Dust Raven Posted July 16, 2004 Report Share Posted July 16, 2004 I'm running my game on Saturday, and I have lots of story ideas, but I'm also bringing in a new player, in addition the the player I brought in last session. What I don't want to do plung him into a sink or swim requires lots of knowledge of the game world adventure (like most of my adventures). I'd like something simple, but will still keep the rest of the players entertained. What I really need is something that gets the group out on the streets so the new guys can get a look at my game world from the inside, but doesn't force them to know everything about what they are looking at. Any ideas of a quicky adventue plot I can run? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngryBug Posted July 16, 2004 Report Share Posted July 16, 2004 Re: I Need a Plot, and Fast! When in doubt, roll for Hunteds & DNPCs... mix and match. Or, have a normal person suffer a 'radiation accident', gain massive but temporary powers, and go on a rampage seeking revenge against whoever did this to them. Or, alien spaceship crashes, the occupants appear to be a threat to the city/state/world... turns out to be fleeing from other aliens they claim are the real threat. PCs have to figure out who the good guys are, while protecting bystanders caught in the middle as two sides start duking it out. Or, Godzilla! If there's not much time to prepare, and you don't want to overwhelm new players with a lot of intricacies, big and messy is the easy and fun way to go. Get them used to the combat system, the other PCs, save the thinking for next session. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chimpira Posted July 16, 2004 Report Share Posted July 16, 2004 Re: I Need a Plot, and Fast! I'm running my game on Saturday, and I have lots of story ideas, but I'm also bringing in a new player, in addition the the player I brought in last session. What I don't want to do plung him into a sink or swim requires lots of knowledge of the game world adventure (like most of my adventures). I'd like something simple, but will still keep the rest of the players entertained. What I really need is something that gets the group out on the streets so the new guys can get a look at my game world from the inside, but doesn't force them to know everything about what they are looking at. Any ideas of a quicky adventue plot I can run? Kill a hero. No, really. Try having a npc hero die saving the city. Have the characters hear about it. The villian was captured but the hero died. Have the characters that are the main stay in the campaign be asked to attend the funeral but the new characters will have to hang back as there is not enough room with the visiting representatives from hero teams around the country that are trying to pay their last respects. While outside the new heroes get approached and asked to look into the death as something does not seem quite right with it. Make it as big or as small as you like. Maybe the villian that was captured was not the real culprit. Maybe the hero faked his death because he knew that the one person he needed to find would go to his funeral. It could be an interesting way to have your new players learn about the campaign world and to get into some really good roleplaying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fredrik_nilsson Posted July 16, 2004 Report Share Posted July 16, 2004 Re: I Need a Plot, and Fast! A twist of two of the ideas above is to temporary transfer a NPC hero's powers into a normal. The temporary super could either be a temporary annoyance or you could let him be a recurring villain (or a hero). The “temporary super†could either return as a low-powered super (some of the transferred powers stayed) or as a normal. A possible future story could be about the normal wanting to regain “his†powers, and another could be about how the normal handles the after-effects (for example, fear, psychosis or hatred) of the transfer. A perfect example of this kind of villain is Carnage in the Spider-man comic. For a hero example, I guess, Rick Jones and his bond with Captain Marvel might qualify. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Argus Posted July 16, 2004 Report Share Posted July 16, 2004 Re: I Need a Plot, and Fast! Have a couple of interesting robberies happen while the heroes are helping out somewhere else. They are helping with a bus accident and someone across town robs a jewelry store. They are helping with an apartment fire when they hit a string of gas stations. They are working on a broken gas line at a high school when they hit a bank. They are just normal people but they are working for a Precog who knows when the heroes will be busy somewhere else. A. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hermit Posted July 16, 2004 Report Share Posted July 16, 2004 Re: I Need a Plot, and Fast! Start a crime wave, all over the city, punks and hoods are being more agressive. Any captured will inform the heroes that interfering with the "new boss" like this isn't wise... What's more, whoever you have as 'old bosses' if anyone, isn't happy about this new guy muscling in. Mob violence and gang war skyrockets so the heroes are kept too busy to even really go into the mystery of just who the new boss is (at least for this game session). Even parts of town that are normally secure are swamped, so the PCs end up going all over (familiarizing the new players with the neighborhoods somewhat) and get a chance to impress the local law enforcement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tgrandjean Posted July 16, 2004 Report Share Posted July 16, 2004 Re: I Need a Plot, and Fast! When all else fails, rob a bank. Toss in some hoods and a decent brick and you'll have a couple of hours entertainment. For that matter, you could always go with the cult angle. Evil cultists committing crimes, a nasty ritual, and an even nastier Summon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbsousa Posted July 16, 2004 Report Share Posted July 16, 2004 Re: I Need a Plot, and Fast! Whenever I start a new story arc with Good Guys, Incorporated, I have Yo-Yo and his Theme-bots rob a bank. Yo-Yo is a villain whose main attack is, of course, trick Yo-Yo's, and who builds robots based on whatever television show or bit of pop culture he is obsessed with that week. GGI has faced in the past: [*]Stooge Bots [*]Brady Bots [*]Ape Bots (Planet of the...) [*]Reservoir Dads (Mr. Petrie, Mr. Cosby, Mr. Cleaver, Mr. Riccardo, Mr. Addams, and Mr. Munster ) [*]Duke Bots (w/ Exploding Arrows) [*]Giant Underdog Bot (at the Macy's Day Parade) My favorite trick (which you can only use once) is to have Yo-Yo challenge the Heroes in a public place, where he knows they will be. When they trash him, he reveals that a mysterious stranger paid him to attack them. The Mysterious stranger also paid someone to steal something valuable from a nearby building , under the heroes noses. (In that game, the speedster ran into the building to build up momentum, and caught the bad guy in the act. The villiain was prepared to barely hold off the whole team if necessary, and clocked the speedster before getting away...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanguard00 Posted July 16, 2004 Report Share Posted July 16, 2004 Re: I Need a Plot, and Fast! Have a guy wake up from a coma with the power of Unluck. I mean massive amounts, AoE, UAP. Everything around him goes wonky, sometimes in a big way. The hospital power went out right after he awoke (luckily the generators kicked on). A nurse was hit by an ambulance as he was leaving (probably without leave, too). Traffic accidents occur whenever he's crossing the street (which might bring him to the attention of the heroes). A robbery goes horribly wrong and maybe someone even gets killed (cuz he's standing there watching). One hunted from each PC shows up around the same time, combat ensues (the guy is still standing there watching). What do you do with a guy like that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StGrimblefig Posted July 16, 2004 Report Share Posted July 16, 2004 Re: I Need a Plot, and Fast! Try S. John Ross's Big List of RPG Plots It has nudged me out of mental blocks in the past. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steriaca Posted July 16, 2004 Report Share Posted July 16, 2004 Re: I Need a Plot, and Fast! Me, I just have some guy kidnap some rich young woman. The heros might want to save her...there is enougth there for mystery and protental romance, ect. It also gives the hero group a chance to gain a rich benifactor to the team. "How can I ever repay you for saving my daughter?" I'm shure the heros can anser that question easy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Battlestaff Posted July 16, 2004 Report Share Posted July 16, 2004 Re: I Need a Plot, and Fast! A bank has been robbed, but the PC's don't get there in time. However, there's a clue there that lead the PC's to think that it might be Villain A, who is a long-standing nemesis of Hero A. So they go and meet Hero A, who says that the it couldn't be Villain A, as he is in Stronghold, but it might be Villain B, arch-nemsis of Hero B. So they go and meet with Hero B, but it can't be Villain B, because he's stranded in another dimension right now. This continues on, until the PC's finally discover that it's New Villain Z, who happens to be an unknown hunted of the new player (or a new identity for an old villain, etc.). Using something like this, you could easily allow the new player to learn about some of the heroes and villains, and well as places (Stronghold, Homestead, etc.), while the PC's have