Scifi_Toughguy Posted October 2, 2007 Report Share Posted October 2, 2007 First time ever GMing a Champs game and to start it out I had one of the PCs dad (a scientist) kidnapped (ostensibly by ARGENT). Since he works for DoD contracts, the crime scenes are crawling with high up cops, fbi/cia types. The PCs are not really sure what to do at this point and frankly I am not the surest myself. What kind of leads can I give them (beginning supers not yet sanctioned by law enforcement types)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clonus Posted October 2, 2007 Report Share Posted October 2, 2007 Re: Help get the heroes to the kidnapped First time ever GMing a Champs game and to start it out I had one of the PCs dad (a scientist) kidnapped (ostensibly by ARGENT). Since he works for DoD contracts' date=' the crime scenes are crawling with high up cops, fbi/cia types. The PCs are not really sure what to do at this point and frankly I am not the surest myself. What kind of leads can I give them (beginning supers not yet sanctioned by law enforcement types)?[/quote'] Do the PCs have any detective skills or psychic information gathering capability? If not, then you can't do anything subtle at this point. Have dear old dad give his darling child a call and ask him to do something without telling the jackbooted troopers. Maybe it's a message left behind from before the kidnapping, or maybe the kidnappers want the kid to pick up some item that dad left in a safety deposit box, or dad managed to get to a communications outlet for a moment when he wasn't being watched carefully enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stone Posted October 2, 2007 Report Share Posted October 2, 2007 Re: Help get the heroes to the kidnapped What was the dad working on? Have the PC discover some of the information dad was working on or a journal detailing his concerns about co-workers or that he feels he is being followed. Leave a few names of NPC's in the journal for the PC's to follow up on. One of them might be help point them in the right direction or may actually be part ARGENT. 2nd idea - Have the PC be contacted by someone claiming to be CIA and ask about dad's work. Leave the impression dad may have taken some information out of the lab. Of course dad would have to have a place to work away from the government that the PC's know about or can discover. Once the PC's get to the location and get some clues, the government shows up. Now the PC's can be involved in hero ID, of course they will have to explain why they are there and how they found out about it. 3rd idea - Ransom. The bad guys call the PC and want the project the dad is working on or they will kill him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliceTheOwl Posted October 2, 2007 Report Share Posted October 2, 2007 Re: Help get the heroes to the kidnapped What do they have for contacts or non-combat skills? Nudge them in the direction of using those, and toss them a bone. Even if their only KSs are in Circus Lore, have them bump into some clown (literally) who they've spoken to before, and who witnessed a key event. Or something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilkmanDan Posted October 2, 2007 Report Share Posted October 2, 2007 Re: Help get the heroes to the kidnapped Dad's a scientist. He, in A-Team style, whips together a transmitter out of the spare parts laying around the place where he's being held, and broadcasts a simple message--morse code for his son's birthday, lat/long coordinates, something like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wyrm Ouroboros Posted October 2, 2007 Report Share Posted October 2, 2007 Re: Help get the heroes to the kidnapped Have them go get themselves kidnapped, so that the super villain can reveal all while he has them pinned in an inescapable deathtrap. On the other hand, they could always look up the local ARGENT branch in the Yellow Pages and go knock on the door ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flames Posted October 2, 2007 Report Share Posted October 2, 2007 Re: Help get the heroes to the kidnapped The PCs find out from a street contact that an unusual amount of a material and equipment of the kind used in the the PC's father's research was stolen from a corporate storage facility by a group of local thugs (VIPER, maybe?) under the command of some creepy guys at a waterfront warehouse. The government people might not get their hands on this lead, but the PCs do. They get to the warehouse, start poking around, and BAM, there are heavily-armed agents everywhere, and even a couple of villains-for-hire! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
