d20 Unknown Publisher Pulp Seeds III.pdf

Pulp Seeds III

Authors: Eric Baranda, Joseph Browning, Robert Hansen, Scott Moore, and Christian Read

Editors: Joseph Browning and Suzi Yee

Seed Art by Ian Armstrong

W hile exploring the Andes mountains of searching for a

fabled ruined city illed with gold and ancient scrolls the PCs, an

adventuring party of explorers, guides and other dwellers on the

edge of civilization seeking fame and fortune stumble

instead across a vast plateau, upon which clusters of

villages and crude townships. The PCs will soon

discover that these stone-age villages are inhabited

not by humans as normally understood, but by a

tribe of Neanderthal men, who on this isolated

highland plain have avoided the extinction that

befell the rest of their species. The Neanderthal

people are gentle creatures who have developed a

language that can be understood with time and effort,

and even a religion which forbids them from leaving the

plateau. Should the PCs attempt to depart they will be gently

but irmly prevented by the tribes due to their religion. Will the party

attempt to escape, and if so what proof will they take with them to

show the existence of these creatures? Will they attempt to educate

the peaceful natives, or perhaps convert them to Christianity? Or

will they decide to rise to dominance, ruling over these passive

proto-men as despots in crude but pampered luxury?

Introduction

Welcome to Seeds and to this 27th product in the line by

Expeditious Retreat Press. Seeds are story ideas, plot ideas, creature

ideas, adventure hooks, anything that can grow into an

enjoyable gaming experience. Each seed is small (only a

paragraph or two at most) and each Seed product will

be small as well (only four to ive pages), but just

like their namesakes, they have great potential when

provided with the right environment.

We’re pleased to introduce Pulp Seeds III to

our line of Seeds products and are happy to announce

that we’re accepting submissions for additional pulp

seeds as well as seeds for other genres (post-apocalyptic,

horror, sci-i, and supers). Pulp III is four and a half pages

packed with adventure ideas suitable for pulp gaming. We received

this third bunch of pulp seeds through inquiry of former Seeds authors,

and we hope that you’ll be inclined to send us your seed ideas for perusal

and possible inclusion in future Seeds products. We’d love a continual

series of Seeds created by the very people who enjoy reading them the

most.

So drop by the Expeditious Retreat website, checkout our

submission guidelines to ind out more about the process, and then

send us your seeds. Hopefully you’ll soon be reading the latest Seed

containing your successful seeds. Whew! Enough with the alliteration

already, on to the fun!

W hen the United States experimental new rocket plane is stolen

on the eve of its unveiling the PCs are brought in by the government

to retrieve it from the thieves. The PCs must irst identify the agency

behind the theft, the villainous Jing Wen crime syndicate. Once done

Joseph Browning & Suzi Yee

Requires the use of the Dungeons & Dragons, Third Edition Core Books, published by Wizards of the Coast, Inc.

the PCs must iniltrate the local branch of the organization to identify the

shadowy igure in charge and discover the location of the stolen craft;

the Jing Wen’s secret fortress-monastery base set high in the mountains

of Tibet. Finally, they must ind a way into the fortress itself and bring

down the organization before the inal battle with the grand master of

the syndicate and his henchmen aboard the stolen rocket plane!

and rising star of the Nazi party the American government takes notice.

A curious team of scholars and adventurers is quickly thrown together

to locate other artifacts of a similar pattern, pieces of an indescribably

ancient suit of armor from Egypt of a design never before seen and

prevent their capture by the Nazis. The PCs must discover the import

of the armor and what will happen if all the pieces are assembled, and

prevent this from occurring by any means they can.

W hen young children go missing in the sleepy American town of

Rhodesville it’s up to their families, local law enforcement and public-

spirited citizens to band together to retrieve them. Following the trail of

clues the group of vigilantes will uncover the dark secret of the town,

built many years ago upon land hallowed by the local tribes; great wards

were set upon barrows in the region to imprison a dark spirit

known as Stalker In Silence, who can do naught but speak

dark promises into the dreams of those who take rest

above his prison. The mayor himself has succumbed

to the whispers and along with many corrupted

townsfolk has captured the children to sacriice in a

dark ritual to free the evil spirit. Can the PCs battle

their own corrupted neighbors to free their children

and keep the Stalker chained in his ancient prison?

T he eccentric multi-millionaire Nathaniel Edwards is holding the

greatest race ever seen, in which teams must circumnavigate the globe

by air, land and sea starting on foot with no more than the clothes they

stand up in in Paris and using whatever transport they can procure. The

PCs form one team, a hard-bitten crew with specialties that

should prove useful maintaining machinery, procuring

transport and communicating with the disparate peoples

they will encounter upon their way. But will they be

able to endure the hardships and challenges they will

face, particually when certain teams are willing to do

virtually anything to see that they triumph and not

the PCs.

A valuable artifact is stolen from a local museum by

professional thieves. No demands are made for the item’s return.

The item was stolen by a local crime boss who has developed a taste for

unusual art. He frequently throws large parties at his estate where some

of his more interesting pieces are typically on display. Among his many

other endeavors, the boss runs an importing and exporting company.

