Written by: Oliver R.

Shead
Edited by: Scott Vandervalk
Illustrators: Andy Walsh, Alexander Chelyshev, Maarten Hermans, Joshua Meehan

© Immersion Studios and Oliver R. Shead

ISBN: 978-0-9946287-6-3
SKU: IMM1011

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 Friends in Need
An Infected Scenario for 1–4 players. nuclear weapons. He will do anything to make his
final act come off.
Estimated play time: 4–6 hours.

Summary Who The PCs Are

PCs can be of almost any spectrum, though they
The PCs come across a military truck that has been
should have some sort of reason for being together,
shot up. A balding man asks for aid. He has a heavy
and for being in the Vegas region.
pack, hefting some sort of device. Asking the PCs’
help, he needs to get to his “research facility” to They could have been sent on another mission, by
meet up with the other members of his team. He the Skulls, or Pappa Doc’s Railway, or by Rosie Price,
tells them that his pack is carrying a cure for La or even Lobster Thompson. They could even be
Calera, and that he needs to get it into safe hands working for NORAD — though that could only be if
as soon as possible. There are people after him who they were undercover, as they will come up against
want to destroy it. NORAD troops later in the scenario, and in that
case neither side should realise that they’re on the
This is a lie. In truth, it is a low-yield tactical nuke,
same team.
and he wants to use it to destroy Hoover Dam, thus
crippling the Skulls —and NORAD too.
Dramatis Personnae
A NORAD bureau were using him to gain access
Note on minor NPCs:
to the device, so they could make use of it in a
potential war against the Skulls of Vegas. A very quick way of keeping track of the stats of
minor NPCs, is to assign them a broad “level.” When
The scientist, however, got exposed to a steady
doing that, pretty much all their stats will be at
dose of radiation from the opened warhead and
that level. The Narrator should bear in mind that a
this has left him with only a few weeks to live. After
couple of stats might be stronger or weaker, but this
a lifetime as a nuclear scientist working for the
gives a fair idea.
military, he is desperate to finally detonate one and
make it all mean something. This the means that their Base Initiative and Health
will be at double the listed level.
As such, the scientist stole the device with plans to
detonate it on the Hoover Dam, robbing Vegas and For example:
the surrounding region of power, water and the
James Vaughn is a minor guard, whose level is 4.
ability to survive in the region. This would devastate
He has a speciality in Perception though, which is at
the Skulls, but would also deprive NORAD of the
level 5. He also has a weakness in Spiritual, which is
base they want — his way of giving them both
at level 3.
the finger.
This now means that all of James’s stats will be at 4,
There is a small NORAD force that are close to
except for those related to perception (which will be
catching up with him, as well as a small patrol force
at 5), and aside from his Spiritual Attributes, which
of the Skulls, keeping Hoover Dam secure.
will be 3.
The scientist will appear very rational, but beneath
it all lurks an intense fascination and psychosis on

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 Glen Stewart, NORAD Scientist: Glen’s hair is falling out from his radiation poisoning,
though he will try to keep that hidden with a hat,
Physical 6 Physical 5 Health and occasional jokes about his baldness.
Social 6 Martial 6
3 3 4 To explain why he’s going to Hoover Dam, Glen
Mental 7 Knowledge 8
Base Init 13 will say that their lab was set up there, because it
Spiritual 6 Perception 5
was unlikely to be intruded upon, and it had nearly
Equipment
Social 5 Morality 3
unlimited power. If asked how he got exposed to
Glen has no weapons when discovered (apart from a small
utility knife), though he is quite adept at most weaponry.
radiation (if the PCs figure it out), he’ll say that at
one point in their lab work they drew power from a
A solidly built man in his forties, Glen is almost nuclear reactor, but it leaked.
completely bald, and is quite physically strong and
fit, despite a gut starting to expand. However, he has
an unhealthy pallor to him, has little energy, and
exertion sends him into prolonged coughing fits.
In fact, Glen is dying from chronic radiation
overdose over the past year, as he worked with
exposed nuclear weaponry for NORAD. This gives
him a penalty of –2 on all physical actions.

A nuclear scientist in the military for nearly twenty

years, Glen helped to make a number of hydrogen
and atom bombs — and some of them were actually
used during the outbreak.

