DoW Stand-Alone Cinematic: The Lion's Den


In this series of posts, I'm taking an act from DoW and providing guidance to run it as it's own story. Each will have it's own three-act structure and take the characters a dramatic adventure. Even these, more focused, cinematics will still likely take 3-6+ sessions to complete.

For this post we're looking at Destroyer of Worlds Act III: The Lion's Den


DoW Stand-Alone Cinematic: The Lion's Den (Act III)

Overview 

The USCM has lost contact with the small garrison that remains in Ariarcus colony on Kruger 60. A squad of marines is sent to investigate. On arrival, they realized they aren't the only ones who want to find out what's happened underneath Fort Nebraska. When they get there, what they discover is worse than they could have imagined. 


Characters 

The seven suggested PCs work well for this scenario.  It can support larger (4-7) player counts and all the firepower you want to give them. They've got a rough road ahead of them.

Dante and Chaplain: Dante shouldn't start this version infected and Chaplain needn't be subjected to undue influence from Jaell. We can give those two a break.

Agendas: Initially, the PCs can be largely on the same page and approaching the mission with various levels of enthusiasm. By Act III they might have different sets of priorities - escape, profit, follow orders, or destroy. 

Replacement Characters: Once the characters enter the base they will be largely on their own. Casualties could be replaced by returning to the surface for reinforcements. There can also be a few survivors within the base; marines, maintenance, and scientific staff who found a place to hide during the outbreak. There can also be infected colonists who were alien-impregnated and then cryo-frozen as part of the Life Force research. 

A few NPCs who could also join the party: Imre Botos, Marshal Hyram, Mallory Eckford, Jaell, Colonel Myers. Each of them comes with their own agenda and complications.


Intro and Hook

When the oil dried up, the Ariarcus colony on Kruger 60 pretty much dried up and blew away with it. Without an economic reason to exist, the colony crashed. Most everyone who could, left for somewhere else. This included the bulk of the local USCM garrison. 

Initially, this worked out fine for Colonel Meyers and Project Life Force. An abandoned colony is a good place to have a secret bio-weapons project. Recently, there have been concerns that the UPP intends to seize the colony. And the USCM brass has been less than resolute about their willingness to defend it. 

Fearing invasion by the UPP, Colonel Meyers and his Deep Void conspirators decided it was time to move Life Force. Unfortunately, as they were packing up and preparing to transfer their research subjects, a xenomorph broke free. From there it was a rapid cascade of disasters. All the xenos escaped and Fort Nebraska was quickly overrun. 

Panic struck in the colony and on the orbital platform when they received frantic reports from the base. USCM command was notified. They sent a squad of marines to investigate and restore contact with fort. 

Major Hatfield has briefed the characters on the history of Ariarcus colony. Their orders are to find Colonel Myers, explore Fort Nebraska, return and report on what's happened within the fort.

The adventure begins with the PCs arriving at the Ariarcus Spaceport in their G-Glass Mantis transport.


Non-Included Events

This story just focuses on the third act's events. It leaves out all of the following big events and everything that flows from them. 

  • AWOL Marines: There are no AWOL marines in this scenario. 

  • Oil Drop: No need for the big oil drop in this one.
     
  • UPP Invasion: The UPP frigate Trakhni Menya will arrive in orbit at the start of Act II. It's there to complicate the PCs escape. The full UPP ground invasion isn't meant to be part of this scenario. Presumably, it'll take place after the PCs leave (and there are no marines left to oppose them).

Big Decisions


How Many Xenomorphs? 

The focus of the adventure is the descent into a military base infested with XX121 xenomorphs. The players are going to encounter some xenos. As written there are a total of 24 xenos. That includes a queen and a charger. It does not include another 12 frozen in stasis. It also does not include all the various chestbursters and facehuggers the PCs might encounter. 

That's a lot of aliens. You may want to cut back on the number and/or reduce the durability and lethality of those you do include. Depending on your desired pacing, you may wish to just stop introducing them at some point. 

Ten of the xenomorphs are part of the queens entourage in the climber car. Eight of them are workers. Remember that worker xenomorphs are non-aggressive and don't generally fight to defend their queen or hive.


Additions and Changes

Pilot Pal:  The PCs will be accompanied by the pilot of the ship they arrive in. 

1st Lt Ahmed Al-Shammari is the pilot of the Mantis starship the PCs will arrive in. He'll remain with the ship while the players investigate the base. He's a capable pilot and cool under pressure. Ahmed will defer to the PCs instructions. His first priority is to get them out of there alive. 


Orbital Platform: The space station above Ariarcus is still intact and run by a skeleton crew. There are 4 marines there and 5 civilian staff and maintenance workers. None of them know about Project Life Force or what happened to the marines in the base.

Lance Corporal Gloria Sandoval is the highest-ranking marine left on the platform. She is upset about losing contact with the base and the chaotic reports that preceded it. The PCs will be in radio contact with Gloria as they arrive in Kruger 60.


Stuck Elevator: Rather than being stuck in the Nebraska sublevels, the space elevator is stuck several kilometers above the fort. After the queen was loaded, the marine operator heard about the chaos in the fort below and began to ascend. Jaell issued an emergency stop order, freezing it in place (and dooming the marines onboard). The order can only be lifted when power is stored and by someone with proper authorization (Jaell or Meyers). 


Welcoming Committee: The PCs won't have much need to explore the colony, but the remaining citizens are concerned about the silence from the base. On arrival, they will be greeted by a group of prominent local citizens: Fei, Marshal Hyams, and Imre Botos. They will all be demanding answers and an explanation (which the PCs will be unable to provide). In this version, Imre still hates the marines, but sees no need to pick a fight with them. 

