The Modern Dispatch 073 - Sundown Cineplex, Podreczniki RPG, The Modern Dispatch
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
The
Modern
Dispatch
The Sundown Cineplex
Introduction
Every dusty Texas town has an old movie theater, and Pinebox is no different. The Crowley Cinema once did a
thriving business throughout the 30s and 40s, but was unable to survive the hardships of WWII. The family that
owned it finally had to board up the doors, and the marquee hung in disrepair until just a few months ago. That is
when Alicia Crowley, distant relation to the prior owners, returned to open it up under its new name, the Sundown
Cinema. With a healthy bankroll and adventurous spirit, she is determined to make a go of it. The theater is
located on Travis Street, across the street from the Post Office.
#73
Requires the use of the d20 Modern Roleplaying
Game, published by Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
Pinebox Personalities
wears a faded blue denim jacket that is always within
reach, a big, floppy sun hat, and a large pair of Jackie
Onasis-style sunglasses that easily cover half her
face.
Her bedroom is downstairs from the theater in the
spacious basement area that she had remodeled before
she returned. It is very chic, clean, and comfortable,
with custom track lighting around the ceiling that
casts the room into a perpetual twilight. She has a
surround sound system, a television, and a kitchen
area complete with a gas stove, refrigerator, and an
immense, commercial-grade walk-in freezer. Her fire-
proof safe keeps important documents and at any one
time anywhere from ten to twenty-thousand dollars
Alicia Crowley
“Howdy” from 12 to Midnight
In case you are not familiar with us, 12 to Midnight
is a Texas-based RPG publisher specializing in
modern horror. You might not normally think “Texas”
and “horror” go together, but we are pretty sure you
will change your mind after spending some time in
Pinebox.
Pinebox, Texas, that is—a nice little rural community
smack-dab in East Texas. There is a university nearby,
a pine forest called the Big Thicket, and a mess of
beautiful wildflowers every spring. Unfortunately, it is
also the epicenter of a whole lot of bad mojo. We’re
talking dark magic, serial killers, haunted buildings—
the whole ball of wax.
If you want to learn more about Pinebox, just visit
our Web site at
. You can start using
the free campaign setting on our site right now, then
watch it continue to grow right here in the pages of
Modern Dispatch
. Of course, Pinebox is
our
setting,
but all the material in these pages can just as easily be
dropped into
yours
.
If you have any ideas for future issues,
or if you want to comment on what you
read here, please drop by the forums on
our website.
A slender, willowy lady, Alicia looks to be in her
late twenties. Crowley typically wears her hair in a
ponytail and dresses in Capri pants and t-shirts, and
she appears to be an ETU co-ed.
Crowley is very enthusiastic, full of pep, and has a
strong can-do attitude. Though not originally from
Pinebox, she knows a good deal about the locals from
idle conversations, and spends the bulk of her days in the
shadowy recesses of the theater’s lobby reading books
and eating stale popcorn. While growing up in the San
Fernando Valley, Crowley longed to be an actress, but
her dreams were dashed when she was diagnosed with
Xeroderma Pigmentosum. This rare condition makes
her skin extremely sensitive to sunlight. The disease
has affected her mind as well as her body. Her childish
dreams of starring on the silver screen have taken a
darker turn, and her love of cinema soon developed
into an overriding obsession. While she is an expert
on all movie types, horror movies invoke her deepest
affections.
Crowley does not go outdoors unless absolutely
necessary. When she must go out, day or night, she
Author:
Sean.Preston
�
layout:
Preston.dubose�
editors:
Cray.Crouse�
Ed.wetterman
Sundown
Cineplex
Page
1
The
Modern
Dispatch
The Slaughter of ’44
Herman Crowley was a long-time movie buff and was
especially fond of musicals, because they made his
wife, Madeline, laugh and dance in the aisles. When
she died giving birth to their son Allister in 1934, he
never played a musical film again. Instead, he sought
avant-garde films privately and cashed in on the lurid
popularity of horror movies such as The Wolf Man and
Cat People.
Crowley sought out something that would make him
feel again. He heard of an underground movie by a
German Director, Bruno Ludke, who filmed a movie
entitled “Leise Weinen” (“To Weep Silently”) that
came out in the summer of 1942 in Munich. During
the movie, open rioting and chaos ensued, the movie
theater was burned down, and all copies were thought
to be destroyed. Crowley discovered that one copy
escaped destruction and still existed. Through much
expense, he managed to get his hands on it.
