We Want Your Mission Ideas

[TiLT]

The Doomsday Clock
There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened. - Life, The Universe and Everything.

In the final weeks before the nuclear apocalypse, tension was brewing not only between the superpowers, but also in the population itself. Scientists were brought in as "expertise" in the mass media, showing the people just how close they all were to disaster. This was represented with the Doomsday Clock, a massive device that counted down to midnight and which was shown on TV and in newspapers for dramatic effect. The clock was popular and was continually updated as disaster loomed ever closer. By the time the missiles hit, the dial was set to one minute before midnight. Nobody survived to move the dial the last step, but the device itself survived more or less intact.

It lay undiscovered in the bowels of the TV studio for many years, until a small group of survivors, desperate for some meaning in the devastation around them, discovered the clock and reached all the wrong conclusions. Convinced that more enlightened people had left the device there to warn the people of the wasteland of the end of the world, these survivors have set up an increasingly popular cult that seeks to bring closure to people's lives before the apocalypse.

If only they knew that the apocalypse has already happened...

The player characters (PCs) are asked by a family in one of the game's towns to look for their teenage daughter, who has recently disappeared. They will pay well for anyone who can find the girl alive and bring her safely back. Following her trail, the PCs discover that the girl left on her own accord following a dark depression. She eventually stumbled upon the doomsday cult, now calling themselves the Seekers of Salvation, where she was greeted with open arms as a friend and equal. The cult has helped her shed her emotional attachment to her life and her family, and she is now at peace with what she believes to be the coming end.

When the PCs find the Seekers of Salvation, they find the TV station is filled with others who have decided to "cleanse their spirit" before the coming end. Talking to them reveals that they are all content with their situation and ready to accept death. Neither the girl or anyone else wants to be "rescued" or convinced to go home to their loved ones. Attempting to force them causes tension and could lead to violence as the cultists try to protect each other from the intruders.

What do the PCs do? Do they leave things as they are, accepting the girl's plea to tell her family that she is dead? Do they realize that the cult will eventually crumble when its members discover that no end is actually coming? Can they convince the cultists, including the girl, to go home? Can they reveal the true nature of the Doomsday Clock, showing the cultists that they are wrong about their item of worship? Are the cult's leaders truly concerned about the end of the world, or are they abusing people's faith for their own gain?

Regardless of what the PCs decide, they'll quickly realize that this is a situation with no easy answers and no truly happy ending for anyone. Maybe it's best to just forget about the whole thing and let it solve itself over time...

[The Dutch Ghost]

Hello all

So far I really like the quests with the mine and the union, and the quests with those villagers and the Reagan hoover tank.

I am also trying to come up with an idea for a quest for Wasteland 2 but I have never really been much into regular 'everyday wasteland life', preferring instead of doing ideas with high concepts.

How would people here feel about the return of Max the android and a group of questionable PA scientists.

[SnackVargasClone]

The Desert Scavs vs. The Desert Nomads

Backstory:
In the 15 years since WL1, both the Scavs and the Nomads have consolidated their power and war between them grew unavoidable when a massive junk dump (The Trash Pits) was uncovered when a pocket of flammable gas detonated during a skirmish between the two factions. It actually contains junk from the former Cochise base.

Redhawk, now chieftan of the Scavs, seeks the destruction of the Nomads. He will not speak to the Rangers because he knows the truth about Covenant and will go to any length to keep Ace in the Scav village.

Legendary mechanic Ace ("he can fix a busted jeep when nobody can!") has sided with the Scavs after the death of Covenant and refuses to help the Rangers, blaming them for the loss. (Spoiler: Covenant is actually alive and his survival and location is one requirement for the diplomatic solution. I suggest having Covenant be an assault rifle instructor at the Ranger Base and that he's the guy who leads the newbie intro training segment at the beginning of the game.) The Scavs have lied to Ace about Covenant's demise and whereabouts. Meanwhile, Covenant is also unaware that Ace is still alive.

The Nomads have built a recycling facility at their headquarters (the old Train station) and are in the process of building a train line connecting Needles and Vegas through their facility. They are developing technicals and APCs to fight the Scavs. If the train line goes online, it's game over for the Scavs... they'll be swamped under armored vehicles and rockets.

The Scavs are trying to build air units (helicopters) with the help of Ace. Ace believes that they are for defensive purposes, but the Scavs are actually intending to hunt and wipe out the Nomads. With 10 air units, it's game over for the Nomads.

Both factions have a presence in Vegas. The Nomads have a used car lot with a black market basement (connected to the sewers if you blow a hole in the right wall.) The Scavs have posession of an old S-Mart. Both sides use these areas to generate trade to help destroy the other.

