We Want Your Mission Ideas

[Gilgameš]

I was going to post these in the original crowdsourcing thread, but I think this one is even better, here goes. They are actually character descriptions, but I accidentally inserted two quests as well.

Ronnie Scott, organ-repairsman

note: there appears to be a real-life jazz musician called Ronnie Scott, so the name might be a subject to change

Ronald "Ronnie" Scott is the repairsman and trader in his small community. He's an amiable fellow, and people like him, although he has one quirky habit. He hoards organ parts to repair the old church-organ in his shop (which is actually a former church). The lead in the pipes and other such valuable materials would be useful to the community, but Scott is adamant about his views. He can also spend much of his tradable goods to get some good-for-nothing part for his organ, something the villagers are not entirely happy about, since they are mostly the ones who bring the goods to Ronnie. He's an excellent repairsman, and the village puts up with him for that reason.

He is a general repairsman and scrap-vendor, and is in that sense a useful figure for the player characters. He can be downright extorted with any parts from organs or similar instruments that may be found in the wasteland, or they can be given to him, which makes him incredibly friendly, probably lowering his prices or doing some favor to the characters if they were to need such from him.

Another possible chain of events is that the village really needs lead or some other metal used for the organ tubes, maybe as a material for bullets. Ronnie would refuse to give up his parts, but maybe he could be convinced otherwise. Some other rare part from an organ could suffice. On the other hand, if there is a threat to the village, they could pay something for the information that the village is low on supplies, as would certain caravan leaders who normally skip the small colony in favor of bigger routes. Another possible way to profit from the situation is the mere location of churches (if there are many), since there are always scavengers willing to go on fools' errands if the players won't.

Ronnie is not well known, but small-time traders and travellers probably know of the "crazy organ-guy", and might tell tales of him while drinking in some remote saloon if there is nothing more interesting to talk about.

Physically he is somewhat burly, not overly muscular, but he does a rather physical job. He grew up on a farm as well, and he is nothing like the technics' geeks of big cities, more interested in big, strong machines (when he is not obsessing over his organ). He is in his thirties, somewhat unkempt and unmarried, the few women in town have either married someone else or flown with strangers. Ronnie is not in the least bit bitter about this, though. He is thinking about taking an apperentice, but there are not that many boys or girls in the village either, let alone ones interested in mechanics. He can teach many things to a person with time to help him run the shop at the same time.

Roy (Fauntleroy) Garam, vagabond and follower of the Observing God

Roy is, in most respects, a typical wasteland straggler who has never learned to settle down. He is a sullen person, who rarely befriends anyone, but is usually deemed trustworthy when it comes to temporary employment. Most of his expertise comes from caravan guarding and escorting people through dangerous areas. He knows much about the hazards of the wastes, but mostly about avoiding them, not as much about negating or treating. He is a fine fighter, but when alone, rather avoids contact.

Roy does have one event in his past that makes him stand out. When he is in a talkative mood (drunk, that is) he can suddenly start telling how he knows the only true god of this world. That god, he says, cares little for people, because he spends most of his time watching the world and never interfering. He despises weakness, and is more interested in strong warriors, warlike people. If the characters meeting him are well-known rangers, he might add that he also observes the rangers very closely. He tells he met this god when he saw him through "a window in the mountain-tomb of his followers". If further inguiries are made, he engages complete lockdown of information (he is probably close to dozing off from alchohol anyway).

In truth, Roy, being born of simple origins in the wasteland, once just stumbled upon an abandoned radar-outpost that was still connected to a functioning surveillance satellite. Roy could do little to interact with it, but he could see that it saw many important army and governmental locations very clearly, including the ranger headquarters (which, I presume, was a former prison). No-one's deciphered his stories to this extent, and he never disclosed the location of the "mountain-tomb", so most people just think he is a little crazy when he talks about it. Saying that, he rarely does since he is rarely with company.

Roy is a strong man in his late twenties to middle thirties. He's not a young and inexperienced boy, but neither is he a grizzled veteran. By outlook he looks worn, but well equipped. His hair is long and dirty, and he keeps it tied so it won't interfere with fighting or physical work. He wears pilot shades. He is good with knives and small-arms, but prefers avoiding combat whenever possible, at least out in the open. He is rarely too comfortable indoors.

If Roy can be truly friended, he might trust the characters enough to lead them to the secret "mountain-tomb". He is incredibly disappointed if his belief is proved false to him, and probably walks away completely broken. For years he has believed himself somehow special, and finding out he is completely ordinary can be a tough hit. He will get over it, however, and will apologize if ever met again somewhere. If he is lied to, he will be proud at first to find other believers, but after some time has passed, he will start to see through the lies. He can be further lied to, but he will suspect something is off. If the truth is revealed to him after a period of lies, he will be really upset, probably never calming down, perhaps spreading information that the player is not trustworthy. This might have unseen effects on the long run. The player can also truly believe him, provided his scientific knowledge is little enough not to realize what is going on. Party members might know it and tell anyway, though.

Roy won't accept scavenging the mountain-tomb, but can be partially negotiated with, as long as the "sanctity" of the place is not smeared. If the truth is revealed to him, he could naturally not care less.

There is two. I do have one more, but it still needs serious polishing. Enjoy.

[Mandemon]

Two rival factions are engage in a conflict over an area. Area is full of resources that could be used by anyone to seriosuly bolster their side.

Faction 1 is heavily armed and has scavenged large amounts of pre-war tech, giving them technological edge over their opponent. They are also Technocracy government, placing large amount of power on scientist and thinkers, basically Plato's "Republic". However, despite their technological edge, their technology can't defeat numbers of the enemy.

Faction 2 is much more numerous faction, which is lead by feudal group of tribal warlords. They outnumber Faction 1 in 1:10 in manpower, but lack the firepower to overcome them. They are disorganized and need assistance to make them more united.

Missions for Faction 1 deal mainly in weakening unity and numbers of Faction 1. In return, they provide better gear and information.

Missions for Faction 2 deal with stealing technology, spying and "convincing" arguing warlords to work together, by force if necessary.

There are more than two paths, however.

Bring Faction 3 in to the play. This faction could be either convinced to support either one or attack both of them. If player convinces them to ally with either one, your missions involve getting two sides agree.

Other option for 3rd faction is to make them attack both factions, leading to "marriage of convenience".

Also, player simply destroy the area, leading to tense cease-fire. Depending how this is done, factions can either become hostile (if they know who is behind destruction) or remain friendly.

Final option is to weaken all sides and then sweep in and make yourself the boss.

Faction 1 leads to strong, but dictatorial powerhouse emerging in the area, which threatens to conquer whole area.

Faction 2 leads to slightly more democratic, but weaker alliance coming to power. They are more "good", but weaker and less useful on final parts of the game.

