ADVENTURE 2: Historical/Base Under Siege
What would a celebration of Doctor Who be without a historical adventure? This would also be a perfect opportunity to reintroduce Jamie McCrimmon, with Frazer Hines returning to the role if this was a televised episode.
Something has fallen through time and the PCs TARDIS is on its trail. If you’re using the plot threads from the last adventure this could be disrupting the signal that would lead to Susan or could be mistaken for the path of the rogue 1st Doctor.
The TARDIS materialises in Scotland (filmed on location?) in the year 1796. They have arrived in a village, home to an older Jamie McCrimmon. If the Doctor is part of the group it is up to the games master whether Jamie remembers him. Either the Time Lords wiped his memory or they were restored during the mythical Season 6B.
The locals are still talking about the falling star they witnessed descend on the moor only a few nights ago. Since then the moors have been plagued with thick fog and wild beasts. A villager, Hamish McCabbe, boasts about killing one of the monsters with his knife, which was destroyed in the process.
Hamish won’t volunteer to come with the PCs to hunt for the fallen star, nor will the other villagers. The only one brave enough is Jamie. This is a chance to relive the adventures of his youth.
The search will give the PCs a chance to catch up with Jamie and find out what he has been doing with his life. Has he got married, does he have children or is he alone? Does he talk about his adventures through time or does he keep it to himself?
The fog-bound moors provides its own challenges, both from the terrain and the fact that navigating is difficult due to fog. This could be a good opportunity to split the party up. They’ll hear weird noises, find disturbing tracks and glimpse shambling figures.
When tensions are at their highest the PCs will come under attack by mutated wildlife, covered in green moss and zombies, similarly covered in moss. Jamie might even recognise some of the dead as former villagers who died years ago.
With the creatures ignoring physical damage the PCs should flee. This will lead them to the fallen star, in truth a pod from a space station. Although scorched from the heat of re-entry there is a UNIT emblem still visible on one side.
The pod is small, containing a cramped lab, dominated by a piece of machinery creating the fog. Examination by anyone with Technology or Science can discover that the fog breeds the moss, which UNIT scientists hoped could be used for regeneration. This seems to be the cause of the undead on the moors.
The Sonic Screwdriver or tinkering won’t stop the machine. They need a remote control unit, resembling a silver brooch, which can be used to shut down the machinery. Unfortunately it is missing, apparently pried loose by a knife, which lies shattered nearby.
Jamie recognises the blade as belonging to Hamish McCabbe. In order to stop the fog the PCs will need to return to the village. This will involve slipping past the increasing number of zombies.
Depending on the favoured play style of the PCs this can be done using stealth or in skirmishes. They can also try to cover themselves with moss and pretend to be zombies themselves.
At the village the locals are terrified, the undead have already started to wonder in and more are following the PCs. Hamish has barricaded himself in his house, requiring the PCs to work out how to get in or how to get him out.
Continue to increase the tension as the moss zombies continue to head towards the village. The villagers should be protected, barricades should be built and other defences hastily built.
Once the Silver Brooch is obtained the PCs must work against time to activate it and shut down the machinery. It can take anywhere from a few minutes to an hour before fog clears. Without it the moss decays and falls apart, the dead becoming inanimate once again.
This could be a good opportunity for the return of the bald headed men from the 1st Adventure, come to clean up the anachronistic technology. They’ll remain silent on whether they had anything to do with the UNIT science pod.
The PCs are left with questions about the events that set this adventure in motion. It would seem that a visit to UNIT is in order, leading to the events of the next adventure. Of course you could always leave that for a later point.
Jamie may volunteer to accompany the PCs, having gained a taste for adventure again. If Susan joined them last adventure this could lead to a very interesting mix of old Doctor Who companions.
If zombies aren’t what you’re looking for in terms of monsters then the UNIT pod could contain an alien race that has now been unleashed. Ice Warriors, Cybermen or Yetis would make a good combination with Jamie.
To continue the idea of rogue Doctor’s Jamie could reveal that the 2nd Doctor often spoke about escaping the watchful eye of the Time Lords and going on the run once again. Shortly before the end of their service, when Jamie was returned to Earth, the 2nd Doctor encountered an older man with a TARDIS of his own. The two had a private conversation and when the Doctor returned he seemed in good spirits.
From the description PCs should realise that the 2nd Doctor had a meeting with the 1st Doctor. What did the two plan? If the Doctor is a PC he has no recollection of the events, presuming they must have been erased when he was exiled to Earth in his 3rd incarnation.
Bigger On The Inside 