This adventure is designed for 2 to 4 players. It is also somewhat silly.
Randonium consists of 4 episodes:
Characters are summoned by a scientist or business contact, I used H.C. Dennison's chemist contact Bob Baker. Baker commissions them to obtain quantities of a highly unstable, experimental compound known as Randonium. A Baron Rumpole in the Welsh village Alnwick is known to possess the compound in abundance. The contact will supply them with transportation, provisions, and drivers. He will also give the characters rope, lanterns, or any other mundane, reasonably cheap equipment they may need.
Bob Baker, chemist
|
ST |
10 |
|
DX |
10 |
|
IQ |
13 |
|
HT |
10 |
Skills:
Chemistry 15
Alchemy 14
Merchant 12
Physician 12
Weird Science 13
Quirks:
Calls H.C. "Harley"
Frank Addison and
James Bilbey, the drivers
|
ST |
10 |
|
DX |
10 |
|
IQ |
13 |
|
HT |
10 |
Skills:
Teamster 14
Riding 12
Animal Handling 10
Orienteering 12
Quirks:
Talk back and forth with each other really fast, "What's up with me then?" "Yeah, what's up with you then?"
Baker is unaware of the specifics of the Baron's Randonium stash, and puts off negotiating until they've returned with the goods. He will pay much more handsomely if he is someone's actual contact.
The characters will arrive in Alnwick after three or four days travel. Gamemasters are free to insert any encounters along the way, especially if Frank and James miss any of their skill rolls.
If the characters arrive in Alnwick from the northeast they'll meet two or three guards, who share the same quirk as Frank and James, who will dump them off and take the wagon to the nearest hotel. Frank and James are only paid to drive, so getting them to help will require some good Social Skill rolls.
Make available to the characters (unless they manage to really botch things up early on in the game) with the map. This should give them a good idea of where to go and whom to contact for information.
Town Encounter Table
Upon the streets of Alnwick City, people come and go as need requires. In certain places, like on video games, characters will always be found. Otherwise use this at random
|
Roll |
Person |
Notes |
|
1 |
Bar maid |
|
|
2-3 |
Bar fly 1d6 |
|
|
4-6 |
Farmers 1d6 |
1-3 angry, 4-5 neutral, 6 drunk |
|
7-9 |
Merchant/professionals |
|
|
10-11 |
Normal children |
|
|
12 |
Freaky children |
Have glowing eyes and white hair. You can give them freaky powers if you want to. |
|
13-14 |
German scientist |
Collecting provisions for Castle Rumpole |
|
15-16 |
Bitter old men |
Bitter, old |
|
17 |
Mayor Castor Bridge |
Very useful contact for High Status characters |
|
18 |
Joey Jo Jo Jr. Shabbadoo |
Has a giant hand. May also be found in one of the bars |
|
19 |
Pastor Flaherty |
+2 to requests for information. May also be found in church |
|
20 |
Misc. civil servant |
May also be found |
The Pastor and the Mayor are your ideal contacts. They will know the most and have the most ability to help. Neither has had "official" contact with the Baron for a month or two.
Alnwick Rumor Table
0 - Disastrous (These will probably be followed by a -2 to -4 Reputation in Alnwick)
|
1 |
"Get outta my face, or I'll knife ya!" |
|
2 |
"Nobody wants you here, why don't you just leave!" |
|
3 |
Starts a fight |
|
4 |
Grabs self, spits, and refuses anything |
|
5 |
Gives two-finger salute and 'calls the characters on' |
|
6 |
"Oh! You misfits! Get out of Alnwick!" |
1-3 - Very Bad (Will be followed by a -1 Reputation in Alnwick)
|
1 |
"Shaddap!" |
|
2 |
"What am I, a library?" |
|
3 |
"Whadda I look like, Vinnie the Snitch? Go talk to him instead." |
|
4 |
"There is a pile of gold in the caves." (lie) |
|
5 |
"Baron Platelet, he's a magnificent ruler." (lie) |
|
6 |
"Witch! Witch! You're in league with them!" |
4-6 - Bad
|
1 |
"There's a merchant imprisoned in the nearby caves." (lie) |
|
2 |
"Tribes of Welsh anti-British separationists are plotting to destroy the castle." (lie) |
|
3 |
Beware of treachery from within. (??) |
|
4 |
Children are trapped in the Castle's Dungeon (true) |
|
5 |
Lizard men live in the river (lie) |
|
6 |
New technology is in development in the next village, Greater Bottom (lie) |
7-9 - Poor
|
1 |
Them children with white hair's is dangerous! (lie, but not a malicious one) |
|
2 |
The Pastor's rogering the baker's daughter (lie) |
|
3 |
Bar's a good place for finding information. Why don't you go there and leave us folk alone. |
|
4 |
(motions for money; if receives, roll again on the Neutral table) |
|
5 |
There's a lot of crazy Krauts around nowadays (true, somewhat) |
