(Shit, forgot to turn off my /qst/ name)

Premise:
It's the 1970's in the United States, but the time is not our own. After the death of President
Eisenhower in 1960, his Vice President, Richard Nixon took office. After a plague struck the U.S.,
Nixon called upon Emergency Powers and has been in office ever since.
Technology and aesthetics haven't changed much from the late 50's to early 60's.
By day, life is very Leave it to Beaver. Nuclear families, tract housing, mom is in the kitchen, dad
reads the paper while smoking his pipe, little Jimmy mows the lawn for money to go to the malt
shop. But there is something wrong with this idealized American setting. Everyone is home and
shuttered by 7, asleep by 8. Strange tales about those who venture out after dark. Some
disappear, others are found mutilated, some that are lucky enough to survive tell stories about
strange sightings. Creatures go bump. Aliens. Cultists. Mad Scientists. Monsters. All sorts of
strangeness runs wild in the streets at night.

But there are those who stand in the dark of night to oppose it. The misfits of society. The Greasers, The Punks, The Rockabillies, The Psychobillies, The Luchadores, The Cowboys, The Bikers, Amazonian Women, and other misfits stand in the way between the forces of evil and the common man.

>>53376593

Setting Stuff
Magic-
The Arcane is alive and well in this setting. Ritual Magic and Voodoo is popular amongst those who
serve the darkness. However, amongst the misfits, a new form of magic has taken shape. Instead of lengthy rituals, or arcane words and gestures, The Rockabillies and The Punks have developed magic by playing
certain notes and chords on their guitars. One of the most powerful guitar mages on the side of good is known as The Man in Black.The side of the darkness can also claim a few guitar mages on their side. When 2 guitar mages meet in combat, expect epic guitar duels.

Expect Arcane Edges to deal with this.

Hot Rods-
The Greasers have always modified and tricked out their hot rods. Even more so now, that they
often have to use their cars to battle, outrun, or race with the devil.
Expect rules for souping up your ride.

Luchadores-
The masked men from south of the border lend their expertise in hand to hand combat, and their
long history of facing off with the supernatural also comes in handy.
Grappling Edges!
And more stuff!

>>53376630
Inspiration
Movies: Six String Samurai, Old El Santo Movies, Grease
TV Shows: Buffy The Vampire Slayer
Video Games: Guitar Hero Series, Rock Band 2 Intro
Last but not Least and most important:
The music of:
The Cramps, The Meteors, Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, The Misfits, The Ramones, Dick Dale, Chuck
Berry, Tiger Army, Three Bad Jacks, The Stray Cats, Charlie Feathers, Nekromantix, The
Horrorpops, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Los Straitjackets, The Ghastly Ones, The Jim Rowdy
Show, The Red Elvises, and many others.

>>53376652

(This is where the original creator got into Savage Worlds-specific mechanics, though you could probably adapt this for your system of choice.

Arcane Background: Guitar Magic
Arcane Skill: Play Instrument (Spirit)
Starting Powers: 3
Power Points: 10
Amongst the misfits, a new form of magic has taken shape. Instead of lengthy rituals, or arcane
words and gestures, The Rockabillies and The Punks have developed magic by playing certain
notes and chords on their guitars.
Amp Overload/Broken Strings:
When a guitar mage rolls a one on his Play Instrument skill, he may be rocking out a little too
hard. Either his amp overloads and ceases to funtion, or his guitar strings break. He cannot cast
another spell until he either plugs into a new amp, or restrings his guitar.

Spell List:
Armor
Barrier (known as Ring of Fire, suggested track, Social Distortion's cover)
Blast (known as Great Balls of Fire, suggested track, The Misfits' cover)
Bolt
Boost/Lower Trait
Burst
Deflection
Dispel
Entangle
Fear
Light
Obscure
Puppet
Smite
Stun
(I still gotta come up with clever names for the spells)
I am finally going to start running this setting pretty soon.
The Horror Companion, HawaiianBrian's V-Mod's, and Clint's Modern Martial Arts have been
covering a lot of the things that I wanted to cover, and I've come up with a few new edges for the
setting.

>>53376680

(Some more setting concepts)

I've also decided to make 1957 the turning point of where history starts to change. Why 1957? Well... that is when in the real world Francous Duvalier aka Papa Doc became president of Haiti. He was an interesting character in the real world, and even claimed to be the Voodoo Loa of
Death, Baron Samedi. Savage it, and say that he indeed was Baron Samedi... well... having a Voodoo God of Death walking around the planet is bound to mess things up.


