Catsmate
13th Incarnation
No longer living in a bad adaption of "A Journal of the Plague Year".
Posts: 3,730
Favourite Doctors: Thirteen, Six, Five, Two, Eight, Twelve, Nine, One, Eleven..
Traits: Eccentric, Insatiable Curiousity.
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Post by Catsmate on Jun 15, 2021 11:58:34 GMT
A Jury of His Peers1
aka Witness for the Future2.
This is a scenario idea that's been languishing in my General Notes file fro a while. It's more-or-less a 'bottle episode' in the form of a classic courtroom drama. It's set in a courtroom in the Federal courthouse in Lincoln in the US state of Nebraska in (hopefully) post-COVID 2022 but could be moved to pretty much anywhere and anywhen with a bit of work.
It's intended to be a non-violent, confined scenario with no gunplay (except perhaps in the finale) and no running around.
Part one is the background and setup. After that I'll move onto the Dramatis Personæ and their backgrounds, plans and motivations.
Feel free to comment, or suggest ideas, this is an unfinished work.
Part One. There are two ways to get the PCs involved in this scenario, depending on whether they’re temporally mobile or a group operating mainly on Earth.
Earthbound Investigators. The fatal shooting of one an elderly man by Federal Marshals (actually Court Security Officers) is flagged by UNIT's computer and assigned to the team as an oddity to be resolved. The matter is made more urgent by signs of time travel in the vicinity.
Travellers A temporal anomaly around the city of Lincoln in Nebraska is detected. There seems to be a confluence point for multiple timelines there. The PCs may detect it themselves, be told by others to investigate (i.e. the Time Agency, the CIA or similar) or find their craft sucked into the area. Or they could be pulled to the city by the 'suction' effect of the potential temporal disturbance. Or detect multiple time travel devices arriving there.
- Note that within the courtroom area Artron energy scanners show generally elevated levels, they cannot be used with sufficient precision to detect an individual time traveller. It's like trying to isolate one voice in a noisy, swirling, crowd.
The background Around five months ago a man named Chester Kramer was indicted for tax fraud; four days ago (Monday) his trial was to start with the usual formalities before a jury would be empanelled. Initially all proceeded as usual in such cases with various motions proposed before a lunchtime adjournment. On Friday someone tried to kill him outside the Federal court building; while this is perhaps not that unusual there are some distinct oddities.
The assailant fired three shots from a pistol, missing with two and grazing Kramer's shoulder with the third, before the pistol he was using jammed. When guards attempted to disarm the shooter, who was frantically trying to fix his weapon, he managed to get it working and fired on them screaming "It's all HIS fault!" The guards were forced to shoot and kill the unknown man, who has yet to be identified officially. The trial was delayed. Perhaps unusually Kramer's counsel did not ask for a continuance (delay).
- There is media speculation (especially on the internet) that the assailant was someone who lost money to Kramer's fraud. In fact this is not true, as study of the case shows, only the IRS was defrauded. This is a red herring that may be useful.
In fact the dean man has been identified and that’s why the case was flagged to UNIT. In the United States it’s not uncommon for parents to have their children fingerprinted in case of abduction or disappearance. The dead shooter’s fingerprints match those of someone on such a database; unfortunately Robert Summers, who lives in Evansville (a city in the neighboring state of Indiana) is two years old.
This could be a glitch; fingerprints are not an infallible system and false matches do occur but a UNIT satellite detected a series of odd Artron energy surges in the area. Time travel is suspected.
- If you any form of predicting the future in your gameverse, be it psionic precognition or stochastic timeline modelling, it's showing something odd and ominous too.
Facts. The dead assailant is estimated to be in his early-to-mid sixties. After a few more hours (perhaps while the PCs are in transit) another oddity will be found. The pistol used in the shooting is a US military M18, in poor condition, but the serial number matches one very recently manufactured and still in storage. The assailant’s weapon shows signs of heavy use, corrosion and poor repairs.
If the PCs examine or, more likely, have the body examined, the following facts are discovered.
- The man was in poor health showing signs of extreme and prolonged exertion, poor nutrition and injuries. There are several healed wounds including shrapnel, gunshots and broken bones. He'd had a rough life.
