Holographic murderers?

I was just having a look at the Q&M board ... and the self powered hologram gave me some ideas that might be worth fleshing up ... a bit like the whodunit with Ezri, only different http://www.trekrpg.net/Board/ubb/wink.gif.
Let us look at the recipe from the Q&M board. Imagine a small power cell ... or even better, some sort of small thermo-chemical solid fuel (in short: it burns, providing energy, and leaving only traces of its combustion behind it). Go to the holodeck, create a hologram that is able to tap into the power cell / harness the power of the solid fuel pill. Give it a bit of processing power (link the replicator matrix (which is certainly able to replicate component parts) to the hologram generator to get it done faster) and holographic emitters. Program it so that it emits a replica of itself, and gradually shut down the holodeck. You've got a self generated holo-emitter fueled either by a power cell or some small but powerful chemical reaction. When its own power runs out, the hologram disappears and the power cell / reaction products fall to the ground.
Now that you have this, you can give it the shape you want, the appendixes you want, and order it around like your usual ... say ... invoked demon / elemental / whatever. The orders it obeys and shape it can take would have to be quite simple, after all it has only very limited computing power. Nothing comparable to an EMH, but maybe enough for a fine murder weapon. Difficult to trace back the hologram creator when all you've got left is a bit of chemical powder or a molten power cell. Moreover, your holographic killer can have (roughly) the shape you want it to have. One day it can be quite horrific, next time have claws, then tentacles, then be almost invisible. Victims will have died of fear, or strangulation, etc...
Question is: who would be mad enough to use such a murder weapon? What for? And what will the players do to counter him?

Ideas?
Comments?

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Sometimes it's better to light a flamethrower than curse the darkness.
-- (Terry Pratchett, Men at Arms)

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poster

Sorry Styro, you have to do it yourself (well ... you do have access to a power cell and a holodeck, don't you? http://www.trekrpg.net/Board/ubb/wink.gif ).
So ... you would use such a weapon. Care if I ask what for? http://www.trekrpg.net/Board/ubb/wink.gif

Quote:

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Originally posted by Calcoran:
Question is: who would be mad enough to use such a murder weapon? What for? And what will the players do to counter him?

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Well, if it had been back in DS9, I'd say it'd be an interesting way for a Cardassian Agent to Kill Bajorans. Make the Holographic representation look like Demons of Vengeance (I assume that the Bajorans have those, most religions do in some form) and send them to kill "troublesome" Bajorans in such a way that it looks like the Prophets are seeking vengeance.

The same sort of thing could be used by a renegade Winn to cow his/her enemies. "Those that oppose me are hated by the Prophets and punished by Them."

Both of these ideas 'port well over to any religious culture, with similar ideas.

There's always the Espionage groups, Section 31, Tal Shiar, Obsidian Order, etc. Assassins have been looking for non-tracable means to kill people for a long time, and this one would be better than a lot of them. As for why Section 31 would send a holographic representation of Dr Bashir to kill someone, I'll leave that to your imagination. http://www.trekrpg.net/Board/ubb/wink.gif

The holo-killer could be nothing more than a dodge, something to take the heat off of another arrangement. You could use the "Journey to Babel" TOS episode as a guide, but have a holographic killer that looks like an ambassador.

I'll be happy to help with the forensics, once I have a better idea where you are going to go with this.

Alex

You'd be better off using the remote probe thats been modified to emmit a full fledged hologram, sprinkle in a bit of tricorder tech and put in a self destruct device. With the tricorder tech you could then have it give off any life form signiture needed for the job and with the self destruct well there no evidence. The other item you could use would be Guard Drone also found in the Price of Freedom book. With some modifications there you'd get the same effects but also have a phaser and a personal force field. Also you'd want a small cammera installed so you can see their faces when their phasers have no effect do to the shield.

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poster

Somehow, I imagine that a killer than is 99.9% holographic would leave a much smaller signature than many of the means you suggest. I mean, even the probe, it certainly leaves a whole lot of things behind it that the PCs could use to track it down.

Besides, the idea has a subtle something that probes do not have (like ... already been used in a DS9 episode?).

Quote:

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Originally posted by Calcoran:
I mean, even the probe, it certainly leaves a whole lot of things behind it that the PCs could use to track it down.

