Project Jade Serenity [Supers/Technothriller]

[tshiggins]

Sexual assault, and even a false accusation of sexual assault, takes careful thought before inclusion in a campaign, and for many groups I'd never do it, at all. In my more than 40 years of gaming, at this point, I only ever sort of included it, twice.

The first was back in high school, when my friends and I were 15 and 16. One player had his character kidnap some young peasant women and use them as slaves, because "teenage boys." Even then, we kept it "off-screen," as it were.

The only other time took place with the rape spirit in the Facets campaign, and I described it in that thread.

This situation is a bit fraught with the possibility of degeneration into No Fun. How have the players responded, so far? Do all of you know each other well enough that the GM knew it lay within the comfort zone of the players?

Given that most of my players are female, right now, I don't know that I'd go with a sub-plot this close to something that has the potential to carry such unpleasant emotional weight. Even the rape spirit, as removed from reality as it was, gave me a moment's pause.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by tshiggins

Sexual assault, and even a false accusation of sexual assault, takes careful thought before inclusion in a campaign, and for many groups I'd never do it, at all.[...]

I'm not certain how much thought there was before introducing the element into play. 'Cherry' Bell is Impulsive and it made some amount of sense that having found herself momentarily emotionally compromised, even to the extent of losing several Quick Contests of Influence skills vs. Will, she'd lash out vindictively against the person responsible.

From something the GM said yesterday, 'Cherry' Bell viewing Taylor as a threat to her future with Raul Vargas (even if that 'threat' just constituted of her realising that she was actually attracted to Taylor, when she'd meant to be merely cynically manipulating him through his attraction to her), her Delusion and Obsession might cause her to react irrationally and in a way that she'd later regret.

The GM seemed to quickly realise once investigators brought it up that an accusation of this nature might mean that either a PC, Chase Taylor, would never be allowed to be anywhere near future adventures, or an NPC, Ms. Bell, that had several vital story hooks connected to her, would meet the same fate. As such, the allegation, which started out as 'sexual assault', was quickly downgraded to 'sexual harassment' and Ms. Bell's testimony seemed to lack specificity or detail.

Unfortunately, depending on Reaction Rolls, it's not exactly unknown for an investigator to decide for themselves what they think happened and then try their best to shape the investigation to yield any kind of evidence that can be used to fit their preconceptions.

Only Zachary Holden's behaviour in the interrogation room is actually outside the behaviour I've seen from real cops in cases with a sexual element and this is because he's the only interviewer not actually trained by a law enforcement agency and he happens to have a visceral hatred of Chase Taylor.

Once the accusation came up, I told the GM that I really did not want NPCs to behave unrealistically or out of character by brushing it off, even if he'd realised that it had the potential to derail future adventures. Of course, things would have gone a lot smoother if Taylor's swingy reaction modifiers hadn't, unfortunately, been negative for both of the investigators who interviewed him.

Agent Richardson has Empathy, expert Body Language and Psychology (Applied) and very high Detect Lies skill, however, so while he may not like Taylor, he can be fairly confident about being able to tell when he's telling the truth.

Of course, with Very Beautiful, Charisma 4, Smooth Operator 4, Pitiable, Classic Features (Innocent Teen) and Honest Face, 'Cherry' Bell can tell an inconsistent, implausible story that contradicts all other evidence, but still find people eager to believe her, champion her cause and explain away all inconsistencies. And be very, very furious at the person they perceive as having hurt her or caused her fear.

Originally Posted by tshiggins

The first was back in high school, when my friends and I were 15 and 16. One player had his character kidnap some young peasant women and use them as slaves, because "teenage boys." Even then, we kept it "off-screen," as it were.[...

I note that two PCs in Jade Serenity have actually committed acts 'on screen' that might morally and legally constitute sexual assault, even if there is almost no possibility that it could be proven or even brought to anyone's attention.