- Serology tests will show antibodies from several currently unknown diseases, including strains of polio, smallpox, tuberculosis and influenza. This is not a routine procedure so the PCs should order it done.
- His clothing fitted poorly and appears to have been acquired locally.
- If they have the equipment UNIT can find traces of elevated, but fading, temporal energy levels. Some analysis by an expert, or experienced time traveller, suggests a recent, short hop, through time using a poorly shielded device.
- In a few hours genetic analysis (it took time to persuade Summer's parents to permit a sample to be taken) shows that the dead man is genetically identical to the child.
Eventually a cache containing current banknotes (showing signs of age), camping supplies, a box of pistol ammunition, notes on the beginning of the trial and a backpack containing a now destroyed electronic device of some sort (his time machine, which burned out). There is also traces of documents being burned.
- If needed to move things along this could appear during the trial.
What’s Going On? Unknown to UNIT or the PCs, at least initially, Chester Kramer and his wife are a living Temporal Nexus Point, the confluence of not just two timelines (a classic Jonbar Hinge) but several, they are the focus point of a timeline fracture; depending on his conviction or acquittal one of ten or more different timelines (all of them bad for humanity) will occur.
The odd temporal effects mean that from those ten timelines have come ten time travellers, all of whom are bent on preventing their timeline from happening. The fracture node allows a relatively easy path to the trial period, even for primitive time machines. Unfortunately half of the futures depend on a conviction and half depend on an acquittal. This complicates the problem of finding a just and reasonable solution.
Arrival. When the PCs get to Lincoln, whether sent to the court building or by tracking a temporal energy surge, they have limited time to prepare. They arrive about ninety minutes before the trial begins. The judge in the case (District Justice Keith Garcia) has announced that the courtroom will be sealed and access limited to court staff, the defendant and his family, counsel, witnesses and the press (this can be found from the media, by talking to a reporter, reading a newspaper, watching television or accessing their websites).
Further no-one will be allowed to carry weapons; this will be applied to UNIT personnel, Federal agents and others. There is no practical way to have this judicial fiat overridden in the time available.
- But let the players try, by all means.
- If they don't have UNIT (or similar) ID, some forgery, impersonation or psychic paper waving will be needed.
The PCs will be searched and unless they have a excellent justification they’ll be disarmed of anything vague weapon-like.
Comments? Ideas? Suggestions?
1. OK, there is no actual jury. The trial is still at the legal arguments stage. The jury should be called in on Tuesday. If everyone lives that long...
2. Title inspired by the classic film/play. And it's darker remake.
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Catsmate
13th Incarnation
No longer living in a bad adaption of "A Journal of the Plague Year".
Posts: 3,730
Favourite Doctors: Thirteen, Six, Five, Two, Eight, Twelve, Nine, One, Eleven..
Traits: Eccentric, Insatiable Curiousity.
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Post by Catsmate on Jun 16, 2021 9:57:34 GMT
Part Two - Dramatis Personæ 1.
And now to the people who will be locked in the courtroom with the PCs. The first batch.
1. Judge Keith Garcia Ŧ Judge Garcia presides over the trial, at least in theory, and is responsible for the lockdown of the courtroom. He's a man in his fifties with short, salt-and-pepper hair, a small beard (which seems to bother him a bit as he scratches and tugs at it constantly) and brown eyes. He's dressed in the usual black US style judicial robe, with what appears to be a dark suit underneath. It will become noticeable that Judge Garcia appears a little distracted as seems to have an imperfect grasp of courtroom procedure and the law.... That's because the judge is actually his great-grandson Osian Garcia who used an experimental time portal to travel back and substitute for his grandfather. Osian is using an advanced disguise, make from synthetic living tissue, to impersonate his grandfather (who’s at home, drugged). He also borrowed one of granddad’s pistols.
