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by [[Bill Logan]]

The players are traveling from here to there. Neither the
starting location nor the destination matters. It doesn’t
even matter whether the voyage is by foot, vehicle, or
space vessel. The point is, they’re going from point A to
point B, as part of whatever adventure you have planned
for them. This mini-scenario is designed to add a plot
twist or subplot to an adventure.

Along the way, they see a battle going on. Some
nefarious sorts are preying on what appears to be
innocent somewhat well-to-do merchants of some sort.
There are already several casualties. It’s not obvious
what caused the hostilities. When the players come into
the scene, they won’t be able to get either side to talk, as
both are fully committed to battle.

Typical player reaction is to immediately take sides and
battle the ruffians/brigands/pirates alongside the
merchant bodyguards. One of the ruffians must get away.
If they do this, they’ll be offered financial reward (100Cr
and their wounds tended to) and an explanation that it
was all a typical robbery attempt. They’ll part ways.

An atypical reaction would be to side with the ruffians... if
the players take this option with some sort of inner
rationale, let them. One of the merchants must get away.
When the merchants are taken care of, the ruffians will
state that the merchants had attacked them and they’ll
offer the characters 100Cr and their wounds tended.
They’ll part ways.

But what really happened? Well – this is one of those
situations where the character’s actions are doomed either
way. If they helped the merchants, they did the wrong
thing. If they helped the ruffians, they did the wrong
thing.

When the characters arrive at their destination, they’ll find
that the destination belongs to whichever side they
fought.

If they attacked ruffians, they find that the destination
(planet, city, star system, etc.) is under the control of the
ruffians, and that these “ruffians” were just normal folk
without much in the way of organized militant equipment
– banding together out of a common brotherhood. The
merchants stole from them, and they were trying to get
back an important artifact that belongs to them and
defines them.

If they attacked the merchants, they find that the
destination is under the control of the merchants. The
ruffians were really assassins that were trying to kill the
merchant prince, and succeeded. The merchant house is
a powerful one, and the woman who steps up to claim the
title of merchant princess is quite vindictive and protective
of her now dead father.

If they broke up the fight or helped neither side, or
something else unknown, you’ll have to figure out a way
to make that be the wrong thing to do!

It turns out that the one of their enemies who escaped
returned here ahead of the player’s characters. He spread
the word about what the characters have done.
Suddenly, the characters find themselves surrounded by
the local military and ordered to surrender.

What do they do? How can they make this right? Is it
going to keep them from completing whatever adventure
or mission they were on when you dropped the doubleedged
sword subplot on them?

Double-Edged Sword Subplot - Revision history

Terl obar: Created page with ' Top:Star Frontiersman main page | Up: Star Frontiersman Issue 5 main index | Up: Adventure! …'

Terl obar: Created page with '
Top:Star Frontiersman main page | Up: Star Frontiersman Issue 5 main index | Up: Adventure! …'