Ideas Are Easy

[crretin]

Bloodsport: In a future cyberpunk world, humanity has grown evil and social darwinistic a gameshow exists called bloodsport. It's a show where those society deems "unworthy" are put in a dark and twisted mockery of a modern day reality show where people are shoved through a lethal minigame every week until one person survives. The winner gets to rejoin society. The players play contestants.

[crretin]

Descend: a plague forces humanity underground, but what they find underneath are twisted beasts intent on killing anything they see. The players play operatives trained to kill these beasts so that humanity can expand and survive. Pretty much alien meets metro 2033.

[tshiggins]

Originally Posted by Daigoro

Did they have to make an uneasy alliance with the Ant People's natural enemies, the Talking Cockroaches?

Nope. No Ant-people, and no talking cockroaches. The Leviathans essentially planned to farm humans as a low-volition food source, by feeding them fast-food that was tasty and nutritious, but high in calories and dosed with a low-end sedative that built up through time and made people more calm and suggestible.

The bad guys were great, the main boss villain was very well played, and the season had some fun social commentary. It was one of the more watchable seasons, even leaving out the introduction of Felicia Day's recurring character, Charlie Bradbury/Celeste Middleton.

[tshiggins]

Here's a post-apocalyptic idea I've kicked around for awhile. The party members are humans who've grown up as the third or fourth generation in a Vault. Now, 100 years after the apocalypse, the Vault is running out of resources and nutritional deficiencies may soon start to appear, so the party is sent out to explore.

Pretty standard stuff, so far.

However, the apocalypse wasn't caused by nuclear holocaust, or anything, like that. Instead, dimensional breeches appeared and triggered EM pulses that caused serious damage to electronics of all sorts. Right after that, predatory beasts that resemble "the Dark," from Barbara Hambly's Darwath trilogy slipped through.

I'd make the "Dark" beasts a nocturnal (to the extent of taking damage from UV) hive-mind that uses chemical communications boosted by mild psionics. Each member is capable of taking on any one of several different shapes -- a flyer, a climber, a runner, and a pouncer -- any of whom can have barbed or clawed appendages.

It takes time and energy to shift forms, so most hive members segregate themselves out according to needed specialties, and they just remain in the initial shape chosen.

The species reproduces by fission, and any member will "bud" off a youngster, given access to sufficient nutrition. The ability to alter their forms, and plenty of redundant blood storage organs, combined with a robustly-competitive evolutionary history, means the Dark take limited damage from blunt trauma and puncture wounds (but cutting damage acts as normal, and UV results in serious burns), although sufficient force will kill them as efficiently as it does anything else (artillery always works).

The Dark eat animal proteins, and when few in number a hive is semi-nomadic, traveling at night, until it reaches a rich hunting ground. Then, it finds an underground lair and sets up shop, permanently.

Upon reaching a sufficient number, the collective IQ of the hive begins to increase, until the Dark achieve an order of sapience. At that point, they begin to herd and harvest human beings and other animals, as consistent and reliable food sources. They also become capable of recognizing and attacking communications, electrical and transportation infrastructure, so as to create isolated areas.

On the surface, the Vault explorers find small towns and villages inhabited by what appear to be regular people, living on the edges of old, ruined cities or amongst foothills. They suffer the usual sorts of raids and other problems common to post-apocalyptic settings, and are glad for any help. The people are always welcoming, and encourage the visitors to stay awhile -- even to the extent of offering the "hospitality" of young, eligible members of the community.

In essence, the villagers hope to increase genetic diversity and offer the visitors up to the next "cull," and in so doing spare the lives of their own elders. For their part, the Dark don't care who they get -- they need sufficient calories, and don't care where they come from.

The only people who are "free" in this setting are the raiders -- some of whom can be just as psychotic as anybody in a Mad Max movie. However, they know that to settle down and to try to build anything will attract the Dark, sooner or later, so they just keep moving.

What this has in common with a zombie apocalypse is that the greatest threat comes from the other survivors, and not necessarily the Dark. However, the Dark make for much more challenging adversaries than do zombies, when they do appear.

Alternatively, for a "doomed shoot-'em-up" campaign, back up the timeline and have the party be members of a military squad, or police unit, or set of first-responders, trying to deal with a natural disaster that has messed up electronic power and communications, while slowly becoming aware that inhuman things now rule the night.

[crretin]

They came from the sea: 50 years ago giant monsters rose from the sea to lay waste to civilization, now humanity has finally been able to make a weapon to defeat these monsters, mecha. Basically a post apocalyptic pacific rim.

[Anaraxes]

Originally Posted by crretin

a post apocalyptic pacific rim.

Why is humanity better able to manufacture mecha after civilization has been laid waste than when they still had their knowledge and industrial base? Mecha seem to require tech-a.

Sounds more like a setup for why they turned to magic after their technology failed them and they had no other choice. Or maybe supers; there's still a lab that can induce mutations / produce super-soldier serum / whatever, and despite the usually horrible results on the subjects, there's still some small number of people noble or desperate enough to volunteer, some few of whom even survive to battle the beasts.

[Disliker of the mary sue]

Originally Posted by Anaraxes

Why is humanity better able to manufacture mecha after civilization has been laid waste than when they still had their knowledge and industrial base? Mecha seem to require tech-a.

Meh rule of cool mostly,really though Mecha's are completely unrealistic since for the cost of developing one them you can usually buy a hundred tanks. I imagine if we do get to the point we can devolve mechas, they'll more or less be the toys of eccentric billionaires rather then military tech.

[tshiggins]

Originally Posted by Disliker of the mary sue

Meh rule of cool mostly,really though Mecha's are completely unrealistic since for the cost of developing one them you can usually buy a hundred tanks. I imagine if we do get to the point we can devolve mechas, they'll more or less be the toys of eccentric billionaires rather then military tech.

I actually had a friend experience this, once. He loved a mecha miniatures game, and couldn't understand why I had zero interest (I think mechs are stoopid, for the reason listed).

Anyway, I talked to him about the economics of the situation, to explain why I thought the game was silly. Something must have stuck, because the next time he played, he decided to experiment with regular heavy and light tanks and infantry, and not buy any mechs with his point-budget, at all.

He wiped the map. After that, he got it.

[crretin]

Originally Posted by Anaraxes

Why is humanity better able to manufacture mecha after civilization has been laid waste than when they still had their knowledge and industrial base? Mecha seem to require tech-a.

Sounds more like a setup for why they turned to magic after their technology failed them and they had no other choice. Or maybe supers; there's still a lab that can induce mutations / produce super-soldier serum / whatever, and despite the usually horrible results on the subjects, there's still some small number of people noble or desperate enough to volunteer, some few of whom even survive to battle the beasts.

Alright, that's actually a good point. Maybe instead it can be something where we invented mecha while civilization was still alive and breathing, but it wasn't enough as there where no end to the monsters and now there are either lone warriors fending for themselves in mecha suits or entire societies forced to live in these mechs in order to survive.

[Disliker of the mary sue]

Actually that could be an interesting idea for a setting, your fighting in a mech for some sort of game show sponsored by eccentric billionaire who actually made mechs with their money.