Collateral Damage

Pipe Bomb-Stuffed Chicken Left On Road

I think that headline really says it all . . .

In any event, this seems like an attempt by the PCs to get a horrible monster to swallow the explosives filled bait. In particular since this was in Conn, I'm envisioning some sort or Cthulhoid menace.

Of course, dynamite is the only way to be sure you get some of the larger monsters. However, that this was left over says that possibly the monster was too smart to take this bait.

What if the monster only eats humans? Will the PCs take their good idea (blow the critter up from the inside) to it's logical conclusion? And who gets the explosives strapped to them? The local cultist? A heroic PC? An animated corpse from the local morgue?

Dragon Fight!

Divers battled Komodo dragon before rescue

This sounds like a random encounter gone awry! "What do you mean we see a komodo dragon?"

OR, these gentlemen could be friends of the PCs, who ask their friends to investigate the lizards attacking their community. Are the komodo dragons in service to a tribe of Kobolds who are scouting the area for the liege dragon to move in?

Divine Intervention?

Indian school names monkey god chairman

While this is just a slightly whacky little story, it makes me wonder about a game that had gods getting directly involved in more mundane aspects of mortal life.

While Dr. Mercury would be great, I think Chief of Police Ares might be wee bit too strict and prone to violence!

The only way to be sure . . . . .

. . .is to nuke them from orbit!

A laser guided bomb misses by more than two miles? Sounds like a cover story to me! What kind of creature could be so terrible that the PCs needed to call in an airstrike?

Talk about annoying kids on a flight . . ..

Man Says Pilot Made Him Sit On Toilet.

This strikes me as a cover story for PC actions. Here's what I envision:

The PCs find out that the big bad creature they just killed had infested a normal person with its spawn. Once they hatch they'll kill all the normals around the host. And to top it off, they track the host onto a commercial air flight.

How will the PCs save the normals without exposing them to the terrors beyond the ken of man?

This doesn't translate as well in a fantasy setting, simply because the claustrophobic setting is part of the tension, but this could be set in a 'locked in the castle during a masked ball' scenario. So the host needs to be stopped to save the guests AND the royals. Hm m m m. . .I LIKE that! =)

Fire Engulfs UW-Madison Fraternity House

Fire Engulfs UW-Madison Fraternity House.

I envision a hazing ritual gone wrong and actually summoning a demon or other destructive spirit. Of course, since the ritual never worked before their circle of containment has gotten sloppy over time . . .

In a fantasy world: imagine rather than a fraternity, I imagine student organizations for aspiring wizards housed near the guild. An ambitious young student gets hold of an advanced summoning text with disasterous results.

In any case, the PCs are invited to the site of the fire and have to track down whatever it is that escaped in the fire.

Slum Lord Lightning?

Kitchen Fire Damages Madison Apartment Building.

So, a kitchen fire isn't all that unusual, especially with college students involved, but what if it WAS something more sinister? It could be:
1) an uncontrolled pyrokinetic almost burned down the building in a fit of anger. The PCs need to find them before anyone gets killed.

2) An unscrupulous landlord, and part-time occultist, is trying to cash in on his insurance and clear the land for redevelopment by summoning fire spirits to the building. The PCs are brought in by a friend who was at the building and saw a 'face in the flames.'

3) The foolish college students attempted to summon a dark power in the kitchen . .and that always works out well . . .

So, how would we see this in a fantasy campaign? Well, rather than a low-rent apartment, the scene changes to a slum in the bad part of town where ramshackle housing leans willy-nilly awaiting but a match to destroy countless lives.

1) An agent of a power opposed to the City is trying to burn the city, starting with seeming accidents, but his efforts will slowly escalte until he succeeds or is stopped.

2) An old-timey landlord wants to burn down the slum because he knows the city wants to build new buildings, but is having problems finding space inside the walls. Can the PCs stop this before there's a tragedy?

3) A salamander has taken up residence beneath the city and is unintentionally going to burn down the city, unless banished back to the Elemental Plane of Fire.