Hi,
what I think it's lacking in a modern game, is the danger of doing somethng very stupid (always expect this in roleplaying games) like shooting in a mall, killing or beating people and such.

It's not dangerous. PCs rarely are punished for what they do, maybe the GM says "You're in prison, do another PC".

But what if the PCs could continue their life in PRISON?
I've read somewhere that a prison sourcebook does exist! I'm interested in it, do you have any info? I think it's done for d20 by some indie publisher in the vein of RPGobjects.

And please, leave aside shower rapes!!!

Take a deep look at Traveller Adventure:Prison Planet
That has a lot of mechanisms for dealing with that and the escape. The PCs can even spend years in that prison doing interesting stuff!

Cyberspace had the great "Death Valley Free Prison" source book, kinda like a mix between "Escape from New York" and "Mad Max". They built a huge wall around Death Valley, then put all the dangerous criminals in there (some came voluntarily). Highly entertaining...

What you want is Vossburg Supermax

And, as you seem to like a bit of horror with your d20 Modern, you might also be interested in what Tim's done to it

Cool!

Thanks everyone for the hints!

I coul dhave a little problem in tracking Traveller stuff, since it's so old and I don't use ebay.

Yep, the Vossberg stuff (NOT the zombie one) is what I was looking for, but from what I understood it's not for sale??! :confused:

Quote from: LucifugeYep, the Vossberg stuff (NOT the zombie one) is what I was looking for, but from what I understood it's not for sale??! :confused:

That's weird.  I'll see what I can find out

I'd definitely second Settembrini's suggestion of tracking down the Prison Planet adventure if at all possible.  It's an impressive module, with plot suggestions meant to incorporate several game-years' worth of play.  Character reputations and such become important, there are inside schemes to deal with, etc.  I'm keeping this adventure in ready reserve if my players' characters ever blunder into the hands of the law.

Even if you don't play Traveller, there's plenty there that you can use in other games.

For source material, there's the HBO series "Oz".  It's one of the best fictional sources for the dynamics and hazards of maximum security prison life.  Not to mention inspiration for some truly scary NPC's.  Meeting Schillinger or Adibisi...brrrrr.

   It also depends on the nature of the prison.  Mexican prisons are almost like small villages, with prisoners running small businesses and and having to pay rent for their cell.  I think the guards are only there to keep the prisoners inside--they don't much care what their charges do aside from making sure riots or breakout attempts don't happen.  Or, at least unauthorized ones where the bribes haven't been paid.   A prison camp, on the other hand, would be even worse.  White Wolf's "Charnel Houses of Europe" provides rather chilling details on the conditions of someone consigned to the concentration-camp or Gulag-style prison.

    Just remember, in prison, NEVER botch in the shower.  Or the GM can hit you with "Shouldn't Have Dropped the Soap".  Yes, I know, forbidden joke.  But it had to be made.  

Quote from: LucifugeIt's not dangerous. PCs rarely are punished for what they do, maybe the GM says "You're in prison, do another PC".

But what if the PCs could continue their life in PRISON?

I had just such a situation occur in one of my old Traveller campaigns and it almost tore the group apart.  The resistance to the idea of having their characters take responsibility for their actions by means of a prison sentence, and having to actually play their lives in prison, was extreme.  I'll confess that I backed down from it rather than kill the game.

QuoteAnd please, leave aside shower rapes!!!

Honestly, why?  If you're interested in exploring the repercussions on the PCs' lives beyond their arrest and sentence, why gloss over this unpleasantry?  In point of fact, this conflicting desire to push the evelope while simultaneously avoiding embarrassing controversy might be the best argument for why a GM shouldn't explore a prison adventure.

!i!

Traveller is really great for high thematic play of modern societies.

Quote from: Ian AbsentiaIf you're interested in exploring the repercussions on the PCs' lives beyond their arrest and sentence, why gloss over this unpleasantry?  In point of fact, this conflicting desire to push the evelope while simultaneously avoiding embarrassing controversy might be the best argument for why a GM shouldn't explore a prison adventure.

I think he was just trying to avoid poor taste jokes, not necessarily the idea itself.

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I've had PCs wind up in jail before, and then be left out of adventures, but never had the entire party caught at once. That Traveller adventure definitely sounds good. With any luck my upcoming Babylon 5 game won't go that route, but if it does I'll have to hunt the adventure down. Thanks!

Quote from: James McMurrayI think he was just trying to avoid poor taste jokes, not necessarily the idea itself.

Ah, true.  I probably jumped the gun because of a thread some fellow started on RPG.net some while back where he wanted people to help him brainstorm a realistic prison game/campaign, with all of the attendant tension and brutality, but was adamant that he didn't want to spend time discussing rape or homosexuality.

!i!

There's a series of clips on Youtube called "Incarcerated Scarfaces" that focuses on the violence and social order on the inside.  Near the end of the last clip, it gets a little political, so you may want to skip that part.

Of most interest to me was the way inmates will fight to the death over control of the "mic", which I pieced together meant the phone.  Whoever's able to exert any control over anything, no matter how small, on the inside becomes someone with real authority, someone you have deal with from a position of weakness.

There's a pretty interesting half-second demo of 52 Blocks/UpLocking, the official martial art of NY prisons, in the second clip.

(NOTE:  When they start talking about razor attacks, the detail is gruesome in the extreme.)

You should check out Carandiru about life in a Brazillian prison. What's interesting about prison life here is the relative autonomy and power structure of the prisoners themselves. It's more social commentary than anything else - in case you want to inject any of that in your campaign - but it does give you another perspective of what the prison genre has to offer.

Regards,
David R

Quote from: James McMurrayI think he was just trying to avoid poor taste jokes, not necessarily the idea itself.

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Yep!
But maybe I think that playing a PC in prison is already a challenge... having to face a shower rape... hmmmm... Reflex Save against soap slippering...