A gaming conundrum

[Scott Ruggels]

On 4/3/2023 at 5:40 PM, Duke Bushido said:

Tell you what-

 

I have a lighthearted and,very heroic Suoers game going and am preparing to launch a sci-go campaign (havent decided between HERO or Classic Traveller.

 

So how do you feel about starting off as freshly-civilianed and looking for work, knocking around space and getting into a few scrapes and some legal two I led, then overthrowing a corporate government and restoring a ruling family, possibly winning them over to join the Imperium?

 

I plan on launching that one in maybe two months- for a few things to finish up with it.

 

Warning: I am goinf to need at least one muatered out Scout; two is preferable.

 

 

Did you say Traveller?   Deets?

[Duke Bushido]

I rolled up a character a while back, and her background throughout her military service-- well, you know how that goes with Traveller: if you are not careful, it will give you the character's entire backstory.

 

I opted to roll up a completely random homeworld for her, and ended up with something so out of skew with everything else  that I had rolled up that by the time I twisted everything together, I thought "this might actually make a pretty decent campaign (it had gotten way to involved to be a simple backstory)".

 

It wasn't too long after rolling her up that I lucked into a paper copy of Crowded Hours and an online "short adventure" that- well, one of the stories in Crowded hours combined with the short adventure made for a better adventure than either was alone.

 

The modified adventure also provided a great way to get the characters moving, and by the end of the adventure, the characters would be in a position very similar to where my character's background story started, so I was sold: 

 

Scrap the character (well, not scrap, but combine these three items (minus the character, of course, because I am not a GMPC kind of guy), inject a few things along the way for the characters to get a feel of the universe, decide their motivations, introduce them to both sides of the situation-  

 

And this part has to be handled carefully, as you could accidentally railroad the characters, so I want to make certain I have that bit fleshed out before starting (and to finish the Champions game, so everyone has a chance to play if they want to try).

 

They will find themselves in a repellent situation for a while, at least until they realize that the only reason it is bearable for them is because as off-worlders  they are afdorded a few privelliges not available to the rest of the population.

 

The rest is pretty standard fare, at least so far.

 

 

Okay, backing up:

 

The Imperium will be a backdrop- we aren't going to be going too deeply into the official setting, but it is there.  For simplicity's sake, this game will be humanocentric unless the players just insist on aliens; I am more than willing to consider any player-submitted alien race so long as it doesn't feel of Combat Monster or other sort of Superman- again, if the players insist.  I just think as an introductory adventure, staying humanocentric will make it a bit easier to understand all the various potential NPCs, motives, etc.

 

Similarly, I would prefer to not have psionics in this campaign, but have no objection to including them if the players can agree to the randomness and rarity rules, but if _everyone_ wants them, we are going to either not have them, or we are doing the "one ability at level one" thing so as not to turn this into a superhero game (which is why I would rather not have them straight after four Champions campaigns.  ) 

 

The Imperium is there, and the adventure starts with the characters mustering out on its fringe (and having spent most of their various careers on the frontier fringe, but with enough in-the-empire time that they should be comfortable asking any questions they want; this will not be the fully-fleshed Imperium as we know it today, but a grossly simplified version- partly because it won't be a major part of the adventure, partly because it allows players the freedom to have an Imperial background (if they want) without being locked in to specific locations, politics, and know worlds, etc, etc.  Mostly, though, because I won't live long enough to address every aspect of the extant universe and still run a game. 

 

As stated, I will have to have a Scout (for Mcguffin-related reasons), and I would prefer two (or more; it is about increasing the odds of Mcguffin success.

 

The quest for the McGuffin is, of course, complicated- including running through a variant of the One Crowded Hour scenario (just that one from the Crowded Hours book).  There are multiple ways to get back on track from this disaster (if they survive it  ), including- if they get lucky, just dumb luck dropping them where they want to be.

 

Tracking down the Mcguffin isn't too terribly bad: they have a Mcguffin locator.  Problematically, they have no immediate way to get to the Mcguffin, and they aren't the only ones looking for it.  Worse, someone else is currently in possession of it, and causing serious problems for the players just by being themselves: locals arent going to be happy to see the players, and it is going to take some work to get the help they need.

