On Mon, 17 Jun 2013, Onno Meyer wrote:
Johannes asked:
The character Tribunus has gotten the biggest possible destiny (IIRC 15cp
i don't have my books with me now). My idea is, that he saves the life of
someone close to a future emperor (or a future emperor).
The other problem is how to engeneer the situation, so Tribuns comes out
reliably as the hero, as opposed to the whole party, without being too
obviously railroading.
Shouldn't such a big Destiny have something to show for it soon,
if you can arrange it, rather than years down the line? Give him
the chance to save the next emperor ...
Traian and his family are already influencal and respected nobles. So it
gives a powerfull patron now. I did not calculate it, but it can be in the
general 15 cp range and it can lead to a reputation too, so it seems fair.
And given Tribunus quest is that to restore his family, formerly of Eques
class, though now his goal is only to free them, this means his great
quest will come eventually to an even better end, then the character now
guesses.
First, how do you make sure that the credit goes to one man, not
the entire group?
- A foiled assassination attempt. Would Tribunus' player try to
block an arrow or a thrown knife? Then set it up so that only
he is in position, maybe in armor when the target wears a
toga.
- If Tribunus wants to live too much for that, fudge the die
rolls so that he unintentionally blocks the attack and gets a
nice, heroic, non-crippling injury.
- Arrange an accident where only one of the PCs can grip the
arm of the target before he falls into the chasm. The others
can quickly grab Tribunus, to prevent the whole chain from
sliding, but Tribunus is the only one in physical contact to
the target, and hence gets the glory.
Second, how to make the railroading non-obvious?
- There are multiple attackers, but only one with a throwing
knife/axe or a bow. The other PCs can cover the lesser
threats. Only afterwards it becomes clear that Tribunus
saved the day.
- There are several victims. The players (and PCs) know that
there is a very very important person among the VIPs, but
not which one. Afterwards, fudge it that the NPC saved by
Tribunus is the important one.
The latter could be risky, of course. I once GMed what I
thought were clear hints that the PCs had a mook rather than
the archvillain, when the mook covered the escape of the
boss. Two elderly men, similar clothing, no pictures
available. The players didn't catch on and were rather
disappointed about my 'cheat'.
I guess i can even do it, without them knowing that there is a VIP. The
pcs most likely will save lower class damsels in distress too. If the
party saves a party of damsels and only one gets the credit, because the
other damsels were lesser damsels, this has a bad ring to it, especially
if i want the patron to be a virtuous patron.
Ideal would be some challange, where Tribunus doing is would be the
obvious tactical choice, but unfortunatly he is pretty much the most
balanced pc, sort of second best in everything. (IIRC he has the highest
ST, but only by one level, and he is only one of 2 characters with a
broadsword skill, where the other one can be pretty much relied on, not
taking the initiative.
So i propably could make something, with the pcs arriving unarmed, and
they find a sword and someone to fight with it.
He is also one of 3 pcs who can ride IIRC and definitly the third best
rider in the party, at least in the view the players have before they
check the stats. One other rider is the non-initiative pc, so involving
riding could work. So ideal would be a challange with a less heroic job
for 3 pedestrians and 2 good riders, and a heroic challange for a medicore
rider.
I also intend to either make an other iteration of the "book" story arc,
or end it. There is a book on magic, that actually is pretty worthless,
but because so many people have comitted so many crimes to get it, it got
a reputation, making more cults covet it.
I'd like to use Synois there, a female masterthief, who has an affair with
one pc. She already tried to steal the book from the pcs (based on bad
information, that they have it) but the attempt was too subtle for the pcs
to notice, so they do not know that she is a thief yet. The basic model
for her would be Amanda from the Highlander series and the persona the pcs
know is that of a daughter of a rich greek merchant.
The PCs don't have the book, right?
Yes they don't have it. Though it already has apeared so often, that when
they hear book, they already assume it is this book. They also have vowed,
that the next time it passes through their hands, they are going to burn
it.
They also have one expertise on the book, calling it's value dubious, but
that was done by a sage, who is a stoic and thus does not believe in
magic.
- Somebody finds out that the book has secret ink, but making
it visible will destroy the book. The PCs might be able to
get into a position to witness this, perhaps infiltrating a
closed session of a mystery cult. Something magical happens,
turning an altar into pure gold (or the priest who conducted
the ceremony) but without modern forensics there is no proof
what really happened, or the priest names three enemies who
die within days of natural causes, or whatever. Synois is
the key to the invitation.
I'd rather keep it as not actually valuable.
- Synois hires them to escort her to the auction of a rare
book. Once there, the PCs are flabbergasted how much Synois
is prepared to offer (being unable to steal it, she turned
all her previous booty into cash) until they realize which
book it is. Either she rides with the book into the sunset,
or something happens to destroy the book in view of all
interested parties, or the PCs turn on Synois, get the book,
and learn the truth.
She buying it and stealing the money back would be nicer. I'd just need an
idea how to do that. It's so much easier to GM NPCs who are not supposed
to be all that competent at what they do. Ideally it would require an
investigation by the pcs afterwards, but would leave a face saving way of
letting her go, if they find out it had been her.
- Synois gets the book off-stage and asks some of the PCs to
examine parts of it, to verify the identity. They realize
that the book is overrated. Meanwhile, third parties get
wind of it and try to kidnap/interrogate/seduce/bribe the
PCs for the 'hidden truth' and won't take no for an answer.
An other sideline would be the arena death of the villian from the last
adventure (he had Ingrun (pc) framed for murdering a candidate for the
position of the flamen dialis). My idea is, that he gets chained into a
bed, and various gladiators, including Ingrun have to climb over stuff to
get to him. Who gets there first and guts him wins.
A public arena? That doesn't sound gross enough, a bit of a
non-lethal race and then a killing stroke. Of course a
Roman arena can easily get too gross for a game.
- Hungry boars, lions, and bears staked at various points
of the arena, the unarmed convict, and armed gladiators
who chase him away from the safe spots time and again.
- Something with dogs, because the flamen dialis had this dog
taboo. A large cage with dogs, the convict, and the dogs
are small enough that the convict can escape by jumping up
to hang from the roof. But there are gladiators with nailed
sandals on the roof, outside.
- A cross, the convict, and a couple of gladiators with whips
and knives. Whoever kills him has lost.
- The convict, a stake, and some female gladiators doing a
lap dance. The rest is left to the sick imagination.
It is the villian, who had hired a mock Ingrun to cat burglar the
candidates house and gut the candidate in his bed.
So my idea is to have rough representation of crime scene, with the
villian in the place of the victim, and Ingruns of different quality
trying to reach him facing challanges similiar to the real Ingrun
peronating assassin. (the assassin is already dead, so i can't use him
here)
Amusement for this one should come from recreating the crime, rather then
bloodyness. High body counts and people being ripped apart will happen
before and/or afterwards.
I am also open to ideas, that make more splatter, as long as the general
recreating the crime idea is preserved and it is not to unapealing to
Ingrun, that it will be clear, that she will not take part.
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