StarCraft RPG fun

[blackout]

Ok, my gaming group has a new member, my girlfriend, and is gearing up for a game to make her feel welcome: A Starcraft RPG. Bad news, the set rules stink for Starcraft. Good news, we're going for a d20 future modification. My DM has personally requested me to go here and request that the good folks at GitP give him some advice. As of right now, I'll put him on, so that he can avoid me knowing the innards of his campaign(not that I can't just come back here and look).

OK, my group is going for an all-terran party. I know enough about the history of the Starcraft universe, and all about the games, having played the single-player campaign multiple times for both the original game, and Brood War. One of my concerns is how to make weapons 'fit.' In the game, you can upgrade your units' weapons, making them more effective than what you start off with. I was thinking of making the upgraded versions simply more effective than the standard ones in some way, and more expensive. Do you think this will work? Your thoughts?

My second concern is psionic powers. Based on previous experience with my party, everyone's gonna wanna be something different from everyone else, but chances are, at least one person's gonna wanna be a Ghost or some such. And their gonna want to drop nukes, and ****, but that just doesn't fly. Not in my games, no sir. Am I too harsh with this? Your thoughts?

My third concern is vehicles. If my party gets a Vulture loaded with spider-mines, or a siege tank, chances are, their gonna want to keep it. How available should vehicles be, and should there be some house-ruled skill that they have to put ranks into to use a certain vehicle? Your thoughts?

[Fenix_of_Doom]

well about the vehicles, you could just make them expensive to maintain, special ammo such as spidermines and EMP can also be made expensive, is your campain going to be terran focust or will you also be viseting the other races? and getting their technology? (pure interest)

Ghost don't need to be powerfull phsychers, they just need invisibility, and nukes once again cost a lot of space, time and money.

[Ryuuk]

I've never played anything besides dnd, but I'm as hyped abouy Starcraft II as the next guy. Regarding nukes at least, I doubt that Ghosts would get to decide when or where they launch them. You were the commander in Starcraft, but if you're playing a Ghost then the orders probably get handed down to you. It could be a fun mission sorta thing though, sneaking around a Zerg colony, reaching the perfect spot to drop he nuke and getting out before you blow up with the rest of the place.

[Behold_the_Void]

D20 Modern and especially D20 Future is meant for them to have cool vehicles. Give it to them and let them keep 'em. They want a Goliath? Sure! Just make them pay for it.

I say use the Telepath for Ghosts, it's implied they have a great deal of psionic ability beyond what is evidenced in the game. Marines and Firebats are easily soldiers, Medics are Field Medics, etc. etc..

[blackout]

well about the vehicles, you could just make them expensive to maintain, special ammo such as spidermines and EMP can also be made expensive, is your campain going to be terran focust or will you also be viseting the other races? and getting their technology? (pure interest)

Ghost don't need to be powerfull phsychers, they just need invisibility, and nukes once again cost a lot of space, time and money.

I've never played anything besides dnd, but I'm as hyped abouy Starcraft II as the next guy. Regarding nukes at least, I doubt that Ghosts would get to decide when or where they launch them. You were the commander in Starcraft, but if you're playing a Ghost then the orders probably get handed down to you. It could be a fun mission sorta thing though, sneaking around a Zerg colony, reaching the perfect spot to drop he nuke and getting out before you blow up with the rest of the place.

D20 Modern and especially D20 Future is meant for them to have cool vehicles. Give it to them and let them keep 'em. They want a Goliath? Sure! Just make them pay for it.

I say use the Telepath for Ghosts, it's implied they have a great deal of psionic ability beyond what is evidenced in the game. Marines and Firebats are easily soldiers, Medics are Field Medics, etc. etc..

Ok, so, vehicles are available, but they'll need to come up with the money to buy it out of the armory. Thanks for that.

Ghosts are also available, but nukes won't be available until the campaign dictates it. Invisibility, other minor psionic powers, and so on. That's it.

The campaign won't be specifically centered around the Terrans. Interaction with other races will happen. Heck, fighting them will be a major part of my campaign.

Also, with this information in mind, I have created a suitable campaign, set before, during, and after the events on the Terran fringe colony of Mar Sara.

The group just got back to me with their characters, and I count two machine specialists, one specialized in goliaths, and the other in vultures. Following that, I have a guy with flamethrowers, a medic, a pair of all-purpose aircraft pilots, a Ghost, and a three guys armed with standard marine gear.

