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Greetings GamerNation! We are returned... with a heaping helping of pure epic adventure. This mega-show welcomes special guests Sam Witwer and Christopher West to help us do the unthinkable: build an adventure live on the air! Join us for the ultimate GM brain dump of adventure design knowledge as we create an excellent story that you can use. Add in a couple great listener questions and a new Lando's Used Shipyard - and we've got quite the episode for you all! Enjoy, GamerNation - we sure did!

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Peace, Love, and Good Gaming!

This was a great episode to hear from Sterling Hershey Memorial Echo Base 2.0. As the hosts and guests tirelessly worked to refine their plot, all of us in the base put together at least 3 different and exciting adventure outlines based on the plot points being discussed. While I don't do much co-writing, it reminds me of the importance of taking your plot points and bouncing them off someone totally fresh (who may not even be a gamer) and asking them: what do you think happens. You get gold from these micro rainstorming sessions.
I had to bug at 12:15, so maybe the hosts covered this, but how often when they're planning sessions and modules do they work with partners? How much to they pick friends' or other gamers' minds for ideas?

Fascinating show guys. Can't wait to hear how it ends,
Garrett

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Listen to Threat Detected. The Dawn of Defiance Podcast.
threat-detected.com

It's really a nice landscape to look at for the PCs to look at while they sit in that lovely train...

It's a lot of neat ideas but it feels as if the PCs aren't even needed. The only thing that is changed because they are there is that they kill Fontaine at the end. The whole thing would have come out without them anyway. You see my problem?

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www.myspace.com/folksam glorious folk rock from Germany !

Aaaaand the subject comes up again.

[sigh]

The mere existence of ANY publishable, homebrew, borrowed, adapted, or pre-written adventure requires that there be a beginning, some meat in the middle, and one (or several) ends. You cannot have everything be pure sandbox all the time. The participation by the PCs should feel integral, but the direction for the PCs should be present as well, (just not overwhelming, if possible).

When the adventure starts, events are set in motion that will happen with or without the PCs involvement. This is intentional in convention play modules, to motivate the PCs to become part of the action rather than spectators, and to develop the perception that consequences for inaction will be unacceptable. This is because there is a real clock running for the Players, not just a virtual clock running in-game for the characters. It is only logical to link the two where possible.

Detective - style games in general will have more than a little railroad in them by design and requirement, both to keep the plot moving forward, and to keep the tangents and red herrings from running away with the ball.

Note also that the stated design concept "Box" for this adventure was:

4 Hours
One Shot
Era Non-Specific
Suitable for Convention Play

Accepting the above also entails by design and intent accepting that boarding pass and a buy in that will contribute to the story, rather than feel bound and hammered by it.

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FULONGAMER aka Johannes M. Bowers
http://thelostholocronpodcast.info/
It's not My planet Monkey-boy! / I Waste Him With My Bowcaster!
THIS is my LIGHT-Stick!, The next one of you Furry Tree-Hugger Yub-Yub Primitives EVEN TOUCHES me...//FZOOOK!//

I agree completely with Fulon, but Pralon's point is well made. When I look at the plot we cooked up last night, I can see a value in looking at the adventure to establish more notable or obvious PC influence on the outcome.

So let's consider scene by scene how the PCs' actions have an effect on the plot:

Murder scene investigation:
• Success avoids conflict with local law enforcement, preventing a skirmish that could mean life or death for some NPCs--or even PCs. (The spouses of the officers would thank you if they knew.)
• Success also provides additional clues that the PCs may or may not put together to solve the mystery in advance.
• The PCs choice of how to proceed from here may affect how the rest of the module plays out. If they present their employer with certain information they have discovered, I'd say he is likely to go into the final scene with different intentions or attitudes towards *his* employer, or a different level of preparation.

Office confrontation & stage encounter:
• If the PCs approach this with a combination of guile, diplomacy, and forethought, they might actually make an ally of the NPCs instead of entering a combat. (This is an outcome we didn't fully consider in the episode.) If so, it may radically change the ending.
• If the PCs do enter combat yet succeed in capturing the lead antagonist of this scene, they have more than one option of what to do with the character, and that choice will determine if he is present in a later scene or not. (They might even save his life by stopping him here.)
• This scene can have long-lasting ramifications on the office's future business and reputation.
• Again, whether or not the PCs provide certain information to their employer may affect his course of action later, if the GM takes it into account.

