Here's the short version: I dropped a hint for one of my PCs in a Seek vision, for something called the "Vykos Project." Turns out, Vykos is a planet, which I did not know, and is not part of the project. Do I 'fess up and say, "Yeah, I'm sorry, that's a completely unintended coincidence," or try to retroactively work this planet in?

Here's the long version: The player is playing Nathan Huffheinz, a former corporate espionage agent, who found a good honest woman and gave up his life of crime to sell unpainted furniture under an assumed name. Life was good for some years, until his five-year-old son, Nathan Jr, was kidnapped. For the last five years, Huffheinz has put his criminal skills toward finding his boy, but the trail has gone cold. That is, until recently when he was taught to use the Seek power to try to find his boy. This is basically what the player knows.

Here's what he doesn't know: His son was kidnapped by Lennart the Small, a Gamorrean bounty hunter better known as The Warthog From Hell. Nathan Jr, like his father, is strong in the Force, and so was snatched up, turned over to the Inquisition, and inducted into the Vykos Project.

This is basically a project to create Force-Sensitive weapons. Part of the project involves horrible, twisted body modification (though Nathan Jr is not in this branch), and this is where I got the name Vykos. In the old Vampire: the Masquerade RPG, Sascha (or Myka) Vykos was probably the most famous of the Tzimizsce Clan, well known for such body modification, and creating horrid monsters. I liked the name and grabbed it, later deciding that Vykos is the name of an old Cerean (or maybe Arkanian, depending on the species I decide to use for the surgeon who performs these experiments) legend.

When using Seek, Mr. Huffheinz saw his son, wearing a jumpsuit that read "VYKOS 1138" on the back. My intention was that in the next session, he would be hired to steal some files related to the surgeon, and one of the folders in the data would be labeled "Vykos Project." You know, establishing a trail of breadcrumbs to follow, eventually leading to the secret Imperial facility.

Well, my player did some research (which is new, and I'm honestly pretty stoked about it), and discovered that there's a planet named Vykos. Crap. I don't want him to go chasing red herrings, because that's not fun. So I can either work this planet in somehow to reward his initiative, or I can tell him it's a coincidence. And I honestly don't know which is better.

Any thoughts? Bonus points if you get the reference for... well,basically his entire character.

I think you should give this one to them; perhaps this particular imperial felt like naming projects after regions to better keep track of them or the scientist has such a huge ego that he wanted to work where his name was! Or perhaps his son isn't there, but there is a facility that contains all the established "research centres" that are doted around the planet/sector. Just to get a sense of depth how big this place is. Either way there is no harm in rewarding player research, as the character would easily have access to that knowledge

Given that it was discovered via Seek it's entirely plausible to give the player a "This doesn't feel right..." speech when they focus on the planet name.

That said, making it part of the project (and/or linked to the project, as per Lordbiscuit's suggestion) seems like a natural followup. The reference is still there, just buried a bit deeper in the happenstance of the setting.

I'm with Lordbiscuit on this. When this kind of thing happens at my table I try to run with it.

You didn't say, but did you already plan for the Vykos Project to be located somewhere else? Is that current location important to the story? If you're thinking it's a problem they go directly to the planet and bypass some research...we tend to forget, when playing Star Wars, just how big a planet is. If you were planning a series of investigation-related encounters, it shouldn't really matter whether, say, the bar the PC goes to to meet the infochant is located on Planet X, or in City X on Vykos.

Kudos on the premise, BTW, sounds like a great hook.

As the playwright Checkov said, "kill your darlings." Don't be so in love with your story that you can't give the PCs something that was unintended. Go ahead and retroactively work it in.

Top-secret code names don't have to mean anything. But I agree with the others here; in this case, it sounds like a good idea to run with it.

If this happened in my game, I'd only relocate the project to the planet Vykos if I wanted to speed the adventure along to the PCs discovering the whole shebang. If you want the adventure to last a bit longer, you don't have to make this a red herring; instead, plant some key information there. Maybe they meet a key NPC, or maybe they find a computer core with information related to the center you eventually want them to find.

The codename Manhattan Project referred to where a lot of the uranium was imported, stored, and experimented on, but the actual bomb construction was out in New Mexico. I'd do something similar with Vykos.

If you haven't committed to the scientist's name being Vykos, it's easy for you to make it reference the planet and set the project there.

