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Actually very warm. No snow...

Hmmmm...could make a BTS adventure out of it......

Wow! I hardly ever check my private messages since I get so few of them, and I went to the website:

http://www.pneu.dk/index.php?p=rollespil

and had a blast for about an hour. Yeah, I was addicted and kept hitting the "randomize" button to see the new plot/story elements.

Hats off to everyone involved in randomizing that for all of us to enjoy. You guys (and possibly gals) are waaaaay cool.

Gallahan

New link to the randomizer: http://www.pneu.dk/index.php?p=8

That is timing. I was just going to use this this morning! creepy

You'd be amazed at what the US Army considers single use items. An army buddy was telling me about certain rpg (rocket propelled grenade) and rocket launchers that they use once and are supposed to throw away, although they can be reloaded. And they make reloads for them too...

I'm pretty sure the army doesn't keep a close enough tabs on their live fire ranges to account for every piece of munition. It wouldn't be impossible for a soldier to take home a few "souvenirs".

Did this table ever make it into the rifter, because it should.

Not to nitpick, but under special curcumstances, you left out Equinoxes.


Ok, here's what I got:

Table #1, Main Location:
16. Beached Cruise Ship; during a hurricane they couldn't outrun.

Table #2, Supernatural Threat:
Cathulu-esque Monstrosity

Table #3, Time of Year:
Spring

Table #4, Special Circumstances:
Spring Equinox

Table #5, NPC's and/or PC's:
Helicopter Pilot (only rolled once)

Table #6, NPC or PC Personallity:
Attractive

Table #7, Important Items & Artifacts:
Wood Cipper; The Lost Ark (?); a 2002 Matalic Khaki Jeep Liberty 4x4; a Brain in a Jar; and a 1965 Newspaper

Yeah, ok. I'll get back to you on this.

Thanks for pointing out that we need equionxes.

Suggestion to help craft your table results: try rolling 2d4 more characters. That way, you'll get at least 2 more characters, and possibly 8 more! The characters might help shape the story. ALSO: try rolling d4 more locations.

You see, only *part* of the story might take place in/on the location you rolled. The other characters and additional locations might help craft a nice story for you, or at least get those wheels in your mind turning... and turning...

Ok, here's something. It doesn't have anything to do with my last post above, this is for something else.

Some psychicly aware collage students (i.e., the players) are studying late in the paranormal Department on Halloween night. Perhaps working on some better way to see and deal with the paranormal, (Still working out details there.) when suddenly the lights in the entire biulding go out and a strange light and noise can be heard from down the hall. When the players go to check it out, they find a machine (lets say stargate until I come up with my own name for it.) in one of the science rooms where the light and noise is comming from. The players investgate and get sucked into this "stargate" witch telaports them to the Palladium world, or some equivlent thereof. there they are drawn into the town/village persons (sorry, couldn't convice myself to type "people") own horrors as the struggle against an evil cult. (Which will turn out to be a skin Theif and those villager's it has convinced to warship it.)

What do you guys think?

Man, that random generator (and randomizer) is one cool bag of chips. So it leads me to one question . . .

Why haven't any of these incredible ideas been posted at Lazlo yet!? :x Am I missing something?

Okay, so two questions.

I would like to see a write-up for this.
Main Locations:
Fully packed circus

Supernatural Threat:
Mothman (or more)

Time Of Year:
Summer

Any Special Circumstances:
Predicted Meteor Shower

NPC(s):
Retired Sergeant Major - Charismatic, Imaginative

Important Items and Artifacts:
Diamond Skull
Home Video Depicting...

Thus far, they have (formulated some great adventures, that is). And have they come out in a Rifter yet, and if so, which one (so I can get it)?

Just looking through the Special Occurrence part, I thought "that's probably already been expanded to a D100." But I decided to expand it anyway (is this still allowable if it has been . . . er, "Rifter-ized"?) And how are the sub tables coming along?

