Thursday 20 October 2011

Requiem - session report

Cast: Einhjard Eriksson, Thor-Eric Eriksson, Idunn Eriksson, Alfred Eriksson and Munin-1.

Their parents funeral had brought them all together again for the first time in a very long time. Geirr and Ingrid Eriksson had been killed in an explosion when they were working in the laboratory situated in sub-level 3. Officially it was called an accident, but the family knew better – someone had killed their parents.

However there were some legal issues to take care of, before they could launch their own investigation. As expected, the four siblings inherited everything that their parents left behind. This included an office building over six floors (three over ground and three under), a fruit farm just outside the city, a penthouse in Elysium City, and a vessel with limited opportunity for space flight. The biggest surprise was that Munin-1 inherited his own freedom, and that he was adopted into the family. He had been the Erikssons' property since the five original colony ships landed on Mars.

They also discovered that the explosion destroyed a great amount of data about the project their parents were working on, before they were killed. It seemed that none of the staff knew much about it, except that it had to do with cybernetics and genetics. A consequence of the explosion and the missing data, was that the family-owned company had problems with the economy, and could in a worst-case scenario have to terminate ten of their employees.It was therefore decided that a priority was to recover as much of the destroyed data as possible. They soon found out, after some dedicated work by Munin-1, that the project was to build Munin-4 and that it was sponsored by a corporation called Ultralohft Industries. Unfortunately they did not recover enough data to continue their parents research on Androids.

Before they could continue with their work, they had to attend an emergency meeting with the Allthing. The Allfather and N.E.R.A (New Kalmar Emergency Responce Agency) were concerned that failling communications with Earth could hinder further prosperity on Mars. For a while it seemed that Nkal-Mars would declare it's independence, but consensus declared in the end that N.E.R.A would temporarily have extended executive powers. The goal was to gradually become less and less dependent from the mother-nation back on Earth. During the Allthing The Erikssons had a meeting with Johan Callisendorff, Gustav Krag and Werner Warholm. They offered a deal – if the Erikssons voted for a professionalized Tyrian Legion, they be guaranteed several contracts with the army. They did not need much time to say yes, and a couple of days later they had the first contract in hand – maintain and upgrade The Tyrian Legion's cybernetics.

They finally also started to investigate their parents death, and Alfred soon discovered that the explosion was caused by a package delivered to the office building the same day. Originally the package should contain an advanced machine for analyzing blood, but someone had intercepted the package and replaced it with a bomb designed as the ordered machine. It was established that someone had also tampered with Munin-1's memory, and the Allfather was soon made a suspect. It also made Munin-1 a rather paranoid android.

During the investigation they were approached by Homicide Detective Tom Heim from NKAL-MPD, and it was soon obvious that he was more than happy to share information – for a price of course, and it did not take long before the family owned him several favours. He could tell them that the police had a suspect based on the modus operandi – an assassin called Tim Nuno. Idunn and Munin-1 discovered quickly that Tim Nuno can be an anagram for Munin-2 (2=to in norwegian), and Tom Heim more or less confirmed this. Munin-1 suddenly remembered that Munin-2 and 3 were on board the two colony ships that never reached Mars – adding to the mysteries and conspirations.

Through surveillance cameras and Alfred's contacts, they identified the man who delievered the bomb to the laboratory as someone calling themselves Byteboi – information they shared with their new friend Homicide Detective Tom Heim. He could soon tell them that they should talk to one of their employees – a secretary named Helga Bjornsdotir. Apparently she had been dating a man called Roger Kjellermann aka Byteboi for a while. Alfred and Thor-Erik confronted her with the fact, and she soon elapsed into tears. She did not know that Byteboi was involved in the bombing, but he was a violent boyfriend – and last night he had come to her apartment, bloody and wounded. He had forced her to give him all the credits she had. Helga could not tell them much more, but she could give them his e-mail. It did not take long for Munin-1 to hack into it, and he soon found several cryptic e-mails in the spam-filter – but he was not able to decipher them.