The opening night was one to remember in Pinebox.
Upon hearing what was to be played, local parents
vocally proclaimed Crowley to be a Nazi-sympathizer
and that he was trying to abuse the minds of their
youth. He listened to their complaints and invited
them to an advance screening to ease their fears. When
everyone was seated and the movie was playing, all
moviegoers broke out into a riot. During the chaos,
three men and two women died at the hands of Herman
in small denomination bills. Along one wall is an oak
wine rack with a fine selection of reds and Shiraz.
“Bloodstump” Crowley before the police gunned him
down on the street in front of the theater.
In the aftermath of the chaos, young Allister was
shipped off to live with his uncle’s family in Sacramento
and everyone tried their best to forget about the awful
event. The movie itself was never found. When the
theater was shuttered for good, the official story was
that it was due to “economic hardships” caused by
the war overseas. To this day, people in and around
the theater have reported weird sounds and lights, but
these encounters are rationalized away as reflections
of passing headlights or too much alcohol.
Leise Weinen
(“To Weep Silently”)
This harrowing film is infamous in movie circles as
Bruno Ludke’s last work before going over the brink
of sanity. Ludke was born in Germany in 1909 and
began a promising career in cinematography at the
age of twenty-six. A favorite of Hitler’s, he was swept
up to make many propaganda films, but managed to
secretly work his personal project, “Leise Weinen”,
into his schedule.
Ludke spent seven years making the film, during
which time many of his indiscretions were buried
by the Gestapo. However, he crossed the line when
he confessed to killing the wife of an SS officer with
whom he was having an affair. Rather than being
Secrets
Alicia Crowley left California after both her parents
died in a freak car accident. She collected a cool
million dollars as the sole beneficiary. She did not
know about the Crowley Cinema’s existance until a
past-due letter came from the County Tax Assessor
of Pinebox, Martin Keys. A few phone calls later
and local Pinebox attorney, Eliza Crane, reluctantly
accepted to be her counsel and made arrangements
with local contractors for renovations and remodeling
of the Cinema. Crane failed to tell Crowley about the
slaughter of ’44 and what really caused the cinema
to be closed down. However, she did suggest that it
be renamed. Delighted with the idea, Crowley chose
the apt name Sundown Cineplex, liquidated off the
remnants of her inherited properties, and moved with
her Siamese cat, Solomon, to Pinebox.
Crowley’s skin condition “gifts” her with latent
psychic potential that she is only beginning to realize.
Already, she can sense moods and emotions beyond the
pale. For now, she chalks these heightened senses up
to neurological disorders caused by the progression of
her XP. Actually, her delicate physical state makes her a
beacon to the spirit world and is reawakening dormant
spirits. As the veil between worlds is especially thin in
the theater, she is exceptionally vunerable.
Take 20: Join the Modern d20 Yahoo Group
Sure, Modern Dispatch is great and all, but you have to wait a WHOLE WEEK between
issues. If you just can’t get your fix of modern gaming goodness, then head on over to
the new Modern d20 Yahoo Group. It is sponsored by the same four companies who
publish Modern Dispatch, so you can ask questions about what you read in these pages or
any of our other products. Swap ideas with your fellow gamers. Get top secret, advance
information on our upcoming products, and get coupons for titles that are already out. And it’s free!
d20 Modern and Wizards of the Coast are
trademarks of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. in the
United States and other countries and are used
with permission. ‘d20 System’ and the ‘d20
System’ logo are trademarks of Wizards of the
Coast, Inc. and are used according to the terms
of the d20 System License version 6.0. A copy
of this License can be found at www.wizards.
com/d20.
Click here to j
Sundown
Cineplex
Page
2
The
Modern
Dispatch
Adventure Hooks
Opening Night
The old folks of Pinebox have largely ignored the
theater’s reopening until Ms. Crowley’s article in the
local paper announcing she’s found the lost copy of
“Leise Weinen” and intends to show it at her grand
opening. Someone who remembers the Slaughter of
’44 contacts the heroes to either convince Ms. Crowley
not to show the film or procure the movie at any cost.
summarily executed, he was ruled mentally unfit and
shipped to Vienna to be used as a human test subject.
