TEXT: By Stan!
  A Short Urban Arcana Adventure for Four 11th-Level Characters
  THE FINAL
  FEAST
  A feast—is there any better or more universal way to
  memorialize an important affair? No matter what
  event is being commemorated, nothing brings people
  together like copious amounts of food, drink, and
  conversation. 
  The Final Feast takes place on Thanksgiving Day in
  a major U.S. city. A group of fanatical cultists uses an
  arcane ritual to transform homeless people partaking
  of a local food bank’s holiday feast into ravenous
  monsters with insatiable appetites.
  LEVELS
  You, the Game Master (GM), need a copy of the d20
  MODERN Roleplaying Game and a copy of the URBAN
  ARCANA Campaign Setting to run this adventure. To get
  started, print out the adventure (including the maps)
  and read it through. Familiarize yourself with the var-
  ious GM characters and their individual motives and
  abilities. Then make sure you are familiar with the
  rules for combat, movement, and cover from Chapter
  5 of the d20 MODERN Roleplaying Game. You should
  also be familiar with the rules for casting magic spells
  and performing incantations (found in Chapter 10 of
  the d20 MODERN Roleplaying Game and Chapter 3 of
  the URBAN ARCANA Campaign Setting). 
  The Final Feast is a short scenario for four 11th-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. 
  The text that appears in shaded boxes should be
  read aloud or paraphrased for the players.
  Opponents’ statistics are provided in abbreviated
  form.
  This adventure can be set in any large city. Maps
  showing the major encounter areas are provided.
  With a little work, the locations presented in the
  adventure could be adapted for any locale.
  
  2
  BACKGROUND
  The GM characters in this adventure have specific goals given
  to them by their superiors. They neither understand nor care
  about the deeper meanings of their activities; they are sim-
  ply zealots following the orders of their charismatic leader.
  If you are running The Final Feast as a stand-alone adven-
  ture, the story requires no deeper meaning. The Children of
  Chaos are simply living up to the name of their organization
  by committing a random act of violence. If, however, you are
  running this adventure as part of the Heartless campaign, the
  heroes should gain some insight into the underlying reasons
  for these events during the adventure. In fact, when all is said
  and done, the heroes will probably have a better under-
  standing of the motives for this particular criminal enterprise
  than the perpetrators themselves do. They may also have
  some idea what difficulties lie ahead.
  The Children of Chaos
  The Children of Chaos is a religious cult whose members
  worship the elemental force of chaos as embodied by the
  Roman god Janus. They pray for power, deliver “sacrifices” in
  the form of random acts of destruction and violence, and
  publicly profess their belief in magic and the occult. In truth,
  they are easily manipulated individuals gathered into a loose
  coalition by the cult’s founder, Nicholas St. Andrew, who reg-
  ularly takes advantage of their gullibility. But thanks to the
  loyalty St. Andrew inspires in his followers, no connection
  between him and the cult has ever been proven in a court of
  law. The Children of Chaos are so fanatically devoted to their
  leader that, when captured, they refuse to do anything other
  than mouth random words of devotion or make oblique
  threats to society as a whole. To date, not one of them has
  ever implicated St. Andrew in any of the cult’s activities.
  Over the years, cult members have committed numerous
  acts of vandalism, obstruction of justice, destruction of
  property, and occasionally petty theft. Recently, however,
  they have stepped up their criminal activities. In the past few
  months, groups of these cultists have instigated a hostage
  crisis and a candy-tampering emergency on Halloween. (If
  the heroes played through The Petersen Counterstrike, they
  aided in resolving that incident; otherwise, the details are
  unimportant.)
  The cult members are now about to commit yet another
  act of random terror. On Thanksgiving Day, they plan to use
  an ancient idol to turn the clients of a local food bank into
  ravenous monsters.
  Crow Row
  Every city has a few once-fashionable neighborhoods that
  have fallen on hard times. The area known as Crow Row is
  one such place. Originally, Crow Row consisted of a block of
  brownstone homes and a church bordering a small private
  park that occupied the block’s interior. Each building had a
  door that opened onto the park, but there was no other way
  into that area. From the outside, Crow Row looked just like
  any other city block—people passing by on the street would
  never guess that the park existed.
  But as commercial interests bought up the neighborhood
  around Crow Row, the affluent families that had built homes
  there moved out to suburban estates. Some houses were
  sold to developers; others were converted into storefronts.
  Only a few of the brownstones remained single-family resi-
  dences, and these are in need of considerable repair and
  restoration.
  According to the construction agreement, as long as any
  one of the original houses remains, the central common area
  may not be destroyed or developed. So despite its potential
  value to urban developers, the park is still there, though it is
  no longer a private retreat. As the original brownstones were
  THE FINAL FEAST
  Scaling the Adventure
  The situations described in this adventure are suitable
  for heroes of any level. To tailor The Final Feast for your
  game, make the following adjustments.
  • Reconfigure the Insatiate Statistics: Since the sam-
  ple insatiate game statistics were created using 8th-
  level ordinaries as the base creatures, each is a CR 10
  opponent. To alter the CR, use the information from
  the New Monster section to build new statistics for an
  insatiate with a CR equal to the heroes’ average char-
  acter level minus 1.
  • Increase the Number of Insatiates: For a group of
  heroes whose average level is 14 or higher, double (or
  even triple) the number of insatiates in each
  encounter.
  • More Insatiate Conversion: To make any encounter
  more difficult, have one or more afflicted people
  become insatiates while the heroes are in the room.
  Every afflicted GM character is a potential insatiate,
  and each conversion instantly increases the EL for the
  encounter.
  A Heartless Tale
  The Final Feast can be used as a stand-alone adventure.
  You can place it in your campaign anywhere you see
  fit—particularly if you used the information in the
  Scaling the Adventure sidebar to modify the opponents
  for your campaign. The scenario requires neither previ-
  ous knowledge on the part of the heroes, nor any under-
  standing of a larger plot on your part.
  However, The Final Feast is also the third in a series of
  five adventures that, when strung together, become a
  more complex and detailed tale of deception, murder,
  and lust for power. This series constitutes a campaign
  entitled Heartless. The first two installments, The
  Petersen Counterstrike and Blood Sugar, are available as
  free downloads from the d20 MODERN section of the
  Wizards of the Coast website.
  The Final Feast features components such as spellcast-
  ing, magic items, and supernatural creatures. As the series
  goes on, though, its elements will become even more
  fantastic. As a result, you may wish to wait until all five
  chapters of Heartless have been released before deciding
  whether to use the storyline as it is presented or adapt it
  into something that better suits your campaign.
  d20MODERN
  
  d20MODERN
  3
  torn down and replaced, more and more access routes to the
  park appeared—the most obvious one through a parking
  garage that stands where the church once did. 
  Like the buildings that surround it, the park is not well
  tended. The grass has grown thick and wild, and many of the
  trees are little more than withered, dying husks. Through the
  vigilance of the few remaining homeowners and the neigh-
  borhood food center (called Food for Life), drug dealers and
  other criminals have been kept out of the park. However, a
  small community of homeless individuals camps there each
  night, since it is a significantly safer and more peaceful place
  to sleep than the streets. 
  Food for Life
  The Church of Mercy originally occupied three building plots
  in Crow Row. But as its parishioners moved out of the city,
  attendance dropped until the church no longer held any
  worship services at all. At last, only its soup kitchen remained
  active. Thanks to hard times in the neighborhood, that aspect
  of the church actually saw an increase in visitors.
