On Sun, 28 Oct 2012, Onno Meyer wrote:
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.
Ia will likely initially suggest the first not so clever plan. It would
mean there are no hints of a conspiracy, it was just a double making a
critical hit, so no need for an investigation.
I am sure Tribunus will not like it, and either he will negotiate changes,
or simply ammend the plan without telling. I'll leave that up to the
players.
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.
One of our people inside will give the signal, is a lot easier, then
smuggling a pc in. Unless the pcs smell rat early and insist to place
someone inside, that is the logical way to go.
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?
The hostage i have in mind is not actually a VIP but a lower class Roman.
She would be brought into the villa as the sort of date, you take to
occasions, that are to rough to take you wife with you. As this she will
be dressed up as noble. The pcs already know her personally, so once they
see her, in the code-dress for the hostage, they will likely smell rat.
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.
The date of the hostage can but does not have to be part of the
conspiracy. If he does not have the clout to make the village management
save his date of this month or if he simply is not inclined to do so, the
plan works as designed.
They will need someone, who is into the organisation of buying doubles to
get Tribunus in. Someone needs to "accidently" give Tribunus a not that
blunt sword. That could be the same person.
Someone needs to convince the emissary, to fight the Tribunus double
rather then the double of an other gladiator.
For fighters it's enough to have one guard commander.
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.
I propably have igotten an idea for that. If the person primarily in
charge of buying doubles is not part of Ia but only an assistant of
him, then the sale of the Tribunus double needs to be staged. And
conspiracy III might get wind of that sale and ask for something for them
to be done as rider to the double sale.
But what?
Some of their people to be included to the house staff seems shakey,
because even if some are sold as houseslaves to the same purchaser, they
might get used at other domeciles. And it would take a while until newly
placed spies get a chance to do something.
Passing information implies that conspiracy III can't be used very well to
pass information between Tribunus and the other pcs, and i'd like to keep
them open to that.
Smuggling equipment could work, if i came up with an idea, what equipment.
small enough to be hidden by a double and still the usual courier can't
transport it. Or if they don't physically transport messages, how could
they communicate? I guess thats one of the first plots, that actually got
more difficult by the lack of modern telecommunications. Usually you have
plots that bend over backwards to get rid of cellphones.
It could be to place a mock coded message somewhere, to have it found
later, because a real message has been found, and they want to confuse the
investigation with a message that could not be transported by the usual
courier, and that makes the code breakers work harder, by only seeming to
have a content. This still leaves open, why or how the pcs should learn
the full plan, and not only that a coded message should be delivered.
Which means the pcs will not go to them to pass information.
Tribunus might be asked to do something for them, once he is in the villa.
But what can he do, while mostly confined in a cell, that helps a
conspiracy.
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