Introduction
Playing a micro-adventure
A micro-adventure is a fast paced content that helps the game master enrich larger adventures with interesting places, hidden treasures or additional situations. A micro-adventure can be played or improvised just as it is, or it can be refined in advance depending on the style of the game master. |
Story of a hyperiana prisoner in the excavation in the shadow of the great dam.
The Field of Scars stands on the now dried up lake Camatagua, close to the imposing dam and surrounded by mountains. The Protectors keep a police state: strict rules apply in the camp and the slightest transgression is punished with death. The characters, prisoners of the rival gang, are forced to work in the pits, searching a well-known and very precious resource.
Adventure aspects: lots of raw hyperio, endless swarms of enemies, race against time.
Contents: 3 situations, 2 antagonists, 2 treasures, 2 complications.
Tone: modern fantasy, survival, heroic.
Adventure
The pit
Location aspects: rusty chains, dry air and barren ground, violent electric geysers.
- Holes of the most varied dimensions dot the excavations. The Protectors keep a state of apparent continuous control: prisoners are given numbered shovels, hoes, and pickaxes. The working conditions are almost worse than having to survive out there. There is only one thing that matters: hyperio.
Situation: after endless hours of pickaxes, you have finally found hyperio! Your chains are strong, but they can be broken by expending some of the formidable material (automatic success), by a skillful move, or by brutal force (mediumdifficulty checks). Once freed, the characters will have to find a way to escape from the camp without being tracked, otherwise a whole squadron of Protectors will not give them a chance.
Treasure: from the nugget found in the excavation, a raw hyperio spike is obtained for each character.
Complication: the discovery made by the characters will not go unnoticed. Soon a well-known screech of alarm will rise from somewhere towards the center of the field.
Passage: sandy ditches
Location aspects: deep pits in the ground, scattered aquatic fossils, intermittent lopsided streetlights.
- Deep fractures and large holes litter the ground of the dried up lake, as if to draw new constellations on the arid sandy ground, converging at the foot of the wooden platform. Here and there, numerous lampposts of every shape and color intermittently illuminate the excavations, over which the constant clanging of pickaxes reverberates. In the distance, the scene is dominated by the remains of an imposing dam, constantly patrolled by fierce armed thugs.
Situation: it is only a matter of moments before the hyperian placed on the highest platform perceives the precious loot that has just been found, attracting the attention of the Protectors. It will be up to the characters to decide how to move, whether to go directly towards the platform (see next situation), or to try to free other prisoners from the surrounding holes.
The platform
Location aspects: glow sticks bolted into the floor, big jars filled with hyperio, rows of electrified tires.
- A high creaking wooden platform stands in the center of the field, apparently deserted, if not for the presence of a frail figure, imprisoned behind high luminescent bars. On two sides, large terracotta jars, covered with ancient Aztec engravings, contain nuggets of raw hyperio. Outlining the perimeter of the platform, a row of tires electrified by some strange contraption serves as a warning to anyone who dares to approach.
Situation: on the platform there is a hyperian called Nenet, imprisoned inside a magically enchanted cage. She would appear to be a helpless little girl, but has in reality psychic powers capable of perceiving hyperio. The Protectors use her ability to find out who among the prisoners digs out this resource.
Complication: as the characters approach the platform with their load of hyperio, Nenet will unleash a psychic attack on them. The characters may try to free her, but will have to contend with several waves of Protectors. If they can protect her long enough, Nenet's power will surely be more than sufficient to find salvation.
Treasure: if decoded correctly, the jars grant each character a technological boost (Primo Contatto: one technological flow per character).
Nenet, captive hyperian
Captured by the Protectors during a night raid, the hyperian from the fallen fortress is now locked in a special cage within the excavations, used as a hyperio detector. What a disgrace for such a noble lineage. Initially escaping the contagion of madness, her mind is now foggy from the overload of hyperio.
Relationships | Nenet may be a mysterious figure that the characters have met during their adventures, or an old acquaintance now unrecognizable for some reason. |
Attitude | In a state of mental confusion, Nenet will initially be extremely wary of anyone who tries to get close to her. Only the removal of the enchanted rods or the destruction of the jars will restore her to full self-consciousness. |
Tactic | While in confusion, she launches psychic attacks at anyone in the vicinity, slowing their movement. In case of extreme danger, or when conscious again, she will charge a powerful sidereal beam to wipe out her enemies. |
Rafael Azamar, squadron leader of the Protectors
Soldier Superintendent of Camatagua field, he rose to command of the military forces of the Protectors for his cold mind and infallible logic. The youngest of seven children, he hides behind his calm and rationality the insecurities of his relationship with his mother and the blame for his unborn sister.
Relationships | Rafael can be a figurehead in a rival gang of characters. Alternatively, he may be a former ally of the characters, who turned away from them after a critical event. |
Attitude | In every interaction with the characters, he maintains a serene and detached demeanor, like that of a chess player. If taken personally, show signs of giving in and nervousness. |
Tactic | Once identified, he will send a squadron of Protectors to surround the characters to bring them back to order. If the characters do not comply with the commands, he will make his henchmen take the hard way, intervening in person only if the platform is seriously threatened. |
Logical map
Characters can move from one zone to the next by spending a turn. Movement within a zone, for example to get away from an obstacle or an opponent, costs an action. Possible interactions are also shown in the boxes.