Why is it that we must always divert to a post-apocalyptic setting for our gaming entertainment?Do you have no love for the dark age scenario, /tg/?Don't look at me like that, the two are completely different.What if I told you I was working on a setting that combines 1950s corporate culture with Indiana Jones and a dash of monster design from Call of Cthulhu?A setting where corporations fulfilled the same function as the various monk and scholarly orders did during the dark age of human history, keeping our knowledge alive.
No one? Shame.Then with this last bump, I'll let the thread die.
I would not mind that one bit, OP. A WW2 vet with his Remington shotgun and burning American freedom will put those commie Shoggoths in their place!
Uh, hard to say. Mind elaborating?
>>19455207And what if I told you that it also combines futuristic airship combat with shadowrun?Using slightly modified Starship rules from Rogue Trader (and the whole FF Percentile system in general)?
The challenges are the same, but we like post-apocalyptic scenarios since the characters are more relatableIn the dark age scenario the characters take their situation for granted so their motives aren't self-contained in the genre itself, the way they are for a normal person who finds themselves in a post-apocalyptic scenario (or, if the setting is generations out, at least knows that things USED to be better)
>>19455216And what if I told you you should keep us updated on this project?No seriously, what have you got so far? This sounds boss so far.
With the one exception being that there is no magic in this setting.It's all about the technology, machinery, and mankind against a world that is trying to kill him.Just like our caveman ancestors, where everything in the world is more dangerous than us - and that's including 60s-70s level technology of rapid fire machine guns, 30mm autocannons, and tanks.Would you like to know more /tg/?
>>19455216I would say you were a gentleman and a scholar
There are two things I can't stand anymore.Post apocalyptic, and zombie apocalypse settings.I'm so fucking sick of seeing these two things everywhere I fucking go. They're such tired fucking concepts to me I just can't stand it anymore. I suppose it's no better that I continually play fantasy or future settings, but seriously.
>>19455216Go on...
>>19455234So we are the dwarves from Dwarf Fortress? That sort of depresses me.
Ladies and Gentlemen of /tg/, I am the OP, and the creator of this project. I namefag as Dr. Emmet.And I am the creator of Turning Point.Let me tell you about what I have been working on in the next post.
>>19455234You're goddamn right I would.
>>19455251WELCOME TO BOATMURDERED
>>19455252I hope you don't mean the vidya.
What is it?It's an original setting which utilizes the Warhammer40kRPG Percentile System. I'll tease you a bit with my pre-written intro, then, after you read that, we can either discuss what I have completed right now, or I can share the large piece of writefaggotry I wrote to properly set the tone of the setting.It is an alternate history world. It is Earth, but about a hundred and fifty years in the future shortly after the end of a time period known as the Era of Endless Smoke - a time where much of the Earth was blanketed by pollution. The skies were dark and most of mankind retreated to self contained cities known as Megatropolii, amalgamations of the extant mega cities of the world which were then cordoned off, quarantined, and self contained for protection against whatever was happening beyond their walls. Two such mega cities in the setting are the Texaplex - we know it today as the Texas Triangle (you can look this up on Wikipedia) and Vector, which is all the urban sprawls of the Great Lakes region combined into a single metropolitan entity.Others who could not or would not enter the cities found a way to survive on the surface. These would later become the Earthfooters. Imagine Native Americans mixed with gypsies and bedouin nomads but with the survival training of special forces.It was literally a second dark age. Mankind's technological levels before the Era of Endless Smoke was roughly 1970s-1980s level. Personal computers were not yet common place, but they were around.We're not sure why it happened, but we know we're the ones that caused it. Some people talk about how we got too accustomed to our consumer life style - we over produced to the point where you'd have more cars than there were miles of road.
When the smoke cleared, Earth was different.Turns out mother nature managed to find a second wind while we weren't looking, and she took a lot back that we had taken from her. Towns and cities that we left empty are infested with green overgrowth. Huge predators live in them, harley wolves (named because they're as big as a Harley Davinson), raknids (big spiders), and other things like that.The party is a group of people known as Thrifters. They're that crazy bunch of folk looking to explore the ruins of the past, make some money off what they find, and maybe help people along the way.There's no big evil here. Just people with people problems, trying to survive.And a world of junk to sift through.But how do they go about exploring the dangerous wildwastes of the world around them? There are a few options, but first let's talk about Sponsorship. This ties back to what I was hinting at regarding the large companies and corporations in the setting.
>A setting where corporations fulfilled the same function as the various monk and scholarly orders did during the dark age of human history, keeping our knowledge alive.Because corporations aren't really about that? If you accept corporations as persons (and that's the whole point of forming a corporation), then most of them are antipathetic, narcissistic and psychopathic. It's more belieavable to make them behave in such a way than disinterested or benevolent entities.
In order for a thrifter band to do their job, they need to be able to get around. In order to get around, they need vehicles, either a fleet of small ones and a base of operations, or a big one with crew and stuff in it.In order to get those... they need money.Now here's the thing /tg/. In this setting, one of the things which managed to survive through the second dark age (if the first one was the Medieval Dark Ages) was a non-physical medium of exchange; stocks, shares, trusts, accounts, that kind of stuff. Problem is, only the really rich people have it; companies or aristocratic families who paid for a cushy life inside the megalopolii.Thrifters tend to be people who are not part of that class. They do have skills though, and companies and rich people want things all the time. There's plenty of those out in the world. You need financing to have any of these adventures because all the stuff money pays for helps protect you from the dangers out there.In effect, the Sponsorship is the Turning Point equivalent of the Rogue Trader Warrant of Trade which gives you access to the Profit Factor and acquisition system.The difference is... with a Sponsorship, you cannot technically do whatever you want.
>>19455357Well of course you can't do what you want, corporations have a bottom line to meet and you're just one of their methods of making money. You need them and they have leverage. I like this setting Dr., I like it a lot.
>>19455349There's the rub, though. You can't make money off of people if you let civilization break up. It's in the best interests of the company to preserve knowledge, otherwise they no longer have an economic base to make money off of.
