Okay...

So I have run my first session where the players basically went through a "pre-story" on how Rank 5-6 acolytes somehow get kidnapped without anyone noticing (other senior acolytes, other arbites and even folks at the Collegium for the psycher) by an enemy organisation... It took more time convincing them I wasnt faking rolls just to get them captured (and they spent all their fate points to re-roll poison checks and the like) and it ended up in such a major and escalating battle that I doubt subsequent encounters in the actual story will offer more thrill!

Still, we moved on into the red cages... and then reached vault 13 (where they started talking, and I dont blame them, about Fallout). And by now slowly the psycher in the group has regained his powers and the heavily modified rank 6 adept manages to fix his implants.

Enter the dieing Inquisitor...

How did your players respond to this obviously railroading and annoying encounter? Cause I can see what a fuss it will create in my "rules as written" group when I tell them "nop sorry, you cant use your Master Chirurgeon skills mister Adept, nor can you use Mend Wounds misters Psycher, he is just beyond help".

I mean come on! Give the poor GM something to make his life easier! What sort of player accepts "he gives you all the clues and then dies and there is nothing you can do" kind of plot? Perhaps an MMORPG player but not any serious RPGer!

So any ideas from the rest of the community how did you handle it/how would you handle it?

So far I have only thought of one viable solution. The Inquisitor is already dead and perhaps a captive slaver who was present in the interogation tells them the truth after being tortured/interrogated. Or perhaps there is a recording in the Viewing Room. The problem here is why would the PC's believe that a full group of Acolyte AND an Inquisitor got captured so easily... ambuss or no ambuss it still stinks!

How about letting your PC's actually save him if they can? After all, lets assume he's taken 7 critical X damage to the head (for those rules lawers of yours). However, he burned his last fate point to survive and, as a result, he's now permanently deafened and can only take half actions for the next 1d5 days (it would have been hours, but the whole would have been dead thing made the effects of crit 6 to the head a lot worse and left him in a nasty shocked punch-drunk state possibly having his Int score take a permenant hit). When they find him and the Medicae rushes to him to work his healing magic, he will only be able to bring the Inquisitor to, at max, 4 critical. His life is saved now, he's stable, but he sure as hell is not in any kind of condition to much of anything and can easily be killed if not cared for.

Congratulations, your PC's have now saved an Inquisitors life (serious bragging rights there and favors down the line I'm sure) but for the duration of the adventure, they will have to safe guard the poor fellow who still can't form a coherent sentence. he'll be able to give them the info needed for the story and maybe more, but he sure as hell is in no condition to really and effectively help them out.

Now, I've not read TF, so i don't know who feasible that is, but it may work.

As for psychic healing... psykers will break anything and everything. No advice there. If a psyker heals him up... i guess come up with what he knows and, yay, they saved an Inquisitor that can actually help them out of their predicament... wing it or alter the plot to accommodate this. I guess stat him out like any other PC and have him assist them. No scenario ever survives first contact with the players after all, especially the canned ones.

Eh, you could always go with the classic movie plot of having him killed by either an assassin or by a stray round in an ambush after the players heal him up. Or have him already be dead and don't have the info come from him directly, make it an encrypted data-slate or gene-coded lockbox or something else the players will have to try and get back to their boss. All the while being dogged by bad guys that don't want the Inquisition getting their hands on.

Though I will say the above posters suggestion is also very good.

You should definitely be able to save the dying Inquisitor. It shouldn't be easy, but it should be possible. It doesn't change what the acolytes will then have to do; the Inquisitor has charged them with a task, escaping the city is quite impossible and in a few days terribly bad things will happen unless the acolytes intervene. Graver's got the right assessment of what saving the Inquisitor would mean, I think. The group could most likely unload him onto the White Scholar if/when they find him (providing he survives what happens next), but he'll be a burden, at least initially.

