Rabbit Holes and Conspiracies, GM looking for some help Options

[Hartbaine]

I started GMing back when I was 15, and boy, I sucked at it. He I am, 21 years later and my resume is a 'been there' 'done that' collage and I'd say I'm pretty damn good at it. Had people save the world a few times, choked up my fir share of stupid stories to tell, yadda, yadda. I got this way because I tackled everything I could as a plot angle and found a way to make into a game. I have one weakness though: conspiracies.

Frankly I suck at them because I'm just not good at the whole 'web of lies' thing. I always end up giving something away that blows the whole damn thing. I'm sure a few of you out there can feel my pain on that. That's why I'm here. I would like to run some ideas by you guys and see if you'd be able to assist me with dotting some i's and crossing some t's. I'll try not to make this a giant text bomb and keep it simple.

Quick Background:
The players are Evo Corp Sec (Kool-Aid drinkers, I know). Basically Corporate Shadowrunners who are like, for lack of a better term, 'Agents'. Spec Ops guys who go in and handle things before the authorities get there. Sometimes they are loud, sometimes they have to be like neenjaz. We're a bit burned on the 'from the shadows' thing right now so we're trying something different.

Now, one of the PCs is genetically enhanced from birth (I forget the quality name), but also possesses Latent Awakening. She's purchased her powers for when she 'pops', so I've been letting some of her talents sort of 'leak' into an action once or so a session.

So here's the conspiracy I want to use (and the glitches I'm running into): She's a clone. Not just a clone, but like the 11th in a series of experiments in an attempt to successfully clone an Awakend. Now, I know the Augmentation book says they can't or haven't yet, been able to clone an Awakened and that's sort of the point. This particular project has been going on for the better part of two decades and finally they're onto something. When she goes in for her 'treatments' (she thinks she has a debilitate disease that they're treating her for) they're collecting data and assessing her to see if she any closer to 'hatching' (Awakening). It might be what you guys would allow at your table, but this is more of a 'fun and flavor' game for us so we're being a little loosey goosey with it.

The crowning moment will be, of course, when she does and Evo has finally cloned an awakened, or have they (dun, dun, dunnnnnn)?

I want things to break down for the PC. I want her to come to realize that her entire life is a lie. Her childhood was nothing more than a series of VR simulations that looked like a real home and family (the lead researcher of the project is her 'Father', he's 'raised' her in all her memories. In truth he's just the guy whose had all the break through science and needs to keep her trust in him. My biggest problem is two fold.

1. How to drop the subtle hints that will lead this into one big mess of betrayal, drama, and bullets.
2. I have no idea how to link all the Conspirators. Hell, I have no idea who they would actually be considering the last I worked on a corporate cloning project was... oh, yeah, never.

I want there to be 8 Conspirators. 4 of them the original researchers who stumbled onto something two decades ago (but what?!?). What did the do? I don't know what kind of people would be involved in a project like that. A geneticist, obviously, maybe a an actual medical doctor...

4 of them I'd like to be on the corporate level, who, once the they found out about the project, 'adopted' the research to keep the team safe fro mthe other corps who might not be so gentle with them. Again, though... who!? What effects would cloning the Awakened have on the world of 2075?

Any help would be appreciated, if you have some ideas, toss em at me.

[Sendaz]

So here's the conspiracy I want to use (and the glitches I'm running into): She's a clone. Not just a clone, but like the 11th in a series of experiments in an attempt to successfully clone an Awakend. Now, I know the Augmentation book says they can't or haven't yet, been able to clone an Awakened and that's sort of the point. This particular project has been going on for the better part of two decades and finally they're onto something. When she goes in for her 'treatments' (she thinks she has a debilitate disease that they're treating her for) they're collecting data and assessing her to see if she any closer to 'hatching' (Awakening). It might be what you guys would allow at your table, but this is more of a 'fun and flavor' game for us so we're being a little loosey goosey with it.

The crowning moment will be, of course, when she does and Evo has finally cloned an awakened, or have they (dun, dun, dunnnnnn)?

One could be chance awakening, now let's see the process duplicated (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

I want things to break down for the PC. I want her to come to realize that her entire life is a lie. Her childhood was nothing more than a series of VR simulations that looked like a real home and family (the lead researcher of the project is her 'Father', he's 'raised' her in all her memories. In truth he's just the guy whose had all the break through science and needs to keep her trust in him. My biggest problem is two fold.

