Talk:EI1: Awakening

Conversations with the GM

I would like to bring up a couple of points that we should discuss.

Gear

The first is regarding equipment. Right now, the players have a wealth of equipment, and scarcity is no issue. This is partially because I didnt read the entire list of what is contained in the vehicle and also because I wanted to ensure the players were well armed enough to attempt what needs to be done in this scenario. My goal was to engineer the usage of much of the extra equipment during the scenario, however, this might seem contrived. If the players end up with large stores of really good stuff this changes the tone of the game, but does not necessarily break it.

Player Thoughts

How do you guys feel about this? Would you prefer a ret-con of some sort? Any ideas or input?

--Megami 17:04, 2 May 2012 (MST)I seem to recall there being hoopla about scrounging tables, but instead of a ret-con, how about reducing what kinds of things we'll be able to pick up from here on out to even things out? That way, there's a bit of the "what we have is what we have" sense of desperation.

--Madison 19:06, 2 May 2012 (MST) - I think its fine as long as we don't end up having all this abundance for very long so that we end up with a sense of desperation.

--Dieter the Bold 14:47, 4 May 2012 (MST) Expending things down to an acceptable level (whatever you feel that is) would be fine with me. It would certainly make for a bang to introduce ourselves to the new world with rampant explosions and destruction. I think it would be an interesting start to the campaign to have a larger than life reputation spreading out ahead of us that gets us into trouble.

Scrounging

Scrounging becomes less of an issue if the players have lots of stuff, but it still can be a fun and important part of the game to replenish perishable stores and find goods to trade to locals. Right now I am devising the last bits of the system for scrounging. Scrounging in its current form is basically a set of 1-4 dice rolls and will no longer be a mini-game.

Mechanics

Should higher scrounging skill lead to finding more items, or the same number of items, but of higher quality?

--Megami 17:04, 2 May 2012 (MST)I think this depends on the situation. If we come across another bolthole, then it's possible that there's a lot of stuff around. If it's just randomly in the woods, it's hard to imagine a pile of stuff laid out, but something of high quality is more fitting.

--Dieter the Bold 14:51, 4 May 2012 (MST) I like mini-games! But I'd agree with Rumi that it depends on the situation. If we come across a bolthole, maybe we'll find a few high-quality pieces or a load of mediocre pieces. And the completely random find can always be fun. Maybe a hunter slipped down a hill and broke his neck. So now there's this awesome TECH tangled up in a bush on some forgotten hillside.

--Jason 13:21, 6 May 2012 (MST) The key issue here is how you want scrounging as a skill to work. There are two possibilities, one is more successes finds more items, the other is more successes finds better items. Madison expressed that she believes better items is her choice.

--Dieter the Bold 20:31, 6 May 2012 (MST) Then I'd go with better items as well.

Legend Chips

We discussed briefly the way legend chips can be added to the pot in this game. One method is to defeat major villains, the other will be to advance your team goal in some major way that uses important skills from all of the characters.

Goals

What is the goal of the characters?

--Megami 17:04, 2 May 2012 (MST)This still kind of depends on how the world is going to shape up. Right now we're still just feeling around in the dark. We want to help people and know something went wrong, but don't have much info beyond that.

--Madison 19:07, 2 May 2012 (MST) -- My short term goal is to find out what went wrong.

--Jason 19:48, 2 May 2012 (MST) Maybe we can discuss it again after the first arc and you guys can see if a long term goal coalesces.

--Dieter the Bold 14:52, 4 May 2012 (MST) Yeah, all our characters are totally off their balance, and I think we'll have some better ideas of what we want once we can place ourselves in the overall world.

Supplemental Experience Idea

The man from Zongo proposed a good idea for possibly spicing things up a bit. He suggested I make an XP pot that would be a reward for the players when they figure out some big mystery, such as what the apocalypse was. Each session a chip would be removed, and also any time the players make an incorrect guess a chip is removed. This would supplement, not replace, the current experience and chip system.

Discussion

What do you think of this idea?

--Megami 17:04, 2 May 2012 (MST)I like the added spice, but am wary of the extra anxiety and frustration that may stem from it with a depleting pool. We've all determined that we're not the smartest bunch of players around who can figure shit out unless it's on a lucky call in the very beginning of the game.

--Madison 19:09, 2 May 2012 (MST) -- I like the idea of a supplemental pool, but I don't like the idea of it depleting every session. I think that would get really frustrating really fast. Not every session is going to give us the same number of clues, etc. Also, there needs to be a way of increasing the pot too - say, every clue we end up finding could increase the pot?

--Jason 19:46, 2 May 2012 (MST) The reason for the decrementing is to create a sense of timing. Remember, any of it is a bonus. It is outside of the normal experience everyone receives. It is a way to reward doing a good job. This is not set in stone. It is just an idea. Something like this will no get implemented if you guys are not interested.

--Dieter the Bold 14:54, 4 May 2012 (MST) Interesting, but not sure about it. Let's leave it off for now and let it mull around some more.

--Jason 13:19, 6 May 2012 (MST) For now this is tabled, but maybe if a situation warrants it later it will be considered.

Potential Retcon

I made a couple of calls during the game that I knew did not potentially jive with some canon things for Morrow Project, but I was ok with that at the time. The more I think about them, however, I think they should be changed to be different. In general, they are positive for the players, and they fit much more closely with my back story. Here they are, let me know if you have any problems with any of it.

The V-150 has a hydrogen powered mini fusion reactor, no gasoline or diesel is necessary. It has enough fuel for 18 months. What Pi did in the motor pool was flush the coolants and lubricants. The bolthole does have a diesel generator and 50 gallons of diesel.

The personal canteens of MP personnel are filtration units. There is a filtration unit in the V-150. Each member also has 100 water tabs for emergency and trade purposes.

When driving the vehicle toward the Burkhardt homestead it is clear that the GPS is not working.

--Dieter the Bold 20:31, 6 May 2012 (MST) Fine with me. But the V-150 needs to go out with a serious bang if it's this much more awesome!