GM Aid: Adventure/campaign seeds - post yours

[MikelAmroni]

So one of my biggest problems when thinking about running Robotech is what to run. Specifically how to make it so that mecha combat is not the end all be all of what is happening. I dislike messign with what happened on screen, so aside from periphery roles, I refuse to run in the middle of a scene from the show. I.E You can be in the big battle over Jupiter, but you will be no where near Vermillion or Skull Sqaudron.

Anyway, given the amount of creativity on this board, I figure we can easily come up with some specific recommendations for adventures and campaigns.
The format will be as follows:
[Era]: [Campaign idea/mode]
Overall Campaign Idea (if applicable)
Adventure Seed #1
Adventure Seed #2

For example:
Post Shadow Chronicles: Special Forces
Group of mixed special forces characters doing recon in South America to find any hidden Zentraedi cruisers that might still have protoculture stores
Adventure Seed #1: A group of rogue zentraedi in battlepods along with more on foot raid a UEEF station and steal protoculture supplies and some cyclones.
The rogue zentraedi are found to have a battlecruiser that is largely intact, but with damaged thrusters. It had been powered down for years, and was reactivated and canabalized by the Zentraedi and their human allies.
Adventure Seed #2: Track the human allies and make sure they don't have access to more of these. Each ship like this can extend the life of a UEEF ship.
Adventure Seed #3: Take out the zentraedi camp, and seize the ship for the UEEF.

That's a crude example, but that way we have the same set up, and we can post ideas and leave them there for GMs in need of a hook.

[Lt. Holmes]

Era: During the Shadow Chronicles/Late Invid Invasion

Scenario: In addition to its main mission of finding the Robotech Masters and negotiating a peace treaty, the Pioneer Mission was also tasked with identifying suitable worlds for colonization to fulfil the Gloval Directive of spreading humanity away from its cradle.

Adventure Seed #1: the PCs are part of a scout mission, possibly involving some of variant Horion-T Bunkers from http://forums.palladium-megaverse.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=29469. While exploring a potentially habitable world, what do they come across? New enemies? New allies?

Adventure Seed #2: The PCs are a security detail assigned to protect a newly-established colony. What happens when some of the population falls under the sway of a charasmatic madman who tries to set himself up as a king or emperor? Do they use Robotech mecha and weaponry against civilians? Do they join in and fight from the inside?

Adventure Seed #3: The PCs are members of a well-established colony when the REF suddenly picks up and abandons everything for the final siege against the Invid on Earth. With the absence of the military, who's to protect the colony? Maybe the PCs are "freelance transporters" who fly around in a Horizon-T and have to make do with a startling mix of high and low technology (think Firefly here, just with Robotech mecha ).

[MikelAmroni]

Adventure Seed #3: The PCs are members of a well-established colony when the REF suddenly picks up and abandons everything for the final siege against the Invid on Earth. With the absence of the military, who's to protect the colony? Maybe the PCs are "freelance transporters" who fly around in a Horizon-T and have to make do with a startling mix of high and low technology (think Firefly here, just with Robotech mecha ).

Awesome! I love it. Thanks for posting.

[Chris0013]

Adventure Seed #3: The PCs are members of a well-established colony when the REF suddenly picks up and abandons everything for the final siege against the Invid on Earth. With the absence of the military, who's to protect the colony? Maybe the PCs are "freelance transporters" who fly around in a Horizon-T and have to make do with a startling mix of high and low technology (think Firefly here, just with Robotech mecha ).

Awesome! I love it. Thanks for posting.

Tweak to this idea....PCs are Private Military Contractors flying Valkyries and have a Master's Raiding party in one of their smaller ships as aggressors.

[Pouncer]

Era: Late Sentinels, about 6 months before the 3rd attempt to recover Earth.

A small team assigned to part of a collony patrol group hopes to do well enough to be upgraded to the Reclemation fleet.

