A young recluse’s beliefs begin to come to life. Can the PCs save him from being snatched away by his own dreams?

Adventure Background: Not long ago an elderly man died from natural causes. In life the man had been a compulsive collector of all sorts of interesting trinkets artwork and antiques. When he died his collection was put up for auction, including an eccentric (well, alright ugly) piece of modern art. A top-shaped metal mobile made from welded metal rods and scraps. This was the Dreamsnatcher, a powerful and dangerous artifact.

The Dreamsnatcher was bought for dirt-cheap by Randy Morse, a reclusive conspiracy theorist who was there shopping for his mothers birthday. The Dreamsnatcher seemed to call to him wordlessly, and when Randy looked harder it seemed to resemble a UFO. So Randy bought it and hung it on his bedroom ceiling.

That night, while Randy slept, strange events began occurring all over the local area. They subsided at daybreak, but appeared again the next night and the next. Soon these unnatural occurrences became more powerful, and then began to seep into the daylight hours. Randy is oblivious, happily writing articles on the most dramatic occurrances. But soon his dreams will come to snatch him away.

Running The Adventure: The adventure is structured as a series of events that take place in no particular order (excluding the prologue, climax, and epilogue of course). Each event has a trigger (though some amount to “use this when you feel like it”) and a piece of boxed text. The boxed text is written to be as applicable as possible, but obviously if it doesn’t fit toss it out. You may understand the adventure better if you read the section on the Dreamsnatcher first.

You’re encouraged to create more Events to supplement or replace the ones here. Just find a conspiracy theory, convert to UA format, and presto, you have an event. In closing, thanks for reading and have fun making your players incredibly paranoid!

Prologue: The Hook

This scene is whatever it has to be to get the PCs involved. Depending on their affiliations and inclinations this could be any number of things. If you don’t have a hook ready in mind the simplest is just to have them live nearby, and draw them into investigating out of curiosity.

Once they get started investigating it’s pretty easy to lead them to Randy. Perhaps they see his name on an online article about the paranormal in their area. Someone they ask may happen to live in his apartment complex, and remember that there’s some UFO nut that lives near the top floor. They could just run into him as he’s investigating the same things they are. Or perhaps one of them will get a call from their old college buddy Randy, who needs some help with his “research”.

Event: Meeting Randy
Trigger: The PCs seek out Randy. If they just run into him somewhere ignore the boxed text.

Randy’s apartment is, bluntly speaking, a mess. The floor is strewn with dirty clothes and empty food containers, and the light from the windows illuminates a spiraling miasma of lint and dust. Bookshelves cover most of the walls, crammed with books with titles like “They Knew To Much About UFOs” or “Unexplained Mysteries”.

The furniture includes some cabinets a stove and a sink (piled with dirty dishes). A massive dusty blue bed sits between two windows, and off in the corner an ancient PC is crammed onto a tiny wooden desk.

From the ceiling hangs some sort of ugly metal mobile that roughly resembles a UFO. The rest of the ceiling is covered with peeling posters, many of which obscure one another. A few depict classic monster movies like Godzilla or King Kong, but most are of aliens and other paranormal creatures. The most prominent of them show a UFO flying above a forest and the words “I Want To Believe” in large white print.

Regardless of how they find Randy the end result is the same. He’s interested. If they come with questions about the strange things that have been happening he answers them happily and intelligently (though from his own obsessive viewpoint of course).

If the PCs indicate that they’re investigating the recent paranormal events (or if Randy just guesses as much), then he’ll tip them off to a couple of things he’s heard about in exchange for them letting him know what they find out. This makes him pretty handy as a clue dispenser.

Try to portray Randy as earnest and oddly likeable, if very eccentric and somewhat naïve. Make sure whatever information he gives them helps out somehow (e.g. “… but I believe the sasquatch is harmless unless provoked, no matter what those folks in Stoon Lake say”). The point is to get them to like him, or at least not hate him, so that they’ll be willing to enter the fray on his behalf during the finale.