Using 3rd faction to unite two leads to balanced, but unstable union which spends more time in internal struggle than advancing it's own agenda.

Using 3rd faction as king-maker, faction 1 or 2 becomes more stable and more controlled, increasing their usefulness, but their power is weaker due to sharing resources.

Destroying area without making them hostile keeps them on the current power level, but also allows both factions to enter end-game operations as themselves.

Making yourself the boss gives you seriously weakened are and factions, but also grants you possibility to directly access and use the resources rather than require you to ask and beg for them.

[Anarkopsykotik]

I would like to see a town run by a violent, egocentric and merciless killer (let's call him Jonas), one you hate and want to kick his ass at first line of dialog, but a smart one. With impaled guys and poor souls in hanging cells at his front door, use of torture by his guards, use of slaves etc... Though, crime would be low, corruption is limited, trade would flourish and overall, the town is peaceful. He would have three rivals wanting to take over.
You can either kill Jonas, and the town would sink into chaos by the war between the 3, and finally be destroyed by raiders due to the lack of cooperation.
You can help him, and he would be a strong ally for establishing your power in the area, possibly giving access to a key resource, and the town would flourish even more, and his son take over at his death later, being as good and somehow less cruel.
You can help the rival 1, and he take over and abolish slavery, being a good and peaceful man. But it strongly affect the economy of the town, and crime grow because of his somehow weakness. He will help you but his help will be far less efficient.
You can help the rival 2, he take over, he is strong, efficient, can abolish the slavery if you ask him to, he is less cruel than Jonas and the town will grow as much (if you abolish slavery) or more (if you don't) with a good ruler, but he will deny you any help.
You can help the rival 3, and the town will grow and help you, slavery abolished, but they will enter at war with another town.

[Svetlovska]

Classic Yojimbo / Fistfull of Dollars / Millers Crossing set up - one valuable resource (an oasis / oil refinery / town), fought over by three factions, *seemingly* one good, one evil, one neutral towards our rangers, in a state of uneasy truce on our arrival in their respective armed camps at different ends of town. Many options - we witness a fight between factions, have the option to exercise diplomacy, or openly or covertly weigh in on one side or the other - maybe even deliberately kick it off by 'framing' one faction for a bad deed we have actually done. We can be mistaken for someone else (the hired guns they were expecting - who might then show up and blow our cover), hired outright as mercs on our own account, or step in as sheriffs, or simply sit back and pick the bones after the fight (trading quips with the town undertaker all the while); broker a peace deal; or rip off all three factions and get the hell out of Dodge before they realise we have double crossed *everyone*.(which maybe achieves a 'reverse win' by achieving the mission aim of uniting all three factions - against us!) We can go for short-term loot; take cash for hits we do - or don't do; prove or disprove that what one faction thought about anothers' actions were true - or not... And so on. Endless fun, particularly if what at first seems to be 'true' (who the obvious good and bad guys are) turns out not to be that way - the mutant/ghoul monster we witness attacking the 'young boy' turns out to be the good guy who realised the 'child', Children of The Corn-style, is actually the weirdly-stunted, wise-beyond-his-apparent-years evil cult leader behind all the mysterious disappearances in town... And so on.

[TiLT]

Fame has its dark side, as the player characters are about to discover. Upon entering a local watering hole, the group is suddenly surrounded by an angry mob demanding justice for what the players did to their gang. The only problem is that the player characters have absolutely no recollection of ever encountering said gang. Unless they are able to talk their way out of this mess somehow, the situation turns to violence.

Looking for more information about what just happened, the players come across several different tales of their own heroic exploits, yet there's no way they could have been there. It turns out a group of common citizens, inspired by your group's heroics, have started a copycat routine and are wandering the wasteland performing various "heroic" deeds in your name. This has to stop. You must track them down and confront them. Do you state an example and murder them for what they've done, or do you convince them of the folly of their actions, making them put down their arms and go home?

Alternatively, if the player characters are more of the infamous type, have the copycat group perform vile deeds instead of heroic ones all across the wasteland. Turns out repercussions for your actions aren't always within your own control.

[Svetlovska]

"Good" cannibals - bit like the seemingly normal family encountered in McCarthy' 'The Road' - present as normal, and actually are. Reveal #1 - the bodies/captives they keep in the basement to feed on, shock-horror; reveal #2 - that this has been arrived at as a whole right-on ethos - in the hard game of survival, the greatest gift the tribe member can offer is their own body, so sick and/or dying - or just very committed - members *willingly* offer their bodies as a sacrament, and the 'good' cannibals only eat their own - like the Andes crash survivors, it becomes an act of selfless love for the community, the Rangers have to decide whether to release a willing victim - who we have met as an ally earlier on and now who doesn't want to be saved - should be saved, against her will. Also a chance to reference the end of A Boy & His Dog, which suggests our hero and his telepathically-linked Best Friend are actually pragmatic cannibals...

[Ratboy]

I'm more of the humorous angle, so I hope I don't get spanked too badly by the community.

Please forgive any spelling as this is a work in progress and haven't had time to polish it.

Code: Select all


Mission title: Hobosapien Exterminatus



Setting:    Upon visiting a town, the rangers are witness to a conversation between a man in doctor's whites and a filthy man looking creature that is pushing a shopping cart full of odds and ends.  The filthy man upon closer inspection looks very shaggy and has a lot of body hair.  Upon talking to the doctor he mentions that there are many of these men wandering the wastes in rural areas collecting anything they think can be useful and bring them to the community to trade for food.  He has provided this particular man medical attention and made some significant discoveries.  There are signs that these men are de-evolving and regressing to a primate state.  He is afraid that exposure to radiation is creating mutation in these people and due to inbreeding, they are regressing quickly.



Characters:     Doctor Monroe    : A highly intelligent female doctor who serves a small community.  She has noticed a strange relation between the hobos, high exposure to radiation, and the physical and mental regression of a local band of hobos. 

         Tasks    : The doctor provides you with a task if you wish of looking into the issue with the regression, asks you to measure the amount of radiation in the locations the hobos frequently search for salvage, and check with the hobos for said locations. He provides a unique geiger counter, black strips in a lead box to measure radiation, and the location of a nearby hobo camp.   

         Reward   : If you do as the doctor asks, she provides her services at a discount.  She decides to 'fix' the hobo population to prevent a population explosion of hobosapiens.  The hobosapiens permanently leave the area but attack the party later at a random time.


            Dialog   : Initial viewing: You see a short redhead in a long dirty white smock.  She gazes at you quickly, and you feel as if you've been sized up like a piece of meat.  Pushing her spectacles back up her nose absently with a finger, she addresses your group.
         

               : 1st encounter    : You bunch look like you could handle yourself without shooting yourself in the foot.  Welcome to ' location x ', what do you want?