(Read Francous Duvalier's Wikipedia when you get the chance, especially if you're running a real world supernatural horror campaign. Dude was a delightful kind of crazy.)

(And now, back to Savage Worlds stuff with new Edges)

Greaser
Requirements: Novice, Agility d8+, Driving d8+, Repair d8+
The character is part of a car club or has an intimate knowledge of
automobiles. The greaser gains a +2 on Driving and a +2 on Repair rolls
whenever he or she is driving or repairing an automobile, and due to their
connections in the car scene, they reduce V-Mod costs by 5% (20% becomes 15%)
Going to start posting up some of the different factions/gangs/clubs/crews in the world...

>>53376749
(Some NPCs/Enemies)

The Hellcats
Numbers: 30-35
The Hellcats are an all female crew of bikers. They have little regard for men. While they may
occasionally use them for sex, they have no respect for the male gender. They subscribe to a
radical brand of feminism, and their loyalty is with their “sisters”. They have been forbidden to fall
in love, and any Hellcat that does is “tested” by their crew, or risk expulsion.
Their club is led by a beautiful, raven haired woman named Belle, who has recently declared war
on the much larger 1% motorcycle gang, The Disciples. At first, it was due to their mistreatment of
women, however, as of late, it has become clearer that The Disciples are involved in something
darker than just drugs and extortion rackets.
Belle- Leader of the Hellcats (Wild Card NPC)
Attributes: Agility d10, Smarts d6, Strength d8, Spirit d8, Vigor d8
Skills: Driving d12, Fighting d10, Guts d8, Intimidation d8, Repair d8, Shooting d8, Streetwise d10,
Taunt d6
Charisma: 4 Pace: 6 Parry: 7 Toughness: 7
Hindrances: Quirk: Man Hater, Loyal, Stubborn
Edges: Ace, Attractive, Very Attractive, Brawny, Brawler, Command
Gear: Harley Davidson Chopper
Knife 1d4+Str
Chain 1d6+Str
Average Hellcat
Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d6, Strength d6, Spirit d6, Vigor d6
Skills: Driving d8, Fighting d6, Notice d6, Shooting d6, Streetwise d6
Charisma: 2 Pace: 6 Parry: 5 Toughness: 5
Hindrances: Overconfident, Loyal, Stubborn

>>53376763
The Ronins
Numbers: 20-25
The smallest of the motorcycle clubs, these Japanese bikers were considered a joke when they
arrived on the scene, with their oversized pompadours, and crazy dancing to rockabilly music.
However, after a bar fight where they demonstrated their martial arts skills and faced off and
defeated about 50 Disciples, they gained respect from the other crews in the city. They tend to be
very close knit, and only allow Japanese or Japanese American bikers into their club. They
generally don’t have a problem with any of the other crews, but aren’t allied with any of them
either. However, The Disciples are still upset with The Ronins over what they consider a huge
embarrassment.
Hidenori- Leader of The Ronins (Wild Card NPC)
Attributes: Agility d10, Smarts d8, Strength d8, Spirit d6, Vigor d8
Pace: 6, Parry: 9, Toughness: 7
Skills: Driving d10, Fighting d12, Intimidation d6, Notice d6,Repair d8, Streetwise d8, Throwing d8
Hindrances: Arrogant, Cautious, Big Mouth
Edges: Ace, Block, Martial Artist, Improved Martial Artist
Average Ronin
Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d6, Spirit d6, Strength d8, Vigor d6
Pace: 6 Parry:7 Toughness:5
Skills: Driving d8, Fighting d10, Intimidation d6, Repair d6
Hindrances: Quirk (pick one), Loyal, Overconfident

(Some assorted notes on magic)

I have someone helping me out with the writing as well. He is tackling the music magic portion of the setting, and is coming up with some real nice ideas. Some of these include concerts as rituals, different genres of music doing different types of magic (Metal/Necromancy, Punk/Chaos Magic, Rockabilly/Traditional Magic etc), and some setting background, like the true reason behind the The Day The Music Died

(Monster stuff)

I've been working on the bestiary section for this setting, with many monsters being inspired by music, B-Movies, and subcultural images within the realm of Rockabilly, Psychobilly, Punk Rock, Metal, Blues, etc. To whet your appetite, here is the rough draft of one of the creatures to appear in the setting. This one is inspired by the Mexican Day of the Dead.

Catrina

Catrinas appear as attractive human women with highly decorated skeletal faces, and fancy Spanish or French 18th Century clothing. They often lurk in graveyards, where they serve as guardians between the realm of the living and the dead. Being able to speak and understand spoken language, they often have a rather morbid sense of humor. They often like to take verbal
jabs at the rich or those of a high place in society, reminding them that everybody is the same after death.