First, why I do not like the approach of TF either, it might actually be best NOT to play there capture. Sure, they WILL be pissed if you simply tell them "you got caught"... but this might be easier to "come over" for them if the actually give it there best afforder (or a fight for there life!), including burning up "fate", only to literally try to escape the unescapable.

Talking Inquisitor:
I do not think that my players would have a problem if I tell him "he is beyound resque, this are his final moments". But instead, I would make it a point about letting the in-group medic role to see how many precious secound he is able to give him! Therefore, the "medic" at least feels like he made a difference.

If you want a chance for his resque, due so. But ensure that in order to "stablelize" him, the pc-medic has to put him in a coma-like state. Therefore, he cannot spoil EVERYTHING he knows (just that much..then he NEEDS to be put into coma, otherwise he might easly die from wounds and bloodloss).
This lead to the point where the pc will "bind up themselves" in guarding him. You should "honour" this effort with searching parties of the beast house (use "Killer" stats). The pc can spot them after a while around there "lair"..and will have to move..or fight them, then move. This might go on until a)they found the "White Scribe" who will take care of his master then in a hide-out or b)the pc due favors to "Papa Grist" or the "SpiderQueen". If they mind sealing to the deal that they will get a safe house and access to medical equipment... a some guard servitore/V-Lady.

I think it depends on your style of play.

A lot of people roleplay on game mechanics, so he is dying, we can try to save him according too...

No, I prefer drama, this inquisitor should have been dead hours ago, but is sheer will has left him capable to give the pc's a message.
In rpg's rules are just guidelines to be broken (within reason) to create drama.

The problem faced with "its drama" is what we call precedent.

Why does the NPC die for drama purposes but the player or the master villain never does! I mean I read somewhere in these forums that Theodosia in another story took 45 points of damage and he :lost his hand:. So if you were a player and did lets say 50 damage you would be satisfied if the GM told you :well he still lives, he just lost a finger"... then I would say that when my character explodes in the house of dust and ash... well its just a flesh-wound if we want to be fair.

I do understand the mechanics of the game and the idea of drama but I am very much against using them in a game that has a system and rules. If we were playing diceless, if this was a theatrical play or a movie sure... the psycher tries to use his unholy powers and still fails... but on a game with stats and statlines which may not be as important as the story but are still there you cant just ignore them...

Okay he is holding by a strand because of his indominatable will... and then the psycher comes along and uses regenerate on him! Tada! saved.

arcona said:

My plan is to have the characters awaken in the ring and look around. They will see Inquisitor Sands and many other NPC's associated with the Inquisitor waking up around them. In a similar vein to the Eisenhorn novels my plan is to show that the entire Inquisitors staff and acolytes have been captured and dropped in this ring.

If the Psyker saves the Inquisitor then he lives, the psychological damage of the torture and knowing that in the end he/she was ready to give up will remain. I have no idea what I will do with that yet

I will also introduce the masked antagonist in a previous adventure so that there is a history between the PC's and him, giving the antagonist a reason for picking the PC's to toy with over anyone else in the pit.

"Bones, is there anything you can do for him?"

"Dammit Jim, Im a doctor not a miracle worker! If I had the proper tools, the proper place!"

Its just that simple, in order to save the Inquisitor would involve serious surgery, not a Charlie Brown band aid, and they PCs just dont have the right tools, time, or place to do it.

Peacekeeper_b said:

I'll second that comment. As for the Psyker, they shouldn't be able to heal squat unless the party has spent a ridiculous amount of time in the Red Cages (like beyond what the adventure would have you spend there).

Frankly the bits that don't make sense are things like the final fight, but that's better discussed in the GM forum.

Peacekeeper_b said:

Agreed. You can have the Master Healer make a medicine check, then tell him that after examining him it is clear that he is beyond saving.

Anyone remember the auto-seance in Eisenhorn? I personally think that'd be a good one. Talking to someone who's already dead and really doesn't have much to lose or gain from telling their secrets.