Meanwhile Idunn was invited to The Killing Game, and after much debate with her middle-man she accepted the invitation. Her first match was against someone called Soylent Green – a psychopath assassin known for his use of combat drugs. The stage was a punk concert with two underground bands called Aqua Nazi and Hammer&Tongs. Everyone except Munin-1 decided to attend, just in case if anything got out of hand. Everyone had a hard time blending in, except Einhjard. In the end it was he who followed Soylent Green and ambushed him when he was taking a piss, but he left the actual killing to Idunn. Meanwhile Munin-1 managed to trace a broadcast from the concert to a hotel in Elysium – hopefully leading them to the mysterious shareholders.

Sunday 9 October 2011

The Killing Game


...Load encryption...

......Line secured......


<Eagle Eye>
I have still some questions about the invitation, what is the actual rules of the game?

<Morpho> There are no set rules to the game, instead each match has certain premises. If there are a rule it would be to never reveal the game to the public.

<Eagle Eye> Fair enough, Who decides what the premises are?

<Morpho> The shareholders do, they are always looking for opportunities to make the game more «fun».

<Eagle Eye> Who are the shareholders?

<Morpho>
I have no idea, all I know is that they have a shitload of money and that they love gambling.

<Eagle Eye> So I just go in blind with no idea of what to expect?

<Morpho> not totally blind, usually a match is between two professionals on a certain location with any weapon you prefer, though there are certain limitations. Like, no heavy weapons if the match is set inside a DC. Discretion is alpha and omega for the shareholders.

<Eagle Eye> So just light firearms and blades are allowed?

<Morpho> Not exactly, if the game is set outside in the martian wilderness almost everything is allowed. Heavy weapons, grenades...whatever you need to kill someone.

<Eagle Eye> Can I take with me a partner?

<Morpho> Not unless the match say so, anyone in mind? How many kills do your partner have?

<Eagle Eye> None, he have not been doing this kind of work before.

<Morpho>
You have been invited because of your work and reputation, it is unlikely that the shareholders will approve of a rookie. Any other questions?

<Eagle Eye> I presume The shareholders are watching the match and that there is some sort of compensation for me?

<Morpho> They would not have fun if they could not watch. Your compensation will vary from match to match.

<Eagle Eye> Can I decline matches when I first have joined the game, and are they always to first blood?

<Morpho> I really don't know what would happen if you declined - as fas as I know it has not happened yet. You have won the game if the opponent surrenders or if you kill him.

<Eagle Eye> Can I bet on myself? Even better can I become a Shareholder?

<Morpho> You can't - there are a strict seperation between contestants and shareholders. To become a shareholder you have to be very rich and have the right connections. I have neither - but I can put out some inquiries for you. Have to go now, but we will talk later.

----Line terminated----

Monday 12 September 2011

Factions on Mars


Man is in the early stages of terraforming Mars to their needs. The process is hampered by various factions fighting over resources and power. Communications with Earth and The Lunar Colonies are slowly failing, making the situation even more chaotic.

Below you will find a short description of the five major factions on Mars.

The Commonwealth of Mars (C-Mars):

Mostly populated by people originally from India and Great Britain, but there are also families hailing from the rest of the old Commonwealth back on Earth. They have a professional army consisting mostly of Ghurkas and Sikhs.

Location: Valles Marineris, west

Population: 9 872 657 souls

Capitol: New Varanasi

AI:GANGES


New Kalmar-Mars (NKal-Mars):
The residents of Nkal-Mars are originally from one of the old Nordic countries, but there are also some people from the old Baltic countries. You can also find a few from northern parts of Germany. Nkal-Mars have at the moment a semi-professional army called the Tyrian Legions.

Location: Hellas Planitia, an impact basin 7 Km deep and 2300 Km wide.

Population: 4 123 394 souls

Capitol: New Kalmar City

AI: THE ALL-FATHER


Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on Mars (USSRM):


People in USSRM are mostly from Russia or one of the other countries that was a part of the old Soviet Union back on Earth. They have a professional army consisting of Spetsnaz and other elemtents from the Red Army.