Event: Meet The King
Trigger: The PCs are somewhere where a crowd could gather (such as on a sidewalk on in a theater

Up ahead you see a large crowd of people gathering around a street performer. The crowd is literally leaping from excitement and screaming in joy as the performer, who’s dressed as an Elvis impersonator, belts out a flawless version of “You Ain’t Nothin But A Hound Dog”. The crowd itself is an odd mix, including teenage gang-bangers, middle aged business men, two on-duty cops, and even a little old lady with a walker that’s screaming and hollering with the best of them.

The crowd is entranced by the performance (entranced in a jumping and screaming sort of way) and PCs who want to get close are going to have a rough time of it (Struggle rolls). Anyone stupid enough to try to harm the singer might incite a riot.

The Elvis impersonator is actually just an impersonator. The Dreamsnatcher just augmented his singing and dancing to match that of the original and gave him an urge to spontaneously perform in public. After a few more songs he excuses himself dramatically (“I gotta go, just remember that nothing beats the king baby!”) and heads back to his apartment to take of the costume and wonder what the hell got into him.

Event: Bigfoot
Trigger: The PCs are walking down a relatively quiet street and make a Notice roll.

As you walk past a shadowy ally, rife with discarded trash and bright graffiti, a massive shape catches your eye. Rummaging through a nearby dumpster is a gigantic hair covered figure with long arms and huge calloused feet. Suddenly it looks up towards you and lets loose a low deep throated growl.

Give them a second to react before they hear hair a voice (young and male) sceam “Holy shit!” from deeper inside the ally. The man is George Rosby, a young graffiti artist who was planning to create his next piece there. Bigfoot immediately turns and runs down the side ally where George has frozen in fear (those darn failed Unnatural checks). Bigfoot corners him against a wall, leans in, gives him a few slow interested sniffs, and then lopes off. Of course by then the PCs will likely have intervened. If attacked Bigfoot immediately retaliates with brutal force (see Unnatural Creatures for stats).

Event: Big Brother’s Watching
Trigger: The PCs are somewhere a van could feasibly be following them.

You’re starting to notice that an unmarked white van has been showing up a lot. It stops where you stop, turns where you turn., and generally seems to follow you through the streets.

In reality this is just a confused tourist who’s become hopelessly lost, and is pausing periodically to consult his map. If ignored he eventually figures out where he is and heads off.

Event: The Miracle Drug
Trigger: The PCs need healing.

A man approaches you from out of nowhere, all smiles and open arms. He’s wearing a dirty t-shirt, blue jeans, a leather jacket, and a three-string necklace hung with cloves of raw garlic. You can smell his breath twenty feet off. “My children,” he says, picking a clove off his necklace “You look weary, but fear not, for I bring you the gift of life!”

This guy calls himself Mat the Garlic-Man. Mat’s indoor garden gained miraculous healing powers overnight, which caused him to develop a bit of a messiah complex.

If the characters are injured or sick Mat immediately offers them a clove, promising that it will cure everything. Characters who actually believe Mat should make a Body roll to force the clove it down. If they succeed in eating every last bit, roll some dice, ignore the results, and tell them how much they’ve healed based on how much they need to continue the adventure. Alternatively, if you’re feeling evil, then Mat might just be crazy. Having a PC wolf down a clove of garlic for nothing is pretty amusing after all.

Event: Deep-Throat
Trigger: The PCs are near a telephone and you feel like playing with their heads.

Less then ten feet away from you, a telephone begins to ring.

PCs who answer the phone are met with a deep hoarse voice that whispers something to them before immediately hanging up. Sample whisperings are listed below, yanked straight from Randy’s conspiracy ridden unconscious mind. This event can and should happen multiple times for greater effect. Note that using this event early on may become important later, and explained in the Climax.

“They’re watching you.”
“Paul is dead, but the Lizard King lives.”
“The truth is out there.”
“Don’t drink the tap water.”
“You fool, this phone is bugged.”
“(Gives terse directions to the next event)”

Event: Headcase Alert
Trigger: You think its time for Thom to show up.

From around a corner strides a massive unshaven man in his late thirties. He wears Hawaiian shorts and a t-shirt, along with a ruffled tinfoil hat that glimmers brightly under the sun.

Thom Eggleston (see GMCs) spots the PCs and his Crazy Symbolsight tells him that they’re somehow connected to whatever’s going on. He tails them for a bit waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

If Thom somehow sees Randy his symbolsight allows him to immediately recognize him as the source of the unnatural events. Thom flies into an immediate and uncontrollable rage, attacking Randy and fleeing only if it appears that he might be killed.

