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Hello Survivors!
I'm opening up the discussion thread so the players can talk about anything they want such as:
-Game ideas and concepts
-Concerns
-Character concepts, backgrounds, ideas of why you are all grouped together.
Here are some ideas I have roaming through my head. Feel free to pick which ones you like or add new ones and open this up for discussion since this is after all... the discussion thread...
-I want to push you guys out into the wasteland as that is where the adventure is.
-You guys are already a nomadic tribe/gang of wasteland survivors or
-You are from a settlement and you guys are the muscle of the settlement. It is your job to go into the wasteland and scavenge, go on missions, run courier jobs to other settlements and fight the bad guys. Or
-You guys are the survivors of a settlement that was overrun and destroyed by Road Rats (psychotic predators of the wasteland - think the Lord Humongus and his gang of psychopaths from the Road Warrior and you have the idea).
Or if you guys are completely evil inclined you could be a gang of Road Rats...
Is your character from the new generation of post apocalypse kids or are you old timers who remember life before the war?
Is 30 years post apocalypse too much? Should we go ten years instead? Basically do you want a Mad Max scenario or a Book of Eli scenario?
I like the idea of at least starting in a settlement, and playing the role of a group scavenging for supplies. It gives us a common goal from the get go, and the more invested we are in the settlement t the more inspired we'll be to track down the rats if they destroy it ;) Plus, I see heaps of role-playing opportunity in working towards fortifications etc.
I'm a massive Mad Max fan so I'm voting g for that style of game personally, bit my concept works either way. Looking forward to statting out my character ("James John Corbett", a tough as nails outrider with a heart of gold)
I'm okay with any of those premises. Bantamweight is right that working to better a settlement will give us a common goal. Having our settlement overrun by Road Rats would give us more of a run on a revenge plot, but also having far less resources, which is also an idea that I'm into. I'm less into the idea of being an evil gang.
Depending on what kind of scenario we go with, I'm a bit on the fence about what I'll actually play. Right now I'm sort of thinking of Healer or Lore Keeper.
I am pretty flexible on how long after the apocalypse it is. Both suggestions present interesting roleplaying opportunities.
I like the idea that we are nomads. One idea that we conjured up with one group of mine, but it never took off, would be that the PCs are a wandering rock band, complete with their own gig bus! :D
30 after the bomb is fine with me. I don't want my character dwelling in past glories.
Edit - Oh, and my character idea is nomad greaser, but if someone else wants to play a mechanic, I'll think of something else.
Playing nomads wouldn't be so bad either, but I can't imagine there'd be much call for a rock band in a post apocalyptic world... Would there?
Everyone just rolls Doof Warrior.
That rock band idea was more for the laughs, but I think that it could be workable. In tough times relief that entertainment brings can be more wanted than ever. I'm thinking of travelling trobadours of europe a few hundred to thousand years ago. A similar idea is a traveling circus, but I have played that one already in face-to-face Warhammer.
But whatever the majority thinks I'm okay with that. At this point there haven't been any ideas that wouldn't work for me :) ....except perhaps that Road Rats idea. That could get old fast.
By the way, where's everybody from?
Just curious cuz of time differences between us. I'm from Finland, timezone GMT +2.
Chicago UTC -6
oh, totally didn't see this thread. almost done with my character, barring any tweaks that need to be made for party cohesion.
10 or 30 after the bomb, doesn't matter to me. I guess a sliiiiiight preference towards 30.
I think Nomadic Tribe or Settlement, with a preference towards Settlement, is what I'd like most.
My character will be "Chop Shop", a Hauler. I set my Hauler up mostly with defense and off-road ability in mind, but it does have a single machine gun for offense. Armor and guns for vehicles really cost a lot of points. But I can increase that stuff later when we scavenge some really good stuff. A Road Warrior among the party would be helpful to defend the rig as well, if anyone was so inclined. And Moracai's Greaser would be totally welcome, as my character can do some decent mechanic work but can't compare to a Greaser.
Basically my character is best suited for us getting out to a place, scavenging the stuff, and getting it back to the settlement. Or, delivering things from settlement to settlement.
