So JP is one of my favorite movies of all time. I been toying with the idea of a modern game via PF rules only limit classes, weapons, etc.
I think the only traditional hero classes I’d allow are: Ranger(Park wardens; No magic), Rogues (only don’t pick talents unrelated to combat; more espionage in nature), Investigator (no magic), archeologists bard, and All the NPC classes. Probably leaving some out.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
First things first, make a map of all the various pens and visitors centers, the employee's living quarters, and IT centers, as well as an "Emergency Response Team" center (probably where your PC's will be on a team together) that is equipped with vehicles and a host of various firearms that shoot tranquilizer darts. Let's say one of the largest herbivore pens (The Grazing Pen) is several thousands of acres of grazing land, you'll also have a Velociraptor pen, an aquatic zoo with multiple aquariums for the swim-y types, an aviary for flyer-types, a Hatching Center for newborn dinos that is closely monitored by biologists and veterinarians, a Tyrannosaurus Rex pen, etc.
Next, you'll also have to come up with a "Manifest-of-sorts" about your dinosaur population in each of these pens (you could take this a step further and even come up with a "planned schedule" for dino population increases due to the rate of newborns of each dino type), probably even naming each of the dinosaurs as if the employees have named them (i.e. a stegosaurus named Ol' Bessie, a velociraptor named Franz Ferdinand, triceratops named Grumpylumpkin-- Grumpy for short, etc.), as well as naming each of the employees who work in each of these areas and what their jobs are.
===========================================
Once your map is drawn and all that info has been created, I would come up with a %-style chart of mishaps/events that can happen with the park (and I would allow the PC's to make this roll for added anticipation/drama reasons, as opposed to the DM making this roll); i.e.,
1) The Velociraptor Pen loses power but the fence is still electrified and running on backup power--the backup generator can run for up to 12 hours
2) Something spooked the Triceratops pen and they charged through the fence to get away from it, one Triceratops is unconscious just outside the fence (ostensibly wounded from being shocked by the perimeter fencing), but the other 5 Triceratops have left the pen and are running amuck.
3) In The Grazing Pen, a Pachycephalosaurus rammed a Stegosaurus during some sort of a territorial dispute, and now 3 hours later the Stegosaurus has become lethargic and isn't moving (just laying down, but is still awake). The wounded Stegosaurus is located 13 miles from the main entrance to The Grazing Pen.
4) One of the aquariums in the Aquatic Zoo has sprung a leak and is losing 30 gallons per minute. At this rate, the water loss can be critical to the dinosaurs in 8 hours, but the real problem is (or could be) the area that is being flooded.
5) A pack of 135 Compsognathuses are loose in the Visitor's Center! Visitors and employees alike have entered "Shelter-In-Place" protocols and are awaiting evac/rescue. They have taken the Bridge and the Second Hall. We have barred the gates, but cannot hold them for long. The ground shakes... Drums. Drums in the deep. We cannot get out. A Shadow moves in the dark... We cannot get out... They are coming.
^---- I would come up with well over 100 of these mishaps/events, just in case they roll the same % twice, and to keep the mishaps/events flavorful.
Once you've created all of this, I would roll on your %-chart probably 3-4 times and actually play these mishaps/events out before the PC's actually show up for their first game and start playing, that way there are "storyline-based scars" on your Jurassic Park that provides meaningful damage, as well as repair, to your Park that the PC's can see/hear/feel, as well as stories that the employees can tell about their firsthand witness accounts regarding these mishaps/events.
Once the game starts, at various time intervals (1/hour, 1 every 4hours, 1/day, 3/day, 1/week, w/e you decide), roll a % die to find out what happens.
That is the hardest part for me is deciding classes. I’m not sure if I want them as park staff trying to contain or visitors like Grant with their goal being survival to get back to main building.
I’m definitely sold on no magic. Some magical effects I would reskin as science. Example NPC wise: Dr. Wu would probably be an alchemist; (1) Only he wouldn’t have full extracts, certain spells would be reskinned. (2) wouldn’t have a mutations (although the idea of an experiment gone wrong turning him into a dinosaur version of the Lizard from Marvel could work), (3) Bombs would remain (I’m aware he isn’t a combat NPC but I don’t want to completely gut a class). Classes like a ranger would only lose spell casting. The only way I see a vigilante working is as a spy to steal data and selection of feats/talents would be to to help them hide.
While NPCs like Mauldun and Owen would be rangers (regular and pack master respectively); the rest of the emergency staff would be fighters. With taser weapons/rounds (merciful shock weapons reskinned as technology) on pole arms or flat out use the stun gun/baton from technology guide (Probably the latter). Tranq rifles would probably be reskinned crossbows or use dart gun but up the range of fire, weight of weapon, etc. possibly give it a magazine allowance for semi auto fire vs. single shot. Healing will be done exclusively via heal checks and Pharmaceuticals. Drawing a blank if I want the healers to be alchemist as well or just experts that specializes in medicine.