Gameplay and missions:
The Rangers can choose to accept seemingly harmless missions from each side until their faction status causes the Scavs or Nomads to regard the Rangers as unwelcome or shoot-on-sight depending on faction level. Of course, open combat missions for one side will make most missions unavailable from the other side without being tricky. The war between the two factions may very well spill over into Vegas. At this point, local organized crime will hire the Rangers to take care of this problem so they can get back to business.

The Trash Pits contain Scav and Nomad units; each will ask the Rangers to leave if discovered in the Pits. With talking, it may be possible to garner some low-level missions, eventually being asked to speak to someone back at their respective headquarters. Note the Nomads are more likely to lead the Rangers into a death trap because that's kind of how they were in WL1.

What matters is the current level of hostility between the factions. Depending on how it plays out, the Rangers may cause a peace, a war, or help one side to win against the other. It is quite possible that Scav-Nomad relations affect the Crime Bosses in Vegas.

Each faction has one or more enemy targets for capture or assassination. For example, Ace could be killed, captured and/or rescued from the Nomads, or freed from the Scavs.

If Covenant is presented with the proper intel (the Rangers can also lie) and the Rangers have made a combination of "good enough" choices, he may temporarily intervene. ("We've got work do to. Let's go, Rangers!") If Covenant discovers that the Rangers are responsible for the death of Ace, Covenant will not be happy. You didn't want to fight Covenant, did you?

Possible weird plot outcomes:
1. If the Scavs are convinced to support the juvie camp Highpool, they may gain faction with the Rangers and receive military aid. They open an arts, crafts, and toaster repair classroom and store in Highpool.
2. If the criminal contacts of the Nomads are defended by the Rangers, then the party gains faction with one or more of the Crime Bosses of Vegas.
3. It is possible, but HIGHLY unlikely that the Rangers can get the key players of the factions cloned. The outcome can have strange implications, it could go either way.
4. If the Rangers establish "enough trust," Redhawk orders the party to wipe out the Guardian Citadel to rescue his son. History repeats itself. Redhawk orders the death of the party on their return. He hates the Nomads, the Guardians, AND the Rangers.
5. If peace is established between the Nomads and Scavs, the Rangers lose faction with the Crime Bosses.

[john irwin finster]

Re: the discussion about magic/fantasy vs. scifi, I agree star wars is an interesting mix of science and mysticism, another example is dune. As wasteland is more a hard-science post-apocalyptic game, I think a more relevant (if obscure) example would be beneath the planet of the apes, where there was a group of mutated humans who had 'magic' powers of telepathy, illusion, etc. I think there were references to the movie in the original wasteland (the servants of the mushroom cloud)

Mutants don't always have to be vomiting zombies, I wouldn't mind seeing some super-powered mutants in the game, I could even imagine them being the main antagonists of the game. This might be an interesting switch; usually it's man against machine, in this case these supermen might be the greater of two evils.

In fact, it gives me an idea for a mission....

[john irwin finster]

Servants of the Mushroom Cloud

In your travels you hear rumours of unexplained events in the desert. Searching reveals strange clues, but nothing more. Eventually, (at a point in the game when your party is strong enough to be useful), a previously hidden fortress is revealed, and you're introduced to the Servants of the Mushroom Cloud. (It's explained somewhere along the line that the church in the original game was founded by Charmaine, a somewhat misguided dissident of this group.)

The Servants are a group of evolved humans (mutants), with powerful minds- having powers of telepathy, illusion, etc.- but frail bodies. These people appear benevolent, and ask for your help with various physical tasks- they're the brains, you're the brawn. In return for your service they give you information, equipment, powers, skill and perks.

At first, the tasks seem reasonable- fight groups of monsters or robots, etc. Slowly the things they ask become morally questionable. A scavenging raid against the guardians citadel to get you (and them) tech and weapons (they know how to get you access to the citadel where before it was impenetrable). Attacking a robot city, where the robots are non-aggressive, and seem almost intelligent.

You start to hear and see terrible things about the Servants in the places you visit, how they brainwash the weak-minded and make them slaves, how they're raising an army of believers. In time you're asked to attack and subdue these uncooperative villages, until it's obvious that the Servants are manipulating you to get more power for themselves, that their ultimate goal is to subjugate the inferior human race.

You can serve them faithfully through the whole game if you want. At any point, you can decide to not help them. You can always come back, and they'll have missions for you. At any point, you can turn against them and attack them, but you'll find they weren't as frail as you thought. Eventually, the rest of the wasteland, even the more evolved robots, band against their common enemy, the Servants. The servants have their own allies, it's up to you to decide which side you're on.