               : dialog 1 general 1   : I'm Doctor Monroe. I help the people around here. 
               : dialog 2 general 2   : I happened upon a few medical journals and books in an abandoned library years ago. I learned to read years ago with the help from a doctor who took me under his wing years ago.  He taught me some medical basics, and I've been reading these book ever since.
               : dialog 3 general 3   : Its tough as I have a lot of trial and error, but the people around here are mighty grateful.
               
               : dialog hobosapiens 1   : Those bunch?  They're weird.  I noticed a rapid transition in their biological features.  I mean you'd have to be blind to miss the hair and the smell. 
               : dialog hobosapiens 2   : They live over by the dump and were there before I got here.  They bring all sorts of junk and old tech over to the town for trade.  I pick over some of the stuff now and then.  Found a scalpel and stethoscope recently and cleaned them up a bit.               
               : dialog hobosapiens 3   : I fix them up now and then as they get a lot of scrapes and that can be deadly.  Thankfully I can create some antibiotics and treat tetanus. 
               : dialog hobosapiens 4   : What's really concerning is over the years the amount of hair has been increasing, and I can actually measure the amount of muscle mass increasing while their height has decreased.  I suspect they are mutating due to the amount of exposure they have scrounging around. 
               : dialog hobosapiens 5   : Would you be interested in some work?  I can offer a discount on my services ?


               : dialog hobosapiens n   : Well, too bad. Offer's open.  Need anything else?
               : dialog hobosapiens y   : Ok.  Well, didn't honestly expect you'd say yes.  I'll be right back.  ( She enters her shed nearby and after a while emerges with some stuff in hand ).  Here.
               : dialog hobosapiens y1   : Alls you need to do is follow the hobos in the camp on their rounds and bring these back to me.  Take this card out of the lead box when the hobo turns back from his scavenging trip and put it back in the box after a minute. 
               : dialog hobosapiens y2   : After you do this with a couple of them just bring the works back to me.

               : dialog hobocure ok   : You did it?  Great.  I'll analyze the results and figure out what's going on with their physiology.  Of course, as promised I'll fix you up 1/2 price. 
               : dialog hobocure fail   : Hmm, guess you couldn't handle this after all.  Give me my stuff back.  Hope someone more competent comes around soon.  Those bums look rough.


               : dialog hoboend    : Thanks for your help again.  I found that the hobos were indeed mutating rapidly.  I've taken precautions and sterlized the bunch of them so they can't breed.  Last thing we need is a bunch of retarded monkey kids running around flinging their crap. 
               : dialog hoboend ?   : It was the only logical thing to do, other than killing them all, and that would be cruel.  They'll likely all die anyways in a few years.. what do you care?
               : dialog hoboend angry   : Look, who cares. They're dead in about two years either way.  I'm not their keeper. Get lost.


               : dialog medical   : Ok, who needs fixing up?
               : dialog medical ?   : That'll cost you "y"... still interested?
               : dialog medical y   : Time passes.  You feel better.


               : dialog hobofun 1   : Are you kidding me?  That freakish hobo and me? Gross....  ( charisma check ) <she looks around to ensure nobody from the town is looking> say...  hmm.  Come closer.
               : dialog hobofun 2   : To be honest, I could use some rattling around.  $1000 bucks and I'm all his, but no clowns, chains, proton axes or bananas.
               : dialog hobofun end   : *groan*.. I should have said $2000. Where'd I put those painkillers....
               
               : dialog hobogone   : Not sure what happened, but the bunch of them are gone. 
               : dialog hobogone m1   : I'll take that equipment back now thanks.  She takes the equipment she gave you.






      Nom Chimpsky   : The smartest of the band of hobos.  He wears a diaper and nothing else.  He can only communicate in gestures but points to pictures in a binder he has to communicate. Some are torn out pages from adult magazines. You learn He wants to breed with Doctor Monroe.


         Tasks    : Convince the doctor to breed with him.  This requires a specific check on skills such as charisma.  Reward is a collection of old pornography that can be sold.  Wild monkey sounds and screams are heard in the tent for hours.  Oooo ah ah ah!  ( Doctor's appearance is ragged therefter permanently, circles under her eyes ).

            Dialog   :

               : 1st encounter    : You see what can only be described as an intelligent looking bum that looks like he fell out of a tree about 3 million years ago.  The diaper he's wearing really makes the visual combination a whopper. 
               
               : dialog first      : Grunts at you.  He opens a book with a number of pictures and points toward to where the doctor resides and to a faded stained pinup he has in a binder.  He starts dry humping the air in a vulgar laughable display.  You get the idea he likes the doctor.
               : dialog first      : Shows you a picture of a banana, then the doctor.  Grins.   ( Quest available - talk to doctor. )

               : dialog lucy      : When you point to Lucy and back to him, Nom curls his lips in a face splitting sneer, and pretends to pass out while he holds his hand over his face. 
               : dialog lucy 2      : When you point back to her, he scratches his head and looks back at you. * charisma check * -
               : dialog lucy fail   : He angrily shakes his head and runs around in circles.  You don't think he's into the whole idea of Lucy. The way she smells, you don't blame him.
               : dialog lucy pass   : He looks over, shrugs, and with a resigned sigh, makes his way over to Lucy and the two disappear behind a rock.
               : dialog lucy nom ok   : A sour look on his face, Nom can't look you in the eye.  He refuses to talk to you.



               : dialog doc ok    : You see Nom jump up and down in a circle, then you watch him run off in the direction of the doctor's shanty. 

               : dialog doc after    : Grins and points to a new picture in the scrapbook.  He has pasted a picture of a man and woman in what can only be described as the most impossible position possible. He smiles so widely you can see the bugs he has been chewing on.



   



         
      Borge Jush   : The dumbest of the band of hobos.  He plays with old war toys and burns paper money with pictures of people on it.  The bangs two rocks together and constantly exposes his genitals.
      

         Tasks   : None.  Killing him yields a quantity of cocaine and a red telephone (useless).

         NPC   : If NPC Ratboy in party, Ratboy leaves party for 1 hr to get high with Borge Just.  Ratboy suffers -1 int for 3 days.


            Dialog   :

               : 1st encounter    : You see a drooling man who keeps banging a couple of dolls together.  One appears to resemble a solider, while the other has a headwrap and appears to be in robes. 
               : 1st encounter    : Upon seeing you, he promptly exposes his genitals and dropping the dolls, starts pretending to talk to someone on a red phone he pulls out of a filty sack.

               : Ratboy NPC      : Ratboy glances around, pulls out a bong and shows it to Borge.  Borge starts banging some rocks together ( you swear you see sparks ) and the two of them rush off together behind a rock.  You can see puffs of sweet smoke appearing from behind the rock that drift your way.  It smells terrible but sweet at the same time...  Ratboy peeks over the rock and yells " Hey, this might be a while.  I'll catch up with you in an hour.  Come pick me up, I might get lost ". *Ratboy leaves the party*
               : Ratboy NPC later   : Upon returning to check on the two, both Ratboy and the hobo appear to be very hungry and very lethargic.  You witness them eating anything in sight that could be remotely edible and shake your collective heads. *Ratboy joins the party*                           
               : Ratboy NPC return   : Ratboy looks around, levels a weapon in the general direction of Borge, and attacks him without warning. 

