Re: [DL] Fortress of Fear (Marshals Only)

[Dane & Melody <melndane@att.net>]

At 11:59 PM 5/25/02 -0400, you wrote:
>Date: Sat, 25 May 2002 04:41:03 -0700 (PDT)
>From: sittingduck_1313@yahoo.com
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>Just recently got Fortress of Fear and would like the
>input of Marshalls that ran this one. Namely on how
>they dealt with Jackie. As I read through it, it seems
>near impossible to keep her from dominating the
>action. I personally would prefer to just remove her
>completely as she has Mary Sue written all over her.
>But that would be no easy feat. Comments?

When I ran it, I had her help the posse out of tight spots in the 
Fortress.  Then, when they got to the portal, Stone flash-fried her in a 
horrific gout of flame.  They barely succeeded in getting the Heart back, 
and were really stuck with the quandary of "how do we get rid of it."  In 
fact, this followed them throughout the latter part of the adventure and it 
bothered them to no end.  I did bring her back using the alien tech (the 
posse had a kid in it...long story), and she got the shovel pass to the 
future.  Stone rose out of the floor again and chased her into the portal 
(that's how I dealt with the Young Stone/Old Stone thing).  The laser 
flickered a few times and went dead.  The posse was left with the gnawing 
feeling that maybe it worked, maybe it didn't.

I kept Jackie in through the whole thing.  She was proof against Stone, but 
she admitted that she couldn't take him down.  That kept the posse in line 
("Yeah, I have a big gun, but it still may not be enough. So, don't get any 
bright ideas...").  Also, she partially led them through the Fortress and 
helped me keep them going.  The Fortress is way overwhelming for a posse of 
average (3-5 members) size -- Jackie helps even the score.  Also, I found 
Jackie useful for bringing immediacy to the posse's quest of getting the 
HoD outa there.  She would regale them with stories of the future Earth, 
and that kept them pretty motivated.  Nice to be able to have Jackie say, 
"Oh yeah.  I read your name in a history book once.  Don't remember what 
for, but it was important!"

Anyway, good luck and have fun!

Dane