Event: MIB
Trigger: The PCs have spent some time poking their noses where they don’t belong, or have just witnessed an unnatural event.

A vintage 1950s Cadillac rolls up nearby and three men in ill-fitting black suits and sunglasses exit simultaneously. As one they begin to stride towards you, and the expression on their face is all business.

Three MIBs (Mr. Smith, Mr. Smith, and Mr. Jones) seek out the PCs. Their agenda is simple. They want to silence any talk of unnatural events and intimidate the characters from further investigation. They leave if they become satisfied that they have accomplished this, or if they are successfully chased off. Depending on your mood interacting with the MIB can be amusing or scary or both. For information on MIB see their description under Unnatural Creatures.

PCs who are violent or exceedingly antagonistic towards the MIB can’t help but feel watched for the next few days, occasionally catching glimpses of MIB gazing at them from a window or a crowd. These glimpses vanish as soon as they appear. Sometimes their phone might ring, and they’ll hear nothing but weird electronic noises on the other side.

Climax: The Truth
Trigger: You feel it’s time for the big finale.

(Note: It may be difficult to find an excuse for them to visit Randy at 3:33 AM, so here’s one prepped and ready. In the middle of the night Deep Throat calls the PCs. Anyone who answers hears Randy’s voice screaming for help. If you’re wondering why this would happen when the Dreamsnatcher is supposed to control Deep Throat, the reason’s simple enough. Deep Throat was pulled from Randy’s subconscious as an informant who spills important secrets to people in a position to help. The Dreamsnatcher isn’t really paying attention at the moment, since it’s in the process of creating a major unnatural event. This gives Deep Throat an opportunity to fufill its purpose by spilling the most important secret of all. Anyway, on to the box text!)

The air is deathly still and all is quiet as you near Randy’s apartment. Arriving outside you gaze up into the sky and see what is absolutely and unmistakably a UFO hovering outside his window, casting a faint and sickly green light across the entire street.
–
A sickly green light comes from the crack under Randy’s door. From inside you hear a voice-breaking scream and the sounds of a struggle.
–
You burst into Randy’s apartment to find a scene surrealistically illuminated by a bright green light that streams through the now open windows to fill every corner off the room. A panicked Randy floats in mid-air desperately clutching at his bed. Around him stand a circle of short frail figures with bulbous heads and soulless black eyes. As one they turn towards you, and Randy drops onto his bed. Above it all Randy’s UFO mobile spins wildly, letting loose a constant whining wail.

This is defiantly gonna call for some Unnatural checks.

The Grays want to subdue the PCs and then drag Randy screaming into their spaceship. Ultimately the second goal is more important than the first, so I it becomes obvious that the PCs are winning they attempt to levitate Randy into their ship and flee. They will not flee without Randy under any circumstances.

PCs might well realize that the mobile is the source of the Grays powers as it’s acting so unnaturally. If the PCs are able to remove it (A Major General Athletics to jump up and yank it down) then the Grays immediately start to dissolve into a green goop. In game terms they lose half their Wound Points on their initiative every round, rounding down. If the Dreamsnatcher is still removed from its hook on the Grays initiative right after reaches 1 Wound Point it is destroyed.

Naturally the Grays make an attempt to see that this doesn’t happen. If the Dreamsnatcher goes down one will try to place it back within at most two rounds. This require a Major Mad Psychic Powers roll, but that won’t be very difficult. If the Grays suspect a PC might try again immediately one can spend it’s action causing the Dreamsnatcher to spin outside of his reach (with a successful MPP roll). If the Dreamsnatcher is out of place, Randy cannot be moved into the spaceship.

So what’s Randy doing during all this? Hiding behind the bed wide-eyed and whimpering of course.

Epilogue: And It Was All A Dream …

What happens next depends on how everything turned out. Here are some possibilities.

• The PCs Failed To Save Randy

The Grays drag Randy into their ship and fly off into the night sky. He is never seen again, and is fate remains a mystery. Eventually his parents come to collect his things, possibly including the Dreamsnatcher, which spends some time gathering dust in their basement before being mysteriously stolen.

