Lieutenant Windhoek history

[Whipsnade]

... take a few minutes and read pages 8-10 (or so)...

Let me suggest at least 6 through 10. You need to understand the plot as a whole, it's timing, and the other actions taken by the plotters inside the Palace to put Windhoek's story in context.

If you don't know that only the guard regiments' ammo was switched, what those regiments' routines were, which regiment was on duty, which were off duty, that the events in the Throne Room were being shown live on view screens across the Palace, and the other factors you will get confused.

Windhoek's small role and the attempt to kill the Princes can only be understood within the larger context of Dulinor's coup.

 

[khadaji2002]

You're welcome. And I'd also like to say Thank You Again to everyone who has contributed so far.

Now khadaji, IF you're interested, read on.

If, by any chance, you have MegaTraveller, and in particular the Rebellion Sourcebook, take a few minutes and read pages 8-10 (or so), and you'll know everything we know about the situation.

I don't and don't, but that's alright. This thread has given me a number of ideas for plots, as well as thoughts on how to make sure those plot elements mesh. And ways to present that information to the players to allow room for them to interpret what those events mean to the group.

 

[robject]

The fourth iteration of the draft is posted. It has slipped out of Phase I and moved into Phase II.

I've organized the text, rewrote certain sections, co-located the scenario suggestions, moved the casual encounter to the front, added a table of contents, added the Brothers of Varian angle, and "created" a short character entry for Lt. Trace Windhoek for both CT/MT and T5. That includes a skill list and a UPP.

I'm wondering if you think there are other NPCs that would be useful to add.

 

[BRJN]

Besides, if he is travelling by tramp freighter what better way to disappear than in the confusion ...

If the Vargr "wavefront" washes over him, it creates a different set of challenges / opportunities. He's just another human to them, as long as he tries to blend in and be average. He probably is not going anywhere fast, but then again a pursuer now has the same problem.

Getting drafted with the tramp freighter to haul plunder back to the Extents and supplies up to the corsairs may be a blessing in disguise. Nothing says he has to make the round trip.

 

[Whipsnade]

The fourth iteration of the draft is posted. It has slipped out of Phase I and moved into Phase II.

Looks very very good.

I don't know about traveling via low berth to Fornol, but that's just a quibble and doesn't really matter. When I used the term "deadhead" I was referring to air/rail carriers' practice of carrying employees who aren't working on scheduled trips to locations where they would start working.

I've stolen two other scenario ideas from various sources: Blackmail and Prison Break.

Admittedly, the blackmail idea is a trope. It's still good if handled correctly. Windhoek is with the players and the group meets with a business contact. At the meeting, the business pretense is quickly dropped and the players are given "an offer they can't refuse". The blackmailer doesn't reveal who Windhoek is, but does state that Windhoek is wanted - legally or illegally - by powerful people. Thanks to their association with him, the players are now wanted too. The blackmailer will report, capture, and/or hold them all unless the players do something.

The prison break idea is stolen from Flaming Eye and Knightfall among others. The players stumble into an active war zone; Corridor, Lishun, Gushemege, etc. Their ship is impounded and they're tossed in a camp for detainees. While the forces who captured them aren't in much of a hurry to ID people and release those deemed safe, they're eventually going to do it. While in the camp the players meet Windhoek. His current disguise won't hold up under any scrutiny, so he is very interested in escaping and the players join his escape plot. He should actively recruit the players because of their skills, the fact they're new, and/or the fact their ship is still nearby.

An recurring NPC could be an Inspector Javert (Les Misérables)/Lt. Gerard (The Fugitive) type who is trailing Windhoek and shows up occasionally disrupting the players' plans. Javert/Gerard shouldn't be able to arrest or detain Windhoek out of hand because that would end things quickly. There may be jurisdiction issues or Javert/Gerard may have no official standing. Rather than being an overt agent of some faction, he would be either a "concerned citizen" with great connections or a covert agent who can't reveal himself lest he be arrested/detained too.

 

[mike wightman]

May I suggest the name Gavery for the Imperial bloodhound

I would have him either a member of the Ministry of Justice or how about an IISS Security Branch spook?

 

[Whipsnade]

May I suggest the name Gavery for the Imperial bloodhound

Sounds good to me.

I would have him either a member of the Ministry of Justice or how about an IISS Security Branch spook?

He could very well be. Gavery has to be "nerfed" in some manner however lest he just show up with a platoon of marines in battledress to make his arrest. Having him working for one faction while in the territory of another faction could be a way to do that. For example, he works for Dulinor's MoJ or IISS Security Branch, but we're in Strephon's, Lucan's, Vland's, or Brzk's territory.

Gavery could also be part of some "bureaucratic bun fight" within his own faction. For example, he's working for Lucan's MoJ but he and his superiors don't want Lucan's IISS Security Branch or any other organization in Lucan's faction to get the kudos for capturing Windhoek.

This all means that Gavery will sometimes be an immediate threat, sometimes an irritant, and sometimes even an ally.

 

[Cryton]

Can we throttle things back a bit? This thread is pretty fun and lots of neat theories being thrown out. But let's stop telling people what is and isn't true/possible. The whole point is to spitball ideas. Let's not shoot things down because they don't fit IYTU even if it is based on "canon". It's always good to add relevant information but everything is make-believe to begin with...

 

[McPerth]

May I suggest the name Gavery for the Imperial bloodhound

Is there an inside joke on this name? I don't catch it if so...

I would have him either a member of the Ministry of Justice or how about an IISS Security Branch spook?

See that those two options are quite different. If he's from MoJ, it would probably be a Lucan Agent, if IISS Security Branch, he's probably a Strephon one...

