1000 Mage Plots

[Muad'Dib]

134) In response to some Technocrats reaching out to Verbena to aid in improving the city's greenspace, several Progenitor amalagams are sent to take out the Reality Deviants and the Technocrats who considered working with the enemy.

Can't a Syndicate Manager negotiate a cessation of any hostilities, and ensure putting away hostile intent ? Can't she or he pull all the strings, withdraw thousands of $$$s using her or his MIDAS Card, and organize a huge get-together for the Traditions Mages and the Technocrat Mages (including the Verbenae and the Progenitors!) in a city park during a wonderful culture and entertainment event(s) ? Can an Amalgam of members of the Syndicate make sure and ensure that such an event will take place and there will be no Traditions members and Technocrats trying to harm each other in the city ?

[baakyocalder]

Can't a Syndicate Manager negotiate a cessation of any hostilities, and ensure putting away hostile intent ? Can't she or he pull all the strings, withdraw thousands of $$$s using her or his MIDAS Card, and organize a huge get-together for the Traditions Mages and the Technocrat Mages (including the Verbenae and the Progenitors!) in a city park during a wonderful culture and entertainment event(s) ? Can an Amalgam of members of the Syndicate make sure and ensure that such an event will take place and there will be no Traditions members and Technocrats trying to harm each other in the city ?

It's possible, since you've got the Syndicate in favor of subcontracting when it serves the Bottom Line. It's just that Verbenae and Progenitors are both the life science faction exemplars of their faction, so the Progenitors would probably feel slighted. As for the Verbenae, if they aren't accepting of newer life sciences, they would have real issues with Progenitors.

In my current game, the head Technocrat in charge isn't Syndicate, but views the Traditions in Portland, Oregon as not a serious threat right now. He's more concerned about the Marauders and Nephandi and Portland's weird nature means he'd rather see what the Traditions are doing and develop some cultural counters that will undermine the Traditions long-term. Right now the Tradition mages and a few of the Syndicate members have an understanding, mainly because I'm using Rose City By Night and have made the vampires an important faction in town and there are worse things just around the corner.

[Bluecho]

It's possible, since you've got the Syndicate in favor of subcontracting when it serves the Bottom Line. It's just that Verbenae and Progenitors are both the life science faction exemplars of their faction, so the Progenitors would probably feel slighted. As for the Verbenae, if they aren't accepting of newer life sciences, they would have real issues with Progenitors.

Plus, no Tradition mage in their right mind would attend that little picnic. Traditions and Technocrats have been at each other's throats since the Renaissance, and the last few decades saw some pretty heated fighting. And even if the two groups are playing nice NOW, that doesn't mean they can let their guard down.

Trust me, if some Syndicate smooth talker invited Tradition mages to gather en masse, all in one location, it wouldn't be unreasonable for said Tradition mages to think "TRAP".

[RandyRando]

135) He is the best. Chad Bekka. If you're in big legal trouble, hire that guy. If you don't know him, that guy will find any exploit in the procedures used against you. He knows the law enforcement use devices not yet disclosed to the masses. And he is ready to make them admit it. Its the 10th time he did that. He starts to have a reputation to the black suits.

Tracked by the NWO for having possessed an illegal document, a PC is cornered. The very hermetic friend who asked the PC to get a look at those documents talks to him about Chad.

However, the PC in question has been (without his knowledge), programmed by hypnosis to analyse Chad. The NWO wants to know if he could do a potential recruit, voluntary or not, or if a termination should be scheduled.
The hypnosis is well done, the PC do not feel it and do not behave strangely.
Chad is not awakened, yet can "guess" that some things are out of everyone comprehension. He has the ability to adapt to the extreme, and can guess the inner workings of any social organisation at a glance. He is not interested to join any secret society, and he will reject quickly the idea, saying his life is with the people.

The PC is asked not to reveal anything of course.

Optional plots :
- The hermetic friend made the PC fall into the NWO gaze just to evaluate Chad's skills. He may realize that and put the PC in troubles
- The camarilla wants to get rid of Chad before his nose looks at some masquerade cover-up



( Source of inspiration https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...-stingray-use/ )

[Muad'Dib]

Plus, no Tradition mage in their right mind would attend that little picnic. Traditions and Technocrats have been at each other's throats since the Renaissance, and the last few decades saw some pretty heated fighting. And even if the two groups are playing nice NOW, that doesn't mean they can let their guard down.

Trust me, if some Syndicate smooth talker invited Tradition mages to gather en masse, all in one location, it wouldn't be unreasonable for said Tradition mages to think "TRAP".