1. How to drop the subtle hints that will lead this into one big mess of betrayal, drama, and bullets.

A) well, the first question is who is the original stock from? If she is still around that could serve as a clue to follow. If not alive, maybe pics or files of same.
B) Maybe as she grows closer to her awakening, she could start having visions or memories unlocking. This will be the hard part as you have to foreshadow stuff without giving it entirely away.
C) You mention she is 11th, the others are still somewhere or ground down for KestrelKibbling? Running into other versions of yourself tends to ring bells (unless she grew around them already)

2. I have no idea how to link all the Conspirators. Hell, I have no idea who they would actually be considering the last I worked on a corporate cloning project was... oh, yeah, never.

I want there to be 8 Conspirators. 4 of them the original researchers who stumbled onto something two decades ago (but what?!?). What did the do? I don't know what kind of people would be involved in a project like that. A geneticist, obviously, maybe a an actual medical doctor...

4 of them I'd like to be on the corporate level, who, once the they found out about the project, 'adopted' the research to keep the team safe fro mthe other corps who might not be so gentle with them. Again, though... who!? What effects would cloning the Awakened have on the world of 2075?

Any help would be appreciated, if you have some ideas, toss em at me.

Well you have an idea of who for the first 4 already, the original 'team' and the other 4 is the corp side, so a common goal binds them all (or does it? dunn dun duunnnn)
Will have to ponder this a bit.

[kzt]

There has to be someone properly placed to get her an ID and get hired. She has to have a real corp ID, which is a biometric and should set off alarms all across the corp if she's the 11th identical one. They also don't just casually hire random people for these jobs, so someone faked the whole background investigation. That's not something some crazed scientist can get away with doing, he had a lot of help. Which means it's a formal corp project, probably approved up through Exec VP level or even CEO/BoD.

[Freya]

Re: figuring out how to tie all the conspirators together, you might consider making one or more of the researchers mathematicians. There was a thing in the Conspiracy Theories book about the Kriofske-Mainella Algorithm that's supposed to be able to predict Awakening in metahumans (I'm sure it's older than that but I don't have any other references handy). Off the top of my head, there was also something at the end of the Evo chapter in Corporate Guide about "nexialism", which I interpreted as "take any element of magic/technomancy/cyberware/bioware/nanoware/genetech/other Sixth World weirdness, combine it with a different one, add ice, shake". My first thought would actually be Evo trying to engineer Awakening so that they can turn it into a marketable genemod, but that's hardly the only option.

In terms of providing clues, another thread on this forum ages ago provided a link that I've found helpful. It's technically for murder mysteries, but I'm sure it'll be useful for a conspiracy: Three Clue Rule

[DoomFrog]

The idea is pretty interesting. I will tell you that in a lot of shows were there is a mysterious conspiracy like the one you are talking about, the writers of the show have it planned out about as much as you do right now. That is where the real mystery and complicated conspiracies come from, just making it up on the fly and trying to get it to make sense.

If you want to drop little hints to the player about being a clone, it depends a lot on the circumstances of the other clones. Maybe they were also agents and during a briefing someone mistakes #11 for #9. An NPC tells the PC "This job is going to be like the time in Berlin." The PC isn't going to jump to "I am a clone and one of my other clones was in Berlin" but they will wonder when they were in Berlin.

As for how the PC awakens it depends on how you think magic works. Decide why cloning the awakened doesn't normally work and why it is working this time. Maybe cloning doesn't work because the mana link stays connected to the original awakend and the clone will only awaken if the original willingly transfers the link through some ritual. Or maybe being awakened isn't about genetics and is just chance, so the clone is awakened not because it is a clone of an awakened but just by regular chance (that could be a good hook into her corp turning on her).

You didn't mention why type of awakened the PC is, but a great way to give you the ability to push the PC in the right way is to us a Mentor Spirit. The spirit could start being only able to communicate with the PC, and give no in-game benefits. First communicating only in dreams, then through what the PC thinks are hallucinations, until finally the Spirit manifests and the PC awakens and gains the benefits of the mentor spirit.

[Moirdryd]

I love the web of lies thing (infact my current DnD campaign has just that running through it).

I do one thing differently though. I don't drop "little" hints, or rather I do, but I obscure them with some bloody big and consistent ones. The trick is the players have to actually see the pattern, without that it doesn't work. Now it doesn't have to be a hint that gives the game away. A reoccurring character or name that gets a moment of central focus will turn into something that your players start looking for. Then you connect things with that name, but these things (little hints) should typically be (appear to be) unconnected save for that One connection. You can then introduce other links between those things Seperate to the Big Obvious Link as the game progresses.

Then drop the Big Link from view but leave some of those small hints and their links to play with. By now your players will be expecting to see the Big Link and they will grow VERY suspicious when it isn't there. However they will also start looking at how these little hints and links that fit their current frame fit together Without the Big hint (be sure they have enough bits that DO fit together). Just because the conspiracy may be convoluted story wise doesn't mean these links have to be. At this point they'll start seeing a larger picture and start digging in other directions. Now you can reveal what you desire at your leisure.

