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Doc4
September 9th, 2005, 00:01
I am an experienced GM of some 20+ years starting up a sci-fi campaign. I currently have one player, an old friend of mine, who is very experienced with gaming, and we need two more players.

We are looking for mature players, able to play Tuesdays from 6pm to 11pm+ Pacific time every other week and sometimes each week.

Our rule system is a custom design that we've played in PnP games for years, combining what we loved from all the dozens of rpg's we've played. Players requiring D20 mechanics need not apply.

The setting has been taken from the Traveller universe: gritty realism in a sci-fi starship setting. The characters will own a small freighter in a universe just recovering from a total collapse. Decayed cities on forgotten worlds wait to be explored, while politics and turmoil in the civilized systems leads to espionage style adventures too. The characters will be tougher than the standard thug, but life will be cheap and facing the nameless hordes head on will only get you killed.

There will be plenty of exploration, politics and action, but the story is the most important goal above everything. Story and rich characters. Oh....and fun.

Again, we are looking for mature players able to commit to the game time. Players who emphasize a detailed character description and background not the attribute points they have. Honesty and a fun attitude should be a given. We like to think of our game as not even an RPG but as writing a story together.

We have gamed together for many years face to face, Neverwinter Nights for two years and have had two gaming sessions with Fantasy Grounds. The ruleset has already been created with custom character sheets. A little bit of math is required during character generation and combat. Spelling errors are encouraged.

If you are interested, please email me (test #1 :) at [email protected] telling me a little bit about yourself, game experiences you like and character types you normally play or wish to try.


Thank you,

Tom / Doc4

Doc4
September 10th, 2005, 18:44
By the by, here are two screenshots of the character sheet:


https://img6.imageshack.us/img6/7924/charsheetmain3gr.th.jpg (https://img6.imageshack.us/my.php?image=charsheetmain3gr.jpg)

https://img98.imageshack.us/img98/8788/charsheetskills3ay.th.jpg (https://img98.imageshack.us/my.php?image=charsheetskills3ay.jpg)



Influences on the style of campaign come from Aliens, a little Firefly, and even a sense of Star Trek shows up every now and then. Role-playing influences on the campaign would be Traveller and a bit of Gamma World.

Tom / Doc4

Snikle
September 11th, 2005, 00:31
Looks and sounds great, too early for me though. :cry: Good luck in finding your players!

Doc4
September 16th, 2005, 20:47
Come now, ladies and gentlemen. Someone (or two!) should be interested in a sci-fi game and line up with our time.

Break out of the D20 fantasy rut. Try something new!


Tom / Doc4

cogollo
September 17th, 2005, 08:09
I would love to play in this campaign (I would love to play anything not d20 fantasy for a change) but there are problems with our timezones.

If you decide to change the game at one point or another to friday or saturday nights (that would be saturday or sunday mornings here in Europe), please send me a PM. I would most probably join the game.

There's a 9 hours difference between Pacific Time and Continental Europe (GMT+1). That means that if you start a game in Pacific Time at 22h00, it would be 7am here. I usually get up at 8h30 in the weekends, but I would be willing to get up earlier for a game like this.


Anyway, good luck with finding more players for your game.

greatmoonzini
September 24th, 2005, 20:35
I would be more than willing to get into your game if you are still looking for players.

Chris

Brytestar
September 26th, 2005, 00:27
Hmmm...I only got the lite version. I really can use any d20 experience I can get.

Doc4
September 27th, 2005, 05:24
Hmmm...I only got the lite version. I really can use any d20 experience I can get.

I am not certain what this has to do with my thread about our campaign. You can join any game with the lite "player" version, and our game has nothing to do with d20.

?


In regards to anyone actually interested in joining us,

We have had several players ask to join, and we will be inviting some soon. If you are interested and have not sent me an email at [email protected] then please so do as soon as possible.


Thank you,

Tom / Doc4

Brytestar
September 27th, 2005, 06:37
Ooops sorry about that my mistake :?

Doc4
October 19th, 2005, 03:55
If you are a player still looking for a mature group to join, please send me an email if you have an interest in our game.

