What about making the PCs be New California Rangers or California Highway Patrol or something like that? You can give them pre-arranged loadouts, and there might be a short list of rules that the NCR *should* enforce-- among them, no killing of others except in self-defense, no theft, et cetera.
The PCs may of course choose to be creative in how they choose to "hand down the law"-- Judge Dredd-style "the only good perp is a dead perp" or more merciful, maybe even more investigative "*who* exactly released the chickens and what's stopping them from doing it again?"
Having the encounter area be an outdoor mall sounds like a great idea, you can have sidequests, witnesses, 'usual perps', et cetera. The PCs might be new recruits, with an elderly sarge guiding them (until he gets shot or suffers massive food poisoning that necessitates locking himself into a Porta-Toilet).
Random ideas:
* The mutated chickens have gained a low level of sentience over the years! They're not keen on being eaten+. Will the PCs choose to regard them as property and return them, or release them?
+ Or, maybe the chickens *want* to be eaten! They might view it as an act of worship or sacrifice in some crazy cargo-cult fashion, since the owner provides food and shelter. It's just that after a nearby firefight scared them all out of sight, they have no idea *where* their home is. Will the PCs persuade them that freedom is better than captivity?
* The mutated chickens were released by a rival restaurant owner, hoping to sabotage Wok-A-Doodle's business! Even if the PCs draw this conclusion straight off though, there are at least two potential rivals, the Szechuan BBQ and the diner, and shooting all of them will result in the PCs being ganged up on-- these are the only people who can cook anything worth eating! So question witnesses, look for evidence, or try to intimidate the suspect into... ahem... squawking.
* The mutated chickens were released by the sergeant, accidentally (stray shot during a shootout the previous day)! The sergeant rounds up his recruits because he's too old to go chasing chickens -- but they also need to look for materials to rebuild the chicken coop, which is obviously too rickety to survive much longer in the wilderness. The problem is most of the best material has already been snaffled up by other proprietors making their own repairs, so... Can the PCs bargain a proprietor into giving up some material or will they have to "accidentally" blow something up?
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What about making the PCs be New California Rangers or California Highway Patrol or something like that? You can give them pre-arranged loadouts, and there might be a short list of rules that the NCR *should* enforce-- among them, no killing of others except in self-defense, no theft, et cetera.
The PCs may of course choose to be creative in how they choose to "hand down the law"-- Judge Dredd-style "the only good perp is a dead perp" or more merciful, maybe even more investigative "*who* exactly released the chickens and what's stopping them from doing it again?"
Having the encounter area be an outdoor mall sounds like a great idea, you can have sidequests, witnesses, 'usual perps', et cetera. The PCs might be new recruits, with an elderly sarge guiding them (until he gets shot or suffers massive food poisoning that necessitates locking himself into a Porta-Toilet).
Random ideas:
* The mutated chickens have gained a low level of sentience over the years! They're not keen on being eaten+. Will the PCs choose to regard them as property and return them, or release them?
+ Or, maybe the chickens *want* to be eaten! They might view it as an act of worship or sacrifice in some crazy cargo-cult fashion, since the owner provides food and shelter. It's just that after a nearby firefight scared them all out of sight, they have no idea *where* their home is. Will the PCs persuade them that freedom is better than captivity?
* The mutated chickens were released by a rival restaurant owner, hoping to sabotage Wok-A-Doodle's business! Even if the PCs draw this conclusion straight off though, there are at least two potential rivals, the Szechuan BBQ and the diner, and shooting all of them will result in the PCs being ganged up on-- these are the only people who can cook anything worth eating! So question witnesses, look for evidence, or try to intimidate the suspect into... ahem... squawking.
* The mutated chickens were released by the sergeant, accidentally (stray shot during a shootout the previous day)! The sergeant rounds up his recruits because he's too old to go chasing chickens -- but they also need to look for materials to rebuild the chicken coop, which is obviously too rickety to survive much longer in the wilderness. The problem is most of the best material has already been snaffled up by other proprietors making their own repairs, so... Can the PCs bargain a proprietor into giving up some material or will they have to "accidentally" blow something up?