Table 4; Any Special Circumstances. Roll1D100

1. Solar Eclipse
2. Lunar Eclipse
3. Solstice
4. Stellar Alignment
5. Predicted Meteor Shower
6. Unpredicted Meteor Shower
7. Comets Passing Near Earth
8. Recent Tremors
9. Recent Earthquakes
10. Recent Tsunami
11. Heat Lightning Storms
12. Heavy Thunder Storms
13. Intense Solar Flare Activity
14. Area Swarmed by Insects
15. Hurricane
16. Volcano Emerged Nearby Recently
17. Sinkhole(s) Forming Nearby
18. Unusually Large Number of Meteor Impacts Recently
19. Grave-robbing Epidemic
20. Nearby Nuclear Reactor Meltdown
21. Recent Flooding
22. Plague (or other disease/sickness) Epidemic
23. Rash of Auto thefts
24. Blood Rain
25. Mass Migration of animals (specific species or everything within a 1D10x10 mile radius)
26. Inexplicable Crop Circles
27. Cattle Mutilations across the landscape (1D10x10 mile radius)
28. Plants and Vegetation have all died within 1D12x8 mile radius)
29. Drought
30. Citywide Blackout
31. Whiteout storms
32. Blanket of Smog
33. Unexplained Lights seen at night
34. Buildings around countryside have been crumbling to dust for unknown reasons
35. Nearby maximum Prison breakout
36. Rash of Forest fires
37. Epidemic of Mold
38. Recent Archeological site of Historical significance unearthed
39. Rat infestation (think London and the Bubonic plague size)
40. Sandstorms
41. New Ley Line has formed
42. Electromagnetic forces shifting
43. Grand Opening for new (Wal-Mart, Museum, new Mall . . .)
44. Rift Opens
45. Religious Revival
46. Water Supply has mysteriously been replaced with Kool-aid, cherry flavor
47. Unknown dinosaur bones uncovered
48. Scientific Breakthrough on Stem cell research
49. Every firstborn of nearest hospital dies mysteriously; baby or otherwise, human or animal
50. Soup-like mists for past 2D12 weeks.
51. Nessie Sightings, whether near water or not.
52. Natural EMP’s.
53. Unnatural EMP’s
54. Tornado
55. Blockbuster Movie being filmed in the area
56. Riots
57. Anti-gun demonstration
58. Abortion rally
59. Hail the size of golf balls
60. Suicidal Cult thinks it’s the End of the World; 1D100x100 people will/have died by poison
61. Some star (celestial body) has died, forming a Black Hole
62. New Magic Shop has opened; good deals on all shrunken body parts promised
63. England’s Crown Jewels missing
64. Moon has turned to Blood
65. End of the World predicted by some obscure, fanatical religious group
66. Exact Replica of Stonehenge appears in nearest park, overnight.
67. Exact Replica of Easter Island Head found in nearest city’s Town Square
68. Blue Moon (Two full moons in a single month)
69. Full Moon
70. Anniversary of some obscure serial rapist’s execution
71. Prophet of (you choose) religion to come and speak
72. Strange, snot-like substance rains to the ground
73. Partial Lunar Eclipse
74. Partial Solar Eclipse
75. Gathering of the Brotherhood of Magic to occur
76. National Holiday (your choice, but sure to draw lots of crowds)
78. Aliens have landed
79. Crime wave
80. The two hundred year anniversary of an Indian massacre
81. Major battle
82. Falling stars
83. Mime convention
84. Annual Zoo cage cleanup; animals must be moved to new location temporarily
85. Tenth Annual meeting of the Union for the Equal Treatment of Clowns
86. No moon is seen for a week
87. Birth of a new star (celestial body)
88. Elections for new city official
89. Season reversal (Arizona would have snow in July, record heat in Antarctica, similar)
90. New Hell Mouth opens
91. Electromagnetic storms
92. Police strike
93. Record-breaking rainstorms
94. Entire city sewer backs up
95. Palladium Open House
96. Independent Film Festival
97. Ghost Town renovation
98. Autumnal Equinox
99. Vernal Equinox
100. Dark Day

Warning: Lengthy due to boredom at work

58. Abandoned, slanted barn in farm country
27. A Headless Horseman
2. Summer
80. The two hundred year anniversary of an Indian massacre
6. Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) 10. Pleasant 83. Irresistable
36. Bounty Hunter 61. Empathic 95. Troubled
48. Federal Judge 32. Charming 49. Careless
95. Flamethrower

20 miles outside Wichita, Kansas, Johnathan Willard was tending to his family homestead. The farm had been in the family for 80 years. John didn't solely work the farm. On the contrary, the farm was more of a hobby for him, a break from his newfound duties as a Federal Judge in Wichita. John didn't care to well for the position. Now he knew he'd have to take more care in watching what he does. John was known to be a 'skirt chaser' in his downtime, so much so that he's earned a reputation for it in the local community. Still, since John wasn't married, there was little wrong with it.

