A Quiet Weekend at Lake Okeewoehee

INTRODUCTION

In general, bold text in the outline is intended to be read directly to the characters.Highlighted text represents words spoken by various Non-Player Characters.I have also included some pictures you may find useful for setting the scene for your players.

Happy Gaming!

SPECIAL NOTES FOR THIS GAME

Deadite Infection:

The Evil may be spread in a number of different ways.The most common is infection through the bite or other attack of one of the Evil Dead.In generally, if a victim is Wounded or worse by a Deadite, thgough a bite or other piercing attack, the victim may become infected by the Evil.

• For less fatal games, GM's may have the victim make one Stubborn Jackass roll to resist the effects. For the victims of lowly Deadites, characters need only make an Easy roll. For more advanced Deadites, characters will need to make more difficulty Stubborn Jackass rolls.
• For a more "fatal" game, GM's should have the victim make a Moderate Stubborn Jackass roll to resist the infection. If the roll is failed, the affected body part will begin to die and the infection will spread. The victim must make a Moderate Stubborn Jackass roll each 10 minutes to avoid having the infection spread to a new part. The infection can be stopped by cutting off the infected body parts or being healed magically by a priest or witch.

There are two major options in the game's current text for "solving" the problem of Samuset.Characters may learn of K'naga's binding spell and attempt to strength it, forever trapping Samuset below the lake.Or, characters may try to load Samuset's lair with dynamite and blow him up.Either is a nice little victory.The ultimate outcome will depend on the tenor of the game (want more rollicking adventure?Blow up the bastard.Want more mystery and mysticism?Have the characters cast the spell).Of course, it is quite likely that the characters will come up with their own solution!

Extending the Game:

If you'd like to extend this adventure to more than a couple of sessions, I have a few recommendations (if you're looking for them):

1.Begin the disappearances/murders more slowly.Let the tension build over a few nights (in game time) and create a sense of uneasiness in the characters.

2.Add more mystery/adventure centered around the two camps.One option I've considered was adding an evil witch and warlock who are each running the two camps.They are using the souls of their happy little campers to feed the demon under the lake.A series of clues may lead the characters there and each confrontation may make for the climax of a gaming session. After they characters have defeated these two, they will still need to defeat the demon controlling them.

3.Add more magic/mysticism.This game currently has few opportunities for the castings of spells.You might add another mystical-type character and provide characters with opportunities to recover magical objects that may be used against the demon.

I.Geography of the Lake:

This section intends to help you create the layout for the game.

A.Description:

1.Large lake with a couple of small rock outcroppings that form small islands.

2.Up in the mountains.

3.Heavily wooded around it.

4.Extremely deep, supposedly formed by a meteor impact long ago.

5.The bottom has never been completely surveyed.

6.Small, sulfur spouts that create some small hot springs around the periphery and occasionally strange bubbles in the middle of the lake.

B.South shore:

1.Boy Scout Camp.

a.Boy Scouts can both provide valuable allies (those guys know how to blow up all sorts of stuff), or as a ready-made zombie horde that the players must battle.

b.They may also serve as innocents that the characters feel they must protect from the demon below the lake.

C.North shore:

1.Cheerleaders Camp:

a.This can be played up for a more raunchy "slasher-flick" feel to the game is you'd like.

D.East shore:

1.Old gold mine (abandoned and fenced off).See Section VII: The Mine below.Note that until the action really starts, characters will not notice anything out of the ordinary at the mind (the doors will be intact, etc.)

E.West shore:

1.Lake Okeewoehee Town:small town with a main street, couple of restaurants and hotels, a sporting goods store (fishing/hunting supplies, etc), a hardware store, gas station, sheriff's station, small medical clinic, etc.

2.Private cabins and public fishing.

3.Places to rent boats, sit on the beach, etc.

II. Character Set-Up.

1.Want to get away and a friend offers you use of his cabin near the lake for the weekend.

2.Get together your fishing stuff and head up (likely alone).

3.Kids might be attending with their families and tend to wander off.

