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Old 01-14-2021, 02:02 AM   #21
Michele
 
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Default Re: [GAME] Let's Build a Conspiracy!

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Originally Posted by Daigoro View Post
Question 16
Who was the original Ottoman psychic? Why was he executed?
Put to death in 1839? He was probably a provincial official opposing the Gulhane Edict of that year. He might have been a supporter of the millet system.

Note that this might tie in with present-day feelings concerning Islam. Which might not go down well with your gaming group.

Then again, some of the opponents of the Edict were not Muslims, but Christians in the Balkans. They preferred the millet because, while it did not give them equality as Ottoman subjects, it set them apart and even gave them some privileges.

Or maybe he opposed the Edict for other reasons. He was building a personal power base in his province and ignored the order to send the required manpower to the centralized army levy, or something like that.
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Old 01-14-2021, 09:39 AM   #22
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Default Re: [GAME] Let's Build a Conspiracy!

It was a big empire, so there are lots of possibilities.

I'm not widely read on the subject at all, but I was looking at this paragraph from Wikipedia.

In 1839, the Hatt-i Sharif proclamation launched the Tanzimat (from Arabic: تنظيم tanẓīm, meaning "organisation") (1839–76), period. Previous to the first of the firmans, the property of all persons banished or condemned to death was forfeited to the crown, which kept a sordid motive for acts of cruelty in perpetual operation, besides encouraging a host of vile Delators. The second firman removed the ancient rights of Turkish governors to condemn men to instant death at will; the Paşas, the Ağas, and other officers were enjoined that "they should not presume to inflict, themselves, the punishment of death on any man, whether Raya or Turk, unless authorized by a legal sentence pronounced by the Kadi, and regularly signed by the judge."


So he could've been executed after the edict, with one of your scenarios, or I was thinking maybe he was one of the last executions under the old system as an innocent man falling foul of his local rulers.

Anyway, it's an open question for someone else to put their own spin on.
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Old 01-14-2021, 10:00 AM   #23
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Default Re: [GAME] Let's Build a Conspiracy!

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Originally Posted by Michele View Post
Put to death in 1839? He was probably a provincial official opposing the Gulhane Edict of that year. He might have been a supporter of the millet system.

Note that this might tie in with present-day feelings concerning Islam. Which might not go down well with your gaming group.

Then again, some of the opponents of the Edict were not Muslims, but Christians in the Balkans. They preferred the millet because, while it did not give them equality as Ottoman subjects, it set them apart and even gave them some privileges.

Or maybe he opposed the Edict for other reasons. He was building a personal power base in his province and ignored the order to send the required manpower to the centralized army levy, or something like that.
The past background of a near immortal villain doesn't really worry me. If they are on the wrong side, it makes them villainous. If their side was sympathetic, it makes them complex. Just don't specify an official stance on the conflict and we'll be fine.



On the other hand, 1839 is a little early for officials to be executed for opposing the edict which didn't have any real legal effects until later. In 1839, the ottoman empire is at war with Egypt, with Muhammad Ali declaring independence.



Answer 16:

The original shard was a mid-ranking Ottoman administrator in Syria of Turkish descent who was getting his hands dirty even then, playing both sides during Egypt's control of Syria. He was betrayed on the eve of the second war between the two by a close ally, taken by the ottomans, and executed for treason.


Question 19:
What sort of powers did our Turkish administrator have before his death?
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Old 01-15-2021, 05:11 AM   #24
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Question 19:
What sort of powers did our Turkish administrator have before his death?
Answer 19: Telepathy, mind-reading, mind-control, and astral projection.
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Last edited by ajardoor; 01-15-2021 at 05:16 AM.
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Old 01-15-2021, 10:18 AM   #25
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Level 1 Response
Gaslighting
Details:
the Conspiracy uses mundane tools to try to induce the target to doubt of their mental sanity. Additionally, people close to the target will also be led to believe their loved one or friend is going nuts. An accomplice is usually needed within the target's circle. The tools include mundane psychotropic drugs and substances, administered secretly; hypnosis; and overt offers of any substances the target is known to be already partial to. The accomplice will also contradict the target's recollections of past events, spread rumors, etc. Physical and electronic evidence will also be tampered with: the accomplice will move, hide or steal objects, forge documents, data or reports, change passwords, etc.

This Level 1 Response also is a stepping stone to a Level 2 Response (which, however, I'll leave for another user): if the target is undaunted, then the events having happened during the gaslighting form the basis for a campaign to get the target interdicted and possibly eventually interned in a mental health facility.
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Old 01-17-2021, 09:27 AM   #26
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Level 1 Response
Sticky Fingers
Details:
The conspiracy covertly steals stuff from the players with mundane means - typically by breaking into their homes and picking their pockets on the street. This response is often used to set the players up for a higher level response in the future - stolen wallets let them identify the characters to law enforcement, stolen keys get copied so kill-teams can access their homes, stolen guns are planted at crime scenes, stolen address books are used to track down the players' families and friends, etc.

