Decrepit wrote:
What's that ya say, sonny?
Anyhoo, getting us back together again will, I think, help get us moving ahead again.
This is a tough adventure to play, or at least I'm coming to think so after Masks. In the latter, it seems, events have a way of pushing things along in a fairly obvious direction (although the adventure itself is nonlinear in a really important way). In Beyond--and this is no knock on anyone here at all--it's harder to see what the PCs are supposed to do. Investigate, sure, but are they supposed to stop the expedition (presumably not), stop Starkweather, prove a vast conspiracy before the ship even leaves dock? It's just a bit hard to get a sense of what's a red herring and what's absolutely critical to accomplish. I'm being a bit silly here, but it seems like maybe we could even just do nothing until the ship leaves. I'm sure that's not literally true, but there's a way in which the adventure as crafted puts the PCs in secondary places next to the NPCs, who are, after all, funding the expedition, chartering the boats, hiring us, etc. In Masks (which I'm not saying is better, btw), we so far have been pretty self-directed.
Anyway, just some thoughts I've been having that were kind of spurred on a bit by Raiko's crack.
I hope I didn't offend anyone, I was just thinking how shocked some of the players will be when they go to bed for the night, only to return to twenty new posts from you
Masks people.
You make some pretty perceptive points there, I don't want to spoil things, so I'll try to be careful with this reply:
This adventure is quite a lot different to other CoC campaigns. As you say the PCs are (to an extent) secondary to some of the NPCs, at least until later in the adventure. Also the mysteries surrounding the expedition may well remain 'enigmas.' Where the clues in
Masks point to (mostly) obvious things, the clues here are intentionally mysterious.
I don't think it's not too much of a spoiler to say that the expedition will eventually depart for Antarctica, although it's important to realise that without
Starkweather and
Moore there isn't any expedition.
You're actually quite right that you could all just sit back, there is obviously danger ahead (after one murder, one suicide, and two threatening letters), but the detective work is entirely optional.
*************
It's actually pretty hard to run the early game (compared to
Masks).
Starkweather is very handsome, charismatic 'man of action,' but not the greatest of planners, and 'a little short fused.' A dashing explorer and a war hero.
Moore is quite dour and reserved, a great planner, but to the point of being annoying, everything must be triple checked, then checked again.
Of the two people Starkweather should be the more likeable (at least for men).
Think back to the first 'lecture' (after the Lawrence incident), everybody was impressed by Starkweather's enthusiastic speach, but bored silly by Moore droning on.
But to anyone playing the game gung-ho Starkweather is obviously a loose-canon, while the studious Moore is the obvious person to turn to. This is exasperated by Starkweather's obsession with Acacia Lexington (which may or may not be paranoia).
), so I'll try not to do the same to Kitt. However, with me playing her, she'll bound to be just that suave Jack won't be able to help himself... 8) Yeah, right!
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