Osian plans to prevent Kramer from going to prison; there Kramer writes a book, followed by several sequels when he's released, exposing the ineffectiveness of the prison system. Unlike previous such works these have the cachet of being written by a 'reformed' white collar offender and become wildly popular. They also greatly influence politicians and a major programme of prison reforms are instituted in the 2040s which greatly improves the situation. Unfortunately in 2081 Osian's daughter was killed in a (then rare) road accident; he blames the failure to previously imprison the woman operating the car, despite her history of over-riding the 'Roadgrid' vehicle control system, on those penal reforms. While working as a support technician for a research company he gained access to an experimental time portal and came back in time.
- Intended verdict: Not guilty. His backup plan is to kill Kramer.
- Time Travel method: portal; this only allows living tissue to pass through1
- Special abilities: none; he's actually dying slowly due to tissue disruption from the portal and will become less coherent and develop a nervous twitch. After a couple of days he'll begin having seizure, lapse into a coma and die. His body will liquefy over a few more days. He's not aware of this.
- Equipment: advanced disguise, concealed pistol (.357 revolver, eight shots).
2. Prosecutor Erik Nolan Ŧ The trial prosecutor is a short Hispanic man dark hair and eyes. When the PCs enter the court they'll see his conferring with the two principal prosecution witnesses. Actually Nolan has been replaced by a woman named Ashley Sutton (she uses a shimmer) from the late 2080s. Sutton has returned to insure Kramer is convicted (or killed) because his acquittal allows him to conceive a child two years later; this son studies psychology and mimetics and re-invents himself as 'Preacher Paul' a manipulative religious confidence trickster who uses sophisticated psychological manipulation techniques to amass a huge following. Unlike the run-of-the-mill frauds of that ilk Paul Kramer is also a megalomaniac; he uses his flock of tens of millions not just as a source of funds for his lavish lifestyle but uses them as political pawns. The movement unbalances US elections in the 2060s and leads to a theocratic influenced US government in 2080, when Paul stands for the presidency and wins. This leads to a disastrous civil war and the deaths of over fifty million people.
- This is not the first attempt from this future timeline to alter their past. In a prior iteration 'Preacher Paul' was 'Sister Stella' who was narrowly defeated in the 2080 US Presidential election. She and her followers released a geneered virus that killed over a billion people worldwide. Agents from that future travelled to 2024 to delay the conception once but the personality of the child was similarly sociopathic and charismatic.
Sutton is a highly capable and utterly ruthless agent. She is well trained and well versed in the history of the 2020s and the law and will make few mistakes. In fact she's quite likely to pick up on oddities of behaviour of others. However she's almost 15cm taller than Nolan (who's in his apartment in a machine induced sleep) and her mannerisms reflect this when she's stressed .
- Intended verdict: Guilty. Her backup plan is to kill Kramer, or prevent him fathering children.
- Time Travel method: projector; this is a more sophisticated system than Garcia's and allows equipment to be carried along. It is however a one-way trip for Sutton and she knows this.
- Special abilities: well trained and widely skilled. s.
- Equipment: shimmer (textured 'holographic' disguise), slate computer, replica period pistol with silencer and other gear (in shielded briefcase)
3. Defense Counsel Hannah Hughes Ŧ A short brunette Caucasian woman in her forties, a consummate professional defense lawyer. Actually Daniel Hensley (using a shimmer and sensor scrambler) who drugged the real Hughes and left her in her hotel room2.
Kramer’s conviction caused him to study astronomy in jail; upon release he managed to get a job as an electronics technician at a radio telescope which was engaged in the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence and partially funded by UNIT. In 2047 the observatory detected a signal from a spacecraft passing near our system. Kramer was unaware of UNIT or previous human contacts with hostile ET intelligences and wanted the fame of First Contact. He used the radio-telescope to signal the ship; as a result of his contact a race known as the Nalan (large, 2.5 metre, reptilian carnivores) came to Earth and began hunting humans for food and sport after overcoming UNIT's best efforts. By 2070 humanity has been hunted nearly to extinction. Hensley was sent by one of the remaining splinter factions of UNIT who has survived.
- Intended verdict: Not Guilty. Hensley also plans to kill Kramer if absolutely necessary.
- Time Travel method: projector; broadly similar to that used by Sutton and likewise it's a one-way trip for Hensley.
