Sendoff to the apartment
You emerge from the vehicle into a parking lot. It’s twilight; the sun has set, but its light still casts the world in shades of violet. A cheap, low-slung motel wraps two sides of the parking lot with room doors that open directly to the outside. By the management building, a retro, neon sign spells “Good Living Inn” in flickering blue letters.
One Contractor checks their watch and sees that it is 7:27 PM. If they check, they will see that SFO is 30 minutes away. Flight UA1670 boards at 9:00PM.
Room 222 is on the second floor and easily found. It appears normal, except its windows are incredibly dark. One cannot even see the blinds through them.
When the Contractors arrive, they should quickly become aware that they are under an intense time limit. They may try to buy tickets, but if they do not, you can give them a prod to buy tickets as they leave the motel. Cautious Contractors may want to check for traps, but hopefully the time pressure will prevent them from wasting too much time doing so.
Room 222
The door pushes open as you knock; the latch has been taped with duck tape. Inside is pitch black. You hear no answer.
<someone enters>
An incredible weight crashes into you, knocking you over and pinning you to the ground. Above you, a slavering maw filled with viscous teeth opens wide and attacks you. . . with a series of slobbery licks across your face.
<when they switch on the lights>
The dog is an immense caucasian mountain dog. Its coat of shaggy brown fur has gone thin and grey with age, though the dog itself is lively and spry. It barks a greeting and continues to lick at your face. Its breath smells like roadkill.
This dog is Bradley, and the tag on his collar says just as much (and no more). He is a big, friendly oaf of a dog, but he is not well-trained and thinks that he is much, much smaller than he actually is. The GM is encouraged to try to breathe a little life into Bradley as a character, to have him react to the Contractors by barking or tilting his head, to pursue things he’s curious about, try to walk outside before they’re ready to go, etc. The GM should give a powerful WOOF when he barks. Be likeable!
Bradley transforms into a monstrous wyvern-like bat creature whenever he is agitated (upon seeing / hearing / smelling holy things of any religion OR when in combat, threatened, or angry). He also transforms slowly the hungrier he gets. See Bradley’s Stats in the Appendix for more information.
The Contractor who has been tackled, the person checking the collar, or anyone who touches Bradley has a good chance of noticing that he is cold to the touch. A further investigation (Perception + Medicine, difficulty 5 if you choose to make them roll) reveals that he has no pulse or body heat, and has slightly elongated canine teeth. For all medical purposes, he should be dead.
Investigating Bradley as a supernatural creature calls for an Intelligence + Occult roll, difficulty 6. One success is enough to learn that he is undead. Two successes may give some hint that he is a vampire. Three or more successes gives general applicable vampiric information that can be told to the Contractor as it becomes relevant, (Most Vampires cannot eat normal human food. Vampires are destroyed by the sun, Vampires shift into bats, etc). Each Contractor only gets one shot at this roll, and the result lasts the entire Game.
Even a cursory glance around the room will reveal a leash and service animal harness on the bed and a small stack of papers on the desk. These are service dog papers for each of the Contractors present. They present the dog as a seeing-eye-dog for the blind.
(NOTE: You can change the disability or leave it unspecified if you do not want someone pretending to be blind).
If the Contractors investigate the room, have them roll Perception + Investigation, difficulty 6. Any number of successes will find an empty metal dog dish on the ground near the bed and a can of paint in the bathroom sink that has very recently been used to paint the windows black. It is still wet, and the paint on the windows is still tacky. Three or more successes will find that the dog dish has a thin rim of coagulated blood caked under the lip and a few fresh bloodstains on the carpet beside it.
At some point, either during the investigation or after they leave the apartment, Bradley will attempt to wander off and must be stopped by basically physically guiding him back on track. Whoever does so should roll Charisma + Animals, Difficulty 6. Even one success is enough to guide Bradley around, but it is a clumsy, physical affair. Three or more successes provides the insight that this dog is very poorly trained and, while friendly, is not well bonded with the Contractors and sees them more as equals than masters. Training him and asserting dominance will require some form of reward for positive reinforcement, generally treats.
No treats or dog food are present in the room. Bradley is disinterested in any normal food or dog treats. He desires only human or canine blood. Steaks and similar may get him drooling, but he does not bite or eat them, and will start licking the Contractors’ arteries incessantly as he gets hungry.
The Airport
On the Way to the Airport
The Contractors must arrange their own transportation to the Airport. An Uber is sufficient.
Unless they spent an absurd amount of time in the motel room for some reason, it is likely to be 7:45 PM when they leave.
