Oblivion

Oblivion is the new Tom Cruise sci-fi action film that came out a few weeks ago. I finally got around to seeing it, and thought about what I took away from the movie for use in the game.
To say the least...Spoliers ahead.

Something Useful: Random Adventure Generator

Okay, I'm outright lifting this idea from the late 80's West End Games Ghostbusters RPG. One of the fun and useful things their GM's manual had (along with a load of fun adventure hooks in the back) was a random adventure generator. I added an extra table for the time period and changed the people and places, but it's pretty much the same idea as Ghostbusters used.

Just roll two dice for each table, read the numbers one at a time, and voilà! Or just cherry pick some ideas into useful story if that works for you.

TABLE ONE: CHARACTERS  (WHO?)

1-1  Reality TV/ Documentary Film Crew
1-2  Crew of Smugglers
1-3  Tourists
1-4  Minor Government Official
1-5  Amateur Paranormal Researcher
1-6  University Professor
2-1  A Professional Musician/ Singer
2-2  Priest/Cleric
2-3  Disguised Alien
2-4  Artificial Intelligence/ Robot
2-5  A Famous Celebrity/ Historical Figure
2-6  Homeless People
3-1  Wealthy Family
3-2  Private Investigator
3-3  Scientists
3-4  Work Crew
3-5  Farmers
3-6  Diplomats
4-1  Friends on a Road Trip
4-2  A Rock Band
4-3  Spies
4-4  Bar/ Pub patrons
4-5  Police/Military Squad
4-6  Teenagers
5-1  Medical Staff
5-2  Campaigning Politician
5-3  Archaeologist
5-4  Prince/ Princess
5-5  Mobster/ Organized Crime
5-6  Refugees
6-1  Resistance Fighters
6-2  Fugitives
6-3  Journalist/ Writer
6-4  Circus Performers
6-5  Businessman 
6-6  Roll Two Times

TABLE TWO: TIME PERIOD/GENERAL LOCATION (WHEN?)

1-1  Imperial Rome
1-2  American Civil War
1-3  Old West
1-4  Revolutionary France
1-5  Victorian England/Late 19th Century America
1-6  World War II
2-1  The Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire
2-2  1950's
2-3  Medieval Times
2-4  Tudor England
2-5  Pre-Columbian America
2-6  Modern Day
3-1  Post Human Abandoned Earth
3-2  The Cyberwars
3-3  Edwardian Britain/Prohibition Era America
3-4  1960's
3-5  The 51st Century
3-6  Future Earth Colony
4-1  Draconian Empire
4-2  Dalek War Era
4-3  1980's
4-4  Late 21st Century Space Age
4-5  The Ice Age
4-6  The Galactic Alliance Era
5-1  Regency England/ Revolutionary America
5-2  1970's
5-3  A Long Time Ago in a Galaxy Far Far Away
5-4  Colonized Mars
5-5  1990's
5-6  Dalek Conquered Future
6-1  Ancient Egypt
6-2  Nondescript Alien world
6-3  Parallel Time Line
6-4  World War I
6-5  The 25th Century
6-6  Outside of Time and Space as we understand it


PART THREE: SPECIFIC LOCATION (WHERE?)

1-1  Mansion/ Large House
1-2  Research Facility
1-3  Space Station
1-4  Lighthouse
1-5  Office Building
1-6  Market/ Bazaar
2-1  Desert
2-2  Ship/ Sea Vessel
2-3  Sewers
2-4  Arctic Tundra
2-5  Hotel
2-6  Spaceship
3-1  Mine
3-2  Warehouse/ Industrial
3-3  Mountains
3-4  Apartment Complex
3-5  Jet Airliner/ Airship
3-6  Forest
4-1  Church
4-2  Museum
4-3  Restaurant/ Bar
4-4  Castle
4-5  Cemetery/ Crypt
4-6  Gated Community
5-1  Nightclub/ Lounge
5-2  Beach
5-3  Embassy
5-4  Swampland
5-5  Subway
5-6  Stadium/ Colosseum
6-1  Government Building
6-2  Military Base
6-3  Lakes/ Rivers
6-4  Moorland
6-5  Department Store
6-6  Historical Landmark

PART THREE: STRANGE PROBLEM (WHAT?)

