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Ego Hunter Prep Notes

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Justin Alexander Justin Alexander's picture
Ego Hunter Prep Notes
I thought there might be some interest in this: Ego Hunter - Prep Notes These are my extensive prep notes for running the Ego Hunter scenario. You'll need the original adventure to use 'em, but you'll find: - An easy-to-reference timeline of past events so that the GM can easily grasp the mystery. - A single sheet reference for the "big problem" so that questions can be easily answered during play. - A comprehensive revelations list to make managing the mystery on-the-fly as easy as possible (as discussed in the Three Clue Rule. - All the stat blocks referenced from the core rulebook pulled into the adventure notes to put them right at your fingertips. - RP-focused reference sheets for major NPCs. There are also chunks of new material: I've clarified the node structure and beefed up the investigation in a few places where it seemed threadbare. I've also fleshed out other material. The prep notes also include two notable revisions to the adventure material: (1) I’ve tweaked the player characters in order to tighten the scenario’s focus on the interesting premise of “you’re all playing the same character”. Most notably, this includes redesigning Nkeka’s role in the adventure so that he pretends to be one of the beta forks in order to infiltrate the operation. Study the character briefings at the end of the prep notes to make sure you understand the dynamics of the group. (2) I revised Air Processing Unit 13, including new maps and notes:
piotrus piotrus's picture
I think you have an error in
I think you have an error in inventory of items found in the Firewall agents hotel, you repeat the same items as the PCs get from the bartender - but there are slight differences. Mostly I wanted to say - excellent job, and I am surprised nobody else commented on your wonderful job! I have also designed my own aid for this adventure (I am running it at a con in a few days). It consists of two glossaries (one for all PCs and one for each PC), and an optional item handout (I like to cut them into small pieces and hand them out when a particular item is found). The glossaries are intended for new players who like to read rather than ask questions, and are intended to answer all questions they can have after reading their Ego Hunter character sheet (from "what is ego" to "what are clunking masses"?). My handout can be found [url=https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B-kv3qFxxFlFSndJdGVYSFpQdUE]here[/url] (you should download it and make sure the formatting fits before printing it out)
Justin Alexander Justin Alexander's picture
Thanks for catching that
Thanks for catching that error: You should find it corrected in the PDF file now to match the inventory found in the original adventure. Nice handouts. I ended up generating something similar after the first session of the second group I ran this adventure for. It's a tough setting for new players to fully immerse themselves into: The more info you can give them and the more stuff you can give them to play with, the more successful I find it. And I appreciate the feedback. Nice to know somebody looked at it. ;)
piotrus piotrus's picture
Another minor error: early on
Another minor error: early on you state that the technician who greets the fork is spooked because they see the "stop me" message; but I find nothing to support this in the adventure; to the contrary my reading of it suggests the forks are treated indifferent and the message is private. Few more comments: * Nonny is discussed in two different places, combine them * add page references to the handout, referring both to its own pages, as well as to the adventure and book pages. For example, whenever Kjell Hoff is mentioned, add a note on which page of the prep note/main adventure plot he is mentioned, etc. I spend too much time flipping through the pages looking for the entry. * missing notes for Nkeka not found on her bio - 1) 3rd Firewall agent assigned to the case stayed behind and is still looking for Arman Usrupow, and 2) the name of the settlement Arman was looking for (only found on Arman's bio-entry sketch) After running the adventure using the items provided, in a 4-5h con slot, I have the following comments/suggestions, primarily for the same environment. For anybody running this as a 8-16h regular adventure, you may disregard most of them: * for 4-5h slot, use B5 before Roque/Park, skip any interference by the forks, change locations of encounters with B7 and B8 to the final arena, avoid any but the final combat, and expect to story tell most of it (I had my players make mostly <5 rolls in the final combat per character); * remember B3 is Nkeka's contact, and the Firewall agent is very useful in the adventure, so my suggested character distribution list is B3, Nkeka, B1, B2, B4, B5; * add more details on the militia - have names for principal investigators, they form an alternative to obtaining muscle other than the Triad, and can arrange for express res leaving of Kjell (be prepared to stat him as an NPC for Nkeka); * add more useful equipment for Kjell's stack, such as the Viewers, and another utilitool; * in fork's bar equipment cache, replace useless and weird Gardener swarm with a much more useful Cleaner nanoswarm; * Nkeka starts with Kjell's bio handout, Nkeka and B3 share Arman Usrupow bio handout, * to reduce the amount of what players need to read, cross out all the useless implants: Circadian regulation, Ghostrider module, Hyper Linguist; Math Boost; Echolocation, or consider replacing with something actually useful; I have also updated my own handout; v.1.1 is available [url=https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B-kv3qFxxFlFSndJdGVYSFpQdUE]here[/url]: minor changes (few more items cloned so all players can have their own handouts), plus muse skills added to Nkeka and Roque.