The Sponsorship does come with it certain caveats, or clauses, which the new thrifter group (sometimes called a Discovery Management Team by sponsors across the world) is beholden to follow. However, to ensure things are fair, the Sponsorship also has a Benefits Package (provided by their attendant company or investor) and Initial Signing Perk, a required Sponsorship standard since the Commissioning & Services Fairness Act of 2136.What exactly do players do for their Sponsor? That's up to them and the GM. There's profit in everything these days...With the acquisition of a sponsorship, the players are granted access to a Credit Rating, the stand in for the percentile value of how much they are worth and how much they can purchase.They are also granted Construction Points which let them buy and furbish a home base (an abandoned warhouse or factory, for example) with equipment, defenses, and a fleet of small vehicles like trucks, cars, and propeller aircraft.But, for more enterprising thrifter groups and sponsors who want to carry their operations on a more global level, they may spend their C.P's to buy a large vehicle. Currently I only have one example for purchase.The electro-levitation engine assisted airship.Also known as the Aerolofter.
>>19455107Oh, this is a libertarian /pol/ thread.
>>1945542....Dr. Emmet, please tell me you have a .pdf of this. I want this game. I want this game so bad I can taste it.
>A note about Pendulum; they're one of the sponsors players can work for. They're canon to the setting's fluff, but you can always come up with your own...The rockstar of Turning Point is the Aerolofter. No matter the class, type, or make of the vehicle, aerolofters of Turning Point all share commonalities between them. This is largely in part due to the innumerable selection of standardized parts used to construct their hulls and internal components; a result of over a century of unending industry in the years leading up to and throughout the Era of Endless Smoke.In short, the vehicle is essentially a heavily armoured steel hull wrapped around a variety of components, the most essential of which is the lofter engine, a device which allows the damn thing to fly around with all that metal and all those guns. There's a lot more fluff about them but I don't want to flood you with anything unnecessary.
>>19455456I don't have a PDF of it, sadly. I do not have that kind of professional skill at my disposal.I do have a google document though...https://docs.google.com/document/d/1j-O2ICJaG-U5DUzGtmXTer-RDTiO3c05o3q2qQYtNWs/editI have two, actually. One for character generation, the other for vehicles.https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NDJmsYfpGsJ6_szEfPdHg7RbYO5Lyep_3lLJnzPhZGQ/editCurrently missing from both of those documents is a modicum of organization and the Sponsorship system.
>>19455541I'm getting a Borderlands like feel, OP. This is going pretty good.
Whycan'tIholdallthisawesome.jpg.avi.png.gif
>>19455490Do not stop the flood of fluff, OP. We wish to embrace it, to swim in it, do drown with a smile on our faces.
>>19455557Thank you. That means a lot to me. I've been working hard on this for the last six months.Anyone who joins the session, I'm listed as Byr0n in the chat area.If no one minds, I wouldn't mind a friendly bump once in awhile either.
Sounds interesting.Is there gang war in the lower levels of the Megatropolii?
>>19455585Currently, I have not given much thought to development of the Megatropolii. They are not megacities or hive cities like 40k or Judge Dredd.Within them, the lower class as we would see it does not exist. Society within them is... peculiar, and strange. Even a low class schmuck has a good highschool education and is provided a job if he or she does not wish to ascend to higher levels of academia.The cost for all this though is a police state (though a necessary one to keep people safe from the dangerous outside), one that works. Think Equilibrium but with less emphasis on emotion and thought control and more 1984.
>>19455577What would you like to know more about?
>>19455580What session? Did I miss something?
>>19455622What can you tell us of the creatures and threats a Thrifter would likely encounter on a standard exploration?
>>19455634Gentle anon, I divert your attention>>19455541There. By session I mean chat session. I'm there right now as Byr0n if you have questions, just pop open the chat room by clicking the squares in the top right of the window.
>>19455622Also, is there any standing military left?
Grand thread, grand setting.
I always wanted a setting based sort of on the sewer level of Silent Hill 3 and Metro 2033. Endless dark tunnels with strange creatures with occasional small rooms on the side filled with chemical cleaners, heavy duty machinery, and corpses.
>>19455641Pic related would be par for the course.I am no artist, I only write and crank out mechanics when I can, but inspiration for the flora and fauna of the New Earth would be the following:-Cloverfield, the trashed monster designs (all better than the one they went with)-Creature design from The Mist (2007 horror film, rather bad, but the monster design was interesting)-H.R Geiger-Mutated varieties of present day predators (see Harley Wolves)-Gigantism in varieties of present day predators-The STALKER games, especially Call of Prypiat-Metro 2033>>19455692That exists in the setting. One destination for thrifters is the sunken city of New Orleans or the burning ruins of the Phoenixfall megalopolis (formerly the Arizona Sun Corridor).Oh, did I mention? One other large vehicle option I'm working on for the setting is a crewed submarine that can do deep sea diving.
>>19455711You need ground vehicles.How 'bout pic related?
>>19455711Ever play the game Manhunt or Condemned, OP? The games takes place in abandoned:Lots, malls, junkyards, zoos, insane asylums, cramped apartments, factories etc. Occasionally there is a big mansion or something crazy like that.There is a big emphasis on rust and decay, along with insanity and depravity.
>>19455650Yes, there are. The Iron Congress owns one military force in the form of the Congressional Aero Navy. Imagine if the Air Force and the Navy of the United States were folded into a single organization.They get around in flying battleships and air carriers. The numbers of ships in their fleet are few, but any one of them could easily flatten or destroy an entire city with their main weapons. Operations like that are called information management plans.This is because when they do this, they are trying to contain renegade scientists who are carrying out unsanctioned research.Oh, I forgot to mention. The Iron Congress is big on technological regulation. This is primarily because they are one of the few factions still around which remember what started the whole Era of Endless Smoke to begin with.
>>19455768So are their gods and belief systems that's unusual?
Worth archiving?
>>19455739I will accept any assistance to help me increase the list of available vehicles for the setting. As it is, it has been a great struggle just to get this far and I haven't even devoted much time to developing setting fluff...>>19455767No, but I will put it on my list of things to utilize as fuel for inspiration.I was in my late teens when Manhunt came out. I remember all the controversy. It was funny at the time.On an unrelated note concerning vehicles. Despite steam, electronic, diesel and the odd kinetic energy storage device being in the setting, rocket engines do exist as well. Pic related for that.Jet engine powered aircraft are incredibly rare devices whose reputation have now ascended to legendary status, like what we normally reserve for dragons in fantasy RPGs, or demi-gods.