We just had a player drop out of our game due to scheduling reasons right before we were to get underway, leaving us a player short.

Here is a copy of the Campagin email sent out to players to familiarize them with the setting:


***********************************


Campaign Background (give some credit to the Traveller background)



It was far in our future, and man had colonized countless worlds. Thousands upon thousands of starships of different sizes and functions raced through space taking man to distant galaxies. Entire worlds were terraformed to make way for new colonies. Though there was conflict and struggle, mankind continued to thrive in scientific and cultural growth.

Over many generations, several different coalitions of star systems formed together and differences began to grow between them. Large scale war broke out over territorial disputes. Massive fleet battles pitted major coalitions, each made up of dozens of worlds, against one another while smaller factions fought for new expansion as well. The war escalated until becoming epic in proportion.

Scientists from one of the coalitions developed a virus to stop the war once and for all. This virus was to seek out their opponents computer systems and shut everything down. Planetary defense systems would be halted and massive battleships would be left floating dead in space. The virus was to grow and spread only to wipe out the weapons of the opposing coalition. It would have been a very humane end to a bloody struggle that had lasted several decades. The defeated coalition would be forced to surrender and the conflict would be stopped almost over night without a single shot fired. But things did not go as planned.

The virus grew and struck out at the defenses and did its job. Its AI developed as it worked its magic, defeating computer systems with absolute ease. It began to grow and learn. When efforts were made to purge it from the military systems, it lashed out across the civilian networks. Its coding became corrupt as it now began to see not just the machinery of war but mankind itself as a threat to the AI. The AI infected every machine it could touch, turning them upon their human creators. The AI machines went out of their way to infect other systems and machines as time wore on.

The rate of infection was sickening in effectiveness. Imagine a self-aware flu virus that could control an infected person. This flu virus could then get itself added to the water supply or purposefully contact other people to infect them and spread it further. This is what the AI virus did, but through machines. Computer systems worked efficiently and with lightning speed to break down any barrier to other machines, killing every human it could. The human race had little chance. Massive starships were crushed into dense cities. Weapons of mass destruction detonated over world after world. Even the remote colonies were not safe. A quick thinking hero quickly warning the next system that the AI was coming their way to destroy them only sealed the fate of the worlds he contacted. The AI was already embedded in the communications sent. Dome covered metropolosis on desolate planets had their protections collapse, instantly killing millions. The spread was fast and violent.

A few brave souls fighting their own infected ships raced to systems multiple jumps away, ejecting themselves free from their vessels and floating to the distant world's awaiting vessels. Only in this way were regions of humanity warned in time to be spared. Blockades were setup to destroy every ship that attempted to reach these distant worlds. Computer systems everywhere were disconnected from each other. Important information was condensed into small chunks that could be passed from one user to the next when moving information between systems. Everything became much more compartmentalized.

Humanity suffered a major blow through the virus, and that was over 125 years ago. Over time, the developing code of the AI virus has stopped. Humanity is safe from further infection, but only a fraction of the planets remained untouched. Virus ship attacks have become less frequent and are rarely seen at all. People are struggling back into civilization. Some cultures were thrown back into the stone age and struggle to survive on a day to day basis. Other proud nations are ruled over by whoever has the most powerful weapons at hand. But more technologically advanced groups of worlds have banded together again from the ashes.

Two major groups of the surviving systems have formed up since the Collapse. These two coallitions rest at the edge of human space with undiscovered galaxies extending beyond their borders. In the opposite direction of thier borders lies thousands of dead worlds ready to have their lost secrets and technologies reclaimed while roaming fleets of AI infected vessels still wander the region.

One of these two coallitions, The Inner Alliance, seeks to bring back the power and advancements from the past. The Inner Alliance wants to setup a similar government and society as it was before the Collapse. They have the resources and manpower, but their dedication to the old way of life keeps them stuck in the past.