- Special abilities: Limited psi powers; Hensley is a moderately skilled UNIT agent but one whose lived in a warren of tunnels and hideouts all his life, leading to a dislike of bright light (he wears dark glasses in the court) and a dislike of open spaces. He has limited Hypnosis ability and is a touch telepath.
- Equipment: shimmer (which is prone to occasional, almost unnoticeable flickers), his briefcase contains a psionic amplifier and a quantity of a suggestibility inducing drug (in powder, liquid and gas forms). This enhances people's receptiveness to his powers.
4. The defendant, Chester Kramer A white male of average height, light brown hair, blue eyes, aged 32. Kramer was a biochemist for OminiChem Biotech. He’s accused (and entirely guilty) of massive tax fraud. He’s married but he and his wife Melissa have no children (yet). Kramer used false receipts from an OminiChem subsidiary as tax write offs, claimed his two pedigreed and AKC Champion Standard Poodles as children and deposited the money into a Cayman Islands bank account. The sum involved is around 1.5 million US dollars, over five years. Kramer is utterly unaware of his role as the pawn of fate.
5. The court Bailiff, Collen Pearce A tall, dark skinned woman aged 45; a former police officer with lung problems. The only openly armed person in the court (telescopic baton, two pistols, pepper spray). She’s on alert after the shooting outside the court. Pearce has worked with Judge Garcia before and will pick up oddities in ‘his’ behaviour.
6. Mika Kramer. Wife of the defendant, a tall, slim, green-eyed blonde woman aged 31. Homemaker. Suspected by some of being involved in the fraud, which she vehemently denies. Appears to be a vapid 'trophy wife'. Is not as stupid, or uninvolved, as she portrays.
7. Terry Blanchard. An IRS Criminal Investigation agent3 and lawyer. Witness for the prosecution. A tall, black man in his early thirties. Competent and skilled he considers this case a routine matter, though the shooting interested him.
8. Chester Mckenzie. IRS Criminal Investigation agent and forensic accountant. Witness for the prosecution A short, slightly chubby, balding white man in his forties with a jovial expression and watchful eyes. Surprisingly outgoing compared to the accountant stereotype and very observant
- Mckenzie knows of the existence of UNIT after a previous investigation involving halite smuggling.
Both agents are mildly perturbed at the judge’s ruling that they be disarmed. Neither has ever fired a shot in anger.
9. Jonathan Rodriguez. An OminiChem representative. A tall, well-dressed Hispanic man in his thirties; he's a PR flack trying to minimise the damage to the company’s reputation.
- Has very minor psi ability and picks up psionic transmissions.
Here ends the first batch of characters.
Any comments, suggestions or ideas?
1. À la the Terminator
2. If the GM needs to poke the players she may be found by a hotel staffer, despite the 'Do Not Disturb' sign.
3. The US Internal Revenue Services has it's own force of investigatory agents with the same general powers as better known agencies such as the FBI, DEA, BATFE et cetera.
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Catsmate
13th Incarnation
No longer living in a bad adaption of "A Journal of the Plague Year".
Posts: 3,730
Favourite Doctors: Thirteen, Six, Five, Two, Eight, Twelve, Nine, One, Eleven..
Traits: Eccentric, Insatiable Curiousity.
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Post by Catsmate on Jun 17, 2021 9:50:47 GMT
Part Three - Dramatis Personæ 2.
The other persons of interest locked in the courtroom with the PCs.
10. Lois Cordova. Ŧ An attractive woman in her late twenties with olive skin, dark brown hair and piercing blue eyes. Ostensibly a reporter for USA Today. After being convicted and jailed for three years Kramer and his wife reunite and have a daughter, she becomes a politician in the United States, effective leader of West Bloc during the brief Third Cold War in the 2080s. After the death of the president (ostensibly natural causes, actually poisoned) and vice-president (aneurysm) she briefly accedes to the presidency and badly mis-interprets the events on Sea Base 4, exacerbated by an already high level of inter-bloc tension. A 'limited demonstration strike' on East-Bloc military targets leads to a day long 'slow motion' exchange of proton warheads until she is deposed. Thirty million die and instead of the two blocs fading away into the New United Nations by 2100 the split persists until after the Dalek Invasion. She's been sent back in time by the remnants of UNIT to prevent the war.
