The Dandy Warhols are one of my favorite modern bands, constantly changing their sound and blending old and new rock. Their tenth album is titled Why You So Crazy and came out earlier this year. Like Ganging Up on the Sun’s re-release, this is in heavy rotation on my turntable and so I had to turn each track into some sort of tabletop idea.
Fred n Ginger
Genres/Games: Sci-Fi, Star Trek, Traveller
Since I’ve loved you
The stars began to shine
The binary star system FNG-1132 has often been called “The Dancers,” with the stars affectionately named Fred and Ginger, after the dancers on Old Earth. While the planets in the system are lifeless, they are rich in minerals and a number of mining stations are set up throughout the system. These mines are often used as penal colonies, with hardened criminals working off their time and/or debts. Over the past few months, the twin stars have had a massive increase in solar flares and the fear that this is a prelude to something more catastrophic has caused a panic for both the miners and their supervisors. The PCs are to use the chaos to extract a prisoner for information but will need to deal with sudden solar bursts, guards, and prisoners on the edge of rioting.
Terraform
Genres/Games: Cyberpunk
Density a population overload
Overload and launch into the void
The population continues to increase beyond capacity and another climate disaster looming. The rift between rich and poor is as great as it’s ever been. Is it any wonder that everyone is vying to be part of a drawing to be a part of a new, massive colony spaceship? Even if the ship is experimental, it’s still a beacon of hope for many. For months the construction of this “ark” has been visible to those that can afford to escape the underbelly of the city. The PCs have been hired not by the conglomerate of corporations that promises new life, but by an anarchist faction who doesn’t believe corporations do anything out of kindness—not even save humanity. They want the PCs to break into the databanks of the corp and find out everything they can about this beacon of hope. If the characters are successful they’ll find out the anarchists are right. The corporations are putting none of their executives on the ships and even the sleeper-pods are poorly constructed and designed to fail. The cost of organizing putting a million near-destitute people onto a ship to be launched into space with no target or hope of survival is cheaper than maintaining their habitats and overall energy use.
Highlife
Genres/Games: Urban Horror/Fantasy, Monster of the Week, Supernatural
So have another drink and say a toast
To the only thing that’s left of me – my ghost
The Herschel family has a problem: every night, starting around 2am, there’s a massive party thrown by their upstairs neighbors with loud synth-pop music, exuberant yelling, and the stomping of dancing feet. This would be annoying enough in an apartment, but the Herschels live in a single-story house and the attic is empty. So where is this celebration coming from? The Investigators/ghost hunters researching this case will discover that the land was originally a two-story house that burned down in 1986 during a wild teen party while the parents were gone. The two teens that lived there and six guests (also teenagers) perished in the blaze. Now the PCs must find the bodies of the dead to salt and burn their bones to put them at rest.
Be Alright
Genres/Games: Fantasy, D&D
And as I sail from the coast I tell you why
And I’ll be alright
We’ll be alright
Alric Write sailed from his hometown to find adventure and treasure, with a goal to purchase a home for his new bride. He disappeared for 50 years and returned looking exactly the same, surprised that everyone in the small town had aged so much when he claimed he had only been gone for months. For all physical and magical investigations, Alric appears to be what he seems: a human. Alric will tell the story of a small island in the ocean with a large tower. The tower belongs to an evil sorceress and he barely escaped with his life. Not only has he apparently lost time, he returned with only a meager treasure. Alric will provide rough directions to the tower so the PCs can investigate.
The voyage will take the adventurers to small island with a tall tower. On arrival, the PCs will discover numerous Alric Write look-alikes. They seem to be somewhat mindless and each is focused on a specific duty. The Alrics will not attack the PCs even if attacked. They’re all simulacrums under the control of said sorceress who “rescued” Alric when he washed ashore; the sorceress has no desire to relinquish control and will use her army of Alrics to destroy the PCs. Upon the defeat of the sorceress all the Alric simulacrums on the island will fall dead. Should the PCs return to the town, they’ll find that Alric dead as well.
Thee Elegant Bum
Genres/Games: Cyberpunk, Shadowrun
Pain now
Up and then you’re down
Pain now
Up, up, up and then you’re down
A hacker has inadvertently created a virus that can adversely affect cyberware if the user is jacked in/connected to the matrix. The malware causes pain to the cyberware host if the cyber limb is not in constant motion. The PCs are hired to find the hacker and download the code so the virus can be eliminated. Of course, if any of the characters have cyberware they could find themselves at a disadvantage during the course of the adventure.
Sins Are Forgiven
Genres/Games: Western, Urban Horror/Fantasy, Call of Cthulhu
Your sins, they are forgiven, I ain’t taking, I’m just giving
Here, your sins they are forgiven, let me down
Reverend Tristan McGladly has been amassing a large following. The more he travels the larger his entourage grows. Though he preaches the Christian text, his followers see him more as a second coming. The most popular aspect of his preaching is the message of God’s constant forgiveness, without the need for confession. It’s okay to let the Lord down for He will always forgive. As such, when his congregation is in town, they tend to act in a hedonistic fashion and few towns are left in the best shape after a few nights of his preaching… and now he and his followers are headed towards the PC’s current base.
Next Thing I Know
Genres/Games: Sci-Fi, Star Trek
Hidden in another life, settle down and fade again.
In a remote and uninhabited star system the PCs come across a derelict starship. The ship is a small pleasure cruiser, the kind typically built for short-distance or in-system travel. How or why the ship is in this system is an unknown. Scans will reveal no life aboard the ship. Once aboard the yacht, the PCs will catch various glimpses of the five crew members as if they were split-second holographic displays. All the visions of the members appear to be in pain and in positions like they were banging against a wall. Close observers may notice these specters are wearing scientific uniforms. An examination of the log or engines will reveal the ship was once a yacht but turned into a prototype for a form of FTL that worked more like teleportation than light speed. The PCs will need to deduce that the travel has had the side effect of placing any organic life into a separate dimension where they can only bang on the “wall” of our reality. The PCs may be able to return the crew to their natural state but the challenge, of course, will be not trapping themselves in the attempt.
Small Town Girls
Genres/Games: Urban Horror/Fantasy, Modern, Detective
Cause when u wanna party hard in a small town
Well everybody knows
Everybody knows everything about everyone in a small town. Or so the sayings go. But even in a Pacific Northwest town of 52,000 there are still secrets and mysteries. When 3 women in their late teens/early twenties go missing, it makes the news. But the no one seems to know where they went. Speculations abound: they were kidnapped/murdered, they ran away to a big city, or they’re just on a trip and will be back. (Guesswork may be more gruesome in a campaign involving the supernatural.) With the local police unable to locate the three young women, the PCs have been called to assist. They may find a town where everyone is actually hiding a dark secret and where the sheriff has literal skeletons in his closet… and the three women locked in his cellar.
To the Church
Genres/Games: Cyberpunk, Sci-Fi
Hey, I’m electric
I’m alive, I seem to find from my friend
Belief is a largely human concept; machines don’t believe, they are programmed to “know” or “not know.” It should be binary. So why is there a need for a recent matrix node that espouses an idea of “the soul of the machine” and why are so many AI devices connecting with it?
The robot revolution is at hand.
Motor City Steel
Genres/Games: In Nomine
Oh my Lord, you could drive a Ford
Or you could drive a Chevy
Or a Jimmy if you really like
A mountain of fun, the USA 1
A Motor City Steel
You gotta give the power to the people
The Host and the Horde rarely work together. A team-up between David, Marc and Vapula is even more unlikely. The three celestial superiors all share the same goal, however: restoring Detroit, Michigan back to its former glory. David wants the people working together, Marc sees value in commerce spearheaded in Michigan, and Vapula has his own infernal goals regarding automation and automobiles. Each is representated by a powerful subordinate celstial in Detroit where they’re working with a small group of humans to start a new car company.
Dominic wants to ensure the angels are not conspiring in any other way or being manipulated by Vapula’s agent. Laurence and Michael want Vapula’s inflence wiped out immediately, regardless of the damage it causes. Malphas wants Vapula to succeed but to sow discord in the heavenly forces. No matter what happen, feathers are going to get ruffled.
Forever
Genres/Games: Urban Horror/Fantasy
Now there’s a gong in the sky that’s bright
I wanted everything gold
The Investigators have just dealt with one supernatural mystery in a small town when, that night, a bright comet passes through the sky. The comet itself is mystical in nature. All those who see the comet must make a POW/Will roll or become consumed with greed for d4 days. Hijinks ensue!
Ondine
Genres/Games: Gaslamp Fantasy
[Instrumental]
The Lady Elke de Nacht is a reclusive and beautiful faerie who has amassed a fortune with her enchanted mechanical guards. The clockwork men are animated by their springs and gears but given their intelligence by a spell only the Lady de Nacht knows. Each mechanical man is attuned to a control rod and obeys the holder of that rod. Not only are they functional, their rarity and expense serve as a status symbol. Anyone who’s anyone has a Nacht Guard.
The exclusivity and uniqueness of these brass and steel humanoids may become lessened, however, as a dark rumor has spread that Lady Elke de Nacht has been commissioned by the queen to build a massive amount of Nacht Guards. While this may mean fewer deaths at time of war, it could also indicate a desire for a bloody expansion of the kingdom or steeling a tighter grip on the inhabitants. The PCs are charged with substantiating the rumor and, if true, stopping Lady de Nacht from turning her small operation into a literal army.
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