 McGuffins?, How did you treat them in your games? |
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 May 26 2006, 06:01 AM
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#1
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Dragon  Group: Members Posts: 4,589 Joined: 28-November 05 Member No.: 8,019  |
I just watched "Last Team Standing," and the object was The Briefcase™. It is never explained what The Briefcase™ is. I was immediately reminded of Ronin, where there was also The Briefcase™. Have you ever done this to your players, where they have to transport The Briefcase™?
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May 26 2006, 06:14 AM
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#2
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 355 Joined: 24-August 02 From: Magna, Ute Nation Member No.: 3,166 |
Yeah, all the time. Sometimes the "briefcase" is another package of some sort also. They're always given the instruction not to open it.
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May 26 2006, 06:15 AM
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#3
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Dragon Group: Members Posts: 4,589 Joined: 28-November 05 Member No.: 8,019 |
Do they ever open The Briefcase™?
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May 26 2006, 07:23 AM
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#4
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ghostrider Group: Retired Admins Posts: 4,196 Joined: 16-May 04 Member No.: 6,333 |
Ha. I just ran a "briefcase" run just before my last game ended. It was a distraction, the briefcase was empty. The standard "don't open the briefcase" instructions were given, and ... they didn't.
I was amazed. |
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May 26 2006, 07:38 AM
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#5
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Runner Group: Members Posts: 2,901 Joined: 19-June 03 Member No.: 4,775 |
If you run with genuinely competent professionals, it takes a hell of a lot to make them open the case.
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May 26 2006, 08:06 AM
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#6
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Great Dragon Group: Members Posts: 5,430 Joined: 10-January 05 From: Fort Worth, Texas Member No.: 6,957 |
I don't think anyone in my gaming group has ever opened the case, despite offers of payment and threats of reprisal.
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May 26 2006, 09:23 AM
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#7
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 218 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Raleigh/Durham, CAS Member No.: 149 |
I only GMed one "case" run. From the Shadows of the Underworld adventures.
You know which "case" I'm reffering to, right? ;) Needly to say, they did open it but at least they made sure the contents got delieved to the rightful owner. |
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May 26 2006, 09:30 AM
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#8
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Great, I'm a Dragon... Group: Retired Admins Posts: 6,699 Joined: 8-October 03 From: North Germany Member No.: 5,698 |
Made the some experience a while back. Sometimes characters do what they've been told. Frightening. |
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May 26 2006, 11:07 AM
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#9
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 295 Joined: 10-July 05 Member No.: 7,492 |
I made a run that was the Johnson testing the runners professionalism before trusting them with some really heavy work.
So, it's a Briefcase run -- you know, get it from this guy, deliver it to this guy in 3 days. Keep it secret, keep it safe, don't open it. What was in the briefcase? 20 kilos of high explosive, wired to explode if: 1) the case is opened, 2) light hits the inner liner (in case of drilling and a tiny camera), or 3) it gets hit with a high enough dose of X-Rays. They opened it. The case exploded, and the heavily cyber'd troll was the only one there who survived. Barely. Mr. J only had to watch the news to discover that the team wasn't reliable. ------- From that point on, my players always made sure they opened everything they got from a Johnson with a remote drone. And they don't open the Package (unless so instructed) |
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May 26 2006, 11:33 AM
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#10
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,150 Joined: 19-December 05 From: Rhein-Ruhr Megaplex Member No.: 8,081 |
I had the Briefcase™ done to me a lot of times. Most of the times I am really tempted to open it... even tried it a few times.
I wonder: We can infiltrate heavy secured facilities undetected, but we can't open a Briefcase™ undetected? Or why is there another, Smaller Briefcase™ in it, which is even harder to open? The one time we actually managed to get to the contents, it turned out to be a a very poisonous chemical agent (which would have leaked out anyways, as the GM later admitted). So, if you have a Briefcase™ at your hands, which you should not open, do the natural thing and give it a try, sometime. |
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May 26 2006, 12:27 PM
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#11
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Manus Celer Dei Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 17,006 Joined: 30-December 02 From: Boston Member No.: 3,802 |
You'd be amazed at how much easier it is to detect intrusions when you only have a few square feet to search and don't have to worry about people legitimately entering and exiting with relative ease. ~J |
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May 26 2006, 01:57 PM
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#12
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Midnight Toker Group: Members Posts: 7,686 Joined: 4-July 04 From: Zombie Drop Bear Santa's Workshop Member No.: 6,456 |
Genuinely competent professionals would never take a briefcase run, period. It is a damned if you do and damned if you don't scenario. If you don't open it the contents may kill you; if you do open it the contents may kill you; there is no way to know.
It is best to have one simple rule. Never transport a package unless you are told up front what is in the package. |
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May 26 2006, 02:00 PM
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#13
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Manus Celer Dei Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 17,006 Joined: 30-December 02 From: Boston Member No.: 3,802 |
Wha? What's the point of that? All it does is force the J to come up with a good lie.
