Ghosts in the Shadows: Campaign Notes

Fiery Trial is a series of exploration adventures with the underlying plot that IPX is searching for tech from a new dangerous alien species (that is supposed to be the Shadows).

My intent is to change the Shadow aspect and let it be another race (use the Watcher race idea?)

“Watcher/Wraith Race” 

• They are a former “slave” race of the Shadows.
• They have been hiding since the last Shadow War.
• They want to remain hidden at all costs.
• Their technology focuses primarily on cloaking and hiding
• They stay hidden but also observe other races, Watching for the return of the Shadows
• Why do they Watch?  Why not stay hidden?
• Another Name for them – Wraith, Phantoms, Ghostwalkers
• Maybe the Watchers/Wratih manipulate people through dreams, etc.
• IDEA: The Wraith is a race the Shadows fear.  The Shadows attempted to enslave them but once they could not, they attempted to annihilate them.  The Wraith used technology they acquired from the Shadows to hide.  They have been hiding ever since.  The Shadows fear the Wraith because they are “telepathic vampires” – the drain beings of their telepathic ability.  When they feed on humans, it kills them. 
• IDEA: The Wraith are a generically engineered weapon made by either the Shadows or the Vorlon.  Or perhaps something born of the last war – something that evolved to survive it.
• They reproduce by absorbing psychic power and creating a nest of eggs.  Psychic organic technology (like the Stargate Wraith).

Other Idea – use the Wars races and bring in a new aspect of the Shadow War.  A race that wants revenge against the Shadows or the Vorlons?  Or warriors of the Shadows?  If all the players do is figure out that they are chasing down Shadow tech, then they are going to metagame.

Maybe the Watchers will want to stop them.  Maybe a specific piece of Shadow tech, previously unknown – one that will reveal the Watchers.

In The Fiery Trial, IPX will first be interested in the Shadows and what secrets they hold.  Meanwhile, the players will find out there is more to this than just the Shadow invasion.  The question is, will the players tell IPX about the Wraith or keep it to themselves as their own personal quest.

Travellers/Walkers Data Depositories

The Travellers deposited their inter-dimensional discoveries on two main locations – Sigma 957 and another world that was later destroyed by an asteroid strike.  After the asteroid strike, they created redundancies for Sigma 957 on two inter-dimensional bases called “Home”.  The Home star bases shift randomly between dimensions.

Way to predict the randomly shifting star bases?

Originally, the Wraith wanted to simply return to their home world and bring it back to their home system in their home dimension.  One faction still wants to do, while the other wants to bring the homeworld into this dimension.

IDEA: Two factions will awaken one way or another.  One will want to leave this universe behind the other wants to conquer this universe by bringing their homeworld into it.  The Shi’Zeor want to find information in the Walker/Traveller that will help them to that. 

What they find is that the Walkers built something in the Sol system that could help that in this effort, thus leading to the possibility of the Wraith homeworld being pulled into the Sol system.

Wraith Related Secret Societies – Minbari “Ghost Hunters”

• There are two groups associated to the Wraith – one that hunts and destroys them, the other that worships them because they can kill or control Shadows.

Wraith Related Secret Societies – The Vree

Notes about The Vree

• Extremely secretive, paranoid.
• Obsessed with schedules, rules and etiquette. Obsessed with order.
• Can not speak; speak through a telepathic translator device.
• A very unified and convicted people.
• Efficient traders and merchants
• Social structured based on a series of trade guilds and businesses
• Intra-racial telepathic
• Never developed the concepts of deception or subterfuge
• Entire race is emotionless and inherently logical, to a flaw.

The Vree’s Secret

• The Vree found the world that the Shi’Kahil Wraith used to hide on. They were touched by the telepathic hive mind of the Wraith and fear it.  They keeping the knowledge hidden from everyone, because they know the nature of the Wraith.  They are the “boogie men” of the Vree.  The telepathic vampiric nature of the Wraith could destroy any Vree that come in contact with it.

Wraith Related Secret Societies – Narn

 Religious Group (Book of _x_)

Antagonists

(Jaddo Noble)

• Centauri anti-expansionist
• Fighting the Shadow infiltration

House Durnado  – Enemy to House Jaddo

(Shadow Agent)

• The party’s own shadow agent.  Can be one of the main antagonists.  The Shadows do not want the Wraith to be awakened.

(Vorlon Agent)

• Possible Sebastian encounter

Core Plot Story Arch

While the Shadow War is starting, the players will get intertwined with it as well as something else underlying it.  IPX will be investigating the Shadows, with the players help.  But the players will discover an underlying mystery about the Wraith.  (How?)

At first the Wraith is seen as a possible weapon to use against the Shadows because they seem to fear it.  (what evidence will show this?)

Then, after the Wraith contact them or they contact the Wraith, they may seem like an ally.  Perhaps the Wraith will use the player’s employers to find the dormant Wraith colonies and awaken them.

Meanwhile, the players may learn the truth about the Wraith.

How to involve the players and their background

Involve secret societies, cabals and orders.

• Minbari secret group of “ghost hunters”, commissioned by the Vorlons to hunt down Wraith
• Vree – involve the Vree somehow.
• Narn – need to involve the Narn
• EarthForce – eventually they will get involved and use Joe Means as a inside agent.