badmudderfugger Posted March 12, 2005 Report Share Posted March 12, 2005 Howdy all, I'm planning to run a sci-fi campaign based loosely on the plot for the upcoming xbox game, Advent Rising. Advent Rising is a sweeping sci-fi epic about humanity's role in the larger universe and such. For my campaign, the character starts off as just a normal dude in present-day Vancouver. Half the first session is going to be spent with him interacting with his family/friends, just to establish the major relationships in his life, at the time. Then, out of the blue, he's struck by an incredibly bright star/meteor/something that falls from the sky. He blacks out and has a dream of a ringed world, a jungle temple and the faces of strange aliens. He wakes up to find himself in the remains of a hospital and seething with power that he can't control (powerful telekinetics and minor telepathy that seem to ebb and flow in their powerlevel). He struggles to control the abilities, but continues to devestate the city. Finally, he gets enough control and is taken into custody. He is placed in an out of the way area, guarded by the Canadian military and interrogated over intercoms and computer connections. He finds out that he isn't the only one who gained these abilities. On the opposite side of the globe (somewhere in Central Asia) another guy has gained similar abilities, only he's using his to devastate and conquer the region. The Canadians are being pressured by the US to surrender the PC to them for 'safe keeping.' From that point on, the PC pretty much has free reign to do what he wants, but a few things will come up. 1) The US will eventually send in a cover ops team to capture him. 2) The other dude, who is MUCH more powerful than the PC, comes looking for him This will go on for a bit, and then...the aliens arrive. Turns out, the light that gave both guys their power came from a system very, very far away in space where the ruins of an ultra-advanced human empire lay. Humanity didn't originate on Earth. Millenia ago, humanity was the head of a phenomenally powerful interstellar empire and then suddenly one day, vanished along with all their technology. In the time since, the various subject races that lived under the human empire have come into their own and developed their own civilizations. During their development, the memories of humanity faded and were perverted by myth and superstition. One of the first of the new interstellar civilizations was the Seekers, who sought to find any trace of humanity in the galaxy. The Seekers believed that the humans were cruel tyrants who had dominated the other races, until their empire was stuck down by the gods and erased from the face of the galaxy. They set out across the galaxy, with the secret intent of ensuring the total annihilation of the human race. The Seekers encountered other civilizations and incorporated them into their interstellar republic, all the while seeking for any trace of humanity. All they have found thus far has been broken and empty ruins of a once great empire. During this period, a secret warrior cult that worshipped humankind as the divine warlords of the galaxy developed in the ranks of the military. Unlike the other Seekers, the did not seek to annihilate humankind, but to help them regain their control over their empire. The problem was, though, that no one knew where humanity was, and even if it still existed. However, there was one race, the Aurelians, who called themselves the Shepards, that knew where humanity was. When their civilization fell, the last remnants of humanity were placed on a suitable planet, deep in an uncharted and unknown region of the galaxy. They were stripped of their knowledge and left to develop anew on their own. However, the Shepards, an order of monastic warriors, were charged with watching over humanity and keeping it safe during its development. It was prophesized that one day, a time would come for humanity to take its place among the stars again. Millenia passed and the Shepards watched humanity as its civilizations developed. Several hundred years ago, the Aurelians encountered the Seekers, and joined the interstellar empire they were building. The Aurelians were initially cautious of the expansionist Seekers, and quickly discovered that their caution was warranted. They deduced that the Seekers sought not to discover humankind, but to exterminate any possible threats to their own empire. The Aurelians kept what they knew to themselves and the Seekers, in turn, simply thought of the Aurelians as religious zealots. And so it remained, the Seekers looking for humanity, while the Aurelians kept the Seekers from Earth and kept Earth from learning about Interstellar society. This all changed a few days ago. On a planet, deep in the Seeker empire, the ruins of a human