"We are working this out,
whether it is better to give up
our desires or give ourselves
over to them, and no one knows
what is best, or only a Bodhisattva does,
and that way of knowing is too much
work, so we say that no one knows."
-Andrew Purcell
A Green Dawn Mall Scenario for 3-5 players and a GM
The brainchild of Helmut Brand, a Mall Upgrader who ascended to a position of power, the rebranding of Green Dawn Mall into Starlight Harbour Mall was meant to bring the fabled shopping experience screaming into the 90s. Boasting a presence on the World Wide Web and a glamourous new aesthetic, Starlight Harbour Mall hungers more than ever to unite consumers with their desires.
With all the plaza renovations going on, you may not even recognize the old place--but scratch the fresh paint and you'll reveal a familiar shade of Green underneath the glitzy stars and despite the enormous ads promising the Mall as a place to RELAX and DISCOVER and LIVE, something smells rotten in the brand new Food Court.
You've always wanted something you couldn't find, so you and your friends followed the instructions of Tiff, the haunted looking college dropout who still hangs around the high school, when she said there was a place you could go that had anything you desired. Now you're yawning in your local mall's empty second-shot theater at 2 AM, watching a foreign black and white film called Aprili. Falling asleep here, Tiff promised, would open a gateway into the Mall. As you drift off, the movie's sound fades, and you hear clearly a snippet of a heavy metal song:
Raid on Starlight Harbour Mall is a scenario designed to be played with Green Dawn Mall.
Compared to a regular Green Dawn Mall session, Raid on Starlight Harbour Mall has a larger emphasis on "plaza play", where the plazas themselves have more distinguishing features. The stores all have names as well to aid the GM in improvisation. In addition, the player motivations are a bit different, where instead of rescuing a friend, each player must come up with something their teenage character desires that they seek out the Mall to obtain. Victory will be finding the desired thing or renouncing their desire and then escaping the Mall.
One of the main additions is the plaza generator, representing an effort by the Mall Upgraders to improve the Mall and make it more inviting. Gone are the generic plazas and dreary Soviet Union style store names, replaced with a profusion of brand differentiations and specialized boutiques; if the Jump Rope Emporium doesn't have what you're looking for, perhaps That Locker Room Funk will!
Because all characters start with the "hungry" lesser harm, Raid on Starlight Harbour Mall also introduces the Food Court, an early location with different generation rules than a regular plaza, along with trash cans, found in most plazas, which can be searched to find food and other potentially useful things. Any plaza with an escalator or elevator can lead to the Food Court; it's up to the GM when it makes sense to introduce.
Once players have created their characters and figured out their desires and items and introduced themselves to the table, the module begins with them waking up and seeing an ad for Starlight Harbour Mall on the theater screen. It depicts an inviting plaza full of bustling shoppers, everyone smiling with too many teeth. They rise from their seats and walk into the screen, arriving at the first plaza.
The plaza generator is used to generate plazas, providing the GM with choices and the ability to reroll various elements until they find a combination they like, at which point they can copy the details of the plaza and paste them into their notes. The food court generator works similarly but pulls from different tables.
The plaza generator can of course be used to add detail to a standard Green Dawn Mall game as well.
FOR EXAMPLE
If the players find a cassette tape with the friend's handwriting on the label in a trash can, that can be changed to be a tape with the name of a random PC's desire on it with the recording (once they find a tape player) being something related to it--perhaps shipping instructions that point to a place in the Lower Levels where it is held or a recording of a conversation between two unknown people that reference hiding the desired object in a specific place.
FOR EXAMPLE
If Restrooms comes up as a plaza feature under Utilities, there's nothing unusual about the restrooms unless the GM wants there to be. Conversely, if the Restrooms category is rolled, there's something special about the restrooms in that plaza, i.e. they are immaculately clean or one of the urinals is sentient.
These are sensations that don't fall under one of the ordinary senses and help convey the unique atmosphere of the Mall.
Gives the GM a choice of whether to have the activity about to begin or already be completed; in essence, they must decide what offers more interest: a food fight about to kick off or the mess and casualties created after one has ended.
Presents a situation that the PCs don't necessarily need to involve themselves with, but if they do nothing, there will be a consequence. For example, if they notice teenagers painting the shell of a huge sleeping turtle and decide to check out a store, when they go back out to the plaza, the teenagers may be gone and the turtle may have woken up distressed with their new shell design.
Refers to one of the stores in that plaza; the GM decides which store would be the most interesting to have that particular detail.
Actions being taken by the Mall Upgraders faction or their representatives with the goal of improving the Mall.
