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Kraken
Federated Suns
Marshal
Joined: 04-Feb-2002 00:00
Posts: 2755
Location: United States
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 Posted: 15-Apr-2013 11:26 Post subject: *Characters* getting bored... |
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I was thinking about something for a campaign I'm looking to run.
The campaign is taking place on Caph. The party is working for a nation-state I created that succeeded in surviving the Succession Wars and the Chaos March. It's one of the stronger factions on the planet, and so is now trying to reclaim the massive No Man's Land in the hopes of reunifying the planet and ferreting out the bandits, pirates, and Blakists hiding out there.
The party is going to be assigned to a remote fire base that's actually inside of No Man's Land; it's about 50KM from the official border of the nation-state, and is the main facility in a string protecting a region that the nation-state is actively attempting to reclaim.
Owing to how far away the fire base is from the main region,
*internet access is consistent, but is also consistently slow; if you intend to do more than exchange e-mails and browse text-only message boards, you're going to be waiting a while
*the only civilian radio station that can be picked up this far out is one that the government created but later privatized. As a result, it's an odd mix of news, sports, talk radio, music shows, and "cultural" series.
*the only civilian television station that can be picked up this far out is one that the government created but later privatized. As a result, it's an odd mix of news programs, "family-friendly" entertainment, and whatever sporting events that they feel like sending a crew out to cover. Adding insult to injury, it's presently celebrating the 60th anniversary of an "I Love Lucy" knock-off by doing six-hour marathons of the show from 12 AM to 6 AM five days a week for the next month.
*the base's library is small, and the vast majority of what's there consists of reference materials, military manuals, and textbooks. The idea was to give priority to the active needs of those on base.
*the base PX is not much bigger than a convenience store, and so they only have a limited amount of civilian wares to sell.
*alcohol exists in the region, but as the region has become the planet's breadbasket most farmers are content to sell their grain and fruit as-is to the other remaining regions. As a result, only those fruit and grain items deemed unfit for normal sale get processed into alcohol, meaning that the vast majority of what's available is low quality and/or tastes odd (in particular, the vodka is of such poor quality that mouthwash is usually preferred to it). The little bit of high-quality hooch is rare due to how rapidly it flies off the shelves.
In other words, the characters would likely get rather massively bored.
The idea is to encourage the players to actually role-play out their characters during their downtime rather than just simply saying "I'm getting drunk!" or "I'm going shopping!". I'll also allow the players to say that their characters are training, which can give them skill points towards getting higher bonuses.
It's risky in that I also risk the characters doing outrageous and/or illegal things to pass the time ("You want to build a still? Fine by me, but you're going to need to make some checks just to even 'appropriate' the parts..."), but even then we're still RPing.
Thoughts?
Thanks.
_________________
"I wish I could write as mysterious as a cat." -Edgar Allen Poe"I knew there was something special about you, but I never realized you were really a cat." Wolfwood to a random cat (Trigun)
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Stinger
The Knights of Chaos
General
Joined: 30-Apr-2002 00:00
Posts: 1833
Location: United States
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| Posted: 15-Apr-2013 19:06 Post subject: *Characters* getting bored... |
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that sounds like a phenomenal idea I wish I was playing in your group. There is always going to be issues with lazy players. Especially if you have a couple of them in your group. Have the liaison for the group stationed there, and constantly monitoring them, making it virtually impossible for them to resort to illegal activities.
And was that 50,000 miles?or 50 kilometers? Are the being airlifted in? Or are they walking in? Will they have access to a DropShip? Because that could give them options, by allowing them to use the DropShip to augment the bases limited entertainment options. Simply because the DropShip should be able to access other satalite.
Does the base act as a town for the surrounding area? There are farms in the area, do they have a town in the area they go to or is it done at the PX? Can the players interact with the farmers? Most farmers should have a stand at their farm, giving the players a chance to buy food (or alcohol making) when they need it.
_________________
Stinger
If it's "creepy" to use the Internet, military satellites, and robot aircraft to find a house full of gorgeous young models so I can drop in on them unexpected, then FINE, I'm "creepy". Howard Wolowitz. BBT.
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Kraken
Federated Suns
Marshal
Joined: 04-Feb-2002 00:00
Posts: 2755
Location: United States
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| Posted: 15-Apr-2013 20:15 Post subject: *Characters* getting bored... |
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Thanks.
It's 50 kilometers.
The party and their mechs will be walking in there along with the base's new CO (and his wife / aide) as the escort for a supply convoy. Those vehicles not permanently assigned to the facility will make a return trip to the main nation with the old CO and his mech.
And no, the town hasn't been built yet. The initial infrastructure is in place (a road, a railroad with rail station, a sanitation system, and a water supply), but the nation-state is having trouble getting civilians who want to settle there due to all of the bandit activity in that region.
If the party is smart, they'll take advantage of the above by pooling their resources. If they did, they could easily afford a lot or two and get a business of their own going.
_________________
"I wish I could write as mysterious as a cat." -Edgar Allen Poe"I knew there was something special about you, but I never realized you were really a cat." Wolfwood to a random cat (Trigun)
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Stinger
The Knights of Chaos
General
Joined: 30-Apr-2002 00:00
Posts: 1833
Location: United States
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| Posted: 15-Apr-2013 23:35 Post subject: *Characters* getting bored... |
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That isnt to bad, 50km is doable for a supply run or two. And if they have to fight pirates then all the better.
_________________
Stinger
If it's "creepy" to use the Internet, military satellites, and robot aircraft to find a house full of gorgeous young models so I can drop in on them unexpected, then FINE, I'm "creepy". Howard Wolowitz. BBT.
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