What changes have you made to your project?

[kato13]

Planning the most realistic project I can has been a hobby of mine for years. I understand certain unrealistic things were added for ease of game play, but in general I find that annoying. There are certain things within the Morrow Project Canon that I just felt I had to change.

1). No Morrow time traveling.
I had a hard time believing this back story. I never understood where the super high tech came from if the nuclear war happened and civilization was pushed back hundreds of years technologically. When I read Project Phoenix's take on this, which was by intercepting radio messages from the future, they learned of the pending disaster. I chose to go in this direction.


2). No ULTRA tech
No coke bottle sized fusion plants. No universal antidotes. No hand held lasers. If these things were available a fully functioning "Star wars" missile defense system would be a better use of the money and technology.

My technology assumes that the project at any given time is about 10 years advanced from the real world technology. This is due to the fact that they are able to receive messages from themselves, in the future, telling them how to focus industrial research. Certain areas are further advanced (like materials technology) as in many cases these are limited by the timing of accidental discoveries not incremental gain (like raw computing power).


3). More supplies at every level
When I looked at the Morrow plan I was surprised at the small amount of equipment available. I always wondered what the plan was if a team had an emergency wake up 30 days after the strikes. My teams have over a full year of food dedicated for them in their 10 caches. Plus a cache to be accessed when they find a semi permanent home (a "Nesting" cache). Additionally for every 5 teams or so there is a dedicated agricultural cache to allow multi-year survival in case a team wakes up very early.

Expecting teams to offer protection or trade goods for food seemed very unrealistic to me. Most communities would still be struggling given it is only supposed to be five years after the war.


4.)Bolt Holes are not disposable
I know the point of this was to force the teams out into the world, but what a waste of effort. You have heavy concrete construction and obviously some sort of communication gear and power supplies and you just leave them behind. Never understood that.


5.) No Vehicle engine Sized Fusion Plants
To be honest I never saw how that was possible. My vehicles for the most part use a Multi-fuel/electric engine system. I have fusion plants as small as 1250kg, which can be used to charge the vehicles, or they can be run on alcohol or biodiesel. Both of which can be manufactured by the teams if necessary (equipment included in the nesting cache)


6.)Military and Government Involvement
I know that any government involvement invites security issues, but in my game I see it necessary for at least minimal government support. In many ways I kind of see it as a reverse of the "Glomar explorer" type of mission. Where instead of the government asking for an Industrialist's support. The industrialists seek out a few key members of the military and the intelligence services.


7.) Multiple Primes
Allowing a project of this size to have such an obvious single point of failure baffles me. At least put a back up facility on an Island somewhere.

Again I like the Phoenix Projects take on this. In that case command bases are unable to shut off their time shift equipment, keeping them trapped outside the normal time line.


8.) No giant mutant lizards
I can accept sci-fi in my games. I am actually going to have a Stargate program exist in my morrow world, but that type of mutation is just unrealistic.




All in all I love the rebuilding concept of morrow I just felt these changes needed to be made in my game.

[mikeo80]

I recently started fooling arround with the idea that the "Stargate" program was incorporated with Morrow Project stats and equipment. I Postulated two possible universes where this might happen. One universe was a type of "United Terran Federation" with a rather utopian startup. The other universe was much darker and more America centric.

The following is the "UTF" idea. I will post the dark side later. Enjoy. Comments are welcome.

Different Type of Morrow

1974 was the start of three very good decades for all of the people of Earth. During a routine exploration for oil on the North Slope of Alaska, a large circular object was discovered frozen in one of the glaciers. Upon further research, this disk was found to be able to create a two-way, inter-dimensional connection between Earth and other worlds. Engraved upon the disk was a binary number that was equivalent to 1031 x 4201 x 6120. This number was the Earths' "address". There was a keypad that was associated with the disk where the destination address could be entered. Because of a smart remark by one of the scientists examining this device, it became known as a "Stargate".

The Stargate allowed groups of explorers to travel instantly from Earth to many other worlds. We learned that everywhere we went there was a Stargate on "the other side". By entering Earths' "address", this Gate could then be set to connect back to Earth. We found that we could not transport large items like tractor-trailers through the Gate. There was some limiting factor in the Gate system. With some trial and error, we found that we could send vehicles that were in the 20 metric ton range. The V-150 and the Ranger became the vehicles of choice for transporting people and large U-Haul trucks were used to transport material.

