The Weasel:
A wealthy plantation owner/ lord / someone with power and authority (the man) has employed someone in their service for many years who they now believe to be conniving and disloyal. The weasel came into the man's service at a young age. The man is a generous guy and over the years the weasel showed himself to be a valuable asset, close associate and friend. Weasel was gradually entrusted with more power and influence but in recent years has become over inflated. Rumor of his ill manner has reached the mans ear. Investigate.
The man wants someone independent of his service and the influence of the weasel. Player is given several leads:
1. The kitchen
The weasel is a capable brown-noser always sure to observe customs and decency in the right company. Among his many duties are arranging feasts. Apparently out of sight and earshot of polite company he has become increasingly tyrannical. Kitchen staff are at first afraid to speak badly they claim weasel is so kind but their comments seem off. With persuasion or bribe they will tell you the truth. Lately he has been coming in violent hitting the workers once even coming in drunk and defecating in the stew he claimed was ruined. Report this an the man is greatly disturbed he says he will speak with weasel.
2. The treasury/coin
Weasel has been given charge of finances and some freedom to make small use of funds for his own expenses. Claims have been made that his spending has become out of control and record keeping is highly questionable. Investigate. Reading the record book player finds many discrepancies. Speaking with someone there they'll tell player of their doubts in the ability or honesty of weasel. Reporting this the man says he will speak with weasel an require him to repay any unreasonable personal expenses. Someone else will be overlooking finances.
3. Nobel / merchant
Weasel has apparently been speaking ill of the man. Currying favor for himself among locals through acts of kindness paid for by the man, all while claiming he has been mistreated and overworked. Go confirm these rumors that weasel has become a gossip. They will confirm. Reporting back the man will be deeply hurt by the news. The man says he will speak with weasel and warn him to never publicly speak ill of him again.
After the third report the man will tell player he may be forced to remove weasel from his service. Player will be tasked with finding out any more if possible. The man wants to believe weasel is loyal and that reports of misconduct are not true. Create an opportunity for weasel to prove his integrity.
The test of integrity could be anything. For lack of a good conclusion here is a bad one: Hire a whore and an actor to visit as guests. The whore will claims to be daughter to the guest. Over dinner she is tasked with attempting to seduce weasel and invite him to her chambers. She proves to be as skilled an actress as she is beautiful. When weasel arrives you and the man will be there to remove him. Reward is coin, enchanted amulet of the weasel (an honorary token), a bed in the guest room/ guesthouse should you need it and reduced cost of services there. Kitchen staff will also be very grateful.
FOR DISCUSSION
[Quest Design] - The Weasel
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sasquatch2o
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[Quest Design] - The Weasel
my opinion.
Oh. I can reply in here 
Main reason for posting was the defecating. Ew.
Sounds like motivation for the weasel's actions could be that they believe they could perform a better job than the man.
So if weasel thinks they should be the wealthy plantation owner/ lord / someone with power and authority:
Kitchen
Weasel is having cooks etc. prepare the finest dishes for them and so the man is left with less extravagant dishes.
Perhaps a sumptuous dining room has been prepared solely for the weasel's use? Or maybe that would too easily give the game away.
More likely the weasel eats in their own well appointed quarters (decorated with funds embezzled from the man). If shown / told about these quarters the man simply says that he's looked after the weasel like they were their own offspring.
^ That removes the need for crapping in the stew. Phew.
Treasury
Not sure if people play CRPGs to role-play as accountants.
Maybe this is one for those skill checks you talked about somewhere else. Can a book's text be changed on the fly? A barbarian would see "[A bewildering blur of squiggles and numbers]" whilst someone with high mercantile could spot the fraud.
The man has very little mercantile skill and so doesn't believe any evidence presented.
Incidentally, what about a new guild: The Honourable Society of Actuaries and Numbersmiths. Imagine the excitement!
Noble / merchant
Perhaps the man told the weasel to buy ash yams and the weasel thought this was rubbish so he's been buying saltrice instead.
Depends on what the man does for a living but I guess the weasel's thought process is: "The man doesn't know what he's doing, it's obvious we should be doing the opposite! I should be the one running this operation!"
This is the one piece of evidence that the man will listen to: the words of his trusted fellow lord / hunting partner / whatever
Test of integrity
Why are the only women in your quest ideas whores or wantons?
I'd say this would be better accomplished through the man giving specific instructions to not do x, the weasel of course does do x
Maybe "Whatever you do don't sell the incredibly valuable Dwemer artifact that has been in my family for generations even though we're in such dire financial straits."
Main reason for posting was the defecating. Ew.
Sounds like motivation for the weasel's actions could be that they believe they could perform a better job than the man.
So if weasel thinks they should be the wealthy plantation owner/ lord / someone with power and authority:
Kitchen
Weasel is having cooks etc. prepare the finest dishes for them and so the man is left with less extravagant dishes.
Perhaps a sumptuous dining room has been prepared solely for the weasel's use? Or maybe that would too easily give the game away.
More likely the weasel eats in their own well appointed quarters (decorated with funds embezzled from the man). If shown / told about these quarters the man simply says that he's looked after the weasel like they were their own offspring.
^ That removes the need for crapping in the stew. Phew.
Treasury
Not sure if people play CRPGs to role-play as accountants.
