We Want Your Mission Ideas

[boilerM]

After reading the Crowd Sourcing section, we noticed that the majority of replies relate to the writing of Wasteland 2. Due to the large demand, we have decided to create this thread to showcase the community’s different ideas on the missions that the player will experience throughout their journey. Everyone has their own unique experiences and ideas which can help us craft some fascinating moral dilemmas for Wasteland 2.

We are looking for mission ideas with deep moral dilemmas that challenge the player to make hard decisions. These choices should have short and long term effects that affect the player’s campaign in ways that they could not imagine. No design should be completely black or white but instead reflect the gray area of morality that your ranger party experiences. Draw on personal experiences you or those around you have had as those tend to have been contemplated the deepest and can help you flesh out the details.

We would be happy to read your story and mission ideas for Wasteland 2 but unless the thread is getting off track or you have specific questions, we won’t give too much feedback on whether we like the quest or not. We want these elements to be a surprise when you play the game.

[Woolfe]

Slavery (This owes a lot to CaptainPatch as well)

A town that uses slaves. The slaves are treated well overall, however individual slaves get treated vastly differently, based on their actions and the actions of their owners. The dilemma is whether or not you should free them.
This town could be productive and independant and a good ally for the rangers, but they practice slavery, and so the players must decide how to deal with them.

Background
Slave Masters -
Several of the slaver families are genuinely good people. They treat their slaves well, although they don't brook rebellion or even suggestions of rebellion. Some of them are possibly even ameneable to freeing the slaves, however they are trapped in the local economy in which to try and compete without slavers will basically put you in the poor house.
Some of the other families (leaders amongst the community) however do not treat their slaves the best. The slaves are still healthy and well kept, but any error is met with savage beatings, and the slaves are used and abused without thought by the owners. Killing of slaves is generally frowned upon, if only because it tends to upset the others. However occassionally slaves are so problematic as to be thrown into the "communal" slave group. This group is not as well kept as the family slaves, they are expected to do hard duties, generally in dangerous areas were local predators can get them. Their mortality rate is relatively high, and they are used as a threat to keep the rest of the slaves in line.
It is important to note that the Slaver Townspeople don't take their own slaves, they purchase them from others.

Slaves -
Most of the slaves have been so for 5 or more years. "New" slaves are relatively rare, as the town is careful about its economy and doesn't believe in waste. However as slaves die they do need to be replaced obviously. Some of the slaves have been very successful performing well and being given priviliges beyond the normal slave. Most however simply have a roof over their heads. The Slaves are allowed to form relationships and even marry and bear children. Indeed the children are preferred, as they are born into slavery and have less desire for freedom, and also are cheaper than buying from the Slave Traders. Most children are put to work when they are 6 or older, though they are given light duties. Abusing children is frowned upon, but does occur behind closed doors. Slaves with little or no standing who abuse other slaves get sent to the "Communal" group. Other slaves might get a rebuke, but most have learnt to simply perform the abuse outside of view of their slave masters.
Many of the slaves are broken, and resigned to the life they live. Some of those born to it know nothing else. Those who are too obvious in their wishes of freedom are generally put in their place violently and eventually sent to the "Communal" group. Those that actively seek freedom are sent straight to the "Communal" group for punishment.
The Communal group is controlled by a viscous man who is free but is treated as not much more than a slave. He is strong and able and has several helpers that allow him to beat anyone he believes has attitude. And his definition of attitude is very very broad. His tendancies lead him to do anything in the name of dominating and breaking the slave he is attending to.
Most of the slaves would not know how to operate on their own. They have become so used to being ordered around that they if freed, they would not last if left to their own devices.

Slave Traders
The traders are not commonly around, as the town doesn't buy many new slaves. But they do exist in the area, and providing the don't take the townspeople or the townspeople's slaves, then they are tolerated. They brand their slaves when they take them. They have a large community somewhere that they store the slaves for sale.

I would see 3 primary solutions.
1 - Alliance - You convince the slavers to help out, but you have to choose not to do anything about the slavery. Bad Long term as Slavery gets a stronger hold in the region, Better short term for completion of Rangers Goals.
Pros - You get allies, that are productive in some manner
Cons - Other non-slavers will not like you very much. Dealing with the devil so to speak. The slaves remain slaves

2 - Diplomacy - try to work with the town to end the slavery. The middle ground, it takes a long time, and even once completed some of the Ex-slavers may bear ill-will towards you, and some of the slaves may also as they wanted to be free sooner
Pros - You end the slavery without much bloodshed. The free slaves may choose to join you
Cons - You don't get any benefits from the town(rebuilding their economy), and whilst there is positive feedback from other non-slavers, most still don't like the ex-slavers. The slaves themselves may find themselves in worse straights down the track(Now they have to provide Food/shelter for themselves), and blame you for it, as well as being unhappy for how long it took.

3 - Kill em - You destroy the slavers, and free the slaves. Long term this is the best solution as it removes the root of the problem, but short term you potentially destroy both Slavers and Slaves(who may not know how to survive on their own).
Pros - The slaves are free, non-slavers look on you positively. Once Slaves are productive freemen, they are a bonus.
Cons - No town benefits. You now have to help the slaves survive, and most will not be able to if left to their own devices.
Even tho you may end up with the free slaves helping at the base, they don't know how to do much, so they are actually a drain on resources initially.

