First Session Quandry

[Wordmaker]

I'm running our first game this weekend, set in Boston. We've agreed that Boston is pretty much a White Council stronghold with several wizards in permanent residence. The White Council are weak but a new leader is ambitious and eager to increase his power. The Faerie Courts are locked in a stalemate, each one making grand displays of power in their own time of year so as not to appear weak, but neither able to commit the resources to alter the balance of power (Winter nominally rules, having control for a longer period than Summer) and the Ladies like to make appearances at college parties.

There is a hidden scourge of Black Court vampires which has been slumbering for some time, and as of yet, the Red Court hasn't managed to make any inroads to Boston.

My main players are a Knight of the Cross, a White Council wizard specialising in lore and crafting, a True Believer civilian administrator for the Cathedral of the Holy Cross who is an agent of the Ordo Malleus (she and a priest working in the Cathedral act as assistants and researchers/investigaors for the Knights of the Cross when they come to Massachusetts), and an undecided Emissary of Power.

At the moment, my plans for my first scenario are that one of Boston's wizards (who, if found out, will claim he received information from a trusted source that there are traitors within the White Council, even the Senior Council) who has made deals with local mafia and several fae, to have a list of people killed. These people will include my Wizard PC's younger sibling, the Ordo Malleus' PC's supervising priest, and other wizards, including a young, teenaged apprentice.

I'm hoping this will play on my group's knowledge of the books and the Black Council, making them suspect that the villain might be teling the truth, but making them choose between loyalty to those they care about and the possibility of a traitor in the White Council. If some of the killings are successful, it'll help me further one of my Threat Aspects for Boston: The Coming Storm, since I want Boston to start off fairly safe and peaceful, but become more under threat as the campaign continues.

I'm just worried this is all a little too big for new PCs to handle, or at least, too major an even to start off a campaign.

Any opinions? Should I go ahead, or just do a simple "solve the murder, stop the ritual, defeat the bad guy" plot to start off?

[Deadmanwalking]

Depends on the mood you want for the game. Do you want it straightforward or more plots within plots convoluted? Maybe, without giving details, you should ask the PCs which of the two they prefer. This guy isn't likely to be any harder to find than your hypothetical "solve murder, stop ritual" bad guy, there's just the added moral/practical issue of his motivation. Do you want to add an element of paranoia in this early (which this will absolutely do, whatever they decide to do)?

Also, bear in mind something: You have a Wizard PC. He can Soulgaze the guy if he doubts him. It's not a lie detector, but if the guy's a flat-out villain, his line is just not gonna work.

[crusher_bob]

Why does his claim about traitors in the council have anything to do with him killing semi-random people?  His claim would make sense if he was killing other wizards, but why kill those other guys?

So possibility one:
The wizard thinks he has good info about another wizard (we'll call him Bob) betraying the council.  But since he doesn't think the Bob is actually breaking any of the Laws, he can hardly sic the wardens him.  so instead he takes matters into his own hands, and arranges Bob to be killed by mafia hitmen.

Another possibility:
The white council doesn't really concern itself with human laws, so Bob could be a mafia don (or whatever), and as long as he doesn't break the Laws, the wardens won't touch him.  But maybe one of the mafia actions has pissed off our wizard.  But since Bob hasn't broken any Laws, no wardens, again.  So our wizard hooks up with the guys in the mafia who want Don Bob taken out.

Or maybe:
It's Don Bob, having guys whacked for not paying off their debts to the mob (or whatever) and when the PCs investigate, they discover that Don Bob is a wizard.  They load up to fight presumed warlock Don Bob, but discover that he's a member of the council in good standing.  It's not like Don Bob is breaking the Laws, after all.  If you want to be particularly mean, you can have them find this out after they've put a bullet into Don Bob's head...    So Don Bob, who was heroically holding back the red court with his underworld connections is now dead.  The city just got more dangerous.

[SoulCatcher78]

It's Don Bob, having guys whacked for not paying off their debts to the mob (or whatever) and when the PCs investigate, they discover that Don Bob is a wizard.  They load up to fight presumed warlock Don Bob, but discover that he's a member of the council in good standing.  It's not like Don Bob is breaking the Laws, after all.  If you want to be particularly mean, you can have them find this out after they've put a bullet into Don Bob's head...    So Don Bob, who was heroically holding back the red court with his underworld connections is now dead.  The city just got more dangerous.

This one I like...sneaky double edged sword.  Now the wardens will want to have a "conversation" with the PCs.  Getting the "hands off" signal from the wardens early on might bring up an "I told you so" situation later that you can use to rope the PCs in to protecting Boston from the RCV.

[Wordmaker]

I would imagine the Wardens could be called in to deal with traitors and wizard-killers regardless of the Laws of Magic. But as I'm running it, this will be the first major attack on the White Council and its allies in Boston in about a hundred years. So a Warden response will be too slow to be of much help within the confines of the scenario.

I hadn't thought about the sense of paranoia the plot would bring about. That's worth considering.

At the moment I'm thinking about not revealing the real traitor until the very end, if at all. I'll use a patsy for the players to chase, and if they manage to find out who's really behind it and cause him to go into hiding, that'll be an extra victory for them.

That said, I really like the idea that the villain, while using nefarious methods, actually was doing so with what he believed are the Council's best interests at heart, and he was acting to prevent a Red Court incursion...

[neko128]

I hadn't thought about the sense of paranoia the plot would bring about. That's worth considering.

...And cherish!

[arentol]

It's Don Bob, having guys whacked for not paying off their debts to the mob (or whatever) and when the PCs investigate, they discover that Don Bob is a wizard.  They load up to fight presumed warlock Don Bob, but discover that he's a member of the council in good standing.  It's not like Don Bob is breaking the Laws, after all.  If you want to be particularly mean, you can have them find this out after they've put a bullet into Don Bob's head...    So Don Bob, who was heroically holding back the red court with his underworld connections is now dead.  The city just got more dangerous.

Remind me not to join any game you are GM'ing. OUCH!