Bad Day at the Lab A Weird Science Adventure for the Fudge Roleplaying Game by Steffan O'Sullivan

Original Editing and Map by Ann Dupuis

Character Creation by Ann Dupuis, Paul Dupuis, and Steffan O'Sullivan Copyright ©2000 by Grey Ghost Press, Inc. This article is also available in PDF form, ready to print, with a rules summary appendix for newcomers to Fudge. Introduction "Bad Day at the Lab" is a "Weird Science" adventure for the Fudge roleplaying game. It's set in the modern day, with some implausible twists.... The characters in "Bad Day at the Lab" are working on a thought-transference gadget. They don't realize they've been successful until they wake up in the body of lab animals (spider monkeys and lab rats). Someone has used their thought-transference gadget on them! The adventure takes about two hours to run. If the players have never played Fudge before, a five-minute explanation of how action resolution works should be sufficient. As Game Master, you should read this entire adventure before running it. It may be best to start with the character sheets and the introductory text included with each character, found further below. Beginning the Game Hand out the character sheets, with the stats on one side and the introductory text on the other. Ask the players not to look at the back of the character sheet or show their characters to each other or discuss their roles. Have the players write down names for their characters, but not say them out loud. Go around and take their names silently, writing them down. Any of the characters can be male or female, except the Colonel should really be male due to his experience in Viet Nam. Once the players have named their characters and familiarized themselves with the character sheet, let them read the introductory information on the back of the sheet. (If you plan to provide these pages separately, hand them out now. The Director and the Colonel get specific monkey handouts, and the other characters get random rats.) Ask the players to read these sheets in silence. The scenario starts with the characters waking up in the bodies of lab animals. They are two to a cage: a pair of rats, another pair of rats, and a pair of small spider monkeys. The first part of the adventure, half an hour to an hour or longer, should be a challenge to role-play correctly. The players shouldn't talk to one another. They may talk to you as the GM, of course, but not to each other. There are an additional pair of monkeys and pair of rats in the room in separate cages which have not been involved in this morning's experiment - they're still normal animals. In the beginning, the players won't know if the other animal in the cage with them is a normal animal or contains a human consciousness. The human consciousness animals are caged together, in pairs, though - the normal animals are separate. (If there are an odd number of players, put three PCs in one cage.) Until the players figure out who is where, they shouldn't interact directly with one another. You should act as a filter for player actions until it's clear that this player is in that lab animal's body.... After a while, the players will figure out that they're sharing a cage with another human, and begin to plot to escape. At this point, you can have them gesturing directly to each other - but no talking except to the GM. Players can gesture, squeak, and hoot at one another in an attempt to communicate, but shouldn't use spoken words. Some will say things like, "I gesture to pull the lever..." at which point you can gently interrupt them and say "Don't tell me, just do it, and show the other person in your cage!" Player Characters There are six player characters provided for "Bad Day at the Lab". See the PC summary and the character sheets below for more information. The Plot Sean O'Reilly, aka John Smith, is one of the IRA's top strategists. He met the late John Smith at a bar, and heard about the project through Mr. Smith's bragging that he was about to be transferred to work on the gadget. Sean decided it would be perfect: transfer the consciousness of an IRA fanatic into a monkey's body, and have him carry bombs into British government agencies! So he assumed John Smith's identity, infiltrated the Institute, and finally felt ready to test the mechanism - on the staff of the PSI. The Colonel showed up for an annual inspection in the middle of the first transfers, so had to be included in the experiment. Most of the thugs are ignorant of what's going on, and probably wouldn't believe that human minds are in animal bodies, anyway. The head thug knows about the experiment, but is dubious, and hasn't told the others because he's embarrassed to discuss such foolishness. But he'll do what Sean O'Reilly says. All the IRA thugs