  Eventually, the church leaders decided to close the chapel
  and sell most of the land to a company that planned to build
  a multilevel parking garage. But they kept the annex that
  housed the soup kitchen and used some of the profits from
  the sale to create a nondenominational charitable organiza-
  tion called “Food for Life.” They then donated the former
  church annex to that group and set up an endowment that
  has kept food center funded to this day.
  Food for Life serves meals to more than a hundred homeless
  and destitute individuals each day and also runs a breakfast
  program for underprivileged children. On holidays, its clientele
  swells to nearly five hundred—a reminder of how much work
  still remains to be done on the other days of the year.
  Like most food centers, Food for Life relies on volunteers
  to do most of the work. There are never enough hands, espe-
  cially on the holidays. 
  Preparing the Feast
  On Thanksgiving Day, Food for Life has more volunteers than
  it does on any three other days of the week combined.
  Unfortunately for the patrons, most of this year’s “volun-
  teers” are actually Children of Chaos, who came to the food
  center with plans to activate the ancient magic idol known
  as Ventyr the Emaciated. 
  Using threats of violence and stun guns, the cultists
  quickly took the shelter’s staff and volunteers already on site
  captive and left them tied up in the manager’s office. Then
  they used the idol to perform a ritual known as empty calo-
  ries over all the turkeys being cooked for the evening’s feast.
  As more unsuspecting volunteers arrived, the cultists put
  them to work preparing the other dishes, setting the tables,
  and generally getting the place ready for the crowd of hun-
  gry clients. These volunteers had no idea that they were
  helping a criminal organization prepare to wreak untold
  havoc on the city.
  A Meal to Die For
  When the shelter door opened early in the afternoon on
  Thanksgiving, nearly 100 people were already standing in line
  at the door. As the poor and homeless filed into the building
  THE FINAL FEAST
  Nicholas St. Andrew
  The leader of the Children of Chaos is not directly
  involved in this adventure. If you are playing The Final
  Feast as a stand-alone adventure, you need not worry
  about him or his machinations—the cult’s activities stand
  on their own as random acts of chaos-inspired violence.
  If, however, you are playing the Heartless campaign, it is
  important to understand how these events fit into
  Nicholas’s overall scheme. 
  In The Petersen Counterstrike, Nicholas St. Andrews
  had an operative steal two ancient idols that he believes
  can unlock a source of great occult power. In Blood Sugar,
  he used an arcane ritual to activate the first idol. Being a
  cautious man, though, Nicholas wants to distract the
  authorities (particularly Department-7) so that they will
  not realize what his true goal is until it is too late. To that
  end, he sponsored an unnecessary and misleading
  hostage incident (detailed in The Petersen Counterstrike),
  and a monstrous attack on a local street fair (described in
  Blood Sugar). Now he plans to have his cultists create
  havoc with the second idol. This incident will handily
  mask his real goal—the activation of this idol through an
  arcane ritual.
  If the heroes discover the idol and its purpose, they
  can gain some insight into Nicholas St. Andrew’s true
  motivation (particularly if they recovered its companion
  idol, Barrik the Glutton, during the course of Blood
  Sugar). They will not, however, have the opportunity to
  confront the cult leader during this adventure.
  Ventyr the Emaciated
  The idol at the center of this adventure, a fist-sized
  fetish carved in a vaguely African style, is called Ventyr
  the Emaciated. No one knows exactly when or where it
  was carved, but the first known reference to it is in the
  diary of a 4th-century Persian sultan. According to the
  scrolls, a visiting merchant presented the idol to the sul-
  tan at a feast celebrating his 50th birthday. The account
  claims that before the feast was over, the sultan and all
  of his guests (with the exception of the merchant him-
  self) had either wasted away to nothing or eaten them-
  selves to death. (The document is unclear about the
  details and seems to contradict itself in several places.)
  In fact, the merchant murdered the sultan and his
  guests using Ventyr the Emaciated. The idol is actually a
  spell fetish—a magic item that, if used correctly, can
  perform a specific magical function. Ventyr allows its
  possessor to cast a particular incantation over a piece of
  cooking meat. Afterward, those who eat the meat
  become insatiably hungry, and their bodies begin to
  waste away as though from starvation. But the more the
  victims eat, the hungrier they get and the faster the
  wasting progresses. Those who die during this process
  rise almost immediately as creatures called “insatiates.”
  
  d20MODERN
  4
  and sat down at the tables, they were greeted by the cultist
  leader, who was posing as a minister. He made a welcoming
  address and even led the group in a prayer and some songs
  before the meal, hoping to fill all the available seats. When
  the building could accommodate no more, he signaled the
  volunteers to begin serving the meal.
  As soon as the visitors took their first bites of turkey, they
  began to groan with hunger so intense that they could hardly
  bear it. Some stayed to consume tremendous quantities of
  food, which only made their hunger pangs worse. Others ran
  to the restrooms or even out of the building, hoping to
  escape whatever was causing their pain.
  Some who left the center early found their pain dimin-
  ished, but others were so wracked with hunger that they
  broke into nearby homes or attacked street vendors to steal
  some food. A few even began chewing on one another sim-
  ply to get something into their stomachs. Some of the peo-
  ple afflicted by the curse died and quickly rose again as
  THE FINAL FEAST
  
  d20MODERN
  5
  undead creatures called insatiates (see the empty calories
  incantation).
  Both the living people afflicted by the curse and the insa-
  tiates were mistaken for zombies by those who saw them.
  Once their presence in the neighborhood became obvious,
  calls from neighboring residents and business owners began
  pouring into the police station.
  SYNOPSIS
  The adventure begins when the local police call in
  Department-7. When apprised of the situation, Department-
  7 sends in the heroes to help the officers deal with a report
  of “zombies” attacking the Crow Row neighborhood. 
  Once the heroes discover that the neighborhood is over-
  run with unfortunate souls under the effects of a magic spell,
  they must find some way to help them. (If the heroes played
  through Blood Sugar, they may actually be prepared for a sit-
  uation like this one.)
  Their second challenge is to deal with those who have
  already succumbed to the full effect of the spell and become
  insatiates. To make the situation even more difficult, several
  armed cultists are also wandering through the crowd, intend-
  ing to hinder the authorities in their attempts to deal with
  the situation.
  To resolve the problems, the heroes must find Ventyr the
  Emaciated and deactivate it. The adventure concludes when
  they have accomplished this task, or when everyone who ate
  the cursed turkey is either cured or dead. 
  Character Hooks
  As GM, you know best how to involve your players and their
  characters in an adventure. This scenario is constructed
  specifically for heroes employed by Department-7 in its role
  as an officially sanctioned investigative agency. This arrange-
  ment allows the heroes access to the types of information
  that police or federal agents would have. If Department-7
  fills a different role in your campaign, use some other agency
  that fills the appropriate role and modify the references in
  the adventure accordingly.
  If the heroes are not employees of Department-7, a simi-
  lar organization, or an appropriate investigative agency, you
  can use the following adventure hooks to spur your imagina-
  tion, modifying them as necessary to make them appropriate
  for the characters’ interests.
  • The heroes have volunteered to help serve dinner at Food
  for Life’s Thanksgiving feast. They arrive sometime after
  the cultists have taken control of the building and finished
  their ritual. Unless they figure out that something is wrong
  before the dinner begins, they actually serve the cursed
  meat themselves.
  • The heroes are homeless (or for some reason are pretend-
  ing to be homeless), and they have come to partake of
  Food for Life’s Thanksgiving feast. If they eat any of the
  cursed turkey, they too may fall victim to the spell.