In Wichita, a man by the name of Reese Smith sat at his desk. He was collecting his papers and checking them over once more before heading out. Reese knew he'd have to have all the details right or the Judge wouldn't grant him the bounty. Tracking down bail jumpers was a dangerous job, adding to it the bureaucratic nonsense only compounded the headache. Reese was lucky that John had been a childhood friend, otherwise going after an official order like this would be delayed for a few days.

Kelly Kirby sat patiently in the ambulance while her partner ran inside for a cup of coffee. She shifted in her seat bored from the moment when she noticed an older man, probably in his late 50’s, leaving from the hospital staring at her. At first she thought nothing of it. She then took notice of the man’s lust-filled eyes and realized what was being implied. Her mind sparked a thought of disgust. Just then, the driver’s door opened and her partner jumped in. “Back to the station?” he asked shifting the vehicle into drive and pulling out.

“It was oddly mild for the summertime,” John had thought. He was right. Normally things would be in the upper 80’s, today it was lower 70’s. John explained it away easily when a breeze swept him. Being a nice day and a Sunday, John decided to get himself a horse ride in. He slipped over to the stables where he kept his three horses. He saddled his favorite, Juniper, and began to ride out on his land. He’d ride casually, then pushed Juniper into a full gallop, then backed her down to a walk. He spent a half hour on the horse before he realized how far out he was. John turned himself back towards the house when something caught his eye. He saw an old, rundown barn. He thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. He’d been to this section of his land many times before, never seeing this barn before. He guided Juniper towards the barn. The horse took three steps before becoming spooked. Juniper snorted and reared a little, stopping all forward progression. John stepped down from the horse and made his way towards the barn.

Reese had pulled into the stone pathway leading back to John’s home. When his tires shifted from the semi-loose gravel to the definitive concrete, he stopped. Reese stepped out of the car and made his way towards the house. He knocked on the door initially, then rang the doorbell. When no one answered, he peered through the window knocking once more, this time adding a shout, “Hello! Judge!? John?! It’s Reese.” Still no answer. Reese stepped away from the door and began to make his way back to the car. He stepped around the hood of the car and looked into the garage and barn nearby. Just then, the silence was broken by the cries of Juniper, galloping back towards the house. When she reached the fence, Juniper reared back then landed. Reese quickly moved to the horse, finding John lying behind the horse and if he was drug behind, but no rope or other attachment was present. Reese quickly checked for vitals before reaching for his cell.

Kelly was lost in thought staring out the window. “Hey, what’s up? Don’t tell me the job’s getting to you now?” Her partner asked.

“Nope.” She replied quickly with a smile, “just sort of zoning out.”

“Good, because I’d probably get a harassed by the other crews for driving you away and you know how the guys are.” He said, making an implying remark about her appearance.

“You know, just once I’d like to…..” Kelly began to speak before being cut off by the radio.

“Mercy Med Two-Niner, we have a unconscious individual located at 321 North 600. Report from the scene says it may be a horse riding accident.” The Dispatch relayed.

“Roger Dispatch. Mercy Med Two-Nine on our way.” Kelly responded.

“Mercy Two-Nine, information confirmed, victim is Judge John Willard. You may want to step it up a bit.” Dispatched informed.

“Copy that.” Kelly said before hanging the mic.


From here, the Players can come in from many different angles. They could be hospital staff, everyday people, or even the ghost investigators of typical BtS fashion. What does need to be ensured is this.

1.) Judge was dragged. My initial thoughts were to have a ‘fading ghost rope’. Some residual evidence is all that is needed to bring in the Investigators.

2.) Judge is out for at least a day, maybe two. When he finally comes to, he will gibber on about a headless horseman attacking him from “the barn”. No evidence of this Horseman is found by authorities. Leave it for the players to experience.

3.) The Headless Horseman is a haunting spirit that looks like an Indian without a head, wielding a ghostly tomahawk. My thoughts were to have the Indian protecting “his land”, which encompasses the barn and 1000 feet around it. The Barn is something of a mystery as well, because it was destroyed 65 years ago. Use it as a sort of gateway for the spirit to enter our world.

4.) Reese owns a flamethrower. I was going to work in that either A.) he tags along or B.) somehow passes the weapon along when the confrontation of the spirit is made. Fire will ward off the Spirit and destroy the Barn, as it originally burnt down.

5.) After several days, the Judge will snap back into himself again, at least as best one can.

Anyone have a link to the automated program?

the ones site listed above is "under construction"

Man this thing is great! I've been wanting to put together a BTS game and I think this will help me get started. Thanks!

