How can we possibly get out of this one? (Updated with recent events)

[airwalkrr]

I read the original post but not the entire thread so forgive me if this has already been mentioned. I have to say the storyline intrigues me. You made a clever decision trying to learn more about Ishimura. But, like a good villain, whoever is behind this plot assumed that was the first thing you'd try and made certain to choose someone vanilla enough to be totally uninteresting, either that or it is an assumed identity (probably more likely). Either way, I think you are missing the forest for the trees. Ishimura is nothing but bait. Going after him is likely to be a waste of your time. What your group should really concern yourselves with is the armor you are supposed to steal. What is the armor's history? Who is Lawson developing it for and why? Who are Lawson's rivals who might be interested in this project? Who are Lawson's friends who might be jealous of the project? What do these individuals have to gain? For that matter, what would Lawson have to gain if he is the one surrepticiously hiring you (I think someone mentioned insurance, but if the organization is truly more powerful than Microsoft, then this would be a ludicrous and untenable business plan)? You are dealing with people who have more money than they know what to do with. Hence, money can't be the motivation, unless we are talking about buying off a whole country. What we are really talking about here is politics and power. Someone wants to gain both by having you steal this armor. You need to ask yourself who benefits most and why. I think then you might have some details. I think focusing on the armor itself, which is immutable and likely has quite a history, is probably the best direction to go.

 

[skippy_the_witch]

Your GM needs to be VERY glad that I am NOT playing in his game. Then again, my characters tend to think outside the box in morally questionable ways anyway, thus why one GM made me always play characters with relatively rigid codes of honor, so he could better control my more chaotic streak.

Anyway, my suggests (which you would probably NOT be able to initiate):

1) Kill your secretary yourselves. You have her finger, perform some sort of death ritual using that. This is basically the idea from the movie SPEED, i.e., when in a hostage situation, shoot the hostage. This also tells them that taking a hostage won't really work. At the very least, they will quit cutting off body parts, as this gives you a focus through which to cast death/blood magic.

2) Break the neck, but do NOT kill, the lawyer. If done right, he will be paralysed from the neck down. You only need him to take a message to his boss, for which he only needs to be able to speak, not move. This will make the next messenger even more respectful/fearful/cautious of you.

3) After double checking with Lawson that it is NOT a UNIQUE item (i.e. Captain America's shield that was made by accident), but rather a prototype, don't steal the armor, DESTROY it flat out. Lawson will take a financial hit, but will eventually be able to recreate it, and your BBEG will have NOTHING for his problem.

4) By this point, your ruthlessness should be obvious, so let BBEG know that if he hurts ANY of your relatives, etc, that you will set off a war so large in will consume the city. Thus, even if you can't find him, he will quite probably be killed in the collateral damage. For example, to get the Yuan-ti enraged, start killing EVERY snake in the city. Some sort of "detect snake" spell should be both low level and easy to create.

I have always found that the best defense is a good offense, and that quick, extremely brutal action/violence may actually do less damage and cause fewer deaths in the long run than anything else. And this does NOT mean killing everybody, most especially not Mr Big. There is a possibly apocryphal story about Lebanon in the 1980s when westerners were being kidnapped. A Russian Embassy official was taken, so the Russians sent their special forces out, and delivered a box to the leader of the group that most probably had their citizen. In the box was the head of that groups SECOND in command. The Russian guy was let go, and Russians weren't kidnapped again.

Anyway, these suggestions are only meant semi seriously.

skippy
The GM of The Cursed Earth Campaign

 

[glass]

Sounds like The Ususal Suspects.

Exactly, in which case you need to figure out

Spoiler

who the bad guy wants to kill while you are providing a decoy by stealing the armour

.


glass.

 

[Tessarael]

Your secretary is toast. Sure you might get an exchange for her, but you will lose more in that exchange (e.g. the funky armor that will make the bad guy uber powerful).

Faking your own deaths might be a good option if you can do it in a fool proof way. It saves your families and friends. Your secretary is still probably toast. But you now have time to investigate more thoroughly who this Ishimura guy is.

