Amber Zone - Nuggets to Bring Parties Together

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1999 #1136

Date: Tue, 28 Sep 1999 07:35:37 -0500
From: "Slack, Andy"
Subject: RE: good and evil [longish]

"Shawn Campbell" wrote:
>My players are mixed with good and evil characters. Theirs a pirate and
>rogue/ex-army who have no problems killing with little provocation. A scout
>and rogue/cop who fit in with these two, but are less aggressive and a
>scientist who would prefer to ask questions before the guy is dead.
>What can I do to bring these characters together? The person playing the
>scientist likes the character and I feel this is really developing their
>role-playing abilities, but she is thinking of dropping the character in
>favor of a rogue/pirate type that would fit in well with the game.

Phil Kitching already mentioned the "needs a crew" angle. Here's my $0.02... pick one or merge a couple.

1. "I need a thief."

"Did the little skinny one say he was a thief? Good, I need a thief. Stop the fight, guard."
"But sir! Grond is in a battle frenzy. It would take a 30lb boulder dropped on his head to stop him now!"
"Let me rephrase that: How would you like to be the subject of my next experiment?"
- - from "Fineous Fingers"

Your pirate/soldier need expertise the scientist/scout have. Knowledge of an esoteric process or place, perhaps. The pirate/rogue might initially kidnap/recruit the scientist/scout to help investigate rumours of an Ancient artifact; the group might then coalesce as they work together, although there is likely to be a showdown when they've got it, as they will have different ideas of what to do with it.

2. "He ain't heavy, he's my brother."

Romantic or family links can excuse a lot, especially if the group have a shared goal ("We must penetrate the jungles of Hickworld, risking our lives among the cannibal pygmies, to find the cure for Aunt Minnie".) or a shared enemy ("So, Vargr corsair, we meet at last! You killed our parents, prepare to die!")

3. "Help! We're in a disaster movie!"

Thrust them into a series of situations where they must cooperate to survive. Again, friendship or romance might develop under shared dangers as they do in the movies. ("The only way we're going to get off Acheron alive is if we work as a team.")

4. "Impossible Missions Force"

The patron for their initial commission decides he needs the mix of skills the characters have to achieve his goal. He keeps the team together to start with, and again they bond while on the mission. ("Finding my missing nephew will require an intimate knowledge of the Hick Subsector, and the scientific training needed to evaluate the clues. Since I suspect Baron Badguy hault-Plotdevice is behind his disappearance, you will also need a bodyguard and someone with criminal connections.")

Andy ;]