Running a low level street scum campaign

+
Nylon holdall's FTW!

well, the thing is if you walk around with a bag that's 4 feet long, people will figure it out what you've got in there sooner or later.
although i must admit in a higher power level game to stuffing this bag with an AKMS, 4 75 round drums of API, and a bunch of white phosphorous grenades... but that's not exactly a gutter loadout.

 
Honestly, oe of the better street level games I ran had almost no guns... most fights were had to hand and melee.

The game ended up feeling more like The Warriors than anything else.
 
Start them at a young age with little or no money. A change of clothes. Make them scrounge up their first weapons.

Come up with a way to get them all together. Were they just booted from juvie? Were they just relocated to the area and now they need new friends and or a new gang? The classic they are all in jail.
 
Mmm. A low-guns game. That would be cool.

I really like it when combat in Cpunk is rare. The PCs seem to take longer to get blase about it and every second of the fight is really intense.

With knives and hands it would be even better.


Ought to write up a tunnel rat themed scenario. Hope you remembered low-light vision!
 
Mmm. A low-guns game. That would be cool.

I really like it when combat in Cpunk is rare. The PCs seem to take longer to get blase about it and every second of the fight is really intense.

With knives and hands it would be even better.


Ought to write up a tunnel rat themed scenario. Hope you remembered low-light vision!

Doug Murray and Mike Golden once did a comic about a Tunnel rat in the Marvel mag Savage Tales (Vol 2), (the recurring segment they worked on, 5th To The 1st, would later become The 'Nam comic). It was really really well done, and re-appeared in the 'Nam later as a back up story to another Tunnel Rat peace where you got to see the character in a less depressing light.


Though short lived, vol 2 of Savage Worlds kicked major ass. my favorite story arcs were unsurprisingly Blood and Gutz, and another about a bounty hunter whose name escapes me atm, both segments were set in a near future setting, kinda post apoc, kinda just urban sprawl gone nuts...

Oh and they had bloody brilliant Joe Jusko covers as well...
 
Woah! Sexploitation! How amazingly un-Marvel!

Joe Jusko, so great.



I remember reading a summary of why When Gravity Fails was so good. Without spoilers, it ends on what should be a bunch of great things from an RPG perspective - levelled up, waaay better gear, new contracts, lots of money, fame.

And yet Marid is screeewwed. It's still a street-level setting and story and his street-level world means that much of the new powerz come with a high price.

In that sense, I wonder if a well-written or run campaign could remain street scum no matter what happened, just because of how the players saw the world and acted and how it reacted to them?
 
How dirty do you want this game to be?
If I was going to run a street game here would be some of my thoughts:

- Characters are a very small street gang fighting for territory. Pretty much they are small fish in a big pond.
- Special abilities no higher than 4 at start.
- Skills higher than 6 at start.
- Give players 20 points for pickup skills regardless of INT or REF.
- Make each character have one firearm skill and one martial art.
- No weapons above Unreliable at start, they can spend money to raise it like on SoF2 or find ways for better weapons.
- Give them a fixer to fence to if they don't have one in the group already.
-Minimal Cybeware at the start. Allow them to purchase low grade cybernetics if they wish.
- Allow Combat Drugs to boost stats drop the price but add side effects.

Another idea is give all the characters half the streetgang rank (like they switched to another role). This give the impression that they all lived on the streets but want to become something greater then give them chose their role. This gives them a connection to each other but still allows them individuality.
 
The starting money is also supposed to also be used for living expenses; rent, car, food, etc. So I use the standard 20% rule. Take the starting money per month take 80% for living expenses which only leaves 20% for gear.

The players have to spend wisely and any lost gear that's replaced bites into that 20%. This keeps the players humble.
 
Top Bottom