WAR TABLE ASSIGNMENT ↠ SCOUTING

[hassaran]

SCOUTING MISSION: THE MEANS

WHO: Open to all Scouting members

WHEN: Sign up by January 10. Reports/logs due by February 28

WHAT: With an eluvian hidden in Minrathous, Scouting has been able to build up a baseline presence in Minrathous over time, sufficient to have identified some key targets that are, in one way or another, both potentially useful and seemingly susceptible to influence. It's on Riftwatch agents to apply that influence. This plot is intended to focus less on the mechanics of how that works (there's no expectation that anyone RP out interactions with an NPC source) and more on the consequences of being asked to get one's hands dirty for the cause.

Anyone who signs up will be asked to OOCly choose one or more morally-dubious actions they'd like their character to have to take (more info below). OOCly, I'll create a short paragraph write-up of what they need to do and to whom, based on your preferences. ICly, they'll be assigned by Yseult a specific target and task. The aim here is not to find a way around doing something questionable, and ICly it will be clear that what they've been asked to do is the best path to achieving the result Scouting needs. The idea is for your character to have to grapple with it—to struggle with having to do something they find difficult or repugnant, or to discover it's easier than they'd expected and wonder what that says about them, or to refuse and deal with the consequences, or to attempt it but fail or balk when the moment comes.

HOW: To say your character participated in this intelligence-gathering effort, you will be required to submit (i) a report detailing their mission, and (ii) one related thread with at least 5* comments from your character by the end of February.

* Maybe there will be some sort of bonus for more tags? Or maybe the bonus is the tags your wrote along the way. Only one way to find out.

Who you RP about this with and in what form will be up to you. This plot won't involve assigned teams or required logs. You're free to RP out some aspect of the mission if you choose, but since it'd mostly involve interacting with NPCs that I'm not going to play for you, you are encouraged to handwave it entirely (you can use the report to detail your character's off-screen spy hijinks) and instead focus on the personal or CR impact to your character. Any log in which your character talks about or reacts to or deals with their mission, either before or after it takes place (or conspicuously refuses to talk about/react to/deal with it, knowing some of these assholes) will count.

Will these be one-off missions or continuing?
Could go either way! If you have a strong preference for one or the other, let me know. We can also discuss that once you get your write-up, if you want.

What if I'd like my character to have to get involved with something I don't think they realistically could do?
Mention it in your sign-up and we can discuss! There may be options, like trying and failing, or getting involved in someone else's mission so they're complicit but less active.

Two of us have an idea we'd like to do together, can we sign up as a pair?
Yes, as long as at least one of your characters is in Scouting and if one is not Scouting that Yseult sending them on this type of mission is reasonably plausible and they wouldn't ICly resist going. You can fill out one form or two, whatever works, just make sure you indicate your plan.

What would happen if they fail? Or if they ICly refuse?
RP opportunities, hopefully! Failure and refusal can both create RP, and neither is going to lead to your character being blackballed from all Scouting missions or becoming the laughingstock of Riftwatch or single-handedly allowing the enemy to kill 1000 people, or whatever. But it will have some degree of negative consequence, whether that's missing out on some intelligence and the benefit it might've offered, losing a source, making Yseult sigh more heavily than usual, etc. Personally I think these things could be fun, but make sure you think so too if you want to go this direction.

What if I/my character come up with an alternative?
Baked into this concept is the understanding that there is no plausible alternative. ICly, the situation has already been thoroughly examined and all other options have been eliminated for various reasons (your character can have been a part of this process, if it make a difference). The only options remaining are to do something shady or to not get the intel. If you'd like to play your character refusing and telling themselves there must've been a better way or there'll be another opportunity in the future, that's fine! And PCs are all free to draw their own lines about what's worth it and what isn't, and to decide how much they trust Yseult or the information she's giving them. That's part of the fun. As long as we're all on the same page OOC that this stuff isn't being ICly assigned cavalierly while ignoring better options.

DEADLINES: Sign ups by end of day JAN 10, report and log by FEB 28.