Now, in order to overcome my wackiness writer's block, I'm reaching out to the community!
The basic idea is that Ohma was bombed into oblivion, destabilizing much the city and causing a massive sinkhole, into which the waters of the Misery River flowed, resulting in a giant, irradiated morass, surrounded by smaller, barely-post-tribal towns. If that spawns something, great, but don't let it hinder anything.
Recently snagged ideas (pulled from @dazedsaveends fantastic barrage of retweets, among other places):
- Radioactive sky pirates
- Truckasaurus (located in the Carfields, the remains of several miles of car dealerships)
- Cowboys on dinosaurs (inspired by Ruby)
- Fortress/tank mounted on a creature (giant tortoise, sandworm, etc)
What sort of outrageous encounters do you have planned? Anything really zany?
The first thing that comes to mind when I think of Omaha is the massive grain elevators. A huge tower filled with potential foodstuff would make an excellent stronghold for a warlord-type villain, who would trade food for loyalty. The tower makes an excellent lookout for his minions, and if anyone defies him, well... remember that scene in The Witness? BAM, a hundred thousand bushels of grain on their heads!
Also, it occurs to me that, in a worldline where human civilization began in the Americas, a place like Omaha could have been the center of a great empire - an American Babylon. With abundant fields to feed its people (and therefore its armies) and control of the main trade routes across the center of the continent, the Ohman empire would have stretched far and wide ... until the Rise of Ishtar dragged the Ohmans into a world war that drained their resources and left them unable to maintain their far-spanning trade routes.
Local Zoo becomes haven for animal based PC's and creatures. Bonapartists rule there! Maybe worship the mascot of State or college sports team.
A science museum or planetarium, inhabitated by cult of UFO watchers, or filled with Omega and guarded by the radiated staff!
A local florist shop has become a giant mutated intelligent plant intent on converting the area into a new Garden of Eden.
Police station now home to a Serf warlord and his gang!
Also check out they types of animals native to your home; roving packs of mutant Deer that particpate in "Man Season", if you look vaguely human... KA-POW!
Take the stuff you walk/drive past everyday and turn it on its side...
- Turn the Henry Doorly Zoo into a sentient/mutated animal park, run by a pair of fellows named Jim Fowler and Peter Gros (of Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom fame).
- Turn the Strategic Air and Space Museum into a tech salvage haven.
- Have a porker gang holed up at the Durham Museum (train yard).
- Make sure the Heartland of America Park & Fountain is functionally irradiated.
- Have bandits set up a toll to cross the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge.
- Have the Fire in the Hole visible from miles away with its nighttime radioactive glow.
- Make The Road to Omaha or the Dance of the Cranes sculptures come to life.
- Use Glenn Cunningham Lake (or the Gene Leahy Pedestrian Mall) as a pure strain human survivalist compound, complete with RVs.
- Cancer Survivors Park could take on a completely new meaning.
- Boys Town has GOT to be used (with a new Father Flanagan, of course!)
Hey, Im just saying it might need defending from Yexils!
What sort of outrageous encounters do you have planned?
1) I used the Far-Go road hog encounter to represent Jousting Knights of Purity mounted on skycycles (here and here). The head Knight's cycle had an on-board computer called the Knights Of Purity Personal Pilot (KOPPP), which the PC's promptly threw away.
2) I'll be adapting the Coney Island Xcrawl (clown themed dungeon) to Gamma World
3) I plan to use Zoids as Gammarauders
How about a grain elevator that turns into a massive semi-sentient concrete golem, armed with an oat cannon?
C.O.N.A.G.R.A. (Cylindrical Object Noted for Automated Grain Reproduction Abilities) is just trying to "feed the world" by spraying its oat cannon at small towns, but it usually just ends up accidentally burying its unwitting victims and choking them with grain dust.
I like this idea and I want to put some more thought into an answer so...
How far out to the Platte River is the radiation/crater zone?? -
considering that it almost goes around the city I thought that it would be a clean source of water and could be damed for a reservoir.
At Hwy 80 or Hwy 6.
I'm assuming Offut Air Force Base is completely dust??
...
FBJ, please give us a sense of what you have taken from this thread and implemented (or chosen to implement) in your game. What has been helpful?
