Tuesday, July 20, 2010

AFBS: Maze of Madness- Scenario

October, 1936: Two different groups are trying to seize a horde of gold hidden inside a hedge maze on the Moosley estate in southern England. The location of the gold was recently revealed in a medieval document purchased by Hitler's SS. In the document, Abbot Basil described how he'd hidden the funds of his monastic order in a garden maze on a royal estate. This was during the time of Henry the Eighth's dissolution of the English monasteries in the year 1540. Before the Nazis’ could finish translating the document, it was stolen by Avangardia Podkrova (#3), one of Stalin's top female intelligence agents. However, a copy of the original document was secured by Worthington Wentright (#3), millionaire adventurer and playboy.
Avangardia desires to get the gold for herself, although she's officially working for Stalin's Cheka. She's started hearing rumors that agents recalled to Moscow have been disappearing into the Gulag. But she doesn't know that her assistant, Ardano Manghorelli(#2), has plans for the gold himself: he's a double agent supposedly working for the USSR, but in fact a plant by Mussolini's secret service. Finally, she's also being assisted by George Blair (#1), a local British communist who is obsessed by his vision of the USSR as a workers' paradise.
Worthington Wentright is, in fact, The Red Wolf, defender of the weak; champion of truth, justice, and democracy. He works in secret so as not to reveal himself to the public at large. He is accompanied by cub reporter Lois Green (#2) and Johnny Smith (#1), a street urchin. Both of his companions have been with him through countless adventures and are fiercely loyal. Wentright does not want the treasure of Abbot Basil to fall into the bloody hands of the Axis or communists.
But what either party doesn't know, and has been hinted at in the document, is that the treasure is protected by a guardian. Before Abbot Thomas left the horde of gold, he placed in the treasure box a Stygian slug. This creature is a deadly invertebrate specially bred in the hills of Mongolia to guard valuables. The slug will hibernate unless someone disturbs the treasure. If awoken, the slug will try to kill the offending party. It can only be calmed by a code word contained in the document. A word neither party has found, although each have a copy of the document with them.
Finally, the search for the treasure of Abbot Basil has to be carried out in darkness and silence. The royal estate was acquired years ago by the Moosley family. Sir Oswald Moosley (#2) is an Axis admirer and runs his own paramilitary group: The British Union of Flagellants. If anyone in the nearby manor house hears a disturbance in the maze, Sir Oswald will come and investigate.
Both the communist and Red Wolf team are assumed to have a map of the maze with the possible treasure locations indicated.


The Game Board
The game board consists of a 2’ X 2’ board. The board represents the hedge maze on the Moosley estate. The hedges cannot be breached as they are too thick to cut through. The hedges cannot be scaled for the same reason. The hedge also acts as obscuring terrain at all times, since there is not enough room inside the maze to see over a hedge. Inside the maze are several objects which the treasure may be hidden under: a birdbath, a stone bench, an abstract art statue, and a rock. Four encounter markers indicate possible places to dig for the treasure. Night conditions are considered to be in effect, thus line of sight is reduced to 12” and targets beyond that are considered obscured. The Red Wolf is carrying two 0.45 automatic pistols, but everyone else with a pistol is considered to have a “service revolver”.

Characters
The Red Wolf team: Worthington Wentright (Grade 3), Lois Green (Grade 2), and Jonathan (Grade 3). Communist team: Avangardia Podkrova (Grade 3), Ardano Manghorelli (Grade 2), and George (Grade 2). There is a possibility that Sir Oswald Moosley (Grade 2) will make an appearance.

Set-up
The Red Wolf team will assemble at one entrance of the maze, the communists on the other.

Victory Condition
The first team to find the treasure of Abbot Thomas and get it out of the maze wins.

Special Rules
The treasure is very heavy. Two characters hauling it out of the maze can only move 2” per turn. One character can only move 1”.
When the treasure is uncovered, the Stygian slug awakes and goes on the attack.
It takes two moves to push a statue out of the way. It takes four moves to dig down to the treasure location.
If a gun is fired, Sir Oswald will show up at one of the entrances to investigate the disturbance. He’s also been trying to find the treasure, although he has no clue it is hidden in the maze.

Encounter Markers.

Ten encounter markers are placed in the maze. Four of the markers will consist of objects already in the maze, the other 6 will be spots indicated on the treasure map. Use a standard playing card deck containing one of the cards Ace through Jack.
Ace- The treasure of Abbot Thomas!
Two- Nothing!
Three- A loaded .45 clip with six bullets.
Four- Nothing!
Five- A 16th century dagger in usable condition.
Six- Nothing.
Seven- Six rounds of ammo for a service revolver.
Eight- Nothing.
Nine- Nothing.
Ten- A tablet containing the word needed to control the slug.
Jack- Nothing.

No comments: