PDA

View Full Version : DM Help Terminator



Prower
2014-09-27, 10:17 AM
Hi guys, long time stalker on these boards but first time making an account and actually posting. So a quick 'Hi' before I get to the point of this thread.

Simply put, i'm looking for some input into a game i'm going to run. Admittedly I would normally post this kind of thing on rpg.net, however way too many of my players are over there and the game i'm about to run for them is supposed to be a surprise. I've told them that the game is going to be about survival and exploration, which indeed it is. The twist however is that they are going through Judgement Day, skynets victory as the bombs fall and then surviving through the machine holocaust.

I've got a rough idea of how I plan to play it all out. I've told them that they are going to be playing military characters/special forces. Just for the simple fact that I need them to be playing something that could reasonably survive. Especially as I do plan combat to be quite lethal. Getting shot will mean something, not just ticking off some hitpoints.

What I am a little stuck on is location. The opening of the game is them getting sent on an operation, which will be a total bluff as on the way is when J-Day happens. However that leaves open exactly where they were heading to. I've thought about placing it in Africa, for the nice mixture of major cities, small towns vast swathes of farm land and jungle. However I've also thought about Russia. Very different weather wise and again has a nice mixture of urban and rural areas. Any thoughts from anyone? any other interesting geological areas that I've not yet considered?

The other question I thought i'd come to get ideas on is for stuff to happen? Obviously the game is going to go through phases, with the initial one been the reaction to what's happened. They don't know what game i'm running, so they only get that what looks like world war 3 is happening. J-Day will also be a little different to what canonically happened. I plan to make Skynet that little more creative with what happens, not just using nuclear weapons but also a lot more chemical and biological weapons (better to just clear the humans away and leave the infrastructure in tact). I also want to do that so the players aren't just walking around a nuclear wasteland. After they realise what it is and come across their first machines, then I imagine the game will take a very different turn.

But what else is there to happen? I plan to obviously put NPC's in, ones that help, but also the inevitable 'bandits and raiders'. I realise very much that i'm running a zombie apocalypse game, just with the threat of 10,000 zombies crammed into one nightmarish metal endoskeleton. I just don't want it to devolve down into 'breaking into X building for Y supplies and having an encounter with a machine. While doing that a few times will be fun, as they fight, run, hide etc it can't be the entirety of the game. So what else can I do with them?

Beleriphon
2014-09-27, 10:49 AM
But what else is there to happen? I plan to obviously put NPC's in, ones that help, but also the inevitable 'bandits and raiders'. I realise very much that i'm running a zombie apocalypse game, just with the threat of 10,000 zombies crammed into one nightmarish metal endoskeleton. I just don't want it to devolve down into 'breaking into X building for Y supplies and having an encounter with a machine. While doing that a few times will be fun, as they fight, run, hide etc it can't be the entirety of the game. So what else can I do with them?

Well, Terminator and Terminator 2 to a large degree are just running the hell away from an inplacable machine that can't be stopped until it gets blown up, melted, or whatever. Beyond that, collecting supplies is a good place to go for fun. Scavenging is also a good place to look too. Just remember a substantial portion of the game is going to be avoiding fights, and figuring out how to do so. Just watch The Waling Dead for what I mean, sure they kill the walkers but for the most part the important parts are actually avoiding those fights. If you want to do some more combat oriented stuff go with resuce some humans, blow up a supply depot, stuff like that. If its just after Judgement Day remember most of the machines are going to HK drones, not the T-100/800 models like Arnie.

At its heart Terminator a game is survival horror since in most ways there's no practical way for the survivors to actually stop the machine.

Prower
2014-09-27, 11:11 AM
Thanks for the points.

And yeah, I do plan to do the progression of the machines. Starting with the with practically crab likes ones and building up from there. I would definitely want to make an event of the first humanoid shapes ones (series 70 I think). Then it would likely be a campaign ender for them to come across the first 800 series, an NPC I would no doubt have the party get familiar with before finding out the horrible truth.

I suppose the walking dead is a good reference point to go to. Focus a lot more on them finding other survivors and the interaction of them and the PC's in the face of a horrible adversary. Trying to find the 'safe place' to live. That gives me a new direction to think about. Thanks for that.

TandemChelipeds
2014-09-27, 12:02 PM
If you really want to obfuscate the nature of the game, use existing real-world technology. Give the players access to backup from UAVs, and after the first adventure introduce a plot where the UAVs start acting haywire. Treat it as an isolated threat initially, and let the players gradually figure out that it isn't just their own hardware that's acting up...

genmoose
2014-09-29, 09:11 PM
Here's my two cents on a variety of things brought up so far:

1. Chem and bio weapons can add some other variety to just nukes, including dealing with the resulting chaos from the mass civilian casualties. Also small portions of chemical agents may make their way into the water/food supply if they are hunting. Small, non-lethal doses can cause problems without being fatal. That being said if you want to be realistic, chem/bio cannot be deployed like nukes. Most weapons are either decommissioned right now or they require significant human prep work before they can be fired. IE combine two non-lethal components in a shell, then fire before X time expires or it will decompose. So unless you have very dexterous robots available right away, chemical/bio won't be realistically possible. But if you don't have military sticklers then go for it.

