Post by Frederic Bourgault-Christie on May 24, 2008 15:54:07 GMT -5
In response to popular demand, I have managed to engineer a hopefully interesting campaign for players to do some evil.
The power is low, roughly RPG Project or FB starting levels. Characters will have some training and skill putting them a cut above the average man, but they will be coming into their own. I have not yet decided whether Grand Cosmos will be used or if it will be more freeform. Obviously, like most evil campaigns, I'm expecting roleplaying, diplomacy, treachery, manipulation, and sneakiness will be key to success.
It's intended to be a team game, but I imagine that if someone wants to go solo that will be acceptable.
The world is Multi-Dimensional Earth, pre-unification with the rest of the Associated Worlds but with hints that that will be on the horizon. It is, however, a darker Multi-Dimensional Earth. The United States' venture in Iraq and a failed invasion of Iran caused a Islamic League to emerge, uniting Indonesia, the Middle East and Pakistan against the infidels. The Monolith busily sells to all sides, leading the US to consider action against them. Russia, China and India have moved into an alliance. Due to the world's primary oil reserves being in Islamic League hands, Venezuela has successfully parlayed its massive new importance into creating the Cooperación Económica De Repúblicas Socialistas Unidas, or CEDaRSUn. Socialist, pareconist, anarchist, mutualist and libertarian municipalist efforts are getting off the ground, but guerillas headed by former dictatorial and capitalist forces, backed by the United States, force the CEDaRSUn's members into war. And, of course, when they cannot manufacture their own weapons, the burgeoning weapons industry is all too happy to oblige. Nationalists in Japan have begun to debate openly for re-armament, but the worst groups are those who want to expand the Self-Defense Army into a weapon of renewed imperial conquest. Peace groups have fended them off, but America has repeatedly snubbed Japan and worse has attempted to expand the SDA itself in order to hedge against the growing Chinese league. Japan and China grow closer together, and the Russian-Chinese Alliance (the RCA) have increasing ties with the Islamic League and CEDaRSUn. The European Union has created its own military. Their efforts have re-armed the United Nations, which alongside CEDaRSUn's contributions may be the only forces for sanity left. The risk of nuclear war is appreciable.
Criminal organizations are also experiencing a new renaissance. Major Japanese CEOs and representatives are "former" Yakuza members and are constantly accused of improprieties. La Cosa Nostra has been revived in the United States, combining with even more ruthless criminal organizations in Canada and Mexico. Since CEDaRSUn and the Islamic League have made it very difficult for their Mobs to run, there is an unholy alliance between the major powers and the criminal organizations opposing them. Worse, there are rumors of a group trying to create a new United Criminal Empire, making the domination of the Earth by crime syndicates official!
Then there are the corporations. Major players like the Monolith, Razor's Edge, Holmes-Schmittel (a German-British combine specializing in vehicles and vehicle energy solutions), Stark Industries, Wayne Industries, Microsoft, and a mix of other traditional and new players has caused all sorts of opportunities for corporate espionage and sabotage. The Corporate Wars occur, and some cities like Seattle, sections of Los Angeles and San Francisco are owned by corporations in all but name. Indeed, some corporations have created their own nations, petitioning for membership in the UN! Their conflicts cause the associated Cyberpunk Wars: Mercenaries, hackers, and douchebags in steam-powered mecha helping to determine the course the market takes, alongside the machinations by the criminal empires, political powers, and ordinary people.
Technology seems to expand the complexities. Many have taken refuge in the growing Metaverse, a free-wheeling collective of utopian associations, crass business mainframes, spamvertisement and so forth. But the Metaverse itself is under attack, especially since those who inflict fear and suffering rarely want there to be a refuge. This has lead those hackers and freethinkers not fighting for any one major corporation to lead revolutionary assaults against their enemies. There's even rumors of travel among and in fact full unity with the metaverse, the physical body converted to energy and data!
