Good news & NPC tips

I've started testing Sunburn. It's going well so far, but there's a whole slew of issues I need to address, mostly combat. I haven't decided how I want people to be able to position themselves, so I'm doing it final fantasy style- everyone lines up (with any available cover, loose approximation), then dukes it out. Not the most realistic rules ever, but it works for a functional test.

So far, everything's falling into place, but it's too easy. I'm planning on slashing the beginning XP to make it challenging enough to be worth anything.

Also, here's a tip for other GM's out there- NPC posture is important.

The GM's posture means a lot. Either sitting back and not blinking ("Come on, take the bait..."), leaning forward and smiling dervishly ("They've fallen into place, perfect!"), or remaining still and silent ("Oh shit, they figured it out too soon"). But, posture is also important for NPCs.

In an earlier post, I pitched an idea for listing notable behaviors of the NPC in question. One thing I should add is posture- otherwise, the GM is exactly the same, save for accent and content. Have a distinguishable "post" for each character, and keep it simple. A few I've come up with are:

• Lean as far back as possible (The Slacker)
• Keep your right hand next to your head at all times (The Merchant)
• Get more manic in speech and lean forward. Then, deflate your voice, and lean all the way back. Rinse, repeat. (The Psycho)
• Look down, sag your shoulders, and leave your mouth hanging open slightly (The Brain Damage)

Obviously, there's only so many of these postures possible, so use them only on important characters (anyone with a name and significant plot purpose).

Just a clever idea. Speaking of which, Sunburn 2 got much more interesting. Instead of being a dark, dreary crawl through an underground complex, there will be ninjas, robots, and ninja robots. Also some message about honor and duty. Until then, I'm going to keep testing SB1, and post a couple field reports.

Last-minute Panic

One advantage of procrastination is having a lot of time to ruminate my works. For an example, I think I need to change out a character from Sunburn- Wheel.

Is there any reason, whatsoever, to have it talk? All it has to do is have a noticeably missing piece, and act as a final choice: Leave the planet and doom the locals, or stay on the ground. I'm considering an altar of some kind, or possibly tablets. See how much this has changed? I still remember when I was calling it "The Burning Wheel."

Now that I've had some time to think about this, I realize just how silly it is. Sunburn is a functional test of the EE; a diagnostic, you could say. And I'm worrying about the story? This is either an exceptional devotion to roleplaying, or stupidity of the highest caliber. Could be a mix, too.

Either way, I'm not making the same mistake twice. The other Sunburns, as well as all future RPGs, are going to be designed to have more characters. I feel like the desolate environment might be a bit of a turn-off. Wonder why?

Finishing Sunburn - 5/5

The first batch of characters are done. 70 XP is a really good amount for three of them, so I think I'll be keeping it at a 210 pool to be divided among the characters.

There's really no telling how long it's going to take to run through the campaign. And, after that, I plan to ship it around to some isolated testing groups (you know who you are). So, there will be a follow-up post with the results.

One step I forgot- making really professional looking printouts for the whole shebang. Right now I'm keeping data written down on scrap paper, which isn't the classiest way to go about things.

The desert holds many secrets.

Finishing Sunburn - 4/5

10:30
Got back to my roots, watched Pitch Black. Wanted to set the mood.

12:40
Currently working the numbers, trying to make it balanced. Definitely put this off for too long.

1:01
Hell is having a nice sheet all worked up, and no printer to use.
Thinking the first group will have three people: A fighter, a survivalist/pack mule, and a medic/techie.

1:15
A 20-80 range of HP sounds pretty good, as does a 10-30 range of AP. Think I'll go with this for now.

1:30
Got stuff done on the player side- now to work the maps. Oh joy.
Survival is definitely going to let players cross the desert faster- GPS can only predict so many things when there's twisters that can pick up a tank.
Starting the group off with 210 XP total to split between them. We'll see how long the balance works.

Tomorrow:
Print maps, play.

Finishing Sunburn - 3/5

Maps are done, populated, and fine-tuned, at least slightly.

