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View Full Version : Looking for someone nice enough to help make a campaign for my RL group (D20M/F)



Jallorn
2010-02-21, 07:35 PM
So I could probably do most of this myself, but I thought that I'd get a better campaign if I could, at the least, bounce ideas off someone who has no chance of talking to my players, and at most assistance in the form of the creation of entire subplots.

The reason I want this to be a particularly good campaign is because my players are some friends I've been trying to get to try RPing for a while, and they finally agreed. The setting is thus far simple, it's 5 years into the future (one of them expressed a dislike of creating a new character, so I suggested they just play themselves in the future), around a week ago, an incredibly well organized semi-doomsday event happened. Basically, almost all primary authority was wiped out (mostly governments) through a combination of assassinations and nuclear missiles. The basic path I want this campaign to follow is that initially the characters are simply trying to survive. Hopefully they'll gather some followers to themselves, and if not I might create a group for them to join. Anyway, once they've established a fairly safe position for themselves, I want the campaign to change course and turn into a more intrigue based mission. At this point the characters will be enticed into searching for the people responsible for the doomsdayish scenario.

I have more information, including about the characters and their players, but the above is mostly to let people know if the story interests them. As is stated in the title, this is D20 Modern, with maybe a touch of D20 Future. Obviously no magic.

Jallorn
2010-02-22, 03:43 PM
Bump

Seriously want help here.

Godskook
2010-02-22, 03:57 PM
Could you edit it to be a little less wall-of-text?

What is it you need help with?

Satyr
2010-02-22, 04:14 PM
Just post what kind of ideas you have and what type of players you have, or at least what kind of characters they are going to play. In many cases, the forum here is a vast pool of thninking people with loads of good ideas and creativity.

So, for your scenario, you have one large question in the room: Who - or what - has the powerr to pull this kind of trick? And why?
Secondly, do you want to turn this into a sandboxish game were the players make the decisions and you just make a plot based on their ideas? The scenario sounds a lot like this, and it is often one of the most gratifcying ays to play the game, but it also means that you cannot preprare that much.

What you could probably do is create a community for the players to join, make it interesting and give the NPCs you have enough personality and motivations that the interrelation between them and the PCs can make a serious part of the game - you know, love interests, emnity, intrigue, good friends, potential for conflicts... (especialy the conflict part is important, because the commuity will only stand a chance to be destroyed from without if it is not destroyed from within; that's the basic message of any good zombie flick, for example).

Cisturn
2010-02-22, 04:15 PM
well of you want to make them survive first, you could start off by putting one of the PC's in some sort of imminent danger. But really the skies the limit here isn't it? I mean if you wanted too the first thing you could have them do is try to find some fort of transportation and once they find maybe let them customize it however they want...or can

Or you could have them just searching for food, lke there's a hollowed out Wal-Mart that they're trying to get into but there's a band of bikers who've made it there turf.

Also depending on the age of your PC's you could give one of them a wife or husband who has been taken and it's a subplot to find them.

Altair_the_Vexed
2010-02-22, 04:47 PM
Check out d20 Apocalypse, it has some good ideas.

To summarise the campaign themes it suggests:
Atomic sunrise - post nuke war, mutants and scavenging. Old ruins are the dungeons. Resurgent technological powers are your dragons.
Plague world - a viral scourge, maybe zombies.
Earth inherited - post rapture! Angelic and demonic forces battle over the world.

There's lots of other material in there that will help you with rules for scavenging supplies, repairing equipment, etc.

Aside from that, you might want to look at your local environment - what facilities are there nearby? Which buildings have emergency generators? Which buildings have underground sections? Is there a government fall out shelter?
I live in the UK, so these are the sort of things I'd check out to run a game like this:
Website for a nuclear bunker, now a museum - talks about the attempts to keep control in the event of a massive nuclear strike (http://www.hackgreen.co.uk/Hack_Green_History/hack_green_history.htm)

Article about the advice given by the UK government in the Cold War (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protect_and_Survive)

Collection of nuclear survival advice (http://www.atomica.co.uk/)

Threads - a film about the build up to and long term aftermath of a nuclear war. It's horrible, but well worth watching. (http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=-2023790698427111488&ei=9_6CS-GaLpKB-AaTl5DLDg&q=threads+film&hl=en#)

Jallorn
2010-02-22, 06:02 PM
Wow, lots of support now. Cool, I guess I won't go into PM like I'd planned.