 

Once in possession of the Mcguffin, they will shortly discover they have all new problems, mostly related to the Mcguffin.

 

A couple of patroned "side quests" gets them off world and headed home, but if all things go right (ie, something goes beautifully wrong), they will discover that just because they are the legal bearers of the Mcguffin doesn't mean that the other folks looking for it have given up.  The previous owner had used the Mcguffin as collateral to every shady character on the planet, and some of the better-resourced of these folks plan to collect, and certainly aren't above a little sabotage.

 

The characters will find that their opponents aren't above stranding them, either.    The characters will find themselves stranded on a planet balkanized by megacorporations.  This world is located in an Imperial "grey zone" where Imperial influence has had a hard time setting in and staying (too remote and the stars are too scattered).  However, one single-world system has proven to be rich in a number of extremely rare minerals and metals to warrant developing, but the world itself is so unihabitable that without domes, no one can survive for long.  

 

The last appointed Sector Duke simply abdicated his position for staggering wealth-  after the discovery of lanthum, the Corps started jockeying for position.

 

Currently, the world is listed as an Imperial world, but the only rule here is corporate.  They control everything, including access to and from this world.  The only exceptions to this stranglehold is a remote Scout base (ta-da!) and an equally-remote teraforming station.

 

The Imperium is practical, and a century or so ago when the lanthum was discovered, they listened when the Scouts recommended terraforming as the key to attracting colonists, particularly,when the sector Duke reported on the frozen Hell of the planet itself.  Still, the domes were working, so teraforming became a back-burner project.  That is to say that it is proceeding, but without the normal amount of dunding and urgency (due largely to the corpos massive misinformation on the situations in the domes,and the amount of ores that are reasonably accessible).  After the entire nobility for this world and the sector Duke himself abdicated, the Imperium accepted the offers of several corporations to take over the running of the world in exchange for a portion of the wealth.

 

In truth, only the Sector Duke rolled over (for money).  With him out of the way, the lesser planetary nobility was simply deposed or killed.  The Imperium is none the wiser, assuming that the letters of resignation office and title were legitimate, given what they knew of the world, and the corpos keep the money flowing (though they keep a far, _far_ greater portion than the Imperium even believes to exist here.

 

Still, the mass abdication convinced them to commence transforming.  Local resistance to the project felt very wrong, and so the Imperium also installed a Scout base, both to keep tabs on the local situation and to ensure the safety of the terraforming project.  Their presence has ramped up security measures as corpos fight to keep their activities hidden and the move to protect one's self by eliminating the competition via exposing them to the Scouts has lead to heavy (and paranoid) balkanization, with a populace reduced to little more than slaves.  The character's are travelling with one (or more) Scout(s), granting them a freedom of movement that makes all the corpos very nervous.

 

There will be a few encounters and problems while the players attempt to resolve their transit issues, and the chance to  stumble across the truth of this world.

 

If they do, what will they do with this knowledge?  

 

 

 

 

That is actually more than I wanted to divulge, given that I may have a player or two lurking out here,  but that is the gist of it.

 

 

Deets enough, Sir?

 

 

 

Edited April 9, 2023 by Duke Bushido

[Scott Ruggels]

Yes, thank you.  Good luck with it.  Thinking company stores and all that those entail.  This will make the duty free shops for offworlders even more of a focus.    

[Cygnia]

So the update is I will not be doing either of the Friday games.  Given what the other players had in mind for the hubby's 7th Sea game (and the griping he did after the 1st session) leads me to believe that this was the correct decision.

 

Nobody wants to be Heroic.  😕

 

In the meantime, the hubby will be running 7th Sea solo sessions Here & There for me where I have my Castillian wannabe actress/dancer/cook/egomaniac doing light-hearted adventures around town.  First up: truffle hunting!

[Opal]

1 hour ago, Cygnia said:

Nobody wants to be Heroic.  😕

If they want to be edgy, depressive, angst-ridden, self-destructive, anti-heroes in a morally shades-of-dark-grey, ethically bankrupt, dystopian nightmare hellworld, why can't they just go get jobs in Corporate America?

[Cygnia]

I believe the phrase "I deal with this in Real Life -- why would I want this in games?!" was bandied about from both of us during the venting process afterwards.