have thick Irish accents and talk lovingly about the IRA (note the Colonel's Intolerance Fault and encourage the player to roleplay it). "John Smith" has no accent - Sean has been in the USA for many years. As the game opens, Sean O'Reilly doesn't really know if the experiment has worked or not - though the PCs don't know that. Yesterday, the PSI staff tried transferring a monkey's consciousness into a rat's body, and think it worked - hard to tell, though, as the poor animals were still fairly woozy from drugs by the end of the day. Sean O'Reilly thought it worked well enough to try it today with humans. Non-Player Characters John Smith - at least that's what his driver's license says. Actually Sean O'Reilly, on the most-wanted list in three countries, an IRA terrorist who killed the real John Smith and took over his position. He's attached to the PSI as a "Psychology and biology research associate," but hasn't done much research. He has watched the work and asked a lot of questions, though. The Biomedical Engineer, Technician, and Grad Student all hold him in contempt, wondering how he got his credentials in psychology and biology, since he seems very ignorant of both sciences. The Corporal holds him in contempt, too, but no more so than the rest of the staff. The Director thinks John Smith is brilliant because John Smith is brilliant - at buttering up the Director, that is. Thus he's been able to retain his job. Attributes Reason Fair Willpower Good Perception Great Agility Great Strength Good Fitness Great Skills Con Artist Superb Electronics Fair Demolition Good Combat Superb Others as needed IRA Thugs - as many as needed (at least four). More can come into the building if those inside get mopped up too easily. If not, then there aren't any more outside. Simple, eh? Attributes Reason Terrible to Poor Strength Good to Superb Fitness Great Skills Combat Good to Superb Running the Adventure The PCs wake up when there are no humans in the room (see map at the bottom of this article). If the players move too fast, remind them that their characters are still groggy, and have an IRA thug poke his head in to check their status. He's been told to see if the animals are awake yet. (They probably assume he knows they're really human.) On the other paw, if they're taking a lot of time getting out of the cages, don't interrupt them! The cages are standard lab cages, which they should be able to figure out how to get out of. Require some teamwork and Strength rolls, however. Reward clever ways of opening cages with success, but have them roll the dice first. Once the characters are out, what they do is up to the players. The room has various bottles on shelves around the walls. The players will probably ask what's there; you can make it up on the spot. The characters may let the other animals out of the cages as a diversion - fine. The ceiling is not a hung ceiling - no easy escape that way. There are tables and chairs, and things to get behind. The rats can go through a hole in the wall, but the monkeys won't fit. In the Transfer Room across the hall are their human bodies - anesthetized. This room is guarded by at least one Thug, who doesn't know the bodies contain the consciousnesses of rats and monkeys. The thought-transference gadget is next door. The offices have computers with modems, should the players think of that. You may place the Thugs in the offices or elsewhere. Sean O'Reilley is in the Biomedical Engineer's office, going through the files on the computer, trying to learn as much as he can about the gadget. The Director has a pistol in his desk drawer that only the he/she knows about - tell the player secretly. Of course, he/she has never fired it and has no pistol skill (default: Poor), and the recoil would knock him/her back seriously while a monkey... but no need to mention that last fact. The goal is for the PCs to get back into their bodies, of course, and alert the authorities. It should be a bit of a romp. Let them make monkeys out of the thugs, figuratively speaking, but keep the PCs on the go so much (being chased, mostly) that it's not easy just to use the modems to call for help. Let them try various bottles of acid and ether and janitorial lye and whatever else they want. The Technician can operate the gadget no problem - the Grad Student is the next best at it, though the Biomedical Engineer would disagree with that statement. Figuring out who the Technician is may be difficult, though, if they're role-playing properly. The others have no clue how to work it. If they ask who works in the office, pull them aside separately. Only the Director knows the Colonel was due for a visit that day (the director is secretive, the better to keep power over the others), so the other four won't be