>>19455807Noted. Dumping my post-apoc vehicles folder.I also have a bunch of pics of real-world stuff, mostly made by Russians. Do you want those?
>>19455739
>>19455830
>>19455827>Implying it's not the same thing
>>19455788There's a reason the system has the following lores available to characters:Theology: The study and understanding of religious theory, the effects of religion on culture, how it influences cultural development, and the inherent memetics of religiosity.Occultism: This subject covers anything that is concerned with the supernatural, most often occult theories, superstitions and artifacts with strange histories. It is assumed that those who would study this subject approach it with the understanding that they are studying it as Theologians study religion.Cults: The knowledge of organizations or individuals which put their knowledge of the occult into practice, often with disastrous consequences. Not because the knowledge or ritual actually leads to the promised result – they never actually do – but because lots of innocent people get involved, and get hurt.Over the course of 150 years of regression and sociological dissonance, weird belief systems will pop up. Very weird indeed. The Catholic church still exists, but they are no longer the big religion they once were.
>>19455827Certainly. Please share.Pardon me ladies and gentlemen, I have to go eat something before I starve. I've been up for the fourty eight hours with no pause to get those vehicle rules together.For anyone who read them, any thoughts? Vehicle operation and large vehicle operation is essentially the same as the vehicle rules from Into the Storm (rogue trader) and the Rogue Trader core manual.Incidentally, did you know that Studebaker made a new car?
>>19455854well always remember that the placebo effect can be a hugely powerful thing, as can other forms of suggestions.I can't recall where but there are several stories of women showing all the physical signs of pregnancy because they believed they were pregnant even though they weren't
>>19455835
Hey, OP, I started up a page on 1d4chan. Feel free to edit it.http://1d4chan.org/wiki/Turning_Point
>>19455947
>>19455972
>>19455981
>>19455984I was excited for the game pic related is from, until I looked at it and found out it was a multiplayer-only FPS.Oh boy, it's not like we don't have loads of those already, right?
>>19455963...I don't know what to say.Thank you, Anon.In all honesty, this single thread is the most positive reaction my project has gotten from /tg/. My previous efforts to get the board's attention always ended in poorly or being saged.>>19455900Could you elaborate on that statement a little? I'm not sure what you were referring to.Oh, and by the way /tg/. When I bring this project to a form of completion like a Version 1.0 PDF, it'll be made available here on /tg/, for free obviously. I can't make any money off this. I just do it because I love this hobby.
>>19456009Well, that's the general assumption when people share their homwbrew projects here
>>19456003
>>19456031
>>19456035
>>19455768>unknown naval vesselThat's a Russian pre-dreadnought. Either the Tsserravich or one of the Borodinos, but that is definitely an Imperial Russian ship....I don't know why I felt the need to tell you that, but I did.
So I have a question, OP? Have there been any new technological developments, or is it in some sort of technological decline and in very rare cases innovations like in 40k.
>>19456127Thank you. My inability to identify it has been bothering me for months.
>>19456169Keep going OP! Any fluff on the oceans, btw?
>>19455312I've actually got a setting with a similar aesthetic (everything's green, many people trawl through the junk and watch/listen to old music and movies). But mine has robots. Good Robots vs Evil Robots vs Humans. And the apocalypse was long enough ago that no one alive remembers it, apart from some of the robots.You should have a look at Enslaved, Journey to the West. And I totally understand what you're getting at with the Dark Ages thing. Any post-apoc scenario would turn into one of those pretty quickly, and it really mixes things up from the standard scrap-and-gasmasks-and-bottlecaps aesthetic.
>>19456150>Have there been any new technological developments, or is it in some sort of technological decline and in very rare cases innovations like in 40k.Medicine and airship design never stopped advancing, though advances in those fields slowed through the course of the Era of Endless Smoke. An example; at this point in 2170, there are mechanical prosthetics, not as advanced as H.R Revolution or 40k, but better than what we have today and certainly functional or applicable for military uses.The Iron Congress controls all technological innovation. They have a regulatory ministry which is responsible for enforcing the laws of what stipulates legitimate research.It was their scientists which created the lofter engine, which is what allow modern airship, aerolofters, to be the great flying steel machines that they are.Outside of the Iron Congress, however, the story is very different. Tech levels for communities and the few small cities which survived outside the Megalopolii (Stratofort City is one such example, the 2170 descendant of Amarillo, Texas) is schitzophrenic at best. Tech levels range from early First World War all the way up to late 70s.Inside a Congressional Megalopolis, however, it's early 21st century. An example would be the following:
A doctor in Stratofort city might have access to a sanitized surgery ward with 60s tools and implements, laughing gas anaesthetic and bulky, imperfect, but functional ultrasound scanner and maybe, if he's got enough money, an endoscope.But that's all basic equipment that a megalopolis nurse has access to and is trained for. A Megalopolis DOCTOR would be able to send you to a radiology lab equipped with a cat scanner that can digitally reconstruct the inside of your body in software installed on an advanced PC hooked into an LCD screen.If the Stratofort city doctor saw an LCD screen he'd probably shit himself. The radiologist he works with is still using an MS-Dos prompt CRT monitor, and the only thing the clunky computer hooked up to that old CRT can do is save patient information. It cannot do any of the advanced stuff his peer in the big city can enjoy.Pic related, it's what a Megalopolis hospital can be equipped with.
>>19456301Is there anything supernatural or stuff? Like the ghosts and psychics in STALKER and Metro 2033.
>>19456262Turning Point has robots in it. They're called automatons and automata.There is a reason for the distinction but I'm not ready to talk about that yet. Let's just say automatons are NPCs and the automata are a playable race.Are you the creator of Inn0cence? If you are, please accept my deepest respect. I am a fan of your work.>>19456235You mean what's happening inside them?I hesitate to talk about them because I know my players watch and listen to /tg/... A few of them are probably in here right now.I have to be very careful about what I say because it might ruin things for them.
>>19456356Have they boiled/drained away like in Half Life? Or did they turn into toxic sludge pools like in Necromunda. Or are they relatively unaffected and caused mass flooding like in Brink?
>>19456320The setting is no more supernatural than the real world is. I realize this is a turn off for some people, and I apologize for that, but it is not something that will ever change.I try to keep everything in the setting... grounded, I suppose is the word.
