Hey fellow GMs!

I have a scenario that I want to play out in my game, and I'd like some ideas on how best to run it. My goal here is for it to be a challenge. I don't want to have a simple scenario where I just describe to the Runners, "Okay it takes you three days to make it through the desert. It's really hot." Or I just have them make a few boring "Survival" extended tests, and they take a few boxes of Stun damage. I really want the group to WORRY that they could literally die in the desert if they don't do something to survive. Of course I don't actually want to KILL them.

Here's the scenario:

Runners will be flying in a plane over Africa on their way to Mogadishu. On their way there, the plane is attacked by a Dragon. Runners will have a chance to fight the Dragon with magic and weapon-mounts from the plane (I'm hoping they'll think this is both cool and terrifying) but the end result is that the plane is damaged. The Runners have the option to bail out of the plane, or try to crash land. The point of the choice here is that if they try to land the plane, they'll be hurt in the crash, but they may have more salvaged supplies. If they bail out, the plane will likely be destroyed, they'll only have with them what they can carry.

Now they're in a remote part of Africa, and need to survive and make it to the city. The Runners consist of a Rigger, a Face, a Weapons Specialist with no cyberware, and a Spirit-summoning Mage.

I'm trying to think of how to make this a good challenge for the Runners. One scenario I thought of was having the Runners find an old broken car. They might be able to fix it to help them get out of the desert... but staying to fix it is going to mean spending additional hours out in the desert heat. Maybe there are some small supplies in the car they can use.

I also want to try and anticipate anyway that the Runners could simply "Magic" themselves out of the whole situation. For example I'm pretty sure they can't "drink" a Water Spirit, but could an Air Spirit simply fly them out of there? I'm trying to anticipate the creativity of the team in advance so that I can keep the whole thing challenging.

So please, give me ideas as GMs, and as players shoot holes in my plan so that I can try to anticipate them in advance and keep it fun and challenging. Thanks for the help!

Why does the dragon stops to attack the plane or ensures that the job has been done?

Regarding the scenario:
- Maybe scavengers (with some equipment) stop by after a few days while the runner think about which direction they should go. Even if they wander of in some random direction, those scavengers could attack them on their way to the plane.

- Maybe they can salvage something from the plane as vehicle - like some kind of freight drone from the loading bay that could also carry them.

- Add some sand storms, which cause additional disorientation

- Let them make wilderness checks and give them stun damage after a while. Let them walk around a large hex field desperately trying to follow into the right direction.

- Some scaring desert critters could show up ... as an event they could witness a fight between 2 dangerous specimen.

Well if you land them in a part of the desert where many have died a background count wouldn't be out of the question you could even throw in a twisted air/earth spirit of your own.

You could have a roving band of locals run into them. The face can impress the locals, getting help, or they can kill them and take their technicals. Mad Max style.

Oh, and Toyota Hilux. They just don't die.

Where are they flying from? Planes avoid flying directly over the sahara these days for precisely the reason that you wanna strand the runners: that shit is dangerous. Lack of landmarks, lack of radio direction finding, dust storms, these are all recipes for death.

I'm thinking you can strand them in the highlands of ethiopia, Somolia or parts of the Sudan. That's going to be pretty darn challenging.

Well...

Spirits can protect them from the environment. So the environment will not, generally, be an issue. Background Count may have some say in this dependent upon location.

One could make a "vehicle" out of chassis struts and wheels, with an upright Tail Wing (or intact wing section) to make a makeshift Land Yacht that tacks with the wind. Likely they do not have the Exotic Skill "Land Yacht" but one could substitute Sailing/Watercraft in a pinch.

Believe it or not, if you do have some equipment (and the right equipment) you can harvest water in the desert. Deserts are rife with condensation in Early Morning (and a fair amount if you can cover a decent area), but it doesn't last long at all.

Heh, spreading ponchos out with a canteen in the middle? Where'd ya lern that, twenty nine stumps?

29 Stumps and then the Great Big Sand Pit (1st Gulf War). It was amazing just how much water we were covered with (literally soaked) in the mornings while in the field.

Land yacht scene from the film Sahara

Indeed... It is better in the book, though.

My uncle told me that back when he was in the airborne, on exercises, he would do the poncho trick, then sell water to guys who didn't have any(why didn't they? Who knows). Said he made a killin'.