Search for the MacGuffin:
• Success here (early recovery and identification of the MacGuffin) has a major effect on the lives of the principle NPCs, just has failure has major fallout for all concerned.
• The PCs choices here (especially following that early recovery, but even in the case of failure) can dramatically change the lives of the those involved. It's very much a life-or-death situation.
• I would add a decision point regarding the MacGuffin at this point on whether or not to "open" it and reveal the plot twist. If the PCs do not, the final encounter might play out very differently or be avoided altogether.
• If they succeed and then get the MacGuffin to safety without revelation because they haven't put the clues together, I would propose that the final encounter would take place in the form of a private betrayal and "cleaning up of loose ends" in which the PCs are at a greater disadvantage, instead of a public outburst.

Final encounter:
• The PCs should have a moral decision to make here determining whose side they are on and how to proceed.
• The outcome of this scene means life or death to many characters.
• The outcome of this scene has a huge affect on the careers and reputations of those involved, including (potentially) the PCs.
• I would add some conclusion scenarios that ramp up the tension involved: if the PCs are involved in a very public rumble and fail to defeat the villain(s), they might find themselves wanted for any number of crimes, while those same villains walk away free of blame.

Food for thought. Thanks for the followup!

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Christopher West
west@mapsofmastery.com
http://www.mapsofmastery.com

I think it just requires an editing pass so that without the PCs involvement, the CyberStar gets away with murder and keeps his job.

So the Doctor was trying to steal the body as insurance when he realized his blackmail was going bad, and left the hired thieves with a "if something happens to me, take it to this executive" instruction.

It is an easy tweak to make it so the body is not enough evidence, or the executive doesn't know what to do with it until the PCs add the final pieces to the puzzle.



Anyway for the post show, if you want a good mocking of Krull check out episode 1 of Film Sack

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Gamer, Geek, Enginseer, Battle Mechanik, Inquisitor, Warcaster, and Evil Overlord
Dragonmann

A little bit of a massage/tweak indeed help change the entire perception of an adventure.

Fulon really hammers out some excellent points, I've got to say. We could theoretically rwrite a pure sandbox product (something of a Campaign Guide) but I'd venture it'd be pretty dull to listen to as it has no conclusion.

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Order of Sixtysix Officer - The Old Republic - Master of Life
Casual Play and Quality of Life
Have Your say about Your Guild - PM me with Feedback/Concerns or in game as Markess

Loved the episode guys, and I love the adventure idea. I may even stat it up and run it should I ever get the chance.

A couple of things I can think of off the top of my head.

-I would personally set it away from Coruscant. Definitely place it on an affluent world somewhere, but I think there's too many powerful governmental forces at any one time on Coruscant that "Johnny Fontaine" would be raising a good number of red flags.
-During the Skyhook Showdown - Fontaine knows his secret might be revealed. What better way to kill the witnesses and shut down the cameras than blowing up the damn thing, with explosives planted at one of the tethers (ala Force Unleashed I)? Worse comes to worst he escapes, has to alter his appearance and move to a different planet. But his secret's safe. This also gives your players something else to do during the climactic showdown, maybe not by finding and disarming the explosives themselves, but by finding out where they're located on a terminal, overcoming the jamming that Fontaine is producing (you didn't think he'd actually let his secret be broadcast did you?), and coordinating with a "SWAT Bomb Squad" on the surface (also gives you a good excuse to include a technical character in the pregens).
-Placing it in an Era Sidebar. NJO/Legacy Era - What is more insidious than a walking talking robot disguised as a human? Alien technology infecting a human. Maybe he is human, but has been outfitted with Vong biotech (and that's why he continually needs to "update" his organs, as they are being poisoned by the biotech). This can also create a slightly sympathetic feel to the villain, even though he is now so twisted by the justifications he's had to make that he's snapped. The doctor becomes an expert in the Vong and the cyber creatures become creatures created by biotech.

