Life in the Barrens AAR, How did it come to pass? |
Life in the Barrens AAR, How did it come to pass? |
Apr 8 2007, 02:39 PM
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#1
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,288 Joined: 4-September 06 From: The Scandinavian Federation Member No.: 9,300 |
Ok, for those not aquainted with the story, I have set my campaign in the Redmond Barrens, not far away from Glow City. Characters are created with 320BPs (max 180 on phys/mental stats), and no magic except latent. They also recieved only 700:nuyen:, or 2d6*100 :nuyen:
Party: -Uzz, Elf face/gunslinger that grew up in Ares seattle, but had to flee after an illicit romantic affair with a high-up executive. An excelent first impression talker, but sometimes lose out in negotations because of otherwise low mental stats. SINless. Weapon: Ares Predator IV -Simon, human wannabe mage med student. Also grew up in Ares, and attended high school with Uzz. Not a true mage yet, but has researched magic alot (dropped out of medschool because of it, enraging his doctor father). Drifted to the redmond after being kicked out of the apartment to find easy money. SINner. Weapon: Colt America. -Trog, troll go-ganger. Got his name from his previous human go-gang, and still doesen't realize what it means. Grew up travelling around on his bike, but was left behind when his bike fell apart and the rest of the gang had to evade Lone Star. Looking for work so he can fix his bike, and crack a few skulls in the process. Weapons: Remington 990 and survival knife. -Jimmy, human thief/hacker. Come from a high class Renraku family, but was caught trying to hack their systems. His family denounced him, and he had to flee from Renraku corpsec as well as Lone Star. No one likes Jimmy (cha 1), and he is good at pissing people off, even beast spirits hate him! Was picked up (literally) by Trog as he was trying to steal his bike after. After kicking his ass, Trog found out that his bike worked after Jimmy tampered with it, so he picked him up and has kept him since. Criminal Sin (actually SINer that is wanted). Weapon: None at first, gotten himself a colt america now. Plot: The party met eachother in the Barrens, and decided to join up for protection as well as improved job opportunities. A street Urchin (Joe) got the party to talk to an Indian Stuffer Shack manager named Rajiv Singh (Street-level fixer connection 3). They showed up, and the SS security impressed them (LMG drones mounted on rails covering the whole store) enough that they accepted to work for him for 40-50:nuyen: for the day (after negotation). They encountered a local gang wanting their cut (and avoided confrontation by excelent Etiquette), 7 humanis thugs (which the Troll almost single-handedly drove off by killing 1 and beating up 3 others!). Later they was sent to collect debt from a BTL-head (and Jimmy stole his simmodule and BTLs for personal use (mild addiction). They even had to prevent a small mob from stealing food supplies coming to the Stuffer Shack, which Uzz handled with an awesome leadership check (7 hits at -5!!) Jimmy even got a few extra cred at the side for fixing a cigarette vending machine, while the mage got work making a Warding for the store (which he can't really do yet). All in all, they got some nuyen, and impressed mr. Singh enough to get him as a connection3/loyalty 1 contact for free. Behind the scenes: You might wonder why there is a Stuffer Shack in the Barrens, and how Singh can afford the security - well the store is more or less a front for his illegal dealings in BTLs, firearms, drugs and fencing all manner of stuff. He's also been here for 30 years and knows alot of what happens around, making his information valuable. Although his legal sales help finance the store somewhat, his illicit dealings more than makes up for it. The local gang, Los Vatos Locos (human latino gang), has contacted the group and now demands tribute from them: 1000 :nuyen: each or a favor. Since they are poor as church mice, they opted for the latter. Favors: Geek the mage, B&E or Hooding. Geek the Mage: A weak rat shaman have been spying on the Vatos on behalf of their rival gang called the Blackrock clan (all orcs). He is currently in hiding, but the Vatos wants him dead before he can reveal the information to the orcs. The PCs needs to contact a talismonger in the blackrock's turf, or perhaps others knowing the shaman's wereabouts... all without being blasted apart by the orcs (who really hate elves). +1000 :nuyen: B&E: party needs to get into a low-level fence's apartment and steal his comlink. Complications include armed gorillas next door and some minor security (maglock, possibly cheap alarm etc. +500:nuyen: if they do it very discreetly Hooding: Party needs to take on the Blackrock "tax collectors", take their money, and give it back to the poor in their turf, curtesy of Los Vatos Locos. The only "good" option, but of course this is only a PR stunt. no extra nuyen here... other than what the PCs can keep to themselves. The party chose... all of them. They want to do #1 and #3 at the same time. Well that's what what we managed the first session, we'll play again tomorrow so I can update this thread later. All in all, the players seemed to have a good time, despite (or because of)the grim setting and low power. Any questions or comments just go ahead. Critique is gladly accepted. |
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Apr 8 2007, 04:06 PM
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#2
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Neophyte Runner Group: Members Posts: 2,188 Joined: 31-December 06 Member No.: 10,502 |
well credit for having a leadership check.
