Punisher/Batman/Agent 47 style high tech Vigilantes - How to keep the group in line?

[AikiGhost]

You may or may not have see my previous post about Unknown Armies Sanity system in BRP. But in continuation of the same game setup I have one minor worry. Most of my players will be able to get into the central conceit of a group of high tech vigilante/bad asses of one stripe or another being brought together to form a super group and go on missions for a super secret agency.

I just have a feeling that one or two of the players will have a tenancy to "go off the deep end" in terms of playing their dark eyed loner who doesn't want to work for the man. Now in principle I have no problem with this as long as they eventually go along with the central mission and help out their comrades, even "Im not helping the man do his dirty work" RP is to be encouraged. But does anyone have any good ideas of ways to induce these particular PCs to go along with the plot without it being a railroad?

What kind of leverage can you suggest to use on this kind of high tech half crazy vigilante badasses?

Ones I thought of so far:

Threats to Family/Loved ones.

Return to Death Row (where they were recruited from).

Slow death by nasty bio plague (Only the agency has the tech to keep it at bay)

I'll probably let each player choose what the agency has over them that keeps them in line.

[Kairos]

I'm always fond of presenting options like you suggest, even pregen characters to show them what I'm going for if they want to roll up their own. But honestly, if the PLAYER can't get with the program, I'm fond of closing the book and just staring at them until they get it.

[rust]

What kind of leverage can you suggest to use on this kind of high tech half crazy vigilante badasses?

How about "none" ?

In my view a "Do as you are told or suffer the consequences" is a lot more

impressive if those consequences are not known, because the human mind

tends to imagine lots of extremely unpleasant possibilities, and it is impossible

to develop any plan to escape all of them. Fear works best when little or no-

thing is known about the object of the fear.

[seneschal]

My answer would be not to allow them to create a bunch of antisocial loners in the first place. Ditch the "army of one" Punisher/James Bond/Simon Templar template; instead think Batman family, a classic Mission Impossible team, the literary The Shadow or The Spider and his gang of competent agents, Jonny Quest and his spy-slammin' household. These people have a common goal, a bond created by working together before in dangerous situations and saving one another's bacon time and again. Their training and funding are provided by the same source. They've learned to trust and depend upon one another ... and they have to in order to stay alive and complete the mission, whatever it is this time. Their association isn't a casual one; they may even share living quarters as well as a headquarters somewhere. Although each member is competent, he is also a specialist with certain skills and abilities the others need. Although they may occasionally undertake solo forays, the PCs' strength is as a team, combining their uniqueness to vanquish the villain(s).

Do the Power Rangers, the Thundercats, the pilots of Voltron, the members of Science Ninja Team Gatchaman, the A-Team, the Bionic Six split up and go haring off on their own? They do not! On the rare occasions that they do separate due to circumstance or personal disagreements, they are vulnerable to capture and/or death at the hands of the Big Bad. So it should be with your PCs. Whatever other incentives you give them, however big and bad they think they are, they're individually not as bad as the Big Bad; there is safety (and success) in numbers. If they try to show off and take off on their own, they'll get stomped, possibly by the very mooks they're used to humiliating as a group.

Edited January 5, 2012 by seneschal

[icebrand]

Talk to the players beforehand and make sure they generate characters that actually go with the campaign?

[AikiGhost]

Talk to the players beforehand and make sure they generate characters that actually go with the campaign?

I certainly plan to, but part of it is that the PC are "unwilling" but write a plot hook that forces them to work for the agency.

[soltakss]

I just have a feeling that one or two of the players will have a tenancy to "go off the deep end" in terms of playing their dark eyed loner who doesn't want to work for the man.

As she said in SpaceHunter: Return to the Forbidden Zone "Us loners gotta stick together".

Now in principle I have no problem with this as long as they eventually go along with the central mission and help out their comrades, even "Im not helping the man do his dirty work" RP is to be encouraged. But does anyone have any good ideas of ways to induce these particular PCs to go along with the plot without it being a railroad?

No.

Sometimes you have to work as a team and enjoy the game.

What kind of leverage can you suggest to use on this kind of high tech half crazy vigilante badasses?

Ones I thought of so far:

Threats to Family/Loved ones.

OK, but I'd kidnap someone from the Agency's family/loved ones and hold the to ransom in return.

Return to Death Row (where they were recruited from).

Assuming, of course, that they were on Death Row to begin with. As a plot point it might work. Or they could just abscond ...

Slow death by nasty bio plague (Only the agency has the tech to keep it at bay)

Watch them find a mad scientist to cure the plague, or give the plague to the Agency bossess or threaten an Agency scientist in order to get the vaccine.

I'll probably let each player choose what the agency has over them that keeps them in line.

Then don't be surprised when they each find a way to screw the Agency or blackmail someone to get rid of the hold over them.

[AikiGhost]

Then don't be surprised when they each find a way to screw the Agency or blackmail someone to get rid of the hold over them.

Sounds like fun to me, especially when they become the next mission

[rpgstarwizard]

I have been running superworld along time, LOL. Yes, I have run it, it works and I feel better than any other level based system, and easier than the hero systems but with it's good points. The antihero style character is fun at first till they are finally pushed against the wall alone. If a one shot or small adventure it was never a problem but for longer games showing the PC is vunerable to many "dangers" has held most thinking players at bay. I have kidnapped PCs, stripped powers, altered them, held families, transported them to dimensions and other worlds, so your ideas, if the players care should hold them at bay. But the imaginations of players will always outrace you, so have backup ideas ready.