A noble adventure

[rancke]

In another thread someone commented on the dearth of adventures involving nobles. So I'm starting this thread to muse about such an adventure. Possibly I may wind up actually writing it, but I wouldn't advice anyone to hold his breath waiting.

Anyway, first the parameters:

Length: 3000-5000 words.

Time and place: 1116/1117, prior to the Rebellion (or around 1120 in the GTU), the court of an Imperial noble (not a parochial one) in the Duchy of Regina. Unless a better idea comes along, the court of the Duke of Regina (who is absent at the moment , so Countess Josephine of Efate is standing in for him).

(Note: By 'court' I don't mean the sort of court a Medieval monarch had, but rather 'The segment of society that interacts with the noble on a fairly regular basis'.)​

Plot: ?

* Main plot.
* Subplots.
* Push.
* Pull.
* Enigma.
* Gimmick.

PCs: ?

* Do the PCs have to be premade for the adventure, or is it possible to come up with a hook for ordinary semi-random adventurers?

NPCs: ?

Any ideas? Suggestions? Wishes?


Hans

 

[Magnus von Thornwood]

Suggestion and Wish.

I suggest you actually write it as I wish there were more Noble Adventures, since I usually have at least one somewhere in the Crew.


Seriously, I'd love to have something cool to contribute, but it's pre-work bedtime...

 

[Ran Targas]

Hans, you have to explain more what you expect to accomplish. IMHO, unless your players really want to play politics why is it necessary to treat noble characters any different than any others?

Merchant princes and senior military officers could carry nearly the same amount of political clout as a knight or baron (they may even be knights or barons), so if the players just want power or near limitless funds, those backgrounds are always an option. I would think second sons and the like aren't going to have the political power of some mercantile families or high ranking generals or admirals. And having a group of ruling nobles putzing around probably wouldn't work for very long unless they were of the same noble house or a major house and its supporting minor houses.

If only one player is a noble, take any of the adventures that feature an NPC noble and pigeon hole the player into that position.

 

[rancke]

Hans, you have to explain more what you expect to accomplish. IMHO, unless your players really want to play politics why is it necessary to treat noble characters any different than any others?

I'm just looking for inspiration for an adventure set in the lofty world of Imperial nobles. If the plot can accomodate lowly adventurers, so much the better. I'm just not ruling out the possibility that it may not be possible .

Merchant princes and senior military officers could carry nearly the same amount of political clout as a knight or baron (they may even be knights or barons), so if the players just want power or near limitless funds, those backgrounds are always an option. I would think second sons and the like aren't going to have the political power of some mercantile families or high ranking generals or admirals. And having a group of ruling nobles putzing around probably wouldn't work for very long unless they were of the same noble house or a major house and its supporting minor houses.

I'm thinking about a single adventure, not a campaign outline. Though adventures that leave the possibility open for further adventures in the same setting are always nice, of course.

If only one player is a noble, take any of the adventures that feature an NPC noble and pigeon hole the player into that position.

That might be a useful approach. Thanks for the idea.


Hans

 

[rancke]

I suggest you actually write it as I wish there were more Noble Adventures, since I usually have at least one somewhere in the Crew.

While it may turn out to be a requirement that one of the PCs have uncontested access to High Society, what I'm looking for are ideas for an adventure that takes place in Imperial High Society. Something with politics and intrigue and social interaction rather than shotguns and mesh armor.


Hans

 

[Spinward Scout]

While it may turn out to be a requirement that one of the PCs have uncontested access to High Society, what I'm looking for are ideas for an adventure that takes place in Imperial High Society. Something with politics and intrigue and social interaction rather than shotguns and mesh armor.


Hans

Here's something you might be able to modify for what you are looking for. It's a supplement for the 7th Sea rpg called Noblesse Oblige. It has rules for social fighting and courtly intrigue. It is based on medieval nobles, but as I said, could be modified. PDF viewer necessary.

Something else I think might help would be information on James Bond. I'd consider him a minor noble. And there's definitely intrigue. But then there's also lots of gunfighting.

I can't think of anything else modern-wise that might help, off the top of my head anyway.