  • The heroes live in one of the Crow Row apartments or
  homes and are among the first people to notice that
  something is wrong. (Perhaps one of the people
  affected by the spell breaks into their home in search of
  something—anything—to eat.)
  • The heroes are searching for a particular person whom
  they believe to be among the homeless who frequent
  Crow Row. On Thanksgiving Day, the food center is a natu-
  ral place to look. In this situation, you can choose to have
  the heroes arrive after the effects have begun or in time to
  avert some of the disaster.
  BEGINNING THE ADVENTURE
  The Final Feast is a site-based adventure that takes place in
  the neighborhood of Crow Row and concludes at Food for
  Life. The neighborhood is described in encounter A, and the
  food center in encounter B. Heroes who have played through
  the previous adventures in the Heartless campaign may
  already have some insights into the nature of the troubles
  described in this adventure (see A Heartless Tale sidebar).
  Otherwise, you should allow them ample opportunities to
  discover clues that provide the information necessary to
  resolve this situation. 
  The adventure begins on Thanksgiving Day when the
  heroes are called suddenly into action. If the heroes are on
  duty at Department-7 that day, read or paraphrase the fol-
  lowing aloud.
  Continue with the following when one of the heroes
  answers.
  It’s been a slow day. Despite the incredible proliferation
  of potential targets—including the Thanksgiving Day
  Parade, seven different rallies featuring prominent polit-
  ical figures, and the live broadcast of a local college
  football game—there has been no activity requiring
  Department-7’s intervention. But just as you are prepar-
  ing to sit down to the feast of sliced turkey breast and
  instant mashed potatoes that the Department has pro-
  vided, the emergency line rings.
  THE FINAL FEAST
  Heartless Insight
  Heroes who have been through the earlier installments
  of the Heartless campaign may have greater insight into
  the situation than those who have not. In particular,
  characters who have performed exhaustive research on
  the spell fetish found in the Blood Sugar adventure may
  have gained advanced knowledge of Ventyr the
  Emaciated’s existence.
  As GM, you may decide that the heroes’ past inquiries
  would have prepared them for the current situation. In
  this case, you should allow each hero to attempt a DC 15
  Knowledge (arcane lore) check or a DC 20 Knowledge
  (current events) check to put the clues together. 
  Alternatively, you may decide that other Department-
  7 researchers have unearthed information pertaining to
  the idol and its uses. In this case, the Department-7
  archivist can provide any of the information on Ventyr
  the Emaciated noted in the sidebar and may also suggest
  that the Children of Chaos may be behind this incident.
  
  d20MODERN
  6
  If the heroes are not on duty, each receives an emergency
  page requesting that he immediately phone a senior officer
  from Department-7. When all have complied, read aloud or
  paraphrase the following. 
  Whichever way the scenario begins, each hero may attempt
  a Knowledge (arcane lore) check (DC 10) at the end of the
  call. Those who succeed realize that zombies generally do
  not loot bodegas or eat anything other than human brains.
  If the heroes make the proper requests, the Department-7
  archive can provide any of the information about Crow Row
  found in the Background section above, plus any or all of the
  following additional information, within 5 minutes.
  • The corner of 8th and La Jolla adjoins a neighborhood
  known as Crow Row.
  • There is no history of occult or supernatural activities in or
  around Crow Row.
  • Zombies are not usually capable of rioting—they are too slow.
  • The archives have no records of creatures matching the
  descriptions provided by the police (although those
  descriptions are admittedly sketchy).  
  A. CROW ROW 
  By the time the heroes approach Crow Row, the situation has
  calmed down considerably. The police have set up a cordon
  around the block and established a base of operations at the
  southwest corner of 8th Street and La Jolla Boulevard. Beyond
  taking those precautions, however, they are content to hold
  back and wait for the Department-7 representatives—that is,
  the heroes—to take over.
  Read aloud or paraphrase the following aloud when the
  heroes arrive on the scene.
  Development: If the heroes ask for an update, the police
  report that many people have already fled homes in the
  second and third stories of the buildings, but there is no
  way to be certain how many civilians remain in their
  apartments. All the zombies either went into the build-
  ings or staggered into the parking garage, from which they
  may or may not have returned to the park at the center of
  the block.
  In answer to appropriate questions, the police officers
  explain that the “zombies” all appeared to be homeless indi-
  viduals. Once that information is revealed, each hero on the
  scene may attempt a DC 10 Intelligence check to realize that
  the Food for Life center was serving Thanksgiving dinner to
  homeless and needy people at about the time this incident
  began.
  The heroes are now in charge of this operation, so it’s up
  to them to decide the best course of action. Likely decisions
  include the following options.
  • Going into the buildings and searching the apartments one
  by one for “zombies” and civilians.
  • Heading into the park to flush out and capture the zombies.
  • Investigating the food center to see whether it is the
  source of the problem.
  The heroes should not be forced into one of these strategies;
  there are plenty of ways to keep them involved in the adven-
  ture. When the people affected by the empty calories incan-
  tation run out of food, they will come back out of the
  buildings looking for more—unless they die of hunger first. In
  the latter case, they transform into insatiates and attack any-
  one they see.
  The police officers will follow the heroes’ orders to the
  best of their ability. Because they are not used to dealing
  with the supernatural, however, their reactions may vary. Roll
  d% and consult the following table to determine the out-
  come whenever an ordinary police officer becomes involved
  in an encounter with an insatiate or a living person under the
  effects of the cursed meat.
  D%
  POLICE OFFICER’S REACTIONS
  01–10
  Affected as if by cause fear spell
  11–30
  Stunned for 1 round
  31–50
  –2 on all attack rolls, saving throws, and checks for 5
  rounds
  51–60
  –1 on all attack rolls, saving throws, and checks for 5
  rounds
  61–00
  Act naturally
  The block is quiet, and nothing appears to be moving at
  this moment. The street is littered with food wrappers
  that evidently came from the bodega, which appears to
  have been stripped clean. Occasionally there are bursts
  of activity near the window of an apartment above one
  of storefronts, but what’s going on is not clear.
  “It’s been like this for about fifteen minutes,” the
  ranking police officer says. “I ain’t never seen this neigh-
  borhood so quiet. It’s like a grave.”
  “Have your family make you up a covered dish, because
  you’re not going to be carving the bird tonight,” the
  supervisor says with her usual dry delivery. “We just got
  a report that the local cops have uncovered a nest of
  zombies, and I want your team to clean them out—stat.”
  She gives you the details as reported by the police
  dispatcher—four police cruisers are on the scene trying
  to deal with at least twenty reports of zombies. Some
  of the zombies are breaking into nearby homes; others
  are grabbing any food they can get their hands on and
  shoving it into their mouths.
  “Who knows? If you step on it, you might be able to
  get back while there’s still some pumpkin pie left,” the
  supervisor quips before hanging up.
  “This is the Police Emergency Services dispatcher,” says
  the voice on the other end of the line. “We have a situ-
  ation that requires your assistance.” He continues in a
  voice not at all like his usual crisp, businesslike tone. “A
  few minutes ago, we dispatched four cruisers to deal
  with a reported riot at the corner of 8th Street and La
  Jolla Boulevard. Upon arriving at the scene, the officers
  radioed in that it wasn’t a riot.”
  The dispatcher pauses to take a deep, shaky breath.
  “They said zombies were looting the local bodega.”
