Fallout 40k and Miniwargaming

 Welcome back readers! please pull up a fur and take a drink. In this instalment we return to my attempts to work on game design materials.

 In this case it was my submission to the Miniwargaming youtube channel's call for writers. They were wanting to do a Fallout themed 40K narrative campaign. Writers were asked to pitch a twelve mission run, a pro and epilogue, as well as including narratives for pre and post games as well as mid game sections. Dave from Miniwargaming would receive the following email from me.

"G'day Dave,

Would love to try my hand at the fallout campaign.

Would be keen to get some more details. I am in Australia but thanks to the wonders of the internet that tyranny of distance doesn't matter.

I can really see an irradiated world of 40k fallout. Roving bands of mutated orks, plague bearing molerats, and Ad mech survivors all fighting to survive it's got some amazing possibilities. All depends on game system.

Anyhow mate
Hit me back with some details.
Would love to throw my caps in the ring

Cheers
-Daniel "

I got an email back and went to work designing my pitch. It was a little intimidating hearing that authors and other more professional sounding writers were trying out as well. But I decided to keep trying. You never know if you never try as they say. After much mucking about I forwarded my pitch. Here was my original idea for the campaign.

"Hey Dave, 

Apologies for slow response. I have a written the following as a prologue to give you an idea on my take for this campaign. 

"(Grim dark, grim dark never changes. )

Long before now there was a great war, and in a final act of spite the old empire, unable to overcome their enemies simply decided to deny their enemy victory by dropping the bombs. Some of the more lucky people managed to get underground and survive in the great bunker arcs. Now the radiation has receded and left in its place a twisted wasteland where once lay a verdant world. The old alliances no longer matter. Now only survival matters.

The wasteland however is not devoid of life. Survivors have made efforts to rebuild and not make up a number of small settlements each as unique as the next. All of them refer to themselves as Wastelanders. Yet for every society there are always outsiders. Roving bands of raiders and opportunists prey on the unwary. Green skinned brute savages range over the wasteland enjoying little more than pure violence. Macabre horrors that were once human also lurk in the dark seeking to feed on the still living, Wastelanders call them 'the plague'. A shadowy organisation known as the Machine Men scour the wasteland in search of any serviceable technology and often do not wish to share. Finally remnants of the old empire army, the Old Guard, still attempt to re-establish dominance and recreate the authority that led to destruction. Yet the biggest allure of the wasteland is the myth of the titan. A giant machine that would assure the supremacy of any faction that can claim it. "

The idea being that you can couch the whole narrative that this is Fallout whilst tongue in cheeking that this was an Imperial world that was invaded perhaps by orks. The Imperium have dropped bombs on it and left it a wreck. Now that gives you a world that is inhabited by Astra Militarum 'Remnants', ork savages, and the admech all trying to find the 'titan' an abandoned warlord titan. 

Your protagonist would be need to join up settlements into a force to oppose the other factions and eventually find the titan. 

I look forward to hearing back what you think. 

Cheers
-Dan"

I was pretty happy to discover that Dave ended up liking the idea, but had decided to go with multiple authors for the campaign to make it easier to provide all the materials needed for the campaign. I was a little disappointed but was happy to be able to contribute my small piece. So I went back to the notepad and penned out my mission. 'The Dunn and Deal'. I decided to play around with the environmental rules from 8th ed 40k I had been enjoying so much. So I wrote the following scenario.

""Along the broken highway whose fractured trail still creeps across the sprawling wasteland, lies the ruins of the old Dunn and Deal factory. Once a buzzing hub of industry, now a corroded treasure just waiting for someone to take it. Those raiders that have taken hold of it, benefit greatly by re-purposing the defenses of the militia that once called it home. Yet there is a way around it. The radiation storms that plague the area shut the turrets and alarms down, and allow an easy exploit. The objective then is clear,  under the cover of the next Radiation storm strike the factory and liberate it for the cause.""
 

Dave was pretty happy with scenario so in short order I typed it all up, added some flair and sent it away. I got to wait to see it produced as a video as part of the campaign. On the 29th of May 2019 I would finally get to see my work on small youtube screen. I still remember hearing the words "The Dunn and Deal Factory written by Daniel Robinson". There had been some edits to the overall feel of the mission but that is the nature of collaborative game design. Each member of a team refines and contributes their take to a project. 

Here is a link to the scenario 
https://drive.google.com/file/d/11WVAczzqSqRc6n_SJ-z_BN-qiXGvor3c/view?usp=sharing

Also here is a link to the video of the Miniwargaming team playing the scenario. 

REFLECTION

This was, and still is, one of the best experiences in writing for someone I have ever experienced. I will be always greatful to Dave and the team at Miniwargaming. If you have not checked them out then you Khan advises you to do so. The back and forth was so open and the excitement Dave has towards his projects is evident. It is an immensely unique experience to have created a piece of gaming that has been viewed over three thousand times, and has been immortalised on youtube for as long as Miniwargaming exists, and I do not see them slowing down any time soon. 

If the opportunity to work with them came up again I would do so happily. Though different to pure fiction writing there is still many areas that cross over. For this character and tone were very important. As I have sunk so many hours into Fallout, I knew what the tone and character of the setting is. Then I had to balance this against game design needs. To create a balanced, and still challenging scenario that would entertain. My favourite part of the scenario is the storm. I wanted to created an oppressive force that drove the play forward. I wanted players to feel like there was a ticking clock over their heads. I feel like I managed that. 

For a writer one of the best feelings is seeing your name on the writers credits. So when Miniwargaming released the campaign book I was so very proud to see my name on that cover. My wife was an absolute gem and I came home to find she had framed it for me. It is still in pride of place in my games room today. 

Let me know what you thought in the comments or continue to conversation on twitter @DanTheGreatGam1