able to figure out why there are six of them when you tell them about the five staff members plus John Smith. (don't use the name Sean O'Reilly with the players, although the thugs call him Sean). So there will be an unknown element as far as they're concerned. The Corporal doesn't even know the Colonel was coming. (If the Colonel gestures orders that the others don't obey, the Colonel should be very angry - especially if he figures out who the Corporal is!) The Colonel has no idea how many people are in the office and what they do. All he knows is that there is a Director, an MP guard, and assumes there must be at least one secretary and one scientist. He knows of no other roles, and doesn't know John Smith. Director's Character Sheet Character Name Player Name Character Description and Notes You are the Director of the Psychic Studies Institute (PSI). You're not very knowledgeable about what it is the scientists do there, but you know how to keep them toeing the line. You tend to be suspicious of anything you don't understand, and unfortunately, that's a lot.... Fudge Trait Values EP Superb +3 8 Great +2 4 Good +1 2 Fair 0 1 Mediocre -1 1 Poor -2 1 EP = Raising skills with EPs. Most skills begin at Poor. Attributes default to Fair. Fudge Points 1 EPs 0 Wounds 1-2 3-4 5-6 7-8 9+ [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] Scratch Hurt (-1) Very Hurt (-2) Incapacitated Near Death Attributes Reason Fair Willpower Mediocre Perception Superb Agility Fair Strength Fair Fitness Good Gifts Good sense of peoples' weak points. Excellent memory Faults Paranoid Petty Jealous of anyone who gets more praise or credit than you Skills Paper-pushing Great Penny-pinching Great Boot-licking Great Intimidating Great Interviewing Good Etiquette Great Oratory Fair Leadership Mediocre Fast Talk Good Law Fair Computer use Mediocre All combat skills Poor Most physical skills Mediocre Sciences Poor Opening Scene Director: You wake up feeling very ill and very disoriented. You must be hung over, is your first thought, and your second is that you must have been drugged. You can't place where you are - your head hurts too much to open your eyes. The last thing you remember is coming to work this morning, at the thought-transfer project laboratory. You suddenly notice that unknown smells are assaulting your nose with great intensity. You hear two voices talking as if through a great wad of cotton. You begin to pick out words, then sentences. One of the voices sounds familiar - it's saying, "Yes, that's them all right. I think the experiment worked, though we won't know for sure until they wake up." The other voice has a thick Irish accent, and replies, "How long do you think that'll be, Sean? We can't risk staying here all day, you know. Somebody else might show up, or that there officer might be missed." The first voice - you place it now, it's one of your underlings named John Smith, a nice man who treats you with the respect you deserve - says, "I don't know how long before the anesthesia wears off. Let's check on them every fifteen minutes." With that, you hear the voices fade away and a door close. You finally get the courage to open your eyes and you immediately become even more disoriented. First, the world is in black and white - but it somehow seems almost normal. Second, you seem to be staring out at a laboratory through a cage door. Third, there seems to be a hairy - to the point of furry - arm, or foreleg, or whatever, lying under your head, sticking out! You start up suddenly, and realize the furry foreleg is your own. Your consciousness is in the body of a spider monkey! There is another monkey in the cage, you notice, and it's eyeing you with curiosity, fear, and suspicion. Your attributes while a monkey are: Attributes Reason Fair Willpower Mediocre Perception Superb Agility Good Strength Superb (Scale -7) Fitness Fair Technician's Character Sheet Character Name Player Name Character Description and Notes You are the Technician at Psychic Studies Institute (PSI). Your job is to construct the gadget which the biomedical engineer invents. Since you obviously know more about electronics, it's mostly your design - or so you tell yourself when that pompous so-and-so isn't around. In fact, you've snuck a few suprises into the gadget that only you know of.... Fudge Trait Values EP Superb +3 8 Great +2 4 Good +1 2 Fair 0 1 Mediocre -1 1 Poor -2 1 EP = Raising skills with EPs. Most skills begin at Poor. Attributes default to Fair. Fudge Points 1 EPs 0 Wounds 1-2 3-4 5-6 7-8 9+ [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] Scratch Hurt (-1) Very Hurt (-2) Incapacitated Near Death Attributes Reason Good Willpower Poor Perception Good Agility Good Strength Good Fitness Good Gifts Tolerance to electric shocks