2. For geographic area you have a lot of options. With current world events, counter terrorism missions can happen almost anywhere. You could even set the game in the States or Western Europe as your team could get caught in it on the way home. Just for your own sake you'll want an area with reasonable access to weapons and tech. Current or former war zones like the Horn of Africa, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, can provide what they may need. More peaceful and controlled areas will have more tech but weapons may be severely restricted. For instance the chances of stumbling upon a few RPG's is much higher in the Congo than in Scotland.

If I were you, I'd have them crash or set down someplace out of the way but not too far from a populated area. Perhaps a mountain range or dense forest. You want them to see the effects of mass refugee movements. This will give them plenty of plot points to deal with. Do they try to help people? Do they try to return to base?

Another possibility is to have them crash in the absolute middle of freaking nowhere. The middle of a Siberian forest, or a tropical island. Worldwide communications are down and for the first session or two they just have to survive. Maybe as Tandem said they get attacked by one of their UAV's that 'went crazy' for some reason. They question they should be asking is "what the hell happened?" They know something is wrong but not exactly what. After a while (weeks, months, etc) they reach some sort of civilization (walk out, find a truck, build a raft, etc) and they are thrust into setting In Medias Res.

This delayed start without the party present allows a lot of things to happen out of their view and then gives them mysteries to solve. Maybe the find the site of a Skynet massacre (bodies everywhere and some blown up tech) but don't know what caused it. They may find entire areas with no people and no signs of struggle (radiation could have driven them off, or maybe rounded up by Skynet). They then start running into more and more 'crazy drones' eventually having to find ways of bringing them down. The climax of the campaign could be them finding a Skynet extermination camp. They then have to figure out what they want to do. Do they go into hiding and found the resistance? Do they storm the wire of the camp and rescue who they can? Do they destroy the local Skynet 'node' and temporarily free the region?

3. It's a little bit out there but Terminator is all about time travel. In most cases it was always back to before JDay, but that doesn't always have to be the case. You could have someone sent from the future back to the party to influence them, or maybe provide a little direction to keep them in your prepared plot. That person could be a future resistance fighter, or it could be a Terminator. Imagine the look on their face when they see their new buddy TechSGT Snuffy take a blast to the face only to get back up with a glowing red eye. This also allows you to mix the atmosphere of the early 'Future War' with some of the fun Terminator action we all know and love.

You could take this in all kinds of directions. Here's a few I thought up tonight:

a. One PC becomes the 'John Connor' of whatever part of the world you put them in; leading the future resistance against Skynet. Or maybe it's even the whole team. The PC's from the future send someone back (human or reprogrammed terminator) to help the PC's 'fulfill their destiny'. Skynet can also send back it's own terminators to try to assassinate the group. This would give some variety where all the bad guys aren't just HK's or lumbering early mechs.

b. The person from the future pretends they are from the PC's (maybe gives them the same line as case A above) but it's really a Terminator from a future opposing Skynet faction. I read one Terminator story that had the idea the T1000's were so advanced that Skynet really couldn't control them. Maybe one of them escaped and has it's own motivations. Maybe it wants to rule instead of Skynet, or maybe it wants to live peacefully with humans. It could even want to covertly rule humanity instead of wiping them out. (The Sarah Connor Chronicles hinted at this)

The PC's would be in the dark for a while but then would have to decide if they want to play along, actively help, or try to thwart the interloper's plan.

c. If you get a late comer to the game (and this always seems to happen) the new PC could be that warrior from the future.


4. One final thought about the team make up. If they are some sort of international counter terrorism team then you have a lot of flexibility about their national origin, military specialty, equipment, motivation, etc. So if someone wants to be SAS, someone else can be a SEAL, and then a pair of Rangers. It also introduces flexibility for command and leadership. A coherent unit would already have clear lines of authority and strong teamwork. Unless you want to have one PC in command of the others, this might get a little stifling. If you have a mixed bag group that is put together for this one operation then you can have follow on power struggles and the characters can get to know each other in game rather than assuming they're all best buds before JDay hits.

Also if you need any info on military hardware or capabilities let me know. Some people like to memorize baseball stats; I enjoy reading about military hardware and history. Depending on your group they may appreciate a little realism.

Good luck. It sounds like this could be a lot of fun.