We also learned that once the connection was made between worlds, radio and television signals could be sent between these worlds. This became the basis for the Great Trade Market. This market was set up in Geneva, Switzerland. Planets scheduled time with the Stargate Command Center to transmit information on the trade items and prices that were available from that world and receive lists of desired goods for import. The Trade Market acted as a convenient clearinghouse for trade between the worlds. Usually, each planet sent one representative to the Trade Market. This representative would contact his world every two to four weeks for the latest goods and their price that were available for trade.

During the first three years of exploration, the United States, Britain, Russia, China, France, Germany and Japan sent military units to explore this new universe. The possibilities were endless. Unlimited food, fuel, raw materials, and room to grow were the primary results of the exploration. The major powers started twenty-one colonies, three for each nation. The primary industry for these new colonies was the production of food. These planets were determined to be very fertile and Terran crops were able to survive in the new environments. Within two years, these planets were exporting thousands of metric tons of grain.

In 1977, the President of the United States held a top-secret meeting among the seven super powers of Earth. It was decided that for our home world to survive, the Stargate had to be made available to all. These leaders made the announcement of the existence of the Stargate simultaneously to the entire world.

Many hundreds of colonies were started. Raw materials were extracted; extra food was grown. The people of Earth were able to move away from the nightmares of war, starvation, lack of water and pollution. Over population became a problem of the past. By 2003, the population of Earth was less than three billion people. We were walking on planets that had never been seen by Man. We would identify a world that contained resources Earth needed, and a colony would be established.

In 1980, a political solution was reached to govern the wide spread colonies. The idea was to have each planet choose one representative to be sent to the Planetary Council of the new Federated States of Earth. This representative would be chosen once the population of the planet reached 25,000 or more. The planetary government would determine the term of office for the representative. The leaders of the seven major powers would chair the Planetary Council on a rotating basis. The term in office for the chairperson would be one year.

The Federated States Charter was a very simple document. The basic outline of the Charter was as follows.

1) All export trade would be unhindered by any planetary government. The planetary governments could set any restrictions they wanted to on imports.
2) The value of any trade would be based upon a new Federation wide currency called the credit. The credit was set up as a currency that was backed by precious metals. Each of the major powers set up a repository for precious metal. For example, Fort Knox, Kentucky was used in the United States. One hundred grams of platinum would equal one thousand credits. One hundred grams of gold would equal one hundred credits. One hundred grams of silver would equal ten credits. Any planet could set up their own internal currency, if they wished. All measurements in trade were to use the metric system. The individual planetary governments would set the value of any trade.
3) That there would be no restraint of travel between worlds. The laws of the planet being visited would govern any traveler. The only exceptions would be the members of the Star Guard and the Federated Tax Office officials.
4) That the Federated States would assist any planet that requested help. In case of an emergency, the Federated States could assume power. This Emergency Declaration had to be agreed upon by a two-thirds majority in the Planetary Council.
5) That the Federated States would not interfere in the internal affairs of a planet. The only exception to this rule was where Item 4 had been enacted.
6) That any increase in the tax rate for the Federated States would have to be passed by a two-thirds majority of the Planetary Council.
7) That any change in the Charter of the Federated States would require a two-thirds majority of the Planetary Council.
8) That it would be the responsibility of the Federated States to maintain a list of all populated planets, their co-ordinates, a copy of the laws of that planet, and a brief synopsis of the resources found on that planet. This information would be available to any one who requested it.
9) Each planet would be responsible of setting up a governing body whose sole responsibility to the Federated States was to enforce a one percent tax on all goods exported from that world. This income would finance the upkeep and repair of Earth and to provide for the Star Guard. The Federated States would set up a type of taxation office. Their job was to audit the taxation and the weights and contents of the export trade. The form of the government was left up to the people of that planet. Any other type of taxation or expenditure was up to the planetary government.

The militaries of Earth were cut back to mostly symbolic levels. The individual major powers each had one armored division, two mechanized divisions, and four infantry divisions. Other nations were allowed up to one mechanized division and two infantry divisions. The Air Forces of the major nations were reduced to five air wings with twenty-four aircraft each. Other nations could have one air wing with twenty-four aircraft. The nuclear forces of the major powers were reduced to five hundred warheads each. No other country was allowed nuclear weapons. The major nations disarmed the rest of the world of nuclear weapons. The Navies of the major powers were reduced to five cruisers, five submarines, ten destroyers and twenty support vessels. The United States was allowed to keep three aircraft carriers with forty-eight warplanes each, but there were representatives of each of the other major powers on board each carrier to insure that these warships were not used offensively. The rest of the world's nations were allowed up to five destroyers and ten support vessels.

