An idea for a game that I need some advice on

[Hopeless]

So I've been thinking on a game idea and would like to run it past you to see if you can spot any problems that I have either not noticed or even considered...

The background is that humanity has spread through the solar system and even found a way to some other star systems using some of the T2300 background.

The United Earth Government has had problems keeping the peace and their power once humanity began heading out into space.

To offset this they mandatory issued innoculations used to help counter the problem of alien viruses but included some nano tech designed to let them track the innoculated which in itself would be useful except it doesn't stop there.

Their technological advances have slowed because the innoculation is being used to alter the behaviour of the recipient so they slowly become willing supplicants of an organisation whose been slowly taking over the reins of the UEG, but as it does so the side of their minds that govern their emotions, their imagination and creativity is slowly inhibited.

The game starts off with the players hired to recover a package from an automated prison transport.
They discover the package is actually a young woman whose been kidnapped but because her kidnappers didn't pay attention to who her family is, they've organised her rescue.
Depending on their actions this may lead to them fleeing the solar system in a ship as they witness evidence of the eventual takeover of humanity.

This will lead them to the French Arm where they discover more evidence as well as proof there's nonhuman life out there thats interested in humanity but hasn't been revealed yet because humanity hasn't exactly impressed them.

Is this too much too soon?

Should I keep it simple until I know what the players like so it can be made more interesting but still keep the mystery?

 

[Reynard]

Ah, you're refined your scenario from the last time!

First, if everyone has nano-trackers, how will they be able to run and hide let alone have a desire to commit criminal behavior behind the government's back... Lose the nanos.

Now, especially if this is a first adventure and if the player are new to the game system then keep it simple and make it a learning experience. Don't get too convoluted but yes, you can have one scenario lead to more scenarios and that's often a campaign.

 

[phavoc]

Nano-trackers have a huge gap - space! It would be impossible for them to transmit a signal from deep space (even just in our solar system) without it being picked up. Not to mention the power requirements.

Instead of nano's you might just go old-fashioned and have the government using biotech to control humanity by slowly breeding out the "bad" parts of humanity to make them more docile and easily controlled. And then the ruling party people would be "pure" human stock, or perhaps they would also be tinkered with, but to add to their genome to make them better leaders (or cattle herders...).

As for their rescue mission, you could have the girl being part of the ruling group and the kidnappers are there (or have left data) exposing the conspiracy and now the players have been informed of it and must die in order to protect the secret, thus they gotta get the hell outa dodge for a while. The girl can be either a willing kidnap victim, or an unwilling one, or, perhaps more fun to play with, one who has her own agenda and she can at times help or hinder your PC's while she is still with them.

As to the aliens, you could easily drop a few hints, questions, artifacts, etc regarding them, but I would probably keep them separate from your PC's for a while to they have established themselves, not to mention got more comfortable with the campaign and game system.

 

[Lord High Munchkin]

Or a nano-virus that rewrites it's victims higher brain functions to be more "pliable". It passes quickly (and some are immune, or fight it off), so the PCs are explainable as free-agents.

 

[Hopeless]

Well I was thinking of revealing the trackers when they board the prison transport.

So they check out the transport's internal sensors and discover not only do most of the convicts have trackers but so do they, the important part is that they wouldn't know about them.

Locating the young woman would eventually reveal she hasn't been innoculated which should lead them to realise how it was done.

The behaviour modification is alot more complicated since it takes alot more time and given the PCs in Traveller tend to not stick around for very long would help them avoid that particular peril but returning they will discover things have changed.

Been thinking more along the line of Ghost in the Shell where the recipients have been hacked except its done much more subtly and isn't wholly effective which is why it takes quite a bit of time so plenty of chances for erstwhile PCs to figure out whats going on and doing something about it!

I figure it would work better on a military installation especially if they're in deep space or aboard a ship since there's nowhere for them to go so every time they head off to sleep they're being unknowingly indoctrinated but the side effects are noticeable as it takes hold.

Huh needs more thought, have come up with an idea for one of their first games inspired by the Crawling Eye movie... I think it just needs a bit more Lando Calrissian to work properly! 8)

 

[Hopeless]

Nano-trackers have a huge gap - space! It would be impossible for them to transmit a signal from deep space (even just in our solar system) without it being picked up. Not to mention the power requirements.

Good point, figured having them discover they have them whilst aboard the transport and let their paranoia do the rest!

Instead of nano's you might just go old-fashioned and have the government using biotech to control humanity by slowly breeding out the "bad" parts of humanity to make them more docile and easily controlled. And then the ruling party people would be "pure" human stock, or perhaps they would also be tinkered with, but to add to their genome to make them better leaders (or cattle herders...).

The Organisation I've been figuring out is partly inspired by the UFO series namely SHADO the idea is that when they were first formed it was to combat alien intervention on Earth.

What noone knew was the aliens they were focused on were actually human save that they had been revived from suspension every century or so and their predecessors had colonised Earth of the past so they are literally fighting themselves.

Their biotech experiments didn't work for that precise reason but unable to comprehend the truth they've turned to other means of ensuring their version of the human race remains in charge but in so doing are in danger of wiping humanity out altogether.

