Feedback on Campaign Ideas

[baldingfatman]

I mentioned in another thread that I am looking to put together a V&V PBEM at some point and I wanted to pluck yer brains for feedback.

I have four ideas for the overall theme of the campaign that I like and, since I am most likely going to try to recruit players from this board when I am ready to roll it out, I wanted to know which idea the posters on this board would find most appealing.

Even if you don't think you'd be available to play (and it would be months before I'd be ready to start recruiting anyway), I'd be interested in feedback on which campaigns would be most appealing in general.

The four ideas are:

1. The Second String

The PCs are newly-hired agents of Second String, Inc., a private security company that hires out retired “second string” super-heroes, reformed super-villains, and super-powered sideliners as security agents, bodyguards, and private investigators.

The campaign is set in Atom City, the so-called “City of the Future,” a place once synonymous with super-heroic activity, but now lacking a significant costumed champion presence (while having no shortage of super-villains).

The city leaders, desperate to lure high-tech industry back to the city, have recently negotiated a contract with Second String Inc. to act as the city’s defacto super-hero team. SSI has responded by recruiting new employees to bolster the ranks.

Which is where the PCs come in…

NOTE: I already tried my hand at running a Second String PBEM a few years ago. The players were great and I enjoyed the game in general, but I sank into a depression after some personal setbacks and tanked the game. I really like the basic concept however, so I thought I would throw it out there again.

2. The Zombie Squad

The PCs are marshals for the town of Ulrich, a former mining camp during the California Gold Rush, now a tourist attraction nestled in the rural foothills of central California’s motherlode country.

The town is also the locus of several magical dimensions. It’s populated by weird entities (the town mayor is a werewolf, the mercantile store sells accursed artifacts, and the librarian is a flesh-eating ghoul) and serves as a sort of inter-dimensional way station for visitors from other realities.

The PCs are charged with keeping the peace in this weird environment and from keeping anything too malevolent or otherworldly from escaping into the wider world.

3. The Enclave

The PCs are destined to save the planet. Or so they’ve been told practically from birth.

The PCs are the super-powered scions of The Enclave, a cabal of scientists, technicians, and other scholars hidden away on a remote island in the South Pacific. They have been raised in this enclave from birth for the specific purpose of saving the world from itself and leading mankind into a new era of scientific and technical utopia.

And they’re anxious to start their mission.

NOTE: The basic idea is a nod to the origin story of Doc Savage.

4. The Uncanny 8: Empire of Death

The PCs are the founding members of The Uncanny 8, an informal club for globe-trotting adventurers. They first come together to solve the murder of a mutual friend and colleague, the gentleman thief turned business magnate known as Gentleman Jack, and uncover a globe-spanning criminal conspiracy.

The campaign is set in the 1930s and is a definite nod to the pulps and to radio/movie serials. PCs would be the “extraordinary gentlemen” of their era (akin to The Shadow, The Spider, Flash Gordon, Tarzan, Mandrake, Green Hornet, etc.).

NOTE: Although set in my V&V universe, I will probably not be using V&V for this campaign, but another 80s fave of mine: Mercenaries, Spies, and Private Eyes.

[Imaginos]

I can see a lot of potential in ideas 1, 2, and 3. My preference would probably be 1, as it is more traditional supers. I'm not a big fan of pulp action, so that's why # 4 is last for me.

[BlueNinja]

1. The Second String This one sounds like a sort of nod to the Mystery Men movie. Interesting, but not IMO the best of the group.

2. The Zombie Squad So ... this is the supernatural version of the tv show Eureka. All magic-ish instead of all science-ish.

3. The EnclaveThis one sounds interesting, though as a probable non-participant, I wonder if they are out to save the world, or conquer it, as their parents/creators sound very puppet-master-ish.

4. The Uncanny 8: Empire of Death Sounds like the WW Aeon Society at its beginning.

Personally, I like 2 and 4 the best, and 3 the least.

[Strongman]

Mercenaries, Spies, and Private Eyes.

Can you give me a review of that game? I've always been interested but never bought it. Are the game mechanics simple or complex?

[Stephane]

Since I played in Second String, I'm willing to give it another go. I really enjoyed the game and the concept. If it's a reboot, I would likely change character, otherwise I would just not make any sense.

Zombie squad: Sounds interesting. I can see the potential. How campy do you think the feel of it would be? (I know that the players have a lot to do with that, but your personal feel?).

Enclave: This is the one I like the least. Had I been raised by all these people and knowing that I would be saving the world the whole time. I'd likely have to write up a conceited character.

