Ruins game

Larsen · Unread post by **Larsen** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 1:13 am

I'm thinking of making a plot where the game would be almost entirely sdc with the focus of the game being survival and not combat. But I wanted to put it in an urban or actually ruins of an urban city. There would be some sort of menace plaguing the city that seems to have unlimited power. Also the characters would have to team together to find things to defeat it. But they wouldn't have access to conventional weapons. I'm drawing a blank on that currently. But I want the game to be a low on ammo, food running out, scary thing(s) in the dark, I have mdc weapons but no ammo, scrounging for stuff feel to it. Any comments, suggestions, questions are welcome.

Dustin Fireblade · Thu Dec 20, 2007 10:14 am

Would this be in Rifts or Chaos Earth?

CE might make a better setting, say a few years after the cataclysm. All the things that could be scavenged have by that time likely been picked up already.

Larsen · Unread post by **Larsen** » Fri Dec 21, 2007 12:54 am

Well I definitely want it to be in an mdc game setting but just not have the players have access to it right away. I was going to have them been in some sort of aerial crash thing so the wreckage being in the city would be a possibility. I never considered CE but thats mainly due to no one in my group having the book. I want them more to have to figure out what the thing is that haunts I guess would be the most accurate word the ruins and how to stop or at least escape from it before it slowly drives them crazy. It won't kill them though.

bigbobsr6000 · Unread post by **bigbobsr6000** » Fri Dec 21, 2007 5:33 am

Normal passenger plane on the day of The Rift. Pilot crash lands plane in or near the ruins of city. There are dead and casualties and some NPC survivors with little or no injuries like the PC's. Modern city ruins in a jungle area. Now this could be anywhere or anytime you want as the plane was "rifted" to this location. Say, current Rifts time in (any country) at (any city) ruins. Maybe the city and plane were rifted here, thus destroying the city creating the ruins.

Well, you get the idea. The plane angle puts PC's together that don't know each other.

Hope this helps, Big Bob........................

mobuttu · Unread post by **mobuttu** » Fri Dec 21, 2007 6:19 am

The same angle as above but the plane cames from actual time and is being rifted on a storm at the bermuda triangle and it crashes at Atlantis...scaring... :twisted:

Noon · Unread post by **Noon** » Sat Dec 22, 2007 1:47 am

Hi Larsen,

Is this like a boardgame play, where players can win or lose (ie, if you don't survive you lost as a player)

Or do you just want the feel of survival?

If the feel is important, your going to have trouble explaining how you get to decide the feel of the game and they don't. Ie, have trouble explaining how that's fun.

Larsen · Unread post by **Larsen** » Sun Dec 23, 2007 2:33 am

Noon wrote:Hi Larsen,

Is this like a boardgame play, where players can win or lose (ie, if you don't survive you lost as a player)

Or do you just want the feel of survival?

If the feel is important, your going to have trouble explaining how you get to decide the feel of the game and they don't. Ie, have trouble explaining how that's fun.

Well the group im in actually has been asking someone (we rotate gms for new games) to make a survivalist type game. I just am the only who is going to try to do it. Everyone else is just like yea sounds too hard to do because its something we have never done before.

Noon · Unread post by **Noon** » Mon Dec 24, 2007 4:15 am

Well, then it's not that you want a survival feel - they want one. Just by listening closely to them before and during the game you should be able to figure out what you need to do. The audience will tell you what they want, it's just a matter of carefully listening - don't bother prepping, the audience already has something in mind.

Larsen · Unread post by **Larsen** » Mon Dec 24, 2007 5:05 pm

Noon wrote:Well, then it's not that you want a survival feel - they want one. Just by listening closely to them before and during the game you should be able to figure out what you need to do. The audience will tell you what they want, it's just a matter of carefully listening - don't bother prepping, the audience already has something in mind.

Yes they all do have something in mind. It is a very general idea though. None of them have experience playing or making a game where it is not a traveling adventure but instead a game of constant hiding, low to no supplies, fighting unknown numbers of unknown creatures everywhere just trying not to die. They play games where they are all some type of adventurer out on missions and in between missions they have down time for their characters to restock and resupply to gear up their next excursion out. So because of this I am trying to get all the little details and help possible to make this game enjoyable enough to where maybe they will want to play this type again.

Noon · Unread post by **Noon** » Thu Dec 27, 2007 10:53 pm

So you want the game to be enjoyable enough that they will want to play again?

Lets put it this way - if you were writing a whole new RPG, would you expect to be able to write it so perfectly that people would want to play it again right from the very first time you played it? I mean, if you could then you'd be making some good money selling such a game. But your not (nor am I).

Tell your group if you could guarantee a great game session, you'd have a little RPG publishing empire right now, and a fair bit of money from it.

Don't say "I will entertain you". Because you can't be sure you can. Don't make promises your not sure you can keep.

Yeah, I know you want help with the survival game thing. But sometimes before you can fill your cup, you have to empty it first. Don't promise to entertain them - because really if you could promise that, you'd be off making good money from it.

Call it 'playtesting' or trying out something you'd made to see how it goes. That's the first step to your survival game thing. But I suspect you want to run the 'perfect game night' for them. I know I did for many years. But ask yourself, do you want to promise a perfect game night while your not certain you can deliver? Probably not. Until you can promise that, offer playtest nights.

Playtesting is alot easier and you can try out ideas alot more casually. In fact since its casual, you'll probably realise you don't need much help in putting together a game to playtest - you can just try out whatever and see what happens. Though it'd be great to hear about the game here, if you could post about it.