We Want Your Mission Ideas

[cantfind]

I don't have a concrete story line.. But I would love to have a spy plot, where the rangers could choose to be double agents, or even triple.
A quest revolving around manipulations and deceit (you can always do it "the straight way" too, and be loyal - but then everyone is cheating you at the end).
Fooling everyone will net you the biggest reward, but will gain you a reputation of a cunning untrustworthy group in certain circles.
Being totally honest will make you lose something, and gain a reputation of a fool.
Fooling everyone in a way which makes them believe they came out with the upper hand (while still respecting you) will net you a small reward, but your reputation would be a very good one as a resourceful and reliable group.

And make it hard to be cunning - the cunning approach should involve speaking with the right people while possessing the right items, reading stuff around the place, gaining access to hidden and locked areas, having high charisma and intelligence...

[CaptainPatch]

I don't have a concrete story line.. But I would love to have a spy plot, where the rangers could choose to be double agents, or even triple.

Hmm. Got me to thinking. What if one (or more) of the NPCs that the party has the option of adding to the party actually works for a local warlord, Head Honcho, Mayor-for-life, whatever Power That Is in the area? His initial assignment is to evaluate whether or not the Rangers pose any threat to his boss. If his evaluation is favorable, then he is to subtly nudge the party into allying with his boss, or perhaps to perform some hazardous tasks for his boss. Make sure that the party doesn't make friends with any of his boss' enemies. And if his evaluation is negative, to sabotage the party into mission failure or destruction (less the destruction of the agent, of course).

[Mandemon]

Old World Is Coming

Act I: Investigate

Rangers hear about a large group of warriors from North-West area and investigate. They encounter a settlement, which tells them more: There is powerful, pre-war (or so claiming) organization in that direction. It has already established itself as local powerhouse, forcing 2 settlements to bend to its will and now threatening others.

Rangers proceed forward. Second settlement is encountered, this one subjugated by the group. They tell that people called "usrcas" rule and demand tributes, or "taxes" each year. They are heavily armed and well-organized.

Rangers keep pushing forward. Suddenly, they are ambushed by group of uniform wearing warriors, who demand to know who they are and why they are there. Player has 4 options:

1) Reveal that they are The Desert Rangers.
2) Try to lie that they are part of the same group.
3) Lie in general
4) Fight

Option 4 leads to battle and aborts the storyline.

All other options lead to party being taken as captives. First because group wished you to meet their leader, second because they realize you can't be part of them (wrong appearance and attitude) and third because they don't believe you.

Act II: Old World called

Once taken away, party arrives at pre-war military bases that has somehow managed to avoid direct hit. it's buzzing with activity, military drills, troops moving, vehicles, etc. etc.

Player is taken to General. General poses same question as before.

1) Player can tell truth about the Rangers and their origins.
2) Try to convince General they are members of the same unit
3) Lie about partys intentions
4) Fight

4 leads to entire base to become hostile and aborts storyline. 2 leads to martial court because General believes party is group of deserters. 3 leads to player being informed that local area is under "United States Restoration Committee", headed by him and warns party from wondering too close to base.

1st one however leads to another scenario:

General is delighted to hear other army units survived the war. He explains that "United States Restoration Committee" plans to restore glory of United States as outlined in Order 25-1. As such, The Desert Rangers, being reformed Engineer Corps, should submit to highest ranking military echelon, AKA to them. He wants Rangers to swear an Oath of Loyalty to United States and to the USRC.

To prove his claim he can show an order passed down to each General of the base which has said order. It reveals that USA planned to have any surviving military units to assume control and rebuild USA in case of nuclear war.

How do Rangers respond?

Party can say that they need to contact HQ. General will allow this, since he understands chain-of-command and realizes party is "not allowed" to make decisions. HQ will refuse the deal and demand party to sabotage the USRC efforts, to give them time to prepare.

Try to argue that The Desert Rangers are completely different from original Engineers. That they are law enforcement organization, not an army unit gone rogue. Successful argument leads to General dropping the matter, but demands contact with Ranger Center. Failure leads to party being arrested for "disobedience".

