Shadowrun Pub
General => Role Playing Games => Topic started by: kv on March 02, 2006, 12:45:10 PM
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Someone mentioned the idea of playing a game set in the 5th World (the time between the Earthdawn world and Shadowrun... aka 'our history') and Ruski, AJ, and a few of us have started rouging out rules for a WWII-setting 5th World game. (most likely set here for a simple PBP.
It would be 3rd Edition rules, and I'll post the things we've discussed here, but who would be interested in playing a PBP here at the Pub under that setting? No magic, no cyberwear. Less powerful skills and settings. Weapons are just as lethal, but armoring hasn't caught up yet...
Anyone in?
-kid_vid
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let's get the game system down before we start making a play by post for it.
-Ruski
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Here would be the priority system:
Three Priorities: Attributes, Skills, and Contacts
Attributes: Priority A (25), Priority B (19), Priority C (16)
Skills: Priority A (30), Priority B (24), Priority C (20)
Contacts: Priority A (5), Priority B (3), Priority C (1)
We're thinking a WWII system- everyone would have to be in the Army (although a mob varient, running whisky and moonshine down from the Canadian border would be fun too)
Ruski suggested that we might have skill groups so firearms would be a skills (with specialty in pistols, rifles, and bazookas), transports would be another (with planes, boats, tanks and cars as specializations).
Edges and flaws will remain the same, but it doesn't make sense to include the magical ones (or biorejection/sensitive system) becasue there is no magic and no cyberwear.
I was looking at the description of 'College Education' and 'Tech School Education' in the NSRCG, and the only difference seems to be that for College Education, the defaults for resorting to Academic skills is a lot lower, and for Tech school, defaulting to background knowledge skills is lower. Are there other benefits that I'm not remembering?
(oh and keep in mind that a college education makes you an officer- and a tech school education probably makes you a machine-gunner or tank driver or some kind of specialist)
Other than that, we'll welcome any suggestions, but I would love to rough out the rules and get something running in the PBP section before too long.
-Kid_Vid
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I think we may have to push colledge education up to a level 3 or 4 edge, because it lets you be an officer.
-Ruski
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Also, a college education is much rarer at that point in time. It's right on the heals of the Great Depression, so a lot of people had likely dropped out before finishing high school to find work.
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Yup. think 4 points is enough? or would that be a 6 point edge?
-Ruski
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Other than being an officer, what were the other benefits of having a college education? Does it translate to more skill points or anything?
Of course, reading and writing skills would be higher, too- because we hadn't experienced the literacy degredation of the Internet and Matrix.
-kv
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yea, so just say read/write = language.
other than defaulting off of knoledge skills, and being an officer... I think that's enough of a benifit.
-Ruski
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I think 6 might be too high. It should be more expensive than the 6th world version, but look at all the pilots. It might have been worth 6 in an earlier time period, but by WWII, I think the cost would have gone down.
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Yea, let's say 3 or 4.
-RuskiFace the Pirate
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So, College Education is a 4-point edge. That works well enough. Would "Officer" be another edge, or just a title you would get with the college education?
We're leaving the damage codes for weapons alone, right? So the 1911 would do 9M, but what would the damage of the Springfield be? (rifle of choice of WWII)
More than that, what would armor be like, seeing as how the ability to inflict damage far outpaced the ability to armor against it?
-kv
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I'd say 3 would be more 1960's or 70's era. After all, it's only a 1 point edge by the time you get to the the 2050's, 60's.
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Okay, so it's a 3-point edge, and lets you get your butter-bars automaticly.
armor values are cut down a bit... probibly 25% off the top, and most soldgers don't get much more than a flack vest and helmet.
dammage codes would stay the same probibly, but APDS is the realm of science fiction at this point.
-RuskiFace the Pirate
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What about guns jamming/overheating? Maybe, make a reliability rating in place of legality?
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Hmm... I don't know...
could just work it into a botched roll on some equipment.
roll more than half your dice as '1's' and it's jam city.
-RuskiFace the Pirate
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Maybe. Or a good rating could cancel out a certain number of failures?
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well, exceptionally shoddy weaponry could have a lower threshold, and better built weapons would be more resiliant.
also, if you are really skilled with that weapon (like a 6) then you'll probibly not roll more than 3 1's in one toss.
specially if you add in combat pool.
-RuskiFace the Pirate
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Well, we could go with a reliability rating- if you roll more 1s than your weapon's reliability rating, your weapon jams.
