Future Plot Help

[Pheonix0114]

So, I'm running a d20 Future game and I was approaching what I was expecting to be the end of a short campaign (6 months) and my players still want more. They have a large starships, several smaller ones, and own a corporation quickly growing and making waves throughout their sector. They've had dealings with other races, have a small army of marines at their disposal, etc.

But to the point, I don't know where to go from here while keeping things like combat on both player and starship scale in the game as they are necessarily very complex and time consuming with the resources the players have. Are there any suggestions the more experienced players and DMs of EN World have to offer?

 

[Dioltach]

You could scale the action down again. Perhaps their corporation has been infiltrated by spies working for a hidden competitor. Perhaps the competitor then decides to target the PCs personally: kidnapping them and forcing them to survive by their wits and abilities. Perhaps there's a fuel crisis and their various assets are left stranded across the sector. Perhaps an executive within their organisation stages a coup and seizes their assets. Perhaps the local government sees the PCs as a challenge to its authority, or instead requires the PCs assistance.

 

[Pheonix0114]

Thanks, all of those are good and I will probably use several

 

[Jimlock]

You could scale the action down again. Perhaps their corporation has been infiltrated by spies working for a hidden competitor. Perhaps the competitor then decides to target the PCs personally: kidnapping them and forcing them to survive by their wits and abilities. Perhaps there's a fuel crisis and their various assets are left stranded across the sector. Perhaps an executive within their organisation stages a coup and seizes their assets. Perhaps the local government sees the PCs as a challenge to its authority, or instead requires the PCs assistance.

This CAN work, but on the other hand you should try and hide the reasons behind the turn of events.

2 years ago I was playing in a classic D&D campaign where at some point the DM decided he had enough of magic and PC-Spellcaster power (level 17). He trapped the entire party and forced onto them anti-magic tattoos. The whole campaign was then based on removing those tattoos... The DM was a good one... still that idea was a little lame.

What I'm trying to say, is that you should try and keep up with the player level and evolution... as much as you can anyway... Don't just take away their toys because you can't handle it.
Another approach would be to simplify things as they are and make it clear to the players that you do so as to keep the game fun for you too.

IMHO, don't backtrack without giving them some option, or without trying to simplify whatever it is that is complex. The players will know what is going on, and they won't like it.

Moreover, you could go more "primitive" without taking away their achievements. There are plenty of ways to put players in situations you wish, without necessarily taking away what they 've earned so far.
(They have to go do something, where their powerful toys are useless).

It's all good and all are valid solutions... just try you best so as to hide your intentions.

 

[Jimlock]

Despite what I said above...perhaps the best advice is this->

Don't forget that:

RPGs=

...and your players should feel that way for your game.

...Once you realize... that your players realize they can keep going, I'm sure that ideas will start raining down.
IMHO, this is one of the best emotions a DM can feel.

 

[GSHamster]

Have you read the Vorkosigan books by Lois McMaster Bujold?

In a lot of ways, her main character's arc parallels that of your PCs. He goes from having a mercenary fleet to being the chief investigator for his planet's government. Tasked with all sorts of special and sensitive investigations.

You could do something similar. Move to a more investigative style of play, but allow the players to use their corp and armies when appropriate.

 

[Pheonix0114]

After obsessing over this for awhile I came up with the idea of them having to go and actually forge alliances and trade agreements now. This would give me time to come up with something else action oriented while still giving them something for their characters to do that feels natural to the story. Any tips on running a more mercantile/diplomatic game?

 

[Liquidsabre]

Having worked hard to build their little corp now do two things:

(1) Their Corp and its resources are a campaign feature! The Corpis a setting/backdrop and a useful vehicle for catapulting the characters into new and exciting adventures. Its less about threatening or putting at risk what they have built and more about just making it a part of the scenery. Really, really fun and cool scenery though it may be.

Emphasizing how boring being a corp desk-jockey can be sitting on aging starliners and back water worlds helps too.

(2) Big fish in a small pond - begin introducing some of the real big leaguers in the sector that have now noticed this new 'small corp'. If they want to play with the big boys its all about the wielding of power through economics, politics, public opinion, and planetary-scale resources.

 

[Herobizkit]

I completely agree with [MENTION=15635]Liquidsabre[/MENTION] on point #1. Unless the players REALLY want to micro-manage how much creds they're logging per month (and I've had players that did), put the fleet on 'automatic' and re-involve the PCs in some new adventure.

Steal liberally. I mean, if the Enterprise wrapped it up once their Federation was 'complete' (before they went on their far away missions), there'd've be no series to watch.

You can broaden their scope (wormholes, Stargates, et al), bring a new race to them that's flat-out 'better' somehow, or perhaps there is some sort of mercantile civil war that fractions the players' corporations into splinter businesses... the players might not enjoy it, but they can either have a go at re-uniting their corporation (yup, totally stealing Koei games here) or find out what or who caused the people to break off in the first place.