Alternity Action Check Of Ghosts & ...

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Table of Contents
Action Check Disclaimers
Action Check is an on-line
magazine dedicated to the
Alternity Science Fiction Role-
playing Game.
Cover Art: “Ghosts and Goblins” by Dragan Ciric
kvasaclimited@sezampro.yu
Page 3 Of Ghosts and Goblins [Neil Spicer]
An Alternity Dark*Matter adventure
This work is offered free of
charge to all interested par-
ties and is not to be sold in
any form. It may be printed if
distributed free of charge.
GUIDE TO SIDEBARS
Scaling the Adventure 3
Rachel Prewitt 8
Security Break-In Results Ladder 12
Goblin Technology 14
Wray Security Guard 14
Goblin Technician 16
Colombian Mercenary 18
Orrin Wray 19
Goblins 21
This work supports the Alter-
nity roleplaying line, specifi-
cally the Alternity Players
Handbook and Gamemaster
Guide, and the Dark*Matter
campaign setting by Wizards
of the Coast, Inc. Alternity
and Dark*Matter and their
logos are registered trade-
mark of Wizards of the Coast,
Inc., All Rights Reserved.
The staff is not associated
with Wizards of the Coast,
Inc.
GUIDE TO MAPS
Armadillo Dump 9
Wray Basement 13
Goblin Cave and Starship 17
Wizards of the Coast, Inc.:
STAFF
STAFF
Publisher/Layout: Jeff Ibach
Editor: Jim Sharkey
Artwork: Dragan Ciric
WRITTEN
STAFF
BY
NEIL SPICER
HOW TO SUBSCRIBE
WRITTEN
WRITTEN BY
BY
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Neil Spicer is the coordina-
tor of Action Check on-line
Alternity magazine. He can
be reached at
purestrain@hotmail.com
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Action Check On-Line Magazine is published bimonthly by Jeff Ibach
2
OF GHOSTS AND GOBLINS
By Neil Spicer
“Of Ghosts and Goblins” is a beginning ALTER-
NITY Dark*Matter adventure for 3-5 heroes of 1
st
level. A good mix of professions is important
since the heroes will require a variety of skills to
complete their mission. Combat Specs, Free
Agents, and at least one Tech-Op skilled in Secu-
rity-
security
devices
, Technical Science-
xenoengineering
, and Computer Science-
hacking
should be given heavy consideration. A
Diplomat with Culture-
first contact
, could also
prove useful. This adventure draws upon infor-
mation contained within the
Alternity Gamemas-
ter’s Guide
,
Dark*Matter Campaign Setting
,
Dark*Matter Arms & Equipment Guide
, and the
Xenoforms
supplement. Heroes that survive this
adventure should amass enough achievement
points to advance at least halfway to 2
nd
level. In
addition, the adventure can also accommodate
more experienced heroes of higher level. See the
sidebar “Scaling the Adventure” for more details.
out to his previous contacts for potential investors
so he could acquire the off-world goods. This
landed him in an illegal business arrangement
with Colombian drug runners in South America.
In exchange for laundering their drug money and
assistance in the smuggling operation, they of-
fered him a cut of the cocaine that he could then
trade for Goblin wares. Viewing cocaine as a
novelty consumer product, the Goblins were
more than happy to do business with Orrin, plan-
ning to carry the drug out of the star system for
resale to other buyers.
Everything went well for a year or two, and Orrin
believed he might finally free himself and his
company from financial debt. That was, until four
months ago. A young reporter by the name of
Scaling the Adventure
This adventure is intended for 1
st
level heroes,
however it may also accommodate heroes of 2
nd
thru 5
th
level with some minor adjustments. Re-
member that altering the number of adversaries
and challenges opposing the heroes should also
result in a modification to the total number of
achievement points awarded at the end of the ad-
venture. It is recommended that heroes of 1
st
thru
3
rd
level be awarded enough achievement points
to advance another level, or at least halfway to a
new level. Heroes of 4
th
or 5
th
level should expect
a smaller amount of achievement points, just
barely enough to put them halfway to another
level. The following adjustments are recom-
mended:
caling the Adventure
Adventur
Adventure Background
e Background
This adventure revolves around one man’s finan-
cial difficulties, his fascination with alien technol-
ogy, and the strange otherworldly visitors from
whom he receives his latest breakthroughs. Orrin
Wray made a living traveling abroad as a merce-
nary-for-hire after leaving the United States Army,
becoming involved in a number of paranormal
and extraterrestrial encounters. He only returned
to the States eight years ago when his father
passed away so he could reclaim the family cor-
poration, Wray Information Systems. He had to
dig deep into his personal funds and make a se-
ries of hasty loans to barely pull the company out
of bankruptcy. His little known secret is that he’s
still teetering on the edge of financial ruin and
searching for a way to make money fast.