• The PCs Saved Randy

Randy is horrible rattled by the experience, but also incredibly grateful. The PCs have gained a friend for life, and so long as it isn’t grossly immoral or illegal Randy is willing to do just about anything for them. The PCs get his phone and email, and an open invitation to stop by.

Of course nearly being abducted has consequences for his sanity. Randy grows increasingly paranoid and even more obsessed with his chosen field. Eventually he retreats from all unnecessary human contact besides the PCs.

If the PCs tell Randy about the Dreamsnatcher they’ll have to make a Major Charm roll combined with some roleplaying. If Randy accepts the truth then for a moment he seems horribly saddened (after all, what seemed to be validation to his existence was just disproved). But he quickly comes to a powerful realization. So what if he didn’t find his truth. He found “a truth”, and an amazing one at that.

Randy dives headfirst into the occult underground with the same obsession that he used to pursue UFOs with. Unlike most he’s not so much focused on doing his own thing as figuring out anyone elses. He joins Mak Attax within the month and uses it to network with local occultists. Assuming he doesn’t get killed he could become a valuable ally to the PCs as he develops a sizable network and a knack for keeping his finger on the pulse of the Occult Underground. Of course at some point he’ll probably also get in over his head and come to them begging for help. Instant adventure hook.

• The PCs Got The Dreamsnatcher

The safest thing to do with the Dreamsnatcher is to bury it, but the PCs likely don’t know that. They might try to destroy it, the consequences and difficulty of which are up for you to decide (maybe it would release all the people taken over the years, hilarity ensues). Most likely they’ll try to keep it or use it. If this doesn’t work for you, then just have the Sleepers figure out what’s been behind all the craziness. They’ll sort things out.

GMCs:

Randy Morse, Eccentric Recluse
“What can I say? I want to believe.”

Summary: Randy is a believer. He believes that the kings of Sumeria were aliens. He believes that NASA faked the moon landings. He believes that the Lizard King and Elvis are alive and well, though poor Paul has certainly kicked the bucket.

Before Randy was a believer he wasn’t much of anything. He was bad at sports, socially inept, and no great shakes at school. Above all he was unmotivated. Then one of his more eccentric teachers told him about the secret truths that had been sitting right in front of his nose. It was pure destiny. Sure he was still wimpy naive and disorganized, but now he had a purpose, and that gave him the drive he had so desperately needed.

Now just out of college, Randy is on his own and living off his sizeable trust fund. He refuses to get a job, get a girlfriend, or get a life. That’s all just unimportant in the face of the truths he knows was born to uncover.

Personality: A cheerfully incompetent Mulder.
Obsession:(Conspiracy theories) Conspiracy theories.

Fear: That his beliefs may be indisputably debunked.
Rage: People who refuse to even listen because of their own egos.
Noble: Learning the “truth” for it’s own sake.

Body: 40 (Doesn’t get out much)
Flail (Struggle) 20% General Athletics 15% All-Nighter 15% Eat Anything 20%
Speed: 50 (Average)
Dodge 20% Drive 20% Initiative 25% Old Video Games 30%
Mind: 60 (Deceptively Intelligent)
Conceal 15% Computer Skillz 25% Conspiracy Theories 40% General Education 25% Notice 15%
Soul: 50 (Cheerful and Enthusiastic)
Weirdly Charming (Charm) 20% Lie 20% Internet Buddies 30%

Internet Buddies represents all the time Randy spends on conspiracy theory websites, not just lurking but debating and contributing. He’s managed to earn some respect and a few friends within his odd circle, and with a successful check they might lend him a little help.

Possessions: A tiny apartment, a wealth of books on various conspiracy theories, and an old PC with internet access.

Thom Eggleston, Headcase
“I know you work for THEM!!! *smash*”

Summary: Five years two months and twenty-seven days ago, the two-face things came for him while he slept. He had run from them for so long, he thought he fooled them. But then the two-face things emerged from the door that was not and dragged him into it screaming. They did things to him then, horrible things. After it was over, and they had made him not, he awoke back where he had been taken. Thom knew what he had to do.

