Everything I see in the world gets run through my mutative creativity mill and gets used as fodder. As such, I cannot help but find ways to use COVID-19 and the web of related thoughts in my gaming world/sessions. Below is a link to something I've called the "Corvixix Parasite", a sort of jungle fungus that drives its victims mad, spreads on the wind, and turns its victims into crowbait. Which is surprisingly similar to the way fear and ignorance seem to be sweeping across the world, turning normal people into toilet-paper hoarders haha.
Check the link and hopefully you find it interesting/useful.
https://www.godspargames.com/godspargames/corvixix
How are YOU using the current pandemic in your games and in your worldbuilding and storytelling?
Stay safe, folks!
"Corona Virus" is such a cool, cyberpunk or dystopian sounding name for a pandemic.
Take it to the extreme, imagine if this virus doesn't go away-ever. It becomes a part of everyday life. And make it deadlier and nastier. What would society be like if every single interaction with another person could result in catching a fatal disease? Would we retreat into isolationism and devolve into primitive tribes or lone homesteads? Or would we have some dystopian/ultra-authoritarian society where we continue to be an advanced society but people have to wear all kinds of protective clothing/equipment and take extra precautions all the time and follow all kinds of enforced rules to prevent the spread? Would borders be super tightly controlled, checkpoints at national, state, city, even neighborhood borders? What customs would evolve from this state (we are already seeing handshakes being replaced by other forms of greeting)? Some method of personally enforcing social distancing (proximity alarms)?
And what kind of adventures would PCs go on? Modern day caravan guards, protecting much needed supplies going into the cities? Keeping unknown individuals out of certain areas? Hunting down carriers before they become contagious?
A lot to think about.
Now I want to make this game.
I don't need the events of the day infiltrating my gaming time, thanks.
Hell yes. In this cyberpunk universe what would the "corona" refer to? Perhaps the light that one sees as they die from it? Or perhaps "corona" refers to the day the contagion came, riding the winds of a solar flare that would have burnt us to a cinder if the moon hadn't absorbed and deflected the brunt of it? Perhaps the solar flare was spawned by some sort of long-adrift alien weapon from an ancient, forgotten space battle that infinite unlikelihood had brought to our solar system and dumped into our sun?
Ooh, I like that.
I imagine that if the world survived it would be like a Judge Dredd thing, but perhaps with a touch of the Spanish Inquisition or the Harlem Witch Hunts. Paranoia, terror, corruption in more than biological mediums.
Yeah, that would be super interesting to see the long term effects of a mandatory 6ft bubble. Masks and goggles and suits and such, but how would you show affection to your kinsmen? How would you show affection to your lover?
Im sure one of the careers the players would have to choose from would something like a "purgator". Im imagining the post-apocalyptic trash-scifi version of dudes on horseback setting out to burn contaminated zones. Ruthless mercenaries. Men that see the ghosts of their dead children dancing in the flames of another homestead they've set to the torch.
The way I see it, everything is grist for the mill. But I totally respect avoiding the topic entirely.
Can I ask if the pandemic has influenced your gaming time in any way?
Quote from: GnomeWorks;1125289I don't need the events of the day infiltrating my gaming time, thanks.
X2
Someday I'll probably use it as inspiration for a really tense adventure. After time has taken the edge off.
I wouldn't use the Wuhan Virus exactly in a game, but I've done RPGs with plagues before (magical, techno, natural) and to make them dangerous, they gotta be way more impressive than the sniffles. If its a real world-ish setting or hard-ish scifi, I go with a badass version of Hanta or Ebola. If its fantasy setting (or horror or space fantasy), then I like mutating viruses. Though the "grey goo" concept of nano-tech gone berserk would be pretty scary. That's something I'd use in a post-apoc setting.
My upcoming cyberpunk does address bio-weapons and plague issues, but I doubt I will be playtesting those scenarios out any time soon. After this nonsense passes, most gamers are going to want to escape far from it.
In fact, I wonder if our board game club will even play Pandemic for the next year or two!
I initially started getting a sort of RIFTS vibe and started thinking about it from a gaming standpoint.
Then it started to hit too close to home- relatives of my wife, friends. And then I got this thought/question in my head "would a RPG about Cancer be fun/cool to play?" What about AIDS? or SARS?"
Too close to reality for me.