 

[rancke]

To prime the pump, I took a roll on S. John Ross' Big List of RPG Plots, an amazing resource that I can't praise enough. The result was the Quest For the Sparkly Hoozits:

Somebody needs a dingus (to fulfill a prophecy, heal the monarch, prevent a war, cure a disease, or what have you). The PCs must find a dingus. Often an old dingus, a mysterious dingus, and a powerful dingus. The PCs must learn more about it to track it down, and then deal with taking it from wherever it is.
Common Twists & Themes: The dingus is incomplete when found (one of the most irritating and un-fun plot twists in the universe). Somebody already owns it (or recently stole it, sometimes with legitimate claim or cause). The dingus is information, or an idea, or a substance, not a specific dingus. The PCs must "go undercover" or otherwise infiltrate a group or society, gaining the dingus by guile or stealth.

The infiltration twist seems to fit right in with the desire to let "ordinary" PCs be involved in the action. The society that they must infiltrate is, of course, that of the noble in question. So what is the dingus? Who wants it (whoever it is is obviously the PC patron and quite likely the source of the false identities the PCs have to use) and why? What does it do? Who has it? What problems and perils stand between the PCs and their getting their grubby mitts on it?


Hans

 

[rancke]

Here's something you might be able to modify for what you are looking for. It's a supplement for the 7th Sea rpg called Noblesse Oblige. It has rules for social fighting and courtly intrigue. It is based on medieval nobles, but as I said, could be modified. PDF viewer necessary.

Thanks a lot. It looks very intriguing (So to speak ). I'm looking forward to a closer perusal of it.


Hans

 

[Sturn]

When thinking of new plots, I sometimes delve into movies or television shows and adapt them to the setting I'm in to the point they are unrecognizable. So, thinking of some "noble" stories:

1. King Arthur. The players must help an NPC reclaim his family's noble rights after they were usurped by another family generations ago. A quest to find an old document or computer file that proves the NPC is the actual claimant to the noble title, not the pretender's family.

2. The King and Us. The players have been hired to be instructors/mentors to a young, brash, spoiled nobleman that suddenly inherits his father's title. Each player has been hired to instruct in a different matter (a.i. the ex-Marine in matters of war, the Noble PC in matters of state, etc). The antics of the young noble will pull the PCs into several adventures in which they must save his arse. Eventually, they will see the nobleboy turn into a nobleman. Sorry, sounds more like a campaign then an adventure.

3. The Iron Mask. The players are hired by an opposing faction to usurp a noble and put a look-a-like in his place. A twist could be that the clone look-a-like turns out to not be a clone at all, but the the noble's long lost and thought dead twin brother.

4. Count of Monte Cristo. The players are hired to help a man potray himself at Regina as a grand noble from a far off court. The players are enlisted to act as the visiting noble's court - pages, bodyguards, advisors, etc. Why? The faux-noble says it is just so he can win the love of a fair noble lady of Regina. The truth, he wishes to rob the noble family's treasury, assassinate a noble, or perhaps spirit away some documents of state for the Ine Gvar terrorist group. Will the players figure this out in time to turn the tables on their employer or fall victim to his plans and be arrested as he runs off after completing his dastardly deed?

 

[rancke]

1. King Arthur. The players must help an NPC reclaim his family's noble rights after they were usurped by another family generations ago. A quest to find an old document or computer file that proves the NPC is the actual claimant to the noble title, not the pretender's family.

2. The King and Us. The players have been hired to be instructors/mentors to a young, brash, spoiled nobleman that suddenly inherits his father's title. Each player has been hired to instruct in a different matter (a.i. the ex-Marine in matters of war, the Noble PC in matters of state, etc). The antics of the young noble will pull the PCs into several adventures in which they must save his arse. Eventually, they will see the nobleboy turn into a nobleman. Sorry, sounds more like a campaign then an adventure.

3. The Iron Mask. The players are hired by an opposing faction to usurp a noble and put a look-a-like in his place. A twist could be that the clone look-a-like turns out to not be a clone at all, but the the noble's long lost and thought dead twin brother.

This is just the kind of suggestions I was hoping for.

A clone (or multiple clones) would be a nice touch because it's an SF trope (As opposed to simulacrums, which are Fantasy ).

