How about this? The gladiator is supposed to grab a woman and hold a sword or knife to her throat. She will cooperate, and some other VIP will demand to safeguard the hostage at any cost, i.e. to let the gladiator get away.
Doesn't sound like a very clever plan to me, even without the double-cross. So there is a second stage to that plan. At the right time, a team will overpower the guards at a gate, and fight their way towards the gladiator. After the linkup, all will flee together with the fake hostage. Coordinating the three elements -- gladiator, hostage, rescue team -- requires another conspirator, someone who can move freely in the villa. There is a prearranged signal for the rescue team to come in, e.g. a smashed amphora and loud scolding of a hapless servant. This conspirator could be one of the PCs, let into the villa by group Ia. The opposition could have a triple plan to make sure the gladiator gets caught and probably killed: 1) The supposed hostage carries a dagger or sword, and will fight the gladiator who is already weakened from the arena fight. The coordinating player character might detect the weapon. 2) The VIP will shout "my daughter will die like a true Roman, GET THAT B...". A double-cross of both the gladiator and the hostage, who might at this point turn sides. No real way to detect that beforehand, but there is no good way to preposition guards who will act quickly on that order. How many of the young nobles carry weapons and armor? 3) There is an extra group of guards who are supposed to cut the retreat, after the known gate guards have been overpowered. If the PCs learn of this double- cross, they might try to trigger the quick reaction force early and thus expose/confuse them. Group Ia is a sub-conspiracy of group I, so they might be reluctant to draw on their usual pool of mooks and extras -- too much risk of a triple-cross. So they are shopping for plenty of hired help: - The hostage and her dad or husband. - The people for the gladiator switch. - A handful of fighters. At the same time, the PCs are probably making their Streetwise rolls when it comes to the villa. So maybe they watch how some underworld figures seem interested in taking the job, only to be warned off by yet another group -- conspiracy III, who want their people to be hired by conspiracy Ia. Then there is the cover story for the coordinating PC. If he is there as a high-status servant and not as a guest, maybe the PC gets pressured by conspiracy III or conspiracy IV to work for them, or to let somebody into the villa. A quadruple-cross, and tangled enough to recognize some of the other conspirators by chance. Regards, Onno _______________________________________________ GurpsNet-L mailing list <[email protected]> http://mail.sjgames.com/mailman/listinfo/gurpsnet-l
