Argh! I keep digressing. I wanted to thank you for coming up with the "pseudo-mystery" aspect. I have it in mind that this is going to be like a "dungeon," with various perils to encounter, but if this is really some stopover place for caravans, it shouldn't be completely monster-infested. Unless, that is, the danger comes in the form of the chickens themselves (e.g., they aren't all that helpless after all), or things are complicated by, say, an attack by raiders.
Brainstorming:
The {name to be determined} Shopping Plaza is a sparse "community" carved into the edge of the ruins of several pre-war businesses that popped up around a highway interchange centuries ago. By no means have the ruins been fully explored, let alone conquered; some of the locals are simply scavengers who've set up shop by the roadside, and make forays deeper into the ruins to hunt for Old War tech and goods to trade with merchant caravans passing through. Others, however, make good on hunting the denizens of the ruins. The proprietor of the Wok-a-Doodle, however, took upon himself the innovation of actually raiding the eggs of some of the mutant birds frequenting the area, and raising them in a controlled farm.
Success can breed envy, however. One of the Wok-a-Doodle's competitors is struggling to make ends meet, and has decided to "cash in": selling out the Plaza to a nearby band of raiders. Hence, the escape of so many "chickens" was a result of sabotage, designed to serve as a distraction. It was only dumb luck that an NCR patrol happened to be passing through at the time.
Hence, the action starts with the PCs at the Wok-a-Doodle, and then the alarm goes off as chickens start breaking loose. The restaurant itself (and the coop) are basically off-stage, though I should have something to represent the entrance to the coops nearby.
I'm trying to figure out a way in which the chickens are kept that could be vulnerable to sabotage. It might be interesting if there's some sort of "old world tech" problem -- something that seemed *convenient* to keep the chickens in, in a facility still powered by an old fusion generator in the basement, but perhaps someone at the Plaza has some tech knowledge and "hacked" the system (not something that could be done remotely, as there is no "internet") so that some sort of automated system would open everything up.
Maybe a pet shop? Perhaps a "pet shop of the future" would have some sort of automated system -- perhaps with robots -- to tend to the cages/pens, and someone could hack the robots so that instead of just checking on the chickens and cleaning out their cages and replenishing their food and water, it's suddenly, "FLY! BE FREE!" (*toss them out the window*) And the first encounter could involve rushing in there to STOP THOSE ROBOTS before the plaza is flooded with savage frenzying mutant chickens!
PCs could alternatively blast robots, attempt to re-hack them, or perhaps even try to outsmart them. (But PCs being PCs, it'll probably be "blast away!")
Hmm. I suppose I need some semblance of a floor plan for a pet store, and some sort of cheesy pet store NAME. It ought to be kitschy. Bonus points if it feels retro in some way, or it references atomic power or nuclear war somehow. (Everyone's favorite cereal is SUGAR BOMBS, the best-selling cola is NUKA COLA, a major radio & TV manufacturer is RADIATION KING, etc.)
So, here comes the "modular" bit. If dealing with this takes up the whole session, that's fine. We wrap on the stopping of the robots, possibly a tussle with some escaped chickens, and call it a day. But otherwise, if the PCs wrap that up handily, then Phase 2 is that raiders suddenly attack, taking advantage of the distraction posed by escaping chickens, as several caravan guards were suddenly distracted by the savage feathered menace.
If resolving that takes up the rest of the session, then we have a Scooby-Doo Gang ending where so-and-so from the rival diner/bar/whatever is caught trying to sneak away, and -- aha! This was all a ruse to distract us so raiders could attack. "And I would have gotten away with it, too, if it hadn't been for these meddling NCR troopers and their dog!" The end.
If, however, the PCs trounce the raiders in record time, we could wrap up with a mini-mystery. How/why did this happen? Perhaps a bit of Q&A with NPCs, some basic clues, a chance to use some people skills. I need to work up a few quickie NPC profiles, some good answers to the question "Where were you when (all this was going on)?" and a couple of potential red herrings (e.g., Rita of Rita's Cafe doesn't want it to get out that her alibi is that she was sneaking off for a rendezvous with Ghoulish Garbo the Garbage Dealer when all the chickens got loose, so THAT'S why she can't seem to give a straight answer, not that she's actually responsible).
