are you a good story teller? and know splicers

[goodhometownboy]

its simple i can gm real well heroes normally is my thing but i have a strange love for splicers the last time i tried my group didn't like it they said they was no substace to my story... i really want to play splicers but i can think of a good story line, plots, and character.. as well as sub plots.. so i guess i am wondering if someone would co write a campain with me.. i don't know maybe your too busy to game but have tons of idea so let me play them out for you.. anyways i really just need some help with a campain either with me or for me

please help

[Guy_LeDouche]

Any ideas, even only half formed ones, feel free to fire away. One thing about this board that never fails to amaze me is how supportive other Splicer posters are.

As for me, I'm more than willing to help. I'm resurrecting a bunch of old Splicers material that has been gathering dust, so feel free to pass anything on.

[goodhometownboy]

well anything really... like do they fight anything but the machines ( my players think its to depressing to keep fighting something you can't win against) umm there everyday lives, missions to go on doesn't matter what.. i am open to anything and everything my players just need a good griping story/campain.. if you can give me some detials about what you need from me i can easily feel you in. thanks for your help by the way

[Guy_LeDouche]

Oh, sorry Hometown. I don't think I understood your original post.

As a long time GM (I haven't actually played a PC in a little over 5 years) I operate a bit differently than most I know. I don't write out every detail of my planned campaigns; I tend to prefer broad outlines with only "mission critical" encounters or NPCs fully fleshed out. Please keep that in mind when you read the rest of the post.

First off, always make sure you have a "Plan B". PC's often don't do or go where you want them to, so make sure you have a back up plan or storyline. And if they stray from your original story, try not to worry too much. A small side adventure is not too bad, and get them back on track.

Fighting the Machine can become repetitive, so it does take a little extra thought to keep the freshness going. A few suggestions:

**Vary the Bots the PCs face. Steel Troopers and Necros are fine, but alter it a bit to keep the PCs off balance. Force them to make decisions on the fly. For example, PCs are under attack by a group of Bots. Do they focus on the swarm of Skitter Pods headed straight for them, or the Assault Slayers brining up the rear? Throw in a few Rat Bombs that the PCs may/may not notice, and watch the fireworks happen. Keep in mind, Machine reinforcements are usually only minutes away (if needed.) As you stated, the humans will almost always be outnumbered, which brings me to my next point:

**Have some kind of objective. Instead of just random battles, give the PCs a strategic objective or two to accomplish. Since its unlikely the humans will ever be able to whittle away the numbers, the importance of taking out Computer Cores, Power Stations, Factories, etc. becomes readily apparent. Lots of prowling, sneaking, demolitions work, strategic planning.

**Never underestimate the evil of humanity. Bots don't have to be the sole enemy of PCs. Rogue Waste Crawlers, rival Houses (House Shiva makes a great boogeyman for this), blood feuds, Techno Jackers, monsters and other hostiles from the Preserves, even the political machinations within their own House. My current group is caught between a mentally unbalanced Warlord and his supporters on one side, and a scheming Scarecrow on the other.

**The environment in Splicers by itself can be just as deadly as any enemy; be sure to put some thought into where everything will take place. This can add some great detail to the story, allow PCs to conceive and pull off some great strategies (think of "300"), and can also double as an additional hazard ("the only way to get away from the patrol is to cross this 100ft. METAL girder!!") The nanobot plague offers a lot of opportunities for suspense, if that's a something you want to explore. Even a basic "search these ruins" adventure becomes very tense when you know that killer metal monsters could appear virtually out of nowhere and attack at any time. Can you imagine hunting down some robots in the ruins of a skyscraper--a giant forest of metal girders? Even an abandoned grocery store is a death-trap. Find ways to put your characters into situations like that, and see how they get out.