No real way to differentiate between what weapons enemies have, but how hard can it be? Far ones have battle rifles, nearer ones have machine guns, even closer ones have ARs or pistols, and the ones right next to elevators have knives. Kid's stuff.

I wound up putting a lot of containers inside the bunkers. For one, I feel like a bunker in a desert needs to be supplied with things like guns, ammo, and water. For two, the players need a reprieve for going commando.

Also noticed a large prevalence of computers. Oh no! I might have to make the Education skill worth two shits. A certain few are more important than others, but they'll all have a purpose. It's all tactical, is what I'm try to do. I just found out now that the EE is going to have a cover mechanic. Who knew!?

So, good times all around. Tomorrow is the first round of character creation, and blundering my way through the campaign. It should be reasonably epic.

The desert does not love, and it does not hate.

Finishing Sunburn - 2/5

Gah, procrastinated Tuesday. Dammit!

Today (Wednesday), I'll be adding enemy populations and making sure the EE isn't totally broken. Probably some character creation for the Thursday and Friday play-through.

~

One idea I had was for player characters to have manifest destinies. The session before the end, I'll have them write up what they want to happen to their characters. So, I can jury-rig the plot of the campaign to put them in those positions, respectively.

I'm pretty sure Grognardia actually inspired this one. The idea being that after they hit epic level... well, it's no more fun, because the PCs are nearly god-like in power. But, the actual idea was that the characters retire, and inhabit the world they've helped change.

I thought it would be a good touch for players (most likely at the end of Spectrum) to be able to retire their characters. Now, not necessarily retire like we do, but have a "manifest destiny" of sorts. Most likely settling, or wandering any of the worlds made available to them. This idea is still rolling around in my head, so it'll take a while to perfect. I just thought it was a cool idea- and isn't that what really matters?

Finishing Sunburn - 1/5

I'm going to finish Sunburn by the end of this week. This is the first part of a journal to document its completion.

I've finished the interior maps. Tomorrow I'll add population, and the 3 days after are dedicated to testing.

Now, little updates (less than 140 characters, even) don't make for very good content. Neither do apologies about updates. So, I'll try to give some forecasts about future content.

For example, I came up with an idea for how to finish RP and RPG campaigns. First, watch this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6j-W7bOV54

I like how Fallout, at the end of a game, tells the player how their actions have affected the world they played through. That clip wasn't even from the main game- that one goes on for about ten minutes. But, it's a really nice touch for the players to be able to reminisce about all they did.

I decided to take it one step further- I'd let the players read it. I'll hand out a little notecard, one for each prominent event, and let them take turns reading them. Then, I'd read the last one. It sounds like it could be really epic, or faceplant completely. Depends how much energy they have. We'll see.

I'm Mark, and I'm a guy. I do things.

Back in the saddle...

... after falling off of my horse. Blah blah blah, been busy, couldn't update, lame excuses, blah blah blah.

This week is spring break, for me. I plan to do the maps for Project Sunburn, test it, and then deploy it on the first test groups. I'm so excited! Now that I'm actually going to have free time, I should be able to just sit down and put hours into it.

Or I could just play New Vegas the whole time...

Drahn Revisited

... Who needs to name a race of bugs, honestly? They're bugs. Hungry, vicious, bugs.

I also think it's better for cohesion to not have a name, aside from "Sand Ants" or something ridiculous. I'll let the players make an education roll to see how much they know, Pokedex style.

The only time they're needed in the plot is to attack EMPIRE infantry and positions. They don't have any dialogue, and the only characterization they have is eating derelict weapons and equipment.

But, this puts me at a bit of an impasse.

The players are supposed to develop a bond with them. This encourages their decision at the end. Without any tactile interplay, there's no relation possible.

I'm thinking they dig anyone out of the digsite who gets trapped in there. It's explainable, plausable, and happens close to the end. We'll see how the first few testers take to it.