e Background
2
nd
level: Simply increase the number of Colom-
bian mercenaries in Scenes Two and Five and
prolong Rachel’s chaotic outburst when the he-
roes first encounter her in the Trigger Scene.
nd
level:
nnd
level:
3
rd
level: Apply the options listed above, and also
increase the number of Goblins operating in the
lower tunnels and passages by two in Scenes
Four and Five.
rd
level:
rrd
level:
In 1998, Orrin made contact with a group of Gob-
lins on an Internet “fringe” newsgroup called alt.
alien.visitors. Initially skeptical, he accepted their
invitation to visit an auction website event to bid
on some computer accessories the Goblins
brought with them from another star system.
Considered low-tech pieces at best on the world
where the Goblins acquired them, Orrin discov-
ered the hardware to be light-years ahead of his
competition. Seizing the opportunity, he reached
4
th
level: Apply all options listed above and
include a powerful guardian aboard the Goblin
ship in Scene Five. The creature could be another
extraterrestrial brought with the Goblins from a
distant world, a prisoner unleashed from a
strange alien artifact, or a servitor race much like
the Sasquatch are to the Greys.
th
thru 5
thru 5
th
th
level:
tth
thru 5
tth
level:
3
Rachel Prewitt joined his company around that
time, going undercover as an assembly-line
worker. She intended to uncover the truth behind
the rise of Wray Information Systems when so
many other technology companies were in de-
cline. She believed they must be engaging in un-
derhanded activities and resolved to prove it. Un-
fortunately for her, she managed to stumble upon
the truth. Not only did she learn about Orrin’s in-
volvement with Colombian drug-runners, but also
the source of his cutting-edge technology: the
Goblins. Initially, Rachel contacted the Drug En-
forcement Agency with an anonymous tip, but she
knew her biggest success would be measured by
acquiring pictures of the strange alien visitors.
She stole a security passkey so she could eaves-
drop on one of Orrin’s high-level meetings. Be-
fore she could escape with the images she cap-
tured on her digital camera, Orrin’s men cap-
tured her.
of Orrin’s Colombian friends are also discovered
at the site. The Colombians are in the process of
conducting another execution involving the Drug
Enforcement Agent that came to investigate Ra-
chel’s anonymous tip. The mercenaries assume
the heroes are with the authorities and have
come to rescue the man. They immediately try to
eliminate the threat posed by the PCs’ presence,
opening fire in a mad scramble to escape. This
forces the heroes into combat, both to save the
DEA agent and to locate the disk from Rachel’s
camera. Rachel’s ghost once again manifests in
small ways to aid them.
Scene Three opens with the challenge of ques-
tioning the DEA agent, assuming the heroes actu-
ally managed to save him. A search of the
shacks occupied by the mercenaries and the sur-
rounding junkyard finally reveals Rachel’s body,
the camera and its memory disk, and evidence of
the Colombian drug operation. Examining the
images from Rachel’s camera, it becomes appar-
ent that an extraterrestrial race is operating
somewhere in the Texas area and has somehow
become involved in the drug trade. Clues among
the photographs and the DEA agent’s testimony
point to Wray Information Systems.
Afraid that Rachel’s nosiness would ruin every-
thing, Orrin had his Colombian friends arrange
for her “disappearance.” The violent nature of
her death transformed her into a ghost that now
yearns for revenge. Unknown to Orrin or his mer-
cenaries, Rachel managed to hide the memory
disk from her camera before they killed her. At
the very least, she wants to use those images to
expose Orrin Wray and ruin him. If given the op-
portunity, however, she would like nothing more
than to see him and his Colombian friends join
her in the afterlife.
Scene Four involves a clandestine raid on Orrin’s
corporate compound to uncover the truth. The
buildings are strangely quiet but security is
strongly centered on two elevators leading to the
lower levels. Battling deep underground, they fi-
nally arrive at a massive tunnel complex cut into
the bedrock by alien fusion torches. A Goblin
technician is surprised by their arrival and at-
tempts to escape and warn the others.
Adventure
Adventure Summary
In the beginning, the heroes are literally pulled
into the adventure by the ghost of Rachel Prewitt.
Late one night, while visiting friends at a Fort
Worth news publication, they observe a manifes-
tation of her otherworldly spirit. The results of her
fledgling psychokinetic powers cause chaos and
panic. Rachel attempts to communicate with a
former co-worker, but he is too frightened to re-
spond and becomes injured during the episode.
Only the heroes manage to understand her and
she turns to them for help.
