Designing a man-hunt

[Cheomesh]

I want to write an adventure that is a manhunt.  There is an NPC that has been screwed over by some guy X, who used to work for him.  Typically, this NPC gets a cut of every contract he hooks you up with.  In this case he has been stiffed.  So, this guy has to pay up.  He sends what he considers to be his most reliable agent (my player) to go and either collect or bring him down.  This isn't an entirely illegal thing.

Now, the guy is on the run; he's planned to jump planet a while beforehand, and he's actually screwed over a few people in the making - so there's more than just the PC after him.  The PC will be armed with his regular address (a thing the others don't have) which I think will land him a clue pointing to a maker of fake ID's (a complex industry in this age as it involves planting false records in city mainframes), which will then potentially land some information to send my player on a goose chase or perhaps directly to this guys personal safehouse (a place in the slums), which yields more info regarding the flight he plans to leave on.  The guy in question did not jump planet right away because he is expecting his victims to be physically waiting for him, ready to pick him out by face.  Was thinking maybe it could run the player to an underground plastic surgeon, but I don't want the timeframe to be that big.

Anyways that's useless detail for the purposes of this thread.  Who has done these kinds of adventures, and who has some tips regarding what works and what does not for these kinds of stories?

M.

[CoyoteCamouflage]

It's hard to give any definitive rules or tropes regarding what does or does not 'work'. Namely, this is because not all groups like the same styles of games or play.

However, you also seem to be indicating interest in the 'investigative' kind of game, which I know through Cthulhu and World of Darkness. What might be a more difficult idea (though potentially rewarding) is to find a way to balance a real time limit to the story or events. Your mileage may vary, however.

I've played in a tiny fraction of games that feature time limits, and I think the better ones impose the time limit on game time, not on in-game time (especially since those were all con-games). This also works in two ways-- it helps you limit the time of your session, and it lends a sense of urgency to the behavior of the players. That sense of urgency can become a very useful tool if applied properly (Also, depending on the game and group, failing to locate the individual could result in the premise for an entirely new adventure after).

For what you want, I feel you need to present the image of a fast-paced game of cloak-and-dagger mysteries and complexities, not a strategic chess match. Most likely, you want your players to feel like they are right behind their quarry (true or not) and running them to ground, not following a tedious 'treasure map' to the final location.

Competing parties is a good way to keep the players focused on the goal, but you also need to find a clever way to make the party feel challenged by them. For example, it might be more interesting for the first 'encounter' to be the PCs learning that a rival group has a lead on their target's location. That situation can give the party a wide variety of options on what to do. Do they intercept the group and steal the information? Do they just kill them all? Do they quietly follow and wait to spring a trap if the information is reliable? Maybe they were the source of false information themselves? In this sense, you need to be prepared for the PCs attempts to neutralize their opponents-- if they don't have the chance to, then the opponents are more likely to be seen as invisible boogey-men who are likely waiting for an important 'boss-fight' at the end, killing some of the suspense.

For these kinds of games, flow charts are incredibly useful. When I work on them, I try to account for a success/failure option for each encounter based on a highly specific goal, then seeing how it applies to the larger whole, so I need to see how certain events relate to the larger picture. This makes it easier to account for the situations I make, and the situations the party will inevitably cause.

Ultimately, the story will be yours, so I intend to merely offer... vague suggestions on how to implement your ideas, not to alter the ideas themselves.