Be sure to intersperse enough sessions without the focus being on the Hints and Links to let the game flow around the conspiracy (otherwise, yes it gets blown pretty quick and feels a bit hollow).

I also find it good to make some generalisations about the Rabbit Hole without fleshing huge details. This means you can modify to need and even shape it to player ideas when they come up with cool stuff you never thought of. So long as you have a What and a Why the Where and the How can be as fluid as the story requires.

[cndblank]

I like this.

I'd be careful not to rush it.
Stretch it out.
See if you can leave clues that don't make sense until she has the info that she is a clone.

One clue could be DNA traces.
A Corp could pull her in and find a match to a run in a place she has never been.
I expect the Corp would do some non invasive plastic surgery to make them look a little different.

Or her bone structure and facial features trip an alert when she is crossing a border.
They are about to do a deep inspection of her ID, and her person (snap of a rubber glove).
The only problem is they last spotted the her other clone less than two hours ago and she was on a sub orbital on another continent waiting to take off.
A supervisor points that out to the over active border security personal (who like to give extra attention to all the pretty girls) and orders them to electronically stamp her passport and let her be about her business.
After all the wanted individual would be leaving the country not trying to enter it.


One way to handle the cloning the awaken issue is to say that they performed a special and powerful ritual on her as an embryo to "Awaken" her.
Let you add in a power mage in to the mix.
And keeps the corp from mass producing awaken clones (at least until they get the bugs worked out of the dangerous and expensive magical ritual).
After all proving it can be done is half the battle.

They keep getting closer to their goal.
And any later clone might be more powerful magically then her.

Or an older clone that needs a bone marrow transplant from her and is not going to take no for an answer.

[cndblank]

I love the web of lies thing (infact my current DnD campaign has just that running through it).

I do one thing differently though. I don't drop "little" hints, or rather I do, but I obscure them with some bloody big and consistent ones. The trick is the players have to actually see the pattern, without that it doesn't work. Now it doesn't have to be a hint that gives the game away. A reoccurring character or name that gets a moment of central focus will turn into something that your players start looking for. Then you connect things with that name, but these things (little hints) should typically be (appear to be) unconnected save for that One connection. You can then introduce other links between those things Seperate to the Big Obvious Link as the game progresses.

Then drop the Big Link from view but leave some of those small hints and their links to play with. By now your players will be expecting to see the Big Link and they will grow VERY suspicious when it isn't there. However they will also start looking at how these little hints and links that fit their current frame fit together Without the Big hint (be sure they have enough bits that DO fit together). Just because the conspiracy may be convoluted story wise doesn't mean these links have to be. At this point they'll start seeing a larger picture and start digging in other directions. Now you can reveal what you desire at your leisure.

Be sure to intersperse enough sessions without the focus being on the Hints and Links to let the game flow around the conspiracy (otherwise, yes it gets blown pretty quick and feels a bit hollow).

I also find it good to make some generalisations about the Rabbit Hole without fleshing huge details. This means you can modify to need and even shape it to player ideas when they come up with cool stuff you never thought of. So long as you have a What and a Why the Where and the How can be as fluid as the story requires.

Be sure and take notes.
It is amazing how much you can weave together to tie something to past event in an ongoing campaign.

You are starting from the ground up so there will be no end of opportunities to weave it together.
And your players might come up with something better than what you have planned.
Just grin and steal the idea and the credit.

[Sendaz]

Something that could make for interesting development is something the corps might be unaware of themselves is that the clones are sort of awakened, but they share their magic stat.

In their attempt to awaken a set of clones, they ended up splitting that power between the clones (basically treat as Magic 0.1 to 0.2 each, it's not how it usually works, but this is the exception), not too unlike how the spirit of Denver was torn asunder.

Each possesses a bit of the spark, but not enough to really do anything by themselves. With their power not even a noticeable trickle the corps are assuming the plan is not working or holding out hoping one of them may awaken down the road.

The visions is the common magic linking them all to what they see/experience from time to time.

The first time two of the clones comes together they share a bit of a tingle, but again not a lot.. maybe some sense of deja vu.

From there you could go down several paths.

A) Discovering her 'sisters' helps awaken parts within them both.

B) They can work magic when a certain number (5 of them if you treat them as 0.2 each, 10 if you want to make it hard and treat as 0.1 each) of them come together. Not ideal, but perhaps through initiation they can each raise their own magic enough to allow them to act apart. Whether they need to stay together for this or can initiate once they make the leap is up to the GM.

