THE PCs DID WHAT? A HOUSERULE FOR (BAD) THINGS HAPPENING TO NPC GROUPS

I was faced with the unexpected situation last game where the characters gave one of the  yellow cylinders they found in the ASE Gatehouse to the Cult of Scientists in Denethix for them to determine the contents.

A Scientist does a Diagnostogram in the Laboramentarium.  A picture which does a fine job, but is also someone else's property*.

I know what is in the cylinders, and there is the potential for bad things to happen when they extract some of the contents for an exam.  Highlight blank section below to find out what it is.  My players, just don't.

These cylinders contain samples of The Black.  This has been referred to in the game by a travelling veterinarian the characters met who told them of animals which were becoming blighted by the black, and what they have here is something similar to the black oil from the X-Files, though they don't know it.  After the events which occurred in the Scientists'  main temple, 
the PCs have decided it is something akin to the stuff in Prometheus (which is close).

End highlight.

So the potential exists for some sort of outbreak and I came up with this on the spot.  

WHEN BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO NPC ORGANISATIONS - HOUSERULE

Have the organisation make four saving throws of the appropriate type, and see what happens. For this I chose save verses polymorph as a first level Scientist.  Results can be interpreted as follows:

No failed saves:       Event completely contained at no cost to organisation.
One failed save:       Event contained at some cost to organisation.
Two failed saves:     Event contained at significant cost to organisation
Three failed saves:  Event contained, just, organisation almost completely destroyed.
Four failed saves:    Organisation completely destroyed, event not contained.


Stand by to read all about this in session twenty when I get that far. I must say, I was getting very nervous for the fate of Denethix with those saving throws having the potential to mean there would be no one left to input the sacred code into the sacred hydrogen bomb, I think we know what happens.



*if you own this and want me to, I will take it down. (But that isn't as much fun a leaving it up.)