Help me Brainstorm a Purge RPG Scenario/Mini-Adventure

The Game Room
1

Hi. My friend and I play various fantasy, sci-fi and other scenarios, using mostly a rules light version of AD&D rules. If necessary, a simple rule system will be made up, as was the case in a recent cowboy campaign (which was really fun by the way).

My friend really likes the Purge movies. Personally, I think they are silly/cheesy and pretty bad as movies.

Anyway, he wants me to DM a Purge scenario. It would be mini-adventure length, about 2 or 3 sessions.

The immediate problem I see is size. I am basically a lazy person and I don’t feel like mapping and populating a whole city or even large town. Especially if the first sniper he comes across ends the game. There needs to be some restriction, such as an island or a couple city blocks, or a (very) small town. A farming community might be interesting but that leads us to the next problem.

There needs to be some reason that they could not just grab a car and head for the hills. So I would like to hear your ideas on this. Perhaps the surrounding neighborhoods are controlled by brutal gangs and are simply suicide to enter? Maybe the highways always have roadblocks. But that leaves off-roading.

The next problem is frailty. Let’s be honest, a normal person can not take many bullets or machete hits without bleeding to death. HP=3 or 2 most likely. AC=10. So how do I make it exciting and dangerous but not have him die right away? Or should that just be his problem and if he dies, have him roll a new character? That could get old quick.

I was thinking of have him make up 3 people he wants to purge and 3 enemies that want to purge him. Problem is, he is not creative at all. I mean at all! Plus, if he keeps dying, that slows down the re-rolling process significantly.

Another contingency to plan for is: what to do if he simply hunkers down and barricades himself in. A group of people busting your door down to get you is not very survivable if they are determined. Hell, just Molotov the roof.

The problem with the island idea is that he could just steal a boat and wait out the night on the water. I guess I could say that all the smart people already did that and there are no boats left.

Anyway, I would like to hear your ideas. Thanks!

2

Is the setting necessarily modern, or are you planning Purge within a D&D world?
Does it need to be like, Purge Brand, or is it Purge-adjacent (that is, you can make up slightly different rules)?
Some thoughts on keeping someone on the island: they need to protect someone. Your buddy’s mom and brother left the neighborhood before sundown, so they’re safe, but your baby sister for some reason wasn’t with them, and you have to protect her.

Which, fine, the buddy holes up, and there’s a fun-ass battle where they defend the ramparts, so to speak.

That’s when your buddy gets the message that mom and brother didn’t make it out after all, and both of them are wounded, halfway across town, and desperately need buddy’s help. The game transforms into a running battle across town, carrying baby sister, trying to get to the rest of the family in time to save their lives.

3

If you’re using AD&D rules and don’t want to make a town, go different. Make it a cave system. Those exist in real life. Map out a natural cave system like you would a dungeon. Maybe he ends up in there by accident, falling down a sinkhole or something. Can’t climb out, so has to navigate his way through. There may be other people in there who ended up lost, maybe others who went in there to hide and wait out the Purge. And then others who know people are in there, and are hunting.

You also don’t have to make people the only threats. There could be animals, or rivers to cross, treacherous places to climb. Darkness could be a danger, and maybe the only light in places is a cell phone and the battery needs to be rationed until/unless a torch is found/made.

Anyway, just a thought. It might take care of some of the problems you listed above. And again, you can lean more on you me AD&D experience.

4

One thought that comes to mind is that instead of having your players each play a single character, have them play as small gang or squad. Each group would consist of 4-6 members all working towards a collective agenda with each member being incapable of individual action. This would make it very difficult for a single, lucky attack to take out an opposing player’s force. Individual members don’t have their own stat lines or combat attributes. What matters is what they bring to the group and the final combat effectiveness of the group as a whole. Opposing groups wouldn’t be able to target individual members of another player’s groups. Only the collected group as a whole could be attacked with casualties determined randomly. Individual members of the groups may or may not have different weapons and as casualties are inflicted, the effectiveness of the group drops although stealth might be improved.

Just a thought. I used to play a lot of 40K so I’m used to thinking in squad dynamics.

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Thanks for the ideas!