In the penultimate episode of the Know Evil campaign, the Firewall team heads to earth to find out the truth behind Manjappa’s plan. Running the blockade of kill satellites surrounding the planet is dangerous enough, but how long can they last on the surface? Will they do what it takes to discover the truth and stop Manjappa or will they falter in their quest? Everything is coming to an end, but before the team can confront the author of the Know Evil virus, they must first make a decision that will alter history forever!
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And there goes my hopes for sleep at a reasonable hour.
I didn’t even recognize that as Bartleby. Was he in a female morph the whole game, or only Luna and beyond?
He’s the one character for whom none of his identity is related to his physical form…
If I’m not mistaken, Bartleby spent almost the entirety (haven’t listened to the new episode yet, because curse you Ross for releasing these when I’m about to sleep) of the campaign post-Venus in a female morph. Only other morphs coming to mind is the recent Synth, and the one where they impersonated the would-be bank-robbers.
Also, my sadness has no bounds, knowing I only have two more episodes to listen to.
i love the Ross summoning phrase
Caleb: cosmic horrors beyond naming…
Ross comes in from another room
Yeah, Bartleby was a female morph since Luna Tier, so that Includes Scum Swarm and Earth Orbit.
1:00 AM? Fuck that, listening to APs is more important than sleep.
also, i love that manjappa is the ‘goodguy’ & that Bartleby is going to discover that alice is really himself…
I think I know the title of the next eclipse phase campaign.
Known Evil: Prometheus Must Die.
Also I really love the whole way you portrayed the Prometheans as amoral beings who are as much cosmic horrors as the Titans. I can think of so many ways Warden could decide that wiping out humanity was the logical course of action. He is actually the creepiest cosmic horror/god-being I’ve seen put into a roleplaying game. Then again I could just find him so creepy for some personal reason.
Crazy episode. Was so unnervingly tense when Gerard went off Tacnet.
I’d love to hear Jason’s thoughts on this episode, particullarly regard the destruction of the “last best chance” at reclaiming Earth. At one point I thought I heard him say “Why did I left you guys do any of this?” in reference to the bomb on the cylinder. It sounded like you guys shut off the recorder right as he was about to discuss that.
Anyway, great episode as always. Sad this is about to end!
I might be wrong on this, but booby-trapping the cylinder was done before meeting the Direct Action dudes, wasn’t it? At that time, Jason wasn’t there, as he was late and arrived later in the game. But like I said, I could be misremembering.
I got the feeling that Jason thought that SAIROC was the one actually booby-trapped, and not the cylinder itself.
Do you think they would have let him decide. Jason’s character I thought until episode 8 or was a Jovian of some sort.
He’s almost as bad as the Space Nazi’s. Wasting time, getting angry the character is a wreck and is just that muscle to hit things. Why he is a great counter part to all the other characters.
And why I love him
Also I’m hoping the reveal is that Bartelby is his sister and that she is suffering from stress and thinks she is her kidnapped brother.
Cause only Alice would get taken by the Red Queen so she must be Bartelby
Also Caleb this confuses me.
But wouldn’t capturing Manjappa bringing him down restore there rep with Firewall once information got out?
It seems to me there choice was. Give up and go back hero’s. Or finish the fight and failure means they better bloody well run and make new lives for themselves.
Sucks the campaign is about to end.
Also The Killie thing is actually something I expected/was doing with a character of my own. Then I realized combat A.I’s only have a 40 in a weapon skill not even a 50 or a 60!
I fell asleep while listening to this last night and had a nightmare about being a Firewall agent. I hope you’re happy, RPPR crew! >:o You jerks and your entertaining content!
My god, the next episode is going to be a blood bath.
Origami. That got a good slow clap from me. The people on the bus looked confused.
I admit, I never thought it’d come down to “Manjappa is a reclaimer” as for why so much happened.
I am also a bit surprised no one choose to put Kill-E into their gun or a rail cannon mounted on Aaron’s back.
If I remember correctly, I was a little late, and that’s what made the voice activated detonation code so frustrating. Being the demolitions guy and wanting to preserve the contents of the cylinder at all costs, Gerard would never have agreed to that plan unless he had a built-in override. As a player, I was a little ticked because I didn’t know the plan until Thad initiated the detonation code, especially since it was my character who created the bomb. But it is what it is, and I’m still happy with the finale.
Prometheans just being correctly-slaved AIs and not super buddy human-loving friend machines is a pretty classic Lovecraftian letdown, yeah. even your allies are just gods in chains!
I’d say this woulda been a leeeeetel anticlimactic as a campaign clincher, so I’m glad it sounds like a Big Wheel In Space moment’s coming up. I mean, if they hadn’t decided to throw down the cards (is that even an expression uh gauntlet I guess you throw down gauntlets) and go after Manjijajajijpprp, they might as well have just burned the cylinder in the comfort of their own habs back on Luna and not bothered going to Earf at all. but! it sounds like more eat hot plasma is coming in the conclusion.
moreover, HOW CAN IT BE ENDING. TELL ME ROSS’ EXOPLANET REBELLION CAMPAIGN IS HAPPENING CANNOT LIVE WITHOUT ECLIPSE PHASE FEED.
@Caleb, is the oragami of death thing your invention or from one of the books because I want one.
Y’know, until the reveal at the end I was guessing that Q was actually Manjappa’s infiltration agent. I’m glad to be proven wrong.
It’s pretty awesome that the whole reason the campaign started is just because the villain was doing a sidequest.
So Manjappa was the Oramgi Killer all along…
“…JASON!”
