I don't mind at all. It was a brainstorming thread anyway.
Finish This Adventure...
- Thread starter Spinward Scout
- Start date
I don't mind at all. It was a brainstorming thread anyway.
The idea of the players never finding out what was so special about the X-boat, but still being able to prove the 'bad guy' guilty of wrong-doing is not a bad one.
Remember, cover-ups are often where the bad guys in real life get caught. Depending on how your players like their games, never getting the full story (or finding out the macguffin is a Maltese Falcon) can be a way of keeping the game exciting. Knowing everything takes the mystery out of it (and removes excuses for bringing it back up later!).
Remember, cover-ups are often where the bad guys in real life get caught. Depending on how your players like their games, never getting the full story (or finding out the macguffin is a Maltese Falcon) can be a way of keeping the game exciting. Knowing everything takes the mystery out of it (and removes excuses for bringing it back up later!).
That's somewhat my thinking. Rather than a message which has been missing for 27 years finally come to light, it's an object which was reported 27 years ago to be aboard the X-boat not found aboard the X-boat. The questions then begin.
Who said the object was aboard? Why did they say that? Where is the object now? All those questions, and any others, are going to stir up a lot of trouble in certain quarters.
I guess I looked away from the missing message angle because any important messages are going to be backed up. The senders will keep a copy or the message will be sent twice or something else. The Armbruster Will? The lawyers will have another copy. Orders to the 117th Provisional Mobile Laundry Service? They're filed in triplicate. Bucky's thank-you note to Aunt Sally for his birthday gift? It's on his tablet. Nothing along those lines are going to be lost "forever" when some X-boat misjumps.
A one-of-kind physical object or a group of objects however? Now we're looking at something that can be lost. The Teasdale Cocktail Umbrella Collection? Gone forever. Achenbach's Shemp by Moonlight? Never seen again. Slappy Critser's 800th homerun ball? It's out of here.
So, the players board X-boat Alpha-Jay-Niner-Three-Stroke-Umptyfratz, do a quick survey, pack up the body of the unlucky pilot, nudge her into a long orbit around the local primary, return to the starport for their reward, and almost the first question they're asked is "Was the Achenbach painting aboard?"
The players answer that they don't know. They did a fast check, made sure the non-volatile message bank memory was still intact, and grabbed the pilot for burial. They didn't break into the 1dTon cargo locker because, among other things, they're not thieves.
By this time a local patrol cruiser has docked with the 'boat, strung a power umbilical, and it slowly powering up the old 'boat's systems. The cruiser's crew break open the cargo locker because they're the authorities and - surprise - Shemp by Moonlight isn't there.
That is when the real questions start to be asked and the real adventure starts.
epicenter00
SOC-13
Here's one for you.
* If there's any military vets, particularly Marines or higher-tech ground military, they'll recognize that the comm system was not damaged by starship fire but by some sort of ground-fire as the hit isn't destructive enough and it's a "clean" hit - it hit nearly at a 90 degree angle relative to the ship, not the glancing hit from a starship weapon. So someone sniped the ship Fusion Gun or Plasma Gun or something.
* There's re-entry damage on the ship, like burning and soot-covered windows and so on. (The misjump is mostly like because the pilot decided to Jump and roll the dice instead of dying burning up in an atmosphere.)
* There's a warning about the 4th Frontier War, dated to a month or so before the start of hostilities. Specifically it details a plan to strike some particular world in the Imperium. However, here's the clincher: the warning comes from the Zhodani themselves, warning the Imperium of ... their impending plans?
* If there's any military vets, particularly Marines or higher-tech ground military, they'll recognize that the comm system was not damaged by starship fire but by some sort of ground-fire as the hit isn't destructive enough and it's a "clean" hit - it hit nearly at a 90 degree angle relative to the ship, not the glancing hit from a starship weapon. So someone sniped the ship Fusion Gun or Plasma Gun or something.
* There's re-entry damage on the ship, like burning and soot-covered windows and so on. (The misjump is mostly like because the pilot decided to Jump and roll the dice instead of dying burning up in an atmosphere.)
* There's a warning about the 4th Frontier War, dated to a month or so before the start of hostilities. Specifically it details a plan to strike some particular world in the Imperium. However, here's the clincher: the warning comes from the Zhodani themselves, warning the Imperium of ... their impending plans?