Several secondary elements could be introduced for the individual slaves and slavers.
A slave Father/Mother whose child is being used as a sex slave.
A slave who is being constantly beaten by the child of a Slaver. Overall the Slaver is not bad, but the child is a nasty piece of work
A slaver who is having trouble with certain slaves trying to escape.
A Slave "nanny" is loved by the slavers children, but is being punished by the slavers for some reason.
A slave is abusing other slaves when the slavers are out of sight.
A slaver who has fallen in love with a slave, but cannot free them.


and other options along similar concepts.


Will flesh out more details later.

[john irwin finster]

The rich story and setting are what made the original wasteland so compelling to me, I think everyone is really glad to hear that writing is a strong focus for the sequel.

I would love to see a reappearance of some memorable characters and places- the guardians citadel, the temple of blood, finster (maybe he backed up his brain somewhere). In terms of setting, wasteland had a special 80s cyberpunk feel, I hope the sequel has the same flavor.

Wasteland also had a lot of interesting themes that could be explored further. One I found interesting was the tension between the machine technology of project cochise and the biological engineering of project Darwin. One idea for a storyline I can think of off the top of my head is having a community of robots in a conflict with a community of engineered people, where your party must take one side or the other, and win a corresponding technological or bioengineered perk or reward. Maybe there is even a third solution where the two communities merge and spawn crazy half-robot supermen

[Valka]

I would like to see an artist's community of some kind. A place that embraces the hope of a renaissance in the dark times. Of course the growth of arts can happen anywhere, but I mean a specific semi-bohemian happy place for creative types to commune and encourage/criticize each other.

New trends in visual and musical arts might develop based upon available resources. Acoustic stringed instruments fashioned from metal scrap or scorpion husks, or artists paint pigments made from cave rat guts, who knows, but play with themes of this sort.

But the payoff is in telling the story of places like this. What enemies and allies might they have, and why? An old craftsman might have spent years developing anew a lost art only to have his works and research gutted by the lowest of common thugs. Probably there will be politicians plotting to manipulate such folks to improve the outward image of their own selfish plans.

One such community might gain prestige and even begin to become a magnet of saved and salvaged art treasures. What old structure might they convert into a sort of museum? Also, history suggests that a lot of objects would be hidden away and/or hoarded . No doubt there should be such caches to be found among the wasteland.

Could be that the rangers would be called upon to escort the transport of priceless relics on occasion, or to seek out and recover stolen works of particular perceived importance. Or maybe they would provide security to a group of excavators that have clues to the whereabouts of valuable collections of books.

I could conjure up more specific tales, but then I'm sure so can you.

[salt1219]

You come across two settlements fighting over a small stream, the stream is only big enough to support one of the settlements and both settlements are full of people too sick/malnurished to find a new sorce.

If you dont intervine they will kill each other if you do one settlement will die. You dont have the resorces to spare on either so you will need to make a hard choice.


Your supplies are lost in a river crossing. You come apon a old man with a full pack of food.
Do you barter with what little you have and risk being under armed
Rob him to gain much needed food
Or kill him for his supplies?

[Ronin73]

Not terribly original, but I was thinking something along lines of the concept used in A Clockwork Orange.

The Rangers come across a location where someone is experimenting on bandits, outlaws and other scum of the wastes where the treatment repulses them from performing any kind of violent act, curing them of their perceived evil nature, but at the same time making them unable to defend themselves from the dangers of the wasteland potentially becoming victims from the same people they used to be.

Someone approaches your group asking them to help stop these experiments claiming that they know how to reverse the procedure. Not getting involved could run the risk of someone the group knows (an old friend, influential figure etc) becoming a test subject themselves, while putting a stop to it could see one of the "patients" reverting to their old ways and becoming a major threat elsewhere.

Of course this could also include a ruse by the person asking for help so they can move ahead with their own agenda.

[Son of Max]

I think a pretty good opening mission could revolve around one of the more under-used locations from the original Wasteland: The Mineshaft.

Per the Vision Doc, Wasteland 2 is set 15 years after the original, so I see some great potential here with a plausible time frame to boot.

Let's say that, a few years after the events of the original, John and Dan Citrine started a mining company based out of Quartz. They sank every penny they had into it, but the mine was barely breaking even. To keep the company going, especially when a promising seam appeared to be finally in reach, they took on a partner from Needles or Vegas, someone with lots of cash, but short on scruples or patience.

The veritable mother lode was hit with the new miners and equipment the partner was able to provide for with their investment and the mine's pumping out plenty of quality ore...but the miners want some legitimate concerns addressed, like wages, shift length and working conditions.

For purposes of negotiating, some of the miners have tried to start a union and have (to some extent) unionized some of the miners. Some miners are a bit more skeptical, as they can barely afford to keep themselves and family fed without the added burden of union dues eating into their paychecks. There's also concerns among both 'union' and 'non-union' miners over the intentions of some of the leaders of the union and some of the tactics that have been employed by the union (intimidation, violence, sabotage, strange 'associations' with guys like Fat Freddy, etc...) but are also angry about much of the same being employed by 'The Company'.