nezumi.hebereke nezumi.hebereke's picture
Lovely! I struggled some
Lovely! I struggled some running this adventure specifically because I was missing some of these things. This is beautiful.
Justin Alexander Justin Alexander's picture
Note that the changes to
Note that the changes to Nkeka's briefing and the lab tech are intentional. Nkeka's briefing has been deliberately streamlined to focus on the "fake Achjima" angle and I found the creeped out medtech helps to establish the oddity of the situation for first time EP players. The splitting up of Nonny's info is reflective of how I handle information when running the game: If the "active node" component of Nonny's info wasn't with the other active nodes, it would get "lost" during play for me. And I've found it much easier to focus on roleplaying NPCs if their roleplaying fact sheets aren't cluttered up with other info. (This is the same reason Dolma Gope has an independent roleplaying fact sheet that isn't attached to her clinic.)
Quincey Forder Quincey Forder's picture
it's gonna be so helpful!
like I've written in the comment on your blog, I'm going to run Ego Hunter in a couple weeks, and these prep notes are completely vital I'm going to have to translate the character sheets and briefing to French, because several of my players for the sessions are English Impaired, and your stuff is really going to help me a great deal! I'm going to translate yours too, Plotrus while ommiting everything about Firewall, making it a modern (yet, secretly, real) urban legend. a great 3D artist from DA is making a XNALara render still of the footage where B6 kills Kjell, using Ada Wong as model for Achjima Alpha. Roleplay wise, I'm going to play Alpha as Meggan Reed from DXHR. I really hate that bitch, but she's the best RP inspiration for our lovely -hem- sing' seeker
[center] Q U I N C E Y ^_*_^ F O R D E R [/center] Remember The Cant! [img]http://tinyurl.com/h8azy78[/img] [img]http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg205/tachistarfire/theeye_fanzine_us...
Justin Alexander Justin Alexander's picture
If you're interested, toss me
If you're interested, toss me your French translations when they're done and I'll host 'em on my website with the original notes. (Or a link if you're planning to host 'em somewhere.) And I'd love to see that video when it's ready.
Quincey Forder Quincey Forder's picture
I'll test it first on my table ^^
Also, it's not a video, but rather the screenshot" of the news break showing B6 shooting Hoff and caught on spimes feed. Fishbone76 is using the freeware XNALara for her scene making, along with 'toshop and Blender (I think). There's plenty of her stuff on Deviant Arts (most recent are some delicious Hunniper ship from RE6) couple question: Do you have a map of Anyang? I'm trying to make one but had to call my buddy Whido for help because I suck at mapping and scales. How did you describe the city? On Nonny, do you have a pic of your version of her? I kinda pictured Quora or Cortanna in her role, altough your description of her also made me add that AR AI loli from Production IG's Robotic; Notes [img]http://www.emptyblue.it/data/wallpaper/RoboticsNotes/robotics_notes_0_th...