Faults Anal retentive - Things must be neat, tidy, and in their correct place at all times. Unluckiness Skills Electrical Engineering Superb Electronics Superb Computer Programming Good Computer Use Superb Biological Sciences Good Hard Sciences Great Bicycling Great Hiking Great Gadgeteering Good Opening Scene Technician: You wake up feeling very ill and very disoriented. You must be hung over, is your first thought, and your second is that you must have been drugged. You can't place where you are - your head hurts too much to open your eyes. The last thing you remember is coming to work this morning, at the thought-transfer project laboratory. You suddenly notice that unknown smells are assaulting your nose with great intensity. You hear two voices talking as though through a great wad of cotton. You begin to pick out words, then sentences. One of the voices sounds familiar - it's saying, "Yes, that's them all right. I think the experiment worked, though we won't know for sure until they wake up." The other voice has a thick Irish accent, and replies, "How long do you think that'll be, Sean? We can't risk staying here all day, you know. Somebody else might show up, or that there officer might be missed." The first voice - you place it now, it's a coworker named John Smith - says, "I don't know how long before the anesthesia wears off. Let's check on them every fifteen minutes." With that, you hear the voices fade away and a door close. Your lip curls at the thought of Smith. Such a brown-noser, and almost as incompetent as the Director. You finally get the courage to open your eyes and you immediately become even more disoriented. First, the world is in black and white - but it somehow seems almost normal. Second, you seem to be staring out at a laboratory through a cage door. Third, there seems to be a hairy - to the point of furry - arm, or foreleg, or whatever, lying under your head, sticking out! You start up suddenly, and realize the furry foreleg is your own. Your consciousness is in the body of a laboratory rat. There is another rat in the cage, you now notice, and it's eyeing you with curiosity, fear, and suspicion. Your attributes while a rat are: Attributes Reason (Same as before) Willpower (Same as before) Perception (Same as before) Agility Superb Strength Good (Scale -8) Fitness Good Corporal's Character Sheet Character Name Player Name Character Description and Notes You are a Corporal in the army - you're in the Military Police, actually. Your job is to guard this high security lab, PSI, whatever that stands for. You're rather bored with the whole thing, and most of the people here are jerks, so you're hoping to be transferred to Germany where the beer is good, at least. You've gotten a bit lax in your duties.... Fudge Trait Values EP Superb +3 8 Great +2 4 Good +1 2 Fair 0 1 Mediocre -1 1 Poor -2 1 EP = Raising skills with EPs. Most skills begin at Poor. Attributes default to Fair. Fudge Points 1 EPs 0 Wounds 1-2 3-4 5-6 7-8 9+ [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] Scratch Hurt (-1) Very Hurt (-2) Incapacitated Near Death Attributes Reason Mediocre Willpower Fair Perception Good Agility Superb Strength Great Fitness Superb Gifts Combat Reflexes High Pain Threshold (wound penalties reduced by 1 level) Faults Duty to the US Government Intolerance: Fanatic hatred of the IRA (your fiancee was killed by an IRA bomb in London) On the road to alcoholism, though still a few years away from needing a liver transplant. Skills Guns Great Unarmed Combat Great Drinking Superb Look and Act Mean Superb Shirk Duty Great Make Excuses Good Shift Blame Great Sports Trivia Great Athletic Skills Good Science Poor Academic Stuff Poor Security Systems Operation Good Military Procedures Fair Opening Scene Corporal: You wake up feeling very ill and very disoriented. You must be hung over, is your first thought, and your second is that you must have been drugged. You can't place where you are - your head hurts too much to open your eyes. The last thing you remember is coming to work this morning, at the thought-transfer project laboratory. You suddenly notice that unknown smells are assaulting your nose with great intensity. You hear two voices talking as though through a great wad of cotton. You begin to pick out words, then sentences. One of the voices sounds familiar - it's saying, "Yes, that's them all right. I think the experiment worked, though we won't know for sure until they wake up." The other voice has a thick Irish accent, and replies, "How long do you think that'll be, Sean? We can't risk staying here all day, you know. Somebody else might show up, or that there officer might be missed." The first voice - you place it now, it's a coworker named John Smith - says, "I don't know how