Wouldn't be surprised...

I have one of these from the late 90s and this is the truth. The frame was so badly rusted I had to have the seat and upholstery removed so that it could be re-welded. The radiator belches rust when you flush it. The electronics rot and malfunction. But it just keeps going!

It would kind of be an in-joke for me but I'd have them find a hilux from the late 90s that is still running. I'd have it be manual transmission and unless the characters plausibly know how to drive a stick they have to pass and INT check or something. And if they put it into 4WD mode there's a small chance it will get stuck in 4WD mode and screw up the fuel economy.

Then you are weak. Weak, in the way that the desert is not.



You said Africa. Start with a web search for snakes in Africa. Are they used to desert travel? Do they know how to spot where snakes like to sit? Do they have antidote? The right kind of antidote? No? Someone might need new cyberware when they get back - if they get back - to replace the necrotic limbs. Will they shake out their boots before they put them on in the morning? Do they have antidotes for scorpion venom? And how will neurotoxins play with neural interfaces?

But then on the other hand, there are diseases. Slow, sneaky, parasitic diseases which seem not to be there at all. Until months later, they turn very ugly indeed. Flukes and worms and oh, let's not forget all the fun feverse, haemorrhagic and otherwise. Until modern medicine started to develop, Africa was called the White Man's Grave.

And another thing people underestimate is the value of salt. They will sweat, and sweat, and sweat, and they won't even realise how much because the bone dry air will whisk it all away. If they have a balanced diet on hand, no problem. Otherwise they might start to faint, and get cramps, and get fuzzy-headed. It's a real problem.

Hope this helps.

I highly recommend against trying to play up the "challenge" of desert survival, as it's not really dramatic nor entertaining. Don't believe me? Grab the Two Towers and Return of the Kings books, and read Sam and Frodo's journey through mordor. It's boring, it's depressing, and after the first time I've read it, I just readily skip through it to less awful sections.

Because you can't beat the desert. You really can't. It isn't susceptible to clever tricks, to brute force, to deft and sure movement, or to skill. The most you can do is endure it, and try to avoid the worst of it.

A night raid by ghouls. Then, as they approach the outskirts of civilization, they encounter a very old village. It's full of infected. There's a well with a small amount of slimy, green algae water in the bottom of it. If a PC looks like she's about to take a drink, the party hears, "Wait, don't!" A non-feral calls out from a dark, mostly boarded-up window.

On Sandy Shores

Making their way across the desert the runners spot a building ahead with what looks like a crude pier of the sort you normally see going out over water stretching out over the sand towards them.

When the runners get about 100 meters away from the end of the 'pier' they are in for a bit of a spill as they, or the front of the vehicles plummets into the sand which parts like water beneath them.
A nice GM will only let them get in just over their heads or have it slope in so they can get out easier, evil ones may go deeper.

It's not quicksand, but rather CMS or Colloid Manogelled Sand. Still a rare phenomena, these pools of magically charged sand remain slightly suspended from each other acting like water though utterly dry.

While quicksand has a density of 2g/ml, which allows one to float fairly easily, CMS is rated around 1.1g/ml putting it just slightly denser than water letting one plunge rapidly through the material.
As there is gaps between the sand, if one wears a cloth over the mouth and nose, they can actually 'breath' while undersand, though it is a bit of labored breathing to pull the air through and would clog any air intake on a vehicle pretty fast.

After the initial surprise and having to 'swim' out, possibly leaving a sunken vehicle depending on the depth, the team can tentatively poke around the edges to find their way to the research building where they find some university backed researchers exploring the CMS pond, hence the pier letting them go out over it to take samples.

Security is pretty light, more to chase off stray pests and the occasional bandit rather than having to deal with any serious threat.
How well the researchers take to the uninvited guests will depend on the Face and how the rest of the team act.

Assuming the Rigger has some mechanical skills, they may be able to do some sorely needed spot repairs or juryrigging as needed for the facility.

If the team can prove helpful/persuasive they may get some help winching their ride out as well as get a meal and a semisafe nights rest out of the bargain.

The CMS may have some value to a talismonger/enchanter so the mage may be interested in any findings as well as taking some along.

Perhaps there can be a use for a jar of sand that acts like a fluid later on.