Evil corporations, plot hooks and stopping Apocalypse 2.0

[Silus]

Okay so the title isn't 100% accurate but it's the best I could come up with on short notice.

So I've got this idea that I want to use for a homebrew setting I'm working on and, while I've a good idea how it would work in, say, a story or a book, I don't know how I can turn it from a literary idea into something for the PCs to interact with on a meaningful level.

It basically breaks down like this (I apologize for any disjointed storytelling on my part):
The world is recovering from an apocalypse that decimated civilization about 1000 years previous (Think Fallout but with magic mixed in to the nukes and such). One of the major players/organizations was a company called Aspis Robotics that started out building rather benign robots (service robots, medical robots, etc) and later in the war that brought about the apocalypse began producing constructs for war.

Anyway, big powerful company that, on the surface simply made very popular robots (It was like the Apple of the robotics market in terms of size and influence). Under the surface, the practices were...less than ethical. Experimentation with binding souls to robotic shells, biological tampering, biomechanics, invasive cybernetics, almost like a magitech version of Japan's Unit 731 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unit_731). Baaaaad stuff all around.

Deeper under the surface though, Aspis Robotics, through numerous shell and puppet companies, blackmail, magic, and possible fiendish pacts, were the ones that kicked off the apocalyptic war in the first place, all under the instruction of the company's CEO for his own purposes.

Anyway, that's the bare bones version (I'll elaborate more if asked). Evil corporation that Machiavelli'ed their way into a Fallout scenario for their own unknown goals and succeeded in bringing about the end of the world as people (at the time) knew it. Which is good for backstory, but I want to try and get the players involved in the intrigue and whatnot. The whole learning about what the company is, how far their control went, hints that they were responsible for starting the massive wars and what, after 1000 years, their next move is and possibly a way to stop them.

Soooo...I guess suggestions on general plot hooks, advice on how to pace the hints and clues, suggestions for an "end game", etc.

I suppose I'm mostly looking for people to bounce ideas off of...

Edit:


Feel that I should address this (and I'll edit the OP as well) is that in the setting there were...sorta two apocalypse, with the first one engineered (mostly, maybe) by a group of well intentioned deities at the 1000 year mark. Essentially the world (and solar system) was forced outside of reality (or over a dimension and a half) to starve out a good deal of the jerk'ish Greek-God style deities.

The second apocalypse began and lasted a bit longer into the 1000-year span (lasting ~100-200 years or so) and mostly consisted of the nations of the world killing each other out of blame for the majority of the gods vanishing/dying. More of a traditional apocalypse comprising of high end magic and megaspells, proper munitions and nuclear weapons.

The setting is what I term as "Post-Post Apocalyptic" in that the apocalypse has happened and gone, and the survivors have pulled them out of the Fallout/Book of Eli/Mad Max Post-Apocalypse and have begun the process of creating civilization and nations and such once more. So like...(then) High-Tech robots, spacecraft + magic => (less then) Fallout => (now) Eberron.

There is a link to the setting information in my signature with the current setting history in the "Fluff" document.

[JeenLeen]

Okay so the title isn't 100% accurate but it's the best I could come up with on short notice.

So I've got this idea that I want to use for a homebrew setting I'm working on and, while I've a good idea how it would work in, say, a story or a book, I don't know how I can turn it from a literary idea into something for the PCs to interact with on a meaningful level.

It basically breaks down like this (I apologize for any disjointed storytelling on my part):
The world is recovering from an apocalypse that decimated civilization about 1000 years previous (Think Fallout but with magic mixed in to the nukes and such). One of the major players/organizations was a company called Aspis Robotics that started out building rather benign robots (service robots, medical robots, etc) and later in the war that brought about the apocalypse began producing constructs for war.

Anyway, big powerful company that, on the surface simply made very popular robots (It was like the Apple of the robotics market in terms of size and influence). Under the surface, the practices were...less than ethical. Experimentation with binding souls to robotic shells, biological tampering, biomechanics, invasive cybernetics, almost like a magitech version of Japan's Unit 731 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unit_731). Baaaaad stuff all around.

Deeper under the surface though, Aspis Robotics, through numerous shell and puppet companies, blackmail, magic, and possible fiendish pacts, were the ones that kicked off the apocalyptic war in the first place, all under the instruction of the company's CEO for his own purposes.

Anyway, that's the bare bones version (I'll elaborate more if asked). Evil corporation that Machiavelli'ed their way into a Fallout scenario for their own unknown goals and succeeded in bringing about the end of the world as people (at the time) knew it. Which is good for backstory, but I want to try and get the players involved in the intrigue and whatnot. The whole learning about what the company is, how far their control went, hints that they were responsible for starting the massive wars and what, after 1000 years, their next move is and possibly a way to stop them.

Soooo...I guess suggestions on general plot hooks, advice on how to pace the hints and clues, suggestions for an "end game", etc.

I suppose I'm mostly looking for people to bounce ideas off of...

