Catch aFalling Star

By Shane Lacy Hensley and Robert E. Allen III

The final frontier produces an awful lot oftrash. Some of that trash falls to earth andcauses all kinds of Hell.

The Story So FarA few months back, a meteor fell to earth

at the foot of the Peacemaker Mountains. Afreelance mercenary named Tin Lee washired to drive out to the coordinates and seeif there was anything there. Sometimessatellites and other technological goodies fallfrom the heavens, so the resource-poorRangers scavenge anything and everythingthey can get their hands on.

Tin was paid $100 to check out the fall$50up front and $50 when he returned. He nevercame back, and Ranger Ross and Dallas justassumed he skipped town with the money ormet an untimely end at the fangs of somesavage Banshee-beast. Either way, morepressing business diverted their attention, and

the matter was forgotten.

The Screaming BeginsTen days ago, prospectors in the

Peacemakers began to turnup dead. They had beenripped to

pieces, as if by a T-Rex or someother large predator.

The local law from the nearesttown, Damons Delight, radioed inand claimed they couldnt findwhatever was doing the killing, butthat several well-protected farmshad been wiped out too. This was ajob for the Rangers.

The SetupYou can guess where this

leads. The Rangers hire yourposse to go out and find thepredator. If your groupcontains a Ranger, shesdetailed to the taskand authorized tobring along hercompanions.The bounty onthecreatures

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head is $500.No equipment is provided, but the Rangers

can drop the heroes off at Damons Delightvia helicopter if they dont have vehicles oftheir own.

Now comes that part in the adventurewhere we tell you to change the details ifneeded to get the group to go on the hunt.Figure out what itll take your posse to strapon their big guns and get ready to start thistale smack in the bustling shanty town ofDamons Delight.

Chapter One:Damons Delight

Damons DelightFear Level 2

This small town, located at the edge of thePeacemaker Mountains, is a sparselypopulated place during the week. During theweekends, however, its population swells withminers and other folks from the hills lookingfor a good time. The town was establishedonly a few years ago when a very successfulghost rock miner named Damon Martindecided to retire and live off his wealth andthe continued wealth of other ghost rockminers.

The primary purpose of Damons Delight isentertainment and resupply for the miners.The second, and more important purpose, ofcourse, is to separate the miners from theirmoney.

Theres one important clue the party shouldstumble across here, though at first it wontseem to have any bearing on their particularassignment. The clue is simply that a mercworking for the Rangers came through heretwo months ago and then headed into thePeacemakers to look for an asteroid.

The posse doesnt likely have a radio thatreaches all the way back to Temptation, butMayor Martin has a powerful relay transmitterat his command bunker. If the group contactsthe Rangers about Tin Lee or his mission,they recall only that yes, he was hired tocheck out a meteor strike near here butnever returned.

A Place ToHang Your Stetson

Damons Delight serves as a forward baseof operations for this adventure, so you needto know a little about whats in the town andits major players.

On a weekday, the town is a quiet place.Visitors see people wandering the shantiesbut beyond that, the streets of the town areusually empty. If they mosey in on a weekend,then they are sure to see the several hundredminers who rely on their weekend visits toshrug off the tedium of ghost rock mining.Either way, the heroes need information.

Martins BunkerThe self-appointed leader of the town is

Mayor Damon Martin. He lives in the center oftown in a pre-fabricated mobile commandbunker (not so mobile anymore) he found insome forgotten military cache.

Damon keeps three armed guards aroundhis place in case of real trouble.

Mayor Martin hired a sheriff to keeptrouble to a minimum. His choice was aveteran fighter by the name of Dean Bortnick(see above). Although Mayor Martin owns thetown and is the boss, hes learned thatcrossing Bortnick is more trouble than itsworththe man is an ex-marine and has toomany friends around Banshee. Martin andBortnick mostly ignore each other most of thetime.

Damons Casino and LoungeAmbitiously named by Damon himself, this

large building is the only three-storiedbuilding in town. It hosts games of chance onthe first floor, an extensive bar up the second,and rooms for rent (specializing in hourlyrates) and offices on the third floor. On thetop of the building sits the towns only radiotower, with obvious signs of damage. (Seebelow for details.)

