Modern Technology Settings

[Utgardloki]

As some people may have guessed, I have trouble being decisive. I've come up with three ideas for Runequest games with modern-level technology, but can't decide which one is the best one to focus on. I thought that to help me, I'd get some feedback on which seemed most interesting.

1. Plausible Deniability. The PCs are characters in the 1970s working for an agency called Munroe Associates, run by a Jill Munroe who was formerly a member of the Townsend Detective Agency. However, most live-action TV series also exist in this setting, so they could potentially meet characters like Barney Miller or The Incredible Hulk or one of Buffy Summer's predecessors. All supernatural/science fiction elements have a level of "plausible deniability", so many people regard them as just legends.

2. Atomic Kingdoms. Take the Iron Kingdoms setting from Privateer Press, and advance it about 400 years. Not only are there advanced technologies like motorcycles and atomic weapons, but there have been a number of political and religious changes as well, with some gods dying and new gods arising or being discovered. Times are tense, as the world progresses on towards the Apocalypse of the Gods.

3. Another Ringworld. This is based on the ringworld idea I had posted earlier. Aliens have taken small communities from various times and nations in Earth history, and placed them on this ringworld they created, along with other alien creatures such as walktapi and willowisps. The PCs come from a small town in the early 21st Century, and they wake up to suddenly find that they are not on Earth any more, and some of their neighbors are really weird.

Pros? Cons? Words of advice? Recommendations for which psychiatric drugs might be the most helpful?

 

[Mage]

You can't go wrong with prozac, morphine, or nice refreshing crack!

Seriosuly though, the first setting sounds like the best to me. Anyone could find familiarity in it, it seems to have the most room for freedom (elbow space is the word), and those cameos sound cool. Also there is less work for you to do.

The main reason I would say go with option number 1 is because that is the one I myself would like to play in the most.

If you are still in doubt run a mini-mission set in each setting with your players to decide what to do. It can be hard to use your judgement properly if you have not played or GMed, in some cases, for quite a while.

That and you can throw in bits from life on mars, and other campy seventies stuff (the original battlestar, heck, even if it came later it would be fun).

Not to mention you could add a whole Bond or Jerry Cornelius/Eternal Champion layer to it.

And you could do the following which is just too cool: Throw in Steve McQueens character from the 1968 hit 'Bullitt', Ford Mustang and all. I know it was '68, but it would fit with the genre. If you never saw the car chase then see it.

Tht and the 70s had a lot of cheesy kung fu movies as well.

 

[zozotroll]

The alien zoo ringworld sounds interesting to me, but you did say a modern seting right?

The problem with they you just wake up, is where does thier tech base come from? Ok, they have what they stasrted with, But that will run out soon.Broadswords run forever, but Mac-10s need feeding. So, hidden caches? Or perhaps they are not the first, the the earlier ones have already build up a bit? The aliens run an adventurers general store? Any could work, after all a ringworld is by its nature contrived, so anything is possible.

 

[Utgardloki]

That and you can throw in bits from life on mars, and other campy seventies stuff (the original battlestar, heck, even if it came later it would be fun).

Actually, I am going to ignore that Galactica 1980 ever existed. The Battlestar Galactica did not reach Earth in 1980, Colonial Warriors did not fight Cylons from the backs of flying motorcycles above the streets of L.A., and Commander Adama never took orders from a 12 year old kid.

One of my many plans is for a Battlestar Galactica campaign, but set in the original series right after the last episode. That is planned using the D6 Space game system and outside the scope of this thread.

I think that as general principle, any TV series that had an alien race obviously land on Earth (e.g. V or Alien Nation) would not be incorporated into my planned setting. Galactica 1980 could be incorporated, but I am going to pretend that it never existed.

 

[Utgardloki]

The alien zoo ringworld sounds interesting to me, but you did say a modern seting right?

The problem with they you just wake up, is where does thier tech base come from? Ok, they have what they stasrted with, But that will run out soon.Broadswords run forever, but Mac-10s need feeding. So, hidden caches? Or perhaps they are not the first, the the earlier ones have already build up a bit? The aliens run an adventurers general store? Any could work, after all a ringworld is by its nature contrived, so anything is possible.

My plan is that the aliens have brought an entire town, perhaps a college town with a University. A town like Platteville, Wisconsin would be perfect for my plans -- the U.W. Platteville campus has a respected science department.

With an entire town, equipment could be salvaged and maintained. The aliens also plan to provide natural resources such as waterfalls, metal ores, and oil deposits. Perhaps they even broadcast repeats of radio and TV programs, and hook the dangling end of the electric grid up to electric plants planted in a special "electric plant forest". (I see aluminum cables stuck into specially engineered trees. )

 

[atgxtg]

I also favor the first setting. It is easy for most players to get into, and yet has a llot more options than the other two. Pretty much every show set in the 70s (and a few that were not) are easily available for use.

It is also fairly similar to the oringial setting for CORPS too. (A modern day conspriacy game where pretty much all the conpriacy theories hold some truth. As long as you keep the really strange stuff out of pulbic view, you can run just about any sort of storyline with a modern day 8or nearly modern day) setting. [/i]

 

[Mage]

Plus you have to explain to people what the atomic kingdoms are. Unless they play warmachine or Iron Kingdoms it would be hard to create interest, and there is a lot of work.

I don't suppose you batted around the Atomic Kingdoms idea around on the Privateerpress forums?

 

[Utgardloki]

There have been a couple extensive threads on the Privateer Press forum for my Atomic Kingdoms idea. Feedback there was very helpful in fleshing out some of my ideas.

 

[CthulhuFnord]

Hmmm.... I'm thinking more of an Eternal Champion take on the Martian invasion of Victorian England myself.

 

[hdrider67]

The alien zoo ringworld sounds interesting to me, but you did say a modern seting right?

The problem with they you just wake up, is where does thier tech base come from? Ok, they have what they stasrted with, But that will run out soon.Broadswords run forever, but Mac-10s need feeding. So, hidden caches? Or perhaps they are not the first, the the earlier ones have already build up a bit? The aliens run an adventurers general store? Any could work, after all a ringworld is by its nature contrived, so anything is possible.

My plan is that the aliens have brought an entire town, perhaps a college town with a University. A town like Platteville, Wisconsin would be perfect for my plans -- the U.W. Platteville campus has a respected science department.

With an entire town, equipment could be salvaged and maintained. The aliens also plan to provide natural resources such as waterfalls, metal ores, and oil deposits. Perhaps they even broadcast repeats of radio and TV programs, and hook the dangling end of the electric grid up to electric plants planted in a special "electric plant forest". (I see aluminum cables stuck into specially engineered trees. )

Have you ever read the book 1632? You might find some pretty good ideas on higher tech peoples having to downsize their technology to make it last.

And it's free from Baen free library.

 

[Lord High Munchkin]

Dear All,

There is already an extensive BRP treatment of Wells' Martian invasion:

http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Galaxy/3773/waroftheworlds/

Regards

 

[Utgardloki]

I just watched the new incarnation of The Bionic Woman. While I am not impressed with it, it did give me an idea that could improve my Plausible Deniability storyline.

What if all or most of the PCs were bionic? Having a unifying theme would help establish how come the PCs are working together.

I am kind of vacillating whether to go this route, or the route of a group of randomly chosen PCs, kind of like League of Extraordinary Gentleman in the 1970s.