[Midnight] - SciFi/Apolcalypse Now: Setting Outline

[Exaulted_Leader]

Hello! First time poster to the Forge.

I was just flipping through some 'cocktail napkin' ideas I'd scribbled down as over roughly the previous 6 months, and had a bit of a brain tickle. Something'sgoing-on upstairs... I'm just not sure what yet, or whether it looks attractive or not.

It's fired-up enough curiosity in me to warrant at least getting some basic outlines down on paper, then taking a look at what I have and making a decision from there. Some 3rd party creative input could sure help me out with this process, however.  


In 1998, the world is turned upside down when tornadoes of untold magnitude and girth (some reported with bases as wide as 30 kilometres across!) wreak havok on every continent across the globe, ripping major cities apart and carving canals in their wake. Meteoroligists are baffled, only able to state that the phenomena - according to examination of satellite imagery - did not appear to be tied with any kind of weather pattern.

Rescue workers report absolutely impossible fields of debris left by the tornadoes - some wreckage and even victims literally 'fused together'. Survivors claim that there was no warning of any kind - clear skies and sunny conditions in many cases (or snow on the ground with temperatures ranging from -25 to -30 degrees celsius, in the case of most Northern hemisphere disaster zones).

As the random, bizarre and devastating tornado strikes persist, most world governments announce plans to move their citizens underground. Study of the nature of the vortexes intensifies. Physicist Eric Lambert suggests that, taking all evidence into account, the tornadoes may actually be 'temporal' in nature. The Lambert Directive is put forward by the British government, to probe and clearly identify the phenomena.

2005. Russia, the United States of America, France and Japan succeed in a joint project to construct an underground habitat beneath the islands of Hawaii. The thermal energy from the volcanic region will provide a nearly limitless supply of energy to it's inhabitants. 2,000,000 civilians and V.I.P.s from each country are crammed into the shelter.

Most other countries (and many of the land masses of the world) have been completely erased by the tornadoes - dubbed 'Terror Twisters' by most. The Lambert Directive continues with unfettered resolve, now a joint project between every governing body still capable of operating. The nature of the project bears a monthly cost of thousands of lives.

Rumour spreads of the Catholic Church building it's own private shelter beneath Italy in secret, exclusively saving only those truly devout to God. Officially, the Vatican's position on the phenomena was that they were biblical. In the darker corners of most places, whisperings often float around about something 'else' going-on in what remains of Italy. Something that the Pope and his administration doesn't want anyone else to know.

2007. A probe is finally fired into a Terror Twister with the appropriate instrumentation, and survives. The gravitational readings are consistent with Eric Lambert's hypothesis. The nature of the vortexes is publicly disclosed, and the Lambert Directive officially closes.

Most of the world's population has either found some means of bunking themselves underground, or resigned themselves to death at the hands of the Terror Twisters. The surviving body of world governments band together as the United Subterranean Cooperation (U.S.C.). Expansion of underground facilities commences and a 'Rewards for Reproduction' program is initiated.

2017. Energy shortages and resource depletion problems become very serious. The USC pledges that they are working on solutions, and continues to run Rewards for Reproduction programs in full swing. Rumours begin to spread about a black ops military program, being staged on the remnants of the planet surface.

At the year's end, the U.S.C. reveals that the Lambert Directive has remained in full swing all along, and important discoveries have been made that will make life better for everyone. Incentive programs for military enrollment begin springing-up all over the place, and potential recruits are further enticed by hearsay that they'll be part of something big and secret that their families will be proud of them for in the future.

2020. The U.S.C. announces that it has discovered not only the source of the Terror Twisters, but a means of using that source to end the shortages suffered by it's citizens. The recruits that they have amassed will be on leave to an undisclosed location - but they'll be back before their families even know that they've left.


The recuits are treated to a stunning surprise upon debriefing for their mission. The USC has not only been conducting tremendous ground operations - they've actually caught a Terror Twister within a monumental magnetic ring. What's more, they're told that it's been brought to stable conditions - and that they're to travel through it.

