Natalcya Katla
Naqam
Shaktipat Revelators
84
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Posted - 2013.02.16 04:14:00 -
[1] - Quote
Why not simply have the NPCs use decoys? They are wartime leaders in a very dangerous universe. If they absolutely have to make public announcements on where, how and when they will be traveling (baffling in itself), why should they be honest about it? If would-be assassins suicide gank a ship presumably carrying say, a Tribal delegate, only to find that the delegate in question actually left an hour earlier aboard an unassuming little frigate and is already safely arrived at his or her destination, that makes sense to me.
Of course, in the interest of keeping things fair, that also means that if somebody - either through skillful intelligence work or simple happenstance does blow up said unassuming little frig, they should be credited with the assassination. In fact, if secret information regarding the actual travel schedule happens to be leaked or lost somehow, that could lead to a behind-the-scenes event arc all of its own.
An example of how this might work: Sometime before an event, an actor playing the role of a diplomatic aide of some sort takes a discreet and round-about route through low-sec on his way to a meeting where the upcoming event is going to be a topic of discussion. In his cargo hold is documents with sensitive information about the VIP's plans. If this delegate runs afoul of death along the way, suddenly whoever took him down and looted his ship have their hands on some golden information. They can either use it to stage their own ambush or broker the information to someone who would have an interest in doing so, all the while being careful to keep it out of the public spotlight (let's say if some pilot or other discovers this and alerts the appropriate NPC faction liaison or smears it out across the IGS, the opportunity is lost).
It would require a bit extra work on the actors, but hopefully not a whole ton of it. Much of it would be player driven. And in my opinion, if somebody did manage to get their hands on the secret info and use it to pull off a successful assassination, it would make for a cooler story and shinier bragging rights than 40 ships suicide ganking a predictably exposed target. |