This Is A Triumph - a holes-themed scenario for Triangle Agency
I write this post as an answer to Prismatic Wasteland's call for holes-themed blog posts. I've decided to run with the theme as inspiration for a Triangle Agency scenario - enjoy!
If you might play this scenario, stop right here! Spoilers abound.
How to Use This Blog Post
Part of my goal with writing up this blog post is to experiment with how to lay out concise mystery scenarios I can share with others. At some point, it might be fun to turn one of these into a publishable PDF but I think this is a real "perfect is the enemy of good" situation, so I'm using Pris's prompt as a reason to go ahead and try out the format! Please let me know (via Discord, in various places - I'm usually findable as Noel) how it works for you, especially as you play it.
This is a lightly edited version of my notes for how I usually run node-based mystery scenarios. Rather than many published mystery scenarios, which use "scenes" as their divider, I'm just giving you my toolbox of nodes - the components that make up the mystery. It's up to you to read through them and prep connections - I haven't provided a full revelation list or anything, but I find that most Triangle Agency mysteries run themselves with a sufficiently juicy starting situation.
Scenario Overview
Isadora Pinkard (she/her), a 17-year-old woman who uses a cane, believes that she has invented a real-life Portal gun as a way to help her get around. Her father (Dr. Eric Pinkard) and her overbearing friend (Talia Rabin) have both seen it and are encouraging her to bring her invention to the world.
The Anomaly
- The Focus is Isadora's desire for easy mobility. She's a potential future Manifold in the early stages of bonding with this Anomaly.
- The Domain is the secret basement beneath the Pinkard family shed. The shed is accessible easily; the real challenge is getting access to the elevator that leads to the true Domain of the Anomaly.
- In order to access it, someone needs to say "The cake is a lie" while in the shed. Isadora and Talia both know the password, and you can place Portal-themed merch with the slogan on it in places where the Agents investigate Isadora's background, if they choose to do so.
- The aesthetics are Portal, as interpreted by a young woman who heard about the game long after it came out. Shiny white and black surfaces, corny posters with old-ish videogame jokes, and lots of fanart of Chell x GladOS.
- Appearance: the Portal gun!
Optional Objectives
- Eat cake: 1C
- Find out the password: 5C
- Concede a point to Talia: 1D
- Say a popular catchphrase: 10D
Briefing
The Field Agents are manning a tent for the Triangle Agency at their locality's Summer Festival. A young woman (Isadora) appears with a loud pop out of a blue hole in the wall out of the top of a building, shoots a device at street-level and pops out there out of a corresponding orange hole. This starts the mission off with 20 Loose Ends.
Talia and Eric (described in People) are here, along with a solid crop of bystanders. Both will intervene to protect Isadora if the Agents approach, giving her a chance to escape (especially by using Chaos to Corrupt and teleport away). Isadora will go to a safe place, either the Domain in her super-basement or someplace else that makes sense.
People
- Isadora Pinkard, 17-year-old woman who uses a cane, the young gamer who uses the Anomaly to get around much more easily. Hates corporate interests.
- Dr. Eric Pinkard, Isadora's father. Physics professor, wants the best for his daughter. Encourages her to publish this research.
- Talia Rabin, Disability advocate friend who's a mess but fiercely protective. Got her politics from the internet when she was 12. Speaks over Isadora "on her behalf."
- Josh Drummond, neighbor, crushing on Isadora. Doesn't get along with Talia. Knows there's something weird going on under the shed, but not what exactly.
Random Tables
For GM use, as needed. Roll or pick.
d6 Places Isadora Might Go
| Roll 1d6 | Result |
|---|---|
| 1 | The Pinkard shed, the Domain of the Anomaly |
| 2 | Good Coffee, the local coffee shop. Fierce rivals with Bad Coffee, a gimmick business. |
| 3 | Dr. Eric Pinkard's lab at the local university |
| 4 | Hole in the Ground, the abandoned quarry with a natural pond people jump in |
| 5 | The [City Name] Herald (matched to your Branch's location), to declare her discovery |
| 6 | On top of something impractically tall and dangerous |
d6 Tchotkes at the Triangle Agency Booth
| Roll 1d6 | Result |
|---|---|
| 1 | A red stress ball in the shape of a pyramid (with a three-sided base, of course) |
| 2 | A bobble-head of a man in a suit with a red triangular prism for a head. Too sharp. |
| 3 | A roll of Agency-branded correction tape - "It's like it never happened!" |
| 4 | A cat's-eye marble that rolls slowly even when there's no slope. Impossible to keep in the booth properly. |
| 5 | A Polaroid camera - "for taking pictures of anything suspicious!" Connected to Agency surveillance systems. |
| 6 | A pen that writes upside-down. |
d6 Ridiculous Things Talia Might Say
Produced in consultation with my sister, who's been on Tumblr much longer than I have.
| Roll 1d6 | Result |
|---|---|
| 1 | "Isadora actually asked me to say this, she's just embarrassed." |
| 2 | "You can't gaslight gatekeep girlboss your way out of this blocklist." |
| 3 | "Actually it's problematic to walk around." |
| 4 | "I'm just a smol bean, you can't say that to me!" |
| 5 | "You might as well be a Vriska apologist for how insane that sounds." |
| 6 | "You corporate stooge!" Uttered with the sheer earnestness of someone who believes they're delivering a devastating insult. |