Cerebus

There’s enough material on Cerebus to publish a thick sourcebook full of juicy information. A clandestine conspiracy group that infiltrates all part of the Alliance and any interests pertaining to Earth, able to steal the technology for a cutting edge military frigate without being discovered, and bringing the dead to live. Maybe they are the Delta Green of the future.

Experiments: One of the side quests in Mass Effect touches on the horrible experiments which Cerebus was running. Jack can’t be the only one, so what else were Cerebus fooling with? One of the famous meme is that Cerebus was looking at grafting Reaper technology with human beings.

Expeditions: They were examining a dead Reaper in the game. Other key locations for Cerebus to stick their foot in definitely include Protean ruins, anti-Reaper weapons and definitely anything which would give human an edge over the aliens.

Conspiracy. The information given by Miranda (and EDI, after you release her locks) seems to imply that Cerebus operatives are everywhere. The question is “where else?” Giving the task to hunt down those operatives could make a good campaign (or what if the PCs are Cerebus Operatives infiltrating an Alliance experiment or research base?)

Gang Wars

For something darker, gritter and dirtier, just head down to Omega 4 and perhaps other seedier space-ports in Mass Effect world. (If you read the descriptions for some of the planets, they are ripe for such ideas). There you have various mercenary gangs involve in smuggling, human trafficking (perhaps not just for the Collectors) and involved in other illicit trade.

Power Struggle: Mass Effect 2 players come across this when Shephard discovered a ploy by the other mercenary gangs to supplant Aria together. That can’t be the only place where such incidents are going on. The players may be involved in the efforts of removing a crime lord or preserving the status quo. Perhaps they even have aspirations to take over the entire place for themselves.

Setting up Shop: Garrus did it, so why not the players. Players could form a mercenary gang or “righteous troubleshooters” and attempt to keep organized crime in check. Or give the Eclipse or Blue Sun a run for their money. They may be some powerful that they attract the attention of other parties which may need their help.

Not all Social Conflicts Should be Scaled

That said, sometimes a one-roll social roll should be used when suitable. Just as it could get tedious to have 10 rolls to climb up a 10m wall, having to roll so many times just to get a discount, or to persuade a guard to look the other way is overkill. This disclaimer being made, let’s move on to…

How to get a stubborn ox to move

Weapons of the Gods introduces a system of relationships into social conflicts. A character has relationships with other characters and factions, and each type of relationship has ways of improving and degrading. For example, in Chinese culture honouring one’s parents is important, so if a character’s parents is drawn into a social conflict, it becomes more complicated. The character may stands his ground to ignore what his elderly grey mother wants, but their relationship will suffer, which may have other consequences. A simple example would be if an inn-keeper’s grandmother is around, and you need to stay at the inn despite it being full, you can try to appeal to his grandmother’s sympathy so that the grandmother would convince the innkeeper to go beyond the call of duty (and the lure of gold). This can be easily slapped into existing games as a modifier, stunt or an Aspect.

Weapons of the Gods’ social mechanics introduce many type of relationships. Father and son, siblings, friends, lieges and vassals and so on. Such a system could be adapted to other games. Dwarves, for example, could place emphasis on their clan (take a Babylon 5 example – how Delenn managed to convince her clan that she is allowed to marry a non-Minbari); if you get his clan to pressure a Dwarven smith to produce the weapons for your armies, he is more likely to comply.

There may be a scholar who refused to translate a tome. Money don’t move him; he doesn’t need anything. However, he may have a rivalry with another scholar in the same town, and by dropping hints that you would go over to him may move things to your favour. Or he may have a mentor – you can go to the mentor, invoke an old favour (assuming he does owe you one) and add pressure on the scholar. However, relationships doesn’t work for you all the time. The scholar’s religious affiliation may prohibit him to touch a forbidden tome (perhaps you need to convince his religious leaders that reading a pagan tome is ‘for the greater good’). He may have promised his romantic love a trip and does not want to spend the time. Including all these factors would make social conflict more than just a single roll.