a goal of solving who the villain is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost who Walks Posted July 16, 2004 Report Share Posted July 16, 2004 Re: I Need a Plot, and Fast! Invasion of the Uber-Rats... A VIPER experiment has gone wrong, and their rodent specimen has escaped. Inbued with a vast amount of powers (Superstrength, teleportation, laser eyes), the rat is hunted by VIPER (who want to figure out what they did to give the rat powers, PRIMUS (The silver avengers want laser eyes and teleportation), the Sewere Workers (rat escaped into the land beneath the Earth). Depending on whether the Rat has had time to breed...An emergency could be announced, martial law declared, National Guard on the streets... The Heroes of course will be asked to help search, as well as coordinate the dozens of visiting heroes who want to collect the 10 million dollar reward someone is offering. Combat would be somewhat downplayed in this idea (unless the search teams see each other), emphasis on roleplaying. Combat is the hardest part for new players to get a hold of, usually. (depends on the player) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killer Shrike Posted July 17, 2004 Report Share Posted July 17, 2004 Re: I Need a Plot, and Fast! Well....not knowing your campaign, the PC's, or reoccuring elements its difficult to make plot suggestions, but I would recommend involving the introduction of the new player's PC into the plot line. Nothing to major, since you dont want to put them on the spot first night out, but enough to involve and "accept" their character into the game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dust Raven Posted July 17, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 17, 2004 Re: I Need a Plot, and Fast! A bank has been robbed, but the PC's don't get there in time. However, there's a clue there that lead the PC's to think that it might be Villain A, who is a long-standing nemesis of Hero A. So they go and meet Hero A, who says that the it couldn't be Villain A, as he is in Stronghold, but it might be Villain B, arch-nemsis of Hero B. So they go and meet with Hero B, but it can't be Villain B, because he's stranded in another dimension right now. This continues on, until the PC's finally discover that it's New Villain Z, who happens to be an unknown hunted of the new player (or a new identity for an old villain, etc.). Using something like this, you could easily allow the new player to learn about some of the heroes and villains, and well as places (Stronghold, Homestead, etc.), while the PC's have a goal of solving who the villain is. Ooh, I like this idea. I'm not sure exactly how to impliment it. It might even be too complex. Ultimatly I think I'd just prefer a nasty fight with something unexpected. I'll keep this idea on file though, could come in real handy in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dust Raven Posted July 17, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 17, 2004 Re: I Need a Plot, and Fast! Well....not knowing your campaign' date=' the PC's, or reoccuring elements its difficult to make plot suggestions, but I would recommend involving the introduction of the new player's PC into the plot line. Nothing to major, since you dont want to put them on the spot first night out, but enough to involve and "accept" their character into the game.[/quote'] Well, if my web site was finished, I'd just direct you there. I only have half my world description and nothing but the names and a brief description of the characters. Basically, it's a "standard" superhero world without magic or aliens (both exist, but everybody believes it's just more mutants). The group really nothing more than a privatly funded group of super PIs that fight crime as a hobby. Their employer tells them who or what to investigate/apprehend and they do it. Other times, they just get caught up in something already in progress, or are called on by the city because the local law enforcement just thinks they're superheroes. Unlike "normal" superheroes, most of the team doesn't have any qualms about killing the bad guys instead of capturing them, and almost all of them have a sort of nasty streak in them. The team: Dark Guardians Whispering Death: Mystic Ninja framed for his father's and grandfather's death, fled to America to avoid death at the hands of his fellow ninja. Touchstone: A police sketch artist with super senses and a "borrowed" alien phase displacement harness that lets him walk through walls and a phase pistol. Hummingbird: A ex member of PSI and a very strong telepath and growing telekinetic. Darkstar: A negative material elemental once rescued by the team and is now paying his dept to them by helping any way he can. Parasym: The new guy. Once trapped in the astral plan and now bonded to an astral native that gives him brick-like powers. In the past, they have fought against Viper, Demon, PSI, a possessed hero group from the past, the creations of a mad genetisist and various minor villains. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngryBug Posted July 17, 2004 Report Share Posted July 17, 2004 Re: I Need a Plot, and Fast! The team: Dark Guardians Whispering Death: Mystic Ninja framed for his father's and grandfather's death, fled to America to avoid death at the hands of his fellow ninja. Touchstone: A police sketch artist with super senses and a "borrowed" alien phase displacement harness that lets him walk through walls and a phase pistol. Hummingbird: A ex member of PSI and a very strong telepath and growing telekinetic. Darkstar: A negative material elemental once rescued by the team and is now paying his dept to them by helping any way he can. Parasym: The new guy. Once trapped in the astral plan and now bonded to an astral native that gives him brick-like powers. Well, Parasym's the new guy, right? And they all have weirdo powers... what if the alien symbiote reacted in some way with one, or all, of the others' powers? Pick an outside trigger mechanism that's unlikely to re-occur, and their powers open a portal to a dark dimension, attracting the attention of Something From Beyond! Or the symbiote begins affecting the other heroes' powers... It would be a great introduction to the team if he started out by unintentionally causing them total havoc!! Since he's new, there's the high likelihood they'll think he's doing it on purpose, before someone realizes 'it was that strange energy blast/ odd glowing meteorite/ extradimensional experiment which triggered it'. I've read lots of other ideas here that you could combine with that- take Vanguard00's 'Unluck Guy'; what if the PCs' powers combined to unwittingly create him? Or if it was the Team itself which suddenly became Unlucky?! Again, this is off the top of my head, and more brainstorming than ready-to-use plot, but starting off with the character's powers messing with the PCs lays some nice groundwork for later, when the alien symbiote begins to grow in strength, and truly does start to become a potential threat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Carman Posted July 18, 2004 Report Share Posted July 18, 2004 Re: I Need a Plot, and Fast! Page 269 of Star HERO has a Random Plot Generator. Roll 1d6 for a Hook (like Client, Clue or MacGuffin), roll 2d6 for a Goal (Acquire, Destroy, Escape, Rescue, Survive), and two 1d6 rolls for Obstacles - 1d6 for number and 1d6 for type (Friend, Nature, Rival, Villain). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngryBug Posted July 20, 2004 Report Share Posted July 20, 2004 Re: I Need a Plot, and Fast! Well, DR? Did you find a plot? How'd the session go? Enquiring minds want to know! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dust Raven Posted July 20, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2004 Re: I Need a Plot, and Fast! Well, DR? Did you find a plot? How'd the session go? Enquiring minds want to know! Actually, it went amazingly well. I should never underestimate the ingenuity of my players. I've been trying to get my players to say something other than "I'm at the base" when I ask what they're doing at the start of a session. Today, it worked. Half the group said they were not only "on patrol" but were following up on a string of jewelry robberies and were staking out a particular target they expected to be hit that evening. So I just went from there. I threw Pulsar into the mess of robbers to shake things up, then had an "emergency" at base as the new guy appeared through an astral rift (their base in on a ley line nexus). The other half of the evening was a discovery period for Paradox (the new guy) as he discoverd he'd lost twenty years while trapped in the astral plane and somehow developed super powers while there. Next session, I'm gonna follow up with the Pulsar incedent by having something "strange" happen during this breakout. I'm not sure how to make an adventure out of it, but I'm gonna do something like Agent Smith in Matrix Reloded (lots and lots of Pulsars!!!). I don't think I want the actual possession and integration of other people becoming another Pulsar, but just popping new ones out of the ether. I'm looking forward to hearing my players groan when Pulsar excapes, again. Then get confused when he commits another crime, miles away, right after he's caught, again. Then I want to split up the group and have each half interrupt a different crime involving Pulsar at the same time. Then I'm gonna cut loose the the Pulsar Hoard of Doom! I think I might have actually found a way of making Pulsar scary... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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