Tensided SDN2 Campaign Discussion Thread

Arthur_Tuxedo · Post by **Arthur_Tuxedo** » 2004-11-06 12:00am

White Haven wrote:I mean Cyberpunk specifically. That's what freaked me out.

Why would that freak you out? There are many roleplaying games that call themselves cyberpunk, from Shadowrun to Cyberpunk 2020.

White Haven · Post by **White Haven** » 2004-11-06 12:34am

Not so much the thing itself, as the synchronous timing of me finding out about both particular instances. Time is a wierd thing.

CorSec · Post by **CorSec** » 2004-11-06 10:53am

Arthur_Tuxedo wrote:OK, turns out I work Sunday morning until 2, so maybe 2:30 to 5:30 PM PST? Does that still work for everyone?

No worries on my front.

Arthur_Tuxedo · Post by **Arthur_Tuxedo** » 2004-11-06 11:02pm

OK, gametime is Sunday from 2:30 to 5:30 PST on Mature Concepts server. See you all there!

Marcao · Post by **Marcao** » 2004-11-07 05:01pm

lurking in the server area.

Post by **Alyrium Denryle** » 2004-11-07 05:04pm

I am of course, in Arizona, and thus have a 1 hour time difference...

Marcao · Post by **Marcao** » 2004-11-07 05:33pm

We await our glorious leader and M6.

Hotfoot · Post by **Hotfoot** » 2004-11-07 11:53pm

This weeks game, in a nutshell

Xak: He made a fair move. Screaming about it won't help you.

Jack: Let him have it. It's not wise to upset a Russkie

Xak: But sir, nobody worries about upsetting a telepath.

Jack: That's 'cause telepaths don't blow people's arms out of their sockets when they lose. Russkies are known to do that.

Xak: I see your point, sir. I suggest a new strategy, M6. Let the Russkie win.

Arthur_Tuxedo · Post by **Arthur_Tuxedo** » 2004-11-08 01:53am

That was, without exaggeration, the best session I have ever GM'ed. It was raw, it was intense, and it was personal. It brought out the best roleplaying I've seen yet, and it was great from a storytelling perspective.

I'll post the chat log once the campaign's over, which will be next session. I was going to stretch this campaign, but I decided that there's too much more story to tell, and you can't have session after session with characters who have tried to kill each other and will do so again at the drop of a hat. Plus, for the story I have envisioned, none of the characters will have any plausible reasons to be involved except maybe Xak.

The follow-up campaign will be a continuation of the story of the campaign, but with new characters. It will be shorter than this one, but should be lots of fun.

Anyway, everyone got 50 xp, so spend away.

Gerard_Paloma · Post by **Gerard_Paloma** » 2004-11-08 03:05pm

I said it in the chat after the game, but I'll say it again: Best...Session...Ever!!

After the session where we broke into David's house, I thought we weren't going to top that. Then the next to last session with the kidnapping of the VP, and the escaping and the explosions and the froin-levan, that was even better. But this last session, goddammit, that was fucking great. I can't remember when I've had so much fun RPing. If I've ever had that much fun before, it was a long ass time ago, when we had our old gaming group.

Now the question is, will the next (and according to Justin, last) session be the end-all, be-all, most fan-fucking-tastic one ever? We'll have to wait and see. I, personally, can't wait. But Halo 2 and Half-Life 2 will tide me over in the meantime. *Does the happy happy joy joy dance*

Arthur_Tuxedo · Post by **Arthur_Tuxedo** » 2004-11-08 08:28pm

Gerard_Paloma wrote:After the session where we broke into David's house, I thought we weren't going to top that. Then the next to last session with the kidnapping of the VP, and the escaping and the explosions and the froin-levan, that was even better. But this last session, goddammit, that was fucking great. I can't remember when I've had so much fun RPing. If I've ever had that much fun before, it was a long ass time ago, when we had our old gaming group.

