Post-Apocalyptic Game

[Skurvy]

I am seeing if there is any interest in playing a Post-Apocalyptic game using d20 Modern and various supplements. It will be set 100 hundred years after an apocalypse destroyed most of civilisation on a slightly advanced Earth, and the players will be part of a current day cryogenically frozen team that are thawed out with the purpose of finding out what caused the apocalypse, contacting the remaining outposts of civilisation and restoring society (the usual easy goals!). At a later date it might be possible to introduce PCs who are native to the setting (or if you have your heart set on it, I might be able to arrange it at the start of the game).

The game will be making extensive use of resources from the d20 Modern book, d20 Past, d20 Future and of course d20 Apocalypse, as well as third party games such as Darwin's World and Gamma World, and of course a lot of my own stuff thrown into the mix. It is not necessay to have any of those books at all to play, as there are good resources available to teach people the game free of charge, and it is very similar to D&D anyway. I won't require players to be familiar with the system as I am happy to teach as we go.

Anyway, if anyone is interested let me know.

Skurvy

[mexal]

Sounds right up my street...

[eric]

Sounds right up my street...
Interested here also Eric

[Scorch]

Me interested!

[Skurvy]

Excellent :)

A bit more info: The game will be set in a Post-Apocalyptic United Kingdom, set at least a hundred years after the event (timescale is not quite set in stone yet). I won't reveal what caused the apocalypse because finding that out will be part of what is driving the team in the early stages.

If we get a litte bit more interest I will set the forums up and take character submissions. I am going to lay out a rough guide to characters that it would be good to see, as the team should be a balance of skills:

Soldier, survivalist, scientist, engineer, linguist, tech guy, maybe a charismatic lead, etc ... let me know what you guys think and maybe come up with a couple of suggestions. I may be open to a Psionic character, but no magic in this setting. Characters will probably start out at 4th level to give them a bit of experience.

Skurvy

[eric]

Characters will probably start out at 4th level to give them a bit of experience.
Skurvy
How about a food engineer, farming, nutrition, toxins, general health, jsut thinking out loud. ERic

[Scorch]

I like the sound of this, let me know when you want us to distribute our roles.

[VoidPointer]

Sounds delicious. All I have to do is beat down the urge to play Roland of Gilead. :mad:

I don't know D20 Modern, but I know D&D so that's at least a start on d20. I'll start brainstorming.

[TiFFman]

I've never played d20 modern but definitely sounds interesting. If you don't mind a new player (D&D experience though), I'm up for it :).

[Scorch]

I've played some D20 Modern, I played a spec ops green beret sniper once in the middle east, and I think I managed the role well. I've been mulling around the idea of a ray mere's like character native to the setting. But of course not actually ray mere's, probably something like a hiker/mountain climber, worked with mountain rescue etc.

Who then settled into a very survivalist role after the apocalypse, not too charasmatic, more about looking after no1. Doesn't really feel he needs anyone else, but working as a team gets jobs done faster. Though I will most likely change this about depending on the apocalypse, because if the mountains rose up against humanity and threw rocks at them till they submitted...odds on I wouldn't have survived :mad:

So as my heart is indeed set on it, will you let me possibly play it? :D

[VoidPointer]

Okay, I've suppressed most of my nascent silliness, and I'm working on a concept. I do have some questions that need answers, though, before I can get too far.

1. You mentioned that the heroes were cryogenically frozen. By whom? If it was the government, was this a last-ditch effort to save the world with their best and brightest, or perhaps the best and brightest were already dead, or needed to fight whatever killed everybody? Was the government in support of this, or was the project a curiosity?

2. How well do our characters know each other?

I'm still working on my concept, but currently I'm thinking something on the continuum from technician to engineer to scientist.

[mexal]

Given what others have said - I am thinking of a doctor who has a background in both conventional medicine and medical herbalism.

[Skurvy]

Okay, to address your points:

How about a food engineer, farming, nutrition, toxins, general health, jsut thinking out loud.

