Seeking Inspiration: Stalling tactics for PCs...

[Flynn]

Good morning, All,

I'm seeking inspiration from my peers in regards to adventuring opportunities. Assume for this scenario that you have a rich patron travelling from World A to World B, who is intent on stalling the PCs who are also following the same route. What sort of things could the patron do to stall the PCs?

Or think of it another way: what has your Referee done to you to stall your characters as they attempted to travel from World A to World B under a specific time constraint?

Here's the first few ideas I've come up with:
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• Bribe starport authorities to find something wrong with starship during inspections and hold it for several days or weeks</font>
• Kidnap one of the crew members</font>
• Sabotage one or more of the ship's systems</font>
• Hire someone to file false charges against a crewmember while on a High Law planet</font>
• Have someone thrown into a prison camp or pressed into local service</font>

What else could the patron do as a stalling tactic against the party?

With Regards,
Flynn

 

[tjoneslo]

How much of a delay do you want? Do you want them to arrive a few days behind the patron, a few weeks, or in ideal circumstances, never?

Hire an ethcally challenged merchant to play pirate.

Tell one or more starport athorities the players are pirates, drug smugglers, gun runners, rebel supporters, psis, or all of the above makes for interesting times.

My experince has shown players, once attacked a few times become more paranoid and begin to avoid starports and civlizations all together.

My favorite is to pull a little reverse psychology, and offer up a deal too good to pass on. Say an emergency shipment at exorbatant fees to somewhere just far enough out of the way that the player think they can still make their delivery, but a few unexpected delays will cause them to miss their deadline.

 

[Chuck Anumia]

Hire thugs to "Knee Cap" a player (roll for outcome/interigation)
Hire the players to make a dilivery of a pacage to an address in the opposite direction from which the patron is travelling.

Ask the local Navy commander to inspect the players and/or ship.
Hire a "Damsel in Distress" to get the players involved in something somewhere else.

Have Thugs start a bar brawl with the players that lands them in jail until the circuit rider judge comes in.

Have someone steal the players cargo.
Offer the players a cargo to steal and a destination to take it to for a "Reward".

Hire an actor to play the part of a tresure hunter who hires the players for a "wild goose chase"

And as always "Government Red Tape" works every time.

 

[Rossoneill]

My favorite is the bribed customs inspector to plant or have planted contraband on the ship .
Or just change a few lines in the manifest to cause delays in entering or clearing port customs.
The change could be attributed to a computer glitch if needed ,
and after its too late ,profuse apologies to the pcs

 

[flykiller]

offer up a deal too good to pass on.

on a similar note, rather than simply delay them the patron can direct or manipulate the players into doing something that the patron wants done locally before they leave. one may as well be efficient.

 

[BetterThanLife]

Variations on the Basic D.I.D. (Damsel In Distress) is always good for a delay. But make sure you keep the variations coming or they will smell a rat.

Cause a "Natural Disaster" which will get the Player's drafted to help out. (Amazing how big an avalanche you can cause with a few Kilos of C-4. Or how big a wildfire you can cause near a populated area with a few carefully placed incendiary devices.) To cause further delays you can plant evidence that the characters were responsible for the devices in the first place.

If the characters are or have Detached Duty Scouts among them, especially if they are on a Detached Duty Scout Ship, have the Scouts activated, complete with ship. (Either through connections, or by the simple expedient of making a couple of Type-S and perhaps a Survey Cruiser disappear or taking out a X-Boat tender or two.)

 

[Theo D Lite]

Once the party I was in had become notorious enough to have a sizeable bounty put on it. Being in non Imperial space we were effectively out of reach of official resources but one bounty hunter tried to give it a go. At this time we had guest NPC's played by other members of the RPG society for situations such as this. We got wind of the bounty hunters approach and through contacts in the local military arranged for him to be waylaid and formally inspected which meant his ship was effectively pulled into a deep space military dock and practically disassembled. Never saw him again!

Reactivating reservist characters even if not official can lead to delay as the red tape is worked out.

