I am currently running a Savage Rifts game for some very good friends that I have been gaming with for over a decade. We end up telling lots of good stories together. Last nights game was a reminder why I love this hobby.
The players started the session outside of a walled city on the shores of the Missouri river. The city is controlled by a self proclaimed Baroness of the Black Market cartel. She controls the only bridge within a couple days travel. She is keeping the gates to her city shut and forcing the refugees from Tolkeen to wait outside until she allows a few groups through at a time. She charges insanely high tolls to use her bridge, or she takes one member of the group into indentured servitude for a year as the price for the rest of the group. Then has her soldiers capture the rest of the groups on the other side of the river.
The party comes up to the city and the refugee tent city that has sprung up on the outside the gate. They use their Know a Guy edges to get access into the city. They put on a small performance of pre-Rifts Jazz music for the Baroness and reduce their toll with an a amazing performance. The Face character due to hindrances attempts to seduce the baroness and follows her around as she decides which refugees get to use her bridge.
This is where the fun starts. The players decide to stay the night in this mercenary Black Market town. I was not prepared for this. I let them take the lead and create elements of the story as they ask whats in the town. While the Face character is seduing the baroness, and trying to get her to change her evil ways admist the nights pillow talk, the other players are in a hotel bar trying not to kill all the mercanary slavers in the city. Of course as a good GM I throw a match into the powder keg.
One player is a Burster, a pyrokinetic psychic, is the most agitated. I have a couple thugs mistreat a servant girl. That was the breaking point. He ends up using his powers to ignite parts of the hotel on fire while threating the owner to get him to unlock the electric collar the servent girl is wearing. They find out the Baroness controls all the collars. All the while our driver/robot armor character starts taking out thugs with his Techo Wizard lighting machinegun. and the new member of the group, in his aweosme stolen glitter boy killer power armor, is rounding up a couple thugs that ran from the hotel trying to alert the Baroness.
While the three of them are planning how to bring this city down around them. The Baroness is alerted to the situation and sends her troops, pretty much the entire town, to take care of the situation. She, along with the pacifist Face character, approach the hotel. Out front of the hotel the Burster, robot armor and power armor pilots are prepared to fight the horde of mercenaries. Then the Face character goes first in the combat rounds, he gives a speach to warn the barnoness this whole town will be destroyed if she does not let him and his friends leave now. He then gets multiple raises on his presuasion roll. thoroughly convinced she tells them to get out of her sight and never come within miles of her city. Then the Face character uses a magic device of his and mind controls the Baroness to give him the handheld computer that releases the slaves collars. Her people are so terrified or trusting of her that they watch in shock as she hands it over.
The party drives out of town a massive combat avoided, a powerful enemy made, and over a hundred slaves are released to escape into the wilderness.
This town was simply supposed to a quick stopping point and a little flavor on their journey to their final destination. It turned out to be one of the most memorable game sessions I have ran. This is what happens when all the players are interested in creating a great story together. That desire to create stories together is why I love this game.
Showing posts with label Savage Worlds. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Savage Worlds. Show all posts
Sunday, June 3, 2018
Sunday, October 15, 2017
when changes lead to the better
I had recently made a One Sheet Setting for Savage Worlds called Age of the Imaginals. I am very excited to expand on this project and take it to the mini setting.
One of the first major changes I had to make was taking the super power companion elements out of the setting. Which in turn has made it much stronger.
I was making a premade character and used the Street Fighter power level. It was way stronger than what I wanted to the setting to be. I pictured how fights would go and it was a bit to much. I wanted powers and intense combat but not four attacks around dropping a bunch of damage.
I then brainstormed on how to just use the Deluxe rules.
I started by using the racial abilities to make the mutations for the Imago. This will keep the power down and allow for a whole host of innate powers and abilities. Each Imago has two default negative racial modifiers, racial enemy and cyber resistant. The player then has 4 positive racial modifiers to create their unique character.
This also allowed the vision I had of not all Imago having powers. The coolest part is i came up with a Arcane background that is Magic but trapped so Imago can consciously allow them to manipulate their Cellular structure to create super powers. These individuals have come known as Imaginals.
By definition of the word it means interference to the Imago. In the setting word it is based off of their ability to manipulated their Imaginal cells. Every Imago begins as a normal looking human child. As they mature they begin to have incredibly vivid dreams picturing them selves as their future Imago self. This is caused by the Imaginal cells laying dormant in their body. When they begin the chrysalis those cells begin to wake up and replace the previous human cell structure. Once they emerge they have become the being that they created in their childhood dreams.
I knew I wanted cybernetics and advanced technology to play a role in the setting. Mostly it was humanity's attempt to balance the field with the power of the Imagos. It ended up becoming an attempt for humanity to adapt to the new verdant world. The final product is a group of scientists and corporations formed a group called the Promethean Project. They advanced technology greatly and gifted all the technology to the world. This included robotics, nano-tech, cold fusion. When I dropped the power level I included the Arcane Background Weird Science as a way to represent the next stage in advanced technology.
