Resident Evil Idea - My Peeps STAY OUT!!

[Angelsboi]

actually, they all do have a reason to not go to the cops. if they do, they will still get themselves involved.

1 PC is looking for adventure outside her dull life. Another PC is a Private Eye, another is a Criminal, another a Criminal Profiler and the final PC is ... well i cant remember.

Well i will ahve to find a way to get them all together then

 

[EdwardForrester]

Random Thoughts

Well I must say Angelsboi that it sounds like on heck of a game and kudos to you. I think Saracen's Long Post sounds really good, dont have he!! breaking loose when the guy arrives in the coffee shop. Let it bulid a little and of course Umbrella will screw something up and it will happen anyway. I love the way the RE movie ended. SPOILERS







Begin Spoilers
She wanders out and come to find out it has spread any way. Love it.
End Spoilers





Some one brought up the CDC well shoot who said that Umbrella doesn't have agents or well paid friends in the CDC. I think of a really evil Microsoft/Pentex (White Wolf) corporation with claws into everything.

Also I have noticed that in all games once it hits the fans the exits out are limited. Car wrecks, rioting, what ever works and boom you are trapped in the city.

Also you could use a bit of the plot line from the Hunter The Reckoning Video Game. Overall the Hunters need to find 50 people to get a rail car going out of the city. You could find some alive and try to get them out or get them to call for help or something like that.

Like the subject line says, Random Thoughts. Hope they help.

 

[Angelsboi]

Thanks for the ideas.

Yeah the RE movie was good. And if you wanna see what Umbrella is like, Pentex is the best example. But Real World wise it would be Procter & Gamble. They have the leading chemical supplies and even own several TV Shows.

Subliminal messages anyone?

 

[Saracen]

It doesn't matter if they can cure it or not, they turn up and you have taken the responsibility away from the players. The national guard can surround the place and drop a themobaric bomb on it if it looks like it will go out of control. The players can hand everything over to the authorities and get on with their boring and ordinary lives, which would not make for a good campaign.

You're assuming that the CDC even shows up. This doesn't have to happen at all.

Why? According to the set up information no outbreak has even happened yet so there are no zombies.

If you read the scenario I outlined in my original post you'll see that I considered this and gave multiple examples of how the outbreak occurs.

Which is fair enough but then the campaign is about avoiding / fighting the US administration and not fighting zombies its not a Resident Evil game anymore.

This doesn't have to be the case. Again, the CDC doesn't have to show up, and using the police as an obstacle would simply add another layer to the campaign beyond fighting zombies. Also, as stated in my original post, one of the examples describes how the police station could become ground zero for the outbreak. I doubt the police would call the CDC in since they're all zombies by that point.

Right so your character will want to not use normal legal channels (even though he's a coffee shop owner, not Batman) and will instead use vigilante justice and become a wanted felon, and then again the campaign changes its mood and themes.

Ummm, remember that this is a game. Umbrella is a ruthless corporation with more than enough connections to ruin your life in game terms. I can think of half a dozen movies and TV shows that use this to isolate the main character quite successfully from using "normal legal channels." To name three, The Fugutive (TV Show and Movie), First Wave and Minority Report. All three shows had a main character framed for murder. They therefore couldn't use "normal legal channels."

Yes, this does change the theme some, but why not go a little beyond the potboiler RE setting and expand beyond it. Also, this doesn't completely eliminate the zombie killing and actually would give rise to plenty of additional plot hooks (including the kidnapping of family members to keep your mouth shut.).

Finally, read my original post gain. You'll see that was a rough outline of a potential scenario with some examples of possibilities for plot lines. It was meant for inspiration, to get Angelsboi thinking about the adventure and which way he wanted go with it. In fact I told him in the post to use what he wants and discard the rest.

 

[Bagpuss]

Sorry Saracen I didn't even spot your first post, I was scanning for Angelsboi's replies, and must have scrolled past it. My posts have been mainly directed at getting folks to think about how to isolate and contain the group.

Reading back through it you've basically covered a my main concern, that of isolating the group. You've introduced the outbreak which can kill off any assitance, especially if the first outbreak is at the police station or hospital.