If party is arrested at any point, they need to break out of the base(most likely violently)

Act III: We are we are we are, The Desert Rangers

Contacting RC leads to orders to sabotage USRC. After that player needs to find a way to cause USRC to stop it's expansion for few years. This can be done in three ways:

1) Destroy water source and water purification system
2) Incite rebellion in settlements or
3) Kill everyone yourself.

1(if caught) and 3 option leads to USRC becoming hostile. 2nd one, if player is not caught, maintains good relations to USRC, but they are no longer interested in gaining control of Rangers due to problems at home.

Rebellion is incited by smuggling weapons to settlements and convincing local leaders to rebel. As for route 1, player needs to sneak into base maintenance and destroy water system. The player needs to find base water source and contaminate it.

[derekticon]

Old World Is Coming
Act III: We are we are we are, The Desert Rangers

Contacting RC leads to orders to sabotage USRC. After that player needs to find a way to cause USRC to stop it's expansion for few years. This can be done in three ways:

1) Destroy water source and water purification system
2) Incite rebellion in settlements or
3) Kill everyone yourself.

1(if caught) and 3 option leads to USRC becoming hostile. 2nd one, if player is not caught, maintains good relations to USRC, but they are no longer interested in gaining control of Rangers due to problems at home.

Rebellion is incited by smuggling weapons to settlements and convincing local leaders to rebel. As for route 1, player needs to sneak into base maintenance and destroy water system. The player needs to find base water source and contaminate it.

Hey Mandemon, I like this storyline. Particularly with reference to Act III, perhaps other paths could lead to (assuming that the party manage to escape) Ranger Center having to defend itself from USRC's aggression because by then, they would have tracked down Ranger Center's location (via communications intercept or via interrogation of player's party).

If gameplay mechanics support diplomatic solutions, here are two solution paths available to Desert Rangers:

1) Building a coalition from the different factions of the wasteland (some of which could be long-standing rivals or enemies of Desert Rangers, even those that are ideologically or morally unsavoury) to resist USRC, convince USRC's satellite settlements to breakaway. This could work with your earlier mission scenario featuring the multiple factions within Wasteland.

2) Recruit USRC soldiers and turn them against higher command, or to break the cohesion within USRC's command

Of course, the USRC could use the above strategies against Ranger Center too.

[CaptainPatch]

Old World Is Coming
To prove his claim he can show an order passed down to each General of the base which has said order. It reveals that USA planned to have any surviving military units to assume control and rebuild USA in case of nuclear war.

This is predicated on pre-war planning. That would be an attempt to restore things back to the status quo before the war. BEFORE the war, the military answers to the US Government and the chain of succession for the Presidency -- NOT to a military hierarchy.

This plot has two problems. The first is that in such pre-war planning, measures would be emplaced to assure that the military didn't use the war as an excuse to stage a coup d^etat and replace the elected government with a military junta. The local CO may be "trying to hold it together" locally until the remnant US Government (Prez, VP, Congress, Cabinet) is contacted. [If this military command survived, who is to say that the Government didn't also survive, but on the other side of the continent?] If the local CO is trying to make himself Top Dog, pure and simple, then he is guilty of mutiny. In short, he has abrogated his vested authority in favor of essentially making himself the Warlord of the "Restored USA".

The second problem is that given the war, the several military commands scattered around the continental US, Hawaii, and Alaska would be, as clearly was the case, separated and lost communication from one another. There could be as many as 25-50 military commands, scattered all over hell and gone. Which one NOW, 80+ years later, is at the top of the military hierarchy? This would be necessary to know for WHEN one remnant command encounters another. Whatever that hierarchy is, I can guarantee that it wouldn't be any CO on the West Coast. It would be whoever was head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, which would have taken shelter somewhere on the East Coast (not too far from the Pentagon). Where, precisely that would have been _should_ have been Ultra Secret info that the original CO had locked away in a very, very secure safe.

