Author Topic: Technical Difficulties Gaming Podcast: Red Markets Beta Campaign: The Reformers  (Read 101034 times)

The Lost Carol

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Greetings, everyone! Myself, and a few other members of the forum (trinite, Alethea, and smalltowncinema) have banded together to run a campaign in the Beta of Red Markets. We're going to make this thread for our Campaign so that we have a place to post our resources, and also provide them for fellow play testers and future players of Red Markets. In the spirit of the RPPR threads for the main campaigns, such as Heroes of New Arcadia, I want to reward role play, so I hope my players will post info about their characters and how they're dealing with the Loss, and they'll be rewarded with bonus bounty. We'll post our character sheets, and after play sessions I'll post my notes on the Contract they took or the Score they made. We're playing the game over Google Hangouts, so we will be recording our games, but those won't be posted until a later date.

Please note, that as this is the Beta, these posts, including our resources, their characters, the Enclave, and the missions they run, are for 'educational' and entertainment purposes only. As the game is still a work in progress, any opinions about the game itself and the Profit System are moot. We can talk about the game itself once it lurches to life as a fully realized product.

We start play next Thursday, August 20th. Three Takers, in Missouri, against the Loss, against opposing forces, against the Casualties, living the new American Dream, to be in the Recession...

The Beta is going strong. Red Markets is coming. Get hype. HIT THE MUSIC!!!

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« Last Edit: April 11, 2016, 12:41:43 PM by The Lost Carol »
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The Lost Carol

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Re: Red Markets Beta Listener Campaign
« Reply #1 on: August 12, 2015, 09:38:55 PM »
Their first three potential clients from Market made contracts. I'll include their full details once encountered and their spots exploited:

Client: "Beady", Local Drug Dealer.

Beady was just a normal stoner before the Crash, but facing life or death situations left and right to get to the Enclave, combined with not having the time to grab his stash, did wonders for his health. With his new found sobriety, he decided to use the drugs instead of be used, and sell them. While he's not the most profitable shop in town, he makes enough to get by. More than anything, he just wants to kick back, grow his small patch of weed and brew his small batch meth and watch the money roll in. If he needs takers to do some jobs for him, so be it.

Client Weak Spot: [REDACTED]
Client Soft Spot: [REDACTED]
Client Tough Spot: [REDACTED]

Client: Charlotte Drew, Businesswoman

Formerly the head of a major corporation in Missouri, Charlotte wouldn't let a little thing like the Crash get in the way of her business. She continues to facilitate with an iron fist, and works her people real hard. She's married to her work, and while her leadership skills are important in the office, she wouldn't survive outside. She'll work the Takers to the bone, but do a great job for her and you'll be well rewarded...

Client Weak Spot: [REDACTED]
Client Soft Spot: [REDACTED]
Client Tough Spot: [REDACTED]

Client: Connie Mercer, head of the Enclave's power committee.

Connie, as the head of the Enclave's power committee, is one of the most important people in the Enclave. She determines who and what gets power, and when. A former middle manager for Ameren Power Company, she does know what she's doing and does a great job running the power grid. A know it all, she thinks she knows what's best for everyone. She's usually right.

Usually.

Client Weak Spot: [REDACTED]
Client Soft Spot: [REDACTED]
Client Tough Spot: [REDACTED]

« Last Edit: August 12, 2015, 10:29:39 PM by The Lost Carol »
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smalltowncinema

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Re: Red Markets Beta Listener Campaign
« Reply #2 on: August 13, 2015, 12:11:27 AM »
CHARACTER BIO
Antonio Delgado was well on his way to being a career Cartel member.  Growing up in Tijuana, Mexico, he started scamming tourists at the tender age of eleven.  Selling weed and petty theft by thirteen.  At sixteen he started driving illegals across the border, helping his friends and family pursue a better life in the states.  Sure, there were probably Cartel drugs on board, but he knew better than to ask. 

Then two young men in white shirts and ties came knocking on his family's door.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints was the life preserver that Antonio didn't realize he needed.  He was baptized immediately, quickly converting the rest of his family and renouncing his life of crime; a conversion story akin to the apostle Paul.  A year later he was off to serve his own two-year mission in the United States.  More specifically, the state of Missouri.   

Then The Crash happened, and Antonio, stranger in a strange land, banded with other Mormons to survive.  With Armageddon imminent, the faithful gathered near the microscopic town of Jameson, an area believed to be the first place that Christ would visit during the Second Coming.