Please pardon me for jumping in very late. I like the tables a lot, Gallahan. I do have some suggestions, if I may.

First, the type of dice needed for each table should be listed at the top of the table. I had to scroll down a few times to see if I needed a D20 or percentile.

Second, the season could and maybe should be expanded to a D6 table. Some places on the globe don't have four seasons. Those other places, primarily around the equinox, usually have a dry season and wet season instead. Some places, like Seatle, have all six through over-lapping.

Third, the Supernatural Threat table really needs to be updated to 2nd edition standards. Most of the BtS monsters don't seem to appear on this table. Where are the ghouls and the brain burrowers?

True... its a great generator, but it could use some remodeling

I went ahead and made a monster list for myself. I intentionally left the last few percentile scores blank so that another GM could fill them.

Random Monster and Antagonist Table for Beyond the Supernatural, 2nd Edition.
Some monsters appearing in this table are appropriate for BtS-2 but are described in different books. If you roll a result which doesn't come from a book which is handy, simply re-roll. These monsters are arranged in vague order based upon their supernatural threat levels – but they are also grouped together into broad categories like entities or gargoyles. They are listed according to their book names, then I have included their alternate names behind a coma, their threat level, and their source descriptions referenced in parentheses. Particularly intelligent and scheming creatures are marked with an asterisk. Most other monsters have high animal intelligence or no understanding of the human world.

Excluded monsters were left out to keep the list of source books from becoming too long. If you have them, I would recommend using monsters from Dinosaur Swamp (especially for a crytozoology-themed game) and Mystic China (which has some really good immortal masterminds and really strange demons). Between the Shadows is a Nightbane sourcebook which has lots of monsters who inhabit the Astral Plane and the Dreamstream. Many of these creatures also reappear in books like Rifts Conversion Book 1 and Nightbane.

