Interest check: Twilight 2000- freeform

[Archangel]

I’m considering starting up a Twilight 2000 style game if there’s enough interest. This would be freeform, though I may use dice to add a certain element of randomness.

For those not familiar with the game or setting, not to worry, the premise is very simple. Imagine if you will…;

The cold war never ends and the world becomes divided between NATO forces and Warsaw Pact forces. Spying and small conflicts are abundant all over the world. As the oil resources in the world begin to dwindle, NATO forces invade the middle-east using the war on terror as an excuse and this sparks off the third world war.

Minor nuclear strikes are launched all over the world with most oil refining capability as well as military installations being the primary targets. Civil wars follow throughout the world. Finally, one of NATO’s largest and last remaining cohesive units begins a new operation to strike a final decisive blow to their enemy, but unfortunately Warsaw Pact forces beat them to the punch. Another round of nuclear strikes pretty much wipes the remaining governments along with 75-80% percent of the world population.

Military units disband as all command and control structures come to and end. Warlords rise to power, taking whatever weapons and equipment they can find.

In Europe, the final NATO and Pact forces continue to clash until only stragglers remain. The stragglers band together to either continue with their missions or to find a way home… The characters become one such band. They must scavenge and fight for survival as the beginning of the post apocalyptic world begins…

Players can be military soldiers, native villagers, civilian contractors or military consultants far from home, or any other possibility players can think of.

The goal of the game is to survive this new world order, where the strong forge out their own territory, gangs band together to loot, rape and pillage. Frightened refugees might seek protection from seemingly capable military personnel who may or may not take advantage of them. Fuel starts becoming scarce as production has pretty much come to an end.


The game is as simple as that, player’s band together for survival. They either continue the war, try to make their way home or perhaps to rebuild a safe community somewhere in this harsh world… Choas and anarchy rules the land.

Lots of opportunity for RPing, firefights and other combat, sex and whatever else you can think of…

Let me know if anyone is interested and the idea can be developped from there....

[TheWolf]

I'd be up for it, even have the old rulebooks kicking around somewhere, T2K was a fav back in the day, but freeform works for me as well...  makes it easier with limited posting time as well...

:)

TheWolf

[Archangel]

He sat quietly… Well, he hung really. His parachute got caught in a few high branches in a dense forest. He was somewhere in Eastern Poland, behind enemy lines, he was sure. Lt. William Grey was his name, UK, Royal Air Force and he’d been returning from a routine recon flight in enemy airspace when the end happened…

The radio and in flight instruments went first, then the engine quit and he was falling. No reason, except he remembered being jerked in the cockpit slightly, then he ejected…

He was looking down, watching the enemy troops as they searched the forest floor. He was screwed and he knew it. From this position he couldn’t even reach the pistol that hung from his belt. Then shots were heard, from farther to the north and shouting followed. The troops below left, and started moving in the direction of the gunfire.

This might be his only chance… He swung his legs and started swinging back and forth until he reached the far branch and latched on. He reached for and took his survival knife out and cut the harness for the chute, then he slowly and quietly climbed down…

Once on the forest floor he drew the pistol and cocked the action, clicking the safety on. * Maybe I should have paid more attention during those survival courses… * he thought to himself…

Oh well… If the soldiers were headed north, it was best to go south he decided, at least till he could find some reference point and figure out where he was… And what happened to his Tornado…

This is the world Lt. Grey lives in now…

This is juts one of the millions of stories possible during this new age. Will the Royal Air Force pilot walk back to hgis forward base, and if he does, what will he find? Will he fall prey to one of the hundreds of maurauder gangs that roam this lands? Or will he be one of the lucky ones, and stumble onto one of the remaining small groups of NATO forces, or simply armed survivors seeking to flee the ravaged country side...

[MagicalPen]

I'd be interested in such a game! Afraid I dont know any systems so...

[Archangel]

That's OK if you don't know the system, the game will be freeform. Each player will simply need to fill out a simple character sheet and away we go. Characters can be anything, regular force troops stuck in the middle of nowhere after command and control elements break down, local civilians trying to fend off starving predators or marauders, Enemy deserters, spec force troops eager to keep the war effort going, down pilots, military, civilian, police forces, criminals, anything at all...

[Archangel]

To the villagers, in this eastern Yugoslavian village all they’d noticed was that the electricity had been out for some time, as did all radio signals. But this mostly farming community kept living as they had, and as their ancestors had for so long. Bit the sounds of the many vehicles and gunfire changed all that.