Glen also worked on tactical nuclear weapons;

weapons designed to be used in a limited nuclear
war — carried to a target by an agent, or fired from
a howitzer or fighter jet. It is one of these that he
stole from his research lab.

Glen has an obsession with nuclear weapons of all

sorts. Having built and tested them over the years,
he finds them utterly compelling — what could be
more interesting than seeing a gigantic explosion
take place? Though he won’t tell people that he’s
actually carrying a nuke, he will still tell people that
he used to work as a nuclear physicist, and tell them
all about the devices. He will tell people how nukes
would “sort out” the Skulls, and any other rebels.

Like a mad professor, he’ll enthusiastically explain

how nuclear weapons of all sorts actually work,
drawing diagrams and trying to make people
understand just how interesting this all is.

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Part One: Hitchiker you see that it’s painted a drab, military green.
However, it looks almost empty. The canopy over its
Read the following description aloud: back half has been shredded, its windshield crazed,
and one tyre is clearly flat.
The air is brutally hot, the Nevada sun seemingly
offended by the presence of any water in the region. *
The road you are on is dusty, brown, and long. It’s
If the PCs intervene or fire on it, the truck will stop,
on the way to Las Vegas, the largest city in the
and Glen Stewart, who’s inside, will lurch out with
region, and the seat of power for the mighty Skulls.
his hands up. Otherwise, the truck will crash into a
Inspiring fear with their skull face paint, and their concrete median strip.
worship of death, the Skulls dominate
Glen Stewart is quite ill, and
the region for hundreds of kilometres.
exhausted. He crashes
There has been a lot of death in the
because he almost
world. And now, they think they
passed out at the
can overcome its embrace.
wheel.
Because of this, pilgrims
If the PCs
have flocked to Vegas,
investigate, they’ll
while crusades of Skulls
find the truck has
venture ever further
been shot up recently,
outwards — turning
with small arms fire. If
the City of Sin into a
Glen sees the PCs, he will
lucrative destination
beg them for help, telling
for merchants, bounty
them that they are his only
hunters, mercenaries,
hope to get a cure back to his
snake-oil salesmen and
research facility.
those just looking for a good
time. In the truck there is only a
backpack with a large mechanical
Vegas is also a vital strategic
device inside. Glen will be very touchy
area for NORAD, who claim to
about them handling it, though will
be the only legitimate
happily show it to them himself if they
government of the
ask, treating it with great care and
USA. This has led to
reverence.
increasing tensions
as both sides come PCs may make an
into conflict — and Intelligence/Construction
this makes you check –10 to understand
particularly alert to what the device is. If they
your surroundings, lest you pass by 1–3 successes,
are caught in the crossfire. they’ll realise that it’s definitely an explosive of
some kind. Passing by 4+ successes will mean they
Because of this alertness, and the stillness of the
know it’s a tactical nuclear bomb.
desert air, you hear the truck coming from quite a
distance. It kicks up a plume of dust in its wake as If called out on this, Glen will admit it, and apologise
it lurches across the sandy road. As it draws closer, for lying. Then he’ll tell them most of the truth,