That sounds like an interesting idea, fits in well and covers parts of the scientist and engineer roles

All I have to do is beat down the urge to play Roland of Gilead.

You know, I just finished The Wastelands yesterday, and I am going straight out to get Wizard and Glass as soon as I can. Keep having to resist the temptation to read the Dark Tower comics before I finish the books!!

You could always play an ex-soldier who morphs into a gunslinger-type character, there is even a Gunslinger advanced class in the Modern book.

I've never played d20 modern but definitely sounds interesting.

As I've said, anyone with a passing knowledge of d20 D&D should be able to pick this up on the fly straight away.

So as my heart is indeed set on it, will you let me possibly play it?

I think I can accomodate it ... I will have to introduce you slightly after the game has begun, but I believe we can pull it off. It will mean giving you a bit more information on the setting than the others have at the start, but I can live with that :D

You mentioned that the heroes were cryogenically frozen. By whom?

By whom indeed? This will be one of the first questions that will hit your characters when they wake up, and I choose to be mysterious until then. It will be more fun to find the answers through RP :)

How well do our characters know each other?

Again, you will find out more in-game ... but as leaders of your chosen fields some of you might be familiar with each others work in the olden times. I don't mind it if that comes out in RP, or if you would prefer to be a complete unknown. I will say that your characters will wake up with little or no knowledge of where you are or how you got there. Most of your memories will be intact, but not those of how you ended up being frozen for a hundred years.

As I was planning for my last Modern game, I might introduce a little side-RP whereby more of your past lives are explored from before the Apocalypse ... a little similar to the flashbacks in many popular TV series at the moment. How far you guys want to experiment with these is up to you, I won't be forcing anyone :)

I am thinking of a doctor who has a background in both conventional medicine and medical herbalism.

Sounds excellent to me. You might want to look at the Field Medic advanced class (which is on the MSRD website) or the Juju Doctor from Darwin's World which has a slightly more herbal medicine bent to it (I can get that for you).

[VoidPointer]

Okay, I know what I want to play now. Here's basics, because I'm not finished. My character's going to be an Army Sergeant Major whose MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) was in mechanics and repair. They will have a blend of combat skills and (multiple different fields of) general mechanics and science skills. If the people that froze the PCs did so for logical reasons, my character would have been frozen because they are capable of fighting as well as doing things like repairing guns, automobiles, or wells, as well as smelting steel.

Edit: What stat generation method should we use? I found the d20 Modern SRD, and am working on my character.

Edit 2: Can I use a feat to make a skill a class skill for my character? I got the idea from KotoR, and it seems reasonable, and it would make matters much easier.

[Scorch]

Ok thanks :D I've never made a survivalist before, so I will use the SRD and make one up asap. Would you be able to help make some suggestions for improvement if I PM the character to you?

And that's fine, I don't mind starting a little later on :)

[eric]

I have no modern d20 books and cant afford to buy them, if the GM can generate a character I can play. Eric

[Barrok]

D20 modern Character Generator (http://www.pathguy.com/d20modern.htm)



Not the best by a long shot.. but it sort of works

[VoidPointer]

Eric: Try searching for the D20 Modern SRD. There's a fairly detailed one, which is what I'm using. The character generator may help too, but if you know your DnD, the SRD should be sufficient.

[mexal]

Thanks - and spot on, I have used the Darwin's World JuJu Doctor :mad:

[Skurvy]

I don't have time to answer everyones points, so I will try to get on tomorrow for a bit and give a more detailed post. Here is a brief look at one of the House Rules I will be employing, which will probably have an effect on your character builds.

I am going to run the way Craft and Knowledge skills are used a little differently. In order to let you guys spend skill points more widely, these are now what I would call 'pooled skills' Instead of spending one point on Knowledge (tactics) and one on Knowledge (technical), you can now spend two to add to your Knowledge pool. You can then use the cumulative bonus on any Knowledge skill that your character has as a class skill. Cross-class knowledge skill checks would be taken at the characters intelligence bonus only.