As for their rescue mission, you could have the girl being part of the ruling group and the kidnappers are there (or have left data) exposing the conspiracy and now the players have been informed of it and must die in order to protect the secret, thus they gotta get the hell outa dodge for a while. The girl can be either a willing kidnap victim, or an unwilling one, or, perhaps more fun to play with, one who has her own agenda and she can at times help or hinder your PC's while she is still with them.

I picture her being a potentially top flight research scientist whose career nose dived after she was made the scapegoat when her research was stolen, but she refused to work for the corporation that seized her work.

She was kidnapped when it became clear she had erased alot of her research when she realised its full potential and wasn't willing to risk it falling into the wrong hands especially after her fears were realised when some of her research was stolen.

As to the aliens, you could easily drop a few hints, questions, artifacts, etc regarding them, but I would probably keep them separate from your PC's for a while to they have established themselves, not to mention got more comfortable with the campaign and game system.

Been getting ideas of having a race of reptilian humanoids who take after and resemble the Collector from the Guardians of the Galaxy movie who are able to shapechange to better resemble races they interact with.

So can literally reveal there are aliens out there and they've gotten away with it simply by being just labelled as weird or eccentric...

 

[Hopeless]

Or a nano-virus that rewrites it's victims higher brain functions to be more "pliable". It passes quickly (and some are immune, or fight it off), so the PCs are explainable as free-agents.

Given the T2300 setting I wanted to use I figured those who naturally have the Tough/1 advantage which the innoculation provides otherwise would be naturally immune to the tinkering.

The rewrite I'm thinking more along the lines of it taking quite a bit of time so they should be fine if they remain on the move and especially if there's nothing on their ship that continues the process..

Hmm a biotech device resembling something the Borgs would use or maybe Technomage style?

 

[Hopeless]

The adventure idea i had involved a cloud city style backdrop with them arriving to witness one of the cities lose contact and they're hired to investigate discovering the city seemingly abandoned.

Checking the recordings they learn a strange weather front caused the clouds below to rise and the temperature starts to plummet as the visual records stop if they continue listening they hear screaming and before the audio cuts out they hear blaster fire and someone yelling "What are they¿"

Trying to contact their employer they learn its getting colder and the clouds seem to be getting closer....

This is when you remind them that their only means of getting off this world is over there and do you think they're going to wait for you when they find out what you've just discovered¿ :twisted:

 

[Reynard]

Does this involve giant tentacled, cyclopean brains?!

 

[Hopeless]

Well I was thinking of making their front line troops being more like snails so they have some armour, the ability to wall crawl and be able to manipulate their environment to explain why it gets so cold but otherwise would love to keep them as is!

Have to figure out who and why they can sense them... maybe have a player know there's been unexplained disappearances but usually once every few decades so its assumed to have been an accident rather than something malevolent.

 

[Reynard]

Wrong thread? Yes.

 

[Rick]

Doesn't need to be a tracker. Could just be a 'nano-tag' that can be identified when the carrier passes near a scanner. Put scanners in every spaceport and you can keep track of the tagged carriers as they move from world to world. If you make the scanners able to update/revise the nano-tags software as they pass, you can alter entire populations tags quickly.
The players, once they've found the tags, might develop a software virus that they can use to 'turn off' the tags, then try to introduce the virus into the scanner system itself. Eventually, they might be able to develop a virus that can transmit itself into the scanners via infected tags, starting a domino effect.

 

[Hopeless]

Or if they figure out it doesn't work on some people look into getting a transfusion from a suitable subject whsoe actually immune and hope they temporarily gain the same immunity long enough to burn out the tag since they can then argue they've already been innoculated of course thats why they're looking to reinnoculate after a certain time to boost the original innoculation...

Still interesting ideas, but what if the Penta Pods were responsible?

 

[Hopeless]

Hmm getting Mass Effect ideas, the floating cities being in T2300 are the product of alien technology whose species has apparently died out but their cities remain.

Unknown to anyone every so often a city descends into the clouds below where it docks with a city left stranded on the ground leaving the reason to being either recharging the floating cities repulsors or a master control system that has been activating intermitantly causing an inhabited city to descend.

The idea is that the inhabitants of the world was wiped out by a species that lives in the now freezing surface.

I'm imagining snail-like species that have left eggs on the sealed lower levels of the floating cities that hatch when it descends using the trapped people to feed upon, but up to now no human has ever seen this happen.

There's a popular rumour of a hidden city adorned by what is thought to be a solid diamond statue causing more interest in exploring the world but descending beneath the clouds results in anything freezing solid making it nigh on impossible to survive.

Same force that causes the city to descend also allows access to the hidden city but only for a limited time since it will go back to being freezing after a short while and requires they have another means to escape since the city they arrive at the hidden city on won't return above the clouds before they close in.

The statue is actually the frozen corpse of one of the original alien inhabitants, taking out the hidden city actually has no effect on the other floating cities at least for a few thousand years since they were built to last for a very long time hopefully someone will figure out how to restore them before they do end up crashing back into the cloudy depths...

This is mostly ideas for discussion let me know what you think

Thanks in advance!