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Posted by: Master of Malfeasance Sep 14 2010, 07:26 AM

The other day, I was watching the Warriors (if you haven't seen it; stop reading and go watch it) and I thought to myself: 'Self, it's time for a REALLY low-level gang Shadowrun campaign. Now, I own the SR4 book, but SR4 seems sort of benign to the players, so I think I'm going to run SR3.'

Compounding my current obsession with The Warriors is the fact that I just played Saints Row 1 and 2 and I am completely enamored with the idea of a small time gang taking over most of a city (in this case, Redmond)

Since Redmond is still irradiated in some places, I think it'll be easy to highlight what a complete hell living there is. I am considering going so far as to wall off the district from the rest of the city so you can't even leave unless you have a pass or stow away.

So here is what I have so far:
- about 11 gangs fleshed out as well as 20 or so ancillary gangs for use on the fly if I need them.
- I want it set while the world is changing over from wired to wireless (late 2060's?)
- VERY low resources. I think characters starting out as teenagers would be good, limited cyberware and magic (hasn't grown into the ability yet)
- I want to stress themes of brotherhood, sacrifice (hahaha, I know), survival and respect.
- The final goal is to have subjugated all of the gangs in Redmond.

What I need:
- A map of Redmond, so I can section it off into neighborhoods
- Anything anyone reading this can dredge up from memory about gangs that already inhabit Redmond, such as the red hot nukes.

Have I missed anything?

Posted by: Stahlseele Sep 14 2010, 08:43 AM

you need someone to say:"i'll make a popsicle out of you"

Posted by: Badmoodguy88 Sep 14 2010, 09:31 AM

Ever played Chaos Overlords? You could use it for ideas for small eccentric gangs like they had in the Warriors.
You can find it here.
http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/339/Chaos+Overlords.html

Posted by: Angelone Sep 14 2010, 09:40 AM

Love the concept, I'll go through my books and see what I can find and will try to remember things as well. Were the Scatterbrains in Redmond? those crazy clowns.

Posted by: Master of Malfeasance Sep 14 2010, 11:36 AM

Here's what I have so far, feel free to plagiarize me to your black hearts content.

I say this because the names themselves were shamelessly pirated from the random gang name generator on google.

Death Road Ministry – Skull over pistons
A biker gang, they are severely limited by the state of roads in redmond

The Kombinat - Hammer of red iron
The angry sons and daughters of Russian, Serbian and Bosnian refugees. Sort of like the Russian Mafiya, but with none of the restraint imposed by older members.

The Otriad –
A vassal gang for the Kombinat made of outcasts, those of less than pure blood, but still Soviet (Jews, Poles, Czechs, etc)

Skull Bangers - A skull, what did you expect?
Archetypal punk gang, they like chains, studs and piercings. Imagine a large gathering of stereotypical Dropkick Murphy and Rancid fans all armed and attending concerts in force.

South Side Locos – Cholla Schoolgirl
Underrepresented Mexican/latino minority that does what any self-respecting group would do when horribly oppressed by surrounding gangs--they made their own!

Highway Souljas – helmet/skull
Chopper (the bike, not the aircraft) gang in direct competition with Death Road Ministry, notably military organization, their upper leadership are all retired mercs.

Death Doctors – 3 eyed skull
Carib league drifters and people obsessed with drug subculture. They wear lots of old school marijuana leaves and dreadlocks marinated in patchouli oil. Oh yeah, they practice voodoo if you didn't see that coming.

Redmond Shooters – belted bullets
A collection of sociopaths kinda like the Halloweeners, but less retarded.

Schoolyard Mafia – a slutty principal (take pride in their REALLY elaborate tag)
Started as a bunch of college students who were trying to go Bohemian, at the bottom. A bizarrely experimental gang, they have high turnover as people can actually leave this gang. The ones that stay are incredibly ruthless and intelligent.

Black Gorillaz – gorilla head
A black troll gang. They only come out at night, not because they have some aversion to the day, but the last time they banged in Tourist town, Lonestar had to sent attack helicopters to disperse them.

Dirt Road Diggaz – bloody shovel
A collection of shamans (mostly rat shamans) who live in warrens underground. They are rarely seen, but employed frequently as guides.

Convicts – gas mask
Sociopaths who moved into the Brockman Northwest supermax prison that was abandoned along with the rest of Redmond.

Kings of Malvern - crown
Elf gang based out of Malvern heights. They have a secret contract with Lone Star to protect Tourist Town from anything that might damage the slummers.

Posted by: Blade Sep 14 2010, 11:57 AM

http://wiki.dumpshock.com/index.php/Seattle_gangs

The Neck Kickers! They have only one purpose in life: to kick your neck!

Posted by: Doc Chase Sep 14 2010, 05:07 PM

I ran a game based off of this wonderful program a few years back. I took Boston, cut it into sectors, and used a low-key generation system to tell me what was in the area to take over and how lucrative it was. It worked pretty darn well.

