The Squirrel Index

“Frankly, the Number One threat experienced to date by the U.S. electrical grid is squirrels.”

                                                                - John C. Inglis (former Deputy Director NSA – 2015) 

The Squirrel Index (TSqI) measures damage to the power grid caused by squirrels.

Yes.  This is a real thing. 

While surfing YouTube the other day, I came across this video detailing the Squirrel Index.

I was immediately fascinated and, being me, began thinking about how I could incorporate something like this into my D&D campaign. 

The most straightforward way I could come up with involved a modern, comic book-based setting where a villainous superhuman with the ability to command and control squirrels would hire him or herself out as a “domestic terrorist” to criminal organizations, using furry rodent minions to cripple electrical substations, thus powering down security systems and the like so these criminals could then rob, loot, or otherwise cause mayhem to their hearts’ content.  And, really, this is most likely the route I am going to go with. 

“But I don’t run any campaigns in a modern setting” you say. 

Well, that’s ok.  You don’t need to if you still want to use this idea. 

Just imagine, in the Forgotten Realms, back in the back of the Netherese Empire, high atop one of the floating cities – the Mythyallar that powers the quasi-magical items sits in an austere chamber, atop an ornate stand that keeps the (normally) massive spherical device in place.  Below, in Low Netheril, the Phaerimm have begun casting the Lifedrain spells that will eventually lead to the creation of the desert Anauroch.

A druid, who suspects (incorrectly) that the wizards of High Netheril, and specifically their use of the Mythallar, are to blame for the rapidly collapsing ecosystem on the ground below, infiltrates one of the flying cities.  While touching the Mythallar sphere itself is pretty much instantly fatal to everyone and everything, the same cannot be said for the stand it sits on.  This druid unleashes a pack of his arboreal followers to begin chewing through one leg of the stand to cause a collapse that leads to the destruction of said Mythallar.  If you don’t want squirrels, maybe it is a druid who commands termites instead.  In either event, the destruction of the Mythallar results in the loss of power throughout the city.  This power loss causes the quasi-magical items to fail and the city to fall from the sky. 

Player characters could take on the role of the druid, seeking to (literally) bring down part of the Empire, mages or warriors charged with protecting the city from destruction, or agents of the Phaerimm seeking to stir up trouble.