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Betrayal response

Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2017 4:49 am
by Antony131073
I have been running a DCC campaign for some time and it is drawing to an end. The group (8 players) are mostly level 5 and approximately half the party have been corrupted by their adventures. One called on Noohl (following the chaos court adventure) and this has kind of developed to the point that he purposely sworn to Noohl on two occasions and is now blessed with chaos armour bonded to his flesh and a third eye that partially blocks spells. Two others have sworn themselves to the Carnifex. At first they convinced themselves that the cult was something of a 'power to the people' thing but they have crossed lines before realizing that at its heart its a death cult. The final corrupted is something I have pushed to be honest. The character was killed during Fates Fell Hand by walking into the mist. When his next character died I suggested he play the character who fled in Fates, miraculously returned from the dead. In truth he is the demon that controlled the demi plane, itching for revenge. The Emerald Sorcerer has become the campaign villain. Their first encounter was inconclusive, the party retreated and he used the opportunity to flee. When they next encountered him he used his giant robot launch to send them to the purple planet. I used the trope 'additional time has passed whilst they have been away' to set up that the Emerald Enchanter has carved out a kingdom whilst they are away and the PC's benefactor has tasked them with ending the Enchanter threat once and for all. The twist I am in the process of adding is that Noohl, The Carnifex and the demon from Fates Fell Hand have made a deal with the Enchanter and are going to instruct the corrupted PC's to murder the four remaining PC's when they encounter the Enchanter (who will be casting a spell to be powered by this sacrifice). I am not sure how this will turn out. Maybe my corrupted PC's will balk at this betrayal, maybe the 'good' PC's will win. They are all very mature players who have know each other for twenty years plus but I must admit I am a bit nervous about bad feelings following such a large scale betrayal in the campaign. How do you think your players would react.

Re: Betrayal response

Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2017 5:38 am
by Raven_Crowking
"I am not sure how this will turn out" sounds like the best reason to go for it!

Nothing delights me more as a judge than being surprised by what the players choose to do.

Re: Betrayal response

Posted: Fri Jul 07, 2017 9:32 am
by brainszine
I would take a cue from Paranoia RPG, the game where the characters are supposed to betray each other. At the onset of the adventure each character receives special instructions and knows that all other players have opposing instructions. That way, they expect their peers to betray them and have a fair chance to strike first. Instead of making it a surprise, pass lots of notes with players about who might be out to get them, build the suspense about which gods are going to ally with which, and cultivate their expectation that this adventure will end in blood and treason. A 0-level funnel is almost a game of Paranoia because you get lots of characters and die often. Add the betrayal factor with different Patrons serving as Secret Societies, and some magic items that do more harm than good, and it's a full blown Paranoia mission! Alpha City Classics!! All Hail The Computer!!!

Re: Betrayal response

Posted: Fri Nov 24, 2017 6:56 pm
by losloris
I like the paranoia aspect and the sharing of many notes. I often provide direct notes giving a note to everyone every time, and try to have the same delivery pattern (start at dealer's) left) with some notes saying only 'have a nice day). This completely inhibits too much tipping of the hand and feeds the fear.

I am on this thread as I am prepping to run the Carnifex adventure. Two of three players have been reminded that there is always the chance for character death (which does not happen too often in my campaigns). The setting is good, I am rifling through the rumours to help with the set up and reason to adventure, and, can easily see death for a small group of 5th level players.

Which begs the question, Antony, how did the deception work out? Still friends?

Losloris

Re: Betrayal response

Posted: Tue Apr 17, 2018 2:57 pm
by ThreeDieSix
brainszine wrote:I would take a cue from Paranoia RPG, the game where the characters are supposed to betray each other. At the onset of the adventure each character receives special instructions and knows that all other players have opposing instructions. That way, they expect their peers to betray them and have a fair chance to strike first.
I think this is crucial. Make sure all the players know that they're expected to betray each other. I'd also let players know ahead of time so that they can skip the game session if they're not into that kind of stuff. Some players absolutely hate party in-fighting.