The backdrop only gets worse when one considers the supernatural and the superhuman. Supervillains have successfully carved out chunks of countries for their own. Superheroic battles rage, and the Justice League and the Avengers notably harden in their approaches with each passing year. Pentex's crimes have managed to get it involved in the Corporate Wars, bringing a rumored supernatural element. Jamaica may seem to be a safe ground in the day, but rumors of disappearances and assassinations rule the night. Indian nationalists reportedly interact with a reborn sect of Thugees, channeling Kali's malevolent power. Mad doctors and ancient gods coexist with demonic and spiritual assailants.
Luckily, the backdrop is not uniformly bleak (well, at least not for good). Activist groups, some idealistic nations, superheroes, and forces for good do exist. Unfortunately, even they find that deals with the devil are far too common.
Now, this is where the PCs come in. For whatever reason, this group of sociopaths, thieves, con men, murderers, rapists, molesters and power-hungry maniacs are trying to exert their will on the world and get out whatever they want. The only question is: Where will you start?
Options include:
A) Mercenaries. Yes, it's hackneyed, but mercs have an especially fun time of it now. One can one day work for a wide-eyed mad scientist and the next fight for the "freedom and prosperity of all Muslims against the infidels". Unfortunately, mercs also get assassinated and attacked by other mercs and by factions who resent what they did against them. So it's a very different merc campaign.
B) Part of the underground "Spy Network". Rather generously termed, this refers to the no man's land of intrigue, criminal and terrorist organizations, and particularly to the experts who populate them.
C) Working for some dark god or supernatural force.
D) A super-villain or mad scientist employer. The great things about these guys is that they're often destroyed and superheroes are very bad at killing them permanently or destroying their henchmen, and they're usually so deranged that they can be escaped from easily.
E) One of the major factions. Islamic League, Monolith, the US, the RCA, Dark Eldritch, etc. are all quite likely.
F) My preference: Totally independent. Whatever you guys need to do, you do. Build an organization one day then tie yourself to dark gods the next. It can go from a Call of Cthulhu/Beyond the Supernatural campaign to a Ninjas and Superspies campaign quite rapidly.
I should note that I will be pretty generous as far as Traits go, letting players start with ties to powerful gods, wealth, business ties, etc. This is to compensate you for the imminent danger you're in. Good forces want to kill you for the obvious reasons, evil ones do so for their own factional goals. I also intend to be pretty generous with expanding skill sets.
The power is low, roughly RPG Project or FB starting levels. Characters will have some training and skill putting them a cut above the average man, but they will be coming into their own. I have not yet decided whether Grand Cosmos will be used or if it will be more freeform. Obviously, like most evil campaigns, I'm expecting roleplaying, diplomacy, treachery, manipulation, and sneakiness will be key to success.
It's intended to be a team game, but I imagine that if someone wants to go solo that will be acceptable.
The world is Multi-Dimensional Earth, pre-unification with the rest of the Associated Worlds but with hints that that will be on the horizon. It is, however, a darker Multi-Dimensional Earth. The United States' venture in Iraq and a failed invasion of Iran caused a Islamic League to emerge, uniting Indonesia, the Middle East and Pakistan against the infidels. The Monolith busily sells to all sides, leading the US to consider action against them. Russia, China and India have moved into an alliance. Due to the world's primary oil reserves being in Islamic League hands, Venezuela has successfully parlayed its massive new importance into creating the Cooperación Económica De Repúblicas Socialistas Unidas, or CEDaRSUn. Socialist, pareconist, anarchist, mutualist and libertarian municipalist efforts are getting off the ground, but guerillas headed by former dictatorial and capitalist forces, backed by the United States, force the CEDaRSUn's members into war. And, of course, when they cannot manufacture their own weapons, the burgeoning weapons industry is all too happy to oblige. Nationalists in Japan have begun to debate openly for re-armament, but the worst groups are those who want to expand the Self-Defense Army into a weapon of renewed imperial conquest. Peace groups have fended them off, but America has repeatedly snubbed Japan and worse has attempted to expand the SDA itself in order to hedge against the growing Chinese league. Japan and China grow closer together, and the Russian-Chinese Alliance (the RCA) have increasing ties with the Islamic League and CEDaRSUn. The European Union has created its own military. Their efforts have re-armed the United Nations, which alongside CEDaRSUn's contributions may be the only forces for sanity left. The risk of nuclear war is appreciable.
