Roughly half a year ago i started a draft for an adventure, then all sorts
of stuff happended and now i intend to continue.
It plays in Rome roughly 90 AD the pcs are well known gladiators and
aurigae.
The basic structure of the adventure so far is, that it has multiple
subplots, because none is enough to really fill an adventure on it's own.
Here is what i have now:
Rufus Manlius Ephebus an elderly patrician with much interest in arts has
died a while ago and left his large villa containing plenty of objects of
arts and a part, where artists he was patron of can live and work and a
large collection of expensive wines to his son Vibius.
Vibius basically wants to follow the steps of his father and keep things
as they are, but he intends to build his own arts collection. Now that he
arrived in Rome and the proper mourning period has passed, he wants to
auction off most off his fathers arts collection. The auction is supposed
to become a grand event, since this would signify the importance of his
father and his collection.
To this end, he also has rumors spread, that the wine collection will be
served to the guests, while he himself only makes non commital statements
and he intends to keep the wine for himself.
He hires a group of Baal priests, who are actually con artists (and who
have enountered the pcs in a different disguise) as waiters and to
generally interface with the guests. Their plan is to steal the expensive
wine, making it to the host apeare like it was accidently served to the
guests. That part is planned mostly as diversion for the pcs.
I also plan to have some guest fill his toga with plenty of expensive
cutlery, cups and other small expensive stuff, that is not immediatly
missed, and who might look like someone carrying a hidden weapon to the
pcs.
I also welcome further ideas for shenengians, that could happen there.
Sextus Faustus Iuba is a patrician recently returned from military
service. There he had early gotten on the wrong side of a superior and as
punishment gotten the command of an auxiliary infantry unit (which
normally should go to someone of lower social standing) of Germans from
the Bemanni tribe. However he liked it there a lot (his personality fits
a rough and unrefined behaviour quite well) and happyly staid there until
his superiors feared he had gone too much native and sent him back to
Rome.
There he looked for ways to get the same fullfilment as he had with
fraternizing with Bemanni-mercenaries and went to the next Bemanni he
found for advice.
That was Halbert, a slave and majordomo in the Ephebus household. Having a
sleazy used chariot salesman personality, he attempted to milk the
situation for what he can. He advised, that Sextus did find spiritual
fulfillment with the Germanic gods, and that he needs to work on finding
the communication again. Luckily one of the resident artists (yet to be
named, i'll call him artist1 here) has a book, that can give him the
information he needs. Unluckily the artist has gained possession of it in
a dubious way, so he keeps it a secret and anyway he has it primarily to
posess something that others covet, so no chance to to get it from him in
any ordinary way. Most of that is actually true, just that the book would
be usefull to Sextus is not entirely correct.
But for a price (my current idea is, giving Halberts son a place in the
legions, as this is not easily refundable and avoids the possiblity, that
conficts can be settled by money, but i am open to other suggestions) he
can organize stealing it.
The book will be hidden in a secret compartment in a bed that is going to
be auctioned, Sextus buys the bed, gets the book and everyone lives
happily ever after.
Synois a female master thief, who has an affair with the pc Wolfhart, who
also intends to steal the book, gets wind of the plan. How exactly i am
not sure yet, most likely she already knew artist1 has it and staked out
the place, and during that overheared something. She takes Wofhart to the
auction, tries out every bed, as to how well it is, to lie with Wolfhart
in it and during that steals the book.
An other artist living there (artist2) has an affair with the daughter of
a pratrician and has contacts to a group of Christians, who make a point
of going to the collosseum, only to shout at the gladiators, that they
should not fight, but love each other and telling other spectators, how
decadent they are. For some of them he acts as strawmen, for placing bets
on gladiators. Closely around a gladitor fight day, he gets caught with
the daughter, flees the scene and further to the countryside, fearing the
wrath of the father.
The Christians will now think, he ran away with their money. The father
misidentified the culprit however slightly as an other artist (artist3
though i might make artist1 and 3 the same person) and sends an NPC
gladiator to beat him up.
The pcs now should be sent to inquire about artist2. If i don't get a
better idea, it can be "my relative has joined that crazy sect and now
they look for that sleazy guy. can you please check if that is something,
where my relative can get into real problems".
They will witness a confrontation between Sextus and Halbert in Bemanni,
that one of the german pcs will be able to partially follow. Artist1 will
try to find out, which of the guests was in his room and did steal his
book. Artist3 will panic, once he sees some more gladiators coming. Vibius
and the household slaves will have nerves blank, because someone must have
given the Baal priests wrong instructions.
Ideally they also get a reason, to find artist2 himself, not just find
out, what he did. Though i'd like some low priority reason, not something
that is immedietly looking like the main plot part (I give you money for
finding him).
Or there could be an entirely different reason to investigate something in
that household.
Do i have something inconsistent, hard to explain NPC behaviour or
something else that interferes with the suspesion of disbelief or is bound
to set the pcs on the wrong track?
Any more ideas, how the pcs can be directed towards the action, especially
if it is minor things?
I also welcome ideas for noteworthy works of art, that could be auctioned
there. It can either really fit to antiquity or be some parody on
contemporary arts.
Other comments?
One mans groundfloor is an other mans earthmissle
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Johannes Trimmel
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
_______________________________________________
GurpsNet-L mailing list <[email protected]>
http://mail.sjgames.com/mailman/listinfo/gurpsnet-l