1-1  Ancient Prophecy Being Fulfilled
1-2  Something Grows Mysteriously
1-3  Strange Weather
1-4  Lost Contact with Someone
1-5  Animated Vegetation
1-6  UFO Sightings
2-1  Unexplained Artifact
2-2  People Disappearing
2-3  Spontaneous Rioting
2-4  Out of Control Experiment
2-5  Unexplained Power Loss
2-6  Supposed Cryptids (Big Foot/Loch Ness Monster)
3-1  Ghosts
3-2  Something Shrinks Mysteriously
3-3  Things Appearing from Nowhere
3-4  Spontaneous Combustion
3-5  Animated Objects
3-6  Body Swapping
4-1  Things Vanishing
4-2  Apparent Invasion Panic
4-3  Temporal Displacement
4-4  Clones/ Duplicates
4-5  Mysterious Activities by Government/ Corporation
4-6  Walking Dead
5-1  Technology that Shouldn't Exist Yet
5-2  Unexplained Deaths
5-3  Nations at Brink of War
5-4  History has Gone Wrong
5-5  Village Full of Peculiarity
5-6  Presumed Hoax
6-1  Doorway to Another World
6-2  Dinosaurs
6-3  Things Changing into Something Else
6-4  Amnesia
6-5  Doomsday Device
6-6  Illusions




PART FOUR: SOURCE OF PROBLEM (WHO?)

1-1  Silurians (Three Eyed)
1-2  Ice Warriors
1-3  Raxacoricofallapatorians
1-4  Mad Scientists
1-5  Rutan
1-6  Catkind
2-1  Blowfish
2-2  Ogrons
2-3  Daleks (Post Time War)
2-4  Graske
2-5  Silurians (Lizard)
2-6  Judoon
3-1  Dominators
3-2  Cybermen (Cybus)
3-3  Spies
3-4  Autons
3-5  Abzorbaloff
3-6  Sontaran
4-1  Daleks (Pre- Time War)
4-2  Bane
4-3  Cryons
4-4  Wirrn
4-5  All Powerful Disembodied aliens
4-6  Osiran
5-1  Quarks
5-2  Dhravins
5-3  Kastrians
5-4  Cybermen (Invasion-Revenge Era)
5-5  Foamasi
5-6  Saturnyians
6-1  Zygons
6-2  Kraals
6-3  Cybermen (Earthshock)
6-4  Weeping Angels
6-5  Sea Devils
6-6  Daleks (New Paradigim)

Apollo 23: Base Diana

And here's my last post on Apollo 23. Focusing on the Setting of the adventure Base Diana.

 

Base Diana

Base Traits:
GOOD 

• Advanced Technology (x2)
• Computing Power
• Secret Base

BAD

• Alien Threat
• Unreliable Resource

The US Government started building Base Diana in the late 70's. Supposedly, the Apollo 17 was the last time man went to the moon, but in fact the missions continued in secret throughout the 70's and into the 80's. Modules for the construction of Base Diana were brought up throughout the 70's and the final components for the Quantum Displacement Field were brought on Apollo 22 in 1984.

Quantum Displacement Field

 The Quantum Displacement Field is the base's main lifeline to Earth. Simply by walking through the lines of mushroom shaped devices outside the base, you go from the airless moon to the desert of West Texas, a few miles away from Diana's Earth counterpart Base Hibiscus.

