Tags
1960s, 1970s, Americana fantasy, fortean, fortean phenomona, forteana, Gothic America, magic realism, Midwest Horror, modern fantasy, Prairie Horror, Road Crawl, Road Trip, Roadcrawl, Roadtrip, sci fi, science-fiction, Seventies, Sixties, Small Town Horror, Southern Gothic, Urban Fantasy, Weird America
Those lost on the Uncanny Highway may experience everything from the bone-chilling cold of a Midwestern winter to the broiling dry heat of a Southwestern summer. Summer in the heartland brings the threat of Tornadoes. And no matter where you are, there is always the chance that frogs – or even stranger things – will fall from the sky!
If the PCs are moving, determine new weather conditions whenever they enter a new 100-mile Section of Highway. If they stay overnight along a Section (perhaps while living in a small town, staying at a motel, sleeping in truck stop bunks, or even camping in a tent on the side of the road), roll for the next day’s weather at midnight (in-game).
Table 1: Weather Conditions on a Highway Section
|
d12 |
The temperature on this Section of road is… |
|
1 |
much hotter than normal,… |
|
2 – 4 |
hotter than normal,… |
|
5 – 8 |
normal for this time of year,… |
|
9 – 11 |
colder than normal,… |
|
12 |
much colder than normal,… |
|
d12 |
…and the wind is… |
|
1 – 2 |
absolutely still,… Re-roll in the Midwest. If the result is 0 – 2 again, then the day is actually still. In Central California from November to April, this result indicates a thick Tule Fog that will limit visibility to 1d10 x 100 feet. |
|
3 – 5 |
slight,… |
|
6 – 9 |
moderate,… |
|
10 – 11 |
gusting,… |
|
12 |
very strong,… 25% chance of a Dust Storm in the Southwest or Southern California during the month of July. |
|
d12 |
…with… |
|
0 – 2 |
clear skies. Re-roll in the Pacific Northwest. If the result is 0 – 2 again, then the day is actually clear and sunny. |
|
3 – 4 |
partly cloudy skies. 10% chance of a Notable Weather Phenomenon, determined on Table 3. This phenomenon will occur as soon as the PCs are ready to travel for the day. |
|
5 – 6 |
cloudy / overcast skies. Re-roll in the Southwest or in Southern California, except in July. 25% chance of a Notable Weather Phenomenon, determined on Table 3. This phenomenon will occur as soon as the PCs are ready to travel for the day. |
|
7 |
light precipitation / drizzle in the AM hours. Roll d12 to determine the AM hour the precipitation will start, and a d4 to determine how many hours it will last. Roll on Table 2 to determine precipitation type. |
|
8 |
light precipitation / drizzle in the PM hours. Roll d12 to determine the AM hour the precipitation will start, and a d4 to determine how many hours it will last. Roll on Table 2 to determine precipitation type. |
|
9 |
moderate precipitation in the AM hours. Re-roll in the Southwest or in Southern California, except in July. Roll d12 to determine the AM hour the precipitation will start, and a d4 to determine how many hours it will last. Roll on Table 2 to determine precipitation type. |
|
10 |
moderate precipitation in the PM hours. Re-roll in the Southwest or in Southern California, except during July. Roll d12 to determine the PM hour the precipitation will start, and a d4 to determine how many hours it will last. Roll on Table 2 to determine precipitation type. |
|
11 |
severe precipitation in the AM hours. Re-roll in the Southwest or in Southern California, except during July. Roll d12 to determine the AM hour the precipitation will start, and a d4 to determine how many hours it will last. From March to September, roll on Tables 4a & 4b to determine Tornado formation if in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota, or Texas. |
|
12 |
severe precipitation in the PM hours. Re-roll in the Southwest or in Southern California, except during July. Roll d12 to determine the PM hour the precipitation will start, and a d4 to determine how many hours it will last. From March to September, roll on Tables 4a & 4b to determine Tornado formation if in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota, or Texas. |
- Precipitation may have already happened before the PCs even enter the Highway Section (in which case there may still be evidence of it), or might occur long after they have moved on to another Section.
Table 2: Precipitation Type
|
d100 |
The precipitation is… |
|
1 – 60 |
just the normal type of precipitation for this temperature and location. |
|
61 – 100 |
the normal type for the temperature and location, plus a Notable Weather Phenomenon. Roll on Table 3. |
- Assume that precipitation is snow if the air temperature is under 32 degrees Fahrenheit, and rain otherwise.