A dancing girl named Sally Strang is oneof the half-dozen or so gals who work here.She did the horizontal tango with Tin Leebefore he set off into the mountains. SheriffBortnick might mention this (see below), orthe group might ask about him at some pointwhile visiting the casino. If so, Sally says thatTin was a bit rough, but not unusually so. Hesaid he was heading into the mountains eastof here to look for a meteor. He knew themountains were full of angry anouks, andwanted one last dance in case somethinghappened to him.

3 Falling StarSheriffs Office & JailThe only dedicated lawman in the area,

Sheriff Dean Bortnick, operates out of hisoffices here. Most times he just sits aroundthe office, reading news bits or watching overthe occasional prisoner in the second-floorcells.

Sheriff Bortnick doesnt like Rangershefought them on several occasions when theirinterests and the UNs crossed paths. He wasdischarged for striking his superior officerand left dirtside for his troubles. That hasntmade Sheriff Bortnick a very happy man.

Fortunately for you, Marshal, this makeshim a great red herring as well. An anti-Ranger sheriff might seem very suspiciousgiven what the posse learns in Chapter Two.

Bortnick says the predator is probably just aband of good-for-nothing savages (anouks).There have been several reports of huntingparties in the local hills lately, and theexcessive damage the victims suffered couldeasily be chalked up to the bite of theirmassive chanouks.

Bortnick is really unhappy withinsinuations that he cant handle thepredator. Thats outside of his jurisdiction.Mayor Martin pays him to protect the town,and thats just what hes done. Ill give adamn about the squatters and bean-busterswhen someone pays me too.

If hes asked about Tin Lee and hasnt beenantagonized too greatly, Bortnick says thatyes, he saw the man come into town. Hebought some stuff from Gerhard, shacked upat the casino for an hour with a local girlnamed Sally Strang, then headed off into thehills to the east.

Doctor StrangDoctor Strang is a young man with a dark

past. Both he and his sister Sally wereReapers for a long time. They both trulybelieved in the cause, and only fled when therecent trouble with Nicolai proved the Reaperswere murdering bastards rather than eco-terrorists.

His real name is Doctor Harvey Mills, but heand his sister now live under the nameStrang. They admit to being brother and sisteris askedthe resemblance is uncannybut sayonly that they traveled a lot before the WorldStorm and their arrival here.

Doctor Mills looked over the few victimsthat were brought in. Most were too grotesqueor dismembered for those who found them totransport and so were left where they lay. Healso traveled out to one of the farms to see

the damage for himself, but Mayor Martinsecretly threatened to shoot him if he riskedhimself like that again (the Mayor needs adoctor in his town).

Strang buried the bodies, but can show theposse pictures on his palmcorder if theyd like.He says the victims were horribly mangled,and suffered both from tight constriction,rending claws, and tissue dissension. That lastpart he says with a stutter. What he reallymeans is that folks were literally pulled apart.

Strang is very nervous around Rangers forobvious reasons, but forgets himself a bitwhen discussing the details of the case. Hisnervousness might lead the group to believethat hes in on something. The fact that hehas a sister in town who just happened tosleep with Tin Lee is also suspicious toveteran roleplayers who arent used to suchconnections, but is actually just a coincidence.

Gerhards StoreA one-story store selling a wide array of

mining supplies at high prices, as well as agood assortment of foodstuffs. Its owned andoperated by Gerhard Martin.

Gerhard is several years younger than hisolder brother, Damon, but the two bear astriking resemblance. Within moments ofspeaking with Gerhard, however, its obviouswho got the brains in the family. Gerhardspeaks slowly and thinks for a moment beforehe answers questions. Investigators mightthink hes trying to hide something, butGerhard just operates slower than most folks.

He has an uncanny memory, and drops onetiny clue that might be important to the grouplater on. When the opportunity presents itself(whenever he hears the word Ranger orsees one), he mentions that another manworking for the Rangers was here a fewmonths back. Read the following when thishappensvery slowly in your best ForrestGump voice.

I like the Rangers. Theyre good topeople. That man two months agowasnt a Ranger, but he said he was. Ithink he just wanted me to give him adiscount, but I told him I couldnt onaccounta my brother dont like that.