[Ranger Danger]

Servants of the mushroom cloud- I really like this storyline. I'd like to see those crazy radioactive cultists back in any case, their church was probably my favorite location in the wasteland.

[smund]

This mad dude Pavel, he done made himself a dungeon and called himself Svlad . This questline is labeled under the humorus side and is an excuse for a quest with a medival rpg feel.

..Afer the bomb some parts of the waseland was less populated then others, and some less socialized. some of these drifed back into the olden ways(medival social hirarchy) in terms of tool use and labor/buildings styles and all. The event starts when you come across a bombed librairy. After exploring the librairy you find only the horror and some parts of filosofy section has survived! Particularly marquii de sade.
You find the ajectant village has been built up around the post apocalyptic rubble in a differnt style then the librairy(post war tech), wich is the only pre war building compleetly standing around.(It would be soo damn cool if you licnced some audio books for this quest,f.eks some rickety tapes of marqui and alister crowly, for the dungeon to come,)
The sory is: in a world where no filosofy retained, his guy Pavel found the librairy, thought himself to read wih a ABC on a compuer there and went through the literaure. Now being the only smart guy around he formed a village with struggelers and it grew to a town.

You find the small city very ordered and functional in a world otherwise of rubble, and it argues the strong points in facist fiolosofy lets say. You do some quests for Svlad, and in the town you meet a 'savy !exited! cyberpunk filantropist explorer' that has come across the place. He stands out, and has allso just got here, and is doing some work around the "palace"where svlad lives
As u finish some quests for Svlad(using sword and shield u get bonus from svlad as he dosent want people affiliated with him to use guns, they are impersonal killing tools), he expounds on his dark filosofy a little,your conversation options are limited and all start with err, and hmm,, like he has the upper hand and is darkly intelectually posessed from his studies, and the obvious sucsess in actualy making a society work.

Every time you get back, the situation gets a litle more dark for the cyber-filantropist. one time he is in the tavern when u come back He tells u of a dungeon svlad has, and even the girl he is in love with has been taken there after a while, only cuz they had an open and cool relationship including sex. u get to see this take shape as u talk to the guy every time you return to the village from questing. svlad starts seeing 'filly' as a threat to the system. as you progress you learn more about the dark sides of the village, get to see some dark stuff in the upper part of svlads abode. He is torturing beautifull wimen while quoting books and such.

the last time you return from questing( killing a mutated small lizard/dragon in he zoo sewers wih sword, that has eaten some kids of the village, ) Filly:blond dreadded side cut filantropist, is in a cage next to Svlad. He is sitting cross legged in cool hippy clothes keeping his zen and smile listening to a walkman with an Alan Watts tape. "it keps me okay" He says with a smine. He got in an argumet over filosofy with Svlad, and starts charmingly expounding about the interconectedness of all things, the parts svlad doesent see, as he in mid conversation suddenly gets a death sentance. Since he cant tell finish his tale, he hurriedly tells you the location of where the other librairies he's come across are, where the books on Posivive synergetic filosofy he's found are, and that svlad's real name is Pavel, he gets really stressed out as he 'engages trade' to give you the allan watts tape, he asks for painkillers. you can reply "wouldent you rather have a gun?" if you choose to give him a really good one+knife and some med pacs he has a chanse in the coming event of his public impaling. You have to watch as he fights or dies. if you give him good enough stuff he gets out

If you search for the librairies before you engage Svlad's medival dungeon crawl, you get other cool positive filosofical books, that improve your talking points with svlad as you infiltrate his dungeon. These are audio books with cool filosofical points you can listen to as you explore, or you can jump to the end, and you get the talking points. You can choose not to explore like this, but if you do, as you confront him at the end of the level, and are ready to destroy his feel bad points. now you can get Pavel as a companion.
The dungeon is filled with all types of crazy, bhudda statue with satanic messages of tranuility, La'veye's "fight for your right, only he strong survive.. "audio playing. trapdoors, torture chambers, people being sacrifised to statues with sharp teeth(somthing found in he cartoon department of th librairy), tortured s&m freaks in bandages that look like mummies to fight, something like the start of baldurs gate 2:shadows of amn. You have to open the first door with a sword and place your gear on the outside. There are healing potions(dungeon spesific loot drops) that taste likes "yuch" your companions say, and oher D&D spoofs throughout

Epiluge: if you save filly, he shows up later with the gun you gave him, and with a quest to find rare psychedelic ingreedients for a mixture that increese your carisma by 1, and as you find the last ingreedient he gets bitten by a snake and sadly dies saying "that is the destiny of an exploring filantropist" . .
but hey, you've still got svlad!