Most of the rest of the world's military were retired. A select few were formed into one unit known as the 'Star Guard'. They acted as a type of National Guard that was sent to help during natural disasters. The members of the Star Guard were sent to train on as many planets as possible so that the individual characteristics of the planet and possible problems could be noted and prepared for. The Star Guard members were trained in engineering, crowd control, first aid and other areas that might help others. Duty in the Star Guard became a great honor.

This cutback enabled the Earth to finally live in peace. Oh, there were still minor occurrences of terrorism. The solution in most cases was to set up a planet for each of the myriad peoples of Earth. If you wanted to practice a certain type of religion or government, there was a planet where you could do so without interference from any one.

Of course, the question remained, who built these Stargates? We never found any answers during our time of exploration. We knew that "someone" had to have built the Stargate network, but obviously, they were not present at this time. We never found any ruins or other signs of habitation. The only artifacts were the Stargate and the dialing device.

The players will represent members of the Star Guard and they will use the Morrow Project statistics, weapons, and vehicles. The team members will all have the same weapon load out. The weapons will typically be the M-16 or the Uzi. The team members will carry tear gas, vomit gas or "flash bang" grenades. The H.E. and W.P. grenades are available. But since the role of the Star Guard is more peacekeeping and disaster assistance vs. combat, the majority of the weapons that are carried are non-lethal. The V-150 and Ranger type of vehicles are NOT fusion powered. (Science has not gotten that far yet.) They are equipped with gasoline powered, turbo charged, high performance engines. They carry enough fuel for an effective range of 500 kilometers. (About 300 miles) Typically, the APC version of the V-150 is used, but all of the other variants are available if needed. These variants include the following.

1) 20 mm turreted gun
2) TOW launcher
3) Mortar carrier
4) Armored Recovery Vehicle

There are also three new variants of the V-150 for this universe.

1) Engineering (Two-man crew. Can carry four extra persons. 50-caliber machine gun. Bulldozer blade on the front and a scoop shovel on the rear.)
2) 5.56 mm mini gun in turret (Set up like 20 mm variant. 3000 rounds of 5.56 mm ammunition. Two man crew.)
3) Stinger Anti-aircraft on turret. (Set up like 20 mm variant. Four (4) Stinger launchers attached to turret. Stingers can be launched from within vehicle. Radar with 8-kilometer effective range. Four full reloads available. Total twenty (20) stinger missiles. Two man crew)

The Star Guard also has the V-300 series armored vehicle with a 90 mm high velocity auto loading cannon, a coaxial 7.62 machine gun, and a 7.62 machine gun for use by the commander. Crew of three would include Driver, Gunner, and Commander. There is room in the V-300 for six extra persons. There was one variant of the V-300. This was known as the Science Vehicle. This vehicle has the most advanced detection equipment known to Man. It is designed to explore a new world and sample the air, land and water for possible pathogens. The vehicle carries a crew of two and two scientists who run the diagnostic equipment. The crew compartment is separated from the science area. The vehicle has full NBC protection with positive pressure seals on all doors. The main exit is also sealed from the science compartment with a positive pressure air lock. This vehicle carries enough air for a five-day mission. This vehicle has no weapons.

The mission of the Star Guard is two fold.

1) The Star Guard carries out all first missions to a new planet. A team sent on this type mission will typically have a V-300 to back up three science variants of the V-300.
2) The National Guard mission. 95% of all missions in this mode have used the ARV or Engineering variant of the V-150. There has been little trouble among the many worlds that man now inhabits.

[mikeo80]

AS Promised, here is my version of the "dark" side of Stargate. Enjoy. Comments welcomed.

Different Type of Morrow

Version 2

1984 was the start of two very interesting decades for the United States. During a routine exploration for oil on the North Slope of Alaska, a large circular object was discovered frozen in one of the glaciers. Upon further research, this disk was found to be able to create a two-way, inter-dimensional connection between Earth and other worlds. Engraved upon the disk was a binary number that was equivalent to 1031 x 4201 x 6120. This number was the Earths' "address". There was a keypad that was associated with the disk where the destination address could be entered. Because of a smart remark by one of the scientists examining this device, it became known as a "Stargate".