I think part of the problem is finding a reason why the PCs should care about the true history. Unless one of them is a historian or otherwise innately interested in stuff like this, I would go a route like this:

1. Have some local missions in which the PCs discover that everything is really caused by X or is somehow linked to X
2. Reveal that X is in fact some sort of secret organization, and that's it's up to no good
3. Reveal that the secret organization is in fact the one that caused the apocalypse 1000 years ago, and that that was a preliminary stage for their final goal
4. Reveal that the secret to defeating them lies in some historical thing. Maybe they find a recorder from scientists in the company that wanted to stop it, and he hints at a hidden tool buried somewhere or something like that.

Although I would let part 4 be optional. When I've DMed, I've come up with what I think are cool backstories for things, but sometimes they just don't come up, and that should be fine if the PCs (and the players) just don't care, even if it's disappointing. I would let there be access to historical notes, but if they don't pursue it, it can be something you talk about OOC after the game ends.

Also, if you set the apocalypse sooner to the time of game, that could help. 1000 years ago is probably near-legendary stuff, especially if the apocalypse destroyed most records and set back technology a bit (at least for the common folk.)
If the evil company is the name for a supernatural evil (equivalent of the devil, or something like that), that could also be a hook. Perhaps a religion has sprung up based on the dangers of the CompanyName and it's betrayal of those who trusted it to make healing arts (medicine, surgical tools, etc.). Well, no 'good' deity is in that, so perhaps just superstition some folk believe and some ignore. Don't tick off the fey could translate into don't go into the wood because robots live there.

[TheTeaMustFlow]

2 big problems that I see.

1) Finding a convincing reason why evilcorp would want to end the world. Reducing your market to an irradiated ruin doesn't exactly help your profit margins. AFAIK, they don't really have any more motive for nuclear annihilation than Kennedy or Khrushchev did. Why should a for-profit organisation destroy the economic system on which they and their profits are based?

2) Why would evilcorp's actions 1000 years ago still be especially relevant today? After 1000 years, dozens of generations, and probably complete social change, they will be a completely different organisation now from what they were then - compare the Holy Roman Empire in 1806 to what it was in 962, then add an apocalypse into the mix to shake things up. Their identity and actions as a pre-war corporation will be ancient history.

I would agree with setting the game closer to the apocalypse - 1000 years is too far away, particularly if you actually want a post-apocalyptic feel to the game - at a thousand years, the world is about as post-apocalyptic as Britain is post-Battle of Hastings.

[JeenLeen]

2 big problems that I see.

1) Finding a convincing reason why evilcorp would want to end the world. Reducing your market to an irradiated ruin doesn't exactly help your profit margins. AFAIK, they don't really have any more motive for nuclear annihilation than Kennedy or Khrushchev did. Why should a for-profit organisation destroy the economic system on which they and their profits are based?

2) Why would evilcorp's actions 1000 years ago still be especially relevant today? After 1000 years, dozens of generations, and probably complete social change, they will be a completely different organisation now from what they were then - compare the Holy Roman Empire in 1806 to what it was in 962, then add an apocalypse into the mix to shake things up. Their identity and actions as a pre-war corporation will be ancient history.

I would agree with setting the game closer to the apocalypse - 1000 years is too far away, particularly if you actually want a post-apocalyptic feel to the game - at a thousand years, the world is about as post-apocalyptic as Britain is post-Battle of Hastings.

A solution to the two issues that comes to my mind would be making Evilcorp either run by an evil cult or the 'vessel' through which an evil god/eldritch abomination is manipulating the world. Its current form is probably different than it was a 1000 years ago, but still uses magic robots, so if you delve into history, you can find who made magic robots.

You about the CEO's own purposes in your opening post, and obviously they are up to something during the game. What is the motivation and end goal? That might help us come up with ideas (ideally ones less cliche than what I have above).

[Silus]

I would agree with setting the game closer to the apocalypse - 1000 years is too far away, particularly if you actually want a post-apocalyptic feel to the game - at a thousand years, the world is about as post-apocalyptic as Britain is post-Battle of Hastings.

Feel that I should address this (and I'll edit the OP as well) is that in the setting there were...sorta two apocalypse, with the first one engineered (mostly, maybe) by a group of well intentioned deities at the 1000 year mark. Essentially the world (and solar system) was forced outside of reality (or over a dimension and a half) to starve out a good deal of the jerk'ish Greek-God style deities.

The second apocalypse began and lasted a bit longer into the 1000-year span (lasting ~100-200 years or so) and mostly consisted of the nations of the world killing each other out of blame for the majority of the gods vanishing/dying. More of a traditional apocalypse comprising of high end magic and megaspells, proper munitions and nuclear weapons.

The setting is what I term as "Post-Post Apocalyptic" in that the apocalypse has happened and gone, and the survivors have pulled them out of the Fallout/Book of Eli/Mad Max Post-Apocalypse and have begun the process of creating civilization and nations and such once more. So like...(then) High-Tech robots, spacecraft + magic => (less then) Fallout => (now) Eberron.