rpg

The Glazed Tower

Alex Ward

Sep 1, 2023 • 2 min read

Being security guards in a mostly empty skyscraper isn't the easiest job, you know? It takes a lot of skill, dedication, and most importantly of all: the ability to fight off boredom while still managing to halfway pay attention to the security cameras. Sure, there are the sweeps every few hours - which is why there are several of you on the night shift. Lots of floors to cover, ya know?

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It doesn't really help that the top few floors of the tower aren't yet finished. Running security on those is a bit unnerving. All the windows are on, sure, but still - seeing all the construction equipment left scattered around is kinda freaky, to say the least. Pay's good enough for it, though. But hey, now that you mention it - there have been some weird things that go on up there. Sometimes items you thought were in one place have been moved around. Every so often you get a little turned around, takes you a while to get back to the elevator? Maybe the place is haunted.

Ha, that'd be a good one, right? This place is brand new - how could there be ghosts? I mean, barely anyone even died during construction. Nah, I'm just joking with you - it was super boring, everything went off without a hitch. It's a stressful and boring job pal, you're bound to start seeing things.

Aw, dammit. The system went into lockdown again. That's the second time this week. Well, we're locked in here until we clear it - and that means going floor by floor and inserting your security key into the terminal. It's gettin' kinda old, though, the terminals tend to be pretty far from the elevator banks - guess it's corporate's way of making sure we're doin' our jobs. I swear, it's gotta be that Bill guy yankin' our chains and setting off the lockdown sensors. This has to be a fire hazard, requiring a card swipe on every floor, sheesh.

Anyway, better get moving - why don't y'all start about halfway up and work your way up the building, the rest of us'll start on the ground floor and go up to where you started. With any luck we'll be finished before shift change.

Play Notes: This is the setup for a more traditional ghost story or slasher film, wherein there's some reason the protagonists can't leave, and then "things" start to happen. There's plenty of setup here for you to go fairly traditional "the building is normal but the people in it are out to kill you" all the way up to "the building is trying to eat you and the environments get really weird", it's all about which direction the players and GM want to steer the narrative.

Areas of Note: 1st floor - Main Security Office, 14th Floor - Dunderman and Dunderman and Sons and Associates, 20th floor - Maintenance and Equipment, 26th floor - Printworld Global HQ, 34th floor - Under Construction

Goal: Visit each floor, insert your security card into the security override, and end the lockdown so you can go home on time.