Here, have a one-shot adventure for Longshot City. Learn about the real-world context here.
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| click to download a printable map and time tracker |
If You Build It We Will Burn It
TIMELINE OF EVENTS13:05—Surveillance drone flies by.
13:30—Activists start serving food at the Living Room.
14:30—Band change.
15:35—Surveillance drone flies by.
15:45—Band change.
15:50—Surveillance drone flies by.
16:05—Surveillance drone flies by.
16:15—Band change. Police helicopter flies by.
16:20—Surveillance drone flies by. Blaze up.
16:30—Forest Defenders meet at the Living Room to review their plan of action.
16:35—Surveillance drone flies by.
16:50—Surveillance drone flies by.
16:55—Someone in the crowd experiences an opiate overdose. Street medics are quick to respond, treating the patient with Narcan.
17:00—The street medics escort the overdose patient to the Information & Medical Tent.
17:05—Surveillance drone flies by.
17:20—Surveillance drone flies by.
17:35—Surveillance drone flies by.
17:45—Band change.
17:50—Surveillance drone flies by.
17:55—The Forest Defenders at the Living Room adjourn their meeting, agreeing to meet back up here at 19:15 and head out at 19:20.
18:05—Surveillance drone flies by.
18:10—Band change.
18:20—Surveillance drone flies by.
18:30—First speaker takes the stage—a black indigenous woman named Professor Susan Watt discussing the history of the land. The proposed construction site is part of a publicly owned National Park, on land that was once sacred to the Cree Nation. Later a plantation was built there. There are plans to build a firing range on top of a slave graveyard.
Riot police move to take their positions in the woodline on either side of the Power Cut (North). The Bloodhound sets up an ambush at last year’s Tent Village Remains.
18:35—Surveillance drone flies by. Second speaker takes the stage—a black man named Tyrese Walker discussing police militarization. The proposed training facility is designed to simulate residential areas in which police invade homes and brutalize those they swore an oath to protect, as well as commercial districts in which they deny citizens the right to peaceful assembly. The city already has contracts with police and military organizations around the world to train here, including the IDF.
Luke Apostle generates the illusory training facility and waits in one of the houses in the Cul De Sac.
18:40—Third speaker takes the stage—a white woman named Allison Nutley discussing legal and democratic resistance efforts. Through neighborhood meetings, petitions, voter initiative ballot measures, and legal testimony, the people of this city have made their opposition to cop city clear. The city council and police representatives driving the project have repeatedly ignored those meetings and petitions, and have sued the city to have the voter initiative law banning Cop City struck down in court. At best, the case will be wrapped up in the initiative process until after the facility has already been built.
18:45—Fourth speaker takes the stage—a black woman LaVonda Declair discussing diversity of tactics. Some activists prefer to resist in safe, conventional and legal ways, and their many contributions are essential, from the folks gathering signatures for petitions and providing medical support at protests to the attorneys fighting to make the people’s will law. What their efforts can’t do is delay construction of the facility. Dozens of construction vehicles have been sabotaged in the night over the past few years, and one construction company after another has pulled out of their contract in response to unexpected losses, keeping the LSCPD in a semi-permanent state of shopping around for collaborators willing to take on the significant risk involved.
18:50—Surveillance drone flies by. Fifth speaker takes the stage—a black NB named Cookie Nichols discussing protest logistics. There are more than a thousand people here, and many of them have never been to a protest before. Most of the crowd will move through the hiking and BMX trails to gather at the powerline cut to march from there toward the construction site. Those who came here specifically to throw down with cops and protect peaceful protestors will be concentrated in a vanguard block at the front. Most of this group do not intend to retreat unless lethal rounds are used. The protest organizers expect (based on standard police tactics) to be outnumbered by 5-10 times as many cops, and warn against splitting off into the swamp on either side of the powerline cut, where there will likely be police waiting to arrest individuals.
18:55—The speakers and performers all get on stage at once to lead a massive chant of IF YOU BUILD IT / WE WILL BURN IT that builds everyone up into a frenzy.