Upping the Stakes

Tapping into a NPC’s relationships with his friends, families and enemies to get him to act the way you want can be overkilled if all you want is to have a sword at 25% discount (or even just to get him to give it away for free). The suggestion is to only involve those factors for plot significant arcs, and for something to be significant, it must be something worth fighting for.  In the above example, it is assumed that the tome contains a powerful ritual to bind a demon. One can easily up the stake more. Examples include: persuading an entire village to flee before a band of goblin invaders come (in real life many won’t leave their homes despite impending disasters), getting an alliance of small city states to send armies against a threat, or even asking another nation into an alliance.

By extending the scale of the conflict, you get to involve more players. One player could be on a diplomatic mission to secure an army, while the other will try to get an informant to part with information about the foe. Each of them influence each other. Succeed at securing an army, and the informant may be cowed into giving the information. Get the information first, and the allies may be more willing to send out their warriors. Other acts would sway things in your favour. Sneaking into the enemy’s camp, and returning with one of their leaders’ head could become a forceful factor in a negotiation!  This allows combat characters to lend aid in a social conflict, be it his impressive battle records, history of being fair to others, his religious affiliation, providing some piece of obscure lore or even defeating the other party’s champion in a duel. In Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Zhuge Liang debated with the scholars and sages of the Kingdom of Wu prior to the Battle of Chibi. He then incited Zhou Yu by saying that Cao Cao desired his wife (which didn’t happen in history).

An Example of a Large Scale Social Conflict

The political arena is often the best stage for a large scale social conflict, though a war with shifting allegiances is one too. This example contains massive spoiler from the Chinese manhua The Ravages of Time (mentioned earlier and elsewhere in my blog). Though the storyline is that of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the comic changes the details significantly. The situation is thus: Cao Cao has met defeat at the hand of Zhang Xiu and is surrounded. Meanwhile, to exploit his weakness, numerous foes begin to march on Cao Cao’s base, Xuchang and those includes Liu Biao, Lu Bu and Yuan Shu, plus Liu Yong, a scion of the Han Imperial Family (no, not Liu Bei; he was recently defeated by Lu Bu, got his ass kicked to the small city elsewhere in Xuzhou).

With Cao Cao isolated at Danyang, defeated by Zhang Xiu, and four armies approaching, what is he to do?  Troops have been stationed south to fight off Liu Biao, and an assassin finished off Liu Yong, but there’s still Lu Bu (who is smarter than how the original novel protrayed him) and Yuan Shu. One of Cao Cao’s best advisors, Xun Yun, managed to get them to fight each other. But how?

Sometimes ago, when Lu Bu was defeated by Li Si and other (shortly after killing Dong Zhou), he fled to Chenliu, and tried to take Puyang from Cao Cao, and failed. He then sought refuge from Liu Bei. Liu Bei kindly gave him a small city to dwell in, Xiaopei. However, when Liu Bei was away once fighting Yuan Shu (by the Emperor’s decreed, which was of course manipulated by Cao Cao), a group of bandits and displaced soliders invaded Xuzhou. Now, it was Zhang Fei who secretly liased with them (he’s not stupid in the comics too), as to lure Lu Bu to attack and be ambushed. However, Lu Bu knew of it and his advisor Chen Gong, paid another large sum of money to buy those brigands over, and in the end it was Lu Bu who succeeded in kicking Zhang Fei out from the city (but it’s more complex than that). Finally, Lu Bu absorbed those brigands as part of his army.

Okay, let’s return to how Xun Yun managed to get Lu Bu and Yuan Shu to fight each other. Xun Yun arrived on a diplmatic mission to Xuzhou and confered on him the General of the Left. He hinted that the people of Xuzhou loved Liu Bei, and Lu Bu’s rule may not be welcomed (working on Lu Bu’s relationship with his citizens), then confer a title which make his occupation of Xuzhou official (hence improving relationship with Cao Cao). At the same time, Xun Yun’s nephew, Xun You, went to meet Yuan Shu and said Lu Bu was coming to attack him. The latter, of course, did not believe – after all, weren’t they going after Cao Cao?

