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[Jonathan S. Fox]

Right now, it's hard for new players to figure out what to do about the CCS. This is an idea for changing that.

One month before the CCS breaks out, the Gentleman's Club has a news article that the owner has died in a car accident. The Gentleman's Club reopens as the Conservative Club for Wisdom. It is now invite-only; you can only get in with a sleeper bouncer. The bouncers carry M16s, AR-15s, .45 Pistols, .38 Pistols, or batons, depending on the law.

If inside without an alarm, disguised CCS members you walk past have a chance of asking one of your Liberals if you want to hear something disturbing. If you say yes, they will say something like "Liberals want to kill babies so they can shag more often." You have two responses: a) "That... is disturbing. What can I do?" b) "Whatever."

If you go along with it, you immediately gain one point of Wisdom for even hearing out this trash (with no risk of conversion). You're eventually invited to meet up and talk about making a difference. If you say whatever, they stop talking to you and won't listen to you either. Being invited to meet up gives you a couple of options each day.

1. If you don't show up, it breaks off the meetings. You don't see them again.

2. If you play along with the Conservative, each day you have to make a resistance check or gain Wisdom. Failing while you have more Wisdom than Heart converts your character, losing them forever, and within the next few days, the CCS will raid that Liberal's old safehouse. If you resist for several days, you're invited to join the CCS. If you accept, your character becomes a CCS sleeper and the first safehouse is revealed. If you refuse, they let you go, and you never see the person again.

3. If you debate the issues, you roll. A middling result has no effect (you don't gain Wisdom, you don't get closer to an invite). A high result sways the CCS member. A low result gets your Liberal kidnapped (see below). If you succeed in swaying the CCS member enough times, the CCS member joins YOU instead, and you can recruit them as a regular member or a sleeper -- either way, you get their safehouse location.

4. If you attempt a kidnapping, it runs similarly to datenapping. However, in both this and datenapping a CCS member, a failure results in the reverse: Your Liberal is kidnapped.

If your Liberal is kidnapped, you have about a week to raid their safehouse (which you probably don't have the location of) and rescue your Liberal. Your Liberal is being held in a closet special location similar to the lock-up, only it's very easy to pick the lock. Successfully taking the safehouse also rescues your Liberal. Your Liberal will never escape on their own; it would deprive the player of the tension of solving the issue themselves. If you fail to rescue your Liberal in time, their body is dumped at the Homeless shelter, and the Liberal's safehouse is promptly raided by the CCS.

Under this proposal, you can still use the old fashioned way of getting the safehouse location by walking up to them, saying "No" to the disturbing question, and asking them out.

[Aqizzar]

If inside without an alarm, disguised CCS members you walk past have a chance of asking one of your Liberals if you want to hear something disturbing. If you say yes, they will say something like "Liberals want to kill babies so they can shag more often." You have two responses: a) "That... is disturbing. What can I do?" b) "Whatever."

That would certainly be an interesting new mechanic, if people other than you could initiate conversation.  The only problem I see with that is annoyance.  Will any mob generated in the club at random have a chance to be a member?  Will they always ask, or will there be some check there?

The automatic Wisdom gain seems a little unfair, since you don't automatically gain Wisdom from the ongoing meetings.  Shouldn't that be a resistance check too?  Especially since it would quickly make any Liberals you send to suss out the club into liabilities.

The "invite only" part seems odd, since it's still ultimately a club.  High enough bluffing or disguise and an Expensive Suit should be able to get you inside even after it's the hideout, unless it just stops being a business altogether.

As for new options for finding them, I don't know if this is already in the game, but maybe you could learn of the location through stolen files at Conservative strongholds, or hacking?  You already intercept internal emails with other organizations, it's not a stretch to think you could intercept CCS members' emails and eventually find their hideout.

[Jonathan S. Fox]

Traditionally, a Gentlemen's Club (not the strip club type) is members only establishment limited to proper gentlemen. One could request membership, but you would need to be of good class and, very preferably, have the support of an existing member. Its exclusivity is a point of pride, and also allows the members to let down their hair, so to speak; they have no need to worry that the riff-raff are here. The Conservative Club for Wisdom would be one such club, run by one of the backers of the Conservative Crime Squad and kept as a sort of safe haven. It's not where the CCS is based out of, but it is an easy place to recruit.

They would speak to you only on a chance, though it would be a reasonably high one. Only one person per group could speak to you. The membership of the CCS wouldn't change (you'd be getting chatted to by mercenaries or rednecks you find in the club). Since the club's most important role is as a place to meet up with the CCS and recruit Conservatives, I don't think it will be too annoying, especially if we were to implement a 1 request limit per visit (so they stop asking you if you keep hanging around after saying no).

[Jacob/Lee]

If your wisdom can be raised, there should be a way to lower it. I'm not sure how, but there should be a way.

[Jonathan S. Fox]

Wisdom's always been a sort of permanent damage on your characters. Scars that never heal. I envision infiltrating the CCS by this method to be a very traumatic and trying process for any Liberals involved.

[Little]

I think there should be a peaceful way to destroy the CCS. I'm not sure what the method would be, but I think there should be one for non-violent runs.

[Angel Of Death]

Maybe when taking someone for a meeting, they could pull out a gun and announce that they're with the CCS. I think there could be 3 possibilities. Your Liberal surrenders and is taken to the CCS hideout, your Liberal escapes unharmed or your Liberal pulls out a gun and a fight begins to happen.

I think there should be a peaceful way to destroy the CCS. I'm not sure what the method would be, but I think there should be one for non-violent runs.

Exposing the blatent lies and BACKWOODS EVOOL of the CCS to the public.

[Kay12]

I think there should be a peaceful way to destroy the CCS. I'm not sure what the method would be, but I think there should be one for non-violent runs.

Actually me, MetalSlimeHunt and Jon are discussing this on the sticky thread. Since the Data Disc from the CIA is extremely difficult to get, it's probably going to get buffed with a lot of new abilities - including destruction of the CCS.

[klingon13524]

[snip]

The Conservative Club for Wisdom would be one such club, run by one of the backers of the Conservative Crime Squad and kept as a sort of safe haven. It's not where the CCS is based out of, but it is an easy place to recruit.

[snip]

So it would basically be their version of the vegan co-op? Sounds like a good idea.

[EuchreJack]

I actually really like this idea.  I would also like to point out two things:

First, no wisdom gain is "automatic" in this scenario, as it is directly in relation to the player actions.  If the player says "whatever" to the initial conservative contact, no wisdom is gained.  Basically, the player is risking one member to infiltrate the CCS, as it should be.

Second, there is no requirements under this system about the liberal sent.  Without a sleeper Bouncer, one needs to send a highly trained infiltration liberal, usually one that has already proven themselves (as few raw recruits have the skills to infiltrate the Gentleman's Club).  But under this system, a hippee recruited yesterday can be the mole (and is probably the ideal mole at that).

One final thought: Perhaps this location can be implemented in conjunction with the Gentleman's Club, instead of replacing it.  Also, perhaps the CCS should be allowed to run for a few months before this location pops up.