It's a gold mine for watching the ineptitude of self-serving authorities failing to deal with it effectively. This is the story of how the zombie apocalypse gets out of control. You get to see the antics of folks who just want to watch the world burn, or folks who are too dumb to think critically about what they are told through whatever channels they get their news from.
If I ever have occasion to do a zombie apocalypse RPG all I have to do is imitate life.
Quote from: Spinachcat;1125302I wouldn't use the Wuhan Virus exactly in a game, but I've done RPGs with plagues before (magical, techno, natural) and to make them dangerous, they gotta be way more impressive than the sniffles.
Yeah, COVID-19 or something similar would be a bit pedestrian for an RPG setting.
I've actually started Pandemic for the first time, thanks to the Chinese governments slippery fingers!
Quote from: JeffB;1125307Then it started to hit too close to home- relatives of my wife, friends. And then I got this thought/question in my head "would a RPG about Cancer be fun/cool to play?" What about AIDS? or SARS?"
Too close to reality for me.
I would certainly never put COVID-19 in an actual gaming session. Same for AIDS or cancer. But the paranoia of a pandemic land, the corruption in its dispersal/handling, those are all things that are rich storytelling elements.
Quote from: Nobby-W;1125310If I ever have occasion to do a zombie apocalypse RPG all I have to do is imitate life.
So true! As a man that's known to shop at Walmart from time to time, you could call the game, "Walmart Shopping Simulator".
I find it quite disturbing to see how, despite the stone-age being many thousands of years in our past, humans are still just stupid, angry primates.
What??
What The F?
No one can have 'game sessions' like normal because of social distancing and shelter in place protocols.
- Ed C.
Quote from: Godspar Games;1125313I would certainly never put COVID-19 in an actual gaming session. Same for AIDS or cancer. But the paranoia of a pandemic land, the corruption in its dispersal/handling, those are all things that are rich storytelling elements.
Just "typing out loud", general commentary and explaining how it started to give me some game ideas (per my RIFTS example- the overfueling of ley lines, due to high death rate in such a short span of time).
After it became a reality for my wife's family (and her, She's an RN)- the thought of it from a gaming standpoint made me feel awful
Not insinuating/accusing/judging others :thumbsup:
My plot exposition NPC Sheila Heidmarch in Saturday's Runelords game had flu.
Quote from: Godspar Games;1125293The way I see it, everything is grist for the mill. But I totally respect avoiding the topic entirely.
I agree that everything is grist for the mill, but I prefer to let the mill grind it into unrecognizability and mix all the things together before using them. So, while it's certainly likely that something (directly or indirectly) covid-inspired will make it into one of my games someday, it won't happen until months or years from now and it will not be wearing a flashing neon "Hey! Look! I'm the coronavirus!" sign. It might look like I'm avoiding the topic entirely, but the truth is more just that I prefer my gaming world to be distinct from the real world. (I don't do holiday-themed games either, or at least not based on the real-world date. If I'm running a modern-day campaign, then Christmas will happen in-game, but it will happen when the in-game calendar says December 25, not when the real-world calendar does.)
Quote from: Koltar;1125316No one can have 'game sessions' like normal because of social distancing and shelter in place protocols.
Although it's not my preference, a lot of people play RPGs mainly or exclusively online these days. I would expect those games to continue on as normal with little or no effect from social distancing measures.
Yeah, I'd pass for now. Too close for comfort. Maybe in a year or two I might run something where 'the coronavirus' causes a 'corona' of light to appear around your pupils as you either gain superpowers or spontaneously combust.
Right now I'm just playing 7 Days To Die and being thankful there's no zombies.
I have 4 games going, which is 2 more than before moving online! Went with Roll20.
In one of my longest-running campaigns, the countries of the world were still recovering from a magical bioweapon apocalypse 2,000 years ago, including plagues, bioengineered creatures, hostile plants, fungi, and so on. And certain parties were starting to mess around with recently unearthed tech.
Quote from: Godspar Games;1125271Everything I see in the world gets run through my mutative creativity mill and gets used as fodder. As such, I cannot help but find ways to use COVID-19 and the web of related thoughts in my gaming world/sessions. Below is a link to something I've called the "Corvixix Parasite", a sort of jungle fungus that drives its victims mad, spreads on the wind, and turns its victims into crowbait. Which is surprisingly similar to the way fear and ignorance seem to be sweeping across the world, turning normal people into toilet-paper hoarders haha.