So the springfield would have a good reliebility, with like a 3 or 4. The french army rifle, notorious for jamming and other problems, would be slightly less reliable (a 2 or 3). Any weapon repaired in the field lowers the reliability by 1.
Does that work?
-kv
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that sounds really good.
could add some extra skills too:
scrounging: lets you get makeshift parts from scrap.
higher ratings would be for specific areas, and for specific things.
so you could have a level 6 scrounge for the B-52 or whatever, letting you make repairs to it without any parts but if you tryed to use that same skill to repair a jeep, you'd be dropping down to the basic level 3 rating...
-RuskiFace the Pirate
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Ooh... I like that idea. You could throw in specializations like Scrounge/Vehicle Parts and Scrounge/Food and Scrounge/Ammo, but the base is the ever-helpful Scrounger.
-kv
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most people can scrounge something, so yea; plus: i figure that if our boys are stuck behind enemy lines for most of their careers, they'll need to be self suficcent.
-RuskiFace the Pirate
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Standard infantry didn't have body armor in WWII, afaik. Flak jackets were too big and bulky to be worn on the field, they restricted movement too much.. which is why gunners in bombers and on ships were pretty much the only soldiers to wear them. Below are some weapons I looked up (with links to their wiki sites).
Common U.S. Infantry Firearms:
Browning M1911 Automatic Pistol (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M1911)
.45 ACP, 7+1 clip
M1 Garand Rifle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M1_Garand)
.30-06, 8 round 'en-bloc' clip
Thompson M1 Submachine Gun (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thompson_submachine_gun) (a.k.a. 'Tommy Gun')
.45 ACP, 20/30 round clips, or 30/50 round drums.
Browning Automatic Rifle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browning_Automatic_Rifle) (a.k.a. BAR)
.30-06 selective fire rifle, 20 round detachable box
Classified as a 'machine rifle' or light machine gun
M1A1 Rocket Launcher (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bazooka) (a.k.a. Bazooka)
Crew 2, operator & loader. Fires M6A1 shaped charge (3.5 lbs).
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Also the Gunnery skill should be more unreliable, due to errors in radio commications, or reading coordinates off of equipment. Many a good soldier has met his end by calling an airstrike or artillery shelling into his lap.
Remember
Radio has just been put to military service - It is very valuable. Any Radio specialist would need an goood education, not to mention language skills in several languages, and codes.
Dispatches come in over telegraph land lands. Phones won't be around until the transistor, after the war.
Sonar has just been invented - It is TOP SECRET and the height of High-tech
Radar has just been invented - It is TOP SECRET and the height of High-tech
Assembly line technology arrives and changes the world
All vehicles are made of iron and steel. No aluminum, no plastic. Cars can stop bullets, for a while. . .
People are afraid of submarines and other enemies that people can't see. Such as planes flying above cloud cover. . .
Infantry see a tank, and know they are in deep drek. Don't let the videogames fool you, they DO NOT pop "like spam cans". . .
No one wants to stand near the man with the flame thrower. . . Sure it clears buildings like no one's busines, but keep your distance from the human bomb. . .
Grenades are somewhat unreliable depending on which countries grenades you have. Some have impact detonators, some have timer fuses.
Dogfights are fought with bullets alone.
PS. I'm so in.
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I am SOOOOO glad you are telling me all of this Jester.
you a history buff aparently?
-RuskiFace the Pirate
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Dude, that's not Jester.
Jester has the new 'happy twinkie clown' or whatever.
This is Curris, who apparently also likes Bruce "Don't Call me Ash" Campbell. ;D
And is a history buff.
-kv
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whopsie! Sorry Curris.
it's the icon. it threw me off.
-Ruski
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Honest mistake. You're forgiven.
Checklist . . .- Insinuate myself into trust of the community . . . Check!
- Confuse Ruski . . . Check!
- Take over the forum . . . Pending. . .
- Destroy the world . . . Pending. . .
- Travel through time to congratulate myself on the Ultimate Victory. . . In Development/Pending/Accomplished!
LOL
To call me a history buff is not unlike calling a tornado "an air current". It's much bigger than that. . .
Seriously, though, yes you could call me a history buff. You could also call me a weapon buff, or a culture fiend, or a nerd, or a trivia hound, or a knowledge sponge. . . Yes, that last one is pretty appropriate. See, I know many things, maybe everything. . . But I just can't remember much; *Sigh*
Anyway, if you have any questions about technology in the time period, or famous battles, or the influence and strategy of major commanders, don't hesitate to ask. I live for this stuff. . .