I have it in my headcannon that it is within the Syndicate Convention's modus operandi, outlook and - perhaps most importantly - in their Paradigm that they just won't do any trap, betrayal or even covert information gathering at such organized event. A tarnished reputation is to a Mage of the Syndicate as comparably dreadful as damaged or destroyed Foci are to Tradition Mages. If an event is made known by members of the Syndicate as one that welcomes all Tradition Mages living in a city, then they will not act against those Tradition Mages that turn up ; including for a few days afterwards. And they will also try to make sure and certain that other Technocrats won't act against those Tradition Mages that turn up.
This can be described in many ways - it can be called honor ; or always leaving some room for being reasonable ; or some distant notion and ideal that maybe one day an agreement between all Mages can be reached and hostilities ended. Another consideration is this - how could the Syndicate use the Ars Cupidae to gain more influence and power if they won't be able to guarantee, after giving their word, at least neutrality for a duration of a cultural and/or entertainment event ? By acting generously in a decisive and carefree way the Syndicate does develop their methods and Paradigm further ; which is perhaps more important than achieving practical results in a single given situation like such an event in a city park.

Or maybe it is simply the way Technocrats of the Syndicate act and deceive ; and it exists primarily to set-up downfall of Tradition Mages who turn up at such events, and/or as a start for trying to recruit them into the Technocracy.
Perhaps it is less of a method, but more of a dark joke that the Syndicate Technocrats play on the Tradition Mages to laugh for a bit when they meet up with New World Order Technocrats ( no matter if any Tradition Mages turn up at such an event, or not ) ; the joke does indeed cost the Syndicate some of their capabilites and money, but the laugh is worth it - and much of what happens due to and during the making of the joke seems to be quite useful, as well.

Maybe it is somehow both at the same time for Syndicate Technocrat Mages ?

[Muad'Dib]

136) A Technocrat who is a member of the Syndicate has opened a very well stocked shop with various and varied mysticism-related items. The items stocked at the shop include many which are used as Foci by Tradition Mages, as well as many those that the Tradition Mages thought about and discussed using in the future as Foci. The prices of items at the shop are lower than usual. Is this a trap of some kind, or a gesture of goodwill that indicates possibility of cooperation in the future ? Or is the Syndicate Mage looking to join the Traditions under the cover of opening such a shop ?

[Muad'Dib]

137) An Acolyte of a Mage from the Traditions' Chantry in the city has been very seriously wounded while helping to develop a Forces Rote. He has been put into a controlled coma with a Life and Mind Conjunctional Spell, but this has only delayed the worsening of his state by days, weeks at best. Unfortunately, as part of the controlled coma Spell it is much harder to cast Life Spells and Rotes - including healing ones - on his body. Waking the Acolyte up would very possibly be fatal for him. Tradition Mages in the city are very unsure about how to proceed to save the Acolyte's life - none of them has dealt with such a specific situation before ; and no help from Tradition Mages from other areas is available, nor does it seem that it will be available within the next few weeks.

Two days after this happened, the local Technocrats send a young Technocrat NWO Operative to one of the Chantry's Mages, with an offer. After admitting that the Technocracy has sources of information within the Traditions that have informed the Technocrats in the city about the Acolyte's situation, the NWO Technocrat outlines that a pair of Progenitors that are present in the city are certain that working together they can heal the damage to the Acolyte's body - however, they are not knowledgeable and skilled enough to be able to assure that the body of Acolyte will be strong and stable enough to not go into a possibly fatal shock during the healing process. In the terms that the Traditions - and some Technocrats, as well - use, knowledge of Entropy Magick at fourth level is required. A Mage from the Traditions would have to do this part for the Acolyte, while the pair of Progenitors would act together to heal the Acolyte's body fully with their Technocratic Inspired Biology and Biochemistry ( Life Magick, as Traditions call it ) .

Will the Tradition Mages cooperate with the Technocrats - and if so, when and how ? Will it take worsening of the Acolyte's situation so the Traditions members will consider it ?
Or will the Tradition Mages - maybe to not have to consider accepting the help of Technocrat Mages in regards to this situation - save the wounded Acolyte on their own, using mystic Magick ?

[Bluecho]

138) A Euthanatos assassin gave the Good Death to a corrupt businessman, guilty of, among other things, murder, rape, cannibalism, and tax evasion. A year or so later, however, the Euthanatos finds evidence to suggest that the man is alive (or at least walking around), despite the assassin being pretty sure of the kill. While the assassin busies himself with tracking down his quarry to finish the job, the PCs get roped into investigating how this happened, starting from where the Euthatanos left the body. The Euthanatos can't look into it himself, because the trail to the man himself will grow cool if left alone too long. But the PCs shouldn't encounter that much trouble looking into how this guy cheated death, right?

The Truth: The businessman was a Dunsirn Ghoul, one of the sub-families of Clan Giovanni. He was considered too valuable to lose, so a high ranking member of the family utilized a Necromancy Ritual (The Ferryman's Recall) to bring him back as a vampire. Euthanatoi are no strangers to vampires (and the necromantic Giovanni especially), but they hardly have encyclopedic knowledge of Clan Giovanni and all its many families. Nor are they aware of the Giovanni's ability to embrace their ghouls long after it should be possible, though Tradition would reward the PCs greatly to learn of it. Unfortunately, the PCs will almost certainly kick open a hornet's nest when they come poking around in Giovanni/Dunsirn affairs.