Check the link and hopefully you find it interesting/useful.
https://www.godspargames.com/godspargames/corvixix
How are YOU using the current pandemic in your games and in your worldbuilding and storytelling?
Stay safe, folks!
Well, I certainly wouldn't use a global pandemic to help advertise my own gaming products.....
Quote from: jeff37923;1125414Well, I certainly wouldn't use a global pandemic to help advertise my own gaming products.....
Hey man, I appreciate the thought, and I would parrot it along with you but for a few things
1) I work in healthcare and spend my days driving around town treating people in their homes. As an "essential service" I dont get to hide out all day in the safety of my home. To be fair, I'm happy that I get to do what I do and continue to help, but be that as it may, my experience is different than yours and I find creative outlets to be a far healthier and more productive form of therapy than booze.
2) I'm not selling any products. I dont SELL anything. In fact if youd clicked through to the post you'd have seen that sure, theres some pandemic-centric homebrew content there, but I've also included a huge chunk of some of the perspective I've gained from my field work over the past month.
Again, if I had come up with a COVID-19 based module and was using it to drive traffic to a site where I sell things, I would agree: thats in poor taste and pretty scummy.
This is more of a pressure relief valve post, and a thread for other people to come and share how they're using RPGs/storytelling/worldbuilding as a coping mechanism.
Hopefully this clears some of the misunderstanding up.
Anyhow, stay healthy, friend.
Quote from: Godspar Games;1125444Hopefully this clears some of the misunderstanding up.
I've found that the morbid humor commonly seen among healthcare workers as a coping mechanism is often unappreciated among others. Reading the room is key. When much of the room is still worried and uncertain about what is going on, I tend to keep it to myself.
Quote from: Godspar Games;1125444Hey man, I appreciate the thought, and I would parrot it along with you but for a few things
1) I work in healthcare and spend my days driving around town treating people in their homes. As an "essential service" I dont get to hide out all day in the safety of my home. To be fair, I'm happy that I get to do what I do and continue to help, but be that as it may, my experience is different than yours and I find creative outlets to be a far healthier and more productive form of therapy than booze.
2) I'm not selling any products. I dont SELL anything. In fact if youd clicked through to the post you'd have seen that sure, theres some pandemic-centric homebrew content there, but I've also included a huge chunk of some of the perspective I've gained from my field work over the past month.
Again, if I had come up with a COVID-19 based module and was using it to drive traffic to a site where I sell things, I would agree: thats in poor taste and pretty scummy.
This is more of a pressure relief valve post, and a thread for other people to come and share how they're using RPGs/storytelling/worldbuilding as a coping mechanism.
Hopefully this clears some of the misunderstanding up.
Anyhow, stay healthy, friend.
Good response. I apologize for my snark.
I haven't read the thread, but as I'm somewhat worried about all this, I imagine "it's too soon". Many of us (those scared, worried, etc.) will likely need some time to appreciate the thought.
Quote from: Koltar;1125316What??
What The F?
No one can have 'game sessions' like normal because of social distancing and shelter in place protocols.
- Ed C.
Yes
Yes we can
It is called RollD20 and Discord or Skype.
Sometimes I wonder if you just come here to stir shit up sometimes. Of course not everyone wants to do online gaming yet with what we have in terms of Internet tools for online rpgs. To claim no one can game during the pandemic is talking out of ones ass.
Quote from: HappyDaze;1125459I've found that the morbid humor commonly seen among healthcare workers as a coping mechanism is often unappreciated among others. Reading the room is key. When much of the room is still worried and uncertain about what is going on, I tend to keep it to myself.
This. I have married two RNs in my life. Eventually I got into Healthcare on the Admin side for about 15 years, then Clinical side (CNA for several years working with Alzheimers patients) I hear a lot of this morbid humor/coping. It took me a long time to get used to it. When my wife and her RN friends are around I have to try to ignore my own sensitivities and remind myself "read the room" as you say.
Quote from: trechriron;1125499I haven't read the thread, but as I'm somewhat worried about all this, I imagine "it's too soon". Many of us (those scared, worried, etc.) will likely need some time to appreciate the thought.
Yeah man, in the name of "read the room" and "its too soon" I'm thinking I'm going to have to redirect my blog posts for the time being. I was working on a "
Book of Wretchedness" as it were, just a shitload of diseases and poisons and parasites and plagues.