1.Energy Creature, x4 (BtS-1, pg. 217)
2.Tentacle Creature, x4 (BtS-1, pg. 216)
3.UFOnaught, flying saucer creature x4 (BtS-1, pg. 174)
4.Evil Cultist*, x0 (Nightbane main book)
5.Evil Arcanist*, cult leader, x0 (BtS-1, pg. 189; you could also use the Night Priest from the Nightbane Main Book as this is essentially the same character)
6.Witch*, x0 (use the Night Priest from Nightbane, the Witch from Palladium Fantasy, or the Splugorth Witch from Rifts Atlantis)
7.Death Priest*, cult leader, x0 (Dead Reign, pg. 68)
8.Haunting Entity, classic ghost, x4 (BtS-2 pg. 246)
9.Poltergeist Entity, x4 (BtS-2, pg. 245)
10.Syphon Entity*, trapped entity, x4 (BtS-2 pg. 247)
11.Tectonic Entity*, x6 (BtS-2 pg. 249)
12.Possessing Entity*, x4 (BtS-2 pg. 251)
13.Doppleganger Entity*, x6 (Boxed Nightmares, pg. 36)
14.Big Foot*, sasquatch yeti or skunk ape x4 (I suggest using a grimbor, bearmen, wolfen, mutant animal, or werebeast depending on how you want to use it)
15.Mokele-mbembe, dinosaur of Africa, x0 (Rifts Africa, pg. 129)
16.Giant Alligator, x0 (Boxed Nightmares, pg. 73)
17.Tasmanian Devil, hound of death, x4 (Boxed Nightmares, pg. 40)
18.Random Supernatural Creature, x4-6 (BtS-1, pg. 190)
19.Banshee, harbinger of death, x4 (BtS-2, pg. 229)
20.Tokolosh, sea serpent, x4 (BtS-1, pg. 173)
21.Animated dead, mummy, x4 (BtS-1, pg. 121)
22.Animated dead, zombie, x4 (BtS-1, pg. 123)
23.Animated dead, sloucher zombie, x4 (Dead Reign, pg. 38)
24.Animated dead, flesh-eating zombie, x4 (Dead Reign, pg. 45)
25.Animated dead, pattern zombie, x4 (Dead Reign, pg. 53)
26.Animated dead, fast attack zombie, x4 (Dead Reign, pg. 43)
27.Animated dead*, mock zombie, x4 (Dead Reign, pg. 51)
28.Animated dead*, thinker zombie, x4 (Dead Reign, pg. 47)
29.Garkain, dumb spirit, x4 (BtS-1, pg. 164)
30.Chupacabra, x4 (use the Lizard King from Nightbane main book)
31.Hollow Man*, x4 (Nightbane main book)
32.Doppleganger*, clone of a player character, x4 (Nightbane main book)
33.Doppleganger*, clone of another character, x4 (Nightbane main book)
34.Brain Burrower, x4 (BtS-2, pg. 236)
35.Malignous, insect demon, x4 (BtS-2, pg. 187)
36.Gremlin*, techno-terror, x4 (BtS-2, pg. 254)
37.Hell Hound, demon dog, x4 (BtS-2, pg. 255)
38.Bogey Man*, raven's tears, x4 (BtS-2, pg. 231)
39.Devouring Horned Lizard-Beast, x4 (Boxed Nightmares, pg. 30)
40.Ghoul, grave ghoul, x4 (BtS-2, pg. 253)
41.Ghoul*, dimensional ghoul or tall ghoul, x4 (BtS-2, pg. 241)
42.Ghoul*, dybbuk or death ghoul or animator, x4 (BtS-2, pg. 243)
43.Dark Faerie*, x4
44.Demon Familiar*, x4 (BtS-1, pg. 187)
45.Werebeast*, x4 (BtS-1, pg. 175)
46.Scarecrow*, x4 (RCB, pg. 155)
47.Buti-fas*, dwarf demon, x4 (Rifts Africa, pg. 129)
48.Demonic Cannibals*, x4 (Rifts Africa, pg. 130)
49.Devil Ghost*, mothman (BtS-2, pg. 239)
50.Dar'ota*, succubus, x4 (BtS-2, pg. 236)
51.Dar'ota*, incubus, x4 (BtS-2, pg. 237)
52.Shadow Beast, x4 (Palladium Fantasy, pg. 210)
53.Boschala, the nightmare, x4 (BtS-2, pg. 234)
54.Nacarant, scarlet hunter, x4 (BtS-1, pg. 169)
55.Gargoyle*, gargoylite, x4 (appears only in Rifts: Triax)
56.Gargoyle*, gurgoyle, x4 (BtS-1, pg. 165)
57.Gargoyle*, true gargoyle, x4 (BtS-1, pg. 165)
58.Gargoyle*, gargoyle mage, x6 (appears only in Rifts: Triax)
59.Gargoyle*, gargoyle lord, x6 (appears only in Rifts: Triax)
60.Sowki*, serpent or reptoid, x4 (BtS-1, pg. 171)
61.Ashmeadi (not certain on spelling), shape-changer, x6 (Nightbane)
62.Soul Tree Minion*, spy, x4 (Rifter #28, pg. 21)
63.Soul Tree Minion*, poltergeist, x4 (Rifter #28, pg. 22)
64.Soul Tree Minion*, deceival, x4 (Rifter #28, pg. 19)
65.Soul Tree Minion*, protecting wraith, x4 (Rifter #28, pg. 20)
66.Soul Tree*, x6 (Rifter #28, pg. 18)
67.Vampire, secondary vampire, x4 (BtS-1, pg. 183)
68.Vampire*, master vampire, x6 (BtS-1, pg. 183)
69.Vampire Familiar, x4 (Rifts Vampire Kingdoms)
70.Vampire Intelligence, x10 (BtS-1, pg. 183)
71.Air Elemental Fragment, leaf rustler , x4(RCB, pg. 65)
72.Air Elemental Fragment, phantom footman, x4 (RCB, pg. 65)
73.Air Elemental, minor, x6 (RCB, pg. 199)
74.Air Elemental*, major, x10 (RCB, pg. 200)
75.Earth Elemental Fragment, little mud mound, x4 (RCB, pg. 72)
76.Earth Elemental, minor, x6 (RCB, pg. 72)
77.Earth Elemental, minor tree, x6 (RCB, pg. 72)
78.Earth Elemental, minor mud mound, x6 (RCB, pg. 72)
79.Earth Elemental*, major, x10 (RCB, pg. 72)
80.Fire Elemental Fragment, flame fiend, x4 (RCB, pg. 76)
81.Fire Elemental, minor, x6 (RCB, pg. 200)
82.Fire Elemental*, major, x10 (RCB, pg. 201)
83.Water Elemental Fragment, water wisp, x4 (RCB, pg. 81)
84.Water Elemental Fragment, little ice monster, x4 (RCB, pg. 82)
85.Water Elemental, minor, x6 (RCB, pg. 201)
86.Water Elemental, minor ice monster, x6 (RCB, pg. 201)
87.Water Elemental*, major, x10 (RCB, pg. 202)
88.Jinn*, x6 (RCB, pg. 213)
89.Death Weaver*, spider demon, x6 (BtS-1, pg. 172)
90.Fiend*, shadow demon, x6 (RCB, pg. 222)
91.Arch Fiend*, shadow demon, x10 (RCB, pg. 223)
92.Mindolar*, mind slug, x10 (BtS-1, pg. 180)
93.Goqua*, master of deception, x10 (BtS-1, pg. 179)
94.Alien Intelligence*, x10 (BtS-1, pg. 188)
95.Night Prince*, x6 (Nightbane)
96.Night Lord*, x10 (Nightbane)