Just post what kind of ideas you have and what type of players you have, or at least what kind of characters they are going to play. In many cases, the forum here is a vast pool of thninking people with loads of good ideas and creativity.

So, for your scenario, you have one large question in the room: Who - or what - has the powerr to pull this kind of trick? And why?
Secondly, do you want to turn this into a sandboxish game were the players make the decisions and you just make a plot based on their ideas? The scenario sounds a lot like this, and it is often one of the most gratifcying ays to play the game, but it also means that you cannot preprare that much.

What you could probably do is create a community for the players to join, make it interesting and give the NPCs you have enough personality and motivations that the interrelation between them and the PCs can make a serious part of the game - you know, love interests, emnity, intrigue, good friends, potential for conflicts... (especialy the conflict part is important, because the commuity will only stand a chance to be destroyed from without if it is not destroyed from within; that's the basic message of any good zombie flick, for example).

This is helpful, I'll respond to some of these points more directly after I finish double checking the thread. In particular, I think I will probably create some kind of community for the guys to be a part of.


well of you want to make them survive first, you could start off by putting one of the PC's in some sort of imminent danger. But really the skies the limit here isn't it? I mean if you wanted too the first thing you could have them do is try to find some fort of transportation and once they find maybe let them customize it however they want...or can

Or you could have them just searching for food, lke there's a hollowed out Wal-Mart that they're trying to get into but there's a band of bikers who've made it there turf.

Also depending on the age of your PC's you could give one of them a wife or husband who has been taken and it's a subplot to find them.

Not as helpful on the big picture, but small picture is just as if not more important. I'll probably include one or two of these ideas, although Wifes are not viable, at least not at the start.


Check out d20 Apocalypse, it has some good ideas.

To summarise the campaign themes it suggests:
Atomic sunrise - post nuke war, mutants and scavenging. Old ruins are the dungeons. Resurgent technological powers are your dragons.
Plague world - a viral scourge, maybe zombies.
Earth inherited - post rapture! Angelic and demonic forces battle over the world.

There's lots of other material in there that will help you with rules for scavenging supplies, repairing equipment, etc.

Aside from that, you might want to look at your local environment - what facilities are there nearby? Which buildings have emergency generators? Which buildings have underground sections? Is there a government fall out shelter?
I live in the UK, so these are the sort of things I'd check out to run a game like this:
Website for a nuclear bunker, now a museum - talks about the attempts to keep control in the event of a massive nuclear strike (http://www.hackgreen.co.uk/Hack_Green_History/hack_green_history.htm)

Article about the advice given by the UK government in the Cold War (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protect_and_Survive)

Collection of nuclear survival advice (http://www.atomica.co.uk/)

Threads - a film about the build up to and long term aftermath of a nuclear war. It's horrible, but well worth watching. (http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=-2023790698427111488&ei=9_6CS-GaLpKB-AaTl5DLDg&q=threads+film&hl=en#)

It's not really a complete nuclear devastation. Only certain targets were hit, and at least a few big cities were left completely untouched. There was no retaliation, because the nukes were set off nearly simultaneously from pretty much every nuclear capable country at their targets, and the targets were usually in the country the missile was being fired from.

As for my PCs, well, I've only confirmed the backstory for one, the other is still a work in progress, but I've got enough that I should be able to post it here.

The first didn't go to college after high school because his family fell into heavy financial trouble during the recession relapse. He bounced around from job to job until finally joining a gang in (city undetermined). he worked with them as an enforcer for a while, and occasionally as a body guard when weapons weren't needed (he's not too good with guns). He's got a level of strong, and a level of tough, focusing on melee naturally, and his occupation is criminal.

The second went to college, and, at some point in college, became a hitman, and later an assassin (sorta). He finished college and is in the same city as the first player when it all goes down. He's got one level of smart and one of fast, with a bit of a focus on hand guns.

The group that orchestrated the event is some kind of secret organization, but beyond that I haven't decided anything yet, except that they're probably looking to either take over the world more overtly, sow themselves more deeply into the new world, or guide the new world towards some goal, preferably one that the PCs will oppose. Cult type organization is still on the table.

Tyndmyr
2010-02-22, 06:07 PM
I reccomend coming up with an odd situation in which the game begins, and building explanations around it. It leads to much more interesting stories.

