Bath Imaginable

For a great one-shot all I really need are three things: (1) a compelling hook, (2) an open-ended problem with no obvious solution, and (3) lots of danger on all sides of the player characters. Bonus points if it all fits on one page.

The gold standard is Moonbase Blues, which manages to meet all of my criteria. Here’s the pitch: the characters (space truckers) wake up on an unfamiliar moon base with (1) no memory of their arrival, (2) no obvious way to get off of the moon, and (3) a number of eerie astronomy enthusiasts eager for them to stick around and see what’s coming over the horizon in a couple of hours (no spoilers).

It even fits on single, double-sided piece of paper.

It was such a great hook I decided to steal it for my own one-shot adventure for Into the Odd.

This was my second time playing Into the Odd, and when I ran the Iron Coral before I walked away loving the rules but feeling as though the monsters went down too fast to be impactful.

I made a note to focus on making more threatening monsters for my sophomore outing.

“I like one-shotting, I don’t like getting one-shot.”
– a PC, ripped apart by astral cultists

So, these new characters are heading to Hopesend after hearing about the Iron Coral and hearing about the gold and Arcana inside. They secured passage from Bastion on the Fogburner, an eccentric engineer’s icebreaker. Despite noticing suspicious workers loading a large crate, they have an uneventful first night drifting away from the smog-shrouded city.

We cut to the characters waking up barricaded within the Captain’s Quarters of the Fogburner with no memory of their journey so far. Carved into the wall (in familiar handwriting, perhaps one of their own): “Escape before you forget again!”

The Fogburner is trapped in ice, adrift amidst the Polar Ocean. It has been for months.

So yeah, I stole the concept from Moonbase Blues. But I also stole the setting from the Terror (Season 1) and all the proper nouns from a Cairn adventure I had hoped to run but never found the chance to (the Crypts of Crimson Ice). I even stole the name of a local coffee roast for the titular ship.

I tend to steal the parts of my game prep I don’t enjoy so I can focus my creative energy on the parts I do enjoy prepping. It’s why I prefer to run pre-published adventures most of the time (that, and because there’s something about it all being written down in a book elsewhere that makes it easier for me to believe in).

Below you can see my notes for this adventure (they all fit on one double-sided page, by the way).

In the end, the characters sacrificed themselves to destroy Father Ixtab and end the cycle of forgetting, but only one of them managed to survive and finish his journey to Hopesend.

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The Strong Start
The characters wake up barricaded within the Captain’s Quarters (1) with no memory of their journey so far. Carved into the wall (in familiar handwriting): “Escape before you forget again!” The Fogburner is trapped in ice, adrift amidst the Polar Ocean.

1. Captain’s Quarters. Cold and tilted. Dim light filtered through opaque, frozen windows. The room contains a bed, wardrobe, and desk. The door is barricaded from inside.
   *Wardrobe. Captain’s uniform (jacket and hat).
   *Desk. Log detailing uneventful journey for two weeks before crew becomes unreliable, equipment starts to fail, and passengers disappear. Manifest details typical cargo from Bastion (rifles, ammunition, antiquities, pornography) and an iron crate labelled “Ixtab.”
2. Control Room. Snow drifts beneath shattered windows. Blowing snow swirls around a navigation log left face down open on the tilted floor. Mapping equipment, engine controls, and chronometer are all frozen but otherwise appear undamaged.
   *Navigation Log. The Fogburner took an erratic course. Among the logs are astronomical charts focusing on unfamiliar constellations.
   *Mapping equipment. The Fogburner is far north from Hopesend, deep in the Polar Ocean.
   *Engine controls. Frozen solid. The engine will need to warm up before these controls will work again.
   *Chronometer. Running slightly out of sync. Apparently, it’s been three months since the ship’s departure.
3. Observation Deck. Polar winds howl across the crooked observation deck, its metal surface now a treacherous ascent. From the top, you glimpse your surroundings through the flurries (map). There’s something half-buried in the snow, and red symbols on the guardrail.
   *Something half-buried. A sextant and Arcana (p. 20)
   *Symbols. Strange runes painted in frozen blood.
4. Bow. View of frozen ice choppers below and the ocean beyond. It’s early spring. The ice is beginning to thaw.
   *Ice choppers. Covered in a thick layer of ice and snow (one could scale down the exterior hull to access 9).
5. Stern. Large chunks of ice press tightly against the hull. A trail in the distance leads to the mouth of a dark cave. Frozen steps lead to the lower decks (to 6), and lifeboats are uncovered and filled with snow and frozen bodies.
   *Frozen bodies. d4 frozen husks among the dead!
6. Hold. Warped, crooked floors. Echoing walls. Piles of pilfered cargo. A large iron crate labelled “Ixtab” radiates an unnatural cold.
   *Pilfered Cargo. Luck roll to find equipment (p. 12).
   *Ixtab. Filled with solid ice. Something has been carved out from its centre, leaving a gaping hole. An Arcana (p. 20) has been left inside among shards of ice. An ice swarm attacks if the Arcana is taken!
7. Engines. A slanted, frozen labyrinth of seized pistons and fractured gauges. Someone has carved into the walls: “Trust no one, defend the engines.” Harsh whispers echo across the metal.
   *Harsh whispers. The Captain brandishes a flamethrower and a pistol to keep outsiders away from the engines.
8. Crew Quarters. A network of tilted halls and frozen, ransacked quarters. A frightened passenger raids the kitchen.
   *Ransacked quarters. Check for a wandering encounter. Luck roll for Arcana (p. 20).
9. Ice Chopper Control Room. A small cave of ice and snow. Light filters in through the gaps between the frozen ice choppers. There’s something crawling in the shadows.
   *Shadows. The Engineer lurks in the shadows. He holds an Arcana (p. 20).
10. Ice Cave. *DEX Save while crossing the ice or foot plunges into the frigid water (d4 DEX damage). A dimly lit cave hollowed from the ice. A faint blue glow emanates from within.
    *Blue glow. Father Ixtab is frozen in solid ice (no limbs, frostbitten and decrepit). His eyes flicker with intelligence. He is guarded by d6 rime-skinned zealots driven to prove their devotion. Ixtab demands to be worshipped (communicates telepathically).