However, since clones are a known phenomenon, routine precautions would be taken to prevent just that kind of shenanigans. What sort of precautions can be taken to prevent ursupating clones, and how could they (the precautions, not the clones) be circumvented?

ISTR that force-grown clones are beyond Imperial technology. Anybody want to correct me on that score? If I'm right, the clone(s) would have to've been "cooked up" soon enough after the birth of the legitimate heir for genetic age determination to fall withing the margin of error. A few days, a few weeks, a few months? Certainly not more than that.

The dingus would be the proof of legitimacy, I think. Who holds it would depend on how and why the legitimacy got obscured in the first place.

Maybe a vicious vendetta forced the parents to hide away the heir and substitute a clone. This would require that the parents regarded a clone as fundamentally inferior to the heir, of course. A non-person.

Maybe not a clone but a lookalike or surgically altered double (The Prince and the Pauper). He was substituted many years back when the parent found out about an assassination threat. The substitution involved replacing the heir's genetic profile with that of the lookalike in the data banks. Then the parent died and the Wicked Sceneshal conspired with the lookalike to take over the title. The dingus would be the proof that the parent had hidden away somewhere.

Hmm... some fairly large plot holes there...



Hans

 

[epicenter00]

You need but ask. Here's some ideas:

1.

During the last Frontier War, one of the characters or one of the character's close relatives (perhaps an older brother or father) served as an aide to a scion of important noble family. The player did something very important for this guy - perhaps something as prosaic as saving his life or keeping some great secret. Regardless, thereafter, the character and this guy were pretty good friends and seen as a companion of sterling character. However within a few years of the war, fate intervened and the two drifted apart.

The players know that some years back, this guy, citing illness (or some other cause unrelated to dishonor in any form) abdicated his duties to his daughter who is the current serving Duchess. The guy is dying now, and doctors say he only has a few months more to live. The ex-Duke calls upon his friend once more and begs him to speak with him. Being good friends and knowing his friend is dying, this shouldn't be a big deal.

When the character visits, the ex-Duke tells the character that he wishes to see his daughter again before he dies. This should pique some interest. It turns out that the Duchess sitting on the throne right now is an imposter. Apparently, his daughter (his true one) had eloped with a Zhodani man living in the Imperium. Desiring to keep the entire embarrassing incident hush-hush, the Duke and pleaded with one of his noble friends in charge of Spinward Marches branch of some medical concern that also dealt in the shady realm of developing the methods used to make the Emperor's "business" doubles. However, since then, the "friend" has been blackmailing him - threatening to go public with the fact the woman holding the ducal seat is an imposter.

The ex-Duke would like the character to find his daughter and bring him back to visit before he dies. Though he really has no intention of replacing the imposter on the throne with her, the blackmailer might possibly get wind of the plot and think that is the intention and send assassins after the characters. The daughter herself is a mystery - perhaps she is happily married ... and living in the Zhodani Consulate. Perhaps the fling ended early on and she's been making her way (with success or not) somewhere in the Marches. Perhaps she's spent years on the run from the blackmailer's assassins who are determined to make sure the true daughter never shows up.

2.

A world in the Imperium is noted for a large ethnically separate population of Sword Worlders. Though fierce warriors and loyal to the Iridium Throne (having resisted their ancestral people during various Frontier Wars and never giving the TI a reason to doubt their loyalty) they are nevertheless still noted to have the same prickly sense of honor as other Sword Worlders. Their entire oath of fealty of these people depends upon a ceremony performed once every 27 years (don't ask) where the highest level Duke or Duchess in the Marches is present. The head noble of the enclave draws his sword and offers it in symbolic submission and fealty to the Imperium. The Duke or Duchess inspects the sword and gives it back and recognizes the presenter of the sword as the lord (or lady) of the enclave. The surrounding the entire affair is actually various balls, hunts, banquets and so on with the ceremony occurring on the next to last day of four days of such things.