By the time your party gets there, some of the miners have launched a wildcat strike and seized control of the mine by force of arms and have taken hostages. In the mining camp, both union and non-union miners alike are distressed; they've got friends and co-workers up there in the mine and they've all got shared grievances, but the ones down in the camp have differing opinions on the strike; some feel it's gone too far and making things worse (as word has reached the camp that 'The Company' is sending down an army of 'strikebreakers'), some think that, despite the fact that there's hostages involved, the strike hasn't gone far enough. Meanwhile, many miners are in the middle and are torn between the two sides of the divide.

The administrator wants your help. He worked the mines and he knows a lot of the men in the mine during this standoff. He wants to diffuse the crisis, but doesn't know how. To make matters worse, there's people on both sides of the divide trying to persuade the Rangers to join 'their side'.

Lots of possibilities for conflict resolution presented and plenty of moral ambiguity on both sides (not everybody in management wants to screw the miners and not everybody involved in the union really gives a damn about their fellow miners) with trips to Quartz (to talk to the Citrines) and Needles or Vegas (to talk to the partner) involved and even divisions between the two ownership parties. The owners (both the Citrines and their partner) have economic realities to deal with that wouldn't allow them to meet ALL of the miners demands and the long (and sometimes violent) road to where they are today has even hardened the more sympathetic Citrines to a certain extent.

Plenty of tough choices and different ways to settle the situation with plenty of different outcomes: Crush the strike, join the strike, try and mediate a settlement and end the standoff or some combination of all of the above.

That's one that I actually used a long time ago in my GURPS Wasteland setting.

Of course, I'd REALLY like to see a 'Put Hobo Dog Out of Business' mission, but there ain't much moral ambiguity and gray area when dealing with cannibals. It's fairly black and white: The purveyors of murdered hobo meat NEED to be stopped and it's either come quietly or do it the hard way...and I'm pretty sure psychotic, cannibal restauranteurs aren't the kind to 'come quietly'.

I used that scenario in my GURPS setting also and Hobo Joe still remains one of my all time favorite NPC villians.

[GodComplex]

I'd love to see some sort of sci-fi horror mission.

Intro: Your team is given intel about a seemingly untouched housing community that is well lit during the night.

Setting: Your team approaches a gated housing community. After breaching the interior by climbing walls, blowing the gate, sneaking in through sewer you find a cluster of perfect homes with well manicured lawns but no traces of anything living. However, there is a dwelling at the center of the homes that stands out from the rest due too it's unique architecture.

Goal: To investigate the dwellings looking for signs of life and/or resources.

The catch: Upon investigating the unique home, rangers discover an abundance of old-world technological artifacts, scattered papers, trash, and well secured door. Beyond the door you find what you believe to be human remains scattered about, undiscernible writings scribbled about the wall in chalk. As you progress further into the area you discover what you believe to be a lab, with large empty cages and a large machine surrounded by more strange scribblings.

Options: Your rangers can discover a map of the complex showing the homes arranged in an odd pattern that is similar to the strange symbols adorning the lab. They can also unearth a tunnel leading to the sewers which connect all the homes. in the sewers dwell some sort of beast of legend that just begs to be slain.

A tad cliche, but what isn't?

[BubbaBrown]

This was used in a campaign in my custom system/setting combo. Pardon the length.

Mission Brief:
The town for Forest Grove is having a bit of a pest problem. For a number of years, they've had to deal with a strange variety of "rodent of unusual size". The things are harmless, but are damn frustrating. They have a drive to eat or take anything that is shiny or remotely edible. The town until recently kept them under control by culling the herd whenever the critters needed to be reminded to fear humans. Unfortunately, there's been a change of as late. It seems something else is lurking in the woods now after a particular large culling of the heard. The townsfolk are at a lost to explain this development, but they believe the critters originate from an abandoned facility deep within the woods.

Arrival:
When the party enters in the main strip of the town, they are immediately greeted by what seems to be squirrel like creatures the size of German Shepherds. They will approach and start sniffing to inspect each of the party members for anything edible (anything in a sealed container will not invoke a strong response, but anything opened or particularly odorous will get their attention). If they detect anything edible, the critters will try to get it in a docile manner, somewhat endearing to certain party members. If denied too long, they'll get VERY insistent and will eventually resort to using their sharp teeth to cut and chew through clothing and containers to get to the food. Weaker party members can get knocked down and swarmed by the critters. In a swarming, the critters will grab food and anything shiny. They'll leave party members relatively unharmed, but clothing and equipment can be damaged.

If the party tries to attack the critters, the townsfolk will plead for them not to kill any of them and just scare them off. If party kills a few, the townsfolk will not exactly be mad at them, but will seem more wary of what killing the critters will bring.

In Town:
If the party asks anything about the critters, they get some more common information about the town and the critters. Most will not have any reliable information about the monster in the woods or the abandoned facility. Many will redirect the party to a local diner where they should find Milo and Greg.

At the Diner:
The diner is the local hangout with most the locals rambling about the same recent news. The only thing that sticks is two men near the front window. They are sitting at a table, with various books, notes, and scouting equipment on it. The entire tabletop is covered and overflowing with an geographic survey map of the area. The two seems to be debating about which routes to "the facility" they should attempt next time.

