Alrighty, let’s ease back in. My birthday weekend has concluded, and it’s time to get back into the swing of things. Doing a TTRPG Tuesday today, not because I couldn’t/didn’t want to do a MM yesterday, but because I’m playing DnD today and I just wrapped up the playwriting class I was teaching and I feel inspired to hang out in the role-playing headspace. So, I figured I’d keep going with one of the scenario ideas I ginned up last time.
THE DOLLIE EXTRACTION
Alt OPERATION HALL OF MIRRORS
The Hall of Mirrors is a former cruiseliner turned colony owned by the reclusive Dr. Sonal Halliyal. The Company aggressively pursued a contract with Dr. Halliyal at the start of her illustrious career, but she ultimately signed on with a rival corporation before eventually starting her own endeavour, DOLLIE Consulting. From early days, Dr. Halliyal’s work ethic was the stuff of legend, and her chosen field of custom-grown organ and tissue synthesis exploded as a result of her publications and successful procedures. Once DOLLIE got off the ground, her output only increased, and the fledgling company soon carved out an impressive market share, cementing the legacy of the former prodigy. The products and processes made possible by Dr. Halliyal’s advancements have made her a household name across the globe.
What the public does not know, and which only a handful of corporate espionage agents have learned and lived to report, is that Dr. Halliyal has had a tremendous amount of invisible support in her research, in the form of a succession of clones she has made of herself. The meteoric rise of her career, and the growth of DOLLIE from far-fetched whim to industry giant, are a direct result of her development of, and her coordination with, her clones.
Among those who know Dr. Halliyal’s secret, it is generally believed that the woman who still makes the occasional public appearance, and who visibly resides at Dr. Halliyal’s home residence in West London, is a placeholder clone, selected for her charisma and facility at downplaying intrusive questions, or possibly a rotating lineup of duplicates.
It is believed that the original Dr. Halliyal has not been seen by any eyes but her own for almost a decade. What The Company has verified is that the Hall of Mirrors, which never docks and is refueled periodically by disposable DOLLIE tankers, is the floating base of operations for the biotech company, and is occupied by dozens, if not hundreds, of Halliyal clones. Whether the original is there, walking among them or hidden away behind layers of security, is unknown. The Hall of Mirrors itself boasts several defenses against incursions by air or sea, and even getting aboard is nigh impossible.
The situation has recently changed: a high-level leak, bought at an exorbitant price, as well as hacked schedules and recently acquired marine technology, have created a hole in DOLLIE’s security. A brief window has opened, and The Company plans to exploit it to knock out a rising competitor while acquiring its technology for themselves.
The Assignment
Your ARC team of operatives will approach the Hall of Mirrors from below. The ship will cross over a semi-active volcanic fissure in the sea floor, where The Company will station a submersible personnel carrier. The geothermal activity from the vent will mask the release of autonomous bathysphere pods from the sub, which will make their way to the bottom of the ship’s hull. Once the team is inside the security perimeter, you are to board the vessel and locate facilities for the scanning of specimens and the synthesis of clones.
Goal
The mission objective is to identify and retrieve hardware, software, and experiment data for The Company to analyze, as well as any clones that can be safely retrieved, dead or alive. Acquiring the original Dr. Halliyal herself is unlikely, but should the opportunity arise, taking her alive immediately overrides all other priorities.. Once the assets have been secured, electronic countermeasures are to be deployed and the ship is to be physically sabotaged. In the ensuing confusion, the team is to extract the materials and return to the sub. The sub will be in retrieval position at the 4, 6, and 10 hour mark.
Next steps:
- Build the cast list of clones that comprise the top hierarchy aboard the ship
- Stat out the clonelings that exist for security and research purposes
- Map out the hacking challenge + virus clock, as well as the explosives mechanic
- Find a cruise ship layout to use as the basis for the map
- Break the map down into encounters, possibly an encounter tree (for each location? For each NPC?) rather than the entry/re-entry table of the base scenario
Well, that’s a good chunk of writing for today. Going to wrap up dayjob stuff and then get some food before DnD at 630. My fighter hit level three, gotta roll a hit die and set those battle master maneuvers! See ya next week.
