Welcome to The Morrow Project

[Mister Ugly]

WELCOME TO THE MORROW PROJECT

THE OFFER

Last Week

Good morning. For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Bruce Morrow; the CEO of Morrow Industries. You’re all probably wondering why you’ve been invited here today. I’ll explain in a moment, but let me ask you all a question first. What if you were absolutely certain some terrible event was going to happen sometime soon—something so horrible that millions would die as a result and millions more would be in danger of dying the longer it took help to arrive?

Of course, you would prevent the disaster if you could, but if that weren’t possible; wouldn’t you want to do something to help the survivors? While you’re thinking that over, I want you to take a look at the screen in front of you. There are five locations highlighted on this map—locations where some sort of natural disaster will take place in the next week. How do I know this?

Well, you’ll just have to trust me on this for now. I would like you to pay particular attention to the specific details like the time the event occurred, the number of people injured or killed and the location of the event. Now, the reason I’ve asked you here is simply to ask you to watch the news this next week. That’s all. But, if these five events occur exactly when and where I say they will, and you’re curious as to how I knew they would, come back and I’ll have an interesting offer for you. If not, then you’ve lost nothing but a few hours of your time.



Day Zero

Good morning and welcome back. Last week, you were all wondering whether or not I was crazy. Since you’re here today, I assume you all noticed those five events occurring exactly when and where I said they would and you want to know how I knew. Am I correct? Well, let’s take care of some paperwork first and then I can explain a bit more. I need everyone to sign this non-disclosure agreement before I go any further. It simply states that the information I’m revealing today is sensitive, confidential, and cannot be discussed with or transmitted to anyone unless specifically authorized. There’s some legal mumbo-jumbo at the bottom related to what would happen if you were to disclose this info, but it basically comes down to us denying everything and you ending up looking like a fool, so let’s not let it come to that. For those of you that already work for me at Morrow Industries, and that is many of you, unauthorized disclosure of any information discussed today would also result in your termination. If you’re not willing to sign, well, the exits are that way.

[There is a brief pause in conversation while the forms are passed out. Everyone present looks it over and most sign the agreement. A few people decide not to, and are shown to the exits. Once all the forms have been collected, Bruce continues his presentation.]

All right, now that you’ve all signed that form, I can tell you one of my secrets. I have some equipment that allows me to see future events before they’ve happened. That’s how I was able to show you the details of those natural disasters last week. Some time ago, using this device, my staff and I were able to determine there’s a major disaster headed our way.We did what we could to change things in an effort to prevent it from happening. Unfortunately, those changes didn’t prevent it; they simply changed the specifics of the disaster. For example, instead of October, it occurred in September. Instead of affecting this city, it affected another. No matter how many times we tried, we found that although we could modify some aspects of the disaster, we could not prevent it completely. However, we saw that if enough people worked together in the immediate aftermath, it will be possible to preserve most of our society and culture and rebuild what was destroyed. So, we changed our focus from prevention to recovery.

That’s why you’re here—I need your help. You all possess skills and knowledge which could be useful in easing the suffering of your fellow man, if correctly applied. The disaster will be of such huge proportions that our society might not survive. Without help, the survivors and their descendants would be plunged into a new dark age. The disaster will be worldwide—help will not be coming from any other country. So, what can be done? Bear with me for a moment and I will try to answer that question.

You might be surprised to learn that I’ve had people watching you for some time, to not only evaluate your skills but also your character. When I first learned of this impending doom, I recruited people based on skills alone. However, after several of these highly skilled people turned out to be rather self-centered and possessed of a low moral character, I changed my tactics. All of you gathered here today are what I would call “good people”—that is; kind and considerate, concerned for your fellow man, proud to be a citizen of this country, and willing to help those in need.

With that in mind, I have a proposition for you. I would like you to be part of a special team I’m putting together—a pet project of mine, if you will. If you accept, your life will change completely. You see, since help can’t come in the future when the disaster occurs, it will have to come from the past—that is—from us. The team I’m organizing will be trained and put into place now to go into action shortly after the disaster has occurred.