The Uncanny 8: That's another one I could see the potential to. I've never seen the other game system, so I would likely need a quick refresher (if at all needed).

So my picks would be 1,2 and/or 4.

[DSumner]

I'm rather partial to #4 myself, as I've been itching to get into a pulp era game for a few months now. I could toss out a few ideas I worked up for a M&M pulp era game.

Things like the Black Hand, a secret society operating behind the scenes, to manipulate the US government.

Gen. Chang - A Chinese warlord operating form a weapons smuggling operation from an island of the Chinese mainland.

The Jade Dragons Triad - Chinese criminal organization operating in San Francisco. They run prostitutes, illegal gambling houses, opium, protection rackets, and a slave labor ring in China town.

Tick Tock: The Clockworks Man and his army of Tin Men.

I've got more if you're interested.

[baldingfatman]

This one sounds like a sort of nod to the Mystery Men movie.
It's not meant to be. In fact, IIRC, when I recruited for game the first time I tried running it I think I specifically said something to the effect that this is NOT Mystery Men, it's not supposed to be satirical, don't create buffoonish characters.

The PCs may be former "second string" heroes but that does not mean they are second rate. They could be former sidekicks who never managed to step fully out of the shadows of the superhero to whom they sidekicked, or they could have been very competent heroes in a small town where there wasn't enough super-villain action to earn them a big name, or they might have a semi-weird schtick the public finds it hard to get behind, whatever.

So ... this is the supernatural version of the tv show Eureka. All magic-ish instead of all science-ish.
Never seen the show (never heard of it until you posted this), so I can't really say.

This one sounds interesting, though as a probable non-participant, I wonder if they are out to save the world, or conquer it, as their parents/creators sound very puppet-master-ish.
I could end up going either way.

I agree, it does sound very puppet-master-ish, so it could turn out the cabal is up to no good. On the other hand, I did say I was inspired by Doc Savage and the scientists who raised him were on the up and up.

The truth as to which course the Enclave follows would not be known until revealed in play.

Sounds like the WW Aeon Society at its beginning.
What's that? Never heard of it, came up with a blank on Wikipedia.

The name of the group was inspired by The Amazing Five, the nickname of Doc Savage's five helpers. The basic idea behind the campaign is a little bit of a nod to The League of Extraordinary Gentleman, but focusing on 1930s pulp characters and Republic serial heroes rather than Victorian lit (I would have loved to have seen a team-up between Doc Savage, The Shadow, and The Avenger against Fantomas!).

Since I played in Second String, I'm willing to give it another go. I really enjoyed the game and the concept. If it's a reboot, I would likely change character, otherwise I would just not make any sense.
Glad to hear you'd be willing to give me another chance after I tanked the first game.

It would be a reboot.

Zombie squad: Sounds interesting. I can see the potential. How campy do you think the feel of it would be? (I know that the players have a lot to do with that, but your personal feel?).
I am not going for a camp feel at all. In fact, I was a little concerned people might see the stub and think, "Oh great, a goofy Buffy the Vampire Slayer knockoff!"

Really, if anything, I am going for a wild-west kind of thing. You know, Marshal Dillon trying to keep the peace in Dodge City. Except set in modern times and Marshal Dillon has to deal with alien sorcerers, cthuloid monstrosities, and rogue vampires instead of cattle rustlers.

Enclave: This is the one I like the least. Had I been raised by all these people and knowing that I would be saving the world the whole time. I'd likely have to write up a conceited character.
That'd be kind of a natural fit. I don't think Doc Savage was renowned for his humility.

The Uncanny 8: That's another one I could see the potential to. I've never seen the other game system, so I would likely need a quick refresher (if at all needed).
No sweat. I figure that's not a game that sees a lot of play and would help walk the players through character creation and enough of the game mechanics so they know what they're doing.

I've got more if you're interested.
Sure, but if you spell 'em all out here and I run Uncanny 8 and decide to use any of it, it'll be hard to suprise the players.

[baldingfatman]

Can you give me a review of that game? I've always been interested but never bought it. Are the game mechanics simple or complex?
Will do, but I gotta dash right now, so I'll have to do it later.

[Aj Woj]

They are all very creative, and I would enjoy very much #1 I think more than the others.

[Stephane]

Glad to hear you'd be willing to give me another chance after I tanked the first game. It would be a reboot.
Then a new character. I'd likely go with something completely different just to keep them both separate in my head. I always thought it was a good concept. Different than most (since it's usually to aspire to first rate superhero) which we ended up being in the end, IMNSHO. :grin:

Really, if anything, I am going for a wild-west kind of thing. You know, Marshal Dillon trying to keep the peace in Dodge City. Except set in modern times and Marshal Dillon has to deal with alien sorcerers, cthuloid monstrosities, and rogue vampires instead of cattle rustlers.
I'm definitely up for that.