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 saying that he intends to set up the bomb at Hoover
Dam to give NORAD more bargaining power with
the Skulls — as leverage.
If the PCs end up leaving him and/or the bomb
behind, then nothing further will happen to them.
However, if they end up taking the weapon (it is
worth a king’s ransom — around a million silvers,
and is an incredible strategic asset), they’ll need
an engineer to help them use it. There’s no big red
button.
If they end up not going to the dam, then the
NORAD forces will catch up with them, as detailed
later. In this case, Glen will try to detonate the bomb
in the most heavily populated area possible, acting
sick and weak to divert suspicions, then attacking
and priming the bomb at the right moment.
At the various points that Glen exhibits symptoms
of being very ill, the PCs make a successful
Intelligence/Medical check –4 to realise that he’s
suffering from radiation poisoning. He’ll explain this
away by saying that he was exposed to radiation at
the nuclear facility he was working at.
If the PCs choose to help Glen, they’ll need to repair
the truck, which is fairly damaged, and will require a
Brawn/Construction check –2 to get it moved off the
median strip.
After that, it will be a fairly long trip to Hoover
Dam. The next stop on the way is Boulder City — or
what’s left of it.
Glen has loaded the truck with extra fuel, but it
will run out before it reaches Boulder City. The PCs
should make an Intelligence/Pilot check –2 to get
the truck all the way to Boulder. Failing will mean
they are stranded in the desert, and have a few
hours to walk in the blistering heat. Then they’ll
need to buy diesel and lug it all the way back again!
By then it will likely be night time... which is the
time the Infected like to hunt.
There are plenty of wrecked cars here, occasionally
blocking the road so thoroughly that they have to
drive or walk out into the desert to get around. Sun-
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baked skeletons watch them pass, picked clean by
the desert creatures.
Part Two: Boulder
Glen will not want to stop before reaching the dam,
but he’ll be exhausted, sick and unable to carry on
without some rest. It should be an obvious choice
not to carry on in the dark, when there are likely
Infected out hunting, and they shouldn’t use lights
for fear of being attacked by bandits.
However, should they carry on, they will reach
Scene Three that much sooner — in which case,
the NORAD agents will catch up to them just after
they’ve stormed the gates.
Read the following section aloud:
Sitting beside the great Lake Mead, and at the base
of the jagged foothills around the Colorado River, is
Boulder City.
There’s not much left of its pre-outbreak population,
and even then it wasn’t a big place. Now most of
the people live in what was once a small, one-storey
hospital and care home — both sprawling buildings
that are now surrounded with a shantytown of
corrugated-iron lean-tos, everyone anxious to keep
the protection of its high walls.
Just beside the town itself, even higher walls enclose
a long belt of green. It might once have been a
golf course, but now it’s crops — the lifeblood of
the community, and one of the only reasons they
can stay in this dusty oven of a town. There’s also
running electricity, which is an incredible comfort
— what’s more, they have as much as they want,
siphoning it from Hoover Dam’s massive turbines.
*
The PCs will be cautiously welcomed when they
arrive, though after nightfall the townsfolk are much
more suspicious. This is a town ruled by the Skulls,
and the symbols are everywhere — painted on the
curtain walls, on the buildings, on the few vehicles
that are parked inside. Skulls in their facepaint and
battledress stalk around the town, clearly at the
top of the food chain, with a varied mix of others
— the town has quite a number of merchants,
mercenaries, farmers, prostitutes and really anyone
who could turn a profit or service a need.
Narrator’s Note: Water and power are two
commodities that are clearly in ready supply. The
Narrator should make sure to show this to the
PCs several times — the price of water is nothing,
people can have as much as they want, crops are
flourishing, people take baths and have showers,
and some even have working TVs, toasters and
the like. This will make the PCs realise the true
damage that blowing up the dam will cause.
Fergus
NORAD’s Pursuit Team
NORAD’s pursuit team will come across the PCs that
night at the settlement, or later on down the road,
if the PCs don’t stop. They are an elite group of
mercenaries hired to track Glen down and destroy
him, then recover the device for NORAD.
Brady — Level 6, Specialisation Physical, Martial 7,
HP 15. Uses a light assault rifle, concealed armour
+5/+5 Absorb, HR 3
A big black dude with a nasty scar running down his
face, Brady is a member of the Red Hand anarchist
group (see page .... in the Infected rulebook), and
wears the badge on his sleeve, with honour.

Fergus is the owner of Boulder City’s most popular Stace — Level 6, Specialisation Social, Martial
ĥotel. He’s a big, affable black man, ready to smile 7, HP 10. Uses a sub-machinegun, knives and
and pour a drink — and also big on information. He concealed armour +5/+5 Absorb, HR 3.
has cheap rooms for a night, or an hour, and lots of
Stace is easily noticeable by her shock of tangled
good music played by live musicians.
red hair, and her lively personality. She’s particularly
His bar is well lit with plenty of electric lights, which
will also give the PCs a real hit of nostalgia, and a
feeling like maybe, just maybe, civilisation hasn’t
entirely vanished.

Fergus will tell the PCs about some of the

troubles with NORAD. He’s not a Skull himself,
but he doesn’t mind them, and doesn’t want
a war. The town is finally doing well again,
and it could destroy everything they’ve got.

He’ll advise the PCs not to venture out of

the town at night, not even to put fuel
into their truck. It’s likely no one will
steal it while they’re gone — heck, it
hasn’t got any fuel, so it’s not going
anywhere.