19:00—The person holding the microphone tells the crowd the time has come to stop cop city. The vast majority of the festival-goers split up and head through the Trails to gradually gather at the Powerline Cut (South).
19:05—Surveillance drone flies by.
19:20—Surveillance drone flies by.
19:35—Surveillance drone flies by. The Forest Defenders meet up to do a final gear check before heading out.
19:45—The Forest Defenders head north.
19:50—Surveillance drone flies by. 300 police in riot gear take position in the Parking Lot. Many of the festival-goers who didn’t join the Protest March take this as a signal to leave, which at this point the police allow them to do.
20:05—Surveillance drone flies by. The crowd gathering at the Powerline Cut (South) reaches critical mass and heads north.
20:15—The Protestors reach the Powerline Cut (North) and a line of 30 police in riot gear and gas masks forms in front to block them off, and another line of 30 forms on each flank. They do not attack yet. They just stand their beating their billy clubs against their riot shields to a (more or less) steady, intimidating beat.
20:20—Surveillance drone flies by. The angriest and bravest Protestors are concentrating themselves at the head of the march.
20:30—Dusk. The police set up a temporary barricade of Jersey barriers to prevent any more vehicles from leaving the Parking Lot.
20:35—Surveillance drone flies by.
20:39:30—The police announce that this is an illegal gathering and orders the crowd to disperse or face arrest.
20:40—60 riot cops wearing gas masks attack the crowd just behind its head, cutting off the front-line protestors from the rest of the group. Half of those officers and deputies turn to face the head of the march, trapping them in a kettle maneuver, and the other half turn the other way to protect that first half’s rear flank. 2d6 tear gas grenades are fired into the kettle, and the police advance, violently arresting everyone in their path (200+6d6 Protestors are beaten and/or arrested).
This contingent of police is accompanied by Mimic, who remains hidden in the woodline until/unless superpowered individuals (the PCs) try to interfere.
20:50—Surveillance drone flies by.
21:00—The police in the Parking Lot attack the festival, making their way toward the Tent City at the south end and violently arresting anyone in their path. They are accompanied by an Artillery Robot, which is airlifted in via black Chinook helicopter. The robot is currently restricted to non-lethal modes of attack, but that will change if it detects superpowered individuals (the PCs).
21:05—Surveillance drone flies by.
21:15—The first riot cops arrive at the tent city, where they use knives to destroy the festival-goers’ tents and other possessions and clubs to beat anyone who tries to resist.
21:20—Surveillance drone flies by.
21:35—Surveillance drone flies by.
21:50—Surveillance drone flies by.
22:05—Surveillance drone flies by.
22:20—Surveillance drone flies by.
22:35—Surveillance drone flies by. The police find Lilly and Lena, whose single father died in the assault on the festival grounds. They will be adopted by an abusive police officer and his incredibly traumatized wife.
22:50—Surveillance drone flies by.
23:05—Surveillance drone flies by.
23:20—Surveillance drone flies by.
23:35—Surveillance drone flies by.
23:50—Surveillance drone flies by.
00:00—All festival goers have either fled or been transported to jail by now. The vast majority of police and deputies and MPs go home, leaving 3d6+30 stationed at the construction site overnight.
FESTIVAL
Parking Lot This area takes 10 minutes to navigate.
The lot is almost packed—it takes 40 minutes just to find a space. There’s also a train terminal. This is where the Player Characters meet and make their introductions.
Bouncy Castle
Contains 1d6+2 happy children and 1d2 exhausted adults. There is a generator running an industrial fan to keep the structure inflated.
RC Field This area takes 20 minutes to navigate, or 5 minutes when the crowd is cleared out.
This is where the crowd of at least a thousand activists and concerned citizens have gathered to vocalize their dissent and their support for the Forest Defenders.
Medical/Info Tent This area takes 5 minutes to navigate.
This tent is subdivided into an open front portion for information and a larger, slightly more private rear section. The info desk still has a few flyers from the original stack, as well as a handful of educational zines and pamphlets. The rear half has 8 cots set up along with first response medical supplies. Just about anything you could find in an ambulance is present. There is always at least one EMT here. The pamphlets cover roughly the same information that the speakers will discuss on stage (see TIMELINE 18:30-19:05), in addition to statistics indicating that arrests and violent arrests have both gone through the roof even though violent crime has been consistently declining since the end of the pandemic lockdown. The pamphlets also describe the projected environmental impact of building a potemkin city in that location.