Upon investigation, the two men are Milo and Greg. Milo is a meeker man dressed in a more formal clothes and duster, he's the local self-proclaimed scientist. Greg is a larger, bulker one wearing a combination of old security gear and an old para-military contractor uniform. Milo has a slight warped Russian accent and Greg has a bit of twang in his voice.

When the party talks to them, they explain the situation in greater detail and give a list of observations:
The Critters:
There's never more than 256 of them, ever, including the monster lurking around.
If one is killed or dies, another one that looks exactly like will appear at least a day later.
When the lurking monster was discovered, one of the 256 critters hasn't been seen since.
The critters are sterile.

The Facility:
It's been mentioned in a few texts as a research facility.
It still has a few active defenses by the means of mast mounted plasma cannons.
Milo and Greg has forged a route that bypasses all the defenses except two.
Both men believe the answers for the critters and the current situation lies within the facility.

En Route:
The party has a choice. They can either try the main route that leads up to the facility and attempt to brute force through a bunch of cranky plasma cannon turret towers, take the route Milo and Greg provide, or try to find their own route. Run and gunners might find it worthwhile to take the quicker front entrance. Parties who chatted up the Diner Duo, will be able to get a copy of the route the duo were working on. This requires convincing them that letting the party help is a good idea. Parties with exceptional skills in sneaking, scouting, trailblazing, or path-finding might find creating their own route to be successful enough to bypass all the security turrets.

The Turrets:
If perceptive, the party will notice the towers slowly pan to scan the area... it is not particularly quick and there's a limited viewing angle for the sensors brought on by advanced disrepair. Whenever a turret detects something, it'll broadcast, on a loudspeaker, some garbled warning message. It seems the language setting on the text-to-speech system for the message system is on the fritz and will rotate between a few different languages... mid sentence. Parties with linguists or similar will be able to make out the "This is a restricted area. Immediately turn around and vacate the area or halt for security personnel." (FYI, there are no security personnel left.) If the warning isn't heeded after three broadcasts, the turrets will open fire on the target. The targeting system isn't very advanced. It only identifies moving objects. It will target and lock onto the first one it sees. If it starts firing on the target, it will attack that target until there is no further movement.

If the party took the route suggested by Milo and Greg, they get to a guarded clearing with a tower ontop of a hill. They'll be near a rocky outcrop that is sheltered from view of the turrets, with plenty of rocks for the party to test their theories about how the turrets target and work. If they are exceptionally athletic, lucky, and have good timing, a party member can rush the hill out of view of the sensors and charge it before the turret pans to scan back. The turrets, by design, cannot fire below a certain arc. So any party members underneath the turret are safe to do what they want to tackle the tower.

The second tower is barely working and isn't much of challenge. It'll actually overload and it's generator shutdown after firing once.

Into the Facility:
The facility looks small and lackluster. It is only one tall story high and modest in width and length. The main area outside is a large parking lot with large exterior doors opening inside to a sheltered parking area inside the facility building. If the party lingers too long in the area, they may catch a glimpse of the lurking monster, who will run off at the first sign of being spotted.

Inside there are two elevators. One is still functional, the other no so much. In the broken elevator, there is no elevator car visible, the elevator doors are thrown open, and there is mud, debris, and other refuse surrounding the area. There are signs of large claw marks on every surface of the exposed elevator shaft.

1st Floor:
Reception, business, and living quarters. The area is fairly mundane. The are a few scattered historical items and a few interesting bits. The one item that stands out is the lounge. There is an audio recorder still functional and it has a variety of audio logs from the Head Security officer. It starts out detailing the events of the apocalypse from his perspective. Strange things, odd occurrences, and the eventual abandonment of the facility. Occasionally, there is a another voice with a strong Russian accent in the background to go along with the twangy southern voice. The last message is of him stating all the access codes, and giving what knowledge he does know of the layout of the facility. "No sense in locking up if you don't plan on coming back." He mentions that only he and another researcher have stayed the few weeks to wait out the worst of the nuclear bombardment. He figures he'll head out with the researcher to the town nearby, since they'll be a lot more useful out there then cooped up in here.

2nd Floor:
Biological Research. A party member skilled in medicine or cybernetics may find some useful items about. There are a number of stored experiments, many of which having survived storage due to systems failure. (There is a bit more, but my setting has genetically engineered creature making their own civilizations. In the version that was ran, the is a male and female precursor to one of the newer species in the world safely in cryo storage.)

3rd Floor:
Weapons Research. Many of the good weapons were taken, but there plenty of parts and pieces to be found. And there are a number of nearly finished pre-fall guns about. Unfortunately, there are a number of completed flawed weapons in the mix. Good hunting.

4th Floor:
Collapsed. The majority of the floor is collapsed in on itself and very little is accessible. There are a few stable explosives and other munitions around. Geiger counters will pick up higher than normal readings in this area.

5th Floor:
Getting to this floor takes a while. There is a VERY long timing gap between the 4th and 5th floor. Upon exiting the elevator, the party is hit with a horrific smell that permeates the air. The odorous funk adheres itself to the party's clothing, it is so fowl. The elevator lobby is a dirt, shit, and trash strewn sty that'd make a pig puke. The doors to the broken elevator shaft's doors are wide open, with noted huge claw marks everywhere.

