So the teams owe this S-K Johnson a favor, and he calls it in to make them pursue a virulent and likely magic epidemic that has been plaguing the buroughs of New York. People die of weird diseases that kill quickly, and are extremely infectious kinds too; like hemorrhagic fever, cholera and plague.

Also, weird experimentation has resumed on human subjects in private hospitals (this has been a theme in the campaign), things like freezing or heating patients to death, simulating strokes, heart attacks and hypothermia - last but not least, the medical staff kill subjects who live, vivisecting them alive to study the effects of their experimentation.

The only common factor has been that doctors in charge of various official experiments had suddenly lost all respect for human life and dignity, and started torturing and killing their charges. The two problems have intersected, as corporate facilities normally charged with containing and combating the viruses, now start killing and vivisecting new yorkers infected in the mysterious epidemy, all in the name of science.

What is really going on is that a certain Terrence Stamp has awakened late in life, after being dealt more than his fair share of problems there. Disfigured, sick, in debt, his entire family dead/fighting/wasting away and having only been met with ridicule when struggling for a better deal. Nearly ready to eat a bullet at the point of his magical awakening, he meets the mentor spirit Rabid Dog, and becomes a Reaper. Obsessed with exterminating his own species, he has acquired a fetish containing one of the most dangerous Contagion spirits that ever lived, Lt. Gen. Shiro Ishii who led Unit 731 during World War II.

Ishii, confused because he has been traveling with a museum exhibit about Unit 731s crimes in the 20th century since being banished to his typewriter by an irate spirit of one of his victims - but more than ready to bargain with a mage who will allow him free reign, agrees to poison the greater New York area for our villain, in return for getting Terrence his revenge on the universe he hates. The Saeder-Krupp man is part of the S-K Prime central in Manhattan, and has gotten orders from Big L that toxic spirit outbreaks in New York is "happening too soon" and must be contained - both so the dragons inscrutable plans are served, but also so that S-K can take credit in the MDC for stopping a dire magical threat and epidemic outbreak in the making.

I'm thinking a clue hunt leading to the toxic mage, who answers questions about his nighttime plumbing job in various buroughs stricken with disease, but can't be charged with the crime of tampering with water streams or filtration units as there is no evidence. However, Ishii is present in his home, and will attempt various poltergeist tricks to terrify or hurt the characters, and Terrence quickly ushers them out when things start to get weird.

No matter if a short fight or not ensues, I will have him and Ishii travel to a bolthole, and the characters pursue him to the safe house, where they must defeat Terrence and Ishii, now helping each other to kill the characters and/or infect them or nearby people with infectious disease - I'm thinking about whipping up stats for diseases or rifling the various sourcebooks for them, so he can attempt to infect with various contagions.

Here's my idea for Ishii, made as a Force 7 Harbing (Toxic SoM) as suggested in Street Magic.:

Body: 7 Agility: 9 Reaction: 10, Strength: 5, Charisma: 7 , Intuition: 7, Logic: 7, Willpower: 7

Astral Initiative: 14
Number of Passes, Astral: 3

Skills: Assensing 7, Astral Combat 7, Dodge 7, Perception 7, Unarmed 7

Powers: Accident, Astral Form, Accident, Desire Reflection, Enhanced Sight, Fear, Guard, Influence, Materialize, Noxious Breath, Sapience, Search

Would this be a suitable challenge for a green four-runner (earned 6 karma since campaign start, made with 400BP) team? I'm thinking Terrence will plead with and threaten the characters before a battle ensues, in order to build op a magical attack against them and allying with Ishii while ranting about his tragic fate to them.

Any and all feedback, no matter about what part is as always appreciated (IMG:style_emoticons/default/cyber.gif)

Sounds like a bit much, this early in a campaign. I'd reserve this kind of threat for much later in their careers. Also, and i might have missed this, how are Terrance and Ishii influencing the other doctors to butcher their patients? And how are they producing all these plagues? You mentioned how they are spreading them, but not how they were obtained/manufactured.

- Thanks, but I'm not placing this in a much larger context. It's merely meant to give the players a taste of what a magical adversary looks like, and warn of the existence of Twisted spirits.

- I imagine Ishii somehow subverting background counts or casting influence spills, or teaching them to Terrence, so that the medical profession in NY 2072 begins to reflect that of Kwantung 1933 - Losing morals, using human experiments to learn new things, and to further their career. That, or just going flat-out mad by Ishii's presence and losing all respect for their patients lives and dignity.

- I was thinking Ishii used the Noxious Breath and Pestilence powers to infect the areas with the contagions he experimented with in life. That or teaching Terrence related powers and protecting him while he spread the plagues.

Is it supposed to be pretty over-the-top? Like, it's not just "a Contagion spirit," it's, "one of the most dangerous Contagion spirits that ever lived, Lt. Gen. Shiro Ishii who led Unit 731 during World War II." If your group is into that level of intensity, then I think you've got it down cold, but be aware if you're not already that some people object to this level of centrism. [Example: "Oh, so he's not just really old, he's really old and Leonardo da Vinci. Sure."]

That aside, my biggest concern would be: why would the PCs do this? I mean, as a favor to the Johnson, sure, but I'll confess I've owed people a criminal favor or two in the past and if they'd suggested I go investigate a breakout of Radioactive Ebola Mad Cow AIDS [REMCAIDS], then I think I'd probably have suggested they go investigate pissing off. Why do the PCs not wax, ignore, dispose of, or otherwise deny the Johnson?

That's a really good question. I can see now there are a couple of inconsistensies in the basic plot that I just hammered together because I was more interested in the story side of it. Ah well, that's what writing on coffee and sleep deprivation will get ya.

For one thing, they're kind of allright people and have performed hooding before - and I was aiming for some events that really hammered home how bad news this is, so they see it as their chance for glory - helping avert a catastrophic epidemy is worth some street cred and automatic favors, no?

Thanks a lot for the input, feel free to add more (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Well, and that's the thing: [most] players are pretty well conditioned to just take the job the GM offers, because otherwise what are we all doing at the table tonight? But our GMs learned pretty quickly that it's good to have a backup plan: someone the PCs give a damn about has the disease, or for some reason no one but them could ever solve the problem, or whatever you think will best inspire them. Probably unnecessary, but always helpful to have. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

They do have a mage or a shaman handy, right? Because without them, they'll get curbstomped.

Yeah, a Dark Mage.

What Tradition is a Dark Mage, or more precisely, What IS a Dark Mage?

I always screw up the prefix, I of course mean a black mage, of the Black Magical tradition. (It's in Street Magic, but has been in the game for at least 2 editions as I recall)

Ahh Yes, a Black Mage. Got it.
I love me a Black Mage. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Stabbity stab!

This one is a piece of work, too. Raised in Kowloon by blackhearted street gangers he has not met a spirit he did not want to dominate - I was originally wary of my plot idea, but if there's one magician that could look Ishii in the eye and prevail, it's probably this guy (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)