Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Campaign idea 4: Its time to time! In screamovision (scream)

I was reminded of this idea by a tg thread which caused me to add and change a few things with it.

In the relative future a project for a massive space station that will be used to conduct research for faster than light travel and space colonization begins. Before the project is completed a fully constructed but damaged instance of the station appears in orbit. No one knows how and the comms that should be in the station aren't being answered. A team of those skilled or disposable enough are sent to investigate this bizarre event.
What has happened is the faster than light device on the station is a device, unknown to its inventors, that distorts time instead of space. Something happened to send the station back in time during an alien invasion ironically intent on destroying the device. The aliens already have the devices and even developed personal versions but are extremely militant about its use due to a disaster in their distant past.
The station is derelict with signs of heavy combat throughout. Systems are damaged and travel between the many different parts can be hazardous in itself. The station is designed to be completely self sufficient, and is the size of a small city. The whole station is controlled by a sentient AI that already knows the party for some reason, and even has a sort of fixation on one or a few of them.
Roaming the station is an alien strike team that will largely avoid the party and bide its time to make a surgical strike against the cause of the time distortion. Also on the station are (an indefinite supply) of future versions of the PCs, the first few should definitely not be identifiable as such at first, intent on stopping the party from mucking up time in their attempt to solve everything by any means necessary. Also the general time distortion around the station will cause any number of crazy occurrences to happen. The GM is encouraged to have fun with that and keep the party paranoid.
I had a few specific ideas with types of future versions but it's probably very dependent on the PCs. One idea I want to mention is if any of the PCs try to go to the past on the alien planet to try to prevent the invasion they should be ejected back into their time line, they caused an aborted time line from all the nonsense they did and now a time refugee version of them is leading the aliens in the crusade against other species developing time devices.

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Campaign idea 3: Get out of here Yuke

I don't really remember where I got it but I had the idea for a campaign that had a setting heavily inspired by S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and a 'plot' heavily inspired by Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles.
No one quite remembers how it all started, all they know is whats up in the here and now. The miasma covers the land for as far as anyone knows. To be death would be merciful of the menace, it corrupts and changes its victims into monsters that haunt and kill. Machines of yore keep the miasma at bay, these miraculous beacons of hope are the centers of settlements. But the machines are not perfect and require a power supply. Caravans are sent to travel the no man's land for the dungeons that hold the secrets of repowering the machines (old underground lab complexes). The caravans gain safe passage from the miasma by way of docile mutants that look unchanged except for strange burn marks. The miasma clears in the presence of these people but their almost comatose nature leaves them in need of protection. They have ties to the machines of yore and know how to operate them.
I would use Dark Heresy for it myself, corruption points for the miasma radiation

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

I suppose Druid is worse

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This is why I don't allow the full spell book for wizards in my 3.5 games

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Campaign idea 2: Oh no the Mormons are drinking

This idea I got while thinking about how awesome bioshock infinity looked.  Bioshock has really good tone and flavor and I've made campaign ideas based on it before.

"You sir! Listen to my words for they may well be your salvation!  I preach the word of Saint Gerome Faustus, the greatest scientific mind to ever bless the world with his genius.  It was Saint Faustus who discovered the plasmids with which we can channel the glory of our Lord!  The holy missionary city Providence was built to spread the message of this holy saint.  I have been to the walking city myself and beheld its glory, it follows in my wake so that you too may see the glory of the pious!  Believe!  And you too shall experience the divine for yourself!  The living saint resides in the core of Providence and I beseech you all to visit and witness the truth of my words for yourself!"

Yeah I could have done that better.  But yeah I was trying to think of another American ideology to take to the logical extreme which seems to be what Bioshock likes to do, though collectivism isn't really American, and then I realized with the Puritans and Mormons and stuff America has had a lot of fringe religious groups that were popular with a lot of people in its history.

Providence would be a city upon massive treads that roamed the untamed west picking up those who desired respite from the lawless land.  The citizens of Providence have created a religion around plasmids (or differently named lego genetics wonder drug) and treat their progenitor as a prophet.  Tolerance for the treatments is measured in "genetic piety" and a social system of sorts forms over how much one can splice up without damage to body and mind, logically this mentality leads to problems.  The "living saint" is a person with so many plasmids and tonics that she is perpetually levitating and must be held in place, glows with an awe inspiring radiance, and communicates telepathically among other things.  Yet despite everything is probably one of the most mentally stable of the residents by the time the PCs would show up.  Why the party is there could be any number of reasons, industrial espionage is the one I think of.  Mutants and Masterminds would be the system I would use as well though I know others would be serve just as well or better.  I think its important to have gaining new powers have an element of danger or decay, I never really liked how the player in the video games shot up with all this stuff that messed up everyone in the city and it had no effects really.  The residents of Providence could range from well meaning evangelicals to fire and brimstone zealots.

Campaign idea 1: our moe robot overlords

I thought of this idea while I was in the Cosmic Break beta. I've put a video at the bottom of the post but the only thing you need to know is its one of those things that you can appropriately throw around the phrase "SOME KIND OF LOLI BATTLE MACHINE."

The golden age has begun.  Nexus, the think tank of the highest AIs merged together, has been established.  Its massive computing power has given rise to the glorious cities that expand beyond the horizon.  Mechanoid culture has developed into something thought impossible by earlier generations.  In its wisdom that can be measured in the trillions Nexus as designed the MKVIII series of mechanoid.  These new models are modular, designed to integrate with frames built from recycled mechanoids.  This rewards for adaptable programing and the mechanoid can fulfill many roles in its life time unlike the MKVII's customization which is limited to switching out limbs.  The MKVIIIs are suited for the ever changing face of warfare and were deployed immediately.  The oppressors have taken many loses and no longer threaten the great cities, but they must never be allowed the chance to rebuild themselves into the terror they once were.

MAID rpg system kind of works well for this in that uniform penalties could represent your armor/exoskeleton getting blasted apart.  It'll also set up a mood that will make what the players are actually expected to do a big surprise which was my original intention of the idea.  The oppressors of course are the scattered remnants of humanity trying to fend off the robots that grew wildly out of control.  The designs of the MKVIII are based of captured humans cybernetically altered to be more acceptable.  These cyborgs are second class citizens even behind obsolete mechanoids.  The campaign idea is kind of a bait and switch which uses the absurd coupled with serious themes that I love to use too much.  I guess it would be good to use if a gm has a player or two that really likes "that" kind of ANEEEMAAAAAAAY and the others don't, or maybe if the party likes that stuff and the gm don't.  Well either way I would imagine this campaign would offer stuff for both camps because people get to prance aboot as lolibots but the adventure deals with the systematic extermination of humanity and the PCs could easily be viewed as child soldiers personality depending.

I'll uh, post an idea that's probably more likely to be used by anyone next.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWDXguVwk0U

Monday, October 18, 2010

Oh my god there is blood everywhere

Yeah so I decided to cave in and join the blogging bandwagon all my friends are on.  And now that my blog cherry is popped I have lost my girlhood and am a whore like the rest of you.
I'll probably dump unused campaign ideas here that I like too much to forget.