1. Main Airlock-  
 This is the primary entrance and exit to the outside, the main space suit locker is located here.
2. Communications Center -
The central computer and and main communication terminal to Earth is located here.
3. Medical Bay-
 The base has a fairly basic medical suite. Normally any serious medical cases are shuttled back to Earth via the Quantum Displacement Field. The Process Chamber for Professor Jackson's Alpha Wave Manipulator  is here as well.
4. Prisoner Receiving-
Any of the special prisoners are brought into the base via this access point, and taken to the lower level prison cells.
5. Quantum Displacement System-
The massive equipment that connects the Moonbase to Earth is here.
6. Section 9-
The supposedly empty section of the base is in fact the Talerian store house for people they have "Blanked" 

Adventure Hooks

Apollo 23 ends with the base being abandoned due to the loss of the quantum displacement field. Even so, the United States government has put a lot of effort into that facility, so it' seems unlikely they will simply leave it be. It's hinted in the story the facility eventually gets upgraded and repurposed as the penal colony featured in the classic series story Frontier in Space. So while the base may be temporarily uninhabited, it's likely to come back to life in the future.

• In a U.N.I.T. based campaign, when word about the facility gets out to other agencies, the US agrees to reopen it as an international outpost with multiple nations helping operate it. You could easily run a whole campaign around the idea of man's first tentative steps into space in the very hostile univers of Doctor Who.
• If the base is closed and has been that way for a while, what are these mysterious signals that are coming from the base now? A team of astronauts, scientists and hastily trained marines are sent back to the base to figure out what's happened.
• Maybe there really are Moonites and they are in league with the Rutan Host. So they may not be too thrilled about the humans taking up residence.

Weekend Write-Up: El Santo!

Doctor Who is noted for it's tendency to enter into just about any genre imaginable. From it's roots as a "historical" series for kids in the early days with Hartnell to it's flashy spy adventures during Pertwee's era and the Gothic horror of the early Tom Baker, the series has covered almost every imaginable...except one.

The Luchador Movie!

To quote Wikipedia

The sport of Lucha Libre (Mexican professional wrestling) became so popular in Mexico, that it spawned a genre of Luchador films (wrestling/action/science-fiction/horror films) starring some of the most popular masked luchadores in the sport. These masked superheroes engaged in battles against a range of characters from spies, to vampires and Martians. Luchador films were produced quickly on a modest budget and were reminiscent of American B-films. Nearly all lucha films included fist-fighting and wrestling action sequences which were choreographed and performed by the stars themselves without the aid of stunt doubles. The genre's popularity peaked during the mid-60s to early-70s.

And the icon of Lucha film is El Santo (The Saint) who starred in 52 films all together. It's easy to think of the Doctor as the national super hero of Great Britain, then Santo is without a doubt the national super hero of Mexico.

My idea is not so much to create a "historical" Santo based on the life of the actual man, but the larger than life super hero of the movies. A man who regularly fights off Martians, Vampires, Mad Scientists and the occasional Aztec Mummy would have no trouble at all fitting in with the Doctor.

 El Santo

Awareness 3
Coordination 5
Ingenuity  4
Presence 3
Resolve  4
Strength  4

Good Traits
Brave
Psychic Training
Tough

Bad Traits
Adversaries-multiple (major)
Code of Conduct - must wear mask at all time (major)
Distinctive- the whole world knows his name and that mask!


Skills
Athletics 4 (AoE: wrestling)
Fighting 4
Knowledge 5
Marksman 1
Science 3
Subterfuge 3

Tech Level 4 (1950's-60's)
Story Points 12

Legend of the wrestling ring and idol of millions, El Santo is not just a talented athlete but an all around Renaissance man and true hero for his efforts at stopping numerous villains who have threatened the world.  He's regularly contacted by various officials and world leaders to deal with unexpected and unusual problems that come up.

Adventure Hooks

Aztec Mummy Robots vs the World!- There has long been speculation of a connection between the ancient Aztecs and the Egyptians. The source of that connection is the Osirians. The ancient alien race that shaped the early history of humanity.  As part of Sutekh's battle plan, he hid a number of his service robots in a secret temple deep in the Amazon. When an archaeological dig uncovers the long hidden pyramid, it sets the robots off on an uncontrolled rampage. Thankfully the players and their new pal Santo are there to help stop them.