There is no mass of refugees at the starport in this version. They are long gone. There are also no marines at the starport or anywhere else in the colony. 


Mallory Eckford: In this version, Mallory was not involved with Life Force. She has heard rumors about it and is here to get some answers - and samples. Shortly after arrival, she can approach the PCs as a group or individually and try to convince them to work with her. She can offer money and other incentives. 

Optionally Mallory has her own Mantis on the way with her "dog catcher" squad on board. 


State of the Base: The base hasn't been subjected to an EMP strike or orbital bombardment. The wings and Southwest Bastion are relatively intact, but generally uninteresting. They may still be radioactive from the nuclear weapon leak below. 

The power to the fort is still out. The central fusion reactor is still off due to aliens dismantling parts of it to make their nests.

Jaell: Jaell can still be found plugged into the APOLLO mainframe. She's not trying to control Chaplain. She is controlling the live sentry turrets that cover the exterior and grounds within the fort. 

Jaell is still expecting Deep Void conspirators to come, secure the base and collect their research. If she thinks the marines are from Deep Void, or can help her, she'll work with them. Otherwise, she'll fire on them with the sentry guns and generally try to get them killed (while pretending to be helpful). 


Acts and Events

The following is a list of possible scenes and events for each act. They are listed in a rough order that they might logically take place. Scenes that are skipped in one act can take place in a later one.  

Act I

The marines arrive at the spaceport on Ariarcus and are greeted by local citizens and Mallory Eckford. They make their way to Fort Nebraska, deal with the sentry guns, meet Jaell, and get their first indications of what has happened to the Fort. 


Scenes and Events
  • Setting and Introduction
  • Arrival at Ariarcus starport
    • Radio contact with LC Sandoval on orbital platform
    • Meet Fei, Hyams, Botos at starport
      • Welcoming committee knows about live sentry guns guarding base 
        • Guns have been firing at people outside the base and at something inside the base
  • Meeting with Mallory
    • Mallory Eckford tries to enlist one or more of the marines to help her secure the data and live "samples" from Project Life Force
  • Approach the base
    • Need to borrow vehicles or get rides
    • Watched by Jaell
      • Sentry guns fire on anyone she views as a threat
    • Could sneak on through oil pipeline
  • Enter the base and explore the North Bastion 
    • Ordered to access APOLLO
      • Will need Col. Meyers keycard
    • Marine bodies, coated in resin, impregnated with chestbursters
  • APOLLO and Jaell
    • Jaell will offer to assist marines - has own agenda
    • Says power will need to be restored
  • Stalked by xenomorphs
    • 2 soldier xenomorphs are hunting on the surface level and SL1
    • Characters might hear them and pick them up on motion tracker
    • Can hit-and-run to stalk the PCs in the future

Act II

The marines explore the sublevels of Fort Nebraska and encounter a variety of xenomorphs and environmental hazards. A UPP Frigate arrives and complicates their extraction plans. 

Scenes and Events
  • Sublevel 1 
    • Possible fires in tunnel and motorpool
    • Mostly quiet
  • Trakhni Menya
    • Lt Al-Shammari will radio the PCs and inform them that sensors have picked up a UPP frigate entering the system and on approach.
    • Should he stay there with the ship or take the ship up into orbit to hide and wait?
    • If he heads to orbit, he'll radio that he thinks he's been spotted and they've threatened to fire on him. Then the PCs will abruptly lose contact. 
  • Sublevel 2
    • Flooded with radiation
    • Reactor maintenance pits
      • xeno drone
      • packed with people and resin- chestbursters
    • Reactor fusion tower
      • Can restore power
      • 3 hibernating xeno soldiers
    • Ammo Depot
      • Xenomorph charger
      • Nuclear arsenal
        • Leaking nuclear warhead
  • Sublevel 3
    • Loading Dock 03
      •  4-6 soldier xenomorphs
    • Creepy places with information and experiments
      • Alien Containment Staging
      • Medlab
      • Quarantine Lab and Surgical Suite

Act III

The marines find a frozen Colonel Myers and need to reckon with him. They bring down the climber car and find the alien queen and her entourage within it. Then, they need to find a way out of here while they contend with the UPP invaders and a corporate kill squad. 


Scenes and Events
  • Colonel's on Ice: (p. 61) 
    • PC's find frozen Colonel Myers
    • Myers' objective is to escape with "samples" to meet up with his Dark Void allies
    • He will try and pull rank
    • Does not want to return directly to Major Hatfield and central command
  • Ms. Eckford's Dog Catchers (p. 52 Optional)
    • Eckfords' commandos arrive
    • Eckford can be working with Myers or trying to steal things for herself
    • The corporate commandos can have captured the PCs ship and/or arrived in a ship of their own
    • They can be an extraction option and/or obstacle
  • Call the Elevator
    • With the power restored and Col. Myers help they can override the emergency shut down and bring back the elevator
    • Necessary if trying to escape via the orbital platform
    • Jaell and the Colonel may or may not tell the PCs it contains an alien queen
    • The elevator contains an alien queen
      • 2 soldier xenomorphs
      • 9 eggs (with facehuggers)
      • 8 worker xenos (non-agressive)
  • Deal with the Frigate
    • The orbital platform still has functional rail guns
    • If power has been restored, then the fort has rail guns as well
    • The UPP frigate and the platform have been warning each other but haven't fired yet.
    • The frigate also has dropships it can use to assault the platform
  • Escape Plan
    • The PC's ship and/or Eckford's ship might be able to slip past the Trakhni Menya to rescue the PCs from the orbital platform.
    • The orbital platform might be crawling with UPP soldiers when the players get there
    • They'll need to decide who and what is coming with them

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