               : Dialog 1       : Oooo Ooo OO!  ( He smashes the two dolls together and then proceeds with stuffing his hands down the back of his pants, scratches a while, then pulls his hand out, smells his finger, then falls down off the rock he was sitting on ).
               : Dialog 2       : Oooo OO OOOOOOOO!  ( He pulls out a roll of paper with pictures of dead presidents on it.  He proceeds to light it on fire and waits for approval from you )
               : Dialog 3       : Ooo OO oOOOOOO! ( He yells into a red phone loudly, then looks around carefully and you observe that he has a white stain underneath one nostril ).


               : Ratboy Borge Death   : I somehow feel like I've done the world a favor...  don't ask me how or why... 


      Lucy      : A female hobo that wants to breed with Nim.  She contstantly looks in his direction and whines and points to her crotch.


         Tasks   : Convince Nom to sleep with her exclusively.  This requires a specific check on skills such as charisma.  Reward is a collection of ammuniton. Killing her yields same.


            Dialog   :

               : 1st encounter    : You see a
               : 1st encounter    :







      Leaky      : A hobo that smells of urine.  You find it hard to be near her. 


         Tasks   : None.  No belongings.

      

      Bill Nightly   : A slaver that frequents the area. 

 
         Tasks   : He asks you to gather the hobos together further away from town so he can capture them without incident and sells them into a freak circus in another town.  Killing him yields nothing other than his belongings.  Reward is free admission to the circus where you find the hobos in various states of servitude such as juggling, peep shows, electrocution, etc.

         Effect   : When you visit his circus later in another location, the hobos all recognize you and rattle the cages going 'ape'.  The dialog with the owner indicates he's going to sell them to some cyborgs for drug money.  The hobos return randomly cyborg'd up and much stronger. They attack the party at a random time.

         

      Mayor Steve   : Opting to talk the doctor out of looking into the issue is a quest he provides.

         Tasks   : Recognizes the need to have the hobos around and wants to keep the goods the hobos find coming despite their exposure and regression.  Asks you to convince the doctor to ignore the regression for the sake of the community.  Hires a bounty hunter to kill your team if you complete the Doctor's quest and end up 'neutering' / 'spaying' the hobos.



      Ol' Pete   : Local store owner.  Runs a restaurant.  Wants to serve up the hobos. 

         Tasks   : Provides drugs to stun the hobos ( magic brownies ).  Following thru kills all hobos, but all townspeople that frequent the place and eat there soon die.  If party chooses to eat there, they suffer permanent hits to their stats in a week's time.    Doctor's mission not available / Slaver mission not available.   






            

[john irwin finster]

I'd like to see missions with different kinds of rewards. For example, a mission to repair a radio tower would enable you to contact ranger center for missions and promotions, another mission might give you better maps or gps for navigation, a camera for taking screenshots, etc.

Another idea is there being other ranger parties out in the world. Maybe you'd hear about them in other towns, some doing good, some doing evil. You might team up with other parties for certain missions, or compete with them, or even have to fight them if they're up to no good.

[simplycorrect]

The Remnants

The rangers move into a highly dangerous, irradiated area. They are aggressively attacked by huge, mutant insects. At some point they meet a mutant with an ancient sniper rifle. He is from a mutant community and is fascinated by the Rangers and wants to know everything about them. After introducing himself as a sacred carrier of the settlements only gun, he agrees to lead them to the mutant settlement.

They find a settlement populated by mutants who use a pre-war cannon turret to protect themselves from all of the dangerous insects. The mutants are isolationist and have rarely seen other survivors. Apart from the cannon and the one sniper rifle, they only have primitive tools and get most of their food by eating insects. There could be a mission against a monstrous insect or nest (or both) that has been deviling the community.

The cannon is damaged and is responsible for irradiating the area. It was an experimental laser weapon of some sort powered by a small nuclear reactor. The cannon cannot be repaired but it can be shut down. The residents will resist having the cannon shut down and must be dealt with in some way. If it is shut down, radiation levels in the area drop and the mutant insects eventually disappear. However, they are replaced by bandits who soon move into the newly habitable area.

The residents of the mutant community can be wiped out, armed, forcibly evacuated or left alone. If they are armed, they form an alliance with the bandit gangs and the area becomes even more hazardous as the mutant bandits know the terrain very well. They must then be cleared out as an enemy lair. If they are left alone, they are wiped out by the bandits.

The sacred carrier of the sniper rifle wants to leave the settlement more than anything in the world, and can be recruited as a very loyal NPC if the Rangers leave the settlement without wiping out the mutants. He might have resistances to radiation, stings and poisons and bonuses against insects. Bullets for the sniper rifle are considered holy relics and cannot be wasted, so the sacred carrier must have extreme skill and only fire in times of direst need - making him a crack shot with a sniper rifle.

There is no way to save the settlement without evacuating them. If the mutants are forcibly evacuated, they become problematic for Ranger HQ. They are angry at being displaced, possess few useful skills and face discrimination living among humans.

[CrackedMandible]

The player's party stumbles onto raiders wrapping up an attack on a merchant train. After killing the raiders they find a merchant dying from wounds he received in the battle. As he dies, the merchant asks the party to deliver his shipment weapons to his town's Captain of the Guard.

The player can either deliver the weapons and gain the good regard of the town and it's merchants and a modest reward, or they can keep the valuable weapons and no one in the town would be any wiser (though they would be slightly distrustful of the newly arrived, well armed strangers).

Some time later, the town gets attacked by a large raider force. If the weapons were delivered to the Captain the town survives. If the player kept the weapons the town is decimated by the raiders and, if not totally destroyed, many of its citizens are killed to include those people the player would benefit from (merchants, doctors, etc.)

Of course, the player's party could help train the town militia, or help defend the town to mitigate the raider damage. They would gain or lose reputation with the town and any subsequent benefits depending on their performance.

[derekticon]

Here's a campaign orchestrated from the perspective of anti-Ranger factions. The player will experience the narrative of countering the anti-Ranger campaign.

CAMPAIGN: ROLL BACK THE INFLUENCE OF THE RANGERS AND TAKE BACK RANGER CENTER

The original prison population of Ranger Center were mostly made up of minorities, some for incarcerated for violent crimes while some are imprisoned for dangerous political ideas (Communism, Religious Extremism) and communities who're taken in at the height of Cold War confrontation (many are ethnic Russians). During their long-term incarceration at Ranger Center, the place had become their home and a place to establish their own communities away from mainstream society, a place where they're free to live their way of life. the place is like their Jerusalem or Marxist Eden, each community attaching their own meaning to their place of origin. that was before the Army Corps of Engineer evicted them from their home.