long before the anesthesia wears off. Let's check on them every fifteen minutes." With that, you hear the voices fade away and a door close. Your lip curls at the thought of Smith. Such a brown-noser, and almost as incompetent as the Director. You finally get the courage to open your eyes and you immediately become even more disoriented. First, the world is in black and white - but it somehow seems almost normal. Second, you seem to be staring out at a laboratory through a cage door. Third, there seems to be a hairy - to the point of furry - arm, or foreleg, or whatever, lying under your head, sticking out! You start up suddenly, and realize the furry foreleg is your own. Your consciousness is in the body of a laboratory rat. There is another rat in the cage, you now notice, and it's eyeing you with curiosity, fear, and suspicion. Your attributes while a rat are: Attributes Reason (Same as before) Willpower (Same as before) Perception (Same as before) Agility Good Strength Superb (Scale -8) Fitness Superb Biomedical Engineer's Character Sheet Character Name Player Name Character Description and Notes You are the brilliant Biomedical Engineer designing the thought-transference gadget at Psychic Studies Institute (PSI). The whole project revolves around your ideas, of course. That snotty little Technician and intolerable Director and smarmy Grad Student are trying to ruin your career, but you'll show them. Genius will not be denied! Fudge Trait Values EP Superb +3 8 Great +2 4 Good +1 2 Fair 0 1 Mediocre -1 1 Poor -2 1 EP = Raising skills with EPs. Most skills begin at Poor. Attributes default to Fair. Fudge Points 1 EPs 0 Wounds 1-2 3-4 5-6 7-8 9+ [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] Scratch Hurt (-1) Very Hurt (-2) Incapacitated Near Death Attributes Reason Superb Willpower Good Perception Mediocre Agility Mediocre Strength Mediocre Fitness Fair Gifts Nearly Total Recall Creative ideas come spontaneously! Faults Absent-minded (that is, you get totally focused on interesting projects) Very near-sighted Creative ideas come spontaneously! Vain Skills Biomedial Engineering Superb Biology Superb Medicine Great Psychology Mediocre Neurology Superb Research Great Active Mnemonic Transfocation Theory Superb Physical Skills Mediocre Opening Scene Biomedical Engineer: You wake up feeling very ill and very disoriented. You must be hung over, is your first thought, and your second is that you must have been drugged. You can't place where you are - your head hurts too much to open your eyes. The last thing you remember is coming to work this morning, at the thought-transfer project laboratory. You suddenly notice that unknown smells are assaulting your nose with great intensity. You hear two voices talking as though through a great wad of cotton. You begin to pick out words, then sentences. One of the voices sounds familiar - it's saying, "Yes, that's them all right. I think the experiment worked, though we won't know for sure until they wake up." The other voice has a thick Irish accent, and replies, "How long do you think that'll be, Sean? We can't risk staying here all day, you know. Somebody else might show up, or that there officer might be missed." The first voice - you place it now, it's a coworker named John Smith - says, "I don't know how long before the anesthesia wears off. Let's check on them every fifteen minutes." With that, you hear the voices fade away and a door close. Your lip curls at the thought of Smith. Such a brown-noser, and almost as incompetent as the Director. You finally get the courage to open your eyes and you immediately become even more disoriented. First, the world is in black and white - but it somehow seems almost normal. Second, you seem to be staring out at a laboratory through a cage door. Third, there seems to be a hairy - to the point of furry - arm, or foreleg, or whatever, lying under your head, sticking out! You start up suddenly, and realize the furry foreleg is your own. Your consciousness is in the body of a laboratory rat. There is another rat in the cage, you now now notice, and it's eyeing you with curiosity, fear, and suspicion. Your attributes while a rat are: Attributes Reason (Same as before) Willpower (Same as before) Perception (Same as before) Agility Great Strength Great (Scale -8) Fitness Good Grad Student's Character Sheet Character Name Player Name Character Description and Notes You are the Grad Student in charge of animal care and secretarial duties at Psychic Studies Institute (PSI). You're treated with contempt, but that's normal for grad positions. At least the animals are lots of fun, and they love you. You are lucky to work under this professor, a Biomedical Engineer, who has an international reputation for genius... and being a