Stage
The current act is:
1 a hardcore crustpunk band called Genital Chainsaw.
2 a dj called Minister Prime.
3 a hip hop duo called 2elve Oz.
4 an anarchopop band called Sonic Flex.
5 a ska-metal band called Skankz.
6 a bluegrass band called Roadhead Lockjaw.
Backstage
A 20’ by 10’ tent stocked with couches, a snack table and coolers, elaborate but worn rugs, and occupied by a diverse collection of musicians.
Living Room This area takes 5 minutes to navigate.
A 30’ wide clearing with a 5’ fire pit in the middle and logs half buried around it for seating. There are 20 activists here working hard to feed a thousand people with burgers, hot dogs, and vegetarian chili. There is also a smaller group of 2d6+6 Forest Defenders dressed in a variety of camouflage and black, with a couple of red bandanas. All of them have backpacks.
Game Trail This area takes 5 minutes to navigate.
The beginning of this trail would be impossible for most to find, but the Forest Defenders know where it is.
Tent City This area takes 10 minutes to navigate.
Hundreds of differently colored tents. Those who intend to camp here all weekend have joined the ranks of those who have been camping here all week. There’s a trail leading northwest to the Living Room and a trailhead downhill to the southwest.
DEEP FOREST
Faerie Circle This area takes 5 minutes to navigate.
This 30’ wide clearing is ringed by purple mushrooms with red spots. If a PC eats at least one, they enter a fog-shrouded vision in which their companions are gone, but they are surrounded by the spirits of all those whose blood was ever spilled in this forest. Cree ancestors, black slaves, even a protestor from a couple years ago, before construction on the project began. They all speak at once, but their meaning is clear. They know what is happening to this place and they do not want it. Who will stop it? they ask. Who will help us? Who will protect our grandchildren? They don’t seem to notice the PC. Then the PC throws up, violently, and the vision ends. An hour has passed. For the rest of the session, the PC receives a +2 spiritual guidance bonus to all skill tests.
Mad Tom’s Shack
A haphazard structure leaning against a burnt-out concrete warehouse. The shack’s walls and roof are constructed from bits and pieces of a dozen types of wall and sign. The door appears to have been repurposed from a port-a-john. There are woven stick shapes hanging from the trees in a 100’ radius around the shack, warding it from occult forces.
Stream This area takes 5 minutes to navigate.
The trail follows a wide stream for awhile here, leading northeast toward the waterfall that feeds it.
Base of Waterfall This area takes 10 minutes to navigate.
A series of wide, flat stones provide relatively easy crossing across the stream here. There is an alcove behind the waterfall but there is no treasure there.
Top of Waterfall This area takes 5 minutes to navigate.
A game trail leads northwest toward the construction site. The view to the south is fantastic.
Rocky Slope This area takes 10 minutes to navigate.
This path is a significant shortcut, but more difficult. Every character who must climb without special powers must make a skill or luck save to navigate the slope without injury (1d6 Stamina damage).
Smooth Slope This area takes 30 minutes to navigate.
This path is safe but takes the party much further out of the way.
Tent Village Remains This area takes 20 minutes to navigate.
This area is littered with the shredded remains of old tents, mostly in camouflage or solid neutral colors. The forest defenders camped here last year. One of them was murdered in his tent by the police, who claimed they were shot at first. Their report was thoroughly debunked by an independent forensic investigation. Many of the NPCs accompanying the party knew the martyr. This is the site Bloodhound has chosen for his ambush.
TRAILS
Trailhead This area takes 5 minutes to navigate.
Starts near the southwest end of the tent city. Two trails start here. A sign warns that the BMX path is considered a more difficult trail, and describes the hiking trail as both easier and much longer.
BMX Trail This area takes 15 minutes to navigate.
A winding dirt path that begins to vary drastically in slope after the first hundred feet. It’s often impossible to see ten or fifteen feet ahead on the trail through the surrounding foliage.