I am in GMT -10 and soon moving to GMT -8
I am still working on my character. I've decided to go for the Medic route rather than the Lore Keeper route, but I'll probably still be pretty high in Lore. Proooobably going with Bartertown for the background.
Figuring I'd be a decent scavenger, maybe see notice things that other folks don't, due to knowing their original functionality a bit better. And obviously keep people alive.
Oh, and I'm in Boston, so GMT-5.
Yeah, so many cool character ideas i played with. Medic seemed awesome, Lore Keeper too, thought i wanted to do a sneaky bounty hunter type, then settled on a driver since that is fairly rare in the typical fantasy games i play on these boards.
Tenro's submission.
Moracai here.
I have a lot to adjust for in these boards. I completed my character writeup but the software kicked me out when I pushed the confirm button...
Not a happy camper at the moment but I'll give it another go after work. I ended up with a Scavenger Nomad after all.
I'll hopefully have my character statted out in the next few hours. I'm thinking of changing my outrider to a road warrior (I thought everyone would be doing road warrior, but I haven't seen one so far and I think it would compliment chop shop nicely). I'm Australian, eastern standard time zone. I am so keen for this guys, looking forward to getting to know you and your characters!
Moracai here.
I have a lot to adjust for in these boards. I completed my character writeup but the software kicked me out when I pushed the confirm button...
Not a happy camper at the moment but I'll give it another go after work. I ended up with a Scavenger Nomad after all.
Ah yes, ensure you do it up in notepad or some kind of text program and then copy it in. It doesnt like it when you submit after too long a wait.
Hey guys, Bantamweight here. Just wanted to let you know I've generated my character for this. Slim (Road Warrior) has been rolling with Chop Shop for a year or two, and is pretty handy behind the wheel as well. He's got some big plans for future upgrades on his chariot, a heavily modified 1970 Ford Mustang, and currently has a spare seat in the cab for a gunner (just don't ask what happened to the last one...) :)
Oops, I rolled my free scavenger roll in private. I'll do it here instead and adjust accordingly
So, 2 Encyclopedia Volumes. One is battered/used, but otherwise fine, and the other is basically new. Horray!
So in the interest of fairness I'm rolling my scavenge result here, as I didn't distant earlier where I would be scavenging.
Happy to take whichever result dm rules is fairest, sorry for messing this up. If you can't tell, pbp is new to me
Hey JJC - the settlement you come from will have all the tools you need unless you are after something exotic so assume you have a full set of mechanic tools and grab yourself some industrial supplies you scavenged for.
For those with the appropriate story line it is common on your team to keep some of what you'll need to survive from scavenges
(Based on your feedback I think you guys being the elite road team for a mid sized settlement gives us the most story possibilities)
The town sheriff kind of knows you guys are doing this, which is against the town rules, but doesnt say anything about it. A couple of the town cops who have attitudes with your team suspect the same but cant prove it - since they never leave the gates anyway.
Hey, I'm over from rpgsite, Bloodwolf. California.
No character, yet.
I noticed some folks have a die roller. Where is that located?
Also, any particular concepts that the group needs?
Darkwolf, to do dice rolls, you do the following, but instead of Parenthesis () use Brackets []
(dice)1d6(/dice)
(dice=scavenge)2d6(dice)
so on and so forth. same thing goes for
(b)bold(/b)
(i)italic(/i)
(ooc)blue, out of character(/ooc)
as for what the group needs, good question. I have never played this system before, so take my responses with a grain of salt. here are my impressions:
Airman: could be good for us to have some air support, though i worry that they might not get enough vehicle points to have something that won't take a dive after a single bullet.
Beastmaster: with several of us having vehicles, beasts likely can't keep up unless we load em into the hauler, which would be ok if that is what you want to do.
Bounty Hunter: seems like they could be useful in any situation.
Brave: not sure it jives with out "city-folk" theme.
Greaser: with several vehicles, this is an invaluable member of the team.
Hauler: that's me. If we were to have two of these, we would need more Road Warriors for sure.
Healer: seems like every group could use one. I think Yorick is rolling one.