The Squared Circle - The planet Chanograt is being invaded by the Vl'hurgs. The Chanograti are a peaceful race and can do nothing against the villainous and powerful raiders. But the Vl'hurgs are a sporting race, and will call of the should the Chanograti find a Champion who can best their greatest warrior.  So the players hop off to Earth to recruit the most natural hero in this situation: El Santo!

Apollo 23: The Talerians

To start off this blog, I thought I'd do some in depth examination of one of the books from the New Series line. So I'm starting off with the first novel for the Eleventh Doctor, Apollo 23. This will be the second of three articles covering the book and aspects usable in the game.
 
 

Talerian drawing by me, background by Sam Brown

 Talerian                             

 ATTRIBUTES
Awareness   3            Coordination   3
Ingenuity      3           Presence         3
Resolve        5            Strength         1

GOOD TRAITS
Indomitable
Fear Factor (x2)


BAD TRAITS
Alien Appearance (major)
Weakness- Easily punctured skin (major)

SKILLS
Convince     4 (Control Possessed  6)
Fighting      3
Knowledge  4 (Earth people 6)
Marksman  4
Subterfuge  5
Technology  3

WEAPONS AND EQUIPMENT

Battle Armour [5] 
Talerian Blaster [3/6/L]
Talerian Mind Transfer Device

STORY POINTS: 3-5


Talerians were the same height as humans, but with grey-green skinned, blobby bodies covered in slimy pustules. Their heads were bulbous, with a slit-shaped mouth full of razor-sharp teeth, and a single, egg-shaped eye. They had no necks. Their skin was rubbery, able to deflect small impacts. More powerful attacks, such as a knive wound, or a change in atmospheric pressure, would rupture the skin, causing the Talerian's liquid innards to gush out, killing them. With each passing generation, the Talerians grew more and more fragile.

The way the Talerians have overcome their physical limitations is to transfer their minds into the stronger bodies of other species. They prefer to use "Blanks" individuals whose one minds have been wiped and made more pliable to the Talerians' strong will. If a character has been subjected to a wide spectrum engram erasure, or other Resolve and Awareness draining attack, they are susceptible to the mind transfer.

In a desperate attempt to change their fate, the Talerians planned an invasion of Earth through the secret lunar installation Base Diana. The science staff of the base were experimenting with mental conditioning methods that left the subjects vulnerable to Talerian mind swapping. The Talerians took control of the lead scientists Professor Jackson, and then systematically subverted the majority of the base staff.

Talerians are very single minded in their desire to find new host bodies. They are physically limited, and must depend on stealth and subterfuge to achieve their goals. They prefer to move slowly, but are not above fast forwarding their plans if the opportunity arises.

Talerian Mind Transfer Device (special gadget)

The Talerians used this in conjunction with Doctor Jackson's memory adjustment machine (same as the Engram Eraser from sample gadgets) to implant the minds of Talerians into human bodies.

TRAITS
Transmit, Possess (special 3)

STORY POINTS 4

BEYOND THE BOOK

Talerians are a natural fit for the "enemy within" scenarios. Their technology allows them to control people from nearly cosmic distances, without their physical bodies  being present. So there's no quick and easy access to cut off the transmitter, so the players will have to be clever with how they help the Talerians' victims.

Apollo 23 ended with the Talerian invasion being stopped at Base Diana, but it's possible some of their agents already took host bodies and returned to Earth via the Quantum Displacement field before it was sabotaged.  Some Talerians may already have a foothold on Earth and are planning their next move. Any sort of Torchwood or U.N.I.T. based campaign might find the blobs as a recurring opponent.

Maybe the Talerians might not keep to one host, and jump around to body to body to achieve their goals. If the players wake up one morning with no memories of last night and CIA at their door asking about some missing plutonium, it might be the Talerians have been using you as a patsy in one of their schemes.

Out in space, it might be the Earth is not the only place they are targeting. Any alien may serve their needs, and maybe they have already captured numerous other species. Anyone with advanced technology may find themselves targeted.Why exactly is a Sontaran, a Draconian, and a Zygon working together as mercenaries when they would hate each other normally?

