"Rapture" : Custom Campaign (Setting?) - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

"Rapture" : Custom Campaign (Setting?)

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
fraterblp
Apr 16, 2010 16:08:15 Forgive me if any of this has been covered in previous threads. I've new to both the forums and d20 modern in general, so please...be merciful :P

Anyway, after a friend of mine gave me his d20 Modern manuals (including supplements like Apocalypse and whatnot), I've been seriously considering translating one of my own stories into its own campaign as set up by the Apocalypse handbook.

To very briefly summarize the plot, a freak astronomical aberration occurs and, shortly after, roughly 2/3rds of the global population fall into a coma-like state. An undisclosed amount of time passes (meaning, the time can be adjusted for each gaming session) before the comatose "wake up," but are essentially gaunt, zombie-like abominations that attack any survivor indiscriminately. In a seemingly unrelated turn of events, the survivors begin to manifest powers that either wholly break or completely rewrite the previous laws of physics: superpowers (cheesy, I know, but go with it). The powers manifest at random with one person gaining the ability to manipulate wind currents while others gain the ability to detect the presence of other powers in people (power-tracking), the ability to phase through solid objects, etc.. However, not all survivors get "powers," some get mutations that function similarly to powers but also have quite a bit of draw-back (some people become grotesque but super-strong while others just grow tumors that must be painfully removed each day). Point is, some powers/mutations are beneficial while others are seemingly useless or even painful.

Now, for a RPG setting, useless powers would probably be kept solely in the realm of NPCs for story purposes (driving home the themes of nihilism, randomness, and insanity). My biggest issue comes from attempting to mesh the Apocalyptic rules present in the eponymous supplement as well as the Core rules with the Power system I want to incorporate.

I like the idea of the Classes present in d20 Modern, but I don't think I want to use the Advanced Classes. Instead of those classes, I want to (somehow?) replace them with "Powers" which can be leveled up like classes. However, I don't want the powers/classes to be viewed as restrictive, but pretty much give a list of similarly themed powers that progress with level--sort of like the basic classes' "talents" but even less restrictive in that anyone can potentially have any power they wish. Mutated characters in this setting would progress parallel to Power-based characters, they're just flavored a bit differently.

My question is, how do you think the most efficient way of adding in rules for "powers" as classes would be? Remember, I want to pretty much remove the advanced and prestige classes from this setting, so the powers would (1) have to be balanced with each other and (2) be balanced with the monsters like the advanced and prestige classes have been. I'm interested in any and all opinions and advice. Thanks!

Note, I realize that the setting sounds like an awkward fusion of the Bible, Heroes, and Clive Barker's "The Plague" (though, Barker had little to do with the plot and movie). It actually has a coherent, unique plot, but it's actually really difficult to describe without spoiling too much of it. Not that I'm that arrogant and actually care about spoiling a story that there's a 99.9% chance of never being published, but ya know.
#2
TheRealOrion
Apr 17, 2010 2:56:30 Boy-howdy, have you come to the right place. Step into my office, son, I got somethin' for ya.

orion.shawwebspace.ca/asset/view/28905/p...

That's the first draft of my d20M-compatible superhero system. It's not proofread yet, so you might find typos and misspellings and things, but it's basically done, sample NPCs and everything. It's also 100% free and always will be.

With my compliments.
#3
rustam1
Apr 17, 2010 10:59:04

Boy-howdy, have you come to the right place. Step into my office, son, I got somethin' for ya.
orion.shawwebspace.ca/asset/view/28905/p...
That's the first draft of my d20M-compatible superhero system. It's not proofread yet, so you might find typos and misspellings and things, but it's basically done, sample NPCs and everything. It's also 100% free and always will be.

With my compliments.

Cool! Phoenix v10 early release?

#4
TheRealOrion
Apr 17, 2010 13:11:26 It's a draft, yeah. I absolutely, positively needs proofing and adjusting, but it's basically done.
#5
fraterblp
Apr 22, 2010 13:24:36 So, apparently I didn't actually reply to this thread whenever I looked at the Phoenix/Superhero System provided. Speaking of, holy crap, Batman! How much time and effort did it take you to write all that, Orion? It's really interesting, and I really like the Power system you've set up. I may tweak it ever-so-slightly, but that's only to capture more of the flavor of my campaign setting, not because there's anything "wrong" with your system.

As far as proof-reading goes, I haven't seen any glaring spelling or grammatical errors quite yet, but my reading has been cursory at best. If I notice anything, I'll give you a heads up. Also, kudos with the loosely-professional style, for a lack of a better way of stating that. I've loled quite a bit at the way you've worded some of the rules. It's been entertaining and enlightening, so thanks a lot for the help.

I'll update the thread if I have any other questions or comments. Thanks again for the help.
#6
TheRealOrion
Apr 22, 2010 14:04:26 The game has passed through several sets of hands, so I didn't write it all myself, but I'd say that I have edited, proofed, and rewriten that entire volume. People were involved who got called away for various reasons, and I was the last man standing. I've been on the project for about six years, noodling away at it in my "spare" time.

Thanks for the kinds words about the writing, too. I wanted it to be very crisp in terms of grammar and readability so that the moments of humour wouldn't interfere with understanding the rules. Bad writing bothers me on a spiritual level anyway, but bad writing in RPGs just leads to ambiguous rules. I'm very happy to hear that it worked.

Please feel free to post questions, but if you're really interested, you can join the Yahoo group that's mentioned in the Introduction or you can go to <modernd20unlimited.freeforums.org/index....> where I have a whole area set out for me. If you're going to post any actual chunks of rules, I'd prefer you did it a Md20U, actually, because of the copyright issues.