Caleb, I really have to say, just about every eclipse phase concept you come up with is just a mind fuck for me. Some of these things are so high concept I don’t think I’ll ever understand them, and these twist are terrifying in their believability. It seems like you’ve been setting this whole thing up since episode one.
It’s insane, I love it. But I still have no idea how you can come up with these kind of things. What kind of insanity inspired creative process spawns this brilliance?
“SAIRC I want you to know I’m sorry…”
Damn.
@StillJustKnw: “It’s too bad she won’t live, but then again, who does?”
Amazing episode, amazing plot, 10/10 I even tell my friends about these games.
I love how these sessions tend to end with some twist from Caleb that makes things worse, making the mostly-lack of one at the end here more poignant. That was it. That WAS their plan.
@SageNytell: I really wish this was the truth, now. It would be a great use of the player double agent.
Once the campaign is over, I *really* want to know some things about Caleb;s design techniques. How much did he have planned from the beginning? How much did he invent before each session? How much did he invent on-the-fly while playing?
I can’t wait for the full RPPR episode post-script about this campaign.
Well, I *could* wait if it meant that the campaign went on longer. 🙂 Any chance for an epilogue or a sequel?
Well Ross was talking about running an EP campaign in the future (involving gate-crashing, if I remember correctly), where Caleb will play Psymon again, and perhaps the characters from Know Evil would return. Bartleby could be their proxy, provided he chose the “happy ending.” 😀
I just want more Eclipse Phase. RPPR + EP always produces great games.
Yeah, we’ve talked about another EP game since shortly after finishing Know Evil. It would be set 2 or 3 years later. My character was going to be a Remade with a goal of pushing the bounds of transhumanism. I envision the character as an amoral science and tech whiz. His thoughts are if the TITANS could reach godlike levels of existence and capability, humans, being their creators, should be able to attain this level as well…by any means necessary.
If I manage to get an EP game going, it’ll start on the brink, the players work for Proxy Zealot, I haven’t decided if he’s with Firewall or building his own cargo cult. He will have Killy/Kill-E(?) handy though.
Oddly, Gatecrashers is so far the only RPG book where the setting just depressed me. It didn’t inspire anything in me in the way other EP and RPG books do. I’m not sure why, I like EP, I like Star Gate, I should like this but I don’t.
Also, for the mole, I am intrigued quite a bit. So far we know six names in Firewall (and the proxy club but they’re pretty tangential) and that’s counting Cody’s guy and Psymon so I am excited to see if the mole is someone they’ve seen before or Bob in accounting. (I’d have guessed Sterms but he didn’t act too mole like on the moon.)
@Journ, I also have a lack of enthusiasm for gatecrashing and Panopticon. The stuff leading up to going through going through the gates interests me but I cannot get myself in the mood to buy this book. Well written stuff but for some reason I do not want to pay for it. Strange?
Mind blown, pants pooped.
i have been listening only a short time. but have been catching up on know evil and hero’s of new arcadia. i am currently caught up on HNA and am up to the earth tier on know evil. i am a veteran GM of around 20 years now, as are my players, i am planning on running a round about version of this campaign for my players if Caleb doesn’t mind. i was looking for possible advice. also i was wondering, ever so humbly, if i could possibly get a copy of the game notes. if not i completely understand i can do without, but i thought i wouldn’t hurt to ask.
@Constructacon and @Caleb
Can we please have the campaign written up nicely with stats? I’ll gladly drop 100$ on that kickstarter? hmm…
Caleb: bombartlebee has no inputs besides what you give him and bombatlebee is loyal to firewall, and Fe-yen told bombartlebee that you’d all been compromised and changed the code
I literally had to pause and re listen to that part, because it was hilarious and clever.
I would gladly write the campaign up, but I can’t make money of other people’s stuff even if CC license would let me use it for publication. If the KS went over one dollar, I’d be in violation of the license. I’d like to give it a nice layout and art rather than just a word document, so I’m at a bit of an impasse
So, you’re not allowed to publish and sell eclipse phase stuff? Like, you can’t create an adventure module and sell it or anything?
Maybe talk to the Eclipse Phase folks? I think they’re pretty responsive, and maybe they’d be up for either granting you permission or collaborating with you on the project?
The subject has been brought up, but they are very busy with their current products (Transhuman is going to be awesome) and have a lot on their plates. I wouldn’t want to do something without their blessing even if I could. I have too much respect for the game.
At the point when I passed that note to Caleb with my message to bombartleby about the group being compromised, I was a bit concerned that the session would end with the party (minus SAIRAC) and our surviving foes killing the absolute shit out of me.
So Bartleby was a female morph, I just noticed it. The next episode should bring some significant progress for the plot, my prediction is that the next episode is going to be a blood battle, full of actions.
Next time on Eclipse Phase, Know Evil: Manjappa and Bartalby have an epic sword fight for the pize.
Based on a throw away Thad comment I enjoyed the mental train of thought that maybe the entire No Evil run was really an very detailed prequel for Caleb’s take on a Burn Notice style game set in the Eclipse Phase universe.
Preston is Michael
Bartleby is Fiona
Gerard or Fayun as Sam
Who is going to play the Mom I wonder? Oh yeah never mind it is SAIRAC.
An awesome episode. I was mildly surprised with Gerard thinking the cylinder might be the way to reclaim earth- myself thinking the fungus might be too hard to get rid of and earth might just end up covered in mushrooms. Who knows, it was a Hail Mary, afterall 🙂
simply amazing. I actually disliked EP at first, but I listened because the campaign was one I hadn’t heard. Now I understand this space opera, and it shows me a lot more to the game.
You’ve got a strong suit, Caleb. You’ve weaved a very intricate web here. A level beyond I’ve ever managed as a GM