[Gurkog]

I would not mind an unlisted quest for a legendary mullet. Upon receiving the mullet your character gains +! to badass. Perhaps the mullet could glow in the dark and be all knowing as long as the knowledge sought involves 80's B movies and southern rock.

[Kaldurenik]

I would love to see a "mission" or a event or whatever where you do some kind of quest and the choice is to let the bad guys live or saving the villagers or whatever. Then if you let the bad guys win well they will be abit angry at you for you know... Destroying their evil plans. Then they will start to "hunt" you and its abit reactive... you can leave a town to the east and walk around in a circle, wait to ambush them along the way... Wait in the town and later see them come and ask the npc's questions where you went and so on. They could even get ahead of your group and ambush you along the way
(and they wont just sit there and wait for you for 234454545 years) in other words they move around in the world.

[john irwin finster]

Michael's Parish

An old-west style town, run by a charismatic but ultimately unsavoury preacher, Father Michael; an unbalanced man with penchant for hanging sinners. Not an unusual cult like the temple of blood, but just a regular stereotypical bible-thumping town like you might have found in the old wild west. The inhabitants of the town are fairly inbred and mutated, and more or less follow the preacher and his book blindly. Mutation itself is seen as sinful, the more mutated you are, the more you're persecuted.

You can pay lip service to the preacher, which might give you some benefits around town, especially among more 'upright' people, who own the better shops, etc., but the more fun places like the saloon and the whorehouse will be unfriendly; also, the rules are strict, especially for outsiders like your party, and there's always a risk of being labelled a sinner and having the mob turn against you. Or you can support the unsatisfied 'sinner' townsfolk in running the preacher out of town, which will make you a hero in their eyes, but will make the upright folks unfriendly; also the town will become more dangerous- gunfights, bandits, etc.- having lost the law and order the preacher's discipline brought.

Also- if you end up killing the preacher, you find out his book is something ridiculous, like a children's illustrated bible stories, or a phone book

[simplycorrect]

The Horror

The Rangers are moving through an arid region when they run into an exhausted youth whose only traveling companion is his mangy but very friendly dog. He is dirty and insufficiently supplied. If the Rangers stop to help him he is very grateful for some food and water. He explains that he is running away from home because "I don't want to be a rancher like my father when I grow up, but they make us all work in the fields with the herd whether we want to or not" He also complains that the people in his town don't like dogs and wont let him out to play after dark. He says he wants to be a gunslinger and shows the Rangers his weapon - a handgun that seems much too large for his slight frame. He grins proudly and tells them he stole it from his fathers safe. Before he can continue, a dust cloud forms on the horizon.

A group of adults appear in the haze, riding some sort of mutant beasts the Rangers have never seen before. The boys face turns white and he pleads with the Rangers to 'adopt' him and take him back to their base so he can be a Ranger too. When the adults draw near, the Rangers can see they are heavily armed. One of them hops off his mount and approaches, calling out to the boy and identifying himself as the boys father. He thanks the Rangers for keeping the boy safe and tells them he has been sick with worry. He hugs the boy and confiscates his handgun, then offers to escort the Rangers back to town for some food and free lodging to show their gratitude.

Throughout this interaction, the dog remains at the boys side and growls at the adults. It gives the mutant mounts a very wide berth. The boy tells the Rangers that he isn't allowed to keep the dog, and asks if they would mind looking after him.

Provided the Rangers agree to everything, they are led back to the town by the group as promised. If they try to prevent the adults from taking the boy, there will be a terrible gunfight, during which the boy is killed. One of the townies retreats and reports the incident, and the Rangers are harassed by this faction from then on.

The town is a dusty old collection of houses surrounded by fenced in fields. There is a large Inn, tavern, trading post, doctor, barber and even a dentist. The town survives and prospers by keeping a herd of mutant beasts. The herd provides them with milk, meat, clothing and transportation. After a short tour of the town and surrounding fields in which the boy shows the Rangers where he lives, the Rangers are offered a huge meal at the local Inn, followed by a night of dancing and drinking. They are provided soft beds in four upstairs rooms at the Inn, where they eventually retire to. The dog finds its way into the room of one of the Rangers and curls up at the foot of his bed.

Night Falls

That night, as the Rangers sleep, something happens. One of the Rangers is awoken by the sound of a dog barking. He is disoriented and doesn't immediately place a strange hissing sound, but quickly realizes the room is being gassed! He stumbles to the door, coughing violently and discovers that it is locked from the outside. The only escape is the window. He barely makes it and throws it open after fumbling with the latch. The fresh air rushing in clears his head and he is able to secure a rope and rappel down the side of the Inn with the dog under one arm.