Lore Keeper: could be useful in many situations, seems like a secondary combatant.
Outrider: motorcycle man. Seems cool, but also seems like one crash on a motorcycle would be game over for you.
Pit Fighter: not sure our town would have a gladiator pit, but then again it might.
Raider: not sure how well a Raider would be taken in our town, but that would be up to GM. Get a small amount of vehicle points. Dune buggy would be your best option, since 10 points for trucks would get you the smallest truck with only 2 points left for customization.
Road Warrior: The Hauler's best friend, and as a Hauler, I am a little biased and can't have enough of them protecting my rig. This gets you a good amount of points to customize your car.
Scavenger: These seem like one of those things every team wants at least one of. I would say no more than two, because each place we encounter will only have a finite amount of stuff to scavenge. Moracai has rolled a Scavenger, I think.
Sentinel: This seems to be a good fit for us coming from a settlement. starts with a little armor and some binos as well, which is a nice perk. And it would be good for our team to have a buddy in the sheriff's department.
Shaman: seems less suited for settlement life, but in a large enough settlement I am sure people would love to have all the help they can get.
Skulk: seems pretty useful. every team needs people who can fight. and you get lockpicks and the skill to use them.
Wastelander: could fit thematically, but the mount wouldn't be very useful for you in a party with cars.
If we don't have one, I'll roll up a Remnant Greaser, otherwise an Airman or Outrider if we do have a Greaser.
from what I see above, looks like Moracai was going to make a Greaser but ended up with Scavenger instead.
I think we're at this, now:
Moracai - Lucas "Stinker" Sanchez - Nomad Scavenger
Tenro - Chop Shop - Bartertown Hauler
Bantamweight - James John Corbett - Nomad Road Warrior
YoricksRequiem - Bartertown Healer
Darkwolf445 - Remnant Greaser
Which is a great assortment. I've been feeling ill today but I have my stat block done and just need to draft up a backstory / personality and I'll be ready to go.
Seems like a pretty balanced group, even though we've only got my car and Chop Shop's rig it'll be good to have extra hands to operate the guns when we run into trouble on the road. Healer, scavenger and greaser all seem like really solid choices, I think we'll do well.
Will do Brian, I'll adjust my sheet now. I imagine Darkwolf will have some pretty sweet tools anyhow
I may have missed it, is there somewhere that we are putting up our characters/stats?
I may have missed it, is there somewhere that we are putting up our characters/stats?
Yes, on these boards, people typically make an "alias" for each character. To do so, do the following steps:
Click "My Account" at the very top of the page.
Sign in if needed.
Just left of the middle of the page should be a column, the third box of which should be titled "Messageboard Aliases". In that box, click the "Create New Alias" button.
Select a name for the Alias (character name) and put in the box (normally the box has your actual name or account name in it by default).
"Avatar Image" will display "None", click "Change"
Use the checkboxes to limit the avatar images displayed, we are all human so click human under race, and pick a gender. That's all I would limit it to, and find an image you like. Hover over the image and a dropdown will appear, scroll to the bottom of the dropdown and click "Use this avatar/image"
Click finish or create or whatever the final button is, then navigate to that alias and click the "Profile" tab, which is where you can paste your info into.
NOTE: as i posted above, it is best to write your character up in Notepad or Word or some similar program, then copy/paste it into the alias instead of drafting the whole thing in the profile box on the site, which will invariably lose all of your data.
Same with posts, always select all (CTRL+A) and copy (CTRL+C) before submitting, so if it loses the post you can just paste (CTRL+V) it back into the form.
Thanks
According to the website as soon as I open up the gameplay thread and you post into it you are automatically included in the character and players tab.
I dont want to open the gameplay thread just yet so that you guys have the weekend to discuss the game and party dynamics that you are looking for - plus since some people dont read these threads on the weekend I want to give everyone Mon and Tues to put in their story line ideas and requests, group discussion, whatever.
I've already changed the campaign concept based upon your discussion and requests. Here is what I'll add as well:
Approx ten years post war. The world isnt doing very well....
You are the elite long range team for a very successful agricultural community. Dont worry - there is a built up town of survivors as well, its just that your town actually has defendable farming terrain - thus food and trade - as well.
