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## Laser Turrets: the RPG?

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Avoraciopoctules
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### Laser Turrets: the RPG?

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Post by Avoraciopoctules » Mon Aug 10, 2009 5:31 am

Note: spoilered text is from the game design flowsheet. Generally, it's going to be in areas I haven't finished writing the content for.
I think it is finally time for me to get around to making my laser turret RPG (see the first couple pages in http://tgdmb.com/viewtopic.php?t=49540& ... sc&start=0 if you want to see where I got the idea.).
I find this concept surprisingly appealing. I liked Ghost in the Shell quite a bit, and the Tachikomas were memorable characters for me. This is a primary source of inspiration. I also enjoy the challenge of restricting the scope of an RPG to a single technological facility while still keeping a decent range of possible adventures. Paranoia gave me some ideas in this context, though the main thing keeping mobile characters in one place in this game will be the availability of energy for recharges.
Thanks to Frank Trollman for inspiring the original idea and Game Design Flowsheet.
Thanks to Akula for some suggestions during the design of the first public draft.
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In the distant future of humanity, civilization has been forced to expand in order to survive. The original core worlds can no longer sustain life, but significant technological advances have produced compact, incredibly high-yield power supplies and made truly sentient AI easily possible. Nanotechnology and robotics have leapt forward, but faster-than-light travel remains an unreachable dream.
In such a situation, the one viable strategy seemed to be putting most of the population into stasis in autonomous spacecraft which would then seek out suitable planets for colonization. When such planets were found, the spacecraft would begin the process of terraforming the planet and unloading their cargo (If players complain about this being a stupid idea, blame the Megacorps. Nobody likes them. It's flawless. ).
Facility 97 is one of 100 prefabricated bases dropped on a recently discovered planet. It contains several thousand humans in stasis and is fully run by various robots, machines and internal computers, many of these being fully intelligent and self-aware individuals with a level of free will some humans view as dangerous. Facility 97 has two primary objectives. The first is to protect the sleeping colonists until the planet becomes suitable for habitation. The second is to aid the flagship in orbit in terraforming the planet into such suitability. Each facility supports large mechanisms that continually work to alter the environment into suitability for human inhabitation.
There's only one problem. This planet is already inhabited, and the native life is being killed by the terraforming. Many of the natives are reacting to this with understandable hostility, and some of these are intelligent civilizations with late Iron Age technology. Facility 97's Central Processing Unit was destroyed in an attack fairly early on, and this scattered control over the base systems amongst the various subprocessor nodes making up the rest of the Base AI's mind. Not all of them have taken well to the experience. Some are downright insane, and even the functional ones have split into various factions based on their beliefs. The disruption of much of the nodes' control over the base has greatly increased the political power of the sentient robots, many of whom are officially fairly low in the now mostly-meaningless hierarchy.
Currently, tension is high. Some factions believe that the Facility should destroy itself now that it knows it is killing the native life. Others believe that they should find some way to adapt the colonists to the planet rather than the other way around. A few want to launch forces of specially designed autonomous drones (most sentient droids require recharging too frequently to have sufficient range) to directly exterminate the local life in order to reduce the risk of taking more damage from future attacks. Some these various groups are willing to fight the others over their beliefs.
Name the PCs
In Facility 97, the PCs are a Task Force. Though they might not all be formally part of the same group, it is through working together to achieve their various goals that they will determine the fate of the Facility and its inhabitants, as well as that of those of the rest of the world.
Step 2: Write up a Six Person Party
There are two general types of PC option, Droids and Nodes. Nodes are sentient computers built directly into the Facility's systems. Without the Central Processing Unit, their capabilities are limited, but they still can exert impressive control over systems accessible from their controlled networks. Droids are sentient robots. They are mobile and can directly interact with the environment. Droids can use tools and customize themselves to higher degree than Nodes.
• Defense Node: The defense node can call up data on security systems, access cameras and other mechanisms in high-clearance areas, and has direct control over a powerful laser turret (though using the turret outside of their home area generally involves mirrors, holes drilled in the walls, cameras as spotters, and droid allies willing to lure enemies into the proper position).
• Labor Droid: Labor droids are tough and strong. They are resistant to physical damage (more so than security droids) and big enough to shield weaker bots with their bulk. They are best suited to physical combat, but have clumsy, three-fingered hands. Labor droids generally need tools specifically designed for their use.
• Library Node: The library node can retrieve information from Facility databases. This information could be maps, schematics, or the scan data logged by one of the mindless scout drones that periodically sweep the exterior of the Facility. Provided with proper recon, the node can figure out structural weaknesses (and where to cut when you want to make a new firing port for the defense node), provide passcodes for that unhackable door, and add other droids and nodes to various lists accessed by base systems (such as the "Is Allowed To Use Heavy Weapons Inside" list, the "Class B Security Clearance" list, and specific versions of the "Maverick! Shoot On Sight" list).
• Android: The android is human-shaped and sized, allowing it to use human equipment and fit through tight spaces (particularly, they can use ladders). Some can even pass as human colonists, allowing them to get special privileges from the less intelligent nodes. Androids are capable of hacking computer systems if given proper equipment, skills, and an interface point.
• Construction Node: The construction node can have things built in the Facility factories. Sadly, it lacks access to most high-clearance or obscure schematics (Library Nodes can help here), but if you want welding gear, crossbows, hover carts, or anything else "basic", this node is your new best friend.
• Security Droid: Security droids are the most inhuman droids in appearance. This one is an armored upright cylinder attached to tank treads. It has 4 quality weapons (2 of which are so powerful/prone to inflicting collateral damage that the droid needs special clearance to fire them in or near the Facility). In addition to their considerable firepower, security droids have built-in shields and can access many restricted areas. They can withstand around a minute of exposure to a plasma reactor leak before the shields burn out.
Step 3: Write up a Three Person Party