Theme: Who has rights to property or claim over territory? Who has the right to spread 'civilizing influence'? Might is Right?

MISSION 1 (Act 1): Roll back the influence of Rangers - Sabotage Ranger Communications (main quest), Capture Power plants and re-route power supply, seize agriculture centers and water purification plants (side quests).

Mission 1.1: KIDNAP. Anti-Ranger faction captured Ranger scout, learnt of Ranger communications grid and began sabotaging Ranger communications/radio broadcasting stations and communications traffic. Commencement of hostilities.
Captured Ranger scout is being kept alive because he/she is a rich intelligence asset and is to be put up for auction to other factions, or used as a barter for joint ventures - because one high-tech faction may have the means to forcibly extract data from hostage's brain, or to clone doppelgangers that can be used to infiltrate Ranger installations to carry out sabotage, suicide bombing.

Anti-Ranger faction uncovered the codes to access the controls of Scorpitrons from captured communications equipment. Anti-Ranger faction uses this information to stage an incident turn popular sentiments against Ranger Center.

Moral Dilemma: The treatment of Prisoners of War, The use of torture to extract information, Using of Living Subjects for Scientific Experimentation

Mission 1.2: WHERE'S WALLY? Deny rescue of Hostage, Capture more Rangers.
Escalation of hostilities. Many more factions dragged into conflict.
Ranger hostage is a bait and being constantly shifted around location held by different factions. The paths leading to each location is booby-trapped (IED) and the location itself are traps to capture Rangers for their prized assets - communications gear, security passes. Anti-Ranger factions mount counter-incursion ambush patrols to stop Rangers from entering their control zones.

Moral Dilemma: Sacrifice own party member for the survival of the entire party. Lie to cover up for the loss of critical assets

Mission 1.3: STOCKHOLM SYNDROME. Turncoat. Players decide to remain loyal to Rangers or to defect.
Rescued hostage turns against rescue party (player characters). Give players a chance to switch factions. Or to re-affirm their allegiance.

Moral Dilemma: Moral courage of switching allegiance when realising 'heroic' ideas were tyrannical

MISSION 2 (Act 2): Capture Ranger HQ. Whoever captures Ranger HQ, captures the central node to spread own influence throughout the Wasteland. This is because all communications and supply lines originate from Ranger Center.

Mission 2.1: INSIDER THREATS. Anti-Ranger faction infiltrate agents into Ranger Center in order to turn Rangers against each other. After adequately sabotaging/spoofing communications, anti-Ranger faction is able to slip into Ranger Center. Agent begins recruiting sympathizers, or began blackmailing Rangers susceptible to corrupting influence such as drugs and sex. The mission is to turn as many Rangers over to anti-Ranger faction and open the gates from within.

Moral Dilemma: Using bribery and corrupting influence for political gains, including pimping of own party member for sexual favours in return for other favours; Use of drugs for enslavement; loyalty to tribe or loyalty to higher ideals? Witch Hunt. Purging of own ranks of traitors

Mission 2.2: SIEGE. Anti-Ranger factions stage a co-ordinated coalition assault to capture Ranger Center. Turncoats within Ranger Center opened a side-gate for assault elements to capture Ranger Center. Another alternative is for Commander of Ranger Center to switch allegiance.

Note: none of the anti-Ranger factions is able to take on Ranger Center on its own. They've got to form a coalition and bring their strengths to the table, and stay together as a coalition unless their individual interests tear the coalition apart; The collective numbers of a coalition may not be strong enough to overpower the Rangers, political subversion (breaking up the cohesion of Ranger high command) may be the best way to defeat the Rangers.

Moral Dilemma: Balancing the interests of different factions to hold the coalition together. Treatment of Traitors. Treason.

Mission 2.3: ANARCHY. Open warfare, all against all. Break-down of general world order in the Wasteland as the strongest faction had been toppled from power. Each faction, including remnants of Rangers, attempt to keep Ranger Center for themselves. During the all out war, it was revealed that there was a secret weapon that could end all wars - active nukes housed within Citadel Starstation. Rangers want to gain control of weapon to threaten the existence of another community - back-off or we'll kill everyone in your tribe.

Moral Dilemma: Political power coming from the barrel of a gun. Or blade of Proton Axe. Gaining political power via massacres, genocide, subjugation of an entire community via violence and enslavement. Destroying population centers to compel combatants to surrender. The utility of violence for political ends. War...War never changes


MISSION 3 (Act 3): Wrath of Heaven - Doomsday Weapon

Moral Dilemma: Survival of the few over survival of many

Mission 3.1: Search for the hidden bunker - mission control station for Citadel Starstation

The race is on to reach the controls of Citadel Starstation, wherever, whatever it maybe.

Mission 3.2: Deciding the fate of the world - launch? which target?

Upon accessing mission control, the player discovers that Citadel Starstation is sending out warning of incoming meteoroid swarm, if it hits Earth, it may send the world into another Ice Age.

Player have to decide if the nukes in Citadel is used to destroy Ranger Center, to alter the course of the meteoroid swarm to avoid Earth, or to guide the meteoroid to hit Earth or alter the orbit of the moon etc, destroy Citadel Starstation.

Moral Dilemma: Who has the right to live?

Mission 3.3: Establishing a New World Order - trailer announcing Wasteland 3

[BentSea]

This one is a pretty classic dilemma...

A doctor in the wastes is working very hard on producing an incredibly useful technology... but the cost of their research is lives, violently. In your quest to find missing persons of real importance you have to decide between looking the other way, or putting a stop to the development of the technology. It might not even need to be violent. The scientist knows that the research is horrible, that's how important the technology needs to be. But the scientist could even be dealt with in any number of ways from violence, to diplomacy, to helping them.

[derekticon]

Here's a campaign orchestrated from the perspective of Ranger HQ. The player will be sent on missions to fulfill the strategic interest of Ranger Center. This mirrors my earlier post of the campaign "ROLL BACK THE INFLUENCE OF THE RANGERS AND TAKE BACK RANGER CENTER".

CAMPAIGN: SPREAD THE CIVILIZING INFLUENCE OF THE RANGERS AND CONSOLIDATE DOMINANCE OVER THE WASTELAND

The Ranger Center is the strongest faction in the Wasteland and is an expansionist power intending to reconstruct the entire Wasteland in their own image, without regard for other communities that had already established their own national identity - cultures, values, way of life etc. The Ranger Center intends to bring "civilization" to the "savages". "Savages" are simply those who do not share the same values or behave the same way as the Rangers.

