Steve Jackson Games - Site Navigation
Home General Info Follow Us Search Illuminator Store Forums What's New Other Games Ogre GURPS Munchkin Our Games: Home

Go Back   Steve Jackson Games Forums > Roleplaying > GURPS

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 02-18-2018, 01:36 AM   #1
WaterAndWindSpirit
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
Default [Social Engineering] Confidants

So I've been thinking about running a Magical Girls campaign with a massive dose of reality setting in (smart demons are not afraid of buying hired thugs/guns, guns can show up on both sides of the equation so a Magical Girl with enough ST could potentially leverage it by dual wielding Pfeifer Zeliska revolvers, people might notice the Magical Girls getting bruises and cuts all the time and making shoddy excuses for them which may result in social services investigating, which will make keeping a low profile harder, Magical Girls are a worldwide phenomenon as is the demonic invasion, thus justifying why the demons simply don't relocate their operations (Queen Beryl from Sailor Moon would have won easily if she just decided to take all of her operation out of Tokyo. Seriously, most Dark Kingdom activity was discovered by the Sailor Senshi through pure luck)... Wounds can be nasty but being a magical girl comes with the perk of a healing factor that can fully heal any injury that is not outright fatal given enough time, a database of demons and their strengths weaknesses is kept on a secure server somewhere on the Deep Web and is updated as squads encounter new demon subspecies... Various intelligence agencies are digging into the magical phenomenons, but several greedy leaders may be compromised...

So I've been thinking about aping the "Confidant" system from Persona 5. Confidants are special NPCs with skills or connections that will assist the PC. A forensic lab tech that will "accidentally" contaminate some evidence as long as the PCs avoid civilian injuries, a shady fence that will buy and sell contraband (illegal items, but not weapons, say licensed medical supplies that have expired but should still be useful, or buy loot (demons are basically made of destructive emotions emotions materialized around a "core", for instance jealousy around a valuable wedding ring, greed around ivory products, gluttony around silver cutlery, lust around rumored aphrodisiacs like powdered rhinoceros horn, and so on that can be looted after the demon's death)), a teacher in the know that can edit the attendance record and give private tutoring to accommodate for a Magical Girl's hectic schedule, a gun shop owner who can provide guns and ammo even though he technically can't legally sell them to underage girls who may or may not be able to pass a federal background check anyway, a doctor in the who patches up injuries "off the record", a survivalist providing a place to lay low or home cooked explosives if needed, a hacker who can gather data, a DHS agent who can deploy with a squad to provide heavy firepower and occasionally funnel "supplies"...

So the question is threefold (Making NPCs and giving them a reason to support the Magical Girls I can do easy enough, and making the process gradually unlock advantages is easy too...):

1) What potential allies have I missed?
2) What advantage(s) represent such allies?
3) How to indicate to the PCs that they have just met a potential Confidant?

Thanks!
WaterAndWindSpirit is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-18-2018, 02:27 AM   #2
Phantasm
 
Phantasm's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: On the road again...
Default Re: [Social Engineering] Confidants

For the advantages, I would certainly represent this using Contacts.

I think you have most of the possibilities covered, actually, though I am sure there are others on the forum as well as your players who will find other confidant types.

As for how they'd find out, that all depends on the contact. A sporting goods store owner or survivalist may actually pull a gun on the demons in the presence of the girls (and boys; there are likely magical boys as well, though I think they'd be on average more Sentai/Power Ranger type than Tuxedo Whateverhisnamewas), while the teachers would want to speak with them after class. Of course, that all depends on whether the teachers are able to bypass the magical Masked trait most Magical Girl types have to hide their identities.
__________________
"Life ... is an Oreo cookie." - J'onn J'onzz, 1991

"But mom, I don't wanna go back in the dungeon!"

The GURPS Marvel Universe Reboot Project A-G, H-R, and S-Z, and its not-a-wiki-really web adaptation.
Ranoc, a Muskets-and-Magery Renaissance Fantasy Setting
Phantasm is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-18-2018, 02:48 AM   #3
WaterAndWindSpirit
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
Default Re: [Social Engineering] Confidants

Quote:
Originally Posted by Phantasm View Post
Of course, that all depends on whether the teachers are able to bypass the magical Masked trait most Magical Girl types have to hide their identities.
Magical Girls don't have a Masked trait here. Few people ever get a good look at them and live to tell the tale, they got a minor illusion spell that can basically provide a magical cosplay, and most Magical Girls are complete nobodies so even if someone got a good look at the face of a Magical Girl in action, they'd need a 10 points facial recognition advantage (like a really good bouncer) to pick them out from a crowd, or a 5 point advantage to recognize them one on one, unless they had reasons to suspect them (Police response times are usually in the ballpark of 10-15 minutes in most areas, the fact that the Magical Girl's response time at Whatever High is less than 3 minutes is likely what tipped the teacher off that Magical Girls are secretly Whatever High students, and from there on look for students with unexplained injuries and inconsistent sleep patterns is what will blow their cover as far as that specific teacher is concerned).
WaterAndWindSpirit is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-18-2018, 04:08 AM   #4
Leeland
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Default Re: [Social Engineering] Confidants

As for Confidants, here are some that i find highly useful in any modern setting
  • a policeman who tells you if you catch heat
  • a reporter that makes the public sympathetic to you
  • a private eye that can keep an eye on people for you
  • a hacker that can dig up stuff on the web
  • a scientist in a field useful for you
  • a psychologicst to keep you sane (especially if you wrangle with the powers of darkness on a regular basis)
Leeland is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Fnords are Off
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 01:33 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.