The other coalition is the Grey Union. These systems want nothing to do with how men ruled themselves before the Collapse. Just look where that got them. The Grey Union is a loose collection of worlds that want to strip away the technology from the ruins of the past and exploit it for their own gain. The Union is essentially an uneasy agreement between neighboring worlds to stick together and recover as quickly as they can before other powers like the Inner Alliance become dominant. Where the Inner Alliance stifles itself in beauracracy, the Grey Union festers in corruption and greed.

The worlds of the Grey Union are greatly influenced by the massive corporations that have grown out of the destruction. After an initial breakdown of government at the start of the collapse, these corporations have become the major players within the Union. They make the laws and keep the society growing. The worlds of the Union have become the most vile representation of commercialism. Death and cruelty are a mere afterthought if the mighty credit is involved.

Finally, out there amoungst the Grey Union, Inner Alliance, Collapse ruins and the wilderness lies an area called the Fringe. Here, local worlds manage their own affairs struggling to keep out of the hands of the coallitions let alone simply survive.


YOU

Your group of heroes, though heroes they need not be, will be aboard a small vessel caught in the center of these regions. The work you do is whatever you can find. Hauling cargo, passenger transport, scouting new regions, theft and even the occasional disappearance of thugs who have crossed one person too many. Your vessel is owned by an independant group of "financers" who cover the massive cost of the ship requiring a reasonable fee each week. However, these financial backers also need certain odd and dangerous jobs be handled for free on their behalf every now and then. Though you have not pried into who these people are or even met them, you have never questioned their assignments and have dropped everything you are doing to make them happy. Without them, you are stuck planetside somewhere, scrubbing around to live just like everyone else.
Your vessel is small and is similar to a heavy transport helicopter, missing its mid-section so that it can attach small cargo containers to itself. It has light weaponary, light defenses, a system drive for getting around nearby and the expensive fold drive for reaching far out into space.



MISCELLANEOUS

Cyberware is virtually non-existent. There are prosthetic replacements for the injured but that is about the extent. High-end technological resources are just now making a return to the Union. There are lots of videos and violent or over-the-top live entertainment, but no sim like units that people plug into their heads. There are many computers to deal with in the world, and very few networks. Though the Virus no longer presents an infection threat, technology and fears are slow to build back computer connections.

Sidearms are common in most regions, though the core worlds of the Inner Alliance require permits. However, even the most remote town will get very agitated about automatic weapons and body armour in their community. Most weapons fire bullets, energy weapons are rare.

Starships are out there in the form of trade and defense. These ships are normally old and well used, pieced together from several other vessels. The Union government spends no effort at all on research and science, that is for the corporations to develop. Most science related advances come from recovery of lost technology that a corporation then figures out how to re manufacture. The Inner Alliance spends considerable efforts at research and new construction but at painful costs to other needs of their citizenry.

Psionics are excessively rare. The cause of psionics was a scientific effort, one of the highest attained, that was just getting underway before the collapse. Any psionicists still in existence have had their power passed down through the last few generations. The powers are only fading now as there is no training doctrine or formal development of the psionicists any longer. People with the power are shunned and sometimes criminally charged or killed to remove them as threats to the society and people in power.

Game mechanics wise, expect the combat to be brutal. You guys will have an edge over the standard thug in the street, but a single bullet can still kill you. So take cover. If the combat round starts and you just now decide you are going to draw your weapon, you may be already dead. You need to have that hand edging towards the weapon before things get heated or have a friend cover you from afar if trouble is expected.


*************************************


Again, if you are interested and can make our times listed in the original post, please email me as soon as possible as we are ready to get going.


Thank you,


Tom / Doc4
[email protected]

thefallen
October 19th, 2005, 12:41
I am very interested in this. I have been looking for a more modern game for some time. The only problem is, I'm in the eastern time zone. That would be 9pm to 2am for me on a tuesday night and I would have to be at work by 630 the next morning. Sorry, I'm interested, just can't make the time.

BrokenWind
November 2nd, 2005, 17:12
I am deffinately interested and can make the time/day listed. I sent you an email a few days ago, not sure if you got it or not. You can catch me at [email protected] if ya still have an opening.