I'm trying to put together a campaign, sadly, The imagination is on vacation and I'm having a bit of trouble getting the plot down (per the generator) so i can get the game actually moving in a forward direction. Can someone please help me?

This is what I got on the generator:

Place: Roadway tavern
Threat: Evil Psychic
Time of Year: Spring
Circumstances: Stellar Alignment
NPC: (1) Published Spiritualist

Personality: Gorgeous, Energetic...

I know this should be a no brainer, but, Its been about 6 months since I last gamed...and as forementioned..the brain has the consistency of pudding at the moment.

Thanks in advance!

Maybe the bar is near an important building (lab, goverment) and the psychic is using his powers to steal information from the customers to sell. Will try to come up with more idea.

Hmmmm, this is off the top of my head. The roadway tavern is closed off from the rest of civilization due to spring-time flooding, much like the hotel in the movie Identity. The evil psychic is a criminal who is hiding from the authorities. She is a Firewalker (or some other aggressive psychic class). Normally, she wouldn't be much of a problem, but the stellar alignment is causing the entire area to swell with psychic power as a tear in magic (from BtS-1) occurs. Effectively, the criminal can draw on the power as if she were standing in a ley line. The criminal has taken hostages, including a published spiritualist and one of the player characters. She is determined to remain in the tavern until morning when she foresees something amazing happening, but she isn't sure exactly what herself. The spiritualist knows what is happening and makes cryptic warnings about things getting worse soon. In a few hours, dawn of the Spring Equinox morning will occur. If the psychic is still pulling energy out of the area at that time, she will trigger a rift to open to another world with something even more dangerous on the other side. Maybe it's evil entities attracted by the anger and fear or maybe it's a whole mess of fire elementals.

Sounds good...think i will have to add that to what i have...should make for an interesting mission. Of course, I will have to keep it somewhat mellow, though we are all seasoned in gaming, this is a brand new campaign (with lvl 1 toons.) and im making them earn their powers, hee hee.

I ddi that in a SenZar game, and I loved it. The players tolerated it, but I think some of them might have identified with their characters more.

I prefer the monster-busting games myself, but with an evil psychic rolled as the villain, it's the best I can do right now. You might want to use two evil psychics, the Sensitive (or Latent maybe) spying on the research facility and the Firewalker, just to make the game more complex. Maybe the research facility is the cause of the event and the planetary alignment is just foreshadowing for clairvoyants and savants to pinpoint the trouble. The Firewalker threatens to blow the sweet deal that the Sensitive has going, making them enemies but not obviously so.

i did actually go with 2 evil psychics, now, whether they "find" both is on them...but they are NPCs that will be right under their noses...the journalist-type and the "student"....should make for good times.

Thanks for the suggestions! I have been absent for a very, very long time, and am now just able to return some of my focus to these tables. And, with that being said, will begin updating and even expanding the tables.

I strongly believe that random tables used in the creation of plot outlines for games and stories really help the writer/GM. They bring in varied elements that cause our minds to bridge a creative "synapse" of sorts, and before you know it, rough stories begin to emerge from those connections.

It's good to be back. It's good to see that a few people have been visiting these tables over time. And it will be most refreshing to begin updating these "old" tables. Until then... may we all scare the HECK out of ourselves!!

Personally I've used these tables more than a few times and find them to be quite helpful. Thank you for providing this resource, and I can't wait to see what updates you come up with.

--Thanks, Tearstone. It's good to hear feedback like that. It's the wind in the sails!

I hope you had some great combos. Did you list any of the storylines developed with the use of these tables? I certainly would like to read them, and I bet others would, too!

No, I haven't gotten a chance to, especially since I've moved several times in recent past.

I probably should come up with some new ones though!

I'm creating the updated BTS Random Generator. From 100 random locations, the tables have been expanded to 2,000. Of those, 1,800 are somehow complete. And that's just random locations. The other big table to tackle is the random events table, and that should prove to be a lot of fun too. Then come random items. Creatures. Characters. 2,000 each.