While undergoing therapy, he admitted to killing more
than eighty-five German citizens in the process of
making the film.
At that time Hitler, a fervent believer in the occult,
was notified of Ludke’s secret project. Intrigued by the
potential of this evil film, he arranged for copies of
it to be put into limited distribution abroad to pollute
the minds of his enemies. No one knows exactly how
many copies are in existence at present.
The exact effects of watching the movie are up to the
Gamemaster and can range from the typical violent,
psychotic breaks of most viewers, to self-mutilation,
to permanent derangement. The images on the screen
have been alluded to as “stark black and white still
pictures that shift one into another; a slow blur that jars
and bleeds black as the nails of humanity peel away to
the hidden truth—a truth too horrible to comprehend.”
Have everyone watching the film make
Medium Shock
Fear checks if using 12 to Midnight’s
Fear Effects
system. Otherwise, allow a Wisdom check DC 20.
Failure results in some insanity of the GMs choosing.
Bloodstump
People say that someone disturbed the resting place
of Alicia Crowley’s grandfather, Herman Crowley,
in the Old Pinebox Cemetery the day after her visit.
Most suspect the vandalism was the result of college
kids pulling pranks, but darker rumors sugest that
Ms. Crowley dug him her grandfather’s coffin in the
middle of the night. Upon learning of the rumor, Ms.
Crowley became upset because she would never do
such a gruesome thing. She believes locals must be
trying to run her out of town, and asks the heroes to
learn the truth behind her grandfather’s missing corpse.
Actually, Ms. Crowleys own latent psychic abilities
have combined with the powers of the movie Leise
Weinen to reanimate an old, hibernating evil. Now
Bloodstump wanders the night streets of Pinebox, an
animated corpse of evil cunning.
Adventure Outline
While the Adventure Hooks are just that, below is
bare-bones outline that you can flesh out into a full-
blown story arc for your campaign.
• Foreshadowing in two parts: People have noticed
and are talking about the new renovations being
made to the old abandoned Crowley Cinema. Word
has it that the last Crowley is coming back home
from California. The theater is undergoing a name
change too. The gossip is soon confirmed. The
theater is renamed the Sundown and Alicia Crowley
returns to Pinebox. This can be mentioned in the
local newspaper or just noticed in passing while
the characters are driving to another adventure. If
this isn’t part of an ongoing campaign, you can still
mention this and then telescope time to the next
major point.
• Soon after moving in, Crowley begins having bad
dreams. She may mention this to the characters if
they come in to see a show. If not that, she mentions
this to someone the characters know (perhaps
A Victim of Gossip
People fear strange Ms. Crowley, and it is rumored
that she is a vampire. She is never seen outside of her
musty, old theater and some people who have gone
into her theater never come back out. The truth is that
Crowley has the rare skin condition XP, as previously
mentioned, and stays indoors as much as possible.
However, XP can cause neurological disorders. In
Crowley, this takes the form of being sensitive to the
traumas of the theater’s past, picking up fleeting waves
of emotion. Has she developed her grandfather’s thirst
for blood and begun cannibalizing the occasional co-
ed, or is she just having innocent, one-night stands?
Her walk-in freezer and her king sized bed have room
for both.
About the Author
Sean Preston
is the President and Founder of
Reality Blurs based in Memphis, Tennessee. He
enjoys juggling multiple projects and is currently
wrapping up work on
RunePunk: Steam and
Shadow,
getting into the meat of
Agents of Oblivion,
and looking at
Iron Dynasty: Sins of the Samurai
waiting in the wings. Look for
Iron Dynasty:
Journey to Red Temple
and
Agents of Oblivion:
Starfall Jungle
available at the Edge section on
RPGNow and check out his website for (mostly)
weekly ramblings at
He
looks forward to making more contributions to
the horror genre of roleplaying and adding more
citizens to Pinebox.
Leise Weinen
While cleaning up one evening, Crowley discovers
her grandfather’s journal in the projection room.
From the journal, she learns of the film
Leise Weinen
.
Immediately, she arranges to have flyers distributed
about Pinebox offering a substantial reward for the
recovery of this lost, cinematic relic. Does this open
old wounds in the community, put the current owner of
the film in a dangerous panic, or even awaken restless
spirits best left undisturbed?