jerk, alas. Fudge Trait Values EP Superb +3 8 Great +2 4 Good +1 2 Fair 0 1 Mediocre -1 1 Poor -2 1 EP = Raising skills with EPs. Most skills begin at Poor. Attributes default to Fair. Fudge Points 1 EPs 0 Wounds 1-2 3-4 5-6 7-8 9+ [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] Scratch Hurt (-1) Very Hurt (-2) Incapacitated Near Death Attributes Reason Great Willpower Poor Perception Good Agility Good Strength Good Fitness Great Gifts Animal Empathy Works well under pressure Attractive Faults Complains a lot Procrastinator Skills Cleaning Cages Superb Veterinarian Assistant Good Animal Care Great Animal Training Good Biology Great Computer Use Great Electronics Mediocre General College Stuff Good Raquetball Great Tennis Great Swimming Good Running Good Secretarial Skills Good Opening Scene Grad Student: You wake up feeling very ill and very disoriented. You must be hung over, is your first thought, and your second is that you must have been drugged. You can't place where you are - your head hurts too much to open your eyes. The last thing you remember is coming to work this morning, at the thought-transfer project laboratory. You suddenly notice that unknown smells are assaulting your nose with great intensity. You finally get the courage to open your eyes and you immediately become even more disoriented. First, the world is in black and white - but it somehow seems almost normal. Second, you seem to be staring out at a laboratory through a cage door. Third, there seems to be a hairy - to the point of furry - arm, or foreleg, or whatever, lying under your head, sticking out! You start up suddenly, and realize the furry foreleg is your own. Your consciousness is in the body of a laboratory rat. There is another rat in the cage, you now notice, and it's eyeing you with curiosity, fear, and suspicion. You hear two voices talking as though through a great wad of cotton. You begin to pick out words, then sentences. One of the voices sounds familiar - it's saying, "Yes, that's them all right. I think the experiment worked, though we won't know for sure until they wake up." The other voice has a thick Irish accent, and replies, "How long do you think that'll be, Sean? We can't risk staying here all day, you know. Somebody else might show up, or that there officer might be missed." The first voice - you place it now, it's a coworker named John Smith - says, "I don't know how long before the anesthesia wears off. Let's check on them every fifteen minutes." With that, you hear the voices fade away and a door close. Your lip curls at the thought of Smith. Such a brown-noser, and almost as incompetent as the Director. You finally get the courage to open your eyes and you immediately become even more disoriented. First, the world is in black and white - but it somehow seems almost normal. Second, you seem to be staring out at a laboratory through a cage door. Third, there seems to be a hairy - to the point of furry - arm, or foreleg, or whatever, lying under your head, sticking out! You start up suddenly, and realize the furry foreleg is your own. Your consciousness is in the body of a laboratory rat. There is another rat in the cage, you now now notice, and it's eyeing you with curiosity, fear, and suspicion. Your attributes while a rat are: Attributes Reason (Same as before) Willpower (Same as before) Perception (Same as before) Agility Fair Strength Fair (Scale -8) Fitness Good Colonel's Character Sheet Character Name Player Name Character Description and Notes You are a Colonel in the army - Secret Research Branch. Your job is to review projects funded by the army and determine if they should continue to receive Army support. Most of them should be dropped, but if you're treated well at a laboratory, you'll give it a good grade. You used to be a combat officer in Viet Nam, and you still think yourself fit.... Fudge Trait Values EP Superb +3 8 Great +2 4 Good +1 2 Fair 0 1 Mediocre -1 1 Poor -2 1 EP = Raising skills with EPs. Most skills begin at Poor. Attributes default to Fair. Fudge Points 1 EPs 0 Wounds 1-2 3-4 5-6 7-8 9+ [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] Scratch Hurt (-1) Very Hurt (-2) Incapacitated Near Death Attributes Reason Fair Willpower Good Perception Great Agility Good Strength Good Fitness Fair Gifts High military rank Never forgets a name or face Contacts in the Pentagon Faults Duty to the US Government Nearing 60 years old and out of shape but doesn't admit it Pretty big paunch Likes to reminisce a lot Weakness for flattery Expects to be treated with great respect Skills Acting Superb Combat Fair Cigar Selection & Smoking Good Conspiracy Planning Good Area Knowledge (Area 51) Good Area Knowledge (Hangar 18) Fair Administration of Government Secret Agencies Good Military