A distress call as the players leave system in pursuit of their target to which they would be honour bound to respond as the closest space vessel could cause a serious delay as the stranded crew and passengers of the stricken vessel would have to be returned to port or a nearby ship which would require hours or possibly days of manuevering to get back to the jump point after responding and conveying to safety.

 

[Flynn]

These are excellent suggestions so far. For clarification, I'm mostly looking for ideas of what a patron's money could buy, not necessarily what I can do as the Referee.

Keep 'em coming,
Flynn

 

[lordrichter]

Holidays are great distractions. When the locals celebrate Hazmat, and all but the most essential staff are released to enjoy the day(s). Depending on the local government, participating could be a matter of life and death. Imagine a Religious government where failure to obtain an indulgance, means you must celebrate Hazmat. The background of why Hazmat is SO important is up to you, but a big celebration would slow the PCs considerably.

A variation on holidays and some of the other posted ideas... Have the patron tell the local nobility all about the "special visitors" rumor has it are in the area. Your PCs will never know what hit them and they will get side-tracked for days. Your PCs could be rock stars, undercover Imperial inspectors, movers and shakers in the Imperial court, you name it... The local nobility will take the time to "help" them at every turn and really ruin their plans. Do you have any idea how impossible it is to bribe your way past an inspection with a personal honor guard following you everywhere? The possibilities for messing with the PCs are endless. Don't forget to invite them to a party in their honor - exactly the kind of event they cannot refuse.

Imagine a ship, modified by your PCs to be the next best thing in space. Naturally, since they are so well connected, everyone will assume that the non-spec mods were the result of shoddy workmanship at the last repair site.

"Not worry, milords. Baron Topo has put 4 crews on the repairs and has order your monthly overhaul performed as well. The priceless and illegal Romulan Ale - all 100 tons of it - marked blueberry rum, has been destroyed and replaced with some nice local wines. We took the liberty of eliminating some of your cargo hold to upgrade your sensors, computer and add this field testing lab - so you can never be taken advantage of again. I almost forgot..."

Your PCs will be pulling their hair out and unable to get mad about it (publicly). Plus they can be delayed as long as you like.

 

[Fritz_Brown]

Heh, Flynn, I'm not sure I saw anything in this list that the "patron" couldn't arrange with sufficient funds. Even the distress call....

 

[flykiller]

Keep 'em coming

the patron could ask them to transport his mother-in-law (or other suitable relative). huge amount of luggage, small troublesome pets, detailed sensitive cabin accomodations, floral decorations.

general dock-workers' union difficulties.

specific bribe. "sorry, no cargo robots / fuel nozzle gaskets / flight clearance for your size of ship for the next day or two."

specific bribe. "sorry, your announcement of availability for cargo/passengers was misplaced. we'll get you back on the outbound net tomorrow."

 

[BetterThanLife]

Originally posted by Fritz88:
Heh, Flynn, I'm not sure I saw anything in this list that the "patron" couldn't arrange with sufficient funds. Even the distress call....

A Local Holiday would be rough but otherwise...

Forget about what a GM could do to delay a party, that is a scary road to go down.

Back to the subject at hand.

Have an "Ancients' Device" slipped aboard in some innocous cargo or luggage and turn the Characters in for trading in Illegal Ancients' Artifacts. (Likely to tie up characters up longer than typical contraband.)

Send a Bounty Hunter or Skip Tracer after them.

Arrange for their ship to be repossesed. (Damn clerical errors!

)

Pay a clerk to lose their paperwork. (Customs and Safety Inspection, landing clearances, cargo handling permits, passenger ticketing, Credit Vouchers for delivery, etc.) All the paperwork has to be redone, in triplicate, each with original signatures. And since the paperwork on the Customs and Safety Inspection has to be redone so does teh inspection. (And "everybody knows" that customs and safety inspection paperwork that goes missing is probably the result of a bribe to hide something on the ship, so this reinspection is likely to be extremely comprehensive and time consuming.)

 

[Chuck Anumia]

Pay the local authority to take a sick day and have his replacement unqualified to release the players ship.

 

[deadlock]

Greetings and salutations,

I must admit, the previous posts have marvelous suggestions to delay the PCs; however, none have mentioned quarantining the planet/upport they are currently at.