**Ghost Towns are ripe with suspense and, if you play it right, can give some great “Matrix”-type adventures. PCs can blend in with some effort (perhaps to find some black discs or other artifacts), with the Nex-Androids assuming a sort of Agent role. You could even turn it into a sort of Orwellian "conform or die" kind of thing, emphasizing that the characters must look and act and be like everyone else simply to survive; since everyone else is an android, the metaphor is even stronger.


If you’re looking for specific plots or adventure storylines, here are some good basic outlines:

**LOCATION DEFENSE: Defend and protect a valuable location, facility, or key personnel. This could include food sources or storage, water supply, Bone Yards, the Great House itself, etc. Conditions could include:
Creation and manning of defences to repel enemy assault.
Prevent enemy access or control of the facility (Rat Bombs, Sewer Crawlers, and Cable Snakes are great infiltrators!)
Evacuate civilian personnel and ensure their safe transport.
Destroy or retake the facility if lost to the enemy.

**SEEK AND DESTORY: Sweep a specified area or location and eliminate any hostiles where encountered. Terminate with extreme prejudice.

**KNOW YOUR FOE: The PCs must study and test an enemy’s combat capabilities first hand, in anticipation of a later invasion, assault, etc. This could include the Machine, other Houses, a monster, etc. Conditions could include:
Sweeping an area and noting any characteristics (defensive structures, lairs, etc.)
Personal observations and reactions
Mapping of an area, taking special note of patrols, routines, habits and other fact finding operations
Initiating small scale confrontations to judge strategic and tactical responses.

**SEARCH AND RESCUE: This could include liberating prisoners or Retro-Villages, locating MIA troops, escorting civilians to safety, etc. These can be especially challenging, as combat can prove deadly. PCs need to get in, locate the targets of the rescue, get them out, and get to safety. The priority is rescue, not destruction, so stealth, subterfuge, and surgical strikes will be necessary. In some cases, medical attention will be required before targets can be moved. Keep in mind, the rescue is only half the story; the team must now make it back to base!

**NATURAL DISASTERS: Not every adventure has to involve combat. Ever see the Batman series “No Man’s Land”? A major earthquake strikes Gotham, and everything is reduced to a state of unrest and disorder. With the Houses located mostly underground, what happens if a mass earthquake (or similar) strikes a Great House? PCs must find and rescue the trapped and lost, apply medical treatment (if needed), protect rescue workers from possible hostile forces, etc.

**CORPSE COLLECTORS: As morbid as it sounds, disposal of the dead, especially after a major battle, is a necessary duty. Aside from the very real potential for widespread disease and plague, the Resistance is always in need of biological resources. The dead, and their Bio-Armor, can be recycled for future use. As an added difficulty, in the world of Splicers, who knows what sort of strange scavengers or predators may be attracted by the scent of death.

**THE FUGITIVE: The PCs have been tasked to chase down and apprehend (or terminate) a fugitive, monster, or other enemy.

**REQUEST FOR REINFORCEMENTS: The PCs stumble upon another group Splicers (or other humans) under attack! Do they assist or simply sneak by? In some cases, not only must the party defend itself, but it must also work to protect and defend any in need of rescue.

Lastly, a few words on something I'm a big fan of: the nanoplague! it makes a great plot device and can serve as a wonderful "lingering threat" in the background. It helps to add an air of menace and danger to an adventure. It may not always be an active worry or problem, but it has the potential to erupt at any time and cause some havok and chaos.

Think of what a great weapon this is. N.E.X.U.S. doesn't really need a lot of fancy weapons to inflict horrendous damage to humans; anything that sprays metal everywhere creates an instant hot zone. Cluster munitions, artillery shells, frag grenades, shotgun blasts, even spent ammunition casings are potential hazards. Sure, the PC lucks out and only takes a glancing hit from a frag grenade. But is there any shrapnel in the wound? If so, what's going to happen? Do they take the time to dig it out (and suffer additional damage) or take their chances and hope the plague response is minimal?

Also with the nanoplague comes some unique logistical problems. Your PCs are out of ammo, what do they do now? In Rifts and other games, its an easy answer. You scrounge weapons, ammo, equipment, etc. off your defeated foes. In Splicers, however, unless your PC is a Techno-Jacker, this is a disaster waiting to happen .

