Adventure! RPG - Murder on Ellis Island

[Paka]

I am thinking of running an Adventure! game in the near future and the following are my idea seeds.

Been posting this puppy on every Adventure! forum I can get my typin' fingers on.

Any ideas or feedback is appreciated:

This is the infant stages of the game.

The players begin the game as immigrants, making their way through the lines

and crowds of Ellis Island.  There was a mist in the harbor and the Statue

of Liberty wasn't visible as they docked.

How and why they were contacted by the Aeon Society and made their way to

America will be written into their character concepts.

They are checked for disease, chalk marks are made on their coats of they

seem sickly or mentally ill or "shady."

The first adventure should take place on the island.  The representative

from the Aeon Society is found dead just as Big Bad Villain announces that

he has control of the island, remain calm, when the Blah Blah Blah is

returned.

Naturally, the players get together and save the hostages and end this

fiendish plot in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty.

Themes:  The American Dream, Mystery and of course in Adventure!, Hope

Villain ideas:

The big villain is going to be a Henry Ford-esque kind of industrialist,

paranoid mogul, taking the mysteries and wonders of the world and using them

for his own nefarious purposes.  He wants America to be his way or no way.

The villain on Ellis Island will be some kind of lacky of this man's.

Perhaps he will have killer robots whose engines, upon close inspection, are

of Ford make.

Should be able to dig up old maps of Ellis Island on the net somewhere,

that'd make the plot come to life.  I've got a neat video on the history of

Ellis Island too.

What has just come into the country that they want before it even makes its

way through Ellis Island?  Why shanghai it here rather than waiting for it

to get through?

Perhaps a scientist has made his way to America and he has an engine that is

powered on Z-Rays.  This engine could change the face of the automotive

industry.  the plans were destroyed in a fire in Europe, where they nearly

got him.  Now the only plans are in his head.

Perhaps the scientist is a child, travelling with his grandfather.  Everyone

will assume the grandfather is the genius when it is really the kid.

The Aeon Society member was killed because they thought he was there to get

the engine plans but the truth is he knew nothing about them.

Just thinkin' out loud with my fingers to the keyboard.

Any ideas are appreciated...

[Paka]

This is the mail I'll probably send to the players:

D&D: Dames and Death-Rays

You've been on a smelly boat for weeks but soon you will be in America, land of opportunity.  You know better than to say that the streets are paved on gold but it will still be an amazing moment when the ship comes into the harbor and Lady Liberty welcomes you to the United States.

Due to your skills the Aeon Society for Gentlemen invited you Stateside with promises of citizenship and adventure.

“The Jazz Age was wicked and monstrous and silly.  Unfortunately, I had a good time.”

  - Heywood Broun

1920

(Jan. 1)--U.S. census reports U.S. population 117.8 million. For the first time in U.S. history, the urban population exceeds rural population.

(Jan. 17)--Prohibition begins. The 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution goes into effect, prohibiting the making, selling, possession and consumption of alcoholic beverages. The most flouted law in history was repealed in 1933.

(Jan. 24)--The U.S. Expeditionary forces return from Europe.

(April 2)--Physicist Albert Einstein arrives in New York to lecture at Columbia University on his theory of relativity.

(April 15)--The Sacco & Vanzetti saga begins; would become the "trial of the century." On this date, shoe factory paymaster F.A. Parmenter and a guard are murdered in South Braintree, Mass. Suspected radicals Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti are arrested for the crime on May 5. On July 14, 1921, the two are convicted of the murder, arousing a firestorm of protests from leftists and a divisive debate worldwide. Many unsuccessful appeals later, they were executed in 1927, despite what was widely thought to be inconclusive evidence. Many believe they were tried for their anarchist political beliefs (They were exonerated posthumously in 1977).

(June 5)--The decade of anti-immigration laws begins. The Immigration Act is amended, allowing for deportation of anarchists and aliens advocating terrorism. It is the first of several acts and amendments passed during the decade to restrict immigration.

(Aug. 1920)--"The Tommy Gun," the Thompson portable submachine gun (invented by J.T. Thompson), is demonstrated at a national gun show in Ohio. Soon to become the weapon of choice for bootlegging gangsters.

1921

(Spring 1921)--The Ku Klux Klan begins a reign of heightened terror nationwide, intimidating and murdering minorities and harassing uncooperative government officials and political opponents.

(May 19)--Immigration Quota Act severely limits immigration, to no more than 3 percent annually of each nationality, based on the number of that nationality already residing in the U.S. (as of 1910).

Albert Einstein wins the Nobel Prize for Physics for his discovery of the photoelectric effect and his overall theoretical work.

(March 5)--F.W. Murnau's horror film masterpiece Nosferatu premieres in Germany. Regarded as the first vampire film.

(Nov. 2)--The entrance to the tomb of King Tutankhamun (King Tut) is discovered in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor, Egypt by archaeologists Howard Carter and his patron George Edward Stanhope Molyneux, Earl of Carnarvon. On Nov. 7 they open the burial chamber seal on what is the greatest find ever of Egyptian archeological artifacts. The excitement generated worldwide by the find would even influence art and fashion, including art deco.