Nervous

Glen will be clearly nervous while he’s waiting. He’ll

say that it’s not a good idea to stay here, that they
should move on — but in truth, he knows he needs
to rest, as he can barely stand, and everone will be
bone tired.

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 skilled at manipulating men, and getting If asked who they are, the NORAD team will say
information out of them, or making herself appear they’re a local group looking to take care of a
like an ally. Often she can go where the rest of the wanted criminal.
team cannot.
If the PCs make a successful Dexterity/Stealth check,
Rake — Level 6, Specialisation Knowledge 7, HP they could hide behind a car, or bit of rubble, and
12. Uses a shotgun, knives and concealed armour the mercs won’t see them.
+5/+5 Absorb, HR 3. Also skilled with explosives
Should they avoid the team in this instance, then
and science.
they’ll encounter them in the town when they head
Rake is a Skull, tried and true, with a livid X carved back – or on the way to the dam, if they don’t stop
into his forehead. But he also owes loyalty to in the town that night.
NORAD — in fact, he became a Skull
to gather information. Despite In the town...
this, he has actually become a
If the PCs stay in the town, then
convert, and vividly believes
the team will arrive a couple of
in the cult of defying death.
hours after them, and then will
Rake is also a chemist, and a
start asking after the owners
skilled bomb maker. He’s the
of the truck, and looking
brains of the operation.
for Glen.
There are a few different ways
they may encounter the PCs.

On the way back to the

truck...

If the PCs head back to the

truck to fill it with diesel, the
If the PCs have befriended Fergus,
NORAD troops will encounter
he’ll soon tip them off that the people
them on the road, driving in a
have asked for someone of Glen’s
ramshackle humvee, painted
description, or the truck — while Fergus
with gang signs and tags.
didn’t tell them what he knew, others
If the team sees them, soon will. That will give the PCs a
they’ll stop to question headstart to get out of there.
the PCs, asking them
The mercs will find out from
if they’ve observed
several people where Glen is
someone matching
in the town, then will rapidly
Glen Stewart’s
close in.
description. If the PCs
ask why, the NORAD They won’t immediately strike if they
team will say Glen is armed see the PCs are guarding Glen. In that case, they
and extremely dangerous, and in the interests of will decide to find out more about the PCs and their
everyone’s safety, they should give any information capabilities — one of them will attempt to look like
they have. a local, , and will ask them about who they are and
what they’re doing there. They’ll attempt to buy the