However, before any of you answer, think it over carefully. Go home and talk to your loved ones—see what they think. If you decide to accept my offer, rest assured that they’ll be taken care of as well. If, however, you decide this isn’t for you, that’s okay. This is a heavy burden I’m asking you to accept, and I’ll understand if it’s too much for you. Nothing further will be said about it and no negative actions will be taken against you if you decide not to accept this responsibility. However, if you decide not to join, you are still bound by the non-disclosure agreement you’ve signed.

[Mister Ugly]

ABOUT THE MORROW PROJECT

In 1972 a mysterious man known by the name of Bruce Edward Morrow, origin unknown, gathered nine of the country’s leading industrialists into an organization known as the Council of Tomorrow. What method of coercion he may have used to achieve this feat remains a matter mostly for conjecture. The concensus of noted historians indicates that Morrow was a rare form of esper. He seemed to have possessed the ability to transport himself and some small amount of nearby matter into or out of the future. Building a convincing argument from the future, he and the council structured an organization dedicated to the continued survival of the human race beyond the point of destruction.

This organization brought forth the concept of the Morrow Project: an ambitious plan to cryogenically freeze special teams and stockpile equipment to aid in the reconstruction of the U.S. after a nuclear war. For many years the Project secretly stored their teams to await the proper time for reawakening. Gradually, their processes improved and their equipment became more advanced. In 1979 Morrow returned from a long absence bearing plans for a fusion power plant and advanced laser technology. In 1987, and on two additional occasions, the Project carried out a complete updating of all the previously “stored” equipment. The first update opened the buried and sealed chambers of the sleepers without waking them and left behind new equipment, vehicles, and the instruction manuals on how to operate them. The second and third time things were done differently because of operational and security concerns. On these subsequent updates new caches were buried and the location was transmitted to the bolt-hole computer using references to existing cache locations.

The Prime Base of the Morrow was a vast underground complex designed to sustain the lives of some one hundred and fifty people through the holocaust as they recorded the data linked with the war. It was to act as a central communications point for the rest of the Project when they awoke. So thorough was their recording that this base remains the only comprehensive source of information on pre-war times. A few teams ventured out from Prime Base on reconnaissance missions shortly after the end of the war, and they soon found they could establish a viable community. It looked as if the mission of the Project was going to be completed without a hitch, but such good fortune was not to be theirs. A small war with a madman named Krell resulted in the destruction of the colony by a nuclear bomb and the loss of Prime Base to biological sabotage.

With their control base inoperative, the Morrow teams continued to sleep for 150 years. When their long delayed wakeup signal was finally sent by a damaged computer, they found themselves in a hostile world. The denizens of what used to be the U.S. struggled merely to survive.

The personnel of the Project are all well trained, but they are not all combat veterans, nor do they engage in wholesale slaughter. Pledged to help humanity recover in whatever way they can, they can easily lose sight of their own ideals and adopt the brutal code of survival. They must find Prime Base and each other in order to survive.

[Mister Ugly]

Yes this is my first try at running something here. I have spent my time in 'E' reading and enjoying the hugely talented writers that are within this forum. I hope I can keep up. So if you have gotten this far then maybe you would like some more. I have a grand idea for a story involving a team from the TMP within the setting. So please read on and let me know here if you are interested!!

Many years ago I can across the original TMP [The Morrow Project]. I was a young man and already well into RPGs and all sorts of stuff. This was still the era of the cold war when Russia was still a huge threat. So a game like this was a big hit. If you want a PDF copy of the original game [it is called 3rd edition which is basically the 3rd printing] you can find it here. I am basing this story on the new 4th edition setting, which can be gotten here. Think of The Morrow Project as the grandfather of 'Fallout' before computers.

The main difference between the original besides a better system is that the time line for the dates of the war and setting changed. In the original the war happened in 1989. The newest setting places the war in 2017.

I have not decided yet on if the story will be free form within the setting. A system game [nor which system to use including 4th ed.] or maybe some thing more of a frame work that defines the characters and does not bog it down. I prefer if there are any dice rolls to have them well behind the scenes if at all. I will see what those interested [if any] would like.

If you are interested in helping rebuild a scattered world that will include all sorts of things let me know here!!

Thanks.
Mister Ugly

[CShades]

I like your style.

Bookmarking this :D

[majinmaster]

Definitely leaving my name here for this one. A mass apocalyptic build the wordl back up from scratch game sounds like a lot of fun!

[Mister Ugly]

@CShades -Thank you ...I hope to meet the high standards I have found at this site.

@majinmaster-- Thank you for dropping by and checking it out. Even getting a copy of the '3rd edition' which I linked above helps with the color and understanding of the sitting. I am hoping for a 4 person team and go as high as 8. If I can ask did you have a preference on freeform, system or some combination?

MU

[majinmaster]

I'm quite happy to play within any system. I am a tabletop gamer at heart so have experience with 3.5 ed dnd (as a gamer and dm), Inquisitor and Dark Heresy, with a smattering of Oriental thrown in for good measure.

[Mister Ugly]

well that is one vote for a system. I will look into systems that are simple and easy to use for forum. I hate to admit but 4th ed Morrow Project is expensive and difficult and deadly to use!

MU

[yesiroleplay]

Bookmarked.  And I'm more a fan of freeform than system, but a mechanics-lite generic system I really is The Window.  Character attributes aren't reduced to numbers, but are instead very narrative-focused.   

[Undine]

Post apocalyptic and sci fi are two things I haven't had in a very long time - though I know nothing of the Morrow Project game.  Still, if this becomes a narrative heavy, very light rolling of the dice RP (I still don't get how to use the dice bot), please do consider another one here very interested.

[Mister Ugly]

Post apocalyptic and sci fi are two things I haven't had in a very long time - though I know nothing of the Morrow Project game.  Still, if this becomes a narrative heavy, very light rolling of the dice RP (I still don't get how to use the dice bot), please do consider another one here very interested.

Well greetings and thank you for the interest.

Undine the basic plot goes like this. A team is cryogenically frozen and is supposed to be awoken 3-5 years after a world ending holocaust and help rebuild society. Instead the team finds themselves awoken 150 years later. A team is composed of from 4- 8 members and each team is build along certain tasks.

Recon- [the projects most basic] are supposed to awake 3-6 months before the other teams and assess the world and contact survivor groups.
MARS- [Military Assistance, Rescue, Security] is the closet the project has to a pure military force.
Medical & Civil Action- set up to aid communities with hands on help dealing with the large numbers of refugees and injured.
Agricultural- intended to help get food production and distribution back on track.
Engineering- specialists in demolitions, repair, recovery and reconstruction.
Science- provide a pool of scientific knowledge in the field for use in various areas.

Each team, Undine, is 'tubed' in what is called a bolt hole which is very basic and includes their cryogenic tubes, Vehicles for the team and all their gear and supplies and is expected to be stripped when the team is awaken and leaves.
The equipment and supplies are tailored for the teams job. A recon Team would have vehicles with mobility and some basic fire power as well as trade goods and weapons. A MARS team might have a light tank or heavy weapons while an Argo team may end up with sacks of grain and various farm instruments to go with their basic vehicle.

Each Team also has from 4-6 supply caches buried in the area of operations. Each team member knows the location of these caches and normally the supply caches will have basic resupply of maybe cloths and MREs as well as extra ammo and some weapons. The cache could also contain all sorts of other equipment again depending on the team's job.

I prefer having maybe a basic framework for each character and not worry about any system and if needed I will try to work out a sheet [though honesty force me to admit I am not exactly sure how to build one]

Undine, I hope this answers your question. Oh one last thing I can say the team will not be a MARS team nor Engineering. I was toying with the idea of the team being an Argo team that finds themselves in a whole different position. If not that then probably a Recon team.

Oh as a story point for characters in this settings there are those called 'esper's'. People with some sort of mental ability that ranges from healing to telepathy. These abilities would not be on the scale of the comics but can be discussed. As an example the founder of the Morrow Project claims to have some sort of tech that allowed him to see the future when in fact he was a one of kind esper that could teleport himself and a small amount of matter through time which is how the project ended up with cryogenic tubes and fusion powered vehicles.

MU

[Undine]

WOW Mister Ugly, thank you so much for that detailed explanation!  It was perfect, and I feel like I really don't have to know the Morrow Project inside and out to play in this world.  Please do consider me still very interested - and I like the idea of the Agricultural team being woken, and/or perhaps the Medical & Civil (only because I know medical - self-indulgent thinking on my part ;) I'd run with whatever you preferred).  The espers sound interesting too - I'll be looking forward to seeing where you head with this, keeping my eye right here... ;)

[Mister Ugly]

WOW Mister Ugly, thank you so much for that detailed explanation!  It was perfect, and I feel like I really don't have to know the Morrow Project inside and out to play in this world.  Please do consider me still very interested - and I like the idea of the Agricultural team being woken, and/or perhaps the Medical & Civil (only because I know medical - self-indulgent thinking on my part ;) I'd run with whatever you preferred).  The espers sound interesting too - I'll be looking forward to seeing where you head with this, keeping my eye right here... ;)

Well I aim to please and maybe should have went into more detail to start with. Live and learn.
So Undine, you know medical? Well you could easily fit as a veterinarian or even as a medic/EMT/Field doctor for an Agricultural Team. One thing I should point out though your character would be expected to defend herself and the team which includes lethal defense should that be needed. The reason is that the teams are gonna be in situations where they may very well have what others want and will try to take by force. The project does not expect a lovey dovey world but one of tough choices.

I wanted to expand some more on the project for you and any others that might read over this.


In 1974 Bruce Edward Morrow was able to convince a group of powerful and wealthy individuals that a full scale nuclear war would happen within their lifetimes. He already had plans for a workable cryogenic system and tests done were successful. By 1980 there were already a few teams tubed and some caches and equipment [so yes if those interested would like to be from a different era then the current it is very possible to have a team from the disco dance craze years  :-[ :-[ , or the big hair bands of the 90s years :o].

Bruce disappeared for almost 14 months in 1986 and 1987 and returned with plans of for a compact fusion reactor and a working laser system. He also claimed to have averted the war that was supposed to have happened in 1990. One which would have led to the deaths of 80% of the world population. The problem was that the war was only averted, delayed not stopped. Time it seemed had it own plans and Bruce had seen an even worst war that started in 2017 one where, by the time everything had settled, 90-95% of humanity was dead. That with a higher technological standing the fall was even harsher.

So the project moved forward. Searching out and recruiting what was considered 'good' men and women to rebuild society. Good though did not mean saints it meant people that believed and cared. [An example I think fits would be Malcom Reynolds from 'Firefly'. A basically good man that does what is needed to survive and keep his 'family' together]

Used combat vehicles were obtained and refurbished to use different fuel sources. A vehicle was built that used a fusion reactor and designed to be the workhorse for the project. Other ideas were considered and either used or dropped.

The Project is built along these lines. There was hoped to be around 10000+ members by the time everything came apart.
The main base was called 'Prime Base' and built underground somewhere in the Midwest. Prime base was to house approximately 150+ people awake during the war so they could record everything and make determinations about the situation. Prime base also housed an extensive library of work and had 50 elite MARS members and heavy combat equipment in a bolt hold as well. The project was divided into regions. Each of these has their own main base that includes a full small hospital, full communications, an in house heavy MARS team, and a fully equipped science lab. Normally around 20 members would be tubed at a regional base. There are also full repair bays and extra reactors to replace those in the project vehicles. Region bases also have caches linked to them but they are much larger and could easy fully reequip several teams. Within a regions there would be 6+ recons teams, at least one full MARs team. maybe 2 science teams and numerous specialty teams like an Agro team.


Prime Base came through the war intact and a year or so after they started a colony nearby to begin rebuilding. No One knows exactly what happened next but a Madman named Krell, that seemed to have some link to the Project and followers within it, nuked the colony and let loose a bio weapon inside the base as well a doing heavy damage to it before fail safe systems locked everything down. This is why the wake-up signal was not sent out when it was supposed to be.



I hope this helps explain more Undine.
There is plenty more I can tell you like what the projects main weapons are that are issued to each member. How long you were trained and how tough it was? We will save that for a bit and see what develops from all of this

MU

[Mister Ugly]

Bookmarked.  And I'm more a fan of freeform than system, but a mechanics-lite generic system I really is The Window.  Character attributes aren't reduced to numbers, but are instead very narrative-focused.

I am sorry I missed this yesiroleplay. I am checking out the link to The Window. It is similar to a home brewed system I have used in the past and thank you for showing me. I may very well use it at some point!

