[d20 Modern] The Githyanki Incursion

[Vyvyan Basterd]

Hello. This is my first time posting to the EN World d20 Modern boards and would like to introduce myself. You can all call me Vyv. I've been playing D&D for over 20 years. I've also had a strong interest in Shadowrun and Earthdawn.

This is my first shot at a d20 Modern campaign and would like to get some feedback and ideas for the campaign I have in mind.

I was thinking of how I could use the Incursion campaign setting (from Dragon #309, Dungeon #100 and Polyhedron #159?) in my next D&D campaign. In the context of the D&D campaigns I have run over the past 20 years, this idea seemed bland and overused. So I set the idea aside.

I get alot of inspiration from movies and suddenly one of my favorites popped into my mind. "They Live" starring Roddy Piper. Suddenly the whole Incursion idea rushed forth again for my yet-to-be-used d20 Modern game.

The gith in this campaign would try to take modern-day earth, not through massive troop movements, instead using subterfuge and incorporating themselves in our daily lives through deception and disguise. They use our media to subvert us with subliminal messages that turn us into overly-capitalistic zombies. Some people have seen through the lie and fight against the invaders.

But how do I take this basis and turn it into a long-running campaign?

I plan to take this campaign beyond the end result of the movie and use the adventure from Dungeon mag in one way or another. I also plan to get the characters involved in the beginning when they witness an apparent madman attacking an innocent person in public (a disguised githyanki, of course). But what can I do to fill the story between levels 1 and 18 (the suggested level for The Lich-Queen's Beloved)?

Like I said, I would appreciate any feedback on my ideas so far and suggestions to help me bring this campaign to fruition. I apologize to those seeing this a second time, as I posted this topic on the Wizards boards also, but the traffic over there was very light.

Thanks,

Vyv

 

[Doc_Souark]

Take a page from a 6os Sci-fi show (I'm Brain Locked on the title) and have the heros hunted by both the goverment and the Gith, the gov. wants them because they think the heros are terrorists/ murders for killing the harmless civilians(the Gith). And the Gith, well to hide what they are. Be sure to throw in a few non-Gith encounters to break/ add suspence, give a few red herrings and to interduce other aliens either allies or enemies of the Gith.

 

[Doc_Souark]

Since you'll be useing Psionics in you're campaign( I would) here's an idea I had for a one shot game, but I'm sure you could tweak it to fit yours .Wierd Times at the Home.

 

[Vyvyan Basterd]

The government and psionics

In at least the short term I plan to only involve local authorities, but depending on how things occur, the FBI could definately become involved. In my storyline, alot of high political roles have been assumed by the githyanki. They are already imbedded in places of power, such as Wall Street, Hollywood, Madison Avenue and various government offices. So the government/githyanki split isn't as clear-cut.

As for psionics, I prefer to have only the gith use psionics, and only their standard abilities per the 3.5 D&D MM. The heroes in my campaign are going to be realtively "normal" people. But this idea would work well in a modern day psionics campaign as well. I had also mentioned elsewhere that this campaign could fit well in a Department-7 or Men in Black type campaign.

Thanks for the feedback and ideas. I'll continue to post my campaign updates as available.

 

[d4]

sounds a bit like the Sci Fi Channel's TV show "First Wave", especially if you go Doc Souark's way of having the PCs being hunted by both the government and the aliens.

if you could find some episodes or plot synopses from that show, that should give you some ideas for adventures.

 

[Vyvyan Basterd]

sounds a bit like the Sci Fi Channel's TV show "First Wave", especially if you go Doc Souark's way of having the PCs being hunted by both the government and the aliens.

if you could find some episodes or plot synopses from that show, that should give you some ideas for adventures.

Other shows/movies mentioned as source material for this campaign were "V" and "The Arrival." "V" is another favorite of mine and I'm sure some ideas from that will make their way in. I'll have to check out "First Wave" though as I never saw that one. Thanks for the info.

 

[takyris]

Sounds like it could be a REALLY fun campaign. A few general suggestions, ideas, and questions:

Are the Gith fantasy monsters or sci-fi monsters? Do you want to add in bits about alien tech, or will they have psionic devices?