Hiking Trail This area takes 15 minutes to navigate.
A wide, mostly flat trail that takes a circuitous route to the stream, which it follows south to the fishing pond.
Shallow Crossing This area takes 5 minutes to navigate.
The BMX trail ends at a wide, shallow stream. Following the stream north leads to the Fishing Pond, while crossing it leads to the Powerline Cut. There is a large pile of 150 round plastic trash can lids with handles bolted on for use as riot shields. None of the activists seem to know where they came from.
Fishing Pond This area takes 5 minutes to navigate.
A sign lists the species of fish in this pond alongside daily catch limits and minimum size limits. You can see a campsite on the eastern shore.
Tex’s Camp This area takes 10 minutes to navigate.
A well-used fire pit assembled of smooth river rocks, surrounded by standard features of a long-term camp: a waxed canvas one-person tent, a wood pile, a log to sit on. Tex is currently cooking several fish on a cast iron frying pan and wondering what all the ruckus is about.
Powerline Cut South This area takes 35 minutes to navigate.
100 foot tall transmission towers are spaced every 600 feet, holding up the electrical cables that provide power to the southwest of Longshot City.
Powerline Cut North This area takes 10 minutes to navigate.
A gravel road turns off to the northeast here. A little ways down the road, close enough to see from here, is the entrance to the construction site.
CONSTRUCTION SITE
The only locations that can be found here before shit goes down are the Gravel Road and the Command Trailer. Everything else is an illusion made by Luke Apostle. Illusory cops don’t notice the PCs or any real NPCs. Any real gunshots, explosions, or other loud destructive acts in the area will get Luke’s attention.
Gravel Road This area takes 5 minutes to navigate.
The powerline cut meets a newly placed gravel road. There’s a sign that reads “Welcome to the Longshot City Police Department Public Safety Training Center”. Someone has crossed out the text in black spraypaint and scrawled STOP COP CITY on top of it in red.
Command Trailer This area takes 5 minutes to navigate.
The only non-illusory building here so far, this trailer contains a tabletop radio, a locked key cabinet, a locked rifle rack, and a locked chest of ammunition. There’s a row of portajohns outside. The trailer is always manned by 1d3+1 cops.
School This area takes 5 minutes to navigate.
A sign outside this building reads “LSCPD Public Safety Learning Center.” Inside there are four classrooms, a lounge with vending machines, a supply room, and an office/field manual library. Class is currently in session in one of the rooms. The instructor keeps referring to suspects as “bad guys” and no one in the room seems to find this strange.
Main Street This area takes 5 minutes to navigate.
A single five-way intersection hosting a variety of business facades. There’s a bank, a movie theater, and a convenience store, all designed pretty generically. The coffeeshop, library, and faith house, on the other hand, are exact copies of specific buildings that provided sanctuary to protestors during the 2020 uprising. There is a group of 12 officers training to launch tear gas grenades into the window of the coffee shop.
High School This area takes 10 minutes to navigate.
A two-story school complex with mock classrooms, offices, a gymnasium, and a cafeteria. A group of 16 police is being debriefed by a bored but professional range instructor. He sarcastically informs them that the civilian death count for this exercise, 47, is well over the acceptable limit of 19.
Cul de Sac This area takes 10 minutes to navigate.
If this was a real neighborhood, the six houses would imply a dizzying range of income levels, from a modest one bedroom house with a single car garage to a low-grade mcmansion. There is a light on upstairs in one of the middle income houses, where Luke Apostle sits in a well-furnished office. There are 16 cops smashing in the door of a smaller house and shooting the target dummies inside.
Apartment Complex This area takes 10 minutes to navigate.
This collection of three 4 story buildings is arranged in such a way that if you were dropped into the central courtyard, there would appear to be more buildings surrounding them. The two smaller buildings have 8 units each and the largest one has 16. A group of 8 cops is practicing breaching procedures, with another 5 dressed as civilian suspects inside one of the apartments. The instructor passes the group, but gives them one demerit each for the two bystanders they killed. He explicitly tells them they did the right thing when they shot the dog.