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Apr 8 2007, 04:10 PM
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#3
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,288 Joined: 4-September 06 From: The Scandinavian Federation Member No.: 9,300 |
Yeah he tried to calm down and talk to the crowd... I was thinking: "What skill/attribute check best simulates trying to appear as an authority figure the crowd should listen to? Ah, leadership! I was kinda suprised when I learned the face had the skill :) He used edge on the roll as well I think. |
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Apr 8 2007, 04:59 PM
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#4
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Cybernetic Blood Mage Group: Members Posts: 3,472 Joined: 11-March 06 From: Northeastern Wyoming Member No.: 8,361 |
Well as I mentioned in the other thread, sounds like a fun campaign, although I do have a question, what was the reason for the gang being willing to pay the group for doing them a 'favor' in lue of tribute?
I was just wondering, meta-game wise it makes perfect sense, but I was wondering what the in-character justification was if any. Still, keep up the good work and please keep updating. |
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Apr 8 2007, 07:01 PM
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#5
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,288 Joined: 4-September 06 From: The Scandinavian Federation Member No.: 9,300 |
The gang wanted things done, and was originally going to send their boys. However, after talking to Mr. Singh and hearing about how they did work for him, they thought that they might be able to use them, as well as learning they had almost no money. Especially considering that they believe the group has a tough Troll, someone good at fixing things As for the tribute, well those that cannot afford it are usually beat up and/or robbed and left for dead in some neighbouring hood, or pressed into service of some kind. The gang is willing to pay some as well for the jobs they REALLY want done, like the hit. And really, 1000 :nuyen: for killing a magician is a bargain. If they wanted to do it themselves they would risk gangmebers with that amount in equipment alone, not to mention the value of a gangmember in itself... On a metagame level I intencionally made this gang alot "nicer" than others so that the PCs had better reason to work for them. Not that they don't do some of the terrible stuff other gangs do, but they're less likely to kill you for fun or screw you over. |
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Apr 9 2007, 10:40 PM
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#6
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,288 Joined: 4-September 06 From: The Scandinavian Federation Member No.: 9,300 |
OK, this is what happened tonight:
On their way to the Ork turf they encountered 3 devil rats, which hurt the party's mage alot as they more or less suprised the party. Trog and Uzz made short process of them afterwards though. After applying some first aid (helped by Jimmy and his 6 edge), they continued. Time after time they spotted ork gangers, and evaded them all until they met with a contact of a contact. This one, an ork enforcer was willing to sell them the information of the Shaman's whereabouts for 50:nuyen:, but Uzz declined and offered him not having Trog beat the crap out of him for 100! Knowing he was outmatched, the ork (Tommy) agreed to give them the Shaman's whereabouts to avoid trouble. Afterwards Tommy called the Blackrocks and told them about these guys trying to find him, which made them sent a squad of 6 to guard his home. After that they went to the Talismonger Janis for more info. They found her in her trailer ex-kebab stand turned Talisman shop, but after they knocked on it they started discussing what to do, and Trog mentioned that he could always beat her up if she didn't want to talk... Janis heard everything, and started pretending like she was casting some major spell, and pointing her Browning maxpower out while asking them their biz. Uzz managed to calm her a little, but they made some stupid story about them wanted to contact Fritz the street Shaman in order to sell him a power focus (like he can afford that). She didn't agree on a meet, but she agreed to contact him and tell him they wanted to see him at a predetermined place in 2 hours. After they went, she summoned a watcher spirit to shadow them, and called Fritz to warn him. Fritz stayed in his rat lair with a summoned Rat spirit ready to attack intruders, and after almost 2 hours projected astrally to the location of the meet. Meanwhile the PCs lay in ambush outside his lair, using a scoped shotgun to pinpoint the guards and ready to cap the Shaman as soon as they saw him (not that they knew his apparance). After waiting for awhile, the group gave up and tried to take on the enforcers instead. As soon as a squad (5 grunts 1 liutenant) was done collecting some, the runner went straight at them and fired at 20m range. The orks were completely suprised (even bothced reaction rolls), and the liutenant was dropped almost