TEXT: By Rich Redman
  A Short d20 Modern Adventure for Four 4th-Level Characters
  DIRE
  WAVELENGTHS
  A garbled, static-filled transmission in a foreign lan-
  guage emanates from a car radio’s speakers and tells
  the heroes to stop an actress from reaching the loca-
  tion of her movie shoot. But where does this trans-
  mission come from, and why can’t anyone else hear it?
  Dire Wavelengths is an adventure that finds the
  heroes, wherever they may be. It is best used as a brief
  interlude between regular adventures in the campaign.
  The scenario outlines a task and describes those who
  oppose its completion. In addition, information is
  given about what “punishments” are levied against
  heroes who elect not to undertake the task at all.
  This adventure requires no specific location. It can
  be played in an urban or a rural area; simply choose a
  location appropriate for your campaign. Most towns
  and cities have Tourism or Chamber of Commerce
  sites on the Internet that can supply details about
  weather, local plants and animals, and other features
  of a given town to help you provide a sense of place.
  Once you decide where to place the adventure,
  you may want to change the names of the locations
  mentioned in the scenario to fit the area chosen. For
  example, if you choose to set the adventure in your
  hometown, you may wish to change the name of the
  street where the movie shoot is occurring to an
  important street in your city.
  LEVELS
  Dire Wavelengths is a short scenario for four 4th-
  level heroes. With slight modifications, you can make
  it suitable for heroes at other levels (or groups as
  large or small as you’re comfortable adjudicating). See
  the Scaling the Adventure sidebar for guidelines on
  adapting it for other groups.
  You, the Game Master (GM), need a copy of the
  d20 MODERN Roleplaying Game to run this adventure.
  To get started, print out the adventure (including the
  map) and read it through. Familiarize yourself with
  the basic situation as well as the GM characters, their
  
  2
  motives, and their abilities. Then make sure you are comfort-
  able with the rules for combat, movement, and cover from
  Chapter 5 of the d20 MODERN Roleplaying Game.
  The text that appears in shaded boxes should be read
  aloud or paraphrased for the players. Opponents’ statistics
  are provided in abbreviated form. If you did not run the pre-
  vious installments of this series, download them and read
  through them before beginning play to ensure that you fully
  understand the campaign background.
  CAMPAIGN MODELS
  Dire Wavelengths is a basic, low-FX (or even no-FX) adven-
  ture with eerie overtones. You can easily adapt it for any of
  the campaign models presented in Chapter Nine of the d20
  MODERN Roleplaying Game by adding a few characteristic ele-
  ments, such as Mindwreckers, fiends, or bugbear characters.
  Specific recommendations for each model are given below.
  Agents of PSI: The instructions come via a psychic mes-
  sage in the heroes’ minds rather than a radio transmission.
  Punishments for not following the instructions come from a
  group such as PSI or the Knightly Order of St. Bartholomew.
  Shadow Chasers: The transmissions use an ancient, dead
  language (such as Akkadian, Sanskrit, or Aramaic; see the
  Language Groups sidebar in Chapter Two of the d20 MODERN
  Roleplaying Game) that one of the heroes understands.
  Punishments for not following the instructions come from
  the Fellowship.
  Urban Arcana: The radio transmissions are in a Shadow
  language (such as Celestial, Elven, or Draconic; see Languages
  of Shadow in Chapter One of the URBAN ARCANA Campaign
  Setting) that one of the heroes understands. Punishments for
  not following the instructions come from the Knights of the
  Silver Dragon. If you’re using the full campaign setting and
  not just the URBAN ARCANA material from the core rulebook,
  try the Fellowship, the Knightly Order of St. Bartholomew, or
  St. Cuthbert’s House instead.
  BACKGROUND
  As explained in the previous adventure in this series (Distant
  Signals), renowned filmmaker Darryl Brzezinski is filming
  another in his recent series of horror films in the characters’
  hometown. Other than disrupting traffic to shoot the out-
  door scenes, the filming has gone fairly smoothly to date,
  and for the most part, the town is happy about the film.