Maybe this is one for those skill checks you talked about somewhere else. Can a book's text be changed on the fly? A barbarian would see "[A bewildering blur of squiggles and numbers]" whilst someone with high mercantile could spot the fraud.
The man has very little mercantile skill and so doesn't believe any evidence presented.
Incidentally, what about a new guild: The Honourable Society of Actuaries and Numbersmiths. Imagine the excitement!
Noble / merchant
Perhaps the man told the weasel to buy ash yams and the weasel thought this was rubbish so he's been buying saltrice instead.
Depends on what the man does for a living but I guess the weasel's thought process is: "The man doesn't know what he's doing, it's obvious we should be doing the opposite! I should be the one running this operation!"
This is the one piece of evidence that the man will listen to: the words of his trusted fellow lord / hunting partner / whatever
Test of integrity
Why are the only women in your quest ideas whores or wantons?
I'd say this would be better accomplished through the man giving specific instructions to not do x, the weasel of course does do x
Maybe "Whatever you do don't sell the incredibly valuable Dwemer artifact that has been in my family for generations even though we're in such dire financial straits."
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sasquatch2o
- Developer
- Posts: 325
- Joined: Tue Jul 15, 2014 1:56 pm
Good points.
kitchen - Good lets go with this. Weasel is paying for expensive prepared meals and has fine silverware unfitting his position. He frequently entertains and dines with guests he wishes to impress. Hence the extravagance.
accounting - A mercantile check would be a nice touch for the accounting portion. If the PC cant figure the numbers they'll need someone to look over it for a fee. I'm thinking a journal entry will just pop up once it is read saying either you notice things are not adding up or someone more knowledgeable needs to be consulted. Should just be a couple pages of basic text and numbers, somethings not accounted for or unreasonable spending for affordable things.
merchant - Maybe weasel has been buying things for himself that are not accounted for. Speaking with merchant will reveal this and explain some of the discrepancies on the books. This would be pretty damning evidence.
test of integrity - Uhm, good question. I guess that might come off a little sexist given the limited number of quest ideas I've made so far. Another good question is why people are defecating in strange places in a couple, but a little ironical since there are no toilets. And yea, the point here is he is instructed very directly NOT to do something, but purposefully provide motive and the ability to do it anyway in a controlled situation to really prove that the servant is a scumbag. It should remain clear that The Man doesn't want to believe weasel is so conniving and deceitful because he is so fond of him, like an adopted son. I like the idea of the dwermer artifact but only if it is purchased to to bait the weasel rather than being an actual heirloom. Maybe it is something priceless and valuable and weasel has a fake made and sells the real thing. Whatever the integrity test is, Weasel must believe he will get away with it without The Man knowing. He would not directly disobey if he believed he would be caught.
Part of Weasel's character is to never directly disobey. He has obtained his position by brown-nosing, always agreeing and complimenting, ingratiating himself with those who can improve his station. He is a greedy conniving sycophant. In that way he is fairly clever, but slowly becoming reckless. That is the background for the quest. Each separate piece of evidence gathered should be enough for most people to dismiss a servant. The point here is that The Man is over lenient and trusting, a pushover, which is how this situation developed in the first-place. As evidence stacks up the final test will be something so awful that weasel is unquestionably horrible. The Man will never want to see him again, most in his place might rather kill him for it.
kitchen - Good lets go with this. Weasel is paying for expensive prepared meals and has fine silverware unfitting his position. He frequently entertains and dines with guests he wishes to impress. Hence the extravagance.
accounting - A mercantile check would be a nice touch for the accounting portion. If the PC cant figure the numbers they'll need someone to look over it for a fee. I'm thinking a journal entry will just pop up once it is read saying either you notice things are not adding up or someone more knowledgeable needs to be consulted. Should just be a couple pages of basic text and numbers, somethings not accounted for or unreasonable spending for affordable things.
merchant - Maybe weasel has been buying things for himself that are not accounted for. Speaking with merchant will reveal this and explain some of the discrepancies on the books. This would be pretty damning evidence.
test of integrity - Uhm, good question. I guess that might come off a little sexist given the limited number of quest ideas I've made so far. Another good question is why people are defecating in strange places in a couple, but a little ironical since there are no toilets. And yea, the point here is he is instructed very directly NOT to do something, but purposefully provide motive and the ability to do it anyway in a controlled situation to really prove that the servant is a scumbag. It should remain clear that The Man doesn't want to believe weasel is so conniving and deceitful because he is so fond of him, like an adopted son. I like the idea of the dwermer artifact but only if it is purchased to to bait the weasel rather than being an actual heirloom. Maybe it is something priceless and valuable and weasel has a fake made and sells the real thing. Whatever the integrity test is, Weasel must believe he will get away with it without The Man knowing. He would not directly disobey if he believed he would be caught.
Part of Weasel's character is to never directly disobey. He has obtained his position by brown-nosing, always agreeing and complimenting, ingratiating himself with those who can improve his station. He is a greedy conniving sycophant. In that way he is fairly clever, but slowly becoming reckless. That is the background for the quest. Each separate piece of evidence gathered should be enough for most people to dismiss a servant. The point here is that The Man is over lenient and trusting, a pushover, which is how this situation developed in the first-place. As evidence stacks up the final test will be something so awful that weasel is unquestionably horrible. The Man will never want to see him again, most in his place might rather kill him for it.
my opinion.