Author Topic: What is the mystery of Black Isle?  (Read 15357 times)

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BowenSilverclaw

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Re: Black Isle Espionage Game Logs
« Reply #40 on: June 06, 2009, 11:18:40 AM »
You should totally run this thing as a PbP sometime :D
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jacemachine

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Re: Black Isle Espionage Game Logs
« Reply #41 on: June 12, 2009, 02:27:34 PM »
You should totally run this thing as a PbP sometime :D

If I can manage it I will-- however the Artifact campaign that you are in currently... well, it's _R E A L L Y_ long. And it may be too much for me to try running a second game anytime REAL soon.  :)
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BowenSilverclaw

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Re: Black Isle Espionage Game Logs
« Reply #42 on: June 12, 2009, 02:43:39 PM »
You should totally run this thing as a PbP sometime :D

If I can manage it I will-- however the Artifact campaign that you are in currently... well, it's _R E A L L Y_ long. And it may be too much for me to try running a second game anytime REAL soon.  :)

Understandable :)

Just saying if you decide to do it, lemme know :D
"Weakness? Come test thy mettle against me, hairless ape, and we shall know who is weak!"

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You caught a fish.  It was awesome.   :lol

jacemachine

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Re: Black Isle Espionage Game Logs
« Reply #43 on: June 13, 2009, 01:55:29 AM »
Totally.  :D
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jacemachine

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Re: Black Isle Espionage Game Logs
« Reply #44 on: June 13, 2009, 11:46:13 PM »
They trek through the jungle to the south/south-east as it begins to grow dark. Tessier leading the way, brings them at least to a shuttered and sealed lab one floor lab structure.

A couple of bounds and Tessier in on the roof. He assists the rest get on top, then he leads them to a skylight. He lifts the window open, and the group descends down onto a muddy pool table.

The French Operative closes and locks the skylight window. Around them PARANOIA take in their surroundings; a lounge of some sort if the old-style video arcade machine, jukebox, billiards, and couches had anything to say.

Tessier explains that this building is an unused lab building. It's been his home for a couple of days. The gates on the doors and windows help to keep out the locals-- a couple gates had been bashed off at some point before he had moved in, but he had blockaded those entry points.

He also takes note of Raul's weakened and injured condition. He tells them that the stuff they found in the medical facility should cure his ills-- his team had been briefed on it-- in case of emergency.

Emma tells him about the French girl operative, who asked them to give her enough morphine to ease her passing. She was of course, his girlfriend Rachel.

*KA-REEEEEEEEEEESSSHHH--!!!* Plate glass from the skylight implodes.

Three filthy-- gore covered feral researchers plunge down into the room and leap from the pool table to attack the PC's


Feeling the effects of the venom that he took when that... creature got a hold of him, Raul shuffles across the floor, into the corner of the room in an alcove created by a nearby SPACE INVADERS arcade game. He didn't even take note of it though as he watched the scene unfold in front of him.

The details of this fight have been lost to time, but I believe Takezo cut through the ankles of one of the feral scientists types as he stood on the table. The group killed them, and then boarded up the shattered skylight.

They decide to abandon the room. Sealing it shut from inside using wood and a screw-gun. They seal up a couple of other entrances to the outside, then after getting Raul to a bed and seeing to his wounds. The hit the sack for the night.

Raul takes a turn on the watch despite his weakened condition. Raul was able to stick his head up through a spinning vent in the room of one of the halls. Sitting on the ladder. He witnessed something huge crashing through the dark jungle foliage that night. It had to be the size of a VW bus if not larger. Tree trunks snapped like twigs as it passed.

Later on a Troop of Fast/Monkeys clambered across the rooftop, stopping just feet from whomever was doing guard duty at the time.

In the morning the Frenchman is not there, he shows up while the group eats cold rations for breakfast, and he explains that he had gone for a morning run around the area, scouting for any trouble they might have to contend with.

Takezo gets suspicious. Regardless the group decides to get the power restored to the island, if they want to have any hope of getting through the labs themselves.Electronic sealed doors. No fun without power.