Again, using words not numbers outline a group of potential player characters. Only now you've only got three characters to work with. Think about how the group can respond to challenges and complete mission objectives.
Is there a talent critical to the group's success that that is missing from the group you've outlined? If so, start over.
• Labor Droid
• Defense Node
• Library Node
• Android
• Security Droid
• Construction Node
• Android
• Library Node
• Construction Node
Step Four: Outline an Adventure
Using words, not numbers or mechanics, outline an adventure. Block it out in terms of time. Figure that you have somewhere between 2 and 6 hours. Any discussions that happen "in character" are resolved slower than real time. Any tactical combat is likewise resolved in much less than real time. Travel is handled almost instantly unless you make players describe in detail that they are "looking for traps/ambushes/their ass with both hands" - in which case it takes practically forever.
Are there substantial blocks of time that one or more characters have nothing to add to the situation? If so, start over.
If you use major "mini-games" such as puzzle solving or tactical combat, is every character able to contribute significantly to these mini-games? If not, are these mini-games extremely short? If the answer to both questions is no, start over.
• A group of androids thinks that the colonists in stasis should be killed, removing the need to terraform the planet and kill off the far more numerous native life forms. They have stolen the identities of several military personnel (which involved hacking to steal the information, breaking open the stasis pods of humans to get their DNA and biomass, and having a sympathetic construction node biosculpt their bodies to look and detect as those specific colonists) and have used these to acquire control over several security droids and a large amount of milspec gear.
• The nodes in control of the Facility computers dedicated to the planetary Internet have reported a strange virus which seems to have crept into the systems through a message from Facility 54. It seems to be dedicated to reprogramming one of the factories to produce religious texts and icons, then distributing them to the colonists. This is a problem both because it is chewing up valuable processing power and resources and because giving the colonists anything will involve taking them out of stasis and into the still-toxic atmosphere.
• Something bigger, but less dense than the Facility has been picked up on sensors. It is burrowing through the earth, headed directly towards the Facility. This is probably a bad thing. Get it to go somewhere else. For bonus points, find out what it is.
• A node claims to be most of the way through finishing a translation program that will allow the inhabitants of the facility to communicate with one of the native civilizations. Several factions want this destroyed to avoid generating sympathy for the natives.
• Natives are using trebuchets to lob flaming barrels of something explosive at the Facility from the cover of a large hill out of range for most security drones without vehicles. Point defense will only work against so many projectiles at once, and the volume of attacks is increasing.
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If you have a tactical combat mini-game (or the equivalent) that takes up a significant amount of the overall game it will inevitably become the benchmark by which a character's worth is measured. Characters who don't measure up... don't measure up.
Players who don't have anything meaningful or valued for their characters to do will wander off and play computer games.
Step Five: Write out a campaign
It doesn't have to span years of epic tales or any of that crap, but it does need to have a story arc and outline a potential advancement scheme as you envision it.
Does everyone have a roughly equivalent available advancement scheme? It's OK if noone advances during the campaign or even if negative advancement accumulates as people run out of ammunition and get injured. But if you envision some players going on to become a world dominating sorcerer lord and the other characters becoming better dog trainer - start over.
First, the Players determine one or more goals for the PCs. Then, they work to gain the influence necessary to achieve these goals while simultaneously working to keep the situation from becoming violently destabilized (unless, of course, they have decided that violent destabilization is their goal).
It's really frustrating when one player is flying around fighting gods and other characters are not. It really isn't better if the game ends up that way than if the players start off with that kind of disparity.
Step Six: Choose a Base System
Based on your previous work, consider what base system would best correspond to what it is that you're doing. There are a lot of game systems that you just plug numbers into (d20, HERO, SAME, BESM, etc. and whatever); there are a number of other systems which work fine for what they do and can be adapted to whatever it is that you want to do (Shadowrun, Feng Shui, WFRP, Paranoia, etc.). Consider the play dynamics and character distinctions that you want and the limitations of the system in question. If you want some characters picking up and throwing cars, d20 doesn't work. If you want all the characters at roughly human strength, HERO doesn't work.
If you intend the game to have a high and permanent lethality rate? If so, start over if your system takes a long time to generate characters.
Can you figure out how to model all the abilities that characters need to fulfill your concept in your system? If not, start over.
Definitely something custom, but Shadowrun feels like it might be a nice starting point if a lot of the excess complexity is trimmed out.
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Dice pool system. D6s with a variable Target Number. If a Droid and a Node are directly linked, the Node can provide assistance using its higher processing power and access to cameras, sprinklers, etc. to make things easier. This decreases the TN by 1 or 2. The opposite is also possible. (Note that it would probably be unbalancing for a Node to have the capability to wirelessly hack any Droid. ) The mechanics should not slow gameplay overmuch, so the number of dice in a pool probably shouldn't go higher than 5 + a number of automatic hits.
Low, but not no customization / advancement of characters. Perks, flaws, nonstatic skills, and equipment can all change. Stats exist, but there is little difference between them and skills.
Step Seven: Do the Math
Once you've got this going, you can do the laborious, but not difficult task of actually plugging numbers in to generate the abilities you've concepted.
Run the numbers. Have the numbers you've generated actually provided you with a reasonable chance of producing the story arcs you're looking for? If not, start over.
Check yourself against the Random Number Generator. If high values that are achievable within the campaign can't lose to the low numbers also available in the campaign, you don't actually have a "game" at that point you just have "I win" - is that OK for the situations it comes up in? If not...
-Username17
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Stats for Nodes
processing power: how much you can do (if competing, the one with the most PP on a task progresses.)
processing speed: how much processing power you can move around each turn
using processing power is an auto-success (no roll), but can be overridden by Hacking (Generally a Droid skill).
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IGTN
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Post by IGTN » Mon Sep 07, 2009 9:00 pm