assault Posted October 3, 2007 Report Share Posted October 3, 2007 Re: Help get the heroes to the kidnapped Let them find his mobile phone and/or check his emails - before the cops do! Failing that, have a mutual acquaintance/relative wander up to the PC (in normal ID) and let some information slip. Watch more cop shows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Psylint Posted October 3, 2007 Report Share Posted October 3, 2007 Re: Help get the heroes to the kidnapped Johnny drops by dear ole Dad's house sees eighty bazillion cops, yellow tape, gets stopped by bully boys in black suits with ear wigs and told "Matter of National Security, move along." Johnny, understandably upset, decks Mr. National Security and starts yelling, "Where's my Dad!" promptly gets tackled by boys in blue. One of the FBI pukes comes over squats down and says, "You wanna keep breathin? 'Cause that's gotta be heavy. Tell you what, you agree to shut the Hell up, I'll get these guys off you, and we can go get coffee. Otherwise, we put the cuffs on, put a black bag over your head, and you're on the first plane to Gitmo." FBI puke of course suspects Johnny of being involved in something criminal and is using this "tough love" to build credibility so that he can get Johnny to open up and make incriminating statements against himself. _________________ That's one way to do it, but to answer fully I'd need to know 1. How do the players know that Daddy was kidnapped? 2. What is the relationship between Daddy and the players? 3. Where are the players? 4. What were the players doing immediately before they found out that Daddy was kidnapped? If it was a phone call, then let Sonny call Mom, Brother Joe and Sister Sue (and a lawyer if he's smart). Then kick it to Sonny. Seriously, put yourself in that moment, and you'll know what you'd do, even if it's dithering around dazed and confused not knowing what to do. Peace Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrosshairCollie Posted October 3, 2007 Report Share Posted October 3, 2007 Re: Help get the heroes to the kidnapped First time ever GMing a Champs game and to start it out I had one of the PCs dad (a scientist) kidnapped (ostensibly by ARGENT). Since he works for DoD contracts' date=' the crime scenes are crawling with high up cops, fbi/cia types. The PCs are not really sure what to do at this point and frankly I am not the surest myself. What kind of leads can I give them (beginning supers not yet sanctioned by law enforcement types)?[/quote'] Now, were it me, I'd eavesdrop on the Feds. Can anybody turn invisible, or just have an insane Hearing perc roll? Radio interception? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Psylint Posted October 3, 2007 Report Share Posted October 3, 2007 Re: Help get the heroes to the kidnapped Alternatively: Shapeshift or images to mimic one of the law enforcement officers, there are probably more than enough that someone in the appropriate uniform will be admitted so long as they act like they belong. Telepathy, mind control, hacking computer databases, massive presence attack. Decent conversation, threatening the bring the press in, using contacts or favors for "back channel" information. For example, if my entirely offenseless Flicker were in this situation, she might pull a Batman Begins. Isolate one of those who should be in the know, restrain them, stick them with a local anesthetic, and then.. "You remember me? Good. I've learned new tricks. Do you know what a carbon monoxide laser does to human flesh? It's really interesting, cauterizes it instantly, no blood. You know what else is interesting, I heard Attorney General Comic say that so long as there's no pain, there's no torture. How does your hand feel? Pretty numb? Well, I'm in no rush. What's that? Oh nothing personal, it's just you are in possession of information I need, and knowing you were an upstanding member of law enforcement, I wasn't going to insult you just by asking. I know you can thank me later at the board of inquiry. You should make quite an impression with all of your fingers cut off at different digits. So, where should we start? How about the middle finger, it's a vulgar thing anyway....." Flicker of course wouldn't stoop to actually using her short ranged RKA to slice off folks fingers, but she's more than willing to use her images to convince others that she has to get what she needs. Or they could do their own police work and "follow the money"... Gee Dad's a scientist working on ____ who would want that? Check out his bank records, phone logs etc. Peace Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scifi_Toughguy Posted October 3, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 3, 2007 Re: Help get the heroes to the kidnapped The Dad is one of the femal PCs who has a suit of power armor he designed. While the group was out on patrol one night, they ran into a few baddies snooping around one of Dad's companies warehouses. After the tussle, the female PC gets a call from home that dad has been kidnapped by ninjas. The PCs run to her home and the police are there (family called cops before sissy). While there, they decide to go to the offiec to check up on stuff there. They are interrupted by werewolf like creatures attacking a nightclub. By the time they actually got to the office, the cops and feds were already there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoloOfEarth Posted October 3, 2007 Report Share Posted October 3, 2007 Re: Help get the heroes to the kidnapped Since you said "ostensibly by ARGENT" I'm guessing they aren't the real kidnappers. If they aren't, I'd arrange things so the feds are following the