The problem is that there's a lot of internal dissent in this population and various pro-Sword Worlds camps in the population which go along with the current ruler because of oaths of fealty and so on. When the ruler of this enclave and the other enclave nobles show up to witness the event. However, at some point between the arrival of the highest ranking noble and perhaps day into the festivities, the sword has vanished. It is certain it was taken by one of the other entourage members so he or she could present it and be named as the head of their people, so the sword is most likely held by one of them. The situation has to be handled with the utmost discretion as they're a prickly people and time is limited. As they're sovereign nobles, simply arresting, searching, or even formally questioning the lot of them would cause the enclavers to revolt over the insult. Even the head noble can't do that without giving his prickly vassals an excuse to revolt against him. So the players will have to wheedle the secret out, sneak into the "apartments" (really a heavy protected lodge) and find the sword and deliver it to the right person before the ceremony ... they have two days.

This scenario could be played very seriously with laser mics, careful tailing, dumping bodies into rivers and so on. In general, I think it's more fun to play with a lighter touch - almost comedically, with players being rakes seducing philandering wives or husbands to get information, being chased around by guard dogs, and that guy with SOC-3 in the party failing some social roll miserably and being challenged to duels (or even more funny - the nobles think he's brash and hilarious and gets invited to places).

 

[Whipsnade]

However, since clones are a known phenomenon, routine precautions would be taken to prevent just that kind of shenanigans. What sort of precautions can be taken to prevent ursupating clones, and how could they (the precautions, not the clones) be circumvented?

Hans,

IIRC it's mentioned in Survival Margin that Dr. Kagamira "tested" a sedated or sleeping Strephon with a "trigger" phrase. Apparently certain subconscious indicators are implanted in imperial clones and they can be triggered by certain spoken phrases. Dr. Kagamira had satisfied himself that Strephon was the real Strephon in this manner and was then completely baffled when Strephon refused to by "certified" in the same manner by IRIS.

How this implantation of this mental "IFF" system is accomplished I've no idea. We could guess that it was psionic in nature, but wouldn't that leave it open to future psionic tampering? Could the "IFF" system be implanted wholly through Pavlovian or Skinnerian methods? I just don't know.

Just what constitutes a "trigger" phrase would be a state secret naturally.

ISTR that force-grown clones are beyond Imperial technology. Anybody want to correct me on that score?

You're correct there. It came up during discussions at JTAS about the Interstellar Wars well before the GT:ISW project had even been assigned. The Usual Subjects were flogging the idea of Terran "clone armies" again and someone dug up the canonical statements that shot down the idea. Strephon's clones were said to have been "started" around his birth.

You know, Norris' handing of Seldrian looks wiser and wiser: acknowledge the clone from the beginning and take steps to differentiate the clone from you.

Back to your adventure...

You've mentioned it should be one session in length and should involve nobles. That could mean many things. Are the players wholly commoners, a mixture of commoners and nobles, or wholly nobles?

I think you should go with a convention style adventure here. The players are given a stack of pre-generated characters to choose from and the PCs should be a mixture of nobles and commoners.

How about an adventure dealing in haute couture for a change? The social event of the year will be taking place at the Duke's court in a month and the competition between the ladies of the court is always fierce. Making matters worse, because the Duke's Ball will coincide with the "coming out" season for noble debutantes, the two events have been combined. The ladies of the court are now borderline psychotics in their desire to wear the best outfits.

The players will be associated with one noble house. It's been suggested, not ordered, that they find out as much as possible about the fashions being worn by the ladies of a few other houses. Not only will the house's grand dame make a splash, but the debutante has to beat her rivals.

The players will have to embark on a low key espionage effort. Low key because it's just dresses after all and low key because, while everyone else is spying too, no one pushes things too far or gets caught. The last part is the most important, such spying is done but it's never done too "strenuously". Being caught out is bad form because admitting that you care enough to spy is huge social faux pas.

The players will attend a lot of parties and dinners, chat up lots of people, noble or otherwise, and slowly put together a picture of what the other houses will be wearing. There will be designers being bribed, chamber maids wooed, domestic robots suborned, and all sorts of other gun-free activities undertaken during a whirl of dinner parties, luncheons, teas, smokers, and dances.

The twist will involve another house who plays by different rules. Being socially "cut" already, they'll feel less constrained by custom and will use rougher methods, not to spy, but to have the other houses' spying efforts revealed. The players will have to somehow thwart the ruffians without breaking too many heads or making too much "noise" socially.