The Ghost also happens to be homicidal, because of a previous experience with the Zerg, which he has told no one about. All they know is that he's psycho.

[Fenix_of_Doom]

I tried to find the old starcraft: ghost webpage, it had a lot of info on terrans and ghosts in particular, but is is offline.
So instead I read the part of my starcraft manuel on ghosts and it basicly says they harness their psi energy to maximize their physical strenght/fitness.
That would make them monks !!

anyway if you haven't done so allready I advise you to read the manuel, it contains lots of info about the story and different terran and protoss factions.

[Dawgas]

Okay, I'm going to has to put my newly registered input on this...

One of my concerns is how to make weapons 'fit.'

Now this, I wouldn't know how to deal with... but...

My second concern is psionic powers

Shouldn't come into play - cloaking is due to a device and lockdown rounds are special ammunition, and, handily, Ghosts get some sort of Psychic Dampener installed into their brains so they don't shoot laser beams out of their eyes or lightning out of their hands.

My third concern is vehicles

Give them vehicles if essential, or at least a free ride (oh hay, how we gonna go across the river? swim? ahahahahaha / hay, we need to build a base here, here's sum SCVs), but otherwise, they must pay for/repair a destroyed one, if possible.

Oh, and for the record, Terrans never ally with Zerg, and Zerglings are the new Kobold. Except harder.

Also, make sure there are some friendly NPCs around, unless your PCs get to be special heroes.

If you can't think of anything for the campaign, have them build up a base and destroy an enemy, that should take a few sessions.

EDIT: Second the above post, read the manual!11

[Yakk]

As an idea, what about giving players "gear levels"?

These are seperate from character levels and as important. They represent a mixture of "what your rank says you can get" and your own ability to tweak, maintain and use the standard kit.

Because Terrans are nothing without their gear. :)

Ie:

          Attack  Defense  AP    Damage     Specials
Marine    +1/1    +3/4     +5    +1d6/2     Stim Packs, Jet boosts, Burst fire
Firebat   +3/4    +3/4     +6    +1d8/2     Stim Packs, Hold the line, Spray
Ghost     +1/2    +1/1     +3    +1d6/3     Psychic Powers, Sniper
Goliath   +3/4    +1/2     +10   +1d8/2     Eject!, Missile Range, Burst fire
Vulture   +1/2    +1/1     +5    +1d6/2     Mines, Speed Demon, Jet boosts
Wraith    +1/2    +1/2     +8    +1d8/2     Cloak, Speed Demon

Players get one Gear layout at level X, one at level X-1, one at level X-3, one at level X-6, etc. This means that character's won't be screwed out of an encounter.

The lower bonus' of the veihcles represents the difficulty of piloting those monsters.

...

Another interesting tweak would be to merge Str and Con, and add a "Tech" stat, reflecting that fact that technical aptitude is important, while Str/Con can be replaced with thicker metal and stronger machines...

[Truffles]

Alls i know is it would be really cool to see a marine with a protoss sword, and for someone else to be toting around a dragoon without legs to use its blaster.

[blackout]

Ah. Alright, then. So, psionic powers are a no-go. He stills gets a cloaker and lockdown rounds, at least. Also, thanks for the stat-listings.

Anyways, there will not be any base-construction. Sorry folks. No one's an SCV. They will be involved in the protection of SCVs, though.

The party has decided that they will be a gang of mercs on a pair of dropships, piloted by the aircraft pilots. One dropship carries the marines, ghost, medic, and the firebat. The other carries the vulture, goliath, and their pilots.

Because of this, I've altered the campaign a bit.

To avoid my players sneaking a look:

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The Ghost's backstory indicates that he's gone AWOL from the Confederate military. SO, what I'm gonna do is have these guys wandering around space looking for a colony, and they get attacked by a squadron of Confederate Wraiths and a battlecruiser, looking for the Ghost. The Confederates get their ghost and his buddies, arrest them all and take their gear. Then the Zerg show up and start killing everybody after cutting the power. The result is that the party gets their stuff back and now have to fight their way off of a Zerg-infested Confederate prison ship, make their way to the docking bay and get their dropships and then find a way to avoid the Confederates and the Zerg while still making a living.

So, whatcha think? Mind you, this storyline is made in mind with my group not doing anything hideously stupid.

[Closet_Skeleton]

The ghost's psychic dampner won't let him be too powerful but he should have the Wild Talent feat. There's a Psychic Agent advanced class in the Urban Arcana book that might fit but it's badly designed along with that entire book.