First was when Danny O'Toole, in exploring a cell with his telekinetic touch, brushed the genitals of the man confined there. The accidental touch wasn't sexual assault, of course, but when he deliberately decided to grab them, it might rise to the level of sexual assault in some jurisdictions. Of course, his intent wasn't sexual gratification, it was simply to distract the man while the door was opened, so I guess I could argue it down to simple assault, without the sexual element, at least in my jurisdiction.

Dr. Anderson, however, unambigiously raped Ethan Ball, the guard we met in J Wing, guarding Ms. Bell, and on whom Taylor smelled ejaculate. Yes, the act took place in a dream, but to Ethan Ball, it certainly felt real and the psychological damage would be the same as from a sexual assault that took place in the physical world.

Originally Posted by tshiggins

This situation is a bit fraught with the possibility of degeneration into No Fun. How have the players responded, so far?

The other players were amused that the one PC who had actually tried his best to act like a decent person seemed to be punished for it. They also expressed some indignation that Bell would do something so mean-spirited and so obviously calculated to hurt someone they thought she genuinely cared about, which was useful in establishing her character.

Ideally, she ought to be able to inspire pity, make people want to help her and take care of her, but also occasionally remind those around her that just because negative behaviour may be tracable to psychological issues caused by trauma doesn't mean that it's not cruel, vindictive and hurtful to the victims. Just because an abuser may have suffered abuse of their own doesn't make their acts any less horrible.

As Chase Taylor's player, I obviously am in favour of anything that allows melodramatic ongoing storylines with complex, engaging NPCs. There are few things less conductive to easy episodic fiction than to have protagonists achieve their goals, wallow in happiness and avoid any complications. I really want Taylor to be able to help Bell cope with her psychological issues and as the final chapter to their story, a romantic relationship between them would be narratively satisfying, but obviously, that can't really happen in Season 1.

Demonstrating that the attraction between them is in some way mutual but then establishing huge, seemingly insurmountable obstacles to any kind of happy ending to their story seems like a good recipie for a particularly twisted version of the typical TV 'Will they / Won't they' storyline.

Especially as this technically allows the apparent Big Bad (Raul Vargas), the object of Bell's obsessive affection and the reason she was in an asylum, to have a weird kind of love triangle going with one of the protagonists*, as Taylor would inevitably perceive him as a rival for Bell, even if Taylor wasn't consciously pursuing her in any way.

More generally, as consumer of fiction of any kind, I guess I have an intolerance for obviously 'sanitised' versions of reality. A world where sexual assault doesn't happen isn't in any sense similar to the real world. I'd have a hard time accepting villains that are less villainous than the real people I deal with at work, for example.

You're not going to be able to find a group of real convicts, mental patients and people with profound psychological issues in the real world where no one has been personally impacted somehow by sexual assault. It would feel facile and false to have all the PCs and important NPCs in a campaign focusing on people in marginal and vulnerable positions utterly ignore the issue.

*As well as one of the other protagonists, Danny O'Toole, believing that Vargas is his father. :-)

Originally Posted by tshiggins

Do all of you know each other well enough that the GM knew it lay within the comfort zone of the players?

We've known each other for periods ranging from 15-30 years.

Ironically, the GM of Jade Serenity is probably the member of the gaming group least comfortable with 'on screen' depictions of sexuality, especially explicit, violent or abusive aspects of it. He's uncomfortable, as are many other people, of course, with rape scenes in movies or TV series, or dwelling on details such as sexual trauma, sadism or human trafficking for sexual purposes. In the past, he's been uncomfortable with fairly innocuous scenes of consensual sexual activity that were in some sense transgressive of social norms, but it's been a long time since we were teenagers and that seems no longer to be an issue.

On the other hand, a game designed to be a more 'realistic' treatment of many Comics and Supers tropes pretty much can't ignore the negative aspects of human sexual behaviour, as even mainstream superhero media now handles sexual themes and the issue of consent in a world of powers pretty often (e.g. Jessica Jones), and the kind of superhero fiction which glosses over the subject falls squarely on the 'rubber-sociology' part of the spectrum, which I specifically asked to avoid when agreeing to play in a superhero game.