>>19456382That's cool. But are there still crazy things like conspiracies and hidden underground bases and martial law like in the original Deus Ex?
>>19456411Yes, yes, and that depends on where you go. Inside an Iron Congress Megalopolis? It's less martial law and more of a police state.>>19456373The oceans still exist in the world. Most freshwater sources are toxic to humans but the earth's fauna and flora have adapted.There... may be some human population centers to be found in the oceans as well, but I am not ready to talk about them.
Dr.Emmet, I have to ask you: You said that general tech-level in the wastes is around 60s-70s level, right? Please tell me that there are slavshit relics doting the countryside, too. There is nothing I'd like to do more than explore an abandoned city in a T-72, looking for treasure.
>>19456356I am. And I laud your descision to, I presume, include both "Weak" AI and "Strong" AI.I had to downplay the presence of Weak AI, mostly for thematic reasons.Your work so far sounds pretty cool; especially how there's no super-evil incoming bad guy conflict going on.
>>19456465>Tech levels range from early First World War all the way up to late 70s.The T-72 never came into existence because the Cold War as we know it never happened.Though something like that wonderful rugged old tank might be trundling around, and would be a potential vehicle you could start with or salvage.Alternatively, Studebaker makes a lot of tanks that like to pretend they are trucks.>>19456476There's no ancient evil or anything like that if that's what you mean. You could easily mistake the Iron Congress as the big bad of the setting, but they really aren't. They're just a government looking out to secure its interests and protect its citizens, like any other government.The scientists and academically minded individuals of Turning Point are pretty eccentric though... This is primarily because they're very angry about the Iron Congress coming in and smashing up their experiments and research.So naturally they push back with all strength their intellect can muster.One such flashpoint that happened between the Congress and a loose band of scientists resulted in an environmental disaster that sank New Orleans.Apparently controlling the weather isn't as good of an idea as the researchers thought.But despite that, most of the factions of the setting, at least the major ones I am developing for the 'core book' as it were, have pretty believable motivations...Most of them...
Mid to late 20th century tech, schizo-tech, mercenaries, dieselpunk? I now have an excuse to play a TF2 based game.
>>19456567Wait, there's one other thing: What about the rest of the world? Houston is one of the largest ports in the nation; surely that wouldn't have just stopped and withered away. I mean, some people had to have taken an Aerolifter and decided to go see what this "Russia" place on all these old maps was all about.Or is that one of the areas that you're not willing to go into at the moment due to the potential spoliers for your own group?
>>19456593Fuck yes
>>19456593A few of the TF2 characters exist in the Turning Point game I am running in the real world as NPCs. My players have yet to catch on.>>19456616Oh there's stuff happening all over the world as well. I just... I just haven't had time to develop the world as thoroughly as I want.To get this far, just to get all the mechanics nailed down, the character generation done, and converting the Rogue Trader starship rules for use with aerolofters, it's taken me six months.I don't have anyone to help me except for some friends who are all working on their own projects, projects which I devote my time to as well.Japan is still kicking around, though they never became locked in the binary co-dependent economy they are stuck with in our present. The Imperial Family never lost power. Japan never lost its control over the pacific islands.Capitalism is extremely limited in this version of Japan. Only one corporation exists, called Keiretsu Group. As you can tell from the name, it is a corporation only in name and actually comprised of several small companies pooling their resources together and sharing equal control over the partnership.They spend their time smuggling illegal goods into Congressional territory (the entirety of North America, essentially).
I have a question though. Is the Megalopolises supposed to be a counterpart for the Eastern Roman/Byzantine empire during the Dark Age?
>>19456765That is... one way of looking at it, yes.
>>19456760Since there is limited cybernetics, how about genetic engineering?
>>19456850Illegal according to the Iron Congress. Any town or city associated with or harboring a biologist who practices any form of genetic experimentation, however minor (bacteria) or major, is subject to an Information Management Sweep.In other words, the Congressional Aero Navy gets involved and they raze the town or city to the ground.There's a good reason biologists who practice that kind of research are hunted down and incarcerated. I do not want to get into it right now.But mechanically, as far as players are concerned, no they cannot gene-mod their bodies.
>>19456096
>>19456845You know, I was playing a post apoc campaign sort of similar to this setting. Regardless, I think one of the most interesting characters we had was a character sort of like Kurtz from Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now.He was one of the "civilized" members of the post-apocalyptic world, living pretty much like a pre war citizen. Thing was, he was in charge of a military/trading expedition to procure supplies, and met up with a village of tribals. The thing was, as impressive as his tech and guns were, the thing that shocked them the most was his ideas. Things like "total war" and "industrialization" and "private wealth" gave them the power to lord over the other tribes. The tribals, in their strange way, worshiped him as an earthly manifestation of their war god. Really freakin weird.
>>19455767Oh, man, another guy who played Manhunt and Condemned.iamnotalone.jpg
>>19457016And now we're three.
>>19457016>>19457034The sequels for both weren't that great sadly
>>19457016Hey, who didn't?
You still there, OP?
>>19456939
>>19457079Yes. How may I assist you, anon?I'm just at a loss with what else to talk about. Technically speaking, all I have left to finish as far as mechanics are concerned before I can say this has hit Ver. 1.0 is to write up the rules for the Sponsorship & Credit Rating economy system.
>>19457116Are their still any Smoke-era organizations that survived or descendants? By descendant organizations, I mean how the Brotherhood of Steel and Enclave both had their roots in the pre-war US military.
>>19456850THAT REMINDS ME!I'd like to pass on a rejected idea: Uplifted Wildlife.When genetic engineering became a big thing, everyone wanted an upgraded pet, especially intelligent ones. For a variety of logistical and environmental reasons, the common crow turned out to be a HUGE seller. Given a bunch of gene-treatments that increased their overall size and a few minor traits (some lines had their plumage altered, with blood red or blue accents), they made for excellent companion animals, which were much easier to breed than parrots (which by this point were becomming rare). Being smarter actually made them easier to take care of, especially when you had two or three; they could be trusted outside of their cages (to a point), and entertain themselves.After everything went to shit, these gene-engineered birds escaped into the wild, outcompeted/interbred with the wild populations, and now, there's a sizable population of sentient crows, with their own language and culture.(It creates a very Lord of the Rings vibe, where random birds might be potential allies or spies, if you know the secrets of their language).Feel free to steal.