For example, the Fast Hero starts with class skills of Knowledge (current events, pop culture and streetwise), and she would have one skill 'pot' from which to draw on any of those three. If she added a different Basic or Advanced class at another level, she would gain access to a wider Knowledge pool. This would work the same with the Craft skill as well.

Using a feat, you could also add in Knowledge or Craft skills that you couldnt normally access from your class, with the GMs permission. These might also be awarded by the GM during play, as rewards for completing certain tasks.

[VoidPointer]

For example, the Fast Hero starts with class skills of Knowledge (current events, pop culture and streetwise), and she would have one skill 'pot' from which to draw on any of those three. If she added a different Basic or Advanced class at another level, she would gain access to a wider Knowledge pool. This would work the same with the Craft skill as well.

Hooray!

Using a feat, you could also add in Knowledge or Craft skills that you couldnt normally access from your class, with the GMs permission. These might also be awarded by the GM during play, as rewards for completing certain tasks.

I formally request permission to take the feats Class Skill (Knowledge (technology)), Class Skill (Knowledge (physical sciences)) and Class Skill (Craft (chemical)). I will probably only take two of the above, but I'm not sure which two yet.

[Skurvy]

Okay, first off, the forums are now up - Prometheus - After the Fall (http://www.barroks-tower.net/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=191)

What stat generation method should we use?

I prefer to use a rolled method - roll 4d6 for each stat, drop the lowest, re-roll 1s.

Can I use a feat to make a skill a class skill for my character?

I don't see why not, although I might be able to come up with something better for you. Remember that you also acquire class skill through your Starting Occupation.

I've never made a survivalist before, so I will use the SRD and make one up asap. Would you be able to help make some suggestions for improvement if I PM the character to you?

No problem what-so-ever. As you are making an Apocalyptic character rather than a frozen one, there may be a few more character options open to you as well. I can suggest some stuff from the Darwins World book that you would probably be interested in.

I have no modern d20 books and cant afford to buy them, if the GM can generate a character I can play.

I don't mind doing this, if you want me to. If you want to have a crack yourself, you can get most of the info you need from the d20 Modern SRD (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=d20/article/msrd).

I formally request permission to take the feats Class Skill (Knowledge (technology)), Class Skill (Knowledge (physical sciences)) and Class Skill (Craft (chemical)). I will probably only take two of the above, but I'm not sure which two yet.

There is a book called Blood and Guts which is specifcally aimed at military character builds. In there, they have feats called MOS feats, which provide a great deal of bonuses and I have one in particular in mind for you. I will PM the details.

---

If you guys want to move this over to the appropriate forums and start posting in the character and OOC areas, that would be great :)

Skurvy

[Scorch]

Could we have a PMing spree when it suits you to build me an apocalyptic character piece by piece?

[TiFFman]

Or a chat or something? :P

I'll look into that website

[Skurvy]

I am happy to chat if any of you can get hold of me ... I keep fairly irregular hours on the forums unfortunately. PMing sprees are fine, just let me know what you need :)

Skurvy

[katalia369]

do you have space for one more?

I wouldn't mind pulling soemthing up.

I have played one d20 modern adventure through about 3 sessions before we nearly had ourselves a hanging of the one attempting to gm, so LIMITED d20 modern but pretty extensive d20 in general exp.

I will say that since you have more of an idea what the party looks like so far give me an idea of what that party needs. From the looks of it you've got a healer type, a survivor type, and a fighting type......maybe someone to support the fighting type or someone more towards the bookish type, a linguist or an overly educated type. Let me know either here or in PM what you think the party needs if it has any needs at all or if you even have space.

Laters
Kat

[VoidPointer]

I will say that since you have more of an idea what the party looks like so far give me an idea of what that party needs. From the looks of it you've got a healer type, a survivor type, and a fighting type......maybe someone to support the fighting type or someone more towards the bookish type, a linguist or an overly educated type. Let me know either here or in PM what you think the party needs if it has any needs at all or if you even have space.

