Living in prime base

[tsofian]

In the plan the crew at prime base was to sit out the world for tg
The last years of civilization watch several billion people die and wait another five years or more before lifting a finger to help anyone.

No wonder they let the colony happen. How did the project think the kind of people they hoped to attract could be put in that situation and not act?

[ArmySGT.]

How many committed suicide anyway? From the supplemental material we know that the war lasted for months. Everyone went back for reloads.

[cosmicfish]

Did they have an alternative? It's not like PB was in a heavily populated area where they could expect refugees - it pretty sparse, the kind of place people should have avoided. There probably isn't any place they could have placed PB where it would have been less likely to attract refugees but still have been at all useful as a Project base. And I suppose they could have put THEM to sleep as well, but that would much worse all around.

[tsofian]

Since it appears that the intent of my question has been misconstrued, let me rephrase it.

How did the Project plan to deal with the psychological issues that the crew of Prime Base would face in the period between their entry into the base and te point when the Project would become active?

[cosmicfish]

By screening the base personnel as thoroughly as they screen anyone else, and by providing a good counseling staff in PB. I always thought that the hardest thing about putting the Project together had to be finding people caring enough to be trusted with the job but tough enough to thrive post-apocalypse. I always thought that was limiting factor on the size of the Project. But such people exist, coming out of the military and the Peace Corps and other places, and the Project had to find them.

[tsofian]

I was looking for something a bit more specific:
Did everyone in the base do an hours of yoga every day?
Was Physical activity mandatory?
Did everyone go to group therapy once a week?
Were there specific types of therapy or counseling that might prove more effective?
How big a staff of therapists were available?
Was there a weekly movie night? Was the holographic room used as a planetarium so people could "see" the night sky?
Was there some form of periscope leave?
Was there a large amount of craft equipment kept for therapy (model building, wood working, pottery, painting etc.)?
So very little is better for moral than sex. Did the Project have professional sex therapists/surrogates that provided more intimate services than just talking therapy?
Was the water in the base chlorinated, fluoridated AND thorizinated (just a joke)

What if someone in the base absolutely could not deal with it? Would they be frozen? Was there an "Island of Misfit Toys" bolt hole someplace were all the people who couldn't handle Prime Base were basically stashed? If that place was Prime Base did the frozen patients survive the plague? Could a group of player characters wake them up? If so this could lead to some very strange adventures!

[stormlion1]

Actually I would figure any news would be censored heavily. Only the top tier of people would know what was happening to spare the damage to the bases personnel. Beyond that there would be make-work and maintenance for the base. Can't forget arts and crafts and movie night.

[cosmicfish]

I suspect that there would be a small team of therapists on staff whose job would be to monitor everyone and find whatever THEY need to keep going. Some might do yoga, others might do movies, etc.

But I would not expect that many of them required much attention. Remember that they were all carefully selected, highly trained, highly motivated, very busy, and doing exactly what they all new would help. A few might have minor problems, and maybe one or two would snap, but yes, they could give them some degree of therapy and/or medication and if necessary freeze them.

[tsofian]

I am not sure if censoring is a good idea or even possible. The base has a mission to record TEOTWAWKI and according to the module hundreds of staffers are involved in gathering communications traffic. There are too many people who will be going through that traffic to keep secrets and I think it would be even worse for morale to do so, or try to do so

[cosmicfish]

Originally Posted by tsofian

I am not sure if censoring is a good idea or even possible. The base has a mission to record TEOTWAWKI and according to the module hundreds of staffers are involved in gathering communications traffic. There are too many people who will be going through that traffic to keep secrets and I think it would be even worse for morale to do so, or try to do so

Agreed. Not every detail needs to be disseminated, but outright censorship would be disastrous.

[ArmySGT.]