Posted by: Saint Sithney Sep 14 2010, 09:13 PM

http://shadowrun.chinagreenelvis.com/map/

So good.

Posted by: Triggvi Sep 14 2010, 09:15 PM

I would have fun playing in campaign like that. There are also movies like escape from new york or LA. There is a lot material out there. The old cyberpunks books are a fun source.

Posted by: vladthebad Sep 15 2010, 02:26 PM

I am just about to do a big game that features redmond. The 3rd edition title New Seattle Sourcebook had a decent map on Redmond and described a lot of the neighborhoods.

As far as I can tell Touristville is the only place where there is any law and order (especially since its the gateway to Belleview), but beyond that there are a few satellite neighborhoods arrayed along its northern boarder, including Kingsgate, Woodinville, Hollywood and Avondale (going west to east, respectively). All of them are rated Security code E (touristville is C), which means lonestar does not patrol these neighborhoods and only comes in if a person with a SIN hits a PanicButton.

The Plastic Jungles are north of Hollywood along Paradise Lake Road, in a neighborhood called "Purity". East of the plastic jungles just across the Snoqualmie River is the Rats nest and the crash zone.

Glow City is ironically located in what is now picturesque beaver lake reservoir, following 202/Redmond Fall City Road south east. Just north of Glow City is a large horizontal neighborhood called Sophocles, going along Union Hill Road. Not sure what is there, but its got less security than touristville, and is located next to glow city so probably large abandoned industrial sites and abandoned office park enclaves.

The Body Mall is located somewhere south of Glow city, near another neighborhood called Brain Haven. There is not much about it in the book but I imagine it might be where a lot of Redmond corporate folk who never left, might have relocated to.

Hope that helps

Posted by: Master of Malfeasance Sep 15 2010, 03:42 PM

@Vlad: I will have to check the Seattle sourcebook. I don't know why I hadn't thought to look in the Seattle sourcebook for information on SEATTLE

Good ideas, all, I will keep writing as my game takes shape. Here is what I have added:

The characters are all high school aged kids who live in a neighborhood ranked E, but most of them live around a small Shiawase enclave devoted to studying... something, it doesn't really matter. The enclave had sort of adopted the neighborhood and used locals to clean offices and do other menial tasks and even let the kids attend the small corporate school on the premises. Security kept the gangs out for the most part and everyone was happy with the arrangement.

Then the 25 year project at the enclave ends, and Shiawase pulls everything out. Everything. In one night of endless helicopter landings and armed convoys, the whole complex is evacuated, stripped and imploded. After the dust cloud clears, the neighborhood is entirely unprotected. That night, the first gang incursion to the city sets the dominoes in motion:

There will be a pretty exhaustive list of people the PCs hang out with, two of these will be two fairly beautiful girls, one of whom will be dating one of the PCs best friends, Dewayne, the other daughter will be dating a guy who will turn out to be with the Kombinat. The second girl calls her boyfriend and he shows up with his friends to their house. Things get out of hand and the boyfriend takes his girlfriend to another neighborhood while his cronies go nuts, kill her parents and gang-rape her sister (the one with a connection to the PCs). Dewayne, enraged, gets his hands on a gun and goes after the Kombinat group.

Now, I need the community's opinion:

Does Dewayne die and do I trust the PCs to form the gang in his memory?

Does Dewayne succeed and form a gang to protect the neighborhood and send the PCs on missions?

Posted by: Dumori Sep 15 2010, 07:18 PM

I would go with both. Have Dewayne set them up and get the players used to the gang life style then have him die/killed and let the PCs freeplay from there. Sure the campine might go off the hooks of a gang vs gang game that way bu the other goals the might set them selves would likely coming to conflict with gangs at least. If they aim to leave the barrens or move in to running let them just make it a long hard road.

Posted by: Master of Malfeasance Sep 15 2010, 09:37 PM

I can dig it! Dewayne and the players stumble around learning about real barrens culture and then BAM, taken out by some heavy hitters who will become the focus of the rest of the game.

Posted by: Dumori Sep 15 2010, 10:05 PM

You want to off him while the PCs are still wet behind the ears though so they still have things to learn the hard way. Also give you a very likely revenge starter to the game. An added plus is it gets across the deadly and hellish nature of their lives as well.

Now there are also plenty of things you can do plot wise with is death and why. Killed by a real big fish due to something the PCs don't know about hell not even knowing about the big fish they hit the smaller gang paid or played in to killing him find out some one was above them. I good one withthe set up you have there is the vory killed him though the The Kombinat and The Otriad that gives youa nice long progression for revenge if they want to take it to the end. It also gives them loads of opportunity to get rich and involved in multi-gang conflicts ect.

Posted by: Saint Sithney Sep 15 2010, 11:49 PM

I think it was Napoleon who said, "Where you attack, you are strong. Everywhere else, you are weak."