Realistically, the nanoplague isn't a major threat in wilderness areas. However, it can drastically change the scope of adventures and campaigns in other areas. For example, crossing an old battlefield, littered with robot pieces and fragments, becomes an adventure in and of itself. And the nanoplague has a MAJOR impact on adventures/campaigns in cities, industrial areas, power plantes, etc. Not being able to simply pick up weapons and ammo from fallen foes also tests the PCs resourcefulness.

Imagine the PCs trapped in a building, surrounded by hostile forces, low on ammo. and there's only one way out: across a metal rooftop!!!

Several months ago, I recently had a great session of Splicers where the PCs were tasked with destroying a Machine Power Plant. The adventure became one giant, moving fight for survival. Because of the metallic floor in the power plant, PCs couldn't stand still for longer than a few seconds at a time, and were forced to conduct a running battle while trying to complete the mission (its really hard to sneak around when the very floor itself could attack you! ) It was one of the best nights of role-playing I've had in 18+ years.


Hope these help. Let me know if I can assist further. Feel free to contact me off list as well, I’m always willing to help.

[Guy_LeDouche]

I was digging through a few of my older posts to see what elese I could find for you. Here's some HLS ideas from an OLD post of mine from 2005:

1. "Raid the Retro-Village!!" Its time for a recruitment drive in a nearby Retro Village. Security has been strangely lax as of late, so its a perfect time to try to rescue a few people. But, is the security as lax as it seems?

2. "Wanted: The Saints" An up and coming Great House has been wiped out and most of its participants slaughtered. However, a couple of Saints and a small band of survivors has managed to escape (mostly civilians, but might include a Dreadguard or two) and are currently hiding in a Nature Preserve. The Machine desperately wants to capture the Saints for interrogation/experimentation and has posted its robots around the Preserve (however, due to Gaia, they will not enter). The Saints (and, to a lesser degree, the Dreadguard) are too valuable to lose. Can the PCs sneak in and guide the survivors out?

3. "Little Lost Machine" A Dominator (or Tower or similar powerful machine) has survived a vicious fight, but has been cut off from reinforcements. What a nice, juicy targer.

Slappy has a quite a few HLS adventures on several of his posts. You might want to take a look at the following:


viewtopic.php?t=32671
viewtopic.php?t=33725&start=15

viewtopic.php?t=32282


Here's another good post with some adventure ideas:

viewtopic.php?f=46&t=59772

[LostOne]

Also keep in mind that the Great Houses fight each other at times, declare blood feuds, there's espionage between houses, etc.

House Shiva in Rifters 37 & 38 (from memory, but think those are the right ones) is a good antagonist house, but it's easy to make up your own. Give them a good reason to hate the other houses, give them a few bio-tech weapons that are designed to be evil against host-armors and biotics and other living things to give them an advantage in blood feuds, etc.

You can also do some off-the-wall things once in a while. Something gets rifted in, maybe it's a curiousity, maybe it's a monster, maybe it's a super-human super-soldier, maybe it's something the Librarian would give up choice body parts for a DNA sample that will usher in a new era of super-bio-tech weapons or host armors (after a decade or so of study and experimentation).

[csbioborg]

If I was spending more time in Splicers I would modify some dbess from around the muliverse and use them as a base for native fauna. Where do the Splicers get thier food.. Surely not all of the experiments worked Some of the failed Splicers must be around causing havoc to man and machine both.

[LostOne]

Surely not all of the experiments worked Some of the failed Splicers must be around causing havoc to man and machine both.

I assume that the failures are destroyed by the scarecrows. Afterall, the Librarians and Engineers might lose some respect in the eyes of their warlord or even the entire Great House if failures escaped and caused havoc inside the House. If they escaped and attacked members of another House it could cause an unwanted feud or just major embarrassment for the House.