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PCs drinks, hopefully just talking to one of them, get
friendly, and find out who they are — as far as the
mercs knew, Glen was by himself, so who are these
new guys?
In particular, Stace will use her charms to find out
from the PCs what they’re doing and where they’re
going. If she can get one of the PCs alone with her,
Brady and Rake will bust in just as the PC is getting
comfortable (with weapons not to hand), and then
they’ll quietly force the information out of him,
using their knives. They’ll kill the PC afterwards —
strangling them with a rope, so as not to leave any
blood. Of course, if the PC is a really good talker,
they may be able to wheedle their way out of it, and
just get tied up, but that would require some great
role playing and some good social rolls!
Depending on the situation, the mercenaries have
a number of ways they may attempt to take out the
target and recover “the asset”. They may attempt
to distract the PCs and draw them away from Glen,
with a fight, an argument, or some alarming news.
Stace may also start up a conversation with Glen to
gain his interest, then Brady starts a brawl, allowing
Rake and Stace to capture Glen in the confusion.
Rake may steal something from the PCs and runs off
with it, drawing a pursuit. He’ll then throw the item
away and attempt to lose the PCs. If they’ve left
Glen unguarded, Stace and Brady will capture him.
If Glen is captured, they’ll drag him into some dark,
secluded area (or maybe even upstairs, sticking a
knife into his ribs to make him come along). Then
they’ll force the information out of him on the
bomb — where is it, and whether it’s been set and
armed. Once they have all their information, they’ll
strangle him and attempt to flee with the bomb.
This will give the PCs about ten minutes to find him
before it’s too late.
If the PCs press on...
If the PCs press on and don’t stop at the town, the
team will reach them at some point before they
arrive at the dam, and will attempt to force the PCs
to stop by shooting out the radiator of the truck.
Then they’ll attemp to capture the PCs. If a gunfight
starts, the NORAD team will be very careful with
their attacks, so they don’t hit the nuke (if anyone
does shoot it, then they should make a Luck check
or spend a point — if they fail, then it sets off the
timer or explodes... and that’s all folks!).
If the PCs evade the mercs (shoot out a tyre, etc.),
then they’ll come back later at the dam, and attack
just as Glen is getting things set up.
Part Three: Hoover Dam
Read the following description aloud:
Twisting and turning through switchback roads
tracing over gaping chasms, you find yourselves
dwarved by soaring, ragged peaks and buffeted by
fierce, desert winds.
At one point you pass the blackened, twisted
remnant of some long-dead convoy, the road itself
torn up by the force of that forgotten blast. Some
of the vehicles have been shoved out of the way,
off the edge of that high road, but what remains is
nearly enough to block your passage.
You rumble past acres of power coils, still converting
immense amounts of power from the dam and
sending them on to Vegas. Ahead of you plunges the
dam itself, as monolithic as the Grand Canyon and
the mighty Colorado River. To one side, Lake Mead
stretches in placid blue, while to the other, a convex
grey wall drops a thousand feet or more.
There are gates in front of the road now, and Skulls
too, sitting watch in sun-baked watch towers. There
might once have been an official military force
stationed here, with old tanks watching you down
long, deadly muzzles. But whether those tanks are
still operational seems dubious.
The Skulls, however, seem eager to meet their
new visitors.
*
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 A gate of metal bars and razorwire blocks access
to the road across the dam. Not far behind the
fence, right against the side of the dam, sits an
administrative building of dull grey concrete. It’s
here that Glen wants to get to, so he can take the
bomb into the depths of the dam. Even a tactical
nuke will have little effect on the outside of the dam
— but from the inside, it has a chance of cracking it,
and would certainly disable it.
Glen will tell the PCs that the Skulls must have
captured his team, and are holding them inside the
dam. They had captured him earlier, so it stands to
reason that they would have gotten to the rest of
his team.
This is a fairly important facility, and there are
some twenty Skull soldiers, as well as several
dozen hangers-on – mostly women and children.
Depending on what time the PCs approach the dam,
and how they approach, there may be more or less
Skulls on sentry.
There are a couple of ramshackle guard towers —
one each side of the dam — made out of scavenged
materials and reinforced with sandbags. There are
also a few sandbagged entrenchments supporting
heavy machinegun posts, which are manned in
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a rather lacklustre fashion by several Skulls. The
defences are solid enough, and one Skull is always
positioned in each. They haven’t seen any action at
the dam at all, and all of them are bored, and their
discipline is low. During the day they talk, associate
with the many civilians who have joined them, play
cards and pass the time in the blistering heat, while
at night they huddle around small fires. They’re not
particularly alert, but if roused to action will fight
fiercely.
If it’s early in the morning, around dawn or earlier,
the Skulls will mostly be asleep, and there will only
be four on duty, each side of the dam.
If the PCs approach during the day, there will be
around a dozen Skulls around the access point,
as well as three times as many civilians. They’re
still not particularly alert, but will notice anyone
approaching down the road (there’s no cover to
speak of).
The Skulls have been told to secure the facility
against NORAD, or saboteurs, so if the PCs attempt
to bluff their way in, the Skulls will tell them that
they shouldn’t be there, but may let them stay if