Why so many Gallahan? Even if you had only 100 choices in each category, you would have 10,000,000,000 possible combinations. If there are 2000 in each category, they can't all be interesting.

Well, Z... I love creating tables is the simple answer!

And, with more options, you never know what might happen. As they are right now, you might generate, for example, a "grocery store" on a table with only 100 location options to roll. When 2000 possibilities are out there, you might have that "grocery store," and then another one, but slightly different, like a "grocery store that sells meat that oddly affects consumers" and "a grocery store owned by a serial killer" or "a grocery store that sells cadaver meat from the funeral home across the street, passing it off a alpaca or ostrich meat" or "a grocery store owned by a serial killer who likes to employ attractive checkout ladies..."

It just adds some interesting possibilities to the experience of randomly generating story elements. That being said, all of the extra info that follows "a grocery store..." might not be needed for some reason. So, if you get a more elaborate result, just eliminate any info you don't wish to use. Thus, "a grocery store owned by a serial killer who likes to employ attractive checkout ladies" would, for a person not needing/wanting that level of elaboration would simply use "a grocery store" --or any following element, "owned by a serial killer" and/or "with attractive checkout ladies."

In the end, there are simply more options for a person to tailor to his/her story development. Plus, what would be the chances of rolling up two identical story lines? There's enough in there to really make things random. I think there's more of a synergy to that.

Now, some tables simply shouldn't be expanded to 2,000 options, such as personality traits. I mean, if you present 2,000 personality traits, you're really splitting hairs. Then again, someone might figure out a way to make it interesting. If it's me, then I'd count myself lucky. But, for now, the focus is on expanding "RECENT EVENTS" and the items and types of characters.

And sure, some people might only want the smaller, original tables, and that's fine. Expanded tables really just means spending MORE time having fun generating a wider range of possibility. And I'm having fun expanding them.

Can't wait.

I agree, I love the use of multiple random tables. It makes the result truly random. This makes thngs unique and different. The more possibilities does mean alot more possible scenarios.

Keep up the good work.

*drools*

Hey, perhaps you could come up with something similar for Heroes Unlimited, Rifts, or the 3 Galaxies?

--Thank you.

That thought opens up an entire new world of possibilities. Sure, why not? After BTS... perhaps Palladium Fantasy or Heroes Unlimited? And, actually, the BTS Random Locations table would serve ANY MODERN setting, including Heroes and Pre-RIFTS Earth. They would also serve Dead Reign, too.

Yeah I know. I've used some of the tables like the Personality/Disposition tables for some characters that I've made as well, so I know that the tables can be used for a lot of stuff.

The revised and expanded tables are quite simply TOO ENORMOUS to be posted here. Also, they would exceed the page-count of a RIFTER magazine. Palladium is not accepting any unsolicited manuscripts. How would a person share such a large piece of work?

One option is sending a PM to RGG. He is putting together a series of zines he calls Gifter. That is. The best way to get stuff quickly into people's hands.

Another option is sending it to Wayne anyway. He might use one table as a sample and put the rest in The Cutting Room Floor for all to see and use.

The third option is Rifter Zero. Since these books are in pdf format, size isn't much of an issue. We are still waiting for Wayne to reach a decision about whether to proceed with the Rifter Zero Project or not now that Matthew has declared he is not doing it. I am waiting until the end of the month to hear from Wayne.

Fourth option, try putting it together in a nice looking pdf package, removing the trademarked content, and selling it through an online retailer. I've been trying to talk Hollister into doing exactly that.

If your interested in having me work with you on this, Yes PM me and we can decide the best way to do this.

Thanks Z and RGG. I think the fourth option you (Z) mentioned might be the best way to go about this. --It's just so large that it would not translate well, at all, to this forum, or a Rifter. Thanks.

I did this for a laugh, and I got a rather interesting combo.

Jaci’s Flower Shop


Winter

Comets Passing Near Earth

War Hero

Fragile

Undead Ninja bent on avenging a past wrong from WW2


--------------------

So, your group of player characters has the task of protecting a fragile war hero from an Undead Ninja from WW2, bent on avenging past wrongs from WW2... let's say it's an Undead Nazi Ninja, and he is trying to wipe out all surviving War Heroes from WW2, and the comets passing near Earth have given this Undead Nazi his Ninja skills by causing him to merge souls with a Japanese Ninja from Feudal Japan.