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Great ideas! I particularly like the explosive angle to ramp up the tension on the skyhook.

I'd be interested in seeing how it plays out if the party is forced to divide their attention between fighting the villain and disabling his death trap. I kinda like the idea that the boss fight could become a real nail-biter *because* the party decides to fight him at half strength, and only when the other task is complete and the party is unified in facing him does the advantage turn in their favor.

Taking your explosive idea one step further, I'm seeing a very nihilistic method in play for the villain: His single defining concern is for secrecy, to the point that he has lost all sense of scope in preserving his reputation. So yes, he goes up to the skyhook to jam the transmission and get his agents in place to set explosives, and if he can get himself and his secret out alive, bonus! But when that fails...I see him as being perfectly willing and ready to commit suicide in spectacular fashion. If his fame and status as a well-loved celebrity is worth killing for, I can see him being ready to blow himself up, along with everyone who ever knew his secret, in order to preserve his legacy.

"Better to live forever a hero than be called a fraud! Say goodnight, Gracie!" *click* *BOOM!*

This actually sets up a great revelatory scene (after the PCs think that they understand everything that's going on) when they realize that the villain didn't have a clear plan for getting himself off the station. They go into the confrontation assuming that the villain wants to survive (he has gone to great lengths to preserve his body, so why not?) and then when they realize that his need for secrecy goes even deeper than his need to stay alive, if handled correctly, it should leave the players with a sinking feeling in their stomachs, and the need for some quick thinking to stop him from pushing the button.

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Christopher West
west@mapsofmastery.com
http://www.mapsofmastery.com

Indeed. I hadn't of that. Absolutely another valid way to play it.



To put it another way, "Better to burn out than fade away."

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Going with the "Era Non-Specific" Guideline, this is why EVERY SINGLE TIME someone in the show mentioned Coruscant, I immediately corrected in chat with "Nal Hutta"

Seriously. The Nal-Hutta-Holo-Network (NHHN) is too good a Corporate grab to pass on for the Shadowy/Showy organizations involved.

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FULONGAMER aka Johannes M. Bowers
http://thelostholocronpodcast.info/
It's not My planet Monkey-boy! / I Waste Him With My Bowcaster!
THIS is my LIGHT-Stick!, The next one of you Furry Tree-Hugger Yub-Yub Primitives EVEN TOUCHES me...//FZOOOK!//

Johnny F on top of the skyhook planting explosives could have a bit of a King Kong Empire State Building flare to it. Wouldn't it be odd or neat to still have the one actress who stands by him to the end... and maybe Johnny is willing to protect at risk to himself? Garrett

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Listen to Threat Detected. The Dawn of Defiance Podcast.
threat-detected.com

I agree, barefoot, and a good way to build trust of the Johnny character early on is for the PCs to walk in on a tender moment between the two of them. Maybe when they're shown into his office to break the news to him, they see the pair through a doorway, talking quietly with obvious affection, her hand on his face.

Then the lady shows up in the final scene and throws herself between the villain and the PCs. How they deal with it--and more interestingly, how "Johnny" deals with it--can be very telling and dramatic. Maybe the PCs are reluctant to fire for the sake of hurting her, but "Johnny" rips right through her like she wasn't even there, because now that his secret is exposed, she matters to him less than nothing...

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Christopher West
west@mapsofmastery.com
http://www.mapsofmastery.com

I was going to listen to this one yesterday during my work hours, but found that this one ran nearly 4 hours? Really?!

Perhaps I can start this one tomorrow morning and hopefully be done by lunch time. Yikes!

This is angelicdoctor and I've never listened to more than 3 hours of the Order 66 podcast...

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Secede or Die!

Kotasen in Awaypt's EotE PbP
Guest on Star Wars Saga Edition AP podcast, Threat Detected

Rise up...gather 'round, rock this place to the ground!

Love it, Cyril...rock on, dude.

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Secede or Die!

Kotasen in Awaypt's EotE PbP
Guest on Star Wars Saga Edition AP podcast, Threat Detected