The Contractors essentially have about half an hour (max) of wiggle room which they can take either before or after the TSA checkpoint. Before is probably favorable because they have more options to prepare. Let them prepare as they will, but keep the time pressure real. Half an hour goes quick!
If the Players have not yet purchased plane tickets, choose the Contractor with the highest Intellect and have them realize they need to buy tickets.
Due to how soon the flight is, there are few seats available. The Plane is a 737 dreamliner with a single aisle and six seats to each row (4 to a row in First Class). There are two open seats next to each other in first class, two open seats next to each other in Comfort Plus, and two beside each other in coach.
You can change up the seating arrangement if you’d like. Splitting the group can cause things to take more time, but they will be able to communicate with a chat room in the in-seat entertainment, and they can always get up and go talk to each other. The advantage is that it creates more dynamic situations with more interesting positioning overall, and allows the Contractors to “factionize,” and plot privately. It did not feel very constraining when I ran the game.
Wise Contractors will spend this time figuring out how to sneak weapons past the TSA, preparing their bags, and gathering supplies. Very wise Contractors may find a better way to secure Bradley or even obtain blood to feed him.
At Airport Security
Inside the airport, the hustle and bustle of the day has calmed somewhat as travel-worn passengers arrive from parts unknown and sleepy travelers queue up at the TSA checkpoint and prepare for their red-eye flights.
Any American Contractors with the Wealthy or Rich Assets (or who travel frequently) will have TSA Pre. Pilots and flight attendants from the USA can breeze through security pretty much freely. Everyone else must go through the standard security checkpoint.
NOTE: do not spend too much time roleplaying / playing up the stakes of the TSA checkpoint. Try not to be too much of a dick either. The goal here is to strip equipment, not derail the Game. If the Contractors are caught with something they shouldn’t have (even a weapon) TSA will take it and give them the option to continue through.
If they have spent some time pre-checkpoint doing something, it is now 8:25, and Bradley is showing the first signs of his transformation. His ears are standing up, hair retracting, teeth sharpening, and he may be starting to lick at his handler’s ankles. If not, this will happen after the checkpoint. It should not affect their run through the checkpoint, but they will notice it. If the Players don’t realize what’s up a Charisma + Animals roll, Difficulty 6 can provide an answer.
In line at the TSA checkpoint, a FORBIDDEN MATERIALS sign lists-- after explosives, knives and guns-- magic or supernatural creatures or objects.
Bradley’s handler must convince the TSA that they are blind and in-need of a seeing-eye dog. This requires a Charisma + Performance roll, Difficulty 5 with dark sunglasses, 7 without. The Difficulty is increased by 1 if they do not have any points in Animals. One or two successes will result in some awkward questioning, but a few excuses will get them through. Three or more successes allows them to pass without issue. A failure or botch means that they will be taken aside to be searched more thoroughly. This more thorough search will always find any contraband.
Other Contractors pass through security as normal. Any obvious contraband is discovered (full water bottle, large weapons, etc) and taken away. For each piece of smaller contraband (pocket knives, etc), roll 1d10, difficulty 4 if the Contractor is in TSA Pre, 7 otherwise. If the roll is successful, the contraband is not found. Any weapons or items that were cleverly concealed are not found.
To amp up the stakes, you can choose the Contractor with the most contraband and make a little event for them. The person right in front of them in line (a young woman with green dyed hair) is stopped. They pull a package of alcohol-infused makeup-removal swabs from her bag and throw them away).
Checking or Gate-checking bags (or Bradley) is not possible due to how soon the flight is leaving.
If they spent time doing stuff before TSA, they must essentially run to the plane to catch it. They /may/ have some time to buy a snack or something, but not to do anything more involved.
Are any of their bags too big to carry on? As in real life, don’t be too draconian, but if any of them have a steamer trunk or something, they’ll need to downsize.
In line to board, you may choose to have Bradley spot someone with a crucifix necklace, one of the mormon missionary’s bibles, someone with a cross necklace, etc. He will bark at them and transform a bit more, but be easily pulled away and revert to his old form. This is mostly a way to communicate the fact that Bradley’s agitation / hunger is transforming him into a supernatural creature that must be concealed. Another option is to have a passenger with a small, shivering dog breed in a carrier approach Bradley’s handler and try to introduce their dog. The dog has a cone on its head, and Bradley will smell its blood, transform a bit more, and try to slither his tongue through the grate to get some blood from the dog.
On the Plane
The Plane is a standard 737 Dreamliner.
Keep track of which bags will go in overhead storage or below the seats and where their equipment is. If Bradley was not purchased a seat, make sure you mention that he is sitting in the aisle (which will greatly increase his exposure to the other passengers).