From what I remember, the old gaming group wasn't all that great. The adventures were hackneyed, the campaign was sprawling and had no overriding plot, and the game system was total crap. What's worse was the fact that most of the players were absent most of the time, either physically or mentally, or both. And while I know you cherish your old characters, most of their personalities were only fleshed out years later in conversation. When they were actually being played, they were defined more by the cool magic items they had than anything else.

No, the best RPing we've done is this campaign, and the best gaming group is this one.

BTW, frigidmagi sent me a PM about wanting to do an Okhlahoma City 2030 writeup. I said that would be very welcome and gave some general guidelines on how to go about it. So that's something to look forward to.

On a completely different note, I'll also be updating the Big Book and some other things when I have some time. There were some things in the last session (like taking blunt force damage from a shotgun even with armor) that weren't yet in print, and I want to finish the equipment guide and re-write the cybernetics guide to be more like the equipment guide.

Regarding last session's combat, I should point out one way it went against the rules. While there are three "phases" of a round, people are supposed to state their actions at the beginning, and not be able to react to something until the next round. I did it differently for that battle because each person would have had to write a book of conditionals ("If M6 does this, then I do this, if he does that, then I do this and the other thing"). But expect future battles to be handled with no mid-round decisionmaking.

Lastly, regarding the SDN3 campaign, instead of everyone creating their characters in a vaccuum like with this campaign and the last one, I'll put out a casting call with roles that need to be filled. For instance, with 3 players, I might say: 1 soldier or ex-soldier, 1 doctor, and 1 open. Obviously, there will still be a lot of lattitude and the characters will still be of your own creation, but it lets me have an idea about the major events that will happen by the time we start, among other benefits.

Okay, I'm done talking.

frigidmagi · Post by **frigidmagi** » 2004-11-09 04:10am

Hello folks, I thought I post the timeline for OKC here. Just so everyone gets a look.

Timeline:
2004: Oklahoma votes for Bush by vast majority, also elects Republican Senators and Reps.
2005: Bush and Republican Party pass federal water act, seizing control of Oklahoma water supplies. The water is diverted to Texas, choking Oklahoman Farming and Ranching interest. This causes backlash toward the Right, has the FWA is enforced harshly.
2006: Microsoft declared only legal system, to avoid being crushed Dell merges with York International. New Headquarters is established in Norman, OK, next to Oklahoma University. Dell-York quickly takes covert administrative control of the University. At this time 8 out of 10 Oklahomans are out of work. Dell-York chooses to import works from the West coast, causing mass resentment.
2007-2008: War on China begins. Dell-York competes successfully for low level military contracts expanding rapidly. Oklahomans enlist in record numbers, Oklahoma National Guard sent to Korea. They will suffer 85% causalities. Oklahoma suffers from rash of disappearances in the OKC greater area.
2010: The Moore-Norman riots. 58 foreign college students of OU are lynched by mobs blaming the EU for the bloodiness of the war. An additional 112 west coast imported works are also beaten to death has rage against them “stealing” jobs explodes.
2012: Oklahoma votes Democrat, screaming that Europe be made to pay and for the revocation of the federal water act. The FWA is not repelled. When war is declared on Europe Oklahomans once again begin join in great numbers.
2013: York-Dell win their first cybernetic contract from the military. Rumors circulate that Oklahomans and Indian tribesmen were kidnapped out of their homes for the early experiments in 2008.
2014: Federal Government passes Indian Nation Act. Dissolving the authority of the tribes on local matters. The 39 Indians nations in Oklahoma protest only to be put down by Dell-York Cyborgs. Dell-York takes over Indian Gambling.
2016: The Catastrophe. Refugees from the west coast are brought in to provide an expansion in Dell-York’s workforce. Resentments are brought to a boil has more and more young men and women return home maimed and with nothing to show for it. Tulsa is destroyed when a nuclear weapon, believed to be French in origin. The blast cripples Eastern Oklahoma.
2017: The Second American Revolution is fought in Oklahoma between Dell-York and ragged coalition of Indian tribesmen, redneck dirt farmers and bitter vets. The Army Units based in Fort Sill the artillery center of the US army mutiny in favor of the revolution has do units in Tinker Air Base. Altus Air bas remains loyal to Government/Dell-York forces. Has Tinker is primary a logistics center this gives Dell-York the air advantage.
2020: Revolutionary forces seize OKC after a 2 year siege. Dell-York begins to bomb OKC into rumble. Destroying the city. The Cyborg counterattack kills the leaders of the revolt, the coalition falls apart and Dell-York takes power. Mopping up takes over a year.
2022-2027: Rebuilding, Dell-York rebuilds OKC and Norman. Brick town, an historic area of OKC, is rebuild to serve has the barracks and training grounds for Dell-York’s enforcers. Norman is rebuilt has the manufacturing and admin center with most Corp employees living in downtown OKC. Towns such has Moore, Enid and Del City are left in ruins for gangs and militia to fight over. Most Corp employees are West Coast or the children of West Coast workers. There are token Oklahoman natives serving in service level jobs.
2029:Dell-York is the largest corp in the Mid West it’s goods flowing up has far north has Nebraska and Iowa and has far East has Tennessee. There is little flow southward into Texas and westward shipments stop at Colorado.
A group of Indian tribes (the Cherokee, Creek, Kiowa and Wichita mostly, with a few survivors of the Comanche and Seminole tribes) meet with an allied group of militias to form a new rebel coalition. Still in it’s infancy the coalition maintains absolute secrecy, refusing to even expose itself until it is ready for conflict. It names itself the Magi to ensure confusion.
2030: Present day. The Magi is attempting to take control of the Black Market without alerting Dell-York. The Union, has the group controlling the Black Market is called is not willing to join the Magi or give up control.