The head south following the road, but not on it. Taking the thick jungle along side it. It was then that a huge green serrated blade of sorts swung down towards the Frenchman. It was attached to a 10 foot tall preying mantis. It's body mottled in dark jungle colors that rendered it virtually invisible when it was motionless.

The group took it down with relative ease after the initial jolt of seeing a giant-ass preying mantis. I may or may not have had a second one they needed to tackle as well. I just don't remember.

From there the group made their way to the lake-side Power Station...
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Melblen_Cairn

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Re: Black Isle Espionage Game Logs
« Reply #45 on: June 15, 2009, 02:37:45 AM »
Mmmm Mmm More Black Island goodness. Thanks tons, kinda sated the withdrawals  ;). Good stuff; to bad it's on hiatus. Almost enough to make me want to move my group down to FL just to see how this one ends.

Sorry, I didn't see your question from earlier. I meant Private Investigator type campaign. I would only loosely term it as that though. We had fun and tried to weave a mildly entertaining conspiracy plot they uncovered but only led to more questions. I think I missed the last few session logs for it at the end. We were using a different system then D20 initially as I did not have the d20modern core rules at that time. I recently came across a cheap copy so if we ever go back to it I will have them recreate their PCs as d20 versions.

If we do go back to it, it will be after the Dawn of Defiance game we are in now. I wanted their modern campaign to go from mundane type intrigue and branch into more esoteric type stuff as it went on i.e. like your Black Island adventure.
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Eliana Toiba Abijah in Isle Noir: Bad Karma.
Rose Marie Wentworth in The Artifact: Prologue

jacemachine

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Re: Black Isle Espionage Game Logs
« Reply #46 on: June 19, 2009, 11:27:40 PM »
http://img188.imageshack.us/img188/2969/blackislegmnotes.jpg  <-- goes directly to this map of the island.
Some notes. LARGE image. But kinda interesting.


This is how I broke down which creatures the PCs would run into. Basically the domains around each lab area, and the creatures that escaped from them.


This is what the PC's came face to face with on the way to the power plant.


And this is what lives in the subtram tunnels!
« Last Edit: June 19, 2009, 11:29:30 PM by jacemachine »
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Melblen_Cairn

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Re: Black Isle Espionage Game Logs
« Reply #47 on: June 20, 2009, 03:56:59 AM »
Nice visuals on the creatures, you manage to come up with some good ones.
Wisdom has two parts; Having a lot to say and not saying it.

GM for Dawn of Defiance
Eliana Toiba Abijah in Isle Noir: Bad Karma.
Rose Marie Wentworth in The Artifact: Prologue

jacemachine

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Re: Black Isle Espionage Game Logs
« Reply #48 on: June 21, 2009, 12:05:44 AM »
Now the power station was on the edge of the crater lake. It was a geothermal power station, so it was fueled by the volcanic heat of the island itself.

The group entered through a torn section of chainlink fence.

The battle map consisted of the main building, a brick building with a corrugated aluminum roof. This is the structure that housed the generators & turbines. Tubing ran to and from this and also to the cooling tower. A condenser jungle was added, full of pipes and tubes running around like some sort of alien jungle gym. For the Parkour character to enjoy, should he pick up on the cues.

Now, in this campaign universe there are a good number of "security teams"--
The PCs are loosely affiliated freelancers who are working together on a mutual contract. For this operation they are calling themselves: PARANOIA.

The team that works for the CIELCORP (the French company that owns this island compound) is called PLAISIR SADIQUE. The Parkour scout character is a survivor from when his team first responded. The PCs encountered his fiance in the medical facility. It was she who Emma administered the Morphine overdose to.

In addition to PARANOIA, a team of Russians called: CRIMSON HORIZON first appeared in the initial scene when they tried to warn off PARANOIA members from the upcoming job.

But they aren't the only other team that is trying to cherry pick. In fact a very nasty team called "SLIPPERY-WHEN-WET" has dropped members on the island. These guys however are not after the ANGEL LIGHT and probably don't know of its existence.

Two of THESE guys are responding to their motion sensors having been tripped by the PCs though, and are secretly watching the PCs as they enter the main building...

