[UA] some more group dynamics

[David M Jacobs]

One idea that I'm toying with is a group of university students, running a 
"joke" ticket for a Student Representative Council (SRC) election.  As they 
consider who to exchange preferences with, they hear strange rumours 
concerning some of their rivals' other interests.

Suddenly, the PCs find themselves with serious backing from one of the 
colleges (on-campus dorms/fraternities for you non-Aussies out there), not 
only in terms of votes, but manpower and resources as well.  Other 
candidates start to notice, and one prepares to launch a smear campaign 
against the PCs, who are starting to look like major contenders.

He starts to threaten the PCs with blackmail, but then appears in a 
well-travelled part of the uni, screaming to passersby about his recent 
alien abduction experiences.  For all intents and purposes, his once-savvy 
political mind appears to have turned to mush.

Other "coincidences" of this nature seem to be oiling the PCs way to the 
top, firmly focusing people's attention on their meteoric rise.  As polling 
draws closer, however, a couple of students are found murdered in the PCs' 
sponsor college, which withdraws its support and the large voting bloc that 
goes with it.

(What's really going on: a few cabals were intent on gaining control of the 
resources and/or soapbox that the SRC of a large uni provides.  However, a 
Sleeper agent in the PCs' sponsor college realised that this could have 
nasty consequences, especially since one competing cabal is intent on 
controlling the masses by whatever means, blatant or no.  He rallied 
support behind the PCs, knowing that if they won, then the cabals would 
remain in relative obscurity, and even if the PCs lost, he could discredit 
the entire election.

He even went so far as to deal with any threats to the PCs' campaign; 
cliomancy did wonders on their would-be blackmailer.  The cabals realised 
that something was amiss, and used agents in the college to determine what 
was going on.  Things turned nasty, and the Sleeper ended up killing the 
agents, but was only left with enough time to establish a good alibi for 
himself; he couldn't cover up the murders before the police were called.

The other college members knew something of the victims' involvement with 
other tickets, and whilst they were willing to chalk up the PCs' success to 
good luck, things were starting to turn serious.  They got spooked and left 
the PCs without a campaign.)

The PCs lose the election by a narrow margin, but the various cabals "know" 
that the PCs are onto them.  Some hold a grudge against the PCs, whilst 
others merely want to put the newcomers in their place.  The PCs find 
themselves embroiled in the politics of the city's OU, with quite a few 
enemies.  Some rearguard diplomacy is in order, and it wouldn't hurt if the 
PCs found some new friends...



David M Jacobs
dmjacobs at zipworld.com.au
http://www.zipworld.com.au/~dmjacobs/
ICQ UIN: 17027598

"'Kevin,' David interrupted, 'what the Germans should have done
was show the Russians a dead cat and ask them to explain it.'

"'That would have stopped the Soviet offensive right there,' I said.
"Zhukov would still be trying to account for the cat's death.'"

— from Valis, by Philip K Dick


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