Reconassaince teams have already been scouting through the prior two years. A civilized world, an alternate reality from our own, lies on the other side. They're responsible for intentionally attacking our world with the Terror Twisters - and our mission is to 'clean out' this duplicate society, so that we can use their world as our new home. It's only fair, considering that they destroyed ours without any clear motive.

The 'Gate' is deemed perfectly safe, without any encountered health risks or side-effects. It's no different than stepping through a doorframe.


The first teams to be deployed were called 'Sleepers'. Their mission was to do a much more detailed study of the alternate reality, filling-in the 'gaps' of knowledge that simple recon work didn't cover. Persons stepping through the gate simply materialized out of thin air into one of many pre-determined coordinates - having been spotted-out previously by reconassaince work (though how the reconassaince teams were able to harmlessly enter the alternate world was never explained - most simply chalked it up to luck).

The new world, as it turned out, wasn't much of a 'world' at all. It consisted of a single, sprawling city - 'Atropolis'. Outside of the city limits lay a barren wasteland, apparently created by overextensive abuse of fossil fuels. The city itself seemed very 'comfortable', and from the perspective of someone living underground for their entire life, all but a paradise.

Far from perfect - but a real sight for sore eyes.


Operations proceeded as planned, no order going questioned, the Sleepers notating every detail they learned about the geography, infrastructure, government and policing forces of Atropolis and being retrieved by the Gate operators to debrief their superiors. And then, one Sleeper disappeared.

His name was Ross Midnight.


Gate operators could neither locate nor retrieve him, and in spite of a 4 month long manhunt for the AWOL recruit, no trace of him was found. He was declared MIA, and the USC continued forward with it's operations. A very, very costly error.

Ross Midnight, as it turns out, was one of the first recruits to experience one the 'side effects' that the Gate operators had ensured him did not exist. His side effect, to this day, is unique. It effectively transformed him into a living extension of the Gate, allowing him to not only traverse between realities at will - but to intantaneously move himself from one location to another on either plane of reality.

It also flooded his mind with images, memories and emotions taht were not his own. A behind-the-scenes look at what was really happening back home. What the USC's true intentions were - unveiling a vault of hidden truths and lies.


So, he hid. He waited. If it had happened to him, surely...?

They came much sooner than Ross expected, with slowly intensifying frequency. They came in a vast variety of forms.

Somehow, they all knew where to find Ross. They all knew the truth.

They all knew what was going to happen.


The USC, alarmed by the growing numbers of recruits becoming MIA, decided that it was time to move the Lambert Directive into the next phase. Combat excercizes began and campaigns were drafted, based on the extensive amount of intelligence gathered. Active Sleepers were put on stand-by, made ready to sabotage any enemy resistance from within.

The 1st Infantry Battalion moved through the Gate on 2031. They were dropped directly outside Atropolis city hall, given orders to storm the building and eliminate the central government.


This marked the event that would be known as 'The First Engagement'.


While the USC was training, rallying and formulating, Ross Midnight had organized his allies into a team. The Midnight Foundation. When the USC moved it's troops through the Gate, they were well-prepared to intervene.

The 1st Infantry Battalion took heavy casualties, though not before causing a web of panic and chaos in Atropolis, and was pulled-out. They debriefed their superiors on their encounter with the monstrosities on the other side.


The Battalion was given leave to allow for rest and grievances, while the USC's leaders contacted an important friend overseas. The Pope.

Ross had been the first recruit to experience manipulation through a Terror Twister - but not the first human being. A pair of vortexes had converged on Italy in the early 21st century, colliding with one-another at the doorstep of the Vatican and corkscrewing together - continuing to spin, but sitting in place. The Vatican was destroyed, but the leaders of the Catholic church were simply mutated - sucked into one vortex and emerging out the other. They became mad and terrorized the remnants of the countryside, forcing others to 'convert' by entering the vortex and joining their 'crusade'.

They double-vortex protected their region from other Terror Twisters, and the Pope established a mighty kingdom where Rome once stood. After the USC managed to get in contact with the Catholics, they struck a deal with them. They would build the Gate to invade Atropolis, and if the church helped them, they would be provided with all of the citizenry populating the alternate reality for conversion.