Rare treasures from other lands are frequently shipped in to the country

among vast collections of legitimate foreign products he imports into

the country.

A stage magician dies onstage during a performance

gone horribly wrong. At irst it seems like a simple careless accident,

but it turns out the magician had several other more lucrative and less

legal sources of income. Could his death have actually been a murder?

W hen thieves conduct a break-in at the Smithsonian the slick way in

which they evade security and disable alarms makes clear that they are

consummate professionals, which raises the question of why the only

item taken was an ancient vambrace of little value excavated at a dig in

Egypt. But soon robberies at the British Museum and a small museum

in Cairo of a breastplate and a pair of greaves of similar style and

antiquity show a pattern emerging; when one of the thieves is identiied

as Hauptmann Schnider, captain of an elite squad of the German army

W hatever happens to all the distilling equipment seized when police

raid illegal gin mills during the prohibition period? Could it be that

some bad cops are reselling the equipment along with “protection”

from the law so that some illegal distilleries can actually continue their

production unhampered? Maybe some bad cops have even decided to

throw in together and start their own illegal operation.

the rest of the party is pretty convinced it is merely some crazy local

superstition. However, the discovery of a plane wreck from over a

decade ago hidden half-buried in the jungle loor raises some interesting

questions. No bodies were discovered in the wreckage and the vehicle’s

remains seem to have been picked clean of important components by

someone who seemed to know what they were doing.

A feral child from the heart of the Dark Continent is captured and

brought to America and displayed as an attraction by a local circus.

Unfortunately for the circus, the child escapes. Authorities are

desperately searching for the child, while the circus complains about

getting its “star attraction” back. A child who spent years surviving on

his own in the dense jungle would have no problem inding places to

hide and scavenge in a big city. Could the recent reports of a “skyscraper

phantom” be the missing child? Or is there some other mysterious

creature at work here?

D r. Xonar’s modulation ray will put the U.S. light years ahead of

their enemies when it comes to defense…or at least that’s what high-

level government oficials were thinking until Dr. Xonar mysteriously

disappeared. Could agents from that powerful Asian power be behind

his kidnapping and disappearance? His journals seem to indicate

otherwise, however, as Dr. Xonar believed he was being spied

on by…aliens??? Maybe both forces are working together?

But what could our Asian opponents be offering the

aliens to gain their cooperation?

S everal high proile thefts, including a shipment

of radium, carbonized steel, engine parts, and

experimental superconducting material, have been

the work of a ifth columnist group. The group is

secretly harboring an axis scientist who is nearing

completion of his work on a deadly robot army he

plans to release against the country.

T he evil Oriental mastermind, Lee Fu Chang, has

discovered a lost valley in the Chinese Himalayas

where ancient creatures such as dinosaurs,

Neanderthals, and Giganthropithecus (abominable

snowmen) still thrive. He is already in the process

of building an army of simple-minded followers (the

Neanderthals and snowmen) and is planning on wrecking havoc in

several major inancial centers around the world (Berlin, London, New

York, Paris, Rome) by releasing captured dinosaurs into the streets of

each city. The dinosaurs are being transported to the different countries

via huge transport ships from Fu Chang’s base in the Paciic. Fu Chang

seeks to rule the world by collapsing the economies and governments of

the world’s wealthiest nations.

A n old, retired, lawman from the Wild West makes the

character’s acquaintance and dazzles them with stories of the great

adventures he used to have on the untamed frontier. Meanwhile, another

old gunighter, one who had been a successful train robber and never

managed to get caught, contemplates coming out of retirement for one

more big, spectacular robbery.

D uring an exploration of the Dark Continent, the party’s resident big

game hunter decides to hunt down a legendary “wild man” of the jungle

as his next trophy. Having also heard the rumors of this wild, man-

like creature that lives in the trees and befriends all types of animals,

A group of ifth columnists have a plan to explode zeppelins full of

a new Nazi-engineered nerve toxin simultaneously over several major

cities across the United States and Western Europe. The toxin has a

relatively low mortality rate, but severely limits one’s Strength and

Constitution for an extended period, making the victimized cities unable

to defend themselves against a second wave of attacks, either by air or

invading ground forces.

and mad inventor seeks the midget with all his considerable resources.

LeFevre reaches out to the heroes to help, but they cannot keep him safe

from the Robot Celestials of Wax. A desperate race against time occurs,

before Wax can pillage the ancient sanctuary of Shangri-La.

A popular urban legend about an ancient sea creature that still

hides in a local body of water (such as Loch Ness’ “Nessie” or Lake

Champlain’s “Champ”), occasionally destroying ships and preying on

sailors and swimmers, becomes frighteningly prophetic, as an increase

in the number of unexplained deaths in these waters have recently been

on the increase. In actuality, the sea monster is an axis submarine. The

purpose behind the attacks is purely to strike terror within the enemy

nation.

B ootleggers make a deal with a Chinese sorceress. She will protect

them from discovery, and arm with ancient magic weapons, actually

sonic technology, in return for their aid against rival opium gangs.

The street of the city run ablaze as this unholy alliance threatens to

destabilize the entire underworld.