You could make the planet part of the clue chain. Player goes there, seeking the Project, only to find that the legendary scientist took their home planet's name when they were shunned for their nefarious work. But old documents/friends/witnesses lead back to the original trail you have set up. Throw in an interesting encounter on Vykos and you have a whole session of meaty investigation. Nothing like visiting a big villain's home town and seeing their life before villainy.

40 minutes ago, rogue_09 said:

If you haven't committed to the scientist's name being Vykos, it's easy for you to make it reference the planet and set the project there.

You could make the planet part of the clue chain. Player goes there, seeking the Project, only to find that the legendary scientist took their home planet's name when they were shunned for their nefarious work. But old documents/friends/witnesses lead back to the original trail you have set up. Throw in an interesting encounter on Vykos and you have a whole session of meaty investigation. Nothing like visiting a big villain's home town and seeing their life before villainy.

Winner winner chicken dinner.

'They bought their tickets. They knew what they were getting into. I say let them crash.'

Sorry, that is always the first thing that comes to mind when everyone is agreeing.

To be honest, I agree too. If the player is so invested that they went and actually did research, let them have it. Either the project is there or a big clue to follow. Players that invested in the gme can make the game alot more fun for the GM

I think I'm reading this in the other replies, but -- this is easy.

Just tie the Vykos system into the conspiracy as an origin/namesake, and convey this to sleuthing players at the same time you confidently point them to the location you want.

You know like, "Manhattan had introductory facilities, yes, but the real action is in New Mexico."

That was Chicago

Vykos itself seems to be a pretty blank slate and seems to be located in Imperial space. It may just be better to integrate the planet into the plot. If your players don't know the scientist's name, you could easily change it if you only want one Vykos in your game.

Man, I swear I replied to this before, but it seems to be lost. Thanks for all the replies, folks. Anyway, I think this is what I'm gonna do with it.

The original Vykos was a Cerean Philosopher/Scientist thousands of years ago, and will sort of take the place of Prometheus in Cerean legend. He dabbled in the blending of science and Force mysticism, which to this day is not well understood. For his dangerous experiments, he and his followers were banished, journeyed through Unknown Space, and eventually landed on a new world, which was named for the philosopher. He continued his works until his death, but they did not continue long after. The idyllic planet is still sparsely populated, with only a few small cities.

Vykos is described on Wookieepedia as, "a planet of fast-flowing rivers (such as the Tueinami) which attacted white-water rapid rafters and deep canyons." Seeing as how Star Wars planets are pretty much uniform, I'm thinking it's basically a laid-back resort world, populated by tan, California surfer Cereans. If you're on the beach, you surf. If you're in the mountains, you ski or snowboard (and with their binary minds, there is no animosity between the two). If you're in between, you hit those sweet rapids in your raft or kayak.

A few years ago, our villain, "The Sculptor," came to Vykos, following his research of the philosopher. He established a lab here, and began his works, abandoning the place after he lost control of the poor creatures he experimented on. Fortunately the lab is deep in the wilderness, so the inhabitants have only heard rumor of the creatures in that part of the forest, but there is a particular rafting route that allows you to see the semi-famous old ruin in which the Sculptor built his lab. The rumors of twisted creatures are mostly discounted, as the Sculptor's creations are generally shy, though they are attuned to Force-Sensitives and are driven to hunt them.

Naturally, I'm hoping to set up a sick whitewater rafting trip, in which they'll be attacked by a pack of the deformed experiments, trek through the wilds to the ruin, find some more clues, and then have to make their way back to civilization. If they want to work in some time to learn to surf or whatever, that's good too.

So, perhaps this is an opportunity instead of a crisis! Perhaps on Vykos your PC can discover a clue to his son's whereabouts.

Or, you could pull the ol' switcheroo: "You thought I meant the planet Vykos? No, it's V.I.C.O.S, what a crazy coincidence!"

3 hours ago, The Grand Falloon said:

Naturally, I'm hoping to set up a sick whitewater rafting trip, in which they'll be attacked by a pack of the deformed experiments, trek through the wilds to the ruin, find some more clues, and then have to make their way back to civilization. If they want to work in some time to learn to surf or whatever, that's good too.

That sounds like a hoot, the whitewater would make an awesome chase...