Originally Posted by tsofian

I was looking for something a bit more specific:
Did everyone in the base do an hours of yoga every day?
Was Physical activity mandatory?
Did everyone go to group therapy once a week?
Were there specific types of therapy or counseling that might prove more effective?
How big a staff of therapists were available?
Was there a weekly movie night? Was the holographic room used as a planetarium so people could "see" the night sky?
Was there some form of periscope leave?
Was there a large amount of craft equipment kept for therapy (model building, wood working, pottery, painting etc.)?
So very little is better for moral than sex. Did the Project have professional sex therapists/surrogates that provided more intimate services than just talking therapy?
Was the water in the base chlorinated, fluoridated AND thorizinated (just a joke)

What if someone in the base absolutely could not deal with it? Would they be frozen? Was there an "Island of Misfit Toys" bolt hole someplace were all the people who couldn't handle Prime Base were basically stashed? If that place was Prime Base did the frozen patients survive the plague? Could a group of player characters wake them up? If so this could lead to some very strange adventures!

I for one include some mundane social aspects to Prime Base not specifically found in any other, except the Backup. Food courts, a mini mall, intramural sports, a nickel arcade, cigar bar, karaoke bar. Spread about the cylinders.

During the screening..... socially awkward and people that prefer small social circles or very limited contact.. "cyber hermits"...... would be screened out.

Morrow Project training must include extended "Shelter stays" were the TMP members are kept indoors and underground shelters for 14 to 21 days...... an anti radiation exposure protocol. Those that can't handle this would be screen outs from working at Prime, Backup, and probably Regional bases. There is probably a larger population of Air Force and Navy veterans versus other branches in this type of assignment.

It wouldnt hurt to assign people a "Social job" in addition to their regular job. So a Comms tech could be a lifeguard at the pool. A Sat Recon specialist could be one of several MCs for karaoke night.

Clubs would be encouraged and given space and time gather...... Can you imagine the RC car club having races in the Support Cylinder. Choirs, Bands, and bad poetry readings abound.

There is room for physical clubs like stair climbers racings, indoor 5k and 10k runs, room for a climbing wall in the Motor Pool. Tai Chi, yoga, and calisthenics can all be group activities with highly motivated practitioners.

Lastly, Art....... I don't understand the importance of sterile walls...... I would have murals, reproductions of famous painting and sculpture. I would have various walls were children are encouraged to create.

Playgrounds wouldn't be a bad idea either.

[mmartin798]

If we think of Prime Base as an aircraft carrier sized submarine, then Sgt. depiction fits well. Prime Base may also work on an 18 hour day like submariners do as well: 6 hours on duty, 6 hours off duty and 6 hours sleeping. At least during the buttoned up phase of operation.

[Matt W]

How did the Project plan to deal with the psychological issues that the crew of Prime Base would face in the period between their entry into the base and the point when the Project would become active?


1. Professional-based Crisis Intervention
Prime Base has several (perhaps as many as 20) mental health professionals who can provide counselling and therapy using various techniques, for example cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). They would hold regular one-on-one "debriefing" sessions with all personnel (at least once per month). They would have the authority to prescribe all forms of therapy (up to and including pharmaceuticals).

2. Mental Health Peer Support
EVERYONE receives training in counselling skills:
Skills include (but are not limited to) listening, paraphrasing and reflecting skills, questioning, and providing feedback

EVERYONE is taught about the effects of loss and grief, of stress and distress.

EVERYONE is trained to have an understanding of suicide/suicidal behavior.

EVERYONE is trained to have an understanding of the requirements of confidentiality and ethical behavior within the peer support role.

3. Training in Coping Strategies and Techniques
All Project personnel receive (personalised) guidance in how to preserve their mental health. For example, humour, "distraction" or meditation are all valid methods of coping with stress and disaster.

[in a game context, "Coping Strategies and Techniques" provides a reason for the "shoebox of personal stuff" that many PDs allow for player characters ]

4. Outdoor Life vs Indoor Life
IMHO, the subterranean sections are not intended for permanent occupation. Radiation and other hazards might mean that shelter is required for an initial few weeks or months but - after that - the plan would be for people to live and work outside Prime Base.

[cosmicfish]

Originally Posted by Matt W

4. Outdoor Life vs Indoor Life
IMHO, the subterranean sections are not intended for permanent occupation. Radiation and other hazards might mean that shelter is required for an initial few weeks or months but - after that - the plan would be for people to live and work outside Prime Base.

This is the only one I have a problem with.

First, conditions outside the base could reasonably make the nearby area unlivable for some number of years after the war - a stray nuke gets too close, and you won't want little Timmy playing outside until the radiation levels drop! The base and its personnel HAD to be prepared to stay underground for years.