Criminal organizations are also experiencing a new renaissance. Major Japanese CEOs and representatives are "former" Yakuza members and are constantly accused of improprieties. La Cosa Nostra has been revived in the United States, combining with even more ruthless criminal organizations in Canada and Mexico. Since CEDaRSUn and the Islamic League have made it very difficult for their Mobs to run, there is an unholy alliance between the major powers and the criminal organizations opposing them. Worse, there are rumors of a group trying to create a new United Criminal Empire, making the domination of the Earth by crime syndicates official!
Then there are the corporations. Major players like the Monolith, Razor's Edge, Holmes-Schmittel (a German-British combine specializing in vehicles and vehicle energy solutions), Stark Industries, Wayne Industries, Microsoft, and a mix of other traditional and new players has caused all sorts of opportunities for corporate espionage and sabotage. The Corporate Wars occur, and some cities like Seattle, sections of Los Angeles and San Francisco are owned by corporations in all but name. Indeed, some corporations have created their own nations, petitioning for membership in the UN! Their conflicts cause the associated Cyberpunk Wars: Mercenaries, hackers, and douchebags in steam-powered mecha helping to determine the course the market takes, alongside the machinations by the criminal empires, political powers, and ordinary people.
Technology seems to expand the complexities. Many have taken refuge in the growing Metaverse, a free-wheeling collective of utopian associations, crass business mainframes, spamvertisement and so forth. But the Metaverse itself is under attack, especially since those who inflict fear and suffering rarely want there to be a refuge. This has lead those hackers and freethinkers not fighting for any one major corporation to lead revolutionary assaults against their enemies. There's even rumors of travel among and in fact full unity with the metaverse, the physical body converted to energy and data!
The backdrop only gets worse when one considers the supernatural and the superhuman. Supervillains have successfully carved out chunks of countries for their own. Superheroic battles rage, and the Justice League and the Avengers notably harden in their approaches with each passing year. Pentex's crimes have managed to get it involved in the Corporate Wars, bringing a rumored supernatural element. Jamaica may seem to be a safe ground in the day, but rumors of disappearances and assassinations rule the night. Indian nationalists reportedly interact with a reborn sect of Thugees, channeling Kali's malevolent power. Mad doctors and ancient gods coexist with demonic and spiritual assailants.
Luckily, the backdrop is not uniformly bleak (well, at least not for good). Activist groups, some idealistic nations, superheroes, and forces for good do exist. Unfortunately, even they find that deals with the devil are far too common.
Now, this is where the PCs come in. For whatever reason, this group of sociopaths, thieves, con men, murderers, rapists, molesters and power-hungry maniacs are trying to exert their will on the world and get out whatever they want. The only question is: Where will you start?
Options include:
A) Mercenaries. Yes, it's hackneyed, but mercs have an especially fun time of it now. One can one day work for a wide-eyed mad scientist and the next fight for the "freedom and prosperity of all Muslims against the infidels". Unfortunately, mercs also get assassinated and attacked by other mercs and by factions who resent what they did against them. So it's a very different merc campaign.
B) Part of the underground "Spy Network". Rather generously termed, this refers to the no man's land of intrigue, criminal and terrorist organizations, and particularly to the experts who populate them.
C) Working for some dark god or supernatural force.
D) A super-villain or mad scientist employer. The great things about these guys is that they're often destroyed and superheroes are very bad at killing them permanently or destroying their henchmen, and they're usually so deranged that they can be escaped from easily.
E) One of the major factions. Islamic League, Monolith, the US, the RCA, Dark Eldritch, etc. are all quite likely.
F) My preference: Totally independent. Whatever you guys need to do, you do. Build an organization one day then tie yourself to dark gods the next. It can go from a Call of Cthulhu/Beyond the Supernatural campaign to a Ninjas and Superspies campaign quite rapidly.
I should note that I will be pretty generous as far as Traits go, letting players start with ties to powerful gods, wealth, business ties, etc. This is to compensate you for the imminent danger you're in. Good forces want to kill you for the obvious reasons, evil ones do so for their own factional goals. I also intend to be pretty generous with expanding skill sets.
