Visit Rapture, has anyone ran this? Options

[Platinum]

With Bioshock 2 coming out, I was thinking of running a game down in an underwater arcology where something went really wrong.

Has anyone run a game like this? If you have, any tips that you would recommend?

Anyone have any NPC already developed?

[Dr.Rockso]

I'd suggest reading Arcology: Shutdown. While not underwater it gives you a good idea of the horror(and fun! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/devil.gif) ) one can have with an arcology. If you're feeling particularly nasty you can say that it's where Deus has been hidding since Crash 2.0 (IMG:style_emoticons/default/devil.gif)

[hahnsoo]

Proteus AG is a corporation that's practically BUILT for an underwater arcology horror run like this. If you can find a copy of Shockwaves/Schockwellen (sp?), you can get a lot of good Proteus AG adventure ideas with their massive and ubiquitous arkoblocks. Renraku Arcology: Shutdown is good for some inspiration, but for the underwater aspect, Proteus AG is your best bet. It helps that they heavily borrow tech from a lot of other corporations, so any number of corps can be partially to blame for an atrocity at the arkoblocks.

Shockwaves can be downloaded from the Shadowrun4 website here:
http://shadowrun4.com/resources/downloads/..._shockwaves.pdf

I'm not sure if they really intended to release that sourcebook in that manner. I've found it particularly enlightening, and an interesting sourcebook translation from across the pond (it was originally a German SR3 sourcebook).

[Method]

I've run two games with this premise. The first was many years ago, back before underwater archologies were actually introduced in the cannon. I had to come up with rules for subs, dive suits, equipment, all kinds of stuff. My players loved it, tho. More recently, I was running a PbP game here on the boards (Into / IC) using an updated version of the same plot, but that game seems to have died before the players actually made it to the archology.

At any rate, I have a lot of ideas (including background and NPCs) and a set of maps I've been working on that I might finish someday (here is a preview- a geo-thermal power plant separate from the larger archology). I'd be happy to share, if your interested. I could post things here in spoiler tags or share by PM (not that there's much hope for my game, but whatever...)

[Yogo Ted]

I recently had my eyes opened to a Cyberpunk 2020 product (gasp) about an underwater arcology prison called Under-Attica. That's my new concept and I'm stealing it and plan to run with it as soon as I can.

Edit: Awesome Map Method. Mind if I ask what you use to do the cartography?

[Method]

Welcome to Dumpshock.

Most of it is done in Photoshop. The map objects I get from various sources, including Floorplanner.com and RPGmapshare.com among others. Occasionally I use stock images for things like textures. I used to use Google Map images as a bases, but I've been moving away from that. You can see more HERE if you're interested.

[Yogo Ted]

Welcome to Dumpshock.

Most of it is done in Photoshop. The map objects I get from various sources, including Floorplanner.com and RPGmapshare.com among others. Occasionally I use stock images for things like textures. I used to use Google Map images as a bases, but I've been moving away from that. You can see more HERE if you're interested.

Thanks for the welcome. And those are some really awesome maps. I always have trouble making maps for any RPG so I like to hear how other people do it. I've mostly settled on just hashing stuff out in Paint, since that's the limit of my skills/budget.

[Platinum]

Thanks for the reference materials guys. It helps so much to be pointed to resources out there. I did know of Shutdown, and have flipped through it before. The mad AI thing I thought was a bit over the top. I know there are diving rules somewhere, I think in cyberpirates or something like that. Time to go flipping through books. I was just wondering if things slowed down or got complicated in underwater fights, etc.

Looks like we should start a new thread for maps.

[Method]

There are diving rules in Cyberpirates, Target:Wastelands and Arsenal (depending on which edition you are playing).

[ Spoiler ]

And I didn't use an AI (although a crazy hacker did dump the archology's security log making the local AR environment something less than friendly). I opted instead for a paranormal force that drove the habitat's crew and researchers insane...

[Tiny Deev]

I started designing a Bioshock Campaign yesterday actually. I thought that I would make Rapture be there since before the Awakening, and because theres no contact with the outer-world the have no real idea of magic and meta-humans. That all happened after they lost their mind.

Normal splicers would be mundanes.
Spider Splicers are Physical Adepts, thats how they do the crazy above-human stunt things they do.
Houdini Splicers would be mages. Their teleport would be a combination of Invisibility and some sort of ulta-speed thing. I'm working it out.

Big Daddies would be cybered trolls in diving suits, following a little girl for reasons unknown to even them.
Little Sisters, would be ghouls. They won't reap ADAM, but just eat the corpses. Little girls consuming fluids extracted by a needle, or little girls pulling off the face of a corpse and munching on it contently, I don't know which is more disturbing.

There'll be a hacker in Rapture, giving them directions. I'll call him Atlas. I'll try to give it the same twist as in Bioshock.