Free Content Friday - August 2018

THE PASSAGE - PART 1

Written By: Graphic Design & Layout:
Christopher J. De La Rosa Christopher J. De La Rosa, Alex Huilman

Background

T he latter stages of the outbreak have seen a tremendous

crackdown as United States Army Medical Research Institute
of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) took control, overtaking
the authority of the military when The Center for Disease Control
(CDC) was quickly overwhelmed. Despite their valiant efforts and
tremendous resources USAMRIID stepping in became necessary and
began to distribute notarized paperwork to indicate who has gone
through their rigorous medical screening. People with these special
passports are allowed free travel among camps. People without such
documentation are either herded into containment zones or are left
to fend for themselves out in the hinterland.
THE FORGER
Francisco Aguilera was a talented artist pre-conflict. Despite his advanced
age his artistic talent extended into the digital realm and his skilled
photography made digital manipulation easy. No one goes to galleries
anymore but his talent now comes into high demand. He has been forging
the medical passports used to grant free movement along roads and relief
camps. Francisco’s ability to develop film allows him the final edge needed
to make near-identical medical passports.The one major issue he must
deal with, in addition to requiring a steady stream of raw materials to
make the documents with, is that his health is rapidly fading.

The Characters
The player characters are people who have managed to escape
the attention of patrols of Federal Marshals as well as defend
themselves against the undead and vigilantes. Recent events,
however, have forced them to require a migration past checkpoints
(which will vary based on your scenario). This is almost impossible
considering free passage is only for those who have passed
numerous medical screenings and are granted certain levels
of clearance by the government. For whatever reason (that will
vary based on your scenario), that kind of clearance is nearly
impossible to obtain.

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 OPPONENTS
MISSION BRIEF
The party will face the following opponents:
This takes place in two main locations, a junkyard and
a warehouse. It ends in a secret workshop that Francisco Wretch
operates from. Strength: 25
Perception: 20
The entire mission should take about 6 20, so approx- Empathy:0
imately a day. Willpower: 100
Labor Value(s) Vitality:
Travel to Warehouse @20 Health Points: (1)
Damage Threshold: + 12
Get to Francisco’s Workshop @20
Attacks:
Optional Objective “The Inventory” @25 Bash: + – [n Bl]

Risk Factor(s) Bite: + + & & – [n nn Sl] Inflicts 1 Viral to the target.
Starting Pool: W 20
Templates
nn Noise: W 1 Wretch Upgrades
nn Travel at Night: W 1 per 6 1
nn Derail: W d5! Strength: W 1 – Add +5 to Strength (which, with a starting Strength of 25 will
increase to 30, which will increase Damage Threshold by 1)
Skill Check(s)
{Navigation%, Search%} Sleepers: W 2 – Deploy closer to opponents. Characters that fail {Spot/
Listen%} will allow a GM to resolve - as if the character had failed a {Grap-
Special ple%} against the Wretch.
Timeline of Events Unique/OBM
The Timeline for this Scenario is rather short, since USAMRIID Marshal
it only takes place during about 6 20. The start Soldier
Time should be during periods of Night, 6 17 or
Strength: 35
so. So this timeline corresponds to the length of
Perception: 35
Time of the scenario itself, and not the time of day.
Empathy: 20
nn 6 1 - Meeting with Rob. Start of the scenario. Willpower: 40
nn 6 4 - Staying in the Junkyard this long will have
Vitality:
another Encounter with Wretches.
Health Points: (5)
nn 6 10 - A helicopter flies overhead. See “USAM-
Damage Threshold: + 7
RIID Helicopter” Note no. 1
{Skill Check(s)%}: {Firearms - Pistol 50%, Firearms - Long Gun 55%,
Note that these do not need to happen, only that they
Diplomacy - Command 60%, Brawl 48%, Spot/Listen 55%}
certainly could happen.

Success NPCS
Reward: l100
Rob
Upon reaching the Workshop, up to 3 characters Friend of PCs
can comfortably “Rest” in the underground shelter.
ene ric NPC
Strength: 28 a g ced
Characters can now purchase “Forged Paperwork” Perception: 30 Rob is an be replaPC you
with a reduced price of G 50. Empathy: 33 that c y notable Noduced
Getting the Inventory as per the optional objective
Willpower: 25
with analready intrign.
will allow characters to earn G 100 worth of Vitality: have your campa
chemicals for Francisco. Health Points: (5) in
Damage Threshold: + 5
Failure
Characters can purchase “Forged Paperwork” at the Training Values:
standard price of G 75.
3 4
Free Content Friday – 002
 Francisco Aguilera Special
Artist/Forger Forged Med. Passports
Strength: 15 Command Apparatus: 3x
Perception: 23
Empathy: 39 {Expression (Lie)%, Diplomacy (Command)%}
Willpower: 44
Special
Vitality:
Health Points: (5) USAMRIID Checkpoints – These papers are only able to provide their
Damage Threshold: + 5 gear bonus to people at USAMRIID Checkpoints and personnel.

Training Values: Personalized – Due to the nature of the documentation, the passports

Artist
5 need to be individualized to each person. So one character can’t
transfer theirs to another.