>>19457146Yeah, that would be neat. One of the few things I liked about the Hunger Games trilogy were the bio engineered "mutts" and their effects upon the environment.
>>19457085
>>19457133Yes. Several.Studebaker is one. Their vehicles have a reputation for being extremely tough and rugged devices that can survive the test of time. If you don't believe me, talk to anyone in the real world who's owned a Studebaker.One of my players, his grandfather owned a Studie pickup. Bought used in 1958.It still works today.Pendulum (their business card is pictured here: >>19455427 ) is the descendant of an insurance company, I don't want to say which one.The Iron Congress should be obvious.Cobalt One is the descendant of a major Canadian power company, formerly subsidized to the government. Canada no longer exists in the present, but the Congress found them to be useful allies with electronics manufacture, so they were kept around.Keiretsu Group have ties to Honda, Toyota and Mitsubishi.It's actually pretty fun to design them and chart how they change over the course of a hundred years.
>>19457146Like I said, genetic engineering is illegal as per Congressional Regulatory & Innovation Laws, but... I... like corvids too much to say no.
>>19457167Same. Made me think of the mockingjays and other muttations.
>>19457242There are still "primitive" tribes, correct?
>>19457296Yes. Those are collectively referred to as the Earthfoot tribes.You can even play as a member of their tribe, swept up in the crazy events with these weird people called Thrifters.Earthfooters are the people who reject the police states of the mega cities but aren't stupid enough to want to live in the sky with the cloud folk. They are people who have somehow learned to adapt and survive in the deathly, horrifying, deadly environment that is the New Earth, with all its crazy new flora and fauna that I need to design but I'm not good with anything that isn't a machine.
>>19457329I just really want to recreate the Heart of Darkness.
>>19457366I don't see why you could not.
>>19457388So, do all states have their standing armies and militia, or do some just rely on mercenaries? Or a mixture of both, sort of like Renaissance Italy.
I like it, but gutted to hear about the exclusion of elder things since you mentioned COC.I'd play it.
So, how many different types of currency is there? I know it sounds silly, but I like adding in the tiny fluff too.
>>19457417I am hoping to write the fluff in such a manner so I can leave some of that open for my fellow GMs to make their own content for the setting.The Iron Congress for example does not have a standing army. They have an Aeronavy, which is incredibly goddamn powerful, but their presence on the ground is rare and usually only exists in the form of surplus storage houses where they sell sanctioned materials to 'non-residential minorities' which is basically anyone who is not a citizen in their megalopolii.This does not mean they don't have an army, it is just that no one has seen it in about fifty years.Non-Congressional cities, of which very few exist... Well, their security measures are different depending on the city.For example, one of my players, his character is from a place called Sansio Castro, which is the flying gay district that broke off from San Franscisco a little over a hundred years ago. It has a police force that owns a few Class 1 (small) aerolofters that patrol the Castran airspace.>Flying gay districtYes, I know what I said. No I am not making it up. No it isn't my creation. Yes it will be canon because I thought it was goddamn hilarious when he suggested it.
>>19457499Well, depends on where you're from. Some places still use a form of hard currency which can be valued by the Congressional Exchange System, others are too poor or disconnected from any system like that so they utilize a barter system.There is a town somewhere where guns don't exist, but for some reason they have all these pencil shaped metal things (bullets) which look really pretty. So they etch artwork onto really valuable bullets and use those as currency.
Did anyone want to archive this?I am too humble to do it myself and feel it would be a bit egotistical to throw this into the archives.
Mechs and power armor?
>>19457501>Flying Gay DistrictYour players are awesome
>>19456009>Could you elaborate on that statement a little? I'm not sure what you were referring to.first sorry for the late response, I had to run out of a couple hours.Second. What I was really responding to was the whole "not that any of these practices really do anything" bit. Occult/Religious/whathaveyou rituals and practices often do have really profound effects on individuals and communities.These effects are primarily within the heads of practitioners, but those effects can still be very real.If you want to you can think of it like really powerful drugs you can get your body to produce for yourself in the right situation.
>>19457550I am very fortunate to have them. This whole project began because I did not like what we were initially playing, but they liked their characters (as did I) and they loved the ship I gave them.What we were initially playing was a d6 dice pool system. It wasn't fun to run. Setting was decent enough, but I felt I could do better.So I said, alright. We're going to switch systems, and I'm going to wrap a setting similar to the first one around the new system but with my own elements and writing behind it.And here we are with that six month long labour of love.>>19457548Mechs, no. Power armour... don't want to talk about it yet.
>>19457545Here, vote it up.http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/19455107/
>>19457599Agreed with the placebo effect, then.But I mean opening a hole in time to summon Yog-Sothoth is not something that will happen.One of the cults I am working on is based off of the music of Powerwolf. Pic related, and link relatedhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYvsY2XhxoEThey wear fetishes and symbols of fallen or forgotten religions, and are identified by the cleanly bleached wolf skulls they wear over their faces. Leaders of a congregation are called Howlers, and each fetish or symbol they wear represents a religious leader of a competing faith which they have either turned or broken.I have not named the cult yet, but I have their notes scribbled away somewhere.
>>19457656Thank you, anon. I appreciate what you've done.Have an image of awesome.
>>19457670okay cool. I think we are on the same page. I'd love to have a setting where I can show the power of the occult/religion in realistic sense.So no opening holes to Yog-Sotthoth, but you can get people to go beserkergang, or experiance temporary paralysis, etc
>>19457709Yes.
>>19457709oh, I should also mention that there is some evidence (questionable but that's good enough for a game), that this type of stuff also works on animals with a enough intellegence especially if they have some sort of social (pack/herd) dynamics.So dogs, horses, cattles, etc.This could have cool implications for a setting with crazy fauna like yours
>>19457192
>>19457725That would be interesting. Like a cult that performs trepanning, sedatives, and a dash of methamphetamines to make fanatical supersoldier zealots.
>>19457775If you provide me with examples, links especially, and hopefully academic research, on the subject, I will study it for use within the setting.
>>19457791
>>19457802Or it could happen inversely, with a PC that may have come from an warrior order of monks or the equivalent.