Taking a page out of Burt Bacharach's book, maybe I should work on something less horrible and pandemical?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSBrn6wTZSA (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSBrn6wTZSA)
Also, I gotta say, I'm pleasantly surprised at how civil people are here, especially in the current world. Glad people arent acting like TP hoarders here, haha
Quote from: Godspar Games;1125524Yeah man, in the name of "read the room" and "its too soon" I'm thinking I'm going to have to redirect my blog posts for the time being. I was working on a "Book of Wretchedness" as it were, just a shitload of diseases and poisons and parasites and plagues.
Taking a page out of Burt Bacharach's book, maybe I should work on something less horrible and pandemical?
Nah, don't censor yourself. Don't keep working on it right now if you don't want to, but don't redirect/erase anything.
Quote from: Godspar Games;1125524Also, I gotta say, I'm pleasantly surprised at how civil people are here, especially in the current world. Glad people arent acting like TP hoarders here, haha
This place is one of my favorite things on the internet. I think it's telling that there are more nuanced and enlightening discussions on this elf game site with a hard line on free speech than in places dedicated to some of these less elf-game-y topics.
Quote from: Godspar Games;1125524Yeah man, in the name of "read the room" and "its too soon" I'm thinking I'm going to have to redirect my blog posts for the time being. I was working on a "Book of Wretchedness" as it were, just a shitload of diseases and poisons and parasites and plagues.
Taking a page out of Burt Bacharach's book, maybe I should work on something less horrible and pandemical?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSBrn6wTZSA (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSBrn6wTZSA)
Also, I gotta say, I'm pleasantly surprised at how civil people are here, especially in the current world. Glad people arent acting like TP hoarders here, haha
If looking for wretchedness, may I direct your attention to the "jigger" or Chigoe Flea (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tungiasis). I threw this at a Traveller game group who decided they wanted to run barefoot and go skinny dipping on a newly found Earthlike world before surveying the ecology.
Quote from: Godspar Games;1125524Glad people arent acting like TP hoarders here, haha
To the contrary, I have the complete set of FFG's Star Wars books. Plenty to wipe my ass for a good long while.
Quote from: jeff37923;1125548If looking for wretchedness, may I direct your attention to the "jigger" or Chigoe Flea (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tungiasis). I threw this at a Traveller game group who decided they wanted to run barefoot and go skinny dipping on a newly found Earthlike world before surveying the ecology.
Hell yes, man! I've actually had chiggers (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trombiculidae) down on my work bench as one of my initial planned entries but havent gotten around to it yet. Today may be the day!
Quote from: HappyDaze;1125554To the contrary, I have the complete set of FFG's Star Wars books. Plenty to wipe my ass for a good long while.
Are they not good?? I had heard some really good things about them and was considering picking one up. I play Saga, which is full of the same sort of ludicrously intricate levelling rituals as any Wizards of the Coast D&D title, but I think West End Games pretty much nail't it with D6.
Quote from: Godspar Games;1125634Are they not good?? I had heard some really good things about them and was considering picking one up. I play Saga, which is full of the same sort of ludicrously intricate levelling rituals as any Wizards of the Coast D&D title, but I think West End Games pretty much nail't it with D6.
I think they are quite good,
from a certain point of view. These days, I have a hard time holding to that point of view. Over time, the narrative hand-waving side of the game kept getting stronger and the rules kept getting weaker despite more rules subsytems being introduced in almost every product. It became clear that the writers/designers didn't really play the game the way I did, and I got an even larger disconnect when I witnessed that they outright dismissed playtest feedback that ran contrary to their whims (they just wanted playtesters to praise their stuff even when it was crap and nothing got fixed).
Quote from: HappyDaze;1125659...when I witnessed that they outright dismissed playtest feedback that ran contrary to their whims (they just wanted playtesters to praise their stuff even when it was crap and nothing got fixed).
THAT shit drives me bananas. You seem the same kind of shit coming out of the comic book industry and even out of the movie industry. Anytime anyone tries to offer useful criticism (Rey is a boring Mary Sue, do Dark Empire instead, Snowflake and Safespace are awful, etc.) it seems like the people handling the intellectual property flip out and start slinging poo. Which is a shame, especially when you have a widely loved universe like Star Wars.
