New Setting, Background, Character Creation, etc.

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New Setting, Background, Character Creation, etc.

Post by patransom »

Setting

The setting for the game restart is the planet Earth in the year 2009. Most of the action will take place in the United States of America and characters are assumed to speak English as their default starting language.

The average person would notice few significant differences between the game world and the real world that you and I live in. There are some minor historical differences – like the New Orleans Saints NFL franchise moving to San Antonio after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 – but, as far as most people know, world geopolitics, science, technology, climate, popular culture, etc. are consistent with our real world.

As you'll see below, though, the world is not what it seems. Strange things lurk just outside the perception of ordinary people…


Character Background

All characters are assumed to have the following shared elements in their background. If you feel like writing up more details specific to your character, that's fine (and I'll probably hand out some bonus XP for those that do).


Your life was perfectly normal and uninteresting until sometime in the summer of 2006. That's when the dreams started. In these unusually vivid and realistic dreams, you found yourself a heroic character in a foreign world – a world with a weird combination of advanced technology and magic where you fought monsters and villains. As time passed, these dreams began to recur night after night. They recurred, but did not repeat themselves. Instead, each night's dream seemed to build on what happened the previous night, as if your subconscious was telling you a story.

After a year or more of these dreams, you could stand it no more. You had to find out the source of these dreams or unlock the meaning behind them. Were the dreams somehow more than dreams? Were they memories of a past life? Were they a message from some outside source? You quit or took a leave of absence from your job and everyday life in order to pursue answers to those questions.



If your character is a "reincarnation" of your character from the previous game (more on this later), then the dreams essentially told the story of your role in that game. If your character is brand new, then the dreams told some other, equally weird, story – maybe something from another RPG you've played. Up to you. It is possible that your character also had some other encounter with the occult or unexplained phenomena that drove him or her to make this life change – a Bigfoot sighting, a vampire attack, strange lights in the sky, etc. Up to you. It's something you can expand on in your background, if you want.


Eventually, your search led you to an unexpected source of answers: The Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., specifically the Smithsonian's Esoteric Studies Program (ESP). ESP, a little-known branch of a famous organization, has for decades been quietly seeking out people like yourself – people who have had strange, unexplained experiences and who possess the skills and will to seek explanations. After a few interviews and odd tests that took place in the basement of the National Postal Museum, the helpful ESP staff revealed a few facts to you:
Esoteric Studies Program Introductory Brochure wrote:
Shadow, Sensitives, and the Smithsonian

The world is not as it seems. Magic and monsters – like the things you've seen in your dreams – exist. Things most people think of as pure fiction – magic spells, mental powers, vampires, werewolves, mummies – are all too real. The Smithsonian categorizes these things as "Shadow."

Though the monsters exist, few people can see them as they truly are. Most people are blissfully ignorant of the nature of the threat that encroaches on us all. Their minds can't comprehend the strangeness, so they see what they expect to see. Faced with magic or otherworldly creatures, they dismiss it as a costume or a trick of the light – at least until the final moments when it's too late.

For whatever reason – fate, divine intervention, genetics, and ancient curse, or even coincidence – some small subset of the human race is predisposed to awareness of Shadow, of what lurks beyond the perception of most people. The Smithsonian categorizes these people as "sensitives." In the past, such people have been called seers, parapsychologists, fortune-tellers, mystics, or (most often) lunatics.

Throughout history, groups of sensitives have banded together to protect oblivious humanity from the threats represented by the monsters in the shadows, and from the less scrupulous sensitives who would use magic and monsters for personal gain. Since the organization's founding, the Smithsonian Institution has included sensitives on its staff (the professions of archeology and history seem to draw sensitives like flies). The Institution has been the U.S.'s primary source of research on, and defense against, Shadow.

During the early years, the Smithsonian focused on collecting and securing magical knowledge and ancient artifacts useful in the fight against Shadow. This arsenal, along with Smithsonian staff trained in its use, was loaned out to various other organizations in the U.S. government (usually the military, law enforcement agencies, and, oddly enough, the Postal Service) as needed.

The Esoteric Studies Program (ESP) was formed within the Institution in the late 1960's, under the leadership of a gentleman named Manuel Sorian, to serve as the primary U.S. organization in dealing with Shadow. This provided a more centralized approach to dealing with these matters and eliminated complications in dealing with other government agencies, whose leaders often included non-sensitives unable to comprehend the need to draw on the Smithsonian's resources.

In cooperation with the Smithsonian's Office of Protection Services (OPS), ESP began training field teams of agents, called "Gamma Teams," to deal directly with Shadow threats. Gamma Teams are made up of sensitives, often with military or law enforcement backgrounds, and sometimes include persons with innate magical or psionic talents of their own.

