The Easter Eggs

[Man in the Funny Hat]

@Jack7 - What is "Vadding"? You've used that word a couple times now and it means nothing to me. I hate that.

 

[Pbartender]

@Jack7 - What is "Vadding"? You've used that word a couple times now and it means nothing to me. I hate that.

Roof and tunnel hacking - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It's slang for real world urban dungeon crawling.

 

[Wolf1066]

Also you've got some very interesting ideas about creating Wikis and so forth for researching wholly fictional in-game material. with that kind of approach you could do all kinds of things including working in other components such as misinformation and disinformation, codes, ciphers, crypts, fake documents, false papers, etc. for espionage, military, and detective games.

I pretty much do that - I have various levels of info the players can get access to and certain NPCs have their own ideas on the "dirt" on other NPCs - opinions are common, like s... everyone has one. Some of those opinions are more accurate than others, there's disinformation, rumour, small nuggets or even gems of real information.

Half the fun is creating the "reliability level" of the sources - and even an unreliable witness might hit on something worthwhile every now and then...

"I told you he was working for the mob."
"That's why we didn't believe you - next time warn us when you're going to say something intelligent."

And as some of their sources are Wikis, the reliability level is not guaranteed. Likewise, the story you get from the tabloid sites is going to be different from the one you get from the Corporate web page.

It's Cyberpunk, media and the flow/suppression of information is key - more so than the cybernetics and the high level of unemployment and despair.

So my campaign is all around the stories behind the scenes and how the only real power is information. Sure, the characters have guns and cybernetic implants/enhancements - but those weapons are useless against what a major corporation could bring to bear: they have more guns, more employees and more money to enhance those employees.

The only real and effective weapon they will be able to wield is knowledge - that alone could bring down the mighty. Think Johnny Mnemonic and such.

So I've devoted a lot of time to the (mis)information that is around and if the players elect to chase up any of the various plots going around them, there is a lovely array of data for them to sort through until they find out what most suits the facts they discover.

And they may just discover something that could get them on someone's Hit List...

 

[Jack7]

@Jack7 - What is "Vadding"? You've used that word a couple times now and it means nothing to me. I hate that.

Man in the Funny Hat:

I think PBT answered that pretty well. With a general description. That link is mainly talking about university vadding though. That's not really what I mean, though it may be a part of it and is probably where the name originated. I've vadded or rudded (the rural version of vadding) since I was a kid, about ten or so. It stated out I would pretend to be Spiderman or Batman and crawl around on roofs and visit abandoned mills and old dams and water works, etc. Later I would vad squatter houses, abandoned buildings, gang-nests (gangs would often use abandoned areas as bases of operation and/or drug labs), construction sites, roofs, underground areas, Ranger stations, you name it. It's basically just infiltration of places you're not supposed to go, or into places that most people just never do go, or think of going.

My favorite activates back then were roofing, climbing, and underground tunneling. It was excellent training for when I would later work undercover. Taught me how to sneak about unnoticed, surveil, conduct reconnaissance, prepare for danger, talk my way into and out of tricky situations, develop good cover stories (the best tool a vadder ever carries is a good cover story, don't let anybody tell ya any different), keep my head when confronted by armed suspects, create my own equipment packs and use them, use tools, pick locks, document and map, video tape, develop a communications strategy (though I almost always vadded alone, may go with teams, I usually go alone), write in the dark, invent (I often invented my own vadding equipment, it's how I started inventing), read gang-tags, etc. Plus when you go alone you have to learn to overcome your own fears and tendency to get spooked. It's also good trading for developing escape and evasion techniques. It's always been fun for me, and extremely exciting (I like excitement and danger), depending on the target of course, even if just going out as a hobby. I miss having the time to vad like I did when I was a kid. Every weekend or chance I got to sneak away from the house was an adventure. As a matter of fact vadding and RPG "adventuring" are a'lot alike. I often call RPG adventuring and dungeon exploration and that kind of thing, "Vadding of the mind," rather than physically vadding.

But it wasn't till I got into college that I realized other people vadded too. (Except for criminals, I knew criminals vadded in order to commit crimes.) Back then I pretty much thought I was the only guy who did it. Didn't know what it was called either. I just called it "going out" or "working in the dark." Nowadays it's often called "Urban Exploration." But in college I met other vadders and occasionally we'd vad ghettos, and abandoned areas, and college facilities, and secret areas in national parks. I usually went alone though. Some of the other guys there vadded to prank. I don't think I've ever done that. Can't remember it.

