Hi, I had an idea for something we can do using the CMRP server this december. Talked it over with Para a bit, got feedback, will be writing stuff here. I'll need help so we can all have a bit of fun.
Premise:
Please help, and we can all have a little fun while we wait.
Premise:
- We start up the server for a session of playtime each day for maybe a week.
- The goal is to have the players build up a base from nothing and then have an epic 'Alamo' death at the end by Combine.
- Any current lore is considered null for the duration of the event and it will be non-canon in the meantime, with understood HL2 lore held up as a basis for action.
- Things that don't necessarily fit within HL2 lore are allowed, within reason, but don't push large confrontations until the end.
- Having stronger enemies like zombies and antlions or other animals, or maybe hostile rebels, is more the difficulty level I'm looking for.
- Like the Pacer test, the difficulty will increase for the rebels as each session is completed.
- Day 1: No one has guns, starting off. This is when people decide what's going on after being given an OOC briefing. Main goals for producers are to give players a hard time, or reason to team up, by presenting tasks that can be done with 2 or more people for the reward of crafting material, but are difficult or impossible for one person to do alone. Another producer goal is to set up areas (propping can be done ahead of time) that present such a challenge for the players that it is impossible to solve them at this point. These will be loot spots later as the rebels gain enough power to penetrate them. Where-ever the rebels set up (as long as it is sane to set up there) should be treated as a safe zone - Don't send NPCs to attack that location. As well, don't put down containers yet. We want players to be limited by inventory space. However, we should let players disassemble the environment for base building materials, within reason.
- Day 2: Some people have guns, others have crafting materials. At this point, we're moving into a base-building phase slowly with more emphasis on scavenging. Place down no more than one container while setting up loot and NPCs, so we can constrict their inventories but allow them to gather more. Don't let players lock containers. Place down more stuff that can be used to build bases - Keep it lower-level for now, wooden stuff, corrugated metal sheet prop.
- Day 3: Some people have guns, a firm-ish camp has been established, people doing trading. We are into the base building phase, organized resource gathering, and may present them with harder threats and better building materials. Producers may spawn slightly better weapons, some ammo, and higher-level crafting material. A wave or two of NPCs may assault the base as makes sense - Likely antlions. Just to test the defenses.
- Day 4-6: Continue on from Day 3 with ramping difficulty and loot. The end goal is that the players have set up a well-defended base with production facilities, ripe for the picking on Day 7. Allow unarmed vehicles in vanishingly small amount, 3-4 total among the population.
- Day 7: All rebels have the capability to be armed. The wildlife has just about been conquered. This is when the Combine come in, a scanner at first, then troop deployments. Organize squads of OTA as conforms to HL2 standards (2 SMG, 1 Shotgun, 1 Pulse Rifle) or as best benefits your ability to lay on the pain. As fighting continues, if the base is accessible via road move APCs up as escalation, if not use shield scanners to drop mines into or on top of the base. Explosives such as small-scale gbombs can be used on 'soft' defenses such as wood and metal panels, possibly sandbags, for effect and practical use. Hunters will be deployed for any stragglers or wanderers outside of the base, in order to focus fighting and production efforts there. Deployment of a(?) gunship next occurs for anyone in the base without a roof overhead. Finally, striders to raze the area. Try to stay light on fire and smoke effects in order to save FPS - Focus more on explosives. If rebels can successfully pull off a fighting retreat from the base at a later stage in the attack (say, when striders are deployed) and a sufficient number have died and been transferred to OTA characters (and possibly assigned squads?) then we can allow them to leave the area in a 'win' for them while continuing pressure on the base and transfer them to OTA characters. If it's too much of a problem to handle players transferring to OTA characters, then we'll have to figure something out. The main goal here is for the situation to feel like an Alamo, fight to the death against overwhelming odds and... Well, die.
- Get player feedback.
- There will be no BMD, leading the players to assign value to stuff independent of admin decisions other than loot spawning.
- If there's no camp at least when Day 1 is coming to a close, pick out the best leader and/or group so far and tell them to hurry up. Failing that, manual selection can be done if no democratic alternative is available.
- Sessions are meant to be short, around 3-5 hours in duration, and progress is meant to happen in that time along the described timeline. Loot should be spawned accordingly.
- To ease some producer work, RP is for the players to do. We're just going to set up the system from a mechanical sense and let the players make their own little stories if they so choose. This is a game, not necessarily roleplay-intensive for the goals of the event.
Please help, and we can all have a little fun while we wait.