After he descends, the Ranger finds many townsfolk out in the street, seemingly just wandering around. When they see him, they start moving towards him with jerking movements and a stumbling gait. Close up, their faces are slack and mouths hang open, with drool running down their chins and soaking the front of their shirts. The lone Ranger must either fight them off or find some way to escape and hide, as more and more of the townsfolk converge into a single mob trying to chase him down.

If a townsperson is killed, he falls to the ground convulsing violently, and some sort of creature emerges from their bodies, screeching like a wounded animal and skittering away into the darkness. The dog will attack and kill these little creatures with great relish before returning to the Rangers side. Strange, distant cries in the night accompany their deaths.

Rescue

The lone Ranger must find and rescue his companions. If he returns to the Inn he finds it completely empty. With no no idea where they might have been taken, his only chance is to find the boy they met earlier who might have some idea what is going on.

The boy is locked in the basement of his house, and the Ranger must find a way in (knock down the door, pick the lock, crawl in through a window, etc). The boy reveals that he had previously sneaked out of his house one night and followed the adults to a barn. There, he saw what some sort of ritual as older kids from the town were held and a creature implanted into their bodies. Confused and afraid, he had resolved to escape. The Rangers met him on the road several days after the incident. The boy begs the Ranger to take him away and promises to help him release his companions. As they make their way outside, the boys father appears, blocking their passage. Drooling, he attacks and the duo must defend themselves.

The Ranger makes his way to the Barn and finds his companions unconscious with several townsfolk around them in a circle. He is able to interrupt the 'ritual' and wake up his friends. In the resulting chaos, the creatures that were to have been implanted are killed. When this happens, a soul-chilling shriek fills the night and the Rangers can hear loud thumping noises coming from outside.

Battle

As the Rangers try to escape / investigate, they are confronted with one of the mutant beasts from the towns herd. However, it looks very different from the ones they saw earlier: It is standing on its hind legs and its body seems to be 'pulsing'. Its mouth hangs open as it shrieks, revealing rows of fangs like a sharks maw. All the townspeople seem to disappear and the Rangers are left to deal with the monstrous mutant.

After a protracted battle, the Rangers manage to put the beast down. The town seems to go quiet, and the Rangers spend the remainder of the night holed up in the barn, waiting for daybreak.

Sun Rises

when the sun rises on the town, the residents slowly emerge from their homes, seemingly unaware of what transpired the night before. They are very upset and confused about the death and destruction they find strewn about the streets. The Rangers have a lot of explaining to do! If they aren't persuasive enough, or if they killed too many humans during the night, the townsfolk might reject their explanations and attack or banish the Rangers.

If the Rangers are able to convince the townsfolk about what is happening to them, a meeting is called to discuss the crisis. If one of the Rangers has surgical skills, he can try to remove the parasites. The 'parasites' turn out to be the herd animals young, who use the adult humans as unwitting incubators and protectors. With the right skills, an 'antidote' could also be devised, though if the formula is wrong it could cause unexpected results.

If any action is taken against the herd or their young, they will attack, forcing the Rangers and townies to slaughter them. The Rangers can help by forming up firing lines, building barricades and digging trenches. The animals are much stronger at night.

Ultimately, without their herd the town cannot survive. The Rangers can evacuate them or leave the town to its fate. If the town is left without any means of survival, the remaining inhabitants stage an attack on a neighboring town and take it over, leading to regional problems the Rangers might encounter later.

With his father gone, the boy again asks the Rangers if he can travel with them back to Ranger HQ. If they decide to take him, he turns out to be a surprisingly good shot with his fathers handgun.

The Wasteland orphan and aspiring Ranger, eager to explore but inexperienced in the ways of the world. Armed with his fathers handgun and a fierce determination, he and his hound faithfully follows the Rangers into battle. Although he starts off weak and without many useful skills, he advances quickly and the Rangers see a lot of potential in him.

[scout]

Mission: Just like Magic

Fountain: mile square, ahhh-good memories but those are long gone. The heat, the heat, same as it ever was. I remember before the war, my bike tire melting on the large hot sidewalk as I pedled along. Hot Cement was everywhere, covered everything, its reflection scorched my skin. little white flakes pealed off in circles as the moisture in my body evaporated. Can't think about that now, focus. Find the boy, protect him, set him free. My mind drifted, awash in a whirpool of sand and heat. The BOY! The boy. Keep a calm and steady pace."All that we see or seem Is but a dream within a dream"(Poe). Aleft-aleft, aleft-right-left. Funny how the seemingly trivial can help in your hour of need. A pebble provides moisture to a dry mouth. Clickty click, rainbow stix-Need water. "Are you guys ok? the vendor asked." uh? "Mr, You look half dead." Waa-t-er, the word hung in my throat. The balding cheeful man offered his canteen, "not to much, you'll drown." I think I can manage thanks. I'm looking for "circus Jerkus" have you seen him? "Last time I layed eyes on that animal, he was at the Dragoon Saloon slopping down some sand slugs. I wouldn't look to hard if I was you guys...