|
6 |
Something's a happenin...oh yes, somethings a happenin! (true) |
|
7 |
Joey Jo Jo Jr. Shabbadoo is the wisest man in town. (lie) He's always at Bar X (true) |
|
8 |
I think I saw a Japanese body guard somewhere (lie) |
10-12 - Neutral
|
1 |
I think there's some kind of scientist in the castle |
|
2 |
I seen some wierdo animals |
|
3 |
I think the pastor knows something |
|
4 |
Drop my name to the bartender (+2 to rolls with the bartender at Bar X) |
|
5 |
Someday the Canadians will rise against us (true!) |
|
6 |
Boy, those sure are some handsome hooters (may be true) |
13-15 - Good
|
1 |
Don't drink anything Nichtswissen gives you |
|
2 |
Visit the Pastor. Drop my name (+2 roll w/ Pastor). |
|
3 |
The mayor hates what's been happening at Rumpole. He'd help you, if you help him. |
|
4 |
Farmers have had a lot of animals stolen lately. |
|
5 |
There's a back entrance to the castle through the caves. |
|
6 |
You folks are OK people. We love to help outsiders, except Germans. |
16-18 - Very Good
|
1 |
Nichtswissen is an old adversary of London chemist Dr. Baker |
|
2 |
I hear there's a new substance called Randonium, discovered in the caves |
|
3 |
They hate bright light, them creatures |
|
4 |
The waiter is a skulking, vile henchman named Jeeves. He comes down to the village every night. |
|
5 |
If someone wanted to form a mob and storm the castle , this town would follow. |
|
6 |
Nichtswissen transformed the Baron into a freak and took his money (only somewhat true). We'd all help kill him! |
Excellent 19+
|
1 |
Prof. Nichtswissen is performing animal/human experiments. Almost everyone has lost livestock. Here's a small vial I found. |
|
2 |
I found a list of formulas for Nichtswissen's potions. (Won't be too useful to anyone without Weird Science or Alchemy, but Baker will love it.) |
|
3 |
Here's a key to the castle's back door. |
|
4 |
I know the groundskeeper. Mention my name to him and he'll help you. (+3 to roll w/ groundskeeper and wife) |
|
5 |
Let's form a mob and smoke the place! (The townspeople may form a mob if the characters organize it.) |
|
6 |
Here's a map to Castle Rumpole (show them a map) |
Characters have several options. They can try to cross the river (difficult without a boat) or use the covered bridge, which has been locked up and barred. A guard stands watch, but more to prevent any mutant animals from coming across than to prevent any people from trying to visit the castle.
After reaching the other side, they can try to break through a window, enter the main gate, or go through the tunnels on the castle's south side. Let them have fun. 100 yards separate the castle and the river. The grounds keeper and his wife have a small cottage here. They will stay inside during the night. Good people, they will help characters who approach them intelligently and receive good reaction rolls. (Attributes and skills are unimportant, but they may have some useful equipment and animals.)
Here is a rough aerial
drawing of the situation. The yellow blob is the city, the brown the
bridge, the blue the river, the light brown the road to the castle, the
grey is the castle (note the circular tower), the black is the dungeons
and caves beneath, the red square the groundskeeper's house, the dark
green are swamplands.
Characters will encounter animals and some people on the grounds, according to this pattern.
Should the result Animal come up, consult this table. All animals will be hideously mutated and force a fright check.
Roll Animal Notes
|
3-7 |
Dog |
|
|
8-9 |
Wolf |
|
|
10-11 |
Bear |
Gentle, will not attack unless provoked |
|
12-13 |
Ape |
|
|
14-15 |
Wild boar |
On the edge |
|
16 |
Camel |
|
|
17-18 |
Elephant |
Body of shadow and weird powers |
Entrance to the dungeon will be easy to find. Characters will encounter only animals there (where many have made their homes) and a few prisoners. Use any old D and D map and throw in some weird inventions and small, lost children.
The castle:
In the castle, characters will encounter others frequently.
Level 1:
The first level of the castle is a huge circular structure. On one end, characters will find the entrance to the dungeon and on the other, the main gate. Rooms surrounding the large, circular inner courtyard will be in disarray, torn to pieces by mutated animals (GMs may make these rooms kitchens, libraries, or whatever). There are guards on the walkways, but none on the ground. Stairs near the dungeon entrance lead to level two. They will eventually encounter Jeeves, butler turned ape.
