[HOE] Is it just me, or does this idea give you goosebumps too?

[Dusarat@aol.com]

You know, They say an adventure is bad if it's 'formulaic',  

    Well,

        I used the HoE formula and dreamed up a fun little adventure to run 
after a long, hard, and lethal campaign to have a change of pace.  (Like the 
one which begins with my 'speedboat' comment)

    HoE, Horror + Post apocalyptic + Americana + camp

        Adventure, A beleagured party has a bad night in the wastes.  As soon 
as night falls they get attacked by a horde of hungry walkin deads, too many 
and too minor to be worth the bullets.  So they flee, and a black rain 
begins, to make things go from bad to worse.  This kills the zombies, for 
now, but they need to run into the nearest shelter, a ruined nightclub called 
the Serf Ballroom (Those few of you who know what the Serf Ballroom is famous 
for, you know what's coming)

    In the club, there is a stage set up, a guitar, a drum set, and a bass.  
The rain stops, the dead rise again and the party knows they're coming. 
daylight is far away yet, but they know the day will banish the deads.  

    The dead come, and they pause just short of the club, something keeps 
them at bay.  Someone in the party who is more spiritually inclined senses 
presences.  If a Templar, he senses Saints, if a shaman or Junker, it's good 
spirits, they are weak, they are trying to protect the party, but the party 
must feed them, the party must invoke them.  Then they spy the musical 
instruments on stage.  

    That's right, just for fun, every party member has to, IN CHARACTER, sing 
a song.  And not just any songs, they have to be by one of the three spirits 
whose essences are linked to that hallowed ground of American Rock and Roll. 
    For those of you who don't know, the Serf Ballroom was the home of the 
LAST performance for three of America's greatest, The Big Bopper (Chantilly 
Lace), Richie Valens (La Bamba, Donna), and Buddy Holly (Peggy sue, among 
others).  
    These three legends performed there on their last night, soon after, all 
three died in the same plane crash.  A nation mourned.  
    Get some karaoke tapes for fun.  And think how the right kind of party 
would have fun with how certain characters would sing these songs of 
America's legendary past.  This works very well if the players are very into 
the role-playing of their pc's.  

    Well, if each of them sings something, the night ends, and they can 
leave.  Now there are two ways they can free the spirits and let them roam 
the lands helping people like Templar Saints.  
    One: They can burn the club in a funeral pyre, at which point they see 
three figures, one tall and fat, one tall thin and bespectacled, and one 
shorter and younger, get into an airplane, and fly off into the sky.  The 
figures smile at the party as the pyre burns (No, I wasn't influenced by the 
scene from the end of Return of The Jedi, I stole it outright).  

    Two: The last song, there is a song of power that came from that place.  
A song that was inspired from the subsequent events and whose belief would 
lend power in the HoE belief fueled world.  For the tragedy of the plane 
crash soon after that last performance created an image that will send 
shivvers up the spine of any American.  There was a name for the night of the 
crash, a name it was given and if the song is sung as the last song, the 
spirits are freed, and empowered as they are reminded what their sacrifice 
brought.  

    The night of the Crash inspired someone to call it "The day the music 
died".  If some cagey party member thinks to end the night with 'American 
Pie', give 'em a legend chip and make 'em sing it!