 

[greywulf]

Your secretary is toast. Sure you might get an exchange for her, but you will lose more in that exchange (e.g. the funky armor that will make the bad guy uber powerful).

You mean you haven't worked out that the secretary is Ishimura??!!!

Sheesh

 

[Cthulhudrew]

You mean you haven't worked out that the secretary is Ishimura??!!!

Aha- gives new meaning to the term, "giving them the finger."

That will teach them to not offer a comprehensive health and dental plan.

 

[Herobizkit]

I'm no master ninja, but what if you try this:
- hire outside help to steal the armor; assist them if needs be
- give Armor to your NPC villain
- inform the NPC good guy that you know how the armor got stolen, offer to "get it back"
- NPC good guy may give you manpower to assist in its re-capture
- Inform mafia friend that a new high-tech band of thieves has busted into her turf (ie the NPC bad guys)
- watch the fireworks

 

[atomn]

....and has any testing been done to confirm the finger was you secretary's? Or is it just an extremely well crafted forgery?

"You want a toe? I can get you a toe, believe me. There are ways, Dude. You don't wanna know about it, believe me. H*ll, I can get you a toe by 3 o'clock this afternoon... with nail polish. These ----ing amateurs..." --Walter Sobchek

 

[nonamazing]

I'm no master ninja, but what if you try this:
- hire outside help to steal the armor; assist them if needs be

Of course! That's it! You blackmail a second party into stealing the armor; they, in turn, blackmail someone else, and so on, creating a domino effect. Eventually, someone manages to blackmail Ishimura, the reclusive sorceror, who is actually a time traveller! Ishimura, unable to find anyone in the city who hasn't already been blackmailed into stealing the armor, hops back in time a couple of days and blackmails you.

As you follow the trail of this horribly broken causality, you'll eventually come to recognize, with dawning horror, that you yourselves are the root cause of all this maddness. That, and you've created a massive paradox that will end up unravelling the fabric of the universe, destroying all that exists. After this realization, your course of action is clear: party at Bennigans.

Invite all your friends and NPCs and toast to the sad destruction of the entire universe. Then get ready for your new campaign, featuring the time-travellin', finger-choppin' adventures of that two-fisted wizard of science, Doc Ishimura!

P.s. this is clearly the only possible resolution to your current situation. i'm sorry.

p.p.s. also, i'm sorry i just joked around without actually providing any useful help. maybe next time, okay?

 

[yannb]

The finger is indeed the secretary (same fingerprint and same nail polish)

The main problem for us is the lack of information as to who is hishimura, why he wants the suit, why he chose us and so on…

Here’s what I see as options next:
• Use the finger for divination (which I am sure is doable but we forgot to do)
• Find the lawyer and trace his calls/meetings (I am not entirely sure how to do that, but seems doable)
• Ask Lawson for a list of people with access to the knowledge of project paragon (the suit) and info as to whom might want it…
• Put our relatives in security, or at least warn them.

If this works we can
• Go save the npc
• Not kill her guards and use them to:
o Find ishimura
o Pass on a message to him
• Then find a casual way to publicize to everyone the fact we don’t take kindly to blackmail so this doesn’t happen again

If it doesn’t work then: stealing it for real is not an option nor is raising hell in the city by mounting everyone against each other. The party just stopped a crime war not to start one again!

So the other plan so far is:
• Get Lawson to fake a robbery report and produce a replica
• We go to the location just to make sure in case we’re watched
• Then we insist on exchanging the npc for the armor
• Then we improvise

Out of game the cool thing is that if she dies, then we’re going to be serving some cold vengeance, which as a player I’d kind of like to do. (But which may be the very point of all this, to engage us on the fine path of evil)

Furthermore I hope my fear is not right otherwise we are screwed, I have the nagging feeling the Lawson guy is the DM’s answer to my request for a “likeable villain” the type of villain you go drink tea with after you foil his plans!