Then I needed a Arcane background for humans to use as well. I absolutely love the idea of psionics. So I had to include them.
I came up with psionics have always existed but in a very limited capacity. With the millions of deaths caused by the plague it caused a massive accumulation of psychic energy in the world. This energy has become known as the Collective. Those with the psionic potential are able to draw energy from the Collective and manifest their will upon the world. There is always a danger that they will fail drawing energy and cause a powerful backlash, wink wink, in the Collective harming those around them. This has made them very untrusted and deemed as dangerous as the Imago by the human authorities.
Next I wanted a way to create full conversion cyborgs. Mostly because my son really wanted to play a robot, and it is a major part of cyberpunk, well in my opinion at least.
I ended up making a Mechanoid race. This sets them apart as more than a basic cyborg and different than a robot. Mechanoids are people that have uploaded their consciousness/soul into a robotic frame. Unlike a standard robot they use cyberware to modify themselves instead of the modification point system.
I ended up making a Mechanoid race. This sets them apart as more than a basic cyborg and different than a robot. Mechanoids are people that have uploaded their consciousness/soul into a robotic frame. Unlike a standard robot they use cyberware to modify themselves instead of the modification point system.
This has left the surviving members of the Human race in a tricky situation. Millions of their species are dead. The world has quickly become overgrown in plant life. Weird mutated animals roam the forests. Mutant humans are now a reality and almost as great as numbers as themselves. Powerful dangerous psions are among them. Then there are traitors to humanity that would rather become a glorified machine instead of staying a human and help the species survive.
The surviving governments and the newly formed city states rule viciously in an attempt to keep the humans safe. This safety has stolen away the rights and freedoms of many, but they are distracted with all the shiny baubles of fancy technology in their attempt to cope with the changes to their world.
I am finally satisfied with the base structure of this setting. I know this because my creative mind wanders are no longer focused on the races and history. They have now wandered into developing city states, adventures, and how these people interact with their world in this new Age.
Below is a link to the current document
Tuesday, September 12, 2017
Creating a Homebrew Supers Setting
One of my favorite parts of creating a story is the creation of the world. What you come up with is a mash up of ideas that end up being a type of Frankenstein's monster. Bits and pieces here and there brought to a cohesive whole.
I am working on a setting to run for my kids. My imagination has been in overdrive fleshing out a world. I know I wanted to use the Savage Worlds Supers Companion for a game. I didn't want superheroes just empowered beings. I really like Rifts and post apocalypse settings in general. I wanted less desert atomic wasteland and more of a there just aren't a lot of people around any more. Ruins of cities with verdant forests surrounding them. City states and kingdoms as the main civilization centers.
The players play mutant heroes while the bulk of humanity fills the adversary, stole that from X-Men. I love the idea of getting your powers by going through an actual chrysalis stage. When the character emerges from the cocoon they are transformed and now their true self, knicked that from the Inhumans and Agents of SHEILD.
Now how to destroy the world so I can rebuild it. I am reading the 5th wave with my daughter. I love the idea of a massive plague taking down the bulk of humanity. The catalyst for the change is caused by an Eco-terrorist group that creates a super bacteria that wipes out humanity, stole that from 12 Monkeys. Then I have to figure out a way to dispose of the bodies and create a planet over run by forests and wild life, watching the History channel show The Days after Humans helped fuel this.
Then Wikipedia and Google searches to learn more and research all the various ideas I have come up. The best part is the stumbled across information that fills the gaps of ideas I was having hard time tying together.
Now I have the basic ideas for my desired setting. Now I insert them all into the creative centers of my brain stir it, seal the lid and let the fermenting process begin. This is what I got after letting the process sit for a bit.
I think I'll call the setting Imaginals, or the Chrysalis Event. I don't know still hashing that one out
In the year 2018 Earth took a dramatic change. A mysterious terrorist organization called the Green Corp created and released a super bacteria upon the world. They believed that humanity had ruled for too long and abused Earth in their tyrannical reign. The called the bacteria Gaia's Vengeance. It caused the infected human's body to break down at a rapid rate. With in weeks of infection the victims body would begin a rapid process of decay. Ultimately the entire body would end up as nothing more than a mass of nutrient rich matter. The remains became an excellent fertilizer. Plant life would be able to grow in a more stable environment, allowing and ensuring, the plants to retake the planet.
