The Burning Men

5 years ago, during a live stage performance of their latest play, the renowned actor Herming Festway, suddenly burst into flames. This was, at first thought to be part of the play, called ironically the The Burning Man, a story about a man who is burned almost to death. Festway sadly died due to the effects of the burns.

6 days later, another man was spotted to be running through the local library in flames and screaming. 6 days after that another, then another.

Over the next 3 months, more and more men started to suffer from what was called by the news reporters Spontaneous human combustion(SHC), the burning of a person with no apparent external source of ignition. No women were ever reported to be harmed by the phenomena. A combination of witness and lack of evidence has started to make the population and authorities rather nervous. Apart from the deaths, the damage to property is oddly, almost non-existent, with only a small, hardly visible amount of fire damage etc at the site where the event occurred.

Then one day, the events stopped. The last 5 years have been event free. However, 14 days ago another event occurred. 6 days later another, then another.

Hooks & Rumours

  • The men who burnt alive were all part of the same secret society, the same one of which one of the players belongs to.
  • Many believe this to not be SHC, but some new kind of weapon capable of creating a fire from a distance
  • All these cases are occurring in the same 6 mile radius, is there something at the center of town
  • One theory is that the men took part in a horrible crime syndicate and their victims are now getting revenge.
  • Rumors abound that one particular morgue has had an increasing number of bodies become burnt overnight, despite high security measures.
  • Despite what the news reports, women are suffering from SHC, but a mandate from on high has told everyone to ignore this reports and report on just the men for some reason.

 

This was created based on the ideas in this post:

Stuck for ideas for your campaign or story?

Article Used as Inspiration: Spontaneous human combustion
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spontaneous_human_combustion

Stats and details are expressed in generic terms to allow for use in as many games and genres as possible. As with other Campaign Chunks
this is designed to be used as a starting block for your own ideas.

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