Ever since then Thom has dedicated his existence to stalking and destroying the unnatural, which he believes to be agents of the two-face things. The two-face things are evil aliens that watch him constantly from another dimension. His hunt is a game to them now, just one big game. But someday he’ll find the door that is not, and he’ll kill the two-face things like he’s killed all the rest.

Recently Thom has noticed strange things seem to be happening all around a certain area. He’s mobiles in the sky and shadows in the streets, lies in tap water and ghosts in his side vision. It can only mean one thing. The two-face things are coming to take the world, and he is the only one who can stop them.

Personality: Quiet gentle introverted and dangerously insane.
Obsession: (Run Away) Find unnatural things and kill them (Note that Thom’s obsession used to be “flee from the unnatural” and his obsession skill still reflects that).

Fear: Being undone by the mundane.
Rage: Anything unnatural. Anything.
Noble: Save the world from the two-face things.

Body: 80 (Hulking)
Crush (Struggle) 40% General Athletics 40% Fuckin’ Tank 30%
Speed: 40 (Plodder)
Dodge 20% Drive 20% Initiative 20% Run Away 25%
Mind: 60 (Cunning)
Conceal 25% General Education 15% Notice 30% Leave No Trail 35%
Soul: 30 (Quiet Kind of Crazy)
Charm 5% Harmless Simpleton (Lie) 25% Crazy Symbolsight 30% Intimidation 25%

Helplessness H4 F3 Isolation H6 F 1 Violence H9 F3
Unnatural H6 F3 Self H3 F

Thom was somehow born with Symbolsight, but unfortunately it’s become as unbalanced as he is. He no longer has any control over it, but more positively it seems to have increased in scope. He can now perceive the symbols of events as well (though only as they happen).

Also, due to his insanity and extreme introversion he has no idea that everyone else doesn’t have Symbolsight. If anyone ever manages to convince him that his ability is unnatural (a difficult task, he’s likely to just conclude that you’re just crazy) then he immediately and wordlessly kills himself.

Fuckin’ Tank is an skill used to dramatically shrug off effects that would fell weaker men. This skill is odd in that it only works if succeeding at it would strike fear into the hearts of those nearby. So while Thom can’t roll it to fight off food poisoning, but tranquilizer darts right up his alley.

Possessions: Ragged clothes, an old pickup truck, a large knife (for eating and shaving, it’s never occurred to Thom to use it as a weapon), rubber gloves, cleaning supplies, sturdy rope, and some extra-large black trash bags.

Unnatural Creatures:

Bigfoot

Bigfoot is an immense hairy cross between an ape and a Neanderthal. He’s normally harmless, but violence provokes a frenzied rage.

Bigfoot
“Urrrr … *sniff, sniff*”

Body 100 (Ripped)
Rip Crush Smash (Struggle) 70% Climb Skyscrapers and Swat At Airplanes 50% General Athletics 40% Fuckin’ Tank 40%
Speed 40 (Awkward)
Initiative 25%
Mind 15 (You’re joking, right?)
Soul 30 (Ook ook)
Growl Angrily 20%

For a description of Fuckin’ Tank skill see Thom Eggleston (GMCs).

Men In Black (MIB)

The MIB are metaphysical toughs conjured by Randy’s belief. It’s up to the GM to decide if they were simply created from scratch or made from hijacked human souls.

Interactions with MIB traditionally take place near sightings of otherworldly events. The MIB pull into town in a strangely new looking vintage 1950s Cadillac, wearing out of style and ill-fitting black suits. Then they track down the witnesses to whatever otherworldly events have taken place, and try to scare them into silence.

When interacting with an MIB, something always seems disturbingly “other”. They speak with strange accents, or in machinelike monotones. Some don’t even bother to move their lips. Often they are found to be completely unfamiliar with common customs and objects; like handshakes, or spoons.

Physically MIB are often described as “foreign looking”, commonly Asian or Indian, with complexions ranging from deep tan to extreme pale. Facial structure tends towards high cheekbones, with an oddly pointed noses and chin. Typical body types are either tall and skinny (with strangely long fingers) or short and stoutly built. Their eyes tend to be either slanted, or oddly bulging as if from a thyroid condition. Some don’t have fingernails.

MIB
“We’re not from around here.”