Industry Sectors
BARTER RESOURCE CATALOG - FRANCISCO
ITEM COST CAPACITY Apply the following multipliers to the G value of characters selling
such categories of goods.
Forged Med. G 100
Passports 8

Handcrafted: Each one takes 6 10 to create. 3x 2x 2x

Capacity: The Capacity is based on the availability of the right kind
of paper, ink and film.

003 – Free Content Friday

 Detailed Timeline
Provided is a more complete look at the individual events that make
up this mission.
1.1 SOMETHING AMISS
The party has been waiting at a burning out road flare for several minutes.
Rob has never been late in the past and his choice of using a burning road flare
is less than wise. At night, this flare draws all kinds of unwanted attention.
The Junkyard Encounter
The undead, drawn in by the light of the flare, will attack the
characters. Run the encounter normally, but characters that have
the sense to extinguish the flare will require a GM to make an
Encounter% to see if the undead can pursue the characters as they
flee in darkness.
Characters that stay and fight will discover a discarded object that is
distinct to Rob. The party see a very clear path to where Rob must
have fled to… The warehouse across the field from where they stand.
The party must travel...
Travel
@20
{Navigation%}
Having Bolt Cutters or some other means of crossing a fence, Labor
Value is reduced to @10.
Without such tools, the survivors will have to scale the razor wire
topped fence or resort to finding the long way in (which is the
unmodified Labor Value, so no further Labor is needed).
1.2 THE WAREHOUSE
Upon entering the warehouse grounds, a few undead can be seen shambling
about.
The goal is to reach the door that is clearly ajar across the parking
lot, which is likely where Rob has fled to. Characters can attempt
to sneak past them which is a task that has a Labor Value of @5
per character using {Stealth%}. Failing to do this will trigger an
encounter d3 Wretches per character.
Inside the Warehouse
Inside the warehouse, rows of boxes on shelves plunge into darkness.The only
source of faint illumination is that of the office space.The area is surrounded
by severalWretches.The lighted windows clearly indicate that people are (or
were) inside.
Characters can attempt to sneak into the office, avoiding the Wretches
by hiding along the rows of boxes.
See “Stealth”, Note no.2.
Survivors can also engage the Wretches and use the environment
as a weapon.
See “Topple”, Note no.3
Upon defeating or sneaking past the Wretches, read the following:
Upon entering the office, you see a secret passage opened into the
floor. Looking down, you can see Rob waiting there with a very old
man. Rob flags you to come down and introduces you all. The man
is Francisco, the infamous forger… and he needs help.
Francisco is in dire need of having his pacemaker battery replaced.
In explaining this, Francisco points to a circled date on the calendar
that is long since passed. He is on borrowed time.
See “Have a Heart”, Note no.4
Optional Mission -The Inventory
There is an adjoining office building to the warehouse that has a
Inventory list in the Shipping/Receiving department. The manifest
details a shipment of vital chemicals that has tremendous value to
Francisco.Without this, identifying the boxes with the crucial chem-
icals will be nearly impossible without literally days of searching
the warehouse in, at best, dim daylight that filters in through the
skylights.
Retrieve the Inventory
@25
{Navigation%, Search%}
Finding this will allow the characters to actually locate something
useful in the endless rows of boxes. This will effectively ignore the
immense “Size” of the warehouse to perform a thorough search when
determining the Labor Value of such an undertaking
in The
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Free Content Friday – 004
 Appendix
NOTES
1. USAMRIID Helicopter
Characters that are exposed as the Helicopter passes, add W 10.
This can be reduced by W 2 per + in {Stealth%}. In a building
this rule does not apply, but a {Spot/Listen%} can be made to
hear it as a plot point.
2. Stealth
Characters that use the aisles of warehouse materials as a way to
effectively sneak up on the undead. This will grant a bonus + to
any character attempting a {Stealth%} as part of their Intent.
3. Topple
Characters can make {Lift/Pull%} will be able to topple the heavy
shelving on any undead they have lured near the shelves. This will,
if not kill outright, incapacitate fully any undead trapped beneath
it. Doing this will, however add W 5 to the GM’s Risk pool.
ALTERNATE SCENARIOS
The Moral Gray
The moral gray of this situation is that far from the systematic exter-
mination of people under their watch, or some other nefarious plot.
The USAMRIID is actively trying to save as many lives as possible
and their screening protocols are established for very good reasons.
As such, Francisco is actively endangering the lives of thousands
by allowing people who didn’t go through screenings and tests to
enter areas that have been contained and have been determined to
be free of infection. Therefore, an alternate version of this story
is one where Francisco’s operation is the one clearly in the wrong
and characters are attempting to stop the spread of forgeries to
allow the infected and vigilantes to enter quarantine safe zones.

4. Have a Heart
It is here that the characters are reunited with Rob and (apparently)
his close contact with Francisco, the famed forger.This provides the
characters a fortuitous opportunity to escape the safe zone. Rob
had apparently been trying to beseech Francisco for aid by forging
a medical clearance paper. Rob wished to bring in the party for a
very special task in order to get what he needs.

This can be a story hook into the next session or you can just
add 6 100 until the battery gives out, which you can note in the
Timeline.

To all of the amazing survivors out there who have supported us

over the years, and who are directly responsible for the return
of “Free Content Friday” we just have one thing we wanted to say:

THANK YOU!

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