~J |
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May 26 2006, 02:17 PM
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#14
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Man In The Machine Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 2,264 Joined: 26-February 02 From: I-495 S Member No.: 1,105 |
Best story reguarding the briefcase? I had crashed a team into the middle of no where. The second thing one of the charcters did (after he stopped burning), was open the case.
Point blank ICE consussive, with an incendary chaser. |
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May 26 2006, 02:19 PM
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#15
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Midnight Toker Group: Members Posts: 7,686 Joined: 4-July 04 From: Zombie Drop Bear Santa's Workshop Member No.: 6,456 |
Or be honest and if they are real professionals it is perfectly safe to be honest with them. Honesty also means that they are that much less likely to mishandle the cargo. |
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May 26 2006, 02:19 PM
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#16
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Manus Celer Dei Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 17,006 Joined: 30-December 02 From: Boston Member No.: 3,802 |
IPE, you mean? Or has the border between the Wired and the world broken?
No offense, but that's bullshit. If they're real professionals, they'll take the path of greatest benefit, which may well be to steal the cargo, sell it out, or whatever. Even if we assume that "real professional" means "always keeps their word", they may be on prior employment to keep an eye out for certain kinds of items. And that's ignoring the problem of determining whether they're "real professionals" in the first place.
Only if it requires very special handling instructions. Things like "don't bring to high altitudes, expose to high temperatures, or subject to falls of more than two meters" can provide necessary protection without revealing the nature of the item. ~J |
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May 26 2006, 03:08 PM
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#17
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 908 Joined: 31-March 05 From: Georgia Member No.: 7,270 |
If a Johnson can afford to have people know what's in the case, he would use Fedex.
Edit: Plus the very good chance that Johnson doesn't know what's in the case either. If knowledge of what's in the case is a lethal secret, than why would he want to know either. |
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May 26 2006, 03:12 PM
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#18
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 355 Joined: 24-August 02 From: Magna, Ute Nation Member No.: 3,166 |
My team has never opened the "briefcase". Once it was a bomb that the Johnson was trying to use to take the team out. it almost worked. Even since then, they still don't open the case. |
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May 26 2006, 04:07 PM
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#19
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Neophyte Runner Group: Members Posts: 2,453 Joined: 17-September 04 From: St. Paul Member No.: 6,675 |
I did the briefcase to my new SR4 crew. They were sufficiently paranoid but didn't open the case. They had less than a day to deliver, and it was a test by the fixer. Now they are screwing uo runs with a new GM.
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May 26 2006, 05:46 PM
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#20
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Incertum est quo loco te mors expectet; Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 6,546 Joined: 24-October 03 From: DeeCee, U.S. Member No.: 5,760 |
I got a briefcase run once. I made it ALMOST to the end without opening it, but I finally failed my will save. There was a crazy robotic skull inside which I used to do a puppet show with.
I have given briefcase runs. Generally the J doesn't ask the runners to open the briefcase (in my runs) because the contents are worth more than the runners are getting paid. As an experienced runner (as in, someone with friends but also enemies), however, I would be unlikely to accept a briefcase job unless I knew the Johnson or knew what was in the briefcase. Otherwise you just let your worst enemy kill you for $5k down. |
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May 26 2006, 06:05 PM
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#21
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ghostrider Group: Retired Admins Posts: 4,196 Joined: 16-May 04 Member No.: 6,333 |
We don't stick to any one cliche when it comes to characters, and especially not the silly (IMO, of course) notion that all Shadowrunners are automatically "genuine competent professionals." I know a lot of people labor under the idea that to be in the National Organization of Professional Shadowrunners you have to be a Supreme Professional that Always Follows the Johnson's Orders and Never Messes Up. I just never saw the fun in it. <obligatory disclaimer> I'm not saying anyone's "teh duma$$" for playing that way. I'm saying I don't like playing that way, and I seldom have players that do either. Remember, a differing opinion does not constitute an attack. This is not an attempt at starting a flame war. If it sparks actual conversation, so be it. </disclaimer> |
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May 26 2006, 06:07 PM
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#22
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Dragon Group: Members Posts: 4,589 Joined: 28-November 05 Member No.: 8,019 |
I'll always have the Johnson be smart enough to make sure the players are good. If they aren't, either I screw up, or it's a plot point.
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May 26 2006, 08:03 PM
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#23
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 976 Joined: 16-September 04 From: Near my daughters, Lansdale PA Member No.: 6,668 |
Does not the 'breifcase' run usually get preceeded by a long conversation about french fast food?
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May 26 2006, 08:07 PM
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#24
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Manus Celer Dei Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 17,006 Joined: 30-December 02 From: Boston Member No.: 3,802 |
Not since Seattle went metric.
~J |
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May 26 2006, 08:18 PM
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#25
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ghostrider Group: Retired Admins Posts: 4,196 Joined: 16-May 04 Member No.: 6,333 |
I don't know. I didn't go into Burger King.
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