C) Go Highlander on them all and by taking a sibling's power and reintegrating it into her own she gets closer to becoming complete. Does not necessarily need to be fatal though it could make for an interesting story if the PC has to counter a psycho sibling bent on harvesting the others.

[Freya]

C) Go Highlander and by taking a sibling's power and reintegrating it into her own she gets closer to becoming complete. Does not necessarily need to be fatal though it could make for an interesting story if the PC has to counter a psycho sibling bent on harvesting the others.

Wasn't there also something about crimes involving a bunch of different people sharing the same aura? (From Anne Ravenheart's section in Street Legends Supplemental.) It was originally victims of a serial killer who were all Horizon employees, with the case being investigated by Ares, but there's no reason Evo couldn't have found out about it - maybe from an extracted scientist that's now working as one of the NPCs.

Anyway, to answer OP's questions more directly:

1. How to drop the subtle hints that will lead this into one big mess of betrayal, drama, and bullets.

One advantage of having a corporate specops team is that it can be exposed to classified information the same way as you'd expect in spy movies. In fact, the description of Evo's Special Security Detail as "a counterintelligence agency masquerading as a protective service" opens up the possibility of the PCs being assigned to protect one of the conspirators. That probably means being cleared to see what they're working on, since they'll have to be in the same room (and gives you an excuse to do a mostly-unrelated adventure if you want), then just drop the cloned PC's name in the files somewhere - with no other details about how she's involved.

2. I have no idea how to link all the Conspirators. Hell, I have no idea who they would actually be considering the last I worked on a corporate cloning project was... oh, yeah, never.

I want there to be 8 Conspirators. 4 of them the original researchers who stumbled onto something two decades ago (but what?!?). What did the do? I don't know what kind of people would be involved in a project like that. A geneticist, obviously, maybe a an actual medical doctor...

4 of them I'd like to be on the corporate level, who, once the they found out about the project, 'adopted' the research to keep the team safe fro mthe other corps who might not be so gentle with them. Again, though... who!? What effects would cloning the Awakened have on the world of 2075?

Off the top of my head, the scientist-types would probably some combination of geneticists (to do the theorycrafting), medical doctors (to do the exams and modifications), and lab technicians (to do the menial lab work, like a dental hygienist actually cleaning your teeth vs. the dentist examining them after), with at least one being a wage-mage or adept capable of assensing. The corporate-types would probably include at least two levels of management (one that the scientists actually report to, and one or two levels above that who approves the funding for the projects) and... maybe a supply/logistics person? You'd have to get your lab equipment somewhere, after all, but if the project was secret enough it wouldn't necessarily go through normal channels. You'd have to have a cutout who isn't necessarily in on the details but whose name shows up as the person all the equipment is shipped to. There could also be someone with access to personnel records that's used to keep tabs on the cloned PC.

Come to think of it, that entire structure could be useful in spreading (mis-)information about what's really happening. Each link would only have access to the information that was directly relevant to them - doctors would only know the results of the physical exams, the supply person would only know which kinds of equipment were being ordered, etc. - so the PCs would have to chase down all the involved parties to get the whole story.

Why would people want to research the genetics of the Awakened, and actually (appear to) care about the people they're researching? Well, having Evo as the megacorp you're working with accomplishes a lot of that right away, with their whole "meta- and Awakened-friendly" corporate line. What if it was something like trying to find a way to give bio/geneware to the Awakened without wrecking their ability to use magic, and they stumbled across a way to clone Awakened potential as a replacement for live test subjects?

[MADness]

Two options for the reveal come to my mind. Does the player want a mentor spirit in the future? If so, there is the possibility of visions from said mentor. It could even be a whole lot of extra crazy depending on the particular spirit.

The other one, the one I would use (which probably means no one in their right mind would use it), conspiracy nuts. I believe the movie Conspiracy Theory with Mel Gibson is the one I'm thinking of, but it involved an almost absolute crazy man (go figure) who published a newletter for all of four people. The government watched him because at least one of his "nutjob" theories was right. He didn't know which one it was, but "they" did. Just have her stumble across something unrelated, bury it under a pile of "I saw the Big D at my Stuffer Shack" sites. Some nutter has the entire thing figured out, give or take some names. Leave pictures or names that are or are close enough to her or the others working on the project. Possibly even other subjects (why take a gamble on just one test subject, give the character "brothers" and "sisters")

[GiraffeShaman]

The person who is about to tell them something can be killed. Got that idea from Burn Notice, which is really got about spinning out conspiracies over a long time. (The main plot of the show is the main character, an ex spy, trying to find out who put out a Burn Notice on him and why)