My first CODA format adventure. Feedback please.
Just wondering if I can get some feedback on my first adventure I've sat down and written the act and scene format for.
Star Trek: mistral
Murder on the diplomacy express=
Act 1: Scene 1
“Captain’s Log, Stardate 54938.6
The USS Mistral has been assigned diplomatic duties to act as a neutral point for peace talks between the warring factions of the Elessar and the Tinkath, two rival systems both seeking membership of the United Federation of planets.
Their membership applications cannot be processed as long as they are at war, and as such, I am to personally oversee the talks, and ensure they run smoothly and quickly.”
Lt Commander McCoy and Lt Kang have been instructed to show the three delegates from the Elessar people to the conference room, where they are to meet with the Captain and the delegates from the Tinkath homeworld. When they arrive in the transporter room, they watch as the three delegates materialise on the transporter pad. The delegates are Bisha’an, a tall, miserable man in his late fourties with greying hair, a member of the war council; So’jada, a beautiful woman in her early twenties with deep chestnut hair, she is a member of the Elessar Royal Family; and Lys’ara, an imposing woman in her early seventies, she has a grim countenance and walks with a ramrod straight back, she is the chief minister for justice.
As their gazes meet, So’jada smiles warmly at Commander McCoy, and takes his offered hand to step down from the transport pad.
“Thank you.” She says, her voice soft and lilting, “I am So’jada, and my two companions are Madame Lys’ara to my left, and Minister Bisha’an to my right. On behalf of the people of Elessar, we thank you for your hospitality in holding these talks.”
On the way to the conference room, role-play character interaction with So’jada. She is obviously interested in Lt Commander McCoy.
Minister Bisha’an remains silent throughout the journey, but Madame Lys’ara asks lots of questions of Lt Kang, mostly regarding the legal systems of the federation, and the implications of acceptance to the federation for her planet. Namely, that the War ministry will be disbanded.
When they arrive at the conference room, So’jada thanks McCoy again.
Act 1: Scene 2
Lt’s Li and Ryn are instructed to greet the Tinkath delegation, and escort them to the peace talks. The delegates are arriving by transport shuttle, and are to be met in the shuttle bay. The three delegates from the Tinkath homeworld are Liwol, a member of the jungle caste, she stands just over 2 meters tall and has mottled brown skin with soft green hair; Barun, a member of the enlightened caste, he stands a little under 2 meters tall, and has pale silver/white skin with ebony hair, he looks like a plump human; and Rafel, a member of the tribal caste, he stands around 2 meters tall and looks like a cross between a human and a boar.
When they step off the transport, but before they leave the Shuttlebay, a storage container should be accidentally be knocked from the upper level, and fall towards Barun. He will phase out slightly to allow the container to avoid injury, but will be physically weakened by the exertion it takes to do this, and will need the support of Liwol for the rest of the journey. This is an ability only the Enlightened caste have, and is a closely guarded secret due to the distrust it would breed in other species.
As they walk, Lt Ryn should be encouraged to ask about the planet’s history (since it’s his job to learn these things).
Barun should be the one to talk, and he explains that the planet was once divided by the three sentient life forms on the planet, those of the Jungle, Enlightened and Tribal castes. The jungle and tribal castes fought each other ferociously for centuries until Cepa of the Enlightened caste brought the Jungle Queen and the Tribal Chieftain to the Ivory Tower at the border of the three territories and managed to usher in a new era of peace. In a suitably apt manner, the three delegates are descendents of the original peacemakers, and as such a lot of people are expecting them to usher in a new age firstly with the peace these talks will usher in, and secondly with the acceptance into the federation.
If the others are asked their opinions, Liwol will say she hopes to see an end to the hostilities, as many of her kind have fallen at the hands of the Elessarans. Rafel will say that he will be sorry to see the war end, as he has had many glorious victories against who he sees as worthy opponents. Barun remains silent on his feelings regarding the talks, other than those he has already stated.
When they arrive at the conference room, advance to scene 3.
Act 1: Scene 3
As all of the delegates enter the room, tempers immediately flare, and Barun and So’jada face off against each other.
Barun will explain that his sister was murdered whilst on a so-called errand of peace to the Elessaran homeworld. So’jada will claim that her family had nothing to do with her death, and that it was an accident. Her craft crashed, and they turned over all evidence and footage of the incident.
The captain, along with Liwol of the Tinkath, and Lys’ara of the Elessar, will calm the situation, and talks will proceed.
These can be glossed over, and advance to the end of the day’s talks, when Rafel and So’jada begin a heated argument about settlement agreements, both wanting outrageous demands.
