My GURPS group and I were about halfway through a GURPS conversion of the d20 Iron Kingdoms published campaign The Witchfire Trilogy (highly recommended), when I decided that I wanted some guidance on what to run next time I was GM. Taking a cue from the estimable WH Stoddard, I decided that a Campaign Prospectus for the players to vote on was a great approach. So, I assembled a bunch of campaigns I thought would be fun, and let them vote.
What did the players pick? Tune in next installment to find out!
Campaign Prospectus
2013
(in approximate order of
preparation required, least to most)
Please note your
interest level for each, where
0 = not interested, 2 =
somewhat interested, 4 = very interested
Clockpunk Dungeon Fantasy,
continued 0 1 2 3 4
Inspirations: old AD&D modules,
d20 Iron Kingdoms
Sketch: Witchfire PCs have new
adventures in the Greek Empire
Sourcebooks: Dungeon Fantasy, Magic,
Thaumatology, Low-Tech
2 PCs per player, 250-300 pts
starting, slower advancement than Witchfire
The Rogers Agency 0 1 2 3 4
Inspirations: Leverage, Burn Notice,
Sean Punch's The Company, Ronin, Nikita
Sketch: Gritty modern white-hat black
ops - an elite team works undercover performing hostage and prisoner
rescues worldwide, where governments can't or won't go.
Sourcebooks: High-Tech, Martial Arts,
Tactical Shooting, Social Engineering
Likelihood of Weirdness (psi,
vampires, aliens, etc): low
1 or 2 PCs per player, 200-250 pts
starting, time-based advancement
Alexander's Companions,
continued 0 1 2 3 4
Inspirations: Robert E. Howard, Mary
Renault
Sketch: Alexander the Great's boon
companions go necromancer hunting in northern Persia
Sourcebooks: Dungeon Fantasy, Magic,
Thaumatology, Low-Tech
1 PC per player, 350? pts starting
Lassaka 0 1 2 3 4
Inspirations: Gamma World, Morrow
Project, Hiero's Journey, Last of the Mohicans
Sketch: 23rd century Alaska after the
Epidemic Wars that knocked humanity back to 18th c. technology,
mutated everything, and flooded the world. Humans, mutants, talking
animals, flintlocks, and lots of wilderness.
Sourcebooks: Low-Tech,
High-Tech, Biotech?
1-2 PCs per player, 150-200 pts
starting
The Dead Are Hungry 0 1 2 3 4
Inspirations: classic zombie movies,
Walking Dead, The Colony (TV)
Sketch: PCs react, adapt, and plan to
survive the zombocalypse.
Sourcebooks: Y2K, High-Tech, Zombies
Likelihood of non-zombie Weirdness
(psi, vampires, aliens, etc): low
1 PC per player, 100 pts starting,
time-based advancement
Beyond the Emerald Isle 0 1 2 3 4
Inspirations: History, fantasy,
Celtic & Germanic Studies, plus the odd D&D module.
Sketch: Irish PCs (w/possible Norse &
Saxon options) in the Alexander timeline corresponding to our world's
9th c AD, shortly after the death of
Bel/Baldr/Apollo.
Sourcebooks: Low-Tech, Magic, Divine
Power
1
PC per player, 150 pts starting
Death On Two Legs 0 1 2 3 4
Inspirations: MechWarrior, BattleTech
Sketch: Mecha lance stranded in
hostile territory
Sourcebooks: Spaceships (mod. for
mecha combat), Ultra-Tech, Space
Likelihood of Weirdness (psi,
vampires, aliens, etc): low
1 PC per player, 200 pts starting,
possibly additional support staff?
Free Trader 0 1 2 3 4
Inspirations: Traveller, Firefly
Sketch: PCs are the crew of a sci-fi
tramp steamer. Nearby campaign worlds to be developed
collaboratively in the first sessions using Diaspora.
Sourcebooks: Traveller, Ultratech
1-2 PCs per player, 175 pts starting
Exceptional 0 1 2 3 4
Inspirations: Freakangels, Bourne
movies, The Matrix, X-Men
Sketch: There's something different
about the PCs, and someone powerful wants them captured or dead.
Sourcebooks: Powers, High-Tech,
Monster Hunters
Likelihood of Weirdness (psi,
vampires, aliens, etc): very high
1 PC per player, 75 pts starting +
powers
The Woods 0 1 2 3 4
Inspirations: Twin Peaks
Sketch: PCs are residents of a small
town near Redding CA, where strange things are afoot.
Sourcebooks: Mysteries
Likelihood of Weirdness (psi,
vampires, aliens, etc): high
1 PC per player, 100 pts starting
Starcraft 0 1 2 3 4
Inspirations: Starcraft (video game),
Uplift War series
Sketch: PCs are humans and aliens
forced by circumstance to work together.
Sourcebooks: Ultratech, Space
1 PC per player, ?? pts, heavily
templated with some customization
Wheels Within Wheels 0 1 2 3 4
Inspirations: Alias, Delta Green,
X-Files, Declare, Stross' Laundry
Sketch: Cells within the government
try to discover or conceal The Truth.
Sourcebooks: Conspiracy X, High-Tech
Likelihood of Weirdness (psi,
vampires, aliens, etc): high
2 PCs per player, one field operative
and one patron of a different player's operative.
Starting pts: 250 pts operative, 200
pts patron?
Apollo's Bones 0 1 2 3 4
Inspirations: Old-school megadungeon
crawl, Tolkien's Moria.
Sketch: When Apollo was murdered, his
divine corpse fell to earth in southern Gaul, carving a crater into
the earth and uncovering a forgotten underground city. Even more
cursed and undead-ridden than most of the world, the area has
reverted to a haunted wilderness, but ancient treasures and divine
vis attract the adventurous, the desperate, and the
unscrupulous.
Sourcebooks: Low-Tech, Magic, Divine
Power
1
PC per player, 150 pts starting, advancement during downtime only
Life During Wartime 0 1 2 3 4
Inspirations: DMZ (comic), Life
During Wartime (Talking Heads song), Safe Area Goražde
(comic)
Sketch: The Second American
Revolution (aka the Declared State of Emergency, depending who's
talking) is happening. PCs are “domestic insurgents”.
Sourcebooks: High-Tech, Tactical
Shooting
Likelihood of Weirdness (psi,
vampires, aliens, etc): low
1 PC per player, 150 pts starting,
advancement slow or time-based
