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How to run a criminal organization in a City with 8th level spells?
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<blockquote data-quote="pming" data-source="post: 7522474" data-attributes="member: 45197"><p>Hiya!</p><p></p><p>Two things come to mind.</p><p></p><p>ONE: Every "made man/woman has to take a dip in The Black Pool". Those that survive, have a permanent selection of resistances/wards on them (non-detect, mind blanking type stuff), those that don't, well, aren't alive to talk about it. Now this can be done in one of two ways...</p><p></p><p>--One A: It's magic, Jim. Yup...magic pool. Maybe it was where the Goddess of Secrets was actually birthed or something. If this pool was ever found by the "good guys", they would either destroy it or use it for themselves. Either way gives a potentially cool 'end goal' for the storyline.</p><p></p><p>--One B: The Black Pool is just a deep, say, 30', "well" with an underwater entrance. The potential "made men/women" get a heavy chain with a padlock tied around their feet. They have to escape before they drown. Thing is...they are meant to drown. See...the entire organization is actually run by dopplegangers. The victims are tossed into the well, sink to the bottom, and are taken away by dopplegangers/whatever waiting down there while a new doppleganger assumes the role of the "newly made man/woman" and surfaces. Of course, the water is some kind of ink, or maybe a series of 'flat' Darkness spells down to 20' depth, or whatever. Point is...everyone "in the know" in the organization is actually a doppleganger. Toss on some choice magic items for specific tasks and you have a hard to catch organization.</p><p></p><p>TWO: Don't use magic. Oh, sure, the good guys use it, but the bad guys specifically don't. They maintain their control via the old fashioned method: preying on greed, lust, pride, ambition, etc that people have...especially people in positions of power. When Jackie the Scar is captured and questioned via ESP or whatever, he reviles (obviously or subtly) that he knows the questioner has been having an illicit affair with his bosses wife/husband...and it would be 'wise' to remember that when reporting. "Uh...no sir. Sorry...Jackie here is telling the truth, he wasn't anywhere near the docks last night". You may have to make certain rulings on how some spells work (e.g., if the good guys get wise to this and so use two ESP'ers...or even secretly use a third to scan the minds of those using the ESP on the suspect...etc), so that this sort of "one-on-one" thing works.</p><p></p><p>I suppose you could do it a third way...just have the criminal gangs be complete and utterly psychotic, and only related in the sense they are all criminal acivities. Like, to the point where they do stuff because they want to...not because of any single over-riding goal; think Heath Ledgers Joker, for example. Oh, sure, the good guys may find out that it was Melvin Fishpot that was behind the poisoning of the entire Young Boys Choir because he was picked on when he was being raised in the churches orphanage...but that isn't going to stop Magz "Lady Death" Masterson from carrying out her gruesome kidnapping/assassinations next month. This could all eventually tie into some uber-reason that, even if the good guys know, there is jack poop they can do about it (ie, "We figured it out, sir. The person responsible for the increase in these psycho's terrorizing the city for the last year. Yeah. We know who it is. It's Titivilus. Yes. THAT Titivilus...the Arch-Devil of Lies, who works for Dispater. I think he's a bit out of our jurisdiction...you know, being on the Second Layer of the Nine Hells and all".</p><p></p><p>^_^</p><p></p><p>Paul L. Ming</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pming, post: 7522474, member: 45197"] Hiya! Two things come to mind. ONE: Every "made man/woman has to take a dip in The Black Pool". Those that survive, have a permanent selection of resistances/wards on them (non-detect, mind blanking type stuff), those that don't, well, aren't alive to talk about it. Now this can be done in one of two ways... --One A: It's magic, Jim. Yup...magic pool. Maybe it was where the Goddess of Secrets was actually birthed or something. If this pool was ever found by the "good guys", they would either destroy it or use it for themselves. Either way gives a potentially cool 'end goal' for the storyline. --One B: The Black Pool is just a deep, say, 30', "well" with an underwater entrance. The potential "made men/women" get a heavy chain with a padlock tied around their feet. They have to escape before they drown. Thing is...they are meant to drown. See...the entire organization is actually run by dopplegangers. The victims are tossed into the well, sink to the bottom, and are taken away by dopplegangers/whatever waiting down there while a new doppleganger assumes the role of the "newly made man/woman" and surfaces. Of course, the water is some kind of ink, or maybe a series of 'flat' Darkness spells down to 20' depth, or whatever. Point is...everyone "in the know" in the organization is actually a doppleganger. Toss on some choice magic items for specific tasks and you have a hard to catch organization. TWO: Don't use magic. Oh, sure, the good guys use it, but the bad guys specifically don't. They maintain their control via the old fashioned method: preying on greed, lust, pride, ambition, etc that people have...especially people in positions of power. When Jackie the Scar is captured and questioned via ESP or whatever, he reviles (obviously or subtly) that he knows the questioner has been having an illicit affair with his bosses wife/husband...and it would be 'wise' to remember that when reporting. "Uh...no sir. Sorry...Jackie here is telling the truth, he wasn't anywhere near the docks last night". You may have to make certain rulings on how some spells work (e.g., if the good guys get wise to this and so use two ESP'ers...or even secretly use a third to scan the minds of those using the ESP on the suspect...etc), so that this sort of "one-on-one" thing works. I suppose you could do it a third way...just have the criminal gangs be complete and utterly psychotic, and only related in the sense they are all criminal acivities. Like, to the point where they do stuff because they want to...not because of any single over-riding goal; think Heath Ledgers Joker, for example. Oh, sure, the good guys may find out that it was Melvin Fishpot that was behind the poisoning of the entire Young Boys Choir because he was picked on when he was being raised in the churches orphanage...but that isn't going to stop Magz "Lady Death" Masterson from carrying out her gruesome kidnapping/assassinations next month. This could all eventually tie into some uber-reason that, even if the good guys know, there is jack poop they can do about it (ie, "We figured it out, sir. The person responsible for the increase in these psycho's terrorizing the city for the last year. Yeah. We know who it is. It's Titivilus. Yes. THAT Titivilus...the Arch-Devil of Lies, who works for Dispater. I think he's a bit out of our jurisdiction...you know, being on the Second Layer of the Nine Hells and all". ^_^ Paul L. Ming [/QUOTE]
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