I suddenly went into mental block on my game Kids in the Hood and despite all my initial ideas, when I got them down on paper they didn't look half as good as they were in my head.
Anyway, rapidly coming to the point where I might be combining Game Chef and a 24-hour rpg, I suddenly came up with something. It's derivitive, but hopefully slightly interesting.
Sand
Theme:
Inspired loosely by the 1982 Falkland War (with liberal doses of Dune and Starship Troopers).
The Invincible in 1982 was the sixth ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name and the first of the Invincible Class of Anti-Submarine Warfare Carriers, was laid down at the Barrow-in-Furness yard of Vickers Shipbuilders Limited in July 1973 and was launched by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II on 3 May 1977. She served with distinction in the Falklands Campaign in 1982.
Ingredients:
Invincible – this is the name of the space cruiser that has been set to defend the far-flung Empire colony of Sand, in the Castle Sector.
The current Invincible, the twelfth ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name (and the second space cruiser) was built at Marquee in the Landis sector of the Empire in 2954, and was launched by Her Majesty, Queen Elspeth II in the same year. She served with distinction in the Falthroy Campaign of 2967 and the Hextor Campaign of 2971.
Wine – The rare, valuable and highly addictive nectar-like juice produced by the Pandoxa plant and extracted and sold by the colonists on Sand.
Wine is very potent and taken in it raw state will kill a person instantly. Only a very tiny amount produces the narcotic effects that its addicts crave. It is taken in many different forms. It tastes absolutely delicious though and therefore is most often served as a beverage, like the drink after which it got its name.
Entomology – the indigenous hive-like race of ‘bugs’ called the Xixuthrus, who are also addicted to Wine and protect the Pandoxa fields with a fervour bordering on insanity.
Xixuthrus are huge, vaguely termite-looking and extremely dangerous bugs that build their nests close to fields of Pandoxa plants for the workers to collect the Wine that is produced in the plants. The Soldiers actively guard their fields against intrusion by Scouts from other colonies. They are terrifying fighters, especially when high on Wine and will defend their territory to the death. Although nobody has seen one, it is believedby the few entomologists that have visited Sand to study them, that in the nests there is a Queen, pretty much like ants and termites of Earth.
The date now is 2982. The Empire has reached the stars. Huge space transports ply the space lanes.
The Empire
Ruled by the much loved Royal Family, headed by Queen Elspeth II, the Empire has contracted in recent decades leaving the, until comparatively recently, unimportant backwater planet of Sand out on the very farthest reaches of the Empire, unguarded and unloved. That is until the discovery of Wine. Now, Port Stanley (the only space port on the planet) cannot ship the stuff fast enough. Plans are in place to send huge ships out there to build great factories to harvest the drug and expand the port to ship it around the galaxy. However, the Junta have had an eye on the planet for some time……
The Junta
A loose collection of despotic and war-like planets in the Argent sector, overseen and nominally ruled by Dictator-General Luis Piedra III from his palace on the planet Aconcagua, roughly in the centre of the sector. The planetary warlords have come together in the last few years or so since Wine was discovered on Sand and under the Dictator-General have gathered together a fleet to reclaim the planet they believe is rightfully theirs.
Rules limitations:
Resolution system must use colours - The system uses three different coloured d10’s - Red, White and Blue, the colours of the Empire Flag, called the ‘Union Jack’ when painted on the side of a ship.
Three distinct pieces of information can be derived from a single roll – All three dice are rolled at the same time when a character takes an action that has a chance of failure.
· If no dice come up lower than the attribute (or speciality) being used, then the character failed his task attempt and the GM narrates the failure, which may or may not include complications.
· If only one dice comes up lower, then he succeeded but only marginally.
· If two dice come up lower, then he succeeded very well.
· If all three dice are lower, then it was a resounding success and the player may narrate the outcome.
· Whenever the red dice (the Wine dice) is lower than the attribute or specialty being used (I.e. is a success) this means that the Wine in the characters system ‘boosted’ his action. The character’s current Wine score immediately reduces by one point.
Characters
Characters are marines, specialists or psykers aboard the Invincible.
There are three attributes.
They start at 1 in each. Players then spend 6 points increasing them, up to a maximum of 5.
Marines need at least 4 in Body.
Specialists need either 4 in Mind or Action.
Psykers need 4 in Mind.
Specialties. You have an extra 5 points to spend on specialties. These add +1 to the main attribute, when a specialty is used.
Mind (Specialties; Computers, Electronics, Mechanics, Engineering, Diplomacy, Tracking, Demolitions and so on). Psykers can choose from the following specialties that other characters cannot choose from (Telepathy, Teleportation, Telekinesis, ESP, Healing, Empathy)
Action (Specialties; Fire Combat, Shipboard Gunnery, Stealth, Acrobatics, Dodging and so on)
Body (Specialties; Close Combat, Lifting, Toughness, Climbing, Throwing and so on)
The last attribute is Wine. This determines the level of intoxication of the character at any given time.
Wine
This registers the current level of the Wine stimulant within the character’s body. It starts at d10. Whenever the character is ‘boosted’ by his Wine rating (see resolution system above), his current Wine score falls by 1. When Wine is zero, the character starts to feel the effects of withdrawal. First of all, he no longer rolls the red dice when taking actions, so he can no longer get a resounding success and is les likely to succeed at the action. Secondly, he will suffer other side effects. Roll on the table for each day the character goes without Wine.
***** TABLE TO GO IN HERE***
All characters carry a booster pack with them, enough for two doses of d10/2.
There are Wine shops around the empire, pretty much like the old-fashioned pubs of British history. A glass of Wine will boost a character's Wine score by d10/2. However, many places water it down now, so it will be only d10/3 in these establishments. However, even these are struggling to cope with demand and stocks will be low, especially now that the Junta have invaded. They will get lower if the Junta maintain complete control of Sand and its Wine production.
Using attributes and specialties
***MORE TO FOLLOW***
Well there it is so far, I just hope I can get it done this time after two false starts!