This whole pandemic gave me the idea of a D&D zombie one-shot or something plague related. I just need to figure out what it'll be.
Quote from: Godspar Games;1125720THAT shit drives me bananas. You seem the same kind of shit coming out of the comic book industry and even out of the movie industry. Anytime anyone tries to offer useful criticism (Rey is a boring Mary Sue, do Dark Empire instead, Snowflake and Safespace are awful, etc.) it seems like the people handling the intellectual property flip out and start slinging poo. Which is a shame, especially when you have a widely loved universe like Star Wars.
Preach it!
Quote from: mAcular Chaotic;1125742This whole pandemic gave me the idea of a D&D zombie one-shot or something plague related. I just need to figure out what it'll be.
I'm liking more and more the notion of zombies in RPG settings being the result of biological warfare instead of necromancy. Necromancy/magic seems like such a handwave compared to the political chaos and horrors of one nation unleashing horrific biological doom upon another.
That's the story I went with with the Corvixix parasite from the original post. One shitty group of humans finding an organism and using it against another shitty group of humans.
Ah, its a tale as old as time itself.
Quote from: JeffB;1125805Preach it!
WELL YOU SEE, THE PROBLEM IS...
Many of the people in charge of our most beloved common fantasy worlds are in charge not because of their love/passion for the world but for their cynicism and skills with business/marketing. As a dude that works in medicine, let me tell you that this is the same problem with modern medicine. Likely a similar sort of problem with politics.
It just turns everything into poo.
Quote from: Godspar Games;1125807 WELL YOU SEE, THE PROBLEM IS...
Many of the people in charge of our most beloved common fantasy worlds are in charge not because of their love/passion for the world but for their cynicism and skills with business/marketing. As a dude that works in medicine, let me tell you that this is the same problem with modern medicine. Likely a similar sort of problem with politics.
It just turns everything into poo.
I CAN SEE
I CAN SEE
:eek:
Quote from: Godspar Games;1125806I'm liking more and more the notion of zombies in RPG settings being the result of biological warfare instead of necromancy. Necromancy/magic seems like such a handwave compared to the political chaos and horrors of one nation unleashing horrific biological doom upon another.
That's the story I went with with the Corvixix parasite from the original post. One shitty group of humans finding an organism and using it against another shitty group of humans.
Ah, its a tale as old as time itself.
Ever read John Ringo's Black Tide series? That was pretty much 'asshole engineers disease that turns people into rabid lunatics to save the planet'.
Quote from: Ghostmaker;1125844Ever read John Ringo's Black Tide series? That was pretty much 'asshole engineers disease that turns people into rabid lunatics to save the planet'.
Just added it to my Audible list. Thanks for the recommendation, man!
I wonder if the Flu Manchu is going to kill the zombie genre or re-invigorate it?
I saw the movie
Outbreak was trending on Netflix. So during a pandemic, people were excited to watch a pandemic. Makes me wonder how Walking Dead is doing with viewers now.
There's definitely drama to mine with the Invisible Enemy concept. My personal favorite is
Cabin Fever by Eli Roth, the director of Hostel.
If someone wanted to use the current China Virus situation in a game, I'd suggest checking out the #FilmYourHospital videos floating around the web. The concept of a global hoax, empty hospitals and a panicked populace seeing a totally different reality than on the TV sounds like a great jumping off point for Lovecraftian horror, ala
In the Mouth of Madness.
Quote from: Godspar Games;1125314I find it quite disturbing to see how, despite the stone-age being many thousands of years in our past, humans are still just stupid, angry primates.
"Modern" humans have allegedly been around about 300,000 years. And until the past few centuries, most humans lived pretty much like their stone age ancestors. Looking over the timeline of history, the veil of civilization is paper thin, at best.
Quote from: Mishihari;1125410In one of my longest-running campaigns, the countries of the world were still recovering from a magical bioweapon apocalypse 2,000 years ago, including plagues, bioengineered creatures, hostile plants, fungi, and so on. And certain parties were starting to mess around with recently unearthed tech.
THAT sounds like an awesome setting. Consider publishing it.
I really wouldn't want to make or run a Coronavirus-based adventure.
I think that, in answer to another question, this will probably end up making any pandemic-based fiction/media less popular, including zombie shows/movies.
Quote from: RPGPundit;1126588I really wouldn't want to make or run a Coronavirus-based adventure.