B.Attending Camp:Annoying Kid, Hottie, Regular Joe, Teenage Punk

1.Bored, got poison oak, and the food stinks.

2.Told not to go towards the mine.

C.Working Locally:Regular Joe, Hottie, Teenage Punk

1.Menial job at a local diner, auto shop, hotel, etc.

2.Been there only a couple of days and are just getting settled in.

3.Renting a cheap room in a run-down motel towards the edge of town.

III. Night 1

1.Paying Attention Rolls (Easy to locate, Very Difficult to detect that they're excited screams, maybe not horrific ones.)

2.Investigate:

a.You step into the woods.The wind has picked up and there's a great deal of rustling.You think you hear many footfalls, like multiple people are running.Suddenly, off to your right, there's another scream.

b.If the characters call out, no one answers, but hears some muffled sounds.

c.Start to walk back into the trees.Everything gets quiet except for the breeze and the occasional hoot of an owl.

i. Easy Paying Attention roll to locate the muffled sounds and close in on them.

d.[build suspense]Finally, the you come aroundsome large trees and find a young teenage couple in a passionate embrace up against a tree.The girl is stifling giggles.They were obviously chasing each other through the trees and she was the one who screamed.The girl is one of the cheerleaders and the boy is one of the Boy Scouts (imagine that!).

C.Return to the cabin.Think you hear some more footfalls during the night and something that sounds like some dogs, but nothing too suspicious.

IV. Day 2

B.Activities:spend the day working/camping/fishing.

1.Get familiar with the geography and the various weirdos that live in town.

C.Run-in down by the Lake:

1.Characters hanging out near the lake (reason should fit why they're in town).

2.An old man approaches and looks far out into the lake.He smacks his lips, prods the mud with his cane, looks back out over the lake.He seems worried and mumbles to himself.

a.Finally, he looks over at the characters."Hey.You're new, ain't ya?Well, you'd best not hang about too long.It's almost Samuset, you know.Nothing but trouble at Samuset.Nothing but trouble.I keeps telling them, but they don't listen to me.Nope.No one listens to me.Just shoot me full o' drugs and wheel me off to play bingo.Well, they'll learn.They'll learn soon.Samuset is a'comin' and I don't wanna be around when it does."

b.The old man starts to waddle off, mumbling to himself again.

c.If pressed, he'll repeat his warnings and make motions off towards the lake."Bad hoo-doo there, all's I got to say. If I told ya its name, we'd both be dead before I could finish it.Just pack yer car, find your loved ones and get outta town, if you."

D.Sheriff Tubbs:"Now Melvin, don't be scaring the new folks with your folk tales, you hear?"Suddenly,a roundish man in a sheriff's uniform is standing near the pier looking over at the characters and the old man."Why don't you get along now.I'm sure they're looking for you over at the home."

1.Tubbs approaches the characters."Howdy folks, I'm Sheriff Tubbs.Good to meet you.Try to not to mind Melvin too much.I think he's almost 100 years old.Not all there, if you know what I mean."

2.If questioned, Tubbs doesn't know anything about Samuset and attributes it to Melvin's imagination.

3.Tubbs becomes cagey about any mysterious goings-on in the woods.Attributes most events to the teenagers or drunk vacationers.If pressed for information, he becomes suspicious of the characters.

a."Look, we don't want trouble in these parts.I want you to enjoy your stay, but please don't be making a commotion and getting people riled up.I got enough to deal with all those kids runnin' around."

4.Tubbs kind of waddles off towards his squad car.

E.Look out over the lake.A light haze has settled with the late afternoon haze.

1.Moderate Paying Attention rolls:if successful, characters see something long and slender come out of the water, towards the middle of the lake.It is probably just a trick of light and shadow.Still, it seems awkward. No one around the character will have seen it and will likely dismiss any description.

IV. Day #2--Night

B.Investigate:if the characters investigate

1.Again you step out into the woods.It's a bit breezier this time, and the trees are rustling.Leaves blow up from the ground and swirl around your feet.Suddenly, you hear a rush of footsteps just a few meters away, but whatever is running is obscured by the trees.It's dark—nearly moonless—and the trees cut off the lights from the cabin.