Represent objects that the Heart of the Mall distrusts and fears. In reality, the dominant order can commodify even totems of direct dissent against it, but for the game, these objects exude a power completely at odds with the fundamental forces that the Mall controls and their possession will paint a target on the owner's back. They are quite valuable to the right Collector, of course…
Means it comes from the GDM Odd Objects table on page 18 of the Green Dawn Mall book.
This is a placeholder for the thing that particular PC set as their goal. These don't necessarily need to be actual physical objects, though that is the most straightforward. A player in the playtest wanted their character to become a "console cowboy", so leaning in a cyberpunk direction I decided they would be able to find some skill chips that provided hacking skill. This presented their character with the choice of needing to find enough money to buy and install the chip reader in their head to use the chips they'd found or ultimately try to renounce their desire.
Means it comes from the GDM Wandering Oddities table on page 19 of the Green Dawn Mall book.
These NPCs from each different faction have achieved a level of self-understanding to see past what the Mall can offer them.
Each of these NPCs are one of the three best or worst at something in the Mall. GMs can use them to introduce or solve problems, while leaving open the identities of the other two. Triads can also show up as an NPC detail.
HUNGER
Removing the "hungry" harm will feel like a significant power boost for the PCs, because it means an extra die in many cases. Consider having the Food Court arrive towards the end of the first third of the campaign, after the PCs have gotten into some scrapes, spent some of their money, and perhaps found some clues towards their desires.
MONEY
Rather than track currencies specifically, each PC can start with 2d6 money for the first inventory slot and 1d6 for each additional inventory slot they want to fill up. Most things in the Mall probably cost between 1 and 6 money. Use your judgement or roll a d6 if you aren't sure how valuable a thing should be. Players should run into opportunities to make money as well as spend it; perhaps as a reward for helping an NPC or for selling a piece of real world kit to a Collector. The value of an object in these cases can also be adjudicated by a d6 roll--a Collector might be willing to part with 6 money for a bauble from the real world and conversely may find a sophisticated electronic device worth only 1.
DESIRE
When a character finds their desire, you should encourage them to come up with another desire. This plays into the theme and also provides a justification for them sticking around to help their friends find their desires, instead of just splitting off to look for an exit.
It may seem to be the easiest thing in the world, sitting around a table with their friends, for a player to say their character is renouncing their desire. But the Mall would not be so seductive if it was that easy!
A character can make one attempt to renounce their desire; in most cases, this will be a 2d6 and take the lower roll, unless certain Banned objects have been found or extraordinary narrative events have transpired or enlightened NPCs have been convinced to assist. Their friends can only help if they, too, have renounced their desire.
Failing this roll has no consequence; it only means the character is human after all, and won't leave the Mall until they've obtained their desire.
Renouncing desire makes the Mall's various manifestations powerless against the PC--representatives of the Mall can no longer harm them.
However, because the Mall contains all things that are desired and welcomes all beings that desire things, the character is not therefore immune to all danger.
Follow the standard Green Dawn Mall
character creation rules, with these exceptions:
Compared to a regular Green Dawn Mall session, there's a larger emphasis on "plaza play", where the plazas themselves have more distinguishing features, and the stores all have names as well to aid the GM in improvisation. In addition, the player motivations are a bit different, where instead of rescuing a friend, each player must come up with something their teenage character desires that they seek out the Mall to obtain. Victory will be finding the desired thing or renouncing their desire and then escaping the Mall.
Because all characters start with the "hungry" lesser harm, Raid on Starlight Harbour Mall also introduces the Food Court, an early location with different generation rules than a regular plaza, along with trash cans, which can be searched to find potentially useful things, including food. Any plaza with an escalator or elevator can lead to the Food Court; it's up to the GM when it makes sense.
One of the main additions is the plaza generator, representing an effort by the Mall Upgraders to improve the Mall and make it more inviting. Gone are the generic plazas and dreary Soviet Union style store names, replaced with a profusion of brand differentiations and specialized boutiques; if the Jump Rope Emporium doesn't have what you're looking for, perhaps That Locker Room Funk will!
Once players have created their characters and figured out their desires and items and introduced themselves to the table, the module begins with them waking up and seeing an ad for Starlight Harbour Mall on the theater screen. It depicts an inviting plaza full of bustling shoppers, everyone smiling with too many teeth. They rise from their seats and walk into the screen, arriving at the first plaza.
The plaza generator is used to generate plazas, providing the GM with choices and the ability to reroll various elements until they find something they like, at which point they can "print screen" to save the details of the plaza in an easy to read format. The food court generator works similarly but pulls from some different tables.
The plaza generator can of course be used to add detail to a standard Green Dawn Mall game as well. An example of how this can work is provided later.
A few notes on the results--anything referring to a friend can instead be considered to be about a random PC's desire. For example, if the players find a cassette tape with the friend's handwriting on the label in a trash can, that can be changed to be a tape with the name of a random PC's desire on it and the recording (once they find a tape player) being something related to it--perhaps shipping instructions that point to a place in the Lower Levels where it is held or a recording of a conversation between two unknown people that reference hiding the desired object in a specific place.