At this point the game opens up. The Contractors must feed Bradley at least 5 Pints of blood (giving 3-4 pints of blood is lethal, and the average person has about 8 pints of blood in them). They must do this while maintaining a low profile, before Bradly transforms too much. They must also keep him from the religious folks and symbols on the plane, and, if things get too heated, deal with the Air marshals or even a monster hunter.
The Missionaries
There are a pair of Mormon missionaries seated two rows behind wherever Bradley is sitting. You can use other religious devouts if you want, but they will generally wear religious symbols, invoke holy names, etc.
You can use them as you will to antagonize Bradley or the players. You can have them go around and hand out steel cross necklaces that have printed on the back: www.churchofjesuschrist.com. Try having them do the handouts during food service (between the drink and food service carts) so there is not an easy way to escape. When things get tense, you can have them pray out loud and invoke holy names etc.
Use them at the same time Bradley is getting hungry to test the contractors or after he’s been fully fed if you’d like to keep the game going.
The Marshals
There are two air marshals on the plane (or perhaps one if you have newbies without Powers or only two Contractors). They are well-trained with their sidearms (sig sauer) and have hand-to-hand training as well. Dex: 3, Brawn: 3, Firearms: 3, Brawl 2. Sig Saur: Dex + Firearms, Difficulty 7, +3 Damage. For those unfamiliar, in a fair fight, these stats make them rather deadly. Expect them to kill a Contractor or Bradley in one to four attacks. Their bullets will only cause explosive decompression if they strike a window.
Contractors that are scanning the cabin for something or looking over the passengers may notice the Air Marshals. Give them a Perception + Alertness (or Investigation) roll, difficulty 6/7, with a few successes allowing them to notice that one of the passengers looks like an undercover air marshal.
The Marshals do not get involved over petty events (even a dog attack). They will get involved if passengers attack each other with lethal force, someone is murdered, there is a monster on board, or someone attempts to take over the cabin.
The Monster Hunter
The Monster hunter fills a similar role to the Marshals in that they punish the Contractors for being too obvious or waiting too long to act. Unlike the Marshals, the monster hunter will only get involved in the situation if rumors of a monster go around, someone is found exsanguinated, etc.
You can pretty much use whatever Monster Hunter you want, but they must be able to uncover Bradley, kill Bradley in a 1v1, and should not be so powerful that they are unkillable by the Contractors combined. Also, they should generally not act until the players have messed up and everyone knows there is a monster on board.
Here’s an example Monster Hunter you can use: Jann Tsu. Jann Tsu is a 35 year old Chinese American woman who was imbued with ghostly powers when her mother sacrificed herself to save her from a witch’s curse. She has a black, horizontal bar tattooed over her eyes like a visor and wears a hooded robe that would likely look like a hoodie at a glance. She has sworn to spend her life hunting evil creatures wherever she goes, even if that includes her much-needed vacation in Hawaii.
Her powers allow her to summon a ghostly sword that she can swing for +3 damage, however, it can only injure creatures that have killed a human. She can also touch a corpse to see the last 30 seconds of their life, and she can summon spectral chains to restrain any target’s legs for two rounds. She has 3 Brawn, 5 Dexterity, 4 Intellect, and 4 in Melee. Her robes give her two Armor with no penalty.
GMing the Plane
As the GM, you have a lot of freedom about how to mess with the Contractors. You can have a mormon missionary approach and try to hand out religious paraphernalia (and then be attacked). You can have a passenger notice Bradley’s bizarre look and start to make a fuss about it. You can have Bradley get so hungry he transforms enough that everyone sees he’s supernatural and the air marshals / monster hunter try to kill him. Basically, the idea is to put the Contractors through their paces, stir the pot, and above all PUNISH REACTIVE NON-ACTION.
The situation will deteriorate in any number of awful ways if the Contractors don’t form a plan and take action BEFORE things get to that point. If you want to communicate this without causing a complete debacle, you can have Bradley attack a missionary or passenger or something and then allow the Contractors to pull him away. The passengers will read the situation as a dog attack, and the flight crew may demand that Bradly be kept in one of the galleys (near the restrooms) for the duration of the flight.
Even if something goes terribly wrong and the entire plane sees Bradley become a monster, kill someone, or a Contractor is caught murdering a passenger or something, the Game may still be winnable. If the Contractors can take control of the cabin, or really just keep Bradley alive until they land, they will win the Game. The major risk here is the LEGAL fallout for the Contractors. Anyone who causes a lot of trouble may be arrested when they land, interrogated, and, in a worst case scenario (they reveal that they are a Contractor), implanted with a bug and made into an unwitting spy for the FBI.