Procedures Good Opening Scene Colonel: You wake up feeling very ill and very disoriented. You must be hung over, is your first thought, and your second is that you must have been drugged. You can't place where you are - your head hurts too much to open your eyes. The last thing you remember is coming to work this morning, at the thought-transfer project laboratory. You suddenly notice that unknown smells are assaulting your nose with great intensity. You hear two voices talking as though through a great wad of cotton. You begin to pick out words, then sentences. One of the voices sounds familiar - it's saying, "Yes, that's them all right. I think the experiment worked, though we won't know for sure until they wake up." The other voice has a thick Irish accent, and replies, "How long do you think that'll be, Sean? We can't risk staying here all day, you know. Somebody else might show up, or that there officer might be missed." The first says, "I don't know how long before the anesthesia wears off. Let's check on them every fifteen minutes." With that, you hear the voices fade away and a door close. You finally get the courage to open your eyes and you immediately become even more disoriented. First, the world is in black and white - but it somehow seems almost normal. Second, you seem to be staring out at a laboratory through a cage door. Third, there seems to be a hairy - to the point of furry - arm, or foreleg, or whatever, lying under your head, sticking out! You start up suddenly, and realize the furry foreleg is your own. Your consciousness is in the body of a spider monkey. There is another monkey in the cage, you now notice, and it's eyeing you with curiosity, fear, and suspicion. Your attributes while a monkey are: Attributes Reason Fair Willpower Good Perception Great Agility Superb Strength Good (Scale -7) Fitness Good The Psychic Studies Institute Floor Plan At the start of the adventure, the characters awaken in the bodies of lab animals in cages in the Animal Quarters. Their human bodies remain in the Transfer Room, strapped to hospital beds, anesthetized, and guarded by an IRA Thug. If the anesthesia wears off before the PCs regain their bodies, they'll have the added confusion of dealing with human bodies inhabited by panicky animal minds.... Place the other IRA Thugs wherever you wish (offices and the Kitchen/Break Room are logical places). Sean will be in the Lead Scientist Office, searching the computer there for information on the Thought Transference Gadget. The ceiling is solid (no suspended tiles), but there are wire and pipe conduits in the walls small enough for rats to squeeze their way along. Notes: At the beginning of the adventure most doors will be shut but not locked. Wash Room: Cement floor with drains, used for washing and sterilizing cages, lab equipment, and glassware. Equipment Room: Completely filled with the Thought Transference Gadget. Machine Room: Housing the supercomputers; the Halogen fire suppression system is deadly to living things. PC Summary Director of the Psychic Studies Institute: bureaucrat extraordire (Monkey) Name Player Current Wound Status Biomedical Engineer: designing the thought-transfer gadget (Rat) Name Player Current Wound Status Electronics Technician: building the gadget (Rat) Name Player Current Wound Status Grad Student: secretarial skills and cage cleaning a forte (Rat) Name Player Current Wound Status MP Corporal: guarding the government lab. Bored. (Rat) Name Player Current Wound Status Pompous Colonel: on site for an inspection, not normally here. (Monkey) Name Player Current Wound Status NPC Summary John Smith Attributes Reason Fair Willpower Good Perception Great Agility Great Strength Good Fitness Great Skills Con Artist Superb Electronics Fair Demolition Good Combat Superb Others as needed Wounds 1-2 3-4 5-6 7-8 9+ [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] Scratch Hurt (-1) Very Hurt (-2) Incapacitated Near Death IRA Thugs (4 or more) Attributes Reason Terrible to Poor Strength Good to Superb Fitness Great Skills Combat Good to Superb Wounds 1-2 3-4 5-6 7-8 9+ [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] Scratch Hurt (-1) Very Hurt (-2) Incapacitated Near Death Wounds 1-2 3-4 5-6 7-8 9+ [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] Scratch Hurt (-1) Very Hurt (-2) Incapacitated Near Death Wounds 1-2 3-4 5-6 7-8 9+ [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] Scratch Hurt (-1) Very Hurt (-2) Incapacitated Near Death Wounds 1-2 3-4 5-6 7-8 9+ [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] Scratch Hurt (-1) Very Hurt (-2) Incapacitated Near Death Wounds 1-2 3-4 5-6 7-8 9+ [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] Scratch Hurt (-1) Very Hurt (-2) Incapacitated Near Death