ARGENT angle while the PCs get a vital clue that can lead them to the true kidnappers. There's always the idea that Dad suspected something like this might happen, so he dropped a package in the mail, addressed to his lawyer with a note to contact the son if something happened to him. The package could have clues that the heroes could follow. A reporter could have some leads but is being shut out by the feds, so he/she might work with the heroes in exchange for an exclusive. Or one of Dad's coworkers, a brilliant but paranoid government-conspiracy sort, might go to the son or the heroes with information. Personally, I kinda like this one, just to have a fun NPC for the players to work with. "Sure, they say ARGENT kidnapped Dr. Dad, but everybody knows ARGENT is just a black-ops arm of the DoD, created after they had Kennedy assassinated..." The trail could lead to places that the son might know of, but the feds don't or might not think of immediately. (Like, Dad spent last weekend at Uncle Bob's cabin in the woods alone, so maybe he left something there. And when the PCs get there, so do some goons sent by the kidnappers looking for some of Dad's notes -- cue battle.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Psylint Posted October 3, 2007 Report Share Posted October 3, 2007 Re: Help get the heroes to the kidnapped OK. So lemme get this straight: Random bad guys are snooping around Dad's warehouses, so Super Team knocks skulls and otherwise takes care of business. Calls the paddy wagon to cart the corpses, unconscious forms away. As the heroes leave, PC gets a call on her cell phone from Mom, "Dad's been kidnapped by guys in pajamas!" Super Team runs to Dad's house (we assume PC comforts Mom when she gets a chance, assuming Mom knows about her power armor hobby). The cops are being snotty, so the Super Team decides to back track to Dad's office to see if they can figure out what the mooks going after the warehouse were looking for. When suddenly, from La Vida Loca the nightclub across from Dad's office, screaming and inhuman roars are heard as dozens of patrons practically stampede out the exits screaming "Werewolf!" Super Team springs into action, rounds up and disposes of the varmits, tends to the injured, and then continue to Dad's office. But lo there, before me the cops and the FBI are all ready there. PC to agent no-name "What's the probability that mooks try to break into this company's warehouses, freaks in pajamas kidnap one of its tops scientists, and werewolves attack a nightclub just across the street on the same night as that scientist's office is ransacked? Perhaps we should pool information?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scifi_Toughguy Posted October 3, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 3, 2007 Re: Help get the heroes to the kidnapped Well, first time Champs/Hero GM, first time players. Only one player has any real RPing experience. Of the other two, one is a complete newb and the other has two or three times under her belt. The reason I said ostensibly ARGENT is because I thought they were sort of a shadow organization that has all kinds of sub companies and smoke screen organizations. To me, the GM, it is ultimately ARGENT that has done the nabbing in hopes of getting their hands on Dad's stuff. To anyone in game, it seems like it would be tough to prove ala terrorist funding and the like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted October 3, 2007 Report Share Posted October 3, 2007 Re: Help get the heroes to the kidnapped Does the PC's father know that his daughter is the hero using his armor design? In that case if he had some advance warning of danger he'd likely have secreted a clue to her somewhere, possibly transmitted directly to her armor. Does the scientist have any collaborators or other close colleagues who might have some idea of what he was working on? If the PCs can't get to the crime scene past the federal flaks, perhaps they should try to reach those people before the feds. Even if the government finds those people first, the heroes may arrive in time to prevent another kidnapping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted October 3, 2007 Report Share Posted October 3, 2007 Re: Help get the heroes to the kidnapped PC to agent no-name "What's the probability that mooks try to break into this company's warehouses' date=' freaks in pajamas kidnap one of its tops scientists, and werewolves attack a nightclub just across the street on the same night as that scientist's office is ransacked? Perhaps we should pool information?"[/quote'] You know, that does seem like an awfully big "coincidence." Just from your description it sounds like a "steal the secrets, kidnap the scientist, and if any superheroes show up snooping around, start a distraction to cover your escape" scenario. If these events were connected, I would put VIPER behind it (assuming VIPER exists in your world). They would be just as interested in high-tech secrets as ARGENT. I know you're thinking of using ARGENT, but with VIPER you have your Covert agents to break into the warehouse and office, Takara-Shinja ninja-types to kidnap the scientist, and wolf-men courtesy of VIPER's resident freak-maker, Dr. Phillipe Moreau. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Psylint Posted October 3, 2007 Report Share Posted October 3, 2007 Re: Help get the heroes to the kidnapped Scifi_Toughguy, It's a fine scenario, in fact it's one of the classics, which is why I suggested the response I did. It happens all the time in the "cop shows" where folks from dueling jurisdictions ultimately decide to "quit the urinating contest" and share information/cooperate. You could role play it as a tit for tat exchange, "I'll tell you about the mooks that hit the warehouse, if you'll tell me what you found at the scene of the kidnapping." If you're going for the cell-structure, terrorist organization, manipulation behind the scenes, lies within lies, games within games kind of thing, you could "follow the money." Get on Lexis Nexis and trace ownership records, political contributions, hack into IRS or SEC filings for tax records, material disclosures... tons of stuff. Think of where you want the players to go, and then think of a way to get them there. Is the next episode a conflict with a particular antagonist? Or do they have to solve a particular mystery? (e.g. what was Dad working on, and why would someone go to all this trouble to steal him away?) Why did the bad guys go to all this trouble? Building a super weapon to blackmail the planet? Just to raise funds? Hadn't kidnapped anyone in a while? Maybe it's just a training exercise for new bad guy recruits, or a field test of new equipment. Figure out why the bad guys have gone to all this trouble, and you'll know where to go next. Peace Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scifi_Toughguy Posted October 3, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 3, 2007 Re: Help get the heroes to the kidnapped Well, it is mostly connected. The kidnapped is a DNPC of one of the players. The Ninjas were hired to kidnap Dr. Dad. (The ninjas tie into another PCs background they're his old clan.) ARGENT is in there becasue another PC has his superpowers thanks to them and they want him back (although they don't know he's involved yet). The werewolves were actually (in my mind) a foreshadowing of future baddies. The guys smashing the warehouse were hired as distraction. I'm building the game and the PCs right now so there is a lot of stuff that I have to take baby steps on simply for the time frame of the game. This is the first big time action of the group. This is when the media and the public will really be made aware of the player characters. This is where rivalries that aren't built into disads and 'arch enemies' will be born. I expect (because of the high tech of one player and the hunted of another) ARGENT to be a frequent player in this campaign. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Psylint Posted October 4, 2007 Report Share Posted October 4, 2007 Re: Help get the heroes to the kidnapped Scifi, Good show! Just because a player might assume that all of these events are interconnected doesn't mean that they are. I love it that you've added in a completely bizarre coincidences that don't make sense. It's awesome! So, let's see.... Somebody, potentially a cat's paw of ARGENT, hired Ninja Clan X to kidnap Dr. Dad, because this somebody isn't proficient at kidnapping or wanted to have a cut out. So why did they kidnap Dr. Dad? Did Dad steal something of theirs? or learn some damaging secret? Does the sombody know that Dr. Dad is the PC's father and wanted to use him as leverage against our stalwart hero? ARGENT hired the mooks to nab something from the warehouse, 'cause they're always after technological gizmos what can make them more powerful, but what exactly? The portable fusion reactor? the freeze ray? spray on hair? Werewolves... hmmm. I suppose that there could be some diabolical plot by Evil Doers Ltd. Putting lycanthropy in the olives (who cares if those snotty lawyers become werewolves, serves them right for being poseurs.) You could just have the press show up and say, "Detective Porter, Samantha Baskins, BTN news, so tell me who's tall, dark, and powered armored?" Peace Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scifi_Toughguy Posted October 4, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2007 Re: Help get the heroes to the kidnapped Dr. Dad built powered armor and his daughter is using it to test it out. He is trying to make it to the mass production stage so that law enforcement types can benefit from it. I can see ARGENT really wanting that kind of stuff. It seems that my players are really lost at this moment so they need a nudge. The ninja PC actually is a body guard for a CEO and as soon as this stuff hit the fan he got called in. I used that to try and drop a hint but I think they missed it. Mr. CEO told Mr. Ninja that the cops were really snooping around a second company's warehouses and office buildings. That PC never suggested they investigate said premeses. I really liked the idea of Dad whipping together some impromptu gizmo to contact her armor directly. Thank you all for your help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.