And, of course, the GM knew that in focusing the negative repercussions on my character, he could be certain he wasn't making things Not Fun for a player who would be uncomfortable having his PC suffer.

After all, I designed Chase Taylor to carry his heart on his sleeve and be a helpless victim to any abusive, manipulative shenanigans of those who appeal to his protective instincts, and then I specifically decided that he was carrying a torch for the profoundly broken mental patient who was still obsessed with the villain.

Originally Posted by tshiggins

Given that most of my players are female, right now, I don't know that I'd go with a sub-plot this close to something that has the potential to carry such unpleasant emotional weight. Even the rape spirit, as removed from reality as it was, gave me a moment's pause.

I strongly believe that for fiction to work, it has to have the potential to carry emotional weight. And fiction which purports to handle interpersonal relationships between relatable people pretty much has to have the possibility for unpleasant emotional weight for there to be any possibility of emotional investment.

[RogerBW]

Originally Posted by Icelander

Especially as this technically allows the apparent Big Bad (Raul Vargas), the object of Bell's obsessive affection and the reason she was in an asylum, to have a weird kind of love triangle going with one of the protagonists*, as Taylor would inevitably perceive him as a rival for Bell, even if Taylor wasn't consciously pursuing her in any way.

Indeed - "I want the best for her, and this guy is so far from the best for her that there are whole legions of guys who would be better…"

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by RogerBW

Indeed - "I want the best for her, and this guy is so far from the best for her that there are whole legions of guys who would be better…"

Just so.

It's not even subtle. Taylor promised Bell that if she really thinks she can be happy with Vargas, he would help her reach that goal in any way he could. But he doesn't make any secret of the fact that he believes Vargas is an evil man, incapable of love or affection, and not likely to make anyone happy.

In fact, while Taylor wouldn't put it in those terms to her, he thinks Bell is being actively Delusional in believing that Vargas cares a whit for her. After all, Vargas dated her for a few months seventeen years ago, managed to convince her to throw away her life and any future she might have had in order to help him escape military custody after he was arrested at Camp Mackall for a drug offence and then left her behind to face the consequences.

Over the past seventeen years, Vargas hasn't showed any sign of caring about her, either. There may have been some contact between them recently, but he certainly didn't take any risks for her or send anyone to help her escape at any point during those years.

Bell claims that Vargas sent the man with fake ID in the name of 'Special Agent' Vicente Berrocal of ICE/HSI who was at Manhanock Asylum for the Criminally Insane when our PCs arrived there, but even if he did, sending one idiot with badly faked ID to talk to her is a far cry from actually caring. If he did, he'd have done something earlier and he'd have devoted some actual resources to freeing her.

More likely, Vargas had reasons of his own to send someone to Jewell Island and it had more to do with Dr. Bruce Cotton's experiments there than any lingering affection for Sherilyn Bell. Vargas somehow knew Dr. Edward Vanderbert, the chief scientist of Project Jade Serenity and the preceding research at Jewell Island, long before he was one of the subjects in the Project. Hell, he knew the Chief of Security at the Project, Zachary Holden, from way back as well.

Taylor believes that Vargas has rarely, if ever, thought about Sherilyn Bell during the long, long time she's been locked up. Vargas might well be curious about her, now that she's out, but he'll realise that if she turns up in Mexico, she'll have either assassins, spies or both following her, waiting to target him if she draws him out.

Vargas always had an eye for a pretty girl and while Sherilyn Bell has always been cute, she's now utterly enchanting, magnetic and irresistable, due to her emerging superpowers. So it's not implausible that Vargas would desire to possess her as soon as he saw her. It's just that Taylor doesn't believe that Vargas even has the capability to genuinely fall in love or maintain a healthy relationship, so any arrangment based Vargas' desire for Bell would necessarily be short-term and probably end with Bell's death, as soon as she became tedious, annoyingly possessive or otherwise inconvenient.