~

50 Posts? I'm okay with this.

Sunburn Trilogy

I've put some more thought into it, and Sunburn is definitely going to be a trilogy. Partially because I want the players to know a campaign, as opposed to a mission, but also because I have too many ideas to just throw them all into Sunburn 1.

Part of the original inspiration for the trilogy was Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Every couple of tiers will be a part of a "section" of Sunburn.

Those in "the know" will be able to call me out on this one almost instantly. Because these are RPG characters, and not real people, they are constantly in Physiological danger. Usually from people with guns. So, I digress, it isn't perfect. But it's close.

Sunburn 1 is the Physiological tier, bordering on the Safety tier. The players will be struggling for water, and fighting against a desert war machine. Sleep and food won't be such a big issue, mainly because as a GM, I don't want to spend a lot of time focusing on them. Maybe later. For now, the survival mechanic is water and bullets. I say "bordering" on the Safety tier because they won't really have removal from danger- the campaign is spent throwing themselves into EMPIRE bunkers, so even I'm calling this one exempt.

Sunburn 2 is the Safety, and Belonging tiers. There will be several factions the players can choose to be buddy-buddy with, and each one comes with their own perks- including a warm bed at night. Of course there's going to be conflict between the groups and their environment, but there's going to be actual people. Also, more hints as to the world of OHS-817. This sets up nicely for the last installment.

Sunburn 3 is about Esteem, with Self-actualisation as a finale. Armed with skills, tools, and knowledge from the previous 2 installments, the players can kick a LOT of ass at this point. But, ass-kicking isn't the focus anymore. It's a huge element, but not the main draw. After what I hope to be one of the most horrible moral decisions I'll force someone to make, the characters will self-actualize. It's going to be the last half hour or so, and it'll set up nicely for whatever campaign I do afterwards. Probably the Spectrum RPG, but I'm not sure yet. Ultimately, it's just supposed to be fulfilling. It's a long, hot, dusty road- and I think the players will enjoy the conclusion.

Because, after all, everyone has their day in the Sun.

Non-narrative game mechanics

I knew this would happen eventually. I finally get to shut up about story structure! =D

Well, kinda. I'm going to be laying out the stats for: Anti-acid, defib shockers, bandages, and ammunition. The narrative purpose behind these is that the players "absorb the power," so to speak, of their enemies. In short, use the enemy's stuff so you can survive longer. That's it. Done.

-Ammunition

There are 3 different kinds of ammunition: Pistol, rifle/machine gun, big rifle. So, 4 different magazines. A friend once brought up the idea of magazines having weight, instead of doing it video-game style. I like this idea, as it puts more of a focus on strategy and logistics. So, here's what I'm thinking:

• Pistol and BR magazine: 1 pound
• AR magazine: 2 pounds
• MG magazine: 4 pounds
• Grenade: 3 pounds
• 10 rounds pistol ammo (1 mag): 1 pound
• 6 rounds BR ammo (1 mag): 2 pounds
• 30 rounds AR ammo (1 mag AR, 1/4 mag MG): 3 pounds

The players can carry as much ammo as they want outside of their magazines. But, if their mags run out during combat, they have to choose between using a different weapon, and spending a lot of time loading.

Speaking of ammo: The stuff for the AR and MG, the medium-sized ones, are acidic. Every hit gives the target a "burn marker." I'll probably just put the number on a die, and raise it each time they're hit. On their turn, the target takes that number of acidic damage.

-Anti acid

Because dying by acid sucks. Each anti-acid is 1 pound. Players will roll on this table:

Anti-Acid, Medicine Check:

-1: No acid removed

2-6: 1 acid removed

7: 2 acid removed

8: 3 acid removed

Anti-acid is a lot less common than bullets, so I figured I'd give it a boosty. We'll see how this ratio works during the alpha test.

-Bandage

The old, trusty health potion. The Medicine check on this, and the Anti-acid, is going to help players who put themselves into a "medic" role, not a bad option.

Bandage:

Medicine Check + 2 HP to target, maximum 10 HP restored. Weighs 1 pound.

