Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 camnusumbra Sep 15, 2008 21:53:27	okay, so i don't have this hammered out, nor do i know that it will work, so i want to get some feedback. anyway, the idea is that i play characters through several urban arcana campaigns until all of them have attained an advanced class. now, here's the tricky part. i want the last game in the campaign to end in the group accidentally bringing about the apocalypse. now, what i need to know, is would it be possible to carry over characters from this campaign into a d20 apocalypse campaign. and that's all i've got. the most vague of vague outlines. obviously i'm kind of new at the whole DM business, but what do you think? could it work or would it be easier just to make whole new characters for the apocalypse campaign?
#2 camnusumbra Sep 15, 2008 23:43:58	or you can all just look at my thread and say nothing. thats helpful too
#3 tema69 Sep 16, 2008 4:56:02	I think it's a good idea. Makes the PCs feel guilty too. :evil What kind of apoc are you thinking of?
#4 greywulf9 Sep 16, 2008 6:43:22	Mechanically, it shouldn't be all that difficult to convert from an Urban Arcana to an Apoc campaign, as long as you don't mind bringing the Urban Arcana elements (fantasy races, magic, etc) over into Apoc. The biggest mechanical stumbling block would probably be going from a Wealth Bonus to Trade Unit economy. That said, I have one major concern with the idea... Some (many) players object to the idea of "railroading" - that is the idea that the game will go in one direction regardless of their actions - and this idea, interesting as it soudns, certainly seems to be that. "We" are going to play long enough to get to 4th level and then, no matter what "we" choose to do, the world will end... worse, the world will end by our hand whether we like it or not... My players would get up and leave and start talking about which one of them will run next campaign. Roleplaying is a cooperative game... everyone should have a say in what happens. If you really want to run a end-of-the-world game, where you start in modern (or modern fantasy) and then go through the end of the world, then I suggest telling your players that from the start, don't make them cause the end of the world but make the end of the world the theme of the game.
#5 tema69 Sep 16, 2008 7:07:07	Or you could have the PCs feel/believe that they have a chance of rescuing the world. But I wouldn't mind railroading, as long as I believe I have a chance.
#6 DwarfFighter Sep 16, 2008 11:48:56	It would probably work better if you managed to put them in a position where they would need to chose between two evils; damned if they do and damned if they don't. Players are very likely to select the option that decicively solves an immediate problem, even if that option spells out some serious trouble down the road. One way is to put them in a position where they can only save the day by becoming the villains: The only way to stop the Evil Scientist from releasing the Zombie Virus on the general population is to infect themselves with the virus first do gain an edge in the coming combat. The PCs don't have to do anything to bring about the destruction of the world. Sometimes doing nothing is the wrong choice too. The President has been possessed by an alien entity. The PCs can do nothing and watch as he plunges the world into war, or they can try to stop him and be labeled terrorists and traitors. Oh, and there is still war if they manage to stop him. And sometimes things are just out of the PCs hands and they can only choose how things will end. With only hours left before the giant asteroid hits, a band of crazed fanatics break into the control room and launch the one missile built to save the Earth. As the PCs rush to stop them, they lauch the missile, selecting the Earth itself as the target. The PCs can try to stop the missile, but either way the Earth is doomed! -DF
#7 tema69 Sep 16, 2008 15:31:22	DwarfFighter is right, go with the 'lesser evil' route.
#8 camnusumbra Sep 16, 2008 16:05:13	first of all, i was thinking biological apocalypse, like a plague. dunno yet... kind of still running it through in my mind. and i guess that i'll go with the lesser evil thing... though it'll take some doing. i just think the guilt thing might make the game more interesting.
#9 AnimeSniper Sep 16, 2008 16:24:46	i was thinking biological apocalypse, like a plague. dunno yet... Biological you say... are we talking virus, bacterium, alien organism/symbiote, perhaps manmade zombie outbreak, ancient pathogen that is unleashed... let me know what you decide on and maybe I can help. Alien organism/symbiote could be interesting? Infection rate is higher spreading out from a crash site/Area 47 and a few infected don't become the murderous killing machines with rudimentary intelligience that protect the area of the outbreak. Those who don't succumb, maybe Fort to survive, gain some ability unique to their class?
#10 doomsought Sep 16, 2008 17:31:12	go for the resident evil apocalypse. Psionics are cannon and I wrote up a prestige class for T-virus infected.
#11 DwarfFighter Sep 16, 2008 18:02:47	Since the plague is merely a means to the end (heh!) and not really the story itself, you can probably get away with downplaying the actual mechanics of the disease. People just suddenly get sick and quickly die. No further explanation needed. Since the idea is for the PCs to make asses out of themselves it is best if they are given the opportunity to get involved in searching for a cure. A few run-ins with some cultists should serve to discredit them in the eyes of the authorities, an important factor since you want to put the PCs in the position where they believe they are capable of saving the day but nobody wants to listen to them! You should make sure to introduce to the PCs at an early stage the "desparate measure". Perhaps it's a counter-virus that kills off the infected before they have time to spread the disease, or something else that is terribly risky. Something that the players will label as "crazy-talk" while they still believe that there is a cure to be found. The players should initially dismiss the idea. You can have a bit of a race between the PCs and the authorities. As the PCs are getting closer to finding a cure, so are the authorities. Once the PCs are convinced they have it, you can announce that the authorities last ditch attempt was a collossal failure. Then the smug PCs can try out their solution. I am sure they will be surprised when it fails. As the players wrack their brains trying to figure out what clue they might have missed, they should recall the "desparate measure". Once that has resurfaced the PCs only really have two options: Do nothing and fail, or do the desparate thing and risk greater failure. As long as that decision is left to the PCs to make, you win. -DF
#12 nivlac_calvin Sep 25, 2008 5:34:14	If you're going to go apocolypse I would reccomend biological(so theres not much you can do after it happens) and it would turn people into zombies.
#13 nix4 Sep 25, 2008 9:51:31	Wouldn't it just be nice to have them defeat a villan...then have him return to bring about the apoc? Some mad scientist...maybe involved in a Hadron Collider project in France? Oh wait...never mind..probably too early huh?
#14 tema69 Sep 25, 2008 10:39:46	Technically in Switzerland, but because it's so big, it is partially on (actually in) French soil.
#15 nix4 Sep 25, 2008 10:51:53	“Tecnically” is spelled Technically, since we are diverging from the topic and being **** retentive…:P
#16 tema69 Sep 25, 2008 13:15:19	Picky, are we?
#17 doomsought Sep 25, 2008 13:48:09	play a few games involving the umbrella cooperation before you pull the apocalyptic plug, maybe some immoral human experimentation (involving psions) and then some cadavers start disappearing. Let out the news casts in Resident evil 2.
#18 trappedslider Sep 25, 2008 13:49:05	Wouldn't it just be nice to have them defeat a villan...then have him return to bring about the apoc? Some mad scientist...maybe involved in a Hadron Collider project in France? Oh wait...never mind..probably too early huh? Gordon Freeman spotted at the large hadron collider; humanity's enslavement imminent *pets his pet headcrab* and so it beings...
#19 tema69 Sep 25, 2008 14:44:22	G-man is there too: http://www.pbnation.com/showthread.php?t=2832325 (second picture). Damn! I wish I still had my crowbar - damn cops. *shakes fist*