12 Minutes to Modnight - Skinwalker.pdf - Savage Worlds - dester

Skinwalker: A Pinebox Tale

Edited by: Cray Crouse, Preston DuBose, Trey Gorden, and Ed Wetterman

Savaged by: Ed Wetterman

Cover by: Jessica Van Hulle (http://www.jessicavanhulle.com)

Maps by: Craig Largent

Artwork by: Manuel Gomez (http://www.pencillad.com/) and

Sergio “O” Villa Isaza (http://www.commissionedcomic.com/)

Playtested by: Brandon Blakemore, Cory Bluhm, Jason Chapman,

Preston DuBose, John Flinn, Landon Gregory, Craig Largent, Walt Lombard,

Rob Mesecher, Ed Wetterman

his module is dedicated to Mark Ramsey,

for inspiring this adventure.

About the Cover Artist

Jessica Van Hulle received her

B.F.A. in Illustration in May

2004 from the Academy of Art

University, and has been honored

both nationally and locally for

her artwork. Her work was

displayed at the 2004 Seattle

Erotic Arts Festival, she was the

Spotlight Featured Artist of he

Artist’s Magazine, Feb. 2003,

and was a winner of the New

York Society of Illustrators 2002

student competition. In addition,

she has been featured in three

Academy of Art Spring Shows

and has been participating in Bay

Area art shows for four years.

his game uses the Savage Worlds game system, available

from Great White Games (www.greatwhitegames.com).

Savage Worlds, Smiling Jack, and all associated logos and

with permission.

marks of 12 to Midnight. his material is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any

reproduction or unauthorized use of the material or artwork contained herein is prohibited without the express writ-

ten permission of 12 to Midnight.

his product is a work of ﬁction. Any similarity to actual people, organizations, places, or events is purely coinci-

dental. Made in Texas, USA.

By Jerry Blakemore

Contents

Author’s Notes ........................................ 4

Section 0: GM Preparation ..................... 5

0.1: Introduction ................................................................. 5

0.2: Ranks............................................................................ 5

0.3: Play Notes..................................................................... 5

0.4: GM Background ........................................................... 6

0.4a Lucius Tiedens’ Pregame Timeline ......................................... 6

0.5: Plot Synopsis................................................................. 6

0.5a Lucius Tiedens Timeline ........................................................ 8

0.6: Setting the Mood .......................................................... 9

0.7: Recommended Plot Hook............................................. 9

0.8: Alternate Plot Hooks..................................................... 9

0.9: What’s in his One-Horse Town?.................................. 9

Section I: Inevitable Events ................... 10

1.1: Roadside ..................................................................... 10

Day One ................................................................. 10

1.1a: he Body ............................................................................ 11

1.1b: he Sheriﬀ .......................................................................... 12

1.2: Just a Few Questions ................................................... 13

1.2a: hat’s My Daddy ................................................................ 14

1.2b: Second Skin........................................................................ 14

1.3: We’re Done Here......................................................... 15

Day Two.................................................................. 16

1.4: Texas Clean ................................................................. 16

1.4a: A Friendly Face ................................................................... 17

1.4b: Stand Up and Be Heard...................................................... 18

1.5: he Green Mark Corporation ..................................... 18

1.5a: Aikens................................................................................. 19

1.6: Another One Bites the Dust........................................ 20

Section 2: It Could Happen .................. 21

2.1: Investigation ............................................................... 21

2.2: East Texas University................................................... 21

2.3 Research....................................................................... 22

2.4: Enter the Texas Rangers and the FBI ........................... 22

2.4a: he Base Camp ................................................................... 23

2.5: Bobby Williams’ Home............................................... 24

2.6: he Skinwalker Moves ................................................ 26

2.6a: Skinwalker Attacks.............................................................. 26

2.6b: Kidnapping ........................................................................ 26

2.7: he Ol’ Sawmill .......................................................... 27

2.8: A Hike through the Woods ......................................... 28

2.8a: Lone Warden ...................................................................... 28

2.8b: Killing Tree ......................................................................... 29

2.8c: he Hunt ............................................................................ 30

2.8d: he Irish ............................................................................. 30

2.8e Ribbon Tree ......................................................................... 32

2.9: Mixed Blessings........................................................... 33

Section 3: Taking It to Tiedens.............. 34

3.1: We Are in Control ...................................................... 34

3.1a: Situation Assessment........................................................... 34

3.1b: A Flight to Remember ........................................................ 35

Skinwalker

3.2: Druid’s Grove.............................................................. 37

3.3: Where Now? ............................................................... 38