So here’s the final move in this social conflict. Xun Yun was the one who ultimately arranged the brigands to invade Xu Zhou, and joined Lu Bu. On his orders, the brigands took up Lu Bu’s banners and impersonated as his soldiers, attacked Yuan Shu. With this, Yuan Shu believed Xun You, and fought with Lu Bu, leaving Cao Cao safe. Liu Biao, seeing that he was alone in the whole affair, called off the attack. If you could, try to imagine the whole situation as a map with each character/faction as a circle, with lines linked to each other. That could be akin to a tactical map for physical combat.

Hopefully this will give more ideas for social conflicts; next time, I will try to come up with some Fate 3.0 mechanics and rules to formalize this.

1. The Order of Saint Leondra is dedicated to perserving the history and lore of the True Faith, for they believe faith in the True Faith comes from knowledge and the words of the Saviour. The monks were (are?) holy men, and now cadavers, they persisted in their tasks even though long dead. They had been the source for religious texts (which were then sent to the churches to be distributed). A thing has happened of late, though. The Archbishop of Albion, seeking to soldify support for the unpopular King, wished to amend some of the old text. This, the Order of Saint Leondra, opposed. The Archbishop has declared that those ‘undead monsters’ are to be wiped out and have been sending in adventurers in. Would the PCs be part of the cleansing, or help to preserve the order?
2. Those are not monks of a religious order, but actually the followers of an old god, a thing that walked between voids and blotted out the stars and sun when it did. The tomes which they are writing are actually teachings of a cult that worship the old god, and it was left to those undead monks because anyone who spent sufficient time writing those text would turn insane. Now they are writing it in quantities. Who is going to distribute them?
3. An important text which the adventurers need to further their goal was destroyed during a purging by witch-hunters. All copies of it were burned to ashes. But there is a rumor of a certain place where the library is stocked with all types of ancient tome, and its inhabitants work tirelessly to preserve all knowledge. Yet could the adventurers just marched into a monastery of undead monks and get away with it. What do dead people want from the adventurers in return?

No man, it is said, set foot within the garden and goes  into the depth and had emerged alive.

1. This is just a rumour spread by a secretive group of botanists who are experimenting with exotic flowers, weeds and grapes to devise potions of dubious purposes. Some gives its drinker moments of joy, but are higher addictive. Some are potent poison which are scentless and could easily pass for wine.  Needlessly to say, if the adventurers have any business there, it would be either for information, to acquire one of those mixture, or to destroy the garden. Though the adventurers should find out more about the nature of the operation. Are they impartial businessman? Do they have a bigger agenda in mind?
2. The garden is a living chessboard which 4 powerful wizards long ago used to sort out their differences (it was a much better alternative to seek out a desolate countryside and turn the whole place to cinder and ashes). Flowers, weeds and trees are aggressive, and they attack each other.  A simple gardener was brought in to design the landscape, ornaments and other decorations, to act as barriers, obstacles and basically, to make up the terrain of the game. Indeed, the ruins of those 4 wizards’ towers are found at the four corner of the gardens. However, the enchantment holding the ‘living’ pieces at bay is weakening. The ‘game’ is spreading out into the ruins, and soon out to engulf the entire city.
3. When the House of Alarius commissioned the garden, it was more than just to “give something to society”. In fact, it is a covert operation to build a series of tunnels to underground hideouts, exits outside the city and to important locations of the city (near the barracks, just outside of the castle and so on). The merchant house was dissolved after nearly a century of business, then the thieves took over. This is the place to go if you wish to get a shortcut to a place you don’t usually get to go. However, the different factions trying to gain control of the garden has set up all sort of devious means to protect their turf – traps, ambushes and even the occasional druidic magic to bring trees to life.