Second, even without the NBC issues, basic security protocols will force Prime Base to maintain secrecy essentially as long as it is needed. The site was chosen for its desolation, a permanent community of hundreds or thousands of people out in the middle of the desert is going to eventually pinpoint the location as a major facility.

Third, an external Morrow town would require external Morrow protection. Can Prime Base spare the personnel to guard the gates of this proposed town? If a significant enemy force approached, (forgetting for the moment about secrecy) could Prime Base even defend it?

Last, but not least, where do the resources (human and material) come from to build this town? Does Prime Base have that many carpenters and plumbers? Can they justify the room to store hundreds or thousands of prefab houses and other facilities?

Personally, I think the base personnel are just going to have to suck it up, and testing for the ability to do so would need to be part of the screening. As for dependents, well... I can see three options:

1) Don't bring any. Seriously, select PB personnel from those with no dependents. Most are likely to be recruited in or immediately after their college years anyway, enforce on them at recruitment that signing on means not having kids and not forming any dependent relationships with anyone outside the Project.

2) Freeze em. Have a facility at or near PB where dependents can slumber away in cold sleep until a safe village can be established. Maybe they get lucky and it's a matter of months, maybe they don't and its a decade.

3) Combination of the two. Try to only recruit those without dependents, but if you really need Jane Physicist, then her somehow-unfit-for-the-Project husband can join her kids in cryo sleep and she'll just have to wait it out.

I personally like the last option, as it seems to balance the flexibility needed for recruiting while minimizing the non-contributing headcount. Plus, either of the last two options turn the "bury the kids" part of the original module into a "rescue the kids" part, and as a father I really like that idea better.

[mmartin798]

Originally Posted by cosmicfish

Second, even without the NBC issues, basic security protocols will force Prime Base to maintain secrecy essentially as long as it is needed. The site was chosen for its desolation, a permanent community of hundreds or thousands of people out in the middle of the desert is going to eventually pinpoint the location as a major facility.

Third, an external Morrow town would require external Morrow protection. Can Prime Base spare the personnel to guard the gates of this proposed town? If a significant enemy force approached, (forgetting for the moment about secrecy) could Prime Base even defend it?

These two reasons are key to why Prime Base fell according to canon. Insurgents followed the crowds walking into the wilderness and security was insufficient to detect and then eventually deal with the situation. Keeping these "problems" will give you the outcome at Prime Base we have already seen. As story telling plot devices, these may not be problematic.

[cosmicfish]

Originally Posted by mmartin798

These two reasons are key to why Prime Base fell according to canon. Insurgents followed the crowds walking into the wilderness and security was insufficient to detect and then eventually deal with the situation. Keeping these "problems" will give you the outcome at Prime Base we have already seen. As story telling plot devices, these may not be problematic.

I know that is why the Base fell, but creating a permanent Morrow colony would be even worse than a temporary aid station because it would be larger, permanent, constantly linked to the Base through heavy traffic, and utterly impossible to abandon. With so many people involved in the planning of the Project, I find it hard to believe that the idea of external settlement would be accepted as a realistic possibility.

[mmartin798]

Originally Posted by cosmicfish

I know that is why the Base fell, but creating a permanent Morrow colony would be even worse than a temporary aid station because it would be larger, permanent, constantly linked to the Base through heavy traffic, and utterly impossible to abandon. With so many people involved in the planning of the Project, I find it hard to believe that the idea of external settlement would be accepted as a realistic possibility.

In its operational phase, you will have air traffic from the runway and helipad already making the location fairly obvious once it become common place to ship out custom parts, bring in samples, etc. Once that happens, some surface structures would just start to make sense. It seems likely that eventually you will have a semi-permanent settlement on the surface at or very near Prime Base. The only real question is when.

[cosmicfish]

Originally Posted by mmartin798

In its operational phase, you will have air traffic from the runway and helipad already making the location fairly obvious once it become common place to ship out custom parts, bring in samples, etc. Once that happens, some surface structures would just start to make sense. It seems likely that eventually you will have a semi-permanent settlement on the surface at or very near Prime Base. The only real question is when.