While checking out reports of Invid running around they come across evidence of an active "anti-military government" movement using refit Zentradi mecha and new, never before seen mecha. Before they can get too deep into the investigation though they hear of a battle by two unknown forces that leads them to a disabled Masters' Mothership with its fold drive currently a dimensional rift. With a population of monsters having come out of the rift the team has to find a way to evacuate a large "civillian" population aboard the ship before the monsters (Brodkill from Rifts) can kill everybody in sight.

-POUNCER

[MikelAmroni]

Era: Late Sentinels, about 6 months before the 3rd attempt to recover Earth.

A small team assigned to part of a collony patrol group hopes to do well enough to be upgraded to the Reclemation fleet.

While checking out reports of Invid running around they come across evidence of an active "anti-military government" movement using refit Zentradi mecha and new, never before seen mecha. Before they can get too deep into the investigation though they hear of a battle by two unknown forces that leads them to a disabled Masters' Mothership with its fold drive currently a dimensional rift. With a population of monsters having come out of the rift the team has to find a way to evacuate a large "civillian" population aboard the ship before the monsters (Brodkill from Rifts) can kill everybody in sight.

-POUNCER

Interesting idea. I personally prefer to use native threats (keep in mind I like creating or converting monsters/races for native threats), but this is kinda cool for a complete change of pace.

[MikelAmroni]

So what about Macross Launch Era adventures, or Reconstruction era? Pre-Masters War on earth or at a colony? Beuler?

[Lt. Holmes]

So what about Macross Launch Era adventures, or Reconstruction era? Pre-Masters War on earth or at a colony? Beuler?

Era: SDF-1's return from Pluto

75,000 scared civilians were accidentally dragged to Pluto. How do they really fit in with the military defending them?

Adventure Seed #1: The PCs are members of RDF Intelligence. There are rumours of a Red Light District forming somewhere in the SDF-1, and the players are assigned to investigate. Is there really one? What sort of vices do the people who run it exploit? Drugs? Prostitution? What happens if the PCs are discovered?

Adventure Seed #2: TR Edwards' betrayal isn't the first to happen, nor would it be the last. What if someone on the SDF-1 was trying to take over the ship and planning on using the military to do it? How do the PCs deal with maybe having to fight against their own mecha?

[jedi078]

Here are some scenarios that I actually ran…and still running further adventures in my Macross era PBP game that has been running for just over 3 years.

Set prior to the capture of the Robotech Breetai’s flagship is utilized as a space station in orbit over earth. The purpose of the UEDF troops on board are as follows:
1) Conduct interdiction duties to prevent any Zentraedi forces from exiting the debris ring and reinforcing/resupplying Zentraedi hold outs on Earth.
2) Conduct patrols within the debris itself to search for any Zentraedi hold outs.

Scenario #1
PC’s are escorting a Shuttle down to the surface of Earth, only that the pilot/crew is Anti-UN extremists and or Zentraedi spies (I used EBSIS spies). The shuttle crew takes over the shuttle and begins on a new course setting. At the same time the hijackers have an escorting mecha force of their own that show up. The shuttles new (anti-UN/Zent/EBSIS) escorts are claiming the shuttle is defecting. Of course firing on the shuttles new escorts them first could cause an international incident (works really well if the enemy mecha force is from a non UEG allied country).

VT pilots would be escorting the shuttle while any other characters would be on the shuttle itself. So you would have two situations going on here. Of course those escorting the shuttle would not know exactly what is going on inside the shuttle. Works really well as a PBP game where you can hide adventure threads from players.

I killed one PC in this one when he tried to look though freshly made bullet hole the hijacker made when they fired into the shuttles passenger deck, and took a bullet to the head that splattered his brains all over another PC.

