Labrat

Re: Post-Apocalyptic Hero -- What Do *You* Want To See?

I found a website once, a year or two ago, that gave a timeline on how long it would take for our infrastructure to decay if we all suddenly went away and stopped taking care of it. How long it would take for houses to collapse, how long before bridges fell down, how long before our highways were overgrown.

 

But my Google-fu is weak and I can't seem to find that site anymore.

This looks like a job for QuestionMan! IM him and see if he can find something. I tried 'urban neglect' 'building deterioration neglect' and 'urban deterioration' but only got what appeared to be very boring references that I wouldn't want to wish on anyone.

Re: Steam Trek the Motion picture... video

The original Sooty was a bear puppet from a British TV kids show; this Sootie was a call back to that character.

Ah... I just thought it was just another silly thing.

And now for something completely different.

Re: Post-Apocalyptic Hero -- What Do *You* Want To See?

I don't necessarily agree that PA settings are "chaotic." Many are' date=' but some are not; one of the best and most gameable, that of the Pelbar Cycle novels, isn't any more chaotic than a typical Fantasy setting, I'd say.[/quote']

 

Allow me to qualify what I mean by 'chaotic'. Of course, as I previously stated, I'm operating under my own biases for how I have run the genre in the past so I'm open to some new light being shed on other avenues of adventure.

 

By 'chaotic' I mean the absence of law and order as we know it. Certainly some organizations will rise up quickly out of the ashes. Mostly you could count on some forceful legion of those who see the Apocalypse as a golden opportunity to strike down any strong competition and oppress the weak. Sure one could envision some kind of 'return to normalcy' occurring... but would this last? How long before raiders came to try to take the homestead? I use 'chaotic' to describe the inevitable struggle for resources when many others will be trying to obtain those same resources. Theft, deceit, backstabbing, embezzling, and murder would surely have it's time before any order was restored and trading based on honesty would resume. A straight-up fair-trade barter would be the exception to the rule in the new lawless world IMO. Of course, too, this 'chaotic' world might be a function of the population that survives. Rural America might do better, but urban America might do worse. Ten survivors might do better but one thousand might do worse.

 

Anyway that's my take on what I mean by 'chaotic'.

Re: Post-Apocalyptic Hero -- What Do *You* Want To See?

Anyway' date=' Steve, if you would, would you define what fits into the PA genre from your perspective in terms of theme? I mean in terms of whether it's basically the same as Labrat's definition ("a world where chaos rules the day, danger lurks everywhere (PC and NPC alike), the environment is the enemy (radiation, wild weather, crumbling cities), resources are limited, the strongest survive only as long as the smartest don't get the drop on them and the stand-by trope of 'everything new is old again' regarding technology") or whether you see it as something somewhat or substantially different?[/quote']

 

Or better yet, what constitutes a campaign 'soon after the Apocalypse' (Mad Max, Lucifer's Hammer) vs. 'generation(s) after the Apocalypse' (The Earth Abides, Battle Circle). And how to emphasize things. Zornwil is right, I'm biased towards the former and that's why my comments are of much interest to me... but that probably isn't universal.

Re: Post-Apocalyptic Hero -- What Do *You* Want To See?

At best I can hazard guesses, and if that seems helpful, I'll give it a shot.

 

 

I think in most cases the GM simply resolves this stuff dramatically in some way, and I'll certainly discuss that, but more than that you're not likely to get.

I think that we'd all appreciate you giving this a shot. Certainly you have a pile of books around you that will get you into the 'loosely informed' mode and us GMs would certainly appreciate any help we can get on the matter. Certainly a table or two based on relative consumable logevity would go a long way in order to play the genre up to its fullest potential. It really is a big part of the genre and worthy of mention. Didn't we all gasp when Mad Max's shotgun shell fizzled out at the dramatic apex of 'Road Warrior'???

So thanks for considering adding these things!

Re: Steam Trek the Motion picture... video

Brilliant. Why is Sootie a teddy bear?