Location: Caves near Arsia Mons

Population: 3 239 584 souls

Capitol: Mamoht

AI: MOTHER


Elysium City (EC):


Elysium differs from the rest of the cities on Mars, since it was founded by megacorporations and private
entrepreneurs – not from collaborations between different nations back on Earth. Several security companies have their HQ in Elysium, but they have no standing army of their own.

Location: Valles Marineris, East


Population: 1 243 400 souls

Capitol: N/A

AI: ALT


The Trans-American Martian Union (TAMU):


This Union consist of people from U.S.A and some countries from South America, mainly Brasil and Mexico. They have a professional army with many veterans from wars back on Earth.


Location: Argyre Planitia


Population: 8 345 984 souls

Capitol: Horizon

AI: INTR3PID


Drifters, Nomads, Raiders, Hermits and Vagabonds:


Location: Nowhere and everywhere


Population: Unknown

Capitol: There are rumours about a moving city called Mobile .

AI: N/A

Friday 9 September 2011

Who's what on Mars

There will be a lot of replicants, robots, androids, genetical enhanced humans and other fun stuff in our game. I felt there were a need to do a write-up on the subject, just so my players could better distinguish the different kinds of things moving around on Mars.

Replicants: They look like humans but they are not a product of human breeding, instead they are lab-grown bodies with a brain. If you have the technology they are easy and cheap to manufacture and maintain.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vat_grown_meat). They are genetical engineered to perform tasks in enviroments that ordinary humans can't handle. They are also programmed to live for only twenty years maximum. There are no facilities on Mars made for production of replicants, they have been imported from Earth and The Lunar Colonies.

Robots: Machines and nothing more - programmed to perform certain tasks and that's it (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robots). There are many kinds of robots, from the simple vacuum cleaner to the advanced terraforming machines roaming Mars. The cost to manufacture and maintain them also varies , but it can be difficult to get spareparts on Mars.

AI: Highly advanced computer programs able to reason and learn from their actions, so they can better plan how to achieve maximum success (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_intelligence). They are highly perceptive and can communicate with humans. They have usually no kind of body, so their movement are limited to the network they are connected with. There are five of them on Mars.

Android: There are very few androids around, mostly because they are extremely expensive and difficult to make, even if you have the technology. An Android is best described as an AI with a humanlike robotic body (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_%28robot%29). There are only one present on Mars (a PC) as far as anyone knows.

Cyborgs: Most humans on Mars are in fact some kind of Cyborg. It is common to have an implant or two to enhance certain abilities that are import for their survival on Mars (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyborg). Some even have gone so far that most of their body have been replaced by machine parts.

Genetical enchanced humans:
The first families to colonize the red planet were all genetical engineered, making them more adapted for life on Mars (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetical_engineering). Descendants from the first colonist have inherited many of the same traits, making them stand apart from normal humans. They are often treated as superior humans (at least in their own minds), and they are usually members of the upper social strata of Mars.

Wednesday 31 August 2011

Old School Mars


I found this trailer on Youtube, and it is quite amusing. It will not fit into the kind of Mars we want in our setting, but I will post it anyway. Have anyone seen the movie, is it worth watching?

Monday 29 August 2011

10 facts about Mars


To prepare for the new setting I have been reading a lot of stuff about Mars, and it has been enjoyable to once again take an interest in our Solar System. I am still trying to put my ideas down on paper, but it is a slow going. Hopefully I will have some concrete soon, but in the meanwhile please enjoy ten facts about Mars.

- Mars can easily be seen from Earth with the naked eye. It's brightness surpassed only by Venus, Jupiter, the Moon, and the Sun.

-A Martian day is called a sol, and it is a bit longer than an Earth day. It last just under 24 hours and 40 minutes.

- A Martian year is a bit over 668 sols, or just under 687 earth days.

- Mars rotates on a tilted axis, ensuring that the planet experiences seasonal weather variations similar to Earth.