Jeeves the Toady
|
ST |
13 |
|
DX |
12 |
|
IQ |
8 |
|
HT |
14 |
Skills:
Foraging 12
Streetwise 10
Boxing 15
Wrestling 14
Savoir Faire 13
Short Sword 13
Advantages:
Toughness 1
Pitiable
Disadvantages:
On the edge
Jeeves will appear as a normal, crusty butler, but then talk like a slavering henchman. He leads the guards and is armed with a Shocking Nancy. Used with Short Sword skill, the Nancy does 1d6 electrical damage, half of which goes on to fatigue and half of which goes on to hit points. Armor will help against the physical damage. It has 6 charges per day.
Level 2:
One corridor snakes back and forth through the second level, its only purpose to heighten tension. The stairs down begin at one end and those up at the other. The corridor connects ten rooms. Roll on the following table to determine what kind of room characters enter:
The second level is not as disheveled as the first, but is in no good shape. GMs may include mutant animals and inventions at their discretion. GMs are encouraged to throw as many traps as possible at the characters from the following list, the effects of which will mainly annoy the players and keep them on edge.
Traps:
Level 3:
Characters who emerge from the staircase will have to dash 20 yards to the castle tower, where Nichtswissen's primary lab is. Two sentries guard the door. The tower interior looks something like this.
A large, menacing malformed creation is on the big table, which is flanked by two big electronic super-sciency poles. This creature is the good baron, who employed Nichtswissen to transform him into some kind of monster. The project has failed, and the baron is now nothing more than a hideous creature. Nichtswissen and 1d6 other guards / scientists are in this lab.
The Baron:
He has no real mind, but six tentacles will lash out at characters with DX 13 and ST 15. If they entangle, they will drag a character to his maw and take 1d6+2 biting damage. Each tentacle has 8 hit points and his main body has 20 hit points.
After killing him, he will explode and destroy everything in the lab. Anyone who waits about will take 2d6 points of explosion damage and risk drowning in his guts.
Dr. Vile Nichtswissen
|
ST |
9 |
|
DX |
10 |
|
IQ |
14 |
|
HT |
10 |
Skills:
Weird Science 17
Assorted other engineering skills
Advantages:
Gadgeteering
Hard to Kill +6
Quirks:
Really not that evil
The Baron hired Nichtswissen to perform all these mutations and experiments, finally upon himself. Nichtswissen is not really evil, and if characters kill him out of hand feel free to punish them.
Randonium Effects Table
Consult this table whenever characters choose to consume Randonium. If they take a particularly sizeable portion, or two portions one right after the other, add 2 to the roll.
|
Roll |
Positive effect |
Negative |
|
3 |
Roll again; permanent |
Change gender; permanent |
|
4 |
30 points of Super/Racial advantages; permanent |
30 points of Super/Racial disadvantages; permanent |
|
5 |
(Something the character will like, up to 20 points; permanent) |
(Something ironic, points equally the Positive effect; permanent) |
|
6 |
Unfazeable |
On the Edge |
|
7 |
Resistant to Poison (3d6 days) |
Bad Smell |
|
8 |
High-Pain Threshold |
Delusion (-10) - believes to be Napoleon |
|
9 |
+1d6 ST (1d6 hours) |
Can speak only rustic German |
|
10 |
+1d6 HT (lasts until lost as hit points or end of adventure) |
Amnesia (-10) |
|
11 |
+1d6 DX (1d6 x 10 minutes) |
Compulsive Giving |
|
12 |
Toughness 1 AND Penetrating Call |
Curious (-10) |
|
13 |
Hyper-Reflexes (2 hours) |
Blood Lust |
|
14 |
Infravision |
Frightens Animals AND Anosmia |
|
15 |
Flexibility AND Acute Hearing +7 (1d6 hours) |
Slave Mentality |
|
16 |
Werewolf |
Dwarfism AND Low-Pain Threshold |
|
17 |
Fire Breath; permanent |
Disturbing Voice AND HT (-10 points) |
|
18 |
100 points of any Advantages/Attributes; permanent |
-100 points of any Disadvantages/Attributes; permanent |
Random Invention Table:
Scatter random inventions throughout the castle at your whim. Guards may be equipped with some of these (usually light hats) as well.
13 - 20. Elixir of Randonium
Picking up the pieces:
Baker will typically offer 80 pounds for every intact vial of Randonium. Cubes may fetch double that. Be generous if the characters did a good job, and stingy if they didn't. If they killed elephants, saved the dungeon children, and role-played well, but only found two vials of Randonium, Baker will exclaim, "Purest of the pure! This is worth 10 times a standard vial!"