 

[mike wightman]

See that those two options are quite different. If he's from MoJ, it would probably be a Lucan Agent, if IISS Security Branch, he's probably a Strephon one...

Why is the IISS siding with anyone but Lucan, the legitimate Emperor?

 

[McPerth]

Why is the IISS siding with anyone but Lucan, the legitimate Emperor?

Thats what MT:RS (page 41) tells...

 

[Whipsnade]

Why is the IISS siding with anyone but Lucan, the legitimate Emperor?

Why is the Imperial Navy siding with anyone but Lucan, the legitimate emperor? Or the Imperial Army? Or the Imperial Ministry of Justice? Or any of the other myriad Imperial ministries, offices, organizations?

Did the IISS close up shop when Daibei ignored Lucan's fleet deployment orders thus declaring de facto independence? Or did they start working for Duke Craig instead?

We know how "noble riddled" the upper reaches of the Navy are, but are the upper reaches of any Imperial ministry any less free of the nobility? When the nobility fractured why wouldn't the part of the ministries they control fracture too?

 

[mike wightman]

Thats what MT:RS (page 41) tells...

That's not quite what it says, it says Strephon turned to the IISS within his sector.

That is very different to turning the entire IISS across the Imperium to his side - do you really think the IISS in Lucan's Imperium is suddenly going to switch sides because a surgical double/clone/robot/hologram tells them to? Why doesn't the IISS network communicate with Margaret that Strephon is the real Strephon - apart from the reason that at the time the Rebellion Sourcebook was written the real Strephon retcon has not been forced by the fan base?

Strephon turned to the Imperial Interstellar Scout Service assets in the sector. And after winning the allegiance of the Imperial Interstellar Scout Service, Strephon charged them with winning the High Population worlds for him

 

[BRJN]

Why is the IISS siding with anyone but Lucan, the legitimate Emperor?

Everybody in Iilesh thinks Dulinor is the legitimate Emperor. (If you accept "the 'right' of assassination".) It says so on TV &c. TV &c says that everybody else accepts his claim. Ergo he must be the rightful Emperor. And gainsaying him will cause no end of trouble for you. IISS in that region goes along with the flow.

The late-comer factions watch as Lucan demonstrates that he desperately needs advice but won't listen to a word anybody offers him. They start thinking about how to get a safe distance away from him. In the case of IISS, the starships and crews can physically get away if they can't persuade other people to also ignore Lucan's demands.

If "the real Strephon" really IS Emperor Strephon (somehow come back from the dead ), then HE is the legitimate Emperor and rallying to him is an act of loyalty not treason. If it wasn't for the live footage of him getting shot dead in the throne room, this would be an easy option to follow.

 

[aramis]

Why is the IISS siding with anyone but Lucan, the legitimate Emperor?

Is he legitimate? I don't see him as such.
The moot is the sole arbiter of who is the emperor - when he bans it from meeting, he ends the his imperial claim's legitimacy.

 

[Whipsnade]

That is very different to turning the entire IISS across the Imperium to his side...

I don't anyone is suggesting that Mike.

I can't speak for the others but I'm suggesting the IISS and other ministries fracture just like the Navy and indeed the Imperium does. Thus you could have someone belonging to Lucan's part of the IISS working in Strephon's territory while masquerading as a member of Strephon's part of the IISS.

Wash, rinse, and repeat that with every other ministry and every other faction.

 

[mike wightman]

That's my understanding of the situation too - that the apparatus of the Imperium shattered along the fraction lines.

McPerth's statement sounded like he was saying the whole IISS defects to Strephon, which is not the case, my question of why turn against Lucan is not a serious questioning of IISS motives or Imperium wide allegiance, rather a clumsy statement that the IISS in Lucan's Imperium will be loyal to Lucan, the IISS within Strephon's area is loyal Strephon, but who knows how the IISS views the other claimants to the throne in the other areas, they likely just keep doing their job maintaining the x-boat routes, conducting surveys etc.


It's one of the reasons I suggested the IISS Security Branch - they are likely to be fairly neutral to most fractions initially - when Windhoek flees and the bloodhound goes after him the fractions haven't splintered as yet.

 

[Whipsnade]

It's one of the reasons I suggested the IISS Security Branch - they are likely to be fairly neutral to most fractions initially - when Windhoek flees and the bloodhound goes after him the fractions haven't splintered as yet.

That's precisely the reason why I wouldn't make Gavery a member of the Security Branch or any other non-factionalized organization.

If Gavery has to full weight of the Security Branch, MoJ, or other ministry behind him, finding Windhoek automatically means Windhoek is captured. There's no brake, nothing to stay Gavery's hand, nothing to keep the handcuffs off Windhoek's wrists. All Gavery needs to do is hold up the arrest warrant, point at Windhoek, and take possession his man with the full cooperation of any local authorities.

Factionalized ministries nerf Gavery to a point where he can be encountered without Windhoek automatically being arrested.

 

[Whipsnade]

Attached is a "quick & dirty" Amber Zone built around the "blackmail" idea I stole from other sources. It's "chatty" and could use a good editing, but it's good enough for a first pass.

Fold, spindle, mutilate, and/or throw away.

 

[robject]

I'm attaching Blackmail and Prison Break to the scenarios, to be updated, um, maybe tonight.

I'm also adding Gavery (I have a Vilanicized name for him, but it slips my mind at the mo).

I may just tack on that Patron Encounter/Amber Zone mashup you wrote. If I do, I'm likely to add one of those short-paragraph starship descriptions of a typical Type A for quick use. And then I just may gen up a sample crew of 4.


TODAY I thought that the supplement could be re-cast as an Imperial Bulletin, like an All-Points Bulletin -- in other words, THE order to capture Windhoek dead or alive, and a data feed to aid his would-be hunters.