Secrets in the basement, ever find anything weird in the basement? Options

[Snow_Fox]

Looking to share r/l weirdness, I'm wondering, if people could share odd ball stuff they've encountered in the basments of places where they've lived or worked. Stuff which could lead to interesting adventures

For example in his autobiography Kitchen Confidential Anthony Bourdaine reported that through the basmeent of a rastaurant he ran, he found a maze of hallways connecting him to the hotal next door and a forgotten night club from the days of legs Diamond. It had been emptied of fixtures and booze but was a huge empty space.

I once worked for a company in New york who's stroage for records was in the basement of the building next door. This had once been a health club and hidden behind cardboard boxes were huge mirrors and at one point a circular hallawa with alternating wood slats and mrrors on it.

[hyzmarca]

I never found anything strange in a basement but I once found a large number sealed evidence bags and SWAT weapons in a storage warehouse. The moral of the story was if you're a cop who takes bribes to loose evidence you shouldn't put it in a warehouse rented under your own name and if you do you should continue to pay your rent.

[CanRay]

I remember finding old HDDs and Modems in the basement of a Burger Joint I once worked at. No computers, just the HDDs and Modems. (External modems, but interal Hard Drives).

When I worked as a janitor, well, let's just say that I learned a lot about chemicals that can be found in any office building/apartment complex. And some of the weird equipment to just maintain a place...

[Daier Mune]

back in my hometown of Ann Arbor, MI, there are a number of urban legends regarding the 'steam tunnels' that supposedly criss-cross the UofM campus (roughly 75% of the land in town). some of these are true, as there are a few underground tunnels that connect a few major buildings. they were constructed back in the 60s, when civil unrest was common in universities, to allow staff members to evacuate from surrounded buildings.

[Snow_Fox]

So? share.

[Daier Mune]

well, thats pretty much the extent of the urban legend, usually told to gullible freshmen.

[Snow_Fox]

lol, I meant 'canray' should share.

[CanRay]

Well, being a Gamer, I often look at things from different points of view than the average person.

One thing that peaked my interest was when I was reading the novelization of Terminator 2, where the explosives the Conners used to blow up Cyberdyne, were improvised from cleaning supplies. (Remember, Sarah learned how to do this in T1!). So, yeah, there's lots of flammable materials there, along with good supplies of things that can be made to go boom.

Note: I hasten to point out that I grew up, and was in, a Mining Town at the time as well, so knowledge of explosives isn't that unusual as almost everyone has an Uncle that knows how to go Prospecting, or works for the Mines working with the stuff. However, as I now live on the Praries, I freak people out with my knowledge of Dynamite.

Other things that I found was "Oder Counteragent", which I was upset to find out only is available from Supply Stores that sell to Corporations. That stuff was great! Kills any smell! I mixed up some Double-Strength stuff, and it worked in the DUMPSTERS!

For the equipment, I couldn't even figure out half of the stuff (I was only there to clean up, not maintain the building.), but it appeared sinister, and the warning labels were things that made me shudder!

[Chrysalis]

I like urban exploration. Fave places are old cold war bunkers. Strange things I have found include a 1940 Krupps manufactured telephone exchange, electroshock therapy devices, a soviet box filled with "surgical supplies". Old tax books. Old tubs for "therapy" use. Old computers. One door that had a sign with a radiation warning and not to be opened until 2042.

I even had designed a board game around the idea of urban exploration in Moscow.

-Chrysalis

[WearzManySkins]

During my college days at Texas A & M, I was also a "Tunnel Rat" ie the steam and maintenance tunnels underneath the entire university.

Entry into the tunnels was interesting in the Cadet Dorms it was a closet looking door that had a trapdoor to a ladder down into the tunnels.

We used the tunnels to get into other Cadet Dorms/Barracks unseen for various pranks like dumping bags of FORTRAN Punch Card holes along carpeted hallways.

We unsealed the small railway tunnel that was used to convey prepared foods from the main dining/preparation facility from way back when the university was all male and pretty much all Cadets.

We found that every building was accessible thru these tunnels, some to the tunnels had not seen use since before the Korean War, we discovered this due the light bulbs used in those sections were made during WWII and the Korean War Era, we installed new light bulbs to make using the tunnels easier and less flashlight intensive.

In the basements of alot of the older buildings were WWII era wooden furniture ie full sized desks, chairs, solid wood filing cabinets filled with old student and university records ie accounting types of records.

We used the tunnels to gain access to the newer buildings facilities controls like the switches to the hot water pumps, would turn off and remove the fuses during the winter months so they took cold showers.

While I was a Feral Cat Conference many years back, a Lady Professor who helped found and establish Aggie Feral Cat Alliance of Texas (AFCAT), had explained that the Maintenance Department explained that the Steam Tunnels were not accessible to the cats. I was able to give her some insights into the system and exactly how accessible it was to the cats.

Many times during my college days in those tunnels we came across the cats and the signs of their presence. Nothing like shining a flashlight into a room and all you see is sets of eyes at various levels reflecting the light back at you.

WMS

[hobgoblin]

One door that had a sign with a radiation warning and not to be opened until 2042.

if that isnt the proverbial red button with the "dont push!" sign, i dont know what is...

[ludomastro]

Hmmm, growing up in a rural area with a high water table, basements were rare while wells were plentiful. However, attics of old houses and barn lofts were great for finding things. Old farming equipment (hand tools really) that has since been replaced by more modern equipment (machines) make for great torture devices.