After 9/11, ESP and its Gamma Teams were given joint status as a branch of the newly formed Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Within DHS, ESP is known as "Department-7." Although ESP remains organizationally within the Smithsonian Institution, this joint status allows Gamma Team members to carry identification as agents of Homeland Security. This can sometimes aid in securing the assistance of local law enforcement agencies. Institution policy, however, recommends maintaining as low a profile as possible, to avoid general panic among the non-sensitive public.
Although the ESP staff could not conclusively explain your strange dreams, they confirmed that the dreams (along with your other experiences, as appropriate) marked you as a sensitive. Combined with your skills and background, your sensitivity made you an ideal candidate for a Gamma Team. Relieved to learn you weren't going insane, you jumped at the opportunity…

You have spent the last 9 months in intensive training at various ESP facilities hidden in and around Washington, D.C., including in the basement of the National Portrait Gallery, the laboratories at the Air and Space Museum Annex, and the restricted-access lots behind the National Zoo. With the completion of your Gamma Team training, the strange dreams have finally stopped, and you are ready to take on your first assignment…
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Re: New Setting, Background, Character Creation, etc.

Post by patransom »

Character Creation

In creating your character, you can choose to "reincarnate" your Gamma World/Brave New Perearth character – essentially rebuilding the character as best you can using the d20 modern ruleset and the instructions below (Oldin might become a dedicated hero, Shareev would probably be a smart hero, etc). Or you could "reincarnate" one of the NPC/ex-PC characters from the game (Leenah, Ruadhnait, Jiam, Vulan, Amon). Or you can create an entirely new character. If you want, you could try to create yourself as a d20 character. Or you can use some combination of those things (a little of the old character, a little of yourself, a little of some new concepts). If you are "reincarnating" your old character, it might be cool to update their name to something modern American (Aeless might become Aaron, Thanis might become Thomas, etc.).

Sources

All material from the MSRD, including the d20 Core Rulebook and Urban Arcana, is fair game. Generic (non-superscience) material from d20 Future is okay, as long as it stays consistent with the setting (generally nothing above PL5). I don't have many non-SRD or 3rd party d20 Modern sources, but material from those sources might be okay, upon approval.

Starting Level, Class, Occupation, Race, Hit Points

We will start at 2nd level, but I anticipate leveling up quickly. So you'll only be using the six d20 base classes at first, but advanced classes should open up to you before too long.

I have rudimentary TOS+ versions of the base classes attached to this post. Mostly, they steal directly from shai-hulud's initial work on the d20 update to TOS+. They require some additional customization (typing in and adding effects for your talents, occupation, etc.), but I think most of the players in this game are pretty experienced at dealing with custom classes. If you have trouble working with these templates, let me know. Remember to set the sheet to the d20 modern skill set before you go too far in creating your character.

Occupation represents what you did before joining ESP. Most of the occupations from the sources above are okay, within reason (for example, Squire from Urban Arcana doesn't make very much sense for this setting; neither does Colonist from d20 Future).

Race should be human, although I might be talked into allowing a covert moreau, or a half-elf or half-orc who can pass for human…

Hit points will be max at each level. You'll need them. I think I will house-rule the massive damage threshold to 50 points, like it is in D&D, to assist with your survivability.

Ability Scores

You have several options:
  1. Take the ability scores, as originally rolled, from your existing Gamma World/Brave New Perearth character. This would be appropriate if you are reincarnating that character, although it's not required (you can reroll your abilities if you want).
  2. Roll 4d6, drop lowest, arrange as desired.
  3. Roll 4d6 in order (STR, DEX, CON, INT, WIS, CHA), drop lowest, reroll any one, switch any two.
If you are rolling, you can have me roll for you, roll using invisible castle, or we can meet up in the chat section and you can do the dice rolls there. If your rolls result in no ability score of 15 or higher, or a total ability score bonus of less than +2, you can start over.

Wealth, Equipment

You can start with a wealth bonus of +8 (the average you would otherwise roll) and then add the wealth bonus (if any) from your starting occupation and any other bonuses (from the profession skill or the Windfall feat). So, if your starting occupation is Academic, your starting wealth bonus would be +11 (8+3 from your occupation).

Wealth in this campaign represents not only your personal finances, but also your credibility/standing within ESP. Therefore, it reflects your ability to obtain gear from the organization, as well as on your own, and magic items are available from the Smithsonian's hidden stores of ancient artifacts – if you can afford them.

Assume you are able to take 20 on the wealth check for all of your starting equipment. Therefore, you can have as much gear as you want with a purchase DC < your starting wealth bonus (within reason, of course). The most expensive item you can afford would be 20+your starting wealth bonus. Each item of expensive gear (DC > wealth) will reduce your wealth bonus according to the table in the Wealth section of the MSRD (p 91 of the core rulebook, if you have it).

To avoid annoying rolling, assume any item with a DC 11 to 15 points higher than your current wealth bonus reduces your bonus by 3 (4 if its DC is 15 or greater). Any item with a DC 16 or more points higher than your current wealth bonus reduces your bonus by 6 (7 if its DC is 15 or greater, which it would have to be).

You can use the treasure sheet of TOS+ to track your wealth bonus. The attached character (Mr. Academic Goes Shopping) shows how and has an example of how to track your purchases.

The starting equipment purchase process still may not be clear, so let me know if you're confused…

Edit: For items that require some form of license (including guns), assume you have the required paperwork by virtue of being a government employee with Homeland Security credentials. This will avoid the wealth check involved with licensing and applies to restrictions including "license", "restricted", and "military." Items with a restriction of "illegal" will be handled on a case-by-case basis.

Another edit: I've posted a spreadsheet here to (hopefully) simplify the starting equipment purchase process.
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