[center] Q U I N C E Y ^_*_^ F O R D E R [/center] Remember The Cant! [img]http://tinyurl.com/h8azy78[/img] [img]http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg205/tachistarfire/theeye_fanzine_us...
piotrus piotrus's picture
I didn't bother with any maps
I didn't bother with any maps. It's totally unnecessary for the habitat, and to be honest, pretty useless for the air processing plant too. Maybe the latter would be useful if you were using minis, but even then, it's not like any maps are scaled for them.
Justin Alexander Justin Alexander's picture
Re: Nonny picture. Didn't
Re: Nonny picture. Didn't have a specific one in mind, but something like this wouldn't be too far off. I knew at my table it would create a nice "what the hell is wrong with our alpha" vibe. Re: Anyang map. 'Fraid not. It's pretty much just "generic Martian city" and the precise layout doesn't really matter. During play my basic vision for Anyang was of a modest domed city basically standing by itself out on the Martian plains. It’s one of several small-to-mid-sized domes of almost identical construction that were erected either immediately before or immediately after the Fall to accommodate incoming colonists. (The Chinese approached their colonization efforts on Mars a lot like they had their rapid expansion of their urban centers on Earth from 1990-2020. “Build it and they will come.”) The atmospheric plant in the adventure is one of a couple dozen which can be found studded around the exterior of the dome. None of them have to take the full load of cycling the Martian atmosphere (which is great for cycling units offline for maintenance, but doesn’t help you if someone sprays xenofungus all over one of them). There’s a ring of industrial stuff around the outer perimeter of the city; a patchwork of different districts around a “middle ring”; and then a central ring filled mostly with high-rise residential and the like. (It ends up being the inverse of a modern city: Everyone lives in the middle and radiates out to their jobs.) Re: Map of the air processing plant. Once my players figured out that the Fungoid Achjimas were inside the air processing plant they switched pretty quickly into "tactical assault" mode. For that, I found a simple map (particularly one showing clear entrances and exits) invaluable. The first thing the other group did was actually hit the mesh and download blueprints.
Quincey Forder Quincey Forder's picture
my Anyang is bigger
And more important. with two two hills in it, I picture is like a San Francisco where the Chinese were the bosses before the Fall. I has a branch of the New Shanghai University, if I remember well. I though I might as well make it the biggest -or at least the most influential dome city in Hellas and a big commercial pole while far enough from VNS and Elysium to avoid the scrutiny of Oversight 24.39/7. Beside it also pumps up the importance of what the Forks (hopefully none of them is sparkling) will have to save Have you read Zennou No Noa (aka Amnesiac Kidz)? in that manga, a million people were made amnesiac by a non-lethal bomb that could be interpreted as a large scale Basilic Hack. The victims, nicknamed Kidz by the public because they lost memories and skills down the age of young children to teenagers, depending on the exposition. They are placed in an underground city in a geodesic dome [img]http://c.mfcdn.net/store/manga/8255/01-001.0/compressed/ezennou_no_noa_v... I though it would also make a good model for Anyang on Nonny, your pic gave me an idea for her avatar Yui from Sword art Online (simulcast by Crunchy Roll or Funimation, or both. Not sure, but's it's legally viewable). She lively and eager to please, but she isn't a pushover either, despite her youthful appearance [img]http://media.animevice.com/uploads/1/18405/579103-sword_art_online___12_... on Dolpe, did you use a picture, or just described her? before your prep notes, the way I pictured her was like Dr Chloe Michel from Mass Effect 1 and 3. But your description, it reminded me of Devastation [img]http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/7/78647/2341228-2227883_1330818492672... but with Brick's skin tone [img] http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120519131960/youngjustice/images...
[center] Q U I N C E Y ^_*_^ F O R D E R [/center] Remember The Cant! [img]http://tinyurl.com/h8azy78[/img] [img]http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg205/tachistarfire/theeye_fanzine_us...