Okay so the new campaign I am writing up for my players involves a crisis while another crisis is happening in the background.
Note: This campaign is setup in an alternate world, so places and locations are all unique.
Okay! The players have won a type of lottery (hooray!) and are being sent on a cruise ship for a rather long cruise, maybe 30 days or something. Its a luxury cruise ship, the ones you see on the ads on TV, swimming pools, huge, hundreds of passengers ect.
Now the players actually don't know each other at this stage, but they are each going alone, for some R&R from their modern day lives.
Basics
The luxury cruise ship has around thirty or so passengers that are not who they seem. They are actually terrorists who are armed to the teeth.
Since the boat is huge, and has many passengers and crew, they intend to silently replace the captain and higher-ups of the ship with their own men (using advanced plastics to make fool proof masks.
Their goal is to successfully take hostage a VIP on the boat (who is actually a president of a country in this world) and ransom his government for a lot of money. They plan to strap the boat with explosives incase the government trys anything stupid or the plan goes horribly wrong.
While knowledge of this VIP being onboard was kept to government officials and the captain, he does however have an assortment of bodyguards that he brought with him.
They plan to disable all of the communications gear onboard the ship and blame it on an electronics fault. This leaves the terrorists with the only working communications device to contact the government and make their demands.
Now the terrorists are going to try and do all of this under the radar. If they can take the VIP hostage silently, and without any other passengers knowing then they will try. But if knowledge of their presence is found by the passengers, they will violently round them all up and lock them in the larger rooms with a constant guard.
Shortly after all communications have been severed, and before the terrorists get their plan into motion, a crisis has happened back home. A virus has been unleashed, and people are dying, only to become back alive (brainzzzzz)
Since the only communication that the terrorists have is being used to talk to the government and state their demands, they are clueless as the rest of the boat, to the happenings with the virus (they obviously do not channel surf and listen to the news, as they are very professional about their job).
Now the PCs are going to become secluded from the other passengers and fight for their lives. They will find out that the VIP is being help hostage, and that the boat is strapped with explosives. Up to them how and what they will do but basically they will either try and save the VIP, save the hostages or eliminate the terrorists. Just think of Bruce Willis from Die hard 2, that’s what I believe the PCs will be like, a thorn in their behind.
Anyways after they do what they can, they will eventually arrive back home to find the zombie virus has almost inhabited the whole world. And the actual campaign will commence.
Now I ask does anyone have any resources or can help with specifics of a huge luxury cruise ship? Like any layouts I can use, maps, information detailing whether it is common knowledge for them to carry a small armory, and trained security guards ect. Anything that will help me write up this starting story?
And does anyone think that the above will not work? Any ideas or constructive criticism that I could incorporate into the starting story?
Although the whole game is going to be set in the apocalypse world, I am mainly looking for information and help relating to the starting story.
All constructive comments and criticism welcome.
Or if its too much for people to read, just say so and I'll cut it down.
Unfortunately, I don't have any information about these ships. They should have large amounts of food if necessary, but I don't know about weapons. I'd imagine they'd have guards, especially if terrorist crises are likely to happen.
I suspect if anything the armed guards will only be at strategic points in the boat, like engine room, bridge ect, I haven't tried to google any of it yet though.
What PL/year are we talking by the way?
and
http://www.ssmaritime.com/olympia3.htm
Back in 1986, an outfit called Task Force Games put out a module for its now long out of print military RPG Delta Force: America Strikes Back! called Terror at Sea It's a scenario based on the 1985 hijacking of the Italian cruise liner Achille Lauro. This scenario contains several of the elements you mention in your first post, as well as detailed deckplans of the ship. I'd scan them and send them to you, but the maps included with this module are a bit cumbersome for my scanner. I picked up my copy for two bucks at my University's Gaming convention three years ago.
Heck, I ended up using this module as a source in a paper I wrote for one of my classes later that semester.
do zombies float?
@ Melichor - Oo thanks, that gives me a broad view excellent.
@ Jonathanchance - $2? I'll be sure to take a look at that ;)
@akodo - I plan to make it almost a ghost city. They land, they see a bit of destruction, flames cars on fire ect, but other than that it looks like no one is home. A handful of passengers will get off with the players, as the boat leaves to head to the next port. As they wander into the city, people will go their separate ways as they are worried about their loved ones. Mobile phones will not work (as there was no reception out in international waters) and things will look very very wrong.
I guess I should explain the differences with my zombies, they aren't as mindless at your more cliche zombies. These ones are fast, aggressive and due to the mutation of the virus, will gain a slight intelligence a bit later on. They are however a bit shy of light. For that reason during the day they prefer to stay in relatively dark areas and simply wait for their prey should it walk past, or make its presence known (gunshots, load noises ect) When I say shy of light, they are perfectly capable of rampaging during the day time, but they will only do so when they have evidence of prey. During the nightime is when they are most active, coming out of their dark areas and roaming the streets in search of more prey. They do have a basic concept of working together, springing ambushes and the like, but that is partially due to their hiding during the day.