In terms of "players on the run", it will definitely help the players if, every once in awhile, they make an ally. Never someone with a lot of power, mind you, but if you're going to have them be chased by the FBI, let a low-ranking FBI agent capture them... Then let the Gith attack, and the PCs can save the FBI agent while driving off the Gith. The FBI agent lets them go at the end, and while he can't come out overtly on their side, he can pass them info from time to time. You can do the same thing with individual scientists for more information, or for the street gang that originally was gonna beat up the PCs, for potential ally as muscle.

Players get really annoyed if the tech is usable by the aliens but never usable by the PCs. Come up with a good reason why, when the first-level players kill a Gith and get ahold of its crystal-psi-energy-wand-thingie, they can't use it. ALSO come up with a way for them to eventually be able to use it. You don't have to tell them that, of course, but it's good to have things not COMPLETELY unfair against your players.

Why are the Gith here? Are they here to enslave humanity, are they here to destroy humanity so that the Illithids can't use humanity's neural energy to control the multiverse, or are they here to hide from the Illithids, who are winning their multiverse-wide Mind War? You can completely turn around the PCs' perceptions by having them win a few victories against the Gith, only to have the Illithids arrive and be MUCH worse. Maybe the PCs start thinking about alliances, or maybe they start thinking of how to play their foes off each other.

Dunno, just trying to get the ball rolling. _First Wave_ is a great idea -- it's one of the few series that lasted long enough to really build up its mythology. That campy old "War of the Worlds" series does kind of the same thing, only our heroes aren't being hunted -- they're working for the government surreptitiously.

 

[Vyvyan Basterd]

Sounds like it could be a REALLY fun campaign. A few general suggestions, ideas, and questions:

Are the Gith fantasy monsters or sci-fi monsters? Do you want to add in bits about alien tech, or will they have psionic devices?

I plan to keep them as fantasy creatures, but their magic items would use modern day devices as their focus. For example, in the movie "They Live" there is an alien tech watch that transports aliens in distress to an underground complex. In my campaign this would be a watch of dimension door or something similar.

In terms of "players on the run", it will definitely help the players if, every once in awhile, they make an ally. Never someone with a lot of power, mind you, but if you're going to have them be chased by the FBI, let a low-ranking FBI agent capture them... Then let the Gith attack, and the PCs can save the FBI agent while driving off the Gith. The FBI agent lets them go at the end, and while he can't come out overtly on their side, he can pass them info from time to time. You can do the same thing with individual scientists for more information, or for the street gang that originally was gonna beat up the PCs, for potential ally as muscle.

All great ideas that I'll keep in mind. I plan to start the campaign as more of a mystery genre and gradually increase the violence towards the end. Alot of combat for "average" heroes would mar the feel I'm going for. The heroes in my campaign are otherwise normal people that get involved when they realize something very strange and wrong is going on. The main character in "They Live" is a drifter/construction worker that figures out what is going on and wants to stop or at least reveal it.

Players get really annoyed if the tech is usable by the aliens but never usable by the PCs. Come up with a good reason why, when the first-level players kill a Gith and get ahold of its crystal-psi-energy-wand-thingie, they can't use it. ALSO come up with a way for them to eventually be able to use it. You don't have to tell them that, of course, but it's good to have things not COMPLETELY unfair against your players.

I think if things go well the charcaters won't get their hands on any githyanki "tech" until mid- to high-level and I'll definately let them use it.

Why are the Gith here? Are they here to enslave humanity, are they here to destroy humanity so that the Illithids can't use humanity's neural energy to control the multiverse, or are they here to hide from the Illithids, who are winning their multiverse-wide Mind War? You can completely turn around the PCs' perceptions by having them win a few victories against the Gith, only to have the Illithids arrive and be MUCH worse. Maybe the PCs start thinking about alliances, or maybe they start thinking of how to play their foes off each other.