And my point is that those are all Project assets, people for whom risking their lives is part of the job description and whose loss is an unfortunate cost of doing business. You do not necessarily need a "safe zone" to have those assets exposed and in use, but you DO need one to have your civilians out. How long does it take to secure things adequately to take that risk? I would be surprised if there was a "good" situation where you really felt you could secure the area and assemble housing and overcome the other problems in less than a year or two. And security concerns are likely to drive that back a couple of years more. At the point where you are so free to operate openly, it probably makes more sense to move major operations out of Nevada anyway!

Heck, if I were designing Prime and Second Base, I would design Prime to be in charge for the first 2-5 years and design Second to take over once open operations were possible. Prime Base needs to be tremendously secret and secure to get to and through the first stages of the Project, getting through after that has very different design considerations!

[mmartin798]

Originally Posted by cosmicfish

And my point is that those are all Project assets, people for whom risking their lives is part of the job description and whose loss is an unfortunate cost of doing business. You do not necessarily need a "safe zone" to have those assets exposed and in use, but you DO need one to have your civilians out. How long does it take to secure things adequately to take that risk? I would be surprised if there was a "good" situation where you really felt you could secure the area and assemble housing and overcome the other problems in less than a year or two. And security concerns are likely to drive that back a couple of years more. At the point where you are so free to operate openly, it probably makes more sense to move major operations out of Nevada anyway!

Heck, if I were designing Prime and Second Base, I would design Prime to be in charge for the first 2-5 years and design Second to take over once open operations were possible. Prime Base needs to be tremendously secret and secure to get to and through the first stages of the Project, getting through after that has very different design considerations!

I do see where you are coming from and agree the security risk arising from being overrun by refugees, warlords and religious fanatics in the early years if Prime has a more or less permanent surface structure is great. A permanent settlement in the early years is problem. But we are talking about people with families and the desire to get back to a "normal" existence again. What policies were in place for this is the question. One that gets very murky.

The Counsel of Tomorrow was assembled by Bruce Morrow. He told them what he saw and must have had a way to reasonably prove he traveled time. Prime Base is part of the plan the CoT was working toward, but Bruce Morrow wanted no knowledge of its location. How much of the leadership adopted a similar viewpoint, assigning plans for Prime Bases location and construction to the equivalent of a Special Access Program. Only those in the SAP would know where Prime Base would be and what the operational protocols would be with no oversight and review except in a need to know situation. The members would most likely be engineers, psychologist and the workers building and planning for many years underground. Those with extensive military and security backgrounds would have been pressed into the role of instructors doing combat training for team members as they enter the Project and not available to be in the SAP. Security planning might get limited to operational security during construction. As such, the discussions mentioned in the Prime Base module that lead to building the settlement could have been discussed prior to the war and considered acceptable risks. This would seem to be supported by the lack of sound military planning during the failed rescue and the porous security perimeter that allowed insurgents to bring in two WMDs into the settlement.

Better planning could have been done, that is a given. The compartmentalized secrecy in the Project tends to work against coordination and sharing of limited resources.

[cosmicfish]

Originally Posted by mmartin798

I do see where you are coming from and agree the security risk arising from being overrun by refugees, warlords and religious fanatics in the early years if Prime has a more or less permanent surface structure is great. A permanent settlement in the early years is problem. But we are talking about people with families and the desire to get back to a "normal" existence again. What policies were in place for this is the question. One that gets very murky.

But also one that should have been addressed in multiple ways before PB was even staffed. The staff at PB could not be the kind of people who seriously needed to get back to a "normal" existence any time soon, any more than the field teams could be the kind of people who wanted to lead ordinarily selfish lives without risk of violence. If they cannot find people able and willing to live underground for 5 years (rough estimate), and then enforce it, then they cannot have Prime Base!

Originally Posted by mmartin798

The Counsel of Tomorrow was assembled by Bruce Morrow. He told them what he saw and must have had a way to reasonably prove he traveled time. Prime Base is part of the plan the CoT was working toward, but Bruce Morrow wanted no knowledge of its location. How much of the leadership adopted a similar viewpoint, assigning plans for Prime Bases location and construction to the equivalent of a Special Access Program.

I've worked those kinds of programs, and while the details must necessarily be compartmented the overall philosophy and SOP's cannot. Otherwise you wind up with Thunderdome (tm). BEM is a bit of a special case because he is a time traveler, but the CoT had to have a few people shoulder-deep in planning Prime Base.

