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Old 03-12-2016, 09:09 PM   #11
SionEwig
 
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Default Re: [Horror/Monster Hunters] American Small Town Mystery

I'd personally avoid a res being the primary location. Now, one being nearby is a possibility, especially out west, but also in several southern states.

The PNW is a very good location and like others have said, easy to get isolated in.

But I think that I would personally choose a section of southern Utah. Say Hanksville, Blanding, Bluff, Mexican Hat, Oljeto, or Monticello. Most especially if they have to travel around from one to the other to interview people. One of the most fascinating and creepy areas in the world I've ever been in was the area just nw of Lake Powell/Colorado river along 276 and the area south of there down to southish of Lake Powell/San Juan river. This is the area where Louis L'Amour set one of his best books. You've got small towns, reservations, National Parks and Monuments, isolated ranches, many small mining outfits, creepy haunted campgrounds, isolated undiscovered cliff dwellings, lost tourists, drug smuggling, amateur fossil hunters, etc.

Now I may have to come up with something set there.
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Old 03-12-2016, 09:17 PM   #12
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Default Re: [Horror/Monster Hunters] American Small Town Mystery

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Originally Posted by Ternas View Post
Well, I would definitely second the Pacific Northwest. There's a good amount of local color that could skew things along with the fact that there's a good amount of ghost towns that exist in the Washington/Oregon/Idaho area if you need a creepy location, can't get much better than that. ...
That just reminded me of my brother's and his friends road trip through what they called, "C'thulhu-ville". Broad day, no human in sight, disturbing landscape, and an overturned car smoldering from being on fire.
The didn't even think of stopping, just kept on driving.
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Old 03-12-2016, 09:21 PM   #13
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Default Re: [Horror/Monster Hunters] American Small Town Mystery

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That just reminded me of my brother's and his friends road trip through what they called, "C'thulhu-ville". Broad day, no human in sight, disturbing landscape, and an overturned car smoldering from being on fire.
The didn't even think of stopping, just kept on driving.
Well, if they stopped I'm sure that some of the locals would have been glad to have them for dinner. But that does sound like a lot of the towns around the state, especially if they're still unincorporated townships.
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Old 03-12-2016, 09:24 PM   #14
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Default Re: [Horror/Monster Hunters] American Small Town Mystery

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One of the most fascinating and creepy areas in the world I've ever been in was the area just nw of Lake Powell/Colorado river along 276 and the area south of there down to southish of Lake Powell/San Juan river.
I just returned from a week in Tuba City and its environs, which is "close by" Lake Powell and the Page area, in terms of civilization. This is the second year in a row I've been out there for a week. The Navajo Res is very remote, and it's sometimes a drive of an hour or two out into the desert to find one person's home in some hidden slot canyon. The roads there are all unimproved once you leave the highway, just tracks, mostly. And most of these people living out in the "deep res" have no electricity or even running water. They haul water in. Lots of alcoholism, meth, and desperate people of all types. It's a hide out for all kinds, really. And you can find plenty of traditional beliefs there, including the use of curses, and local swap meets at open air markets where you can freely buy magical ingredients for all kinds of fiendish activities. Add to that the language barrier, with English, Spanish, and of course Navajo used in one conversation. Outsiders will have a hard time gaining the trust of the people, but the police there are very professional -- most of them are trained to US federal standards (some are actually agents of the Bureau of Indian Affairs) and have the requisite Area Knowledge and Cultural Familiarity, too. Check out the Tony Hillerman novels if you want to get a good feel for the area.
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Old 03-12-2016, 09:29 PM   #15
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Default Re: [Horror/Monster Hunters] American Small Town Mystery

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Originally Posted by Icelander

Another would work somewhere cold, with an Indian reservation close by, and miles and miles of trees and freezing snow between them and support.
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a) New England, in particular the most rural and wooded parts of Maine; b) the South, somewhere iconically southern, a small town where everything revolves around high school football; c) North Dakota; d) Lousiana bayous; e) an Indian reservation somewhere interesting; f) New Mexico; g) San Fernando Valley.

