for her brother's whereabouts. Along the way Leon runs into a woman that is secretly trying to steal the prototype virus for her organization, and Claire ends up trying to rescue the daughter of the scientists that created the second generation virus. It turns out the little girl's father is the carrier of the virus and her mother is on a murderous rampage trying to stop/kill all of the known survivors/witnesses. This story covers corrupted officials, corporate tyranny, and a really big albino alligator in the sewers.
Resident Evil 3: Nemesis is the last of the trilogy. Jill Valentine, another survivor of the original fiasco is still stuck in Raccoon City and is trying to escape. In her way is a squad of professional mercenaries on a clean-up/rescue mission and the Nemesis, a walking, growling, killing organism programmed to do one thing. Kill S.T.A.R.S. members. And if that wasn't enough, the President is stepping in and has deemed Raccoon City a state of disaster and severe Biohazard. What is he going to do? Clean it up by putting a Tomahawk missile on Main Street.
IV.
The Details- I don't have the time, resources, energy, or want to get into all of the intricacies that made this series so popular but I'll give you a couple of easy ways around it. First is go buy a "Strategy Guide". These are the books that they sell to help you beat the game. They include background info for N.P.C.s, weapons, maps, and a host of other bullshit you might want to know. They run about $10 or $15 and you'll get a ton of info for your campaigns. It's really worth it if you want to make this place a regular addition to your universe. If you want to cheat your way out of the $15 buy one of the myriad magazines (EGM, Playstation Magazine, etc.). They won't be as informative as the guide will but it won't cost you as much either. These mags are a great source of quick little ready made maps for your gaming pleasure. If worse comes to worse check videogames.com for online strategy guides. They have them for a ton of games and since you're already surfing the net to read this, Multi-task dammit.
V.
N.P.C.s- These are just a basic overview of the monsters that you'll run afoul during this adventure. There isn't enough space to list every type of monster throughout the 3 games so I'll just make it short and add my favorites. If you want to run this as a rift campaign just switch the hit points to M.D.C. on a one-to-one basis and that should make it simple. Keep in mind that zombies and most other undead are immune to most types of attack aside from fire, decapitation, and total annihilation.
A. Zombie Dog- Like the regular zombie except it drinks out of the toilet. They're fast and usually travel in packs of 1D4 and will use numbers to their advantage by attacking in waves and from many different angles at once.
Size: Same as a large dog
Hit Points: 48
Attacks: 4
Bonuses: +3 to strike, +6 to parry
Damage: 1D6 bite. 1D4 claw
B. Zombie- Your run-of-the-mill, brain sucking, Evil Dead cannon fodder. They're slow, dumb and they'll just run you over with superior numbers. They too travel in large groups of 1D6 but more than 10 times that much is not uncommon for a large group.
Size: Human sized
Hit Points: 75
Attacks: 3
Bonuses: +2 to strike/parry/dodge
Damage: 1D6 bite.
C.Giant Spider- They crawl over every surface and you're most likely to find them in sewers, deserted hallways or in service tunnels. A favorite tactic is to prowl overhead (70% skill) and either attacks them with secreted poison or drops from the ceiling with it's oversized mandibles. They usually travel in pairs.
Size: 3 feet (.9m) and 150lbs. (67.5kg)
Hit Points: 50
Attacks: 4
Bonuses: +3 to strike/parry/dodge
Damage: 2D6 per melee for 2D4 minutes for Poison. 1D6 from mandibles.
D.Mutant Alligator- The simple reason why hiding in the sewer should never be your first option. If your players have truly spectacular firepower at their disposal let them duke it out with the beast. If not leave them an out like a fuel canister or power line nearby.
Size: 40 feet (12m) long
Hit Points: 850 (optional A.R. of 14)
Attacks: 3
Bonuses: + 6 strike/parry/dodge
Damage: 6D6 for claws. 2D4x10 for bite. 1D4x10 for tail.
E.Hunter Alpha- A mutant monster bent on decapitation that has nothing better to do that try and cut your damn fool head off with it's pair of enormous claws then dance on your remains. They run in groups of two or three and they attack with unnerving swiftness and accuracy.
Size: 4 feet (1.2m) and 200lbs (90kg)
Hit Points: 100
Attacks: 5
Bonuses: +8 to strike/parry/dodge
Damage: 5D6 for claw strike. Double for power strike
F.Licker- A precursor to the vile Alpha, this mutant clawed about the city on all four and striking out with its lance like tongue. It is capable of being as sneaking as silently as the spider if it wasn't for it's claws tapping the concrete and raspy breathing. It's not as fast as the hunter but the large and VERY sharp tongue gives it a great ranged attack (6 foot/1.8m range)
Size: 5 feet (1.5m) and 180lbs (81kg)
Hit Points: 100
Attacks: 4
Bonuses: +6 to strike/parry/dodge
Damage: 2D6 for claw. 6D6 for tongue
G.Mr. X- Silent but violent is the motto for our man X. He terrorized poor Claire in RE2 and served as inspiration for RE3's Nemesis. He's got a bald head, pale skin and always wears a black trench coat (sound familiar?). He didn't carry any weapons but his strength was more than enough to compensate (Supernatural P.S. of 50). Relentless doesn't even begin to describe the monster sent to kill all witnesses to the horrors of Raccoon City in RE2.
Size: 8 feet (2.4m) and 500lbs (225kg)
Hit Points: 1000 and regenerates 1D6x10 per minute
Attacks: 5
Bonuses: +7 to strike/parry/dodge
Damage: 1D6x10 punch. 2D6x10 power punch
H. 1. Nemesis (Stage 1)- Mr. X ver. 2.0 is how this works out. He can mutate. He's more intelligent, as well as faster and stronger. Oh yeah…he carries a fuckin rocket launcher too. Don't you hate it when they give the bad guys bigger guns. Then you're really going to hate when he decides he doesn't need it anymore.
Size: 8 feet (2.4m) and 500lbs (225kg)
Hit Points: 1000 and regenerates 2D4x10 per minute
Attacks: 6
Bonuses: +6 to strike/parry/dodge
Damage: 2D4x10 punch. 3D6x10 power punch
Weapon: Rocket Launcher 1D4x100 with 1000foot (305m) range and 8 round magazine.
2. Nemesis (Stage 2)- This is when it starts to get ugly. The Nemesis has dropped the big gun and began to mutate. Each finger on his right hand has turned into 5 feet (1.5m) long tentacles and whips and entangles its enemies without mercy. He REALLY likes to beat opponents on the ground.
Size: 8 feet (2.4m) and 600lbs (270kg)
Hit Points: 1250 and regenerates 2D4x10 per minute
Attacks: 8
Bonuses: +8 to strike/parry/dodge
Damage: 2D4x10 punch. 1D6x10 squeeze/strangle.
3. Nemesis (Stage 3)- This is when it stays ugly. The Nemesis has completely abandoned it's humanoid guise and turns into a giant slug monster with two huge tentacles (20 feet/6m) as well as 6 of the smaller ones (5feet/1.5m)
Size: 20 feet (6m) long and 3 tons
Hit Points: 1500 and regenerates 2D4x10 per minute
Attacks: 7
Bonuses: +10 to strike/parry/dodge
Damage: 2D6x10 large tentacles. 1D6x10 small tentacles.
That should be plenty to get you started. There is a lot of mystery and mayhem to go around here and a little imagination is just what it takes to turn this into a really great adventure, or an even better campaign. Now if you have any questions or if you just want to let us now how it turned out drop us a line anytime. Everyone gets responded too. Watch your back, good gaming, and enjoy.
This page has been visited 
times.