MU

[majinmaster]

Just caught up to your last post. Assuming that you get enough interested players to take this forwards, would the idea be to ahve an entrie team of the same speciality or would we be a mixed bunch? (Sorry if it's a stupid question, it just didn't seem clear through your posts)

[yesiroleplay]

The teams are mostly made up of specialists in fields related to their mission.  There might be one or two non-technical people that serve as the guard/driver, but even those jobs are usually handled by one of the team (like the agronomist in an Agricultural Team might also serve as the driver)

[Mister Ugly]

Just caught up to your last post. Assuming that you get enough interested players to take this forwards, would the idea be to have an entire team of the same specialty or would we be a mixed bunch? (Sorry if it's a stupid question, it just didn't seem clear through your posts)

The teams are mostly made up of specialists in fields related to their mission.  There might be one or two non-technical people that serve as the guard/driver, but even those jobs are usually handled by one of the team (like the agronomist in an Agricultural Team might also serve as the driver)

Hey majinmaster,
yesiroleplay did a great job of an answer. I wanted to expand on it some. I had wanted an Agricultural Team composed of from 4-6 members. The team would hopefully have people that could help a rural area recover.
Here are suggestions for some of the specialists and some of these can be handled by the same character.

A police officer with maybe SWAT or Military training to aid local law enforcement. [perhaps even one that had a trained canine which would have been frozen with them]
A veterinarian
Someone with medical training-- an EMT/medic or maybe a psychology type.
A mechanic that knows farming equipment as well as the units vehicles.
A specialist in agriculture, biology, or related fields.
Perhaps an engineer to help with rebuilding infrastructure.
This doesn't mean that there cant be more then one of the same type either.

There would be a team leader and a 'face' which would a contact person.

Any other suggestions that would fit the concept of the team I would be happy to entertain since the Morrow Project cannot be too choosey about the skill sets only about the personality types.

I hope this helps and thanks for the interest majinmaster!

MU

[majinmaster]

That seems like a fairly balanced group. I'm not sure what could be added to it that wouldn't upset the balance. Perhaps a scientist/chemist? Someone capable of producing medicine? I just thinking that anything they take from a cache will be a finite supply. So someone capable of mixing/making curatives.

[yesiroleplay]

The teams were meant to come out and help with the rebuilding only a few years after being sealed away.  One premise the Morrow Project worked under was that the people they were helping grew up in the pre-apocolypse, and knew how things used to work.  In other words, the teams were never meant to re-invent civilization as we know it, but instead were supposed to help survivors recover.

Think of it like...  Remember the Haitian earthquake?  What if the International Red Cross knew what was going to happen in advance, but their warnings were stifled or ignored.  They couldn't prevent the disaster, but had a few years to prepare and stockpile supplies and schedule itineraries for relief workers.  Once the quake hits, they were prepared to step in with exactly what was needed to help quickly and efficiently.

The Morrow teams were supposed to be very much like the above relief workers, only things went very wrong and they wake up in a different world from what they expected.
And the teams were tailored to specific missions - in Southern California and western Arizona, there would be hydro-geologists in an Agricultural mission, there to repair the irrigation systems that are essential for productive farming in a desert that blossoms with piped-in water.

In Colorado or Kansas, an Ag Team would have a different makeup, with more people focused on plant breeding and hybridization, and possibly chemists who were supposed to help the locals manufacture fertilizer... 

[Mister Ugly]

Gee yes it almost sounds like you have played Morrow Project before!  ;) ;)

majinmaster
To expand a bit for an Argo team. Their caches are some of the largest in the project. At least two would hold tubed livestock, eggs, as well as semen that a veterinarian could use to reinvigorate bloodlines. There could even be rabbits and dogs in these caches. Others might hold farm equipment- Tractors, combines and things like that. There would be sacks of grain and seeds of all sorts. So while other teams might get more weapons and ammo in their caches an agro teams is set up to help a farming area rebuild and reestablish itself for the area.

I had decided the team would be located to start in an area just by the Shenandoah Valley. The area was a north south route for native Americans and a bread basket food producer for the mid Atlantic states. Near enough to some big cities but protected by the Blue Ridge mountains to the East and the Allegheny to the west.

If the team had been awoken at the right time the area would have been a great place on the east coast to establish a centralized food producing area.

150 years later...well never know what the team may find!

As for a chemist type sure that can work especially a bio chemist that knows crops and crossbreeding.

MU