Originally Posted by mmartin798

Only those in the SAP would know where Prime Base would be and what the operational protocols would be with no oversight and review except in a need to know situation.

Without a general awareness of how PB operates, the entire rest of the Project cannot even really start. You can't set up comminications or command protocols, you cannot lay in appropriate supplies or plan distribution networks, etc. There is a reason that half the people authorized on special access programs don't show up for the meetings - they're in charge of related projects that need a certain amount of information in order for their own projects to work. Or they're in charge of integrating the SAP product into a cohesive force.

Originally Posted by mmartin798

The members would most likely be engineers, psychologist and the workers building and planning for many years underground. Those with extensive military and security backgrounds would have been pressed into the role of instructors doing combat training for team members as they enter the Project and not available to be in the SAP. Security planning might get limited to operational security during construction. As such, the discussions mentioned in the Prime Base module that lead to building the settlement could have been discussed prior to the war and considered acceptable risks. This would seem to be supported by the lack of sound military planning during the failed rescue and the porous security perimeter that allowed insurgents to bring in two WMDs into the settlement.

This plays into one of the basic problems with PB in particular, TMP* in general, and fiction in very general. TMP starts off with the idea that these very competent were recruited, given tremendous resources and the advantage of knowing the future, but them for narrative purposes suddenly turn incompetent when called upon to do the exact jobs they trained for! Yes, the description of the fall of PB demonstrates a tremendous lack of planning and there are a number of inexplicably poor decisions, but the problem with letting all that stand (much less using it as the inspiration for more bad planning and decisions!) is that you can't build off of stupid. At least, you can't build smart off of stupid.

These are supposed to be competent people, if they are going to make predictably bad decisions, there needs to be a good reason why it would happen, otherwise they weren't competent. And if they weren't competent, then the game starts to look like Paranoia.

Incidentally, I always thought that the planners should have sought out a good ballistic missile sub commander to run PB. Get someone who has already been trained for isolation and to manage a ridiculously huge responsibility, and then give them a decade of additional training and experience putting the Project together - they wouldn't bat an eye at doing what needed to be done even when it was what they didn't want to do.

[cosmicfish]

Originally Posted by tsofian

No wonder they let the colony happen. How did the project think the kind of people they hoped to attract could be put in that situation and not act?

I just wanted to point out, one of the purposes of training (almost ANY kind) is to hammer it into people that the right thing to do is not always what they want to do. Some of the nicest people I've ever known were doctors who got into medicine to help people, and yet these same people will strap people to beds and saw off limbs and pull the plug on someone they can no longer help. Despite being "the kind of people <medicine> hoped to attract", their training hammered it into their heads that winning the game takes sacrifice, and the moment you forget that you lose.

I think it is really underselling the Project and the game to say that the people they relied on most couldn't keep it together but that the players, at the bottom of the org chart, are going to somehow find the moral strength to bring the Project back from the dead. I don't see how to justify that.

[mmartin798]

Originally Posted by cosmicfish

But also one that should have been addressed in multiple ways before PB was even staffed. The staff at PB could not be the kind of people who seriously needed to get back to a "normal" existence any time soon, any more than the field teams could be the kind of people who wanted to lead ordinarily selfish lives without risk of violence. If they cannot find people able and willing to live underground for 5 years (rough estimate), and then enforce it, then they cannot have Prime Base!



I've worked those kinds of programs, and while the details must necessarily be compartmented the overall philosophy and SOP's cannot. Otherwise you wind up with Thunderdome (tm). BEM is a bit of a special case because he is a time traveler, but the CoT had to have a few people shoulder-deep in planning Prime Base.




Without a general awareness of how PB operates, the entire rest of the Project cannot even really start. You can't set up comminications or command protocols, you cannot lay in appropriate supplies or plan distribution networks, etc. There is a reason that half the people authorized on special access programs don't show up for the meetings - they're in charge of related projects that need a certain amount of information in order for their own projects to work. Or they're in charge of integrating the SAP product into a cohesive force.


