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Post by TheConvenientSkill on Jun 22, 2022 14:02:46 GMT
The Plan
To run a Police Department using Working Grave as the basis.
Inspiration
Blade Runner, Detroit: Become Human, SNATCHER, AD Police, Ghost in the Shell, Total Recall 2070, The Department of Fabricant Management, lots more
The Problem
I need to make some setup decisions, and thought I would ask here for peoples' opinions.
The first decision I need to make is where to set it:
Option 1 - New Hope City
The most obvious choice.
Pro - straight from the book
Con - I don't want aliens
Option 2 - a created city
Basically reskinned NHC ignoring, or not rolling for, aliens.
Pro - still pretty much 99% by the book
Con - some design work to do
Option 3 - an RPG city
There are a number of fictional RPG cities that could be repurposed (Night City, Hudson City).
Pro - plenty of detail
Con - not completely familiar with myself
Option 4 - other fictional city
From books, computer games, and films etc.
Pro - potentially familiar to people
Con - finding out what I can and making it gameable
Option 5 - a real city
LA, Detroit, London etc.
Pro - lots, and lots, of potential detail
Con - finding, sorting and making it gameable
As you can see each of these choices have pros and cons. Which one would you prefer to see?
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Post by reaction on Jun 22, 2022 16:42:06 GMT
Get rid of the aliens. A reskin of NHC would be easiest, but there is a lot in your inspiration category that would need to be added. A lot of potential there, good luck ! Let us know what happens.
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Post by atomicfloozy on Jun 22, 2022 17:35:40 GMT
If you have little experience in world building or would rather play games than research and design neighborhoods, I'd start with New Hope City. It's relatively easy to do without the aliens. And the population is roughly the size of Detroit on the low end and the size of Dallas/Ft. Worth on the high end.
Of the game systems, books and films you've mentioned, Night City as laid out in Cyberpunk Red is probably the most developed (the author has been writing about Night City for at least 40 years).
Don't be afraid to use your imagination - if you roll a restaurant on a table, it is up to you if it is a McDonald's or a five-star dinner/night club with dance floor and live entertainment. Just use some common sense as to what you've seen in other cities.
Hope this helps.
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Post by Ed the Two Hour Wargames Guy on Jun 22, 2022 17:43:29 GMT
Yep, just drop the Aliens is the easiest way especially if you're just starting out.
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Post by bigwalleye on Jun 22, 2022 20:18:22 GMT
I would like to hear TheConvenientSkill's reasons for excluding aliens. And maybe some discussion pro and con.
Aliens certainly are an easy way of creating drama and conflict. What are some downside issues?
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Post by atomicfloozy on Jun 22, 2022 23:42:32 GMT
In gameplay, there aren't any downside issues, an alien's attributes are drawn from the same tables as human attributes. In other words, it is possible to create a human with the same attributes as an alien.
If there are downside issues, they are in the type of story setting the players wish to use for their games.
TheConvenientSkill listed several films, games and books as his inspiration which do not include aliens. In most of those sources, the stories take place where humans have not made contact with aliens. So, it would make sense if you wanted to set your games in a setting similar to one of those, aliens would be out of place.
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Post by stryderg on Jun 23, 2022 3:13:49 GMT
Aliens throw in other, possibly unexpected, issues with the story telling. Humans might not understand the motivations or goals of the aliens. It may be harder to include those in the tables used in the game. You have to think about, and plan for, the interactions of alien v alien, not just alien v human.
Personally, I like aliens in my games. But I'm on the light RPG side of things and I fudge a lot of the details when needed.
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Post by TheConvenientSkill on Jun 23, 2022 17:51:07 GMT
I would like to hear TheConvenientSkill's reasons for excluding aliens. And maybe some discussion pro and con. Aliens certainly are an easy way of creating drama and conflict. What are some downside issues? The Floozy is right, aliens just aren't a part of the sci-fi that I get excited about the most (well with the exception of Star Wars and my game is not that). All of my listed inspirations (just about) are about the interaction of humans with androids/robots/cyborgs/bioroids/whatever (and other humans). It's more of an immediate possibility for me than encountering aliens, and a 'harder' version of sci-fi for me (which is the important bit). I think I'll go for Option 2, it is ultimately an altered Option 1 but I don't want people to think it is Option 1 and misrepresent 5150 (this is just my feeling, I'm sure Ed doesn't give a monkey's). I'll need to dig up the map I have used previously. This isn't my first time out with 5150 or THW games (By Savvy & Steel in particular), the forum reset probably doesn't help here, but I used to frequent the Yahoo Group (yeah, that long ago!) and even helped Ed when there was update that made the file structure stop working there. I was that close to ordering the original Working Grave when it was pulled for the Kickstarter/compatibility issues, so I'm now putting that right. This is something that has been buzzing around my brain for years, so it's good to be making some progress. The real aim is to keep this game running for as long as possible, with a diverse cast (sort of Hill Street Blues-style - although I've never watched it!), and try and make it as long as the revered Arion's adventures eventually (a real inspiration).
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Post by Ed the Two Hour Wargames Guy on Jun 23, 2022 22:09:10 GMT
Yep, the Yahoo great was huge, then they "yahooed" it. Now there's here and the Facebook THW gamers group.
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Post by emanon on Jun 24, 2022 4:28:06 GMT
Go with what you'll have the most fun with, trust your instincts, and I hope that you'll write lots about this. I'm looking forward to reading more
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Post by Ed the Two Hour Wargames Guy on Jun 24, 2022 17:43:48 GMT
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Post by TheConvenientSkill on Jul 3, 2022 11:07:12 GMT
So my current stumbling block is now naming my fictional city, I have a few options each for varying reasons that I just can't choose between. I'll lay them all out here and run an impromptu 'poll' for a few days (basically just mention your choice in the replies):
Lytton The city in the Police Quest series of video games. The reason I got into the police procedural genre in the first place.
Steelton Another city in the Police Quest series.
Mayhem The name of the city designed by World Works Games for their papercraft buildings.
New Atami The name given to the cyberpunk VTT tiles designed by Heroic Maps, which I might possibly use to supplement the battleboards.
Loke City From the map books I might use in person.
Basin City Sin City from the graphic novels/film adaptions.
Bay City There's a bay on the map I am going to use. Also discovered the name of the city in Starsky and Hutch.
Demeter City From the Gerry Anderson series Space Precinct.
The City Nondescript, generic name that could mean anything.
Honestly I could use any of these, and there are plus and minuses to them all, so I throw it open to the crowd.
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Post by atomicfloozy on Jul 3, 2022 14:56:22 GMT
If it helps, the Bay City is a nickname for San Francisco and "The City" is a nickname of Los Angeles. I think if your game is more of a Noir or hard-boiled detective campaign, I'd go with Basin City, Bay City, or The City - a gritty name so to speak.
If you envision stories such as those from Hill Street Blues or Police Story, then names like Lytton, Steelton, New Atami, & Demeter City make sense - nice places to live because the police help keep it that way.
My least favorite name would be Mayhem - it seems to imply the city was founded on violence and violence is expected of it.
Anyway, that is just my two cents. Cities are named after people, geological features, historic events, & all kinds of off-the-wall things.
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Post by stryderg on Jul 4, 2022 3:41:49 GMT
You should name it Qual'tc, a word in the indigenous alien language meaning, oh, yeah, never mind. I like Lytton because I loved the original Police Quest games. You can say it was named after the first governor of the area.
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Post by emanon on Jul 4, 2022 5:04:19 GMT
I like Basin City or New Atami
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