After resting a bit your party shambles over to the Dragoon Saloon, the place is a hive of vilany and scum. Traders, Slavers, synths, Organ harvesters, Body mod Specialists, cultists, Wako wake-os, you name it. They're all here, sifting nuggets of fortune through the irradiated sands of what used to be called "fountain."

In the corner under a monsterous mounted dung beatles horn, sits a large, dirty, muscular man sporting the biggest handlebar mustache in the world, but wheres the boy?

The boy who touched things and made them whole. We'd all heard the stories... how some robber had broken into their farmhouse while daddy was away "camping" with some tramp, shot the girl and how the boy'd mysteriously brought her back from the dead.. they said, his hands glowed for days maybe weeks after.

Now Circus Jerkus had the boy and it was time to set him free after a little healin for our team of course.

Options
fight
steal
coerce

boy may live or die

if he survives

keep him for your team or set up place in the wastes for "dr boy"

I would set a very high probabilty that the boy dies one way or the other, because we all know "no good deed goes unpunished."

[Sub-Human]

How about a quest which bares a story similar to Apocalypse Now/Heart of Darkness, albeit in a Wasteland fashion? As far as I'm aware Brian said you can play around the old Wasteland area.

So it can be set there. The Ranger HQ gives you a task to find a party of Rangers who went astray for an infiltration mission (could be even in California), after which several other Rangers went missing around that area. You have to find clues and whatnot as to their whereabouts (you're given a starting place). Eventually you'll be able to locate them. It turns out the Rangers have unified with the local nomads/raider/leather jerks to fight against the robots (who they were supposed to infiltrate), but also have committed crimes against other fellow Rangers, to get their supplies.

You may help them and cover up the story of the missing pals, while destroying the robots. You could kill the bastards and return to HQ for a debrief (or also destroy the robots). Or you could let the Ranger Center decide what needs to be done.

[Woolfe]

Not so much a mission idea.

But assuming your base gets a commander from the Original RC after you get it operational. (Allowing your team to continue with fire team and recon duties)

It'd be cool, if the base commander turned out to be one of the original four. It would be especially cool if it was a random one, and they each had different priorities and preferences in their command styles.

Angela Deth is straight forward and deals with issues from the front and takes everything in her stride
Hell Razor is sly and tends to come at issues from unexpected directions
Thrasher likes to take risks, and will often make choices that have great outcomes if they work but the risk is high
Snake Vargas tends to be stable, taking the less dangerous but still positive option

That sort of thing.

[Ranger B]

Guardian Citadel has become the new Ranger HQ, its tall fortified walls, barracks housing, and functional armory have proven to be an asset for the the Desert Rangers in the coming years. The Rangers had no choice but to abandon the old prison HQ to the south east because of increasing amounts of radiation and constant attacks by gangs and mutants.

Quests surrounding the new HQ...

1.) Supplies are always needed and in demand, in their haste to evacuate the old HQ, the Rangers left much behind, its time to put on that Rad Suit and head back to the prison and see what we can salvage. Caution Rangers as the radiation levels are hazardous and its new occupants don't care for visitors.

(Quest including search and destroy! clear out the new inhabitants and salvage some commo gear for the new HQ.)


2.) Warrant Officer Vadaran was a pilot during the war, he used to fly attack helicopters now he works in the Ranger supply depot in the Citadel. After going through some old military crates in the inner sanctum helipad storage area, he discovered an old emergency transponder beacon used to locate downed pilots during wartime. A smile beamed across the old pilots face as he remembering some time before the war...he knew the old device would only work if the distress button on the helicopter was activated.

A few months past and while doing some much needed toaster repair on his workbench, he heard a loud chirp and was amazed at what he seen and heard, the beacon LED light up bright RED on the old transponder... he knew right away somewhere, someone, out in the wastes had activated the helicopter distress beacon and what was better was he had the LED readout give a 6 digit grid, the location out in the wastes where it was turned on...

(Quest involves Warrant Officer Vadaran (NPC) and his fellow Rangers to set out and find the distress beacon, and who activated it. This would lead the Rangers to a few options and locations out in the world (old helicopter crash site, secret military installation (with functioning helicopter!), new villains who used the beacon as bait to ambush our rangers, or perhaps even an old pilot who needs rescuing over the long years...he might even have some information about a new threat the Rangers are not prepared for.)

