[SFD] Recap of the game 2/12

Here is a short recap of the first session.

Edison, leading his motley band of scavengers, had bought a scavenging permit for the remains of Grosse Point. Using some secret records he had recovered, Edison was hoping to find the remains of a hereto unknown Vault that he could recover tech from. At the same time, S.A.L. was preparing to sen "her" group into the Wastes on their "Shopping Run". As Fluffy pounded on the massive door sealing the Vault, opening procedures began. An awkward introduction followed, vastly facilitated by the "movies" that Jeeves managed to project, especially enjoyed by Fluffy. Making the decision that working together would allow both groups to have a better chance of success, the new band set out. Almost immediately a man ran by, chased by dogs. Jane Doe decided to randomly shoot one dog as Fluffy tripped the running man. Following after the dogs were handlers and a man on horse. When the one handler saw his now dead dog he had a fit, before being shot by the rider. After determining the party had a valid scavenging permit the newcomers simply dragged the fallen man off.

After rooting through some ruins the party stumbled on to a small personal fallout shelter, filled with canned goods. Chasing after a possible lead on pickles the party began to head west.

The travel west was assisted by the cobbling of a Supermutant powered wagon. Strange sights were noticed coming from the city center, including a sight of some weird light in the sky leaving the center of town.

The session wrapped up after a close encounter with the radiation of the Glow. The party pulled off the highway and bedded down for the day.

[SFD] Some gear and Edges

I've added two additional resources to the Savage Fallout booklets, Savage Darwin's World and Savage Gamma World. The single biggest benefit will be additional tech, pre-written for me to use. I find this wonderful as it means more time to spend on trying to figure out how something like a Stealthboy will actually work. As one of the players wants a Stealthboy as an integral part of his character. Since the piece of tech is that important I think its time to create an edge, however not every piece of tech costs an edge. Regular gear is still available, but it can be stolen, broken or worn out.

Gear

Sheath Armor - the standard riot gear of America pre-fall (power armor being the exclusive province of the military) was stocked in the Vaults, for the inevitable civil disturbances in the monolithic vaults. As a result the remaining suits tend to be in the hands of vault dwellers and their descendants  or those who have found and cracked Vaults.

+3 armor, 100 credits, 10 lb weight (does not include a helmet)

Friendly Persuader - not popular with most dwellers of the Wastelands due to their lack of lethality, the Friendly Persuader was created to arm police forces of pre-fall America. Powerful but non lethal this handgun has much of the profile of the classic .38 cal revolver that was standard issue for police across America from the 1880s well through World War 2. Quite capable of subduing a suspect rather than out right killing them, only those few attempting to uphold justice in the wastes even consider using them in the current era.

Friendly Persuader - 15/30/60 - 2d8 damage - 30 shots from one micro energy cell - AP2, inflicts Fatigue instead of wounds, Semi-Auto, target is shaken if received fatigue damage, 500 credits, 4 lbs

New Edges

These edges are going to be character creation only - they are specifically intended to certain characters, unless some negotiation comes in.

Weapon of Mass Distraction (intended for SirJustinSane's character)

Requirements: Novice, Attractive, Spirits d8+

You've got some impressive "assets" and you sure know how to make the best use of them to make sure that your opponent's attention is where you want it to be.

When wearing any outfit that leaves at least 75% of your skin exposed, any attack roll made against you suffers a -2 penalty, in addition to any other modifiers that apply. This penalty rises to -4 if you are Very Attractive.

by JackAce

Gear (intended for the Swede)

Requirements: Novice, not available to Vault born origins

You got your grubby hands on a piece of pre-Fall technology. The technology of the Ancients was amazing, almost magical in its reach and power. Use the weird science rules to create an item, but replace weird science with Science as the skill roll, with a default to Smarts. This includes the rule that a 1 on the skill roll triggers a malfunction. 

example - Stealthboy
10 power points (recharges one point per hour)
mimics Invisibility spell (cost of 5 points)
Duration 3 (additional round for each extra point spent)
Character becomes invisible, -4 to notice, IF there is a reason to suspect an invisible character. With a success for notice roll, -4 to target. On a raise the penalty becomes -6

Sincerity

Req. Novice, Persuasion d8+

Some call your character a wide-eyed idealist, but there is no mistaking the fact that he believes what he says. Anytime your character is telling the literal truth (as he knows it), he gains a +2 bonus on Persuasion rolls. He loses this bonus if he exaggerates even slightly.

~Talisman

Hindrances

Flashbacks (minor)

The Hero has suffered a traumatic event in his life that has taken a portion of his sanity with it. Whenever the Hero sees or hears an object, person, sound etc. that may have been linked to a specific traumatic event in his life he must make a Spirit roll. With a failure the hero suffers a flashback and is shaken, he may begin hallucinating and acting as if he were actually in his flashback.