His name was Tin. He bought a six-pack of Bubbly Fizz Cola, four RoadToadbrand travel dinners (one with fish andtwo with fried hot moss), and one bag

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of LaCroixs Spicy Cajun trout-flavoredpotato chips. His total was $28.37, andhe paid with a $50.

Reds Beds

Reds Beds is a flophouse, renting cheapand tiny rooms to visiting miners and theirrented companions. The owner is a 42-yearold red-haired Irishman from Earth. Everyonejust calls him Red, and though he drinks andbitches constantly, hes quite happy providingdecent places to sleep for his people.

Shanties

The rest of the buildings in and aroundtown cannot really be described aspermanent. There are currently about fiftycrudely constructed shanty-homes around thecity. The people living there range fromretired miners to desperate families andshady operators, with everything in between.The only commonality between them is theirextreme poverty and desperation.

There are about half again as manyshanties as there were a month ago beforethe killings began. The people are in worseshape than ever because they cant go intothe hills to work for fear.

Should the people find out why the heroesare in town, theyll mob thembegging themto put an end to the creature (whatever it is)so that they can get back to work.

Nothing to See Here,Move Along

Thats really all there is do and learn inDamons Delight. Now its time to head intothe country and eat a lot of peaches.

Bounty

Discovering the story of Tin Lee: 1white chip for everyone

Somehow discovering the true identityof Harvey or Sally Strang: 1 blue chip forthose involved in the discovery.

Chapter Two:Harvest of Blood!Sure thats a melodramatic title, but it just

fits so well.Mayor Martin, Sheriff Bortnick, or even Doc

Strang can all point out the GPS coordinatesof the murder sites. There are two types ofsites, the prospecting camps and the farms.

There are a few clues in common at all thesites.

First, the creature doesnt seem to leavefootprints, though close observation candetect drag marks and occasional bits ofblack goo on rocks or other obstacles in itspath. The tracks cant be easily followedbecause of recent rain and Banshees highwinds.

Second, the creature doesnt seem to eat itsvictims. It certainly takes big chunks out of itsprey, though whether by tooth or by claw isdifficult to discern. If it does eat the missingflesh, it certainly doesnt consume an amountproportionate to its size. In truth, the creaturesimply feeds off the fear, violence, anddestruction it causes.

Prospecting Camps

The prospector camps are uniformly thesame: a jumble of equipment, torn tentssmeared in blood, tools, and the signs ofmany animals (who fed on the corpses beforethe bodies were found). A skeleton can befound at one of the sites as well. Half of itlies on one side of the camp, the rest liesscattered a few dozen yards distant. A casualobserver might believe animals fighting overthe carcass dragged it to this position. A Hard(9) medicine roll tells a different tale. Thebones have been gnawed on, but startedrelatively intact from their current positions.That implies that the body was pulled apartand the two halves flung to their currentposition.

Hoover: The heroes also run across a fewliving miners still lurking in the hills. Theyclaim a party of anouks is responsible for themassacres. One of the miners, a fellow namedHoover, claims he saw the anouks kill hisfriends with his own eyes. He was doing hisbusiness higher up the hill when the anouksattacked. They killed everyone, then usedtheir big beasts to rip the bodies apartsomesort of bizarre, alien ritual, Hoover claims.

In truth, Hoover came back from hisbusiness in time to see the anouk hunting

5 Falling Starparty looking at the remains of the massacre.Hoover hates anouks though, and honestlybelieves they were responsible. He believes alittle embellishment will do some good here ifit clears the anouks out of the hills.

Farms

The McGruder Farm: Two farms havealso been hit. The first is the McGruder farm.Theres a single house here and a barn withtwo dead horses. The horses have suffered thesame wounds as Doc Strang described on thepeople. Fortunately, the family was awaywhen the thing attacked. The father, DanielMcGruder, is currently hunting in the arealooking for the thing while his family waits ata friends house back in Damons Delight.

This is the farm Doctor Strang visited.One important clue can be found here. The

McGruders have an electrical fence aroundtheir property to keep out the local beastsand hostile anouks. Whatever attackedsomehow circumvented the barrier withoutinjury.