As the party enters deeper, they come across rooms with computer systems active, but in failing states of disrepair. Errors erupt onto screens before the system restarts itself and repeats the pattern. The final observation area has the most functional computers and a grant view to a strange sight. In a cavernous area, a massive collection of biotech machinery and automated robotics churns loudly. Moving bio-storage tank from one rack to the next, draining and filling fluids, and eventually placing a sole container overhead into a chamber. With a grand display of alarms, steam, flashing lights, and a eruption of synthetic amniotic fluids... A critter is flushed out onto the "factory" floor.

The computers update their statuses. The screens show ID numbers: 0 - 255 All have various statuses: Living, Dying, Dead, Growing, and Incubating. There are two unique statuses. 255 has the status of "Released". 0 has the status of "ERROR".

The "ERROR" becomes blatantly obvious as a monstrous form pounces from the shadows onto "255". In a brief few moments, "255" is shredded by the monster as it gorges itself in a very fresh meal. The status of "255" changes to "Dead." If the party is quiet enough (lots of loud machinery) they can leave without disturbing the monster. Considering the monster is roughly the size of a VW Bug and has the temper of a wolverine on PCP... it would be wise for a party with less combat prowess to find another way. Otherwise, the party will have a horrific fight that could cost them their lives.

Party members with excellent computer skills can figure out a way to override the erred system and halt the production process. Those with medical knowledge, genetics, engineering, and other relevant skills have a chance of discovering information about the "biological failsafe" for experiments gone bad and where it is kept (2nd floor).

6th Floor:
Facilities. The floor isn't as elaborate as the rest. There are a few control rooms in an observation deck over the various power junctions, air exchanges, and plumbing systems. There are many things that can be done in this area. The power generators can be shutdown or sabotaged. The air circulation system can be shutdown. The water can be turned off. Or simply, the party can cut power from certain floors. (The 5th floor, in particular, is eating a lot of it.)

Ending:
If the party explores the base, deals with beast (either by killing it, trapping it, or activating the failsafe), and stops the production: The town is very pleased! If the party reveals the good news in the diner to Milo and Greg, the diner clears out as the locals proceed to remove their town of the critters and scare them off for good.

If the party explores the base and deals with the best: They'll be quite appreciative to finally know what the hell is going on. Later, the town reports they setup a group inside the facility and eventually got the production stopped.

If the party explores the base and stops the production: The town will be happy, but very wary since the lurking beast is still around. Later, the town reports that the beast eventually ran out of food and attacked the town. It was slain after a fight and many casualties.

If the party explores the base, informs Milo and Greg, and then ditch: The town can't exactly blame the party and still thanks them for forging a path into the facility. They expect it to be a difficult chore, but they figure out how to put a stop to all the problems running about.

[undecaf]

This is a basic outline of a concept I had in mind some time ago. It's not very fleshed out yet (as it was originally thought for a different setting), but I think with some work it could yield some interesting opportunities:

A group of scientists runs a facility they have renovated throughout the years, with a community that has grown around them. They specialize in medicine and genetics. Their expertise and tests provide their own and neighboring communities clean food and medical care for moderately low price. The surrounding areas are not thriving, though. Deathrate of natural causes is extremely high. The harsh conditions of the wasteland takes it's toll. The scientists leader has an ambition of enhancing the human body to better withstand these environmental hardships (lesser need for water, better withstanding of hot temperatures, etc), so they have a project going on to create an inoculation. That, however, requires human testing (that uses inhuman methods, which leads to a lot of physical and mental suffering, mutation, and death) -- and since this all happens under secrecy, there are no volunteers.

The head scientist is obsessive about his work so he pushes the envelope and secretly arranges kidnaps to smuggle testsubjects in his chambers (can't make an omelet without breaking some eggs -- and afterall, his goal is to better all life in the wasteland - the end justifies the means). This, however, is slow and risky method; so additionally he stages diseases that he can cure in the surrounding communities so that people come to him willingly due to his good rep for providing knowledgeable medical care and enhanced nutritious, and clean food. He, along with his colleagues, then cure most of the sick and keep some under the excuse of disposing contaminated corpses to prevent further spread of the disease.

The scientists are at a brink of a breakthrough, but their excitement makes them sloppy and a form of smallpox gets out of hand and rages around the region. Both, fortunately - as the testsubjects keep on coming - and unfortunately for the scientists as they have their hands nigh full containing the disease, and also, suspicions have arisen, and the communities of the region have put up an investigation over the constant disappearance of people and a sudden wave of previously unfamiliar sicknessess.

The rangergroup could interact with the situation in few ways:

- They could help the scientists to cure the plague, and to discover a precursor of the intended inoculation with limited availability as it does not pass to offspring through genes. This will lower the deathrate a bit, and people keep having the privilege of good medical care. However, the struggle to find a permanent solution will go on, the inhuman testing will carry on and many people suffer and die in the sciencefacilitys chambers throughout years of time.

Gameplay benefits could include a voluntary inoculation for the partymembers which (assuming water is an important gameplayelement as I've led to believe) effectively halves the need for water, but also, through lesser consumption of water, makes the body work less efficiently (premanent loss for strentght and MAXCON) -- for example.