  Christine Dée is an actress in Darryl’s film. A hero who
  makes a successful DC 25 Knowledge (popular culture) or
  Intelligence check (adding Christine’s +10 Reputation bonus
  to the roll) recognizes the actress and knows that she has
  made several action films and science fiction TV shows. 
  Because Christine has struggled with alcoholism for sev-
  eral years, she has had a great deal of trouble finding work
  lately. She has recently completed a rehab program, and she
  strongly believes that Darryl’s film represents the doorway
  back to steady work for her.
  The Mission
  The heroes are to stop Christine from going to work on a par-
  ticular day.
  The Opposition
  Christine has two security men with her at all times. For the
  most part, their job is to look tough and get the actress
  wherever she needs to go. Darryl’s company, Organized
  Productions, also pays them to keep her sober, though she
  has not yet needed their intervention in that area during the
  filming of this movie.
  SYNOPSIS
  The heroes can either follow the instructions given to them
  via the mysterious transmission or not. If they don’t, unfor-
  tunate incidents begin to occur. If they do follow instruc-
  tions, they must prevent Christine from getting to the site of
  today’s movie shoot.
  DIRE WAVELENTHS
  Links to Other Adventures
  Dire Wavelengths is the fourth in the Grim Frequencies
  adventure series, all of which begin with bizarre trans-
  missions. Each of these short adventures can easily be
  incorporated into an existing campaign. 
  These adventures do not provide enough rewards to
  advance the heroes in level. Characters should expect to
  advance via the main action of the campaign, with the
  Grim Frequencies missions providing brief interludes.
  Each Grim Frequencies adventure puts the heroes in
  an increasingly complex moral conflict. Ultimately, they
  must decide for themselves whether the end justifies
  the means. 
  This adventure series may not be the next great work
  of American fiction, but it should provide a fun ride.
  Jump on!
  MODERN
  d20
  Scaling the Adventure
  Dire Wavelengths is designed for four 4th-level heroes.
  The encounters reflect the danger inherent in modern-
  era gunfights. If your heroes find them too easy, or if you
  want to use the adventure with higher-level heroes, try
  one or both of the suggestions below.
  Fans: The easiest way to complicate this encounter is
  to add a crowd of fans at the scene of the action. Fans
  are low-level ordinary characters that you can choose at
  random from Chapter Eight: Friends and Foes of the core
  rulebook. Use a number of fans equal to the number of
  heroes plus two. The fans are not there to fight the
  heroes, but to ensure that the heroes must be careful
  about what they say and do, since numerous innocent
  bystanders who can serve as witnesses are present.
  Psycho: If you want to make combat more difficult,
  add a psycho fan (see GM Characters, below). Once a
  fight begins, he immediately changes his agenda from
  stalking Christine to defending her against the heroes.
  Alternatively, heroes who are having a tough time con-
  vincing Christine not to go to work may be able to earn
  a few points in her eyes by rescuing her from a psycho
  fan’s attack.
  
  d20MODERN
  3
  By successfully stopping Christine without causing her
  lasting harm, the heroes divert a chain of events that would
  have resulted in a terrible tragedy if allowed to unfold,
  though they do not realize they have done so. What the
  heroes choose to do thereafter is of no consequence, as long
  as they prevent her from reaching her destination.
  The immediate consequences of failure are outlined in The
  Punishment, below. In addition, the world slowly and imper-
  ceptibly drifts toward a horrible fate—unless the heroes
  manage to avert it in later adventures.
  Character Hooks
  As GM, you know best how to involve your players and their
  characters in an adventure. In this case, however, the hook is
  simple: The heroes do what they’re told or bad things will
  happen. However, they might choose to get involved for
  other reasons as well. Below are a few possible situations
  that could set the events of this scenario into motion. As
  always, feel free to modify the details to fit your heroes.
  • The heroes are huge fans of Christine Dée. Upon hearing
  that she might be in danger, they decide to protect her.
