Need campaign advice: PCs are cops, not shadowrunners Options Track this topic Email this topic Print this topic Download this topic Subscribe to this forum Display Modes Outline Switch to: Standard Switch to: Linear+

[Signal]

Hi. I'm thinking about starting up a campaign where all the PCs are police.

Not Lone Star or Knight Errant per se, but something close to it. I think I'll make up my own start-up private police outfit in a moderately big city and go from there. The reason for this is because the campaign might be too easy for PCs if I actually give them the full backing of a complete established police force like the way modern police are, or the power of the privatized Lone Star and Knight Errant. All the PCs would have to do is call for back up and wait for the SWAT teams to arrive. I want combat to at least be a little bit interesting. I also want the PCs to do their own detective work.

So this is why I want to portray a somewhat underpowered, undermanned, underfunded police force. This way, I have an excuse as to why the PCs can't start off with all the best gear and cyberware there is (though it might be easier to acquire later in the campaign), why the PCs would have to get their own gear instead of having it issued to them, and why the PCs have the full authority to conduct raids on their own but shouldn't expect much in the way of NPC backup. Also, the characters don't have to be SINless if they don't want to. Basically, I want to give my PCs a lot of freedom instead of worrying about always having to cover their tracks... within reason.

I'm looking for general advice as to how I should conduct a game like this. Hopefully, some of you have tried something like this before. So anything any of you can offer would be nice.

A few specific questions that spring to mind are:

How much should I pay my players? Should I make it like a salary? Or a bounty for successfully closing cases and arresting wanted suspects? Maybe both?

How much easier should it be to acquire fancy gear, cyberware, and top-end mojo since the characters are working for a "legit" company? I don't want to make it too easy, otherwise most problems will probably be solved with a rocket launcher.

In that regard, should I emphasize the more non-lethal ways of taking down suspects rather than just plugging them full of lead as usual? How much so?

On the other end of the spectrum, should I be a bit more forgiving to players who decide to step out of their bounds? Such as beating information or a confession out of a suspect?

What "free" stuff should I give my players? I was thinking of just a Ares Predator pistol, a basic DocWagon contract, and access to a standard Chrysler-Nissan Patrol-1 police car. Anything more than that will have to come out of the PC's own pockets.

Is this even a good idea at all? Or doomed to failure?