| babyGM |
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Update! I really had to switch some events around to keep up the intrigue and suspense. But I'm proud of my PCs and we're almost done with Chapter 1!
So from everyone gathered in the Dining Hall, I started with a goblin food fight, but that did nothing to dissuade my PCs from going to bed. They talked to Lozu, Grath, and Trostinek, trying to figure out who is on their side. They're suspicious of Trost, but they ultimately couldn't confirm any BS from him, so they're reluctantly trusting.
They then decided to outright accuse the Captain. At that point, the only thing I had left to do was have Jincheroga shapeshift right there in the Dining Hall. She gave the goblins the pillowcase and told them to search the ship. Trostinek called out, "I'll go after the goblins!" I gave super basic stats to Song, Benjam, and Grath (tipsy, so he couldn't do much), to participate in the fight, and had Kiiv go back to Engineering, and Lozu leave with the Captain. I actually forgot that Jincheroga had DM/5 magic, so the fight was much easier than it would have been. My bad, but actually none of my PCs have magic weapons, so it would have been almost impossible for them to fight her.
One of my PCs followed the Captain and Lozu up to the crew quarters, where Lozu was escorting the Captain to his room. Lozu defended the Captain, saying it was part of her job to protect the Captain, even though she knows the PCs suspect that he's not who he says he is.
After the fight was over, Kiiv called from Engineering, the goblins were fighting Trostinek. The PCs came down and fought in front of the hidden door. After the fight was over, they discovered the panel and secret room. The Captain's body was there, and Kiiv and Trostinek there watching. We've established there's Space Skype (Spacetime heh), so they told Kiiv to call Lozu. Two fighting Lozus answered the call, crying, "Help!" then the call dropped.
The PCs ran to the Captain's quarters, they found Lozu handcuffed to another Lozu, and after confirming who was who using their anti-shapeshifter system, they shot Yox point blank in a coup de grace. Trostinek was there at this point, and stayed in the background, watching, not doing anything, to report all of this to Wem.
Lozu took command, told them to get some rest, and the PC's can continue to figure out what happened to Algiada in the morning.
I had a low key breakfast, where Lozu appointed the PCs as temporary Security Team for the duration of the flight (with compensation, of course). Lozu had a "hints of reality" moment, where she stared blankly at the wall, before saying she "spaced out". The PCs were sooo paranoid at this point, they were so fixated on the wall, something in the wall, something magical/invisible, etc.
They then went back to the smuggler's compartment, didn't find the relic, and left everything there. Then they heard an explosion, and our next session will be fighting space pirates.
I'll run Space Pirates in the Cargo Hold, they'll find the relic there, and then Lozu will call the team up to the Bridge where we'll see Algiada and the Captain. They'll fight Qub and Wem there in a final confrontation. The ship will explode, hazards, then escape pod insanity.
I didn't have the PCs fight Trostinek/Qub in the smuggler's compartment, as the PCs were much more suspicious of the Captain/Yox. It would have given away that there are 2 shapeshifters onboard. So I decided to play Qub a little smarter, he'd have motivation to get on the PCs' good side so he can report to back to Wem, my designated "leader" instead of Yox. In the end, the PCs will fight Qub/Algiada and Wem/Captain together as a final confrontation, minus a space pirate or two. I've been giving extra experience for coming up with anti-shapeshifter measures, and I'll give experience for finding the relic, so everyone should still be at level 3 by the end of the chapter, assuming they'll be able to get to the escape pods.
This was super fun! Definitely different from what was written, but going offbook and tailoring it to the PCs' story was absolutely necessary, and I learned SO MUCH about how to be a GM.
Thanks again for the help!