Table 3: Notable Weather Phenomena (Other Than Tornadoes)
|
d100 |
There will be… |
|
1 – 5 |
fog. |
|
6 – 24 |
thunder. |
|
25 – 30 |
lightning without thunder. d4: Lightning is… 1 = sheet lightning, 2 = forked bolts within clouds, 3 = forked bolts flashing from cloud to cloud, 4 = forked bolts striking from cloud to ground. |
|
51 – 60 |
thunder & lightning. d4: Lightning is… 1 = sheet lightning, 2 = forked bolts within clouds, 3 = forked bolts flashing from cloud to cloud, 4 = forked bolts striking from cloud to ground. |
|
61 – 70 |
hail for 1d10 minutes, |
|
71 – 75 |
chunks of ice falling from the sky, for 1d4 minutes. d6: Ice is… 1–3 = otherwise normal, 4 = oddly yellowish, 5 = oddly greenish, 6 = oddly bluish. |
|
76 |
a strangely bright night, or oddly dark day. |
|
77 |
hail with small stones inside, for 1d4 minutes. |
|
78 |
loud bangs that sound more like gunshots than thunder. |
|
79 |
1d4 glowing spheres of ball lightning. d6: Balls are colored… 1 = white, 2 = yellow, 3 = red, 4 = orange, 5 = blue, 6 = green. Each ball is d12 inches in diameter. |
|
80 |
a rain of pebbles for 1d4 minutes. d8: Pebbles are.. 1 – 4 = brown and tan, 5 = stark white, 6 = black, 7 = red, 8 = purple. |
|
81 |
a rain of small fruit for 1d4 minutes. d4: Fruit is 1 = crabapples, 2 = small hard peaches, 3 = hard pears, 4 = tangerines. |
|
82 |
a rain of red-hot metal in small pieces, for 1d4 minutes. |
|
83 |
a rain of fish for 1d4 minutes. d6: Fish are… 1 = minnows, 2 = small herrings, 3 = trout, 4 = small cod, 5 = eels, 6 = strange deep sea fish with large mouths and needle-like teeth. |
|
84 |
a rain of frogs for 1d4 minutes. |
|
85 |
a rain of crabs for 1d4 minutes. |
|
86 |
a rain of shellfish for 1d4 minutes. d6: Shellfish are…1 = clams, 2 = mussels, 3 = oysters, 4 = scallops, 5 = whelks, 6 = periwinkles. |
|
87 |
a rain of empty seashells for 1d4 minutes. d6: Shells are from…1 = clams, 2 = mussels, 3 = oysters, 4 = scallops, 5 = whelks, 6 = periwinkles. |
|
88 |
a rain of meat in small chunks, for 1d4 minutes. |
|
89 |
a rain of nuts for 1d4 minutes. d6: Nuts are… 1 = walnuts, 2 = almonds, 3 = hazelnuts, 4 = pecans, 5 = beechnuts, 6 = chestnuts. |
|
90 |
a rain of beans for 1d4 minutes. |
|
91 |
a rain of corn kernels for 1d4 minutes. |
|
92 |
a rain of dollar bills for 1d4 minutes. Up to d100 x d20 dollars can be recovered from a 10-mile stretch of road, at as rate of 10 dollars per minute spent searching. |
|
93 |
a rain of foreign bills for 1d4 minutes. d10: Bills are the lowest denomination from… 1 = Canada, 2 = the United Kingdom, 3 = France, 4 = West Germany, 5 = The Soviet Union, 6 = The People’s Republic of China, 7 = Japan, 8 = Egypt, 9 = Ethiopia, 10 = India. Up to d100 x d20 bills can be recovered from a 10-mile stretch of road, at as rate of 10 bills per minute spent searching. |
|
94 |
a rain of American coins for 1d4 minutes. d6: Coins are… 1 – 3 = pennies, 4 = nickels, 5 = dimes, 6 = quarters. Up to d100 x d20 coins can be recovered from a 10-mile stretch of road, at as rate of 10 coins per minute spent searching. |
|
95 |
a rain of foreign coins for 1d4 minutes. d10: Coins are the lowest denomination from… 1 = Canada, 2 = the United Kingdom, 3 = France, 4 = West Germany, 5 = The Soviet Union, 6 = The People’s Republic of China, 7 = Japan, 8 = Egypt, 9 = Ethiopia, 10 = India. Up to d100 x d20 coins can be recovered from a 10-mile stretch of road, at as rate of 10 coins per minute spent searching. |
|
96 |
a rain of worms for 1d4 minutes. d6: The worms are… 1 = ordinary earthworms, 2 = mealworms, 3 = maggots, 4 = marine flatworms, 5 = leeches, 6 = odd inch-long beings that are purple in color and don’t seem to belong to any known species. |