PARANOIA head inside, leaving Raul to watch the entrance with his shotgun. Emma's player didn't make the game (A trend that was rapidly picking up, but she also had a new boyfriend, so this was understandable...) So I GM Coma'd her ass, deciding that it was a side-affect of the wounding from the first dog attack. Infection. She was running a fever and she passes out. As this drama is happening Terrin McCall finds the laptop computer bob set-up. A few tense moments later, Terrin has both a new laptop PC to replace the one that he had stolen earlier in the game AND some C4. Hurray!

The two men from SWW are not pleased that they didn't get to see their bomb blow up these interlopers-- but a grenade changes that a bit.

Ka-BOOOM! Part of the entrance explodes, and a shoot-out begins. Meanwhile, Terrin discovers that they can't just turn on the generators-- the far turbine is damaged and needs to be replaced. When he logs into the computer control panel he finds that some of the code had been removed, leaving gaps that won't allow the crane to work right-- So he has to stand next to an unconscious Emma while re-writing code, with a gun at his side, while the rest of the team scale the water tower platform in an attempt to kill this SWW bastards.

Meanwhile, outside the PCs learn how much flamethrowers suck to have used on you. The battle was pretty intense, with Miyamoto Takezo being set aflame! The PCs manage to chase off the two SWW members and get the power station up and running once again.
Current PbP Games
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[d20M] Isle Noir: Bad Karma as GM

The Good, the Bad, and the Undead, playing as Father Ezekiel Ambrose

"When the GM smiles, it's already too late." --Anonymous Doomed Gamer

jacemachine

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Re: Black Isle Espionage Game Logs
« Reply #49 on: July 10, 2009, 01:28:33 PM »
So stepping back from the recap for a moment...

This next part of the game was where I had to introduce a new PC/player to the group.

My player, Wayne, really wanted to play a scientist form the island... one who hadn't been screwed up by the powers of the out-of-control Angel Light.

I really didn't like his concept that much, mostly because it would break down a lot of what I come up with-- why the hell would I want a guy with inside information about the island on the team?

But I buckled... next time no Steve Irwin meets Laura Croft style of characters.

The POINT of this particular campaign world is that PCs play the roles of Industrial Espionage Operatives... and i was asking for trouble by letting him have his way. (Sorry Wayne, if you happen to read this. But your concept breaks shit. Guess who gets to make a new PC if we ever start to play again!  ;))

Bad points: He knew about the crazy-ass flora and fauna of the island. He knew where shit was. He knew the easiest way to deal with it.

Now tell me, playing Resident Evil would have been largely different if Alpha team was traveling with a friendly Umbrella Scientist that had worked in the Spencer Estate for two weeks...

See what I'm saying?
Current PbP Games
The Artifact (Prologue) as GM
[d20M] Isle Noir: Bad Karma as GM

The Good, the Bad, and the Undead, playing as Father Ezekiel Ambrose

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jacemachine

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Reinventing Black Isle?
« Reply #50 on: July 24, 2009, 10:48:24 PM »
Those few of you who know me well, know that I am all about completely overhauling an idea, even if the first was okay. I believe that there are no sacred cows when re-imagining one's own campaigns.

New ideas about how I would change the Black Isle campaign if I were to do it again:

* I would change various geological aspects of the island. This would be determined by my GM needs based upon predictable character actions, and areas of story encounters.
* Jurassic Park had fences all over the place. This would aid in helping characters either escape from enemies,,, or get trapped by them (if the fences are electric).
* I would make the 3 Major Labs more important in the scheme of things-- PCs would learn that they would need to locate Each Lab Head's pass card, often times facing off with them personally, in order to get the 3 keys which would be needed to open up the sealed Secret 4th Lab. (Maybe it is set up that way in case any one lab gets sealed off, it takes any 3 other keys to access the locked-down lab-- for security reasons.

One of the things that were VERY successful actually, were the Smart1/Dogs and the Fast1/Monkeys-- they provided very intriguing combat scenarios. Dogs setting up ambushes, taking cover, creating distractions, disarming PCs, and other naughty stuff.

The monkeys were VERY fast-- and there were A LOT of these bastards. The PCs who were level 3 had a VERY difficult time hitting these things due to the Fast Hero +4 Defense.

Random Musings.