Now I often combine my vadding with Industrial Archaeology expeditions, or even with training or teaching situations (where I'm teaching about, or testing physical security). I rarely get to vad like I used to, unless I'm helping out with a case. Best times to vad are night-time, and on holidays. Everyone is gone on holidays.

Of course 9/11 changed everything. Nowadays infiltration is often associated first and foremost with terrorist surveillance and criminal casing. I spend time hunting infiltrators nowadays. As it should be, from a security standpoint. I understand that and always have. Especially about criminals. It's a shame though that people use vadding that way, although that's really cracking (vadding with intent to destroy or harm) and not real vadding. In real vadding no-one will ever realize that you've even been there. In vadding you leave no traces and do no harm.

I'm not suggesting anyone vad. That's not my point. It's something I do and have always enjoyed, but I've been doing it most of my life. So I got that advantage. But also it's a very different world than when I was growing up, plus if you don't know what you're doing it can be as dangerous as anything else you go into unprepared and untrained for. Stuff I did as a kid, and even nowadays would get a lot of folks hauled up on potential charges of terrorism. Because mindsets and worldviews are totally different. But if anyone is gonna vad or urban explore or even engage in Industrial Archaeology, train very well, always be prepared, equip yourself properly, know what you will likely face, and do no harm. And always have a way out and good communications. You don't want some rescue volunteer, policeman, or fireman having to rescue you cause you did something stupid and went into something unprepared. Never endanger yourself or anyone else by being unprepared. And if you vad in the wrong place and in the wrong way you might very well get arrested. And that's on you too.

And it would probably be a good idea to go with a team and to have proper equipment, an infiltration path, and mission objectives already developed ahead dof time. When I was a kid I vadded with nothing but high-curiosity about a place, a flashlight, and my wits. I wouldn't do that nowadays, I have a vadding pack which is like a vadding version of one of my mission packs. I always vadded alone cause that's the way I always did it, and I always preferred to work alone. But that don't mean it was the smartest way to do it. Couple of times I could have been shot and left for dead and no-one would have been any the wiser til my corpse started stinking up the joint. So, safety in numbers and all of that. I hope that answers your question, and I probably over-explained that, but if you ever set out to do something dangerous then chances are too much info is better than too little.

Here's a couple of good vadding sites:

Opacity

Infiltration

So I've devoted a lot of time to the (mis)information that is around and if the players elect to chase up any of the various plots going around them, there is a lovely array of data for them to sort through until they find out what most suits the facts they discover.

And they may just discover something that could get them on someone's Hit List...

I like the way you're doing that. Like it a lot.

Thanks for all the comments and links guys.

 

[Wolf1066]

I like the way you're doing that. Like it a lot.

Thank you.

And thanks for your really informative post on vadding. It's something I've dabbled on the edges of when younger and always wanted to do more of but never had the guts to do properly - always hit low risk areas and looked wistfully at interesting-looking places to "explore" that I felt were out of my league - too risky, too hard to get into.

Sadly, let my fears prevent me from building up the skills and equipment you describe - largely due to the risks of being arrested, taken for someone casing a place or engaging in burglary/vandalism etc that you note in your post.

And you're right that the paranoia is higher now - which ups the ante considerably, given that they seem to think they can do anything they like in the interests of "counter-terrorism".

I always called my sorties "exploring" - did not know the term "vadding" until I read it here a few days ago.

There are still places I see every day that I'd dearly love to "explore"/"vad". You've had some interesting fun, Jack, and I gather you do/have done some interesting work.

I think the big attraction of RPGs for me is that I can pretend I am doing what you've done IRL - penetrating the defenses of secret places, skulking about in tunnels etc.

 

[Jack7]

I think the big attraction of RPGs for me is that I can pretend I am doing what you've done IRL - penetrating the defenses of secret places, skulking about in tunnels etc.

Wolf1066:

I can understand the caution on the part of authorities, and as a security matter, having worked security myself and on occasion still either working in the field or training others about security. Precaution is necessary. An unfortunate sign of the times in which we live.

But yeah, I'm like you. I look back wistfully and with nostalgia at the days when infiltration (at least in my neck of the woods) never triggered thoughts of terrorism, and rarely thoughts of crime. People were a lot freer and more relaxed when there was no terrorism to trigger thoughts of "worst case scenarios." It's a shame we're forced to live in the world we do sometimes. Different world back then though. Not perfect, but a lot more innocent in some ways.