Weekend Write-Up: AF 709 (aka Rhoda from My Living Doll)

Over on the Doctor Who message board, I'm noted mostly for my rather random selection of character write-ups for the game. So for the blog I'm continuing that habit, and I'm starting off with something really out of the blue, yet fairly game relevant.

From 1964, we have Julie Newmar's first major TV role from My Living Doll. Miss Newmar played Rhoda, an android created for the space program that's wound up in the care of Psychologist Dr. Bob McDonald. It was a short lived sitcom, focusing on Bob's efforts to try and socialize Rhoda. It only lasted one season (with Dr. McDonald's actor Bob Cummings leaving the show before the last five episodes) but it's now available on DVD and some of the episodes are watchable on Hulu though the overt sexism of the era is rather overbearing, especially in the first episode.

AF-709 (aka Rhoda from My Living Doll)

Awareness 3
Coordination 3
Ingenuity  5
Presence 2
Resolve  2
Strength 4

GOOD TRAITS
Attractive
Armour (minor)
Robot
Technically Adept
Keen Senses (vision) (minor)
Quick Reflexes

BAD TRAITS
Distinctive
Obligation- to follow any command she is given (major)
Eccentric- (major) repeats what people say, robotic body language, doesn't fully understand human nature
Dark Secret- Nobody knows she's a robot (major)

SKILLS
Fighting 3
Knowledge 5
Science 4
Technology 5 (computers +2)
Transport 5 (spacecraft +2)

Story Points: 6
Tech Level: 5

AF 709 (later named Rhoda Miller) is the creation of roboticist  Dr. Carl Miller as part of the early 20th century United States space program.  When Dr. Miller prematurely activated her, she accidentally wandered out of the secure facility and into the city. Dr. Miller's colleague, Psychologist Dr. Bob McDonald was able to recover the android and hid her in his apartment.

Concerned for how his superiors might react to her unauthorized activation and subsequent adventure, Dr. Miller wanted to deactivate 709 and sneak her disassembled parts back into the lab. His plan was cut short when his superiors ordered him to make a last minute trip to Pakistan.  So Dr. McDonald found himself playing caretaker to the android.

Dr. McDonald gave the android the name Rhoda Miller and claimed she was Dr. Miller's niece. He tried to teach her fit in with human society, though his efforts met with only mixed success. This was partially due to Rhoda's nature, but to a large degree it was Dr. McDonald's own moral hangups.

Uses in the Campaign

My Living Doll was a typically fluff filled sitcom of the early 60's. In a light hearted adventure set in the early days of the space program the players might run into Rhoda and discern her non-human nature.

• Russian agents might be aware of what she is and are trying to steal her. 
• Similarly there might be alien thieves after her.
• Just to keep with the sitcoms-and-space program theme, maybe a crossover with I Dream of Jeannie? Jennie being an all powerful alien like the Celestial Toymaker, but limited by needing to serve a mortal master.

Of course, in a more serious scenario, Rhoda may have found her way back into the space program and has become an indispensable part of the program and serves with the agency for a number of years.

• U.N.I.T agents in that period might find it useful to have a beautiful android woman guarding their back when the alien invasions start.
•  Maybe Rhoda is the only one who knows about the Silence? Can she convince the humans around her that there is something, and her programming is not faulty?
• Androids should be able to last a long time, maybe the players run into her long after the Cape Canaveral Days out in space somewhere.

In general, the main fun is having Julie Newmar as a "guest star" in the episode and played in much of her typical vamping should be amusing.

Apollo 23: An overview

To start off this blog, I thought I'd do some in depth examination of one of the books from the New Series line. So I'm starting off with the first novel for the Eleventh Doctor, Apollo 23. This will be the first of (at  least) three articles I'm doing for the book.

