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View Full Version : Weird Campaign Ideas - Come Share!



JBPuffin
2015-12-12, 11:19 PM
So I have a habit of having sudden flashes of ideas, and not instinctively finding a place for it, I decided, why not, let's put a thread in General RP talk and see if we get some interest. If y'all have ideas you don't think you'll be able to get off the ground, you're welcome to share. We go now to the idea that sent me on this path.

Two words: psychic. zombies.

Well, okay, it's more elaborate than that. Essentially, a "zombie" outbreak starts when a guy suddenly falls ill with some seemingly benign ailment. Out of nowhere, he goes crazy (albeit unable to leave his bed due to weakness) and while flailing around he touches someone in the room. That person is now carrying, not the illness, but a bizarre psionic pseudo-parasitic being manifested straight from his/her ethos and thought patterns. He/she, realizing what's happened after a couple of days, starts selectively zombifying people - close friends, lovers, children, whomever - by simply touching them. This leads to a what you could call a superhero 'verse - people getting superpowers - albeit with a serious drawbacks, as the power always destabilizes them somehow.

The powers themselves aren't standard powers - no flight, super strength, or lasers. They are certainly superhuman, however; some, who we'll call Carriers, after first being unlocked gain the powers those they infect receive in addition to the one they start with. Carriers don't necessarily always transmit the infection - the can limit it with practice - but for a while they've got to be super careful who they infect as non-Carriers don't have such control. There'd be people who can optimize their actions to achieve the outcome they desire with the least amount of effort, those who can boost the capabilities of others simply with their presence, individuals who can brainwash people into (guess what?) mindless servants, etc. There'd be a lot of infected folk whose only power instills a specific emotion as well as passes the infection - guilt, lust, anger, joy, any emotion under the sun - and Carriers might find themselves loaded with combinations which make absolutely no intelligible sense. The final result being, Carriers cause a lot of mayhem wherever they go.

The best part? The original infected is locked down, so it all starts with that first person, who, guess what?, is a Carrier. Oh joy.

PCs would all be infected, most likely - possibly all Carriers, if we want to get crazy. The plot? Depends. If a mind controller ends up making an ACTUAL zombie army, the PCs might want to take it out or get a piece of that ability. If they're attached to a specific place, they'll act as the local supers squad, able to replace their numbers when needed. They could be villains, mercenaries, champions of a cause - whatever they are, they're among the most powerful of the infected.

Of course, they could start asking where the powers come from; that is, if they aren't preoccupied trying to deal with the mess of a life they're now leading. See, these superpowers? They make your brain go ape****. No joke, every person infected acquires some form of mental disorder if they don't have one. These range from mild Asperger's to extreme schizophrenia, dyslexia to their IQ dropping into the teens, eternal rage to a constant need for encouragement or they'll die. And of course there's the problem that everyone in the party's gonna have these problems, so...yeah. This could be a blast.

FocusWolf413
2015-12-14, 03:08 PM
I have a cool idea.
The system would need to be VERY generic. Gurps or just general improvisation could work.
All musician party. Think something like the Blues Brothers.
They gain magical instruments. All music played on these instruments has a magical effect, but any given song can only ever be used once.
For example, back in black is true res, danger zone gives everyone f16s, Godzilla summons Godzilla, and time warp is a time travel or time stop effect.
The DM has the final call on any and all effects.