That'd be kind of a natural fit. I don't think Doc Savage was renowned for his humility.
Fair enough. If you run this one, I'll have to think it through and come up with a character that'll work.


No sweat. I figure that's not a game that sees a lot of play and would help walk the players through character creation and enough of the game mechanics so they know what they're doing. Yup. I would like to see how supernatural we can go, not that it matters in the end. Still think that would be a good game to play.

[Justice]

Quick comment, that's all:

4. The Uncanny 8: Empire of Death

The PCs are the founding members of The Uncanny 8, an informal club for globe-trotting adventurers. They first come together to solve the murder of a mutual friend and colleague, the gentleman thief turned business magnate known as Gentleman Jack, and uncover a globe-spanning criminal conspiracy.

The campaign is set in the 1930s and is a definite nod to the pulps and to radio/movie serials. PCs would be the “extraordinary gentlemen” of their era (akin to The Shadow, The Spider, Flash Gordon, Tarzan, Mandrake, Green Hornet, etc.).

That has got to be the coolest retro name I have ever heard.

I would play that, even if not V&V. I would buy tickets to watch it.

Dadgum, that'd be cool.

The Maltese Falcon meets Indiana Jones, I'm thinking.

The ORIGINAL film of Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow looked better than the film itself.

Heck, Fleischer cartoons of Superman looked better.

The Uncanny 8.

Oh yeah, baby. The Shadow meets Tarzan. The Avenger meets Dracula.

Two-fisted action!!

[SD Anderson]

Life Seed.

The villains or the great disaster or whatever happened. Earth is lost, the PCs are assigned to the TSS Seed of Hope, a translight drive equipped ship with a crew of 200, 800 cryogenically frozen of Earth's best and brightest to act as founding colonists and 100 million clones ready for quickening.

The PCs are supers with FTL abilities or access Translight powered shuttles. Their job is to find a suitable site for colonization in a universe whose peoples aren't cooperative to the idea.

Takes a bit from BSG and Titan AE.

[DSumner]

Sure, but if you spell 'em all out here and I run Uncanny 8 and decide to use any of it, it'll be hard to suprise the players.

I'm not going to spill the beans here, I'd email the stuff to you if you're interested.

[bishoplogan]

I like 1,3 and 4
never did PBEM,but willing to try
also never played the game system
:sacool:

[baldingfatman]

That has got to be the coolest retro name I have ever heard.
Thanks, I like it.

The Maltese Falcon meets Indiana Jones, I'm thinking.
Something like that.

Life Seed.
I like that idea. May file it away for the future.

I'm not going to spill the beans here, I'd email the stuff to you if you're interested.
Sure, thanks.

So far, it sounds like #1 and #4 are the front runners, #3 in last place.

[AnotherSKip]

I like #1 as a basic premise

[Haze]

I too would be very happy to give 2nd String another go were that to be a possiblity. I really enjoyed it and would be interested to see how it went with alternate characters. ;-)

As for the other options I like 4 better than 3 and 3 better than 2.

[SD Anderson]

I like that idea. May file it away for the future.




No problem. My rates are reasonable. ;)

[Strongman]

Lots of great ideas, guys. I'm humbled.

I absolutely LOVE the Uncanny 8 and Life Seed ideas. If these actually go via PBEM, please put me among the candidates.

Love the pulps and movies set in that general era. I have no idea what sort of character I would play in something like that but it would be fun to play.

Life Seed is really cool. Having supers characters in the future a la the Legion is neat and exploring new places and meeting new races is really one of the best things about sci-fi.

[BlueNinja]

It's not meant to be. In fact, IIRC, when I recruited for game the first time I tried running it I think I specifically said something to the effect that this is NOT Mystery Men, it's not supposed to be satirical, don't create buffoonish characters. Fair enough, that's merely what first sprang to mind with the premise. I like the concept.

What's that? Never heard of it, came up with a blank on Wikipedia. In White Wolf's Adventure!/Aberrant/Trinity game set, the Aeon Society (originally the Aeon Society for Gentlemen) starts out in 1923 as a collection of various "larger-than-life" types led by the economic magnate Maxwell Mercer and devoted to expanding the boundaries of human knowledge, and over two centuries morph into a sort of puppet-master group with majority control over the fate of the human race. In the era of pulpy goodness, they are the good guys, brought together by friendship and a faith in the unlimited potential of being human.