  • The heroes are friends of Darryl Brzezinski, who asks them
  to keep an eye on the filming of his movie.
  • The heroes are telecommunications engineers who follow
  the instructions in the message just to discover how the
  transmissions occurred. 
  • The heroes work for the FCC or Department-7 and are
  assigned to follow the instructions so that their employers
  can learn more about the source of the transmissions.
  BEGINNING THE ADVENTURE
  The adventure begins at about 11:00 AM, when the heroes are
  heading to an early lunch together.
  The name is that of a hero who understands the language of
  the transmission. Effectively, the transmission activates the
  speakers directly, bypassing the actual car radio. This arrange-
  ment has the following ramifications.
  • Everyone in the immediate vicinity hears the transmission.
  • No one more than 5 feet away receives the broadcasts,
  even on a radio tuned to the same station as the one to
  which the hero is listening.
  • The broadcasts occur even if the radio is turned off.
  • The broadcasts interrupt any CD, tape, eight-track, or MP3
  that is playing at the time.
  • Turning the radio on or off does not interrupt the
  broadcast.
  • Changing the station does not interrupt the broadcast.
  Take aside the players whose heroes understand the lan-
  guage of the transmission and read or paraphrase the text
  below, addressing the hero previously named in the
  transmission.
  The broadcast is one-way, to the radio in the heroes’ vehicle
  or vehicles. Heroes who try to address the transmission get
  no response. The broadcast seems to be in the same voice as
  the one that addressed the heroes over the car radio in Far
  Voices and in the electronics store in Faint Transmissions (if
  they played those scenarios).
  Return the players you took aside to the main group now.
  Tell any players whose heroes do not understand the lan-
  guage of the transmission about the static, the strange elec-
  tronic whines and buzzes, and the voice that speaks urgently
  in a language they don’t understand. They do, however,
  understand the name of the hero addressed, the name of the
  street, and the name of the actress, since those words are
  spoken in the local language.
  Development: If heroes drive responsibly, they can be at
  the Excelsior Hotel in 15 minutes. They can use the remaining
  5 minutes to look around and size up the situation.
  THE SETTING
  The action takes place at Christine’s hotel, the Excelsior,
  unless the heroes wish to wait and talk with her elsewhere.
  For example, heroes who have become friends with Darryl
  might use their relationship with him to get on the set and
  locate Christine at her trailer. Alternatively, they might
  choose to stop her somewhere along the route from her
  Soft electronic whines and discordant buzzes pop from
  the speakers, and a voice breaks through the static inter-
  mittently. “Go [STATIC] Excelsior Hotel [BEEP] corner of
  [WHINE] and Maple,” says the voice. “Stop Chris [BUZZ]
  Dée [WHISTLE]. She must not go [STATIC] movie set today.
  She [BUZZ] in twenty minutes. Hurry, and do not fail!”
  A strange crackling comes over the car speakers, and
  eventually a message becomes audible through the
  static. The voice repeats a name over and over again.
  DIRE WAVELENTHS
  Department-7 in This Adventure
  If you adapt this adventure for use with one of the stan-
  dard campaign models (see the Campaign Models sec-
  tion), that model defines the role of Department-7. If you
  don’t use it with a specific campaign model, consider the
  following suggestions for Department-7’s involvement.
  No Department-7: If Department-7 doesn’t figure
  prominently in your game, you don’t need it here.
  Homeland Security: Make Department-7 a branch of
  Homeland Security, or of the appropriate organization in
  the country where your adventure is set. In the course of
  tracking a terrorist threat, the department is investigat-
  ing the strange transmissions and the heroes’ involve-
  ment with them.
  FCC: Make Department-7 a branch of the Federal
  Communications Commission, or the appropriate organ-
  ization in the country where your adventure is set. The
  FCC routinely investigates pirate radio transmissions,
  and the broadcasts in Faint Transmissions fall into that
  category.