3.) The old howitzer in downtown Needles has disappeared, that's right! apparently a few nights ago a group of heavily armored figures appeared in the dark hours of the night and hooked that old rusty howitzer up to some "type" of mechanical vehicle and left in haste according to the local "Jerks" gang. Who and why would need this old artillery piece? Upon examination of the area it appears whoever did it left behind an old power pack...

(Quest involves interrogating the local "Jerks" gang and see what information they can further provide. The idea of the howitzer being gone has left the people of needles feeling confused, some claim it could be used further against them to destroy the town, while others believe they will be able to sleep better with it finally gone. Regardless the Rangers must determine who "removed" it and why? is there another threat out there? or could it be used to lay siege against the Desert Rangers HQ or worse...

4.) Classic Road Warrior- A survival encampment is looking for some help, Ranger Center received a distress radio signal, they need immediate help! a band of raiders have been encircling their walled settlement lead by a rather huge man named "Humongous" of the wasteland. It appears as if this Lord Humongous only wants the settlement and the oil rich refinery. What aid can the Desert Rangers provide? can they supply enough fire support to eliminate this threat? this estimated raider gang is rather large (at least 50 men strong.) Is diplomacy even an option here? is the Lord Humongous a reasonable man?...


I will update with new quests when I have more time, thanks for reading, hope you like the ideas here.

Ranger B

[snakeoil]

a seven samurai style/magnificent seven/mass effect 2 style mission.

this kind of mission is always great, fitting the theme superbly and would be best to be made a late game mission. get a team of, to that point, well known npcs together, (best if they originally belong to diffrent factions with diffrent morals and views) in the mission to protect a village against bandit raids.
your party will recruit the npcs, (it would be great if you could ask any npc you want) and coordinate the defense by giving everyone tactical positions in the group and in the village (remember mass effect 2s last mission where you distribute diffrent tasks to diffrent personalities and it changes the outcome of the battle?).
so you can choose to let some crazy wasteland maniac handle the mounted railgun at the villages entrance, let one eyed jack use the sniperrifle from the 3rd floor of a building, let the little rat-kid supply ammunition in the fight, the pedo-priest may run around treating the wounded, the lost mountie could let the cattle run over the bandits, trapped by the ferocius nun... you get the idea.

this scenario will work out best if the place you want to protect is well known and you somehow have a positive emotional connection to. when it has interesting features (like a tower or a bridge) it would surely add... part of the mission could also be collecting lots of guns/ammunition to prepare for the fight. a nice touch could be some heroic residents grapping a dead bandits gun, fighting with anger on your side. yeah, dont forget the residents and the location itself. no traitors as hiver has suggested. its a positive uniting mission which brings people/npcs together.

this mission type can offer great depth, emotional involvement and fun if done right. there is als a deep moral dilemma in recruiting people willing to help but eventually lose their lives, leaving people behind that were depending on them (leading to follow up missions).

[srcrider83]

I've always liked games where you start with a small base or headquarters that is rather poor or basic ten you get to build it up.

Maybe in a starting area of the game you find a small lake that's fed by an underground stream in the desert and decide to set up a base of operations near it. Like just a few tents. A place where you can train up companions, or upgrade weapons.

As you progress through the game you find things to improve your base, like you come across a npc you can hire or he/she is someone in your team you leave there to run things, npcs will be trained to become ranger companions.

You find materials to build a fortified building instead of tents, add fencing and turrets. You come across a workbench you can put in your HQ to upgrade weapons with mods, or improve armor. You find radio systems that you can later upgrade with better antenna's that will allow you to call in those npc rangers you trained up to replace someone in your group. Things like that. I like seeing bases slowly get bigger and better through stages.

Maybe a town will spring up around it later as it gets better protected. You get better items to buy from vendors in town. And at some point a enemy faction will attack it and how well you upgraded it will be what depends on the outcome of the towns destruction/salvation.

Something like that.

[joedpa82]

1. Search and recue
Scavenge mission
Research mission
Recon mission
Sniping mission
Assasin mission

[joedpa82]

I've always liked games where you start with a small base or headquarters that is rather poor or basic ten you get to build it up.

Maybe in a starting area of the game you find a small lake that's fed by an underground stream in the desert and decide to set up a base of operations near it. Like just a few tents. A place where you can train up companions, or upgrade weapons.

As you progress through the game you find things to improve your base, like you come across a npc you can hire or he/she is someone in your team you leave there to run things, npcs will be trained to become ranger companions.

You find materials to build a fortified building instead of tents, add fencing and turrets. You come across a workbench you can put in your HQ to upgrade weapons with mods, or improve armor. You find radio systems that you can later upgrade with better antenna's that will allow you to call in those npc rangers you trained up to replace someone in your group. Things like that. I like seeing bases slowly get bigger and better through stages.

