From: f1toyl@uta.fi (Topi Ylinen)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: Stupid PC Tricks
Summary: a stupid (N)PC trick...
Date: 14 Apr 92 07:37:40 GMT
Organization: University of Tampere, Finland

cis.umn.edu>

The nasty little thing I have to tell was actually performed by an NPC, but he
was strongly couraged by the players to take this action and they quite whole-
heartedly approved of his deed ... until they saw the consequences.
It happened in a super hero campaign: the group had a "mad scientist" NPC 
member, DOCTOR VIRUS, who
made well, SORT OF great inventions. They worked, but not the
way the PCs wanted them to :)

This event took (not surprisingly) place during the RL Gulf War:

In this particular scenario the pc heroes were fighting against Iram's hitech
army to free Q'Bait (strange RL parallel, isn't it?) and had proceeded to 
Iram's capital city, into Saddam Gaddaphi's palace, in order to overthrow the
evil dictator once and for all. Powerful as they were, they were, however, 
defeated by Saddam who was armed with "The Holy Spear" (which was the one Jesus
was supposedly pierced with (this spear appears again in many pagan myths such
as the one about Grail )- the same relic was also once in the custody of
Hitler) and imagined himself as the great Nebuchadnessar reborn. All heroes
were struck unconscious by Saddam - that was when Doctor Virus made his 
entrance. He was armed with all kinds of futuristic stuff and managed in 
capturing Saddam. Just then it was revealed that the genius behind Saddam's
hitech army was his old rival from the university years - an equally mad and
ego-centric scientist Lorbuz. Lorbuz was also armed with futuristic inventions
and the two mad geniuses had a real showdown!

The only trouble was: they were too equal. Just like in the university days.
Every time one used some weird gizmo, the other found a way to counter his
attack. It was a stalemate situation, which could have gone on for a LONG
time...

Except that Virus had one gizmo he had not had during his university years...
and the PC's encouraged him to use it to resolve the conflict. It was 
"The Optimal Negativator - Reality Alterator" which MATERIALIZED the victim's
worst fear. That is to say, made it REAL! 

Virus "KNEW" that Lorbuz's worst fear was that he would be defeated by 
Virus as the two were lifelong competitors as scientists.

So he used the machine on Lorbuz.

Yep, he was in a way right: when the two scientists had been studying at the
same university, Lorbuz's worst fear really HAD BEEN that he would be defeated
by Virus.

Only now, the situation was different. In the service of Saddam Gaddaphi, he
had found out that his master practiced Dark Arts of Occult and was scared to
death that his master would release some Unspeakable Demonic Horrors (TM) that
would cast the whole world into Infernal Chaos!!!

Guess what happened when Virus used the machine? :)


-- 
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Topi Ylinen :    	"Of what use is the final answer if you 
f1toyl@kielo.uta fi  	 had the wrong question?" (Hint: it IS of some use)
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