  
  d20MODERN
  4
  hotel to the movie site. The drive to the location should take
  her about 10 minutes under ordinary circumstances.
  THE ACTION
  The primary complication is trying to convince Christine that
  she shouldn’t go to work when she believes that doing so is
  the only way to keep her career alive. Additional complica-
  tions may include witnesses and a psycho fan.
  A. Meeting Christine
  A limousine (see Chapter Four: Equipment in the d20 MODERN
  Core Rulebook) is parked in front of the hotel when the
  heroes arrive, and one of Christine’s guards is standing at the
  curb beside the back door of the vehicle. When Christine
  comes out the front door of the hotel, the other guard is
  with her.
  B. Stopping Christine
  The characters could try any of several methods to stop
  Christine from going to work. A few of the most likely
  options are outlined below.
  B1. Bribery
  Christine cannot be bribed to miss work because regaining
  her reputation as a reliable actress is too important to her. If
  heroes try to play on her weakness for alcohol, her attitude
  and that of her guards immediately becomes hostile. 
  The heroes may, however, attempt to bribe the guards (see
  Bribery and Diplomacy in Chapter Two: Skills of the d20
  MODERN Core Rulebook). If Christine is present at the time
  such an attempt is made, she refuses to let the guards accept
  a bribe, and they obey her commands.
  B2. Kidnapping
  If the heroes attempt to kidnap Christine, she and her guards
  fight back. Christine isn’t a highly trained fighter, but she is a
  heroic character with action points to spend. The security
  guards constitute an EL 8 encounter by themselves, and they
  call for police as soon as trouble begins (see encounter C,
  below).
  B3. Talking It Over
  The heroes may simply try to talk Christine out of going to
  work. Any of several skill checks may suffice to achieve this
  goal, as given below.
  Bluff: Any hero who uses the Bluff skill to make his point
  with Christine must make a DC 9 Bluff check with a modifier
  that depends on exactly what he says (see Bluff in Chapter
  Two: Skills of the d20 MODERN Roleplaying Game Core
  Rulebook). If anyone tells her the truth about the radio mes-
  sage, however, she assumes that the heroes are lying, and the
  Bluff DC jumps to 29.
  Diplomacy: Christine’s initial attitude is indifferent, and
  that of the security guards is unfriendly. If the heroes manage
  to improve Christine’s attitude to friendly and the guards’
  attitude to indifferent, then Christine invites the heroes to
  accompany her to work so that they can describe the
  problem in more detail. She still insists on going to work, but
  once she is there, the heroes can keep an eye on her and pos-
  sibly keep her safe from the danger that awaits her (see
  encounter D, below).
  Intimidate: If the PCs try intimidation to keep Christine
  away from the set today, the DC is 20 for the actress and 19
  for her guards. As normal, however, the effects of a success-
  ful Intimidate check last only 10 minutes. Thus, if the heroes
  successfully intimidate Christine and her guards and then
  leave, Christine eventually does go to work, and the heroes
  have failed. If the heroes intimidate Christine and her party
  and take them prisoner, the security guards attempt to
  escape with Christine after 10 minutes.
  B4. Direct Interference
  If the heroes try to prevent Christine from going to work by
  subtle means such as disabling her limo, she merely finds an
  alternate means of transport. If they disable three vehicles in
  succession (for example, her limousine and two taxicabs),
  then her guards insist that she return to the hotel and notify
  the police of the suspicious vehicle failures. In this case, the
  heroes have accomplished their mission.
  Alternatively, the heroes can try to eliminate the need for
  Christine to go to the set by working through Darryl. If you
  ran the earlier adventures in the Grim Frequencies series, the
  filmmaker and the heroes may already be friends. Even so,
  however, he balks initially at the thought of rescheduling
  filming to accommodate Christine’s absence. However, they
  can convince him with sufficiently high Diplomacy or Bluff
  checks (see Darryl’s statistics, below).