[baldingfatman]

I too would be very happy to give 2nd String another go were that to be a possiblity. I really enjoyed it and would be interested to see how it went with alternate characters. ;-)
Glad to know you too would be willing to trust me enough to give it a second go 'round.

Fair enough, that's merely what first sprang to mind with the premise.
Yeah, I know. That's why I put that disclaimer in during my first go at this concept.

In the era of pulpy goodness, they are the good guys, brought together by friendship and a faith in the unlimited potential of being human.
That is what I was going for, except that they, unlike the Aeon Society, never morph into a sinister organization (which is not to say they haven't had a dark period or two in their history).

I originally created them to be co-equal associates for an NPC who is very much meant to be a modern version of a pulp heroine, Kendra Clark Dent (Kendra for Kenneth Robeson, Clark for Clark Savage, Dent for Lester Dent). She had a minor supporting role in my first attempt at the Second String PBEM.

The idea behind the modern version of the Uncanny 8 was that they pre-dated most modern super-hero teams (having been first organized in the 1930s) and, in a world teeming with superhumans, they were a team of "normal" human who could hold their own against powerful super-villains. They are still very much good guys.

I never really created an origin for them, however. I knew the original founding members were pulp hero types, but I never really established who they were. I figured I could run a PBEM to give them that origin (plus, I just love pulps and serials).

I absolutely LOVE the Uncanny 8 and Life Seed ideas. If these actually go via PBEM, please put me among the candidates.
Will do, but it looks like I am going to go with The Second String. There were a lot of plotlines that I never played out the first time I ran it that I wanted to see resolved, so that's where I am going.

I think, after that, waaaay down the line when 2nd String wraps up, I'll run Uncanny 8.

Thanks for the feedback everyone. It'll probably be a couple of months before I am ready to recruit, but I'll let you all know when I am.

[Haze]

Glad to know you too would be willing to trust me enough to give it a second go 'round. With Bells on and then some!
Thanks for the feedback everyone. It'll probably be a couple of months before I am ready to recruit, but I'll let you all know when I am.Righty ho. Will be watching out for it. ;)

[Stephane]

Be careful.. she might decide to wield her HTH +2d6 tea pot and lay waste all around you!

[baldingfatman]

With Bells on and then some!

What's your character's name going to be, The Tinkler? =)

[Rhakir]

I would like to throw my hat in for consideration for Second String, if you would have me. You have my email, I believe... =)

[baldingfatman]

I would like to throw my hat in for consideration for Second String, if you would have me.
I sure would, but I am not recruiting quite yet. I want to make sure I have all my t's crossed and i's dotted before rolling out again, so it'll probably be a couple of months before I am ready to recruit.

You have my email, I believe... =)
Uh, I do?

Oh, wait, I do! Sorry, didn't make the connection at first (which is funny, considering Rhakir is not exactly a household name). =)

[Rhakir]

No worries. Let me know as and when... =)

[Hitcher]

1. The Second String

The PCs are newly-hired agents of Second String, Inc., a private security company that hires out retired “second string” super-heroes, reformed super-villains, and super-powered sideliners as security agents, bodyguards, and private investigators.
Don't forget PR events - store openings, conventions, etc. Definite nod to The Watchmen. Check out Kim Possible: The Fearless Ferret (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6VrfMTNTC8) & Galaxy Quest for some more ideas.

2. The Zombie Squad

The PCs are marshals for the town of Ulrich, a former mining camp during the California Gold Rush, now a tourist attraction nestled in the rural foothills of central California’s motherlode country.

The town is also the locus of several magical dimensions. It’s populated by weird entities (the town mayor is a werewolf, the mercantile store sells accursed artifacts, and the librarian is a flesh-eating ghoul) and serves as a sort of inter-dimensional way station for visitors from other realities.

The PCs are charged with keeping the peace in this weird environment and from keeping anything too malevolent or otherworldly from escaping into the wider world. Not bad. Less Eureka and more Primeval (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vhv2Z1IbI8g).

3. The Enclave

The PCs are destined to save the planet. Or so they’ve been told practically from birth. Massive possibilities IMO.

4. The Uncanny 8: Empire of Death

The PCs are the founding members of The Uncanny 8, an informal club for globe-trotting adventurers. They first come together to solve the murder of a mutual friend and colleague, the gentleman thief turned business magnate known as Gentleman Jack, and uncover a globe-spanning criminal conspiracy.
Sounds like AEON:Adventure or Skycaptain and the World of Tomorrow. Good possibilities IMO.

[Stephane]

Not bad. Less Eureka and more Primeval (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vhv2Z1IbI8g).

Oh wow.. Nice primer. Let's see if I can d/l any episodes.