sliders and dead reign

[kevarin]

ok in our group we use a sliders stile portal system
when ever the person in the gm spot gets tired
or runs out of ideas he brings his setting to an end
and turns the game over to someone else we hit the
button portal opens and we move to a different setting


now next time i get the gm spot im thinking of moving us
to the dead reign world here is some of what i plan to do
thoughts or changes you could see to make this a better idea
would be great full

now after they arive there going to have the same problems
as everyone in the dr world trying to stay alive now since there
is limited to no magic energy in the dr world im going to say
the slider device has to build up a charge to work and
can only open the portal at 12 midnight on a full moon
bad part being they get there on the full moon and come
out in a small town in a building with no zombies in it so they
wont know what im going to throw at them till its too late
to leave and have to wait and stay alive for 30 days in zombie hell


now to leave there going to have to move iv already decided that
the exit portal will be a few miles away in a different town haven't
decided the size of that town yet but after they find the spot there
going to have to hold the area till the portal can be opened


now what im wondering if i should do to them is it will take 10 days
for the slider device to build a charge to open the portal and it will take
a few min for the portal to open and only stay open for about 1 min
so there going to have to be ready for this

but as the device builds power for a twist should i make it where
zombies can feel it and are drawn to it ? and whats a good range ?

[runebeo]

Our Bts game uses a slider type device that needs seven to nine days to recharge. In a pinch we can jump early, but has a 70% chance of damaging the battery and only enriched uranium can help repair it. Have limited control on the destination has put more danger into our adventures. Where think of running a Doctor Who type campaign soon, with a Star Wars theme to it.

[DtMK]

Ahh, interdimensional technology and zombies! Always fun! All right, there are a couple precedences regarding tech and dimensions. One, the Phytinic devices in the Randolph Family Mansion from BtS 1E. This device actually extracts energy from supernatural beings to power the devices, and travel to other realities, possibly even time travel. Second, in Rifter #37 it talks about how by some fluke or luck, some technology could be a P.P.E. battery, allowing the abilities of Supernatural PS or other abilities for technology. Psychics might think it's an aberration, magic users would love to get their hands on it, and supernatural creatures or creatures of magic would be attracted to it like a moth to a flame. With that said, let's look at P.P.E. costs for dimensional travel.

The Dimensional Portal spell costs 1000 P.P.E. With this as a base, it might stand to reason that for every day the device recharges, in this case, you said the device would take 10 days. If we're going to approximates, that would mean that each day the device would build a charge that could resonate an equivalent of 100 P.P.E.

Zombies can see the light of P.P.E in daytime 1200 feet away, or 9000 feet at night. The raw sensing range is 25 feet for 1-6 people, 50 feet for 7-24 people and 100 feet for 25 or more. Average P.P.E. for people can range from 2-9 for adults, 6-13 for teenagers and 16-30 for kids under 13. By best estimate, depending on the size of the party, it could put out a scent from 1-6 people the first day to a larger group in 24 hours, then giving off an aura of over 25 people in 2 days of charging!

Then we have the possible problem that since it's a technological device generating more energy into a concentrated focal point, it might be like putting more electricity through a lightbulb or neon sign. Depending on how badly you want to torture your players, you might want to magnify the ability to sense it by anywhere from twice while charged, X4 when the portal opens and take into account for more multipliers if this is done on a ley line or nexus, which will probably have a gaggle of zombies there already, if not at least dormant. If you REALLY want to have them go through hell, consider the possibility of multiplying the range of sensing it by 1 per day. Regular by day 1, X2 on day 2, X3 on day 3, etc. You also might want to use this as a key point for denizens of that world. Imagine people in another part of town, or even another town altogether, survivors are almost gone, but then something calls to the zombies like a siren song. People are bewildered to see that the hordes suddenly retreat and are heading in one centralized direction. Why? Are they sensing greater prey, is the Cult of Brulyx calling them? Or is it something else? This could be a huge reprieve for others in the area, while the monsters converge on the location of your players.