Give it a once over folks. I am currently working on faction information at the moment.

Gerard_Paloma · Post by **Gerard_Paloma** » 2004-11-09 02:58pm

Arthur_Tuxedo wrote:From what I remember, the old gaming group wasn't all that great. The adventures were hackneyed, the campaign was sprawling and had no overriding plot, and the game system was total crap. What's worse was the fact that most of the players were absent most of the time, either physically or mentally, or both. And while I know you cherish your old characters, most of their personalities were only fleshed out years later in conversation. When they were actually being played, they were defined more by the cool magic items they had than anything else.

I agree with most of this, but I disagree with the bit about the old character(s) not being well defined. The only character I played at all with the old gaming group was Kurt. And while you're right that he didn't fully take on a personality until the group split up, all my characters since have been just as memorable during their campaigns as Kurt was after his was over.

No, the best RPing we've done is this campaign, and the best gaming group is this one.

True, but we've only had 3 groups including this one. Not saying this isn't great, because it is, but we have a limited sample of observations.

BTW, frigidmagi sent me a PM about wanting to do an Okhlahoma City 2030 writeup. I said that would be very welcome and gave some general guidelines on how to go about it. So that's something to look forward to.

It's right above this post, and it sounds awesome. Should be tons of fun.

Lastly, regarding the SDN3 campaign, instead of everyone creating their characters in a vaccuum like with this campaign and the last one, I'll put out a casting call with roles that need to be filled. For instance, with 3 players, I might say: 1 soldier or ex-soldier, 1 doctor, and 1 open. Obviously, there will still be a lot of lattitude and the characters will still be of your own creation, but it lets me have an idea about the major events that will happen by the time we start, among other benefits.

I like. I can't wait to try something new. My last few characters (with the exception of Dirk Harrison) have been real departures from what my characters usually end up becoming, and I love the opportunity to stretch my RPing muscles. SDN3 is gonna be great.

Gerard_Paloma · Post by **Gerard_Paloma** » 2004-11-15 02:25pm

Ack, pulled this off the second page.

I know Art gets his schedule for the rest of the week today, so I figured I'd start it off by asking when our players are free this weekend. As usual, I've got absolutely nothing going on, so anytime Friday evening through Sunday evening is fine with me.

