Anarea 1-off D: Breaking the Law 7 to 26 Aval 2000
"This is pure Law: the fruit of your true service to My cause. You will allow it to grow, nurturing it with your fidelity, and thus will We achieve Our ultimate destiny."
(SARAN, Goddess of Law, in answer to the Commune of Decus XX and the Privy Council, 4 I 2000)"Maintain a balance in all things, or this one precious World will be no more."
(from the Creed of KOROS, God of Neutrality)"Relax, and enjoy yourselves a little!"
(Namaja, ArchChaosMaster, on abandoning his disciples to the Imperial Guard before the Massacre of Lake Zarak, 1 IV 1997)
At Dawn of the first Caeriad of the first month of the Two Thousandth Year, there began the Duel in which the Valdrean Emperor Decus, the twentieth of that name, of the House of Aven, won the Lion Throne.
At Dawn of the first Caeriad of the first month of the Two Thousandth Year, there appeared a white opacity at the heart of the Sun Diamond, which marks the centre of the one thousand mile radius Empire, and is said to have been placed by SARAN in the centre of the City of Valdran at that same time on that same day in the Year Five Hundred.
By Dawn of the following Caeriad that strange opacity had expanded into a sphere just over two feet across, subsuming the Sun Diamond, and it was continuing to grow: to just over four feet across by the next day, and to well over eight feet across by the day after. In fact, it appeared to be doubling in size each Caeriad.
More subtle changes were taking place too, in the Temple of the Sun Diamond. They were not apparent to those actually there, but on thinking back to a visit, one might remember that everyone had seemed to look and speak the same.
Naturally the Temple and the Privy Council suppressed the news of this apparition. The Council Communed with SARAN for guidance on the 4th, and were told there was no cause for concern. It was a good and great thing, which they should welcome and foster. The Emperor (who had not earned the sobriquet "The Lawful" without good reason) therefore ordered a halt on all attempts to try and affect it by physical or magical means.
But Decus of Mastrin, Champion of that House (and therefore a Privy Councillor), who was now the leading contender for the Lion Throne, remained seriously concerned, although he too was one of SARAN's most faithful Paladins. As his friend Castor, Champion of Bavenne, had pointed out, if the Sphere continued to expand at its present rate, it would engulf the entire City by the 17th of the month, the entire Empire by the 23rd, and the whole of the known World shortly after. Their fears were shared by the KOROS faction on the Council, whose leader, Gaius, Champion of Satril, had been warned by his God that pure Law is one of the most serious threats possible to the Balance of the World, and was likely to result in the end of the World if not counteracted.
Immediately following Decus XX's defeat of the old Emperor (Decus XIX of Aven), Decus of Mastrin had challenged the new Emperor Decus XX to a Duel, and the contest would therefore take place at Dawn of the 7th. He had no illusions as to his fate if he lost, but if he could win, he would, as Emperor, be ideally placed to take some action to deal with the threat of the Sphere of Pure Law.
So it was that at Dawn of the seventh Caeriad of the first month of the Two Thousandth Year, there began the Duel, in the highly-Lawful Arenas in the Temple of the Sun Diamond, between the six Law-Clones of the Emperor Decus XX of Mastrin, "The Lawful", and the six Law-Clones of the Challenger Decus, Champion of Mastrin, bidding to become the Emperor Decus XXI. At stake was more than just the Lion Throne, more than the lives of the losers. At stake was whether the Quest to break the Law that threatened Anarea would even begin.
"I do think it would be worth running again, as we basically failed to solve the puzzle the first time, and it is definitely a puzzle worth solving!"
(John)
"It seems to me a case might be made for saying it was too hard for the PCs... The players had to come up with some pretty radical ideas in order to win."
(Andy B.)
"Not only did we fail to win the one-off, but I think the players failed the one-off. Next time we will do better."
(Pete)
"Breaking the Law" was first played on 19 December 1987, when the Players representing Decus of Mastrin and his Law-Clones / allies failed in their Quest to Break the Law (twice). The PCs played well tactically, but were out-thought strategically by the Lawful faction in the Empire supporting the Pure Law, masterminded by Andy B.
The 1-off marked a return to the 1-off as a game, after the fall-out over "Ten Kings". But it still pitted players against each other, and was marked by disagreements between those opposing the Law, which led ultimately to a second victory for Andy B., as the Law Player (after he won the initial Duel, and we started again). To be fair, the puzzle was a difficult one to solve, and asking some of the players to roleplay factions representing whole Alignments was perhaps over-ambitious. Nevertheless, it was an enjoyable session. So much so, that I tried to run it again in 1990, as "Breaking the Law 2". Unfortunately, I was unable to get together sufficient players to do the rerun justice, and it was therefore cancelled.
In "Breaking the Law 1" there was a "historical" solution to the Quest, and possible alternative solutions, which may or may not have worked. The PCs explored some of the potential solutions, but were not able to succeed in any of them. "Breaking the Law 2" was partially rewritten, so that it therefore no longer necessarily represented the "official" history of Anarea, and so different solutions might have been possible, or more possible. But I never fully completed the designing of either version, and it was probably still difficult to solve.
I returned to the story in 2008, when I finally completed the designing, improving the Challenger's odds in the Duel and writing up three alternate stories (including the historical one from "Breaking the Law 1") with a few more clues to make the solution to the story being played easier to find. The original design was intended for 6 "PC Players", representing Decus of Mastrin and his Law-Clones / allies, and 3 "NPC Players" representing the competing factions of Law, Neutrality and Chaos. It is now intended to be played by 2 to 6 "PC Players" only.
"Breaking the Law 3" was run (as Version B of the story) over several evening sessions from December 2008 to May 2009. The Players came up with a novel alternative solution to the historical one, but it wasn't entirely successful. Following this run, I have now published the DM's materials as revised before that run and some documents created during that run which tell some of its story.
The Player Characters are as follows:
However, when the game starts with the Duel for the Lion Throne the PCs are all Law-Cloned into:
Download the full PC Character Specification spreadsheets here. Specifications for Magic Items are hyperlinked from the above summary specs.
If there are less than 6 PC Players, they may select which Characters each plays, and the others will be run as NPCs. One PC Player should take Decus of Mastrin.
Background information on the Valdrean Empire is available here. But remember that some things which are history in the early 2500s have not happened yet in the Year 2000; notably the Northern Civil War and the accession of the House of Bjørn, the assassination of LOFIR, the fall of the Valdrean Noble House of Mastrin and the Foundation of the Temple of Heaven on Earth. Also, some of the historical events prior to the Year 2000, especially more recent ones, have been changed for the 1-off.
The following additional background information as at 6 Aval 2000 is available to the PCs at the start of the game:
Do not read these materials if you wish to be a Player in the 1-off, as they were designed for the DM's eyes only...
Do not read these materials if you wish to be a Player in the 1-off, as they tell some of the story of the last run of the 1-off and so reveal information not available to the PCs at the start. This run diverged from the historical story, as designed in the Scenarios.
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© P.R. Wild, 24 October 2008, updated 7 June 2009