I can't say I've read many of the Doctor Who novels. I recall reading Timewyrm: Genesys from the old Virgin Books line, but I never really got into the Doctor Who books. Only recently I found a few of the New Series books from BBC at the used book store, and the title and image of the burger wielding astronaut amused me so I picked it up.

The  easiest way to sum up the story is the synopsis from Wikipedia:

The Doctor and Amy arrive at a shopping centre much to The Doctor's disappointment. When arriving they discover that a spaceman has appeared out of thin air. They both decide to materialize to the moon which they successfully do and find the secret Base Diana. Investigating, they learn of a plot by the evil Talerians to take over the Earth by possessing human bodies. The Doctor ends up trapped on Earth and working with secret government officials, manages to return to the moon on Apollo 23, there having secretly been Apollos 18 through 22 before a link was established between Earth and the Moon that allowed instantaneous travel before sabotage caused it to break down, causing the spaceman to appear.  On the moon, Amy is captured and possessed and lures the Doctor into a trap, but he manages to escape with the help of Major Carlisle who managed to secretly remain unpossesed due to a power failure caused by Amy attempting to stop sabotage. With Carlisle's help, the Doctor finds a back-up copy of Amy's personality and restores her to normal and later manages to do the same using the fire suppression system to everyone but the alien leader, Jackson, who had kept his back-up with him. Restoring everyone's minds through their back-ups also erases the alien minds possessing them. Jackson manages to summon an invasion force of actual Talerians and reveals that the real Jackson's experiments had allowed him (the alien possessing him) to transfer himself to Jackson in the first place and start the invasion. The Talerians are revealed to be balloon-like aliens that are extremely fragile and are dying out. They want human bodies to survive. The Doctor restores the real Jackson by secretly giving him his back-up in his tea and he sacrifices himself to destroy the Talerians by shooting out a window, causing a depressurization that kills the Talerian invaders due to their fragility, and also kills him.

From a role playing stand point, this would be a fairly easy game to use as game scenario. It's mostly the "base under seige" story with the added paranoia of not being certain who you can trust inside.

Base Diana would be a useful location for other adventures. It was built in secret in the early 80's and has become the ultimate in maximum security prisons for people that for some reason or another need to be kept far away from the world. The story is very vague on what these people have done, so it might be that some of them are not here because they are violently dangerous, but politically dangerous. It's isolation and the unlawful experiments being conducted might be more for the benefit of the powers that be than to "cure" the inmates of their dangerous natures (shades of The Prisoner and Mind of Evil.)


The fact that the majority of the staff simply accepts the Doctor and Amy's presence on the base seems a bit out of character for the typical military.  Especially since this is supposed to be a top secret military base hidden on the moon and these two distinctly non-military strangers just pop in right as the base has a major system malfunction just makes me think one of the military guys should have at least thrown them into a cell and contacted command before anything else. The base staff for the most part came across as fairly blandly generic, but I think most of that might have just been a matter of how the author wrote the story.  They could easily have been played a lot more sinister or at least memorable.

The alien menace of the Talerians is definitely worth revisiting. Such a physically fragile race in search of stronger host bodies could be a good theme to play with. Their mind swap technology seems rather limited in the story, we never see how the Talerians turn themselves into mental energy, suggesting the equipment must be bulky and immobile. If they were to advance that to a more portable form, the possibilities of brain swapping and the horrible consequences of such might be worth playing out.


There is one very fun scene to inspire the GMs early in the story. At the car park where they left the TARDIS, it's sitting over two spaces. The attendant is about to fine them. The Doctor whips out the psychic paper and claims a  two-for one exemption. And in a classic example of a "yes, but..." success roll, the attendant validates the psychic paper with his signature! The paper is effectively useless for the rest of the story (Amy flips the paper around in the holder, but prints everything backwards.) Which makes for a nasty and amusing way for GM's to neutralize a player who overly depends on his psychic paper or other easy cheat. At the end of the story I would give them the option to spend a story point and go dig in their TARDIS for a hypersonic eraser or some such that will erase the writing off the paper and make it good as new.