The Stargate allowed groups of explorers to travel instantly from Earth to many other worlds. We learned that everywhere we went there was a Stargate on "the other side". By entering Earths' "address", this Gate could then be set to connect back to Earth. We found that we could not transport large items like a M1A1 Abrams tank through the Gate. There was some limiting factor in the Gate system. With some trial and error, we found that we could send vehicles that were in the 20 metric ton range. We also found that we could not send compound vehicles, such as trailers attached to other vehicles. The V-150 and the Ranger became the vehicles of choice for transporting people and large U-Haul trucks were used to transport material.

We also learned that once the connection was made between worlds, radio and television signals could be sent between these worlds. We could stay in touch with our exploration teams as they surveyed the new world.

The first order issued by President Reagan after he heard of the Stargate was to put the military in charge of the use of the "Gate". General Powell, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, responded by moving the Stargate to the infamous "Area 51" base. The gate was placed in a huge, below ground complex for several reasons. First was to limit any outside knowledge of this new technology. Second was to provide a secure area from which to operate the project. Third was to perhaps the most original and sinister of all. The complex was equipped with a 50-megaton nuclear warhead that could be triggered if there was either an invasion through the Stargate or a "Wildfire" biological crisis.

During the first three years of exploration, the United States sent military units to explore this new universe. The possibilities were endless. Unlimited food, fuel, raw materials, and room to grow were the primary results of the exploration.

The U.S. started a colony on one of the worlds we had explored. The primary industry for this new colony was the production of food. This planet was determined to be very fertile and Terran crops were able to survive in the new environment. Within three years after the startup, the planet was exporting thousands of metric tons of grain.

The new colony was manned by both military personnel and by civilian conscripts. These civilians had no idea were they were. The military simply drugged the workers before they arrived at "Area 51" and woke them upon their arrival on the new world. These civilians tended to be the homeless or other "undesirables" whose presence would not be missed on Earth. These workers are well fed, have full medical care, good housing, clothing allotments and other necessities of life.

There were some necessary civilian workers who were needed to set up the equipment, lodging, water treatment, food services, and other facilities. This group came from industries that worked with the Department of Defense. They would also be drugged before their arrival at "Area 51", but these workers had the option of going home. The military tries to keep this group as small as possible.

The military personnel were usually part of our Special Forces groups such as the SEALS, Marine LRP's, Rangers or Green Berets

The military also constructed elaborate fortifications around the Stargate on the new world. These fortifications included anti-tank, anti-air and anti-missile defenses. They also included nuclear destruct mechanisms to prevent any hostile take over of the Stargate by "any un-authorized persons". There were always several military personnel present whose mission was to insure the destruction of the Stargate if there was hostile action. The Stargate has been reinforced with a closable iris of titanium. This barrier is closed at all times unless there is a coded radio message from an incoming team.

At the present time, the U.S. has five colonies located off world. The military has surveyed another ten worlds, but there have not been any decisions made as to future expansion of the colonization effort. These colonies represent the largest secret organization since the Manhattan project built the Atomic Bomb. The Prime Minister of Great Britain knows of the project. President Bush and Prime Minister Blair have discussed informing other countries about the Stargate, but there has been no decision made yet. There has been an exchange of information between the top levels of the militaries of the U.K. and the U.S. A company of the S.A.S. has worked with the U.S. military and has trained with our troops.

To date, there has not been any evidence of intelligence except for the Stargates. The planets that contain our colonies are very Earthlike with life forms similar to the U.S. at the time of the European discovery. There are many small to medium herbivores, a fair contingent of carnivores, and other life forms abound. There has not been any disease found that does not respond to anti-biotics. Life for our colonists on these planets is good.

There has been a small but growing industrial development of these colonies to serve other needs of the U.S. Oil has been found on two of the worlds. Iron ore, aluminum, and other minerals are now starting to be exploited. The potential influx of raw materials has promised to begin an industrial expansion for the U.S. How this will be accomplished while maintaining secrecy is an on going question.

The players will represent members of the U.S. military and they will use the Morrow Project statistics, weapons, and vehicles. The team members will all have the same weapon load out. The weapons will typically be the M-16 or the Uzi loads.

The V-150 and Ranger type of vehicles are NOT fusion powered. (Science has not gotten that far yet.) They are equipped with gasoline powered, turbo charged, high performance engines. They carry enough fuel for an effective range of 500 kilometers. (About 300 miles) Typically, the APC version of the V-150 is used, but all of the other variants are available if needed. These variants include the following.