- They could help the communities to investigate the cause, and finally reveal that the scientist are behind it.
Conclusion: The enraged people kill all the scientists and burn down the facility. All research and medical/scientific knowhow is lost, and the plague will not be cured for a long time. But on the other hand, no human testing happens again and life takes it's normal course. The communities will not thrive and keep on living in the relative squalor; but they live on happily oblivious of how things could've been better.

Gameplayeffects could include tech people salvaged from the wreckage of the sciencefacility at low price and other benefits from the good will of people the party helped, but also a possibility to get sick of the uncured plague -- for example.

As said, this is just a basic outline of the subject. There could be vast amount of different solutions and outcomes, but I haven't had the time to work on it recently; so I'll leave it at a framework state for better writers to flesh it out if the concept is found interesting.

Also... Woolfie's got a good idea.

[Jammet]

There have been a few several interesting "hide and seek" storylines/missions in the past, which I have greatly enjoyed, but not seen in a long time. Where the hero or a group of heroes have, in order to solve a specific mystery, (like perhaps a murder plot or to find specific stolen food transports) have gone on a long journey.

In games like Wizardry, there used to be computer generated NPC parties roaming the lands searching for something or doing the same job you're on, and it was a matter of who got "there", first. In Ultima 7, the hero followed Batlin around villages and cities to finally catch up with him and solve several murders.

This could be a longer "hunt", or sometimes, even a race. It could take time to follow or pick up the the trail, and then find the people or person in question. Maybe the person or people you are hunting will commit more crimes to drive you off.

All that just to deliver the stolen food to their home. You could prevent that, but then, people there would suffer greatly. This could have several solutions, like splitting up the supplies, and paying for it where it got stolen in the first place. Or by taking it and distributing it yourself, trying not to get robbed or killed yourself all the time on the way back, because the reality is, everyone needs more than you can give...

[TiLT]

An organization with questionable ethical rules asks for your help to get a foot in the door with the local communities. They'll pay you a handsome reward for convincing community leaders that the organization is worth doing business/cooperating with. You must seek out influential people and "convince" them, either by diplomatic means, threats, or outright violence. What starts as a relatively simple diplomatic mission soon turns sour when the people you talk to reveal the sinister details of the organization you represent. Do you finish the mission and cash in your money, or do you decide to leave well enough alone, potentially inviting the enmity of those who hired you?

[TiLT]

An impostor has suddenly turned up, both looking and sounding exactly like the original, a rich and powerful person in this particular area of the world. When asked questions only the real person should know the answers to, both answer correctly. At this point, nobody can even tell which one of them recently showed up and which one was there to begin with.

The situation is uncomfortable for everyone. The two men are fighting publicly and have been confined to individual cells in the local sheriff's office until the matter can be resolved. The player characters are asked by both men, individually, to seek out specific items that will prove that they are the real deal. Both of these trails indicate that the man who sent you is not the impostor, yet one of them must be fake.

What is going on? How can this mysterious impostor be so much alike and know so much about the real person's life and innermost secrets? The situation is causing misery for the entire town, seeing as the man is influential and important around here. The sheriff is just about ready to make up some evidence on the spot and execute one of them, picked at random, to get it all over with.

Do the player characters get involved? When they discover that both men can provide solid evidence of their own innocence, do they hand it in? Why not just "misplace" one piece of evidence to resolve the problem? Whoever ends up living will handsomely reward them, after all.

Or maybe the player characters decide to take the hard path and make a detailed investigation into the man's past, potentially revealing the origin of this impostor and the horrible truth the man has been hiding and which has directly lead to this situation, many years later? The first order of business involves finding his childhood home and following the trail from there...

[malthaussen]

I floated this in another thread, but I'll duplicate it here.

You need to hire an IT guy to run the computer center at the Base. Checking around the area, you find one guy who is brilliant, but alcoholic. His life is in ruins and he needs another chance. You also find another guy who is apparently a model of stability, but not too bright. Which do you hire? What might happen later?

The first guy might make a mistake that will require a great expenditure of resources and effort to repair. He might make an innovative discovery that would bring some advantage, pecuniary or otherwise. His life might turn around, he might just fall further down the hole. Or any combination of the above.

The second guy probably won't make any great breakthroughs, but he could make a mistake of his own that would require resources and effort to repair -- but maybe not as much as the first guy's. Or maybe he isn't as stable as you thought. Maybe after he's been working at the base awhile, young children are found mutilated and strangled in odd corners. Since these story branches are all derived from the quality of the human spirit, the possibilities are limitless.

-- Mal

[malthaussen]

The local kingpin is outwardly a moral and upright man, but secretly reprehensible (choose any of substance abuse, sexual abuse, social abuse). He is unquestionably efficient. With his gang of dedicated, disciplined soldiers, he keeps the streets safe, keeps the workers working, keeps the people fed, clothed, housed, and in order. True, he does demand personal "servants" from among the young men and women of the locale, but that is surely not too high a price to pay for order? True, he has imposed a curfew and a "Law" that is oppressive and tyrannical, but hey, only bad people are hurt by it. You'll have to go elsewhere for liquor, though. Alcohol is the Devil's brew.