Really glad to hear you like the game. That's my reward for all my work.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 fraterblp Apr 16, 2010 16:08:15	Forgive me if any of this has been covered in previous threads. I've new to both the forums and d20 modern in general, so please...be merciful :P Anyway, after a friend of mine gave me his d20 Modern manuals (including supplements like Apocalypse and whatnot), I've been seriously considering translating one of my own stories into its own campaign as set up by the Apocalypse handbook. To very briefly summarize the plot, a freak astronomical aberration occurs and, shortly after, roughly 2/3rds of the global population fall into a coma-like state. An undisclosed amount of time passes (meaning, the time can be adjusted for each gaming session) before the comatose "wake up," but are essentially gaunt, zombie-like abominations that attack any survivor indiscriminately. In a seemingly unrelated turn of events, the survivors begin to manifest powers that either wholly break or completely rewrite the previous laws of physics: superpowers (cheesy, I know, but go with it). The powers manifest at random with one person gaining the ability to manipulate wind currents while others gain the ability to detect the presence of other powers in people (power-tracking), the ability to phase through solid objects, etc.. However, not all survivors get "powers," some get mutations that function similarly to powers but also have quite a bit of draw-back (some people become grotesque but super-strong while others just grow tumors that must be painfully removed each day). Point is, some powers/mutations are beneficial while others are seemingly useless or even painful. Now, for a RPG setting, useless powers would probably be kept solely in the realm of NPCs for story purposes (driving home the themes of nihilism, randomness, and insanity). My biggest issue comes from attempting to mesh the Apocalyptic rules present in the eponymous supplement as well as the Core rules with the Power system I want to incorporate. I like the idea of the Classes present in d20 Modern, but I don't think I want to use the Advanced Classes. Instead of those classes, I want to (somehow?) replace them with "Powers" which can be leveled up like classes. However, I don't want the powers/classes to be viewed as restrictive, but pretty much give a list of similarly themed powers that progress with level--sort of like the basic classes' "talents" but even less restrictive in that anyone can potentially have any power they wish. Mutated characters in this setting would progress parallel to Power-based characters, they're just flavored a bit differently. My question is, how do you think the most efficient way of adding in rules for "powers" as classes would be? Remember, I want to pretty much remove the advanced and prestige classes from this setting, so the powers would (1) have to be balanced with each other and (2) be balanced with the monsters like the advanced and prestige classes have been. I'm interested in any and all opinions and advice. Thanks! Note, I realize that the setting sounds like an awkward fusion of the Bible, Heroes, and Clive Barker's "The Plague" (though, Barker had little to do with the plot and movie). It actually has a coherent, unique plot, but it's actually really difficult to describe without spoiling too much of it. Not that I'm that arrogant and actually care about spoiling a story that there's a 99.9% chance of never being published, but ya know.
#2 TheRealOrion Apr 17, 2010 2:56:30	Boy-howdy, have you come to the right place. Step into my office, son, I got somethin' for ya. orion.shawwebspace.ca/asset/view/28905/p... That's the first draft of my d20M-compatible superhero system. It's not proofread yet, so you might find typos and misspellings and things, but it's basically done, sample NPCs and everything. It's also 100% free and always will be. With my compliments.
#3 rustam1 Apr 17, 2010 10:59:04	Boy-howdy, have you come to the right place. Step into my office, son, I got somethin' for ya. orion.shawwebspace.ca/asset/view/28905/p... That's the first draft of my d20M-compatible superhero system. It's not proofread yet, so you might find typos and misspellings and things, but it's basically done, sample NPCs and everything. It's also 100% free and always will be. With my compliments. Cool! Phoenix v10 early release?
#4 TheRealOrion Apr 17, 2010 13:11:26	It's a draft, yeah. I absolutely, positively needs proofing and adjusting, but it's basically done.
#5 fraterblp Apr 22, 2010 13:24:36	So, apparently I didn't actually reply to this thread whenever I looked at the Phoenix/Superhero System provided. Speaking of, holy crap, Batman! How much time and effort did it take you to write all that, Orion? It's really interesting, and I really like the Power system you've set up. I may tweak it ever-so-slightly, but that's only to capture more of the flavor of my campaign setting, not because there's anything "wrong" with your system. As far as proof-reading goes, I haven't seen any glaring spelling or grammatical errors quite yet, but my reading has been cursory at best. If I notice anything, I'll give you a heads up. Also, kudos with the loosely-professional style, for a lack of a better way of stating that. I've loled quite a bit at the way you've worded some of the rules. It's been entertaining and enlightening, so thanks a lot for the help. I'll update the thread if I have any other questions or comments. Thanks again for the help.
#6 TheRealOrion Apr 22, 2010 14:04:26	The game has passed through several sets of hands, so I didn't write it all myself, but I'd say that I have edited, proofed, and rewriten that entire volume. People were involved who got called away for various reasons, and I was the last man standing. I've been on the project for about six years, noodling away at it in my "spare" time. Thanks for the kinds words about the writing, too. I wanted it to be very crisp in terms of grammar and readability so that the moments of humour wouldn't interfere with understanding the rules. Bad writing bothers me on a spiritual level anyway, but bad writing in RPGs just leads to ambiguous rules. I'm very happy to hear that it worked. Please feel free to post questions, but if you're really interested, you can join the Yahoo group that's mentioned in the Introduction or you can go to <modernd20unlimited.freeforums.org/index....> where I have a whole area set out for me. If you're going to post any actual chunks of rules, I'd prefer you did it a Md20U, actually, because of the copyright issues. Really glad to hear you like the game. That's my reward for all my work.