inb4 copycat/bandwagon: I know, post-apoc/broken world settings are all the rage at the moment, but I like the genre (always have, since Fallout), and I'm trying to go a different way than for example Steerpike. My setting, embryonic as it still is, more or less fits into the Warhammer 40k metacontinuity, it's a world over which a nasty war was fought about a century ago, bad enough to soften up reality and long enough to knock out everything more sofisticated than a tablespoon. except of course, for those systems hardened against planetary apocalypse. I want play to focus mostly on scavenger hunts through ancient ruined land- and cityscapes and life in the small settlements that have come into existence. here's the class ideas I had:
- Wastelander: You're a tribesman from the Maze or some poor bastard exiled from his village, but no matter how you ended up out there, it's made you hard. Wastelanders are adept at tracking, path-finding, hiding, long-range combat and generally surviving.
- Lawman: You wander the beaten tracks between the settlements, dispensing justice with hammer and bullet. Your word is the law, so make sure you don't break too many yourself. The Lawman is adept at close and ranged combat and knows how to convince people. He is no demagogue, though, prefering serving over leading.
- Dominus: You still believe in the Monodominance, humanity's manifest destiny to rule supreme. Woe unto the mutants and unbelievers who stand between mankind and its bright future, they will be purged with fire and axe. The Dominus is a faith-fuelled leader of men and has a disturbing affinity to setting things on fire.
- Fringer: You exist on the Fringes of society, living off people's needs like a leech off a grox. Nothing is too low to earn some cash or favors, you'll lie, cheat, swindle, run guns and drugs. If push comes to shove, you know exactly how to slip a blade between a lawman's armour plates. The Fringer is adept at fast talking, sneaking and close combat.
- Witcher: The stuff of the Empyranean flows through you like boiling lead, giving you the power to raise kings or raze cities. But beware, because the power you use might just as well turn upon you one day. The Witcher is the most versatile class and can be adept at almost anything, depending on how he chooses his powers. His head might explode, though.
- Disciple: The Disciples of the Broken Citadel are the wardens of technology and believe in the Machine Soul. Their blood is mixed with arcane anbaric energies and they can exchange their own (or other people's) flesh for machines. The Disciple is adept at using and repairing technological artefacts (prosthetics, augmetics, guns and whatnot), physicks (surgery), and frying people with anbaric blasts.
I'll use the Dark Heresy system as a basis, and all the classes will have the option to specialise into two or more fields. I'm going for a dirty, deadly feel, so... Is there any archtype you miss (the lack of a dedicated healing class is intentional)? Any duplicates or redundancies?
I don't know the WH40K universe or the Dark Heresy system, so this is a post from total ignorance, but an interesting archetype or class for this type of world would be a scholar. A guy who knows stuff. Someone that has inherited or scrounged a cache of books (standard print or some kind of computer-electronicky thing).
It's generally assumed that in this world where life is harsh, brutish, and short, book larnin' will fall by the wayside. As such, a man who knows the right things looks almost like a wizard to the ignorant masses.
Are you actually intending this as a Warhammer 40K world in an early stage of the history, or just using the crunch and the general idea of the great war and the warp/empyrean stuff? Like, will this be the age of the primarchs etc when the Chapters are still inchoate or is this another setting completely?
I love 40K and like what's posted so far (and, obviously, I'm a fan of post-apocalyptic stuff). How big are you imagining these ruined cities? Twenty-first century sized or Hives or something in-between? Will there still be limited interplanetary travel?
Based on what you've posted I'd loooove to play as Disciple, who seem to be analagous to the Martian Machine Cults.
Here are two grim dark setting games developed by the same community:
Pretty Soldier Adepta Sororitas (http://www.tgdmb.com/viewtopic.php?t=49152)
Warp Cult (http://www.tgdmb.com/viewtopic.php?t=49189)
With very little work, you can simply pound one to suit a PA style game of running around the wastelands collecting lost technology, shooting mutants, and dealing with new government shenanigans.
Just cut out the demon summoning. Or not.