"Sure, you can leave if you can get past the system defense force that makes sure no ship enters or leaves the jump diameter. And if you get past them, you will need to get away from the pursuit ships that will destroy your ship without question since it will be marked as contaminated. Please enjoy your stay."

When the PCs get back to their ship, make sure they are greeted by a GCarrier and the law enforcers, soldiers, or marines that came with it. And remember, the quarantine is strictly enforced so whoever gets to play babysitter will have two snipers (1 anti-personnel & 1 anti-material).

Maybe I should post this in "...and then a fight broke out" too.

 

[BetterThanLife]

Originally posted by Marquis Deadlock:
Greetings and salutations,

I must admit, the previous posts have marvelous suggestions to delay the PCs; however, none have mentioned quarantining the planet/upport they are currently at.

"Sure, you can leave if you can get past the system defense force that makes sure no ship enters or leaves the jump diameter. And if you get past them, you will need to get away from the pursuit ships that will destroy your ship without question since it will be marked as contaminated. Please enjoy your stay."

When the PCs get back to their ship, make sure they are greeted by a GCarrier and the law enforcers, soldiers, or marines that came with it. And remember, the quarantine is strictly enforced so whoever gets to play babysitter will have two snipers (1 anti-personnel & 1 anti-material).

Maybe I should post this in "...and then a fight broke out" too.

An individual paying to Quarantine an entire planet? That would take some serious pull or serious grease. Too expensive, either in cash or favors. Especially when you can get the player's ship declared a "biohazard," or "Hazard to Navigation" all by itself. No point in quarantining an entire planet to just delay one ship. On the other hand.....

 

[Chuck Anumia]

Hire a Repossession agency using well forged documents to prove they owe you the ship.

 

[Fritz_Brown]

Of course, with enough money, you could let loose a bioweapon (needn't be fatal) that would force the quarantining of the system.

 

[deadlock]

Greetings and salutations,

I missed the part that the patron is trying to stall the PCs. Yes, quarantining a planet would be a tremendous expense. However, the purchase of a biological, chemical, or biochemical weapon would be more appropiate. However, if you infect one of the PCs with something the planet thought it had wiped out and/or has only produced limited supplies of the vaccine for...

Another idea that can be applied if it has not been mentioned yet is that the PCs need to wait for a part for the ship they are using. As with needing any thing, it's going to take time to get the part, especially the part that is so reliable that no one ever thinks of keeping a spare one on hand most of the time.

 

[lordrichter]

Originally posted by Fritz88:
Heh, Flynn, I'm not sure I saw anything in this list that the "patron" couldn't arrange with sufficient funds. Even the distress call....

Rumors are always free, hence my celebrities scam. But of special note is this simple fact: This Patron has the same chance to benefit from careful application of his skills, as your players do.

Who is to say that the great majority of these ideas cannot be done by the patron for bargain prices. The whole inspection vein can be done at almost no cost by dropping local authorities several tips, anonymously (...call 1-800-Turn-in-your-neighbor...).

I would guess that your patron is not "running" randomly, which means that he can use his knowledge of local systems to delay the PCs. The local holiday scam. It could also mean that your patron could take advantage of temporary travel restrictions. The emperor/archduke/whoever could be on tour and ships are not allowed to leave system after they arrive; by timing it right the patron makes it through before the big cheese arrives and the players don't. If the patron planned his route well, the players might make it through once or twice before they get stuck. This plays strongly to several of the other suggestions listed.

I am glad I am not playing in your campaign.

 

[BetterThanLife]

He might not be running randomly. And he might not be fleeing, per say. But the chance of altering your course to take advantage of such an event is slim to none.Especially since the Players can't actually track you or chase you unless they have a goood idea of where you are going. Not simply for the next hop but at least your intermediate destinations.

If you detour around to try to gum up the works you might find the PCs have actually gotten ahead of you. Unfortunately, for game play, Pursuit in Traveller across several star systems is not like a car chase, or an air/raft chase on a planet. Or even like a race across a starsystem where a convient asteroid field can get in the way.

Unless the players are trying to run the Patron down for some reason and there is no destination involved, then unless the PCs have multiple ships they will never catch their target.