As the Six delegates depart, each of the PC’s are to escort one of the delegates to the quarters they have been assigned (on separate decks from their rival factions, obviously). The assignments are as follows:
Lt Commander McCoy – So’jada
Lt Kang – Lys’ara
Lt Gurlucovich – Bisha’an
Lt Ryn – Barun
Lt Li – Rafel
Lt Wooten – Liwol
All of the delegates will answer any and all questions asked by their escorts.
When McCoy and So’jada arrive at her quarters, she asks him to return for a meal in two hours.
Act 1: Scene 4
Returning for the meal with So’jada, McCoy receives no answer from her quarters. Should he check with the computer (and he should check with the computer) her last known location was inside her quarters, but there are no life-signs inside (Computer Use DC10).
If he calls for a security over-ride, he will need to summon either Kang or Li (Security check, DC10). Upon entering, they find her body lying on the floor. She is dead.
Her death causes outrage among both the Elessarans and the Tinkath. They both demand to investigate her death, but neither side will allow the other to carry out the investigation. Captain Woods will offer an alternative, his crew investigate the murder, and all findings will be made available to both planets. They reluctantly agree.
Captain Woods assigns the PC’s to investigate.
Act 2
This act isn’t officially broken down into separate scenes, as it is the course of the investigation. The players should split up into several teams consisting of no less than 2 people per team.
They will need to establish the following information:
Cause of death – this is important, as it will give clues as to murder weapon, time of death, etc. The time of death is an important factor, as it will help with alibis. Lt. Wooten is important for this, as she can perform scans of the body (medicine test, DC 15)
The murder weapon was a forced plasma beam, which is why internal sensors didn’t register it. She was shot at point blank range, which caused instant death (medicine test, DC10)
Motive for death – they need to establish why she was murdered. There are several different motives out there, and the players need to sift through them to find the truth.
Possible motives are as follows: Barun’s sister was killed on a visit to the Elessaran homeworld. Any of the delegates from Tinkath have a lot of pressure on them to succeed, and So’jada was posing a major obstacle to this. Rafel is a warrior, and as such needs to fight. He said earlier that he would miss the war, but is this enough to make him want to continue the war?
The truth behind the murder is that if Elessar were to join the federation, the War Ministry would be disbanded. If this were to happen Bisha’an would be out of a job. He is making a lot of money from the war, as a re a lot of people. By killing So’jada he hoped that either the Tinkath would be blamed for the murder, and war would continue, or that a new delegate would arrive. This delegate would be Rua’fel, a member of the anti-federation movement on Elessar, and war would continue.
Method of murder – as already noted, the murder weapon was a forced plasma beam. There are several species that utilize such weaponry, and the Tinkath and Elessarans aren’t one of them (extended retrieval/investigate test DC30). The Ferengi and the Borg are the most notable users of this technology. The Ferengi may have sold weapons to Bisha’an, but he wouldn’t have been able to bring it on board, as the transporter would have detected it (computer use: retrieval DC10 to check the logs). Bisha’an has a Borg weapon implanted in his hand (Same check, DC15 to notice traces of metal, DC20 to know it is Borg immediately)
So’jada’s room is saturated with verteron polarisation (Investigate/Tri-corder scans DC15/10 respectively). Borg transporters leave traces of verteron polarisation, but the polarisation is minimised due to their cybernetic implants (can be found out using extended research checks at DC40). If a regular humanoid were to use a Borg transporter they would have huge amounts of verteron polarisation in their system, which could prove fatal if not cleansed with bulky equipment within seven days.
The computer has no record of anyone entering So’jada’s other than So’jada, McCoy and whoever else went in with him (DC5).
They can find the murderer by scanning for verteron polarisation. They will need to scan each individual to find whether they have verteron polarisation or not.
Once all of this information is gained, move to act 3.
Act 3: Scene 1
The PC’s should scan each delegate for verteron polarisation. They will presumably scan the Tinkath delegates, who will freely undergo the scans. However, they had returned to their shuttle since the murder was discovered, and they could have the necessary equipment on board.
If the PC’s suggest scanning the members of the Elessar delegation, Lys’ara will be the most vocal against this, as she is annoyed that they would even suggest that her or Bisha’an would murder a member of their own royal family. They can negotiate with her to allow them to scan, and Bisha’an will be outraged by her agreement, but she orders him to submit.
When the scans are carried out, Bisha’an will have dangerously high levels of verteron polarisation in his cells. The tri-corder will beep frantically at him, and he will activate the Borg transporter to beam him off the ship.
The delegates demand to know what is going on, and the PC’s should explain.
To be continued…
Vince.
Don't fear the unknown
Revel in it.
Vinush
Y2K
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, would cause madening skin irritation, so perhaps that's a warning sign.!?