- Intended verdict: Not guilty. Her backup plan is to kill Kramer1.
- Time Travel method: projector and time-suit; the suit is needed to protect the wearer from the effects of the portal/ She could, in theory, return once her mission is complete but this is uncertain and she'd either end in the new timeline or be stuck in interstitial space.
- Special abilities: trained operative
- Equipment: excellently faked credentials and forgery equipment (stashed), small computer with period database, gas spray loaded with several agents (tranq, lethal, et cetera), time-suit (stashed)
11. Fergus McMahon. Ŧ A short 'fireplug' man in his forties, mostly bald with some dark hair, light brown eyes, pale, freckled, skin. Ostensibly a reporter for the National Enquirer tabloid, watchful and quiet. After his acquittal Kramer hits and kills a teenager whose great-grandaughter would become a major leader in the anti-Dalek resistance in the mid-22nd century and an inspiring leader after the occupation ends. McMahon comes from a timeline which is convinced it has been attacked by other time travellers and it's history altered to eliminate Tonicha Ruiz, and is probably the only person in the courtroom actively suspicious of others. He's an operative of the Temporal Security Directorate of the UEO from around 2655 and hence has the most advanced equipment of all those sent back. in a car accident in 18 months’ time. Intended verdict: Guilty Equipment: disguise, fake credentials
- Intended verdict: Guilty. His backup plan is to kill Kramer.
- Time Travel method: backpack sized time machine, currently buried and booby trapped several kilometres outside the city2.
- Special abilities: highly trained and paranoid
- Equipment: excellently faked credentials and forgery equipment (stashed), small computer with period database, neural stunner (can kill), time-machine(stashed), blaster (in sensor shielded shoulder bag), scanner
12. Oskar Barlow. Ŧ Tall, attractive dark-skinned man in his late thirties, short black hair, brown eyes, very charming manner. Ostensibly a reporter for FOX News. After conviction Kramer is sent to a low-security Federal Prison for three years where he continues to study biochemistry. After release Kramer develops and markets a fat reducing formula that is wildly successful and ends obesity. Unfortunately it has a subtle side-effect that isn't noticeable until the second generation, of causing small DNA transcription errors that causes children born to the second generation of users to be generally sterile. This causes a population implosion in much of the 'developed world' and global chaos. Barlow works for the future US government and was dispatched to prevent the development of the drug using a rather crude time pojector.
- Intended verdict: Not guilty. His backup plan is to kill Kramer.
- Time Travel method: projector;
- Special abilities: none;
- Equipment: excellently faked credentials; computer with very details database on all those involved in the trial, including jurors; reverse engineered hypnagogic projector (a cellphone sized device than can induce a suggestible state, cause unconsciousness, interfere with clear thought or trigger migraines).
Barlow's plan is to use his hypnagogic projector to disrupt the prosecutor's case, cause witnesses to appear unreliable and if needed directly alter the minds of jurors.
13. Court Stenographer Amy MacLean. Ŧ A short Hispanic woman in her mid-forties with long dark hair and brown eyes. After her husband's acquittal Mika Kramer writes a book discussing her husband's escapades with the US tax code, ridiculing the IRS and the income tax system. This inspires a new generation of 'tax resisters' who form an internet based, organised movement to cooperatively exploit loopholes in the system. This causes a large drop in tax take for the US government, reduction in expenditure and economic chaos. The effects spread to Europe and the chaos triggers a civil war in China that goes nuclear.
- Intended verdict: Guilty. Her backup plan is to kill Mika Kramer.
- Time Travel method: projector
- Special abilities: none
- Equipment: excellently faked credentials; detailed notes on the jurors and their weaknesss.
MacLean plans to pass 'suggestions' to the prosecutor regarding his presentation of the case that will appeal to jurors and, if that seems unsuccessful, directly blackmail several of the jurors via notes.
14. Mollie Boyd. Ŧ An attractive Caucasian woman of around thirty with blue eyes and blonde hair, wears glasses and has an air of suppressed tension. Ostensibly a reporter for CNN. After his conviction Kramer's wife dies while he is imprisoned. This causes him to become interested in spiritualism and séances after his release. Later he meets a similarly obsessed spiritualists and they dabble in ‘scientific spiritualism’. Unfortunately their attempts to communicate with an afterlife attract attention from the life-forms (the Sass’tok) in a very different universe who enter this one to investigate. Tragically for humanity the very appearance of the Sass’tok, who exist in several ‘higher’ dimensions, is inimical to the functioning of the human brain; the sight of them acts as a ‘basilisk hack3’ that triggers insanity and death. The ‘cognito-plague’ spreads by internet video and kills billions before humanity abandons high technology. Intended verdict: Not Guilty Equipment: fake credentials; a number of sheets of e-paper that can display cognito-hacks inducing various states of mind in the viewer, including sleep, death, suggestibility and incapacity.
- Intended verdict: Not guilty. Her backup plan is to kill Kramer or drive him insane.
- Time Travel method: portal
- Special abilities: limited psi ability (Psychic trait)
- Equipment: excellently faked credentials; a smartphone loaded with a variety of 'cognito-hack' images (which can induce various states of mind in the viewer, including sleep, death, suggestibility, incapacity and insanity). The phone can also project these images onto a suitable surface. Boyd's glasses have a 'scramble mode' that can protect her from seeing the images.
Boyd is seemingly calm but actually suppressing a variety of neuroses via self-hypnosis, force of will and drugs. She is mentally unstable to a dangerous degree. She's not optimistic about her primary plan and is the most open to the idea of killing Kramer. She could take others with him.
15. Court Artist Khalid Fulton. Ŧ A tall, rangy, man of Middle-eastern appearance. After his acquittal Kramer and his wife take a holiday trip to Europe. There they encounter, and are infected by, a nest of vampires. After they return to America they form a nest and Kramer uses his biochemical skills to study the phenomenon of vampirism, working out of a free clinic for the poor. His experiments and use of scientific methodology allow him to develops a modified form of the vampire virus that can survive in air, allowing food and water to be infected. The result is catastrophic as a Human-Vampire War breaks about; cities are firebombed and biochemical, and eventually nuclear, weapons are employed/ Equipment: disguise, fake credentials, compact plastic ‘stinger’ dart gun with several magazine of different payloads ‘Fulton’ is a rather poor artist, something that’s noticeable to those watching him. He’s also unprofessionally distracted by events.
- Intended verdict: Guilty. His backup plan is to kill Kramer.
- Time Travel method: portal;
- Special abilities: Fulton has been infected with a modified form of the vampire virus, developed as part of a 'super-soldier' programme during the War and can display super-human strength and speed for short periods. This will cause him to die within months.
- Equipment: excellently faked credentials; compact plastic 'stinger' dart gun with several magazine of different payloads; a medical kit containing a range of drugs and toxins developed during the War.
Fulton is a rather poor artist, something that’s noticeable to those watching him. He’s also unprofessionally distracted by events.
16. Court clerk Macie Pritchard Ŧ Macie Pritchard is a Caucasian woman of around average height in her early thirties with reddish/auburn hair and blue eyes. She is not, in fact, an imposter but is under the influence of a psionic crystal that she wears in a pendant (it looks like a large violet amethyst but is not easily visible under her blouse). The pendant contains the 'imprint' of a powerful psi from the future. After being acquitted Kramer is dismissed by OminiChem and sues; after a settlement he receives a box of his work possessions but mixed in the box is a thumbdrive misplaced by another researcher who was studying psionic powers and methods to enhance them with drugs. Kramer becomes obsessed with the project and develops a number of psi boosting drugs that actually work. However his work leads to the development of a psionic 'master caste' who eventually control the Earth. The pendant was created by one of the uncontrolled psis, Garal Hunter, who forced an imprint of her mind on the synthetic crystal and managed to displace it back in time.
- Intended verdict: Guilty. Her backup plan is to kill Kramer.