  THE FINAL FEAST
  
  d20MODERN
  7
  A1. The First Casualty (EL 10)
  This encounter describes what happens when the first of the
  civilians affected by the cursed turkey dies as a result of the
  incantation. The description presumes that the doomed
  individual staggers into the street and expires within sight of
  the heroes. However, you can easily modify this event so that
  it occurs in one of the apartments, the park, or even
  somewhere in the Food for Life building.
  THE FINAL FEAST
  
  d20MODERN
  8
  Read aloud or paraphrase the following when the heroes
  are in the desired position.
  A cursory examination of the man performed within 1 minute
  confirms that he is dead. A hero may, if desired, perform CPR
  or mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, such attempts do no good.
  The body begins to twitch 1 minute after collapsing. When its
  eyes snap open 1 round later, they are colorless, and the crea-
  ture’s face contorts with a feral hunger.
  GM Characters: The dead man has risen as an insatiate. As
  many as eight police officers are within earshot of the heroes
  at the time of this encounter. Use the mid-level police offi-
  cer statistics from Chapter 8 of the d20 Modern Roleplaying
  Game if you need their statistics.
  Insatiate: CR 10; Medium-size undead; HD 10d12; hp 68;
  Init +9; Spd 50 ft.; Defense 15, touch 15, flat-footed 10; BAB +5;
  Grap +9; Atk +9 melee (1d4 + 4, bite); Full Atk +9 melee (1d4 +
  4, bite); FS 5 ft. by 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.; SQ Poison; AL None; SV
  Fort +3, Ref +12, Will –2; AP 0; Rep +0; Str 18, Dex 20, Con —,
  Int —, Wis 10, Cha 1.
  Skills: None.
  Feats: Improved Initiative, Toughness.
  Poison: Anyone bitten by an insatiate must succeed on a
  DC 15 Fortitude save or contract the affliction produced by
  the empty calories incantation.
  Tactics: The round after its eyes open, the newly awak-
  ened insatiate rises and makes a single bite attack against the
  closest target, attempting to tear off and consume pieces of
  flesh. If more than one target is equally close, the creature
  chooses the one that looks meatiest. It has no sense of self-
  preservation and simply attacks until destroyed. 
  The police officers take cover and monitor the situation
  unless ordered otherwise.
  Development: After the encounter is over, allow every-
  one present to attempt an Intelligence check. Compare the
  result to the table below. The hero gains all the information
  for check results equal to or lower than his own.
  CHECK RESULT
  INFORMATION GAINED
  5
  That man was alive at first—very sick, but alive.
  10
  Most of the “zombies” in this area seem to be
  in the same state—that is, they’re still alive
  but suffering from some horrible malady.
  15
  The man died, then shortly thereafter he
  transformed into some kind of monster.
  20
  If this man is typical of the “zombies,” it
  would be a bad idea to used deadly force
  against the other affected individuals.
  A2. Searching the Houses
  Crow Row presently consists of eight buildings plus the Food
  for Life facility, and most of those contain multiple apart-
  ment units. Though searching them requires quite some time,
  the heroes may decide that doing so is the most prudent
  course of action. Alternatively, they may decide to assign this
  task to the police while they pursue other options.
  If you want to play out the process, prepare as many indi-
  vidual encounters as you wish, ensuring that the heroes have
  plenty of opportunities to both rescue innocent lives and
  fight ravenous monsters. If you don’t want to focus on the
  search, simply inform the players that their heroes find little
  of interest in the buildings and encourage them to pursue
  another avenue of investigation.
  GM Characters: If you play out the search, the characters
  can meet as many afflicted individuals and insatiates as you
  wish. Afflicted people look and act exactly as described in
  the text of the empty calories incantation. For the insatiates,
  use the statistics from encounter A1.
  Apartment Complex
  A five-story apartment complex occupies the entire eastern
  face of Crow Row. It has nearly three hundred units, each of
  which is home to 1d6–1 people. A result of 0 indicates an
  apartment that is not currently rented. 
  Most of the tenants have already left the building at the
  behest of the police. Heroes who search it find Thanksgiving
  meals growing cold on tables and occasionally see rats and
  mice carrying away bits of the bounty.
  A few afflicted people or insatiates are still moving about
  the complex, but not many. Unlike the other buildings, this
  structure has steel doors and strong locks to prevent nonres-
  idents from entering uninvited.
  Brownstones
  The brownstones are large, privately owned, four-story build-
  ings. Each is home to a single family, though extended families
  are not uncommon. In such cases, the parents typically live on
  the ground floor, and one child with a family lives on each of
  the other floors. Once considered the most posh of urban
  dwellings, these structures are now just rundown and old.
  The exterior doors of these buildings are no different than
  those of any standard house, so afflicted individuals or insa-
  tiates were able to break in with relative ease. Thus, such
  creatures are more common in these buildings than in the
  apartments. Each floor has its own kitchen, but all the
  extended family members living in any brownstone were eat-
  ing Thanksgiving dinner together at the time of the “riot,” so
  the readily available food is concentrated on one floor.
  Parking Garage
  This large, ugly, cement parking garage has five stories. The
  toll booth at the entrance is currently unoccupied because
  the guard ran away immediately when he mistook the
  afflicted individuals he saw for zombies. 
  Since today is a holiday, the garage is not very full.
  However, many of the area residents pay monthly fees to
  park their cars here rather than on the streets, so about 20%
  of the spaces (mostly on the lower levels) are full.
  Getting into the garage is easy, but for a mindless creature
  or a person whose mind is addled by hunger and a magical
  curse, finding a way out is difficult. Thus, there are several of
  each in this building.
  One of the building doors bursts open, and a gaunt,
  gray-skinned figure staggers out. He is wearing thread-
  bare clothing of the sort that you might find in one of
  this neighborhood’s many thrift stores.
  “F-f-foooood,” he moans. “S-so h-hungry.”
  Without uttering another sound, he collapses in a heap.
  THE FINAL FEAST
  
  d20MODERN
  9
  THE FINAL FEAST
  Storefronts
  The businesses along Crow Row include a dry cleaner, a video
  rental shop, a thrift shop, and a bodega. All of these were
  either closed for the holiday or abandoned when the “zom-
  bies” appeared, but only the bodega was ransacked. (The
  afflicted were looking for food and rightly considered that a
  likely source.)
  Above each store except the dry cleaner are three floors
  of apartments, with a total of fifteen units per building. The
  individual units are similar to those in the apartment com-
  plex, but smaller and generally more poorly kept. The build-
  ings have no elevators, so anyone searching them must take
  the noisy, rickety wooden stairs or the outside fire escape.
  The largest concentration of afflicted individuals and insa-
  tiates outside of the Food for Life area can be found in these
  buildings.
  A3. Crow Row Park (EL varies)
  On most nights, the park at the center of Crow Row is half
  filled with homeless people looking for a safe place to sleep.
  Today, those same people are trying desperately to find
  something to sate their appetites because they have eaten
  the cursed meat provided by the Children of Chaos.
  Read aloud or paraphrase the following aloud when the
  heroes arrive.
  As GM, you can choose to use this encounter either to pro-
  vide a bit of color and atmosphere, or as a combat encounter.
  Refer to the appropriate section below.
  Atmospheric Encounter
  You can use the encounter in this way to impress upon the
  heroes the terrible nature of the curse. 
  GM Characters: Several dozen afflicted individuals are in
  the park, but no insatiates.
  Afflicted: Use the statistics for any low-level ordinary
  archetype from pages 271–283 in the D20 MODERN Roleplaying
  Game, except that the individual has only 1 hp left and half
  of his or her original Constitution score.
