Ay Yi Yi! GM advice needed!

[hooligan x]

I need some help in my game. First, the skinny:

 

The PCs have gotten photgraphic evidence that newly sworn-in President Biv has a closet full of secrets. Some of this info was data anyone digging up dirt would have found. How could someone running for President avoid this coming out? Magic! Biv paid for a huge spell that causes anyone who finds this info to forget it. The plane's Prime Sorceror is the Finn, a robot supergenius who has had a virus introduced into his system which causes him to overlook Biv's spells.

 

The problem is 1.How do I get my PCs to forget the info without my players feeling manipulated? and 2.How do I let my PCs figure out there is a spell to break out of? I don't want to spoon feed the players but I don't want to spend a month frustrating them either.

 

Help a guy out.

[lemming]

Re: Ay Yi Yi! GM advice needed!

 

Some manipulation & spoon feeding may be needed. However, since they have the photos.

1. They'll forget, maybe have the photos somewhere.

2. Discover them, and go "Hey! This means the Pres is ...."

3. Make an ego roll to break the loss of memory.

4. If they all fail their ego roll, go to step 1 after a side adventure.

[TheQuestionMan]

Re: Ay Yi Yi! GM advice needed!

 

Alternate Timelines - The universe conceptually diverges from our own. Yes the Player's Character's may remember everything that happened, but it is no longer true.

 

Said Predsident is has no dark secrets. Or rather they are completely different secrets. It is all a matter of alteering your player's perceptions.

 

Enjoy

 

QM

 

P.S.: GM Fiat works occassionally too.

[hooligan x]

Re: Ay Yi Yi! GM advice needed!

 

A few more details:

 

The PCs need to figure this out because it's the climax of two years of story. I'm sick of this sneaky SOB and I want him to go down so I can rev up my sub-plots to full time.

 

There are only three PCs currently. The are accompanied by an NPC who is a Sidhe and may be resistant to the spell.

[csyphrett]

Re: Ay Yi Yi! GM advice needed!

 

I have to agree with Lemming. The only other course I can see is have the Sidhe write a counterspell to nullify the original. Otherwise every time they try to use the evidence, everyone else will forget they saw it anyways, like Mr. Nobody from 4e Hudson City.

CES

[Doc Democracy]

Re: Ay Yi Yi! GM advice needed!

 

One option is to have the PCs enter a magical dead zone during a different scenario and have the memories flood back (with an awareness that they had forgotten). If they leave the area you can decide whether you want the spell to come back into force or whether you want it to be broken due to the time in the dead zone.

 

That way they know the situation and can address the spell that was cast...

 

 

Doc

[Red Knight]

Re: Ay Yi Yi! GM advice needed!

 

The magic spell works well... After the spell is in effect, have them find a little hint of information in an out of the way source and that can trigger just enough of the memories to lead them down the path towards breaking the spell.

 

-OR-

 

The President has the spell cast but for some reason he believes that the spell did not work on them... SO, he sends a team of "Cleaners" to correct the problem. What he doesn't know is that the spell DID work and the heros DON'T know anything. The Cleaners arrive and there is a conflict. This conflict raises questions that can lead the heroes into believing that there is something more.

 

 

This way, the players get the warm fuzzies for figuring it out and the cattle shoot that they are in is more transparent.

[Mister E]

Re: Ay Yi Yi! GM advice needed!

 

I have an idea... This is a solution to #2."How do I let my PCs figure out there is a spell to break out of..."

 

Finn, the super-genius robot Sorceror Supreme of your world, has a virus that causes him to over-look Biv's spells, right? Well, what if Finn started having other secondary problems as this computer virus continues messing with his perceptions of reality, which begins to threaten his viability as a super-natural protector of Earth?

 

Not able to know what is wrong with himself, the machine could go to the party for help, and ask them to 'TRON' into his mind! Or, if Finn ('Finn' I just got the obvious Disney reference) is like Doctor Strange, and tends to manipulate other heroes, rather than ask for help politly, he could simply, and unexpectedly, lure the party into a trap and then 'TRON' them into his mind. Once in his mind... you hac make it obvious somehow, that there is an alien intruder destructively taking over the poor robot's mind, and that they need to intervene.

 

The player characters will then take on the mythical role of the prophicied "Anti-Virus" saviors from "User-Nirvana". This could be a lot of fun, as they get treated like Messiahs and Demi-gods, after a few displayes of their powers.

 

Anyhow, once the Virus is destroyed, and the source of the problem 'integrated' into the heroes minds, Finn can return them back to the real world, where they can begin dealing with the Presedential problem.

[Hugh Neilson]

Re: Ay Yi Yi! GM advice needed!