Oh, and these zombies can swim
I expect the players to scrounge off in the city till it gets too hostile for them, and they work out what is going on. By that time the military will be deployed (from a foreign country) who will setup a perimeter and bases of operation around the city. They do not wish to simply bomb the city, as tests that they have conducted have proved that is not very effective against these threats. They are merely there to stop the initial infection from spreading more and deploy vast light machines to keep the zombies from constantly attacking and leaving the city.
I expect the players to scrounge off in the city till it gets too hostile for them, and they work out what is going on.
Right, but what are your contigency plans if the players choose to take obvious choice B or C. Choice B is to let off as many from the boat that want off (strong encouragement, to tossing survivors overboard depending on how evil the group is) and then living on their floating city, going from port to port to resupply. Choice C is to head for some small islands in the middle of nowhere (hawaii is quite isolated, if traffic is stopped quick enough that would be where I would want to be if there was any outbreak, same with Iceland, Falkland Islands, etc ....easter island or Galapoagos or some other extremely isolated if you fear hawaii has been overrun, etc etc, then using the ship to shuttle supplies in becomes important too, as does attempting to rescue more people hopefully with a good skillset, like doctors and builders and farmers)
And what would their motive be to stay on the ship?
As far as the players are concerned they are stepping back onto their home shore, and there has been a riot or something, because they do not know anything about the zombie virus. The boat will be long gone before they see any defenant (spelling?) proof of the virus, should they decide to look for that as a haven.
I do see where your coming from though. I should of posted the original post to your question, but I deleted it and re-wrote it because it didn't sound right. Before the boat leaves, some infected are going to make it onboard the ship and make it a floating ghost ship within a few days, as it makes its way to the second destination for the other passengers.
Gotta remember these passengers that are getting off in the first city (including the players), thats where they boarded the ship for their holiday (and most likely where they live). They are merely getting off and besides their terrible ordeal, are looking to continue with their lives, get counciling, go back to work ect.
They are totally oblivious to the happenings that has been going on while they were gone (the total reason why I created the cut off communication) so they would be walking into a 'already established apocalypse' when they thought they were going back to everyday life.
I guess you could say the players might think they are some kind of heroes, and expecting some media coverage too (thats depending on their performance obviously)
I do have some defenants (spelling again) though. My players have decided on so far to play:
A police officer, having a break from fighting crime (as I said its a very banged up dangerous city, seen some nasty stuff, needs to get away)
A mortician (prepares bodys ready for burial ect) same thing, over worked from understaffing and the many gang war bodies from murders ect
A lawyer, just getting out of a bad marriage, wanted to get away from the world and hopefully some peace.
A scientist (not confirmed whether he's starting with the group, or joining later, as he is not sure on his study arrangements yet)
Its just lucky they win this cruise ship, because they are all looking at getting away and this springs into their lap.
Btw thanks for the replies so far guys, helps me work things out and actually write them up, so I can see if it makes sense, instead of it all jumbled around in my head.
Can anyone see if I'm missing any big particulars, that I either haven't explained yet or totally overlooked?
Or even offer some tips?
@ akoda - There is still going to be crew left over from after the whole thing, otherwise I doubt they are going to be able to drive a big cruise ship themselves (otherwise it will be colourful trying to see them get back home ). So after the whole ordeal with the terrorists, they are still going to have to relinquish control of the boat to get back home.
And what would their motive be to stay on the ship?
I just think you should be prepared for the unexpected.
Now, I am not really clear, are you saying that infected people are on the boat at the same time as the hijackers? Or that after the hijackers are defeated, boat goes to port, and infected sneak on?
Either way, thinking as a player, here are my initial thoughts
-who says you have to reliquish control to the crew. Most crew are going to be quite happy you saved their butts, it would be very easy to roll from hero to 'new captain'
-The characters can learn, or recruit surviving passengers to learn
after fighting off the terrorists and returning to port, I'd expect immediate contact with the authorites, not just get off the ship and go home. Having no conact coming into the harbor, seeing no other ship traffic, and no being immedately met at the docks by some form of officials (even just the harbor master who wants to know WTF are you doing showing up here and not responding to radio transmissions?
Unless I was playing someone with extremely low intelligence, a criminal attempting to avoid detection, or some sort of crazy person, this would immediately set off alarms. I would encourage the group to send out some people to see what is up, but I would also make arrangements for the ship to not leave.