2.Another scream!This time hardly 50 meters away, deeper into the trees and off to your right.You think you hear someone shout "No!" and scream again.

3.The woods are thicker here.

a.Jock Skills Check:Easy if walking carefully.Moderate if jogging/running carefully.Very difficult if running fast.Will trip if they fail the check.

4.You come to a small opening in the trees and see one shadow lurch against a tree stump.Something seems to be hovering over it, but when you approach, the standing figure melts away into the trees.

5.You find a cheerleader laying prone against the tree stump.Her clothes have been ripped and she's bloodied.It appears as if something was eating one of her arms.

C.Players options:

1.Hunt down the shadowy figure.

a.Very Difficult Paying Attention rolls.

2.Contact the police.Sheriff Tubbs shows up and looks worried.

a.Characters will be questioned, but not suspected (unless they act suspicious).

b.Find out that the girl, Cindy, was missing from the Cheerleader Camp. She another friend, Traci, went out, probably with a couple of local boys.No one has seen Traci yet.

D.Return to the Cabin:after a while, it should be clear to the characters that there's not much else they can do for the night.They should return to the cabin and try to get some sleep (Tubbs may say as much).

E.Late Night Visit:

1.Later that night, past midnight, one or more of the characters hears some noises again from outside.The winds have really picked up now, but the sound of feet in the leaves can be heard.Another scream, this one almost a screech—clearly of terror and panic.

2.A pounding at the door and a girls voice:"Let me in!Please, it will get me too!Please let me in!"More pounding.

a.Can look through a peephole to see a young teenage girl that matches Traci's description.Her clothes are dirty, and her hair messed up.She's looking over her shoulder into the night as she pounds on the door and looking over her shoulder.

3.If the characters let her in, she rushes through the open door and into the middle of the room just as a loud, horrible howl erupts from the forest behind her.Something is rushing the door! (Door has 6D Body).

a.If the characters close the door, something big and strong strikes it hard.

b.If the characters look outside, they see a large Doberman Pincher running towards the door at breakneak speed.You can see it baring its teeth, foam around its lips.It looks strangely lean and seems to glisten in the faint light, as if soaked in something.

i. If the characters try to close the door after looking at the dog, it will smash itself against the door and try to get in. (roll 5D for the dog's Body strength.Characters can work together, using the highest Body score and adding +1D for each character who helps close the door.

4.Once the door is closed, have everyone make a Paying Attention roll.Those that succeed an Easy (10) test notice something weird about the girl.She has crumpled to the ground and seems to be sobbing hysterically.

a.You put out your hand to help her, when suddenly she looks up at you.She doesn't seem human anymore at all.She seems like...like some kind of monster!

b.Traci snarls, her mouth in a twisted grin, her eyes glowing yellow."You will all be damned with me.I will feast upon your souls and bring your shells to my Master!"

c.She attacks (and will fight until Pulped).

d.As Traci is dying (even if Pulped), she will still be screeching and shouting."You cannot stop the Samuset!You cannot stop the rising of my Master.Your souls are as good as sucked!"(then she "dies").

F.Aftermath:

1.When Traci has been Pulped, her body will begin to ooze, pop and crackle as if there is some kind of strange chemical reaction occurring.It will dissolve, leaving a horrendous stench and stain on whatever surface she is touching.If characters are splattered with her blood during combat, they will feel it burn like an acid (it will burn clothes, but will not damage the characters).

2.Not long after, a police car will arrive and Sheriff Tubbs will knock on the door.Tubbs looks very tired, but nervous and visibly shaken.He is sweating profusely and has lost his friendly smile.

a."We've received complaints of noise from over here.I'm getting calls from all over the Lake.People have been going missing, hearing all sorts of terrible things from the woods.I tell you, this is the worst summer ever."

b.Up to the characters whether they want to tell Tubbs or not.

V.FIGURING OUT WHAT THE HELL'S GOING ON.

The information below is provided to cover some of the options characters may take in investigating what's happening. It's like the characters won't think of all these options, or, more likely, will think of more than are contained here.