One other thing I should mention.There are currently two playable races in the system, with a third being developed in my space time.Humans are the first.Grotesques are the second.
>>19457906So are they mutants?
>>19457831Sing me the song of these Grotesques.
>>19457906>grotesques
>>19457917>>19457920They are mutants, yes, and theirs is a tortured and twisted existence of uncertainty, mental instability, and at times, loneliness. Here's some fluff:Offshot. Lowborn. Poxblood. No matter where you're from, or what you call them, there's babies being born in the world which are coming out all wrong. No one's sure what causes it. They come out of their momma's belly looking off or just right strange, and grow up to be even weirder. The brain's okay, in most of them, others, there's something wrong with that too. Look at 'em once, their bodies'll leave you with goosebumps. Look at 'em a second time, you won't be able to take your eyes away.You are a Grotesque. You are human, and yet you're not. You're one of the unlucky few, or lucky few, to be born with something a little extra. Webbed feet, increased muscle mass, or night eyes. There's something off about your body which grants you a small strength. The gift comes with a cost. You're like a phoenix. You burn twice as bright as anything else, and die just as quickly. The Grotesques never live for very long, and that's taking the puberty pains into account. It does something to trigger an even worse change in your body, making you even less human than before. The change is painful and terrifying.
>>19457988Have you ever read the Jesus Incident or the Lazarus Effect, OP?
>>19457813http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://www.anth.uconn.edu/faculty/sosis/publications/Alcorta_Sosis,_Signals_and_rituals_of_humans_and_animals.pdfAcross human and non-humanspecies alike, such ritualized behaviors evoke emotional and physiological responses thatimpact individual health and behavior while defining, facilitating and patterning social interaction.http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/01/0105biomusic.htmlon the effect of music on animals.There is also the example of horse whispering, and some work which treats wolf society as similar to a religious/ritualistic practice with music (howling), and ritualized actions (mainly combat) establishing pack roles.Or there is the Judas goat, which is used to trick animals to walk into a slaughter house. Animals don't naturally walk up a ramp into a building they can't see. But they will Follow one another animal up. So the judas goat is kept at the slaughterhouse and is trained to walk up the steps from outside into the slaughterhouse by being given treats
>>19457906I'm guessing the third race are automatons?
There are three kinds of grotesque. I will only cover the first two, as the third type of Grotesque is... something special. I will only talk about them when my players have met one. We will begin with:Twist:The least mutated of the three types. Biologically, you're closest to being human. Everything associated with a normal human body is there, but there's something extra, maybe an extra limb, maybe your eyes see better than most, or you got claws or sharp teeth. The differences can be more than skin deep too, like having an extra organ that humans should not have, or your muscles work a bit faster than anyone else. Whatever it is, it does manifest in a clearly visible manner. If you have an issue about being special and want to hide it (and you might, depending where you're from), then it shouldn't be too hard to cover it up with the right clothing or makeup. At best, you look like anyone else. At worst, you look like one of those constantly sick people, and most will stay away from you.Note: One of the party characters is in fact a Twist. It has taken his character several sessions before he got over the self-anxiety of his... condition and felt comfortable to have anyone around him see him for what he is. His character's mutation manifests as chalk white skin and hair, red eyes and a tail. He can see very well in the dark, but his eyes are extremely sensitive to sunlight, so he has to wear goggles at all times when not inside the ship, or risk going temporarily blind.Pic related is a good example of a twist, although rarely will twists manifest any skeletal changes that make it difficult for them to walk like a normal person.Next up, the Wretch.
>>19458036Automata, actually. Automatons are their non-sentient... cousins? Ancestors? Forebears? One of those.>>19458009I have not, but I will now.Incidentally, I have a recommendation for you. Look up the Deus Machine by Pierre Ouvelette.
>>19458058So how artificial are they?
The WretchA cut, or step, above the Twists. Things are getting weird now, and unless you go to great lengths to hide what makes you different, your nature will be known to all. There's something not quite right about you. You'll need to think if you care about that or not though. What makes a Wretch? Well, take all the normal features of a human, and where the Twist might have something extra on top of the usual affairs, your missing something normal and that's been replaced by something unreal. Like someone decided to put you together like a surrealist painting. Maybe you have flat flesh or empty sockets where eyes should be because you were born with some other sense. Your skin has an almost alien texture to it, like too many wrinkles, an unnatural colour, looks like cracked porcelain, or fissures like burnt mud. Your fingers might be fused together, longer than they should be, or there are no fingers at all, instead some other digit is in their place, like insect claws. You may have no mouth, and cannot speak, or have something other than a human mouth... and can only speak in broken syllables, or something altogether impossible for the human mind to comprehend.Whatever it is, the classification of Wretch is well earned... because when Norms look at you, that's what they feel.Next up, Wretch Rules.Pic related is a good example of what a wretch looks like. Wretch design is based on equal parts Chet Zar and H.R. Geiger.
Wretch rules:Traits:My Own Nightmare (1): A Wretch is aware of the twisted parody of human life it represents, and as such, tends not to show fear in the face of mundane horrors in the world around it. Any event, creature, or person which causes a Fear Level 1 event does not affect the Wretch. Additionally, the Wretch begins play with the trait Fear 1, as they are themselves disturbing to behold.Grotesque: As the Mutation of the same name. +10 to Intimidate tests, -20 penalty on Fellowship Tests made with 'Normals'.Roll 2d10 and accept the highest result. You start play with that many insanity points.Pic related is another approximation of the Wretch. Source is Silence, a creature from the new Doctor Who series.
Does this count as a Twist or Wretch, OP?
The final Grotesque type is the Gurge. I will not talk about them yet. You can probably guess what they look like given that each step away from the Twist results in a human progressively more mutated and alien.In essence the Grotesque is my way of allowing players to attempt to roleplay as a humanoid elder creature, because the mutation comes with psychological deviation from human norms.>>19458127What do you mean?
>>19458203Now there's an interesting film I need to watch...I just watched that scene. The humanoids featured in the film are rarely mutated enough to be wretches, but too inhuman to be a twist. But in either case, yes that would make a great grotesque.
I had a skaven like race when I made an industrial/dieselpunk setting. They were basically the kobolds and hobbits of the setting.