Now, on a totalyl different note. You throw me into a zombie game, and like in all the movies, the main desire is #1 get somewhere safe and fortifiable, be that a local mall an indestuctable zombie fighting truck or whatever. A cruise ship would be IDEAL, and not just for zombies, for anything, be it playing a criminal group with a headquarters need, a research group funded by NGOs, a group of superheroes, or just average joes being vigiliantees, the big fancy boat headquarters is second only to the 'big hidden underground complex' in both utility and freqnency of encounter in literature.
That's why I think it is very likely the players will end up back on the ship
I think of it as a perfect safe haven too, thats primarily why I want to eliminate it. I'm trying to get them to take cover, in the several or so fortified 'safe zones' in the city. Because thats where the fluff of the campaign is (or begins at least)
If you can offer some tips how I can achieve that, while still getting them into the city I'd gladly accept them. Otherwise I may have to re-think the re-entry into the city.
Maybe I can have the engines and electronics fail at the last moment on the boat (some long timer bombs that were planted as a double fail safe by the hijackers?) and have the boat drift and crash deeply into the habour and get stuck, or take in water and slowly sink.
I'm not sure, but I obviously need to 'force' them into that city, you've pointed light on that. While I don't want to plan their steps for them and direct them by the nose, its vital they get into that city, and stay there for a while.
Any thoughts?
heck, make em roll for it, bad roll means a real bad bangup and the ship starts going down. Good roll means the ship is damaged and taking on water, but the pumps are more than able to keep up with it...and then if the PCs return in a day or so, have some note pinned to the pier, "pump 3 failed, falling slightly behind on pumping, but the ship should stay afloat for 12 hours easy, plenty of time to scrounge up new parts" and then of course the PCs see the ship totally submerged.
If they come by later than a day or two, just say there is no sign of the ship
Another option would be to have the ship running on fumes, of course this does allow for the option of taking it back out about 1 mile, and using a rowboat/motorboat/sailboat to head to the city and then retreat back to the floating fortress of shufleboard. But it also means your players might spend a lot of time looking for large quantities of diesel fuel. You can decide if that is a total waste or a good hook, and if you want them to get the ship powered again.
I will probably need more questions answered about the ship in the future, but till then thanks for all the fish!
I like your idea! Crisis within crisis! I'm wondering if the adventure wouldn't be more interesting if everyone found out about the zombie plague while still on the ship. News could come in sporadically and piecemeal. Perhaps not all communications lines have been cut, or someone's cell phone still works, or a terrorist does get unprofessional and channel surf.
You have several potentially competing groups aboard the ship: the players, the passengers, the crew, the VIP and entourage, and the terrorists. How will they react to the partial info that the world has ended as they know it? Will they believe it? Will the terrorists change plans as a result? Will they think it is a trick? Maybe the VIP knows something about it, and isn't saying? Will they all cooperate with each other once they realize the world is ending and turn the boat into an Ark II? Will a overly-religious passenger or terrorist delude themselves into thinking they were put there to turn the ship into an Ark? Are the Terrorists or VIP somehow linked to the plague?
It seems like you could have a lot of fun playing out the terrorist drama while everyone reacts to what is going on in the outside world.
You could also just let them know that something is wrong, while not givin' enough details - so they don't know its Zeds.
@ Oakleys - I see some colour in your ideas. I guess it would be interesting to hear little bits and pieces and think 'what the hell is going on back at home' but unfortunally like I said above, they already know the zombies are coming to town. And as much as my players are great fun, I do beleive their characters will 'somehow' work out what that is as the smallest hint (ie real knowledge = player knowledge half the time)
Any ideas how I could get around that?
Even though the players may know it is a 'zombie' game, the NPC's on the ship will not, and how they react to the piecemeal newscasts can still be entertaining and challenging for the players. The terrorists will think it is a ruse to get them off the ship, etc.
Also, you haven't told them what type of zombies they'll be facing, so you still have a lot of room to modify the zombies into something they aren't expecting. You've already hinted that you're going to make the zombies faster and smarter than the usual set. Maybe all the zombies are really just slaves to a huge borg-like overmind...what one knows, they all know...
Finally, as Hinthas suggests, nobody says the piecemeal news broadcasts have to be accurate, and it the world is going to heck in a handbasket, chances are they'll be a lot of conflicting and confusing information to throw the players off.
Not a lot of people know it, but cruise ships have armed response teams onboard at all times. On my ship it was about 35 Israeli Gurkhas packing MP5SD6 That could make for some interesting encounters if you went with the "smart" zombie approach.
Another thing is that once you get below the passenger decks you reach crew decks, there are usually about 4. These decks can be sealed off every 60 ft or so to be water proof. These are opened manually at each door, or have master override switches on the bridge.
Another thing about crew decks is that unless you have lived there for a few weeks, it is almost impossible to find your way around in a hury. nothing is labeled well. You need crew to really find your way around.