Body 60 (Fit)
Beatdown (Struggle) 40% General Athletics 20%
Speed 60 (Quick)
Sneak Away Into the Shadows 50% Initiative 25% Firearms 30%

MIB usually don’t resort to combat (or rather that’s not their purpose in this adventure), but they’re pretty handy nonetheless. If killed they turn to pure shadowstuff within minutes, and then quickly a melt away.

Grays

These “Grays” are actually constructs created by the Dreamsnatcher out of Randy’s the energy produced by Randy’s deeply held beliefs. They appear as short frail grey-skinned aliens with massive heads and bulbous eyes. Though they have mouths they never speak (not even to scream), but still seem to have no trouble coordinating their actions (because the Dreamsnatcher coordinates for them – but this might be mistaken for telepathy).

Grays
“…”

Body 30 (Frail)
Speed 60 (Small and Quick)
Initiative 50%
Mind 100 (Supergenius)
Mad Psychic Powers 70% Conduct Horrifying Experiments 50%
Soul 50 (Alien)

Mad Psychic Powers allows the Grays to work several effects with a successful roll. First off they can hurl things around telekinetically, which functions like a Dipsomancy minor blast, only costing no charges. Second off they can levitate, as per the Flying Women’s avatar channel. Third, they can lift others into the air at the same rate as the previously mentioned avatar channel. The object of this can roll Struggle to hold onto something but can’t do much else unless he gets a matched success of a crit. Matched allows him to act normally at a -10% shift, crit allows him to act normally.

New Artifact:

The Dreamsnatcher (Major Artifact)

(Note: The Dreamcatchers current form is that of an ugly metal mobile that vaguely resembles a UFO. Its construction is bases around a single iron hoop. Smaller metal rods are welded onto it and each other, creating a ramshackle skeletal structure in the shape of a lopsided top. A wire with a hook extends from the top, allowing it to be hung from the ceiling.)

Everyone has questions, a few even find answers. But as deeply as we believe there will always be doubts, a niggling sense of “what if” that haunts you in the dark of night. The Dreamsnatcher removes that doubt, shortly before it devours you.

Once the Dreamsnatcher has claimed its victims life it vanishes for a seemingly random amount of time before reappearing somewhere where its next victim will find it always appears as a piece of mildly ugly sculptural art, shaped like something that will catch it’s latest victims fancy.

When the Dreamcatcher is placed in a “place of honor” near where it’s owner sleeps its true powers. The Dreamsnatcher draws on its victims deepest held beliefs and makes them a reality. At first this is subtle and occurs only at night. But as time goes on the effects begin to become more pronounced, and to seep into the daylight hours. As it nears the peak of its power it can even materialize beings out of the energy produced by the victims beliefs.

When the Dreamsnatcher reaches the peak of it’s power it waits until 3:33 AM and creates some terrifying creatures of belief to capture the victim and drag him or her off to an unknown fate. As this occurs the dream catcher appears to come to life in a manner appropriate to its appearance. If it succeeds it vanishes as stated above.

If at any point the Dreamsnatcher is taken out of its “place of honor” its influence slowly but surely fades away over the next few minutes. For its powers to be reactivated it must either be returned to its place of honor in its current victims house, or put in a new place of honor in the bedroom of someone else of similar beliefs. In either case it takes up where it left off.

Example: The Dreamsnatcher comes into the possession of a Christian priest in the form of somewhat misshapen stone statue of an angel. The priest places this in his bedroom and later goes to sleep. That night subtle miracles take place throughout the nearby area. A child hears the music of spheres playing through his window. Those who said their nighttime prayers have dreams angels watching over them. A group of local Satanists hear the voice of the beast on their radio.

These events fade upon days arrival, but return again the next night. Eventually they grow more powerful and start to occur in the daylight hours. A fraudulent faith healer finds he can work miracles. Angel sightings occur with alarming frequency. The Satanists mentioned earlier actually call up a demon (not a standard UA kind, a fire brimstone and horns kind created by the Dreamsnatcher).

Eventually things reach their final stage, and at 3:33 AM it’s eyes begin to glow and its wings to twitch with life. A portal to hell opens in the priests house and several fallen angels emerge to drag him into it. If they succeed the Dreamsnatcher vanishes.