So, I have an idea for a mini campaign - something like 3 to 6 sessions max. Fallout setting because I can't figure out any other setting that would work with this set up - I don't want fantasy, I don't want super high tech sci-fi and I don't want real history because of the research requirements
Yaaaaaay. More post apocalypse!
Background IdeasHere are some Fallout resources.
Van Buren was the code name for the original Fallout 3, designed by Black Isle. It focused on the American Southwest.
http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Van_BurenHere are a bunch of design documents from the first three Fallouts including Van Buren.
http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Van_Buren_design_documents#Van_BurenIn terms of fan made projects, /tg/ had a couple of interesting threads.
Fallout: the Tangle, covers Florida.
https://warosu.org/tg/thread/25921621Have a neat map.
Some anon wrote up some ideas about Fallout: Birmingham
https://archive.moe/tg/thread/25019792/#q25021762Everyone lives as a normal person in a city built over a vault - life is tolerable but the government is very corrupt. People who speak out against it are exiled, tortured, or shot. Still better than living in the Wastes.
Modiphius Entertainment (Achtung! Cthulhu) publishes
Mutant: Year Zero developed by Free League Publishing (Swedish).
The political situation in the vault you are describing is similar to the one described in Mutant: Year Zero.
http://www.modiphius.net/collections/mutant-year-zero/products/mutant-year-zero-corebook-mapMutant: Year Zero goes back to the origins of the Mutant franchise: role-playing after the Apocalypse. In this game, you play as one of The People - heavily mutated humans living in The Ark, a small and isolated settlement in a sea of chaos. The outside world is unknown to you, and so is your origin.
Mutant: Year Zero has two major game environments, each with its own style of play: The Ark, your home in the dawnworld. A nest of intrigue and Lord of the Flies-style power struggles, it's far from a safe haven. But it's the only home you know, and just maybe the cradle of a new civilization. The game rules let you improve and develop the Ark in the areas of Warfare, Food Supply, Technology, and Culture. It is up to you, the players, to decide which projects to embark on.
There was a free excerpt of Mutant: Year Zero I found somewhere but I don't recall if it discussed intrigue games in the Ark. First 40 pages I think.
A new school opens up that teaches technological skills. Your characters are the most adept students there. You earn the trust of the teachers there and they tell you that they are part of the Brotherhood of Steel.
This in itself could be a game. You could run it similar to the video game Academagia, which is a Hogwarts simulator. Wacky and half-baked professors of ruined tech. Students balancing classes on cooking molerats with sneaking off to the ruins to fight super mutants. That sort of thing.
Academagia
http://www.academagia.com/RPS review
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2010/08/24/pottering-about-academagia-impressions/Emphasis on the game is actual spywork - i.e. building a network of assets, getting blackmail/secrets on important people and not getting caught. If you get caught before the Brotherhood rolls in, your character will almost certainly die. Combat will be super brutal and should be not seen as a good idea.
Interesting. Two thoughts on how to build up the cast of NPCs that players will have to cajole, charm or threaten into becoming their agents or voting for them in vault political matters.
Some time ago I had the idea of running a game in a simulated city for a party of evil players. The campaign was planned to revolve around players who were members of a demonic cult who entered a new city with the goal to establish a powerbase and ultimately take over the government. I designed NPCs to populate the city, each with some sort of weakness that a savvy player could identify and exploit. For example, some NPCs were secret addicts, others were born followers and craved external leadership, some had dependents you could threaten/kidnap to gain leverage over the NPC, still others were abuse survivors with a phobia of a specific thing savvy players could identify to threaten them with so they crumbled to the player's will, etc.
Anyway, having the NPC's weakness front and center would be too boring, so I borrowed a page from (classic) White Wolf, namely Nature and Demeanor. Nature was the true self (ie designed weakness) and Demeanor was the personality mask the NPC presented to the world. So, for example a paladin may try to portray himself a hard charging leader (Demeanor) but in truth they were a born follower (Nature).
My second thought: if you are looking for quick and easy NPCs and NPC relationships to make up the vault, I recommend the book Jerusalem by Night (classic World of Darkness, Vampire the Dark Ages). There is anywhere from 15-20 NPCs all with fleshed out backgrounds and secrets and most importantly relationships with each other and particular factions. It is a very well done book, and the division of NPCs by Vampire clans makes it easy to determine what archetype you can present the character as (Gangrel=Aggressive Warriors, Ventrue=Snooty Aristocrat, etc.).
The Classic World of Darkness city book line in general is very good at presenting well designed NPC's and their organizations. There were some city books in the modern line that had organizational charts with lines drawn to NPCs signifying who had influence over whom and who was an ally/rival of whom. So essentially a majority of your NBA conspiracy pyramid is done for you. The names of those specific city books escapes me however.
I see 2 options with system and feeling for the game: Night's Black Agents with Dust, Burn, and Mirror options enabled - you're a skilled person, not Bourne or Bond.
Think more like post-apocalyptic Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
Hillfolk - emphasis is more on character development and morality - more like post-apocalyptic Game of Thrones
The main thing for me is the actual spywork procedural aspect and morality - I already did the tactical/commando/investigative NBA game with Tribes - I want it be more about the morality and interpersonal stuff.
I don't have a lot of helpful opinions about the mechanics you are going for.
Tinker Tailor was a fantastic movie and I'd love to see RPPR's take on it. However, with every Smiley you need an equally devious Karla. I expect a fantastic monologue from Smiley's (Caleb's) to an empty chair.
In terms of the methods of intelligence officers/recruiters use, like Smiley; I recommend the nonfiction work Spy Handler by ex-KGB officer Victor Cherkashin.
http://www.amazon.com/Spy-Handler-Officer-Recruited-Hanssen/dp/0465009697I can't really think of a good reference for spy techniques, let alone modern ones. I'll hazard a guess and suggest looking up GURPS Espionage. Might be useful.
Other post apocalyptic gamesSine Nomine publishing (Silent Legions) also makes Other Dust, a post apocalyptic game with a futuristic slant as it is designed to be compatible with Stars Without Number. Don't own it (yet) but I expect the fantastic tables that Sine Nomine is known for.
Degenesis (German, English translation published by Transhuman Studios) is a fantastic post apocalyptic setting. I'm not really sold on the mechanics yet but holy crap the art and writing of the book are absolutely stellar. It is a very different setting than Fallout so I'm not sure of it's utility to your project specifically Ross, but I can't not include mentioning it. Short story: Five meteors hit Europe, one hits Africa, triggering the Apocalypse. Hundreds of years later, Europe becomes a cold wasteland full of vault ruins, Africa flourishes as the center of civilization scavenging tech from Europe. On top of this interesting cultural/economic reversal the meteors brought an invasive form of "life" that turns certain species and humans into this ecstatic hivemind. It appears this invasive alien "viral kudzu" is intelligently trying to conquer the ecosystem and compete with homo sapiens for dominance. On top of that, the writing works in European myths, magic, numerology and faerie tales. It's pretty damn cool.
Art here:
http://www.degenesis.com/http://marko-djurdjevic.deviantart.com/Like so many, Zak S of D&D with pornstars (
http://dndwithpornstars.blogspot.com/2012/01/mustorganizeuselessideas.html) saw Fury Road and was inspired.
He recommended the (free) rules of Atomic Highway for a Fury Road type game. The post dealing with Fury Road is slanted towards post apoc vehicle wars so I don't know how much use they will be to you Ross.
http://www.rpgnow.com/product/70124/Atomic-Highway--Post-Apocalyptic-Roleplaying