He has big plans, plans to conquer other independent settlements whose defenders are not so efficient and orderly, plans to spread his rule as far and wide as possible to impose his vision of the good life on everyone available. He's gearing up to attack Hippy Valley (or is it Happy Valley?) where the people ingest strange fungi, smoke plants that make them feel good, and indulge in other lascivious, degenerate personal practices. Their inefficiency means that they are always hungry, ill-clothed, and poorly-housed. They have long hair and wear strange fetishes. They waste resources that could be used for the benefit of all.

No reconciliation is possible. If you side with the Kingpin, the downstream consequences might include rises in productivity, probably producing surpluses that could be sold to other communities that are less well-run, a continued line of subjugated communities as the Kingpin proceeds with his dream, unrest, sabotage, and rebellion among the subjugated people, and ultimately a conflict with the higher authority of the Rangers themselves. (What is the constituting authority of the Rangers, anyway? I don't mean in backstory, I mean in law) Or maybe the Ranger authorities will want to promote this Kingpin as a useful ally, as countries often do with efficient tyrants.

If you side with Hippy Valley, possible downstream consequences might include some serious combat with the Kingpin, a ruined economy and social order that will be a drain on the region's resources, rather than a contributor; but also the freeing of the "servants" of the Kingpin's party, and the removal or amelioration of social restrictions and oppression, which might tend towards an improvement in the general happiness, if not the material good. And perhaps a favorable reaction from the locals, and whatever rewards they might be able to provide, which should definitely be less than what the Kingpin can offer. Further downstream, you might see the rise of another tyrant in the power vacuum you have created, or you might see an enlightened community grow up that can eventually provide both material and spiritual goods. And there might be future opportunities for your team to intervene and influence these long-term effects.

Only one thing is certain: if you side with the Kingpin, you'll lose the only decent source of weed for a hundred miles around.

-- Mal

[TΛPETRVE]

Something on the more off-beat side of things (pretty obviously inspired by Enki Bilal):

In the derelict ruins of a city, the Rangers hit upon the half-buried remnants of an old grand hotel that is run by sentient androids. What remains of the robotic staff is quite over the hill, but still functional and doing their daily job, while living as an odd community in their downtime, playing cards, reading old pre-war books, tapping the few radio frequencies, dancing to an automaton orchestra and altogether behaving as human as possible. There is even a couple among them, although they probably don't do much beyond holding hands and addressing each other with "da-a-ar-ling". Most of the building is destroyed and while the few remaining charwomen do their best to keep the hotel clean, it's not inhabitable by any means, since there are no intact bedrooms left and there's of course no tap water, no gas and no electricity, save for a large stack of old-fashioned power cells to fuel the robot servants and some of their gadgetry. Daylight comes in through the cracked ceiling, flooding the hotel's foyer.

The hotel's pantry, much of a surprise, hasn't been plundered and is filled with canned goods, at least part of which seem to be in digestible condition. Apparently, the hotel has gone unnoticed for all those years, although now that the Rangers have forced entry, it probably won't stay ignored for much longer.

The androids, however, refuse to give away the goods, insisting that it belongs to the hotel and is only given to paying guests. They also wouldn't sell them by the piece and insist on their routines: The only way for the food to leave the pantry be through the kitchen, by order of the chef - who is, of course, a robot, too, but turns out to be broken. Paying would be impossible, anyway, since the robots won't accept the post-apocalyptic currency.

Now it would be an easy thing for the rangers to simply take out the androids, after all they're merely a bunch of old junk, humanoid or not. However, they are anything but defenceless and won't take kindly to unprovoked attempts at violence. Reasoning with them is quite an adventure, too, since they are technically advanced enough to come across as more than just vaguely human, and are heavily torn between their logic circuits, rudimentary emotional capabilities and hardcoded behavioural patterns. One could easily classify them as a merry fellowship of rather insane people, if it wasn't for their mechanical nature.

And apt technician would find his nirvana here and could hone his robotics skills. Repairing the broken chef would not only fill a gap in the chain of commands and hence get the rangers a bit closer to the food source (of course the chef would still not be able to fix much of a meal without tap water and gas), but also start to gain the trust of the other servants, if you can speak of a robot's "trust" in any way. Manipulating the chef into handing out the supplies should be easy, but that might again raise suspicion among the other servants, unless the goods were sneaked away silently.

A good mix of tech and speech skills should make it possible, to finally persuade the hotel staff to give up their supplies. While exploiting the robots and then leaving them to rust is certainly easy and profitable, their "friendship" could be very useful in the long run, since they might actually grant access to information here and there and maybe even provide one of their security guards as a possible NPC party member. However, as soon as the Rangers break into their whereabouts, their peaceful existence will most certainly be over, because others will soon be there to raid the hotel and salvage whatever is left, and they won't give a shit about the resident androids. So in the end it's up to the Rangers to help the hotel staff fortify their position, if they want to keep them safe.

In that case, it would furthermore be mandatory to teach them some manners, because their equally pragmatic and irrational behaviour might endanger harmless people who come to desperately knock for help, only to get turned away or even attacked. If that be the case, the robots can be sure that there'll be a huge mob all over them, soon.

[nathanknaack]

I've always enjoyed the moral dilemma of organized crime. A moral person should regard all crime as bad, but a rational person recognizes that crime is inevitable in an environment of limited resources, and in that situation, organized crime is preferable to the alternative.