Some tables may have overlapping results; for example, if Restrooms comes up as a plaza feature under Utilities, there's nothing unusual about the restrooms unless the GM wants there to be. Conversely, if the Restrooms category is rolled, there's something special about the restrooms in that plaza, i.e. they are immaculately clean or one of the urinals is sentient.
Corridor Clues are details the characters would notice in their current plaza around specific corridors. For example, if there are 4 corridors in the plaza and 2 corridor clues, 2 of the corridors have an observable detail about them--maybe the smell of industrial bleach can be detected coming from one and the other has an arrow advertising a store not in the current plaza in that direction. The GM should accommodate these clues into the next plaza if the players go in that direction. If an arrow is advertising Rob's Big Damn Hats down the corridor, it makes sense for Rob's Big Damn Hats to be a store in the next plaza. Similarly, if the smell of industrial bleach is coming from the plaza, it makes sense for there to have been some kind of spill or heavy duty cleaning in progress when the PCs follow that corridor.
The Activity table has a few categories that might need some explanation.
Preparation/Aftermath gives the GM a choice of whether to have the activity about to begin or already be completed; in essence, they must decide what offers more interest: a food fight about to kick off or the mess and casualties created after one has ended.
Timer presents a situation that the PCs don't necessarily need to involve themselves with, but if they do nothing, there will be a consequence. For example, if they notice teenagers painting the shell of a huge sleeping turtle and decide to check out a store, when they go back out to the plaza, the teenagers may be gone and the turtle may have woken up distressed with their new shell design.
StoreInPlaza and StoreFront refer to one of the stores in that plaza; the GM decides which store would be the most interesting to have that particular detail.
ImproverActivities are simply actions being taken by the Mall Upgraders faction or their representatives with the goal of improving the Mall.
The Odd Object table has a few categories that might need some explanation as well.
Banned represent objects that the Heart of the Mall distrusts and fears. In reality, the dominant order can commodify even totems of direct dissent against it, but for the game, these objects exude a power completely at odds with the fundamental forces that the Mall controls and their possession will paint a target on the owner's back. They are quite valuable to the right Collector, of course…
Original means it comes from the GDM Odd Objects tables on page 18 or the Wandering Oddities table on page 19.
PCDesire is a placeholder for the thing that particular PC set as their goal. These don't necessarily need to be actual physical objects, though that is the most straightforward. A player in the playtest wanted their character to become a "console cowboy", so leaning in a cyberpunk direction I decided they would be able to find some skill chips that provided hacking skill. This presented their character with the choice of needing to find enough money to buy and install the chip reader in their head to use the chips they'd found or ultimately renounce their desire.
SingingEgg is just miscellaneous objects whose value should be self-evident from the description.
Removing the "hungry" harm will feel like a significant power boost for the PCs, because it means an extra die in many cases. Consider having the Food Court arrive towards the end of the first third of the campaign, after the PCs have gotten into some scrapes, spent some of their money, and perhaps found some clues towards their desires.
Rather than track money specifically, each PC can start with 2d6 "money" for each inventory slot they want to fill up. Most things in the Mall probably cost between 1 and 6 money. Use your judgement or roll a d6 if you aren't sure how valuable a thing should be. Players should run into opportunities to make money as well as spend it; perhaps as a reward for helping an NPC or for selling a piece of real world kit to a Collector. The value of 'money' in these cases can also be adjudicated by a d6 roll--a Collector might be willing to part with 6 money for a bauble from the real world and conversely may find a sophisticated electronic device worth 1.
When a character finds their desire, you should encourage them to come up with another desire. This plays into the theme and also provides a justification for them sticking around to help their friends find their desires, instead of just splitting off to look for an exit.
It may seem to be the easiest thing in the world, sitting around a table with their friends, for a player to say their character is renouncing their desire. But the Mall would not be so terrifying if it was that easy!
A character can make one attempt to reounce their desire; in most cases, this will be a 2d6 and take the lower roll, unless certain Banned objects have been found or extraordinary narrative events have transpired or enlightened NPCs have been convinced to assist. Their friends can only help if they, too, have renounced their desire.
Failing this roll has no consequence; it only means the character is human afterall, and won't leave the Mall until they've obtained their desire.
Renouncing desire makes the Mall's various manifestations powerless against the PC--representatives of the Mall can no longer harm them.
However, because the Mall contains all things that are desired and welcomes all beings that desire things, the character is not therefore immune to all danger.
An example follows of how to take the random results of a plaza generation and turn them into a usable encounter location.
Follow the standard Green Dawn Mall character creation rules, with the below exceptions:
