Great White Games/Pinnacle Entertainment Group

Kodyax · Seasoned Joined: 29 Sep 2010 Posts: 496

I have this idea in my convoluted head about making an underwater campaign. However, I'm not sure how I would run it. By this I mean what books are out there for Savage Worlds that deal with submarines and sea monsters?

I am getting a hurricane of ideas with undersea cities, submarine battles, hostile alien forces and more supernatural threats. I can think of a few arcane ways of doing things. Like tapping weird science to make truly advanced SCUBA suits and blasters that function just as well underwater as they do in a city or surface. Or am I over thinking all of this and should just play it by ear?

SeeleyOne · Seasoned Joined: 29 Sep 2010 Posts: 229

I am not helpful at this point as I cannot think of any underwater settings. I can think of a few ON the water, but they would not necessarily help.

One thing that MIGHT help is this:

I have been thinking about tossing the Swimming skill, and instead making it a default of swimming pace of 3. An edge or +2 racial ability would make it 6. As a minor hindrance the swimming pace is 1, and a major hindrance there is no swimming.

The rationale is that (1) skill points are "wasted" on a swim skill, (2) nobody gets skills to walk, (3) I have yet to see any actual need to make a Swimming skill check. It is possible that I have just skipped that part and forgotten about it.

The real issue about swimming is enduramce. When hiking you can stop and take a rest. That is when people might drown while swimming, when they are just too tired to keep going. If you can breathe the water, though, that isn't such a concern (until a bigger fish eats you).
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ValhallaGH · Legendary Joined: 25 Apr 2010 Posts: 4564

Kodyax · Seasoned Joined: 29 Sep 2010 Posts: 496

Due to how it's set up, I am thinking of using Agents of Oblivion as my base and tweaking a few things from there. It will be humans and human-animal hybrids in submarines. I will be using their arcane rules but only allow psychics in the game. Environmental Protection is almost mandatory. In fact I am thinking of having characters take the Heroic or Outsider flaw for their characters, which will not count against the normal limits, and in exchange they get Arcane Training (Psychic), a d4 in Channeling and Knowledge (Paranormal) and the powers Environmental Protection and Bolt I for free.

Kodyax · Seasoned Joined: 29 Sep 2010 Posts: 496

Overall Tech and handling combat are two areas I'm still thinking about, honestly. A part of me wants this to be near future, like a slightly nicer version of your standard cyberpunk. Among other inspirations I have in my head for this are Marine Boy, Seaquest DSV and Tiger Sharks.

warrenss2 · Posted: Sat Nov 03, 2012 4:41 pm Post subject:

AQUAZONE might help to inspire. But they are based on the free FULL THRUST and MORE THRUST game.

Still... you might find it useful.
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Kodyax · Seasoned Joined: 29 Sep 2010 Posts: 496

Very useful, the imagery is interesting to say the least.

ogbendog · Heroic Joined: 29 Jul 2004 Posts: 1950

Or Depths of Despair

http://index.rpg.net/display-entry.phtml?mainid=11934

warrenss2 · Posted: Tue Nov 06, 2012 2:50 pm Post subject:

Modernistic sub warfare is very interesting and intense. I recommend still having torpedoes for the main weapon.

The Mark 48 torpedoes Leave the tube and accelerate to 40kts. They trail a thin wirre that allows the controlling submarine to alter it's course until "activation" point. At this point the torp accelerates up to 60kts, snaps the wire, and starts actively "pinging" to locate it's target. 60kts is faster than the fastest sub in the world, the Russian Alpha class - goes up to 42kts. Subs have a hard time detecting a 40kts torp, but a 60kts pinging torp... EVERYONE knows it's there. (unless it's in your baffles - the narrow cone of turbulence behind the prop)

Possible defenses - Launch a decoy that attracts the torp. Or accelerate to flank speed, do a sharp turn. This creates a "knuckle" of water turbulence that the trop might get distracted by. Either way the torp, having missed it's target, will circle (either right or left - depends on what it was programmed to do) trying to reacquire a target... and it's not picky... It goes after the first thing it detects. Even if it's the vessel that launched it in the first place.

I'd also recommend still using sonar (both passive and active).

In the future everything would just be faster. Faster subs and torpedoes. Different levels of stealth and various torpedo warheads would be cool too. An electromagnetic pulse torp to fry the enemies electronics? Something that would scramble sonar? A torp with a nuclear warhead? etc...

You might want to watch Hunt for Red October and various other sub flicks... maybe the SeaQuest TV show?. Good books to read (off the top of my head) Hunt for Red October & SSN - both by Tom Clancy.

Possible sea monsters:
Mega Squid/Octopus
Megalodon
Honest-to-Gawd Sea Serpent #1eek1

Various other Prehistoric Sea Critters
Mutated modern ones too.
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#gunbattle

Sadric · Heroic Joined: 10 Jul 2003 Posts: 1003

There was a computer came in a underwater setting, the surface was wasted by a atomic war, only in the deep sea where some surviving citys.
In German it was called "schleíchfahrt". Was the english name Aquanox?
It was really cool, like wingcomander with subs.

VonDan · Legendary Joined: 08 Jul 2008 Posts: 3306

Lord Karick · Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2012 4:48 am Post subject:

SeeleyOne · Seasoned Joined: 29 Sep 2010 Posts: 229

Aquanox and Aquanox 2 are at GOG.com

Aquanox

Aquanox 2
_________________
Sorry for type-os. I am freaking blind in one eye and completely blind in the other.

To be evil is to live backwards

gutrot · Novice Joined: 21 Aug 2009 Posts: 16

I don't know if this will help, but there is a book called dark gift by kat falls.
It's a story about people who have taken up residence under the ocean, and there is still above water action too. It might give you some ideas for flavor.

Kodyax · Seasoned Joined: 29 Sep 2010 Posts: 496

A lot of great suggestions here, I thank you all.

Snate56 · Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2012 7:43 pm Post subject:

I had an old pc game too, wasn't Aquanox though, that had you in a future war using fighter subs.
One model was very similar to the flying sub from Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.

SteveN
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SeeleyOne · Seasoned Joined: 29 Sep 2010 Posts: 229

There was one that was kind of like Star Craft but with submarines instead. There were three different factions.
_________________
Sorry for type-os. I am freaking blind in one eye and completely blind in the other.

To be evil is to live backwards

Count Zero · Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2012 10:36 pm Post subject:

Blue Planet?

http://www.rpgnow.com/product/78899/Blue-Planet-v2-Player%27s-Guide
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