Appendix I: Cast of Characters ............. 39

Rick Aikens........................................................................ 39

Butch Anderson — Wild Card........................................... 39

Dr. Dodge Billups .............................................................. 40

Helicopter Pilot.................................................................. 40

FBI Agent .......................................................................... 40

FBI Hostage Rescue Team Member.................................... 40

Golan County Sheriﬀ’s Deputy .......................................... 41

Green Mark Employee ....................................................... 41

Green Mark Security Guard ............................................... 41

Roberta “Robbie” HawkinsWild Card ............................... 41

Heath Labender—Wild Card............................................. 42

Angela Lopez ..................................................................... 42

Chad Rathers ..................................................................... 43

Melonie Richards ............................................................... 43

Jed Seward—Wild Card..................................................... 44

SWAT Team Leader ........................................................... 44

SWAT Team Member ........................................................ 45

SWAT Team Sniper............................................................ 45

Grandma Taylor—Wild Card ............................................ 45

Lucius Tiedens—Wild Card............................................... 46

Texas Clean Member.......................................................... 48

Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper........................ 48

Mae Walker........................................................................ 49

Julie Williams..................................................................... 49

Appendix II: Cast of Creatures.............. 51

Oak Hound ....................................................................... 51

Leader of the Pack Wild Card ............................................ 51

he Hunter ........................................................................ 52

Appendix III: Magic ............................. 53

Buds of Entanglement........................................................ 53

Crow Whistle..................................................................... 53

Druid’s Grove..................................................................... 53

Medicine Bag ..................................................................... 53

Necklace of the Hunt ......................................................... 54

Staﬀ of the Hunt ................................................................ 54

Appendix IV: Organizations ................. 55

Federal Bureau of Investigation .......................................... 55

Golan County Irish Community........................................ 55

Golan County Sheriﬀ’s Department................................... 55

Green Mark Corporation ................................................... 56

Texas Clean ........................................................................ 56

Texas Druids ...................................................................... 56

Appendix V: Arms and Equipment........ 58

Appendix VI: Player Handouts ............. 60

12 to Midnight

Page 3

Author’s Notes

he journey of the Skinwalker started two and half

years ago. Weekend Warriors was in production and

there were only three partners in 12 to Midnight.

Mark Ramsey, a founder of 12 to Midnight, had

several cool horror

ideas for us to con-

sider—one was the

Skinwalker. I admit

that I had never

heard of such a thing

before.

From there I re-

searched the legend

of the Skinwalker.

What I discovered

was an evil Shaman

with the ability to

look like anyone

and perform black

magic. Making this

work in game terms

called for some

thought.

An American Indian in Pinebox, or even Golan

County, would be too obvious a choice for the players

to pursue, especially from the angle of metagaming.

My ﬁrst consideration was who else might be logical

as a Skinwalker. hen I did some reading on shaman-

ism and saw that Druids would be a good alternative.

hus, we have the origin of the Druids of Texas. In

retrospect, an American Indian GM character might

have been a good red herring.

his was a hard module to get going. One week-

end back in 2003, when all I had were basic stats

for Lucius Tiedens and a few pages of notes jotted in

a notebook, Ed Wetterman suggested we play Skin-

walker. I told him it was not ready, but he insisted.

So we played Skinwalker that September Saturday,

sitting on the porch swing looking over the yard.

I had two scenes that I carried in my head for a

few months. One was the scene with Julie Williams

alone in the truck. he other was when she sees her

dead father through the window of the Golan Coun-

ty Sheriﬀ’s Oﬃce. hat second scene gave us both

chills.

Ed surprised me by calling the FBI, and that is

where I created the character of Roberta Williams.

Williams clicked with Green, and if I had not killed

her, she might have become a love interest. But

Green lives a rough life, and these things are to be

expected.

I wanted to make the woods extra spooky, and

that is how the idea for the “dawgs,” which later be-

came oak hounds, came about. At that point, I had

not even thought of the hunter, though he would be

available for playtest number two. I had no stats for

the oak hounds either. I had nothing that ﬁrst play-

test but the ability to creep Ed out with the mood.

Fortunately, Green climbed a tree.

After this, Green met another pair of characters,

Grandma Taylor and Mae Walker. Taylor became

the oracle of my story, providing bits and pieces of

information—even blessings, odd as they appeared.

he rag tree was much smaller in my mind that day,

but Ed saw something much larger; so I adapted the

scene to his interpretation.