The jeeps and pickups rolled into the village guns blazing, and people were falling, the pot holes filling quickly with the blood of the innocent. Sinada watched her father take a bullet in the chest. Her younger brother was soon tossed into the back of a truck, his fate would likely never be known to the 17 year old girl. She remained hidden underneath the steps of the house, as she watched her mother get dragged away to be gang rapes no doubt. Her world was truly crashing around her…

Her mother’s last works to her as she looked back were: “RUN!!!” Sinada did though reluctantly. She headed for the woods behind the village, but her flight did not go unobserved… Two of the marauders caught sight of her and pursued immediately. She was a slim girl and could run fast, but her feet were bare and soon her pace slowed. Her feet were bleeding, her dresses torn and become no more than shreds, her flesh becoming bare. The thick brush was leaving deep bloody scratches on her arms and cheeks…

They were gaining, she could tell. Their yells were getting louder. But then something unexpected happened. She looked back to look at her pursuers and hit something hard and solid. She saw many shades of green, mixed with stars of impact. Something large latched onto her small wrist and she was tossed unceremoniously to the soft ground. Then she heard two loud ‘bang’ sounds and she lifted her head to look back in time to see the marauders drop in a spray of red…

She turned her head to look at the looming figure above her. He was a large man, dark skinned and the biceps that protruded from his camouflaged shirt were enormous. He was a different kind of soldier, more organized and clearly disciplined. A patch on his shoulder had four green letters spelling ‘NATO’ and on his chest was the words US Marine. He smiled at the girl as he rested his rifle on his shoulder and slid a light jacket from his pack and wrapped it around her shoulders.

Then he took her hand and started leading her the way he’d come, away from the village. She resisted at first… And he spoke… “It’s not safe here girl… we need to go that way…” he said pointing away from the village. She didn’t understand the words, they were very foreign to her, but she got the meaning… She took one last look back before following the large man to what she hoped would be safety…

Sgt Johnson is a member of the US Marine 3rd Expeditionary force. Though he looks intimidating and dangerous, his voice and touch are soft. He led Sinada through the forest till they reached safety, in the form of a M1A2 Abrams tank and a half dozen other soldiers, all looking to find some way back home…

[Archangel]

Corporal Richards wiped the sweat from his brow as he looked down towards the valley. He was a member of the Canadian second army, serving with NATO in the Balkans. His mind was confused. He was extremely hot and the labour work he’d been doing had drained him, but he was a soldier, and he needed to move soon he thought as his eyes focused for the umpteenth time on the down Russian attack chopper. It was a miracle he was alive…

How he got in this situation was a blur in his mind. His section had been on a simple recon patrol when their comms went dead. They had paused on the lower end of this ridge line when the whirring of the chopper blades was heard. The attack chopper was far from enemy lines, and there was no reason why a single chopper should have been there, but it spotted us…

We should have known better than to rest in the open, but Billy figured it would help get the signal out…  Well, Billy was the first to be ripped to shreds. Rockets and heavy rounds nearly cut the hill down, how he survived he didn’t know. He stuck his head out to get a fire lane at the chopper, when suddenly its lights went out, and the sounds of the blades shifted.

He was close enough to see panic in the pilot’s eyes as suddenly the bird started spinning on its axis, only to slam hard into the ground not 2 seconds later. No one else was in the area, not rocket had been fired, the entire section was dead except for him… So what happened to the bird…?

His eyes scanned the ground directly in front of him… Seven shallow graves. He shovelled the last pile of dirt on the Sgt’s grave and folded the spade, hooking it back onto his pack. Twilight was upon him. He gathered what he needed to, put on his shirt and gathered his gear. He was two hours away from the pick up zone…

This was the beginning of the end. No one was at the pick up point when he arrived, and he waited for over a day. With little to no food, Corporal Richards decided to hump it back to base… It was a three day hike through rough terrain.

He couldn’t possibly have known that the base which he had left several days earlier was now nothing more than rubble and corpses…

[Archangel]

Lt. Caitlyn Smith was one of the US Army’s best kept secret. She graduated first in her class and had a wall full of medals and awards, for shooting. Unfortunately a female sniper was still hard to accept by the brass, so they kept her behind the desk… Until the nuclear strikes happened.

Being forced to call to active duty everyone they could, Caitlyn was one of the first shipped to the European theatre of war, and within months of being on the ground she’d racked up an impressive kill count. Her story was told everywhere stateside. She certainly would have been able to fill another wall with the awards and medals to come, but that was not to be, for the world as she knew it came to an end.