 

I feel bad for my husband -- he's trying to stretch out and improve as a GM, but he also wants to enjoy himself too.  The Wednesday game we'll be co-GMing should, in theory, be healthier since we're dealing with players who Get that 7th Sea should be Heroic (and Hubby has Used His Words about needing Player Buy-In for his story -- that the PCs need to Care about what happens with the NPCs who will be depending on their decisions).

[Old Man]

1 hour ago, Opal said:

If they want to be edgy, depressive, angst-ridden, self-destructive, anti-heroes in a morally shades-of-dark-grey, ethically bankrupt, dystopian nightmare hellworld, why can't they just go get jobs in Corporate America?

 

In the game you can pretend you might survive.

[Lord Liaden]

We've had a whole generation raised with almost all entertainment media infected with a strong streak of nihilism. Many of them understand no other way to play. The pendulum has started swinging back in the latter part of this millennium, but it will probably be some years before hope and idealism become the trends again at the gaming table.

[dmjalund]

7 hours ago, Lord Liaden said:

The pendulum has started swinging back in the latter part of this millennium

But who has 970 years to wait?

[Cygnia]

7 hours ago, dmjalund said:

But who has 970 years to wait?

Old Man?

[Duke Bushido]

On 4/7/2023 at 9:43 AM, Scott Ruggels said:

Yes, thank you.  Good luck with it.  Thinking company stores and all that those entail.

 

Yes indeed; already on the menu, Sir.  I mean, it is kind of like being a Wal-Mart employee: absolutely nothing says "slavery" like having the guy who pays you decide how much you have to pay him back for groceries and living supplies, right?

 

There is no imperial port here save the Scout base and a small auto pad for robotic probes and supply drones that service the terraforming project and periodically bring supplies for the Scout base.

 

In an interesting twist, the original story (character background) had involved a psionics Institute on this world, hidden away in the most remote of the terraforming projects.  Most of the terraforming personnel here are in some,way associated with it, as are a few of the Scouts.

 

Three of the players (including both Scouts) have expressed interest in Psionics for their characters, so rhis might work out beautifully for them.

 

As To duty-free shops:

 

Every one of the corporate nations has and controls their own port (save one port shared amongst five companies of whom none could support one alone).  Strangely, part of their sharing agreement (drawn up to protect each other from each other) features   lamguage that makes it impossible to really shaft offworlders for using this port (though it is still way more expensive than it should be).  It is also the only port with reasonable repair facilities- not great, but they can do more than just maintenance.

 

Even here, it is difficult to move beyond the port, as _all_ corporations here have a vested interest in not letting offworlders learn any truth about what the situation is here (lots of potential here for the crew that wants to smuggle a couple hundred tons of weapons to the people or go to the Imperium with the truth of the mass abdication of nobles or even the sheer volumes of ores _actually_ leaving the system.  While the lid is clamped down tight on this kettle, there are too many ways to turn up the temperature.  Off-worlders who learn too much find themselves becoming locals very quickly). 

 

 

 

19 hours ago, Cygnia said:

 

Nobody wants to be Heroic.  😕

 

 

Well that sucks!

 

I don't get it.  Even in the earliest days of DnD, when we where _all_ murder hoboes, we still wanted to be the good guys.   you know: murdering only every monster or evil wizard or evil warlord or minions of evil we encountered.  Only murdering those guys.  (though to be fair, after the class was created, we took to murdering palladins as well, figuring that "Lawful D*ckhead" was some variant form of evil, and the appreciation of the townsfolk seemed awful similar...)

 

 

19 hours ago, Cygnia said:

In the meantime, the hubby will be running 7th Sea solo sessions Here & There for me

 

As long as your both having a good time, it's all excellent!

 

19 hours ago, Cygnia said:

  First up: truffle hunting!

 

Bows or muskets? 

 

 

 

 

 

18 hours ago, Opal said:

If they want to be edgy, depressive, angst-ridden, self-destructive, anti-heroes in a morally shades-of-dark-grey, ethically bankrupt, dystopian nightmare hellworld, why can't they just

 

live

 

18 hours ago, Opal said:

 

 

in

 

18 hours ago, Opal said:

America?

 

 

There you go; all fixed!