When Jesus didn't show up, the enclave of Adam-ondi-Ahman was formed.  Antonio's criminal background helped the settlement survive those first few years, whether it was dealing with raiders or safely navigating the salvaging of goods.

The apocalypse came and went, and with no Savior in sight Antonio's new goal became getting back home to Mexico.  And to do that he needed bounty, which he sure as heck wasn't gonna get by singing hymns all day.

Still true to the faith, Antonio goes by the name Elder.  It's on his name tag, so why change it now?

SPOTS
Weak Spot: Self-Martyr
Elder will take any opportunity to sacrifice his time and resources for the greater good, especially if everyone else is watching.

Soft Spot: Immigrant Spirit
Elder can't help but sympathize with those that leave family, friends, and the familiar for the chance at a better life.

Tough Spot: Still Faithful
+2 Self-Control, but CHA skills against non-believers automatically fail.  Elder's faith has sustained him these past five years, but he wears his beliefs on his sleeve.  Because of this atheists and most agnostics discredit anything he says. 

DEPENDENTS
Jesse Yong is Elder's former missionary companion and best friend, who he brought along when he left Adam-ondi-Ahman.  Jesse suffers from chronic kidney disease, so while he's still able to work, Elder's bounty is what keeps the medication and treatments coming.

CHARACTER SHEET https://www.dropbox.com/s/xfnx4s3gqty5lpd/Elder%2008-12-2015.pdf?dl=0

DIRECTOR'S COMMENTARY
When I first started reading about Red Markets, one of my first ideas involved Mormon missionaries (raised Mormon, non-practicing).  There are so many here in the States from other countries, and most of them would be stranded here after the Crash.  Imagine being a 20 year old in a foreign country with no family or resources while trying to fight off zombies with your randomly assigned companion as your only friend.  I can't wait to see how the concept works out, especially trying to adhere to religious dogma in the carrion economy.

The state of Missouri plays an important role in LDS history and, supposedly, the future.  Missouri was the last state the young LDS church tried to settle before getting kicked out and sent to Utah in 1839.  There is property in Missouri that the church owns called Adam-ondi-Ahman.  It was supposedly the place that Adam and Eve lived after getting kicked out of the Garden of Eden.  It's also believed that it's the first place Christ will visit during the Second Coming. 

Please take all this info about the LDS church with a grain of salt.  It has been about ten years since I've stepped inside a church and I'm sure I'm getting something wrong.

The Lost Carol

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Re: Red Markets Beta Listener Campaign
« Reply #3 on: August 13, 2015, 10:07:51 AM »
That's a fantastic character concept. Unique, well written, and utilizing both the Red Markets lore and the lore of the land to craft a great character. You've just earned One (1) Bonus Bounty to use as you see fit.
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Alethea

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Re: Red Markets Beta Listener Campaign
« Reply #4 on: August 14, 2015, 10:22:27 PM »
CHARACTER BIO
Mallory Smith grew up beyond lucky, with lots of privilege - and she knows it. From an upper-middle class family of professionals living on the East Coast, Mallory was a social butterfly who wouldn't let that get in between her and the academics she knew she needed to get into medical school after college. Out West for a summer internship when the Crash started, it's a good thing she'd been planning on an ER specialty in med school - that extra-curricular EMT and first aid training was probably what made the difference between that National Guard squad bringing her along on evac and leaving her behind with the other civvies they couldn't protect.

Five foot three, with black hair in a page-boy cut and green eyes, it didn't take long for the squad to start calling Mal 'Pixie' - to her eternal annoyance. But after 4 years and 7 months humping it across a third of the country, 'Pixie' has stuck. All of Pixie's kin made it through the Crash perfectly safe in the Recession - they've even reestablished contact since Pixie and crew made it to Missouri. It's just all of Pixie's kith in danger out here in the Loss: Sarge, Eliza, and Sheba.

SPOTS
Weak Spot: Optimistic
It's a tough, brutal world out there, but Pixie still cannot help believing that she can make it work out or initially giving people the benefit of the doubt.

Soft Spot: Social Justice
The world isn't fair, just means Pixie thinks we should be working to make it as fair as we can.