On the other hand I've already drawn up the outline of a book on Vadding that I intend to write as a sort of primer and training manual about how to do it right, and safely, and without triggering undue alarm and without harming anyone or anything. (I wrote a handbook on it for my own use years ago, but I wanna write a real, general use book too.) It'll have sections on equipment, preparation, target selection (where you want to explore), objectives, different kinds of dangers you might face, team efforts, vadding solo, good cover stories, maintaining good relations with the police, contacting owners (two things I do include usually letting the police know what I'm doing and if I can find them simply asking permission of the owners of a place I wanna vad if I can go in and document it, and then share the pics or recordings with them - course some owners you can't find), vadding for anti-criminal and anti-terrorist purposes (I've done a lot of this), communications, Search and Rescue, overlap with other occupations and avocations, etc. I've used a lot of my vadding skills over time for various other things; security and law enforcement work, Intel and information gathering, Search and Rescue, disaster recovery and reconnaissance, survival, etc. They're good solid skills to possess which are easy to apply to other work or efforts.

If you do wanna vad though I can also suggest these others ways to do it safely: start studying industrial archeology and urban/rural exploration, and if you can get in with a collegiate, local, or amateur group of Industrial Archaeologists or Urban Explores then join with them. If you got a good, smart dog, you can sometimes train them to vad with you. Makes it hard to get ambushed and they are good early warning systems. They can also locate all kinds of interesting things you'll never see even with night vision and other specialized equipment. My Great Dane hybrid goes with me sometimes. Course you gotta train em to stay quiet otherwise. Stealth and invisibility are the best traits a vadder can possess.

Yeah, and I've often called Role Play Gaming, "vadding of the mind." RPGing can be good mental training to vad. I also often work vadding into my RPGs, Alternate Reality Games, and I want to write an entire video game about Vadding (it'll have other elements too, but it'll primarily be about vadding).

Here is a link to how I use Vadders in my game. The Vadders.
They are easy to adapt and adopt to practically any genre or setting.
I gotta say though that by now Vadding is almost an antique term. People rarely use it anymore, but it's what I learned and I always just stuck with it. To me it's got a lot more "character" than an UE, or Urban Explorer.

By the way, vadding locales and missions are excellent opportunities for placing and triggering Easter Eggs.

Well, good luck and Godspeed to ya in whatever you decide to do. In game and in real life.

 

[JediSoth]

I would occasionally throw in an Easter Egg or two (and examples escape me since it's been over a year since I ran an RPG campaign), but my players usually didn't get the references. It would have to be REALLY obvious for them to see the reference (like when I named an NPC dwarf cleric "Durkon").

When I start gaming again, I'm sure references and Easter Eggs will creep in, regardless of whether or not my players will notice.


Sometimes, I do things just to amuse myself.

 

[Wolf1066]

I would occasionally throw in an Easter Egg or two (and examples escape me since it's been over a year since I ran an RPG campaign), but my players usually didn't get the references. It would have to be REALLY obvious for them to see the reference (like when I named an NPC dwarf cleric "Durkon").

When I start gaming again, I'm sure references and Easter Eggs will creep in, regardless of whether or not my players will notice.


Sometimes, I do things just to amuse myself.

In my current campaign - and which will be completely missed by my current players as they've never played any of my previous games - the (female) fixer's name is "Jade Reimon".

If they had played in my earlier games, they'd be familiar with a rather high-rep male fixer called "Raymond Jade".

Both are known, in their respective cities, as "Jade".

I chose the name of the current fixer purely for my own entertainment.

 

[karlindel]

I sometimes use Easter Eggs.

I re-use some characters. Although I modify them, there are still callbacks to previous uses. For example, I have a dwarven clan known as the Magmatels, and three brothers (Siskel, Eberk, and Drathen) who have shown up in several campaigns and one shot adventures.

I will name characters after characters from novels and TV shows. For example, I have a merchant named Londo Malari that I have used a couple of times. My current campaign has a brilliant artificer named Sherkaner after an alien inventor from A Deepness in the Sky.

I'm not sure it counts as an Easter Egg, but I sometimes pull portions of popular stories and use variations of them in my game. For example, I ran an adventure about the Phatom of the Paradise, which took place more than two decades after events inspired by the story the Phantom of the Opera, and used slight variations of the names of some of the characters from the Phantom of the Opera.