  C. The Law
  The police arrive on the scene 2d6 minutes after someone
  calls them. Four low-level police officers (see Chapter Eight:
  Friends and Foes in the core rulebook for statistics) arrive in
  two police cruisers. Use the Ford Crown Victoria in Chapter
  Four: Equipment of the core rulebook if you need statistics
  for their vehicles, and see Chapter Two of the URBAN ARCANA
  Campaign Setting for additional information about police
  cruisers.
  If anyone has a weapon in hand or is fighting, the initial
  attitude of the police officers is hostile, and they arrest
  everyone on the spot. The situation becomes especially ugly
  if any of the heroes has a criminal record. On the other hand,
  if the heroes, the bodyguards, and Christine are acting civilly
  toward one another, the police are indifferent. They ask
  some questions, take some photos, and file their report.
  D. On the Set
  If the heroes go to the movie set and keep an eye on
  Christine for the rest of the day, they see some lighting
  equipment begin to fall toward her at some point during the
  filming. Any hero wishing to save her must make a DC 10
  Reflex save. Each success gives Christine a +2 cumulative
  bonus on her Reflex save (DC 25 to avoid the lights). If she
  succeeds, no one is injured. If she fails, then Christine herself
  is injured, and she cannot complete the filming (see
  Concluding the Adventure, below).
  DIRE WAVELENTHS
  
  d20MODERN
  5
  THE GM CHARACTERS
  The attitudes, motivations, and statistics of the various GM
  characters are given below.
  Christine Dée
  Christine is a beautiful, athletic, 34-year-old woman with a
  strong jaw, big green eyes, prominent eyebrows, and wavy
  brown hair that falls just below her shoulders. She stands 5
  feet 7 inches tall and has a husky voice that most men find
  alluring.
  Christine Dée: Female human Charismatic hero
  4/Personality 4; CR 8; Medium-size humanoid; HD 4d6+8 plus
  4d6+8; hp 44; Mas 14; Init +2; Spd 30 ft.; Def 14 (+2 Dex, +2
  class), touch 14, flat-footed 12; BAB +4; Grp +5; Atk +5 melee
  (1d4+1, unarmed strike) or +6 ranged (special, pepper spray);
  Full Atk +5 melee (1d4+1, unarmed strike) or +6 ranged (spe-
  cial, pepper spray); Space/Reach 5 ft./5 ft.; SQ charm, favor,
  royalty, unlimited access; AL Screen Actor’s Guild, Organized
  Productions; AP 4; Rep +10; SV Fort +6, Ref +6, Will +1; Str 12,
  Dex 14, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 8, Cha 16.
  Skills and Feats: Bluff +13, Diplomacy +10, Disguise +16,
  Gamble +1, Intimidate +5, Knowledge (current events) +4,
  Knowledge (popular culture) +11, Perform (act) +16, Perform
  (percussion instruments) +12, Profession +10; Combat Martial
  Arts, ConfidentB, Creative (Perform [act], Perform [percus-
  sion instruments])B, DeceptiveB, Defensive Martial Arts,
  Personal Firearms Proficiency, Renown, Simple Weapons
  ProficiencyB.
  Starting Occupation: Celebrity (class skill: Bluff).
  Bonus Class Skill: Disguise is a class skill for Christine.
  Charm: Christine gets a +4 competence bonus on all
  Charisma-based skill checks made to influence men. She can
  use this ability only on GM characters who have attitudes of
  indifferent or better. The charm bonus can’t be used against
  characters who are unfriendly or hostile.
  Favor: Christine has the ability to acquire minor aid from
  anyone she meets. (This ability should come in particularly
  handy if Christine is running from the heroes.) Furthermore,
  by making a favor check, Christine can gain important infor-
  mation without going through the time and trouble of
  research. Favors can also be used to acquire the loan of
  equipment or documents, or to receive other minor assis-
  tance during the course of an adventure.
  Christine must spend 1 action point to activate this talent.