A.Investigate around town.

1.Talk to Melvin.

a.Melvin has locked himself in his cabin and will only open the door if convinced the players are not deadites.If they failed to convince him they aren't dead yet, Melvin will start shooting with a shotgun.Melvin will miss for at least the first few shots (don't bother rolling).After a few rounds, in which characters may try to subdue or convince Melvin, roll Shooting Stuff skill of 1D+2.

i. Periodically, Melvin should make an Easy Body check to remain standing after shooting the gun.If he fails, he'll get knocked over and it will take him 3 rounds to get back up.He might continue to fire while on the ground.

b.Melvin will further explain the Samuset.

i. "50 years ago, weird stuff just started happening.People started disappearing.Dogs were found half-eaten.Then people started finding bodies.The lake seemed to bubble, as if alive—the sheriffs cordoned off the lake and tried to evacuate the town, but no one wanted to leave the mine for fear of losing their jobs.

One of the locals, an old Indian whose tribe used to live in these parts, called it the "Samuset."It was the creature that lived below the waters.There was some old myth about it.Every 50 years, it would come out and claim some of the tribe members.They began to leave it sacrifices—virgins and the like.They worshipped that thing.

Well, we all thought old Joe was nuts.Finally, though something started coming out of the lake—and the mine.Tentacles—big, octopus tentacles—started creeping around.But folks started coming out of the mine lookin' like zombies.Their eyes were dead, I tell you.Dead.I watched one of 'em, my friend Tom, eat his wife!I shot him four times with this here gun, and it didn't seem to stop him.

Finally, some of us managed to kill off all those from the mines—the ones we knew about anyway.And we sealed up the mine.Had the local pastor say a prayer over it, hoping to seal up whatever was inside.By the end of it, most the town was dead.Those that weren't just packed up and moved away.Only me and few others stayed, and they've all passed by now.

I've been tellin' people for years this was gonna happen.But they jus' called me crazy and kept me locked up in this house.Well, they're learnin' now!

c.Melvin doesn't really know what to do, but he thinks the seal at the mine must have been broken. After they locked up the mine and killed all the zombified folks, the tentacles seemed to retract and nothing else happened.Melvin figured that the Samuset had gotten it's "sacrifice" and gone away.

i. I understand now, this thing is just going to keep comin' back, every 50 years.We gotta do something about it now."

ii. Melvin knows that there are still hundreds of pounds of explosives down in the mine.If they could be set off, they might kill whatever is living down there.

d.Melvin has some useful items in his house:

i. Shotgun with at least 100 shells. (5D).

ii. Lantern with fuel.

iii. Tool kit.

iv. Books on the history of Lake Okeewoehee, including newspaper clippings regarding the last "Samuset" from 50 years ago.This will lead the characters to find out that's when the mine was closed and sealed up with little explanation.

v. 5 sticks of dynamite (6D damage along, or 10D if bound together) and fuses.When handling, characters should make an Easy Blowing Stuff Up roll.

vi. First Aid kit (and some high quality pain killers).

vii. A canoe (out back).

viii. An old pick-up.It hasn't been driven in a while, but can be started with an Easy Fixing Stuff roll.There's some gas in the tank (GM's discretion...).

ix. A fair bit of whiskey (can be used to make Molotov cocktails).

x. A wood axe (STR+2D damage).

2.Investigate the Lake (see Tentacles).

a.If the players decide to investigate the lack, they will find tentacles growing out of it.An inordinate amount seem to be spreading towards the two camps.Think of all those poor kids, being turned into deadites!Something must be done!

b.Players can attack the Tentacles and make them retract.As they do, more and more deadites will turn up and try to defend the Tentacles.It should become more and more apparent that they will have to deal with the "source" of the Tentacles.