  Development: At least one of the afflicted individuals
  here is coherent enough to answer questions, should the
  heroes choose to pose them. Appropriate questions procure
  the following information (no check required).
  • “I felt fine all day. The illness came upon me suddenly after
  I ate the meal served at the Food For Life center.”
  • “At first I thought I was just extra-hungry because the min-
  ister made such a ridiculously long speech.”
  • “The food tasted fine, but I think it must have been poi-
  soned. I don’t know what dish it was, though.”
  • “I didn’t recognize any of the workers who served dinner
  tonight. They were all new—even the minister.”
  Combat Encounter
  This version of the encounter forces the heroes to fight insa-
  tiates, as well as any of the afflicted that you wish to bring
  into the battle.
  GM Characters: In addition to the afflicted individuals,
  two or more insatiates are hiding here in the grove of trees.
  The afflicted are in an extremely weakened state and are lit-
  erally on death’s doorstep, so they do not attack the heroes.
  Afflicted: Use the statistics for any low-level ordinary
  archetype from pages 271–283 in the D20 MODERN Roleplaying
  Game, except that the individual has only 1 hp left and half
  of his or her original Constitution score.
  Insatiates (Number Varies): See Encounter A1 for statistics.
  Tactics: Each insatiate hides until a hero or afflicted per-
  son passes within reach, then leaps out and attacks. If the
  heroes begin by talking to the afflicted, one of them may qui-
  etly pass away while the heroes are talking to others, then
  rise as an insatiate 1 minute later and begin attacking the
  nearest creatures. In that case, the other insatiates all leap
  out and begin their own attacks, regardless of how close
  their prey is.
  If you wish, one insatiate may challenge the heroes while
  another goes through the crowd of the afflicted, biting and
  killing the weakened people. This tactic causes the number
  of insatiates to balloon over the next few minutes. 
  Development: This scene is the GM’s best option to fine-
  tune the adventure to make it more challenging for the
  heroes. Any combat in this grotto is likely to create even
  more monstrous creatures for them to fight. If they are not
  careful, the heroes might soon find themselves overrun by
  ravenous undead.
  B. FOOD FOR LIFE
  The Food for Life building was once an annex to the church
  that served the original residents of Crow Row and the sur-
  rounding neighborhood. Now it is all that is remains of that
  once great institution.
  Read aloud or paraphrase the following when the heroes
  approach it.
  A low, one-story building sits nestled in crook of the
  cement parking structure. It is constructed of dull
  brown bricks in a style that mimics that of the brown-
  stones nearby. Its isolated location and low construc-
  tion give the building a lonely air, as though it had
  somehow wandered into this courtyard accidentally
  and was never able to find its way out.
  Just a few hundred feet from 8th Street stands a small
  grove of elm and oak trees. This area must once have
  been a beautiful park, but now it is a field of stunted
  and dying vegetation. The ground is covered with
  patchy crabgrass, and just about every other surface is
  either carved or spray-painted with graffiti.
  Dozens of gaunt, pale men and women are sitting,
  lying, or staggering around the park. Some stare about
  them with hollow, almost dead eyes; others pay no
  heed to their surroundings at all except to gnaw on bark,
  roots, grass, and anything else they can fit into their
  mouths. 
  These people are obviously starving, but as they eat,
  they become visibly hungrier and thinner.
  
  d20MODERN
  10
  The open door leads to the dining hall. The closed one opens
  into the chapel. This door used to connect with the church,
  but it has since been converted into an auxiliary entrance.
  Any hero who scouts around the building finds three
  locked windows along the north wall that have been painted
  black from the inside. The two eastern ones lead to the din-
  ing hall (area B1), and the westernmost one gives access to
  the restroom (area B2). Any of these windows can be
  unlocked with a successful DC 10 Disable Device check or
  forced open (Break DC 15), but it is much easier to break the
  glass (hardness 1, 1 hp). On the building’s south face is another
  window identical to these that provides access to the man-
  ager’s office, plus three stained-glass windows (hardness 2,
  hp 2) that lead to the chapel (area B5). The Children of Chaos
  painted the windows black to mask their activities from
  people outside.
  Along the west wall is an iron door (hardness 10, hp 120,
  Break DC 35) that leads into the kitchen. Next to the door
  stands a pair of industrial trash dumpsters, and a series of
  exhaust fans set at a height of about 7 feet extends along
  the wall.
  B1. Dining Hall (EL Varies)
  The Food for Life staff uses this area to serve meals to home-
  less people. Read aloud or paraphrase the following when
  the heroes enter.
  Upon entering the room, each hero may attempt a DC 10
  Spot check and a DC 10 Listen check. Those who succeed
  notice that a few dozen of the food center’s clients are still
  in the room, lying underneath the tables. Most of these peo-
  ple are near catatonic from shock, weakness, hunger, or a
  combination of all three. They all have the same pale, gaunt
  appearance as the afflicted individuals outside. Those who
  are conscious cry out for help, or merely moan to the air
  about how hungry they are.
  GM Characters: The fifty people here are all in the
  advanced stages of the curse brought on through the empty
  calories incantation. If you wish, one or more of them can die
  while the heroes are here and rise as insatiates. Since there
  are so many potential combatants, the EL of this encounter
  can vary wildly based on the heroes’ actions.
  Afflicted: Use the statistics for any low-level ordinary
  archetype from pages 271–283 in the D20 MODERN Roleplaying
  Game, except that the individual has only 1 hp left and half
  of his or her original Constitution score.
  B2. Restroom
  The building’s only restroom features is a run-down room
  with 80-year-old plumbing. Doors lead from here to the
  kitchen (area B3) and the dining hall (area B1), and a black-
  painted window leads outside. There is nothing of conse-
  quence here.
  B3. Kitchen (EL 12)
  The Food for Life staff prepares food for the homeless here.
  This institutional kitchen is fully functional, if somewhat old-
  fashioned.  Two insatiates are lying in wait for the heroes
  This large, open room has whitewashed walls and row
  upon row of tables and chairs. The windows that would
  normally give a view of the outdoors have been painted
  black. Pictures depicting politicians and celebrities serv-
  ing food to or shaking hands with the center’s homeless
  clients decorate the walls. The tables are covered in
  crepe paper tablecloths and cheap table dressings in the
  shapes of turkeys, cornucopias, and cartoon-style puri-
  tan children. 
  Plates, cups, and utensils are scattered haphazardly
  about the tabletops. Some plates still contain scraps of
  food, but most appear to have been licked clean, leav-
  ing only faint discolorations on the ceramic surfaces.
  One of the two doors at the front of the building
  hangs open and slightly off its hinges. The glass has been
  smashed from its frame. Above this door hangs an unlit
  neon sign reading “Food for Life.”
  The other door is made of solid, weather-worn wood.
  This one is closed and devoid of any markings other
  than decades’ worth of graffiti.
  THE FINAL FEAST
  Breaking the Curse
  Even after the cultists have been defeated, the adven-
  ture may not have reached a satisfactory conclusion.
  After all, dozens of afflicted individuals still wander the
  neighborhood, and if something is not done to help
  them, they will eventually turn into insatiates and begin
  attacking innocents. There are two ways to end the
  curse without having to kill all those people.
  Destroy Ventyr: The most obvious solution is to
  destroy the idol (hardness 10, 25 hp). A successful DC 12
  Knowledge (arcane lore) check confirms that this course
  of action will have the desired effect.