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But how much evidence is left behind by a phaser set on overload which would be the same sort of self destruct device used.
Also with the probe you could put a nasty little trick in that it can mimic forms so lets say probe is in on form gets spotted zooms into the mist of the PC's and changes its for to one of them.

COMPUTER !
END PROGRAM

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Commander A.Polanski

Hmm. If you consider something like CSI and the extent to which they can analyze physical evidence, even the trace remnants of a power cell would be a lead.

Investigator 1: "Sarium krellide power cell, but it has a 0.05% phase differential with those commonly found on the planet."
Investigator 2: "So it came out of nowhere? I don't think so. Check all the ships in orbit. One of them will have that same 0.05% phase differential ..."

However, a hologram would make a great alibi or false lead. It could even be adapted for a con man, who needs a 'damsel in distress' to work his line. A hologram would be ideal, because she can be any race, any coloration, and won't ever insist on a larger share of the take ...

Bob

Polanski: Who said the murderer had to put a safety interlock in his self generated hologram?

Robert: About the remnants of the cell being a lead, it all depends on the GM http://www.trekrpg.net/Board/ubb/wink.gif. Moreover, in case of a solid fuel, chemical remnants might be a bit more difficult to trace (fuel can be replicated, then traces of the operation hacked out ... mind you can't power cells be replicated?).
Problem with the alibi is that it'd need quite a lot of computing power to look realistic (cf. Quark's comment to Odo in "Who mourns for Morn" about the difficulty to obtain a realistic hologram, and the price of the speaking ones). Probably too much computing power.

(continued)
Someone asked me to elaborate a bit, so here would be the setting:

The players are liaison officers on Empok Nor after the Dominion War. Empok Nor has been moved near Cardassia Prime, and is used to coordinate technical and humanitary aid from the Federation. The station is still Bajoran property, but under Starfleet juridiction, and is approved by the Cardassian council.
Now the council has just decided to ask a more powerful presence from the Federation in cardassian space (after problems with the 1st and 5th orders, and a few Romulan sabotages). So Starfleet is about to deploy a humanitary fleet around. The Romulans will seize the opportunity to ask for their share of Cardassian space, officially considering the move as a takeover from the Federation. I haven't decided yet what the Klingons are up to.

So ... as you can see, I have plenty of potential murderers on the station:
Empok Nor and Cardassia Prime will stay on the Federation side of Cardassian space, so Romulan spies might be sent to destabilize it.
Bajorans could see this as a good opportunity to take revenge, after all the dish is supposed to be served cold.
There are certainly a lot of Cardassians from the old school who really dislike what's currently happening to Cardassia, and might want to explain it to starfleet personnel in a somewhat unsubtle way. They could also target Cardassian political opponents (progressists for instance).
Section 31 could certainly gain some advantage somehow with it too ... like moving the cardassian opinion against the Romulans ...

Who would be more inclined to use the holographic murderer, I wonder. And against whom?
I really like the idea of the hologram looking like an avatar/demon of vengeance, but somehow I only see it work with very religious peoples like the Bajorans. Cardassians are not extremely religious (pity).

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Sometimes it's better to light a flamethrower than curse the darkness.
-- (Terry Pratchett, Men at Arms)

Wooops, that late already?

All right ... I've been pondering with the holographic murderer scenario a bit.
I'll agree that a completely self generated hologram is a bit far fetched. Thus, I'll settle on the probe. However, the real murderer now has a size problem, so he'll only embed a relatively powerful emitter (say ... 2-4 cubic meters centered on the emitter), and no data nor computing power. Those will be generated by the station's holodeck's own computers and routed to the probe by a narrow band subspace link or something. This ought to be the lead for the PCs.
For instance, I plan to start the prelude in the holosuite. Suddenly the power seems to dwindle, and the holoprogram fails. Bartender comes in, mumbling about those bad quality holodeck's he bought. Discussion ensues as to whether the PCs get their latinum back, then they go away. I let them forget about the whole story, then a first body is discovered ... and so on.
Anyhow, the PCs will probably scan the crime place as fully as they can. What treknobabble traces would a probe leave behind, and what should the murderer do to hide them? (I'm showing my relative Trek illiteracy there)

Thanks for helping a puzzled Narrator http://www.trekrpg.net/Board/ubb/smile.gif.