As per atomic highway rules you get to choose your vehicle. If there is room on your vehicle for additional people, gunmen, turrets etc - these will all be NPC's that you, the player, will control. In other words you are the vehicle commander (though you can sit in any seat you want) and when the action begins you'll dictate who on your vehicle is doing what.
If you dont have a vehicle just choose on which vehicle and position you are riding in. You of course will dictate your own actions.
You can put some thought into your NPC's but the rule of the long range road team is 'Do your job and dont get too close to anyone". In other words your NPC's are going to be GM fodder. Dont think too much about them or get too attached as they may not be around for very long.
If you put a lot of work into your characters already on this thread - dont worry - just cut and paste once we open the gameplay thread.
Because of the emp blast vehicles with electronics dont work. That is why everyone rides around in old muscle cars and crazy ass vehicles built from scratch.
For those of us who don't start with vehicles, will we have the option to get them at a later time? Having a horse is fine for now, but I'd love to get a motorcycle at some point.
For those of us who don't start with vehicles, will we have the option to get them at a later time? Having a horse is fine for now, but I'd love to get a motorcycle at some point.
I think for the story line we'll need to give you a motorcycle so you can stay with the team. Unless the team dictates that the mission requires you to bring your horse with you.
Awesome.
Anyone in the party is welcome to man the spare machine gun on my rig. I imagine JJC will have a gunner spot as well.
My rig can hold Driver (me) +4, and the rules don't specify that me adding a turret adds a spot, but common sense tells me that it probably does. I imagine a big rig with Driver+4 means driver, passenger, and a 3-passenger seat behind the front seats.
In any event, 3 passengers besides the gunner could be firing out the windows of my truck. However, they take -1 to their total dice I believe increase their Difficulty by 1, at least until we get enough scrap metal and bolts to add small arms mounts on the passenger doors. I could fire out my window will driving, but my firearm is a 2-handed weapon so i need to get a pistol or something during play.
My plan to improve my rig is to increase its nimbleness at least 1 (since steering uses the lower nimbleness between myself and the truck) but preferably increase it by 2. I also want to increase the armor, which shouldn't be too hard since that is just bolting scrap metal on there. The turret is up top towards the back and currently the gunner in there will have really good protection and a 360-degree firing arc. It has a medium machine gun, and I would like to get one more turret and get them both upgraded to heavy machine guns. Also early on I want to add a winch on there so we can more easily haul back junk cars to the settlement for some good scrap. Maybe increase Speed by 1 to have a better shot in chases, though if enemies catch up to us, they're gonna have a rough time near the front of my rig since I can sideswipe them for extra damage. Wheel spikes will be good for that as well.
I think for the story line we'll need to give you a motorcycle so you can stay with the team. Unless the team dictates that the mission requires you to bring your horse with you.
Oh, aces. Thanks! Out of fairness to those who have Pursuits that give them vehicles, I think that I probably shouldn't get any customisation points since I'm getting a vehicle for basically free? Or maybe a low amount of starting points? Not sure what the ruling should be, but I'd obviously prefer to be fair to everyone! Either way, getting a bike and/or materials for upgrades will be something that I'll be looking for.
Alternatively I can just ride with someone for the start - I didn't realise that Chop Shop's has 4 extra seats and JJC's has 3 extra.
If I do end up getting the motorcycle, whether it's at the beginning or down the line, I'm thinking of it being a quick-moving scout vehicle. While Chop Shop's truck will be a mobile fortress (albeit a potentially slow moving one), and I'm imagining JJC's as something of a Defender / Enforcer, I'd put the bike as something that can't necessarily hold its own in a fight, but has some speed / maneuverability, and maybe a couple tricks like the oil slick or a smoke dispenser. I'd potentially slap a sidecar and mounted turret on it to make it not worthless during firefights. Or maybe a short range flame thrower or something. Still having a slightly different role than the others.
But being a medic I'd definitely have different requirements and would be more concerned with mobility / speed.