>>19458234So the automata, are they like terminators (more flesh than machine), or like the synthetics from Bladerunner and Alien (vat grown superhumans) or like the Cybran from Supreme Commander, which were basically humans that had a CPU instead of a brain?
>>19458242Though I have no such race in the setting (And do not intend to create one as any of the other races can easily do that) the Twist in my player group acts like this.
>>19458289Whoops, meant more machine than flesh.
>>19458242How "like"?Also, OP, look at this, and look up gasifiers if you want to have a plausible replacement for fossil fuels.
>>19458324Short, numerous rat people that were hedonistic or thieves. Tended to live in relatively cramped warrens. Squeaked and chittered, and had a nasty bite. Unlike the skaven though, they still had some set of morals, and could either be friendly or hostile to other races.
>>19458289Oh, I see the confusion.Aesthetically and physically, the automata and automatons are indistinguishable. They are completely mechanical beings, with servos, articulator joints, optical systems and so on. A humanoid shaped automaton/a is very rare and expensive because of the complicated balancing systems and design needed for a bipedal locomotion system. Additionally, a mechanical humanoid has a lot of non-essentials and extras which take away from the fact that this is a device being designed to fulfill a function.Most of the robotic servants that mankind built either get around on wheels, treads, or have six to eight legs.Think a cross between Johnny 5 and modern utility robots used in the real world today with extra features to make them more general purpose. Kind of like the non-humanoid synthforms of Eclipse Phase. Humanoid robots do exist, but they are rarely utilized as anything other than show pieces or works of art.What's the difference between an Automaton and an Automata? Well, it's internal. One of them isn't sentient, the other one is suddenly burdened with this thing we call free will and independent thought.Automata are so rare that most people in the setting tend to write off that silly robot claiming to be alive down the street as just a bugged or glitched thing that either needs to be scrapped or fixed. As long as it doesn't kill anyone, we can just laugh at its malfunction.How's that for different.>>19458324More research. I love it. Thank you, anon.
So I take it /tg/ likes this setting I've been working on.
>>19458499for you to post more
>>19458499No, we hate you to death, and your setting too, you cisgendered 4rry grognard weeaboo brony Monarchist swine.Of course we like it. We're helping you with it, aren't we?
Keep going OP
We archived it didn't we?Personally I can't wait for you to divulge more information about the ecosystem and creatures in this new world of yours.Also I can't wait to pitch this idea to my players, see if they like this more then my "Nosgoth rpg" idea.So yes, we like it.
>>19458528>>19458537I got a good laugh out of that. Have some awesome.And yes. By prodding me and asking me questions and engaging me, you are in fact helping me with this.I hope I haven't painted a picture of a bleak world with this setting because I'm not trying to do that. Yes, this is a world that is just coming to grips after a second dark age, but that's just it. It's a world with people in it who have problems to deal with. They just need to pull together and work together to get mankind back on track.Sure, the Earth is now out to kill us at every turn, but like always, we'll adapt.I'm trying to paint a picture of humanity dealing with a situation and being humbled vs a lot of settings where it's either Humanity fuck year or humanity fuck no.
Hey OP, here's an idea. In the last few decades, experimental geothermal power has been rising. Finland has combined geothermal power to power electric arc furnaces to smelt bauxite into aluminum.Now I want to see large, self sufficient communities next to volcanoes and deep within the earth. Think a modern version of what the Demon Ruins would be from Dark Souls.
>>19458537Forgot the image.>>19458571What is 'Nosgoth'?And yes, I have yet to find the time to crank out the new earth ecosystem, but that's primarily because I struggle with flora and fauna design. It'll come though. I've written down the sources I intend to use for inspiration.What's a good number of original creatures/animals for a new RPG's bestiary?15? 20?
>>19458585You. You tell me where that image comes from right now.>>19458620I will think about it. Most likely though, such a faction/nation would not exist in North America. When I develop the rest of the world, I will make certain to create that kind of society, perhaps based in Finland as you suggest, or have Scandinavia itself unified under a banner.
>>19458629The World from Legacy of Kain.I wanted to have my players be part of the founding members of one of the clans and have them play through the conquering of humanity and the realization that they damned the world (see soul reaver)Their responses were not very enthousiastic,Your setting sounds way more fun though, so I hope they like the sound of it. So far it's only been Pathfinder and Don't Rest Your Head.But this isn't about whining about my players, tell us more!
Oh one other thing.Pic related happens in the setting.Quite a lot since there's plenty of horrifying dangerous things for poachers to hunt for sport. Things that will actually goddamn fight back and put up a good fight.
>>19458728If you are serious about that, good luck, as I don't really have much material yet. Just some aerolofters and a truck for vehicles, with a skeleton for character generation.
>>19458728Keep in mind that the setting is not grimdark or anything, it's just in a state of recovery. Things will get better, but people have to step in and step up to help things along.
>>19458652The image is from Dark Souls, out for PS3 and 360, and coming to PC in august, I think.
>>19458759I like what you're doing there, good Doctor.So far, it sounds quite interesting.
>>19458834Thank you.One other thing I should probably throw out there. I am trying to work out a ... er, for lack of a better term, 'gadgeteering' system.This is a world where you can find junk anywhere and everywhere. It is not so ubiquitous as to call this setting a 'junk world' mind you - there are other people doing a better job at designing that particular setting in a better project than what I have here.That said, I picked the 20th century as the technological time frame for most of the technology in the setting because you can conceivably believe that all people regardless of education can at least make practical use of the stuff lying around and jury rig stuff together.To do this, you just need to be trained in Engineering + have a Mechanical class (still trying to work out how the M.C system works, right now it's just a separate skill you purchase that is linked to Engineering, like how lores have separate sub-groups)And then you make use of the crafting rules found in the Inquisitor's Handbook.I need to lock it down somewhere in a codified section of rules but right now, essentially, if you want to make something, like a custom ship weapon or whatever, you just need the appropriate skills to do so or access to people you can pay to use their skills for your project.Aerowright is the Trade used for upgrading, designing, and building airships and other air craft. If you wanted to build, say, a lightning gun for your ship, you just need Engineering (Electronics) + Trade(Aerowright) and then you carry out a few extended skill tests over the course of in-game days weeks or months depending on the complexity of the item, size, and function.Oh, and the money and parts to build it of course.