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Secrets and Clues
Details to be handed out as a reward for discovery. From the Captain’s logs, the characters’ own notes in crew quarters (8), other frightened passengers, newspaper clippings, etc.

❐ The crew of the Fogburner were infiltrated by members of an astral cult known as “the Children of Chalkuk.”

❐ Among the cargo from Bastion is an iron crate labelled “Ixtab.” The passengers report hearing whispers from it in the night.

❐ The passengers and crew report “lost time” and vivid dreams. Some have gone missing (presumably fallen overboard).

❐ “Ixtab” is the name of a man rescued years ago from the Polar Ocean. 

❐ Ixtab is a Priest of Chalkuk the Fallen Rime (an entity worshipped by astral cultists). Ice fallen from the stars.

❐ Ixtab spent his life searching for Chalkuk in the Polar Ocean. He has been gifted with psionic powers.

❐ Ixtab and his followers hijacked the Fogburner to find a frozen temple somewhere north of Hopesend.

❐ Each night when the characters sleep, their memories are erased by Ixtab’s psionic influence.

❐ The Children of Chalkuk have been mutated by the cold and Ixtab’s psionic resonance.

❐ The Captain sabotaged the engines to prevent the cultists from reaching their frozen temple.

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Wandering Encounters (d6)
Roll d6, 1 = Encounter, 2 = Hint at Encounter

(1) Frightened passenger. Driven to find resources.
HP 4 | Pistol (d6) or Club (d6)

(2) Rime-skinned Zealot. Driven to serve Father Ixtab.
HP 8 | STR 12 | DEX 6 | WIL 8
Claws (d8) or Icicle Spray (d4, Blast)
*Frozen Solid! Advantage on Critical Damage Saves.

(3) Frozen Husk. Driven to sap life from the living.
HP 2 | STR 6 | DEX 4 | WIL 8
Frozen Grip (d4 DEX damage) or Death Shatter (d6, Blast)*
* Explodes! Frozen Husk is destroyed.

(4) Ice Swarm. Driven to inflict pain on the unworthy.
HP 8 | STR 4 | DEX 12 | WIL 2
Slice (d6)
*Swarm! Can attack up to three targets.

(5) Psionic Cultist. Driven to bring nonbelievers to Ixtab.
HP 4 | STR 8 | DEX 12 | WIL 12
Psychic Sap (d4 WIL damage) or Pistol (d6)

(6) The Engineer. Driven to preserve his creation forever.
Armour 2 | HP 12 | STR 8 | DEX 12 | WIL 8
Grab and Bite (d10) or Strangle (STR Save or Broken Neck)
*Sticky! Can crawl on walls and ceilings.

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The Captain. Driven to defend the engines.
HP 12 | STR 12 | DEX 8 | WIL 8
Pistol (d6) and Flamethrower (d10, Blast)*
*Immolated on Critical Damage!
*Driven! Advantage on Critical Damage Saves