Quote from: khyron1144[...] but an interesting archetype or class for this type of world would be a scholar. A guy who knows stuff. Someone that has inherited or scrounged a cache of books (standard print or some kind of computer-electronicky thing).
good point. both the disciple and the witcher *can* be booksy, but needn't be. the question is: what kind of skills would I fill a scholar's advancement chart with?
also, beimg based on 40k means that looking like a wizard is a shortcut to being burned by an angry mob. ;)
Quote from: SteerpikeAre you actually intending this as a Warhammer 40K world in an early stage of the history, or just using the crunch and the general idea of the great war and the warp/empyrean stuff? Like, will this be the age of the primarchs etc when the Chapters are still inchoate or is this another setting completely?
I love 40K and like what's posted so far (and, obviously, I'm a fan of post-apocalyptic stuff). How big are you imagining these ruined cities? Twenty-first century sized or Hives or something in-between? Will there still be limited interplanetary travel?
Based on what you've posted I'd loooove to play as Disciple, who seem to be analagous to the Martian Machine Cults.
I figured mid- to end-heresy era would lend itself to the idea (so that the battle was fought after horus' death), with all imperial forces too tied up to go looking for a planet that no longer reacts to asthropathic communications.
The cities had not progressed to hives, but ranged from good-sized to sprawl-sized (tokyo comes to mind, only bigger). their state of destruction can vary wildly, as thermonuclear bombs, lance strikes and biochemical weapons all leave different kinds of ruins.
Hehe, your guess is spot on. The Disciples are the bastard children of the Mechanicum.
Quote from: the_takenWith very little work, you can simply pound one to suit a PA style game of running around the wastelands collecting lost technology, shooting mutants, and dealing with new government shenanigans.
Just cut out the demon summoning. Or not.
thanks for the links, those are some nieat projects. looks like they even made their own system, too, which is a bit farther than I would go.
The demon summoning stays in. One of the specialization paths for the Witcher is most likely going to be a summoner. ;)
Alright the Witcher seems like a psyker, the kind who could potentially be burned at a stake. Are there no Dominus psykers? Or would that be a sub-path for the Dominus?
Also did you want to completely avoid the mutant thing for player characters? Because if not a mutant class could be neat.
Quote from: LlumAlright the Witcher seems like a psyker, the kind who could potentially be burned at a stake. Are there no Dominus psykers? Or would that be a sub-path for the Dominus?
Also did you want to completely avoid the mutant thing for player characters? Because if not a mutant class could be neat.
psyker is the scientific term for a witch, as i understand w40k. there are no dominus psykers, because they are derived from the imperial creed and its doctrine of "beware the alien, the mutant, the heretic." (psykers being both mutants and herertics). This is as mutated as a PC should get, because deformity is not well-liked among humans and babies with visible mutatuins are either killed or abandoned at birth. the only mutation that is not abolished is the ogryn sub-human, but ogryns are too stupid to be valid PCs. at least for now.
i have some ideas on a shaman/witch-doctor specialisation for the Wastelander and maybe and Inquisitor spec for the Lawman (of course, not a *real* =I=, they don't exist yet.)
In 40k cannon the Imperium uses psykers quite a lot for military purposes. The Guard uses leached psykers and the Space Marines train psykers to become Librarians.
Hell, the Emperor eats millions of psykers a day just to stay alive.
Also if this is around the time of the Heresy, hasn't the Beware the mutant/psyker rhetoric not reached its full height? I've always thought that it was due to the Heresy where half of the SM were corrupted that they hated mutants.
Quote from: ScholarQuote from: khyron1144[...] but an interesting archetype or class for this type of world would be a scholar. A guy who knows stuff. Someone that has inherited or scrounged a cache of books (standard print or some kind of computer-electronicky thing).
good point. both the disciple and the witcher *can* be booksy, but needn't be. the question is: what kind of skills would I fill a scholar's advancement chart with?
also, beimg based on 40k means that looking like a wizard is a shortcut to being burned by an angry mob. ;)
Going by the Warhammer Fantasy RP rules, which is the closest equivalent I've got: Academic Knowledges, Read/Write, Prepare Poison, Heal, certain Trades like Apothecary, Brewer (in the old days bread-making and beer brewing were forms of practical magic because no one knew what yeast were), Cartographer, Embalmer, Herbalist, Merchant, and Tanner.