I think that, in answer to another question, this will probably end up making any pandemic-based fiction/media less popular, including zombie shows/movies.
This is probably true, and I say this as a fan of the zombie genre. However, it has prompted me to re-read my favorite Poe short story, The Masque of the Red Death, but I'm not the average person. I'm pretty messed up if anything.
I also think the virus will also eventually take the wind out of the sails of SJW culture. Identity Politics will be less of a concern for most people with an actual crisis on our hands.
Quote from: RPGPundit;1126588.....end up making any pandemic-based fiction/media less popular, including zombie shows/movies.
To me, that would be a great outcome of all of this. I am so sick of 'zombie' stories in movies and on TV....and gaming too.
-Ed C.
Quote from: Doc Sammy;1126731This is probably true, and I say this as a fan of the zombie genre. However, it has prompted me to re-read my favorite Poe short story, The Masque of the Red Death, but I'm not the average person. I'm pretty messed up if anything.
I also think the virus will also eventually take the wind out of the sails of SJW culture. Identity Politics will be less of a concern for most people with an actual crisis on our hands.
Its the conservatives and Trump supporters who were in denial and well I don't know who you call an SJW but everyone else was telling conservatives they they were in denial.
In Australia and the US conservative governments went all socialist and started spending up... things they previously criticised moderates and centrists for doing.
I think its a good time to run a plague themed game, but probably not a caronavirus one.
Quote from: Nerag;1126770Its the conservatives and Trump supporters who were in denial and well I don't know who you call an SJW but everyone else was telling conservatives they they were in denial.
In Australia and the US conservative governments went all socialist and started spending up... things they previously criticised moderates and centrists for doing.
I think its a good time to run a plague themed game, but probably not a caronavirus one.
Agreed, I do think there's potential in plague-themed stories, but the plague has to be an allegorical one as opposed to directly including the Coronavirus.
Also, when I talk about the virus crashing SJW culture in the long run, I'm more referring to identity politics and the "culture war" of the last ten years or so. The economic Left vs. Right debate will still be very much a thing post-virus.
SJWS will keep screeching, but people aren't listening anymore and I doubt their influence will fully recover.
Masque of Red Death is an awesome short story. The Poe Museum has a live reading video and the text online.
https://www.poemuseum.org/the-masque-of-the-red-death
Quote from: Koltar;1126756I am so sick of 'zombie' stories in movies and on TV....and gaming too.
I'm a huge fan of the zombie genre and I'm totally burnt out. Like Vampires, Zeds are cheap monsters to film and instantly identifiable by the audience which is why we see them overused in cycles.
Quote from: RPGPundit;1126588I really wouldn't want to make or run a Coronavirus-based adventure.
Hey man! Certainly not. My initial post was nearly three weeks ago, and things have devolved CONSIDERABLY since then. Last mission was a basic tavern start for noobs, nothing pandemicey about it.
At this point I'm more curious how the pandemic is seeping through the cracks into peoples' campaigns.
But as a world-builder, I'm sure that this new sense of confinement and paranoia, watching the world outside get progressive more alien, watching society behave in strange ways, is having SOME effect on what you're coming up with.
I wish there was a way to gather all of the campaigns people are playing and to analyze them. Are people setting their campaigns more outdoors than before? Are there more cave and sewer settings? More people flying through the sky? More scifi campaigns where people fly to huge outdoor brothels on the sides of neutronium mountains?
So many questions.
Quote from: Doc Sammy;1126731This is probably true, and I say this as a fan of the zombie genre. However, it has prompted me to re-read my favorite Poe short story, The Masque of the Red Death, but I'm not the average person. I'm pretty messed up if anything.
Such a good story. Nothing messed up about loving good art, however much it makes the gentry clutch their pearls and gasp!
Quote from: S'mon;1126778SJWS will keep screeching, but people aren't listening anymore and I doubt their influence will fully recover.
I would love it if the SJW's could get back to reality. Its been an interesting decade, and they've raised a few good questions. But at this point we're seeing that perhaps things were being taken for granted and perhaps people were staring at interesting trees while the forest around them caught fire.
GodDAMN you gotta lotta blogs, homie. Love that shit.
Quote from: Spinachcat;1127108I'm a huge fan of the zombie genre and I'm totally burnt out. Like Vampires, Zeds are cheap monsters to film and instantly identifiable by the audience which is why we see them overused in cycles.