Here's another idea for giggles. This could even be a little flavor during, or after they leave this world. What if the zombies aren't the only ones that are there? What if it's something that not only feeds on dead flesh, but senses and uses dimensional energies itself? That's right, a Dimensional Ghoul. What if a D-Ghoul senses what feels like a mobile nexus point in the area? What if the dwindled energies were enough to attract it here, but it needs something more to leave? As a ghoul, it might either be seen as one of the undead there, or as a rival. If so, what if it's attracted to the device? Perhaps it wants nothing more than to simply leave when the portal opens, so a strange truce could be called. Or perhaps there's something about the taste of beings seasoned with dimensional energies that once dead, is the sweetest vintage to the D-Ghoul. Or heck, maybe someone in the party recognizes what the D-Ghoul is, and thinks they can get a jumpstart on the portal by tapping into it somehow. But the best part? What if even after they leave to another world, the scent has attracted D-Ghouls to pursue the players? is it curiosity? Hunger? Jealousy that some other being has powers like theirs?

Sorry, the muse hit me, so I gave you more than you asked for. Hope it helps!

[kevarin]

thanks for some very interesting ideas i was planing on
adding 10 feet to the zombies range to sense it per day
but i like your idea better dtmk


but was thinking about something else setting up a feed back loop
between the zombies and the portal the zombies are drawn to the
portal and will stand around it and start drawing ppe from it but at
the same time the portal starts drawing on the ppe from the zombies
to stay open the more zombies that show up the larger the portal gets
till its large enough for something to pass thru it if the death cults find
it then they have a bridge to a new world to start all over again or the
survivors find it it could be a way out for them

and as the portal gets bigger it you could have a few zombies fall in to it
to start all kinds of trouble where ever you went next

[DtMK]

Thanks! I'm glad I could give you some food for thought. And the feedback loop is interesting too. Normally a portal would either allow whatever steps through it to be transported, or if something was counteracting the magic, then it would be disrupted or closed. But if the feedback is ripping zombies apart at the seams to keep itself open, then it's possible that the frequency that the portal device uses resonates on a Phytinic level. If that's the case, then it probably is technology based on the Randolph design from BtS 1E.

You know, you may have another possible problem or two than the zombies fueling a portal to allow not only refugees, but zombies and cultists to go to other worlds. One, there's always the possibility something worse might come through from the other side of it. But barring that, and if you're using the Rifters #40 and 45 for your game, then consider this: Your party have a state of the art, technological way to pierce dimensional fabric. With the exception of lost temporal magic from the TMNT game, NOTHING has the power to go backwards in time except for technological based items, like the Randolph devices or even the time portals open in Dinosaur Swamp on Rifts Earth. This sets a precedent that technology that simulates magic might do what magic alone cannot.

With that said, and I wonder if you're already thinking it....what if the Cult of Brulyx discovered this device, and wanted it to free Brulyx from his prison? And worse, what if this device, coupled with Brulyx's own powers, MIGHT be able to free the being that empowered Brulyx? If the mysterious benefactor behind Brulyx was something like the Old Ones, then your players might have the key that could UNDO what the heroes and gods of old gave their lives trying to do: imprisoning the most powerful threats to the Megaverse that were too powerful to outright destroy.

Yeah, I know, no pressure.

[kevarin]

never used it like a normal portal since it was made by a machine the
way we have use the system is the device supplies the power to open
the portal and after it leaves it closes behind the people or when its
charge runs out normally can keep a portal open for 3 min or closes after
its shut off when the team reach the other side


what i was thinking on the zombies was more like an open conduit with
the power flowing in and out of the zombies in a loop but didnt take in
to account what would be needed to actually keep it open so guess it
would take out the zombies so for what i had planed the portal will have
to be opened in a pretty big city maybe with a Cult of Brulyx in it


now what i was thinking if the cult figure out what happened and that
the zombies are keeping it open they will send all the zombies they can
to the portal to keep it open then take a force of cult members thru it
after the team to get the device