So the mission related to this would involve the activities of a syndicate, mafia, or thieve's guild operating in a region or single, large settlement. The natural "good guy" gamer mentality is to rush in and stamp out the criminals, including their boss or whatever keeps them organized, but that's not really a sustainable solution. In the void left behind by the absence of organized crime, chaos takes over. Raiders rush in from the desert, petty thieves turn into merciless killers, and where one boss used to reign, dozens of squabbling crime lords arise, turning the city into a battleground.

Players who upset the delicate balance of organized crime in the city find themselves in the strange position of helping to rebuild a criminal infrastructure, even if they're not interested in joining it. If this situation is available early on in the game, it could teach players an important lesson about the rest of the story: Really think about your actions. Don't just run in and start shooting, because that's not always the answer. Not every situation in the world is a "damsel in distress" just waiting for a big, strong ranger to come along and rescue her.

[Greenpee]

The Impostor(s)

Like. I'll sidetrack it a bit. Hope you don't mind.

The original's people (relatives, advisers - a whole bunch of 'em) have hired an impostor to replace him because he's a d-bag, a class A asshole. Don't get me wrong, he's not pure evil or anything, just a prick who has offended too many people far too many times. Oh, sure, those guys will try to paint him in the worst colors imaginable, but if you're smart enough you'll learn what's what.

[insert a whole lot of investigating and punching people into cooperation]

So after eventually finding out the truth, what do you do? Side with the lying, cheating, backstabbing plotters and condemn a man for being a lying, cheating, upfront dick, or reveal the truth and side with the wronged person, even if he is the jerk of all jerks?

What's right and what's wrong here? What happens to the impostor? What happens to the original? What happens to the plotters? What happens to the community if we chose one way and not the other? Why the fuck did they drag us into this mess?

Here are a few things that could happen:

1a. If you pick the user friendly impostor and side with the plotters, everyone rejoices. They assure you that all will benefit from this and offer support to the Desert Rangers in the future, and the community prospers... for a time. You see, they decided to send the king jerk to exile, where he, resourceful as he is, rises again, comes back and flattens the whole place to the ground, and then comes after you.

1b. If you managed to convince the plotters to NOT let him live, everything is peachy, rainbows everywhere.

2a. If you help the asshole, he rewards you well and assures you he'll send the backstabbers to exile. But, after you leave he executes everyone and becomes pure evil. The next time you come back, he is ready for war.

2b. If you suggest he kills them instead and he does so, he offers his support to the Desert Rangers and doesn't turn on you.

3. If you expose or kill everyone involved in the shady dealings, the sheriff and all the regular folk migrate elsewhere and start a new community, where more sticky adventures await.

4. You exterminate everyone with as little fuss possible, rename the town to whatever you want ("Rangeria") and direct all those without a home (pre-determined NPCs from all across the wasteland) to come and live here. And, then you tax them. -- Okay, okay, this last one's a joke.

[Ranger Tom]

Just a small scenario.

1. you find a small family living in a secluded valley with no outside contact. You talk to the children and they have no idea the world has fallen apart. The children talk of growing up and going to Vegas to go to school or work and raise families.

Do you tell them the world has been destroyed in a nuclear war?
You tell them and the parents are upset and no longer wish to help you. Maybe you don't tell them and later on you find the oldest child dead along the road because. He was heading to Vegas, without telling his parents, to start his life. He didn't know about the dangers of mutants because you didn't tell him.

2. Guy keeps his daughter in the secret cellar "right out of the headlines;)"
You hear maybe just one off handed comment about this guy and the daughter that is no longer around anymore.
You question the father and after much dialog you get a hint that she was once there. After searching the back yard you find his secret cellar with her in it. The inital reaction is to free her and be the hero. But maybe its not like that real life story of a couple of years ago. Maybe he was hiding her to keep her away from the town that you now realize has no woman in it. Once she is released and the town finds out her life or safety is in danger. Maybe there is an option to still protect her or she is captured straight away. Then your new mission would be to rescue her maybe with the help of the father. Can you keep the father and daughter alive through the rescue mission?

Why would the town hurt all the woman? Maybe it was overun by outside forces. The criminals released from the jail in the orginal wasteland? Maybe this is where they set up camp and a few small local families still try to cling on.

Maybe some clues to the perceptive. The grave yard has nothing but female names in it or at least on the newer stones.
The rougher town folk may hint about the lack of woman

[tuluse]

The central idea for this one is blatantly stolen from the random things thread.

So there is a unusually fertile (but small) valley, that is difficult to access.The valley is surrounded by mountains. In the valley there is a small farming community. The village is being terrorized by a semi-intelligent creature of some kind. They have to make frequent offerings to it at the mouth of it's cave to keep it appeased or it comes by and eats someone.

Now the regular options for handling the creature are there, you can extort money form the village to kill it or go kill it for free if you really want to.

However, you can kill the creature in secret, and then start collecting the offerings the villagers leave for it. If you don't like what they're leaving than you can stage monster attacks so they get scared into leaving more or different things.

Or you could just start stealing the stuff, and leave the creature alive and watch as it kills off the village one by one I suppose.