(Oh the Hospital that's and idea. Have the guy actually sucomming to the virus, so that he reanimates at the hospital attacking a nurse and starting the outbreak there. If, as you suggest,the police take the vial and open it you have two sources for the outbreak so it can quickly over take the town. Trapping the players in the middle)

You've also made it personal by having Umbrella target them for the information they think they have. That will help the players bind together as a group.

My only concern is with your suggestion you removed occurance of the outbreak from the character's control. Something Angelsboi mentioned was he wanted the character to "play a big part in either causing or stopping another Raccoon City incident". Not sure if that is a major sticking point.

 

[Saracen]

Bagpuss-- No problem. I just wanted to clarify what I had posted previously.

Angelsboi-- In no way did I think you were wrong. You posted what you wanted briefly and left out one or two details. Overall, I don't think those details were very important, just led to a little confusion on my part.

Again, use my scenarios and suggestions as you like. They were simply meant to get you thinking about what you wanted from your campaign. To get you thinking about the myriad ways you could take your concept.

 

[chatdemon]

I think it's important to remember that just because RE is the main influence for the campaign, you (me, Angelsboi, whoever...) don't have to run a strict adaptation of the source. It's also possible that Angelsboi is twisting in a different type of literary solitude instead of the blatant cinematic 'I'm all alone, noone can help me' style RE uses. Being one of only a handful of folks in town who know that things are about to get nasty can create an intense feeling of isolation for the players if done correctly, especially in a situation where Umbrella corp and possibly the police dept. as well know what's going on and will try to stop the characters from speaking out against them or physically stopping their plan.

As far as the CDC goes, I have one question. Ever seen/read Stephen King's The Stand? In that story, the CDC were among the first to know of Capn Tripps being released from the Army reseaerch labs in which it was created, didn't help much.

The characters in this type of story might even become unwitting enemies of the CDC if they volunteer the sample vial or any information, since, like the way the CDC treated Stu in The Stand, the CDC scientists (and especially the CDC politicians) will assume that the characters must know more.

 

[Bagpuss]

I think it's important to remember that just because RE is the main influence for the campaign, you (me, Angelsboi, whoever...) don't have to run a strict adaptation of the source.

No, but if I've signed up to playing a RE campaign I'ld be very disappointed if I didn't get to shoot up any zombies for a good part of the campaign.

 

[KitanaVorr]

hehe

well being the only person with an RE game running on enworld right now I had to take a peek!

Is hidden falls particularly big? Is it an urban sprawl or a tiny town in the middle of nowhere?

One of PC's in my current game tried to tell everyone what he saw but was nearly laughed off and called crazy. You can have that be the same reaction. CDC can find their story with no proof as total BS and they need to find a way to prove what they say is true while dodging those that want to get rid of them.

Or you can limit what they know/see - just enough to suspect, but not enough to really figure it out - or get beyond their prejudicial beliefs. Its also hard when you have players who know the RE story and try to second-guess you.

Really its all in presentation, and I will tell you that generating a "horror" mood on the boards is tough. So as along as you keep the RE feel to the game, you can make it however you want.

My favorite right now is keeping my players on their toes - it feels like an RE thing they know - but yet it doesn't. I think that's what makes it interesting for them - its something at once familiar and yet - not quite.

 

[chatdemon]

No, but if I've signed up to playing a RE campaign I'ld be very disappointed if I didn't get to shoot up any zombies for a good part of the campaign.

That's very true. I think it all depends on how Angelsboi hyped the game to his players.

If he said "Ok gang, we're playing Resident Evil D20, you guys are going to be the heroes out to smack down some zombies and stop Umbrella corp's nefarious plot" then your point would be very valid, since that doesn't seem to be where he's going with the plot.

If, otoh, he told them "Alright, for the new campaign I'm thinking something involving some corporate conspiracy, biochemical foolery, and some freaky monster type stuff would be cool. You know, sort of a Genetech campaign meets Resident Evil kind of story" then the player's zombie hungry bloodlust would be a bit less and the story he's teasing us with would be quite valid.

Nothing wrong with zombie hungry bloodlust , in fact I enjoy that kind of thing myself now and then, but the point is that the inspiration for a story doesn't have to strictly dictate its execution. KitanaVorr put it nicely:

it feels like an RE thing they know - but yet it doesn't. I think that's what makes it interesting for them - its something at once familiar and yet - not quite.