Regards,
Bill

 

[Spinward Scout]

Made you a little table today you can use for your game (if you write it). I figure it could be used for either: conversation topics nobles would be talking about at an event; or, the current 'mission' an NPC noble the players encounter could be on. Modify to your liking.

roll 2d6

2   Economic
3   Social
4   Politics
5   Current Events
6   Family
7   Entertainment
8   New Technology
9   War and Strategy
10  Ancients
11  Fads and Fashion
12  Travel

 

[rancke]

How this implantation of this mental "IFF" system is accomplished I've no idea. We could guess that it was psionic in nature, but wouldn't that leave it open to future psionic tampering? Could the "IFF" system be implanted wholly through Pavlovian or Skinnerian methods? I just don't know.

Remember Dr. Riket's personality overlay machine from Expedition to Zhodane? That's an invention of his own, but presumably it builds on various existing techniques, and implanting a mental "IFF" system would be a good deal less complicated than a personality overlay.

Just what constitutes a "trigger" phrase would be a state secret naturally.

A lost secret, perhaps? AKA The Dingus?

Strephon's clones were said to have been "started" around his birth.

As an aside, I'm really sorry Jon Zeigler didn't manage to get those clones retconned into surgically altered doubles. The whole concept raises major questions about the Imperial anti-slavery principles and is downright creepy in its own right.

You've mentioned it should be one session in length and should involve nobles. That could mean many things. Are the players wholly commoners, a mixture of commoners and nobles, or wholly nobles?

One adventure, not necessarily only one session. I came up with this phrase while considering suggesting another JTAS adventure-writing contest to Loren: "The PCs must interact significantly with one or more nobles who are not acting in the capacity of their patron".

I think you should go with a convention style adventure here. The players are given a stack of pre-generated characters to choose from and the PCs should be a mixture of nobles and commoners.

I'm in a bit of a quandary here. On the one hand, I don't want to discourage anyone from throwing their ideas into the pot; this thread was intended to be a sort of BB bull-session. On the other hand, I do want the discussion to focus on producing a specific plot, which does make pursuing several different adventure ideas simultaneously counterproductive.

So I'm going to try to steer the discussion in a single direction. But if anyone gets any brilliant ideas that doesn't relate to the main line of development, feel free to post it anyway. Better yet, start a new thread about the new idea.

So to sum up the results thus far:

Length: 3000-5000 words.

Time and place: 1116/1117, prior to the Rebellion (or around 1120 in the GTU), the court of an Imperial noble (not a parochial one) in the Duchy of Regina. Unless a better idea comes along, the court of the Duke of Regina (who is absent at the moment , so Countess Josephine of Efate is standing in for him).

(Note: By 'court' I don't mean the sort of court a Medieval monarch had, but rather 'The segment of society that interacts with the noble on a fairly regular basis'.)

Plot: Some sort of Quest For the Sparkly Hoozits (See post #7 in this thread).

* Main plot. The PCs are hired by the Foster Father of a Young Noble who has been dispossessed of his inheritance by a series of unfortunate events. Their job is to infiltrate the Imperial High Society on Regina and track down proof of the young noble's identity.

Background: Years ago a vicious vendetta with another noble family forced the Parent of the Young Noble to hide away the heir and substitute a surgically altered double. The substitution involved replacing the heir's genetic profile with that of the lookalike in the data banks. Then the parent died unexpectedly (as a result of the vendetta?) and the Wicked Sceneshal conspired with the Lookalike to take over the title. The Foster Father is convinced that the Parent had hidden away somewhere an account of the substitution and notarized (?) copies of the correct genetic profile. [Why is he convinced of that?]

* Subplots: The PCs must succeed in thier impersonation in order to gain access to the people thay need to interview and the place they need to search.

* Push: ?
* Pull: ?
* Enigma: ?
* Gimmick: ?

PCs: Your basic group of adventurers.

* Prerequisite skills: ?

NPCs:
* Foster Father (The Patron).
* Young Noble
* Wicked Scheneshal
* Lookalike ursurper

<Excellent idea by Bill snipped>.

Excellent idea, Bill. You should start a thread about it.