To expand their influence, the Rangers will need to reconstruct line-of-communications infrastructure that allow them to spread their influence - roads, communications tower, communication cables, power lines, water pipes to areas where they intend to settle, or to connect Ranger Center to settlements they intend to conquer. They will need persuasive propaganda to win hearts and minds, and convince others to live under Ranger Center's "protection".

There will be communities that do not want to come under the control of Ranger Center, and will resist - sometimes violently.

Theme: Who has rights to property or claim over territory? Who has the right to spread 'civilizing influence'? Might is Right?

MISSION 1 (Act 1): Pacify the Savages - Security patrols, keep peace and check out reports of harassment of communities under Ranger protection and damaged infrastructure (main quest); Conduct reconnaissance for the construction of roads, power supply lines and communications towers, new food and water source (side quests).

Mission 1.1: CIVIL ORDER. Ranger patrol sent out to an outlying agriculture settlement at the edge of Ranger Center's sphere of influence to investigate a conflict between two communities over the supply of power and water. It appears that supply of power and water is dwindling, and the local community is blaming the other for theft of supply. Altercation led to clashes and wider communal conflict. Both communities do not want Rangers to intervene because both sides want to dispose their Ranger-backed Governor and conduct ethnic cleansing of the other community. The Ranger patrol is tasked to protect the Governor and impose civil order.

A Scorpitron was activated to show presence and keep the two factions apart. However, someone managed to hack into the controls of the Scopitron and it went rogue and began attacking the civilians.

Ranger party must now fight hostile population and rogue Scopitron(s) at the same time.

Background: The settlement was captured from 'savages' and was an artificial colony set up by the Rangers to establish an agriculture center to supply food to Ranger Center and for trade. The agriculture center had a quota to meet and the Governor had been effective in keeping peace and working the settlers hard to meet production targets. The people now living within the settlement comprise of two communities - original savages that had been 'civilised', and new settlers from Ranger Center. Though the Governor is considered a traitor of the 'savage' community because he is serving the interest of Ranger Center in order to preserve his status of authority. The Governor is making of this power to benefit his family and his cronies. Ranger Center prefers this Governor because of his brutal methods to meet production target. The savage community wants to stage a revolt and overthrow the corrupt Governor, and restore the son of their formal Chief as leader; The settler community wants to remove the Governor and is agitating for democracy, but stacked in their favour and to expel all savages from the settlement.

Resolution: Savage community become even more disenfranchised, as long as Governor remain in power. Savage survivors that survived conquest agitates for an insurgency against Rangers; If Settlers managed to overthrow Governor, they will carry out purge of Savages and declare independence from Ranger Center, Ranger Center will send a party to crush the independence movement.

Moral Dilemma: The use of force to maintain civil order, Support for a dictator so that the colony can continue providing critical economic resource for the imperial center, occupation of conquered land, favouring one community over the other in a sectarian conflict

Mission 1.2: ALLO' ALLO? Loss of Communications with HQ, Investigate Disturbance.

Ranger party loses radio communications with Ranger Center upon conclusion of Mission 1.1. Need to find way to restore communications else will be directionless.

If investigate damaged communications tower, discover and capture saboteur alive. Restores communications and receive order to investigate a location to retrieve a Ranger Scout that was captured by an anti-Ranger faction. Ranger Party can continue mission with prisoner, set prisoner free or kill prisoner.

If continue to wander the Wasteland without communications with Ranger HQ, will pick up info of the competition among anti-Ranger factions to bid for the life of a captured Ranger Scout.

Mission converge to a decision point in which the Party need to lose their communications gear, hostage in exchange for another life. Anti-Ranger faction needs communications gear in order to compromise the security of Ranger Center.

Moral Dilemma: Sacrifice own party member for the survival of the entire party. Lie to cover up for the loss of critical assets

Mission 1.3: MUTINY. Players begin to appreciate the complex politics of the Wasteland. Learnt of Ranger Center's brutal conquest of outlying settlements that do not wish to come under Ranger's rule.

Ranger party has an option of defection. Some members of player-controlled Ranger party begins to doubt own allegiance to Ranger Center, leading to a revolt within the party.

Resolution: Purging of player-created character or Defecting to keep party intact

Moral Dilemma: Moral courage of switching allegiance when realising 'heroic' ideas were tyrannical; Purging of own Party member

MISSION 2 (Act 2): Crisis at Ranger HQ. All Rangers are being called back to Ranger Center because of a domestic problem. Someone is compromising the security of Ranger Center and Counter-Intelligence is conducting an inquest.

Mission 2.1: INQUISITION. Upon return to Ranger Center, one member of the player's party was arrested for possession of drugs. The evidence could have been planted (or in actual inventory). At this point, the player could still be loyal to Ranger, or have already defected to an anti-Ranger faction.

If Anti-Ranger: Player could continue to execute task given by anti-Ranger faction to make more Rangers defect. The players are given a number of targets to compromise - using drugs, sex and money; and to induce an ambitious high-ranking officer to stage a coup. Player will need to jailbreak own member from detention.

If still loyal: Player tasked to conduct inquisition to uncover rogue agents within the ranks of Desert Rangers. Clues will lead them to a crime-lord that's running a sex and drugs racket within Ranger Center. Player will need to jailbreak own member from detention.

Moral Dilemma: The use of torture to extract information; Using bribery and corrupting influence for political gains, including pimping of own party member for sexual favours in return for other favours; Use of drugs for enslavement; loyalty to tribe or loyalty to higher ideals? Witch Hunt. Purging of own ranks of traitors

Mission 2.2: COUP D'ÉTAT Defend Ranger Center from external assault while Purging rebel Rangers within.

A rogue high ranking officer was found to be colluding with a crime-lord and running a sex-and-drugs racket from within Ranger Center. As the inquest got closer to the truth, the high-ranking officer staged a coup with the assistance of anti-Ranger factions.

The Player can either assist the anti-Ranger factions in capturing Ranger HQ;

Or if still loyal to Desert Rangers, attempt to break-up the coalition in order to end the siege, while beating back the rogue faction of Rangers loyal to corrupt commander.

Moral Dilemma: Playing the interests of different factions of coalition against each other. Choosing sides. Dealing with betrayals.

Mission 2.3: THE RED BUTTON. The race to capture the ground control station of Citadel Starstation.

If the coup succeeded, the new commander of Ranger Center gave orders to seize the control of Citadel Starstation's ground mission control, so that he would have the ultimate weapon to threaten other Ranger Centers and take control of the Wasteland. But first he will need to locate the mission control.

If the coup failed, the rogue officer fled Ranger Center with his cronies and headed for a classified location. He had located the mission control for Citadel Starstation and had decided to use the weapon for his own ends. Meanwhile, Ranger Center is a smoking ruin and the faction that won is rebuilding the strategic real estate. He will use the nukes to wipeout Ranger Center.

