The Academic Underground

[Rali]

I was working on roughing a AtB game a few weeks ago and began thinking that the Academic Underground would make an interesting antagonist or protagonist (depending on which side you take) in a drawn out campaign.

By the sounds of the background, the group isn't treated with much respect by the population at large, or at least not those in power (politicians and the Elite Militia). I would imaging that's because they tend to meddle with pre-death technologies and occasionally unearth some pre-crash horror that was better left buried in the ruins of the old world.

So I was wondering, do the Academic Underground play any prominent role in your games or is it just another background?

[Rali]

Yes.

In AtB 2ed. skills are determined by a new set of Backgrounds plus possible Apprenticeships. One of the character backgrounds is the Academic Underground who are a secret network of scientists and academics who operate a special secret university which desires to "preserve the greatness of the past" and push back the "dark forces of ignorance."

It just seems ripe for conflict in any campaign.

[Mechanurgist]

Yes, they have great potential to be a double-edged sword. They could be both helpful and obstructive. Some elements might aid in exploration while others would steal technology from the players because they believe it should be available to all, much as hackers think information should be free.

The Academic Underground might, collectively, be the most advanced group on the planet, but because they fight among themselves and don't coordinate their efforts they are weak. Maybe the players could organize them to be more effective. Geeks can be just as manipulative and dangerous as guys with guns, especially if they have connections to the governments of Cardania or Filly.

Here's an adventure idea: the PCs are hired by one faction in the AU to secretly connect their base of operations to other AU locations to form a rudimentary computer network. Call it the "net to catch fishes", or CARPnet if you will. Once this network is formed, the faction uses it to collect all available AU technologies into a massive database. What will they do with it? Perhaps they'll try to kill the players who know about it? Or maybe the Empire has learned of this database, and the players will now have to destroy it (and CARPnet) in order to prevent it falling into the hands of the humans?

[BookWyrm]

I should dust off my notes on The Enclave, a secret society for AtB2......

[Mechanurgist]

That wouldn't be The Enclave from Fallout 2, would it?

Please do post it, secret societies would be a good addition to AtB. I have some ideas for the various clans of the Rodent Cartel...

[BookWyrm]

No, not from Fallout 2. Never played Fallout 2.
My idea was to have a kind of secret society/silent partner for Cardania, a 'CIA' for ATB2, if you will. I had jotted down some initial thoughts, but had gotten sidetracked.