Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Nest
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Moral Choices in RPGs
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Grendel_Khan" data-source="post: 8505797" data-attributes="member: 7028554"><p>I've only run a handful of sessions of new Twilight 2000, but here are my impressions, related to what you're discussing here:</p><p></p><p>-There are some mechanical nudges toward being something less than crazed survivor bandits, but nothing massively overbearing. For example, there's something called Unit Morale, which gives you bonuses to Coolness Under Fire rolls (hugely important), and it goes up and down based on various factors. One of the things that can increase it is helping other people. There's also a great rule about executing people who are incapacitated or helpless--you have to fail an Empathy roll, and even then it gives you a point of Stress (of which you only have a handful, and running out is very bad).</p><p></p><p>-Also mechanically speaking, it's not like you have levels or magic items to seek out. There's XP-based progression, for sure, but there's no sense of a progression-based finish line you're racing toward. So, if anything, players looking for a power fantasy are pretty likely (imo) to want to set up a compound or similar of their own. That means dealing with friendly NPCs, and interactions that are likely to create bonds.</p><p></p><p>-Unlike in Fallout, or similar settings where the post-apocalyptic environment is established, the default setting for T2K is basically right after things have fully fallen apart. So there's desperation and scarcity, but things haven't progressed to a full Road Warrior state of depravity and decay. That means you're more likely to come across people who need help. And if you present those people in an honest and vibrant way, I think most players will, like most humans in real life, feel a tug of empathy. In the sessions I ran both players made characters who were defined by being selfish, kill or be killed survivors (reflected in their one-sentence Moral Codes that the game has you come up with during creation). And yet they wound up helping civilians under attack, and later defending them, at great risk to themselves. I think that's the real dramatic punch of the game--do you help other people?</p><p></p><p>-The encounters and environments that come with the boxed set lean on that central question, in ways that are smart, imo. Like you can draw an encounter card that says a dog shows up, and if you succeed at a Persuasion test it becomes super loyal. If you as a player aren't willing to share some rations with a friendly, loyal dog...well, that's pretty messed up.</p><p></p><p>-Vehicles are a pain to keep running, and make you a target. So if you're constantly on the move, and just murder-hobo-ing across Poland (or wherever it's set), there's only so much loot you can carry. So, again, being the bandit with the best stuff is a goal that would lose its appeal pretty quickly. </p><p></p><p>-Finally, this is just my take, but I don't really see T2K being a good long-term, fully open-ended campaign unless PCs discover or come up with some sort of purpose behind survival. Survival might get you through the material that's in the boxed set, as far as the encounter sites and random encounters go, but at some point you'll get across the map or to whatever destination you're after...and then what? There are tons of things you could do as GM to keep things going, including moving to another locale (like making it back to the U.S., if the PCs are from there) and helping to restore order, or fight against those who are using restoration to set up a dictatorship. But whatever direction it takes, I can't imagine things lasting very long if it's just more slitting throats to score another meal. So I think even if PCs start by making nothing but morally "wrong" decisions, the inertia of the campaign will make them true believers in something more interesting.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Grendel_Khan, post: 8505797, member: 7028554"] I've only run a handful of sessions of new Twilight 2000, but here are my impressions, related to what you're discussing here: -There are some mechanical nudges toward being something less than crazed survivor bandits, but nothing massively overbearing. For example, there's something called Unit Morale, which gives you bonuses to Coolness Under Fire rolls (hugely important), and it goes up and down based on various factors. One of the things that can increase it is helping other people. There's also a great rule about executing people who are incapacitated or helpless--you have to fail an Empathy roll, and even then it gives you a point of Stress (of which you only have a handful, and running out is very bad). -Also mechanically speaking, it's not like you have levels or magic items to seek out. There's XP-based progression, for sure, but there's no sense of a progression-based finish line you're racing toward. So, if anything, players looking for a power fantasy are pretty likely (imo) to want to set up a compound or similar of their own. That means dealing with friendly NPCs, and interactions that are likely to create bonds. -Unlike in Fallout, or similar settings where the post-apocalyptic environment is established, the default setting for T2K is basically right after things have fully fallen apart. So there's desperation and scarcity, but things haven't progressed to a full Road Warrior state of depravity and decay. That means you're more likely to come across people who need help. And if you present those people in an honest and vibrant way, I think most players will, like most humans in real life, feel a tug of empathy. In the sessions I ran both players made characters who were defined by being selfish, kill or be killed survivors (reflected in their one-sentence Moral Codes that the game has you come up with during creation). And yet they wound up helping civilians under attack, and later defending them, at great risk to themselves. I think that's the real dramatic punch of the game--do you help other people? -The encounters and environments that come with the boxed set lean on that central question, in ways that are smart, imo. Like you can draw an encounter card that says a dog shows up, and if you succeed at a Persuasion test it becomes super loyal. If you as a player aren't willing to share some rations with a friendly, loyal dog...well, that's pretty messed up. -Vehicles are a pain to keep running, and make you a target. So if you're constantly on the move, and just murder-hobo-ing across Poland (or wherever it's set), there's only so much loot you can carry. So, again, being the bandit with the best stuff is a goal that would lose its appeal pretty quickly. -Finally, this is just my take, but I don't really see T2K being a good long-term, fully open-ended campaign unless PCs discover or come up with some sort of purpose behind survival. Survival might get you through the material that's in the boxed set, as far as the encounter sites and random encounters go, but at some point you'll get across the map or to whatever destination you're after...and then what? There are tons of things you could do as GM to keep things going, including moving to another locale (like making it back to the U.S., if the PCs are from there) and helping to restore order, or fight against those who are using restoration to set up a dictatorship. But whatever direction it takes, I can't imagine things lasting very long if it's just more slitting throats to score another meal. So I think even if PCs start by making nothing but morally "wrong" decisions, the inertia of the campaign will make them true believers in something more interesting. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Moral Choices in RPGs
Top