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>>53376876

The appearance of a Catrina may also foretell a coming death, or become an agent of death, with
her powers over life and death.

Attributes: Agility d6, Smarts d8, Spirit d10, Strength d6, Vigor d8
Skills: Fighting d6, Intimidation d8, Notice d10, Persuasion d8, Stealth d10, Taunt d8
Pace: 6 Parry: 5 Toughness: 8
Special Abilities:
• Fear: Due to their reputations of harbingers of death, or the graveyard setting they are
often encountered in, heroes must make a fear check when encountering a Catrina.
• Fearless: Catrinas are immune to fear.
• Lowlight Vision: Being creatures of the night, Catrinas are accustomed to low lighting
conditions.
• Undead: +2 vs Shaken, No additional damage from Called Shots, doesn’t suffer from
wound modifiers, does not suffer from disease/poison.
• Death Touch: Catrinas can drain the life of others with a touch. The Catrina may make a
touch attack. Every raise on her Fighting Roll automatically causes 1 Wound to her target. An
Incapacitated foe can make their Vigor roll as normal to determine death.
• Life Touch: If someone's time on earth is not up yet, Catrinas also have the power of life.
They can use the Healing and Greater Healing powers as per the description of the power, without
use of Power Points.

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>>53376910

(hopefully this image won't be so damn small.)

Gonna bump with some music to share what I think adds to the feel of the setting. But can anyone help finish this setting?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqecLnB3FMU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuOe01gb3o0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXRSXnymwpE

>>53376560
I'm really enjoying this setting, as a fan of classic rock myself. (got a real kick out of The Man in Black).

So what would the PCs be in this setting? High school students? Or maybe they work for something like the Unusual Incidences Unit and it's their job to investigate these occurrences?

>>53377060

Honestly, I could see either being totally viable, though campaign tones would be very different. High school PC campaigns would play like Buffy, but UIU campaigns would play more like a slightly lighter Delta Green.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMUAaZM5CZ0

>>53377099
If you want PCs to really be fish out of water, they would likely just be random people.

Maybe John McPlayer is on the bus to work, when a mysterious black suited stranger with a nasally voice and dark sunglasses hands him something and tells him to keep it safe.

Gotta include something like a siren to warn people to get inside. Adds an extra bit of tension when the PCs hear it while studying or following a lead.

>>53377177

Considering the PCs would have either lived through or grown up with this, I think they wouldn't be complete fishes out of water. Maybe they've heard things. Maybe on night, they feel a bit rebellious and decide to sneak out, and they realize the curfew exists for a reason.

Also, why did it take so long for me to post this classic?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-y3h9p_c5-M

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGdl0E7RIm8

>>53376630
>Hot Rods-
>The Greasers have always modified and tricked out their hot rods. Even more so now, that they
>often have to use their cars to battle, outrun, or race with the devil.
>Expect rules for souping up your ride.
It immediately made me think of the Driver/Pilot/whateveritiscalled in Apocalypse World.

>>53377536
That'd be a good fit.

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Some classic '50s horror poster art

>>53377641
>>53377536
We could probably make an AW hack for this.
Maybe I'll do it if I have the time, between writing my Cthulhu Dark to DH hack, painting my SW:A kill team and other minis for some obscure skirmish game and GMing various stuff.
Oh, and studying for college.

>>53377757
Not very familar with Apocalypse World...heard some PbtA Actual Plays, but that's about it.

That's a great fun setting, Jesus Christ, I can picture all sorts of fun with it.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qn4lJqbv7So

Gonna post a little fluff.


Rex's fingers went up and down the frets frantically, trying to nail the riff that would resuscitate Charlene and Luis before that bug-eyed alien caught up with them. It was a miracle Rex even managed to get away- Charlene was the gearhead, not him. He just played the six string the way the Man in Black encouraged him to. He wasn't good in a tussle like Luis was- crazy luchadore wrestled a chupacabra once, twisted it's neck like a goddamn bottle cap.

But that little green fucker came out of that crashed saucer rayguns blazing, zapped Charlene and Luis something fierce.

"C'mon, c'mon," mumbled Rex, calloused fingers trembling with fear. "A Sharp, E, C Sharp..."

Rex should've focused, should've gotten his head straight.

Should've played D Sharp.

Luis and Charlene got back up, alright. But they got back up wrong. The last thing Rex saw before they tore him apart in mindless hunger were two pairs of soulless eyes.