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Sometimes it's better to light a flamethrower than curse the darkness.
-- (Terry Pratchett, Men at Arms)

Right: when scanning a crime scene, you are mainly scanning for two things. One - Phsyical traces like microscopic skin flakes and other biological dust left behind by the people present. The classic example of such a substance are fingerprints. The Starfleet Intelligence sourcebook has stats for suits that isolate the body from the environment specifically to avoid leaving such substances behind to be scanned for later. Also, chemically esoteric liquids or high-energy chemicals like explosives can leave a chemical trace that might be detected.

Two - energy traces. Any time energy interacts with matter, it might leave a traceable signature. The higher the energies involved, the more obvious it would be. Thus, a phaser "stun" blast might leave microscopic scoring in the wall even if there wasn't a visible blast mark. If something was vaporized by a phaser, microscopic dust would be left behind 9even though most, but not all, of the vaporized matter "leaves the continum", whatever that means). A powerful deflector shield might leave magnetic molecules polarized (all lined up in the same direction). The levels of power in a hologram are going to be difficult to detect. Possibly a faint ionization in the air, but you could easily rule that they just don't have the tools to detect it (although if they THOUGHT to check specifically for holograms, they should have a good chance of finding an indication. It just probably is not part of their normal suite of investegation sensors.

The investegators should be able to detect that no-one left biological traces behind except the victim. Depending on the manner of death, this might lead the investegators into a red herring, thinking people in SI-style isolation suits or perhaps a robot did the job.

Thanks for the imput Diamond, it will come handy for sure (specially the second part, I think I'll add a few things to the scenario now http://www.trekrpg.net/Board/ubb/smile.gif ).

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Sometimes it's better to light a flamethrower than curse the darkness.
-- (Terry Pratchett, Men at Arms)

Or, if you have Raiders, Renegades & Rogues, fit the holoemitter doodad with a forensic cleanser triggered to activate when the hologram shuts down (ie: has accomplished its task). That should give the cleanser ample time to scramble any DNA/energy signature evidence prior to an investigation. Of course, they could still trace the components, but no-one with half a brain thinks they can commit an perfectly unsolvable crime - the key is to have it unsolvable enough to get away with it...


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"Captain Hunter, you are clearly outgunned. I suggest you surrender your vessel": Romulan Commander Terev, Imperial Warbird Senex

"Cmdr.Terev, you clearly have no idea we're carrying quantum torpedoes. I suggest you duck!": Capt.Matt Hunter, USS Tempest

Just played the episode over the week-end, so for those who are interested, a (long) update on how it went. I propably should submit it as an adventure in the tactical core, but am too lazy for it http://www.trekrpg.net/Board/ubb/wink.gif.
Players are a Trill science officer (with a few medical skills from his symbiont(sp?)), a Klingon security officer, a Cardassian exchange officer with an "eagle order" (intelligence) background ... and a few guest appearances from a Bajoran Vedek (who is really good a noticing small details or mood changes and such).
Setting is as above, on Empok Nor, in the middle of tense negotiations between the Federation/Cardassia and Romulans (who want their share of Cardassian space) and Klingons (who might settle on some compensations for the war damages). A Romulan spy is sent to the station, to disrupt the Federation-Cardassian entente by means of murders that will be imputed to each side. Of course, the murder weapon will be as discussed above in the thread.

The PCs are having a well merited time off in the holosuite from the bar that has just opened on the promenade. Suddenly the holoprogam fails and they end up very frustrated in the middle of the room. Enters Morn (one of the bartenders), who makes a lot of "not my fault" movements before explaining (off screen, of course) that the holosuite is quite new and that they are having troubles fixing it, that the PCs will get a rebate the next time they want a holosuite. Then the PCs are called to the command center / bridge, and forget about it. A few tense interactions with Federation and Cardassian officials later, a murder is discovered (the specialist who was installing the cetacean chief engineer's quarters). The Klingon and Trill (Security and Science) run to the habitat rings to investigate (and get sick).

End of the prelude.