Level 3 Response
Haunting
Details:
Conspiracy psychics are authorized to use their powers to "poltergeist" the players at home and on the move. They typically use TK powers to distract, sabotage and hurt the players - pulling the pins on grenades, rattling windows, destroying evidence, throwing objects around, lighting fires, firing guns, stealing stuff from their pockets, unlocking doors, cutting brake lines, and so on. If they kill a target, great, but any real counterattack means the psychics break off immediately and come back to harass them later.
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Old 01-19-2021, 08:42 AM   #27
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Level 2 Node:
Bauxita Consolidated
Details: Bauxita Consolidated (or BC) is a mining corporation operating across Brazil and in a few neighboring countries. Mostly mining Bauxite, which means moving tons and tons of ore. Bauxita consolidated owns lots of land, lots of machinery, and has thousands of employees. Its a great place to dump bodies, identify test subjects without any connections, and hide stuff (and people). Bauxita is also a great revenue source, and controls manufacturing subsidiaries that can make "unusual" devices. While Bauxita is a fairly large organization, its mostly used and owned by the conspiracy rather than a true part of it (which is why its level 2 rather than level 3). The top officers of the company are in on the conspiracy, though they mostly worry about making themselves rich, and small cells of conspirators act throughout BC.

Connections:
Control of Bauxita Consolidated is exerted through the Becket group. Actual operations leveraging BC are usually directed through Blackhawk Trucking. Individual Bauxita teams might be considered level 1 nodes.



Nodes so Far:
Level 1 (2/6): Highshore Projects Gang. The Pheonix Club
Level 2 (2/5): Synthapharm North East Campus. Bauxita Consolidated
Level 3 (2/4): Blackhawk Trucking. The Becket Group.
Level 4 (0/3):
Level 5 (1/2): The Melded Disciples
Level 6 (0/1):



So we're got one third of the nodes fleshed out now. Level three has the most work on it: I actually moved Bauxita Consolidated into a different bracket to make it more even.
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Old 01-19-2021, 02:40 PM   #28
ajardoor
 
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Default Re: [GAME] Let's Build a Conspiracy!

Quote:
Question 17
Who were the two Shards involved in the coup against Pedro II?

Question 18
What kind of place was the 1900 meeting held in?
These Questions are still unAnswered, by my count. Anyone?

---
Level 4 Node
Carmello Global Banking
Details:
This multinational banking conglomerate is a well-known financial institution across most continents. It is the main money arm for the conspiracy, funding other Nodes, dodging taxes and laundering illegal revenue. It provides special personal banking services to the highest status members of the conspiracy - including premium platinum cards in their wallets.
Connections: The CEO and the board of Carmello answers directly to a number two of the conspiracy (a Level 5 Node). Level 3 Nodes controlled by the multinational is probably a drug cartel (who funnel cash upward through mutual sweet-heart deals, to the point of preparing custom personal tellers to receive their payments) or a lone billionaire who works as a cutout for certain conspiracy projects.
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Last edited by ajardoor; 01-19-2021 at 02:57 PM.
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Old 01-19-2021, 06:29 PM   #29
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Default Re: [GAME] Let's Build a Conspiracy!

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These Questions are still unAnswered, by my count. Anyone?
I think these are all the questions still open:
Quote:
Originally Posted by ajardoor View Post
Question 4: Is the conspiracy enemies with another conspiracy? If so, who?
Quote:
Originally Posted by ajardoor View Post
Question 12: What is the latest psychotronic super-drug the conspiracy has perfected and what does it do?
Quote:
Originally Posted by ajardoor View Post
Question 13: Are there any other conspiracies that are rivals to the Diaspora? Are they also psychics?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Daigoro View Post
Question 17
Who were the two Shards involved in the coup against Pedro II?

Question 18
What kind of place was the 1900 meeting held in?
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Old 01-20-2021, 08:47 AM   #30
ericthered
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Default Re: [GAME] Let's Build a Conspiracy!

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Question 13: Are there any other conspiracies that are rivals to the Diaspora? Are they also psychics?

Well, there is the "Heirs". In contrast to the Diaspora, the Heirs are led by a handful of shards that have remained in the middle east. They have the same ambition and talent for cloak and dagger as the original shard, but a more narrow outlook, and they consider the diaspora to be traitors. There are only a handful of Heirs, in contrast to the diaspora.



Question 19:
What was the original shard's name?


Question 20:
Are any government agencies aware enough of the diaspora to interact with them meaningfully, perhaps as a counter conspiracy?



---------------------------------
Response Nodes:
Level 1 (5/6): The Crazy, Burn, smear campaign, gaslighting, sticky fingers
Level 2 (3/5): Isolate Enemy, Material Damage, Affiliated not connected
Level 3 (3/4): Come work for us, Going Dark, Haunting
Level 4 (1/3): Double Cross
Level 5 (1/2): Lure and Destroy
Level 6 (1/1): All out Destruction


The response nodes are looking healthy. Level four is the most empty, which is not surprising given that level four is the most empty node level. two thirds of the responses have been filled.
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