Bad Blood

Bad Blood is an adventure that takes place in the fictional criminal port city of Roanapur, regarding a plot concerning a page of the Necromonicon circulating among the criminal underworld. Left alone, the Necromonicon page will inevitably corrupt the city further by its presence alone and if read, with create a savage melding that will result in Hell on earth, as the Deadites take as their physical hosts, some of the most dangerous men and women on the planet before it spreads to the rest of the world.

There are four phases to the whole thing. If you choose to do this as a player, stop reading! If not, keep going. This game is strictly for OC's. Canon characters, at least for the duration are NPC's and are meant to act as replacement Player Characters should an OC die in the line of duty.

The Hook
''The air is too humid and hot, the voices are altogether different. The night here seems foul, the sense of smoke and shadows rising like the refuse of Hell, mingling in delirium and pain. Pollution and sweat. Spices and salt water. The jabbering of Mandarin and Cantonese and English and oh, so many others rise up. Gunfire echoes far away and the heavy beat of rap music throb through the air. In the distant harbor, cargo ships and the masts of various private vessels rise up like a forest. '' Welcome. To Roanapur. 

-First impressions

The characters are either locals of Roanapur or called in by a mysterious benefactor to the city. It begins in the Ramsap Inn Hotel, the time is around Nine PM at evening. Once on Roanapur soil, the parties next instructions are to enter Room 7 on the second floor of the hotel.

The room itself has nothing of value, save a cheap and somewhat out of place CD player with speakers that one could buy from any vendor. Its untampered with and has no traps, magic or otherwise. There is a window with a rusty fire escape, but a peek will reveal nothing but a dirty alley. A closet and a dirty bathroom with a grimy mirror stares out into the main room. After a meet and greet, the party will then receive the following as a messenger boy knocks and hands over a CD. If intimidated or persuaded, he will say merely that he was paid five American dollars to hand this to the people in Room 7 at the hotel. The man who gave it to him, was a figure with a straw hat and a white suit. No other discerning futures and if pressed harder, he'll cry. He was only focused on the money and the mans face meant nothing to him.

Depending on how the PCs treat him, he'll keep his mouth shut concerning them in the best case, not say anything about them unless a reward is offered in the middling case or sell them out at the first opportunity if they mess with him. The party might be tempted to wipe his memory, but Magical tampering is an illegal act and could have ramifications if discovered.

Once that is settled, the CD can be played- Its a cheap one, no fingerprints or any sort of aura sense- The scent is that of the Chalquam Market, where such things are sold by many. Played, the message is as follows. A distorted voice heavily altered speaks-

'Greetings. Call me 'Mr. E.' You have all come highly recommended, in both your chosen fields as well as your overlapping skills. In light of this, I have chosen you to perform a deed I cannot entrust to regular channels. Somewhere, in Roanapur a rat has taken something very important that belongs to me, enclosed in a special black, plastique container with the Roman numeral VII upon it, etched in. Within it, is a virus smuggled from an American research lab, meant to go on sale to the highest bidder in this port city by this time tomorrow. You have until then to find it and get it back, or retrieve it at the auction though I would not recommend this personally- There are many who desire this and the protections will rival an army. '

'What I had managed to discover is the following. One, it was originally going to pass into the hands of Monoc Security- They have a camp, out in the jungle beyond the city. So far, there has been no word from them since yesterday. Second, the email source has been traced to an Internet cafe located in Mr. Kinkou's territory called the Wire. He's a rather hungry and violent sort, Mr. Kinkou and should you come to blows with his men, he will take it personally. Oni's usually do.'

'Finally...The Yellow Flag bar. Most goods and information flow through there, using the bar as their front as well as for entertainment. If there is anything to be missed, it will be there. Other forces will be hunting down this virus, others from both sides of the known world- Magic and Mundane. If you choose to accept this commission, then say aloud 'Yes Mr. E.' Bring the package to the Yellow Flag and give it to the bartender, Bao. He will pay you a tidy sum in exchange.'

'Before Midnight. Tick-tock.'

The message ends. A magical scan by those with the ability will reveal nothing in the room that registers for a good reason. Mr. E is watching them from the mirror, as well as any reflective surface the party has, triggered by the CD brought to them by the boy. If the party accepts, then they may choose a different line of inquiry- What happens largely depends upon them. If they refuse and decide to leave, then the adventure ends there for them.

Outside once the party heads into the lobby, the first encounter begins.