 

 

Edited April 9, 2023 by Duke Bushido

[Cygnia]

1 hour ago, Duke Bushido said:

 

 

Bows or muskets? 

 

 

Depends if my city girl wants to go in the damn dirty forest or try to liberate the truffles from the damn dirty Montaigne instead

[Old Man]

5 hours ago, Cygnia said:

Old Man?

 

Never did learn patience.  I wonder how long that would take.

[Opal]

4 hours ago, Duke Bushido said:

There you go; all fixed!

Just, as a general rule, I invariably feel offended by the whole "fixed that for you" neticism, even if its something I'd agree with. 

 

But, yeah, y'know, hating your own nation/culture is a solid reason for never wanting to even play at (gold/silver age) simple heroism. 

Edited April 9, 2023 by Opal

[Duke Bushido]

Quite the opposite, I would think.  Believing that you are surrounsed with bleak existence and a callous society would make wantinf to use something else- such as heroism- more attractive as escapism.  As Cygnia noted, why spend your entertainment hours pretending that you are part of the problems you struggle with in real life?

 

 

Edited April 9, 2023 by Duke Bushido

[Lord Liaden]

Revenge?

 

Think of the behavior of so many of the powerless, after they gain power.

Edited April 9, 2023 by Lord Liaden

[Duke Bushido]

1 hour ago, Lord Liaden said:

Revenge?

 

Think of the behavior of so many of the powerless, after they gain power.

 

 

Eh.  I suppose that's possible.  It's not the sort of thing that springs naturally to mind for me, as I am not the sort of person to take an injury and leap back to feet with the thought "and now I must injure someone else to make myself feel better!"  I get that this mindset _exists_; I use it semi-regularly in villanous backstories, but even then, I use it because it is an indicator that this is a vile person.  I have no natural inclination to behave like or become that person, so it doesnt spring to mind.

 

Moreover, even if it did, are you ultimately deciding to spend your time relaxing with friends by being embracing things that genuinely bother you?

 

Seems counterproductive at _best_.

 

 

 

 

[Lord Liaden]

My own mindset is similar to yours. But that's us.

 

I do stand by my earlier assertion that a great many people were brought up with this kind of storytelling, and aren't familiar with more positive avenues of imagination.

 

I think of the example of Galactica. The original series, which I quite enjoyed before its quality declined, was built around hope, wonder, and family/comradeship. The more recent remake was built around desperation, deception, grief and guilt.

[assault]

To get a bit philosophical: how can you create a better world if you can't imagine one?

[Lord Liaden]

Look around the world today. You'll see many examples of how that turns out.

 

But I also see signs that the trend is shifting toward the more optimistic, particularly among young people. We old people just have to fight as hard as we can to keep our peers from screwing things up too badly, until our successors can take over.

Edited April 9, 2023 by Lord Liaden

[Opal]

On 4/9/2023 at 4:19 PM, assault said:

To get a bit philosophical: how can you create a better world if you can't imagine one?

Imagine an even worse world and scare everybody with It?

[assault]

20 minutes ago, Opal said:

Imagine an even worse world and scare everybody with It?

 

True, but you still need some idea of what you want to change to.

[Duke Bushido]

On 4/9/2023 at 6:14 PM, Lord Liaden said:

My own mindset is similar to yours. But that's us.

 

I do stand by my earlier assertion that a great many people were brought up with this kind of storytelling, and aren't familiar with more positive avenues of imagination.

 

I think of the example of Galactica. The original series, which I quite enjoyed before its quality declined, was built around hope, wonder, and family/comradeship. The more recent remake was built around desperation, deception, grief and guilt.

 

 

Thank you!

 

Man, everyone just praised and praised that remake, and while there were some,rhings I thought were great additions to the original story (robots that are ships instead of robots flying ships, conflict within the cylons, etc--  I just absolutely hated it for all the dark and broody angst.

 

Ugh.

 

 

[Opal]

3 hours ago, assault said:

 

True, but you still need some idea of what you want to change to.

Typically "world with you in charge," seems like? 

[Old Man]

1 hour ago, Opal said:

Typically "world with you in charge," seems like? 

 

Lol I'm not sure I should have a driver's license, let alone control of a planet.