"I have taken all knowledge to be my province."
Francis Bacon
~~ Curris
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Well, you like Futurama (If I'm not mistaken, that's a Zap Brannigan quote, isn't it?) and you have picked an excellent avatar (that's Bruce Campbell, who has many fans here)
and it appears you are a nerd. ;D Welcome to the Pub.
Now, getting back on topic, we need more 'flavor' to make the world more real. What would have been interests of soldiers in WWII? (Betty Grable?) I think we're aiming for about a year after the US entered the War, so we'll need european commanders that can be assassinated, locations of Nazi scientists, and probably plot hooks. Stuff like that.
-kv
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So, 1942, then?
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Okay, so Pearl Harbor was bombed in 41, so we're looking at major US involvement by Spring of 42? And we can work whatever angles we want, so...
Here are my three character ideas:
Hank Malloy: Marine from Springfield, Iowa. Heavy on gunnery skills and combat, a little light on the intellectual side of strategies and war. Your WWII version of a Shadowrun Tank. Loyal to the extreme, doesn't have a lot of friends. Some people call him "Moose."
Vinnie Vispelli: Itallian-American soldier from New Jersey. Doesn't have as many gunnery and combat skills, but is a pretty smart cookie none-the-less. Has lots of friends, and is well liked, but not exactly your Grade A Soldier. Doesn't like following rules or obeying orders. People might call him 'Slick Vinnie,' but never to his face.
Douglas Fairbanks-Meriwether: british intelligence officer, connected to the people he needs to know. Not exactly the strongest or most charismatic of the officers, but has the skills and the contacts to get information where he wants it to be. Prefers to be called "Left-tenant Meriwether," but makes exceptions for personal friends.
I haven't decided which one I'm going to play, but I've been boiling them over, and I think I've narrowed it down to those three candidates. What does everyone else have as character concepts?
-kv
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I was thinking either a radio operator or gunner on a bomber.
Radio Operator would be smart, a little bit of the 40's version of a geek, and saw the army as a way to learn about the new techs.
Gunner would be an adrenaline junky (Wanted to to fly fighters, but couldn't afford school), thinks America should've gotten into the war before getting suckerpunched at Pearl Harbor (Hindsight 20/20, of course.
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Gear-heads and grease monkeys mostly.
scrounge, and never-do-wells.
hahaha, actually; the most likely peoples to be able to sneek / build their way out of a POW camp.
well, after James Bond anyways.
-RuskiFace the Pirate
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Okay, so I'm going to start this run. I have a little more historical know-how than Ruski, and I'm at home, so I have a lot more time to research it.
Who is interested in playing? What characters are we looking at?
-kv
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I would be interesed in playing! I would either be a radioman/support man, or a rifleman/scout. Sniper sounds interesting, but I think that someone else may want that role.
Actually, I was going to run this game if no one else was, although I wasn't going to start it until after finals (gotta have priorities. . .)
If you need help (as a co-GM) drop me a PM and I'll see what I can do. (I don't mind helping!)
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I'll run it, if that's okay with everyone, and I don't have any problem with anyone choosing whatever skills they wanted. I'll look up the discussion we were having about it beforehand, and post the list of available skills and priorities and everything so people can get started making a character.
I really want to do this, even if just for the excersize of doing it.
-Kv
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I'm interested, but it'll have to be after finals for me, too.
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Okay, so when are finals for you guys? How long am I looking at being able to develop the backstory and everything?
-kv
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I'll be done with everything May 7th. That's about a week and a half from now. But take whatever time you need.
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Yeah, that's about when my finals are too...
So once everyone is free for summer, we'll start a short 5th World Campaign? Is anyone else interested? Gabe? ROOTless? Ruski?
-kv
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So once everyone is free for summer, we'll start a short 5th World Campaign? Is anyone else interested? Gabe? ROOTless? Ruski?
-kv
Forgotten! Alas!
;D
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I would never forget the Lady of Drones. ;D
<edit> See! I mean, what are you talking about? I would never forget you!
;D
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um just a sugjestion top sectert
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well if this is going to happen want to play a udt
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UDT? I actually would be interested in doing this still- the idea just lost steam (and then we lost the Pub for a while there, so it died down further)
Is there anything else we needed to start?
I'm going to start a new thread called "Shadows of the Fifth World" soon, and I'll be wanting some players.
-kv
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udt the precurser of the seal
underwater dive team
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aka as the navey orandance disposel guys / salvage guys