The rest of that stuff will be easy. Again its classes that should be allowed where I am struggling
Oh yeah plot wise I’m doing somewhere between JP and JW. The park will be open vs. a test run. A mishap releases the dinosaurs. Depending on players role will be containment or running/survival. I’m leaning towards the second cause I want more survival fear than dino fps
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
So with the whole no magic thing, this is more of a survival game than Turok the Dinosaur Hunter, right? The objective is not to militarize and annihilate the dinosaur population, correct?
Use terrain and environment to impede the party's movement and vision. Use temperature and weather and exhaustion from marching effects to add another layer of gritty survival "realism".
Weapons are going to be extremely limited... to what is either found in the armory, made on site, or brought with the characters from the beginning. The ability to upgrade said weapons is also going to be nonexistent, or at least limited to what the party can manage on their own without magic... that leaves Master Craftsman or the Advanced Armor/Weapon Training options as your only real options for weapon and armor enchantments or upgrades.
Healing can be done with Psychic Sensitivity/Incredible Healer/Healing Hands/Signature Skill... or even Druidic Herbalism or Divine Alchemy from VMC Druid or Cleric. I would almost allow Alchemy to exist as-is, but that may be too close to magic for the flavor you are looking for.
Are you limiting races, like is everyone human? A party of Kobolds would be hilarious. Lol.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Again its classes that should be allowed where I am struggling
I'd allow all classes, but just have zero magic or supernatural abilities. Ex abilities would probably still be kosher, maybe disallowing certain Ex's on a case-by-case basis. Some classes would obviously be more attractive than others with a game like this, but I'd still offer all classes.
So with the whole no magic thing, this is more of a survival game than Turok the Dinosaur Hunter, right? The objective is not to militarize and annihilate the dinosaur population, correct?
Use terrain and environment to impede the party's movement and vision. Use temperature and weather and exhaustion from marching effects to add another layer of gritty survival "realism".
Weapons are going to be extremely limited... to what is either found in the armory, made on site, or brought with the characters from the beginning. The ability to upgrade said weapons is also going to be nonexistent, or at least limited to what the party can manage on their own without magic... that leaves Master Craftsman or the Advanced Armor/Weapon Training options as your only real options for weapon and armor enchantments or upgrades.
Healing can be done with Psychic Sensitivity/Incredible Healer/Healing Hands/Signature Skill... or even Druidic Herbalism or Divine Alchemy from VMC Druid or Cleric. I would almost allow Alchemy to exist as-is, but that may be too close to magic for the flavor you are looking for.
Are you limiting races, like is everyone human? A party of Kobolds would be hilarious. Lol.
That is the idea. This would be an all human game; although maybe doing a spin off without limiting magic called Kaiju park where they’re is a monster zoo housing these monsters of mass destruction. Could work just as well. Only instead of breeding them; they are captured and put on display.
Again its classes that should be allowed where I am strugglingI'd allow all classes, but just have zero magic or supernatural abilities. Ex abilities would probably still be kosher, maybe disallowing certain Ex's on a case-by-case basis. Some classes would obviously be more attractive than others with a game like this, but I'd still offer all classes.
That is interesting. A magic less wizard for example being skinned as a scientist. Hmmmm
Personally I'd allow:
Barbarian, brawler, Cavalier, fighter, gunslinger, ninja, swashbuckler, rogue, ranger, monk, slayer, samurai, and maybe alchemist and investigator
I agree... obviously with Rangers that sub out spellcasting. Favored Enemy [freaking DINOSAUR, duh] is still going to make Rangers plenty powerful, enough. And even without Favored Enemy, Freebooter Skirmishers are capable of buffing the whole party. Between a Freebooter Ranger and an Exemplar Brawler or Inspiring Commander Cavalier, your whole party could be pretty pumped up nearly every encounter, even without magic. You could probably include any 4/9 caster that subs out their spells... there is at least one Paldin that does it, and Dinosaurs aren't inherently Evil. However, I would limit Gunslingers (and all firearm-related archetypes), as well as specialized archers (like ZAM's) to an elite few zoo security/dinosaur hunter/mercenary types.
In fact, I would both highly encourage, and reward, players that build characters with more flavor [for the dinosaurs, of course] than firepower.