Bump

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"Dammit, Murphy, I told you to ask for directions!"

"Fine, babe, I'll ask for directions."

(Cop car pulls up, out steps a skinny bald cop with a shiny badge steps out.)

"Can I help you two? Name's Officer Scratch..."

I think it has great potential for fun.
I really like the WWII Air Raid Sirens as a mood setter. Have a audio file to play at the right time.

I also like the 1957 Papa Doc divergence point.

Throw in the Red Scare of them Commies.
Something like this would probably stop the Hippy movement - No Summer of Love, Flower Power, Sit-Ins or any of that Feel Good Stuff.
You would still have the Beat Generation and the Dirty Bikers as the rebels.
No Space Race, More Cold War. Instead of Sputnik, the Russkies focused on Submarine Warfare.

It needs a rules set for Mutants & Masterminds... I don't have time but I want to use it.....

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Bump for interest. If I knew how to play Savage Worlds, I'd totally play this.

Maybe it's time to learn...

Taking the Jersey Turnpike at 80 miles per hour at night and you're asking for trouble. But doing that with a Jersey Devil on your tail?

That's a fool's errand.

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>>53381756
Forgot image

>>53381536
It also cries for a short list of appropriate slang with a 50's - early 60's feel. Award players for using the jingo and discourage the word 'fuck' in every fuckin' sentence.

>>53381779
http://fiftiesweb.com/pop/1950s-slang/

I NEED MORE. THIS SHIT IS GOLD.

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Nobody knows where the Sanford Boys came from, but they've been in this town since my Gramps was only as old as me. Wanna know the scary thing about'em?


All the same members, and not one of 'em has aged a day since they first showed up.

Some think they're ghosts, but between you and me I'd put my money on them being bloodsuckin' vamps.

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>>53381813
Exactly! -thanks, Daddy-O.

Don't just let the kids have all the fun.
Grownups also have a vested interest in beating back the Darkness, and they tend to have better equipment left over from military days. Surly punks should get center stage, though.

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What I imagine the UIU looks like when the shit hits the fan and it's time to go loud.

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>>53381536
No Vietnam War, Nixon dropped one little nuke on the Gooks and 'Nam is now a good little protectorate state that ships us all their oil right on time. Didn't even need to use a H bomb.

http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/23223077/

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>>53382244
Nixon in 1963. age 50.

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This thread reminds me of American Vampire. Picture related.

>>53382457
I should give that a read.
The notes talk about doing something with the Day The Music Died, but I can't decide what. Russian plot to kill rock and roll? Demonic conspiracy to reap the souls of musicians? Plane shot down by Grey's?

>>53382625
There was also a Hack/Slash comic where a rock band trades their souls to an Elder god for fame and fortune. Each of their live concerts is an elaborate ritual that identifies virgin girls in a the crowd, opens a portal to take them to said elder god, then makes everyone forget.

The first herald of this group was Elvis, he act as the Elder gods high priest in its weird hell dimension.

>>53382625
Another idea: Waylon Jennings actually did curse the plane Buddy Holly was on. A Manitou taught him how to do it. Which is why you should never trust a country singing guitar mage- they cast the nastiest curses you can imagine.

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There's plenty for a hot rodder to fear in the night. Ghost trains running down empty tracks without warning, the spirit of the Little Bastard hijacking the car and taking you on a lethal joyride...But if the Black Rig appears in your rearview mirror, shining it's high beams and blaring it's ghastly horn, you better burn rubber and pray you make it to see the light of day.

>>53383077
yasssssssssss

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>mfw I wanted to play a guitar mage but everyone else demands I be a luchadore instead

OP here, gonna turn in for the night. Don't let this thread die. Also, could someone archive this just in case?

>>53383374
NVM, archived it myself...Though if you'd update the archive Everytime something new was posted that'd be great

Last second bump fags, since it's a nice idea

My question is how all of this affects things like segregation.

>>53387873
KKK's still exists and is rather an unspoken thing that everyone knows. You don't wanna screw with the bastards anyway, they've magic on their side.

God damn I love the idea.

>>53381536
>No Space Race
That's just sad.
I'd like it better if the space race actually was faster and more succesful. Russkies went first to the moon, so to one-up them yankees started building a moonbase.
Then they discovered some caves on the moon, and inside the caves...

>>53388532
Yes, but it keeps the focus on the RocknRoll rebels. Add it to your version. I think Submarine Superiority adds more much more paranoia, and without Sputnik and Kennedy the space program could be delayed decades.
>>53387873
I would tend to make this like American television of the 50's and 60's.
Except that black people are important for that degenerate music that corrupted Our Children.