Quote from: LlumIn 40k cannon the Imperium uses psykers quite a lot for military purposes. The Guard uses leached psykers and the Space Marines train psykers to become Librarians.
Hell, the Emperor eats millions of psykers a day just to stay alive.
Also if this is around the time of the Heresy, hasn't the Beware the mutant/psyker rhetoric not reached its full height? I've always thought that it was due to the Heresy where half of the SM were corrupted that they hated mutants.
yes and no. the hatred against xenos and mutants has always been a part of the imperial culture, though in the beginning it was born of necessity and fear, not just arbitrarily. when there's not a lot of humans left, the need to "keep the blood pure" would rise again, i guess.
i know the imperium has sanctioned psykers, but the dominus is a radical priest of the imperial creed (more or less). the eisenhorn novels have a nice side-arc where a witchhunter wants to bring down the protagonist for being a psyker. said witchhunter executed psykers against orders from the inquisition. and he wasn't even a monodominant.
also sanctioning a psyker is only possible on terra, which could be hard on a planet where most people have forgotten the imperium.
also, I'm starting to dislike the name "Dominus". How does Mono or Modom sound?
Quote from: khyron1144Going by the Warhammer Fantasy RP rules, which is the closest equivalent I've got: Academic Knowledges, Read/Write, Prepare Poison, Heal, certain Trades like Apothecary, Brewer (in the old days bread-making and beer brewing were forms of practical magic because no one knew what yeast were), Cartographer, Embalmer, Herbalist, Merchant, and Tanner.
DH works a bit different from WHFRP, with fixed class paths, so filling 15000 xp with these skills could get hard. but i think, this would make a good alternative starting package for the Wastelander or Fringer class. thanks. :)
If it's really GRIMDARK, you should consider the suspicion factor. Worrying that your teammates are heretics, or that your teammates believe that YOU are a heretic, is half the fun. Kind of like the new Battlestar Galactica RPG.
If a game of WFRP or Dark Heresy doesn't end with most or all of the original PCs killing each other, killing themselves, going hopelessly mad, becoming corrupted and switching sides, or just getting sucked headlong into the Realm of Chaos, I feel a little disappointed. Dark Heresy is like Call of Cthulhu with better guns.
My point is not to worry too much about advancement. If you want a class to be able to do something, make sure they can do it right at the beginning. If you're doing it right, many of them will not get much farther than that.
Quote from: Bill VolkIf it's really GRIMDARK, you should consider the suspicion factor. Worrying that your teammates are heretics, or that your teammates believe that YOU are a heretic, is half the fun. Kind of like the new Battlestar Galactica RPG.
there's a BSG RPG? Why don't i know that? also yay for suspicion. atm i run a conxspiracy plot mixed up with an amnesiac character.^^
Quote from: Bill VolkIf a game of WFRP or Dark Heresy doesn't end with most or all of the original PCs killing each other, killing themselves, going hopelessly mad, becoming corrupted and switching sides, or just getting sucked headlong into the Realm of Chaos, I feel a little disappointed. Dark Heresy is like Call of Cthulhu with better guns.
hehe, happy times. alternatiely, i've heard it characterised as "russian secret police with spaceships". though for the wasteland kinda setting, i want community spirit to be more dominant than suspicion (i know, i know, next i'll plait daisies into my hair...).
Quote from: Bill VolkMy point is not to worry too much about advancement. If you want a class to be able to do something, make sure they can do it right at the beginning. If you're doing it right, many of them will not get much farther than that.
that made me laugh. giving the players the *hope* of advancing is a good tool for keeping them from runnin away, once the demons come, tho. ;)
Quote from: Scholarhehe, happy times. alternatiely, i've heard it characterised as "russian secret police with spaceships". though for the wasteland kinda setting, i want community spirit to be more dominant than suspicion (i know, i know, next i'll plait daisies into my hair...).
HERETIC! Go pick posies and play Tau.