Hope that offers some inspiration. If you have any questions just ask here or PM me.
Peace
By Israeli, do you mean the Israeli Army or native Israelis?
Edit: I don't think every cruise ship has armed response teams, but I understand why Isreali (and perhaps some US) have 'em, considering the threat of 'terrorists'/'freedomfighters'/whatever... I seriously doubt we have any here in DK - perhaps one armed (sidearm) guard max.
Daggerspell - Really? Now thats interesting, thanks heaps, that will help with the VIP trying to be taken hostage ect, because I dont want him to have -too- many bodyguards. But I'm sure he would be willing to come aboard the ship with a compramise being that the ships armed guards could partake in his defense if the need arrised. Well at this stage I have only made one sub level, I guess I'll have to make a few more ;)
Curious though, you say four more levels, does that include the engine rooms ect? Like are they built into the same levels as the crew quarters and stuff, or do they again have their own level or two?
Tema - Yeah I can see where your coming from too, I doubt every cruise ship in this day and age would have armed guards, except it does work perfectly in the world my game is taking place in. Very plausible for them to have armed guards, I originally did include a security room but was not sure what to include in it (whether it just be a few security guards that stop the rowdy drunks ect)
Daggerspell - Actually buddy, are you able to help with that too? Where is the security station or what ever you would want to call it positioned on the ship? Near the bridge? Or downstairs out of the way? Or neither :P ?
Deck A is where many of the offices are. This is really the only navigatable section of the underbelly. There is a straight corridor leading the whole length of the ship. This is also the level where you will find the security center. In it is 2 rooms. the front room is just an office. The 2nd room is where all the good stuff is (security monitors, 2 or 3 watchmen, guns, internal emergency coms, and the like). There is also a crew mess and officers club on A. The last thing on this deck is store rooms for food, medicine, housekeeping etc.
Deck B is the upper crew deck. About 1/4 of these rooms are set aside for the higher ups like officers, the cruise director, the dance company on board as they are independant usually get one of these rooms. The club musicians, DJ and others may or may not get one of them as well. Depends on if there is room. These are 2 people to the room, and about 150 sq. ft. per room, each with a private bathroom. The rest of the rooms on B and all of C are 4 people to the room, and are occupied by housekeeping, engineers, casino staff, bartenders, etc. They are around 250 - 300 sq. ft. and "cozy" doesn't even begin to describe it.
D is the engine room. Dangerous. Very Dangerous. Moving parts everywhere, holes to fall down into, stuff that will knock you out and then kill you. You don't hear about it, but almost 150 engineers are killed anually on cruise ships. There are ladders everywhere to get up on stuff, and small "catwalks" to get around. Also, and this is a very little known fact, if there is a bad enough fire in the engine room they will seal it off and steam drench it. Anybody who is inside when this happens dies. It happens about once a year.
So yeah. There is the grand tour of the underbelly
How about the theater?
Seats about 900 people, double tiered, big stage with a full fly setup. Off to either wing there are crew areas where pianos get loaded on, props are stored, and some lighting is controlled (usually to the house)
The Booth is in the back of the theater and is accesable only by keycard, which only the sound techs have. From here you can communicate with anybody as you see fit. You can talk to people on stage, just the sound/ light guys, the band, the bridge, or the audience, in any combination you see fit.
Hope that helps you out some. Any other questions feel free to ask.
peace
Hmmm, the engine room, what about if it runs on old boilers? I persume the new cruise ships don't? Any experience with that? What it looks like ect, just big massive barrels with steaming water? I really don't know :P
Modern cruise engines look like car engines just much bigger. They are diesel powered engines. The fuel supplies are isolated so that if there is a fire the explosion will be minimal, just enough to be felt on the ship.
The stabilizing pods on the bottom are about the size of an SUV and are where the real problems are. if even one out of the six goes the ship can rock as much as 20 degrees. If they go it is because of an internal fire.
PS. The best way to sneak gear onto a ship is through the loading bay with day to day supplies like food.
Hmm, whats the usual ratio of passengers to crew? Say the ship can hold 1500 passengers, how many crew should be appointed to look after those?
Stabilizing pods you say, so if they (terrorists) wanted to sink the ship, they could either blow a hole in the bottom of the ship and sink it, or destroy these stabilizing pods so the ship capsizes?
Anything else you could add that I should know to enrich the environment of the cruise ship for my plays? I personally have never been on a cruise ship before.
Another thing that worked well for me...
After the Thieves disabled the communications (the guy failed his skill check, so he just shot the hell out of the console) a group of pirates who had been waiting off in the clouds attacked and added a brilliant complication to everything. Throwing multiple ships into the mix can be a lot of fun.