Summary
Scene Five brings the heroes face-to-face with
Orrin aboard the Goblin ship, currently berthed in
a massive underground cavern. A battle quickly
ensues against more of his Colombian mercenar-
ies. Rachel attempts to manifest and assist the
heroes, but the Goblins imprison her in an alien
artifact. It’s up to the heroes to rescue her and
stop Orrin and his men.
Scene Six wraps up the adventure by giving the
heroes an opportunity to interact with the alien
artifact and free Rachel. She thanks them for
bringing her murderers to justice and fades
away. The heroes are then left with cleaning up
the mess left behind.
In Scene Two, Rachel guides the heroes to the
actual site of her death, a junkyard somewhere
on the outskirts of the city. She encourages them
to retrieve the disk from her digital camera, which
she managed to hide prior to her death. It con-
tains proof of Orrin’s shady dealings. A number
4
Getting the Heroes Involved
The adventure assumes that the heroes are work-
ing for the Hoffmann Institute, and therefore have
a good reason for following up on the case. How-
ever, many alternate methods exist for getting
them involved. The following are merely sugges-
tions:
One of the heroes could be a good friend of
Rachel Prewitt, bringing the others together to
assist in a personal investigation of her disap-
pearance.
Heroes with government connections (DEA,
FBI, etc.) could have been sent to Texas to
investigate illegal drug trafficking coming
across the Mexican border and originating in
South America.
A hero with contacts among the Grey Ahotti
faction could have received a hint regarding
the strange occurrences in Dallas, purpose-
fully leading him or her to investigate the mat-
ter. The Greys have reason to believe that
Goblins are interfering with their own plans
for humanity and want the heroes to take
steps to counter them. However, they don’t
tell them that, of course.
Heroes with professions and/or interests in
Texas could easily find their way to Dallas,
either as a homecoming or possibly as a prel-
ude to another investigation into Sandman
activities in nearby Houston.
a TV personality, but nowadays Hal’s work only
appeared in printed publications, usually an edi-
torial piece in the financial section of the local
newspaper. He was more than happy to renew
old friendships and invited you to meet him at his
office when you called.
The heroes should have an opportunity to clear
security at the airport and hail a taxi. If any of the
players’ heroes don’t know each other yet, the
Gamemaster should devise a reason for bringing
them together. Perhaps they split the fare for a
ride into town, banding together to ride out the
storm before they catch their next flight. At least
one of the heroes should be an acquaintance of
Hal (use the template for an Ordinary Reporter in
Chapter 6 of the
Gamemaster’s Guide
). Regard-
less, the ride to his office only takes twenty min-
utes. He greets everyone with typical southern
hospitality, offering them coffee or hot chocolate
to warm up. After a few minutes, continue the
scene by reading the following:
You’re relaxing in the large office pool of Hal’s
news agency, spread out among several desks
and cubicles. Most of the staff has already left,
and Hal tells you he’s supposed to lock up on his
way out. He takes a sip from his cup of coffee
and asks for another story of your most recent ad-
ventures. Though he’s unaware that you work for
the Hoffmann Institute, he’s always known that
you perform investigations for an important gov-
ernment agency. As a true friend, he has never
published anything you’ve told him off the record,
but still, none of you have ever given him the full
story about the things you do as Hoffmann
agents.
Trigger Scene: Spiritual Guidance
When you’re ready to begin the adventure, read
or paraphrase the following text to your players.
Special care should be taken to keep the scene
as dark and suspenseful as possible.
Your flight into Dallas-Fort Worth left you shaken
and more than a bit nauseous thanks to all the
upper air turbulence. Powerful weather patterns
had stirred up a number of Texas twisters and
though none of them threatened your immediate
survival, they were sure to keep you from catch-
ing the next plane out. Just as you suspected, the
airport canceled your connecting flight as soon
as you collected your bags. The Hoffmann Insti-
tute would just have to wait awhile longer for
your next debriefing.
You’re just starting to explain your last adventure
to him, properly edited of course, when the com-
puter monitor on his desk interrupts you. At first,
the device merely flickers off and then back on
again. Hal frowns and stares at it for a moment.
“That’s weird…,” he starts to mutter, and then the
desk itself begins to tremble. Next to you, a
wastebasket tumbles over, spilling its trash
across the floor. “What is it?” Hal asks, clearly
alarmed now, “An earthquake?”
But there are no tremors to support that theory.
Instead, the desk suddenly heaves away from
Hal, sliding across the newsroom floor and
smashing into a coat rack and several chairs. A
Luckily you already knew a friend in town that
could fix you up with a place to stay. His name
was Hal Robinson and he worked for the news
media. You knew him back when he used to be
5
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