She wore the gillie suit and was poised atop a hill, concealed from view. It was early dawn, perhaps a few weeks after the end. She still didn’t quite comprehend what had happened, but her pick up never showed, and she’d spent the last week behind enemy territory. Seemed the enemy was doing no better, she stumbled on several wreckages of enemy aircraft scattered about the country side… Nothing made sense.

She was overlooking the village she had used as a base of operations. Unknown to the villagers of course. She’d sneak in at night and steal whatever food or supplies she needed and then spent the day hiding in the hills. Pick had been suppose to be nearby, so she figured it was best to stay close, though she was starting to doubt anyone was coming… Though the villagers had never seen her, they knew someone was looking out for them. Since the fall a few weeks earlier, marauders had been coming to steel, pillage and rape, but shots were heard, and marauders fell…

She was looking through the high power rifle’s scope and the same scene was unfolding. Two marauders had snuck in town and were dragging a poor young girl to their vehicle. The other villagers hid in their houses, doors locked and shutters closed. The first man held the poor girl down while the second dropped his pants and prepared to take the girls innocence.

But that would not happen… * One shot, one kill * was the saying, and that was good, because Caitlyn was down to her last two bullets. But as always, her aim was true. The first shot rang out and the man with the lowered pants fell. Before he hit the ground the second bullet was away, and the second man’s life had been extinguished… The girl screamed as she ran back to the house from which she had been torn…

What now… No ammo… That was the hard decision LT. Smith had to make.

[Anathanasia]

I might be game for this too. Twilight 2000 was a fave way back when, and like Wolf, I think I've even the old box set around packed away somewheres, heh.

Also a type of setting I don't mind freeform, so that could be very cool.

I'm not totally sure of what I'd play, character wise, but I do have a lean for spec-ops with a demo specialty. Female, as well. I do have enough alternate ideas that I'd have no trouble with doing something different depending on what other folks do and what the game needs. :)

[Archangel]

Alright, it's been over a week since I posted this. I could be pessimistic and say only 2 people replied... That sucks...  :( But...

I'm a natural optimist so I'm gonna say, Great, two people replied, awsome !!!!

I'd like to give it another week or so for people to consider, then if the two of you would like, we could start something the three of us, and go from there. Maybe if the game starts and moves on a little, more people will want to join after the fact...

Oh, and Ana, spec-ops/demo sounds great !!!!

[kasen03]

I've been lurking and watching this thread... I'm an old fan of T:2k however my RL has be really busy until after mid october.. and I'm not joining any new games.  Plus I'd have to dig out my old materials to find the rules.. but that could work too.  For the time being.. I'm lurking..

[Archangel]

Hi Kasen03- this would be mostly freeform, so rules would be insignificant... A willingness to survive is all that is required !!!

Hopefully we can start somthing and when you're not as busy, let us know and you can join in... 

[Seereous]

I'm considering this game.  It sounds rather interesting.   I'm considering the "Great White Hunter" type of character.  Something that is running from something, goes to Africa and becomes a big game hunter/guide.  Maybe he saves some young lady from getting raped, or from getting raped again?

Just a thought.

[Anathanasia]

Archangel, I think I counted three before Seereous replied: The Wolf, Silvestine and myself? It's no worry, I prefer smaller games. I need things to move fast or my interest goes away rather quickly...I have a difficult time getting 'back' into a game every 3-4 days for a post, y'know? If that's cool, I'm definately interested in giving things a go (did you look at my ons/offs?).

Besides that, I'm totally cool with that initial base. Would it be easier to go with a para-military background like SWAT w/ bomb-squad training, or should I just assume a military that allows females in special forces and such. I know lots of countries allow women in combat, but I can't think of any off hand save maybe Israel that allow women into special forces...mmmm, Mossad would be a fun background, lol.

[TheWolf]

A small group of three or four would work to start with, T2K opens itself to stumbling across other survivors very easily...

:)

Nice to know there's other T2K die-hards around!

[Archangel]

Doh !!! Cursed this new math !!! Anna, you're absolutely right, it was three, possibly four with Seerous now.

The ideas I have would have all the characters starting out alone but they would very quickly meet up with one another for strenght in numbers reasons. The game would take place somewhere in europe, the wilderness of West Germany perhaps so characters from far away would need to find themselves in that area. Almost any character type is available. This would be an alternate reality where the cold war never ended and many wars have raged around the world so female spec-ops is a totally allowable combo.

