So while reading through the adventure, event one seems to indicate the PCs are specifically lucid and being interacted with in this encounter.
This is spoilers. The abductors specifically tell them that they are being deceived, then the event plays out as if the PCs are starting to realize something is wrong and there is a gap in time. If they already know they were abducted, what is the point of setting up the clues about what happened? Later on, they are hypnotized by a physician to recall the events, I'm confused as to wether the PCs are supposed to guess what happened or have a direct answer and role play ignorance.
I'm assuming the part of them mentioning the details of event 1 are exposition for the GM. What is everyone's interpretation of this event, how did it go over with your PCs?
**SPOILER TOWN**
I'm assuming the part of them mentioning the details of event 1 are exposition for the GM. What is everyone's interpretation of this event, how did it go over with your PCs?
I am treating it as GM material as well, though discoverable to the PCs through investigation. Page 4 of Deceivers' Moon says: "Victims have no memory of the gray abduction and can’t recall what happened during this period of missing time."
Some of the clues the PCs can use besides the overall missing time phenomenon are: wounds have been healed and conditions removed, there's signs of surgical investigation related to their previous lab "upgrades" from Flight of the Sleepers, technological data on board the ship, and of course the events of Encounter 1.
This is an opportunity, like the majority of the first book, for the GM to subtly allow PCs access to clues to figure out the reality of their situation. Only once they've pierced that veil can they begin to put together the pieces and see what happened to them. Having the players themselves only know what their characters know is the only realistic way to truly create the kind of role play necessary for this kind of adventure. Every new revelation is truly a shocker.
**SPOILER TOWN**
I'm assuming the part of them mentioning the details of event 1 are exposition for the GM. What is everyone's interpretation of this event, how did it go over with your PCs?I am treating it as GM material as well, though discoverable to the PCs through investigation. Page 4 of Deceivers' Moon says: "Victims have no memory of the gray abduction and can’t recall what happened during this period of missing time."
How did this work out for your group? What were the speed bumps and the highlights? What did they catch onto quickly?
We haven't reached that point. I am reading ahead to prepare. We're in the middle of "Flight of the Sleepers" now.
My plan is to clue them in with something like "You feel a sudden ringing in your ears and your vision flickers. Everything appears normal after the sensation passes."
They are mostly a low-brains brawler group that is only a little worried about the Grey facility not being Absalom Station, their intended destination. The detective (operative) character, however, has been slowly sliding into an existential crisis with each strange revelation. He is very paranoid about shapeshifters now, having called the disguised Captain as an astrazoan earlier on the Chimera.