3.The Mine.

a.If the players try to investigate the mine, they will find that the sealed steal door that was once welded over the front has been removed—as if ripped off by some great strength.

b.The players will run into 1-5 deadites at the mine entrance.

i. Deadites:Body: 4D+2; Brains: 1D; Senses: 1D+2.

c.Oddly, there are no Tentacles coming from the entrance of the mine.

i. Samuset will only sprout Tentacles through the water, since most of his body is lodged in the bottom of the lake.

d.On the steal doors will be some Latin and some religious symbols.A Moderate Hocus Pocus roll will reveal that the words form a "spell-glyph" for protection, to keep Evil contained in an area.They are useless now that the seal has been broken.But, if the door can be re-welded, it may contain the Evil again if the proper spell is cast.

e.If the players venture into the mine, see section VII: The Mine, below.

VI. FIRST ATTACK

B.Tentacles growing into town.

a.The players may notice a number of tentacles spreading throughout the town and trying to pry their way into people's closed homes, shops and cars.They tentacles can be traced back the lake, where they disappear under the black water.

i. Body = 4D+2 (strength related skills), 5D to resist damage.

ii. Deadite Infection.If the tentacle can pierce the skin of a target (Wound Level) it will attempt to inject deadite infection.

C.Tubb's Turns Bad.

1.Find Tubb's squad car covered in a bizarre slime, looks like sucker-marks all around it.

2.Find Tubb's nearby.It's dark and shadowy and he seems to be stumbling.

3.Tubbs starts shooting.

VII. THE MINE

1.The mine is open, but large steel doors lay nearby, as if ripped off by some great force.There is a tablet, about the size of a gravestone that has also been toppled over to the ground.When you turn it over you see a symbol of a great serpet, or tentacles, and an image of a woman holding two serpents, apparently controlling the beast above her. (image to right).

a.Timing:

i. If during the day, there will be nothing else of note around.

ii. If during the night, the characters will be attacked by 1-5 standard deadites.

b.Hocus-Pocus roll of Difficult:

i. Legend of K'naga:figure out that the woman etched is K'naga, a legendary shamaness, revered by local Indians centuries ago.She was believed to control and ward off evil serpents.

ii. Once characters know of K'naga, they can research her at the local library or with some locals and find out more about her alleged powers.K'naga is said to have cast a spell over the demon in the lake, creating an earthquake that buried it with rocks and then a storm that flooded the basin and trapped the beast under the lake's waters.

·The spell cast by K'naga weakens once per 50 years, permitting Samuset a limited freedom.It is then that he extends his tentacles out into the world, drawing souls to him and feeding on them.

·One potential solution would be to re-cast the spell, using stronger magicks so that Samuset cannot feed even at the 50 year intervals.

-Research with local Indians and mystics may lead to new spells.

-Such a spell would be Very Difficult to Extremely Difficult to cast.

B.Mine Shafts.

1.The mind shafts are dark and littered with rock, old tools and other debris.There are cobwebs, freaky-large spiders, and plenty of things to trip over.

a.Players will need sources of artificial light.Might find some old flashlights or kerosene lamps, but they will be without fuel/batteries.

2.Opportunity to do a "Dungeon Crawl" and have the players progress forward slowly, occasionally running into deadite creatures (skeletons, zombies, dogs, etc.).They may find some useful tools, weapons or clues in the process.

C.Winding down.

1.Find explosives.

a.After 10-20 minutes of progress in the mines, the characters will find 5-10 boxes of dynamite.The boxes are covered in dust and cobwebs, but the dynamite has remained dry and is likely still explosive.There are fuses for all of the sticks and a detonator box.

2.Find human skeleton.

a.Occasionally the characters will run across the remains of humans, including whole skeletons.Many of the bones will appear to have been chewed on.

3.Random encounters.The players will be attacked by zombie and skeletal mine-workers who have been "slumbering with their master" for decades.

a.Deadites:Body: 4D+2, Brains: 1D, Senses: 1D.

VIII. The Demon Samuset

2.The reason why they close the mine and why so little development happened around the lake until fairly recently.

3.Killed everyone in the mine.Say that the mine connects with where Samuset sleeps, under the lake.He comes up through the lake periodically and takes victims.

4.Characters will learn of the legend of K'naga (above) if they haven't already.