Something like the Scavenger Investigator using their Gadgetry and Mechanical Inspiration to help the party MacGyver their way through power outages/security fences/hacked computers with fat faces repeating annoying warnings/building literally anything/etc. Let them build a boat and Heart of Darkness their way through this Jurassic jungle... Things like Sea Reaver Barbarians and Shackles Corsair Swashbucklers could help with the Profession Sailor checks. Lol.
A fun way to introduce more access to firearms is to have either an NPC or party member be a Gun Smuggler Rogue... and their Stolen Shots would be absolutely clutch for providing ammunitions. Actually, having an NPC park security officer as a reflavored Gun Smuggler could explain secret stashes of ammo hidden across the park. You could also reflavor the Twilight Talons, or a single Twilight Talon, and use their Dead Drop ability as a mechanic to explain how the party can get what they need.
You could further distract the party from Turok murderhobo shenanigans by introducing a quasi kingdom building mechanic... exploring hexes, rebuilding and restoring stability to said hexes, and a rewarding downtime system to encourage crafting. Because, unlike most times where crafting just allows cheap access to power... without magic, and the fantasy magic item market/traveling salesman, crafting your own $#!+ is both necessary and rewarding. Plus, every feat spent on crafting is not spent on other murderhobo BS... every rank in Craft is on not put into a skill that is otherwise abusable (like Stealth).
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
if you want to reduce murder-hobo in this theme, i would have the party heavily invested into the park itself. so they would have to go about saving people to make sure there would be less action suits filed. as well as try and keep as many dinosaurs alive as they are the main property of the park and any of them lost is millions in investment going down the drain...
their battle cry can be "are we liable for that?"
btw class-wise. i think the general appeal of the movies was that most characters were not really battle savvy to begin with. they were somewhat of the average joes (or slightly richer\more educated joe?) but non the less not really a threat in combat. this led to relating to them as audience having you think "what would i do in such a situation?".
having the party all use battle experienced classes would kinda go against that.
('it all looked grim for the visitors of Not-Jurassic-park if it wasn't for the odd chance that a motley group consisting of a Texas Ranger, an ex-navy seal, a Sumo world champion and and tourist, that turned out to be a descendent of a famous ninja clan met up together that fateful night. at the 'Raptor-themed' bar of all places..')
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
If you're having trouble balancing this campaign due to "magic solves everything" and allowing only certain classes, why not turn it into a "magic doesn't solve everything"-campaign and allow all classes + magic?
Ok, hear me out:
What if there are two Jurassic Parks that compete with each other? Let's say this world is a dinosaur-empty world, similar to Earth (either the dinos went extinct and were scientifically brought back--like in the movie Jurassic Park, --or--, the dinos are alive and thriving on a secluded, impossibly-lost island and no where else on earth--like the Dino island in Peter Jackson's King Kong).
Anywho, let's say that Richguy McOilTycoon and OtherRichGuy McInheritedWealth were doing some exotic animal hunting trips, and on one of their trips they stumbled across a map that shows a huge island that is full of dinosaurs. Once they arrive home from their hunting trip, they immediately make preparations to charter a crew and a ship and head out to find Dino Island, and indeed do find it and either it was everything they imagined and more (PJ's King Kong), or they find that all the dinos have been dead on Dino Island for centuries, but still decide it's a worthwhile investment and "resurrect" or "re-extant" them scientifically (JP). They hire a team of architects, engineers, scientists, etc. to build their own dream version of "Jurassic Park". Jurassic Park takes nearly a decade to build and everything is going well and on schedule, except 3/4ths-way through the construction of Jurassic Park, Richguy McOilTycoon and OtherRichGuy McInheritedWealth start having a series of arguments that ultimately erupts into a massive fight, and they have a huge falling out to the point of being combative.
Both men realize the veritable diamond mine they're sitting on, so both want to continue building Jurassic Park but just not with each other. OtherRichGuy McInheritedWealth takes 1/2 the hired engineers/scientists and goes to the other side of Dino Island to build "MyDream Park" while RichGuy McOilTycoon presses on with the 3/4th-built Jurassic Park.
McInheritedWealth begins his own version of Jurassic Park and calls it "MyDream Park" but fully understands how behind he truly is, so he hires 3 times the architects, engineers, scientists, and begins commissioning level 1+ mercenary characters to sabotage the progress of Jurassic Park. McOilTycoon responds by also hiring level 1+ mercenary characters to defend Jurassic Park.
If the island is full of live dinos, these two rival parks will compete for the capture and containment of the live dinos. If the dinos are skeletons in the earth, they'll compete over dig sites, as well as having to defend the live dinos in their parks' pens.
Now if you want, you can have magic in your campaign. You can design the encounters with the expectation that each side will be using magic, and there will be realistic expectations that each side's mercenaries will get stronger and level up.