they are given a good excuse. This will require good
role playing, and some good social skill rolls if the
Narrator deems it appropriate.
If the PCs are heavily armed or make
themmselves conspicuous— like
trying to just “hang out” at
the facility, then the Skulls
will search them. If the PCs
manage to convince the
Skulls that they’re just there
to stop off, that they got
lost, or that they’re there to
make a profit (or some other
plausible reason) then the
Skulls may trust them at
their word.
Sneaking in without being
seen is a lot more difficult,
unless the PCs kill the
guards. This would best be done at night, or just
before dawn, and preferably silently. However, if
this is done, then there’s a chance that they may run
into other Skulls or civilians in the tunnels below. It’s
also possible that the bodies will be discovered and
the alarm raised that way.
The NORAD Team
The NORAD mercenary team may attack them while
they’re infiltrating the facility. If so, they’ll attack
from behind, and the sound of the fighting will bring
Skulls running, pinning the PCs between two forces,
unless they work out some cunning strategem.
This could result in a fierce and confusing battle
in the tunnels, and on the surface. Glen will use
the confusion to slip into the facility, locate the
generators and set up the nuke.
The Plot Unravels
Should Glen escape from
the PCs and none of them
realise how important
this is, one of the NORAD
mercs could let slip
something that gives the
game away. If captured, or
wounded, they’ll gasp something
about “the bomb”. If asked to
elaborate, they’ll say that Glen
has a nuke, “Did you really not
know?!”
Setting Up the Bomb
If Glen is not stopped from reaching
the generators, he’ll be able to set
up the bomb. This will only take about
five minutes. If he’s trapped, and unable
to get to the generators, he will set it
up anyway, to do as much damage
as possible. One way or another,
he wants to make this
bomb go off!
Glen cannot be persuaded to disarm it. If the PCs
demand he does so, then he’ll pretend to disarm it,
and instead set it off manually.
Any PCs getting to the bomb may attempt to disarm
it with an Intelligence/Construction check –6.
However, they won’t be able to work it out unless
they have a Construction of 7, with a background in
explosives or nuclear engineering. It’s fairly complex
stuff. They can still attempt it, but only half their
successes will count.
A Bungle will set the bomb off.
Should the bomb be set, there will be a fuse of
ten minutes. Glen will hide it, and then attempt
to escape again, to reach a good vantage point to
watch his handiwork.
If the bomb goes off, it will be a truly titanic
blast. A vast amount of concrete will
burst off the face of the dam, and a
colossal fireball will rip through
the facility, killing everyone
inside and belching out
through the top in a blaze
of white and red. Anyone
standing on the bridge
will be tossed around, or
even off it, like a rag doll. All
electronic devices will be ruined
by the EMP, rendering the entire
facility inert.
Shortly afterwards, water will start pouring
through the ruptured face of the dam, in
a torrent. However, the dam will remain
standing — crippled, and bleeding, but still
largely intact. However, there will be no way to
restore it, and Glen’s mission will have been a
success.
If he can, Glen will watch this occur, then either
escape for another day (he’s dying, but he’s still
got time enough to return as another blighted
villain), or, if faced with capture
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 he’ll kill himself, by leaping off the cliff face into The Skulls will likely consider the PCs to be
the canyon. responsible for the attack, and if they can be
identified, there will be warrants put out for their
Glen will remain coolly logical to the end. He’ll be
capture (or their heads). NORAD will likely also
disappointed that the dam didn’t rupture altogether,
consider them enemies to be disposed of, and if any
and explain that he must have had his calculations
of the mercenaries make it back to base, the PCs
off a little bit. Perhaps the blast was dampened by
will be IDed as yet another irritation to be removed,
the extra layers of concrete down that far?
but no further action will be taken against them.
If PCs at any point attempt to persuade him not to After all, NORAD has more enemies than they can
set the nuke off, he’ll listen and understand their count anyway.
reasoning, but explain that in a war, losses are
unavoidable. With every form of creation, there
is some destruction. Besides, he doesn’t care
anymore — he just wants to see it blow up. No one
cared about him when he was exposed to all that
radiation. He was a casualty of war. So why should
he care about anyone else?

Epilogue
If the PCs stop Glen, then they’ll have saved Vegas
from slowly dying of thirst. It’s also possible that
they’ll now have possession of a tactical nuclear
weapon, which is something of massive strategical
and physical value, and could certainly set them up
for some other interesting scenarios. Others will
want the device, will want them to use the device,
or will ask them to help bargain, and so on.

If the PCs fail, then they’ll be lucky to be alive. Vegas

will be without power and water, which will make
life even tougher down there. New projects will
divert water from what remains of Lake Mead and
the Colorado River, but water will remain expensive,
and the new pipelines will be vulnerable to further
NORAD attacks.

This will also be considered an act of war by NORAD.

Ironically, while NORAD didn’t want this to happen,
they will capitalise on the moment, and continue to
close in on the Skulls’ supplies. The Skulls, on the
other hand, will assemble their forces and strike out
at the nearest NORAD forces, starting an intense
desert war.

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 Fangs For Reading

To purchase a copy of the full book, as well as for tutorials and upcoming releases, please go to:
www.infected.immersion-rpg.com

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