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Co-written with Skrat.
Genre: Multiverse
Primary Focus: Combat
Secondary Focus: Social Interaction
Time: 1-2 hours (with an optional 1-hour extra content)
Complexity: 3
This is a chaotic one-shot for Level 1 characters. You are part of the Storytellers, a multiversal organization of characters that know that they are fictional and serve the narrator to ensure that stories flow as they are supposed to. You are sent out to an old, nearly forgotten world that is unstable to find out what is causing it and, hopefully, fix it.
This game is set in the Headcanon Multiverse setting. You can read more about it here.
Character Suggestions
Background Information for the GM
Tirinum is an old world made by the narrator when they were a child. It is a tortoise-shaped island with monkeys living in the jungle, eagles in the mountains, cats in the savanna, lizards in the desert, and turtles at the coast. Each area contains one special artifact. What do they do? The Narrator never really finished the story. Now the world is falling apart because it is starting to be forgotten. This is attracting memory eaters, creatures that feed on old memories. This causes constant instability, and the world changes in irrational ways.
The players are part of the storytellers. You can find more lore here, Skrat: https://world-shapers.com/resources/settings/headcanon-multiverse/#4-the-storytellers
They will be sent to that world to figure out what is going on and fix the instabilities.
The Adventure
Headcanon Headquarters
The adventure starts in the Headcanon Headquarters. The place is full of all sorts of characters. Cartoons, Fantasy, Sci-fi Noir, etc. Big room with a modern look.
Players can describe their characters for the rest of the group here. Presume that they know each other in-game.
They have been called to bob the slime. A green slime with two eyes siming in the slime body. He is stuffed in a suit that is too small and has two slim arms. He is one of many people responsible for managing missions. He is a big fan of the agents that actually go out on missions and will be slightly nervous around players. Bob will give them the mission.
After that, they go to the central teleportation room, which can teleport them anywhere in the multiverse. A big hologram of the multiverse is in the center of the room. A worker will calibrate the teleporter for them and send them to Tirinum.
Tirinum
World is in constant flux. GM rolls a d6 after every 5 minutes (10 minutes if you want a slower pace and more control) or at the end of a round when in combat. Depending on the result, change the map and creatures.
- 1 is a twisted version of Tirinum
- 2 is full of colorful ponies
- 3 contains eldritch entities
- 4 is full of machines and robots
- 5 is rotten wood and poison water with zombies
- 6 is an empty void with transparent walls and floors
- If you roll the same number twice in a row, you get a mix of all of them.
The world starts with version 1 when the players get there for the first time. There are always three rooms that lead to stairs to the basement. All internal doors are closed and locked, and only open up when something is done in the room. Once it is opened, it stays open in all versions.
If any character is in a position already occupied by something else when the world changes, both the player and whatever is in that position will recieve 1d6 reality damage and the player will be moved to the closest empty space.
The players start outside a building with no windows and only one door. The left and right walls look like they go on forever from the outside. Their surroundings look like an infinite jungle floor and a dark brown void, like a limited render distance in a PS1 videogame. The door is closed but not locked. All walls, floors, ceilings, and doors are indestructible.
1 Tirinum
I will make maps later with numbers. Presume that all rooms have numbers, starting with 1 in the south, 2 in the middle, and 3 in the north.
This version is made out of fragments from the original Tirinum. A version of the protagonist, an anthropomorphic ape, is in every room that represents different aspects of him. His name was forgotten. If any version dies, the ending changes slightly. They die on one hit.
The walls and doors are made of stone.
Room 1: An insecure version of the protagonist. He will be frightened and panics when he sees the party. He is confused and does not know what is happening. The door in the back opens when you calm down the protagonist (Psychology or Persuasion against 7) or if they die.
Room 2: There is a big pile of bananas and a hammock in the back. A lazy version of the protagonist is lying on the hammock and eating bananas. He is very relaxed and does not really care about what is happening. He will offer the players bananas. If one of them eats one or the protagonist dies, the door opens.
Room 3: A room full of empty books and an alchemical laboratory. The curious version of the protagonist is here. He is desperately trying to find out what is going on, opening books and throwing them to the corner when they are empty. Making him realize that his world is falling apart and that he is only one part of a whole person or killing him will open the final door.
2 Ponies
This world is colorful and full of ponies.
Room 1: There is a table in the center with two chairs, good for armwrestling. Quick Wing, a green pegasus pony, challenges the players to an armwrestling contest. If he wins, he will keep challenging the players for more things, like a race or push-ups, until he loses. The player wins if they beat Quick Wing in a relevant Skill Check, like Athletics or Raw Force. Beating him in that or any other physical challenge opens the door. So does killing him.
Room 2: A cream-colored pony named Butter Pie is baking muffins in an oven and putting them on a large table. She will be friendly and invite the player to eat some muffins. Eating one muffin or killing her will open the door.
