I'm working on writing up an adventure and want to share what I have done to see if anyone has any suggestions.
Basic Premise:
After an Exhuman goes on a rampage and is stopped by Firewall the PCs are tasked with tracking down some loose ends and have to prevent the Exhuman ego from escaping and causing more harm.
Right now I’m trying to game out what Sage could do to cause trouble. I don’t want to bring in TITAN tech in this adventure. Hint at it, and use it as a red herring yes, but this is a more mundane level of evil. I want this adventure to not directly involve the TITANs. Of course the names are placeholders.
Below I have my adventure outline:
- Coriander runs an illegal dark casting network hiding it in with his legitimate ego casting network operating on an old resort station that is trying to become a resort again.
- Coriander also runs and helps to program a large game server and is known for the detailed NPC AIs he uses.
- Coriander takes beta and delta forks from some of those that he brings in via darkcast and uses those forks to create his AIs.
- Sage, an exhuman, recently got hold of a TITAN virus and managed to infect itself while plotting to cause a mass outbreak on Luna. Fortunately, Sage was put down with extreme prejudice by Firewall Agents soon thereafter.
- Firewall agents also tracked down Sage’s source for the virus on the lunar surface. News of an unexpected and large meteor impact on Luna hit the mesh soon thereafter.
- The PCs are tasked with helping to track down Sage’s past movements and any previous backups.
- Specifically, they are told to investigate if Sage did in fact use Coriander’s operation, if Coriander has any backups of Sage, and if Sage did use the operation where he casted from.
- They are given information on Coriander’s darkcasting operation and intel that Sage used it. They are told that Firewall also uses the operation on occasion, but that Coriander is not a Firewall agent, but is aware of the conspiracy.
- Firewall does not know about Coriander’s use of illegal forks, nor do they have suspicion.
- Coriander did indeed provide dark casting services to Sage. Sage did not purchase any backup insurance with Coriander. And if asked Coriander cleared all the buffers as usual after the cast.
- Coriander also provided the morph that Sage used on Luna as a rental, now far over-due.
- Coriander does not know that Sage was an exhuman, or had any dire intent. He just thought he was an odd, and dark, personality perfect for a number of villains he was working on.
- If Coriander finds out what kind of person Sage was and/or what happened he will move to delete his Alpha file and all forks/AIs built using Sage’s ego.
- He will not tell the PCs unless forced to do so.
- He will think he got them all.
- He will be wrong.
- The resort station Coriander operated out of is set in Earth Orbit, and was lavish for its day.
- Slowly the station is being rebuilt as a resort.
- Most of its resort features now are provided by large simulspace games, but the physical areas are being brought back online as well.
- During the Fall the station’s power and environmental facilities were severely damaged early on and the large open areas were hulled exposed to vacuum.
- The station received almost no refugees, but was never completely abandoned either
- The company originally owning/operating the station was lost including most of their records during the fall.
- Ownership of the station itself is somewhat in flux and the station’s residences are working through the corporate corpse for the full title.
- The residents are expected to win through various negotiations and settlements.
- The attacks on the resort were all conventional as far as anyone knows.
- The station has been swept thoroughly for any signs of TITAN influence (mostly to calm visitors’ nerves).
- Sage will cause trouble again, but he will not have access to TITAN viruses or anything on that scale.
- It wants to ‘enlighten’ and ‘uplift’ humanity.
- It wants attention.
- It wants to escape /warn its real backup of what has happened, especially if it discovers details about exactly what happened to it.
- It has already liberated some of itselves from Coriander’s game servers.