So, I can see the entire scenario going forward as you describe, but with some minor adjustments: 1) The CO _should_ recognize that it has been three generations or more since the bombs dropped. The people presenting themselves as Desert Rangers are obviously NOT US Army Corps of Engineers and the organization has not been that for quite some time. As, at most, the grandchildren of the Engineers, they can't be held accountable for the desertion of their grandparents. All understandable; military pardons issued retroactively, given the circumstances in the Wasteland. 2) But how would the Desert Rangers care to enlist with the US military and return to their heritage? Help to restore the USA to a semblance of its former glory? Improve life for EVERYONE still alive in North America? 3) Until such time as other commands in the military chain of command are reconnected with, the local CO shall act as Supreme Commander in the area of his control.

HIDDEN AGENDA: 4) The local CO has, in fact, made contact with several other remnant commands over the years. For some mysterious reason, shortly after contact was made, each of those remnant commands disappeared, went silent, and were never heard from again. At the same time, the local command area expanded.

[Ranger1]

I like the idea that when/if you develop a love interest and they die you have the option to keep them around by uploading their counciousness to a machine body. Thing is through if you caused the death in the first place that might not be such a great idea. Depending on the circumstances this can play out in a number of ways.

If you caused death by sacrificing character to achieve a goal
1. The love interest could end up trying to kill you too
2. The " " might forgive you if you play your cards right
=> you gain access to an upgradeable battle platform who'll flirt with you on occasion
3. % chance of turning into a cyberman if you forget to install emotion chip or it gets damaged leading the former love interest to go berserk.

if it wasn't by sacrificing
1. It's still your fault
2. rince repeat
3. rince repeat

[Mandemon]

Alright, answer:

@derekticon

Ooh, good point! This could be the 3rd faction I mentioned in that scenario.

As for your second idea, I dunno... I think at this point people of the base are pretty much indoctrinated that they are "loyal soldiers" above all. Maybe player could try to recruit people from non-base recruits, AKA people drafted from subjugated settlements.

@CaptainPatch

Order is at this point closer to how USA constitution is handled: Placed in specially preserved case to show it's real and not forged and survivors looking at it and trying to intrepid what the original writers intended (Pre-war status quo or "ideal" image of USA, for example)

You also note I left content of the said order vague. Bottom line it gives basic orders to re-establish chain of command and government. It also gives rather large leeway for commanders to do what they need to do. I guess pre-war politicians planned to "win" the war, by having nation re-established and horribly underestimated exactly how fucked up things could go. That, or the order was something planned when effects of nuclear war were less understood and were never updated, just re-established with each president. War came rather abruptly with little warning...

For coup d'etat, who says it hasn't happened? General simply refers to order and "re-establishing" USA. In 70 years, they have only managed to secure control of small area. Perhaps in some other region, two bases survived and now wage bloody war on whose idea of USA is right and which one has more legitimacy.Orders might have some more stuff on how to prevent units from going rogue, but in the end, there is nobody to enforce them so those are pretty much moot (unless two units meet and one upholds the orders, other goes rogue).

Technically highest surviving echelon is the boss, with higher ranking ones absorbing lower ranking ones as they encounter. So unit lead by a major submits to a general, and so on, until highest surviving member of the chain of command(President is the last member in chain of command, if I understood correctly) is encountered, who assumes final control. Highest ranking operates as local Supreme Commander until higher ranking ones are encountered. Orders are pretty outdated and might not consider possibility that army might become completely shattered and isolated, with no communications to re-establish itself, so there is no clear instructions to determine leadership after 80+ years...

However, like you said, everyone is pretty isolated and the base and General tough they were only surviving military personnel (just like Rangers tough they were only survivors originally). At this point, Generals real motivation is simple speculation, unless I decide to write a lot longer story arc where USRC is the main villain and plot concerns it and RC dealing with each others.

Furthermore, due to distances involved and general radio blackout, local base is pretty much unaware if anyone is out there.

As for survival of the base... Ranger Center survived, right? Furthermore, survival of this base is a small miracle itself, that it was spared of direct hit. It has only grown little since the war.