Welcome to Roanapur.
A number of Roanapur Thugs fire into the lobby, guns blazing. Their only objective is to kill the Player Characters and they refuse to let anything get in their way. If you wish to be somewhat sadistic as well as give the players a chance to shine, you can add random NPC's caught up in the middle of things. Children sitting in the lobby to avoid the heat, old men playing chess, random people- If you like, maybe you could include NPC locals to assist such as Revy, Lotton or Sawyer the Cleaner. If you go this route, it makes a good way to include them as Player Characters later down the line.

To defend against the enemy, you have several options that may very well help.

One of which is the furniture. At least two couches and a table can be flipped to act as barriers. Behind the work desk also makes for viable, if minimal protection. Second, is the exit to the left of the room as you enter. It exits out into the alleyway seen earlier and makes a fine exit route for NPC's as well as the party. Finally, the lights themselves. Killing the lights via weapon or some other viable method will give any night-vision/extra sensory PC's among you the advantage and reduce the Thugs perception immensely. Otherwise, play the encounter out and reward PC's for their forethought and paranoia!

One method that a canny PC might avoid this encounter would be to leave via the fire escape. Out in the alley, they would be in a position to see a car drive up, with the armed thugs watching the hotel carefully. At which point, to attack in the streets or to escape would be up to the party. If they choose to leave the thugs alone, in half an hour they'll get impatient and barge their way inside, heading to the room they were in.

If PC's choose to follow them, the thugs will head to the Yellow Flag Bar. Attempts to isolate and capture one successfully will reveal if successful, that the thugs were hired anonymously at the Yellow Flag. A fight started at the Yellow Flag will call the attention of the local powers. Both mundane and magical. Again, it must be stressed that this is a very PC-oriented story. The choices they make will decide everything and those who refuse to take action or leave it to others will inevitably be left behind. Both in reward as well as in the fun of it. Bar the paths mentioned, other methods such as the Gather Information check(best done at the Yellow Flag) will reveal the following, depending on the rate of success.
 * Lowest Result(1-25%) - "You're asking about strange here? This is Roanapur, people would kill you for the filling in your teeth."
 * Decent Result(26-50%) - "There's an auction tomorrow night, all the warlords who'd ever fired off a gun has brought their people in. One sneeze and the whole fucking town blows up. Wonder what they're buying?"
 * Excellent Result(51-75%) - Yeah, I heard about it. Some job pulled off in the jungle out of town. Killed off a contingent of Monoc Security. I know Jai went off to salvage shit this morning, but the bastard hasn't returned yet. Kinda uneasy now..."
 * Best Result(76-95%) - "Its dangerous, that much I know. Mr. Kinkou in particular has been in a particular mood, shutting down his district and sending his patrols out. Not sure why, but they're shooting anyone who runs or tries to get past his checkpoints."

The next parts can then be run however you like, either with the party resting to recover from the day or to investigate the areas gleaned from the CD and the results of the investigation
 * Heavenly Result(96-100%) - "What do I know? Enough that its a bad idea to be talking about this openly. People talk and loose lips sink ships, you know? I think its a super weapon, from the Americans. One that everyone is after from Mr. Kinkou to that bastard, Black up at his manor. Hotel Moscow just wants to keep the peace and all the warlords are wandering...Place is a powder keg. One wrong match and it goes up in flames."

Roanapur by night and choosing a route.
Searching by night is a dangerous prospect. Besides the thugs, all sorts of other monsters tend to roam Roanapur by night up to and including ghouls as well as the local enforcement patrols by the Cartels, to ensure that things go well when the auction occurs. There will also be a chance to run into one of the more dangerous NPC's developed for this adventure in particular.

That said, there will only be ONE chance to investigate any of them. The Monoc Camp Site half a day total to head for it by six am and return by one pm to Roanapur. Entering Mr. Kinkou's place- Either sneakily or through proper channels requires time to prepare and for the audience to be made, as the Oni wishes to know those who wish to meet him. The Yellow Flag itself serves as the hub for the Player Characters to choose one or the other. Either way, they will get information though not all of it. And by the time they return from either route, they'll have just enough time to prepare and arm themselves before the final encounter.

There will be a temptation to split the party. If so, they'll have more of the picture but the challenges of either will remain the same and might overwhelm the lessened PC's. In the end, it all depends on choice. Do you go in force to one or the other? Or split the party and risk much more?

RP routes

 * Sneaking Out By Night
 * Mr. Kinkou
 * The Jungle