So as I understand it you don't want PC's riding in each other vehicles? I'm cool either way, Chop is right in saying that I need someone to fill the gunner's spot and I have 2 more passenger seats in the back. Being an older model mustang it's a coupe, so I imagine the back windows aren't really viable for shooting out of (to fire at something behind us I picture the front passenger leaning out the window and using a personal firearm or detaching the machine gun from its mount and using it).
I hope to rig up a makeshift rollcage, upgrade my armour to heavy and increase by nimbleness by at least 1 later on. Maybe some sort of swivel mounted flamethrower or heavy machine gun would be cool too, depends on what we find.
I'll be sticking close to Chop if we run into trouble on the road, I'm really excited to see how the vehicular combat plays out.
A winch sounds like a great idea, maybe we could build a trailer down the track as well?
Oh, aces. Thanks! Out of fairness to those who have Pursuits that give them vehicles, I think that I probably shouldn't get any customisation points since I'm getting a vehicle for basically free?
I think no customization points sounds fair. A motorcycle scout sounds pretty handy on a road crew but how you guys organize and utilize each other is up to you of course.
If Darkwolf is your Greaser he'll be able to make upgrades on all of your vehicles once the game starts.
So as I understand it you don't want PC's riding in each other vehicles?
No, no no. Sorry about the confusion. I definitely am all for the PC's riding with each other. I think that will make for some great team dynamics not to mention exciting action as at least one player can 'run and gun'.
Once the game starts your team greaser can do most of the easier upgrades as that is his specialty.
Sweet. I figured Hauler would be fun, really let us bring back as much salvage as possible, and also give us something to rally around outside of the town.
PC or NPC in my vehicle, it's all good to me. A PC would be better in the gunner spot (since ties between PC and NPC go to the PC).
For 4 other passengers in the hauler, if Chop Shop gets a say in who the town sends with him, he'd ask for two skilled shooters, a brawler, and a spare greaser.
Chop Shop in the driver's seat, Brawler behind him in case anyone gets the funny idea to jump on to the drivers side he wants someone to pull the guy off. Shooters on both passenger side windows to fire out. Greaser in the back center. Only asking for a spare greaser since the repairs take all day and we have two big vehicles that will need repair and only one PC greaser. These NPCs can also take security positions in situations where we have to get out of the vehicles. This is all assuming a PC is in my gun turret, otherwise I'd probably ask the town for a spare shooter for that as well.
Since the main shooters will be on the left side, JJC's battlecar ought to be off the driver's side to cover that angle of fire. That also gives him the best chance to shoot out of his own driver's side window while driving for maximum cool points.
JJC given that your vehicle has an interior pivot mount, what direction is the arc facing? The driver would make most sense firing forward so he is keeping "eyes on the road" with the pivot off the passenger side (allowing it a 180-degree arc from front to rear).
I am trying to think of a way to utilize your back passengers more. Since the Hauler can hold most cargo and you'd wanna be light for speed, you could cut out the trunk and put the pivot mount facing the rear, giving you one back passenger firing, you and a front passenger able to fire out the front windows with personal arms, and i guess your other back passenger on reloading duty, haha.
That is a sweet idea Chop! Consider it done, I'll have a rear facing pivot mount which can be operated from the back seat with one guy reloading, front passenger and driver can handle any incoming enemies. I'll stick to your drivers side to keep you covered, and if anyone comes up on our blind spot we can play it by ear.
And I agree Brian, I think the dynamics of multiple PC's in one car will make for some awesome role playing opportunities!
well, shouldnt be too bad of a blind spot, honestly. say we are driving forward (12 o'clock)...
- You and your passenger can cover from like 9 to 12 (9 to 3 if you are even with the front of me)
- my passenger side folks can cover 12 to 3.
- your rear gunner can handle 6 to 9 (3 to 9 if you are even with the back of me)
- my gunner can cover from 1 to 11, with a small blind spot directly in front of the truck, but it could hit 12 o'clock on targets outside of short range.
So, while we have all angles covered, some maneuvering would be in order if we want to bring more than a small portion of our firepower to bear in any direction.