1. There are legends of a pool, located in a grove, bordered by forests of the faerie, where one could see visions and images of the times to come. A seeress once dwell there, and she was responsible for prophecies and advice that aid many in averting ruins to the kingdom. However, the seeress had died, and someone else has taken over her guise and now control the pool. She can command the pool to show whatever she wishes, and she is now using it to sow discord throughout the kingdom. Whatever her aims are, it is unknown, but strife and chaos is just one on her list.
2. The Tablets of Destiny, an ancient religious writing which was used by a group of priests to foretell the future, have disappeared from their temple. Badly copied versions of those writings have appeared, and someone is circulating them. Merchant houses, noblemen, bandit lords and group of adventurers have been getting fragments of ‘prophecies’ which when interpreted, points to them as Messiahs of the world, glorious emperor, the harbinger of a new age. Those who follow the advice and heed the portends of those fragments of prophecies will have great initial success – and soon the doubting ones follow too. But the catch is that they are just following the fragments of an entire prophecy. The true prophecy can only be known if the adventurers manage to recover the Tablets of Destiny, or piece all the fragments together, and they would realise just how many are contributing to the ruin of the world.
3. A seer has been visiting those factions, and force compelling visions onto the leader of each of them. To one, they would say another is an obstacle to their goal. Then to the other, they would say the former is an obstacle as well, sowing discord and chaos in this manner. Who is this seer, and what is his real motive? And why are those given a vision are so fanatical in pursuing them? The seer has given them more than just a vision; an astral parasite has leeched into their mind as well, compelling them to believe in the visions and subtly controlling them.

1. Dozens of years ago, an expedition from this very port set out to explore the far north. They were supposed to return in three years time, but they never did. This is the last surviving ship to return, but when the adventurers boarded it, it is devoid of people…living or otherwise. However in the cargo hold there is an ancient stone sarcophagus. Whatever that was on that ship, it is long gone now – perhpas out in the port. There were tales of a tryant who practised blood magic, and to be killed he had to be staked through the heart. That he may never arose again, he was interned with a coffin of stone, and sent north in a ship…perhaps the resting place was found by the expedition, and the old tryant is back.
2. The ship is of massive size, and when the adventurers wandered in, they will find the ship devoid of life, but filled with shelves after shelves of surprisingly well-preserved scrolls, tomes and parchments. This was a ‘floating library’, and an order of scholars and sages traveled all over the known world collecting and recording histories, folklores and tales. It was lost over fifty years ago, and its sudden reappearance is a mystery. And this is when descendants of the order turned up, and demanded that the ship belong to them. Unfortunately, two such groups claimed rights. What should the adventurers to?
3. Along with the ship came an icy cold mist and wind, even though it is summer. Within the massive ship, more of an ark, are a race of fish-men hybrid. Housed within the hold of the ship is a ritual of power magic that would turn the entire region into an icy cold landscape. The creatures had escaped from their original homelands, perhaps exiled or driven out, and are seeking new places. Within 2 days the waters would have frozen, and the people would be powerless against the merciless cold, unless the adventurers could stop those half-men, half-fishes. Those creatures may be open to diplomacy, but they are impatient, for they have been sailing for more than 25 years.

1. Road to Hidden Gates: When faeries walk the world openly and mankind was still young, lanterns were used to light the way between the doorsteps of different fay domains. Those lights still remain, showing the way to a dormant fay realm. Many reasons would led the adventurers to walk this path – a missing young lord, tracking a rogue sorcerer who is using the realm as his hide-out or even the allure of treasures. The lights are within sight of each other, showing the way to the gate, but the journery in middle is not without its share of perils.
2. Finding Rest: Long time ago, a murderer lurked within the region, killing young and old for his own depraved reasons. A paladin hunted him down and brought him to justice, but the bodies of the victims were never found. The paladin begged his patron deity for the means to find the bodies so that they may be put to rest, and there came the spirit lights. Each would guide an adventurer to a place where a victim of the loathed murderer. The paladin managed to retrieve two by following two of those lights, but he disappeared forever when attempting to find the third. Apparently, the victims were brought to a place of danger…
3. The Path for the Journery: The people of Sandhornvale are of an interesting mix. It used to be a small village, when gypsies cameto dwell within the village because of wars and a plague. The toils of those times killed most of the gypsies, including those who know where to go next – it seemed that they were following a path laid down by their ancestors. The youngsters, lost and frightened, stayed with the villagers of Sandhornvale. Ever since them the spirit lights have appeared – and they are actually the route which the gypsies. Now their descendants are feeling a strange urge to follow those lights, but times have changed. Why did their ancestors follow those path? Is it necessary? What lurks along the way? Maybe a group of descendants wish to undertake the journery, but fearing danger, asks the adventurers as an escort. The reasons could rangome from bringing offering to their ancient ancestors to having to recite a ritual which ensure that a powerful enemy remained imprisioned.