The player party has to race against the rogue officer and other anti-Ranger factions to locate and reach the Citadel Starstation ground mission control.


Moral Dilemma: Political power coming from the barrel of a gun. Or blade of Proton Axe. Gaining political power via massacres, genocide, subjugation of an entire community via violence and enslavement. Destroying population centers to compel combatants to surrender. The utility of violence for political ends. War...War never changes


MISSION 3 (Act 3): Wrath of Heaven - Doomsday Weapon

Moral Dilemma: Survival of the few over survival of many

Mission 3.1: Search for the hidden bunker - mission control station for Citadel Starstation

The race is on to reach the controls of Citadel Starstation, wherever, whatever it maybe.

Mission 3.2: Deciding the fate of the world - launch? which target?

Upon accessing mission control, the player discovers that Citadel Starstation is sending out warning of incoming meteoroid swarm, if it hits Earth, it may send the world into another Ice Age.

Player have to decide if the nukes in Citadel is used to destroy Ranger Center, to alter the course of the meteoroid swarm to avoid Earth, or to guide the meteoroid to hit Earth or alter the orbit of the moon etc, destroy Citadel Starstation.

Moral Dilemma: Who has the right to live?

Mission 3.3: Establishing a New World Order - trailer announcing Wasteland 3

[grot]

A probably over-ambitious idea for two mission arcs that end up complementing one another:

1) The ranger party may, at certain points during the game, stumble across radio frequencies and end up chatting to a certain Doctor - an amiable old fellow who doesn't need any help, and is, in fact, even willing to make helpful suggestions to the team's scientist/medico, if they have one; he's simply radio-ing out across the Wasteland to see 'who's alive out there'. The rangers may simply curse him out and drop the radio, but if they keep talking, they can end up debating the nature of the Wasteland with him - is there still a place for human law and authority in such a chaotic and constantly-evolving world? The Doctor, in turn, will express thanks for his 'friends in the dark' and inform them of several hidden caches.

2) The ranger party can also stumble across, in various settlements, people who appear to be suffering from some kind of fatal sickness. Medically-minded rangers may attempt, with varying degrees of success, to save the victims; scientists can take blood samples and try to analyse the disease. Heck, loquacious charlatans can bottle up anti-freeze and sell it as a miracle cure to the distressed population. With a little investigation, it becomes clear that this plague is no accident; someone has been wandering the Wasteland handing out contaminated medical supplies.

From here on, the rangers can attempt to track down the murderer responsible; if they do so, they'll find themselves at an abandoned shack, heavily trapped (should traps exist) containing a makeshift laboratory in which the plague has been concocted. From here, a party member with very high intelligence/science can come up with an antidote, completing the mission.

However, they may also hear rumours of a group of some of the finest minds in the Wasteland, who've been gathered together in a safe, sterile zone. Reasoning that these scientists could find a cure to the plague, the rangers can attempt to find where they're hiding.

Once they arrive in this sterile zone, however, gaining access by explaining the situation, the party sees that the great minds aren't interested in helping folks in the Wasteland. In fact, their leader (let's go with 'X') has expressly gathered them here, explaining that the world has become unmanageable, chaotic and monstrous - no longer fit for human life, in fact - and so the scientists plan to cryogenically freeze themselves until such time as all mutations and anomalies have died out and they may bring order to mankind, in safety, once more.

At this point, the rangers may let the great minds freeze themselves, persuade them that they have a duty to give civilisation a chance in the present, shoot those poindexters and steal their things, or simply wait until they've been frozen and then turn the machine off. They could even, in exchange for some suitably powerful tech, agree to let one of their number (with high intelligence) join the other smartypants in the freezers. In any case, it's an end to the mission.

However, if they've found the laboratory shack, the rangers will be able to figure out that X was, in fact, the one responsible for creating the plague, which he estimates will spread at an exponential rate; frankly, he's become sick of it all. Sick of constant mutations rendering his medical skills useless, sick of being unable to control the freakish things slithering across his petri dishes - he believes that order and science have lost the battle against the chaos of unnatural evolution, and so he's decided to make absolutely sure that when him and his boffins wake up from their cryogenesis in a few centuries' time, all of that has been wiped out by his disease and humanity can have a fresh, natural start. He's well aware that he's committed a great atrocity, but he rationalises it, arguing that he's done what was necessary, like any good doctor - how can all life be sacred when a cancer, too, is life? He's simply removing the infected flesh in order to make room for healthy regrowth.

The rangers can kill him, (though this won't solve anything) or alert the other scientists to what X has done, making them leave the sterile zone in disgust. If they've completed quest 1), though, they'll also recognise him as their 'friend in the dark': he'll reveal that the hidden caches, if they found them, were also contaminated, and that they've been spreading his virus themselves as carriers while they've wandered the wastes attempting to restore order. With a few very hard skill checks, however, the rangers can persuade him, based on their own debates, that his view of 'normal' humanity longer exists, and convince him to create an antidote, if they have not already done so themselves.

[Hiver]

I would just like to point out that im seeing a lot of contributors here applying the "gray morality theme" in a very wrong way - by simply forcing bad consequences on good decisions.

I dont mind people writing such suggestions - and such twists can be used to provide some diversity to the theme - im just pointing out its a bit fake and not really "gray". Its just a forced in twist of "go for the good guy - get it blow up in your face or turn into a completely negative consequence".

This is just my personal opinion and feel free to contribute more of such situations, by all means.
Im just pointing it out so people maybe try and come up with better examples of truly gray or, gray-er situations, choices and consequences. Which i will try to do myself too.

[TiLT]

A pack of savage raiders has been attacking outlying farms recently, murdering the families living there, raping the women and stealing their food and valuables. During the last such attack they got unexpected resistance. A well-armed farmer staged a surprisingly effective defense, convincing the raiders that they were under attack by a superior force. In their scramble to flee, one of them was left behind unconscious. Bitter and angry at his companions, this raider is brought to the local sheriff and jailed in preparation for a quick trial and execution for his crimes.

The player characters encounter this raider while he's about to be executed. Seeing new faces, Desert Rangers of all things, he attempts to make a deal with them: He'll reveal the location of the raider camp in exchange for his own freedom. He's angry and resentful at having been sacrificed and honestly wants nothing more than to see them dead for what they did, but he puts his own safety at the front and center. If allowed to go free, and only after he's sure of no trickery from the players or the town, he will reveal what he knows. He shows no signs of regret, and it's clear that he's unlikely to change his ways if let go.

This causes an uproar among the locals. Some cry for him to be killed at once for his vile crimes before he can attempt to twist his way out of his predicament. The law is bound to find the raiders sooner or later anyway, they reason. Others are not so sure and start arguing that having only one living raider left is better than an entire gang of them. As the locals argue, only the authority of the Desert Rangers can clear up the situation.