Suggestions from the forumites?
North Dakota actually fits that description perfectly especially in the winter. So does much of Minnesota.
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Old 03-13-2016, 08:23 AM   #16
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Default Re: [Horror/Monster Hunters] American Small Town Mystery

The deep south may get you hostile locals, but it's unlikely to get you isolation. So I would also recommend somewhere west.

If you're really set on the south and want isolation then you're left with extreme cases like gulla country, or bayous.

OTOH pick almost any town in Idaho or Nevada. Poof! Anti-guvmint locals and isolation. Most of Utah is like that, too, as well as western Washington and Oregon and a good bit of Montana and Wyoming. Colorado not so much but it could be done.

Far north Maine isn't a bad idea, either. There you will get very insular locals, which may be what you're going for. You can live your whole life on Nantucket, for example, but if you weren't born there they'll still call you a coof.

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Old 03-13-2016, 09:15 AM   #17
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Default Re: [Horror/Monster Hunters] American Small Town Mystery

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I want somewhere that feels isolated, with interesting local colour. The FBI agents should feel like outsiders and have a hard time getting a handle on whatever weirdness is going on.

Parts of the United States that I'm considering are a) New England, in particular the most rural and wooded parts of Maine; b) the South, somewhere iconically southern, a small town where everything revolves around high school football; c) North Dakota; d) Lousiana bayous; e) an Indian reservation somewhere interesting; f) New Mexico; g) San Fernando Valley.

Suggestions from the forumites?
I think you've nailed the most iconic and distinctive local options that fit that description; just depends on the exact flavor you want. The most help I can offer is on Maine, if you go with that.
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Old 03-13-2016, 12:54 PM   #18
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Default Re: [Horror/Monster Hunters] American Small Town Mystery

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I'm considering a one-shot adventure where the PCs are FBI agents sent to a small town to interview some people, as relatively insignificant part of a massive serial killer case involving the Behavioral Science Unit.

I want somewhere that feels isolated, with interesting local colour. The FBI agents should feel like outsiders and have a hard time getting a handle on whatever weirdness is going on.

Parts of the United States that I'm considering are a) New England, in particular the most rural and wooded parts of Maine; b) the South, somewhere iconically southern, a small town where everything revolves around high school football; c) North Dakota; d) Lousiana bayous; e) an Indian reservation somewhere interesting; f) New Mexico; g) San Fernando Valley.

Suggestions from the forumites?
If you want to go with Appalachia, I can recommend Harlan, Kentucky.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harlan,_Kentucky

It has a history of labor unrest that resulted in violence.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harlan_County_War
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harlan_County,_USA

It's also pretty isolated, in the Appalachian Mountains, with the closest interstate highways at least an hour away.
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Old 03-13-2016, 01:03 PM   #19
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Default Re: [Horror/Monster Hunters] American Small Town Mystery

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(SNIP)

But I think that I would personally choose a section of southern Utah. Say Hanksville, Blanding, Bluff, Mexican Hat, Oljeto, or Monticello. Most especially if they have to travel around from one to the other to interview people. One of the most fascinating and creepy areas in the world I've ever been in was the area just nw of Lake Powell/Colorado river along 276 and the area south of there down to southish of Lake Powell/San Juan river. This is the area where Louis L'Amour set one of his best books. You've got small towns, reservations, National Parks and Monuments, isolated ranches, many small mining outfits, creepy haunted campgrounds, isolated undiscovered cliff dwellings, lost tourists, drug smuggling, amateur fossil hunters, etc.

Now I may have to come up with something set there.
Feel free to borrow anything you might find useful. :)

http://forums.sjgames.com/showthread.php?t=132172
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Old 03-13-2016, 02:08 PM   #20
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Default Re: [Horror/Monster Hunters] American Small Town Mystery

I respectfully submit Pinebox, Texas. I doubt conversion will require much effort.
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