Hans

 

[Whipsnade]

Remember Dr. Riket's personality overlay machine from Expedition to Zhodane? That's an invention of his own, but presumably it builds on various existing techniques, and implanting a mental "IFF" system would be a good deal less complicated than a personality overlay.

Hans,

Excellent point and one that neatly solves the problem. I was very leery of using any psionic methods to implant the "IFF" system. While the Imperium does have various psi programs for military and security purposes, I don't think that, first, the "ordinary" nobility would have access to such programs and, second, that they'd trust anything a wandering Zho spy could finagle with.

A lost secret, perhaps? AKA The Dingus?

Nifty idea! Remember the verbiage about special psi talents in CT? That they should be "... psychologically dependent on a focus, in the form of some artifact or charm..."? While your "IFF" system won't be psionic in nature, it could still be triggered by an artifact or charm and that "dingus" has been lost, misplaced, or stolen. Come to think of it, wasn't that part of the plot in MT's "Behind Blue Eyes"?

As an aside, I'm really sorry Jon Zeigler didn't manage to get those clones retconned into surgically altered doubles. The whole concept raises major questions about the Imperial anti-slavery principles and are downright creepy in its own right.

Glad to know I'm not the only one skeeved out by the implications of the imperial clones.

I'm in a bit of a quandary here.

Rest assured, you're in no quandary at all. When I posted my flight of fancy, I hadn't yet read the entire thread and didn't know you already had a plot! Ignore my stuff and continue working on what you've already started because I too am ignoring my idea and am working on the plot outline you posted!


Regards,
Bill

 

[Icosahedron]

The Foster Father is convinced that the Parent had hidden away somewhere an account of the substitution and notarized (?) copies of the correct genetic profile. [Why is he convinced of that?]

Because that's what he would have done, and the parent was no fool.

Excellent idea, Bill. You should start a thread about it.


Hans

Yep, I've squirrelled that plot away for future use.

 

[rancke]

Excellent point and one that neatly solves the problem. I was very leery of using any psionic methods to implant the "IFF" system. While the Imperium does have various psi programs for military and security purposes, I don't think that, first, the "ordinary" nobility would have access to such programs and, second, that they'd trust anything a wandering Zho spy could finagle with.

Come to think about it, the Heir may actually have been treated by Dr. Riket. In my copious files I have a 3/4 finished adventure set in year 1120 and involving the Rikets. In it, I establish that after the war Dr. Riket set up as a treater of psycological disorders, with an astounding success rate. Be that as it may, Dr. Riket could still be on Regina in one capacity or another, and if he's an old friend of the Parent, he might have offered his treatment as a way to keep the heir completely disguised -- even from herself!

Nifty idea! Remember the verbiage about special psi talents in CT? That they should be "... psychologically dependent on a focus, in the form of some artifact or charm..."? While your "IFF" system won't be psionic in nature, it could still be triggered by an artifact or charm and that "dingus" has been lost, misplaced, or stolen.

I was thinking about a code phrase, but an actual physical object would be even better.

Come to think of it, wasn't that part of the plot in MT's "Behind Blue Eyes"?

I don't recognize the title. Is it from some magazine?

How does the following bit of introduction work?

"The Patron explains that her ward is actually the daughter and heir of the Baroness of Marvale, an important Imperial noble who died mysteriously a few days ago. A vicious family feud with the Crenshaws of Imarsh (another baronial family) had recently flared up again, and the Baroness suspected a traitor in her own household. To protect her daughter, she asked the Patron to keep her hidden while she used a surgically altered double as bait to catch the traitor.

To keep her very headstrong daughter safely tucked away, the Baroness had her treated by some mysterious process that the Patron never knew was possible. Some old friend of the Baroness was involved, but the Patron don't know who. Some old Imperial Intelligence buddy of the Baroness, is her guess. But that's not important. What's important is that her ward doesn't remember who she is. Her wits and personality is unaffected, but she believes herself to be another person and all her memories get interpreted in that light. To tell the truth, the Patron is more than a little freaked out by it. The Baroness told the Patron that all it would take to restore her daughter's memory would be to show her a particular object and say a paticular code phrase."​

Followed by an explanation of how the Wicked Seneshal must have conspired with the Lookalike to usurp the barony and how the PCs have to find the dingus etc.