- Time Travel method: effectively none
- Special abilities: the Hunter/Pritchard fusion has telepathic, hypnotic and limited telekinetic powers
- Equipment: advanced disguise, concealed pistol (a sub-compact Glock they controlled one of the Marshals to give them).
Hunter/Pritchard may notice other psions if they use their powers; likewise telepathic 'leakage' from them may be overheard by others.
Comments? Ideas? Suggestions?
1. Which may not work given that the child isn't actually Kramer's. There's the possibility for another attempt, on Mika Kramer by another agent from this timeline.
2. He hadn't intended to arrive in Lincoln directly and this diversion has further heightened his suspicions.
3. As described by David Langford in BLIT and elsewhere.
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Catsmate
13th Incarnation
No longer living in a bad adaption of "A Journal of the Plague Year".
Posts: 3,730
Favourite Doctors: Thirteen, Six, Five, Two, Eight, Twelve, Nine, One, Eleven..
Traits: Eccentric, Insatiable Curiousity.
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Post by Catsmate on Jun 21, 2021 10:59:55 GMT
Part Four
Ideas for running the scenario. This scenario is intended to be a 'bottle episode' with the PCs, antagonists and bystanders all crammed into a small space, a courtroom. Most of those who've travelled back to alter the course of the trial are unwilling to engage in overt violence, unless other options have been exhausted.
Things to bear in mind. 1. Many of the time travellers are aware of UNIT, some are members of future iterations of it. If your character aren't part of UNIT, the time travellers may still know about them. They may recognise them (especially those who've come with detailed period information) and ask for assistance with their mission.
2. Psionics. Four people in the courtroom (Hannah Hughes, Jonathan Rodriguez, Mollie Boyd, and Garal Hunter/Macie Pritchard) posses degrees of psionic ability. Rodriguez, as a 'bystander' may pick up images or transmission from the others.
3. Flow of information. No phone calls are allowed in court (you can remind the players of this by having a minor NPC journalist thrown out of the courtroom) which means that communications with the outside world are limited.
4. If all goes very, very, badly wrong there's always the Deus ex Machina option of having the Docto arrive, or the Time Lords directly intervene. Perhaps having the courtroom torn out of normal space time and dumped on a rock floating in Limbo until they can find a solution? Reapers or Tindalosi optional.
5. Chronal energy. The area around Kramer is a source of Chronal energy, with all the weird effect that implies. Any Chronos Crystal in the area may glow, grow cold or exhibit other oddities. Minor glitches in the flow of time are also possible. Play up the temporal weirdness, but escalate gradually
6. Perceptive players will notice oddities. Shimmers that ripple and flicker occasionally, people scratching thin air (due to size mis-match). Sudden energy surges as advanced but unreliable tech is operated. Stray psi influences meant for the jury.
7. The judge doesn't have the expected familiarity with the case, the law or court procedure as might be expected. The clerk 'zones out' occasionally. The artist can't draw very well. The stenographer is not as fluid as she should be. As the players notice more of these oddities the paranoia level should increase. Also everyone is focusing, intermittently at least, on Kramer.
8. The 'gimmick' of this scenario is that everyone is a potential antagonist, but none of them know about each other. In fact most should be very surprised at the idea of multiple time travellers being present.
9. The finale should be when everyone 'comes clean' and tells their story of the horrors of the world that Kramer will cause and why It Must Be Stopped! Possibly while brandishing weapons. Unless the PCs intervene and develop a acceptable solution, then it's quite possible that the various time travellers will come to the rather obvious compromise: kill Kramer. And perhaps his wife. That's a workable solution, and an easy one, but not really in the spirit of Doctor Who. Kramer is guilty, and potentially very dangerous, might UNIT take custody of him (and Mika) and ensure none of the horrors of the futures come to pass? Can they persuade the time travellers to accept this?
10. If they can't then others could take a hand. In addition to the Time Lords, or a similar powerful time-active faction, the confluence of multiple timelines could allow Reapers to break though. Or there could be more direct intervention from the future(s) with heavily armed strike teams, or bombs, sent back.
Hopefully the players can develop a suitable resolution.
Suggestions>? Ideas? Criticisms? Comments
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