Absolutely! I haven't actually run a session since posting, but I have consumed quite a bit of it. In particular, it was great to see what "outsiders" (HA!) found as notable about Omaha!
Other Realities: When I ran Omaha through "Home Town, Gamma Terra," I ended up with the Xi tunnels concept, which became the impetus for the characters' "arrival" in Ohma (although they're unaware of this). I very much like the idea of an American Babylon, though; in fact, my initial design doc involved Omaha being an Ishtaran capital of some sort. I'll admit I really like "Ohman Empire."
Deer & Man Season: I considered the stagon (mutant six-legged whitetailed deer, from previous editions) as a common local mount, given their prevalence here (or, as I later found out, everywhere). Packs of sentient stagon hunting down humanoids is a pretty fantastic idea... lending new meaning to our abundance of "deer crossing" road signs.
Henry Doorly Zoo: Definitely going to be either a Zoopremacist or Bonapartist stronghold, but I love the idea of Jim Fowler and Peter Gros.
Gene Leahy Mall: Purestrain RV park is absolutely a must. So amazing.
Durham & Trains: I definitely want to do something with this, I'm not precisely sure what. Being such a huge part of Omaha's history, it seems almost tragic not to. There's also the UP building here, and Bailey Yard is a mere half a state away.
SAC/Offutt: Same here, not exactly clear what to do here. If bombs went off at all, for any reason, Offutt's pretty much target #1 (that is, in the USA), so it's likely a crater. If I wanted the players to do something there, it could've been some high-science weapon, either biological or "vaporize the living" types, so as to leave the creepy empty military installation vibe.
Boys Town: One of the Home Town, Gamma Terra results I got for Boys Town was a leader who rules through intimidation, so I was actually thinking a Mind Coercer child who has basically enslaved the population. He's The Boy, and this is his town, says so on the sign.
Dr. John's: I had my players write down local landmarks on cards, pass to the left, write down one of their origins, and then roll a d12 (for events in Home Town, Gamma Terra). Dr. John's was one, and resulted in "Pristine condition" (despite being in the heart of the pre-determined blast zone). Absolutely stealing the "assault by yexils" idea.
Road Hogs as Purists: Loved this idea when I first saw it in some other thread, completely yoinked.
Platte River: Totally an option. I hadn't thought much about it, except that it's the past the characters would take if they traveled west (completely an option). Flat River, naturally, since it is flat, which is exactly why it's called that.
Sport Teams: You may or may not be familiar, but we have only one team of note in this state, and if you're not a Husker you can apparently die in a fire. I already plan on the Huska Nation in the remains of Lincoln, dedicated to the gladiatorial combats of the Ancients, etc, etc. That one should be pretty fun once I build an appropriately football-themed arena fight.
Grain Elevator as Golem: Stolen. I don't see many grain elevators, really, but there's a fairly notable abandoned one near the interstate. The whole "warlord over food" idea is a solid one too. Feeds into a bunch of other wild plotlines I have in my brain right now (no pun intended... okay, it was sort of intended).
I haven't played Gamma world for about 20 years and I have been really tempted to buy theh 2010 version, that's why I came on to check things out here. After reading your question I got on Excel and created a spread sheet that produce random set of results from three charts using the Random function.
Also, I was watching this National Geographics show about beavers where they said there are now 100,000 beavers out of control in southern Argentina. It made me think of the suggestion of a dam at highway 80 or highway 6. So the more interesting of the random and tweeked results.
a) Giant Beavers clan working on their Giant Lodge on the Platte river at highway 80,
getting some extra help from the tools at the home improment store "Mead DO It Best Building Center" in Ashland.
goo.gl/maps/c9za <= The store
goo.gl/maps/5Aw6 <=The beaver dam
b) Giant Dragonflies with fencing foils.
After this result came up I did a check and I did happen to find a fencing club nearby in Lincoln.
c) I was always a fan of the rabbits with rifles from the 1st edition (hoops),
so I had go with the Giant Chipmunk(s) with laser rifle(s), perhaps protecting their stash of powercells.
d) Bipedal Cougars using hockey gear as armor and weilding hockey sticks.