  When the idol is destroyed, a white flash of light
  explodes from its remains, and the magical affliction is
  lifted from all those who ate the cursed meat, enabling
  them to heal and regain lost Constitution normally. All
  insatiates not yet killed immediately fall to the ground
  lifeless.
  Feed Ventyr: Anyone who can read the words carved
  into the idol (or has access to a translation) may attempt
  a DC 15 Knowledge (arcane lore) or Spellcraft check.
  Success brings the strong suspicion that smothering the
  idol in food should temporarily lift the curse. If the
  heroes take this course of action, all the afflicted peo-
  ple can heal and regain lost Constitution normally, and
  all the insatiates that have not yet been slain transform
  into afflicted humans.
  The idol eats the food surrounding it at the rate of 1
  pound every 10 minutes. If it ever eats its way free, the
  affliction becomes active again, restoring the curse to
  those who were previously afflicted, though any healing
  they managed to acquire in the meantime is not
  negated. Those who were insatiates before the curse
  was lifted do not return to that state; they merely
  become afflicted again. If Ventyr is kept surrounded by
  food for 12 hours, it returns to its dormant state
  
  d20MODERN
  11
  THE FINAL FEAST
  here. When the heroes entered the building, these two were
  fighting over the last remaining can of pork and beans. But
  when they heard the heroes moving around, they broke off
  their conflict and hid to await the arrival of prey.
  When the heroes enter the kitchen, read aloud or para-
  phrase the following when the heroes arrive.
  Any hero who makes a successful DC 15 Search check while
  examining the handprints realizes that they consist of blood
  and food particles mixed together. 
  GM Characters: There are two insatiates hiding in this
  room. A successful DC 12 Spot check allows a hero to notice
  one of them, while a DC 15 check reveals both.
  Insatiates (2): See area A1 for statistics.
  Tactics: The insatiates may spring at the heroes the
  moment they enter the room, or they may wait until a target
  comes within melee reach (GM’s choice). Since there are no
  afflicted people in the kitchen, this fight may be one of the
  easier ones that the heroes have with these monsters.
  Development: The food center’s regular workers are tied
  up in the manager’s office, frightened out of their wits. The
  sounds of a firefight in the kitchen only serve of panic them
  even more.
  B4. Manager’s Office
  The manager of Food for Life runs the operation out of this
  office. When the Children of Chaos took over the center,
  they tied up the regular workers and volunteers and aban-
  doned them here. The door is closed but not locked.
  Read aloud or paraphrase the following aloud when the
  heroes arrive.
  The papers on the corkboard are schedules detailing workers’
  shifts and incoming deliveries.
  GM Characters: Twelve ordinaries of various kinds have
  lain here, tied up and gagged, since the arrival of the Children
  of Chaos (4 to 12 hours, depending on when the heroes arrive
  here). During that time, they have listened to everything that
  happened in the food center and become increasingly more
  frightened. They want nothing more than to go home to their
  own families and friends and give thanks for surviving this
  terrible ordeal.
  Ordinaries: Use the statistics for any combination of low-
  level ordinary archetypes as given on pages 271–283 in the
  D20 MODERN Roleplaying Game.
  Development: Once freed, the workers request that the
  heroes escort them from the premises, since the sounds they
  have heard have frightened them severely. If questioned, they
  tell the heroes that when all the volunteers had arrived, the
  intruders captured them at gunpoint, tied them up and
  gagged them, dumped them on the floor of this room, and
  closed the door. The captives could hear everything that
  happened thereafter, since the walls of the building are quite
  thin and sound carries well. The cultists worked in the
  kitchen for a while, evidently preparing food. At one point,
  they all began to chant about meat and hunger, and the cap-
  tives heard the name “Ventyr the Emaciated” mentioned. 
  The manager can give the heroes the names and addresses
  provided by the cultists when they volunteered. All of this
  information is accurate, but none of it leads to anyone higher
  up in the cultists’ chain of command.
  The employees and volunteers are all quite frightened.
  They will do whatever they are told, but they are of no use
  in a fight. If led from the building, they are disturbed by the
  sight of the afflicted people, but they remain with the
  heroes. If they see even one insatiate, however, they flee as
  fast as they can in random directions.
  B5. Chapel (EL 16)
  Originally, this chamber was just another meeting room.
  When the main church was torn down, however, the manager
  of Food for Life decided to convert this room into a nonde-
  nominational chapel that all of the center’s clients and staff
  could use when they felt the need. Occasionally, open meet-
  ings are held here at which the manager disseminates infor-
  mation about new aid programs, municipal statutes, and
  other issues of importance to the local homeless population.
  Memorial services are also held here for clients who have
  gone missing or died. At present, the cultists are holed up
  here, preparing to make their last stand against the heroes.
  Read aloud or paraphrase the following when the charac-
  ters arrive.
  Several rows of pews fill the rear portion of this small,
  dark chamber. A pulpit stands below a wall of stained-
  glass windows depicting ordinary people helping one
  another, but no religious iconography is visible in the
  room.
  Behind the pulpit stands a man wearing a yellow
  robe. The hood has been pulled up so as to hide his face
  in shadow. He holds a small wooden idol aloft with one
  hand and hefts a shotgun with the other.
  “Too late! You are too late!” he screeches maniacally.
  In the shadows of the front row of pews, four bodies
  twitch violently on the carpet.
  This tiny office is furnished with a rickety old wooden
  desk, several gunmetal-gray filing cabinets, and a large
  corkboard with papers tacked to it. Under any circum-
  stances it would seem like a fairly cramped space, but it
  is even more so now—a dozen men and women lie
  bound and gagged on the floor. The room’s sole window
  is painted black.
  Everything in this large kitchen seems to be made out of
  stainless steel. There are four large ovens and six sinks,
  and shining counter tops stretch from one end of the
  room to another. Along one wall stand several large
  metal lockers whose doors have been pulled off their
  hinges.
  The smell of roasting turkeys and simmering stuffing
  still fills the air, although no food is visible. Handprints
  and smears along the walls give evidence of a large
  number of looters, as does the layer of debris that cov-
  ers the floor. Industrial-size cans that once contained
  baked beans, stewed prunes, ketchup, mustard, and
  every other canned or preserved foodstuff imaginable
  lie scattered on the floor. All have been opened roughly,
  emptied of their contents, and apparently discarded.
  
  d20MODERN
  12
  GM Characters: Each of the five cultists in this room ate a
  bit of the cursed meat before the heroes arrived. Four of
  them killed themselves on the leader’s orders about 1 minute
  ago to hasten their conversion to insatiates. 
  Insatiates (4): See encounter A1 for statistics.
  Lead Cultist: Use the statistics for the High-Level
  Dedicated/Charismatic Ordinary from Chapter 8 of the d20
  MODERN Roleplaying Game, but arm his with a shotgun.
  Tactics: The heroes may try to reason with the lead cultist
  if they wish, but he has no interest in negotiation. On his
  turn, he begins firing the shotgun at the heroes, regardless of
  anything they have said. The round after the heroes arrive,
  the four bodies on the ground awaken as insatiates and
  attack the nearest heroes.
  The lead cultist continues firing on the heroes until his
  shotgun is empty. Then he charges at the nearest hero and
  engages her in melee combat until he dies. He rises as an
  insatiate 1 minute later. 
  Development: When held in a living person’s hand, the
  idol seems to come alive. It squirms and kicks its arms and
  legs the way an infant does, and its mouth opens and closes
  hungrily. Anyone within 10 feet can see this motion, but only
  the person actually holding the idol can hear Ventyr’s raspy
  voice quietly pleading “Feed me.” 