This plays into one of the basic problems with PB in particular, TMP* in general, and fiction in very general. TMP starts off with the idea that these very competent were recruited, given tremendous resources and the advantage of knowing the future, but them for narrative purposes suddenly turn incompetent when called upon to do the exact jobs they trained for! Yes, the description of the fall of PB demonstrates a tremendous lack of planning and there are a number of inexplicably poor decisions, but the problem with letting all that stand (much less using it as the inspiration for more bad planning and decisions!) is that you can't build off of stupid. At least, you can't build smart off of stupid.

These are supposed to be competent people, if they are going to make predictably bad decisions, there needs to be a good reason why it would happen, otherwise they weren't competent. And if they weren't competent, then the game starts to look like Paranoia.

Incidentally, I always thought that the planners should have sought out a good ballistic missile sub commander to run PB. Get someone who has already been trained for isolation and to manage a ridiculously huge responsibility, and then give them a decade of additional training and experience putting the Project together - they wouldn't bat an eye at doing what needed to be done even when it was what they didn't want to do.

I never meant to imply that everything is compartmentalized to the extent nothing is shared. Communication protocols and the like would be shared. But there is a great deal that would not be shared by competent people that does not in and of itself mean they became incompetent. Politics and decisions about what is need to know can happen that result in really bad results. In retrospect, it can be seen as they made some bad calls and can set up procedures to address them. But that still does not mean that the best plan by the best minds does not have a hidden flaw.

Many examples of this exist with and without overt secrecy. Computer operating systems, with their millions of lines of code, have flaws. This does not mean that the army of programmers are incompetent, just that they do not have the time to audit all the code for unforeseen interactions that lead to vulnerabilities that can be exploited. For an example of policies that involve secrecy, you need not look any further back in time than the failure of the FBI and CIA to share intel marked as need to know information that, if they had, could have radically changed the events of 9/11.

Prime Base shares both of these issues. It is a huge project and, according to game canon, the location and many operational details are the biggest secret in the Project. Some rational decisions that might have been made include limiting security in Prime Base under the assumption that they can just active a number of MARS teams on demand. The fact that the Prime Base commander did not do this does not immediately make them incompetent either. It could just be hubris and when the situation grew too large, medical was reporting a disease that they could not identify that was killing them. Is the competent decision then to call in MARS teams that could become infected or try to institute a quarantine with people on hand already exposed?

Ultimately we have to remember this is a game that tells stories. If there are a couple deus ex machina that are used to get things going, so be it.

[Project_Sardonicus]

This is a fascinating subject and proof for my thoughts that a proper Morrow campaign would either be dark or ridiculous.

Look at this way lets see Prime Base has 500 staff, about standard for a far more modest UK ROTA bunker. They don't work for the government or even the military they work for a shady, illegal corporate body.

So they're going to sit nice and safe underground with lights and food and clean water etc etc Maybe even a couple of game stations whilst the world goes to hell around them? If you read books on NORAD and similar institutions there were severe doubts from the commanders that a significant percentage of crews would turn up or even fulfill their duties.

Their families, friends and pets are reduced to radioactive ash or eating each other? What kind of person wouldn't hop in an armoured vehicle or chopper and round up their family and bring them to safety? Not just on day one but on every day of the 5 years the project would be operating just observing?

So for my campaign a few ideas kick in

1 The Prime Base overwatch staff are primairly made up of loners. People with no families, subjects of bitter divorces who never want to see their families again. The kind of people who wouldn't crack the door open for any reason.

2 No kids and preferably no sex at all. This is a 5 year submarine mission any stress from relationship conflicts will cause problems, not to mention any kids and it gets crowded fast. So contraceptive injections compulsory.

3 The crew can't really be trusted so all weapons are locked away, all communications outwards are blocked and the doors are time locked.

4 Maybe a couple of human therapists. But mostly everyone has to do a couple of hours a week on a computerised cognitive behaviour program that attaches to the powerful AI actually running the base. This AI on a day by day basis decides access to key systems, what drugs staff are on (anti anxiety depressives), whether someone needs to go into cold storage and perhaps if a crew member is to dangerous to even live.

Like I say the project is absolutely not an accountable government body.

This creates an atmosphere where by the time the 5 years are up not only the Primebase crew most likely a pale skinned, race of drug addicted morlocks. But they're the polar opposite of the Recon teams they'll be waking up.

You can almost see how Krell becomes an inevitability.