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jacemachine

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Re: What is the mystery of Black Isle?
« Reply #51 on: July 29, 2009, 02:18:03 PM »
So...


If I was willing to run a version of THIS CAMPAIGN as a PbP here on BG--

Who would like to play? Post your interest please!
Current PbP Games
The Artifact (Prologue) as GM
[d20M] Isle Noir: Bad Karma as GM

The Good, the Bad, and the Undead, playing as Father Ezekiel Ambrose

"When the GM smiles, it's already too late." --Anonymous Doomed Gamer

archangel.arcanis

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Re: What is the mystery of Black Isle?
« Reply #52 on: July 29, 2009, 02:25:55 PM »
i'm game. all i have access to is the d20 modern SRD right now but i shouldn't need any more than that right?

Perhaps you should start a thread in the PbP forum for this as well
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j0lt

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Re: What is the mystery of Black Isle?
« Reply #53 on: July 29, 2009, 02:30:41 PM »
You know I'm in!  :D
« Last Edit: July 29, 2009, 03:59:32 PM by j0lt »
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jacemachine

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Re: What is the mystery of Black Isle?
« Reply #54 on: July 29, 2009, 02:36:58 PM »
i'm game. all i have access to is the d20 modern SRD right now but i shouldn't need any more than that right?

Perhaps you should start a thread in the PbP forum for this as well

I will eventually, but right now I'm just going to gauge interest off of this post. Glad to hear that people are game though!

You should REALLY only need the core SRD...
Current PbP Games
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[d20M] Isle Noir: Bad Karma as GM

The Good, the Bad, and the Undead, playing as Father Ezekiel Ambrose

"When the GM smiles, it's already too late." --Anonymous Doomed Gamer

j0lt

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Re: What is the mystery of Black Isle?
« Reply #55 on: July 29, 2009, 03:04:07 PM »
Eddie Cross: Industrial Espionage operative and explosives expert
« Last Edit: July 29, 2009, 04:04:09 PM by j0lt »
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jacemachine

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Re: What is the mystery of Black Isle?
« Reply #56 on: July 29, 2009, 03:13:17 PM »
Having read through this thread everyone should have a VERY GOOD IDEA what kind of campaign I run. So please consider this when selecting a character concept.

If we can build a decent line-up with a good range of abilities here, we can totally see what we need to fill in the gaps-- I'll do THAT by posting the game add on the PbP post.
Current PbP Games
The Artifact (Prologue) as GM
[d20M] Isle Noir: Bad Karma as GM

The Good, the Bad, and the Undead, playing as Father Ezekiel Ambrose

"When the GM smiles, it's already too late." --Anonymous Doomed Gamer

archangel.arcanis

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Re: What is the mystery of Black Isle?
« Reply #57 on: July 29, 2009, 04:05:52 PM »
i really have no idea what i would play, i've only gotten to play 1 d20 modern game before and that was right after it came out.

Concept i could easily play the techie guy, since i'm an IT guy in real life and watch tons of science shows.
I also am big into martial arts but don't know how well that would work in the modern system, plus i'm sure its grappling system is just as messed up as regular D&D. (BTW i'm a Judo guy which i why i mention grappling)
The other idea i like is a sniper, but that seems inappropriate for this game.

I'm going to re-read this thread to get a better feel for it, i've forgotten half of what i read it has been so long, and try some other ideas then work on a sheet from there.

Edit: I've got a concept finally after reading the older portions of the thread.

I would like to play a Combat Medic. Partly inspired by my personal heritage and the story of Doc Roe from Band of Brothers.
« Last Edit: July 29, 2009, 08:46:38 PM by archangel.arcanis »
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Retire the character before the DM smacks you with the Table as the book will feel totally inadequate now.-Hazren

jacemachine

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Re: What is the mystery of Black Isle?
« Reply #58 on: July 30, 2009, 12:33:58 PM »
« Last Edit: July 31, 2009, 02:25:11 AM by jacemachine »
Current PbP Games
The Artifact (Prologue) as GM
[d20M] Isle Noir: Bad Karma as GM

The Good, the Bad, and the Undead, playing as Father Ezekiel Ambrose

"When the GM smiles, it's already too late." --Anonymous Doomed Gamer