SCHISM Questions

gideonpepys · May 16, 2017

What's to stop the players from stuffing Leone Quital into the absurdist web before transporting him to Knutpara?

Wouldn't the Ob operation in Knutpara report the activity they had witnessed to their superiors? (Assuming some of them survive.)

Does Benedict Pemberton have to be present at the convocation? (I'm asking because, after all they've been through to gain access, it might irk the players to discover that they could have used duplicant technology all along, or that the Ob security measures are insufficient to spot a robot.)

RangerWickett · May 16, 2017

Nothing stops them. That's a fine idea. I think I just forgot about it during the writing.

Ob is compartmentalized. They don't know to whom to report. Sh*t, your boss just got into a huge fight in a rail yard, then disappeared. Well, he's disappeared before. You don't know who his allies are. The Ob are trying to be extra secret and most people who might know to be suspicious are already heading for the convocation, and wouldn't think to check on Leone.

You already had a pretty cool scene with Pemberton being pissed at the Ob after Lya's crew killed Terakalir, so you probably don't need to show Pemberton spying in order for them to believe he's hostile to the conspiracy. That said, you need something to kick off the climax with the two sides turning on each other. Maybe that's just Macbannin. In fact, you could tweak it so in the opening scene, after Macbannin takes the godhand prisoner, he jokes about how people are being very clever. One guy tried to sneak in with some strange mechanical body filled with a bomb.

Now you have Chekhov's bomb, because Macbannin collected that thing and has it tucked away. Indeed, if the party befriends Macbannin

-- by the way, I don't recall what happened to him in your game; I hope the party remembers him --

if they befriend him, he might hand them a mangled but still functional mouth from the duplicant, through which Pemberton can talk to them. He didn't manage to sneak in, but he piqued Macbannin's curiosity.

gideonpepys · May 16, 2017

RangerWickett said:
Nothing stops them. That's a fine idea. I think I just forgot about it during the writing.

Okay, great. Thanks! Wanted to check I wasn't missing something, because I think that's what they'll do.

RangerWickett said:
Ob is compartmentalized. They don't know to whom to report. Sh*t, your boss just got into a huge fight in a rail yard, then disappeared. Well, he's disappeared before. You don't know who his allies are. The Ob are trying to be extra secret and most people who might know to be suspicious are already heading for the convocation, and wouldn't think to check on Leone.

Right. Again, thanks.

RangerWickett said:
You already had a pretty cool scene with Pemberton being pissed at the Ob after Lya's crew killed Terakalir, so you probably don't need to show Pemberton spying in order for them to believe he's hostile to the conspiracy. That said, you need something to kick off the climax with the two sides turning on each other. Maybe that's just Macbannin. In fact, you could tweak it so in the opening scene, after Macbannin takes the godhand prisoner, he jokes about how people are being very clever. One guy tried to sneak in with some strange mechanical body filled with a bomb.

I really like that idea, but I played the teaser out last night. Still, they can hear the rumour from other guests and then Macbannin can reveal he still has the head...

RangerWickett said:
-- by the way, I don't recall what happened to him in your game; I hope the party remembers him --

They remember Macbannin very well. (They all recognised him when we played 'teaser' last night. They didn't recognise Andre, so that fell a bit flat, but when I told them who it was they were suitably concerned because they certainly know what he's capable of.)

RangerWickett said:
if they befriend him, he might hand them a mangled but still functional mouth from the duplicant, through which Pemberton can talk to them. He didn't manage to sneak in, but he piqued Macbannin's curiosity.

That is a great idea! I think I have a nice way to kick things off, though... (Sadly, we might not get to see it play out for a while, as our campaign wraps up for a couple of months in early July for DM paternity leave.)

Thanks for the responses.

kcannell · May 18, 2017

I'm having to modify Pemberton's role during the convocation as well, but for a different reason - my players sided with Pemberton instead of Ber during Adventure 6. They provided intel on Beran forces, sank Beran ships, and stranded Beran forces on the Isla de Focas in exchange for Tinker Oddcog unharmed, and a vague promise of cooperation against the Ob at a later time.

It's unlikely that Pemberton would out them at the convocation in my game - if anything, he'll help them in some way I haven't quite figured out yet.

gideonpepys · May 18, 2017

kcannell said:
I'm having to modify Pemberton's role during the convocation as well, but for a different reason - my players sided with Pemberton instead of Ber during Adventure 6. They provided intel on Beran forces, sank Beran ships, and stranded Beran forces on the Isla de Focas in exchange for Tinker Oddcog unharmed, and a vague promise of cooperation against the Ob at a later time.

Woah! That's pretty ruthless. Didn't much care for the Berans, huh? My guys liked Glaucia, Melissa and Corta Nariz de Guerra too much to side with Pemberton. Also one of them hates Pemberton (which I was surprised to discover). Your outcome must have a pretty huge impact on international relations, right? Risuri forces side with dragon tyrant harboured by Risur! And a fairly big impact on epic tier, when it comes to gaining allies around the world.

kcannell · May 18, 2017

Yeah, so. . . they liked several of the Berans (Glaucia, Damata Griento, Kenna Vigilante), but were really resentful with Bruse Shantus making them play games for his entertainment. When Harkover Lee told them Pemberton's true identity, the idea of storming a duplicant factory that contained a very old red dragon seemed highly unlikely to result in an alive Tinker Oddcog, which was kind of the whole point of their mission. Plus, I've always RP'd Pemberton as kind of a Sam Elliot type, and the party had several positive interactions with him from previous adventures.

So rather than have a coup that is put down rather switfly in Ber, there is an on-going civil war that probably won't get resolved until the Obscurati starts really playing with the fabric of reality. When the world is under the control of hive minds, Ber will probably be united under Cavallo or his daughter, with Pemberton in hiding (which is pretty much the status quo at that point with what the adventure assumes the players have done).

But until then. . . yeah, things are strained between Ber and Risur, but Ber isn't really in a position to do anything about it until they deal with Pemberton. There are other things I have to change, like El Extrano's involvement in Schism. The party covered their sabotage of the Beran vessels pretty well, so I imagine he's going to be in Crissilyr to collect intel and determine if the party really betrayed Ber (instead of helping them track down Leone Quital). I have a player that is involved pretty extensively with The Family, though, so I'll probably use those contacts where appropriate to fill in the gaps.

It should be interesting!