1) 20 mm turreted gun
2) TOW launcher
3) Mortar carrier
4) Armored Recovery Vehicle

There are also three new variants of the V-150 for this universe.

1) Engineering (Two-man crew. Can carry four extra persons. 50-caliber machine gun. Bulldozer blade on the front and a scoop shovel on the rear.)
2) One 5.56 mm mini gun in the turret. (Set up like 20 mm variant. 3000 rounds of 5.56 mm ammunition. Two man crew.)
3) Stinger Anti-aircraft missiles mounted on the turret. (Set up like 20 mm variant. Four (4) Stinger launchers attached to turret. Stingers can be launched from within vehicle. Radar with 8-kilometer effective range. Four full reloads available. Total twenty (20) stinger missiles. Two man crew)

The military also uses the V-300 series armored vehicle with a 90 mm high velocity auto loading cannon, a coaxial 7.62 machine gun, and a 7.62 machine gun for use by the commander. Crew of three would include Driver, Gunner, and Commander. There is room in the V-300 for seven extra persons. The V-300 also has a range of 500 kilometers.

There was one variant of the V-300. This was known as the Science Vehicle. This vehicle has the most advanced detection equipment known to the U.S. It is designed to explore a new world and sample the air, land and water for possible pathogens. The vehicle carries a crew of two and two scientists who run the diagnostic equipment. The crew compartment is separated from the science area. The vehicle has full NBC protection with positive pressure seals on all doors. The crew compartment is also sealed from the science compartment with a positive pressure air lock. This vehicle can carry enough air, water, food and fuel for a 10-day mission with the addition of external tanks that contain the extra supplies. This vehicle has no weapons.

Stargate Command at "Area 51" has a regiment of troops available. Unofficially, this regiment has been called "The Star Guard". This group includes 3000 infantry divided into three battalions with five companies per battalion, five platoons per company and five squads per platoon.

In addition to the infantry, the regiment has a battalion of heavy weapons. This battalion has three companies. The first company has twelve StingRay II medium tanks. There is an artillery company assigned to the battalion. This company consists of four towed 155 mm cannon and eight towed 105 mm cannon. The third company is twelve Apache attack helicopters.

StingRay II Medium Tank

This tank was designed with mobile forces in mind. It is a relatively light tank, weighing only 22.6 tons vs. the 70-ton M1A1 Abrams. This means that it is an airmobile tank. A C-130 can drop or fast deliver one of these tanks to the battlefield. The StingRay is equipped with a 105 mm main gun and two 7.62 mm machine guns. It has a range of about 300 KM with a full fuel load. This tank is not designed to go head to head with a modern Soviet T-80, but it can provide good armor support for light forces such as airborne or air mobile infantry.

This tank posed some problems with the Stargate. The maximum weight that the Stargate can handle is 20 metric tons or about 44,000 pounds. At full battle weight, the Stingray is too heavy to go through the gate. So some compromises were made. During transit, the tank would have no ammunition, only the driver would be in the vehicle, and there would only be 10 liters of fuel in the gas tank. In this configuration, the tank CAN travel through the Stargate.

105 mm Artillery

This is the standard light artillery used by the U.S. military around the world. The Stargate poses unique problem for this and the 155 mm artillery. The Stargate does not permit "compound" vehicles or, in other words, nothing can be towed through the Stargate. However, there is nothing that prevents something from being PUSHED through the gate. The plan is to disassemble the 105 mm gun, pack the parts in wooden pallets with wheels on the bottom. These pallets can then be loaded onto a truck or pushed through the Stargate. The gun can be uncrated, reassembled, hooked to a vehicle, and taken wherever needed. This has been proven in tests, but never in actual combat conditions.

155 mm Artillery

This is the standard medium artillery in the United States Military. All of the comments for the 105 mm gun apply to the 155.

Apache Longbow Attack Helicopter

If you can't have an Air Force, then use an Apache. This is the latest version of the attack helicopter that did so much damage in Desert Storm, Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. This helicopter comes complete with a 30mm chain gun, thermal night sights, laser designator, and all of the necessary electronics to use any of the modern "smart" missiles.

The biggest problem with the Apache is its' size. It is not a huge aircraft but very awkward in the confines of the SGC. The war plans call for the Apache to be "pre-packed", moved through the Stargate and reassembled on the other side. This has worked during drills, but how this will work during an actual emergency remains to be seen.

