I've got a PC who, as part of his motivation for joining the party, is taking advantage of the traveling around Numeria to search for his mother. She was an archaeologist interested in Numerian technological relics, and disappeared three years ago when she left Torch to return to ruin-diving to try and earn some money for the struggling family. She does have some bad history with the Technic League—they stole all her tech once.
I'm trying to figure out where a good place to add her in to the AP would be. Maybe there's an NPC she could replace, too. We've just started Lords of Rust.
An interesting hook!
Book 2 - she could be in Scrapwall, if you wanted to resolve it right away; perhaps in hiding with Dinvaya after an altercation with the gangs, looking for an opportunity to get out of town.
Book 3 - she could be undercover in Iadenveigh, trying to conduct a clandestine survey of the town -- which might complicate or intersect with the rumours of a Technic League spy; she might even, if things go badly, be caught and put on trial, spurring the PCs to find the real culprit to prove her innocence. Or, she could be travelling more openly and trying to negotiate a way for her to search under and around the town (giving the PCs a chance to aid her in her negotiations).
Book 4 - she could be an unwitting accomplice to Hyrsek Caio, believing that he has been hired to search the valley, and hiring her in turn to aid his search (you might also consider changing his role, in that case, and giving him some other assistants). Discovering his true mission might be a interesting mutual surprise. Or, she could been searching the valley by herself (or with a different team), and been captured -- and either put in a brain-case by the Mi-Go (in the same storage nook as Therace), or perhaps awaiting surgery in the Dominion Hive (the timing on that may be tricky).
Book 5 - she could have fallen in with the Mockery, and needs to be extracted from a dangerous situation by the PCs (and only then do they discover that the person they're saving is her); or, she might be selling things on the black market -- complicating their existing black-market mission (if they're working with the Mockery). Or, more grimly, she could be -- either for its own sake, or if the above missions go badly -- imprisoned by the Technic League in their compound, adding a prison-break aspect to the existing goal of breaking in.
An interesting hook!
Book 5 - she could have fallen in with the Mockery, and needs to be extracted from a dangerous situation by the PCs (and only then do they discover that the person they're saving is her); or, she might be selling things on the black market -- complicating their existing black-market mission (if they're working with the Mockery). Or, more grimly, she could be -- either for its own sake, or if the above missions go badly -- imprisoned by the Technic League in their compound, adding a prison-break aspect to the existing goal of breaking in.
This, IMO, is the best option. A hook like that, is one you don't want to resolve too quickly.
Being imprisoned also explains why the character hasn't heard from his mother in all this time.
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This, IMO, is the best option. A hook like that, is one you don't want to resolve too quickly.An interesting hook!
Book 5 - she could have fallen in with the Mockery, and needs to be extracted from a dangerous situation by the PCs (and only then do they discover that the person they're saving is her); or, she might be selling things on the black market -- complicating their existing black-market mission (if they're working with the Mockery). Or, more grimly, she could be -- either for its own sake, or if the above missions go badly -- imprisoned by the Technic League in their compound, adding a prison-break aspect to the existing goal of breaking in.
Yes. And you can use variants on cjelli's ideas to leave a trail of breadcrumbs so that the players are always making progess.
Book 2 - A Steel Hawk in Scrapwall, nicknamed Iron Arm, used to work with the missing mother. Five years ago, he and she had to go into hiding. She hid in Iadenveigh. Iron Arm, because of his cybernetic arm, would not be welcome in Iadenveigh, so he had hidden in Scrapwall. That was before her latest disappearance three years ago, but maybe she went to Iadenveigh again.
Book 3 - In Iadenveigh, the people remember the mother from five years ago. Ivik Gunnett remembers the mother in detail. She was a scientific person, but the villagers didn't mind that so long as she carried no technology. But when a stranger named Furkas Xoud came to town, she departed quickly. She confided to Gunnett that Xoud was Technic League. She had met him when he wanted her information on a historic figure named Casandalee. But to Gunnett's eye, Xoud looked more like renegade former Technic League. Xoud vanished a day later, but the mother did not return.
Book 4 - Paeytr remembers her from three years ago, before the aliens arrived, and she mentioned going to Starfall. Therace Holiyard remembers her as a prisoner of the Technic League, captured as a lead on Mockery, but full of information about the Scar of the Spider that inspired his expedition. Hyrsek Caio had interviewed her before tracking Therace Holiyard to the Scar of the Spider, and she is still in good shape.
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I figured "imprisoned or incapacitated" was the best reason why she disappeared for so long. I'll go with the prisoner of the League one, although I won't drop so many hints (too convenient that they follow the party's path so closely). I've got a solid outline now, thanks.
She could be a slave of the tech league. Maybe they force her to help at excavation sites with her knowledge or pure workforce. You could put such a site anywhere you want