During the adventure, one of the PCs remembers reading Johan's Book of Mysterious Short Stories as a kid, and remembers it having a story about Undead Ninjas.... you must hurry and find a copy of this book as it will tell you how to defeat this Undead Nazi Ninja and return both the souls inhabiting the decomposed corpse of the Nazi to the afterlife... before he kills the fragile War Hero in your care.

I think you got a laugh . . .

Hahahahahaa... That HAS TO BE one of the best, most refreshing scenarios to be posted!

There's an old movie out there from the late 80s ninja craze called "Ninja 3: The Domination." It's a campy movie about a ninja getting killed. A lady driving nearby is possessed by his spirit and she becomes a ninja, --fulfilling his mission. Pretty good movie to sit down and enjoy with friends and beverages.

What would add another level to the story you generated is to give the fragile war hero a more active role. Like, he's fragile, full of weird stories that must be imagined, but when the $hit hits the fan, he suddenly becomes very useful. All that stuff he was "crazily" spoutin' off suddenly means life or death!

You've got the makings of a great one-nighter! Undead ninjas..... fantastic!

Maybe I'm taking this too seriously, but I don't see any need to have a Nazi. There were plenty of Japanese soldiers in WWII, and some of them must have been descended from ninja clans. The part about an unreadable ninja hunting a veteran is golden.

Let's flesh this out a little more, starting with the events during the war. In the South Pacific, a sailor and a zero pilot are both marooned following a naval battle. The sailor will become out veteran. He could be from an Allies navy like the U.S., Canada, New Zealand, Australia, China, or Russia, depending on where you want to place the game. The sailor could even be another Japanese which would make the wrong extra-horrific. The two soldiers hunt each other for two days until the sailor finally kills the pilot. That's okay so far, but the sailor then offends the honor of the dead pilot. The sailor steals his sword. All zero pilots were issued samurai swords, and I understand that these items were popular though contraband souvenirs among U.S. soldiers. A comet passes over the island that night.

60 or so years later, the veteran owns a flower shop. The same comet returns, metaphsycially allowing the ghost of the pilot to return. I would use Haunting Entity to represent the pilot, but there are more potent choices for a more dangerous enemy -- Madness Entities, Soul Fragments, or worst of all a Doppleganger Entity. The Entity should be able to take physical form of the pilot, last descendant of a Ninja Clan who has achieved several levels of Hand to Hand: Martial Arts or Ninjitsu (if you have a copy of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles handy), or one of the exclusive Japanese martial arts (if you have Ninjas & Superspies handy). The copy is too skilled to defeat through direct battle and too crafty easily outsmart. The ninja demands to be given back what was stolen.

The easy answer would be give away the sword. Finding it will be an easy enough task, but that's not enough to satisfy the ghost. It turns out that the veteran didn't tell the full story. Back on the island, the sailor had resorted to canabalism shortly before he was rescued. The ninja intends to extract his pound of flesh, literally, from the veteran's body. At this point, the PCs might decide that the ghost is right and turn on the veteran. Or, they might continue to defend the vet.

The pulp story, which also features a comet carrying the soul of a vengence-seeking ninja, is among the veteran's personal belongings. Didn't that happen in an episode of The Real Ghostbusters? As a back up plan for the GM, the veteran's bouts of sensility might result in mumblings of the same information. According to the story (or the ramblings), the ghost can be defeated using a combination of herbs made from flowers in the shop and the ninja's own katana. If the PCs fail to protect the veteran, the ghost will use the sword to carve out the man's heart and then vanish.

Nice... Z. Very NICE. I was wondering where you were going with the comet. Very nice touch.

I much prefer your's over mine, I guess that's why I'm never GM when I play P&P games.

I'm tempted to roll some more and see what you can do with it.

Dude, my adventure is your adventure. It was your concept; I just gave it a polish. I'm an editor, and it's what I do. It's the WWII ghost-ninja that players are going to remember. If Rifter Zero were not stalled, I would write this up as a convention game.

Okay,

I rolled up the following:

- Mansion House
- Abducting Aliens
- Autumn
- Heavy Thunder Storm
First NPC is a - University Student
Second NPC is a - Mad Scientist

First NPC is - Frightened
Second NPC is - Hormonal

Artifacts - Home Video Depicting...


OH MY GOD - I ROLLED UP THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW!!!

Glleeeccchhh!

No, it's -- well -- wow, yes, it *is* The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

LOL...! It IS the Rocky Horror Picture Show... To my *HORROR!*