Back to the murder scene. The victim has been teared apart by one slash of what looks like extremely long and powerful claws. Traces of powerful slashes can be seen on the walls or ground of the quarters as the victim probably tried to dodge. The type of the wound may indicate a kind of reptilian predator. Absolutely no DNA or cloth particles of the murderer can be found. Time of the death is 1 hour ago (coincides with the holosuite malfunction, but the PCs do not notice it).
The PCs almost immediately think of an isolation suit with special weapons, and the Cardassian tries to ring up some contacts to check on intelligence activity on the station. Then they pursue their inquiries, looking into the logs of everyone involved (they suspect a Gorn looking merchant (reptilian, strength, and claws)).
Later in the day, they go back to the bar, trying to get some info from both bartenders. At some point in the conversation, an infuriated and soaking wet dolphin (the chief engineer) comes down from the holosuite (having no quarters for now, it was getting a bit of his natural environment in the holosuite when everything disappeared (except the water that had been replicated around him)). Immediate comic relief, then the PCs go on about their inquiries.
Shortly thereafter, a second victim (starfleet again) is discovered. A very foggy image on a security camera that was a bit further away shows a huge clawed arm gripping the victim. It has metal like shining scales. Most Cardassians involved link this with a monstruous bogeyman from their childhood, the Mumak. Research shows that this is an ancient belief that dates back to the time when the Cardassian folk was more religious, and indicates a kind of demon of vengeance that appears to punish oppressors when Cardassian peoples have been harmed. Rumor spread that a vengeful Cardassian is runing amok on the station, murdering non Cardassians at random.
Things go on a bit. Each time a new victim was going to be discovered, I made sure that they heard about a holosuite malfunction (riot in the bar, starfleet or cardassian officers complaining, the PCs going back to the holosuite to see the end of their program, and so on), and enabled to trace the time of the death of the victim. Unfortunately (for them), none had the idea to investigate the malfunctions nor to link both facts.
Then a Cardassian is murdered. Things seem to clearly identify a Klingon as the murderer, even if no traces of metal can be found, possibly indicationg a specially manufactured Bat'leth. Good news is that the PCs have a very believable suspect: An extremely violent Klingon mercenary (who even tries to beat the hell out of the Klingon security officer). They promptly incarcerate him. Riots begin on the station between Cardassians and the few Klingons present on the station.
However, murders continue to happen (mumak wounds), then the Klingon suspect escapes (killing a Cardassian security officer in the process, same bat'leth wound with no metal traces). Starfleet sends intelligence officers to replace the PCs (the Klingon officer is even suspected of helping his fellow Klingon escape). It is not until the PCs are attacked (the mumak nearly kills the Klingon PC who only narrowly escapes thanks to a turbolift, and the Cardassian PC has to run for his life chased by the klingon murderer), that they begin to guess something. Tricorder read absolutely nothing on the attack spot, only minutes after the attack. A beast that should have difficulties crawling around in the stations corridors appeared almost soundlessly behind the PCs, and then escaped in a matter of seconds. Moreover, the slashes of both attackers were a bit mechanical (very good perception roll). And suddenly (after a few guesses that were promptly proved wrong), there was light http://www.trekrpg.net/Board/ubb/wink.gif. They linked it with the holographic malfunctions. They began to suspec the bartenders, then found out the holomurderer programs had been sent from inhabited quarters on the habitat rings. However, the Romulan spy had time to beam on a cloaked ship nearby and escape ... http://www.trekrpg.net/Board/ubb/smile.gif.

All in all, the episode was much fun to play. It also was a nightmare for the Gamemaster, because I had to find ways and ways and even more ways to report holosuite malfunctions without it being way to obvious. Same problem with time of death that had to be pinpointed so that the players had a chance to discover the truth. Actually, it helped much to have interesting and colourful bartenders because the players went more naturally to the bar.
Lastly, a hint to the GMs or spies that would like to use a holographic murder weapon: beware of security camera, they can be a real problem at times http://www.trekrpg.net/Board/ubb/wink.gif. Always take time to think of a way to disable them (a replicated decaying Vole in the circuitry does miracles http://www.trekrpg.net/Board/ubb/biggrin.gif ).

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Sometimes it's better to light a flamethrower than curse the darkness.
-- (Terry Pratchett, Men at Arms)

[This message has been edited by Calcoran (edited 06-25-2001).]

Calcoran, I really like the clue of having holosuite malfuctions being inserted as comedic relief just before the murders are reported. The hard part about having a murder mystery scenario in an RPG is fitting in the clues naturally. The way you did it really fits the source material- I can easily see that as a DS9 episode, and it works well in an RPG, being obvious in retrospect, possible to solve, but not being too obvious.

Sounds like a great time, thanks for posting the episode summary. I just might use that somewhere along the line.