Laters
Kat

Well, obviously room-for-one-more-osity is not my place to evaluate, but I can have a look at the roles...

So far, we've got TiffMan playing... something, he hasn't said, Scorch playing a rugged mountain-man survivalist, mexal playing a doctor of some sort, and eric playing a "food engineer".

And, of course, me as the soldier type, which bears explaining, and will give you some detail that is useful anyway. So, without giving too much away...

Master Sergeant Edori Falda Long (clever, clever name... five internets if you can decode it yourself) is an extremely cautious balance between an assault kit infantryman (think Marines; good with small arms and at taking territory) and a mechanic. She can repair or make various and sundry things, and has a firm grounding in the sciences. She is also a skilled soldier, though she knows a lot more about the theory than the practice of actual battle. For instance, her skill with firearms is limited, and she is not properly trained in the use of fully automatic weapons, nor is her marksmanship top notch. So, she is neither fully a warrior, nor fully a scientist, but performs adequately in either role. She is, in short, a soldier, because a modern soldier must have skills other than killing.

So, that gives you a vague picture of the other characters, and a rough sketch of mine (with respect to stats, at least...). I'd provide more detail on the others, but I don't have it. I ope this overview helps you decide what to play.

[mexal]

My doctor, Sam Li, is trained in both conventional medicine and traditional Chinese herbal medicine, and knows quite a lot about using natural resources - having knocked around with the Navaho as a kid.

That the sort of thing you want to know?

[Skurvy]

Kat, we definately have space, and I'd love to have you playing. Eric has pulled out so we are down to four at the moment.

Either of your ideas sounds fine to me, and I'm sure both would fit in with the party as a whole :)

Skurvy

[katalia369]

Ok so we have a doctor, a native/survivor, an officer/mechanic, and a mystery machine...hmmmmmm.

Presuming the people who put us in cryo were thinking at a moderately sane level a doctor and an officer would need an enforcer and a tech to support their efforts. So presuming the survivor and the mystery machine would take on the enforcer role that leaves tech.

I am thinking something along the lines of SG-1 Daniel Jackson. Really well read and intelligent, not to good with weapons.....least not untill a few close scrapes and then tolerable, not good but tolerable.

So that sets the stage for:
Starting Occupation Academic
Basic Class Smart Hero
Advanced Class Field Scientist or Techie

Haven't decided if I want techie or field scientist yet......gimme a few days to dive into my many myriad splinter personalities and dredge up one that suits.

All pending skurvy's approval of course. :)

Kat

[VoidPointer]

Katalia- I like where you're going with that. Regardless of your character's field, it presents some interesting possibilities. I'm picturing this lovely good cop/bad cop dynamic between our characters (Edori having originally been something of a practical joker who got a large dose of serious injected into her by the Army). Kind of like how O'Neill is always taking the "military" perspective while Jackson takes the "hippy" perspective, to grossly oversimplify things.

Also, something that strikes me as amusing, and might be fun to play with in-character, is your classification of Edori as an "officer", because of the fun position that sergeants, especially higher ranking sergeants, have in the Army; to whit, that they are not officers, but civilians often think of them as being such because they are often in command of stuff. This is also why the sergeant in Good Morning Vietnam got all "Don't 'sir' me, I work for a livin'!", because NCO's are not called "sir", only officers. All of this strikes me as great running-gag type material, and intrinsically funny anyways.

[mexal]

Please note that Sam Li is rubbish at combat... for a start he tends to Buddhist philosophy, and doesn't like to carry a firearm.

[Skurvy]

All pending skurvy's approval of course.

All sounds fine to me, should give the party a nice balance of combat/skill/knowledge based sides.

Please note that Sam Li is rubbish at combat... for a start he tends to Buddhist philosophy, and doesn't like to carry a firearm.