Examples:

The game starts with the players in combat. In freefall.

Everyone wakes up in bed. Together.

You all discover that history as you know it is a conspiricy, beginning from when the germans won WW2.

Jallorn
2010-02-22, 06:22 PM
I think I'd like to set the campaign in the city of Chicago, at least initially, but that would require a reason why portions, at least, of the city were left intact. Any ideas? I'm thinking that the weapons used on the city hit certain pockets but not all of the city was destroyed.

Also, my second player wants to take the windfall feat, is it worth it? I mean, obviously it'll help when buying equipment to start, but does money apply in a post-apocalyptic game?

Tyndmyr
2010-02-22, 06:32 PM
Money, in some way, shape or form, will always apply. Perhaps ammunition in the future is the currency. Perhaps everyone resorts to barter. So long as anyone is around to interact with, trade will likely happen at some level.

As for why things are inexplicably undamaged...leave that as an odd, unexplained hook. When going through your story...take note of all the things that don't quite fit. If you have too many, polish some away. The rest, make them noticable enough that the players will pick up on them. Then, figure out how to work them into the story at some future point. Don't worry about the details now...they'll sort themselves out as you go.

My players are under the impression that I plan out far more than I do.

Jallorn
2010-02-22, 06:35 PM
Well, I borrowed D20 Apocalypse from a friend, and it talks about trading units, and it seems that a kind of barter system is good, but then how does that apply to the wealth system? I guess I'm just asking if I should tell my player to pick another feat because wealth is only important at the start. Or maybe I could give him double the benefit since it only applies to start? Dunno.

Tyndmyr
2010-02-22, 06:38 PM
Well, I borrowed D20 Apocalypse from a friend, and it talks about trading units, and it seems that a kind of barter system is good, but then how does that apply to the wealth system? I guess I'm just asking if I should tell my player to pick another feat because wealth is only important at the start. Or maybe I could give him double the benefit since it only applies to start? Dunno.

I'd probably figure out some vaguely analogous way to make it provide him with a similar benefit. Perhaps he has cobbled together a working still, which provides him with tradable alcohol(replace with any other resource creator as appropriate).

Having a much larger benefit all at once is also an interesting option, but balance wise, it's more problematic.

Jallorn
2010-02-22, 08:27 PM
I have decided that the organization responsible for the semi-apocalypse is some kind of combination religious-secular world domination type organization.

Noedig
2010-02-22, 09:04 PM
It sounds as if you've got a Fallout situation on your hands, minus a few pieces, notably the vault, and highly advanced robot tech. With that said there are several choices you have.

Survival is always a great motivator for players. If they (PCs) dont like each other, it forces them to work together if they want to live. If they want to eat, they have to go out and find food. If they need medical treatment, it forces them to go out and find it. The idea is that in order to survive, they have to DO something, usually in timely fashion. Survival is really its own motivation. :smallsmile:

Revenge is another good one, but at this point in the campaign its doesnt make a whole lot of sense. Other people wanting revenge, however, does as the PCs usually get something nice in return. Or they get shot when the job is done. Either one.

I have found that personal gain, while extremely selfish, is a good motivator for parties not terribly concerned with being good. Why not let the players carve out some territory, based out of a mall complex of course. :smallsmile:

Jallorn
2010-02-23, 11:14 PM
I have decided, at least for a while, that I am actually going to ask again for one person to agree to help for an extended period of time. After sessions, which I hope to start in a week or two, I'll let that person know via PM what went down and together we can figure out what needs to be premade for the next session. I'll be doing most of the stats work, but I'd really like the story aid of another human, since I tend to have difficulty making up my mind about a story more often than I'd like. Also, I'm not that experienced a GM, so any help on what I should have prepared would be great. I know I need a few random NPCs in case the guys start a random fight.

faceroll
2010-02-23, 11:30 PM
I've wanted to run a Wightocalypse: Earth campaign for a long time, if only so I could have the players drive through the Field Museum in a jeep while being chased by an animated skeletal T-Rex.

Jallorn
2010-02-23, 11:48 PM
Well, this is a realistic campaign, no magic or psionics. So that wouldn't really work. It'd be really fun though.

Noedig
2010-02-24, 06:10 PM
I'd be willing to help, if you want.

Jallorn
2010-02-24, 06:19 PM
Great, I'll send you a PM.