End of Days (Semi-Apocolyptic Super Hero Module)
Posted: Sat Apr 16, 2011 6:19 am
The module is still in it's very very early stages of development and I doubt I'll have anything playable until fall but a few people on IRC requested I make a thread to give an overview of the module concept.
I haven't decided yet when I'm going to set the module but I have come up with a few key concepts.
The Pulse
Violent solar activity creates a geomagnetic storm that wipes out much of the power grid across the globe. Many national governments impose martial law in an effort to keep society from breaking down as their citizens go days without electricity.
Mutation
Days after the Pulse latent genetic material in approximately 1% of people begins to awaken in strange and frightening ways. People turn to their governments for help and answers as friends, neighbors, and relatives undergo dramatic changes in physiology and even appearance. Normal people begin manifesting 'super-human' abilities like flying, super human strength, telepathic abilities, and so on. For others the change is painful or even fatal, their bodies twisted and ravaged as their own genetic code attempts to rewrite itself.
Fearing disease or worse the UN attempts to contain the 'outbreak' and urges national governments to gather up and quarantine those affected.
Collapse
Most of those able to resist quarantine attempts and most governments lose control of their populations as panic sweeps across the globe. Society begins to collapse and those who survived the initial mutation begin to leverage their new abilities for good or ill.
Mutants and Specials
Only 10% of those effected by the Pulse manage to survive the mutation. Of those 10% only 1% manages to remain human in appearance. Those who's physical features changed come to be known as Mutants and generally feared by the surviving population (even being seen as of the Devil by some) and the rest as Specials (conversely Angels sent to protect man kind in the end days). The old power structures fall apart and those with super human abilities begin to form tribes to protect or take advantage of what world around them remains.
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Some general design philosophies and stuff I'd like to include.
Superheros should feel like superheros
I want the player to feel powerful otherwise he won't feel like much of a super hero. To facilitate this I plan to throw lots of weak bad guys around and save the tense moments for things like fighting tanks, guys with missile launchers, or other super heroes. As an example the player might be fighting ten goons with shotguns and basically ignoring the damage. When he sees someone show up with a high powered sniper rifle or bazooka he should take notice. Another core concept to aid this is the life meter. Actors will have three life meters, life, sanity (life for mental attacks), and stun. Most damage will be stun damage and when it's reduced below zero the actor will be forced to spend a turn recovering or will be killed depending on it's rank. Cannon fodder goons will simply be killed when stun hits zero, the player and other higher ranking actors will not be.
Hitting people with objects
One of my favorite super hero cliches is throwing cars, dumpsters, smacking people with light posts etc. I'd like to include this in the game somehow. Maybe I can do some terrain as terrain/object hybrids that can be manipulated, wielded, or destroyed.
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It's late, I'll post more later. I have some basic stats lined out and what they effect I can include in this post tomorrow.
I haven't decided yet when I'm going to set the module but I have come up with a few key concepts.
The Pulse
Violent solar activity creates a geomagnetic storm that wipes out much of the power grid across the globe. Many national governments impose martial law in an effort to keep society from breaking down as their citizens go days without electricity.
Mutation
Days after the Pulse latent genetic material in approximately 1% of people begins to awaken in strange and frightening ways. People turn to their governments for help and answers as friends, neighbors, and relatives undergo dramatic changes in physiology and even appearance. Normal people begin manifesting 'super-human' abilities like flying, super human strength, telepathic abilities, and so on. For others the change is painful or even fatal, their bodies twisted and ravaged as their own genetic code attempts to rewrite itself.
Fearing disease or worse the UN attempts to contain the 'outbreak' and urges national governments to gather up and quarantine those affected.
Collapse
Most of those able to resist quarantine attempts and most governments lose control of their populations as panic sweeps across the globe. Society begins to collapse and those who survived the initial mutation begin to leverage their new abilities for good or ill.
Mutants and Specials
Only 10% of those effected by the Pulse manage to survive the mutation. Of those 10% only 1% manages to remain human in appearance. Those who's physical features changed come to be known as Mutants and generally feared by the surviving population (even being seen as of the Devil by some) and the rest as Specials (conversely Angels sent to protect man kind in the end days). The old power structures fall apart and those with super human abilities begin to form tribes to protect or take advantage of what world around them remains.
------
Some general design philosophies and stuff I'd like to include.
Superheros should feel like superheros
I want the player to feel powerful otherwise he won't feel like much of a super hero. To facilitate this I plan to throw lots of weak bad guys around and save the tense moments for things like fighting tanks, guys with missile launchers, or other super heroes. As an example the player might be fighting ten goons with shotguns and basically ignoring the damage. When he sees someone show up with a high powered sniper rifle or bazooka he should take notice. Another core concept to aid this is the life meter. Actors will have three life meters, life, sanity (life for mental attacks), and stun. Most damage will be stun damage and when it's reduced below zero the actor will be forced to spend a turn recovering or will be killed depending on it's rank. Cannon fodder goons will simply be killed when stun hits zero, the player and other higher ranking actors will not be.
Hitting people with objects
One of my favorite super hero cliches is throwing cars, dumpsters, smacking people with light posts etc. I'd like to include this in the game somehow. Maybe I can do some terrain as terrain/object hybrids that can be manipulated, wielded, or destroyed.
----------------------
It's late, I'll post more later. I have some basic stats lined out and what they effect I can include in this post tomorrow.