But ..... he's American!! :o

Skurvy :D

[VoidPointer]

I can see that Sam Li and Edori are going to get on like a house on fire. XD

[katalia369]

Well my tech person will carry weapons, but more of in a Barney Fife way, more liable to shot his own foot or a friend in the butt. Much better with books, but he/she tries to keep up with the military life and can sharpo shoot on a target range decnt enough. It's just the whole real life actually facing beasts that does not got over well with this one. Reading about a dragon is one thing, looking one in the eye WHOOOOOOLE other case.

*chuckles* this should be fun

after the fourth I will decide gender, name, class and a quick history

laters
Kat

[katalia369]

Please note that Sam Li is rubbish at combat... for a start he tends to Buddhist philosophy, and doesn't like to carry a firearm.

Just a quick note on my own reading way too much tendancies. When I was studying a variety of religions and dogmas it came to my attention that the Tibetan strain of buddism still holds a lot of the old Bon shamanism and a number of tribesmen in Tibet to this day still carry their rifles untill you pry them from cold dead hands. So buddism, depending on sect, does not totally rule out weapons. Also native americans have ways of hunting food, they try and peacable and not use them on one another, but powing out with the native tribes would not rule out weapons either. Although a doctor's oath could easily preclude you towards not wanting anything to do with weapons.

Just me being a curious kitty and letting out a few mental notes.

Kat

[mexal]

You're qiuite correct... in Tibetian monastic training, one of the required courses is judo! And then there's those Chinese Shaolin monks... Sam's a bit more gentle, though.

[Skurvy]

Hey guys :)

Glad to see you have kept discussing stuff while I was away :) Apologies for the absence, I have been renovating the top floor of my house, which is where the computer room lives and so I have been offline for a little while.

I will try to get the game going as soon as possible, but it is going to be quite a busy summer for me. There is a chance that I won't be able to pick up the pace until September (about 6-7 weeks), but we can certainly start sooner than that I hope.

In the next week or two I will start bugging people for completed character sheets, and then I can work them into the story, as we may be starting slightly staggered (not all characters will start at the very start).

Skurvy

PS: To anybody else who might be interested in the game, there is still space for more characters I think, at least a couple of slots.

[Scorch]

Sorry if you've needed me Skurvy I've been on holiday for a week. Im back now though :)

[katalia369]

Sorry about the silence. First the holiday, then the internet and my firewall didn't get along and after that my connection went wonko and had to get a new modem off my cable company......geez I love how thnigs slamm me all at once.

But anyways back up and running now. Name still undecided but personality and class specs run as follows:

Smart Hero
Academic Starting Occupation
Field Scientist
Talents - Savant(research) & Linguist
Knowledge Physcial Science
Read/Write Language
Speak Language
Educated
Studious
Vehicle Expert (before college she loved to race cars, the one saving grace of an otherwise klutzy bookworm type)
Majored in Physics and Minored in Astronomy, also good with electronic devices and tactics.

Basic Personality thus far:

Used to have a wilder streak raced cars in high school and the beginning of college. If it's got wheels odds are she can drive it. But for whatever reason school took precedent and she calmed down and studied alot and became more of a bookworm type. Carries a desert eagle, following the theroy the bigger the hole it makes the more likely she doesn't have to try and hit whatever it was she shot a second time. When she takes her time on the range she is actually a decent shot, but has never been in actual battle-situation and most likely to freeze. She can tell all about a beast she has read about but she most likely has never had to meet the thing face to face. Likes to hide in books and deny herself life's fun side. Very good at researching something new and making notes. Favorite color of purple and loves metal music.

Other personality notes will be availible as I get around to building her up.
Stat notes will be be availble once I know what level to make her. I know there had been previous mention of about level 4 but I did not know for sure starting level. Once I know I can post a sheet.

Laters Kat

[VoidPointer]

Well, Katalia, it seems Skurvy is hibernating, but I will say that I sent in my character sheet in mid-June, I built to level 4, and Skurvy seemed okay with that. So you can probably do that. I don't presume to be in charge of this stuff, but it's not really like it'll be a huge problem if we're both wrong.

Well, it might be for me. I spent a loooong time playing around with her stats and equipment list. XD