A n ally is revealed as El Chameleon, the Master of Disguise!

Close to the PCs for months, El Chameleon knows their

tactics, their weaknesses, and how to use their own skills

and talents and weapons against them. A diabolical

game of cat and mouse ensues.

A travelling circus comes to town at the same time

as a rash of disappearances rock the city. The circus is

actually the hunting ground of Candomble-priest and

white-slaver, Papa Lazaris, who abducts beautiful

girls during various parts of the show. Papa has been

doing this for a long time and has connections with

some of the most dangerous men on earth.

A terrible threat to world peace is made by

Professor Elliot Farnsworth. He has invented a ray-

beam capable of destroying explosives and gunpowder

as easily as shining an electric torch. Now, the device has

fallen into the hands of communists and peaceniks, who want

to destroy all weapons forever.

T he irst ever rocket from New York to London is about to

be launched. Early test models have been successful. However, Reich

saboteurs have booby-trapped the device so that German aerospace

technology will remain successful. If their sinister plan is successful,

the rocket will explode, killing thousands. The PCs, aware of German

iniltration, must hold off a small horde of determined agents without

letting the public be aware what danger the rocket, the city, and they, are

in or risk mass panic.

W hile exploring an archaeological dig site within the desserts of

Africa, the players come across a strange room. The architecture of

the room does not appear to resemble the rest of the structure and

tests indicate that the room may even predate the dig site by hundreds

of years. Within the room are strange tombs made of an unknown

stone. The players are left with the decision to open the tombs, keep

this knowledge to themselves, or to seek help in discovering more

information regarding the strange tombs.

A treasure map tattooed on LeFevre a blind, albino midget leads to

the mythical city of Shangri-La. The terrible Doctor Wax, conqueror

T he Helldorardo is the fastest car ever made. When it is stolen and

converted into a vehicle it for battle, audacious robberies of auction

houses, museums and galleries follow quickly. The heroes must stop

a threat impervious to modern weaponry and faster than anything on

earth.

The Tanguska Project

The 1908 Tanguska incident was not the result of an icy

comet shattering upon contact with Earth’s atmosphere as some have

suggested, but the result of an alien spacecraft which crashed to Earth.

The wreckage from the craft was quickly gathered by the Russian

government, declared Top Secret, and handed over to a team of scientists

whose purpose was to reverse engineer the secrets from the remaining

scraps of advanced technology.

When the Russian Revolution came, the research, as well as

the alien artifacts, remained in hands loyal to the Tsar. The enclave of

scientists responsible for the research being done then smuggled the

material to Europe where they could continue their research, away

from the political turmoil of Russia. What they hadn’t planned

on, however, was The Great War. In the span of a few short

years, several of the scientists had died, while others

found themselves with opposing views on who to

support in the new world order. Two of the scientists

secretly head off to England with some of their notes

and part of the original Tanguska equipment in tow,

while others present their research to the new German

Reich. England and its ally, the US, are now looking

to obtain the research and artifacts still in the possession

of the Russo-German scientiic team. As for the scientists

themselves, they must be kept out of German hands by any

means necessary. Although English and US governments would

prefer them to be captured alive, they realize this may not be possible.

As far as potential future campaign seeds based off this premise,

the US success at developing atomic weaponry by the end of World War

II is dependant on them getting access to as much Tanguska technology

as possible. In fact, shortly after the US enters World War II, the Top

Secret US Project Tanguska is oficially closed and rolled over into a

new Top Secret program: the Manhattan Project. Exactly 39 years to the

day after the Tanguska incident, a second, similar spacecraft begins to

show up on US military radar units in White Plains and Roswell, New

Mexico. Having witnessed the unmistakable energy signatures of their

own technology a few years back at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the aliens

have decided to return to Earth and seek its source.

The Drums of Madness and Suggestion

This year, the Art Society is hosting a large and unusual collection

of primitive art from around the world. Over one thousand objects from

Africa, South America, Siberia, Indonesia, and Micronesia are gathered

together for a two month long exhibit. The crowning achievement of the

collection is the large number of Yoruba talking drums.

Each drum is a masterwork of precision and

craftsmanship that can send messages in a secret language

for miles when in the hands of a skilled Yoruba

drummer called an onigangan. The Art Society has

hired such a skilled onigangan to demonstrate each

of the drums on different nights. Unbeknownst to the

upper crust, the largest drum, the Ogungbedundun

is the fabled Drum of Madness. This is not unknown

to the onigangan who plans to drive insane the ruling

elite in one mind-destroying performance. And then, he

will control them with the tiny Emesegangan, the Drum of

Suggestion.

Great Disappearing Act

A young woman is attempting to hire a private detective to

investigate the murder of her boyfriend, a well-known stage magician.

The main problem is there is no evidence he is dead. There is no sign

of any struggle at his residence, and no body has been discovered even

though he has been missing for days. The girlfriend can only say that

she “feels” something terrible has happened and that she has been trying

to “get through to him” since his disappearance. The young woman

explains further that she is an amateur spiritualist, who is currently

learning how to make contact with the spiritual world.

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