Vigil Creek Nature Preserve

Vigil Creek looks like nothing special at a glance. No scenic vistas, no spectacular waterfalls or pristine beaches, just a muddy, tree-lined river winding through an ordinary patch of land. This is where you live and work, studying and trying to protect species that are found nowhere else. To you, it's beautiful. You just have to know what to look for.

But it's special to others, too. There are stories about this place: ghostly figures, weird lights in the sky, blurry photos that might be of some mythical creature. Lots of places collect stories like that. It was harmless fun until something happened a month ago. Now would-be UFOlogists and paranormal investigators have descended on your home, trampling your carefully restored stream banks, scaring off the wildlife, and accusing you of covering up the truth. But is this just an annoyance, or could it be an opportunity? Could they even be right?

What is this?

Vigil Creek Nature Preserve is a custom setting and scenario for playing Unincorporated as employees at a nature preserve with a reputation for strange phenomena. It’s not a complete game; you’ll still need a copy of the original game in some form.

You can replace the original Questions, Plots, and Examples with the ones in this playset, or combine them for more variety. There are also some extra questions to answer as a group before you get started, and suggestions for things the characters might be trying to do before they're rudely interrupted by drama and hijinks.

This playbook is and will remain free. If you play it, please consider throwing a few bucks to your local environmental charity.

Actual Plays

Want to see the game in play? Check out these actual play recordings. And if you've made one, please post the link in the comments so I can add it to the list!

• Vigil Creek Nature Preserve: Florida's only bear-free park is thrown into chaos by a mysterious creature, a thirsty tabloid reporter, and an elderly volunteer with delusions of grandeur. video | podcast

Credits

© 2021 by Ethan Harvey. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Cover image adapted from work by wileydoc and Mohamed Hassan from Pixabay, and Firkin from Open Clipart.

The Google Sheets character keeper was inspired by many others from Open Hearth Gaming. It includes a dice roller tool created by Gerrit Reininghaus.

Playtesters

Kieron Gillen, Maria Morabe, David Morrison, Kim R, and Sabine V