[Muad'Dib]

139) The Technocracy has deciced to start a siege of a Traditions Chantry using means provided exclusively by the New World Order and the Syndicate Conventions. Direction of Extraordinary Citizens, manipulations, feints, working within mundane human government, deception, elite training...all of this might result in the fall of the Traditions Chantry, without a single Iteration-X Procedure or a Progenitor Treatment being deployed.

[Bluecho]

140) A software company owned by a Virtual Adept (either one of the PCs or an NPC) gets hacked by an unknown party. While the character's Awakened programming ability allowed the system to rebuff the hack, the hacker is persistent. The company's systems come under attack multiple times; indeed, attacks come every 12 hours, like clockwork. Each time an attempt is made, the hacker seems to get incrementally closer to breaching the system and making off with its data. The assailant may succeed before long, if nothing is done about it. Whether the reaction involves a counter-hack, a trace, or even a dive into the Digital Web.

[Bluecho]

141) If one of the PCs was recently admitted to a hospital to treat wounds, they or someone else with Life 1 and/or Matter 1 will notice that the PC has had a small microchip inserted into their body. This is especially possible if the PC at any point was unconscious or rushed to surgery. The hospital staff will know nothing of the chip, and those with Forces 1 or knowledge of electronics will be able to tell that the chip sends out a signal. Who implanted the microchip and why? Was the PC targeted in particular, or were they simply unlucky? And are other people currently walking around with chip implants they didn't ask for?

[Furoan]

I like your idea 140 Bluecho. The idea of a hack getting closer and closer kind of reminds me of those movies where there's a big clock up on the unnecessarily large monitor counting down to when the data is going to be sent out or something. That being said, apart from aesthetics there's some fun you could have with why the hacking attempts come at 12 hour intervals. Perhaps the hack is coming from somebody in the Digital Web whose moving closer and then further away from the mortal world.

Of course, there's the question of what kind of data they are going for. The owner of the company is a Virtual Adept, but since its a company he or she is probably selling products to the masses. Is the hacker a technocrat who wants to get a copy of the source code to make sure there's nothing like a primer hidden in the code? Perhaps they are somebody literally trapped in the digital web and they want ot possess the powerful, experimental central server the Virtual Adept recently installed (with the help of friendly Etherite or stolen from a recent raid on a Technocrat Construct).

Of course, even aside from the hacking or the data, are other people aware of this attempt? Perhaps technocrats have been monitoring this guys business and are wondering about the huge amounts of data flowing in and out of the Digital Web and what its for.).

...and now I'm getting to complicated but it could be a really fun little adventure.

[Bluecho]

142) A young adult relative of one of the PCs goes missing from their home, and their parents/guardians are worried. Given the presence of occult paraphernalia in the young person's room, the parents/guardians think the PC can help (this assumes the PC's family is at least vaguely aware of the PC's "lifestyle"; if not, they come to the PC for help out of desperation). The police have no leads. The occult paraphernalia left in the room is of a basic, entry-level variety; stuff from out of a New Age bookstore than actual magical lore. Secreted in a drawer on a desk or night stand, though, is an opened envelope, sans return address. Inside is a note reading, "Your initiation is nigh. Come tonight at 11. Signed, D." There is also a Tarot card in the envelope, the Ten of Swords. Those familiar with the city may know that there is a nightclub in town called the Ten of Swords.

[Muad'Dib]

143) A Syndicate Mage sets up a complex and complicated betting system / competition in a city. In this betting system a person (participants can only enter singly) involved can win or loss money. To make it interesting, the amount of money a person can win is described in few words, a few ( it could be said ) metaphorical sentences at most : " You can win so much that you'll be glad you did all that you did on the day you will win this money. " , " You can win enough to set yourself up better than anyone in the Traditions that you know. " or " If you win, you'll win such an amount that you won't care about the details. "
Bets made can be about any events or persons who are in general known and talked about by Mages living in the city and the areas close to the city. Losing involves the participant losing not money, but - at least partly, as much as the Syndicate Mage running the system can assure - friends, reputation, influence ( in for example a given Magickal Tradition of the Traditions ) or respect. If the Syndicate Mage running this system can't do it on her own, she asks one, two or all three of her Technocrat friends in her Amlagam for help.

This betting system / competition in the city is held together by an series of differing half-serious unspoken threats of this one Syndicate Mage, and of course the parties that she organizes, and the so very amusing boasts and promises that she, sometimes together win one or more of her friends from her Technocracy Amalgam, makes before the parties, after the parties, and at the parties.

[Muad'Dib]

144) A newly arrived Amalgam of four Technocrat Mages tempts a single Traditions Acolyte with the idea and the possible future of her being a Technocrat Mage. Two Traditions Cabals from the city reply to this by choosing three of Extraordinary Citizens of the newly arrived Amalgam for a simple offer - if all three of them will betray the Technocracy, the Mages of the two Traditions Cabals will try to ensure that the three Extraordinary Citizens will become mystic Mages.