Factory This area takes 10 minutes to navigate.
A simulated auto plant in the middle of a simulated strike. There is a group of 18 cops outside including 2 instructors discussing strikebreaking tactics. Lethal force is not off the table.Timeline of Events (assuming no PC intervention)
RIOT COPS
Skill 5 (+3 per 2)
Stamina 7
Initiative 4
Armor 1
Damage as Club or Pistol
Will fall back on a successful Luck test after they lose half the present group.
PROTESTORS
Skill 7 (+1 per 5)
Stamina 8
Initiative 3
Armor 0 (1 with Shield)
Damage as Club or Shield or Unarmed
FOREST DEFENDERS
Skill 8 (+1 per 2)
Stamina 9
Initiative 6
Damage as Club or Knife
BLOODHOUND
Skill 12
Stamina 12
Initiative 6
Armor 2
Damage as Weapon
Captain Joe Gabbard is on contract with the LSCPD to guard the construction site’s rear approach. A copy of this contract will be filed away in a locked office at City Hall. They have an unspoken understanding that lethal force will be used, bodies will not be found, and that no witnesses will survive.
He is currently armed with a 1911 pistol, a Thompson submachinegun (damage as Machine Gun), and an M4 carbine (damage as Rifle), all with noise suppressors, as well as 4 grenades of various types.
Special
The Bloodhound initiates combat while hidden in the bushes and impossible to target. While hidden, he fights with a +2 bonus to Skill. When he attacks from hiding, his position can be revealed with a successful Skill or Power test (roll-under) by any targets of his current attack or any PCs with relevant Skills or Powers. If his position has been revealed when his next turn comes up, he usually spends his turn hiding. He rolls with advantage to hide after dusk.
Moves
1 Run and gun with the tommygun, revealing his position. Up to 1d3 targets.
2 Sniper shot.
3 Tear gas grenade. Up to 1d3 targets must pass a Luck test or miss their next turn.
4 Fragmentary grenade. Up to 1d3 targets unless spread out.
5 Flash bang. -2 to all visual or auditory attempts to locate him until the end of this round.
6 Remote mine (placed earlier). Up to 1d3 targets unless spread out. This attack does not reveal his position.
MIMIC
Skill 11
Stamina 18
Initiative 5
Armor 2
Damage as Rifle or Power
Mimic has been contracted to accompany riot police confronting the main protest in case any metahumans show up. He hangs back at first, only revealing himself if he sees the PCs using superpowers. A copy of this contract is filed away in a locked cabinet at John Apostle’s militia compound.
Special
Wears a cuneiform amulet of volcanic stone that allows him to temporarily imitate any Skill or Power he sees used. He can imitate up to three Advanced Skills simultaneously.
There is a team of 4 riot police assigned to work directly with Mimic. He will not think twice about ordering them to effectively sacrifice themselves if he sees a tactical advantage in it.
Skill 5 (+3 per 2, so a total of 11 at first)
Stamina 7
Initiative 4
Armor 3
Damage as Rifle.
LUKE APOSTLE
Skill 10
Stamina 14
Initiative 7
Armor 3
Damage as Pistol.
Luke has been volunteered by his father to confound and eliminate any activists who make it past Mimic and the Bloodhound to the Construction Site. He crafts the illusion of a fully completed Cop City, currently being used for a variety of nighttime maneuvers by teams of illusory police. The illusory police cannot be harmed directly and will not notice the PCs or anything they do. The buildings cannot be damaged by anything the PCs or their Forest Defender allies do.
Special
Can produce elaborate visual and auditory hallucinations in others. These are psychological in nature and are not transmissible through recorded media. Carries a gold-plated .44 revolver custom-engraved with Ezekiel 25:17 on the ivory handle grips (6 shots).
Moves (roll on his turn and in response to PC attacks)
1 Create a mirror-self in the middle of the PCs to provoke friendly fire.
2 Cause funhouse vertigo (target must Test Luck or lose their next turn).
3 Steal a PC’s vision (target must test Luck or see only black for 1d6 rounds, may Test Luck again each round).
4 Turn invisible (+2 Skill) and shoot you, or reload if his 6 shots have been expended.
5 Use an illusory explosion to trick a PC into falling into a concrete pit (an unfinished foundation). 1d6 falling damage.