temple suddenly sprang to life and sent out an enormous pulse of energy. This pulse raced past the planets and systems of the empire and out into a seemingly barren area of space, landing on the third planet in an unremarkable system. Fleets of the Seekers tracked the pulse and have sent an armada to investigate what has happened. The Shepards realize that this is the event foretold of in the prophecy and are scrambling to track down the individuals affected by this pulse. They know that two will be affected by it and granted phenomenal powers, along with the ability to reawaken humanity's empire. They know that these two beings will represent both the worst and best of humanity. One will be a tyrant, the other a savior. One will be a conqueror and the other a redeemer. Whichever reaches the old capital of humanity's empire first, will be heir to its glories and determine the nature of the new empire. The PC will be contacted by the Shepards, just before the Seekers reach Earth and begin a quest to annihilate it. In addition, the warrior cult in the military will attempt to assist the other guy in reaching the prize. The campaign will then follow the path of the PC as he attempts to find out where the world is, with the help of the Shepards, all the while trying to stay ahead of the Seekers and beat out his nemesis and the cultists who follow him. My question for the community: What system do I do this in? My two main thoughts are either Tri-Stat or GURPS 4th. Tri-Stat has the great rules for powers that I'll need as the PC discovers the abilities that have been granted to him, but I'm not sure it will capture the gritty, sci-fi stuff that I want to feature in the campaign. I'm not sure I want to develop all the vehicles and ships and guns with powers. It just seems weird to have to build a vehicle as an Item of Power, instead of just making it with a separate set of vehicle rules. GURPS is a system that I've been meaning to get into for over a decade (including having purchased and sold GURPS 3rd about three times previously). I like what I see of the revision and it already has (or will shortly have) all the material I need to mix the psionic powers, superscience and alien races that I need to make this campaign work. My only reservation is: how well will it reflect the PC's powers as they advance? Sorry for the stupidly long post. I'm really excited for this campaign to get off the ground and I'd really appreciate your feedback! Cheers, Kev Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Posted March 13, 2005 Report Share Posted March 13, 2005 Re: Help me decide on a system for this game! Ummm yeah, I don't know, how about...HERO!!!! By the way that bares some similarity to where I think the Halo story line is going. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badmudderfugger Posted March 13, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2005 Re: Help me decide on a system for this game! I had initially posted this on a few other boards (GURPS, rpg.net, GOO) and one of the suggestions that was made was that I try out the Hero System as a possible middleground between Tri-Stat and GURPS. I used to run a lot of Champions 4th and I loved the system for superheroes, but found it lacking for other systems (although in fairness, I didn't take advantage of stuff like hit location, etc...). But, to give the system a fair shake I decided to try statting out the main character...and I'm really liking what I see. I am still planning on statting out the character for Tri-Stat and GURPS (when I buy the new books), but I figured I'd post what I came up with for feedback from the experts! Keep in mind, this guy is built using Champions 4th, not 5th, so I didn't bother detailing the points spent. I seperated the pre-Advent Gift and post-advent stats with a line (except for the powers. He doesn't have any powers before his gifts). Advent Rising PC - Champions Points: Base: 59 – 250 Att: 53 – 112 Skill: 46 – 59 Powers: 0 – 159 Dis: 40 – 80 Str 10 – 15 Dex 15 – 21 Con 10 – 15 Body 10 – 15 Int 18 – 18 Ego 18 – 18 Pre 16 – 16 Com 16 – 16 PD 2 – 5 ED 2 – 5 Spd 3 – 4 Rec 4 – 6 End 20 – 30 Stun 20 – 30 OCV 3 – 7 DCV 3 – 7 Move: 6†– 10†Swim 2†Skills: Computer Programming 16- Conversation 13- Electronics 14- Science (Math) 14- Streetwise 13- Knowledge/ Game Industry 15- Language: French Talents: Contact: Music Exec 8- Contact: Gaming Exec 8- Cramming - Ambidexterity Danger Sense 11- Powers: Multipower: Advent Gifts- 82 points 8- Energy Blast 6d6 (Cone, Double Knockback) 8 END 7- Energy Blast 6d6 (Radius, Double Knockback) 8 END 4- Force Field 31/11 4 END 6- Force Wall 16/8 6 END 2- Gliding 20†1- Running +10†(Increased END x6) 14 END 1- Superleap 10†(Increased END x4) 8 END 1- Telepathy 3d6 (No Conscious Control) 1 END Mental Defence 15 Force Field 9/9 (0 END, Persistent) Disadvantages: DNPC: Girlfriend 11- Psych Limit: Good Guy (Common, Strong) Rivalry: Boss at EA (Professional) - Hunted: Seekers (MoPo, NCI, 14-) Public ID Cheers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badmudderfugger Posted March 13, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2005 Re: Help me decide on a system for this game! Ummm yeah, I don't know, how about...HERO!!!! Ha ha Damn your fast typing!