I could try to spice things up with a few interesting (?) locations to interact with, so it's not just one big battlefield, but that'll likely be a function of what terrain pieces I have ready to go in time for the game.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2017-08-21 02:36 pm (UTC)Brainstorming:
The {name to be determined} Shopping Plaza is a sparse "community" carved into the edge of the ruins of several pre-war businesses that popped up around a highway interchange centuries ago. By no means have the ruins been fully explored, let alone conquered; some of the locals are simply scavengers who've set up shop by the roadside, and make forays deeper into the ruins to hunt for Old War tech and goods to trade with merchant caravans passing through. Others, however, make good on hunting the denizens of the ruins. The proprietor of the Wok-a-Doodle, however, took upon himself the innovation of actually raiding the eggs of some of the mutant birds frequenting the area, and raising them in a controlled farm.
Success can breed envy, however. One of the Wok-a-Doodle's competitors is struggling to make ends meet, and has decided to "cash in": selling out the Plaza to a nearby band of raiders. Hence, the escape of so many "chickens" was a result of sabotage, designed to serve as a distraction. It was only dumb luck that an NCR patrol happened to be passing through at the time.
Hence, the action starts with the PCs at the Wok-a-Doodle, and then the alarm goes off as chickens start breaking loose. The restaurant itself (and the coop) are basically off-stage, though I should have something to represent the entrance to the coops nearby.
I'm trying to figure out a way in which the chickens are kept that could be vulnerable to sabotage. It might be interesting if there's some sort of "old world tech" problem -- something that seemed *convenient* to keep the chickens in, in a facility still powered by an old fusion generator in the basement, but perhaps someone at the Plaza has some tech knowledge and "hacked" the system (not something that could be done remotely, as there is no "internet") so that some sort of automated system would open everything up.
Maybe a pet shop? Perhaps a "pet shop of the future" would have some sort of automated system -- perhaps with robots -- to tend to the cages/pens, and someone could hack the robots so that instead of just checking on the chickens and cleaning out their cages and replenishing their food and water, it's suddenly, "FLY! BE FREE!" (*toss them out the window*) And the first encounter could involve rushing in there to STOP THOSE ROBOTS before the plaza is flooded with savage frenzying mutant chickens!
PCs could alternatively blast robots, attempt to re-hack them, or perhaps even try to outsmart them. (But PCs being PCs, it'll probably be "blast away!")
Hmm. I suppose I need some semblance of a floor plan for a pet store, and some sort of cheesy pet store NAME. It ought to be kitschy. Bonus points if it feels retro in some way, or it references atomic power or nuclear war somehow. (Everyone's favorite cereal is SUGAR BOMBS, the best-selling cola is NUKA COLA, a major radio & TV manufacturer is RADIATION KING, etc.)
So, here comes the "modular" bit. If dealing with this takes up the whole session, that's fine. We wrap on the stopping of the robots, possibly a tussle with some escaped chickens, and call it a day. But otherwise, if the PCs wrap that up handily, then Phase 2 is that raiders suddenly attack, taking advantage of the distraction posed by escaping chickens, as several caravan guards were suddenly distracted by the savage feathered menace.
If resolving that takes up the rest of the session, then we have a Scooby-Doo Gang ending where so-and-so from the rival diner/bar/whatever is caught trying to sneak away, and -- aha! This was all a ruse to distract us so raiders could attack. "And I would have gotten away with it, too, if it hadn't been for these meddling NCR troopers and their dog!" The end.
If, however, the PCs trounce the raiders in record time, we could wrap up with a mini-mystery. How/why did this happen? Perhaps a bit of Q&A with NPCs, some basic clues, a chance to use some people skills. I need to work up a few quickie NPC profiles, some good answers to the question "Where were you when (all this was going on)?" and a couple of potential red herrings (e.g., Rita of Rita's Cafe doesn't want it to get out that her alibi is that she was sneaking off for a rendezvous with Ghoulish Garbo the Garbage Dealer when all the chickens got loose, so THAT'S why she can't seem to give a straight answer, not that she's actually responsible).
I could try to spice things up with a few interesting (?) locations to interact with, so it's not just one big battlefield, but that'll likely be a function of what terrain pieces I have ready to go in time for the game.