So Taylor is not going to just hand Bell over to Vargas, under any circumstances. His promise to her was to help her to see Vargas and allow her the chance to make up her mind on what she wants to do next. So Taylor's goal is to gradually show her that the Vargas she thinks she is in love with doesn't exist and help her understand how horrible he really is. Which is extremely optimistic, as it assumes that Delusions can be cured with sweet reason, the accumulation of evidence and patience.*

Also, Taylor needs to ensure that any meeting with Vargas is under conditions where the PCs and their allies have the upper hand, and Vargas cannot kill them all (and maybe kidnap Bell, if he doesn't just kill her too), which would otherwise be the most likely plan for the paranoid, ruthless and hyper-violent Vargas to adopt.

So, if Vargas actually agrees to conditional immunity, as long as he works for Onyx Rain, Taylor wouldn't do anything to sabotage that. That would mean Bell wouldn't be left at his mercy and while the potential for Bell being harmed somehow just by associating with Vargas would frighten Taylor (not to mention make him crazy with jealousy), he'd at least try to avoid acting like a possessive boyfriend and simply hope that Bell would see through Vargas on her own.

This possibility, however, doesn't worry Taylor too much**, because he doesn't for a second believe that Vargas will ever agree to give up his burgeoning drug empire in Mexico to become, effectively, a constantly monitored prisoner of Onyx Rain with the illusion of some minor freedoms.***

What Taylor is most worried about is Vargas agreeing to meet them, being a courteous host, declining politely to return with them in order to serve Onyx Rain and then offering Bell the Sun and the Moon if she'll be his Queen of the Underworld.

Granted, Taylor doesn't think this is all that likely, given how suspicious Vargas has to be of her when she arrives in the company of what are clearly covert operatives from the US government that is hunting him, but it's absolutely what Taylor fears most, because it would place Bell in extreme jeopardy without leaving him any honourable way to protect her.

Edit: In general, Taylor really doesn't want to decide for anyone, even a person he loves, what would be best for them. Whenever he is forced into giving orders, it reminds him of his bully of a father. His ex-wife used to complain that he doted on and spoilt their daughters and thus always left her to be the unpleasant disciplinarian.

Nevertheless, the more Taylor comes to realise, with his folksy, experience-based variant of Psychology (Applied), just how broken Bell is, the more inevitable the conclusion that she is probably not ready to make life-changing decisions until she is better. Which he believes she can be, with patience and affection. Until that time, however, Taylor is torn between a desire to protect her from anyone who might try to take advantage of her and his personal distaste for restricting her freedom of action. As he's aware that he might be influenced by motives of jealousy to be rather more protective than is strictly necessary, he'll probably overcompensate and end up allowing her far too much space, which isn't sensible when she's likely to use it to scheme, plot and manipulate in some way that lands everyone in danger.

Yay, Disadvantage feedback loop!

*Well, that is usually how they are cured, more or less, but the depressing reality is that most psychological problems which include something severe enough to qualify as Delusions in GURPS aren't so much cured as they are managed well enough to enable some kind of life, through pharmacology, coping mechanisms and constant, heroic work by the person trying to overcome the problem.
**I suggested to the GM that it would, of course, be a really neat surprise for Taylor is Vargas were to meekly agree. Naturally, it would be a part of some nefarious scheme of his, but no matter what Taylor did, he could not convince anyone else not to allow Vargas to take the deal and his sense of honour would prevent him from doing something to mess things up, when he could fulfil his promise to Bell so easily.
***While this doesn't seem appealing to Vargas, if he should find himself in a position where the PCs credibly threaten his life and have the upper hand, Vargas might, of course, surrender to the oh-so-honourable foes, agree to any terms proposed and immediately start planning his inevitable betrayal.