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Posted March 13, 2005 Report Share Posted March 13, 2005 Re: Help me decide on a system for this game! I'd suggest Hero5th, W/starhero and maybe Fantasy Hero (if you want to run the game using hero rules instead of champions, buy equipment and all). Aswell as the Ultimate vehicle and the vehicle source book. The Fantasy hero book gives a bunch of different ways to write up power systems (magic, but I use that as inspirado for my Force powers in starwars) to make them work in low points games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badmudderfugger Posted March 13, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2005 Re: Help me decide on a system for this game! Ok, I just finished building preliminary versions of the PC for both HERO 4th and Authority/Tri-Stat and I've had a few initial thoughts: I am really leaning in favour of HERO/GURPS for this game. I had a hell of a time modelling the lower level abilities and the use of energy/fatigue/endurance points the comes with the use of these powers. In addition, the powers in Authority get very powerful, very quickly, so it is extremely difficult to create characters with only slight levels in some powers. In HERO, I could build the character to have a low level forcefield that he could keep up to protect against most small arms fire that used no energy and a larger one that burned energy for use against more powerful weapons. In Tri-Stat, I couldn't build this. My next attempt is going to be with the Mutants and Masterminds system, but I know from the getgo that the lack of energy/fatigue/END in it is going to be a sorespot. I'm really looking forward to getting GURPS next week and giving it a go building him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Obvious Posted March 13, 2005 Report Share Posted March 13, 2005 Re: Help me decide on a system for this game! Let me put on my smug hat and say that with a setting this detailed and unique, you'll be best served by doing it with Hero. I'll second Rick's suggestions, too, and say that while you could definitely do this in 4th Ed Hero, picking up at least Star Hero and the Ultimate Vehicle would help big-time in dealing with the aliens. I've bought every 5th Edition Hero book I've seen, and a couple sight-unseen, and I still haven't been disappointed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badmudderfugger Posted March 16, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 16, 2005 Re: Help me decide on a system for this game! Howdy all, Well the votes are in and the result is: HERO. I took a good look over GURPS 4th today and found that it ultimately just couldn't do what I want for this campaign (in particular with how lethal firearms get...yikes). So, on the Captain's suggestion, I picked up Star Hero and Ultimate Vehicle today and I'm getting 5th edition revised from another gaming store on Saturday. I'm really impressed with both products and can see them both being very helpful for putting this campaing together (in particular the plethora of vehicles in UV and the rules for weapons, armour and other technology in Star Hero). Thanks for the suggestions guys, I'll keep y'all aware of how the campaign develops from here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badmudderfugger Posted March 16, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 16, 2005 Re: Help me decide on a system for this game! One final thing: I don't think I've ever really appreciated what the Hero system can do before. Warning: Gushing ahead Every time I've used it previously, I've approached it from a mechanics approach first and a concept afterwards. That's changed now. To see how effortlessly it modelled my PC concept is really astounding. While it may take a little longer to build stuff in Hero, I'm sold on it as the system for homebrew campaigns. You have now passed the gushing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Obvious Posted March 16, 2005 Report Share Posted March 16, 2005 Re: Help me decide on a system for this game! I'm glad things have gone so well for you. I'd have looked pretty silly sitting here in this smug hat if you had gone with something else... Yeah, let us know how things go. And if you need any help, as always, raving fanboys are standing by to answer your questions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.