Adapting Van Buren (Workshop - Complete on Page 30)

Just a random idea I had, aproprot of absolutely nothing: a perpetual problem in Fallout (and really almost any fantasy setting, especially games focused on combat) is we see a vast menagerie of predators but a comparitively small number of herbivores for them to feed off of. In Fallout we have Brahmin, Bighorners, Molerats/Pigrats... and that's basically it.

So, as an idea for an additional herbivore: Road Runners. Basically just ostrich sized Road Runners, largely herbivorous, and the fastest thing alive. Herds can be found in a random encounter, people will mention them and eating them, if you go after them their feathers are mildly valuable, but that's it.
 
Atomic Postman said:
So @Hardboiled Android what kind of stuff would you like to see at the revised Ouroboros, like what kind of details?
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Hey man, it's your job to figure this out!

But seriously, I am not really sure. I'll try to go through it and see what comes up.

What're things like in the Tributary? This is where the member tribes come to pay their tithes. How are these tithes processed, where do they go? Who's in charge of all of this? Does anyone live in the tributary? Being a tributary, there could be a display showing great wonders/treasures of various member tribes, or a carving depicting such - compare the tributary at Persepolis (or maybe Parsagade, can't remember), which showed off in relief all of the treasures that people brought to the center of the Empire. If merchants come in addition to vassals, who are they? Are any crops grown around Ouroboros, or are they dependent entirely on tithes?

How often are outsiders allowed to enter into the city? Are there any amenities inside - bars, hotels, shops, or is the society to tightly strictured that this sort of stuff isn't necessary and everything is distributed from a commissary or something?

What do most of the people do? Obviously this is where virtually all Sons and Daughters are raised, and presumably employed in doing economically useful tasks. Well, what are they doing, how/where are they doing it? How is labor divided? How are children reared - big collective dormitories? Since Hecate does not ablate tribal identity, how are tribute children impressed with their tribal identities while also being raised as Sons and Daughters? How segregated are men and women? Is sexual conduct allowed freely or can it only take place in the context of ritual?

Who's in charge of potion production? Is this position worked by sons or daughters? Who keeps records?

Where do the tribal leaders live? Do they live in the pyramid or around it?
 
Well my biggest complaint currently is - you didn't go off of my revised copy edited version!

Second, its still not as extensive or detailed as Caesar, but you have covered most of the main points. Could use some reformatting/reordering, but its good as it stands.

I think one quest centered upon the Tributary would be good, and the toxic waste quest seems to be missing? Did you decide against it?

Also good catach including the Follower, I'd forgotten about that.
 
Hardboiled Android said:
Well my biggest complaint currently is - you didn't go off of my revised copy edited version!

Second, its still not as extensive or detailed as Caesar, but you have covered most of the main points. Could use some reformatting/reordering, but its good as it stands.

I think one quest centered upon the Tributary would be good, and the toxic waste quest seems to be missing? Did you decide against it?

Also good catach including the Follower, I'd forgotten about that.
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Sorry I didn't catch the Drive edits - will get that done.

I decided against the toxic waste quest. Just no matter how I worked it, didn't ring right to me. Can't say why. Just one of those gut things. Plus I think the existing stuff plus the "Prisoner's Dilemma" of getting Gaia will be more than enough for the players to dig their teeth into Ouroboros. As it stands, The Legion are meant to be bigger and more enterprising - because that's what they are in world! Hecate is a religious nut that's sucking everything dry and bringing everyone down with her. That's why I did stuff like having her cut off from trade. Siding with Hecate isn't really siding with a future, it's siding with chaos and destruction effectively. Because the moment she dies it all comes crumbling down, worse than it would with the Legion.
 
Atomic Postman said:
Sorry I didn't catch the Drive edits - will get that done.

I decided against the toxic waste quest. Just no matter how I worked it, didn't ring right to me. Can't say why. Just one of those gut things. Plus I think the existing stuff plus the "Prisoner's Dilemma" of getting Gaia will be more than enough for the players to dig their teeth into Ouroboros. As it stands, The Legion are meant to be bigger and more enterprising - because that's what they are in world! Hecate is a religious nut that's sucking everything dry and bringing everyone down with her. That's why I did stuff like having her cut off from trade. Siding with Hecate isn't really siding with a future, it's siding with chaos and destruction effectively. Because the moment she dies it all comes crumbling down, worse than it would with the Legion.
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Well if it's a gut thing not really much of an argument I can present.

And while the Legion is obviously more entreprising, it is not bigger - Hecate is at this point. Just because she's not going anywhere doesn't mean there's not a lot to explroe within that decay.

but it's NBD, there's enough to run interesting sessions in Ouroboros, there's no need to fixate on this and I can't really identify any solid directions so it's probably no use, especially considering how much content we have elsewhere. Still, unlike most of the other locations, this one still does not feel "fully realized" to me.
 
Hardboiled Android said:
Well if it's a gut thing not really much of an argument I can present.

