Ideas Are Easy

[ericthered]

The Animal Angle
In a day-after-tomorrow setting, a researcher figures out how to make a fairly good AI by combining high tech circuitry with animal brains. The resulting top secret military program uses raccoons, pigeons, octopuses, snakes, crabs, and who knows what else as covert agents, able to go where humans cannot. The PC's are these experimental cyborg animals, neither truly flesh nor truly machine. So much depends on their performance... including their own fates.

[RyanW]

Originally Posted by ericthered

The Animal Angle
In a day-after-tomorrow setting, a researcher figures out how to make a fairly good AI by combining high tech circuitry with animal brains. The resulting top secret military program uses raccoons, pigeons, octopuses, snakes, crabs, and who knows what else as covert agents, able to go where humans cannot. The PC's are these experimental cyborg animals, neither truly flesh nor truly machine. So much depends on their performance... including their own fates.

That could go a lot of different ways, but personally I would play it philosophical. Should I strive to become "pure" and what would pure be? Am I an animal enhanced by electronics, or an AI moderated by tissue?

[Anaraxes]

Afghanistan has 22 tons of gold in a bank in New York*. There's nine or ten times that much scattered around other locations. Overseas assets are being frozen by various countries, so the Taliban can't access the ten billion or so. You know what that means.

Heist adventures!

--
* It's the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, actually. But then, I wouldn't have needed to call you all together for an easy target. Adjust your BAD accordingly.

[David Johnston2]

Look up a map of Antarctica if all the ice melted and use it as a map for your fantasy game. The players will never notice.

[ajardoor]

Originally Posted by Anaraxes

Afghanistan has 22 tons of gold in a bank in New York*. There's nine or ten times that much scattered around other locations. Overseas assets are being frozen by various countries, so the Taliban can't access the ten billion or so. You know what that means.

Heist adventures!

--
* It's the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, actually. But then, I wouldn't have needed to call you all together for an easy target. Adjust your BAD accordingly.

There's a NYC Bank level in the new Hitman games, rip off that for the scenario, I would suggest.

[jason taylor]

PC x is a hacker with the NSA and PC y is a counterpart in the Chinese cyberwarfare program. Any two rival nations with enough technology to have a cyberwarfare program will do as replacements (Israel/Palestine, India/Pakistan, etc) and even petty warlords can afford one or two pretty good geeks on their private army nowadays. The players should be accepting of the matchup though.

Anyway they are long time opponents. They know all of each other's handles and have been opponents on many clashes in the web. They have yet to see each other's faces and are a mystery to each other.

Somehow they come across evidence that aliens are on Earth with sinister intentions. They team up without the knowledge of their respective agencies to partner against the mutual threat to both countries.

This story can grow bigger until it becomes a whole space opera epic. It might end up with Earth propelled into an intersteller universe as a new kid on the block and a Terran federation having to be formed. More pcs can be added on, and there can be several generations of pcs some children of previous ones.

[jason taylor]

Here's one I got from the book Blood Royal.

The King of a multinational crown just died without issue (this is in a verse where the monarch is head of government as well as head of state). There are several claimants to the throne. The claims of the different ones are various and sundry. The wise men of the realms (the lords spiritual and secular and the most powerful burghers and guildmasters, etc) appoint a joint committee from each constituent nation to choose the successor.

The PCs can play as the committee or it's bodyguards. The later may be more interesting. Likely there will be an assassination plot. Or there could be a unit of loyal knights chosen specifically to make sure the decision was enforced.

By the way this is how Ferdinand of Aragon came to the throne. It was generally conceded that his legal claim was not the best but no one's claim was very good anyway and he was known for being rich (so he could pay out of his own pocket unless he was going to war), and canny on the battlefield thus making the possibility of a functionally useful king. As it turned out according to the wikipedia he apparently was skilled at his job and his reign was a good one.

Another interesting fact was that a future saint served on that committee. The Dominican, Vincent Ferrer, a famous preacher, but apparently also known in political circles.

[Mark Caliber]

Originally Posted by Anaraxes

Afghanistan has 22 tons of gold in a bank in New York*. There's nine or ten times that much scattered around other locations. Overseas assets are being frozen by various countries, so the Taliban can't access the ten billion or so. You know what that means.

Heist adventures!

--
* It's the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, actually. But then, I wouldn't have needed to call you all together for an easy target. Adjust your BAD accordingly.

And awful twist to this plot is for the GM to 'reveal' that the Afghan gold was rehypothecated decades ago . . .

[jason taylor]

Originally Posted by Anaraxes

Afghanistan has 22 tons of gold in a bank in New York*. There's nine or ten times that much scattered around other locations. Overseas assets are being frozen by various countries, so the Taliban can't access the ten billion or so. You know what that means.

Heist adventures!

--
* It's the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, actually. But then, I wouldn't have needed to call you all together for an easy target. Adjust your BAD accordingly.

Speaking of that I read a book by a jeweler who has a shop in a sort of bazaar in Hawaii. He goes to Afghanistan to trade and prospect and has a number of contacts including blatantly admitting that he has friends at the CIA. When the Russians came, the Afghan government cut a deal with him to liquify their local treasures in preparation.

[Anders]

Originally Posted by Anaraxes

Afghanistan has 22 tons of gold in a bank in New York*. There's nine or ten times that much scattered around other locations. Overseas assets are being frozen by various countries, so the Taliban can't access the ten billion or so. You know what that means.

And 22 tons isn't that much in volume. It's a little more than a cubic meter, 1½ cubic yards.