  C. RESOLUTION
  If all goes well, the heroes can rescue the majority of people
  afflicted by the empty calories incantation. Depending on
  how well they minimized the civilian and collateral damage,
  they may be lauded as heroes or publicly vilified as incom-
  petent bunglers.
  Interrogation
  If the heroes have done their jobs well, there may be no one
  left to interrogate. However, if they deactivate Ventyr the
  Emaciated by feeding the idol while one or more of the
  cultist insatiates is still active, that cultist returns to life
  becomes available for questioning.
  The cultists have very little information to offer other
  than the details of their now-failed mission. They can pro-
  vide the following answers to appropriate questions.
  • They were called together from various parts of the coun-
  try for a suicide mission.
  • They were called by “the High Priest of Disorder,” via
  phone call or letter and told to join the operation’s leader.
  The High Priest of Disorder’s instructions were to “give
  your leader the unwavering devotion you have in the past
  shown me.”
  • The idol was a magic item given to their leader by the High
  Priest of Disorder.
  • Disrupting the Thanksgiving Day feast at Food for Life was
  their main objective.
  The cultists truly believe their mission had no greater pur-
  pose than the disruption of the Thanksgiving feast. They
  know nothing about Ventyr the Emaciated, other than the
  fact that their leader used it to make the cursed meat. They
  also know nothing about the events from other Heartless
  adventures, or any other plans of the larger Children of
  Chaos organization. If the heroes mention the name Nicholas
  St. Andrew, however, the cultists flush, cast their eyes down-
  ward, and say, “The High Priest of Disorder knows all.” They
  have no further information about St. Andrew.
  Only one of the cultists (the one who was left holding the
  shotgun in the chapel) knew the entire plan and how to use
  the idol. He received those instructions via courier. 
  If one of the heroes can succeed on a Diplomacy or
  Intimidate check (opposed by the leader’s Will saving throw
  with a +10 bonus), he reveals some or all of the following
  information (GM’s discretion as to how much). Some of this
  information is irrelevant if you are not playing the Heartless
  campaign.
  • The most important part of the mission was performing the
  incantation and getting someone to eat the cursed meat.
  • If the operation was jeopardized, the leader was supposed
  to order all the cultists to eat a bit of the cursed meat,
  then kill themselves.
  • With the activation of Ventyr the Emaciated, the last piece
  of some larger scheme that the High Priest of Disorder has
  in mind is now in place.
  Heartless Resolution
  If you plan to continue with the next installment of the
  Heartless campaign, you should make sure that the heroes
  gain the following pieces of information one way or another.
  • These events were carefully orchestrated by Nicholas St.
  Andrew. They are just a small part of a bigger objective
  that he has in mind.
  • The idol used in this adventure was one of two that van-
  ished during the first adventure, The Petersen
  Counterstrike. 
  • The two idols are a matched pair, so they probably have
  some collective purpose beyond the uses to which they
  have thus far been put.
  REWARDS
  The heroes gain the standard experience and wealth awards
  for these encounters. In addition, the riot and rumors of
  “zombies” in Crow Row are big local news stories. Depending
  on how public their actions were, and whether or not
  Department-7 allows them to take credit for the work they
  have done, the heroes could gain a significant amount of
  publicity. Such publicity could result in the characters
  becoming media celebrities, an increase in the amount of
  work (or rate of pay) that they receive, or—if things went
  badly—in public vilification.
  “Ventyr has been fed, and his hunger will never be
  slaked! In the name of Janus, we have eaten from his
  plate,” says the leader, pulling back the hood to reveal
  his emaciated face. “And we are glad to give our lives in
  the cause of Chaos!”
  THE FINAL FEAST
  
  d20MODERN
  13
  THE FINAL FEAST
  CONTINUING THE ADVENTURE
  The events of this scenario may not lead directly to any
  future adventures, since the cultists should all be dead and
  the cursed meat should be neutralized when the heroes are
  finished. If the heroes neither destroyed Ventyr the
  Emaciated nor successfully returned it to a dormant state,
  however, the turkey prepared by the Children of Chaos will
  remain cursed. Although it is unlikely that any humans will
  eat it, rats and other vermin very well might. If you wish to
  pursue this storyline, simply apply the insatiate template to
  the appropriate base creatures.
  If the heroes recovered the idol, it will probably be
  returned to Department-7 for safekeeping. The previous cler-
  ical error (mistaking a 4th-century idol for a 19th-century
  replica) may very well be perpetuated unless the heroes
  make it clear that they believe the idol to be the real thing.
  If it is still mislabeled when it is returned to the collection,
  some other unscrupulous member of the organization could
  easily make off with it again. 
  Alternatively, Nicholas St. Andrew may have had his min-
  ions use the idol before. In that case, another cell of the
  Children of Chaos cult may also have meat cursed by the
  empty calories incantation, which they are ready to use upon
  St. Andrew’s orders.
  Continuing Heartless
  Many of the questions the heroes may pose will be answered
  when the Heartless campaign continues next month with the
  free online adventure The Dead of Winter. 
  NEW FX ITEM
  The following new FX item is a unique object that can be
  used in any d20 MODERN adventure. 
  Ventyr the Emaciated
  Ventyr the Emaciated is a 4th-century idol that grants its
  holder the power to cast a specific incantation called
  empty calories (see below). The fetish was carved from
  hardwood and stained a deep, rich shade of brown, which
  over the years has darkened until it now appears to be
  nearly black. Ventyr the Emaciated is approximately 8
  inches tall and 5 inches around at its thickest point. The fig-
  ure is that of a naked, emaciated male human standing with
  his arms at his sides. The figure’s face is either horribly dis-
  figured or he is wearing a mask—it is difficult to tell which.
  The figure’s bony chest sports a series of words carved in an
  unknown language.
  Anyone who succeeds on a DC 20 Knowledge (arcane lore)
  check or a DC 30 Knowledge (history) check recognizes the
  words as a bastardized version of Sanskrit that was used by
  an ancient group of sub-Saharan alchemists and diablerists.
  Any hero who succeeds on a DC 20 Decipher Script check or
  a DC 30 Research check can render a translation of the text.
  A character with at least 1 rank in Read/Write Sanskrit gains
  a +5 competence bonus on these checks. The translation
  requires 12 hours of work, which may be accomplished in
  more than one sitting. The verse reads as follows.
  meat makes
  a man boil in
  Hunger.
  Leaving Him empty
  after death
  with the power of
  Gods.
  Anyone who succeeds on a DC 20 Knowledge (arcane lore)
  check or a DC 30 Knowledge (history) check recognizes
  the words as a bastardized version of Sanskrit that was
  used by an ancient group of sub-Saharan alchemists and
  diablerists. Any hero who succeeds on a DC 20 Decipher
  Script check or a DC 30 Research check can render a trans-
  lation of the text. A character with at least 1 rank in
  Read/Write Sanskrit gains a +5 competence bonus on
  these checks. The translation requires 12 hours of work,
  which may be accomplished in more than one sitting. The
  verse reads as follows.
  Anyone who translates the words inherently understands
  that the idol is a pivotal part of casting an incantation involv-
  ing meat. The translator also knows that, when properly
  done, this incantation creates cursed meat that causes
  hunger.
  NEW INCANTATION
  The following new incantation is available for use in any d20
  MODERN adventure.