6 Create 1d3 mirror images of himself that move and act as he does. Successful attacks by PCs have an equal chance of hitting him or each mirror image. Every attack that hits a mirror image causes it to disappear.
ARTILLERY ROBOT
Skill 7
Stamina 20
Initiative 2
Armor 4
See Moves for Damage.
This experimental Mark I Artillery Robot is on loan from MiliTronix, a company that designs military drones under the umbrella of the Ryder Foundation.
Its instructions are to, when airlifted in, subdue as many festivalgoers as possible with nonlethal but violent force. If it or the police are attacked by the PCs, it will focus on them and switch to lethal force. Police will stay out of this fight to avoid the crossfire.
Special
If reduced to 0 Stamina, the Artillery Robot explodes into several thousand broken components. These components will slowly reform themselves, building the Mk II version of the Artillery Robot. If this happens, roll 1d3:
1 +2 Skill
2 +8 Stamina
3 +2 Initiative
Moves (nonlethal mode)
1 Tear Gas Grenade (up to 1d3 targets must pass a Luck test or miss their next turn).
2 Electrified net (Damage as Energy Strike, amperage level causes unconsciousness instead of death).
3 Sonic Cannon (pass a Luck test or take a -2 penalty to Skill for 1d3 rounds and miss next turn).
4 Baton Round a.k.a. Rubber Bullet (Damage as Club -1 (see xx), potentially lethal).
5 Taser (45’ wires, Damage as Energy Strike—Electric).
6 Fast-Hardening Foam (pass a Luck Test or become trapped in hard breathable foam)
Moves (lethal mode)
1 Twin Chainguns (Damage ×2).
2 Flamethrower (Damage as Energy Blast—Heat).
3 Rocket Launcher (Damage as Explosive).
4 Release 1d3 Combat Drones.
5 Electrified net (Damage as Energy Strike, lethal amperage level).
6 Sonic Megacannon (Damage as Energy Blast—Sonic)
COMBAT DRONE
Skill 4 (+3 per 2)
Stamina 4
Initiative 2
Armor 0
Damage as Rifle.
Special
Can fly and hover.
TEX
Skill 10
Stamina 16
Initiative 3
Damage as Shotgun
Tex has been laying low from the law since his last DUI a couple months ago. He’s established a long-term campsite by the Fishing Pond, somewhat hidden from view. Tex is unaware of the Stop Cop City movement, mostly just wondering what all the noise is, but will immediately be on board if it’s explained to him.
MAD TOM
Skill 9
Stamina 14
Initiative 4
Does not usually cause damage directly.
Tom has built himself a shack out of scrap he retrieved from the garbage. It’s bigger on the inside.
He is aware of a large buildup of anger and creative energy to the south, and will offer to help if he meets the forest defenders.
If there are fewer than 3 players (and honestly just 3 players is kind of pushing it), the GM may rule that Mad Tom hears the Bloodhound’s ambush and arrives at the first End of Round, ready and willing to help.
Moves
1 Cause enemy to glow brightly until the End of Round, giving away their location and granting attacks against them +2 to hit.
2 Grant an ally a magical shield until the End of Round that provides 3 armor.
3 Quicken all allies until the End of Round. When player initiative tokens are drawn, place them back in the initiative stack.
4 Briefly confuse enemy. Ignore their next initiative token.
5 Restore 1d3+3 Stamina to an ally.
6 Grant a +1 Damage bonus to all allies until End of Round.
LILLY & LENA
Skill 5
Stamina 4
Initiative 3
Does not usually cause damage directly.
These young sisters (8 & 11 years old respectively) came here with their single father, whose death after being stepped on by the Artillery Robot will be ruled accidental. If the PCs save the girls, these talented stowaways will continue to follow their new favorite people around with absolutely no concern for their own safety.
Mien
1 Hyperactive.
2 Hungry.
3 Tired.
4 “Helpful.”
5 Sick.
6 Singing.