As for dealing with the Rangers, there is already an option to convince him to accept that Rangers are no longer Engineers. General doesn't have real formal training, base has pretty much taught itself so some ideals got little bit warped. Unlike Engineers, ho became Rangers, base personnel held tightly to their army status (Once a soldier, always a soldier) so "being member of US army" become pretty much something you inherited. So they see Rangers as US Engineers first, Rangers second. Player can convince that there are no more US Engineers in Rangers.

As for military court, in those scenarios General (and the base) thinks group is from their base, but have deserted their positions and have been caught now.

I like your Hidden Agenda part tough. Might write follow up of the storyline with that... USRC recruiting party to investigate where the other units went.

[tuluse]

This is just a nugget of an idea that i had reading an earlier post.

Since you have total control of 4 rangers, and you can split your party, it would be really cool if there was a city with 3-5 factions that you could simultaneously infiltrate and get your people in key positions.

[sparkee666]

What to do With That Nuke

A massive underground missile silo that failed to fire has now become overgrown with plants and fertile muskeg. The lush irradiated land has given an opportunity for a small community of nomadic families to finally make a home. However, they need to remove the disabled but still highly functional I.C.B.M and salvage the abundance of useful parts from the entombed rocket. Unknown to the newly settling nomads a group of paramilitary thugs that know of the missiles existence require a group of skilled rangers to gain access to the silo and bring the missile online. It is up to the rangers to decide whether to help the nomads settle, create an operational missile platform for some opportunistic mercenaries, or heist away the nuclear warhead to sell to one of the tribal warlords currently feuding in the area.

When your ranger party gains access and ventures into the depths of the weathered silo they will need to input the codes that will enable the rusted launch doors to open. As the massive hatch releases the monolithic doomsday device is now on display for the world to see. In order to further aid the nomadic settlers the missile has to be removed. The rangers will need a specialised crane that can lift the rocket from its resting place, but the town that has the only functioning crane in the wasteland will have to forfeit the foundation of its existence. Perhaps you can negotiate an arrangement for the fragile community to join with the nomads to form a prosperous new city, or sacrifice one village for the other.

Once the I.C.B.M is ready to be moved the settlers find it best to put the transportation of the radioactive relic into the hands of the rangers. To prevent the inevitable robbery of valuable missile components the old world locomotive is guarded by some of the nomad’s finest warriors. Once the shipment starts moving you can protect the missile till it reaches its destination, or heist these items during any part of the transport. If the heist path is taken make sure no one will be able to talk about your evil doings to any of the communities in the area. If you take the warhead without the villagers knowing and sell it to a warlord they might also think an armored and armed silo would make a perfect base of operation. One solution would be just set it to detonate once the war head makes its destination.

[CaptainPatch]

Technically highest surviving echelon is the boss, with higher ranking ones absorbing lower ranking ones as they encounter.

The problem with that echelon is that it was from 3+ generations ago. If the CO's rank is constrained by whatever the CO's rank and hierarchy placement was when the bombs fell, then the fact that he's on the West Coast assures that the original CO was in the middle ranks of the High Command. If echelon placement is adjustable after the bombs fell, then what is to prevent newer CO's from just promoting himself to 20-star General? However it is worked out, the local CO of a West Coast command would have to acknowledge that someday that command WILL be subordinated to most of the commands "back East". Failure to yield authority to a higher-placed CO elsewhere violates the original plan and constitutes "going rogue". Which in turn negates his authority to demand other lower-ranking commands to yield to his authority.

Given the level of tech available at the time of Apocalypse Day, what guarantee is there the what he has under glass is the original Constitution? It actually seems INCREDIBLY unlikely that as things are going to hell, the USA Powers That Be would rush the original Constitution (along with several other significant historical documents) to some middle-of-nowhere installation on the West coast. Any such relocation would be no further West than Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado. First, the longer the distance, the longer they would be exposed to instant vaporization as the bombs could be falling any time. Second, because the Government going into hiding wouldn't want to be too far removed from the documentation that confirms their legitimacy. In short, given the scenario, anyone with a game IQ above 12 would suspect that the document under glass is fraudulent -- and conclude whoever is showing it off as being the "original" is running a fraud for personal reasons.