 

The PCs need to figure this out because it's the climax of two years of story. I'm sick of this sneaky SOB and I want him to go down so I can rev up my sub-plots to full time.

 

There are only three PCs currently. The are accompanied by an NPC who is a Sidhe and may be resistant to the spell.

 

OK, given you WANT the result that they remember, use the Sidhe's resistance. He can cast a counterspell which protects the memories of the PC's (perhaps after some tense moments when he, but not they, remember the issue), but that's as far as his resources can carry it.

 

The Heroes need to somehow get access to the Robot Super-Sorceror so the Sidhe can get his "anti-virus" spell into the source and rectify the problem.

[MisterBaldy]

Re: Ay Yi Yi! GM advice needed!

 

Elementary, my dear hooligan x...the solution is quite simple.

 

Introduce a new character into the mix...for this scenario, we'll call him Nebbekenezzer.

 

Have Nebbekenezzer make a grand entrance into the PC's base, entering through a pillar of smoke, some mystical portal, or whatever you can imagine that would suit his grand entrance. Nebbekenezzer has been pursuing this mage who cast the spell to hide the President's "skeletons-in-the-closet" for quite some time. He cannot allow this Mage's agenda to reach it's apex, for this mage has put the Realm of Outer Earth in great peril. By manipulating the minds of the general populace to forget the President's "skeletons-in-the-closet" once they are revealed, this has rendered the populace impotent to protect themselves from its impending DOOM. When the Mage's plan reaches it's apex (on some ancient, long forgotten Babylonian holiday...with a blood red full moon for added effect) that will release the the Four Horseman of the Apocolypse, and fulfill the prophecy as fortold in the Book of Revelations. The only thing that can save the Realm of Outer Earth from it's untimely demise, is if they aid Nebbekenezzer in thwarting the plans of this mage...for he cannot complete the task alone.

 

And why, because Nebbekenezzer has his own agenda. It is actually Nebbekenezzer who actually needs to power of the heroes to open the portal and to help release the Four Horseman of the Apocolypse from their realm, and to help bring about his enslavement of the Realm of Outer Earth. Nebbekenezzer believes that he is in possession of a spell that will allow him to control the Four Horseman of the Apocolypse, and have them do his bidding.

 

The original mage who cast the spell for the benefit of the President did so to protect the Realm of Outer Earth from it's untimely demise at the hands of the prophecy as fortold in the Book of Revelations, for in shielding the memories of the populace from the knowledge (and the ability to retain it) of the President's "skeletons-in-the-closet", this will prevent the portal to realm of Four Horseman of the Apocolypse from achieving the ability to open the doorway through the unleashing the power of the "fears in mortal men", which could rip open the very fabric of the Realm of Outer Earth...keeping the gateway open to allow the entry of the Four Horseman of the Apocolypse.

 

When Nebbekenezzer found out what this mage had done, in an attempt to thwart Nebbekenezzer's plan...Nebbekenezzer went to PLAN B. He needed raw power, and by duping the heroes into aiding them, he will unleash enough raw power through that which is possessed by the heroes...AND HE SHALL ENSLAVE THE WORLD!!!

 

Hopefully the plans of Nebbekenezzer can be thwarted...before it's too late!!!

[hooligan x]

Re: Ay Yi Yi! GM advice needed!

 

Thats a lot of great ideas for problem #2. I'll probably use bits and pieces of most of them. Thanks.

 

As for #1, any thought? I don't want to just tell my players "you don't remember that anymore." I would think that cheesy if I were a player. Had I thought it out fully, I would have told them the photos were blank and later let them get flashes of the real memories. Too late for that, dagnabit!

[TheQuestionMan]

Re: Ay Yi Yi! GM advice needed!

 

Sidhe are easy to handle you have to IRON out the wrinkles.

 

Cheers

 

QM

[hooligan x]

Re: Ay Yi Yi! GM advice needed!

 

More background in a timeline:

 

1939- Occultist Heinrich Bivel introduces Adolph Hitler to the worship of Belaal, a forgotten Caananite war god who draws power from sacrifices killed in battle.

 

1941- Bivel begins building a temple to Belaal which will focus war deaths to bring Belaal to Earth.

 

1945- RAF bombers destroy Belaal's temple in Dresden, mere hours before his ascention to our plane. Bivel escapes but is captured after the fall of Berlin. He is tried and hung at Neuremburg, but does not die. After several further attemps to execute him, Allies imprison him for life.

 

1965- Heinrich's son Otto moves to US, changes name to Biv.