Other Notes
The Plane will never reverse direction and land back at SFO. Even in the event of explosive decompression.
There is a needle in the cabin’s first aid kit that can be used to draw blood, but the stewardesses will probably notice any non-stealthy or distracted attempt to access.
The passengers desire order and personal safety over all else. They will not unify and attack the Contractors or Bradley unless Bradley is just running wild, and even in that case they will attempt to run first. The entire cabin can be controlled by a one or several people brandishing a weapon, especially if they state that they only wish to land in Hawaii with the dog intact and have no intention of taking over the plane or anything like that.
Emergency exits cannot be opened during flight due both to air pressure and locks controlled from within the cockpit.
Decompression of the cabin will cause air masks to drop from the ceiling. Anyone who goes more than two rounds without wearing one will potentially be rendered unconscious due to hypoxia. The plane will reduce altitude, which allows the air to be breathable, although it is still extremely cold. Uninsulated passengers and contractors risk injury from the cold. Bradley does not really need air and doesn’t mind the cold.
When GMing combat with a group (eg. a plane full of passengers), don’t roll initiative for people who aren’t going to meaningfully engage in the combat. You may want to add one or two “hero” passengers to any encounter, at your discretion. If you do, choose a traveler archetype for them such as traveling japanese businessman, father of two screaming children, uniformed military guy, etc. They have average stats (1-3 in attributes, 0-1 in abilities)
If anything extreme occurs (like a combat) involving the character who is pretending to be blind, make them roll Charisma + Performance if they don’t have glasses to see if they remember that they’re supposed to be blind.
Bradley’s Stats and Transformation
Brawn: 5, Dex: 3, Perception: 3, Intelligence: 1, Charisma: 3 (dog)
Brawl: 4, Investigate: 3, Alertness: 1, Athletics: 2
Bradley’s undead hide grants him 2 Armor.
When agitated, Bradley attacks with his teeth with Brawn + Brawl, Difficulty 5, dealing + 1 Damage. This attack cannot be soaked with Brawn. If his attack deals at least 4 Damage, or if the target is incapcitated, he latches onto their neck with his teeth and drains their blood. This inflicts a Severity-4 Injury that worsens be 3 Severity each round as he sucks them dry. He does not generally stop until they are completely exsanguinated.
Bradley can sniff out the location of anyone whose blood he’s tasted.
Drinking blood heals Bradley, reducing the Severity of his most severe Injury by 1 for each pint of blood he drinks. He can drink a maximum of 10 Pints of blood a day.
TRANSFORMATION:
Bradley transforms partially/fully into a wyvern-like bat creature (same size as he normally is, which is quite large) under certain conditions. This transformation does not affect his stats, but it may affect his demeanor if he is hungry.
He has 5 states aka Transformation Levels:
- Normal dog
- Ears stand on end, lose most of their hair, and grow to chihuahua-esque proportions. Needle-like fangs are clearly visible when panting. Looks like a very unusual dog breed unless a close examination is done.
- Elbows splayed, forelegs lengthen, elbows splay a bit, nose begins to point, other teeth become needle-like, tongue lengthens and thickens, begins to drool uncontrollably. Can pass as a normal dog at a distance.
- Nose and ears are fully bat-like, forelegs become wings, granting him a wyvern-like stance. Can fly short distances. Cannot pass as a normal dog.
- Blood lust. Will attack any human until he is fed.
Bradley’s Transformation Level equals the number of hours elapsed since they find him minus the number of pints of blood they have fed him. Once they feed him 6 pints of blood, he is fully sated and will remain in dog-form unless agitated.
At Transformation Level 2 / 3, he will incessantly lick at the skin of his handler or nearby humans, potentially starting to nibble as well, though he will not break the skin.
Agitation increases his Transformation Level by 1 or 2, depending on its severity. The presence of blood or holy symbols, smells, or sounds will agitate him. He will fully transform in combat (and revert to an agitated state after).
Calming Bradley requires removing the negative stimulus and making a standard Charisma + Animals roll. Difficulty for controlling Bradley with a Charisma + Animals roll is equal to 5 + his Transformation level.
A system for exsanguination
Normal blood loss is accounted for by the standard Injury system, but for cases where blood is specifically drawn (e.g. by a medical professional or a vampire), this system may be more suitable.
A Character who has lost blood without Injury is given an Injury representing blood loss. This Injury’s severity = twice the number of pints of blood lost. If a Character loses blood once and then gives blood later, the existing Injury’s severity is increased.
Unlike other Injuries, the recovery time for blood loss may be greatly reduced via a blood infusion. Each day a Character receives blood, their blood loss Injury is reduced in severity by one level.
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