Author Topic: Surviving a Village Invasion  (Read 889 times)

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Offline foilfodder

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Surviving a Village Invasion
« on: February 25, 2020, 09:17:33 AM »
My gaming group is experienced but has never played H.A.R.P.  I would like to introduce them to the game system in a horror-movie style zombie invasion of their quaint fantasy-world village.

I expect a initialy brutal learning curve as HARP combat requires players to allocate to defense, something the others games we play do not feature. Also, HARP Zombies seem pretty brutal for a level 3 creature. Yes, DB is low, but they have a lot of hits, a mean right hook and decent BMR. I expect casualties among the players. Low level Fiends would be another option..

I think making Arms-only pregens of 3rd level. Combat-oriented characters from the village might be the sherriff, game-warden, maybe an retired solider turned rancher/farmer.  When "backup meat" is needed young teen characters (cuture ranks only, no profession) would come off the bench as original characters fall.

Anyone else tried something like this? Thoughts?

Offline Radimon

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Re: Surviving a Village Invasion
« Reply #1 on: February 25, 2020, 11:04:54 AM »
There's a reason Zombie Apocalypse movies usually have uncomfortably high body counts (pun intended). Most people in such movies aren't experienced combatants, and therefore, have trouble fighting off monsters that are higher level than they are. As they rack up kill counts, they eventually end up adding a level of fighter or three by the time the closing credits roll.

That said, starting a group of newbie adventurers with no mages or healers in a showdown with a horde of zombies is just going to drive your players away from HARP forever. You might want to have them cut their teeth on something simpler first. Also,  be sure to remind the players that they have Fate Points for those make-or-break life-or-death rolls. Speaking from personal experience from my own first time playing HARP: nothing kills a player's enthusiasm for a game faster than being one-shotted before they get to do anything.

Just as a suggestion for the setup: A kid is lost in the forest, so the PCs spend the day tracking down the kid, allowing them to overcome a few challenges first, along with fighting just one zombie (it was chasing after the kid all day, which is why he got lost). During the scene in town when they return victorious with the lost child in tow, have the sheriff mention that the zombie they fought that afternoon wasn't the first such sighting reported in recent weeks, and that they probably just solved several other problems simultaneously: missing pets and/or livestock, reports of an old couple that lived far outside of town who hadn't been seen or heard from in weeks, etc. The town celebrates the players' heroism with a party.

But after the party hits full swing, the rest of the zombies show up, drawn by the noise and the bonfire in the town square. Now the players are faced with a choice between proving themselves again by helping fight off the zombie horde, or helping the rest of the townsfolk evacuate. And in the aftermath of this debacle, questions remain. Chief among these, how did so many zombies escape detection?

Murphy's Law says 'Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong.'

I think Murphy was an incurable optimist.

Offline foilfodder

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Re: Surviving a Village Invasion
« Reply #2 on: February 25, 2020, 11:55:40 AM »
There's a reason Zombie Apocalypse movies usually have uncomfortably high body counts (pun intended). Most people in such movies aren't experienced combatants, and therefore, have trouble fighting off monsters that are higher level than they are. As they rack up kill counts, they eventually end up adding a level of fighter or three by the time the closing credits roll.

As I mentioned, the pregens will have combat skils/experience. Once the players learn how combat works I expect them to think outside the box. Having zombies chase you into a barn, escape, bar the doors and light it on fire is a much better way to deal with the zombies in HARP than to try to take a group down with a few swords.

We have boardgames like Zombicide and Warhammer 40k if we are in the mood for mowing down enemies. If they don't like the combat system and how it flows, H.A.R.P. isn't the game system for them. They can stick with Pathfinder under another G.M.

That said, starting a group of newbie adventurers with no mages or healers in a showdown with a horde of zombies is just going to drive your players away from HARP forever. You might want to have them cut their teeth on something simpler first. Also,  be sure to remind the players that they have Fate Points for those make-or-break life-or-death rolls. Speaking from personal experience from my own first time playing HARP: nothing kills a player's enthusiasm for a game faster than being one-shotted before they get to do anything.

Horde is too strong a word. I was thinking more a smidgeon for the invasion. Three to four undead should be enough to terrorize a small village.

These guys are not the most tactical group I've played with. The idea that there is a fight they can't win by "slugging it out" has long since been erased from their minds by years of MMORPGs. I agree they won't survive HARP/Rolemaster/MERP with that mentallity. I would rather have them learn upfront that H.A.R.P. is not D&D 3rd-5th edition where you can trust your HP to soak damage. A bunch of 3rd level pregens dying is an easier let-down have them put effort into making an original character, breaking the ice on intro sessions only to have them fall apart like a house of cards when the first real challenge comes up.

No healers/casters means every player will learn combat the first session. It also means nobody will be playing a "squishy".

As I mentioned before, this group does not do well tactically. Being their cleric (healer) in Pathfinder I was constantly BEGGING them to buy healing potions with some of their loot so I could use my spell slots to cast damage spells or buff spells instead of burning all my magic on healing spells after the battles. Since the characters are pregens I can stock them with first aid skill and a few herbs which should be enough to cover a few injuries.

Just as a suggestion for the setup: A kid is lost in the forest, so the PCs spend the day tracking down the kid, allowing them to overcome a few challenges first, along with fighting just one zombie (it was chasing after the kid all day, which is why he got lost). During the scene in town when they return victorious with the lost child in tow, have the sheriff mention that the zombie they fought that afternoon wasn't the first such sighting reported in recent weeks, and that they probably just solved several other problems simultaneously: missing pets and/or livestock, reports of an old couple that lived far outside of town who hadn't been seen or heard from in weeks, etc. The town celebrates the players' heroism with a party.

But after the party hits full swing, the rest of the zombies show up, drawn by the noise and the bonfire in the town square. Now the players are faced with a choice between proving themselves again by helping fight off the zombie horde, or helping the rest of the townsfolk evacuate. And in the aftermath of this debacle, questions remain. Chief among these, how did so many zombies escape detection?

As a G.M. I want to get away from the classic hero/party happens to be wandering by and saves the town gig. I mentioned I want to go the horror angle, it will be a darker gaming session. Giving each player a spouse, children and neighbors and then having the zombies eat a few may help the players become a bit more "invested" in the initial game.

Offline Zhaleskra

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Re: Surviving a Village Invasion
« Reply #3 on: February 26, 2020, 08:26:55 AM »
What I did as an introduction to HARP Combat is I made a bunch of pregens of various professions, all first level. Then I put them into an arena combat with each other. As this was just a HARP combat introduction, my goal was to show how the system worked. Unfortunately, it was only me and one friend, and my friend kept forgetting to subtract armor MP from his character's attacks. I generally won, being more familiar with the system, but we just switched characters and gave it a few more goes. I wanted disposable characters so players could lose a character to whom they weren't attached.

I eventually did run part of an adventure of my own design, but had to abandon it due to inconsistent work schedule.

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