From there we went on to the end, with its violent

‘copter crash. I made everything up on the spur of the

moment. Maintaining the mood was the vital issue

to me.

here were four playtests altogether. I ran all but

one of them. Playtest number two added Bobby Wil-

liams’ home, which the heroes ransacked for clues.

his session also introduced the element of the Skin-

walker’s teasing the heroes with his cruel threats.

he fourth playtest upped the ante in the form of

crows. his was the ﬁrst time I used them to stop

the Williams truck. Before, he simply had to answer

mother nature’s call.

his has been a long project, and I am happy it is

coming to a close. I hope you scare the hell out of

your players, but that they all live to ﬁght another

day. Most of all, I hope you walk away afraid, fearful

that everyone you meet could be the Skinwalker.

Jerry Blakemore

Strategy and Tactics magazine back introduced Jerry to gaming back in

1972. While stationed with the Army in Germany, he heard about these

Lieutenants playing some game with elves, dwarves, and black pud-

dings. Soon he was invited to join them and gaming has never been the

same since. D&D 3.0 inspired Jerry to write modules for others, but Ed

Wetterman and Mark Ramsey talked him into writing modern horror

for 12 to Midnight. Today Jerry lives in Sugar Land, Texas with his wife,

Branda and two children, Justine and Brandon.

12 to Midnight

Page 4

Skinwalker

Section 0: GM Preparation

0.1: Introduction

Most citizens of Pinebox are excited that the Green

Mark Corporation is moving in. he jobs are wel-

come and most folks are excited about the prospects.

Among the few who are critical of the change, how-

ever, is one individual who takes personal umbrage at

the news: the Skinwalker. He believes that parts of the

forest are sacred and that Green Mark is encroaching

upon that sanctity. he only way to restore order to

nature is through an oﬀering of blood—Green Mark

blood.

had an equally deadly ending, outlined in Section 3.2:

Druid’s Grove . Between these two encounters you

should be able to bring the adventure to a suitably

climatic ending.

Out of necessity, the presentation of the module

focuses on the story from one avenue, but the GM

should adjust to his investigating team’s actions. Re-

sist the urge to railroad your heroes along a certain

path. Keep the action cinematic. You and your play-

ers will ﬁnd the experience rewarding.

Characters can die quickly in this module if they

are not careful. Lucius Tiedens is a powerful, vindic-

tive Skinwalker. He has animals trained to monitor

certain areas of town, and his shamanistic powers al-

low him to speak with them and ﬁnd out what is

happening. Tiedens does not hesitate to challenge

those who interfere with him. Sometimes he warns

folks, but anyone who meets him on his turf can ex-

pect a deadly encounter.

0.2: Ranks

his adventure is written for four characters of Nov-

ice to Seasoned rank. Because combat is secondary to

the unfolding mystery, game masters should ﬁnd it

easy to scale the adventure for any party.

0.3: Play Notes

his adventure is mostly nonlinear, and diﬃcult to

run without preparation. he GM should read the

entire module several times and become familiar

with the Pinebox setting. Once the heroes complete

the ﬁrst two introductory encounters ( 1.1: Roadside

and 1.2: Just a Few Questions ) they should be allowed

to explore and go wherever they please while you

adjust clues accordingly. To help the GM, we have

organized the adventure into three sections: Section

1: Inevitable Events , Section 2: It Could Happen, and

Section 3: Taking It To Tiedens .

he encounters in Section 1: Inevitable Events ,

should take place regardless of what the characters

do. It is possible that the characters may not be pres-

ent for one or two of these incidents, depending

upon how they conduct themselves. Just remember

that these events occur with or without the characters

and that they may aﬀect future developments.

Section 2: It Could Happen covers several encoun-

ters that take place if the characters go to particular

locations. Some of these events may not occur , but

you should be prepared for them if they do.

Section 3: Taking It to Tiedens presents two pos-

sibilities for the ending. Section 3.1: We Are In Con-

trol explains how the conclusion played out in the

original running of the module. he second playtest

Your 12 to Midnight Guides

Jackson Green

Jackson believes in the paranormal and

has extensively investigated hauntings

and ghostly activities. He oﬀers advice

and background information.

“Wait a sec, guys. I just want to check the

recorder I left in Lance’s room last night.”

Lance Carson

Lance is a skeptic, but open to the pos-

sibility of a world beyond the one we

see. He oﬀers advice on dealing with

players who go “oﬀ the map.”

“We’re facing murder charges, and you

guys are worried about pizza?”

Professor Glen Maclanahan

he professor is an expert researcher

and investigator. He oﬀers aid regard-

ing the use of skills and mechanics of

the game.

“I carry a prism around with me for ten

years, and the one time I need it it’s in the

truck!”

12 to Midnight

Page 5

Skinwalker

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