Hans

 

[Whipsnade]

Come to think about it, the Heir may actually have been treated by Dr. Riket.

Hans.

Oooh... nice way to provide a canonical link and a nasty way to add a twist.

With the Father dead and the Dingus missing, who would really know what the Dingus actually is but Dr. Riket? But, old Doc Riket has gone missing before right? What if he's out on another mission for Imperial intelligence?

A twist that involves physically searching for the good doctor would greatly expand the scope of the adventure beyond your limits. However, bumping into INI or having to get past Riket's spook mandated "gate keepers" could add a wrinkle to the adventure.

I don't recognize the title. Is it from some magazine?

It was a campaign presented in series of articles in The Challenge for MT. I remember many of the details aside from the names of the governments involved!

It was set in the Hinterworlds. A system made up of several inhabited gas giant moons had been invaded by a newly aggressive polity. One of the moons hosted an interdicted pre-gunpowder balkanized culture. The invaders had lifted the interdiction and armed a local noble in a bid to create a unified world government.

A polity opposed to the invaders had several espionage networks working throughout the entire system with agents to tend them. One of the agents was "burned" but, before they were caught, they managed to hide a dossier on the low tech world detailing the entire spy network. Knowledge of the hiding place was then "hidden" in the mind of a local little girl.

The PCs are inserted on the low-tech world to retrieve the dossier. They quickly determine they need to find the little girl first and locate her within the castle of the warlord the invading power has selected to unify the world! They get to the girl, trigger the repressed memory, are told the dossier is hidden in banner captured by warlord, find the banner, retrieve the dossier, and then escape from the world aboard a SDB the invading power has hidden near the world's capital.

I remember the adventure as being greatly detailed and very "railroady". There was usually only one course of action for any given scene.

How does the following bit of introduction work?

Sounds good to me. Having a particularly devious mind, I'd want to either have a red herring or two between the players and the Wicked Seneschal or give the GM another option beside the Wicked Seneschal.


Regards,
Bill

 

[boomslang]

With the Father dead and the Dingus missing, who would really know what the Dingus actually is but Dr. Riket? But, old Doc Riket has gone missing before right? What if he's out on another mission for Imperial intelligence?

A twist that involves physically searching for the good doctor would greatly expand the scope of the adventure beyond your limits. However, bumping into INI or having to get past Riket's spook mandated "gate keepers" could add a wrinkle to the adventure.

Or, perhaps even more deviously, what if it is necessary to recruit the PCs to approach Dr. Riket obliquely, to win his confidence in their sincerity without triggering the embedded defensive personality he implanted in himself as a last line of defense to protect the State Secret from usurpation-minded noble families?

He might bolt, or his handlers might trigger him to go to ground, or the PCs might wake up brainwashed a sector or three away -- if they don't pull off a huge, elaborate confidence scam of courtly manners and High Politics without a hitch... thus you could rei[g]n in the scope of the adventure with the overhanging threat of it turning into a multi-sector chase/manhunt...

 

[rancke]

With the Father dead and the Dingus missing, who would really know what the Dingus actually is but Dr. Riket? But, old Doc Riket has gone missing before right? What if he's out on another mission for Imperial intelligence?

A twist that involves physically searching for the good doctor would greatly expand the scope of the adventure beyond your limits. However, bumping into INI or having to get past Riket's spook mandated "gate keepers" could add a wrinkle to the adventure.

As you say, it would expand the scope of the adventure and in a direction away from the high society. So I don't want to mention Dr. Riket by name, or even confirm that it's actually him. Whoever put in the mental block would presumably be able to remove it again with or without the missing trigger object, and would thus short-circuit the whole plot. No, the Baroness was the only one who knew who installed the block, and with her dead, that's a dead end. But she told the Patron what the object was (but not where it was hidden).

Sounds good to me. Having a particularly devious mind, I'd want to either hav a red herring or two between the players and the Wicked Seneschal or give the GM another option beside the Wicked Seneschal.

OH, yes, there's a goodly bit of details to fill in. Wild cards are the traitor (who was he and is he in cahoots with the Usurper or not?), the Crenshaws (What do they know, what do they plan?), and... anyone else interesting? The daughter's fiancé, perhaps?


Hans