Scenario #2
PC’s are to board a Salan Scout ship, suspected of being part of a Zentraedi recon force sent after the ROD, and gathering intel on Earth. Their mission is to retrieve navigational data from the ships CPU’s (either in the CIC or engineering spaces). Said navigational data may hold the location of a Robotech Factory Satellite. A captured Zent shuttle or Theater Scout (that was part of the Zent Recon force) will be used to get the PC’s mecha close enough to board the ship without getting blown away as it broadcasts the proper IFF codes. This is also the perfect opportunity for allied Zentraedi characters to get some action in using Zentraedi mecha.

Note: It is never stated in the series how Breetai knew the location of the Factory Satellite, so common sense says said location must have been retrieved from somewhere.

Scenario #3
In this one I had three player squads of four mecha each. As well as two more PC's who were already on the Factory Satellite (long story but they got captured before scenario one occurred, but were running around on their own by this time). The players mission was to rescue the two guys who were captured (again long story as to how the UEDF knew they were on the factory).

The Scenario
During the capture of the Robotech Factory Satellite the UEDF units sent to secure key areas of the Satellite (due to the Minmei crooning attack and Reno’s surrender resistance inside is expected to be limited to non-existent) begin to realize something is amiss when they encounter signs of Zentraedi vs Zentraedi fighting on board…..radio transmissions to the outside UEDF forces are then jammed after a panicked communications blurb stating that the Factory Satellites weapons are firing on UEDF mecha and warships (as well as UEDF allied Zent mecha/warships).

GM info/what is going on?
A Zentraedi Warlord whose forces were conducting a recon of Earth (it was one of his ships that the navigational data/location of the Factory was gleaned from) enacts a power grab before the interior of the factory is completely secured by the UEDF (this is well before Breetai’s flagship docks or a large number of UEDF troops get on board). His troops killed Reno’s and take control of the Factory Satellites CIC/bridge, gaining control of the factories defensive weapons, but luckily Reno’s CIC/bridge crew lock out the fold controls (or Reno’s engineering crew locks them out), which can now only be accessed from the engineering spaces. The Zentraedi Warlords troops have been exposed to Earth culture and WILL NOT/WERE NOT affected by Minmei’s crooning which stunned Reno’s troops. UEDF forces outside are having hard time getting into the Factory to reinforce the squads inside because the Factory Satellites anti-mecha defenses and anti-warship weapons are up and running. Thus the UEDF troops on the Factory Satiliite are on their own. Yes Breetai’s fleet could resort to blowing a hole into the side with anti-ship weapons. Of course doing that would damage the Factory Satellite, which somewhat nullifies the reason for capturing it.

PC’s role
Once it is apparent as to what is going on, it is up to the PC’s and several other UEDF units (Skull Squadron perhaps?) within the Factory Satellite to secure key areas of the Factory satellite (bridge/CIC, auxiliary weapons/DC control centers, engineering etc) before the Zentraedi Warlord loads up the majority of his troops in a brand new Flagship, sets the Factory Satellites self destruct and leaves. The Warlord is leaving suicide troops behind to ensure the escape of the majority of his force. Thus the key areas are well guarded.

I killed a total of seven PC’s in this one, I killed off an entire squad of characters (five PC’s) whose players then made up another squad sent to reinforce the still active PC squads.

[Pouncer]

Era: Late Sentinels, about 6 months before the 3rd attempt to recover Earth.

A small team assigned to part of a collony patrol group hopes to do well enough to be upgraded to the Reclemation fleet.

While checking out reports of Invid running around they come across evidence of an active "anti-military government" movement using refit Zentradi mecha and new, never before seen mecha. Before they can get too deep into the investigation though they hear of a battle by two unknown forces that leads them to a disabled Masters' Mothership with its fold drive currently a dimensional rift. With a population of monsters having come out of the rift the team has to find a way to evacuate a large "civillian" population aboard the ship before the monsters (Brodkill from Rifts) can kill everybody in sight.

-POUNCER

Interesting idea. I personally prefer to use native threats (keep in mind I like creating or converting monsters/races for native threats), but this is kinda cool for a complete change of pace.