-1337pwnr

[SFD] An Experimental Idea

While listening to podcasts at work I came across a totally intriguing concept, having nonactive players stepping into crowd npcs and roleplaying them. I call them "crowd npcs" as these are npcs whose sole existence is to be scenery, players familiar with older Crpgs will know them as the "Sigh, times are tough" bar patrons. The whole idea of being a DM who DOESN'T have to roleplay the minor scenery npcs when the party, of course, splits up to try and pursue two goals or more at once. This is a wonderful idea for me as it allows some additional player control of the plot as they can dictate additional elements of the world, as I have no problem rolling with the changes. However there are a few rules to this idea;

• Dont be a dick - just like Phil Plait says, this should always be a golden rule
• Pick an unimportant npcs - dont pick the king, pick a servant or bodyguard
• you're playing an npc to add flavor, not to try and add to the plot
• dont do anything to harm another PC (causing trouble for your own PC is fair game)

Im quite willing to allow this with any player ive run for before, and others are welcome after they have gamed with me and gotten a taste of my style.

[SFD] Random thoughts and notes

Just a miscellaneous post with the hope to organize my thoughts some.

Overland travel in Savage Fallout: Detroit

• Walking - 4.5 mph or around 24 miles for an average days travel
• Horses - 25 miles roughly, can be pushed to around 50 miles
• Motorcycle - 40-60 miles per hour
• Cars - as fast as the engine and your nerves will handle
• Sail ships - 120 miles in a day

Scavenging permits - I think it would make sense for some of the more organized (or ruthless) power groups in the area to issue scavenging permits to various wandering scavengers. In return for a portion of all scrap or relics found the scavenger is legally allowed to hunt through ruins in the power groups area. Punishment for scavenging without a permit will be branding on first attempt and probably death on a repeat offense. Variation in the cost of the permit or what is expected to be recovered makes perfect sense, as someone digging through a pile of beams and bricks is one thing, cracking into a military storage depot is much different.

Speaking of scavenging Ive decided on a location for the Vault that starts up the campaign will be in Grosse Point and the exit to the outside world faces South.

Pirates of the Big Lakes - this idea needs expansion, wonder if there is a Gammaworld module for this...

What is the starting date of Savage Fallout: Detroit - I think I need a random day generator and work from there. 

[SFD] Character Sheet

Just a small posting - heres a link to the Character Sheet I edited. Savage Fallout: Detroit Character Sheet

Opinions and thoughts?

RPGs and whining

I found a wonderful little comment on James Raggi's little rant that I need to try and focus on for gaming (it ties into Zak at Playing D&D with Porn Stars Vegan Wrap commentary).

DRANCE said...

One bad thing about the Internet is that every douche can now put forth his opinion as fact an inflict the whole world with his blather. Here is what I have to say: What makes you an ideal candidate to pass such judgement? This is your opinion. So keep it to yourself. If you have such a problem with rpgs then do something creative and bring something new to the table, instead of sitting back and passing judgement. Stop whining. Stop assuming that your opinion is fact. I’m pretty sure that there are lots of gamers having lots of fun and have no inkling of this creativity “crisis” you see in the industry. Just go game and let everyone have fun in their own way. Stop being a navel-gazer. The point is to have fun. If you are not, maybe RPGs are no longer for you.

February 5, 2011 5:50 PM 

 

I need to print this and post it next to my computer for reference every time I start to get dragged into a "discussion" of the various merits of RPGs I like

[SFD] Player goals, or "what to show up with?"

As we move into the final weekend before character generation and kicking off Savage Fallout: Detroit people have been talking more about their characters goals.

I dont need, or even want, players showing up with detailed plans for their characters. Thanks to the disaster of both my abortive D&D 4E campaign and the Changeling: the Lost misadventure have shown me that allowing character motivations to become too widely divergent is a recipe for disaster. So here's a general list to keep in mind

• Keep it simple and basic - we WILL flesh it out later
• try to keep it suiting Fallout, and if you dont know Fallout think generic or "Book of Eli" for motivation
• dont get totally attached to a motivation or goal - you might hear something that inspire you to something you never thought of
• be open to other comments or ideas, you might get a twist on your idea thats even cooler

==========
Heres some additional old advice I found on Greyhawk Grognards blog

Advice for Players from... the Players Handbook

There's a whole section in the back of the Players Handbook called "Successful Adventures." I liked to think I was being pretty slick, since I read it over and over, and none of the other people I played with at the time seemed to even realize it existed in the "flyover country" between the spell descriptions and psionics.

• set an objective
• survival at lower levels is usually dependent upon group action and team spirit
• Avoid unnecessary encounters
• Do not be sidetracked.
• If the party becomes lost, the objective must immediately be changed to discovery of a way out.
• Co-operation assumes mutual trust and confidence

Yes, it is OLD advice but still true