Doesn't have to be an NHL team but the best one I found I'd say is the Nashville Predators:
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c0/N...
e) You probably know this but the Mahoney State park off highway 80 has the Strategic Air and Space Museum next to it, and it's mostly aircraft but they also host a robotics expo. In any case a lot of material for the Mad Max type vehicle modifications, or a fortress of some kind given the unique style of architecture.
www.sasmuseum.com/
f) Giant Pigeon with a dual brain, delusion of being decendant of carrier pigeons and of being a mailman/mailwoman, and of course wearing aviator goggles. I think this was done before but the dual brain makes it unique, no?
g) www.jamfest.com/Events/PerformanceOrders...
Someone/thing has got to be carrying on with the Wacky Jam.
I definitely think the idea of someone trying to salvage decommissioned "display piece" military vehicles such as would be found at a park or museum could result in some fun scenarios.
Kytain: Is there any chance you could upload your generator for us to steal and use in our own campaigns?
I had to reload Excel because I had to wipe my operating system hard drive, and I would want to fix it up if I were to find a place to upload it.
But I have to tell you it is a very simple chart. I looked up all of the animals native to Nebraska, added some, and trimmed the list down to 39, for 2d20,
then added a column for equipment/garbs, then another column for items to use as weapons or actual weapons, everything from a rocks to Laser Rifle.
The function in Excel is very simple...
=(randbetween 2, 40) at cell F5
=(randbetween 2, 40) at cell F6
=(randbetween 2, 40) at cell F7
=LOOKUP(F5,A2:A40,C2:C40)
=LOOKUP(F6,A2:A40,B2:B40)
=LOOKUP(F7,A2:A40,D2:D40)
Column A has to have the numbers 2 to 40 in cells A2 through A40
The other columns would be C2 through C40, B2 through B40, D2 through D40.
Encounter a... Sweat pants... wearing... Rabbit... Weilding a... Flamethrower
I think I get a lot more nonesense and useless results from my column of mundane animals, and mundane equipment, and mundane weapons, than any results worth mentioning, but since you are interested I will post the three lists here and with the formulas above you can build your own. Keep in mind there are five cells in the results, the bolded text is just text cells.
Column #2
Giant Squirrel
Giant Pigeons
Deer Centaurs
Beaver
Red Fox
Vole
Mink
Ornate Box Turtle
Leopard Frog
Bison
Couger
Lynx
Rabbit
Dog
Cat
Hamster
Guinea Pig
Parrot
Bronze Copper Butterfly
Crane Fly
Eastern Dobson Fly
DragonFly
Giant Water Bug
Salt Creek Tiger Beetle
Viceroy Butterfly
Brown Water Scorpion
Backswimmer
Damselfly Nymph
Whirligig Beetle
Whooping Crane
Piping Plover
Ring-Necked Pheasant
Cormorant
Canada Goose
Mallard
Sea gull
White Pelican
Crow
Bald Eagle
Column#3
Runners
Knee high boots
White socks
Wool Socks
Jeans
Leg warmers
Skirt
Simple Belt
Ammo Belt
Bling Belt
Leather Shoes
Leather Boots
High heel shoes
One piece swimsuit
Sweat pants
Leotards
Lingerie
Fur Coat
Parka
Jean Jacket
Rain Coat
T-shirt
Sweater
Baseball cap
Football helmet
Cargo Pants
Shorts
Scarf
Mittens
Work Gloves
Wood Shield
Metal Shield
Skis
Bicycle
Backpack
Binoculars
First aid kit
Walkie
Ipad
Column #4
Rocks
Pipe
Steak knife
Bayonet
Spear
Mace
Club
Sword
Rapier
Wood axe
Battle Axe
Pike
Javalin
Lance
Staff
Nunchuks
Crowbar
Hockey stick
Slingshot
Bola
Blow gun
Machete
Whip
Fencing Foil
Darts
Torch
Simple Bow
Composite Bow
Crossbow
Chain saw no gas
Chain saw w/gas
Pistol
Rifle
Shotgun
SMG
Grenade
Flamethrower
Laser Pistol
Laser Rifle
The table is of course not limited to 39 entries and if someone wants to expand it, or compile a list of mutations for a fifth column I would be glad to see it. Again, a lot of useless result, no one is going to want to see a butterfly weilding a chainsaw wearing lingerie, but random gets you RaNdOm.