B.Samuset lair:Mine pit:large open area at the bottom of the shaft.Extremely warm.Lots of steam from the geysers.Maybe even some lava.

1.See the etchings on the outside of the chamber (image to right).

a.Old Latin prayer written by a local priest 50 years ago.

b.Reinforces K'naga's spell to keep Samuset contained within those walls.Every round it's repeated, it will do him 8D damage.

c.Moderate Languages: Ancient check to read it correctly.

2.Samuset's Body:Samuset is a massive, bulbous, bubbling mass of lumps, ooze, and tentacles.You're not even sure which end is his head.When you first see him, he's got a small tentacle inserted into the chest of a victim.The victim is twitching, and you can see Samuset almost glowing as he sucks something (the soul?) from his victim.A line of fresh deadites forms behind the victim, obviously waiting for the same treatment.Large tentacles sprout from Samuset's body and reach up into the rock above him, burrowing up into thelake bed and then out into the world.

a.If the players are stealthy, Samuset may not immediately notice them.He is busy probing the outside world with his tentacles and feeding on souls.

b.At least for the first few rounds, if the players make Easy Sneaky rolls, they will go unnoticed.

i. If the players attack Samuset or any nearby deadites, Samuset will immediately notice them.

3.Samuset attracts zombies, so the characters will have to be battling them the whole time.

a.Samuset both creates deadites and feeds on the souls of his victims. Any new deadite infected by his minions will first come to the lair so that Samuset can suck out his soul.Then the new minion will be sent out into the world to gather new souls.

C.Defeating Samuset:

1.Pitched Battle:Regardless of how the players decide to take on the demon, there is certain to be a pitched battle.If attacked, Samuset will start swinging his tentacles around trying to smack the players.Further, his deadite horde will begin to converge on his location in order to protect him.There should be plenty of carnage for everyone.

a.The players may try and recruit some locals to fight the deadite horde.This may require Military Matters and Barkin' Orders checks (and perhaps Talkin' Pretty to convince them to fight).An odd alliance of Boy Scouts, Cheerleaders, and local yokels may form to battle the deadites.Could be fun.

2.Spell/Prayer:the characters are attempting to confine Samuset with magic, they will have to cast the spell while in Samuset's lair.That means that the caster(s) will have to be protected from the various attacks and Samuset will have to be distracted while the spell is cast.

3.Violence as Solution:if the characters decide to blow Samuset up, they will have to plant the dynamite around the lair.

a.A Moderate Blowing Stuff Up check will tell the characters the optimal way to place the explosives around the lair to be sure to kill Samuset.

b.Another Moderate Blowing Stuff Up skill check will be required to successfully detonate the explosives.Remember that the characters only have an old fuse detonator.They can either light a fuse and run or run the cable all a ways up the mine shaft and hit the detonator (the successful check will tell them the right distance).

i. Once they detonate the explosives, however, the mine will begin to collapse and a big ball of fire will start to spout through the shaft (blowing up a demon is no small affair). 

·The characters will need to make Moderate Jock Skills: Running checks to escape.The GM may have them make various Getting Out of the Way checks to avoid falling rolls too.

·Finally, the characters will likely run into deadites on their way out of the tunnels.More fun with shotguns and axes...

D.Aftermath:

1.Once Samuset is dead, the deadites will be leaderless and relatively easy to kill.They will lose their ability to infect others with the Evil, so they'll just be your standard, shuffling zombie.

2.The locals will thank the characters, but by and large they'll want to act like it never happened.The local Chamber of Commerce tends to think that stories about zombie hordes are just bad for business...

3.What's next?

a.Whether the characters will continue to battle the Evil together is up to the GM and the characters, obviously.The best way to "hook" the characters into more adventures is to create some kind of cliffhanger.

i. For example, when Samuset gets destroyed, the explosion/spell is so powerful that it opens a rift to some hell-dimension and a giant bat-like creature flies through it, darkening the skies.The creature heads towards the nearest city, where it is sure to do some damage...

ii. Or, the characters could be sucked through the vortex to another time or dimension, full of the Evil Dead and all sorts of other nasty problems.You get the idea...