- Mars has an eccentric elliptical orbit, causing greater variations in the length of Martian seasons.

- Martian surface temperatures vary from lows of about −87 °C during the polar winters to highs of up to −5 °C in summers.

- Mars is the site of Olympus Mons (estimated height of between 21-29 km ) the highest known mountain within the Solar System, and of Valles Marineris, the largest canyon (more than 4,000 km long, 200 km wide and up to 7 km deep).

- Mars have two moons called Phobos (fear) and Deimos (loathing).

- You have to travel about 182.5 million miles to reach Mars. It would take 41.6 years to fly that distance in an airplane, but only a bit over 14 months in the Space Shuttle.

- Today there are 13 man made objects on the surface of Mars.

Oh, I forgot to mention that I am thinking of calling our setting «Tales from the Red Frontier». What do you think? Good or bad?

Tuesday 23 August 2011

The List

I have already mentioned that The Group met over a couple of beers to discuss what kind of setting we want to play. One of them came up with the idea that we should name films, TV-shows or comic books that could be used as references for what we want to create together.

I have sorted the List into categories, just so it will be easier to define what the Group wants to play. I have not managed to put all of them into a category, so feel free to come with suggestions.

Factions and Intrigue:
Rome
Dune
A Game of Thrones

Dysfunctional future:

Bladerunner
Children of Men
Land of The Blind

Transmetro
Event Horizon
Gattaca
Moon

Look + Feel
Romeo + Juliet (The Baz Lurhmann movie)
Total Recall
Mad Max

I must admit that they have not made it easy for me (or themselves), but we managed to get the most basic stuff down on paper. The player characters will be descendants of one of the first Scandinavian families/houses to colonize Mars, and there will be Replicants. The last part seemed to be very important to them (I really can't argue against that, I find them cool too). I have some ideas how this can evolve into a proper setting, but that will have to come in a later post.

One thing I have decided is to use the rules from the game Eclipse Phase, hopefully it will work without too many adaptions. Highly recommend all of you to take a look at the game, it is one of the more interesting settings I have ever come across.

Sunday 21 August 2011

First post

So what should I write about in my first post on my first blog? The obvious answer is my experiences and thoughts on the all too-addictive hobby called roleplaying games.

I still remember when I first heard of the concept. I was around fourteen or fifteen years old and I frequently hanged around the local youth club with some friends. One of them told me about a new cool thing he had been doing last weekend – it was of course a roleplaying game. What caught my interest was the fact that he had played a werewolf that had their own kind of martial arts – how awesome isn't that? A week later I played my first session of Werewolf - the Acopalypse, and I just knew it would change my life.

It did not take long before I steadily played a variety of roleplaying games, mostly Werewolf – The Acopalypse and Vampire – The Masquerade. I also frequently played Cyberpunk 2020, Call of Cthulhu and a swedish game called Western. I never played any of the D&D games – in fact my first encounter with the setting was the Baldur's Gate computer game.

It did not take a long time to find a new group of people to play roleplaying games with, when I moved from my hometown to study at the University. Again the first game was Werewolf – The Acopalypse, but soon we were playing Mage – The Ascension. I have no idea how many hours I have used on that game, probably years in total. There were of course other settings like Star Wars and Birthright, and they are in fact the first level-based games I ever played.

The last few years have been a period where my gaming have been kind on and off. I have tried a lot of different settings with different people, and it was an enjoyable experiene. I have played Runequest for the first time of my life, and the Warhammer 40K games. The last year I have played in the Book of Worlds, and it has been fun to again be a part of a group that plays regularly.

That ended when our GM moved to Canada to be with his GF, but luckily the group still want to play together. We had a couple of beers the other day, and it seems I will take on the part of GM. I am no stranger to it, but I am not an experienced GM. I am confident though, that with a little help from my players it will be a fun game. Once again we want to make our own setting, but this time it will be a Sci-fi/Cyberpunk inspired game. We have already several ideas, but more of that in a later post.