  To make a favor check, roll a d20+4. The GM sets the DC
  based on the scope of the favor requested. The DC ranges
  from 10 for a simple favor to as high as 30 for highly danger-
  ous, expensive, or illegal favors. She can’t take 10 or 20 on
  this check, nor can she retry the check for the same (or vir-
  tually the same) favor.
  Unlimited Access: When making a Diplomacy or Bluff
  check to smooth-talk or trick her way into a private party or
  invitation-only event, Christine adds a +4 bonus to her roll.
  When Christine buys a ticket to a show or for transportation,
  she can make a Diplomacy check to get her ticket upgraded.
  The DCs for this check are given below.
  UPGRADE
  DIPLOMACY DC
  Seat at sporting event to field pass
  10
  Hotel room to suite
  15
  Concert or theater ticket to backstage pass
  20
  Economy transportation to first-class
  25
  Possessions: PDA, cell phone, pepper spray, various per-
  sonal possessions.
  Security Guards
  The security guards paid to escort Christine are of average
  height and have athletic builds. They wear casual clothes cov-
  ered by windbreakers (or heavier coats, depending on the
  location and time of year) that serve to conceal their
  weapons. Each guard has a mustache and extremely short hair.
  Ken Wolfenbarger and Norm Friedrich: Male human
  Strong ordinary 4/Tough ordinary 3; CR 6; Medium-size
  humanoid; HD 4d8+4 plus 3d10+3; hp 41; Mas 12; Init +6; Spd
  30 ft.; Def 19 (+2 Dex, +5 class, +2 light undercover vest), touch
  17, flat-footed 17; BAB +6; Grp +8; Atk +8 melee (1d4+3,
  unarmed strike) or +8 melee (1d3+3 plus 1d6 electricity, stun
  gun) or +8 melee (1d6+3/19–20, metal baton) or +10 ranged
  (2d6, Glock 20 with laser sight) or +8 ranged (special, pepper
  spray); Full Atk +8/+3 melee (1d4+3, unarmed strike) or +8/+3
  melee (1d3+3 plus 1d6 electricity, stun gun) or +8/+3 melee
  (1d6+3/19–20, metal baton) or +10/+5 ranged (2d6, Glock 20
  with laser sight) or +8 ranged (special, pepper spray);
  Space/Reach 5 ft./5 ft.; AL Christine Dée, Organized Pictures;
  AP 0; Rep +1; SV Fort +5, Ref +4, Will +2; Str 14, Dex 15, Con 12,
  Int 8, Wis 10, Cha 14.
  Skills and Feats: Drive +10, Gamble +2, Intimidate +8, Listen
  +7; Armor Proficiency (light), Combat Martial Arts, Confident,
  Improved Initiative, Personal Firearms ProficiencyB, Simple
  Weapons ProficiencyB. 
  Starting Occupation: Law Enforcement (class skills: Drive,
  Listen; bonus feat: Personal Firearms Proficiency).
  Possessions: Cell phone, professional walkie-talkie, under-
  cover vest, stun gun, metal baton, pepper spray, Glock 20
  (10mm autoloader), laser sight, concealed carry holster, spare
  box magazine (loaded), 20 spare rounds of 10mm ammuni-
  tion, 25 zip-tie handcuffs, various personal possessions.
  Psycho Fan
  Carey Vora is obsessed with Christine Dée to the point of
  psychosis. He owns recordings of all her work and clips arti-
  cles about her from any publications in which they appear.
  Though he has written her numerous letters, the only replies
  he has received thus far are form letters and photos with her
  signature printed on them. Carey has also tried to talk with
  Christine at various conventions, but so far he hasn’t gotten
  her to see the connection he so fervently believes exists
  between them. He hasn’t quite reached the truly dangerous
  stage (at which he might actually hurt his idol), but he is very
  close. The actions of the heroes during this adventure could
  tip him one way or the other.
  DIRE WAVELENTHS
  
  d20MODERN
  6
  Carey is a wiry man of just under average height who
  needs a haircut and a shave. He wears jeans, a stained sweat-
  shirt, a long leather coat, and sunglasses, and he carries a
  messenger bag over his shoulder.