What do the player characters do? It quickly becomes clear that the captured ranger is too clever to be tricked into a deal where he can be captured after revealing his information. He's a tough SOB too, so torturing it out of him is unlikely to work. If the players agree to his terms, he's good to his word and gives them information that leads to the raider hideout and their stash of stolen goods, as well as a harem of enslaved women. On his way out of town he sneaks into the home of the farmer who captured him and kills him, but he's never heard from again in this area afterwards. If he is instead executed, the raiders will continue to operate unhindered in the area for a long while.

[Lazy Nomad]

Anyone remember that Twilight Zone episode about the "Old Man in the Mountain"? You guys should do a version of that. For all you young folks, that episode depicted a group of post-apocalyptic survivors eeking out a bare existence in the ruins of a town. Their leader regularly consults an "Old Man in the Mountain" to get advice on what to do and what not to do in order to survive. It works, though everyone's pretty miserable.

So, one day, a few army guys arrive into town. They quickly take over and dismiss the Old Man as just some superstition. And to prove it, they lead all the townspeople to the mountain and into the cave the Old Man resides in. As it turns out, the old man's actually an old computer and, in a fit of rage, the townspeople smash the computer to bits. They throw off the superstitious fears they'd been living under and finally live the way they want to.

And then they promptly die of radiation poisoning. Because, as it turns out, the computer was giving the correct advice on how to survive. I mean, duh, it's a fucking computer. It's not going to lie or anything. But this was written in another time, when technology wasn't so trusted.

Anyway, you should do your own variation on this. The Rangers, of course, will play as the army guys who arrive into town and have the potential to upend the status quo. They can, of course, just leave everything alone and be on their way. Or they can help the leader stomp out dissent among the townspeople, either by force, or by just escorting the dissidents to some other town so they won't be a bother, anymore. Or they can help the dissidents and overthrow the leader. Or they can go discover who the old man in the mountain really is and when they discover it's a computer, they can smash it to pieces, blackmail the leader, reveal it to the townsfolk, or reprogram it to their own ends.

[Mandemon]

A radio signal that broadcast (seemingly) random numbers in frequent intervals. If player spends time figuring out (or finds in-game item) how to decode the broadcast, they refer to certain locations in certain times. Arriving at these locations and the correct time leads to new set of numbers.

This keeps going until player finds the last location: Old Sealed Military Bunker.

1F: Entry room, checkpoint, technicians post and first-aid center. Beyond that is broken elevator and stairs.

2F: A Mess Hall, A Kitchen, A Sleeping quarters, some game rooms, A Gym, A Hospital.

3F: Armory, Generator Room, Water Recycling Room, Commanders Office(with large window to 4F) and Commanders Private Quarters

4F: War Room, Communications

Player can force entry (lock systems have long time ago gotten stuck) and... nothing. Pressing forward, player can find out logs that reveal that the place was supposed to be one of the military command post for nuclear war. However, when the war began people were outside. Computer, after detecting nuclear launch, sealed the bunker leaving everyone outside.

Base has some armor and weapons, perhaps some technology to scavenge, but mainly it's just silent tombstone of the old world. No enemies, no major loot... just silence, emptiness and logs, diaries and messages of long dead people.

In Communications, player finds one last working terminal that is set to broadcast "Rally Call, Code 4, X Checkpoints, Repeat" where X is number of locations player needs to go trough. Next to it is a paper with command to set broadcast up for military exercise. Exercise is set to being 1 hour before the war...

[Hiver]

A pack of savage raiders has been attacking outlying farms recently, murdering the families living there, raping the women and stealing their food and valuables. During the last such attack they got unexpected resistance. A well-armed farmer staged a surprisingly effective defense, convincing the raiders that they were under attack by a superior force. In their scramble to flee, one of them was left behind unconscious. Bitter and angry at his companions, this raider is brought to the local sheriff and jailed in preparation for a quick trial and execution for his crimes.

/sniped/

What do the player characters do? It quickly becomes clear that the captured ranger is too clever to be tricked into a deal where he can be captured after revealing his information. He's a tough SOB too, so torturing it out of him is unlikely to work. If the players agree to his terms, he's good to his word and gives them information that leads to the raider hideout and their stash of stolen goods, as well as a harem of enslaved women. On his way out of town he sneaks into the home of the farmer who captured him and kills him, but he's never heard from again in this area afterwards. If he is instead executed, the raiders will continue to operate unhindered in the area for a long while.

If you dont mind i would like just to expand on the very ending there - because to me, it takes too much handwaving to believe certain propositions - such as being sure he will tell you the real location at all. And how can he tell us, after we let him escape in a way that would provide complete security for him?

Also, just stating that torture wouldnt work is quite unbelievable in on itself. There are no people that are so tough and never was. We also dont know if torturing prisoners will be in the game at all as a mechanic - and i really doubt it will be.

I suggest using skills and abilities our rangers have to solve the situation.

- If you have a good explosive specialist have him put an explosive grenade "collar" on the prisoner which you can activate at distance if his info proves to be wrong. (you can still do that even if he tells you the truth) - which you can use as an argument to convince people in that town to allow you to release him. You can also rig it to explode if he tries to tamper with it or put a timer on it, then lie about it.
If you kill him you can simply lie about what you did afterwards.

- Take him with you until you reach the raider camp - based on your word to let him go - then decide what to do.

- If you decide to kill him after all, in any of these situations, the game will not acknowledge that as any kind of reputation, because there is no witnesses. Unless you take some of the townsfolk with you who will then see it.
You can kill them to avoid getting a reputation modifier, but as its reasonable to assume they would approve of it... there isnt much reason to do so. Except it could influence some individual NPCs who would be against such cruelty for their own morale or ethical reasons.

Torture can be sidestepped by him telling you he will say anything if you attempt it. And that is what people do under torture. Info gained in such way can be a complete lie. + torturing would cause a bad rep with some individual townsfolk which could influence further gameplay in that area.

- im assuming reputation will be limited to that location and individual NPCs depending on their stand in the issue.

[Anarkopsykotik]

I would just like to point out that im seeing a lot of contributors here applying the "gray morality theme" in a very wrong way - by simply forcing bad consequences on good decisions.

Doing the "right" thing is rarely profitable. If good moral choices allowed easy profit, there wouldn't be any evil doer. That's why most of time, you have to choose between your moral, and your profit, although you can sometimes have both (or at least a bit of both). Well it's how I see it at least. Of course, it is also very interesting when you can't decide who is right.
Point is, having the best outcome by doing systematically the "right" thing is kinda unrealistic and annoyingly present in most RPG. Of course, you still should be able to foresee in some extent the consequences of each choices by investigating and talking to people though.

Anyway, I give my confidence to our dear developers to pick and modify all the good ideas and deliver a great game, I doubt very much any of the quest offered will be introduced as we described it.