Daniel McGruder turned off the fence sothat Doc Strang could investigate, and itremains off at this time, allowing the heroesto enter the half-acre square ranch if theychoose.

An hour or so worth of following thefenceline and a Fair (5) search roll revealsanother clue as well. A dark, gooey substancecovers a section of wire near the backclosest to the mountains. This is some of thecreatures blob-like flesh, torn loose as itoozed through the electrified fencing.

The Hopkins Place: The second farmfamily wasnt so lucky. The Hopkins fence isthe same as the McGruders (and wasbreached as described above), but thecreatures flapping tentacles actually knockedout a transformer and caused live wires towrithe like electric eels. Locals reported thefamily demised three days prior, but no onehas seen fit to enter yet. That makes entry abit of a challenge for the heroes.

Leaping through the torn section of fenceis certainly possible, but risky. It only requiresan Onerous (7) Nimbleness roll (Dexterity DC15), but failure results in a deadly shock of 4d6massive damage. More clever methodsflight,shorting out the system, etcare much safer.Youll have to handle these situations as theyarise, Marshal.

Curiously, the fence is covered with crispycritterssmall predators and scavengers whosmelled the fresh meat inside and got friedon the fence. You can use this to creep the

party out, but the varmints really just wantedan easy meal.

Inside the fences perimeter is quite a mess.The Hopkins were in their mid-fifties with nokids, thank God, but they had a half-dozenhonest-to-goodness milk cows. These now liesprawled about the farm in a disgusting mess,covered with insects, birds, and other smallvermin that could pass through the fencewithout getting electrocuted.

The small, three-room farm house iswrecked as well. The Hopkins seemed to havebarricaded themselves in a back bedroom, butsomething obviously broke through the stuccowall and dragged them out into the yard.Their corpses have mostly been consumed. AHard (9) medicine roll (DC 20) can tell that thebite marks were made by small predators,probably not the beast the group is looking for.

Where Now?

Once the group has visited some of thescenes above, theyll have to figure out whatto do next. The best way of finding thecreature is to put together the story about TinLee and the meteor. They can then radio backto Temptation, get the coordinates for thesight, and go directly to Scene Three.

The second way to find the creature is tobe a real pain in the tuckas about followingthe tracks. In general, Banshees harshenvironment has wiped out the horrors trail,but a persistent character could crawl alongon his hands and knees looking for dropletsof viscous goo on the obstacles in its path.This sets a crawling paceabout 2 miles perhour with a successful Fair (5) trackin roll(DC 10) every hour, but does get them there tothe big finale.

Finally, the heroes can do the wholetriangulation bit. That narrows the search toabout a 10 mile square area. A little footwork,aerial spotting, or circular patterning can thenlead them straight to the end of this twistedlittle tale.

When one of the above happens, move onto Chapter Three.

Bounty

Each clue found: one white chip to theinvestigator.

Getting the truth out of Hoover: one redchip to whoever forces the truth out.

6 Falling Star

Chapter Three:The Hunt

The beast has slain both humans andanouks alike, but the takalas arent ones tosit and wait for someone else to solve theirproblems. Theyve assembled a hunting partyof six warriors and a shaman to find thecreature and put it down.

When the party heads into the hills to findthe things lair, they first run across theseveteran hunters.

What happens next depends on howtrigger-happy your group is. The anouks arentparticularly friendly toward humans, and onlyone of them speaks any English at all, so theodds are pretty good that tempers will flareand Banshee will get another healthywatering of blood.

If cooler heads prevail, however, the anoukscan share some very interesting informationwith the posse. First, they know the creatureis not of Banshee. The creature was born of ablack rock from space that is neither tannisnor ghost rock. The planet thinks of the thingas a kind of parasite, and wants it dead.

Second, the creature cannot be killed bynormal weapons. The anouks fought it oncealready when it rampaged through theirvillage. Unlike the stupid humans, anouksknow to run when they cannot win, andmanaged an escape. But neither the strongestwarrior nor the most skilled shaman couldmake a dent in the thing. If the anouks arehandled properly, they may share theirassumption that destroying the rock willdestroy the creatureor at least make itmortal.