PS. I'm finally came across this,
community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/758...
though I'm sure everyone has ready seen it.
Thank you.
You're welcome...
Since you asked for impressions yourself before...
Let me know what you think or how it goes...
Kytain - Hoops are still around, as are badders and dabbers (militant badgers and raccoons).I definitely think the idea of someone trying to salvage decommissioned "display piece" military vehicles such as would be found at a park or museum could result in some fun scenarios.
Thanks, but I imagine a fluffy white rabbit with a hunting rifle, and the contradiction of the cute but dangerous,
and the Badgers and Raccoons with weapons just isn't the same image.
As for the museum, even a horse drawn fighter aircraft rolling down the broken highway would be intimidating. 
Somebody carrying a shield with the UP RR logo on it might automatically be accorded status or rank.
Do you remember the Saturday Night Live skit where VP Cheney was sent to a bunker underneath the White House for 9/11 ... no, the next deeper one will be safer .. let's check the one downstairs ... repeat ad infinitum ... Dick Cheney walks out of a cave Somewhere in Afghanistan! Do this with Offut AFB; there's something really important down in that sub-basement and the locals just found a side entrance.
A tribe of mutants living on houseboats would be something different, if your PCs get tired of walking everywhere. Or even an old Mississippi River paddlewheel steamer (with treadmill as the train above) would work.
There is a long cord the Ancients mounted on poles, it runs from here to , you can't get lost. Except it's old and rusty and brittle and that big snowstorm last week blew down a few poles and the snow buried the cord.
I think some of us would enjoy any interesting stories
of events/adventures in your campaign,
especially if you got to use any of the ideas suggested.
How did it go?
Kytain: Is there any chance you could upload your generator for us to steal and use in our own campaigns?
I had to reload Excel because I had to wipe my operating system hard drive, and I would want to fix it up if I were to find a place to upload it.
PS. I'm finally came across this,
community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/758...
though I'm sure everyone has ready seen it.
For those who are not Excel savy, try this as a start....
Edit* looks like you will actually have to save it, as google docs does not seem to have the lookup function....
Few Examples when you save it and press F9 key...
Encounter a Mittens wearing Eastern Dobson Fly, weilding a Robot Arm and a Stock pot lid who is feeling Shy
Encounter a Sewn Motherboards wearing Bald Eagle, weilding a Pitching Machine and a Ironing Board who is feeling Tired
Encounter a Leather Boots wearing Crow, weilding a Pitching Machine and a Fridge Door who is feeling Sneaky
Encounter a Sweater wearing Piping Plover, weilding a Candelabra and a Binoculars who is feeling Unsure
As a history nerd who specializes in the Napoleonic era I noticed you guys referenced a "Bonapartist" faction. I don't own any of the Gamma World games and I'm not very familiar with the setting so I gotta ask, who are they exactly?
Sorry if this is off-topic, but it didn't seem like worth its own thread, and Google wasn't very helpful.
As a history nerd who specializes in the Napoleonic era I noticed you guys referenced a "Bonapartist" faction. I don't own any of the Gamma World games and I'm not very familiar with the setting so I gotta ask, who are they exactly?
The Bonaparts is another name for a memeber of the "Ranks of the Fit" Which is a Cryptic Alliance in GammaWorld that believes [Mutant] animals would inherit the world. Old school Bonapartists believe that all inferior races should be eliminated, where the new age would be happy just enslaving the lesser beings. They are referrenced as Bonaparts because the believed founder is a mutant bear named Napoleon the First. His successor Napoleon the Second was gung ho about the creaters beliefs and took over in a zealous way. But that is not all... The "real" creators of the Fit was Oscar North (Nort and Scar) featured on the cover of GW 3rd ed. Oscar (a mutant human zoologist) believed that animals will rule and wanted to rule them. So he fabricated a Napoleon the Frist, told his second in command (Napoleon the Second) the story and then left for some reason...
Oscar North was in fact one being split into two bodies (the mutant humans and a mutant wolverine). I think they were damaged by the Created (Robotic Cryptic Alliance) in an explosion by an old rival (who created the Created) in a attempt to convert Oscar to thier cause by hurting them and then giving them bionic enchancements. This did not work... O(scar) (Nort)h vowed vengence.
I think this was outlined in GW9 module...