>>53388532
>>53389051
Ah, good old Commie Martian Invaders, swayed by the power of Communism and craving a bootylicious babes in bikini...

>>53389051
I was thinking of doing it like how Breaker 666 (remember that setting? It was pretty cool) did it- the Civil Rights Movement was a little more tense/troubled than in our history, but all the same legislation passed.
>>53389180
That's the spirit.

Remember that awful film director? Ell or something?

That right, HIM and his really, really bad movies. In fact, they are not movies at all! Its a documentary films about heroes and REAL monsters, deliberately made to look bad and fake.

In fact, he is shooting a movie right now, near abandoned mine. What he is up to?

It seems, thematically, that you could do some good Rocky Horror Picture Show stuff in this setting.

I just like the idea of the some kind of TV show with like Deadland's Epitaph - "trashy paper spreading the Truth as nonsense". Something like late-night show named "Horror of Unknown" or similar, with a horror host Edward Woodsky, "fake" vampire.

Heroes can tell story about their exploits to an Edward, and it will retold for a mass... as a horror B-movie.

>>53389797

It seems the directors looking for replacement actors since his last crew 'quit'. But there's no stunt doubles, and those waivers he's making people sign are rather troubling...

>>53389909
like transexual vampires?

>>53390320
But hey, he seems a nice guy, payment is good, and cater service are fine. Seems worth a shot.

Yet his cameraman, Joe, is creeping me out. He can't just stop staring at everyone, without blinking at all.

>>53390634

And have you seen those weird fat rolls on his neck? I swear, they almost look like gills!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8CEt3j9zWc

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I think the art of Ed Roth would be a good aesthetic for this setting- freaky monsters, crazy tricked-out old cars, and pure manic energy

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>>53390525
Transexual Alien Vampires, yeah. They don't even have to be transexual, just... weirdos. Transexual establishes them at a glance, diegetically, as perverts, something strange and indulgent, which is at odds with what was normal at the time and therefore evil and dangerous. Vampires are actually a pretty good fit for them, since they're seducers and corruptors, though maybe most of them seem otherwise normal at first glance, since a part of the fear at the time was not knowing who was harbering dark secrets.

If you think about it, Rocky Horror is basically two straight-lace innocents getting caught up in the machinations of a murderous otherworldly force who wants to prey upon and corrupt them. Thematically, they're 'good and decent' people who themselves thrust in a world of madness and discover that even after escaping the madman's clutches they're forever changed by the experience. Innocence lost can never be reclaimed. That sounds like a pretty good campaign opening to me.

If you had a race/faction of weirdo murderers that go around fucking with people not because its in their nature but because they find normality incredibly boring and just want to indulge in their dark passions, then that would provide a very interesting contrast to the protagonists, who are also rebels, outcasts and rejects, but use their power for good. Could do some real nice dark mirror moments.

Anyway, just a thought.

Area 51 has to be an campaign-ending dungeon. You could write a whole campaign centered around getting the tools and intel you need to infiltrate the base and get whatever the government's keeping in there. Maybe it's clones of Nixon, in made in case the plague killed him. Maybe it's an intact UFO. Maybe it's an alien princess being held hostage in exchange for her home planet's technology.

What about a Rebel Without A Cause type class? Or a square with a knack for science that translates into spells. Or an artist whose pictures come to life? Just tossing out some ideas that come to mind when reading this.

"Little Suzie's at it again. Those weird pictures she draws looks real...to real. I swear that bear face she drew blinked at me! Shame about the rose she drew. It wilted in a few days."

Just my 2 cents

>>53393149

Not sure if the artist would work for a class, but as an enemy that'd be pretty cool.

Also, I think the science geek would be better suited as a gadgeteer, since we're going for the 'magic via music' thing

Bump

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwUJUuefjoE

So, besides Savage Worlds or Apocalypse World, what systems would this setting work in?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWnOfwsvZWU

>>53394790
I'd say something fairly simple and dynamic, with more freeform elements when it comes to magic/music.

Gadgeteer or Scientologist maybe?
What about the FATE system?

>>53395587
FATE would be a good fit. Maybe a rework of Dresden Files, or Base Raiders

>>53395635
Maybe d20 modern, too. Has there been a rework of it to fit with 5e?

Bump

Anyone have a PDF of the Fate Core Rules? I lost my file when I replaced my laptop

>>53395587

Bump

>>53398238
FATE Core's stuff is available for literally free on their website.