The Pope held up his end of the bargain, sending-out over a dozen ships filled with his followers to march through the Gate. The USC, of course, buried the incident and knowledge far away from any of it's citizen's ears.


The engagement with the Catholics was far more devastating. Although the Foundation prevailed, significant damages and casualties were inflicted upon the hapless city. Atropolis slipped into a state of paranoia, and Ross Midnight was forced to send his organization into hiding.


And this is where the players jump in, fighting as members of the Midnight Foundation.

I know, I know. The post was long-winded, and featured some weak writing. I was just dropping images onto paper as I saw them, more or less. Beautification comes later.

The 'truth' (discovered by Ross, and the rest of everyone that was altered by the Gate (...I need a nifty term for the mutation bit...) ), is these points thus far:

- The Terror Twisters were caused by the UN-sanctioned attempt to open a route into Atropolis's territory, in hopes of finding more oil reserves.

- The incidents in Italy, and the USC's alliance with the church.

- A USC cover-up of testing with the Gate, sending-in kidnapped infants to random coordinates in a trial-and-error attempt at locating a safe region to gate-in initial recon teams.

- The USC's intent to send select VIPs through the Gate after conquering Atropolis, then close it permanently - leaving everyone else to the fate of the dying Earth.

- The Catholic's plans to betray the USC once Acropolis has been conquered (Duh!)  


Welcome to all kinds of stuff/suggestions at this juncture. I can provide some more details too upon request (I'm sure a lot of that wasn't clear). I can see all this background and setting info spanning pages and pages and pages already... :P

[Nazzi]

one world only... great... ok four words... i like it

[Nathan P.]

Standard Forge reply...

What are you trying to do with your game? What do the players and their characters do? What does the GM, if there is one, do? How do you envision play?

People here tend to subscribe to the concept that System Matters - the system for the game informs play and shapes it to your specific goals. Thus, we tend to discuss mechanics, not settings.

Is this a setting you want to write a game around? Is there an existing system that you could just place in the setting?

Not trying to shoot you down, the setting seems really neat. But answering these questions will help us help you!

[Adam Cerling]

Very imaginative! I like the setup the most -- the timeline for 'this' reality. 'Atropolis' needs to be detailed more. Who are its people? Why are they doing this?

The subplot with the Catholic Church leaves me with a poor taste in my mouth, though.  Turning a major world faith into religious crazies bent on [alternate] world domination? Would you ever try to achieve the same effect with Jews or Muslims?

And just as a side note -- there is already a published (fantasy) campaign setting called Midnight.

[Nazzi]

Catholics are per fact a religius fantaics bent on world domination. Per example the church treathens to excomunicate all memebers of the parliament who will vote pro for the artificial insemniation act. Catholics have gone for the last 10 cenutries killing and converting memebers of other faiths ( see the termination of the cathars, the crusades, the inquisition, the 30 year war), members of the church have condoned and blessed the all great wars, they have restricted human rights, contoled the way children think trough abuse in the shooling system... i know this beacuse i live in a cathloic nation and have felt theri disregard of human rights, will and way of living of poeple who are not catholics.
Popes dabled in world politcs so lonag as the church existed, they stared wars, had armies and pu kings on the trone. Thats a historic fact, catolic priest have blessed german tanks in the war, german trains carrying prisoners to death camps ( political dissidensts, jews, gipsyes. slavs, otrhodox christioans), and then other priest blessed wepaons of other contries in the same conflicts.
They are not excused from the truth just beacuse of someones belifes, and the cathloic church is a good villian organization because of its history and what does in the world now... and its not all goody stuff, an I know it because i feel it on my skin every day.

[Ron Edwards]

Hello,

Please keep this discussion focused strictly on helping Exaulted Leader with his or her game idea. What you personally think of a particular religion, or what you think others will think of its treatment in the game, is completely out of bounds for this site. Bluntly, no one cares.

EL, Nathan's question is essential for us to be able to help you. I'll look forward to your response to him.

Best,
Ron

[contracycle]

I'm a little worried this reads rather more like Ross Midnights character bio than a world, as it were.  Metaplot warning bells are ringing.

PS: its a good time to use parallel universes because Hawking recently put the kibosh on them but the idea is stuill current and usable.