True, I forgot about your 360 turret. I suppose we should establish some kind of "actions on" list for encountering other vehicles on the road. Are we shoot first, ask questions later? Or are you thinking more of a case by case system? I'm trying to put myself in the headspace of a road warrior, I think you'd be hyper cautious on a post apocalyptic highway . That said, I don't think my character would be cool with gunning down innocents just because he was feeling a little tense. What do you guys think about road etiquette in a setting like this?
Yeah, good question.
I have a CB radio, so that might give the others an option to contact us, but i dont imagine theyre all that common.
Granted, i think we keep guns trained on 'em as caution, and see what they do. if they're going to attack, they'll attack anyway, but if they consider peace an option, they might try to use a speaker to chat.
also, we could get some flags with a system between our cars. wave a black flag, we shoot on sight. wave a blue flag, we talk. that sort of thing.
though i imagine if we have a guy on a motorcycle and he comes back with gunfire at his back, we already know what to do haha
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also, i think an important bit is who comes up on who. if the strangers are doing something and we roll up, they'll likely decide to shoot or not, and we likely wouldnt just roll up guns blazing unless we recognized them as a raider gang.
but if they come up on us, we have the right to caution, perhaps a warning shot at them. if they're planning on raiding us, i am sure they will initiate firing.
I think the CB radio will be awesome if we can find a second one for my car too, not Too sure on whether or not we'll run into people with one though (and then matching frequencies could be a drama too.). Flags would be great, easy to use and we could have a number of colours for different scenarios.
Haha yeah, if the biker comes back to us under fire we should know what to do. I just hope the poor guy can stay upright , bike crashes seem so brutal in this system.
I agree that we run the risk of being fired upon by folks who may not necessarily be raiders, and I think our flag systems could work in our favour here. If we roll up slow with the white flag waving hopefully we can convey our peaceful intentions. If not, we can always carry on and if they pursue make a decision then.
Yeah, flag system is the best low-tech solution. Later we can mod our vehicles with loudspeakers, but the parts for that will be more rare than scrap and rivets for gun mounts and armor.
Alright, I think I have my character together.
That said, I don't think my character would be cool with gunning down innocents just because he was feeling a little tense. What do you guys think about road etiquette in a setting like this?
I imagined it like a scene in Firefly, I forget what episode it was. But they came across a ship of Reavers - essentially psychotic cannibals - and had a super tense few minutes as they tried to pass by it, unsure if it was going to attack, and knowing that if they break off and run for it, they'll be chased. I think there'd be a lot of moments like that, since I'm also unlikely to just gun down other. I think they'd be a lot of trying to "act casually".
A CB Radio is a great, great idea!
A CB Radio is a great, great idea!
:) The problem with a CB is all electronics get fried with an EMP blast. Maybe a talented electronics greaser could build one from scratch assuming they can find the parts preassembley? I suppose anything is possible as humans are resourceful but boy that would be a hot ticket item!
You guys are experienced survivors (unless for some reason you want a character background where your character is naive and sheltered. Say they grew up protected in a settlement from the start)
You've seen it all on the road: Cannibals, road rats, other road crews, convoys, refugees, nomads, gangs, people being attacked, murder, accidents and worse.
The thing with predators is they only attack those weaker then themselves. Except for the crazies who are completely unpredictable. If you guys show enough muscle on the road most predators will figure it is not worth messing with you. Maybe....
Estelle brings up a great point... if you pass Road Rats and they let you pass because they dont want to mess with you... what happens after you pass? Will they follow you and try and attack you at night? Attack if you break down? Will you lead them straight to a settlement which they could then attack after you leave? Will nothing happen? Tough calls all around.
You guys can have ammo for your main guns but not enough to do a reload. Ammo is getting scarce and machine guns burn through your ammunition supply pretty fast. Dont worry - this means you have WAY more ammunition then most but its not going to last you long if you arent careful with it.
There will be story lines though to ensure we have full on machine gun moving car wars for the fun of it. Really though those mainly happened in the first few years after the war when ammunition was still readily available.
You can have unlimited arrows, bolts, makeshift weapons etc. People are getting pretty creative with a compressed air machine and what it can shoot when mounted to a vehicle.