Hiyas!
[SPOILERS AHEAD]
Perousing thru the "players/GM sections" of the book - those that aren't explicitly banned info for players - I've read the statement that 1) there exists an exsurgent virus & that 2) its "very likely" of alien design. Isn't giving out this Big Secret too much? Or is the whole focus of the default campaign to be "the few in the know"?
Also (ignoring the RAW), do you think it's best to "misinform/keep hidden"* sentinels about the exsurgent virus & it's ramifications, or just let it ALL in the open, because they already have enough stacked against 'em in the first place (i.e., knowing about this won't make a difference)?
Thanks!
SF
*Like the rest of t-humanity.
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!!!For GMs EYES ONLY!!!
Sun, 2011-03-20 16:08
#1
SEÑOR FASE
!!!For GMs EYES ONLY!!!
Sun, 2011-03-20 18:53
#2
mickykitsune
Re: !!!For GMs EYES ONLY!!!
I think this is based on the issue that... the core rulebooks are all written from the perspective that the players are going to be working as Firewall sentinels, so they do tend to have a few little tidbits about that sort of thing that non-firewall characters wouldnt know.
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Sun, 2011-03-20 21:11
#3
The Green Slime
Re: !!!For GMs EYES ONLY!!!
I've known a few RPG settings that are heavily contingent upon a central mystery, and the issue of whether or not to reveal the answers (should they exist) to the players is always a contentious topic for fans of such games.
My personal stance has always been one of openness: of course the players shouldn't immediately be enlightened to everything going on in the setting within the first session, but they should discover the realities of the setting at a decent pace, and eventually discover it all. If you've bought the books, you should be working towards divulging all the books' content to the players, not tee-heeing behind the GM screen whilst your players sit frustrated and confused.
Being kept baffled and in wonderment can be fun for a while, but stretch it out too long and you damage player interest, which is a very precious thing. Nobody wants to dedicate the kind of effort required to get together and play an RPG for an experience no more satisfying than watching Lost.
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Mon, 2011-03-21 10:31
#4
nezumi.hebereke
Re: !!!For GMs EYES ONLY!!!
My recommendation... First tell them nothing (but expect that they know OOC).
Then gradually hint the book's secrets over a few missions (and they'll all be happy because, really, they read ahead like months ago).
Then turn it around and suggest it's something completely different (and then they'll get nervous because they don't know if they're misreading the clues and its source really is something else, or if you're still playing 'by the book').
Mon, 2011-03-21 12:49
#5
Arenamontanus
Re: !!!For GMs EYES ONLY!!!
Why not have the PCs come across some old pre-Fall files from the EU Joint Cyberdefence Force about a project named Exsurgent, dealing with an AI computer virus?
Maybe that was the true origin, maybe it is just a coincidence, maybe it is post-Fall disinformation. Who knows?
A bit like whether the TITANs really were the culprits of the Fall. Maybe they were just the systems blamed for it, while the real nasties were something completely different and unnamed. A bit like the Episcopalian Jihad in "[Message Contains No Recognizable Symbols]"
http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/~billh/g/mcnrsts.html
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