Telepath would work well for High Templar and Battlemind for the Zealots. Protoss weapons won't work for non-protoss.

For upgraded weapons just use the Masterwork rules.

They'll only be able to use tanks if they take the Drive skill and the Vehicle proficiency feat. You also need an Exotic Firearms Proficiency feat to use tank cannons.

[SurlySeraph]

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I like the storyline so far. One thing to consider about the Confederate ship: around mission 3 or so, Raynor and his men are arrested, but Mengsk breaks them from the prison ship. Perhaps if you want extra chaos, you could have the ship Raynor's on be docked near the ship your players are on and give them the option of linking up with him. Also, since the Protoss burned Mar Sara after the Sons of Korhal evacuated all the humans on the planet, you could have either a) your group take place in that "wait for 30 minutes for the dropships and hope the Zerg don't overrun you first" mission or b) find their own ride off-world before the Zerg eat them or the Protoss blast them; sneaking onto a Protoss carrier comes to mind.

[blackout]

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Interesting possibility regarding Raynor, but I'm trying to avoid contact with the game's main characters as much as possible. Doesn't mean contact with them won't happen, but I'm trying to cause minimal contact. Anyways, also, about the Mar Sara colony, that'll be the colony the prison ship will be headed to, to drop off the party when their taken prisoner, so they'll probably be present when the Zerg are hitting the last Terran base there. They won't get on the transports, but, they'll probably run for their own dropships and then make a run for it without the help of the Sons of Korhal. They might take part in ONE major battle from Starcraft, but for the most part, the campaign will revolve around them running from the Confederates, and the Zerg, and occasionally having a scuffle with the Protoss, while making money by working for various Terran factions, such as the Kel-Morian Combine, to keep themselves alive, their vehicles in working order, and their pair of dropships operational. If they want, they might be able to hijack a battlecruiser or some such for grins when they get to higher levels.

[Dawgas]

No one's an SCV.

noooooo, but then how are they going to worker rush everyone :(

hmm...

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RISE FROM YOUR GRAVE

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about that group of Wraiths and that lone Battlecruiser, give them a science vessel, unless the ghost is going to be unable to cloak then, because otherwise you would be doing it wrong and the Ghost would escape capture easily, which would be uncool.

[the_tick_rules]

i didn't even know there was an rpg of starcraft, but not surprised.

[Closet_Skeleton]

i didn't even know there was an rpg of starcraft, but not surprised.

It's old and for Alternity, a system that didn't make it commercially and failed with TSR.

[Pagz]

Sounds sweet, one thing you should try and get the atmosphere of is

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The Zerg at the end of Brood War are the dominant race in the universe, you should try and pull of the atmosphere of "Oh crap, Zerg!", since they control most of the galaxy. For some reason I remember reading somewhere that the Zerg had been stagnant since the end of brood war, and if they're attacking now, you should try and get your players to realize that that is NOT good. Infested Marines should be fought too (who doesn't love them!), maybe tone down how good their explosion is though (Maybe one of your characters gets infected.

Also idea for plot, are you gonna include the hybrids that Zeratul encounter during the bonus missions at the end of brood war? Many a possibility there.

[blackout]

noooooo, but then how are they going to worker rush everyone :(

hmm...

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RISE FROM YOUR GRAVE

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about that group of Wraiths and that lone Battlecruiser, give them a science vessel, unless the ghost is going to be unable to cloak then, because otherwise you would be doing it wrong and the Ghost would escape capture easily, which would be uncool.

Well...that's just it, there won't BE any worker rushing. At all. In fact, no rushing period. Or turtling. Because this ain't no strategy game, this here's an RPG.

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There isn't any 'doing it wrong' in RPGs, man. By the way, who said I would make it easy, even if the Ghost was cloaked?

[kjones]

Will your players be hero-types, like Raynor or Kerrigan were in the game? Or will they be regular ol' grunts? The latter could be an interesting challenge...

It could also be interesting if the different players were of different races, especially if one of them were Zerg and the others were Terran/Protoss.

[blackout]

Sounds sweet, one thing you should try and get the atmosphere of is

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The Zerg at the end of Brood War are the dominant race in the universe, you should try and pull of the atmosphere of "Oh crap, Zerg!", since they control most of the galaxy. For some reason I remember reading somewhere that the Zerg had been stagnant since the end of brood war, and if they're attacking now, you should try and get your players to realize that that is NOT good. Infested Marines should be fought too (who doesn't love them!), maybe tone down how good their explosion is though (Maybe one of your characters gets infected.

