Adventure idea

[izlear]

I'm still toying with the kinds of adventures I want to run and am trying to set the first adventure as an earth based encounter and I have a few ideas floating around. I want to make it complicated enough to feel like doctor who but at the same time not drown the story in complexity. Here are a few ideas I was wondering if you would offer opinions on.

Idea 1)
There has been an deep archeological dig. Very deep. It is essentially a cavern. Anyone who goes down takes a large elevator down to the site.

This is the day it is opened up to the public. Press are getting their first glimpse of what is happening in the dig. The dig is private some government agencies (such as UNIT - or maybe Torchwood) are getting their first glimpse of it too (this will probably be the PCs) There is a person who seems to be in charge, a woman, Cathering Hilliard. She looks pale and tired but seems like a perfectly good accedemic. As the presentation begins large statues are revealed. Hilliard claimes to have found an ancient civilisation.

The Display lasts for a while and the public are allowed to look around certain areas, others are corded off. After a while people begin to "loose" other people. People just seem to disapear, and people begin to get panicked. After some investigation by the characters they will find perhaps some footprints leading into the corded off area and find a "cult" in a strange sacrificial chamber trying to offer up blood to an anccient Diety, to wake it. As this is happening the cult seems to be surprised by "Silurians" that are emerging into the city from its depths.

These sillurians have been awoken, by humanities latest attept to search out the ancients. It turns out these sillurians are the protectors of this Ancient place, keeping the "ancient Diety" inprisoned.

These sillurians see it as their duty to Kill every human in the place to fulfill their purpose.

While this is going on Ms. Hilliard has disapeared. She is a vampire inciate and she needs to help the ancient diety awake.

-this is the basic idea, or the story- Does this work? What do you think of it as a Doctor who adventure etc. . . Thanks for any feedback

Here is another idea I have been messing with for some time as well, it is not as detailed as the other.

Subway system, There is an icewarrior that Is lost, confused, etc. . .It is trying to carry ut ancient orders as it has been on the planet for thousands of years and while it has the human race has changed and evolved.

Obviously I need some more but that is the beginning of that one.

Once again any feedback or ideas would be appricated.


From one of these adventures I want to venture out to a more sci-fi feeling adventure, with perhaps a spaceship and sontarans or something like that, but I felt something like this might make for a good starting place.

Thanks all,

[Curufea]

You'd have to be careful that players don't see the Silurians as the bad guys - otherwise they may get rid of them and release the Great Vampire (dooming Earth). I'm assuming you're using a Great Vampire.
There needs to be some reason why the vampire has survived so long without being detected - possibly the Silurians were working on cloaking technology at the time when the vampire arrived?

[izlear]

Yes that is a great point I will have to be careful of making sure that the players get that.

Yes I was thinking great Vampire, however going another rout I thought about having an osiren instead of the vampire still debating about that.

As for how the vampire is undetected I suspect he is buried and the cult figured it out. there has probably been folowers following him in secret for centureis and now Catherine has finally gotten the chance to wake him.

I expect he is barried much like the vampire in state of decay.

It is probably a lesser vampire, not a full on Great Vampire.

[mhopcroft]

The scenario looks like an intriguing riff on the 50's sci-fi classic Quatermass and the Pit.

[izlear]

Ok I've began to expand on this.

Here is some background:

The Vampire was imprisoned on earth a long time ago. The timelords set this group of silurians as the guards of the prison. The Leader of the silurians has the desgnation of Warden.
There is some interesting parts of the city (like the temple) which if the players pay close attention is actually bigger in the inside (not a Tardis, just timelord tech) there are some other odds and ends of timelord tech that turns up too.

as the Silurians wake up abd begin to "commune with the Timelords" they find that most of the technology doesn't actually work due to the time War, but it is there as a reminder.

There is also a good chance that most or all of the tech will be destroyed by the end of the adventure.

[Curufea]

Why would the Time Lords imprison a Great Vampire rather than destroying it? The reasons could be further plot hooks for later adventures.
The Vampire Wars predate The Master, so it can't be him (or The Doctor). Faction Paradox are obvious candidates - but I tend to say that for anything bad
Other possibilities could include a few members of the House Military who wish to study them for further defense - or for possible expansionist policies out into the Void (Know thy enemy).
There could be certain Time Lord terrorists, or those with a death wish that hate Gallifrey that may have wanted to keep one.
Possibly there is something that can be extracted from Great Vampires that is invaluable to the Time Lords. This could include biomass that can be loomed into warrior Time Lords for the Great War (or possibly the Time War). Or possibly vampire blood gives extra regenerations?

[ugavine]

Just be careful no to overwhelm your players with too much back story. Using multiple foes can seem a good idea but remember that there needs to be a way to defeat them all too. A Vampire may not be easy to kill, although I guess the main aim will be to stop the waking of the Deity. Maybe once the sacrifice is stopped the Vampire's lifeforce is drained and they are destroyed too.

As for the Silurians (seem a popular choice, I plan on using them too), even if these Silurians become friendly to the PCs you have to also decide if you intend them to survive, and if so what happens to them, Earth is their home after all. Destroying the mine entrance could entomb them, or maybe they do choose to live peacefully on a remote island to be used as a plothook in a later adventure?

[izlear]

For this I was thinking of building in a "Kill Switch" for the vampire A large "stake" like structure that is abve the tomb and can be riged to drop.

also my thought is that the sillurians will die, as a sacrifice to save the players. At the same time I am going to use these sillurians as characters that are very similar to the ood and how ood sigma is to the doctor.

I will offer an Arc phrase by the end of this too. Still working on that too.