>>19458834Speaking of this guy's pic, have you seen Motorcity yet OP?You MIGHT like it. Admittedly, the main villain is a corp, but the protagonists have good intentions.
>>19459163It's pretty damn good.While its writing is rather average, it's got style baby.
>>19459215>>19459163Noted, Motor City. Will look it up.Who is that red wearing man?
>>19459234The Duke of Detroit, baby.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bICsTArm_qk
And here's an approximation to what Iron Congress aerolofters look like.
>>19459234Motorcity. One word.
Your world sounds awesome OP.My advice would be, don't let it get too crazy, like the first couple of seasons of a new TV show are always the best, but the later ones get too complex and retarded and it sucks all the fun out of it.Low fantasy is where the cool kids are at.
>>19459470That looks awesome Doc but I must say I thought they looked more like pic related, to fit in with the whole dieselpunk nature of the setting.Oh, and speaking of diesel punk designs, have a look at Keith Thompsons art, his vehicles have some good design you might be able to use
>>19459577Captcha needs to stop eating pictures
>>19459523I wish I had someone like you to look over my shoulder and tell me when enough is enough.Because I am working on this by myself, I don't have anyone to question me except when I show up here.
What are the world relations like in this world OP?Are there allied countries, do they even have the tech to communicate with one another properly over distances? Did any countries get properly wiped out?Specifically, hows Scotland doing?
>>19459596>>19459577When I get around to nailing down the aerolofter designs, they look more like space ships than a flying 20th century ship. The reason for this is because, well...They're not 20th century flying ships.I have a lot of contacts within mechanical engineering circles and the military. The former, I discuss design and engineering for something like that.The latter, I ask about how what is in essence a mobile flying naval ship would affect tactical doctrine and engagements on the surface and in the sky.In either case, they tell me that a vehicle that large, flying around like that, armed like a destroyer or a cruiser, would not look like a destroyer or a cruiser. It would look very different.
>>19459732That makes sense, especially if the Iron Congress has 21st century tech levels. I just like the idea of crew wandering around the open decks checking targets with binoculars
>>19459615>What are the world relations like in this world OP?Currently I am focused on developing North America.Canada and the United States no longer exist in the form we recognize. They were folded together, producing the Iron Congress, during the various historical events leading up to the Age of Clear Sky.There are separatist elements in the north and far south, however, who wish to break this union. Yes you read that right. Those separatists in the north?>Canadian TerroristsAnd before any Canadians get up in arms over this, I am a Canadian myself.>Are there allied countries, do they even have the tech to communicate with one another properly over distances?Yes.>Did any countries get properly wiped out?Yes. God, yes.>Specifically, hows Scotland doing?I haven't thought about the British Isles enough to warrant developing them yet. Sorry.
>>19459781I apologize. I did not mean to imply that doesn't happen.It does, since most aerolofters which the players will have access to act and function just like 20th century steel hulled naval craft.
>>19459787Haha, that's a cool political element to have. Although I'm not sure what people would stand to gain from ruining that alliance.I quite like the idea that some of the places in your world are totally fucked, or in the process of being fucked.
Metal album covers work too as inspiration.
OP, ever played any of Sony's Resistance series? 1950's dieselpunk with H.I. Giger-esque aliens. Also, VTOLs.
>>19459879Some places are, some places are not. Others are doing just fine.Japan is doing great. Russia is silent and unknown. France and Germany are gone. Austria is still kicking about.
Did you take any inspiration from the Soviets of Red Alert 2?
So, better-than-today medicine but no genetics? That's not thaaat easy to manage…So for being so anal.
>>19460112>So>sorryselffix
>>19460013It's on my list of things!>>19460079There is genetics, it's just illegal, unless Congressionally sanctioned.
>>19460182For example, the basic human assault rifle has a solid wooden stock, but also has a grenade launcher which didn't come out until the late 1960's.
>>19460182And then the rather strange looking Chimera Bullseye assault rifle.
Don't stop, OP!
>>19460350I... don't know where else to go with any of this.You have all drained me. I'm hungry and wish to cook steak.Please let me cook my steak.
>>19460546Yeah you cook it...But you'll be back.
I always loved Max's car from the Road Warrior.
>>19460546cook it. Cook it real good.
Speaking of food, what sort of exotic food do people eat in this setting?
And I'm back.I'll be up for about another hour, then I must sleep. I have teraquads of new information to sort through, both from this thread and from the discussion I'm having with some anons in google docs.Is there anything you guys wanted to know about?
>>19461816Mostly food, like the guy above you said.
>>19461675The Iron Congress gets most of their food from Congressionally protected farm lands. Those areas grow livestock, vegetables and fruit products similar or exactly like what you find in North American farms today.The largest farm space owned by the Congress is a territory in the north, formerly known as Saskatchewan.For Earthfooters, well. One tribe created by my player group is known as the Northern Indrikki. They raise and butcher Indrikkus, which is pic releated.Giant spiders are on the menu; people primarily boil the blood that flows through their legs and use it as a stock for a stew or home soup.There are all manner of huge predators in the sky.And if you have the balls to try it, there's the strange stuff that comes out of the Smoke.
Is Hawaii still relevant? Considering that you mentioned that Japan is still existent, and being conveniently located in the middle of the Pacific, it would seem like a nexus of trade.
You got some sort of contact info?
Where did OP go? He was here and then just...vanished.
>>19461924Yes. It is now on the agenda for Pacific setting development.>>19461956Hop on into the google docs chat room and we'll talk.https://docs.google.com/document/d/1j-O2ICJaG-U5DUzGtmXTer-RDTiO3c05o3q2qQYtNWs/edit?pli=1
>>19462108I am here.
>>19462128Are direct energy weapons available? We already have vehicle mounted lasers strong enough to penetrate through several meters of steel and take down missiles from several miles away. Man portable ones don't seem that far off.
>>19462181No man portable lasers exist in the setting. A great deal of weapon technology ceased development when the Era of Endless Smoke happened, or, they in fact, regressed.
Good night OP, you were awesome.
>this thread
>>19462270My pleasure, to you and to all the other anons who participated in the thread throughout the day and spoke to me over the google docs chat channel.I'll create a new thread at some time in the future when I have made any substantial mechanical or fluff additions to the setting.
Obligatoryhttp://archive.foolz.us/tg/thread/19439848