Post your schedules as soon as you know what they are.

CorSec · Post by **CorSec** » 2004-11-16 03:26am

Same here. Friday through Sunday are held open until I know the time for you guys.

8D

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2004-11-16 04:21am

I was wondering if you guys were interested in taking on a new player? I've been reading through the Big Book, and I'm eager to try a system (and a group) thats a little less +5/+5 oriented. I'm in AU, which might be a problem, depending on when you guys play.

Arthur_Tuxedo · Post by **Arthur_Tuxedo** » 2004-11-16 01:53pm

Stark wrote:I was wondering if you guys were interested in taking on a new player? I've been reading through the Big Book, and I'm eager to try a system (and a group) thats a little less +5/+5 oriented. I'm in AU, which might be a problem, depending on when you guys play.

Thanks for taking interest! If by "+5/+5 oriented", you're talking about powergaming, I know exactly what you mean. Rest assured that no amount of min/maxing in Tensided will allow a character to strut around fearing nothing.

I don't think I've announced this yet, but I'm interested in getting another 4-6 players together to play a different campaign on the weekends we don't play the one we're doing.

I'm thinking Eleas, frigidmagi (assuming he wants to), and now you. So we just need 1-2 more people before we can decide on a setting and start making characters.

Post by **Alyrium Denryle** » 2004-11-16 04:06pm

I would be willing to play of course.

ANd if it is fantasy, I call dibs on the mage.

Arthur_Tuxedo · Post by **Arthur_Tuxedo** » 2004-11-16 04:35pm

Alyrium Denryle wrote:I would be willing to play of course.

ANd if it is fantasy, I call dibs on the mage.

I'm not sure yet whether some of the people from this group should be able to play in the new one or whether it should be all new people, but I'll let you know.

Anyway, do you know yet when you are free this weekend?

Post by **Alyrium Denryle** » 2004-11-16 04:38pm

I am free sat afternoon after 3:00 AZ time IIRC

Oh come on, let us play, please...

I am addicted to RPGs, with my live gaming group gone for the most part, this is the only way I can get my fix... it would be cruel to not let me play

Arthur_Tuxedo · Post by **Arthur_Tuxedo** » 2004-11-16 04:52pm

Alyrium Denryle wrote:I am free sat afternoon after 3:00 AZ time IIRC

Oh come on, let us play, please...

I am addicted to RPGs, with my live gaming group gone for the most part, this is the only way I can get my fix... it would be cruel to not let me play

Well, if you put it that way... OK.

But we obviously can't have everyone from this group plus 3 new people, it's already getting to be very difficult to coordinate everyone's schedules with 5. I think 4-5 is a good number, and 6 I would consider the max. So 2 more people and that's it. Whoever calls dibs first gets a spot.

frigidmagi · Post by **frigidmagi** » 2004-11-16 05:38pm

What time setting(ie sci fi. fantasy, historical, modern day?) would we be playing and how much stuff do I have to know by when if I play?

Post by **Alyrium Denryle** » 2004-11-16 05:42pm

Personally, I wouldnt mind doing fantasy... I want to play with jmagic in this setting

If sci-fi, I can finish up my tables and such for hard sci fi.

Gerard_Paloma · Post by **Gerard_Paloma** » 2004-11-16 06:39pm

Arthur_Tuxedo wrote:I'm thinking Eleas, frigidmagi (assuming he wants to), and now you. So we just need 1-2 more people before we can decide on a setting and start making characters.

I'm in. This is assuming I will continue to be free every weekend and not have to work, but otherwise, I'm certainly up for playing every weekend.

frigidmagi · Post by **frigidmagi** » 2004-11-16 07:31pm

I'll vote for fantasy, I've GMing a ShadowRun Campaign for months now. I need a fix... BAD.

Beside I got this idea for a Ranger/Monk sytle of character... A kind of wilderness Kung fu guy I guess...