Where I work now, the basement was originally designed for records storage has been converted to office space. There are walls that run hot and cold for no apparent reason. (The truth is steam and water pipes - but the PCs don't need to know that.) There is a shredder in one of the mechanical rooms that would make Enron proud. The thing has a conveyor belt wide enough for records boxes. Indeed that is what it is for. The monster has a mushroom stop bottom and the on button is a covered push button. Make that conveyor wide enough for a meta-human and ...

[Stahlseele]

i could tell you stories . . but i won't . .
i'll only say this much: if you ever get the chance: work in retail/logistics once . . you'll be surprised at the sheer number of tunnels and other such things used in modern cities and shopping areas . . it's pretty much possible to cross whole districts of this city i live in without ever going up to street level, if you know how and where to look . .
the other extreme is in berlin for example . . there's places where you can cross parts of the city without ever going DOWN to street-level . .
as for places being unaccessable to cats? yeah, right, if you can get your fist in there, a whole cat will find it's way inside . . as long as the head fits through some tiny little hole, the rest of the cat fits too . .

[ludomastro]

@ Stahlseele

Speaking of tunnels, downtown Salt Lake - the city where I currently live - has several tunnels owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that allow movement of Church leaders from the Church Office Buildings to the Temple and other LDS buildings.

RE: Cats
I agree! They can go anywhere.

[CanRay]

Makes me wonder how many secret places there are in Winnipeg. There's an underground concourse that's a part of the Downtown Skywalk at the infamous "Portage and Main"...

What else could be down there?

It's a Flood Plain, however, so not likely much.

[Aaron]

The steam tunnels at UW-Madison are pretty cool, plus we have Tunnel Bob.

All you need to find these places is a willingness to wander. A set of lockpicks helps, but isn't necessary.

[BishopMcQ]

One way to find out about the tunnels is to research the city's founding. Seattle is a great example of a city built on top of itself--the whole Seattle Underground near Pioneer Square was canonically converted into the Ork Underground.

But what can you do with them in game? I've seen abandoned sewer tunnels turned into a lair for a blood mage. Smugglers who hide out in long-forgotten speak-easies are cool. What about business complexes, built by mega corps and later leased or sold to smaller companies?

IIRC, there was a bad batch of plasticrete mentioned in CC or M&M that you could spray an enzyme on and it would temporarily become permeable. If a company intentionally built a non-load bearing wall with that material to conceal that an underground section existed, it would be possible to later use that as a hidden entrance.

If you go to the City Planner's office, a lot of those tunnels can be found in blue prints of the city. Copies are fairly inexpensive and make great additions to a game. Unroll the blueprints on your gaming table and let the players have at it. Electrical, HVAC, and structural drawings are all available.

[crizh]

I like urban exploration.

I found some UrbEx web sites while I was researching Scab (my character in Second Stringers).

YOU GUYS ARE MENTAL!!!!!!

Much props, but clinically mental nonetheless.

For example.

[Ryu]

if that isnt the proverbial red button with the "dont push!" sign, i dont know what is...

Yeah. And Chrysalis did not tell us what he found inside...

[Blade]

There was a reseach facility in France that had a big tunnel system underneath. A Russian spy lived there during the day and came out at night to fetch research documents.

[Chrysalis]

Yeah. And Chrysalis did not tell us what he found inside...

The door was a large stainless steel vault like door. It was locked and welded shut. Later on I did bring a geiger counter to have another look at it. It read in the 5 rem range.


Rules in urban exploration:

1. Do not leave anything more than footprints and do not take anything away.
2. If you come across a locked door or window. It also your responsibility not to break-in.
3. Vandals sacked Rome. You are an urban explorer.

[Zak]

The door was a large stainless steel vault like door. It was locked and welded shut. Later on I did bring a geiger counter to have another look at it. It read in the 5 rem range.


Rules in urban exploration:

1. Do not leave anything more than footprints and do not take anything away.
2. If you come across a locked door or window. It also your responsibility not to break-in.
3. Vandals sacked Rome. You are an urban explorer.

4. If you enter a huge system of tunnels or caves you do not know, bring a local guide you trust.

Stumbling into an undergroud rave after 5 hours of being lost in a tunnel system had it's merits though.

[masterofm]

I found some extremely racist literature dating back to the 1870's called Lynching Black People as a Community Project. It was a book of racist and sexist fairy tails. The small little biography of the author was that he burned down his elementary school when he was 10 and was driven out of town. Made me happy that most people would look down on a piece of literature like that if it was written today. Also a lot of National Geographics that dated back to the great depression that had a government advisory on the back that told people to spend more money to help out the economy and get us out of this depression. A half molded loom, an old printing machine, a dusty old piano with half the keys missing, a bunch of broom handles, a black and white picture book where most of the pages had molded together that only had the first picture of a sad looking lady (who apparently committed suicide in the house.)

This was from a basement of a 200 year five story high old mansion. There were other more spooky things, but then again that place just scared the hell out of me. It burned down recently, and no one knows why.... although I used to hear my father or sister calling out my name only to realize that I was the only person in the house, or my sister was 2000 miles away. That or hear my Grandmother call out to me, except for the fact she had passed away six + years ago at that time.

[Chrysalis]

4. If you enter a huge system of tunnels or caves you do not know, bring a local guide you trust.

Stumbling into an undergroud rave after 5 hours of being lost in a tunnel system had it's merits though.

I had a list of stuff to bring, cameras, etc. But two most important aspects:

Never do urban exploration alone and always respect the area you explore.

[Stahlseele]

mark my words:
mark your ways!
also: use rope or threading . . it helped theseusagainst the minutaur . .
chalk is good for markings . . bread crumbs don't work all that well with critters of various size cohabitating the area you're exploring . .