Tough Spot: Veteran Connections
+2 references available, even over cap, but someone's going to need a favor or a place for a wounded teammate to convalesce, i.e a new 'temporary' dependent

DEPENDENTS
Sarge and his canine partner Sheba are the only ones from the original squad left and that last run-in with raiders before they all made it to the Enclave resulted in some mobility issues. Pixie's well aware it's a miracle of damn-near biblical proportions that Sarge survived his left leg being amputated from mid-calf down and Sheba took a bad hit and fall to her back legs. At least moving into an Enclave has made keeping Eliza, their now six-year old rescue from the early days of the Crash, out of danger these past few months marginally easier...

CHARACTER SHEET https://www.dropbox.com/s/qy4o82s0woz71ko/Pixie.pdf?dl=0
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trinite

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Re: Red Markets Beta Listener Campaign
« Reply #5 on: August 15, 2015, 12:14:36 AM »
Awesome, Alethea! Great Character! I'll try to get mine finished up soon.
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The Lost Carol

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Re: Red Markets Beta Listener Campaign
« Reply #6 on: August 15, 2015, 12:02:38 PM »
@Alethea

Another great concept. It's also an interesting way of explaining away bad medicine rolls, she's got some training, but never fully got her studies and degree. Plus, if she knows she's got privilege, that might mean I'll have to make her check-check-check-check her privilege in game ;)! You've just earned One (1) Bonus Bounty to use as you see fit. This is going to be an interesting group of PCs; can't wait to see how this plays out!
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trinite

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Re: Red Markets Beta Listener Campaign
« Reply #7 on: August 15, 2015, 01:05:38 PM »
CHARACTER BIO
Vernon Delray was never a soldier, or even much of a hunter. He was just a gun geek. Ever since his grandpa gave him his first .22 for his 8th birthday, he just loved the things: the smell of gun oil and powder, the crack of the shot, the precision of aiming, the specs and stats that distinguished each model. Those beautiful, elegant tools.

So when his old man left him the family pool hall, Vernon did what seemed like the natural thing: he added on a gun shop. The sign said "Freebird Pool Snooker and Guns," named after Vern's favorite song. He never had much head for business, but luckily his wife Kat had plenty. She also had a caring and generous touch, and when they discovered their infertility she just said that it gave them a chance to share some love out. She was the one who pushed to adopt Davion, despite Vern's worries about how a black boy from St. Louis might be treated in the deep Ozarks.

They were getting along just fine, and then the Crash happened. The first time Vern had to shoot to kill was when Kat went Vector. He almost couldn't pull the trigger, but he did. The gun shop was stop #1 on the local militia's list of places to raid, and Vern joined up right away just to get away, and to get him and his boy some security. But they nicknamed him Freebird after his sign, so he can never quite forget what happened there.

He was making a pretty good name for himself in his outfit, until the "captain" decided he wanted an alliance with a neighboring group -- the Aryan Remnant. Things got nasty, and Freebird barely got him and his son out. 

SPOTS
Weak Spot: Arrogant
Freebird tends to think that being an expert on one thing makes him an expert on everything. He's rarely without a semi-informed opinion, expressed with absolute confidence.

Soft Spot: Zero Intolerance
He hates racism, sexism, prejudice, and all that ignorant ass-backwards redneck bullshit.

Tough Spot: Former Raider
+2 to Intimidation, but no Persuasion, Sensitivity, or Leadership skills allowed.
Seems like everybody's heard of the Douglas County Avengers, especially now that they've gone Aryan. Most new folks he meets seem to assume that he's still with 'em. And that story of the day Freebird scored three vector headshots on one magazine seems to have gotten around, too.
   
DEPENDENTS
Davion's well-being is always priority #1. After what those goddamn Nazis did to his arm...well, Freebird'll have to teach the boy to shoot left-handed.

CHARACTER SHEET
https://www.dropbox.com/s/jh5t89vkeem12ei/Character%20Sheet%20-%20%20Freebird.pdf?dl=0
(NOTE: Soft Spot is not updated accurately. Stupid Adobe Reader wouldn't let me save the current version)
 
COMMENTS
My uncle and aunt actually did run a combination gun shop and pool hall for a while, down in the Ozarks. The sheriff and his buddies would come by sometimes to illegally play poker in the back room. At least they didn't also sell moonshine under the table. :)
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Alethea

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Re: Red Markets Beta Listener Campaign
« Reply #8 on: August 15, 2015, 01:41:54 PM »
You've just earned One (1) Bonus Bounty to use as you see fit.

