Every action has an equal and opposite reaction

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monkey prime
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Every action has an equal and opposite reaction

Post by monkey prime » Tue Apr 29, 2014 11:27 pm

So just ran another of my daft scenarios :
http://www.yog-sothoth.com/blog/423/ent ... my-angels/

My investigators decided to execute a rat-man, just because. They then got thrown out of Manhattan soon after so managed to escape Scott free. I've been thinking about how best to instigate a reprisal. I could have the rat-men attack them directly but the stories take place in London/UK so this requires a great deal of travel for a rat-man, communication between rats on a global scale or getting them back to New York.

The other alternative is that the rats attack the New York office but I'm a bit worried that it might be too far removed, ("ah well it doesn't affect us").

I think I have three options in my head:
A) long runs the fox. Force them back to New York in a couple of stories time and have the rats a constant menace.
B) Right Here, right now. The rats attack the New York office killing Jim Murdoch and Lucielle. The office is forced off Manhattan, putting them at odds with the office. Messages left in blood leave them with no illusions that is was due to them.
C) anything Goes. Let them get away with it, he was just a rat-man after all.

Is there any other way this could impact? Should I just let it go? All thoughts and opinions gratefully received

flashbackjuice
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Re: Every action has an equal and opposite reaction

Post by flashbackjuice » Fri May 02, 2014 2:06 am

Sounds like a really interesting session you're running! Thanks for the link!
They drag him through and question him. Norris the man rat, tells them that 5 men came a couple of days ago and took the key. They killed two of them but the others got away. In a moment of sadism the investigators shoot Norris. When they get back on the platform they realise Norris's body has gone.
I think one approach you can consider is think about the nature of the rat-men colony that Norris was a part of. Are they survivors? Are they hunters? Are they a family group? Maybe the whole group will want to move heaven and earth to avenge Norris, or perhaps a close lover/mate/offspring will leave the community to avenge Norris? Once you flesh out their nature, you can not only think of a plan of attack, but to what lengths they will go to avenge Norris.

If they don't wish to travel, perhaps have them attack the New York office later down the line. The reason for later is that you could tempt the players back to New York by making that branch become more valuable to them ie. they become a better source of information for the players, or have Murdoch and Lucielle go out of their way to help the players via long distance. Perhaps they are currently smoothing things out with the NY authorities to allow the players back to NY. When the NY office starts making a visible impact to the players, they might go out of their way to help them when the rat-men attack. Of course, this depends on how your players role-play though.

You could even combine A and B , but have the rat-men slowly menace the office, and have the NPCs there report to the players how weird things have been getting recently, what with signs of forced entry or hair found in places or noises etc.

These are just some ideas but once you think about how your players roll and how the rat-men operate, you will find the right opportunity to strike.

monkey prime
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Re: Every action has an equal and opposite reaction

Post by monkey prime » Sat May 03, 2014 7:38 pm

Hmmm some interesting thoughts!

To my mind the rat-men are territorial. It's the invasion of territory that caused them to react violently. The fact that they went on to take one of their own off their land and then kill him was the last straw. One of them was seen when they escaped from the Spirit of Progress building so they know they were thrown out. They're pretty annoyed that they were screwed out of revenge. They wanted blood for blood.

Saul might be better to give them help and then endanger. I like that idea and it could tie in with my campaign. Thank you good sir! Some things to tie in and plans to make!

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Re: Every action has an equal and opposite reaction

Post by fallingtower » Sun May 04, 2014 11:39 pm

Ask yourself, how would Lovecraft handle this?

Rather than have the rat reprisal be of a physical nature, I'd make it supernatural. I assume these rat men, just aren't regular joe cheese slices.

Instead of having rat mafioso's show up to gnaw some ass, why not use unseen forces? Too many times Call of Cthulhu devolves into 'shoot 'em ups', why not take advantage of the super-unknown?

Why not grind their sanity with constant rat scurrying's in the walls. Rats that are never there. Maybe leave a cryptic message or a lost trinket after they bash a hole in a wall.
Or.

How 'bout:
-Waking up with rats under their pillows, or in their desk drawer or I don't know, in their babies crib, just having gnawed upon their baby.
-Have the house cat's innards devoured and now host to a flesh eating rat and it's wriggling, squeaking, blasphemous unnatural younglings.
-Have their meals gnawed upon by rats or have rat droppings at the bottom of their cup of coffee.
-A Brown Jenkyn rat thing dream haunting would also work.

Stuff like this.

Remember it's a supernatural game, not a Rambo movie.

I always design my scenarios where Tommy Gunnery and fisticuffs will not have the desired effect. Unless the effect is to get you arrested or make you look like a gun crazed lunatic. Which I will make happen if that's your character's methodology.

Good Luck. :cthulhu1:
If religion were true, its followers would not try to bludgeon their young into an artificial conformity; but would merely insist on their unbending quest for truth, irrespective of artificial backgrounds or practical consequences.

H. P. Lovecraft

Thomas R. Knutsson
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Re: Every action has an equal and opposite reaction

Post by Thomas R. Knutsson » Mon May 05, 2014 2:02 am

fallingtower wrote:Remember it's a supernatural game, not a Rambo movie.
I love that quote!
In the morning, mist comes up from the sea by the cliffs beyond Kingsport. White and feathery it comes from the deep to its brothers the clouds, full of dreams of dank pastures and caves of leviathan.
-"The Strange High House in the Mist" by HPL

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Re: Every action has an equal and opposite reaction

Post by Gerall » Sun May 11, 2014 1:56 pm

Reminds me of China Mieville's book _King Rat_. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0312890729

The influence of the vermin of a city is RIFE with potential, as fallingtower has suggested. Physically sending other rat men to exact revenge is one option, but if it's a period piece in the 20's... You can't take a boat ANYWHERE without the influence of rats making itself known. It's all about how prominent that particular rat man was. Which circles he owed fealty, and which powers owed him favors.

Certainly, the party would start noticing more and more of the vermin over time. Hotels they stay in would slowly accumulate rats in their infrastructure, swarm attacks in darkened alleys could start being very bothersome. Having gotten tied to the fate/whim of vermin would be very scary for Lovecraft (he wrote "Rats In The Walls" to express this, didn't he?), and it could be really spooky for your players, too.

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