Reclaim your lives. Ram the doors of the Behrman bank, and break open the vault to take back a death that’s rightfully yours.
This session is explicitly designed to kill the entire party at the end. In this game, the adventurers need break into the Behrman bank, hold off waves of enemies while a drill cracks the vault, and then destroy the contents within.
Setting:
This narrative takes place in and around the Behrman bank, an august institution dating back hundreds of years. The building itself closely resembles a gothic cathedral or opera hall with a grand entrance leading to open offices above, and winding catacomb like hallways beneath. It has tight security, and a fast police presence to break ins. As a part of breaking into the vault below, there is a requirement to carry a large drill
This break in takes place at night, at a time when the everyday staff and customers have gone home, leaving only the security force remaining.
Story Beats:
Through the foyer
Hallway holdout
The Vault
Through the foyer:
The adventurers have been sent on a suicide mission. And then another. And another. Each time being resurrected by the “benefactors”, who have controlled their lives as long as they can remember. Thanks to an anonymous tip off and a faulty signal they have escaped their last mission alive, and now finally are able to take back the facility that resurrects them time and time again.
En route in the back of a van, the adventurers may have a moment to reminisce. If these are new characters for the session, now is an ideal time to describe who they are and what they do. In game the characters will already know each other, although may not necessarily get along.
Making the final approach, there is a choice presented of whether to ram the doors down with the van, or to walk boldly in through the front doors. Each have their pros and cons. Breaking through the door will block the entrance and allow for faster entry, however comes at the cost of a faster security response. Entering on foot means a slower response time, but greater exposure.
The immediate entrance to foyer hall is a security desk with two officers who are working the night shift and resting alongside metal detectors, which must be crossed to enter the bank proper. Assuming the adventurers have walked in and are not obviously armed, then the guards will cautiously assume they are lost and direct them to leave. If they are armed, or have rammed the front doors (Passing a check to make sure the doors give way) then the alarm is immediately raised and the police response arrives in 1D6 + 4 rounds.
Moving up a wide entrance of stairs, the adventurers find themselves before the main working hall, with a tall decorated ceiling and lined with windowed teller booths on either side. There are 6 armed security guards in this room behind the armoured teller windows, and fire on the party as soon as they are spotted. In the middle of the room are desks that customers can sit at, and a statue of the bank’s founder, Teodora Behrman. Overseeing the room is a window into the general managers office.
In order to gain passage to the halls below, the adventurers will need to open the entrance from the general managers office. Fighting (or sneaking) over the windowed teller’s booths will gain access to an employee only area which isn’t filled with much aside from a few meeting rooms, a canteen area, and a locker room. Through a locked keycard access door lies a flight of stairs which can be used to access the general manager’s office. The keycard may be found on one of the guards, or broken into; although the latter will raise an alarm.
The GM’s office is reasonable sized affair, with a bookshelf along one wall, and several vinyl records framed behind their desk. These records are a combination lock that may be turned like a safe. The code may be found by cross referencing the records with the books on the shelf. The first letter of each record corresponding with a number printed on a dictionary book spine1. The numbers are:
(1) Abbey Road - the Beatles
(9) I Never Loved a Man The Way I Love You - Aretha Franklin
(9) In Your Honor - The Foo Fighters
(4) Demon Days - The Gorillaz
With the corresponding code being 19942. As they turn the last of the records, a grinding is heard as the statue of Teodora Behrman reveals a way to get to the hall below.
Hallway holdout:
Walking down the stairs into the long warmly-lit corridor below there is enough space on either side to allow 6 people to walk abreast, and enough lighting that torches aren’t needed. There are alcoves lining the walls, but are no branching paths until the end of the corridor which is sealed with a massive steel door that resists any attempts to open it.
This door is the reason why the adventurers have needed to bring the drill, noting that it requires 2 people to stay near it at all times for proper operation. From here, they will need to hold off waves of enemies wile the drill punctures the locking mechanisms.
The waves start off simpler, but ramp up in intensity each time for a total of 6 waves.
A swarm of regular first responders with stun batons. Testing the party’s ability to deal with multiple close range enemies
A phalanx of riot shields prevents front on ranged attacks, forcing the party to split so they can flank
2 large bruiser types charge party members, forcing them apart
Shock troopers drop smoke grenades and attempt to grab then drag outlying people away to separate them from the team.
A bruiser type with multiple weaker first responders who follow in its trail, limit the party’s ability to get away from each charge
Shock troopers protected by a wall of riot shields tests the party’s ability to deal with them without getting too close.
During this last wave, the drill completes its run and the vault door hisses open.
The Vault:
A cool mist envelops the adventurers feet as they step in.
Within are clear sarcophagi lying flat on low tables, connected to tubes and whirring machines. Held in suspension, each contains a perfect replica of an adventurer. They are not responsive to the touch, nor are the adventurers able to revive them at this time.
As the armed forces make their wat down the corridor to protect the contents of the vault, the party need to hold them off long enough to irreparably damage the facility. If they planned ahead and brought explosives then they may take the time to plant these now, scavenge them off of fallen enemies, or find another way to rig the equipment.
There is no escape tunnel out of this facility, and by now there is a continuous stream of enemies making their way down the tunnel. Once the explosives are set the adventurers must prevent anyone else from coming into the vault to save any scrap of the materials.
It is at this stage that the adventurers should start to fall if they haven’t already. Once the explosives go off, the hallway is filled with flame incinerating anyone still in it.
It can be assumed that everyone died in the explosion that rocked the Behrman bank and surrounding businesses causing a fire that lasted for days. Such is the cost of freedom sometimes.3
What did you think? Any ideas, feedback, or do you intend to use this for a session? Let me know!
This session was originally written with D&D in mind, and the original prompt for this session was the videoclip for the Rammstein song Adieu [Link].
Cowritten/Edited with the assistance of Alsanna.
This can be substituted with a more complex cipher as required. The main challenge here is to figure this out while under fire
The year Rammstein was formed.
Apologies in advance. This was a tough session to write, and I realise the ending could do work. However I had a choice between publishing as is, or missing the daily deadline.