In that case, upgrading the First Aid Kit to be DHQS issued. Good news guys, I can actually check if you're infected before stabbing you with Supressin!
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Re: Red Markets Beta Listener Campaign
« Reply #9 on: August 15, 2015, 04:24:57 PM »
Quote
Tough Spot: Former Raider
+2 to Intimidation, but no Persuasion, Sensitivity, or Leadership skills allowed.
Seems like everybody's heard of the Douglas County Avengers, especially now that they've gone Aryan. Most new folks he meets seem to assume that he's still with 'em. And that story of the day Freebird scored three vector headshots on one magazine seems to have gotten around, too.

No sensitivity?


trinite

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Re: Red Markets Beta Listener Campaign
« Reply #10 on: August 15, 2015, 09:00:35 PM »
Quote
Tough Spot: Former Raider
+2 to Intimidation, but no Persuasion, Sensitivity, or Leadership skills allowed.
Seems like everybody's heard of the Douglas County Avengers, especially now that they've gone Aryan. Most new folks he meets seem to assume that he's still with 'em. And that story of the day Freebird scored three vector headshots on one magazine seems to have gotten around, too.

No sensitivity?


It's from the list in the book! We'll see how it playtests. :) I hate to make predictions, but suspect that at some point in the campaign, I may find myself uttering the phase, "Swear to me."
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The Lost Carol

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Re: Red Markets Beta Listener Campaign
« Reply #11 on: August 15, 2015, 11:00:53 PM »
Quote
Tough Spot: Former Raider
+2 to Intimidation, but no Persuasion, Sensitivity, or Leadership skills allowed.
Seems like everybody's heard of the Douglas County Avengers, especially now that they've gone Aryan. Most new folks he meets seem to assume that he's still with 'em. And that story of the day Freebird scored three vector headshots on one magazine seems to have gotten around, too.

No sensitivity?


It's from the list in the book! We'll see how it playtests. :) I hate to make predictions, but suspect that at some point in the campaign, I may find myself uttering the phase, "Swear to me."

It is a bold strategy, but I love this plan! I'm excited to be a part of it! I think he'll be an interesting contrast to the other two characters. Bent but not broken by the Loss, versus two younger, more optimistic Takers... should be an interesting group! As with the others, You've just earned One (1) Bonus Bounty to use as you see fit.

BTW, unless that was also Adobe being Adobe, you do need your retirement plan.
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Alethea

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Re: Red Markets Beta Listener Campaign
« Reply #12 on: August 16, 2015, 06:12:47 AM »
at some point in the campaign, I may find myself uttering the phase, "Swear to me."

At which point we will have to see if Pixie can restrain herself from Gibbs slapping Vernon, even if she does have to jump to reach that high.

Nice Harry Potter reference, btw Trinite.
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Re: Red Markets Beta Listener Campaign
« Reply #13 on: August 16, 2015, 02:39:51 PM »
I just wanted to take some time to say that the outpouring of enthusiasm and support for the Beta I've seen on the forums is really heartening. Thank you all so much! I'm working on the game every spare moment; my only wish is that I could get it out to everyone sooner.

Thanks again...and keep it up!

The Lost Carol

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Re: Red Markets Beta Listener Campaign
« Reply #14 on: August 20, 2015, 06:51:46 PM »
Thanks Caleb! Don't worry about time; it'll be ready when it's ready. Just keep making impressions on our next generation and try to enjoy the school year.

Well, for us, one of our number couldn't make it tonight, (which we knew, just haven't had time to post. I have to be upgrading my PC just before we start this...) so I thought I'd post some of the things that helped me prep the Market Fiat contracts.

Google is Your Friend

... No, really. Yes, I know that seems obvious, but if you're stumped and/or need inspiration, go to Google. Bust out some SEO and you'll be fine, like "Top Buisnesses in (STATE)" or "(GOODS) Production in (STATE)". Businesses LOVE to be name dropped and there are many best of lists that can help fill in scenario seeds. Google Images and Maps are also your friends for floor plans and maps to use as maps in game.

Know Your Tone

I had a sweet idea for a scenario, that was serious but with a heavy dose of wackedy schmackedy doo. Then, after talking with my players, I realized they wanted medium to medium heavy in terms of tone. Thus, I needed to tone down the scenario, which ended up with a setting shift that I think will make the scenario more fun while only making it a little silly. So don't plan a game with prat falls and pop culture references when they want serious with some darkness, or The Walking Dead mixed with The Wolf of Wall Street or Nightcrawler (2014 Film) so they can bleak while they bleak when that might be darker than they wanted to go.
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