The target-on-the-shirt thing is great.

The pie-fight is also great.

Why doesn't she just kick the bomb away? (Oh I know, she's just a woman)

That piano score is brilliant too.

I should be ashamed of myself for laughing at these things...

Re: Terran Empire Starships: Game Play

This' date=' of course, could be done with the Hit Location charts in TUV. But those shields are monsters...[/quote']

 

I would only hope so! Face it, IRL one wants the best protection possible. In space that would be even more emphasized. One way around that could be (again) borrowed from Star Fleet Battles where one had only so much power to allocate to all systems. If you wanted full frontal shields the rear or side ones would suffer. If one wanted all cannons firing at once the power would have to come from the shields.

 

Now, I've never played out a star ship battle in AW/TE yet but maybe I'll try one just to see what conclusions I come up with.

 

Was there any strains to the END batteries during the battles? Maybe that's the place to make the adjustments. If you're running full shields all the time then maybe you (or the GM) could stress that this will cost you by forcing weaker offensive capability. Another practial thought (especially in AW) is that one should have to drop shields to let missles through, how long does it take to charge missles back up again? I would also endorse the aforementioned Hit Location Charts. Once the damage starts getting though then the action should speed up exponentially.

Re: Post-Apocalyptic Hero -- What Do *You* Want To See?

I think there should be a distinction between what constitutes a 'Post-Apocalypse' game and a game with a 'Post-Apocalypse Backdrop'.

I think that 'The Matrix' and 'Judge Dread' (in the MegaCities at least) fall into the latter. I wouldn't want to see good page space committed to this backdrop outside of a blurb or two. The two cited examples could easily be put into Cyberpunk/Dark Champions as is. Where the action takes place outside of the Matrix or the MegaCities could easily be adapted to the upcoming PAH rules.

I would think that the concensus for the genre would be a world where chaos rules the day, danger lurks everywhere (PC and NPC alike), the environment is the enemy (radiation, wild weather, crumbling cities), resources are limited, the strongest survive only as long as the smartest don't get the drop on them and the stand-by trope of 'everything new is old again' regarding technology. When the Apocalyptic Event is just the backdrop where only a fraction of the action occurs (even Zion proper could be considered DH/Cyberpunk) then it's not the true Post-Apocalyptic genre IMO. Of course I must stress that IMO part. At first blush I would certainly consider both Judge Dredd and the Matrix as Post-Apocalyptic genre, even other literature I read complies with this alignment, but for the book at hand we are talking about page space and personally I would like to see a differentiation with only a quick mention of what games only use PA as a plot device and not as a gaming environment.

Re: Terran Empire Starships: Game Play

I havent tried actual combat yet with any of the ships, but it looks like combat will be a long drawn out affair

 

the Capitol Ships have enormous body and defense ratings, and things are going to boil down to dueling broadsides and who gets the first lucky hit

I remember Star Fleet Battles used to be like this, but what really sped things up were the equivalent of a Hit Location chart. If you hit the bridge, for example, you had a chance of knocking out a major system such as targeting or navigation. I can't recall if this is the same way for AW/TE though. Too sick today to actually look it up.

Geez, just remembering Star Fleet Battles brings back some fond memories. What a fun game! (and I'm not even a Trekkie)

Re: New Density Question

Another option :

 

Shrinking - 2 levels -

____(+1) Useable as Attack

____(+1 1/2) Increased Mass (6400 kg)

____(+1/2) Persistent

____(-2) Shrinks Mass ONLY, Provides no CV, Perception Modifiers, or any enhanced ability to fit in small spaces.

 

Tack on Reduced END cost if you like, and maybe more limitations.

Aww. Beat me to it. This seems to be the only weight-affecting power in the toolbox. I'd agree with this way too. The -2 for the 'Shrink Mass Only' seems a little steep though, I'd go with -1 personally.

Re: Turakian Almanac (non-official)

UPDATED! Now enriched with the NPCs found in Nobles, Knights and Necromancers based off of location and other sortable fields.