~

The logistics are meant to be another conflict scenario. Players choose between water, bullets, and meds. Not to mention weapons and armor, the two heaviest things. But, they only need one of those.

Characters revisited

Just like the Hellhammer idea (scrapped, going to use it somewhere else later), the Burning Wheel needs to be re-designed, and renamed. Just a little too metal.

"sup guys i'm a big powerful alien thing go get my arm back"

Not very compelling. Plus, it brings so many questions to mind with how absurd it is. I like the idea of a pedestal with a ring above it, missing a chunk- that's pretty powerful symbolism, and gets the wheel across as a character very simply.

It needs a name. Chronos seems an obvious choice, but that suggests way too much time-travel. "Wheel" is appropriate. After all, that will be its name once the Drahn learn to speak to other organisms.

Wheel needs its piece back for... wheely things. I'm thinking of a bit involving, "a circle is a representation of infinity- no beginning, no end. It lets me think infinitely far, and see so much. Without that piece, I have limitations, and constraints- both on intellect, and my ability to assist you."

In terms of tone, Wheel is going to be very mythic in proportion. The characters might as well be cavemen for how primitive they are compared to it, and I want to capture the moment of being in the presence of something immensely powerful. 2001 a Space Odyssey comes to mind.

GM tip: Don't force the players to believe something- just suggest it to them. If I pull this off right, I'm never going to say "it's probably powerful enough to..." Instead, I'll use small clues and hints that this thing defies a LOT of physics and entropy.

The basic plot still stands- go through the desert, disable the bunker's pest control, get the piece back, then make a heart-breaking moral decision. Fun fun fun!

~

I'm also having serious second-thoughts about the marine and the little girl. It's a nice bit of scenery, but I'm still not sure what the point comes to. For now I'm keeping them (or, rather, traces of them) in, but the ultimate end is up in the air. I'll probably figure them out more in Sunburn 2.

The desert has no love, and no hate.

Symbolism, tone

I'm going to stop talking about story eventually. It will be glorious, and probably involve bunker maps.

The overarching theme, as well as tone, are essential to any RPG. There's dirty and gritty ones, high-minded ones, perfectionist ones, crazy ones, etc. It's a bit harder to express due to the nature of the GM acting as interpreter for the game, but it's still there. Let's trace the theme of Sunburn backwards:

The EMPIRE are a bunch of potato people, grown in vats, computer-chipped, then given guns to accomplish whatever task their masters wish.

The TLA are the standard human sci-fi affair, with spaceships and power armor and whatnot. There's also a pun in there.

By putting the players between a rock, a hard place, and two opposing, faceless empires, the focus is all on surviving the planet, as well as figuring out just what the hell is going on. I could have just as easily drummed up names for either side, but that defeats the purpose. Sunburn isn't about politics, it's about survival. It's much more earthy and grimy than, say, Star Wars. It doesn't matter whose flag you have on your back- there's people shooting at you, and they have their own flag!

~ Intermission ~

The tone of Sunburn is vaguely inspired by Samurai Jack. And Fallout. Everything here comes back to Fallout, somehow.

Most of the game is spent walking in the desert, taking in the beauty of it. An appreciation for nature is supposed to come of this, and eventually compel the players to make a decision completely opposite of the one they made when they come to the surface. It's about finding beauty, and coming to peace with a harsh situation.

This is punctuated by moments of intense combat, and close-quarters encounters with EMPIRE troopers. Not just for dramatic contrast, but also for plot, item mechanics, and to break up the long travels. Also a good chance to get all your ass-kicking done in one place.

This is one thing that so many games miss the boat on- have a theme, as well as a tone. It's not enough to have something which has an immediate draw- give it some staying power, and a style of its own. Otherwise, you're just making Call of Duty. I'd much rather make Sunburn than CoD.

Narrative through Gameplay: Guns and Water

One thing I wanted for Sunburn was to make the weapons variable in nature. Most will come "stock," but a few are better or worse than others. This adds a reason to keep looking for weapons, and gives players something to look forward to with each looting run.