And while the Legion is obviously more entreprising, it is not bigger - Hecate is at this point. Just because she's not going anywhere doesn't mean there's not a lot to explroe within that decay.

but it's NBD, there's enough to run interesting sessions in Ouroboros, there's no need to fixate on this and I can't really identify any solid directions so it's probably no use, especially considering how much content we have elsewhere. Still, unlike most of the other locations, this one still does not feel "fully realized" to me.
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I can sort of agree with the sentiment, but I feel that we've come a long way from "Zone entirely meant for combat" in the original Van Buren docs and really, I'm happy with that on its own.
 
@Hardboiled Android I have an extra little tidbit for the Desert Rangers. In my old campaign, Ranger Holloway was a crazed lunatic who adopted 80s tribe tactics. I am amending his backstory so that he was part of the Road War along with Ayumi and might add this little story section post-Cochise if the party are Rangers.

Ranger Holloway has gone missing. Ayumi thinks it might be related to her report of a Burned Hands camp (the tribe that attacked Cochise on Hecate's behalf) and asks the players help track him.

Upon tracking his movements, you reach a destroyed Burned Hands camp.



The whole camp has been massacred, women and children all. They weren't a match for a veteran Desert Ranger fully armed. Holloway can be found amongst the corpses removing the scalps of the men, several of which he has bound around his waist.

Ayumi is dumbstruck and doesn't know what to do. This isn't Ranger behavior but Holloway is a friend and a comrade. Holloway is just in this eery silence as he mechanically continues scalping, his duster spattered with blood.
 
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Map attempt #1
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@Hardboiled Android
 
Atomic Postman said:
@Hardboiled Android I have an extra little tidbit for the Desert Rangers. In my old campaign, Ranger Holloway was a crazed lunatic who adopted 80s tribe tactics. I am amending his backstory so that he was part of the Road War along with Ayumi and might add this little story section post-Cochise if the party are Rangers.

Ranger Holloway has gone missing. Ayumi thinks it might be related to her report of a Burned Hands camp (the tribe that attacked Cochise on Hecate's behalf) and asks the players help track him.

Upon tracking his movements, you reach a destroyed Burned Hands camp.



The whole camp has been massacred, women and children all. They weren't a match for a veteran Desert Ranger fully armed. Holloway can be found amongst the corpses removing the scalps of the men, several of which he has bound around his waist.

Ayumi is dumbstruck and doesn't know what to do. This isn't Ranger behavior but Holloway is a friend and a comrade. Holloway is just in this eery silence as he mechanically continues scalping, his duster spattered with blood.
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Tidbit though it is, it's certainly cool and does a lot to establish the brutality and Heart of Darkness that is the East.

Atomic Postman said:
Map attempt #1 View attachment 20341

@Hardboiled Android
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I feel like they would work better inside circle icons with dark-slightly-transparent-maybe backgrounds, sort of like as I had it on my iteration of the map.
 
Hardboiled Android said:
Tidbit though it is, it's certainly cool and does a lot to establish the brutality and Heart of Darkness that is the East.


I feel like they would work better inside circle icons with dark-slightly-transparent-maybe backgrounds, sort of like as I had it on my iteration of the map.
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You might be right. Something feels off about the icons, not sure what. Do you have the copy of that original map to hand? I can't seem to find it in the thread.
 
Atomic Postman said:
You might be right. Something feels off about the icons, not sure what. Do you have the copy of that original map to hand? I can't seem to find it in the thread.
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Just to be clear I was referring to my vector-styled map. And apparently I only did it with a green background, but obviously black should be used. And they are a little small, so maybe blow them up to 2 or even 3 hexes large.

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Here's the version with NV icon maps (though without labels).

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I'm not entirely sure the icons are working. Perhaps the classic circle approach might be better. Hmph.
 
Hardboiled Android said:
I think the problem is pretty obvious - too big! They should be up to half a hex large, at max.
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Tomorrow I might try a version that's just all green circles ala classic fallout and see where we go from there.

I am of course still using the icons for the PDF but I also might whip up a nice faction rep sheet as well.

The map ultimately is just going to be for the pdf anyway since the players will receive a blank version.
 
Atomic Postman said:
Tomorrow I might try a version that's just all green circles ala classic fallout and see where we go from there.

I am of course still using the icons for the PDF but I also might whip up a nice faction rep sheet as well.

The map ultimately is just going to be for the pdf anyway since the players will receive a blank version.
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Just to be clear I was referring to the minor icons, I think they would look better a lot small. The major icons could also stand to be smaller I think, but I think putting them inside a circle with a black background would do a lot to improve the look. but if it doesn't work, it doesn't work, no biggie.
 
Hardboiled Android said:
Just to be clear I was referring to the minor icons, I think they would look better a lot small. The major icons could also stand to be smaller I think, but I think putting them inside a circle with a black background would do a lot to improve the look. but if it doesn't work, it doesn't work, no biggie.
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Yeah I just don't want to waste the effort you put into the icons. However after jigging it around a bit I think the classic green circles will look nicest.
 
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