Two unforeseen situations came from the spread of Gaia's Vengeance. There were actually humans that were resistant to the bacteria. They watched as millions of their fellow humans dissolved. With in a decade millions upon millions of humans perished. A year after the last reported death the Chrysalis Event happened. Thousands of humans began to fall into coma like states. Their bodies exuded a thick liquid that hardened into a cocoon. After roughly a month of being in the cocoon they emerged. They were no longer human. They emerged as a form of mutated human. Some how the bacteria had interacted with the DNA of these humans and mutated and changed their entire genetic code.
All were drastically physically transformed: Some looked like animals or insects; others had multiple or less limbs; other simply had different colored skin and maybe a horn or two. All of the mutants had developed some sort of super human ability. The ability to change shape, psychic powers, create blasts of energy or matter, the list goes on and on.
It has been one hundred years since the release of Gaia's Vengeance. Those that have changed have called themselves the Imago, or the Imaginals as many of the younger generation call themselves. The Imago race is a viable species. When an Imago child is born they appear as a perfectly normal human child. At a point in their pubescent period they create their chrysalis and emerge a fully formed Imago. It is possible, yet difficult, to determine if a child is human or an imago. An Imago child has various Imaginal Cells throughout their bodies. A blood and tissue screening can possibly determine the presence of Imaginal cells. Many of the screenings provide a false negative in determining the presence of the Imaginal Cells leading parents and doctors to believe the child is a human. It is guaranteed that two Imago parents will created an Imago child. A human and Imago coupling still has a good chance. There is still even a chance that two humans can create an Imago child. Some human societies have made the mutant screening test mandatory for all newborns. Some of them will give the child to Imago parents to raise. While others will exterminate the child.
The majority of Humans and Imagos live in agrarian or nomadic societies. Those that do not flock to the larger cities. Humans have made their cities centers of technology and advancement. The larger cities have advanced technology. Even going as far as creating robotics and cybernetics as a way to level the playing field with the inherent abilities of the Imagos. There are many Imago established cities. While some enjoy the fruits of technological advancement they do not have the same level of robotics and cybernetics. The humans have made a point to keep those advancements to themselves.. Also Imagos are unable to sustain cybernetics. Something about the physiology will always reject the implant.
Some cities have been established that are quite tolerant of both species. While some completely forbid the rival species from existing in their space. As of yet there has never been a full scale aggression between Humans and Imagos. There have been many heated skirmishes and attacks, but never a war. The majority of the Earths population simply wants to just exist, rebuild and survive in the wilds and ruins of Earth.
Now for the Setting Rules.
All the Setting Rules in the Supers Companion except for Death and Defeat and Finishing Moves.
Blood and Guts
Jokers Wild
Critical Failures
Character creation use Rising Stars rule. they start with 10 power points
The Power limit is set at 15 points per power.
I am working on a setting to run for my kids. My imagination has been in overdrive fleshing out a world. I know I wanted to use the Savage Worlds Supers Companion for a game. I didn't want superheroes just empowered beings. I really like Rifts and post apocalypse settings in general. I wanted less desert atomic wasteland and more of a there just aren't a lot of people around any more. Ruins of cities with verdant forests surrounding them. City states and kingdoms as the main civilization centers.
The players play mutant heroes while the bulk of humanity fills the adversary, stole that from X-Men. I love the idea of getting your powers by going through an actual chrysalis stage. When the character emerges from the cocoon they are transformed and now their true self, knicked that from the Inhumans and Agents of SHEILD.
Now how to destroy the world so I can rebuild it. I am reading the 5th wave with my daughter. I love the idea of a massive plague taking down the bulk of humanity. The catalyst for the change is caused by an Eco-terrorist group that creates a super bacteria that wipes out humanity, stole that from 12 Monkeys. Then I have to figure out a way to dispose of the bodies and create a planet over run by forests and wild life, watching the History channel show The Days after Humans helped fuel this.
Then Wikipedia and Google searches to learn more and research all the various ideas I have come up. The best part is the stumbled across information that fills the gaps of ideas I was having hard time tying together.
Now I have the basic ideas for my desired setting. Now I insert them all into the creative centers of my brain stir it, seal the lid and let the fermenting process begin. This is what I got after letting the process sit for a bit.
I think I'll call the setting Imaginals, or the Chrysalis Event. I don't know still hashing that one out
In the year 2018 Earth took a dramatic change. A mysterious terrorist organization called the Green Corp created and released a super bacteria upon the world. They believed that humanity had ruled for too long and abused Earth in their tyrannical reign. The called the bacteria Gaia's Vengeance. It caused the infected human's body to break down at a rapid rate. With in weeks of infection the victims body would begin a rapid process of decay. Ultimately the entire body would end up as nothing more than a mass of nutrient rich matter. The remains became an excellent fertilizer. Plant life would be able to grow in a more stable environment, allowing and ensuring, the plants to retake the planet.