Typically there is an infantry company stationed at each of the off world locations. Five infantry companies are stationed at Stargate Command and the rest of the regiment is on R&R or in training. This allows for a rotation of the troops to and from Earth. The typical deployment schedule is four months off world, eight months on Earth.

The off world missions of the team are three types.

1) The Star Guard carries out all first missions to a new planet. A team sent on this type mission will typically have one V-300 and two V150's to escort three science variants of the V-300. The escort vehicles will not carry extra personnel. This allows for the consumables to cover a ten-day mission.
2) Exploration of the new world. Once a world was deemed safe, engineers and scientists would be sent to determine the best use of the new world. The team would accompany these scientists as guards. Due to the need for secrecy, these first two missions are very rare.
3) Guard duty on an existing world is the most common off world billet. This is a very boring but necessary job. The troopers are trained to take good care of the worker population. These people are not exactly prisoners, but they are not citizens either. They have received the best "programming" available to the military, but it is not fool proof.

The missions on Earth are very simple; either a group is on guard duty at the SGC, training for a mission, or on R&R.

[clivegh]

1) My War Takes Place in 2011.
That allows for modern and a little bit of "Future Tech". From the Iraq War, when recon meets modern communications equipment, one team could send Gigs of Data in a day to prime base, so the team has a lot of tactical computers, mapping software, digital cameras, ect.

The Team all has basically a Super Iphone type PDA that holds a lot of Info in PDF, and Video Format (Such as all weapon manuals, survival guides, ect). Once the team got there communications relay station up, it set up a intranet for the Morrow Project in the High Desert area of CA, that allowed real time sharing of information and tactical updates.

This stuff is modern military, not sci fi so its easy for a GM to use.

2) I hated the rapid mutant stuff as well but I still want some Sci Fi.

So I am using a concept of a BIO Weapon (Virus) deployed by Russia that corrupts the hosts DNA in its offspring causing massive (often fatal) mutation. This is a Doomsday type weapon that basically kills off the next generation of the enemy.

I had the US government (or someone did, maybe the MP?) deploy a counter virus to stop the Russian virus, but it did not work perfectly. So there is some sections of the US that had very high mutation and others that did not as the two virus still are in a genetic duel of sorts with one side doing better or worse depending on external factors.

See the post at: http://henrick.com/ca4/?p=134

3) As others pointed out, The team does not have enough supplies so that gets bumped up a lot. I am using what others have posted around the web to update the teams equipment.

4) There is a world out there.
I have other countries still alive and kicking. These have direct impact on the teams as they are on the coast so they can meet traders from china, south America, and New Zealand. It allows for other outside factors in a MP game to influence the players outlook.

That's it so far. Any Ideas?

[Traveller]

Interesting to read the other changes, but I must say I'm disappointed to see all the 'backing away' from the sci-fi aspects of the game...

Myself, I use a fair amount of sci-fi in my game - not so much that it hits the PCs over the head, but its around them, its part of the backstory, etc...

I have moon bases, functional space stations (plural), re-usable nuclear/fusion shuttles; pre-war cloning; laser, gauss, and rail weapons; 2nd generation robotics and automatons; hot AND cold fusion in both pre and post ruin times. Oh well, to each his own, as long as everyone is having fun.

Like just about everyone else, my campaign is run differently than originally written. My war takes place on 3 July 1998, and I have dropped a few of the 'canon' groups such as Maxwell's Militia, and totally reorganized 'Snake Eaters' in my own image - Project Shadowjack.

My project runs on a typical pyramid command structure, using regional command bases, 'in-field' group commanders, and is organized into what I consider a 'proper' structure.

I also use surviving nations and cultures (South American Federation, Australia, three different African alliances, all working to be top dog on what's left of Earth) and an off-world society (moon and space stations) that look down their fragile noses at the 'barbarians' on Earth.

I find many of the ideas posted here interesting...oh, and if anyone is interested in learnign more - I'm more than happy to share...

Cheers!

Traveller

[Nowhere Man 1966]

Originally Posted by Traveller

Interesting to read the other changes, but I must say I'm disappointed to see all the 'backing away' from the sci-fi aspects of the game...

Myself, I use a fair amount of sci-fi in my game - not so much that it hits the PCs over the head, but its around them, its part of the backstory, etc...