Sundown
Cineplex
Page
3
The
Modern
Dispatch
someone at the Comics store or on the campus of
ETU) who then relates it to the characters with
uncharacteristic concern. “That new girl is looking
rough. Like she never sleeps. I’ve gone in to see a
flick a few times and she shows a lot of horror and
told me she’s having bad dreams. I think she’s one of
those California psychos you hear about.” Somehow
her XP has made her psychically sensitive. Living a
sheltered life, she was unaware of this until moving
to Pinebox. She is picking up on the bloodshed that
occurred during the slaughter of ’44.
• However she chances to finally meet the characters
in her theater, her story is the same. “Ever since
moving in, something has been going on in my
theater. I see phantom lights. I can’t sleep. Maybe
I should pack it all in.” She is a kind, sensitive girl
and is generally trusting. She agrees to having the
characters stay overnight and observe the strange
happenings for themselves, or to most anything else
barring her leaving the Sundown.
What direction the characters take from here is up
to them. The following steps are listed in a logical
progression, but remember players are mercurial!
• If the characters investigate the theater, they find old
blood stains on the seats and carpet. This is easily
seen if the lights are brought up to full intensity,
something that Crowley never does. The projection
room is filled with reels of vintage horror movies
from the ‘30’s and ‘40’s. The walls are decorated
with movie posters of Lon Chaney, Jr. as the
Werewolf and Bela Lugosi as Dracula, among other
B-grade titles. Of special note is a black and white
poster for a movie that depicts a man sitting on a step
with his head cupped forward in his hands and blood
running down his arms and dripping onto his shoes.
The caption is in German and reads “Leise Weinen”
(“To Weep Silently”) and the text below translates
to “a film by Bruno Ludke”. Unless the characters
make a
Knowledge (occult)
check, DC 20, they have
never heard of this film. The canisters are in good
shape, and it is easy to tell that they are originals.
If inspected closely, the characters can discover
a journal belonging to the late Herman Crowley
detailing his lifelong obsession with movies. The
last entry details his acquisition of “Leise Weinen”
and his plans to have a pre-screening that evening.
The date on the journal entry is July 18, 1944.
• Heroes spending the night in the theater is more
than the restless spirits can take. While being
somewhat awakened by the presence of Alicia and
her occasional late night visitor, a party of four or
more causes the five victims of the Slaughter of ’44
to fully manifest. Three grisly, butchered men and
two butchered women appear demanding justice.
Consider using the Revenant template from
Modern
Dispatch #61: Revenants
.
• To put the spirits to rest, the party must locate the
cursed film and destroy it. Wherever it may be is up to
the GM, but consider keeping it in the Pinebox area.
Could it be buried somewhere in the morass of junk
and treasures at Pinebox Pawn (
Modern Dispatch
#45
)? Or, perhaps it is in the private collection of
Thomas Shelby, Associate Director of Fine Arts at
ETU and head of the burgeoning cinematography
department?
Animated Corpse
Creature Statistics
Medium Construct (CR 3); HD 6d10+10
Initiative
+0
Attacks
unarmed attack:
Punch +8 Melee (1d6+5)
Attack Options
None.
Spells
None
Speed
30 ft.
Skills
None
Feats/Talents
None
Special Qualities
Damage Reduction 5/- (Su), Fast
Healing 1 (Ex)
• Damage Reduction 5/- (Su): He ignores 5 points
of damage from weapons and natural attacks.
However magic items or blessed weapons are not
affected.
• Fast Healing 1 (Ex): He regains hit points at an
exceptionally fast rate. He gains 1 hit point per
round. Fast Healing ends when he is reduced to
-10 or more hit points.
Weaknesses
Vulnerability: Exceedingly Bright Lights
(10)
Wealth
+0
Reputation & Allegiances
0; To evil
FX Items
None
Possessions
None
Description
The body of the Blood has not only reanimated, but
has begun to regenerate. The man looks alive, though
his skin is pasty white, and he walks with a stiffened
gait. He is truly evil and sets about killing anyone he
can get into a one-on-one situation. He literally rips the
person apart with his bare hands. This animated corpse
has been constructed by the magic of the movie and by
the latent psychic abilities of his granddaughter. Hence
this is not a typical undead, nor a typical construct.
