Emberverse

What is Emberverse?

Emberverse is a campaign I play in. It uses Hârnmaster rules to play out "the Change" outlined in S.M Stirling's Dies the Fire. This campaign was started in the Fall of 2009.

The Characters

Jamie Hyneman (AKA "Mechanic Mike")

Jamie Hyneman as a RPG character, or as near as the dice would allow. For some reason, the players took to calling him "Mike". The GM said to pick somebody (real or fictional) who would have a reason to be on a charter plane, so we decided we'd be members of a film crew. Jamie's company actually did visuals (models and props) for LoTR and the new film was to have him doing even more, so the PC's got some weaponcrafting chops (more then the real Jamie likely does) in addition to the McGuyver stuff you'd expect. We didn't even bother adressing his skill with electronics.
Like the real world Jamie, he is highly skilled in wilderness survival, which comes in handy. Not so handy is his well known fear of heights. Obviously not religious, but also willing to test any "myth" that might prove plausible. So far, ESP and "laying on hands" are looking pretty plausible...

Katie Connolly (AKA "Katie Kaboom")

Owns a charter ballooning company, that was to provide for the areal shots. Also a ren-faire geek, so knows how to use a bow. Has a quick temper, but is also a genius, and is manifesting ESP powers.

Crow Gaiawarrior

Martial arts expert and military historian. Reality consultant, fight choreographer, and physical trainer for the film company. Crow spent his childhood on board the "Rainbow Warrior", and worships the god Odin. Apparently he can accomplish certain things via human sacrifice to his god, but hasn't shared this info with anybody except his sister. Crow and Jammie often play "angel and devil", with Jamie tempering Crows psycopathy, and Crow providing the muscle Jamie lacks (or can't use without spoiling his rep).

Raven Gaiawarrior

Crow's older sister and business partner. A bit less psycho, and has some medical education.

Elise Philips, MD

French-Canadian Catholic doctor who happens to be absolutely gorgeous. Did I mention she's a doctor? That's important in this game. She's also manifesting "laying on hands" type abilities.

And the Rest!

There's a sortable table of all PC's and NPC's I have data for at Emberverse: Cast of Characters

Campaign Events

The campaign timeline started on June 3, 2009. This is NOT the date given for "the Change" in Dies the Fire, but its the date we used.

6/3/09

group was in charter plane, crashed in a meadow in the Rocky Mountains National Park (CO, elevation roughly 9000 feet). The pilot was killed in the crash. Crow theorizes there was an EMP. Jamie diagnoses plane malfunction, leading him to doubt this theory. He salvages material from the plane to build a crystal radio, but and is shocked to find he can't even pick up static.

6/4-5/09

group walked to Grand Lake Colorado, which is pretty much a resort town. Situation quickly was obviously going downhill as stores / restaurants ran out of food.

6/6-10/09

group uses cash, credit, Jamie's celebrity, and a bit of violence to pile up a good supply of camping / mountaneering equipment & medicine (one PC is a doctor), and convinces a couple dozen folks to go out to the woods to "ride this thing out" where they can more easily forage for / hunt food while walking to a bigger city (Estes Park).

6/11-12/09

arrival in the outskirts of Estes Park reveals that long term residents are deserting the city to hole up in the hills until rioting vacationers "move on". Into this vacuum has come a man called "The Prophet", who sets up a puritanical cult of personality. Interigation of followers (plus some psychic insight gained by one of the PCs in the Change) reveals that he's planning to poison Denvers water supply.

6/13-14/09

group meets with Mayor of Estes Park and formulates a plan to drive out The Prophet. Central to the plan is fire bombing his "church" (the local supermarket) using one of the character's hot air balloons and some improvised naplam bombs, after trapping all the worshipers inside. (We had to recover the balloons from a nearby private airfield- they weren't in the crash with us). As payment, the group receives exclusive use rights for the RMNP and title to a local museum (an 1800's "living history" ranch). Valuable stuff, but not really the Mayors to give away until after we do the job, and also worth nothing if we don't enforce our hold on them.

6/15/09

Estes Park locals return home after "Battle of the Safeway". Group offers to help them fortify town and engage in a crash course of raising food and relocating residents to lower altitudes. Mayor declines, shows them the door. They leave, rounding up all the goods from from the ranch and heading for a valley in the park that they know they can fortify easily. Another 30 or so folks from Estes Park come with them, recruited via hand-written flyers.

6/16-23/09

The group and friends move up into the mountains. Jamie Hyneman starts plotting out how to build a 2500 square foot solar powered log structured lodge in under 3 months that will shelter the "tribe" through the winter at 10,000 feet in a mountain valley (absurdly well chosen, with a southern exposure and excellent potential for a water mill), assuming we can secure enough food (which Crow assures him we will...)

6/24-30/09

A visitor comes to the RMNP camp, seeking Elises help. It turns out he has the Beubonic Plauge. All people (including most of the PC's) who came in contact with him are quarantined. Only one gets sick- Elise. By the next morning, she is declining quickly, so Jamie and Crow go to Estes park and convince their "faith healer" to come help her (in return for which, Elise will assist here with the towns Plauge outbreak; their doctor is nearing death). After doing so, the PC's still have nearly a week to spend in quarantine.

7/1-3/09

PCs get camp a bit more organized, and plan a trip to Granby (a town 20 miles away) to try and grab a portable sawmill.

7/4/09

Grand lake is largely abandoned; Paul Olser and 5 other residents are all that's left, one with plague, and says people have been "disapeering". Granby is still bustling; Crow and Raven drop in and talk to folks, gathering that "Marv" has "organized things" so that he can provide food for the town of 1500 and is "gathering folks" from the roads and "quarantining" the refuges. Refuges are held in a tent city camp, under armed guard. Crow and Raven return to the balloon rather than submitting to a "checkup". Departing town, one refuge in the tent city is seen signaling for help to the departing balloon and then being given a beat-down.

Group returns to Grand Lake to stand guard over Paul and his group, while Crow scouts back to Granby to check out the tent city. Soldiers turn up in Grand Lake, captured, interigated; info regarding location of Marv's HQ (just north of Independent Propane) obtained.

Crow finds prisoners kept chained in tents until "removed elsewhere".