  Any hero can attempt a DC 25 Knowledge (popular cul-
  ture) check to recognize Carey. Success indicates that the
  hero knows Christine has a restraining order against this per-
  son and has accused him of stalking her.
  Carey Vora: Male human Smart ordinary 4/Fast ordinary
  4; CR 7; Medium-size humanoid; HD 4d6+8 plus 4d8+8; hp 48;
  Mas 14; Init +2; Spd 30 ft.; Def 19 (+2 Dex, +1 leather jacket, +6
  class), touch 18, flat-footed 17; BAB +5; Grp +5; Atk +5 melee
  (1d6/19-20, cleaver) or +7 ranged (2d8, Desert Eagle); Full Atk
  +5 melee (1d6/19-20, cleaver) or +7 ranged (2d8, Desert
  Eagle); Space/Reach 5 ft./5 ft.; AL Christine Dée; AP 0; Rep +3;
  SV Fort +4, Ref +5, Will +6; Str 10, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 12, 
  Wis 16, Cha 8.
  Skills and Feats: Computer Use +9, Craft (chemical) +8,
  Craft (pharmaceutical) +8, Disable Device +8, Drive +7, Escape
  Artist +7, Forgery +8, Hide +9, Knowledge (business) +9,
  Knowledge (earth and life sciences) +8, Knowledge (popular
  culture) +8, Move Silently +9, Profession +10, Research +8,
  Sleight of Hand +6; Double Tap, Personal Firearms Proficiency,
  Point Blank Shot, Simple Weapons ProficiencyB, Stealthy.
  Starting Occupation: White Collar (class skills: Computer
  Use, Knowledge [business]).
  Possessions: Leather jacket, cleaver, gas mask, Desert Eagle
  (.50AE autoloader), spare box magazine, 32 spare .50AE
  rounds, concealed carry holster, tear gas grenade, two bot-
  tles of knockout gas, cell phone, various personal belongings.
  THE PUNISHMENT
  If the heroes announce that they have no intention of obey-
  ing the instructions given by the mysterious radio message,
  little problems start arising for them immediately. Traffic
  lights turn red just as they approach, buses and accidents
  block traffic, the bottom melts out of a coffee cup and spills
  hot coffee on the lap of the hero who understood the mes-
  sage, and so forth. These incidents cost no money and deal
  no significant damage—they are merely clear signs that the
  universe has turned against the heroes.
  If the heroes fail to stop Christine, then she is injured on
  the site (see below). In addition, the heroes have a significant
  stroke of ill fortune within a day of the incident. Choose an
  event that is directly and obviously related to the hero who
  understood the message. If more than one hero understood
  it, each has the same problem. Possible choices include the
  following.
  • The hero forgets an important tool and doesn’t remember
  it until a critical moment in a job.
  • The hero’s car is stolen. (This punishment is especially
  obvious if the car is very difficult to steal, or if nothing has
  ever been stolen from the heroes before, or if the car isn’t
  worth stealing.)
  • One of the hero’s favorite tools or weapons malfunctions
  in a way that it never has before, and at a critical moment.
  • A contact refuses to speak to the hero ever again based on
  an issue that the hero recognizes as a mistake, such as mis-
  taken identity, false accusation, or the like.
  Regardless of the precise punishments used, no evidence
  should be left behind. The heroes should have no way to
  track down the responsible party. You as GM must determine
  who is ultimately responsible (see Campaign Models for sug-
  gestions), but the heroes shouldn’t be able to do so.
  CONCLUDING THE ADVENTURE
  This adventure has two possible conclusions, which are
  detailed below.
  Success: If Christine does not go to work, then the film
  crew must shoot a different scene that day—one that does
  not involve her. While changing the lighting setup for the
  new scene, they discover some missing bolts in the lighting
  fixtures. No one gets hurt.