 

1992- Leroy Biv invents a suit of power armour which can be stored as data on an implanted microchip. He uses this suit to become Onslaught and joins the Challengers. He builds FINN, a super intellegent robot to act as base security, researcher, and coffee maker.

 

1994- Biv instructs FINN to scan and archive a large cache of occult scroll and books recovered from a crime scene. FINN finds the material facinating and begins studying the occult in earnest. His ability to control magic convines him he has a soul.

 

April 2053- Bivtech is the largest manufacturer of consumer electronics and advanced weapons in the world. Leroy Biv dies, leaving the company to his grandson Gerhardt (Gerry) Biv. Gerry becomes a patron of sorts to a group of heros who are dealing with occult dangers to our world (our PCs).

 

July 2053- While visiting Finn Tower on 5th avenue in NYC, our PCs attept to thwart an attack by a commando team. An EMP device crashes all electronics, including The Finn. When the lights come back up, the Finn's head is missing. Team F-up, as they are known OOG, manage to recover the head and capture the mastermind of the plot: Rogue Oracle director Donna Windham. Windam is knocked into a coma by the debris of her Finn Mark II.

 

August 2053- Whle the Finn is still offline, Hell opens a portal to Washington DC and releases it's demon horde. Biv utilizes Bivtech's resources and personel to back up the armed forces, containing the demons. Team F-up goes through the portal to Hell to stop the invasion. They manage to destroy the portal, barely making it out.

 

2056- Team F-up returns to find 3 years have passed during their two days in Hell. Biv has been elected President. The team destroys a Belaal temple in Manhattan. Their research turns up the Bivel evidence.

[Chromatic]

Re: Ay Yi Yi! GM advice needed!

 

More background in a timeline:

 

August 2053- Whle the Finn is still offline, Hell opens a portal to Washington DC and releases it's demon horde. Biv utilizes Bivtech's resources and personel to back up the armed forces, containing the demons. Team F-up goes through the portal to Hell to stop the invasion. They manage to destroy the portal, barely making it out.

 

2056- Team F-up returns to find 3 years have passed during their two days in Hell. Biv has been elected President. The team destroys a Belaal temple in Manhattan. Their research turns up the Bivel evidence.

 

Possible solution to problem #1:

 

Just how powerful is the spell that "erases" memories? It would have to be rather extreme to effect an entire nation. Perhaps the complete ramifications of this spell are not completely known?

 

The spell doesn't just quash memories, perhaps it also can alter perceptions and even pockets of reality.

 

The team's evidence would be subject to this spell as well. As long as it remains in the realm of effect, the evidence could be changed by the spell. Once the evidence is brought out of the realm (perhaps the portal to Hell reopens?) it reverts to its natural state.

 

Now the heros are faced with a choice: risk going back to hell or even worse holding a portal open so that the evidence can be seen for what it is, or leave things as they are--fairly safe from Hellspawn, but having to deal with followers of Belaal.

 

The alteration of perceptions and reality could be hinted at, perhaps one of the heros manages to get near a portal or other reality warping device/situation/fiat and notices that the photo on the wall of Manhattan from four years ago actually does show the Belaal temple sitting right where they destroyed it. Only everyone else is under the impression that it never existed and has no recollection of the fact that it did exist (though with probing and perhaps hypnosis, they can recall dreams/nightmares of the game happening.)

 

Hope this helps

[hooligan x]

Re: Ay Yi Yi! GM advice needed!

 

I think I'm going to give each player a note explaining they don't remember last game and trust them to roleplay it well. I may spring for pizza as a reward.

[Red Knight]

Re: Ay Yi Yi! GM advice needed!

 

I may spring for pizza as a reward.

 

 

I found bribery usually works well...

 

Whatever you decide to do.... good luck and let us know how it goes

[Markdoc]

Re: Ay Yi Yi! GM advice needed!

 

An alternate approach to trusting roleplaying is simply change the base rules: since you haven't sprung the "don't remember the evidence on them" yet, just change it to "can't act on the evidence".

 

So when the players go "Alright! Let's take this guy down. We'll take the evidence to X and show him.", you simply adopt your pious GM face and say "you suddenly find yourself standing in central park. Judging by the sunlight, it is several hours after leaving the base. You are all holding partially eaten icecreams."

 

When they get back to base the evidence is still there, where they left it

 

If the players find that every time they try to do something with the evidence - tell someone, show it to someone, make copies, etc, they "blank out" for a while and lose a variable amount of time, that will

a) explain why this has never surfaced before

really, really motivate them to take that SOB down

c) get them started on trying to find a way to break the spell - which could be pretty hard, given that it's presumably got god-level mojo behind it, so you got a good adventure or two out of this.

and d) when they finally do break the spell, suddenly a whole bunch of people will pp out of the woodwork to support their allegations, so they won't look like some dingbats trying to take the president down with fake evidence.

