So basically EP as awesome it is, it can be pretty overwhelming. While everything is presented with clean mechanical function, the space for making decisions is too vast for new players to really grapple. And it grows worse if you're used to more crunchy systems that restrict you with less abstraction or story world reasons.
So my current thought is to gate the things that any ep player can do, to only one player, and make themselves concern with just that one thing. Really sub divide it. One player does talking and nother player handles networking. One person has a muse.
I can use some help how to spread out those actions, or add them to the player over the course of the session or multiple sessions.
My idea for the set up is something like this.
The title is; 'A lovely dinner party in the Fall'. And the players get to experience the first day of the Fall. And if they want to continue playing, they'll find themselves again, in 10 AF
It takes place in Palmcaster, California. (Lancaster, and Palmdale, joined together.) Its a few miles south of Edwards Areospace Base (Edwards Air base). And bit north of Los Angles, California.
We start the game with each player having a Vignette. I think I'll be giving each pregens, and with the start of a Vignette for them. And they'll all be in their mid to late 40s. One of them will be a child of a Diplomat or child of a Hyperelite. This'll be the means for me to deliver more detail to the group.
And then we'll have the entire party meet up, at some very nice condo in a nice high rise. They'll be encourage to RP out the dinner party, and at some point, I'll nuke Edwards. They'll be a bright, blinding then searing light. The large surrounding windows will get blown in, forcing everyone to become deaf, and everyone we'll get to make somx3 rolls to not pass out.
And then after I'm wai more fuzzy. I want them to choose to either go up to Bakersfield, Ca to its farcasting station or down to Mexico City to its Space Elevator. Los Angles proper is considered lost.
They'll be boarding rail system to either destination, to part of it. I want them to have an encounter with the flying TITAN bots that just zoom down and loop your head off, and a section where they're escorted by a group of Ultimates, battlesuit exosuit. They'ed been paid to escort one person in the group, and will get to leave the group and live just fine.
Critques and thoughts welcomed.
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Working out a Session for folks totally new to EP and none d20 system
Mon, 2015-12-07 02:36
#1
MrWigggles
Working out a Session for folks totally new to EP and none d20 system
Mon, 2015-12-07 07:48
#2
Redroverone
I'm doing it a bit different for my campaign.
I'm going to split up character creation over the first three sessions. Session one will be giving them 300 points for strictly Knowledge skills - I want them to be able between the pre-game questionnaire and the self knowledge of their character to pull together an idea of what they know, what they like to do for fun, and where they work.
Second part will be as they begin to enter combat at the end of the first mission. I'll give them another block of points (I'm leaning right now towards 200) for strictly Weapon Skills and Fray.
The second mission will be the last part of character creation, as I then have them flesh out their characters with the social skills, Networking, and the miscellany skills. I'll give them 350 for that, bringing them to a total of 850, reflecting the fact that I'm not giving them their choice of morphs or much gear, so they will have points afterwards to spend on their post-Fall existence. Then if we continue the campaign after that, they'll have a much better idea of how to flesh out their characters.
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The dog ate my signature
Fri, 2015-12-11 00:22
#3
DivineWrath
Well, you could start the
Well, you could start the characters out as average members of transhumanity. No uplifts, no exotic or extreme morphs like flexbots or swarmanioids, no strange skills... Basically normal people. Whatever that can help reduce what they need to know when they start playing (there is a lot to learn). Introduce them to new ideas and options as time goes along. Basically hint that they might need to learn to use new technology if they plan to survive and do well. Tell them that forking, psychosurgery, and farcasting are scary stuff that might drive you a little crazy, but latter show them people who seem to be handling the stuff quite well and might be willing to teach the players.
Also, you are not obligated to have the characters to play in the real world. Simulspace is a good way to do stuff with few consequences. For instance, you could have players play in a FPS simulation as a learn how to do combat. You could even encourage the players to try different play styles, or allow them to play with gear that they shouldn't normally get access to (at least until they get recruited by Firewall or something). You can also allow them to bring in non combat skills by allowing the players to try to hack a server, and if they come under suspicion, use social skills to deflect blame or convince others that no rules are being broken.
Fri, 2015-12-11 14:35
#4
MrWigggles
The simluspace idea is really
The simluspace idea is really interesting. That bears future thinking.