[tuluse]

I don't like the real standing order either. It doesn't fit with the setting to me.

I think it would better just to have them be rogue or some kind of cult organization.

[john irwin finster]

@cantfind I like the idea of a 'spy mission'; espionage, hacking, thieving, assassinations- I find these kinds of things can be more interesting than brute force combat.

[Turkeysocks]

This is just something I've been kicking over, it's a little similar to Mandemon's idea, but different story wise. I'm still writing it down and working on it, so changes will happen.

The Council

Overview:
During the 1930’s, the mayor of the city, becoming alarmed with the Japanese aggression and realizing that war would come, began an auspicious project, secretly building a bomb shelter under City Hall. In the 1950’s, decades later and a new mayor with a new paranoia, the bomb shelter was expanded, built deeper into the earth to protect its inhabitants from radiation and theorized to also protect from the earthquakes that shake the city. The ambitious project was built in secret by the mayor and a few of the wealthiest members of the city council and citizens of the city.

In the 1980’s, a new mayor came into office, Andrew Laseant (Law-see-aunt), a very well connected politician with connections to both military and political associations in the United States. After learning of the meteor and the impending destruction, Laseant took matters into his own hands. Using contacts in the military, he upgraded and expanded the antiquated bomb shelter into an underground fortress able to sustain around a thousand people.

In February of 1998, when the satellites went down, Laseant ordered the moving of all essential government employees, the city council and their families, wealthy members of the city, and the best of the city’s police force with their families, into his underground fortress and sealing themselves inside... Until now.

You can read more and view the updates here:https://docs.google.com/document/d/19KRT22z9MV9paEtruZ8aVw6TbGoHbyZsQQRvq2bp5j4/edit#heading=h.she18qtqulx0.

*Edit, the link should now lead you to view it, forgot that each document has to be set.

[Hasenklein]

When the Rangers enter a town/settlement/whatever kind of community, they are approached by a child.

The child tells them that it was punished/robbed/whatever by a gang of elder children, and asks for their help.

If the Rangers punish the children/take away what was stolen/intervene in any way, they will take revenge after the Rangers left: in the future, the child will suffer harder. In a more extreme environment, the parents of the child and/or the child may be punished/killed by the parents of the children of the gang.

The basic lesson to learn here is that helping with the means will backfire if its effects cannot be maintained by the person who is helped.

The Rangers may leave with the advice that when it's old enough, the child should join a stronger gang, but even that may backfire and result in a situation where the Ranger precisely face, well, this (assumed) stronger gang with the child in its ranks.

Not helping though will shape the child's view of the Rangers.

[simplycorrect]

The Bounty

The Rangers come upon a large town and are greeted by a contingent of security personnel on horseback. They are brought to the local 'police station' and questioned. While suspicious at first, when security figure out they are trained fighters wandering the wastes, they offer them a mission.

A dangerous criminal is wanted for many acts of terrorism and theft. The Rangers are charged with bringing him back, dead or alive.

The Rangers find the man difficult to find. He is very good at covering his tracks. Along their journey, they find many local farmers and ranchers who consider him something of a folk hero, stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. There are many stories of his bravery and cunning, and his skill with a blade is legendary.

The Rangers finally track him to a farmhouse. The family that lives there has been killed and a group of town security have the criminal cornered in the Barn. The police claim that the criminal killed the family living there, and left their bullet ridden corpses on the front lawn.

The police are are planning on setting the Barn on fire to draw him out. They demand the Rangers help.

The Rangers might realize that the security are the ones who killed the family (since the 'criminal' is famous for his swordplay and helping locals out, not killing them)

If the Rangers do nothing, the security will do as they intend, lighting the barn on fire and mowing down their prey when he is forced out.

The Rangers must decide who to side with, the security or their quarry.