(Dec. 4)--Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill, although passed by the U.S. House, is withdrawn from the Senate after a southern states' filibuster.

1923

(Jan. 5)--The Rosewood Massacre: After a dubious rape charge made by a white woman against an unidentified black assailant, as many as 300 whites invade the town of Rosewood, Florida, kill at least 8 black residents and burn down the town. No one is prosecuted for the outrage.

(Nov. 3)--Cecil B. DeMille's costly ($1.5 million) biblical film epic The Ten Commandments, complete with color sequences, premieres. It becomes one of the biggest earners of the twenties, pulling in $4.1 million for Paramount, and retools producer/director DeMille's career as king of cinematic spectacle.

(Nov. 8-11)--Adolph Hitler, leader of the small National Socialist German Workers (Nazi) party, with aid from World War I general Erich von Ludendorff, attempts overthrow of the Bavarian Weimar government in Munich. The coup fails and Hitler is sentenced to five years imprisonment, though a general amnesty frees him after just eight months.

1924

(May 10)--J. Edgar Hoover is appointed director of the

scandal-plagued Bureau of Investigation (later renamed the Federal

Bureau of Investigation in 1935), with the charge of restoring the

agency's integrity and effectiveness.

(May 26)--Major amendment to Immigration Quota Act further reduces

number of immigrants allowed into U.S. and completely forbids

Japanese immigration, sparking diplomatic protests from Japan.

(June)--U.S. Congress declares American Indians to be U.S.

citizens.

Ford's 10 millionth Model T is produced.

Thanks for reading

[CHILL]

Wow

Welcome aboard.

Im at work right now but ill read through this in more detail and post later tonight (UK time)

anyone else?

[FredrikSvanberg]

How about a more subtle approach?

Instead of having a villain spout insane gibberish while his robots chase people into the ocean, have him bribe or mentally coerce the customs officials to bring the scientist to him.

Having a representative of Aeon society killed will only attract the attention of the rest of the society. The villain doesn't want that, and you don't want that and the players definitely won't want that because how could they possibly get a chance to shine in the light of Danger Ace, Mercer or Whitley? The representative of Aeon will instead show up at the end of the adventure, just in time to witness the glorious success of the new members as the villain is taken away by the police or in an ambulance, as the case may be.

Here's how I would run it:

When the characters are waiting in line they notice how the scientist is taken aside into a waiting room. Through the door they see the face of the villain waiting for him. Nothing extraordinary about this yet, but it will be soon enough.

On the other side of the customs they find a young woman standing around, looking worried, as if waiting for someone who isn't showing up. If approached the woman explains that she is waiting for her uncle (the scientist) but he hasn't come through customs yet.

The last immigrant exits the customs office but the scientist still hasn't showed up. His niece is crying floods. The characters might decide to investigate, but before they do, the professor shows up. Everything seems to be in order so they all head for the ferry.

Now someone spots a body floating in the river. As the body is pulled up the characters will recognize him as the man who was taken aside earlier and who apparently was alive just minutes ago... unless that man is an impostor!

If they've got half a brain between them they will figure out that the man they noticed waiting for the scientist inside the office must have something to do with this. Once the villain figures out that his cover is blown he sends some of his goons which had been waiting on the ferry to deal with the adventurers, while he tries to escape with the equally hypnotized niece. Mayhem ensues.

What really happened was that the villain interrogated the scientist or used his mental powers to wrest the knowledge from his brain, memorized it all (or recorded it on tape) and injected the professor with a fast-working poison. Then he hypnotized some custom officials to dump the body in the river while he snuck out to placate the waiting niece, cleverly disguised as the scientist.

[harlequin]

i don't actually have anything constructive to add, but wow, i like that last story line...

-harlequin

[CHILL]

Facinating ideas all round

I think Im leaning towards the more subtle approach though, as the ire of the Aeon Society would certainly be brought to bear....

Useful pointers...

anyone else?

[Paka]

I also like the subtle approach.   :Yin Yang

I think a member of the Aeon Society might be involved, not a big name, a secretary, bureaucrat or footman sent to escort the players back to HQ and meet Max for a snifter of brandy.

I am thinking of sticking with the grandfather and his kid.  The villain will pull the grandfather out of line, thinking that he is the genius while it is the kid.  

Perhaps the kid will have a slightly older sister, a dame in distress of some sort.  Will figure out how to put a twist into her character later.

I picture the kid back at HQ, scribbling frantically all night to get the plans down on paper in case anything should happen to him, sending them in the mail to...

Anyway, thanks for the feedback, anymore is appreciated greatly.  

:wavesmiley

I hate these things   :pukesmiley  but they are addictive  :nervous

[needle]

This is an amazing set of ideas really well thought out. Good luck & one resource that I've found for Adventure is using old photos for character handouts. www.historychannel.com has a ton for a touch of realizm.