Idea Plot With Me?? || Paranormal/CryptidCore

[Sleipnir]

So I am an avid writer and my two greatest loves are cowboys and weird, paranormal things.

I've got one of those in the bag! However... My selection of weird, cryptid-core paranormal stuff hasn't been quite up to par. I know what I want as far as vibe goes, and I've seen a couple interest checks that almost hit, but weren't quite it.

I have the vibe, but unfortunately, I'm way, way foggy beyond that and would love to work on that with others. What I'm looking for is something focused on urban legend style paranormal stuff -- not vampires and werewolves or magic, but things like Mothman, the flatwoods monster, or even ghosts or aliens. The setting I'm thinking of is rural West Virginia/Appalachia.
At least one character involved will end up being an FBI agent, but beyond that, I think it would be interesting to play something where the cast can be a little more varied than just agents, seeing as I don't want to be so constrained that I can't play, say... my forest ranger I was hoping to use, or a reporter, or like... a cryptid hunter or something. I want people to have the option to play other things, too.

As far as ideas for plots go, I'm pretty lost. Maybe a group trying to get to the bottom of a mystery, or a strange sighting, or a government cover-up, or something similar? I'm pretty foggy. I have the setting and I have the vibes, but as far as actualy plots go, I'm not sure, and would like to workshop something with others!

 

[stardust.]

What about a mystery surrounding some sort of local festival?

Assuming that you're working with Appalachia, I can only imagine how locals might try to make a little bank off of the Mothman mythos. That could open a number of roles: a skeptical local, maybe some sort of influencer tourist, a nutjob who fully believes, etc. The idea of a festival could just be the backdrop though. The plot itself is that folks have been mysteriously disappearing in the area recently and someone has been called in to investigate. Some have theories that it could be Mothman, others might think government, some could be aliens. What it actually is could be decided between you and your player(s). In the meantime, you have a ragtag ensemble cast with a variety of backgrounds trying to get to the bottom of it.

 

[ManicMuse]

I thought I would take a crack at this since I enjoy plot and world-building.

In the quaint town of Hollow Creek, strange occurrences have become a part of daily life. Locals whisper about sightings of elusive creatures, strange lights in the sky, and mysterious happenings in the dense Appalachian wilderness. The town holds a dark secret: a portal that used to be an active channel for alien travel. Although now dormant, the portal continues to draw extraterrestrial attention to the area.

The FBI dispatches a Special Agent to investigate the escalating paranormal activity in Hollow Creek. As the Agent digs into the mystery, a new plot hook emerges when a local hiker goes missing in the dense forest surrounding the town. The disappearance triggers a heightened interest from the FBI, suspecting a potential link between the missing person case and the strange happenings in Hollow Creek.

The Agent, initially skeptical, delves into the hiker's background and discovers a pattern of unusual sightings and encounters leading up to their disappearance. Locals talk of eerie lights in the woods, cryptic symbols near the portal site, and whispers of a connection between the missing hiker and The Keepers, the group with ties to Native American ancestors who guard the ancient secrets.

As the Agent investigates, they cross paths with The Keepers, who reluctantly share that the missing hiker stumbled upon the dormant portal during their hike. The Keepers fear that the government experiments to reactivate the channel may have inadvertently caused the hiker to be caught in a crossfire between supernatural forces.

Now, with the urgency of finding the missing hiker and preventing further disruptions to the portal, the Agent, The Keepers, and a group of locals embark on a perilous journey into the heart of the Appalachian wilderness. They must navigate the shadows of the past and the looming extraterrestrial threat, all while unraveling the mystery that ties the missing hiker to the portal and the ancient pact that guards it.

This story weaves together the threads of a missing person investigation, government intrigue, and the enigmatic allure of the paranormal. As the characters race against time, they discover that the missing hiker holds a key to unlocking the dormant portal, and their fate may determine the balance between the natural and supernatural forces that converge in the mysterious town of Hollow Creek.