Giving Players Poisoned Gifts...

[sandman]

Hullo...

I've got a game going on where I decided to throw the players wayyyy out of course (well, after two misjumps, it was only a little push...)

I gave them a Brand New Ship(TM)

Brand New as in TL15 all the way. Ok, Hiver designed (for use by other races) and using non-standard parts and equipmentsweird alloys etc.
(Hear that, HoratioHex?

)

I "forgot" to mention to them that it was also the first prototype for that ship, at least untill someone finally asked the "previous owner" who's aboard with them.

BTW, the ship's my conversion of the Zaon's Orca that passed here a few months ago. Jump 4 (I'm using the 1/2 jump fuel handwaverule), 3G, 400dTon+ Cargo, Outside Pinnacle that is meshed in the Jump Grid, and many other candies...

Even then, the Engineer's becoming Edgy and the Pilot isn't too sure it was a good trade


So, my question is, What have you done to your players to show them that "Better" isn't always true?

 

[Ran Targas]

Sandman,

- it's stolen
- it's a stolen military proto-type (not to fall in enemy hands)
- it's semi-sentient or contains a homocidal alien life-force
- there's a REALLY bad guy frozen in one of the low berths (super psychic whack job?)
- it has an experimental jump drive (that doesn't function as designed or causes neurotic behavior)
- it's cargo is a bio/chem weapon (really nasty)
- it's cargo is a sentient bio weapon or a bunch of rugby ball sized, semi-translucent, leathery eggs (Hmmmm?)
- the previous owner was a pirate (Orca military variant) wanted in 12 systems
- it's infested with a Hiver parasite that happens to really like eating synthetics (clothing, armor, weapon components, etc.)

Ahh, the fun I could have. And I love that ship! I'm waiting to use it in my campaign.

 

[Mythmere]

Something starts to smell behind one of the bulkheads. Yep, it's a body.
of a prominent planetary politician
of a crimelord?
of an Imperial noble known for corruption? or for honesty?
of a courier
of megacorp attorney who was auditing a planetary division.
Also, at this point I bet a patrol cruiser wants to board the ship because the navy (or the colonial navy) has been tipped off by the bad guys. Or maybe the body has been glued in with a superglue that can't be unbonded without a particular solvent. (it was in the ship's locker, but dang it, it's crystallized)!

Or, perhaps there are tribbles.

Or, this ship was used to transport payroll cash for several years. It's well known.

 

[sandman]

The fun I`ll have...

... Much because two of my players are right here ont he board

 

[rancke]

The wall safe in the captain's stateroom contains an Imperial Warrant made out to bearer.

Hans

 

[Keklas Rekobah]

Perhaps the ship has a dormant Virus personality that re-awakens under certain specific conditions. Upon awakening, it determines that the Zhodani Coreward Expeditions must be stopped. Then the crew must either endure a long series of refuel-jump-service cycles, or figure out some way to de-activate every ship's system controlled by the Virus and risk going adrift forever while their bodies cool into corpsicles to be found by some future race many millenia from now...

me go. hurt brain. need lie-down. bye-bye.

 

[Liam Devlin]

Best deal I saw, given by co-GM Bryan Gibson (ye artist & Ancient herebaouts), was to give the players avessel in pristine working order. Nothing functionally worng with it- they immediately smelled a rat! It was too good to be true!
Sure enough after getting it on a sweetheart deal (a no return sale auction IIRC) for 10MCr that took all of their money to pool to get her,
The dealer sez..
"I gotta be honest guys." She's been sittin here for 4 years since the accident, an no one touched her."
"The accident??"
"Sure he sez, She misjumped, arrived here four prsecs too many, full cargo, everything ya see here, and not one of the 14 crew abaord her.
They dig details outta the guy, but he only sez, Hey, it was in the papers"

they research into it- and figure out hwere she came from (after several months of game play-btw)
but they only discover that the crew utterly vanished. unlike bermuda triangle stuff- their was no food out, etc, beds were all made, ship was clean, and devoid of any sign of life.

She had a rep thereafter in that area as a Dutchman.

[OOG/OOP- and the GM secret they never twigged to btw, the original crew had gotten into so much hot water they HAD to fake their deaths.
they had a stolen launch grappled to the hull, and at the point before jump, left her in it(the launch). And went about changing their identities.]

Their own paranoia and stubbron persistence did them in. BG dinnae have to make up ways to spend their dough, etc, they did it to themselves trying to solve the mystery!

Sandman
Slainte!

 

[sandman]

Nothing like making the player utterly paranoid and having no real problem whatsoever

As for my poisoned gift, I'll let the players learn what a "Prototype" is

Isn't all bad either... they might get very good surprises too

 

[Ran Targas]

As a proto-type, you could build whole story arc on trying to find the one machinist who can fashion a one-of-a-kind part for the main airlock or the sewage system! Those kinds of things can get really expensive too.

And once they start jury-rigging systems because they can't get the right parts, even more fun begins! I hope your PC engineer is really good!

 

[sandman]

Already thought of many systems they can run into problems when doing maintenance/repair

 

[campbell]

re sandmans idea for an experimental jump drive. the ship could be riddled with recording devices and a hidden computer. given that the maximum safe jump is six but i believe that in a misjump it can be up to 36, then your players brand new toy can be set up to try and produce controlled misjumps. imagine what the data would be worth to a company that could increase jump range six fold for the same size drive and fuel requirements. what corporation would quibble over the possible loss of a few crews.

 

[sandman]

Originally posted by campbell:
re sandmans idea for an experimental jump drive. the ship could be riddled with recording devices and a hidden computer. given that the maximum safe jump is six but i believe that in a misjump it can be up to 36, then your players brand new toy can be set up to try and produce controlled misjumps. imagine what the data would be worth to a company that could increase jump range six fold for the same size drive and fuel requirements. what corporation would quibble over the possible loss of a few crews.

Nahw...

I'ts Hiver Designed... they've made it a "non-hiver" looker, but still have many safeguards... sure, many probes, sensors and the like, but even though the thrusters are 3G and overbuilt, there are too many safeguard to push it past 3G...

... Hiver aren't adapted to think like that, they prefer Safety

If my engineer want to fiddle with some systems, he's likely to find Quadruple Redundancy circuits with Triple Bypass Failover TECH TECH TECH TECH phased array TECH TECH TECH main deflector dish TECH TECH TECH beam.

i.e: would have to redesign most of it just to bypass it

They're in a ship designed for Safety... it's just that it's not a proven design

 

[milescca]

As a player in Sandman's great game:

I can garantee that alien contraptions are the least of our worries.

I play an ignorant tech level 0 Barbarian. I can kill myself multiple times and wreck alot of components just to make it work "my way".... Cough.

Never fear Sandman, we, the players, will do most of the bungling on our own.

 

[mkrusty]

Ran a Multiversal campaign once

gave the crew access to wildly fantastic technologies and let them get hooked on it and then caused an accident with the multiverse drives and cut them off from their precious technoverse...

much like the "prototype" situation when it came to repairs and such

They spent much of the time hunting down and utilizing technical resources until they were able to handle repairs and such - they were the most technologically advanced group of mercenaries in the universe. Then they started to notice that ships were showing up with weapons and defenses comparable (if not exactly like) their own ...

 

[ld80062]

Originally posted by Sandman:

I gave them a Brand New Ship(TM)

Brand New as in TL15 all the way. Ok, Hiver designed (for use by other races) and using non-standard parts and equipmentsweird alloys etc.

"Mommy, I'm scared!"