Steve Jackson Games - Site Navigation
Home General Info Follow Us Search Illuminator Store Forums What's New Other Games Ogre GURPS Munchkin Our Games: Home

Go Back   Steve Jackson Games Forums > Roleplaying > GURPS

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 02-01-2023, 09:31 AM   #1
Embassy of Time
 
Embassy of Time's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2015
Default GURPS Heart Corps, ideas?

EDIT: This thread is no longer used to develop the setting/campaign, use this instead!


The following is a setting I am developing with/for my friends' teenage kids after convincing them there was more to rpgs than D&D dungeon runs. They were keen on GURPS, with some homebrew simplifications, but wanted something "Rick & Morty like". So the setting draws on GURPS IOU, GURPS Black Ops (they like SCP, so...), and good ol' Paranoia.

Intro over, let it begin...

HEART CORPS
In a modern day semi-rural area, there is a new attraction: An 'Empowerment Center' from the massive organization Heart Corps. Think of it as Walmart plus megachurches, cranked up to 11! Anything you want, from cheap candy that is definitely not toxic or chemically addictive, to expensive courses in market speculation at one of their many hundred resorts. It's a convenience, it's a cult, it's Heart Corps! Come for the low low prices, stay for the crippling addiction to paying for emotional confirmation!
Of course, Heart Corps has secrets, and deep within the empowerment center lie dangerous artifacts, magical beasts, and Things / People Man Was Not Meant To Know! Mazes of bizarre consumer products, portals to... somewhere, employees who are way to casually using phrases like "disembodied spirit" and "rogue artificial intelligence".

The first campaign is likely going to start with PCs getting summer jobs with weird assignments, but the planning only just began last weekend, so I am open to any idea!

More to follow....

Last edited by Embassy of Time; 02-08-2023 at 01:29 PM. Reason: Closing the thread.
Embassy of Time is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-01-2023, 10:24 AM   #2
Varyon
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Default Re: GURPS Heart Corps, ideas?

In your shoes, I would be inclined to ruthlessly steal from The Adventures of Dr McNinja, which has some similarities in the form of random craziness, but may be old enough your audience would be unfamiliar with it. It features an Irish-American doctor who happens to be part of an Irish ninja clan (the McNinjas, who were trained in the art of ninjitsu after they drove off a marauding group of pirates by using frozen shamrocks like shuriken) and the adventures thereof. It's got raptor-riding banditos, a disease that turns children into giant lumberjacks (and a group that hunts them to sell their taxidermied corpses to businesses), the time-lost king of the Radical Lands (a world consisting only of what is totally awesome, and home of the most majestic of creatures, the Helicopter-Headed Ent; pizza and Mountain Dew came from there, but what we have are but sad, pale reflections), dinosaurs with jetpacks, and more.
__________________
GURPS Overhaul
Varyon is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-01-2023, 10:50 AM   #3
Fred Brackin
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Default Re: GURPS Heart Corps, ideas?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Embassy of Time View Post
They were keen on GURPS, with some homebrew simplifications, but wanted something "Rick & Morty like". So the setting draws on GURPS IOU, GURPS Black Ops (they like SCP, so...), and good ol' Paranoia.

.
I'm not sure how you're drawing on Gurps Black Ops but that might be because I associate it with the deadly grim complexity of its' 700 pt Templates but I'd say the real companion book you want to pair with IOU is Gurps Warehouse 23.
__________________
Fred Brackin
Fred Brackin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-01-2023, 11:20 AM   #4
Embassy of Time
 
Embassy of Time's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2015
Default Re: GURPS Heart Corps, ideas?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Fred Brackin View Post
I'm not sure how you're drawing on Gurps Black Ops but that might be because I associate it with the deadly grim complexity of its' 700 pt Templates but I'd say the real companion book you want to pair with IOU is Gurps Warehouse 23.
It's mostly the monster hunting organization angle. They like SCP and Supernatural, so if you cut the points down and silly it up a bit, BO seems like a great fit! And yes, how could I forget the warehouse, must be those amnesiod injections!

Last edited by Embassy of Time; 02-01-2023 at 12:03 PM.
Embassy of Time is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-01-2023, 11:24 AM   #5
Embassy of Time
 
Embassy of Time's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2015
Default Re: GURPS Heart Corps, ideas?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Varyon View Post
In your shoes, I would be inclined to ruthlessly steal from The Adventures of Dr McNinja, which has some similarities in the form of random craziness, but may be old enough your audience would be unfamiliar with it. It features an Irish-American doctor who happens to be part of an Irish ninja clan (the McNinjas, who were trained in the art of ninjitsu after they drove off a marauding group of pirates by using frozen shamrocks like shuriken) and the adventures thereof. It's got raptor-riding banditos, a disease that turns children into giant lumberjacks (and a group that hunts them to sell their taxidermied corpses to businesses), the time-lost king of the Radical Lands (a world consisting only of what is totally awesome, and home of the most majestic of creatures, the Helicopter-Headed Ent; pizza and Mountain Dew came from there, but what we have are but sad, pale reflections), dinosaurs with jetpacks, and more.
This.....this is.... so freaking beautiful!! I.... I........ no..... no words..... They should have sent a poet..... But clearly someone did, and that poet made McNinja.....
Embassy of Time is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-01-2023, 05:35 PM   #6
dcarson
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Default Re: GURPS Heart Corps, ideas?