So, the PCs go on the retaliatory with Dewayne and manage to catch some gangers by surprise, isolated and at a disadvantage. This momentum takes them into a spot where they're trying to recruit new people from the now-defenseless neighborhood, and to make deals with surrounding gangs. The increased visibility comes down on them all wrong though, as soon, some other heavy gang sends hitters and catches Dewayne and some of the recruits off guard. Maybe have a PC there with him who is witness.

Like, here's the scene:
Dewayne is chatting up some new recruits, talking about big plans and how they'll be protected and all that. He asks the PC witness to run ahead and tell the rest some piece of news. As soon as the PC breaks away, a truck comes flying down a cross street and splatters Dewayne and the recruits against the wall. Dead instantly. No one sees it coming. Next thing, bullets come spraying out of the truck's rear windows at the PC, too far away for any accuracy. The truck tries to back up in order to give chance, but stalls out. The hit team struggles to get out and follow the lone PC, who has a strong head start on them. Nearby, the rest of the PCs are alerted to the gunfire and respond.

Posted by: Master of Malfeasance Sep 16 2010, 11:44 AM

I like it. I also want to include a segment, probably in the second act while the players are getting established, to break a relative of one of the PCs, a career criminal, possibly ex runner out of prison, possibly by getting sent to prison themselves. This would give them a mentor who could run the day to day operations of the gang while I make my PCs jump through weak runs.

I am also including in my game a wall that separates Redmond from the rest of Seattle (most notably Bellevue). If you came from Seattle, you can get back, but if you're trying to get into Seattle, you need special contacts. This will create a very observable means of keeping them in Redmond until they are ready for the big bad shadows of Greater Seattle.

Posted by: Kagetenshi Sep 16 2010, 02:17 PM

To keep magic from running wild (in PC or NPC hands), and also because it's the canon way to do things, remember: the Barrens should have Level 1 or 2 Background count just about everywhere, worse in polluted areas or in areas which just had violent events in them (lots of those).

~J

Posted by: TommyTwoToes Sep 16 2010, 03:13 PM

Netflix REALLY wants me to watch this by the way. It shows up in almost every category including Foriegn Western Romantic Fantasies.

Posted by: Master of Malfeasance Sep 16 2010, 05:01 PM

@Kagetenshi: I hadn't thought of the magic thing. What does background count do? What might it do to the inevitable physical adept someone tries to twink out?

Posted by: Master of Malfeasance Sep 16 2010, 05:01 PM

@Kagetenshi: I hadn't thought of the magic thing. What does background count do? What might it do to the inevitable physical adept someone tries to twink out?

Posted by: Kagetenshi Sep 16 2010, 06:16 PM

Background Count, in general, makes it more difficult to use magic; typical Background Count comes in ratings from 1 to 5, and each level adds +1 TN to all magical skill tests or astral tests (Astral Perception, Assensing, Astral Combat, etc.), as well as +1 Drain Power per two full points of BC rating for anything in the above categories that has a Drain Code. It does not, in general, adversely affect Physical Adepts—they're subject to the same rules as the rest of the Awakened, but they rarely make Magical Skill tests, need to buy Astral Sight to take actions on the Astral, and Attribute Boost is the only power I can find that causes Drain.

Actually, in yet another stunning example of Shadowrun Organization™, the rules say the TN penalties apply to use of Magical Skills but then go on to enumerate Sorcery, Conjuring, and Enchanting, making it unclear whether the penalty also applies to Centering, Divining, or Aura Reading which are all Magical Skills. In any event, the list of things that Background Count does that apply to non-PhysMage Adepts is very short and specialized.

(Note that when I say "typical background count", that's a very relative term; Rating 5 comes from things like sites of genocide, some nuclear blast sites, and extremely toxic areas—quickly-lethal-without-protection kind of extremely. Ratings 1 and 2 are the ones you're likely to run across randomly, with 3 and higher generally requiring a serious event or a long-term institution.)

~J

Posted by: Kruger Sep 16 2010, 11:49 PM

Netflix told my XBox once that Dilbert and The Office, Season 4 were" Gory Viral Plague Zombie Movies".

Posted by: Master of Malfeasance Sep 17 2010, 04:00 AM

I could see it for Dilbert.

If you haven't seen the Warriors, you should really watch it. It's a retelling of the Anabases by the Greek mercenary general Xenophon through the eyes of a street gang in New York.
per
Basically, Greek army of 10,000 go to fight with Cyrus the younger against Ataxerxes, the then-current Persian Emperor. In case you missed out on 300, Greeks haven't ever been especially welcome in Persia (this happened some 80 years before 300). Well, they made it to battle with Ataxerxes forces, but Cyrus got killed.

Endstate: 10,000 Greeks, armed to the teeth, surrounded on all sides by hostile forces and VERY far from home (Xenophon believed if he could reac the sea, they'd be okay.

Imagine that in the form of a street gang bopping its way from the Bronx back to Coney Island.