This looks interesting.
Why variable target numbers on a dicepool? That makes the math a lot harder to do, which is not what you want when you're trying to make a simple system or predict how your system will behave.
"No, you can't burn the inn down. It's made of solid fire."
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Judging__Eagle
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  Location: Lake Ontario is in my backyard; Canada

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Post by Judging__Eagle » Tue Sep 08, 2009 4:51 am

I like this. It's a very unique take on a group and story.
Perhaps making the 'stats' very basic might be the way to go.
Things could be on a 'scale'; such as None, Minimal, Low, Medium, High, Very High
Things from damage, to speed, to weapon range could all be described as such.
If you explain that:
Speed is 0 mph, 1/2 mph, 5 mph, 30 mph, 60 mph
Range/Radius is 0 ft, 5 ft, 20 ft, 100 ft, 400 ft
etc.
Since problem solving, is what you seem like you want to focus on; not the number crunching.
Last edited by Judging__Eagle on Tue Sep 08, 2009 4:52 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Avoraciopoctules
  Overlord
  Posts: 8624
  Joined: Tue Oct 21, 2008 5:48 pm
  Location: Oakland, CA

###

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Post by Avoraciopoctules » Tue Sep 08, 2009 6:33 pm

> IGTN wrote:This looks interesting.
> Why variable target numbers on a dicepool? That makes the math a lot harder to do, which is not what you want when you're trying to make a simple system or predict how your system will behave.

The variable numbers come into play when a Node is working to help a Droid. It's essentially an Aid Another check. I'm not too strongly attached to the concept, but I thought that giving a distinctive difference to the mechanics when a character of each type is working together might be nice. I could easily just turn it into a dice pool bonus.

> Judging__Eagle wrote:I like this. It's a very unique take on a group and story.
> Perhaps making the 'stats' very basic might be the way to go.
> Things could be on a 'scale'; such as None, Minimal, Low, Medium, High, Very High
> Things from damage, to speed, to weapon range could all be described as such.
> If you explain that:
> Speed is 0 mph, 1/2 mph, 5 mph, 30 mph, 60 mph
> Range/Radius is 0 ft, 5 ft, 20 ft, 100 ft, 400 ft
> etc.
> Since problem solving, is what you seem like you want to focus on; not the number crunching.

You're right about my preferences. Optimization is fun in abstract, but I find that it slows down play and eliminates interesting challenges in practice.
Giving a set of ranks on a scale does seem like a nice way of keeping everything simple. Personal mechanical advancement would just bump an aspect up a tier.
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