 

cheers,Mark

[Hugh Neilson]

Re: Ay Yi Yi! GM advice needed!

 

I think I'm going to give each player a note explaining they don't remember last game and trust them to roleplay it well. I may spring for pizza as a reward.

 

Actually, giving each player, separately, a note that says "Your character does not remember the events of the last session, specifically the gathering of any evidence against the President. Roleplaying xp will apply to your playing out of this memory loss. Due to the memory loss, you cannot tell the other players, out of character, about this memory loss." could be very interesting.

 

Each player is motivated to run his character as though he has no memory of the events, and none of them know that no one else remembers either. Spring something on them right at the start of the session (perhaps a surprise attack from previous opponents) so the fact no one starts discussing the evidence right off the bat doesn't look suspicious.

 

The pizza's a good idea as well - you can use that delayed startup time to be less noticed telling any players you couldn't reach pe-game about their memory loss.

 

[And after all our helpful suggestions, where's our pizza? ]

[hooligan x]

Re: Ay Yi Yi! GM advice needed!

 

[And after all our helpful suggestions' date= where's our pizza? ]

 

There is an open invitation to all Hero Boarders (even MightyBec) to come to New Haven and try the world's best a-beetz. Modern apizza was invented here and you'll never find any better. Hell, we have a pizza district here! The white pie with brocoli is on me.

[Enforcer84]

Re: Ay Yi Yi! GM advice needed!

 

Spell using Robot? A Wildguard fan?

[Hugh Neilson]

Re: Ay Yi Yi! GM advice needed!

 

Hell' date=' we have a pizza [i']district[/i] here! The white pie with brocoli is on me.

 

Pizza with broccoli

 

Where's negative rep when you need it?

[Guest Confusinator]

Re: Ay Yi Yi! GM advice needed!

 

If possible, have one PC not be there when the evidence is discovered (or an important NPC). Somehow get the PC's to radio their discovery to this off-site person.

 

Tell the PC's that they forgot that memory, and expect them to roleplay it, however, in the next session the PC that was not there can say, hey, where's the stuff? What stuff? The stuff you found? What are you talking about?

 

Then they can step through and figure out, hey, someone's been jacking with our brains, and start down that thread.

[hooligan x]

Re: Ay Yi Yi! GM advice needed!

 

Spell using Robot? A Wildguard fan?

 

What's a Wildguard?

 

FINN was built by a PC in my first BBB campaign. I restarted it with different PCs set in 2012, then the current campaign starting in 2053.

 

The player who ordered his robot to scan the occult materials has played different characters in the other campaigns and is very ammused by the Finn's evolution. He played Ezekiel Lao, Agent of Oracle in the current campaign and spent a lot of time roleplaying his investigation of the Finn, not letting the other players in on his OOG knowlege.

 

I think F.I.N.N. stood for Fully Integrated something something. The player is a fan of anagrams (hence the PC name Roy G Biv). He never decided what ORACLE meant, so I dropped the caps.

 

I am a big fan of adding backstory to PCs if the player doesn't mind. Roy Biv was unaware of his family secret and it was a fun reveal.

[hooligan x]

Re: Ay Yi Yi! GM advice needed!

 

Pizza with broccoli

 

Where's negative rep when you need it?

 

I don't mean to offend, but I can fit everything Canadians know about pizza in an old Altoids tin. And still have room for the Altoids.

 

You get the white pie (no tomato sauce, just mozz) with brocolli, fresh garlic, and olive oil. Baked at 1500 degrees fahrenheit in a hundred-year-old brick oven for eight or so minutes. Sometimes you squeeze a lemon wedge over your slice as you wait for it to cool. Serve with Foxon Park birch beer or Gasosa.

[Hugh Neilson]

Re: Ay Yi Yi! GM advice needed!

 

I don't mean to offend' date=' but I can fit everything Canadians know about pizza in an old Altoids tin. And still have room for the Altoids.[/quote']

 

No offense taken. [Everything the typical American knows about Canada requires far less storage space, after all...]

 

You get the white pie (no tomato sauce' date=' just mozz) with brocolli, fresh garlic, and olive oil. Baked at 1500 degrees fahrenheit in a hundred-year-old brick oven for eight or so minutes. Sometimes you squeeze a lemon wedge over your slice as you wait for it to cool. Serve with Foxon Park birch beer or Gasosa.[/quote']

 

Now. if you just removed the brocolli you'd have something here.

 

[One of the rare things Bush Sr and I can aree on... ]

 

Back to the actual thread, though, what did you do and how did it go?