The gith are here to suck our resources dry. They push capatilism to its limits finding overly greedy humans to work with them to "better" society by giving those who go with the flow a higher standard of living. The genius of the githyanki lich-queen was to actually get the inhabitants of this new-found realm to help her bleed it dry, hopefully without casualty to her followers. She has especially made effective use of the media to insert subliminal messages about conformity and consumption. This world was new to her, but her superhuman IQ helped her learn quickly that the best strategy for our world was subterfuge, not physical conquest.

I probably won't use the Illithid, but I may put a Githzerai ally into the story. The githzerai could pass themselves off as strange-looking humans if they layed low. The illithids would be a nasty surprise though.

Dunno, just trying to get the ball rolling. _First Wave_ is a great idea -- it's one of the few series that lasted long enough to really build up its mythology. That campy old "War of the Worlds" series does kind of the same thing, only our heroes aren't being hunted -- they're working for the government surreptitiously.

Thanks for the input. Hopefully by the end of this thread we can have collectively created a very cool Githyanki Incursion campaign to use in all of our d20 Modern games.

 

[Voneth]

Journals: Book 1, Entry 01 “Subject 117”

"On the seventh dawn of the seventh day / A twice blessed man will roam the fields / Doomed to shadows with his brethren / Or savior to all who walk the ground"

My name is Cade Foster. Picture the life you wish you had. I had it. A beautiful wife, a great career, money, friends, all of it. And then just as quickly, it was gone.

I used to be a thief. I was considered by the cops to be the best break and entry man in Cook County in my day. They couldn't touch me. But I realized that was a fool's life when I met Hannah, so I did an about face and went legit, and left it all behind. Maybe I finally stumbled onto what I could never find behind all those broken safes: a real life, a reason for being...

And then it all began to unravel.

My bank accounts were drained overnight. I started having vivid and gruesome hallucinations that would hit me outta nowhere. I was fired from my job at a security firm when they found out about my colorful past on the other side of the law. I thought maybe I was losing my mind.

Then I came home one night and found my house ransacked. The number "19" was scrawled in bloody red paint all over the walls of my house. Hannah was okay; she had locked herself in the upstairs bathroom for protection. But the bastards came into my home. I wasn't insane. Somebody was out to get me... And I was gonna find out who it was.

Opened the shed. Broke out my Blackhawks bag. Dusted off the lockpick tools I call The Sisters, fired up Blowtorch Betty, and got all the rest of my gear together. Did some surreptitious entry and investigative digging. Followed the trail to a nut named Emmett Mayhew, a billionaire doing time in a mental hospital for taking an axe to his family tree. Thing was, the story he was telling didn't sound that crazy to me.

Somebody messed with Mayhew's life, too; the hallucinations, drained accounts, all of it. He clued me in to a book he said was the key to the whole thing. And he told me who was destroying our lives; Mayhew said they were aliens.

I found the book. It was written over 400 years ago by Nostradamus. His prophecies brought the mystery together for me: he predicted the Earth would be destroyed in three terrifying waves: invasion, attack from above, and finally, Armageddon.

The first wave has landed. I know they're here. I'm gonna stop them. And if they think they can defeat me first, they got another thing coming. 'Til next time...

http://www.scifi.com/firstwave/journal/index.html

 

[Vyvyan Basterd]

A message from the rebel resistance:

"...our impulses are being redirected. We are living in an artificially induced state of consciousness that resembles sleep..
...the movement was begun eight months ago by a small group of scientists who discovered, quite by accident, these signals being sent through tele...
...the poor and the underclass are growing. Racial justice and human rights are nonexistent. They have created a repressive society and we are their unwitting accomplices...
...their intention to rule rests with the annhialation of consciousness. We have been lulled into a trance. They have made us indifferent, to ourselves, to others, we are
focused only on our own gain. We ha...
...please understand, they are safe as long as they are not discovered. That is their primary method of survival. Keep us asleep, keep us selfish, keep us sedated...
...they are dismantling the sleeping middle class. More and more people are becoming poor. We are their cattle. We are being bred for slavery. The revolu...
...we cannot break their signal, our transmitter is not powerful enough. The signal must be shut off at the source."

A message from the rebel resistance, They Live.