[Project_Sardonicus]

Originally Posted by cosmicfish

I suspect that there would be a small team of therapists on staff whose job would be to monitor everyone and find whatever THEY need to keep going. Some might do yoga, others might do movies, etc.

But I would not expect that many of them required much attention. Remember that they were all carefully selected, highly trained, highly motivated, very busy, and doing exactly what they all new would help. A few might have minor problems, and maybe one or two would snap, but yes, they could give them some degree of therapy and/or medication and if necessary freeze them.

I'm not sure how selective the project got to be.

I mean lets say theres a finite number of people with the skills and natural apptitude to do many of the key tasks. Recon dangerous groups, lead to cavalry raids on the bad survivors etc. Whilst still being able to learn complex technical tasks, advanced first aid etc.

Sounds close to the kind of people the Green Berets want.

And that's just the project "grunts." You also need a plethora of specialized skills you'll need some amazing teachers if you want the post apocalyptic world to read. Architects, engineers and which every flavour of medical expert you don't get well that skills gone for good.

Then these people need to be in to the project, leave their entire world behind and be part of the big bold Morrow future.

Honestly I think you'll get a lot of.

1 Dodgy barely suitable people who can't be done without (Dr House as chief medical officer for the project?)

2 People who are straight up kidnapped and frozen till after the end of the world.

3 People who have all the right mental physical traits but no useful skill. And are trained by the project for years, I could picture there being a Morrow orphanage rather like Professor X's academy. The people coming out possibly forming a fanatical, Morrow, Praetorian guard.

4 People who are recruited in the early days of TEOFTWAWKI. Mushroom clouds are great recruitment tools.

[ArmySGT.]

Originally Posted by Project_Sardonicus

T
So for my campaign a few ideas kick in

1 The Prime Base overwatch staff are primairly made up of loners. People with no families, subjects of bitter divorces who never want to see their families again. The kind of people who wouldn't crack the door open for any reason.

2 No kids and preferably no sex at all. This is a 5 year submarine mission any stress from relationship conflicts will cause problems, not to mention any kids and it gets crowded fast. So contraceptive injections compulsory.

3 The crew can't really be trusted so all weapons are locked away, all communications outwards are blocked and the doors are time locked.

4 Maybe a couple of human therapists. But mostly everyone has to do a couple of hours a week on a computerised cognitive behaviour program that attaches to the powerful AI actually running the base. This AI on a day by day basis decides access to key systems, what drugs staff are on (anti anxiety depressives), whether someone needs to go into cold storage and perhaps if a crew member is to dangerous to even live.

Like I say the project is absolutely not an accountable government body.

This creates an atmosphere where by the time the 5 years are up not only the Primebase crew most likely a pale skinned, race of drug addicted morlocks. But they're the polar opposite of the Recon teams they'll be waking up.

You can almost see how Krell becomes an inevitability.

or this creates "Paranoia" the RPG........ which is one of my favorites BTW.

[bobcat]

my question is the "awake" contingent during the war and 5 years of observation doesn't really need to be as big as the main element for when the project really kicks off. the manpower requirement to maintain the base and record whats going on outside is much smaller than what would be required to actually coordinate all of the teams, provide them with intel, run the logistical systems to rebuild post-war, and everything else prime base would be called upon to do. having most of the base staff in cryo until they're needed would help solve many of the morale and mental health issues that have been mentioned and would also reduce the amount of food that the base has to stockpile for that time significantly.

[ArmySGT.]

Originally Posted by bobcat

my question is the "awake" contingent during the war and 5 years of observation doesn't really need to be as big as the main element for when the project really kicks off. the manpower requirement to maintain the base and record whats going on outside is much smaller than what would be required to actually coordinate all of the teams, provide them with intel, run the logistical systems to rebuild post-war, and everything else prime base would be called upon to do. having most of the base staff in cryo until they're needed would help solve many of the morale and mental health issues that have been mentioned and would also reduce the amount of food that the base has to stockpile for that time significantly.

Which is my reasoning why the base staff doesn't need to be 250+ on War Day. Most of the Base personnel should have been in cryosleep like 99.99% of the Project.

Personnally I am leaning more to the deliberate sabotage by elements infiltrated within the Morrow Project than I am the Nuke/Bioagent story line of Warriors of Krell.