Every time they pick up a weapon, they roll a D20:

1-2: -3
3-4: -2
5-6: -1
7-17: Stats as listed
18: +1
19: +2
20: +3

There's a 55% chance any weapon (knife, machine gun, grenade) will be average. 30% of the time it will be worse than listed, and the remaining 15% of weapons are better than average. Sunburn is a tough game, for serious people with lots of stubble. Also, the players are going to pick up a LOT of guns during the game, so I'm stacking the odds against them. I have no doubt a determined group could get everything in +3s, but it would take a while. It won't affect gameplay a terrible amount, but it still makes gun-collecting a fun activity.

I wanted to do something similar with dehydration. I'm sticking with rule of 3 on this one:

• Healthy (day 0)
• Parched (day 1, DC 0)
• Heat exhaustion (day 2, DC 4)
• Heat stroke (day 3, DC 8)
• Death (day 4)

Every day, your hydration drops by 1. If you drink while "parched," it goes up automatically. But, the lower it goes, the harder it is to get back up to healthy hydration levels. If you take a drink at anything worse than "parched," the character makes a Chemical Balance check. If they make or beat the DCs listed, they go up one. Players can drink as much water as they want in a day.

This mechanic regulates fluid levels, and is a backup in case water begins to run short. The tougher players can start to skip every other day, and be fine on 1 canteen per every 2 days. If it gets really hardcore, they can skip to one every 3 days, but that gets risky.

In a narrative sense, this is sacrifice. I have no doubt some characters will be more susceptible to thirst than others, and it becomes a choice for the "strong" (in this case): give them water and starve out yourself, or keep your hide in 100% condition for the up-and-coming fight. Of course, I have serious doubts my group are going to hold water from each other. But you never know...

Enjoy, ponder these thoughts, and come up with a great narrative mechanic for your game.

Narrative through Gameplay: Random Encounters

I'm always tooting my horn about narrative joining with gameplay to make RPG experiences: Here's an actual example of it.

Most of Project Sunburn is spent wandering around in the desert, trying to find water. It's a slow-paced intermission between brief periods of intense conflict (bunkers), and a good area for players to absorb atmosphere.

Speaking of atmosphere: Random encounters should have a purpose. A fight (for fighting's sake) is kind of pointless, and just pads for time. Even if the purpose is to reinforce the idea that the world is a dangerous place, random encounters should have a purpose.

In Sunburn, the random encounters have the purpose of showing what a typical day on OHS-817 is like, and letting the players get the complete wandering nomad experience. This might be modified a little bit, but here's the rough draft:

On a D12:
1: EMPIRE patrol (light)
2: EMPIRE patrol (heavy)
3: Drahn eating the remains of an EMPIRE patrol
4: Water-bearing plants (light)
5: Twister!- run through it, or walk around
6: Chasm- spend another day traveling
7-12: Quiet, uneventful day

On a D6:
1-4: Encounter happens during day
5-6: Encounter happens during night

Let's walk through the math and story of this. There's a 1/2 chance nothing happens. Sand, sun, and not a drop of water in sight. This is the "neutral" encounter. The twister and the chasm (1/6 chance) are both "negative" encounters- the players will lose resources, with no gain. This represents the serious hardships in the desert. The first four encounters are positive- the players gain water (the most important resource), sometimes by putting a few bodies below the sand. 1/3 chance of this happening.

So, statistically, there is a 2/3 water gained/lost ratio. Traveling in the desert yields no water, neither do twisters or chasms. But, the encounters yielding water will give a little more than one per player. This will drop player's water supplies gradually, and with enough fluctuation to make it scary.

From a narrative perspective, this is exactly what I wanted- a struggle for survival. Serious enough to warrant a lot of player brain-storming, but not deadly enough to kill the entire party if they get a few bad rolls (there's a reason I only have one chasm and one twister, but two patrols and two non-lethal water sources).

The day and night rolls were purely for aesthetics. I'm not going to apply sleep deprivation to players (yet), and it's mainly so I, as a GM, get to describe it differently. I'll ask who's on watch if it's a night-time encounter, but no major changes to gameplay.

It's a succinct little package designed to characterize the character's lifestyle outside of major encounters, shed some light on the nature of the planet's surface, and put a focus on survivalism. Next post will detail more about the random nature of weapons and water deprivation.

And, for those of you wondering- heavily inspired by Fallout. Wandering around in the wastes, not sure what zany thing you'll find, was one of my favorite parts of the whole experience.

Water and Sunshine

The water issue is something I've been rethinking. 2 "canteens" a day seems a little pointless- much easier to just call it one canteen, and save the hassle. It'll be less of a hip flask, more of a jug.

Also, I've re-thought the environment a little bit. As much as I want to make a sprawling desert like the Sahara, it would be much more interesting to let it be a little cooler. The belts of stuff in the air would block out a considerable amount of sunlight, cooling the surface temperature. This gives some leniency in terms of water/day, and and allows for things like small shrubbery and humans to survive on the surface.

Somehow, in my mind, I lost the resource panic brought on by Hunter Prey, and a little of Pitch Black. Even the old-school Fallouts. It's supposed to be dangerous. I'll introduce more water scarcity, and I'm thinking of putting some ad-hoc water sources out in the desert. Plants, discarded EMPIRE stuff, etc. I'll figure it out.

I've missed a lot of the point, I think. Most of the inspiration sources are much more exciting than this is, and I need to figure out why, then emulate it.

Short Walk through a Long Desert

Most of Sunburn is spent in a desert, as opposed to fighting through bunkers. It's supposed to be a nomadic experience, filled to some extent with scenes of awe and wonder. The last thing I want to do is say "You spend a week walking across the dunes. You have exhausted 14 liters of water each. Blah blah I have no appreciation for narrative and picture."

The desert is also a way to relax after bunker combat. The focus isn't HP, it's water. There are certainly dangers, but they don't carry guns. Usually.

There's going to be an encounter table for the desert. Almost all of the dangers are environmental, Damnation-Alley style.

• Twisters
• Quakes
• EMPIRE Patrols
• Quiet nights under the stars

 It's pacing, utimately. A little bit of falling action, before ramping it up for the next bunker. There was a previous post, with the pacing of Star Wars. Same idea. The low spots are walks through the desert, punctuated with trying to not get sucked into the sky or the ground.

The desert is hungry.

Even more Hellhammer

I think I've got it figured out. The giant robot idea is cool, but a little out of place. Suddenly, introduce an EMPIRE official with sentience, independence, and a large weapon he's been hiding in the basement? Seems a little far-fetched, even for PS.

I always thought boss levels were the manifestation of the "mood" of the enemy, or area. Bowser is an extension of his castles, Tartarus from Halo 2 was the pinnacle of the Covenant's folly and blind acceptance of the Great Journey, etc.

The Boss level in the Digsite (Not Hellhammer any more, that's just a little bit too heavy metal) is the area itself. The players have two objectives:

-Stop the acoustic repellent (so the Drahn don't go berserk)
-Hack the artillery gun to blast the glass crater

The "boss" of the area is the entire bunker filling up with sand. In an earlier post, the one with the map of the Dig site, I mentioned that if the crater is destroyed, osmosis would flood the entire facility with sand. This is exactly what I was talking about- except, the players will start stranded at the bottom of the bunker.

If any of them think of it, I'll allow them to put the artillery gun on a countdown. But, the "vanilla" ending is so much more interesting.

I'll need to draw up maps before I can go into any details. But still, a much more fitting end to the campaign, instead of slugging it out with a giant robot.

Still burning.

After Sunburn

Here' to getting ahead of myself. *clink*

I've already begun thinking of what comes after Project Sunburn. What's next for the Escapade Engine?

• Sunburn 2
• Yore
• Spectrum: World

Sunburn 2 is the most likely one. I've got a plot nicely set up to walk the players into, and I'm pretty familiar with the world already. Same goes for the players. I feel most confidant with this one.