Two unforeseen situations came from the spread of Gaia's Vengeance. There were actually humans that were resistant to the bacteria. They watched as millions of their fellow humans dissolved. With in a decade millions upon millions of humans perished. A year after the last reported death the Chrysalis Event happened. Thousands of humans began to fall into coma like states. Their bodies exuded a thick liquid that hardened into a cocoon. After roughly a month of being in the cocoon they emerged. They were no longer human. They emerged as a form of mutated human. Some how the bacteria had interacted with the DNA of these humans and mutated and changed their entire genetic code.
All were drastically physically transformed: Some looked like animals or insects; others had multiple or less limbs; other simply had different colored skin and maybe a horn or two. All of the mutants had developed some sort of super human ability. The ability to change shape, psychic powers, create blasts of energy or matter, the list goes on and on.
It has been one hundred years since the release of Gaia's Vengeance. Those that have changed have called themselves the Imago, or the Imaginals as many of the younger generation call themselves. The Imago race is a viable species. When an Imago child is born they appear as a perfectly normal human child. At a point in their pubescent period they create their chrysalis and emerge a fully formed Imago. It is possible, yet difficult, to determine if a child is human or an imago. An Imago child has various Imaginal Cells throughout their bodies. A blood and tissue screening can possibly determine the presence of Imaginal cells. Many of the screenings provide a false negative in determining the presence of the Imaginal Cells leading parents and doctors to believe the child is a human. It is guaranteed that two Imago parents will created an Imago child. A human and Imago coupling still has a good chance. There is still even a chance that two humans can create an Imago child. Some human societies have made the mutant screening test mandatory for all newborns. Some of them will give the child to Imago parents to raise. While others will exterminate the child.
The majority of Humans and Imagos live in agrarian or nomadic societies. Those that do not flock to the larger cities. Humans have made their cities centers of technology and advancement. The larger cities have advanced technology. Even going as far as creating robotics and cybernetics as a way to level the playing field with the inherent abilities of the Imagos. There are many Imago established cities. While some enjoy the fruits of technological advancement they do not have the same level of robotics and cybernetics. The humans have made a point to keep those advancements to themselves.. Also Imagos are unable to sustain cybernetics. Something about the physiology will always reject the implant.
Some cities have been established that are quite tolerant of both species. While some completely forbid the rival species from existing in their space. As of yet there has never been a full scale aggression between Humans and Imagos. There have been many heated skirmishes and attacks, but never a war. The majority of the Earths population simply wants to just exist, rebuild and survive in the wilds and ruins of Earth.
Now for the Setting Rules.
All the Setting Rules in the Supers Companion except for Death and Defeat and Finishing Moves.
Blood and Guts
Jokers Wild
Critical Failures
Character creation use Rising Stars rule. they start with 10 power points
The Power limit is set at 15 points per power.
Other than that characters start as a normal human.
Super Karma has been modified
Each Imago has some sort of physical sign that they are an Imago.
Each Imago begins a modified version of the Distinctive Appearance Hindrance at either the minor or major level. This hindrance is taken in addition to standard hindrances.
Both levels give the Imago a -4 charisma when interacting with humans. At the minor level the Imago is able to conceal their appearance in some fashion. At the major level the Imago is not able to conceal their appearance at all.
If a character takes the minor version they gain an additional 5 power points at character creation. If the hindrance is taken at the major level they begin with 10 additional power points. As per the Super Karma rule this does not increase the power limit for a power.
Super Karma has been modified
Each Imago has some sort of physical sign that they are an Imago.
Each Imago begins a modified version of the Distinctive Appearance Hindrance at either the minor or major level. This hindrance is taken in addition to standard hindrances.
Both levels give the Imago a -4 charisma when interacting with humans. At the minor level the Imago is able to conceal their appearance in some fashion. At the major level the Imago is not able to conceal their appearance at all.
If a character takes the minor version they gain an additional 5 power points at character creation. If the hindrance is taken at the major level they begin with 10 additional power points. As per the Super Karma rule this does not increase the power limit for a power.
Disallowed powers
Copycat
Invent
Super sorcery
Construct
Undead
Well that is all i really have to share about this setting for today. I hope you enjoy and if you have any questions or comments feel free to let me know.
“This game references the Savage Worlds game system, available from Pinnacle Entertainment Group at www.peginc.com. Savage Worlds and all associated logos and trademarks are copyrights of Pinnacle Entertainment Group. Used with permission. Pinnacle makes no representation or warranty as to the quality, viability, or suitability for purpose of this product.”
Well that is all i really have to share about this setting for today. I hope you enjoy and if you have any questions or comments feel free to let me know.
“This game references the Savage Worlds game system, available from Pinnacle Entertainment Group at www.peginc.com. Savage Worlds and all associated logos and trademarks are copyrights of Pinnacle Entertainment Group. Used with permission. Pinnacle makes no representation or warranty as to the quality, viability, or suitability for purpose of this product.”
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