THE DOLLIE EXTRACTION
Alt OPERATION HALL OF MIRRORS
The Hall of Mirrors is a former cruiseliner turned colony owned by the reclusive Dr. Sonal Halliyal. The Company aggressively pursued a contract with Dr. Halliyal at the start of her illustrious career, but she ultimately signed on with a rival corporation before eventually starting her own endeavour, DOLLIE Consulting. From early days, Dr. Halliyal’s work ethic was the stuff of legend, and her chosen field of custom-grown organ and tissue synthesis exploded as a result of her publications and successful procedures. Once DOLLIE got off the ground, her output only increased, and the fledgling company soon carved out an impressive market share, cementing the legacy of the former prodigy. The products and processes made possible by Dr. Halliyal’s advancements have made her a household name across the globe.
What the public does not know, and which only a handful of corporate espionage agents have learned and lived to report, is that Dr. Halliyal has had a tremendous amount of invisible support in her research, in the form of a succession of clones she has made of herself. The meteoric rise of her career, and the growth of DOLLIE from far-fetched whim to industry giant, are a direct result of her development of, and her coordination with, her clones.
Among those who know Dr. Halliyal’s secret, it is generally believed that the woman who still makes the occasional public appearance, and who visibly resides at Dr. Halliyal’s home residence in West London, is a placeholder clone, selected for her charisma and facility at downplaying intrusive questions, or possibly a rotating lineup of duplicates.
It is believed that the original Dr. Halliyal has not been seen by any eyes but her own for almost a decade. What The Company has verified is that the Hall of Mirrors, which never docks and is refueled periodically by disposable DOLLIE tankers, is the floating base of operations for the biotech company, and is occupied by dozens, if not hundreds, of Halliyal clones. Whether the original is there, walking among them or hidden away behind layers of security, is unknown. The Hall of Mirrors itself boasts several defenses against incursions by air or sea, and even getting aboard is nigh impossible.
The situation has recently changed: a high-level leak, bought at an exorbitant price, as well as hacked schedules and recently acquired marine technology, have created a hole in DOLLIE’s security. A brief window has opened, and The Company plans to exploit it to knock out a rising competitor while acquiring its technology for themselves.
The Assignment
Your ARC team of operatives will approach the Hall of Mirrors from below. The ship will cross over a semi-active volcanic fissure in the sea floor, where The Company will station a submersible personnel carrier. The geothermal activity from the vent will mask the release of autonomous bathysphere pods from the sub, which will make their way to the bottom of the ship’s hull. Once the team is inside the security perimeter, you are to board the vessel and locate facilities for the scanning of specimens and the synthesis of clones.
Goal
The mission objective is to identify and retrieve hardware, software, and experiment data for The Company to analyze, as well as any clones that can be safely retrieved, dead or alive. Acquiring the original Dr. Halliyal herself is unlikely, but should the opportunity arise, taking her alive immediately overrides all other priorities.. Once the assets have been secured, electronic countermeasures are to be deployed and the ship is to be physically sabotaged. In the ensuing confusion, the team is to extract the materials and return to the sub. The sub will be in retrieval position at the 4, 6, and 10 hour mark.
Next steps:
- Build the cast list of clones that comprise the top hierarchy aboard the ship
- Stat out the clonelings that exist for security and research purposes
- Map out the hacking challenge + virus clock, as well as the explosives mechanic
- Find a cruise ship layout to use as the basis for the map
- Break the map down into encounters, possibly an encounter tree (for each location? For each NPC?) rather than the entry/re-entry table of the base scenario
Well, that’s a good chunk of writing for today. Going to wrap up dayjob stuff and then get some food before DnD at 630. My fighter hit level three, gotta roll a hit die and set those battle master maneuvers! See ya next week.
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