Feel free to post your character ideas here or send me a PM if you want to keep anything secret until it comes into play. Have a name, nationality, occupation and rank (if applicable) and specialties. As we'll be a small group, feel free to list a few specialties. A good character description and personality write up would also be great.

Seereous, interesting idea. It would be possible for the hunter to have started in Africa, but that continent is full of civil wars so eventually he would have to head for safety. As air travel becomes more and more restricted he could have taken a boat across the Med to get away from the slaughter that seems on-going.

And you're right Wolf, when we used to play character death was a very common thing so we found ourselves picking up more and more troops along the way... 

[MagicalPen]

I'm thinking British Commando Sniper for my character... :)

[TheWolf]

Already sent my concept, USMC Force Recon Sniper...  :)

Of course, it could be open to being changed as required to round out the group... 

[Archangel]

Alright, I have two excellent, fully fleshed characters, it's almost time to get this sucker going !!!

With Silvestine going on a hiatus, that means two confirmed, possibly three players. Silvestine, hopefully you'll be returning soon enough and your more than welcome to join when you do. This game will lend well to knew players joining up after the beginning. Same goes for Kasen03, lurk away and if you decide you want to join, just let me know.

Seerous, if you want, send me a PM and we can further flesh out your idea in a way that would land him in europe after the end of the world as we know it.

Wolf and Ana, I got your characters and will set up an OOC thread for idea discussion and to use as a story/further description thread as needed. then I'll set up a starting thread for each of you and we can start from there... I'm hoping to get that ready tomorrow, but as I have tracel plans all weekend it might be Monday before I can really get the ball rolling. If either of you has an idea of what your last mission might have been, let me know and we can start from there, otherwise i'll just pick something at random.

Wolf, your spotter, Corporal Green will be accompanying you at the beginning...

[Anathanasia]

I'm okay with waiting till Monday. Sure, starting sooner would be nice, but if you're going to be away all weekend let's hold off so we can hopefully get some good momentum going. :)

I'm not sure about starting scenarios...I was going to ask you about what you though would be okay for starting gear anyways, Archangel. Since my character is basically a cop a lot could depend on her being on or off duty, and what duty when 'it' happens, whatever the heck 'it' is.

[TheWolf]

For last mission I think it would depend on how long the third world war has been going on, and whether we had reached the aftermath of the war, with little more than skirmishes raging around the globe...

If the latter most every 'mission' is mainly based upon survival, in which case the last true mission might seem almost like a distant memory...  :)

I'm fine to leave it in your hands if you want...  And yes, what can we expect for equipment?  Could we assume a standard load out, or would it be better to hash that out in separate OOC threads and / or PMs?  Might be better for the latter, I think I might still have an old character sheet I based my guy off, so could probably even pull up an old equipment list!

:)  Looking forward to this!!

[Anathanasia]

Archangel, could we get a primer from you on what the general state of things in Germany is like, and a rough timeline to get a feel for how the 'collapse' came about, and how recent that was exactly?

Also, talking about gear, I've been assuming we're updating the Twilight 2000 idea to 2007-ish? Modern technology and all that fun stuff (which, of course, is probable pretty shot because of it's reliance on computers and the internet). Please let me know if that's correct, or if we should be thinking in terms of pre-turn of the millenium.

[Archangel]

Hey guys !!!

I'm thinking we are only days after the final nuke strike so there is allot of confusion all around. I'll write up a state of the world, to give players an idea of what's going on, and a bit more indept for the area around Germany.

As far as time goes, I read somewhere that a new company has bought the rights to the game, and they're updating it to Twilight 2013, and I figure that's as good a place as any, so imagine we're about 6 years in the future. Most technology is the same as today with very minor exceptions.

As far as gear goes imagine that you have been sent out on a mission and then boom, the world ends. Without means of communcation or transportation you're walking back towards your side's lines when the game starts and you start to get clues as to how bad things are. So you can go ahead and make an equipment list that would be typical for the type of mission you'd typically be going on... Ana, you know what your missions was, and Wolf, I'll send you an idea for the final mission and you can assume you have the equipment appropriate for the mission. (minus a few days food and any ammo that might have been used in the execution of the mission... assuming it was executed...)

A note about equipment... As Ana mentioned, most satelite and world wide communications infrastructure have been wiped out, as well, at the final strike, there were so many nukes lauched around the world all at the same time that it had another side effect. It was as if the world was hit by a massive EMP pulse, and most power supplies have fried... Some still work, some need to be recharged and others need to be rewired, depending on the item. That's why most aircraft that were airborn at the time had all instruments go dead at the same instant...