Yore was the second "first test" of the EE I had planned. Basic medieval fantasy, except it was based in a desert, Arabian-style environment for the first half. The bland, medieval-Europeans were the bad guys, just to shake things up. I have no doubt this one is going to happen, but most likely after Sunburn 3.

Spectrum is really the self-actualization of the Escapade Engine. The engine is designed for simplicity and adaptability. It can easily reconfigure to horror, pulp sci-fi, modern, etc. Or, it can simulate all at the same time. This is the ultimate end goal. Spectrum is an expression of that- hopping around in time and space Chrono Trigger style, taking laser guns to the prehistoric era, or using powerful, ancient tattoos to fight evil. Maybe both at the same time.

Either way, there's always more inspiration out there. Speaking of which...

I've been thinking for some time about a nomadic experience- one where the goal is simply to go, and things appear by the side. The video game Journey is a good example of this. The original inspiration for Project Sunburn was the movie Hunter Prey (2011, it's on Netflix). Granted, I took most of the survival message, but the idea still appeals to me.

As does a non-violent campaign. The best use of this would be a test for the Speech rules. After all, the way to make skill checks interesting is to give them actual interplay, like combat. Roll die -> Get result is boring.

More rambling later. For now, I need to get off my high horse and make some bunker maps.

Stay cool.

Armor, stats, and predetermination

Been a while.

Ultimately, there are three kinds of armor in PS:

• Light Armor: The standard-issue EMPIRE gear. Conveniently fits humans. I expect most players will be wearing this. Good protection, almost guaranteed to stop pistol shots. Little loss to Sneak.
• Heavy Armor: ... Duh. It's heavy. Good protection against most things. Big hit to Sneak, and possibly Sleight of Hand. But, honestly, there's not going to be many Sleight checks in here.
• No Armor: The lightest, stealthiest, most vulnerable armor possible. Definitely for rogue-type characters who want to get their Sam Fisher on. I'm thinking of dropping the EMPIRE troops' observation skills to make this more appealing. But, that said, the last thing I want is five people in pajamas assassinating their way across the sands of OHS-817, despite how funny it is to think about.

Stealth will be useful in the tunnels under the catch pad, as well as Hellhammer fight (which I'm having serious thoughts about changing).

Considering the variable number of players in this- and any- campaign, the stats for EMPIRE will be modified with this algorithm:

Number of players = X

1D6 + 7 - X = base

Base + 0 = patrols
Base + 1 = bunker population
Base + 2 = Hellhammer population

The basic idea behind this was that as they destroy bunkers, each one will be progressively harder. The grunts on patrol will have absolutely no idea what they're about to be hit with. The people in bunkers will have a slightly higher warning, and anyone in Hellhammer is just hardcore. The players will get XP after their desert wanderings, as well as clearing a bunker, so it only seems fair.

With that math, a single player (starting at 210 XP or so) will be fighting D6+8 grunts in the last bunker. Holy crap. That would be a fight to enjoy.

Finally, I've been thinking about the mentor-figure they start the campaign with, on board the Brahma. He is going to die. No matter what is attempted, or decided, he will not survive the crash on the surface. He is pre-determined, in a way. For dramatic effect, I'll even roll a die after the players decide whose capsule is going into the rift.

Colin Porter, Ph.D.

The first hour of gameplay is going to be character creation, building atmosphere, and endearing Dr. Porter as hard as I can. The campaign doesn't truly begin until he dies, which I hope will be a really heart-wrenching moment.

I'm going to make a character sheet for Colin. It's a good example for the players, and it makes them think he'll be joining them on the surface. Most of his skills are going to be Speech and Education. It's a dump stat in Project Sunburn. I'll make sure the players know that "he's got it covered." I really hope my micro-expressions don't give it away. I'd also feel really bad if a player actually tried to play that angle.

If any of my players eventually start reading this... I'm sorry. I'm so, so, sorry.