Embers of Hope Sandcastle
Theta-2 is a party with a black mark for going out of bounds already. Now they have the choice of solidifying their reputations or proving their superiors wrong as they act on various Keleres Alerts that are shot to them.
Plot points/Scenes
This game is loosely based on an old campaign idea: that a ship would be the main site that players return to, their base of operations, and every session was a new, short, episodic adventure that would take a small crew off-ship as a team. Characters would build relationships with each other through relying on each other. It sounds like an after-school special but played like a symphony of stories.
The first thing I need is a Call to Adventure. In From Dust and Ash I'm going to use a Investigation scene to have the Cohort gather data that reveals a smuggler & their ship heading into Mecatol Rex. They'll go to arrest him, but split into groups based on what they can do. Intelligence, Combat, & Social are the easiest groupings. They're gonna find the ship, smuggler's hideout, and the smuggler and arrest him. But in doing so, each team breaks numerous laws. Tribunii Myrr is furious and wants the Cohort benched or thrown out. That's what's going to set up a new plot.
In Adventure 2 a Druaa masquerading as Tribunii Leeds leads them to a hidden stellar transport, a small tramp freighter version, and sends them off-world .
Structure
Exposition
Exposition happens in the first mission and as a flashback-style scene in whatever adventure the Cohort is on after a character achieves their third Agenda Benchmark. Further flashback scenes happen after the fifth Agenda Benchmark. The flashback scenes are personal and unique, and display the character's reasoning for their motivations and Agenda.
Conflict
Conflict shifts upward through a pyramid to one of the top threats. At the lowest levels, the first hundred or so XP, the characters face low-tier minions and rivals like bossfights. As the story progresses, the minions are easily bypassed and only the rivals are a challenge while Nemesis level opponents are bossfights. Finally, even Rivals fall away as the characters become able to handle Nemeses like rivals.
Conflict also comes in a variety of types. Combat and Social Encounters, obviously. But also, I am including Exploration Challenges and Investigations. Finally Chases and Puzzles like cryptography and mathematical algorithms are going to be used as well. Between these six types of conflict, the Cohort will face interpersonal conflict within their Cohort and within the Keleres.
Finally the Motivations, specifically the Fear Motivation, of each character will obviously be played on like a bassline in a song, with the strumming of their Desire Motivation to act as the melody.
Rising Action
Cohort Theta-2's Campaign layout is simple: It starts with a smuggler, then a rumor. It ends with a war.
The Cohort has a chance to collar a criminal smuggler on the Keleres wanted list. His interrogation leads to the rumor of a Great Oscillator that survived the Twilight Wars. The rumor of the Key sends the characters on an Investigation that leads to several planets with quests of their own. Completion leads to more information. When the Key is found, they then need to defend the key, find the vault, and survive the journey to it. The vault could change the balance of power if it falls into some other factions hands. Once at the Vault they need to secure the area, investigate the actual vault, retrieve the goods and bring them to whichever faction is going to get them. Choosing to deliver to anyone other than the Keleres will result in military action by the other Great Civilizations. Choosing the Keleres will result in the Enemy (Not Rival) forces attacking Keleres outposts.
