Campaign Prospectus - The March To Pittsburgh (updated 8-23-2020)

Plot

In the aftermath of the cataclysm Mt. Weather sends a shipment of vital supplies to Pittsburgh. In a world where travel is rare and dangerous it's not enough to just move the supplies but the mission must make as many contacts as it can on the way. In the few months since Christmas 2098 the country has fallen apart and if it is to survive then it is a time for grand gestures.

Themes

  • good and evil are relative
  • what is a person?

Feel

  • Supplies are limited, isolation is growing
  • The world is full of action, and even passing through there are chances to become embroiled in happenings
  • The cataclysm has changed the world into a very strange place
  • Magic is an unknown technology that the PCs will learn little to nothing about during this campaign.
  • The player characters will usually be strategically on the defensive, a prepared, intelligent attacker does not leave themselves to be defeated
    • this means that opponents will attempt to escape unless prevented and have an excellent chance to do so
  • Since human technology is already cutting edge, don't expect equipment upgrades.
  • Treasure/rewards will consist mostly of survivors and chances for communities to survive, resupply is also possible as treasure.

Metagaming

  • Player input in this campaign is primarily accomplished by unlock gems allowing players to vote on various game aspects of interest to them for increased inclusion. Gems are allocated based on participation and swapped at the table based improving enjoyment.
  • Out of character planning is generally not a concern though timers may be used on occasion, for example to accelerate combat.
  • This includes suggesting to another player what their character might be able to do, but please consider basic courtesy here.
  • In general if you would like something added to the campaign please discuss with the group and try to get gem votes, if it is focused on your character you can also discuss with the GM between sessions, and we can consider options including backstory retcons.
  • The GM reserves the right to fudge dice rolls but in practice I rarely do so, philosophically I prefer to not roll if I'm not going to abide by the dice.

Scheduling

Sessions for this campaign are in person are approximately monthly, one player will take care of scheduling and keep touch with the group to arrange sessions. The group should handle scheduling with them, but current policy is to play either Saturday from 3pm-9pm or Sunday 1pm-7pm. We currently schedule sessions on days when at most one player is unable to attend, and cancel them when two or more players cannot attend. Even if a session is cancelled we'd love to see you so please plan to come anyway.

Characters

Initial characters will be soldiers and refugees from Mt. Weather. If replacement characters are necessary they will have to be justified as coming from a community on the way or some sparse contact with other NEMA forces. Players must build the explanation for their character either joining NEMA or becoming dependant on the party to get to Pittsburgh, disruptive characters, or characters that could and would abandon the group and proceed independently to Pittsburgh will not be allowed. New character classes are expected to be civilians found in passing.

Character death is very possible as you will regularly be facing enemies that are quite sufficient to defeat the unwary.

Allowed Classes

  • Any class from the Rifts Chaos Earth Main Book
  • Non-magic, non-psychic, Chaos Earth classes from the Rifter limited to books owned by both player and GM
  • NEMA classes with selected additional MOSs from Coalition Classes with approval limited to books owned by both player and GM
  • Certain Military classes from Rifts books with approval limited to books owned by both player and GM
  • Civilian classes from Modern Palladium Settings with approval limited to books owned by both player and GM
  • Magic and Psionic Chaos Earth classes from the Rifter, Rise of Magic, and Psychic Storm, once unlocked limited to books owned by both player and GM

Campaign End

This campaign will end with an arrival in Pittsburgh, afterwards we could launch a new campaign, or one-shots from the city.