Still haven't gotten to Mhoracia though...

Now, since my last attempt to storing it locally as a .zip file was met with mixed results, just send me an email (ronald_miller@hotmail.com) and I'll send it to you directly.

As always, let me know what you think. Also if you want to contribute I won't complain!

Re: Post-Apocalyptic Hero -- What Do *You* Want To See?

This should get that ol' Fallout feeling going again:

http://fallout.bethsoft.com/teaser.html

The Fallout franchise has taken some undeserved hits and delays but in terms of post-apocalypse games, it is my opinion that it has no competition. YMMV.

Fallout was a great inspiration to me when I was writing Wasteland Hero and I hope it helps you guys out... at least by just getting a taste of the visuals.

Re: A more wretched hive of scum and villany...

Is that a custom Falcon or is that the $500 exclusive from Lego.com?

Good Lord, I thought my cabinet full of Star Wars Legos was impressive.

What has two thumbs and is jealous? This guy.

Re: Teleporting -- need a better name for it.

Sliding?

Tesseracting?

Re: Teleporting -- need a better name for it.

You could just call it 'Dennis'...

Gate-hopping

Flashpointing

Wormhole Riding (hey... lets keep it clean...)

Re: Post-Apocalyptic Hero -- What Do *You* Want To See?

In case anyone's interested' date=' I did a little googling and came across this webpage which discusses upcoming End of the World predictions coming after 2010.

 

We now return you to the interrupted thread.

I disagree with anyone from the Christian faith stating such things.

"Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come." Mt. 24:42

"Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you." Rev. 3:3

According to Christian beliefs, if we knew when to expect the Judge we'd live the wild life until the day (hour) before Dad was pulling up the driveway...

The 'Revelation' scenario generally shouldn't fall into the post-apocalyptic theme. It is a future where people will be living under a dystopia kind of government with one world religeon and one priest-king ruling the world. A loaf of bread will cost a day's wage (or a month's or a year's) and everyone will have to bear a special 'mark' in order to do any kind of commerce... the rebels wouldn't bear the mark and be considered 'outlaws', so that might work as a neat campaign theme. I don't know if I would classify that as a post-apocalypse sub-genre though, those who don't like the idea of starving would simply comply with the government's requests and sell themselves over to assimilation.

Re: Post-Apocalyptic Hero -- What Do *You* Want To See?

As far as trading goes' date=' maybe some watered down version of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs would help out. How well fed would someone have to be before trading some of his food for a working iPod sounds like a good idea?[/quote']

 

I think a section on Starvation and Dehydration rules would be more than appropriate for the genre... (I believe in Wasteland Hero I started chewing off REC as conditions worsened, it's been a while since I've looked at my own material but it made sense at the time).

 

I also think that this may be a good spot to insert any 'Heroized' rules regarding the effects of despiration on Sanity (especially since Horror Hero may not make it out for quite some time). How long before 'civilized man' turns cannibal? How long does a man have to go hungry before he shoots his own brother for a few crumbs? How long does a man have to suffer the psychological effects of being 'the last man alive' before he starts talking to a Wilson soccer ball? More importantly, how does this go on before it starts to affect characteristics and manifest as permanent Psychological Disadvantages?

Re: Post-Apocalyptic Hero -- What Do *You* Want To See?

There is also the Earth 2 style apocalypse. A colony expedition goes terribly wrong. I've also seen this else where in Trigun.

"Lost Planet: Extreme Condition" for XBox 360. Currently playing it right now. Terraformed colony goes bad, alien bugs are attracted to the 'heat'. (Why insectoids when they don't handle the cold very well? Don't get me started). But there's ruins and discarded tech and human bodies cast about frozen in the snow and ice pirates galore!

Re: Post-Apocalyptic Hero -- What Do *You* Want To See?

Well, I'll probably reprint the radiation info from SH (which is also in UEP) for more "realistic" games, and I'll certainly mention plagues as a cause of apocalypse, but that's about it.

 

 

 

 

Sorry, I need the sleep more than I need the dollar.