Agreed: completely burnt out. Zombies are still a bit interesting to me though in that a zombie plague gives you a good way to feel morally justified with shooting your neighbor/friend/enemy/parents/priest/etc. in the face with a shotgun.
I've always half entertained the conspiracy theory that Hollywood loves pushing zombie fiction because it makes us all feel a little more like Barbara from 1990's Night of the Living Dead, shooting and clubbing farmers and former allies alike. I WoUlDn'T rUn It PaSt ThE iLlUmInAtI.
Quote from: Godspar Games;1125271How are YOU using the current pandemic in your games and in your worldbuilding and storytelling?
Those that survive the virus no longer age. After a few months, people begin to realize this.
Some of those that were not infected become resentful of their neighbors that are now immortal.
Quote from: Godspar Games;1127136GodDAMN you gotta lotta blogs, homie. Love that shit.
Cheers :D
I have way more than are in my sig - I do a blog for almost every campaign since 2011.
Quote from: Shawn Driscoll;1127140Those that survive the virus no longer age. After a few months, people begin to realize this.
Some of those that were not infected become resentful of their neighbors that are now immortal.
Thats pretty rad, Driscoll. Its kind of like a reversal of the book "Supernova Era" by Cixin Liu.
What does a plague look like in D&D?
Cure Disease is a 3rd level spell, so you need at least a 5th level Cleric and they can only heal one person per day and nothing stops them from getting reinfected. So, unless you have an army of clerics, they can't hold back a plague. And then there's the issue of who gets the cure? Does the god have any say in who the cleric heals? Or can they sell their spell to the highest bidder?
In many campaigns, plagues would come from Gods of Disease. Does the nature of a plague make the Disease God more powerful than its rivals?
Quote from: Spinachcat;1127495What does a plague look like in D&D?
Cure Disease is a 3rd level spell, so you need at least a 5th level Cleric and they can only heal one person per day and nothing stops them from getting reinfected. So, unless you have an army of clerics, they can't hold back a plague. And then there's the issue of who gets the cure? Does the god have any say in who the cleric heals? Or can they sell their spell to the highest bidder?
In 5e, paladins (of any Oath) can also Lay on Hands and cure one disease* per level per day. In this, they can outperform clerics and they have the added benefit of being immune to diseases themselves after 3rd level.
* For added fun, wait until your paladins want to cure such things as tooth decay and obesity with a touch.
Quote from: GnomeWorks;1125289I don't need the events of the day infiltrating my gaming time, thanks.
Yeah that's why I didn't run the postapocalyptic game I wanted to.
We're playing AD&D1e using the Pathfinder Kingmaker campaign as a base. When we got attacked by blood-sucking bats we called them corona bats, but that's been the full extent of it. Otherwise, the fact that a bunch of guys who live in the same city are playing by Google Hangouts is enough of a reminder. At least two of our kids are getting to play because of that, though.
I guess it would depend on how prevalent clerical magic is in your game world. Certainly in L&D, Clerics are rare enough, and rarely high-level enough, to make a real difference in stopping a plague.
Quote from: Kyle Aaron;1127576When we got attacked by blood-sucking bats we called them corona bats, but that's been the full extent of it.
I ended up having my players in a Star Wars Saga campaign end up on Bespin in a cloud city infected with "Penumbra Virus", which was more like projectile vomit of smoke-producing biowaste.
Speaking of the kiddos getting to play, I've found a few silver linings to this quarantine as well: my nephews and nieces have never been more excited to game once this ends.
Well, my lad's gamed before just with me, and occasionally on weekend one-offs. But our regular game was a weeknight in the city, 1900-2200, I'd get home at 2330. That's a bit much for a small lad whose normal bedtime is 2000; it was often a bit much for me, being woken by the kids at 0600. But now it's google hangouts, we can go to the end of the game session and he's straight off to bed, or even a bit before the end.
Quote from: Ghostmaker;1125844Ever read John Ringo's Black Tide series? That was pretty much 'asshole engineers disease that turns people into rabid lunatics to save the planet'.
I'm going to second this. Ringo's one of my favorite authors, and his Black Tide books are my favorite of the bunch. I discovered them just last year and have probably read the series a dozen times through already. And that's not something I commonly do.