The anouks dont know where the rock isyet, but they claim Banshee has led them tothe mountains. The closer they get to therock, however, the less contact they seem tohave with the planet.

Assuming some parleying goes down, areally cool character might be able to talk theanouks into a temporary alliance. Thisrequires at least a raise on a persuasion roll(opposed Diplomacy rolls, anouks have a +4circumstance bonus to the roll due to theirhatred of humans in the Peacemakers).

Deadlands Profile: AnoukWarrior

Corporeal: D:3d6, N:3d8, S:3d12, Q:2d8, V:3d8

Climbin 4d8, dodge 4d8, fightin: brawlin,chakatl 5d8, ridin: chanouk 5d8, shootin:rifle 3d6, sneak 5d8, throwin: balanced 4d8

Mental: C:2d8, K:3d6, M:2d8, Sm:3d6, Sp:3d8Bluff 2d8, guts 3d8, language: Anouk 2d6,

leadership 3d8, overawe 4d8, ridicule 3d6,scrutinize 2d8, search 4d8, trackin 4d8,survival: (native area) 4d8

Edges: Tannis sense 1, race: anoukHindrances: NoneWind: 16Pace: 8Size: 8Special Abilities:

Strain: 8Weapon charging: The anouk warrior can

charge his weapons and armor asdescribed in Chapter 3.

Gear: Anouk (AV2), chakatl, 3 ataxes,chanouk with chaknik.

Description: Anouk warriors are membersof a proud warrior culture.

D20 Profile: Anouk WarriorAnouk Warrior: CR2, Medium-size Anouk,

Class: Awr 2, hp 18, Init +1, Spd 30 ft., AC 16(+1 Dex, +5 Armor), Atk Chakatl +5, atax +3,AL CN, SV Fort +4, Ref +1, Will +0, Str 14,Dex 12, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 10

Skills and Feats: Climb +5, Hide +4, Search +3,Spot +3, Survival +3; Exotic WeaponProficiency (atax), Martial WeaponProficiency (chakatl), Power Attack, TannisSense, Simple Weapon Proficiency, WeaponFocus (chakatl)

Special Qualities: Energy weapon, Strain: 8Possessions: Chakatl, 3 ataxes, chanouk with

chaknik, aknouk

Deadlands Profile: AnoukShamanCorporeal: D:3d6, N:3d6, S:3d10, Q:2d8, V:3d6Climbin 3d6, dodge 2d6, fightin: brawlin,

kanil 3d6, ridin: chanouk 3d6, sneak 2d6,throwin: balanced 2d6

Mental: C:2d8, K:3d8, M:2d8, Sm:3d8, Sp:3d10Academia: occult 2d8, academia: anouk history

4d8, guts 3d10, energy tap 4d8, language:Anouk 2d8, leadership 3d8, overawe 4d8,scrutinize 4d8, search 3d8, trackin 2d8,survival: (native area) 3d8

Edges: Arcane background: anouk shaman,tannis sense 3, race: anouk

Hindrances: NoneWind: 16Pace: 6Size: 8Special Abilities:

Strain: 10

7 Falling StarFavors: Banshees pain, heal, guiding windWeapon charging: The anouk shaman

can charge her weapons and armor asdescribed in Chapter 3.

Gear: Ceremonial robes, kanilDescription: Anouk shamans are the healers

and sages of their clans.

D20 Profile: Anouk ShamanAnouk Shaman: CR2, Medium-size Anouk,

Class: Ash 2, hp 14, Init +1, Spd 30 ft., AC 11(+1 Dex), Atk Kanil +2, AL N, SV Fort +4,Ref +1, Will +4, Str 12, Dex 12, Con 12, Int 10,Wis 14, Cha 10

Skills and Feats: Concentration +5, Energy Tap+6, Heal +6, Spot +6, Wilderness Lore +6;Extra Strain, Tannis Sense, Simple WeaponProficiency

Special Qualities:Energy weaponStrain: 21Favors: Banshees pain, cure light wounds,

entropic shield, lightPossessions: Ceremonial robes, kanil

The Landing SiteIts time to get to the gooey black meat of

the matter. Of course its best if you wait untilnight to let the group to find the thing, but ofcourse it really depends on your individualsituation.