  Empty Calories
  Transmutation
  Skill Check: Knowledge (arcane lore) DC 20, 4 (10 successes;
  Failure: Three consecutive failed skill checks; Components:
  V, S, M, F; Casting Time: 40 minutes (minimum); Range:
  Close (25 ft.); Target: see below; Duration: Instantaneous;
  Saving Throw: see below; Spell Resistance: No
  This incantation can be performed only as part of a ritual
  involving the unique magic idol known as Ventyr the
  Emaciated. The process is relatively simple, but it must be
  carried out on meat while it is cooking.
  When the process is completed, the meat may be stored,
  cooked further, or used immediately in any manner that
  cooked meat normally could. Except for its effects on crea-
  tures that consume it, the affected meat is identical to any
  other meat cooked in the same way.
  Any living creature that swallows even a single bite of
  the meat cursed by this incantation must make a DC 25
  Fortitude saving throw. If the creature has spell resistance,
  a bonus equal to +1 per 10 points of spell resistance applies
  to the save. Failure afflicts the creature with a magical
  curse. While under its effect, the creature must attempt a
  DC 10 Fortitude save once every 10 minutes. On each fail-
  ure, the creature loses one-half of its current hit points
  until it has only 1 hp remaining. At that point, the creature
  takes 1 point of Constitution drain with each subsequent
  failed save. The afflicted creature dies when its Consti-
  tution score reaches 0 or when it takes damage that
  reduces it to –10 or fewer hit points. 
  
  d20MODERN
  14
  The creature rises again as an undead monster called an
  insatiate (see below) 1 minute after its death.
  A remove curse spell removes the affliction caused by eat-
  ing the cursed meat. Alternatively, destroying or neutralizing
  Ventyr the Emaciated removes the affliction from all current
  victims (see the Breaking the Curse sidebar for details).
  Material Component: One or more pieces of meat that are
  being cooked.
  Secondary Casters: None are required, but the lead caster
  gains a bonus equal to +1 per two secondary casters (maxi-
  mum +5) on the requisite skill checks.
  Focus: Ventyr the Emaciated.
  Failure: Damage. The lead caster takes 3d6 points of
  damage.
  NEW MONSTERS
  The following new monster is available for use in any d20
  MODERN adventure.
  Insatiate (template)
  An insatiate is the corpse of a creature that died while under
  a magical affliction caused by the empty calories incanta-
  tion. After the afflicted creature dies, its body lies unmoving
  for 1 minute, then it begins to shake violently. In the follow-
  ing round, its eyes open and it rises as an insatiate. The crea-
  ture looks like it did in the final moments of its life—a pale,
  emaciated shadow of its former self—except that its eyes are
  colorless and its face is a mask of unquenchable rage and
  hunger.
  An insatiate is a mindless creature that takes orders from
  no one—its only interest is eating. It immediately attacks any
  living creature it sees with its bite attack, attempting to rip
  flesh from its victim’s body. It does not, however, attack any-
  one who is touching the spell fetish known as Ventyr the
  Emaciated.
  An insatiate always attacks the nearest target attempting
  to tear off and consume pieces of flesh. If more than one tar-
  get is equally close, the creature chooses the one that looks
  meatiest. It has no sense of self-preservation and simply
  attacks until destroyed. 
  Template Traits
  “Insatiate” is an acquired template that can be added to any
  living corporeal creature (referred to hereafter as the base
  creature). An insatiate uses all the base creature’s statistics
  except as noted here.
  Challenge Rating: An insatiate’s challenge rating is equal
  to the base creature’s challenge rating +2.
  Type: The creature’s type changes to undead (see Chapter
  8 of the d20 MODERN Roleplaying Game).
  Hit Dice: All the base creature’s current and future Hit
  Dice (including those gained from class levels) increase
  to d12s.
  Speed: The base creature’s speed increases by 20 ft.
  Attacks: The insatiate retains all the natural attacks of the
  base creature and also gains a bite attack. It loses all of its
  manufactured weapons and weapon proficiencies.
  Damage: The base creature’s natural weapons deal dam-
  age normally when it becomes an insatiate. If it did not pre-
  viously have a bite attack, its bite deals base damage
  according to its size, as given the table below. If it did have a
  bite attack, use the damage from the table or its original bite
  damage, whichever is greater. 
  SIZE
  BASE BITE DAMAGE
  Fine
  —
  Diminutive
  1
  Tiny
  1d2
  Small
  1d3
  Medium-size
  1d4
  Large
  1d6
  Huge
  1d8
  Gargantuan
  2d6
  Colossal
  2d8
  Special Qualities: An insatiate loses all of the base
  creature’s supernatural and spell-like abilities except for
  immunity or resistance to specific energy types. An insa-
  tiate may retain any or all of the base creature’s extraordi-
  nary abilities (such as a wolf’s scent ability) at the GM’s
  discretion. In addition, an insatiate gains the following spe-
  cial quality.
  Poison (Ex): An insatiate can spread its affliction with a
  successful bite attack. The target must succeed on a DC 25
  Fortitude save or be affected as if by the empty calories
  incantation.
  Immunities: An insatiate is immune to poison, sleep,
  paralysis, stunning, disease, necromantic effects, and mind-
  affecting effects. It is not subject to critical hits, nonlethal
  damage, ability damage, ability drain, energy drain, effects of
  massive damage, or any effect requiring a Fortitude save
  unless it also works on objects or is harmless. 
  Healing: An insatiate cannot heal damage on its own. It
  can be healed with negative energy (such as an inflict light
  wounds spell).
  Allegiances: An insatiate loses any previous allegiances.
  It becomes a mindless creature that cares about nothing
  other than violently attacking and consuming any living
  creature it sees.
  Saving Throws: A sugar slave has a good Reflex saves and
  poor Fortitude and Will saves for all its Hit Dice (see Table
  8–2 of the d20 MODERN Roleplaying Game).
  Action Points: An insatiate retains any action points
  gained by the base creature. It does not acquire or amass
  additional action points.
  Reputation Bonus: An insatiate has a +0 Reputation
  bonus.
  Ability Scores: An insatiate has no Charisma or
  Intelligence score. Its Strength increases by +2 and its
  Dexterity by +4. Its Wisdom changes to 10, and its Charisma
  decreases to 1.
  Skills: The insatiate loses all skills.
  Feats: The insatiate loses all of the base creature’s feats
  and gains Improved Initiative and Toughness as bonus
  feats.
  THE FINAL FEAST
  
  d20MODERN
  15
  THE FINAL FEAST
  ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  Stan! has been publishing fiction, cartoons, and games pro-
  fessionally since 1982. He has served as a graphic designer
  and line editor for West End Games, an editor and designer
  for TSR, Inc., and an author, senior designer, and creative
  director for Wizards of the Coast, Inc. Stan! is currently the
  creative vice president for The Game Mechanics, Inc.
  <http://www.thegamemechanics.com> His recent projects
  include the URBAN ARCANA Campaign Setting for Wizards of
  the Coast and the Modern Player’s Companion for Green
  Ronin. In what he laughingly refers to as his spare time,
  Stan! writes and illustrates the Bolt & Quiver and Table Talk
  comic strips.
  Stan! lives in Renton, WA, where he eats nothing but meat
  and cheese. Visit him online at <http://www.stannex.com>.
  Credits
  Design:
  Stan!
  Editing:
  Penny Williams
  Typesetting:
  Nancy Walker
  Cartography:
  Rob Lazzaretti
  Creative Direction:
  Christopher Perkins
  Web Production: 
  Julia Martin
  Web Development: 
  Mark A. Jindra
  Graphic Design:
  Cynthia Fliege
  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>.
  ©2003 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/Heartless - The Final Feast.pdf