Gurps Girl Genius seems like it might have ideas also.

The A Miracle of Science webcomic might have things to steal also. He's a Vorstellen Police agent who deals with outbreaks of SRMD (science related memetic disorder, aka mad scientist disease) she's part of the Martian hivemind which is the largest outbreak ever. Together they fight crime. https://www.project-apollo.net/mos/mos000.html
dcarson is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-01-2023, 06:27 PM   #7
Embassy of Time
 
Embassy of Time's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2015
Default Re: GURPS Heart Corps, ideas?

Writing some fluff...
How It All Started
After seeing the horrors of war and social collapse up close, one man, Arthur “Heart” Heartlie spent time in a field hospital, being treated for chemical burns. After a miraculous recovery, he began to help healing others in that same hospital, working for free while sleeping on the floor of a broom closet and living off whatever food was left over by the end of the day. A military engineer by training, he brought his extensive experience and technical genius upon the troubles that afflicted those in the hospital, revolutionizing the way treatment and patient care was organized, and inventing multiple devices that helped not just save lives, but also ease suffering and make the hospital more efficient than anyone had ever thought possible!
Once the war ended, Heart found himself without a cause, nobody to help and nothing to fix. Watching the hospital he had helped overhaul from the ground up be transformed into a spa resort for for the ultra rich, he grew disillusioned with how society was turning out, and he founded The Corps of Mutual Salvation, a team of elite people in their own varied fields, who would go on to create new ways for a wartorn society to heal itself, rather than fall back into the clutches of greed and selfishness. Though he refused any fame or credit for the work, that corps became renamed after his death to Heart Corps, in his memory. Even today, the basic tenets of Heart Corps still look like they looked back then.
Embassy of Time is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-01-2023, 06:31 PM   #8
Embassy of Time
 
Embassy of Time's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2015
Default Re: GURPS Heart Corps, ideas?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Embassy of Time View Post
How It All Started
<snip>
Yeah, that whole sales pitch is b******t. There is no evidence of any Arthur Heartlie having founded anything, let alone a behemoth like Heart Corps. You never saw a Heart Corps 'empowerment center' in your life? Not surprising, really. Half of them don't label themselves as such, and the other half is almost exclusively frequented by ranking members of the organization. The unlabeled centers are almost impossible to distinguish from either megamalls, megachurches, or both! The ones that do label themselves as empowerment centers are so far away from the rest of society that they are rarely seen, even from the outside, by non-members.
You see, that's exactly what it is, a sales pitch. Heart Corps is the bastard lovechild of Multi-Level Marketing, megachurches, and your typical modern media and merchandising empire. Any trick in the book they can profit massively from, they know it, and they use it. The total revenue stream is in the billions, most of it hidden away so thoroughly that a clear estimate is impossible. Their protection services run mercenary operations in areas ripe for new centers, their medical branch has connections to the quasi-legal drug trade, their financial division launders huge sums yearly, and those are just the classic schemes. Add to that some relentless marketing pyramids, a list of faith-based scams, industrial coverups, and an insane merchandising empire powered by both figurative and literal slave labor, and you start to see the real picture.
Embassy of Time is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-01-2023, 08:32 PM   #9
benz72
 
benz72's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Chagrin Falls
Default Re: GURPS Heart Corps, ideas?

Some potentially interesting NPCs

The janitor who seems to know EVERYTHING
The daddy’s girl daughter of some heartcorp bigwig who starts questioning what she believes about her family
The bouncer-nun who guards the sanctum
The cafeteria chef who like to experiment with food… on diners he refers to as “control groups” and “treatment groups”
The stock boy on roller skates who secretly works for The Agency
The kid in home electronics who seems to be able to view ANYWHERE on the video displays
The kindly old greeter who gives people directions to thing the want, before being told what is wanted.
The guy in the photography studio who doesn’t speak
The junior cashier who looks like she is twelve but speaks and acts like she is a dowager from the Edwardian era
The night watchman with the pointy teeth who moves silently and never seems to cast a shadow
The guy who always wears sunglasses
The guy in the pet department with the weird eyes who keeps munching kibble
The guy who you could have sworn was right there a moment ago but you can see out the window on a smoke break.
__________________
Benundefined
Life has a funny way of making sure you decide to leave the party just a few minutes too late to avoid trouble.
benz72 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-02-2023, 05:21 AM   #10
Embassy of Time
 
Embassy of Time's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2015
Default Re: GURPS Heart Corps, ideas?

Quote:
Originally Posted by dcarson View Post
Gurps Girl Genius seems like it might have ideas also.
I did always have an eye out for this. It's from a webcomic by the illustrators of GURPS IOU, right? I never found the GURPS book at any of my usual rpg shops, sadly...
Quote:
The A Miracle of Science webcomic might have things to steal also.
That's a big one, any good place to start or just page 1??
Quote:
Originally Posted by benz72 View Post
Some potentially interesting NPCs
I'm juuust gonna swipe that whole thing for direct use, including the list format, thank you very much! (keep'em coming, if you or anyone else wishes to!!)
Quote:
The guy who always wears sunglasses
Oh, I went to school with tht guy! Turned out the sunglasses had built in eyesight correction. A girl asked very loudly from frustration why he wore them, so everyone knew from then on!
Embassy of Time is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Fnords are Off
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 02:07 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.