The partys first clue that theyre close isTin Lees jeep. The creature smashed it in itsconfused rage, and it now lies in a brokenheap a hundred yards due south of themeteor, just below a small hill. Its covered inblack goo, though a thirsty adventurer can digout a few intact cans of Bubbly Fizz cola.

Between two small hills a few hundred feetup one of the Peacemakers many unnamedmountains is a black pool roughly 20 indiameter. In truth, this is the rocks crater. Thepool is the blob-like creature itself, lyingdormant until it feels the need to feed again(or senses intruders).

The thing is one tough mother to put down,but it actually can be harmed by normalweapons. Of course the absolute best thing todo is lure it away from the pit and thendestroy the chunk of rock in the crater. Doingthat takes away the creatures high damageresistance so that it can be put down moreeasily (though its still quite a challenge).

The rock requires 30 point of damage todestroy in classic Deadlands, and has anarmor value of 4.

In D20, the stone is hardness 8, hp 90,Break DC 35.

Deadlands Profile: Dark Beast(Tentacle Horror)Corporeal: D:3d10, N:2d6, S:5d12+2, Q:2d10,

V:3d8Dodge 4d6, fightin: brawlin 5d6, sneak 3d10Mental: C:2d6, K:1d4, M:2d6, Sm:1d6, Sp:2d6Search 2d6Pace: 6Size: 12Special Abilities:

Armor: 12. Once the meteor is destroyed,the creatures armor becomes 0.

FearlessTentacles: The creature can attack up to

six targets in one round with itstentacles. If it hits with a raise, it hasautomatically grappled. On its next action,it tries to snap its prey in two with anopposed roll of its Strength versus thetargets Strength or Vigor (victims choice).With success, it causes normal Strengthdamage. With a raise, it snaps the victimin two, killing him instantly.

Viscous Body: The creature takes halfdamage (round down) from physicalattacks.

Description: The beast looks like a giantblack blob which oozes forth up to adozen independent tentacles.

Dark Beast (Tentacle Horror)

Large AberrationHit Dice: 6d8+2 (33 hp)Initiative: +0Speed: 30ft.AC: 17 (-1 Size, +8 Natural)Attacks: 6 tentacle rakes; +3 meleeDamage: Tentacle rake 1d6Face/Reach: 5 ft. by 5 ft./10 ft. (15 ft. with

tentacle)Special Attacks: Improved grab, ripSpecial Qualities: Damage Reduction 20/+1Saves: Fort +3, Ref +2, Will +6Abilities: Str 11, Dex 10, Con 13, Int 5, Wis 12,

Cha 6Skills: Hide +5, Listen +6, Spot +9Feats: AlertnessClimate/Terrain: Must stay within five

miles of a chunk of Dark stoneOrganization: SolitaryChallenge Rating: 4Treasure: NoneAlignment: Neutral EvilAdvancement: 7-8 HD (Large); 9-15 HD (Huge)

CombatDamage Reduction: The creature has

Damage Reduction 10/+1 as long as themeteor is intact. Once it is destroyed, thisability no longer applies.

Improved Grab (Ex): If the beast hits aMedium-size or smaller creature with atentacle attack by +4 or more, it mayimmediately attempt a rip (see below).

Rip: A successful grapple (via ImprovedGrab) allows the beast to attempt itsnotorious rip maneuver. The victim mustmake an opposed roll of his Constitutionversus the creatures Strength. If the creaturewins, the victim takes damage a second time.If the creature wins by +4 or more points, thevictim is pulled in half and dies instantly.

Viscous Body: The creature takes halfdamage (round down) from physical attacks.

Aftermath

Assuming the heroes live, the local miners,and even the local anouks are much friendlierto the posse in the future. Theyve won oversome allies that may prove quite valuable inthe deadly days the shamans say are comingto Banshee. But thats another tale

Bounty

Avoiding a fight with the Takalahunting party: 1 red chip each.

Defeating the beast and destroying thestone: 1 blue chip each.

Deadlands created by Shane LacyHensley

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