BAB
+3
STR
20 (+5)
14; touch 10;
flat-footed
14
Defense
Melee
+8
DEX
11 (+0)
Hit Points
46
Ranged
-
CON
- (+0)
Save Fort
+4
Grapple
+8
INT
7 (-2)
MAS Dmg
Threshold
-
WIS
5 (-3)
Save Ref
+2
Action
Points
-
CHA
10 (+0)
Save Will
+0
Sundown
Cineplex
Page
4
The
Modern
Dispatch
The
Modern
Dispatch
pinebox news
Fewer ETU Students
Begin Spring Semester
December 19, 2005
Volume V, Issue 69
Theater to Reopen after Sixty Years
The old Crowley Cinema, so popular
in the Pinebox of the 1930s and 1940s
is being renovated and will reopen for
the first time since 1944. The Crowley
Cinema was the jewel of Pinebox in the
first half of the 20
th
century. Its guilded
marquee and seating arrangements
rivaled the great theatres of Dallas and
Houston, making it a major attraction for
much of east Texas and as far away as
Louiasana.
The theater originally opened in 1931
during the worst years of the Great
Depression. The owner and manager
of the business was Herman Crowley,
and now his granddaughter, Alicia has
returned from California to reopen the
refurbished, upgraded, and renamed
Sundown Cineplex of downtown
Pinebox.
“I’ve added stadium seating, a state-
of-the-art sound system, and period
uniforms for the employees. Watching
modern movies should be an experience
and I’m hoping the people of Pinebox
will enjoy it.”
Ms. Crowley has also invested in a
pizzeria to be located next door to the
theater. She and her partners hope to
capture the University student’s attention
as a great dating venue. “Dinner and a
movie. What could be more American?”
The theater closed in 1944 after facing
economic hardships caused by World
War II, and the abandoned building
stood vacant for many years- home
only to vagrants and the occasional drug
pusher and user. The building had also
developed a reputation for hauntings
and was the object of many teenaged
adventures around Halloween.
“Ms. Crowley has done a tremendous
job of redecorating and upgrading the
theatre, and I think we’re in for a real
As anyone driving can tell you, the
coeds—and accompanying traffic—
are back in Pinebox. Classes at East
Texas University began on Monday for
the Spring Semester. Despite record
enrollments every year for the past
ten years, Dr. Monica Sears, Dean of
Admissions and Recruitment, has a
problem.
“We have more students enrolled
than ever before, but fewer than 73%
of our freshmen return for their second
freshman term. Another 12% do not
return for their sophomore year,” Sears
said.
Why do these students not choose to
return to Pinebox? Dr. Sears has been
studying the lack of returnees in an
attempt to discover what is driving them
away. “These sorts of rates are common
with two-year junior colleges, but it is
disturbing at a four-year university.”
According to Dr. Sears, many of the
non-returning students had scholarships
and most passed their Fall classes. Of
those non-returning Freshmen who
responded to the ETU survey, almost
half reported that they were transferring
to other schools and forfeited their
scholarships. Less than half the missing
students responded to the survey. Sears
says students typically begin dropping
out and disappearing from campus even
before the Fall semester ends, and many
never leave forwarding addresses.
“I don’t understand why this is
happening. Our school is a fine
institution of learning, we have great
professors, and we live in a garden spot
of the world,” said Dena Wolke, a senior
Biology student at ETU.
Jena Voss, a junior English major
disagreed. “I think it’s because so
many weird things always seem to
happen here. They’re scared. Too many
evil happenings and bizarre events.
Personally, I like it. I think it gives us
character. What doesn’t kill you makes
you stronger, right?”
Other students claim that the city of
Pinebox has not been very welcoming to
ETU students. In 1986, the City Council
continued on page 2
Community Calendar
January 16
City Council Open Forum—
The
main agenda item is a safety
discussion about the 37 foot deep
sinkhole on Carter Avenue. 6 pm.
Friends of the Library
Booksale—
The Friends of the
Library is holding a book-fair
fundraiser. In addition to new
books, part of the library’s unique
and colorful Reserve Desk
collection will be auctioned off. 3
pm.
continued
continued on page 2
Sundown
Cineplex
Sundown
Cineplex
Page
5
Page
5
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]