I have so much stuff that I'm big on "borrowing" compatable critters when I don't have time to build and test properly. I could have simply turned the Brodkill into "stock aliens" but I also wanted to introduce a former SAMAS tropper and a Kitani as NPCs with their own agendas durring the adventure.

-POUNCER

[MikelAmroni]

Here are some scenarios that I actually ran…and still running further adventures in my Macross era PBP game that has been running for just over 3 years.

Thanks for adding those. Man you managed quite a body count

A couple of those should have been obvious, but I never caught them before. Awesome!

Interesting idea. I personally prefer to use native threats (keep in mind I like creating or converting monsters/races for native threats), but this is kinda cool for a complete change of pace.

I have so much stuff that I'm big on "borrowing" compatable critters when I don't have time to build and test properly. I could have simply turned the Brodkill into "stock aliens" but I also wanted to introduce a former SAMAS tropper and a Kitani as NPCs with their own agendas durring the adventure.
-POUNCER

Fair enough, interesting stuff. At some point I want to run a mechanoid ship that the PCs in a escort cruiser come across and have to fight off while they wait for reinforcements. So I understand not limiting yourself to Robotech only threats. Especially when the stats are done for you!

[Pouncer]

Interesting idea. I personally prefer to use native threats (keep in mind I like creating or converting monsters/races for native threats), but this is kinda cool for a complete change of pace.

I have so much stuff that I'm big on "borrowing" compatable critters when I don't have time to build and test properly. I could have simply turned the Brodkill into "stock aliens" but I also wanted to introduce a former SAMAS tropper and a Kitani as NPCs with their own agendas durring the adventure.
-POUNCER

Fair enough, interesting stuff. At some point I want to run a mechanoid ship that the PCs in a escort cruiser come across and have to fight off while they wait for reinforcements. So I understand not limiting yourself to Robotech only threats. Especially when the stats are done for you![/quote]

Exactly, it's an old GM's trick, take something and "redo/reuse" it in a new way for your players.
My group's had one encounter with a few Wasps that got pulled along when a scout ship folded out of a fight between the Mechanoids and the mysterious Marduk. Although it's just a teaser for the characters they'll eventually find out that the Marduk and the Mechanoids are in a war for control of the galaxy.

-POUNCER

[jedi078]

Thanks for adding those. Man you managed quite a body count

Not a problem, as for the body count, I don't pull any punches, likewise if my payers do something I hadn't thought of they usually get away with it.

A couple of those should have been obvious, but I never caught them before. Awesome!

Like what?

[MikelAmroni]

A couple of those should have been obvious, but I never caught them before. Awesome!

Like what?

Well Scenario 2 for one thing, and the idea of interdicting the debris field, even though I remember it being mentioned, was one I never thought to capitalize on. I got caught up in the whole Zentraedi Control Zone storyline.

Got any more you wouldn't mind sharing, used or not? My goal is to be able to point new GMs at this thread for some ideas they can mine and use. And if an experienced GM gets to looking and says "hey, why didn't I think of that?" and uses it, even better. Right now all my players want to play is DnD and Buffy, though another GM is running Shadowrun (yay!).

[Kurseteller]

I did a game where a combine EEF Task Force made up SC and Macross Vets ( An Ikaguchi, a Tristar, a Thuverl Salan, 2 scouts, and 3 Garfiche with a mecha complementof 300 Mecha[ all styles, Races, and Generations] a Cyclone Bat and an SC Regiment. All ships where damaged and at Skeleton Crew) got misjumped into the Macross II setting. Hilarity essued when these bunch of hardened fighters from the "Old School" got integreated in the EDF.

"You must keep all your weapons in your Ships when going into public."

"Sure, sure we will keep all Energy weapons on ship " Good thing Weasels are so small and concealable as well as Vibrobaldes.........