Also idea for plot, are you gonna include the hybrids that Zeratul encounter during the bonus missions at the end of brood war? Many a possibility there.

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This RPG starts BEFORE the original Starcraft. After the 'before the beginning' part, I intend to have the party a little involved in the events that lead up to Brood War. After that, they get involved in the events in Brood War, but the party's involvement will be minimal. After that? Sky's the limit, ears. Sky's the limit.

[blackout]

Will your players be hero-types, like Raynor or Kerrigan were in the game? Or will they be regular ol' grunts? The latter could be an interesting challenge...

It could also be interesting if the different players were of different races, especially if one of them were Zerg and the others were Terran/Protoss.

They'll start out as grunts, grow to hero-like status, and then go to beyond-hero.

[Destro_Yersul]

Ghosts do get some psychic stuff, but it's limited.
[Starcraft Background Geek] The ability for a human to use psionic powers is measured in Psi Index, or PI. Most confederate ghosts are around PI five or six, with one being the lowest. Nova, the main character of the ill-fated Starcraft: Ghost, was a PI ten. She was easily the most psychically powerful human in the galaxy. Another interesting thing is that psionically attuned humans can "hear" the Protoss when they are trying to contact each other telepathically, as well as the thoughts of people without the proper defenses.

The psychic dampeners ghosts get are not to nullify their powers entirely, they are used for control. If a ghost has no control over their abilities, they are a liability. Their powers are supposed to be precise. Lightning would not happen. It's too erratic and dangerous. The ability to make someone's brain implode would, but only for the more powerful ghosts.

In addition, there is a device that can be worn to shield one's mind from a ghost entirely. If they can't "see" your mind, they can't hurt it. It's not a common device though, and causes damage to memory and reasoning if worn for too long, so only the top brass should have it, and only when in the presence of a ghost[/Starcraft Background Geek]

Sorry for the block of text.

[blackout]

.....THANK YOU! As of right now, I'm adding a new feature for Ghosties for my group. The way the Ghost in my group's party will grow in power is that he starts off at PI 3. Every five levels he gains, he goes up by one PI level. So, by about level 20, he'll be a PI 7. By 30, he'll be PI 9. After that? No telling. He'll have Psychic Dampeners by the way.

[Destro_Yersul]

Sounds good. PI 9 is ridiculously uber, so lvl 30 sounds about right. PI 10 is, as I said, the highest ever encountered in a human. Protoss can go higher.

[blackout]

You mean highest encountered in a human THUS FAR. If he gets to 40? He'll be PI 11.

[Destro_Yersul]

Exactly. He really shouldn't be able to go higher than the Protoss though, because they are the psionic race. Be cool to have him picking up random background thoughts if he gets to PI 8 or 9

[Inyssius Tor]

In the game, you can upgrade your units' weapons, making them more effective than what you start off with. I was thinking of making the upgraded versions simply more effective than the standard ones in some way, and more expensive. Do you think this will work? Your thoughts?

Sounds fine to me, if d20 Modern (or Future) doesn't already have some mechanic for this (my guess is that it does, but what do I know).

My second concern is psionic powers. Based on previous experience with my party, everyone's gonna wanna be something different from everyone else, but chances are, at least one person's gonna wanna be a Ghost or some such. And their gonna want to drop nukes, and ****, but that just doesn't fly. Not in my games, no sir. Am I too harsh with this? Your thoughts?

It won't be a problem. The Bomb is a plot device; if your players really want to drop one, make an adventure around it (they have to get into the heart of the Zerg base, et cetera, et cetera). Ooh, have some opposing Terran faction try to convince them to hit an allied Protoss base instead.

[blackout]

And the fact that he's moderately psychotic due to previous experience with the Zerg won't effect his psionic ability?

And about the nuke: Excellent possibility, thanks. :)

[Destro_Yersul]

It shouldn't. What it should affect is what he uses it for. For example: two ghosts, one crazy, one not. Both can blow people up with their minds. The crazy one just does it more often. That would be more of a character personality thing than a mechanical thing.

[blackout]

...Sweet. As annoying as it'll be when he makes the BBEG's head blow up and then he goes "ok, we're done, let's go.", it's bound to be fun.