|
97 |
a rain of papers for 1d4 minutes. d4: Papers are…1 = crumpled balls of blank scraps, 2 = pages from the Bible, 3 = a scientific paper in a foreign language, 4 = apparently from a secret government study of U.F.O.s and Extraterrestrials, 5 = covered with strange equations and diagrams, 6 = the truth about the assassination of John F. Kennedy, from a secret Government study. |
|
98 |
a rain of sand for 1d4 minutes. d8: Sand is.. 1 – 4 = ordinary beach sand, 5 = stark white, 6 = black, 7 = red, 8 = purple. |
|
99 |
globs of slime falling from the sky, for 1d4 minutes. d6: Slime is… 1 = white, 2 = yellow, 3 = green, 4 = red, 5 = glowing yellow, 6 = glowing green. |
|
100 |
an unconscious person falling from the sky at an oddly slow speed, as if they had an invisible parachute. Severity of precipitation indicates the general build of person who falls. Light Precipitation = a child, Moderate Precipitation = a person of average build, Severe Precipitation = an exceptional tall or corpulent person. Person is only 25% likely to speak English when they awaken, and will have complete amnesia about their identity and past. |
- If the PCs can possibly witness the Notable Weather Phenomenon, they will. If it happens while the PCs would be otherwise asleep, they are first awakened by either the phenomenon itself, or some other occurrence.
Table 4a: Tornado Occurrence and Severity
Roll on this table whenever there is severe precipitation in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota, or Texas, from March to September.
|
d100 |
Tornado… |
|
1 – 75 |
does not occur. |
|
76 – 90 |
inflicts only slight damage to permanent structures. Cars and trailers are moderately damaged. Sheds and barns and severely damaged. Branches are stripped from trees. Roll on Table 4b. |
|
91 – 97 |
inflicts moderate damage to permanent structures. Cars, trailers, shed, and barns are destroyed. Trees are uprooted. Roll on Table 4b. |
|
98 – 99 |
inflicts severe damage to permanent structures, rendering them uninhabitable. Trailers, cars, shed debris, and barn beams are picked up into the tornado and thrown. Roll on Table 4b. |
|
100 |
destroys everything except large steel and concrete buildings, which are severely damaged. Trailers, cars, barns, sheds, and most houses are shredded, and the pieces thrown. Roll on Table 4b. |
- If the PCs can possibly witness the tornado, they will. If it forms while the PCs would be otherwise asleep, they are first awakened by the sound of storm winds.
Table 4b: Tornado Location and Duration
|
d4 |
The tornado forms… |
|
1 – 2 |
d10 miles ahead of the PCs… |
|
3 – 4 |
d10 miles behind the PCs… |
|
d10 |
…and starts moving… |
|
1 |
towards the north… |
|
2 |
towards the northeast… |
|
3 |
towards the northwest… |
|
4 |
towards the south… |
|
5 |
towards the southeast… |
|
6 |
towards the southwest… |
|
7 |
towards the east… |
|
8 |
towards the west… |
|
9 – 10 |
right down the Highway,… Every vehicle, road feature, and roadside attraction in the Tornado’s path has a 50% chance of being hit. |
|
d12 |
…at a land speed of… |
|
1 – 5 |
30 miles per hour (½ mile per minute),… |
|
6 – 8 |
40 miles per hour,… |
|
9 – 10 |
50 miles per hour,… |
|
11 |
60 miles per hour (1 mile per minute),… |
|
12 |
70 miles per hour,… |
|
d10 |
…lasting for…. |
|
1 – 8 |
d10 minutes. |
|
9 |
d20 minutes. |
|
10 |
d100 minutes. |
- Tornadoes are also in addition to any Notable Weather Phenomena that might also be happening. Tornadoes can occur in conjunction with thunder and lightning, or be accompanied by a rain of fish!