Do you have an Arch Nemesis in your campaign?

[gcbright]

Hi,

Just curious if anyone else uses multi campaign opposition for your characters in Traveller? Sort of a Joker to their Batman (or in the case of most campaigns Superman to their Lex Luthor).

One we get a lot of mileage out of in our campaigns is a NIS Commander who is as ruthless as the player characters. She shows up about one in ten game sessions, normally when things couldn't be going worse for the player characters.

She has data on the characters (some real, most manufactured) that in the event of her untimely death will go to her supervisor and put the pc's on the Imperial most wanted list.

During a museum burglary to acquire an item for a patron, one of the pcs gets captured by the local authorities. She shows up and gets them bailed out of jail by claiming that the character was her undercover agent inside the theft ring.

She explains that the theft ring is working for a psionic cult that believes the item will grant them great psionic powers with which they plan to lay waste to the planet and the local naval base.

Once outside when the player character asks what's going on, she explains she is up for promotion and taking down a dangerous psionic cult will get it for her. Now all he and his friends have to do is help her pull off the deception or she will see them all behind bars.

So what sort of recurring pain in the characters behind do you have in your campaign?

 

[Gadrin]

Sorta, I tend to focus on groups with prominent individuals...

Merchant Princes of Skull -- from the GURPS Behind the Claw (Spinward Marches book), defined as

Merchant Princes of Skull
This is a group of “merchant princes” who rule Skull/Lanth and indulge in
reckless speculative trading. They or their representatives can be found
anywhere in the Marches, generally involved in ventures of dubious legality.

I used the writeup from TNE Star Vikings p84 of Enligi Khargulim for one of the leaders Damian Grumm and gave them a gothic/horror sort of feel to them. They'll take demonic names and speak in Latin to keep their secrets. They also have some uber-tech they've pilfered from an Imperial Research Station.

They appeared twice in How M Grinch Manipulated Xmas and Kill the Courier. I've got a couple of others of their number I'm working on who are fencing some gold stolen from LSP and a few other types of deals. Enough to draw the pcs into the middle of some trouble.

Another is a group of Rogue IISS Scouts comprised of S-3 squad and some others. They're manipulating the system to gain monies that they couldn't otherwise get. They're a bit more ruthless and determined, covering their tracks in an effort to get away. They'll be introduced to the PCs when they visit an old freighter friend who always throws a party during year-end ship maintainence, and when the PCs show up they find his place a veritable fortress and almost shoot them.

Another is courtesy of FASA and Rescue on Galatea, called GENEM which seems to be a powerful sector wide company in the Far Frontiers. They're producing weapons and TIP (Total Integration Program, which merges man and machine, like cyberpunk). They'll make very good bad-guys especially once I flesh them out. My intention is to use them in a Zhodani Campaign where they attack a Zho scoutship and the Zhodani find out and trace it back to them, with the aid of a neutral party. Naturally this will escalate matters...


Anyway, these will tend to dominate a short series of adventures, say over the course of several gaming sessions.

>

 

[aramis]

I've often used the Tavrchedzl and the Ine Givar as a nemisis. I've also used the Nobility of the Lanth Subsector as badguys, and tied many of the PC's to the Regina Subsector.

I have an NPC plot-motivator (formerly a PC), named Scout Xen Xanfried. He's a random monster summoned by the players. They never know which Xen they will get (there are at least 8... all clones). He's shown up as a stowaway, as a teleport-in, as a frendly rescue, as a hostile takeover via his Imperial Warrant.... Players know that if they are stuck, Xen will send them in new directions.... not of need happy ones.

 

[mike wightman]

I have a shady dealer called Eneri that plagues pcs quite often.

They know he's a bad guy, but the jobs he offers are very lucrative. They just have to be real careful when they do stuff that crosses him.

Oh, and he has a bodyguard called Gort whos claim to fame is he survived a direct hit from an FGMP.

 

[Ran Targas]

IMTU, the Imperium is the Empire and my players are rebels. I've brewed up a number of fiends to oppose them, most of whom have lasted several adventures and some even through years of play.

The players rightfully earned a reputation for destruction and fomenting revolution, so the Empire threw several task force commanders and fleet admirals at them; one of whom even nuked a refugee camp where the player's had friends to avenge a bitter and embarassing defeat.

Then there's an ex-IM colonel who started out aiding the rebels then became nothing less than a cold blooded anarchist; the players have had to thwart his diabolical schemes on several occassions, including his attempts to unleash a devastating plague on an Imperial colony world.

