It's the 1980s, when the Internet was still mostly a university science project, dialup was still the only way to contact the world, long distance was still a thing, and people still couldn't be entirely sure that supernatural phenomena didn't exist. The fabric of reality is frayed around the edges, and this phenomena has begun to leak into isolated places. The party gets involved when they find themselves investigating an abandoned fairground after hours…

Mini-sheets and notes on our PCs.

HP: Hit Points. Lost when you are physically harmed. Being at zero hit points is bad. Being in the negatives is worse.

SP: Stamina Points. Lost when you are struck by nonlethal attacks, exert yourself, or work magic. Being at zero stamina points leads to exhaustion.

Fear: Fear acts as a penalty to all mental attributes (Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma, and Mentalism), and is accumulated when something manages to scare you. Those with high Mentalism or Wisdom scores will be most resistant to these attacks.

• D20 Modern Lite: The 'rule system' I am using for this adventure (which often boils down to a d20 roll here and there for 'how well did that work out?'

This contains useful information investigators might want to keep track of.

The current date is Monday, October 26th, 1989, and the time is late afternoon / early evening.

You have a scheduled meeting with Thomas Burgess, who is the current owner of the island property known as the Isle of Fun, at 6 pm on Thursday, October 29th. His office is at 125 East DeQuincy Boulevard. Mr. Burgess has been having difficulty unloading the property, and has been unable to sell it to anyone. He is expecting to meet with your group to discuss the particulars of the old place and to arrange for an inspection of the property.

MacArthur McCready has also recommended that you speak to a man named Willy Marks before you see Burgess. Willy Marks owns a tattoo parlor at 29 West Hawthorne Avenue.

It is also recommended that you do your own research into the background of the Isle of Fun - your mysterious benefactor has given you some information, but you would probably prefer to know the full story before heading out into possible danger.

At least one of you isn't from this town. At least one of you isn't even from this time. How did they get here?

MacArthur McCready is the mysterious employer who has gathered you here to investigate the matter of the island once called the Isle of Fun. He's a broad-shouldered man with fiery red hair, a lumberjack's body, and the suspendered pants and flannel shirt to match. He doesn't look like someone who would normally be hiring a group of strangers to investigate an island, does he?

MacArthur McCready is your employer, it seems, but oddly enough you aren't entirely sure what brought you to the diner that evening… especially those of you not from Cleveland. Or even from this time. You don't even remember meeting him before this evening.

His business card lists his job title as 'Resource Management' and his company as 'Keepers of the Faith'. That doesn't really help you understand why he's interested in buying a potentially haunted island, honestly.

He has mentioned that he has an assistant, Marie, who will be answering calls made to the number on the business card he has provided you.

While exploring Cleveland on your way to visit Billy Marks, you found a man who claims to be a stockbroker … from 1995. He seems as much out of place in this time as all of you feel lately. He probably isn't much of an investigator into the supernatural, but perhaps you can find some other purpose for him.

He claims he works for Continental Broker Dealers Corporation, but the phone number on his business card currently seems to belong to a Chinese place; the card doesn't look extremely new, though. He's listed as an 'account manager', and claims he woke up several days ago in Cleveland without his wallet, and isn't entirely sure he's not the victim of a bad prank.

Jake is considering trying to call himself, but he hasn't got any better advice yet besides 'Don't Fuck Melody Pierce', whoever that is.

A motel that offers lodging for $29 a night – which means that the party will need to dip into their personal funds or figure out another option if they decide to stay here for the three days before their meeting with Burgess.

Apparently the motel is brand new this year - hopefully that means it's comfortable.

Your current information about the Isle of Fun comes courtesy of the brief explanation McCready gave you about events:

The Isle of Fun is an island located in the middle of Lake Erie that used to receive ferry service from both Cleveland, Ohio, and Detroit, Michigan.

McCready seems to have been emphatically clear that locals are convinced the place is haunted, based on its disastrous background. It doesn't hurt that people have seen weird lights and heard weird sounds coming from the park every so often late at night – pranksters, possibly, but nobody believes it to be anything but ghosts.

The Isle of Fun was a fishing resort back in the 40s, but became an amusement park in the 50s before closing violently in 1955. Almost nobody from the Isle of Fun's original staff has a known location, with the exception of Willy Marks.

There was a known incident in 1960 where several teenagers went to the island on a dare. Only one returned, and was apparently committed to an asylum, and died several years later. The families of these teenagers have since moved away.

It would probably pay off to see if you can find any official reports of what transpired, or at least news clippings from the time period. McCready's story of mysterious disappearances, deaths, explosions and tragedies sounds too good to be true, but none of you have reason to doubt his story.

Your 'party finances' above and beyond your personal wealth currently total $100 in 1989 dollars.

Your 'party items' discovered during your adventures amount to:

• A business card from MacArthur McCready. The card reads 'MacArthur McCready - Resource Management - Keepers of the Faith', and includes a local phone number. McCready has mentioned that a girl named Marie will likely be answering that number and acting as the party's go-between during this investigation.

• The Erie Overlook. A diner of decent, if not terrific, food and coffee at cheap prices. As the name suggests, the diner has a view of Lake Erie from the northern face of the building.
• Burgess Office. The office of Thomas Burgess, current property holder and executor of the Burgess estate.
• Tattoo Parlor. A tattoo parlor owned by Willy Marks, a survivor of the 1955 incident.
• Isle of Fun. The carnival in the middle of Lake Erie that you have apparently been gathered together to investigate.