  Failure: If Christine goes to work, a light fixture falls on
  her at some point in the filming. The accident injures her so
  severely that she is unable to play her role in the film at all,
  and another actress comes on board. The understudy is not
  as good an actress as Christine, the film loses much of its
  impact, and it doesn’t change the world for the better. In
  addition, Christine sinks back into alcoholism. Only time will
  tell whether or not she ever recovers.
  REWARDS
  The rewards for this adventure should be based on stopping
  Christine. The heroes cannot earn enough rewards from this
  source to attain a new level, but this adventure is a very short
  one. The lion’s share of their advancement should come from
  regular adventures in the campaign.
  CONTINUING THE ADVENTURE
  This adventure purposely leaves many questions unan-
  swered. You may want to pursue some of them further in
  your own campaign by tying them into future adventures.
  • What is the movie about? The answer to this question may
  vary based on your campaign.
  • Are the heroes crazy? Depending on your campaign, the
  answer might be yes, though in fact these events, no mat-
  ter how inexplicable, really are happening. However, mys-
  terious notes and strange radio transmissions (see Far
  Voices, Faint Transmissions, and Distant Signals) sound
  pretty crazy to most people and could get the heroes
  locked up briefly for observation.
  • What role will the psycho fan Carey Vora play in the mak-
  ing of Darryl’s film, or in Christine’s future?
  Future installments of Grim Frequencies will provide the
  answers to some of these questions. Look for Vile
  Modulation next month!
  DIRE WAVELENTHS
  
  d20MODERN
  7
  ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  Before Rich Redman came to Wizards of the Coast’s RPG R&D
  department, he had been an Army officer, a door-to-door
  salesman, the manager of a computer store, a fundraiser for
  a veterans’ assistance group, and the manager of Wizards of
  the Coast’s Customer Service department. Rich is a prolific
  game designer who has worked on the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS
  game, the d20 MODERN Roleplaying Game, the Marvel Super
  Heroes Adventure Game, and Dark*Matter. When he’s not
  working as vice president of The Game Mechanics, a d20
  design studio, Rich does freelance game design, cooks, and
  practices yoga, tai chi, and silat. For more, check out
  www.richredman.ws and www.thegamemechanics.com.
  DIRE WAVELENTHS
  Credits
  Design:
  Rich Redman
  Editing:
  Penny Williams
  Typesetting:
  Nancy Walker
  Cartography:
  Rob Lazzaretti
  Creative Direction:
  Christopher Perkins
  Web Production: 
  Bart Carroll
  Web Development: 
  Mark A. Jindra
  Graphic Design:
  Cynthia Fliege, Sean Glenn
  This d20™System game uses mechanics developed for the new DUNGEONS & DRAGONS®
  game by Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, Rich Baker, and Peter Adkison.
  This game also uses mechanics developed for the Psionics Handbook by Bruce R.
  Cordell, the Call of Cthulhu® Roleplaying Game by Monte Cook and John Tynes, and
  the Star Wars® Roleplaying Game by Bill Slavicsek, Andy Collins, and JD Wiker.
  d20 MODERN, D&D and DUNGEONS & DRAGONS are registered trademarks, and d20 and
  the d20 System logo are trademarks owned by Wizards of the Coast, Inc., a subsidiary
  of Hasbro, Inc. All Wizards characters, character names, and the distinctive likenesses
  thereof are trademarks owned by Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
  This material is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America.
  Any reproduction or unauthorized use of the material or artwork contained herein is
  prohibited without the express written permission of Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
  This product is a work of fiction. Any similarity to actual people, organizations,
  places, or events is purely coincidental.
  This Wizards of the Coast game product contains no Open Game Content. No
  portion of this work may be reproduced in any form without written permission. To
  learn more about the Open Gaming License and the d20 System License, please visit 
  <www.wizards.com/d20>.
  ©2005 Wizards of the Coast, Inc. 
  All rights reserved.  Made in the U.S.A.
  Visit our website at
  <www.wizards.com/d20modern>
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Dungeons & Dragons [multi]/d20 Modern/Grim Transmissions - Dire Wavelengths.pdf