Room 3: There is a big pile of empty books in the corner and a magical circle. A pink unicorn named Star Speaker is trying to find out what is going on. Making her realize that the world is falling apart and that she is not really of this world, or killing her, will open up the door.
3 Eldritch
This world has weird symbols carved into the floor, and the walls look like they are made out of crystal. Each room has a magical circle that contains a higher-dimensional creature. They are completely immune to any damage, do not attack, and stay within the magical circle. Entering the magical circle will cause them to telepathically ask a question. If the question is answered truthfully, the door will open.
Room 1: It contains The Fear. A mass of ever-shifting teeth and bony jaws. It has two green eyes that will only react when somebody enters the circle. They will ask, “What do you fear?” Unless the answer is really weird or something that is not dangerous, they will react to the answer with “It is wise to fear that”. Otherwise, it will say “This is a… interesting fear”.
Room 2: It contains The Knowledge. A mass of crystal-like eyes, evershifting. Once you enter the circle, all of them will stare at the character. It will ask, “What knowledge do you seek?” A reasonable answer will cause it to say, “It is good to seek that knowledge.” Otherwise, it will react with something like “I guess all knowledge has a purpose. No matter how challenging it is to find it.”
Room 3: it contains The Dream. A green slime, with multiple eyes and mouths, ever-shifting. It will ask, “What is your dream?” When answered with a good dream, it will say, “May you find what you seek.” Otherwise, it will say “Not all dreams should be pursued.”
4 Machines
The rooms are made out of metal and covered with different machines.
Room 1: A robot solder is here. It will attack on sight. Killing it will open the door.
Room 2: A big war robot is here. It will attack on sight. Killing it will open the door.
Room 3: A big computer with multiple screens is in the room. The computer contains an AI. The AI is arrogant and will talk down to any lifeform that is not a machine. It will demand that any non-machine leave the room from which they came. Convincing it that you are on an important mission and/or that its world will collapse if you do not go past it will open the door (Analysis or Persuasion against 10). On failure, it will attack with built-in lasers.
5 Undead
The building is made out of old wood, and the floor is partially covered with poisonous goo. Stepping into it deals 1d6 Poison damage, which repeats if you stay in there for longer than a round (or 12 seconds outside of combat).
Room 1: There is a zombie. It will attack on sight. Killing it will open the door.
Room 2: A skeleton warrior is here. It will attack on sight. Killing it will open the door.
Room 3: A throne made of black stone with a pile of skulls on each side. A Lich is sitting on the throne. It will look down on any creature that is not undead and demand that they bow down to it. Bowing down and showing it respect will open the door. If the players do not do so, it will attack. Killing it will also open the door.
6 Void
The walls and floors become transparent and show weird digital-like patterns. The characters can see the memory eaters in the basement. The characters should be able to identify them because of their training. The next door will open automatically. When all players step through the door, the world will automatically shift.
Amalgam
If you roll the same number two times in a row, you instead gain a mix of all six versions. All NPCs and Creatures will also be there, pretty much instantly triggering combat. The ape protagonist and the ponies will try to run away in a blind panic. The eldfriich entities will watch what is around them, but not really do anything. The machines and undead will immediately turn hostile and try to kill everything in the room.
The Memory Eaters
When they open the final door, the party will find stairs that lead to the cellar. There will be two Memory eaters feeding on the fabric of this reality. They are large creatures with multiple limbs and covered in a citen exoskeleton, but their limbs and head have a form that is more similar to a reptile. They will not notice the player characters at the start unless they are loud, allowing them to reposition themselves how they wish before engaging in combat. The memory eaters will attack as soon as they see the party.
The cellar has seven versions, and just like in the upper area, you need to roll after each round and make it shift.
Version 1: A mostly empty stone room with a stone bed in the middle.
Version 2: An arena full of giant muffins
Version 3: A room with three magical circles. Anything standing in the yellow one will be Charmed by the closest enemy. Anything in the Blue one will be Tainted. Anything in the green one will be Frightend of the closest Enemy.
Version 4: Machines with broken wires and electrical sparks. Standing in or next to an electrical spark for the first time in a round will deal 1d6 shock damage.
Version 5: The room is covered with a lot of poison goo.
Version 6: There are big cubes and rifts in reality. Touching one of the rifts for the first time in a round deals 1d6 reality damage.
Version 7: A mix of all six.
Ending
Killing the memory eaters will cause the world to stabilize. The protagonist will be seen frozen in time before the stone bed. An injured eagle person is lying on it and giving the ape an artifact that looks like a beak. The characters will be teleported back to the Headcanaon Headquarters.
Bob the slime will comment on the mission. If they succeeded without a single part of the protagonist dying, he will be very happy about the mission. If one or more die, he will comment that something seems off, like a part of the story is missing. If all versions of the protagonist die, the ape in the final scene will actually be dead, and Bob will be very disappointed, commenting that the story has been ruined forever.
Ask the players what they do after the mission to relax to finish the adventure.