I need some help, please.
In my S&V campaign, I’ve replaced the Hegemony with The Collective: hive-mind, humanoid beings each comprised of thousands of tiny, rudimentary AIs (grain of rice-sized). Borgy, but without the assimilation. They strictly control advanced technology (I turned Ur-artifacts into ‘Outlaw Tech’); they want things to stay the same, forever (fear of obsolescence, maybe).
As part of the story, I used the Vorex’s search for her sister as a plot point, and now I’m stuck, because I’m not at all sure why the Collective would have kidnapped her. I’ve got a bit of a mental block happening, and the reveal is tonight. 🙂
If anyone has any thoughts, I’d love to hear them.
She’s Outlaw Tech!?
Or she knows/leads networks of underground outlaw tech dealers or innovators
Or they’re pilot testing assimilation?
Or she actually went willingly and is serving or using the Collective.
The group went another way with the game, so this didn’t come up. It’s going to be the job next time, though, so I appreciate the reply!
I initially dismissed the collaboration angle, but when I re-read your post, it grabbed my brain. Now I’m imagining a Rogue One-style plan to expose the Collective from the inside, giving the organized resistance a real shot at destroying the Collective’s ability to communicate (causing chaos, setting the galaxy free, necessitating a ceremony where the xeno doesn’t get a medal, etc.).
I can definitely work with this. Thanks!
If it’s AI, then remember it’s alien, they don’t think like us, they are not human, and don’t have to think like human. Maybe it was just an experiment? Maybe they are like 15 steps ahead of everyone, and you will make in a month of play or so a “HAHA! It was all a part of hive-mind plan!” moment. And if you won’t have any idea – give players info and listen what they will come up with – 3-4 heads is better then one, and they will never knew :D.