1. A Different Sort of Delivery: A rebellion is under way, and the various merchant houses are conspiring with the outlaws, giving them supplies and the weapons they would need. A fake raid is their mean of transferring supplies and intelligence. The experienced adventurers may have been attached to the convoy to give a veneer of credibility or they are given orders by rightful authority to guard the convoy. Needless to say, any actions the adventurers may take to interfere with the brigands would be met with a surprise.
2. The Bait: The foodstuff and grains carried by the convoy are poisoned. This is the new method which the various merchant houses have agreed on to deal with the brigands. That those brigands are intended on re-distributing those food to the nearby poverty stricken villages are none of their concern. Perhaps it would be of the adventurers.
3. A Lesson In Humility: The leader of the convoy is a brash, inexperienced scion of a powerful merchant house, and he thinks too much of himself and disregard the adventurers’ concerns. The brigands, however, are the men belonging to his father, and this raid is to teach the youngster a lesson. The adventurers are attached to ensure that the young man don’t do anything rash. Unfortunately, some enemies of his father have infiltrated the false raiding brigands, and what supposed to be a lesson about carelessness turned out be a real nightmare when the reinforcements the father has prepared never arrived.

1. Guests of a Different Sort: The lord has a knacks of picking up friends, and one group of them is faerie creatures who dwell there. How the lord struck up a friendship with the fay is a long story. None of the servants were involved in the preparation of the feast. They knew nothing about it but had some details. If the adventurers barge out into the exclusive feast, the faeries would be curious and welcoming, but the lord would be very nervous. The reason? Etiquette. The fay observed a large numbers of strange and obscure customs, and if the adventurers offend anyone of them, the result would be ugly…which may lead to the adventurers being embroiled into any number of adventures.
2. The Forever Feast: If the adventurers barge out, they would be shocked at the guests. They are cadavers, those who are dead but remained alive due to sheer force of will, a sense of mission and perhaps because of their deities’ blessings. Among the guests joining in the revel would be another fabled heroes and immortals. It seems that this minor lord has made quite a connection! The reason why the lord forbids other guests from joining because the experience usually left the guest shocked, horrified and enthralled, all at the same time. However, if the adventurers are worth their salt, they may be able to dine with a long dead champion of the Selentine Empire – and who knows what sort of troubles the adventurers would be getting themselves into!
3. Curious Cusine: The lord over the years have acquired a taste for exotic food, from wanderers in the regions and other visitors. The midnight feasts featured ways of cooking and preparing food that are distasteful to many, and may feature ingredients that would upset even the staunchest of stomach (the GM may decide to include human flesh). If the adventurers are found out sneaking about, they may be involved in the preparation of the next meal (“I have yet to try the taste of tiger meat being roasted with fires of wizardry!”)

1. Immunity: The plague is deliberately released by a former cultist who worshipped a depraved demon of diseases and illness. The reason? Powerful though the demon might be, his unnatural plague has one ‘escape clause’ – a victim can only be suffering from one of his plagues at a time. The ‘minor plague’ released by the former cultist is actually preventing the cult from unleashing a stronger one that could actually kill millions. The cult must be taken down, perhaps with the help for the former cultist, before the current one could be cured.
2. Cure in Progress: The land was blighted, long ago, by depraved cultists (perhaps from the ones in Immunity) and for a long time those who lived and were born there were sickly and crippled. A group of druids have studied and located the vile source of the disease and is attempting to remove it. The cure however, provokes a series of fever, rashes and coughing among those already afflicted. Only when the cure is gone through, then the people would recover. However, would the adventurers believe the druid that matters must take a turn for the worse before it would get better?
3. Unmasking the Hidden: Over time, shapeshifters and other loathsome demons have assumed the forms of mortals and lived within the communities, perhaps just randomly preying on innocent passer-bys or harbouring some master-plan. The plague is the means to detect those who have hidden within society. Anyone who is not down with the symptoms of the plague is very likely to be a magical or demonical creature. The GM can feel free to decide how accurate this method is.