I have moon bases, functional space stations (plural), re-usable nuclear/fusion shuttles; pre-war cloning; laser, gauss, and rail weapons; 2nd generation robotics and automatons; hot AND cold fusion in both pre and post ruin times. Oh well, to each his own, as long as everyone is having fun.

Like just about everyone else, my campaign is run differently than originally written. My war takes place on 3 July 1998, and I have dropped a few of the 'canon' groups such as Maxwell's Militia, and totally reorganized 'Snake Eaters' in my own image - Project Shadowjack.

My project runs on a typical pyramid command structure, using regional command bases, 'in-field' group commanders, and is organized into what I consider a 'proper' structure.

I also use surviving nations and cultures (South American Federation, Australia, three different African alliances, all working to be top dog on what's left of Earth) and an off-world society (moon and space stations) that look down their fragile noses at the 'barbarians' on Earth.

I find many of the ideas posted here interesting...oh, and if anyone is interested in learnign more - I'm more than happy to share...

Cheers!

Traveller

I pretty much stick to hard science although I do stretch things a bit with the "Art Bell" topics like UFO's, Atlantis survivors and so on, as long as I can come up with a semi-plausible way. I like the idea of space stations and a Moon base, or even one on Mars looking down on us "barbarians." I had something like that in a PBEM I was in where my group had contact with a space station. I'm going to start up as game soon and for some reason, I'm not too hip on fusion since we are still trying to get it to work. So either eventually my game will degrade into a Twilight: 2000 style "fuel trek" or maybe I can use micro-fission piles instead with something like a 50 year lifespan.

Chuck M.

[mikeo80]

Originally Posted by Traveller

...oh, and if anyone is interested in learnign more - I'm more than happy to share...

Cheers!

Traveller

I also enjoy all of the posts that revolve around MP. Traveller, if you ever need a warm body to walk patrol on a lonely post apocolipse night, I'm your man. I usually run characters for Recon but willing to try others.

Mike

[pfloyd]

Right off the bat...

1. Several waves of Team Installations.
My year of "When it hits the fan" is set in the late 2010s, so there are plenty of opportunities to set out several waves of team installations, including waking older teams up as needed, or at least checking on them to see if they survived the freezing process.
To that end, the teams that I would have for play would be in the fourth wave (2008 - 2011 installation dates), so we can have the nifty tech toys that are out there.

2. There is cooperation from the government -- but only after the first Gulf War, mostly in materiel and some personnel.

3. High tech will be limited. I have no problem with the fusion reactors, but they won't be as reliable as Morrow made them out to be. Also, no man-portable lasers, and most likely no power armor.

More when I get more ideas...

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Now playing: The Cure - Trust
via FoxyTunes

[clivegh]

The more I stray from the 1983 rule book the more it pulls me back to the same world.

In My campaign, there are some more global items, but I really try to keep it more low tech - helping people on the ground. Players really like to find out whats over the next hill and how I am going to deal with the people over the next hill.

As an example:

The Players have just liberated Prime Base from an group of Krell mercs who found prime base (see http://henrick.com/ca4/?p=315). Now I did add a Super AI named Unity who has been trying to keep Prime Base running after everyone died 160 years ago, but its more of a plot point and not something to change the way the world works.

Well Now they have Prime Base, and awakened the Phoenix Team (who is not the Assassins of the Module but from MP-I yahoo user group idea, more of super specialists from the corporate world (Ex. World leader AI programmer, World known expert on reconstruction of societies, ect).

The Phoenix team tells the players to call in all the teams in Southern California and help rebuild prime base as prime base is desperately needs personal to repair it and get it operational. Well this causes a heck of problem for the team, as the southern California command group is active in rebuilding the So Ca area and helping to contain the Empire of Mexico army in the area. If they pull out of the area, a general collapse would happen.

To Add to this, the Mexican Army has started a new push into Riverside area, so the team is desperate for the material that prime base has (Vehicles and Weapon Systems).

So the players make a deal with the Phoenix team to supply most of the engineering man power for now in exchange for a convoy of equipment from Prime Base to Southern Ca. (Prime Base activation codes have been corrupted/damaged in the fighting in the base so they can not just call in more teams)

So the next set of games will be about the trek overland for the team to bring 10 truckloads of equipment to the war zone of southern California.

So its pretty much the prime Morrow Project world but with a little more overall structure.

Any More Ideas or anything about the world or running campaigns?