How about the jury-rigging and bartering skills?

Re: Post-Apocalyptic Hero -- What Do *You* Want To See?

I'd like to see a brief discussion on re-discovering technology. Something like research times' date=' underlying technology required to produce higher technology, Maybe a touch on the downside/side effects of failed attempts to operate unfamiliar technology. IRRC there was a mention of something like this in Star Hero, about the effects of using higher and lower ATRI level equipment. An expansion on this as a guide to developing/redeveloping low tech items.[/quote']

 

Agreed. And it would be fun to see some discussion about the condition of technology. I tried to tap into this over in Wasteland Hero but never felt quite comfortable with it. You're far more competent to approach this from a game-engineering perspective.

 

On that note I think that there might be a case to emphasize Charges and the age of the ammunition/batteries/food supply, etc. If you find batteries or ammo, there would be a better chance after years of neglect that they wouldn't hold thier charge or one out of every few would be bad. It adds to the drama. Also these modern resources, if no longer manufactured, would also make excellent bartering tokens.

 

And how about jury-rigging. Please don't forget to emphasize the importance of the Post-Apoc 'Inventor' who can make a radio out of some spare electrical components and a toaster oven (and a coconut?). If this is covered in the Ultimate Skill then that's cool, but a reference to this is fitting to the genre IMO.

 

Which brings me around to bartering. I know I may be asking too much, but will this be expanded on? (Haven't gotten to the Ultimate Skill yet so if it's covered there that would be cool to reference in PAH). How about some kind of chart that shows the most valuable commodities to have? A bottle of whiskey for a case of dog food? A new song or riddle for a warm meal? Without civilization intact weird things could start to get valuable very quickly.

 

Random Mutation Tables? Unlike Fantasy or Supers, the 'High PA' genre is about ugly mutants and scarred survivors, not all effects of the 'After-Effect' will be beneficial! How about the effects of 'undomesticated animals'? Rampant packs of feral animals, no longer our best friends...

 

Also are you going to cover Radiation and Rampant Plagues? Or will The Ultimate Energy Projector cover those things sufficiently?

 

Any chance this book can come out in the next week or so? There's a dollar in it for you if it can!

Re: Any advice for a CSI-style campaign?

Many good suggestions, thanx.

 

I don't believe anyone has yet addressed the question of how to describe the crime scene to the players, though. Let's say the crime scene is a family murdered in a home. How should I describe this to my players?

There are a few great books on the subject of 'How to Write a Crime Novel'. I have one at home but I'd have to dig it out to see who the author is. These books are usually instant gratification since they tend to be short in chapters and long on dramatic info.

Re: Any advice for a CSI-style campaign?

How about a special Serial Killer task force? It adds the element of persistent danger.

Also, IRL, the crime lab techs rarely go to the actual scenes, the evidence tech guys are police officiers who also get to carry crime kits in their cars. And the crime lab scientists work with a lot more lighting than seen on CSI. And the answer is never as easy as loading a GC-autosampler and getting immediate results. Plus their treatment of PCR is a joke. Having a degree in Crime Lab makes the shows less fun for me.

Re: Krim?

Krim is so tough, that under his beard, there's no chin, just another fist!

 

 

 

Sorry, I'll get me coat..

Krim only wears those crowns because it entertains Chuck Norris.

(yes... even I am getting sick of the Master Chuck references but this one was begging to come out.)

Re: Testimonials: Perfect Pitch

It would be more likely Buck Owens and his banjo and Roy Clark with his guitar.

 

Although I'm sure that both could probably play both easily enough. (8^D)

 

- Christopher Mullins

Duly noted... I never claimed to be a Hee Haw expert. You think Owens had Perfect Pitch with his banjo?

"Thems piggies will come a-runnin' now!"

Re: Testimonials: Perfect Pitch

There are no "old" episodes of Hee-Haw. The nuances are so subtile that is is brand new every time time you watch.

 

Repped! One for Roy Clark and his banjo!