A good antagonist is hard to find

[tesuji]

Originally posted by Gnusam Netor:
I wasn't talking about war or some massive rebellion. I hope i conveyed the opinion that:
</font>

• All good stories need a good antagonist.</font>
• The consulate and the confederation are too weak to make good antagonists.</font>

I would suggest that they might be too weak AS MILITARY BODIES to be competitive states against the imperium, but that in no way makes them too weak to be antagonists FOR THE PCs.

It really depends on the scale and scope of your PCs and their plots.

A cartel run by a zhodani cell could make a great season's "big bad" and maybe the first "season" ends with infiltrating the cartel and stopping thei current ops only to discover in the finale the zhodani "man behind the curtain" and now be either running from him or moving to thwart his other ops.

Or, perhaps you get offered a cushy new job after busting the cartel only to discover in second season that you are now working for the zhodani...

In fact, the very notion that these rival political boides are not a militrary match for the Imp's can serve as a benefit. because they don't swing round megafleets, they use subtlety, infiltration, conspiracy, secrecy and sabotage and operate in small scales that are ripe sized for PC-troublemakers. A fleet of battleships isn't probably something that the PCs will dive into... but a conspiracy plot... thats doable.

I guess I am saying... there is much more to "being a good antagonist" for PCs than military competitiveness..

 

[Merxiless]

Seems to me that, even if there is a "Big Picture" going on in the background, the scale of the party is going to need immediate, concrete antagonists, of whatever sort, appropriate to the scope of the story that you wish to tell.

The gritty details of the small fry, that ultimately, then lead to the big fish that you wish for them to take on.

I don't think anyone is telling you how to play.

You asked for ideas and assistance.

Just seems like you are looking for War-as-background. That's one possibility, and if that's what you already have in mind, well and good.

But, there are many more options also, since a military-style game can often lead to a lot of straightforward battles. And with the lethality of Traveller in general, more than a few character deaths.

Best of luck.

 

[Gnusam Netor]

Originally posted by tesuji:
I would suggest that they might be too weak AS MILITARY BODIES to be competitive states against the imperium, but that in no way makes them too weak to be antagonists FOR THE PCs.

I hope I never proposed that the PC's should go head to head with ZC or the SC either.

Originally posted by tesuji:
I guess I am saying... there is much more to "being a good antagonist" for PCs than military competitiveness..

Ofcourse there are. If you think I claim my definition is the one and only definition of good antagonists then you missunderstood me.

I made a missthink when I claimed that 3I was the protagonist in the first post of the thread, naturally it is the PCs that are the prots.

 

[Ran Targas]

Originally posted by Andrew Boulton:
They ended up working for the bad guys, who wanted to stop the good guys, who were actually worse than the bad guys...which was fun...

Whenever you can muddy the waters on who is really in the right, then the game comes to life. I've purposely exposed solo PC's to diametrically opposed NPC activities and statements (still in character for the NPC but up for interpretation) just so the PC's would not be able to agree about what the NPC's true motive were.

Back to the subject of antagonists: My current favorite is an Imperial intelligence officer sent to the frontier under the guise of combatting a recent wave of piracy (all fabricated to allow an open season on rebel scum). With an Imperial cruiser under her command, she leads a rag-tag band of mercenaries, bounty hunters, and shock troops in stomping out any anti-crown activities. My PC's only know her from reputation and from seeing the aftermath of several of her 'enforcement' operations.