Maybe a town will spring up around it later as it gets better protected. You get better items to buy from vendors in town. And at some point a enemy faction will attack it and how well you upgraded it will be what depends on the outcome of the towns destruction/salvation.

Something like that.

Love this idea

[Tagaziel]

I was thinking about how to give the player the ability to make far reaching decisions that would have a direct impact on the gameplay, both short and long term, while providing an interesting moral dillema and not including any kind of towns. As this is a basic outline, I'll try to keep it simple.

Operation Raven

Stage I:

This stage relies on the players' and his characters detective skills. Old correspondence found in pre-War military bases and administrative buildings contains references to odd shipments of parts directed to a mysterious military base located in the middle of nowhere. Similiarly, orders directed to military units in the area and supply requests also point to Activities of a Suspicious Nature (ASuN). The player needs to gather clues and cross reference them in order to identify the military base in question.

Character reinforcement: Character skills make cross referencing easier and also help provide exposition (for example, an engineering expert can infer that the parts can be used to build and maintain secure containers and/or missiles).

Stage II:

Once the player succesfully learns the name of the base, Carcosa Proving Grounds, he needs to find it. The location is hidden in a desolate, inaccessible location and requires the use of either a guide (which may tie in this quest to another, particularly if faction mechanics are included) or a very talented Ranger team.

Character reinforcement: High outdoorsman skills allow for finding a route into the base. Also, surviving it. High social skills may convince faction leaders to lend support.

Stage III:

Breaching Carcosa Proving Grounds is a tough task. A highly levelled party of Rangers may take up the task, but the game (eg. by the way of Ranger Center) may suggest asking factions for aid. A combined force of the best fighters and techs the factions in Cali have to offer should be able to breach the facility's tight security together and crack open its databanks and secrets.

The base itself is designed in an open manner, allowing for entering it at multiple points, depending on the skillset, and meeting various challenges, from straight out combat, through more environmental problems, such as electrified floors, poison gas, blast doors, sealing bulkheads etc.

Character reinforcement: Outside direct combat with security in the facility, technical and science skills come in handy to tackle the aforementioned technical obstacles. Designed to make tech-focused characters feel all warm and fuzzy.

Stage IV:

Reaching the heart of the base after passing through the defensive layers allows the player to learn the truth about Operation Raven. Carcosa Proving Grounds was a military facility focusing on developing methods to dispose of chemical weapons safely. However, as the political situation heated up, the mission profile was changed in secret, as was its funding and status. All records of the facility, save for information about its status as proving grounds, were expunged from official data stores and Carcosa became effectively a black project, like Area 51.

Beneath the scorched earth, stockpiled chemical weapons were kept active, with new delivery systems for them being built on site. In the end, as the nuclear war blasted the world, it did not help. Carcosa was forgotten, as a nuclear weapon destroyed its surface installations, wiping out most of the base staff and trapping the rest underground, as security protocols kicked in.

Now that the Rangers (and their allies, if present) have access to what remains of Carcosa's lethal treasure, a small number of working delivery systems that can be assembled and used and a stockpile of highly lethal chemical weapons, the question remains: what to do with them?

This is the moral dillema. On the one hand, the chemical weapons are extremely potent and can be used to effectively wipe out a chosen target, particularly useful against major mutant population centers or rival human factions. The disadvantages are obvious: chemical weapons are unpredictable and as powerful and awe inspiring as they are lethal. A decision to deploy them against a given target will give a high positive reputation boost for the Rangers in the short term, if it's deployed against something commonly perceived as an enemy by the wastelanders, or a major drop, if they decide to hit a rival faction that's powerful, but not overly aggressive. The consequences of both affect trade relations, access to services etc. The problem is in the long run: using advanced weapons of mass destruction will eventually bring the wastelanders to doubt the Rangers, which may in turn lead to antipathy, shunning or even outright hostility. Which may necessitate another use of chem. weapons and so on and so forth.

Another issue are the allies. Faction-aligned support may have their own ideas as to how best utilize Carcosa's weapons, which may lead to major changes in the political landscape, genocide, war and, at its most simple, fighting in the war room, where the Rangers may find themselves outgunned and pitted against their former allies, who want what Carcosa has. A tough situation that may require ample amounts of firepower, social skills or both.

And leaving it alone after cracking it may not be the answer, as it may result in someone else discovering it and using it against the wasteland - maybe even the Rangers and the Ranger Center!

Basically, the idea is to make a quest that has no ideal solution, and where every decision has positive and negative sides, both in the short term and the long term.