The 'criminal' turns out to be a normal person, pushed to vigilantism by the mayor of the town and his cronies in the security force. He says they are responsible for a number of atrocities, including the killing of his own family because his father opposed the towns mayor.

The Vigilante is armed with a long sword he calls a 'katana' and several throwing knives. He is an expert survivalist and is capable of finding food in the wilderness and covering his tracks. He often acts on his own conscience, disregarding orders. He also sometimes disappears in the middle of a battle, only to reappear behind an enemy to slit their throat.

The vigilante asks the Rangers for help in returning to the town and taking out the mayor and his cronies who are after him. Following this plotline can make the Rangers some powerful enemies.

If the Rangers help the security agents, they return to the town and are handsomely rewarded, and given more tasks to do. While lucrative, these missions revolve around enriching the towns wealthy mayor and taking out his political opponents.

[tuluse]

When the Rangers enter a town/settlement/whatever kind of community, they are approached by a child.

The child tells them that it was punished/robbed/whatever by a gang of elder children, and asks for their help.

If the Rangers punish the children/take away what was stolen/intervene in any way, they will take revenge after the Rangers left: in the future, the child will suffer harder. In a more extreme environment, the parents of the child and/or the child may be punished/killed by the parents of the children of the gang.

The basic lesson to learn here is that helping with the means will backfire if its effects cannot be maintained by the person who is helped.

The Rangers may leave with the advice that when it's old enough, the child should join a stronger gang, but even that may backfire and result in a situation where the Ranger precisely face, well, this (assumed) stronger gang with the child in its ranks.

Not helping though will shape the child's view of the Rangers.

Clearly the solution is to kill all the children who picked on him to teach him a lesson about being careful what he wishes for

[CaptainPatch]

The Council

Overview:
During the 1930’s, the mayor of the city, becoming alarmed with the Japanese aggression ...

I'm seriously liking this build up, going all the way back to the '30s. Overall, it's a Vault scenario similar to Fallout the Original. Just that instead of a system of Vaults, there's just the one. [Ever see the movie/read the novella, "A Boy And His Dog"? in that story, the city of Topeka, KS had gone underground.]

[Hasenklein]

Clearly the solution is to kill all the children who picked on him to teach him a lesson about being careful what he wishes for

It clearly doesn't solve anything.

edit:
I may pretty interesting to see though how the engine will react to a party that simply kills any individual it comes across.

[tuluse]

Clearly the solution is to kill all the children who picked on him to teach him a lesson about being careful what he wishes for

It clearly doesn't solve anything.

edit:
I may pretty interesting to see though how the engine will react to a party that simply kills any individual it comes across.

How does it not solve anything? Kid won't be picked on anymore and will learn not to ask strangers to solve his problems for him.

[Turkeysocks]

The Council

Overview:
During the 1930’s, the mayor of the city, becoming alarmed with the Japanese aggression ...

I'm seriously liking this build up, going all the way back to the '30s. Overall, it's a Vault scenario similar to Fallout the Original. Just that instead of a system of Vaults, there's just the one. [Ever see the movie/read the novella, "A Boy And His Dog"? in that story, the city of Topeka, KS had gone underground.]

I have seen the movie. It's a very interesting movie and, I'd say that Fallout/A Boy and His Dog/Borderlands did inspire me with this idea. Also, I know that during the 1950's to 1980's, there was a huge race to building bomb shelters, and some of them were very grande in idea. In fact, many of the "end of the world" city bunkers being sold off to people who think the world is going to end this year, are based off of the very grande idea's thought up of ages gone past.

I started thinking of this the very first day I read the visions document, though I haven't put it on paper. I'll accept any input. In fact, I'm thinking of creating a flow chart once I've finished writing down the scenarios to be less wordy, and more decisive in how actions will be carried out depending upon how things.

Frankly, I plan to make the "mayor" very unstable, egocentric, etc. etc.. It should give the players possibilities to work with. Side with them and over throw the mayor, fight against them and wipe them out, etc. etc..