And one of my favorites is shipping magnate who built his fortunes on Imperial contracts and extorting smaller carriers with his own personal fleet of corsairs; the players really pissed him off by protecting his arch-rival from a heavily planned and costly assassination attempt.

All in all, my players have managed to find some very powerful and lucky enemies, most of whom have their own personal armies to throw at them. I find it keeps them on their toes

 

[Darkhstarr]

Ongoing adversaries? Hmmmmm. There are several in my Beyond campaign. Die Weltbund (from Paranoia Press's The Beyond) in my campaign is a powerful, resource rich
confederation with few heavy industries most of which are concerned with their naval & merchant shipping. They do not allow foreign trading vessels in their space, relying on a national transport concern with a chronic shortage of trained personnel. They make up these shortages by the capture of trained personnel by their navy (always claiming violation of sovereign space) or buying slave crews from criminal groups such as Tuablin, LTD. They've also until 1111, an ally of the Zhodani, under which they have raided Imperial
Shipping in the region, transferring captive ships & crews to their fleet. The Imperial has fought two expensive, but quick campaigns against DW's fleet, winning both times. Since the 4th Frontier War, however, the Imperium has relied more upon secretly supporting pirates & privateering against Die Weltbund to great effect. Needless to say, this has created many an adventure hook.

The second is LOFWIA (League of Free Worlds Insurgent Army), the military wing of the League of Free Worlds. The League is formed of former Die Weltbund Colonies who have been successful in revolting against the DW. With many of the LOFW worlds building up their own military or align with stronger powers, the LOFW has lost its purpose. A few still fight Die Weltbund in a few systems, most have turned pirate or serve criminal syndicates as an enforcement or naval force. In my campaign, the LOFWIA & the local pirates & privateers have fought, often with the latter being hired as defense against LOFWIA or issued letters of marque. My's wife character Bette Noire & LOFWIA have a ongoing conflict.

Capt. Doulgas Anlgad 'Black Dog' McKimmon is a personal adversary of Bette Noire's, being her uncle. A cashiered Imperial Naval Officer, he led a band of Vargyr & human corsairs in the 5th Frontier War raiding the Spinward Marches. Captured, he agreed to form a privateering squadron in the Beyond to get out of prison. Of, course the first chance he had he wiped out his Imperial handlers & went pirates, attacking any target. He has a love/hate relationship with Bette, particularly, since unlike most sophonts, she has never been afraid of him. Over the years he has three goals: persuading his niece to serve in his fleet; obtaining work ancients artifacts; & establishing his base on the Tortuga system. In all these, Bette has managed to frustrate him. Black Dog (which is his preferred name) is scary & charismatic that most vargyr follow him without question.

Auric Phalange was inspired by Gert Frobe as Goldfinger. A weathy criminal mastermind, I first used him as the villain back in the 80's when I ran the Sky Raiders Trilogy. A collector of wealth, beautiful objects, & ancient artifacts he has popped as a shadowy figure behind a few adventures, usually never connected to the operation. Often as not, he appears as villain or patron equally; with some of his jobs as patron being legimate business.

Tuablin, LTD. The criminal syndicate behind many of the actions in the Beyond deals in forbiden technology& biochemicals, genetics, mind control, slavery. They are the main supplier of slave workers, bioengineering humans, & genetic research in the Beyond (& possibly the entire IMTU), utilizing Ancients tech found on Phyllis' Surrender (their home planet). They also are secretly the creators of the highly desired, highly illegal dollbots(humanoid robots with human brains as an operating system. Beside smaller criminal organization & businesses used as fronts, they have several groups in their pocket. Many LOFWIA cells serve them, Die Weltbund's Stern-Hansa transport company is dependent on Tuabin for trained tame, mindconditioned ship's crews for their merchant fleet. Because of their attempts to obtain Lilithian DNA to build genetic superhumans, the Lilithian government has issued letters of Marque against Tuablin(Bette Noire & many of dark Goddesses corsairs hold these). The Imperium is very much interested in taking Tuablin down as Tuablin's reach has crawled into the Spinward Marches. Their has been several adventure hooks involving Tuablin. Bette Noire has a personal grudge since being a Lilithian (one of the few found off world) she has been the target of Tuablin kidnapping attempts.

 

[Jame]

The guy running the campaign I'm currently in has used individual Zhodani as our nemesis; now it's bounty hunters - we are bounty hunters too, and they are our rivals.

Another of our referees took a page from WH40K and borrowed the Tyrranids; since we rotate the GM position occasionally we haven't finished with his campaign but we will someday.

In both cases, our enemies/rivals tend to change over time as we defeat them.