right away (even when he used Edge). The other orks were fired upon repeatedly, so that all of them were wounded, two fallen before Trog told them to drop their guns and leave. The standing orks ran away, but forgot to drop their guns so Trog dropped 2 of them instead with his shotgun. The rest of the orks surrendered and got to live, knowing the Vatos was behind this assault. After the party got safe and sound back to the Vatos' turf, they went to see the fence they were going to steal the comlink from. After contacting him and selling him some stuff (guns mostly), Jimmy managed to steal his comlink right out of his pocket! (10 hits on the Palming check!). So it was back to the Vatos. El Rey was pleased of their success, and after validating the comlink they party got 1000 :nuyen: to play with for doing the extra job (they got nothing for the Hooding). They also managed to get a place to live, an old flat which the Vatos persuaded the old tenants to leave. Of course they will still have to pay for the squatter lifestyle (mostly food, beer and bribes to the Vatos), but at least now they have a home. The mage will need several days to heal, and in the meantime the Fence may want to get the guys that stole his commlink, the Blackrock clan is looking for revenge for taking their money and killing 3 of their members, and Fritz may want to know what this was all about. Later I will be posting more behind the scenes... why the Vatos wants to mess with the Blackrock orks, what was on the comlink, and who it was for. |
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Apr 10 2007, 01:35 AM
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#7
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 144 Joined: 30-April 03 Member No.: 4,529 |
A good story so far. You were pretty nice about the ambush, though. Was the shaman still off astrally projecting when his guards were attacked? It seems like once he arrived at the meet and didn't see anybody there, he would have flew back to his house, looked around the area, spotted the team, and sent his spirit after them.
Also, what happened to the watcher spirit? |
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Apr 10 2007, 01:39 AM
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#8
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,266 Joined: 3-June 06 From: UK Member No.: 8,638 |
I don't think that it was the Shaman the orks were guarding. Rather they were collecting protection money. The PCs had attempted to lure the Shaman out with an offer of a power focus, but rather than go to the meet in person, the Shaman went in the Astral plane. So now he can recognise the PCs from their auras... could get messy.
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Apr 10 2007, 01:47 AM
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#9
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 144 Joined: 30-April 03 Member No.: 4,529 |
Okay, I see that now. Thanks.
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Apr 10 2007, 02:19 PM
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#10
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,288 Joined: 4-September 06 From: The Scandinavian Federation Member No.: 9,300 |
In this ambush, the guards were never attacked, they attacked another (identical) group of orks instead. When the Shaman projected astrally he failed his astral perception check to see the PCs while travelling to the site. He stayed there for awhile, waiting for the PCs, then he went home. At this point the PCs had already left (and the Shaman failed his perception roll again as he passed them). Thus searching the area yielded nothing. The Watcher spirit followed the PCs, saw them lying down to wait near the Fritz' home, but the duration ended before the party left so it went back to Janis to report the PCs action. Janis later called up Fritz who was AFB (away from body) at the time. By the time Fritz knew about the PCs checking him out, the PCs attacked the collection squad and went home. As for now, only the watcher spirit really knows the party's auras (and one of them is an astral chameleon and remains undetected). Not sure if it can "transmit" the aura to Janis or Fritz. Janis is a contact of Fritz really (2/2), so she doesen't really owe him much and will probably sell him out if she can really benefit from it, but so far she doesen't want a paying customer to get geeked, not even a rat. |
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Apr 10 2007, 11:41 PM
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#11
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Cybernetic Blood Mage Group: Members Posts: 3,472 Joined: 11-March 06 From: Northeastern Wyoming Member No.: 8,361 |
Um, quick question, I thought that your characters were only allowed to start with Latent Awakening, have they Awakened yet or are you using a House Rule to allow someone with Latent Awakening to also have Magical Qualities such as Astral Chameleon?
Still, sounds like a great job... |
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Apr 11 2007, 12:32 AM
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#12
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,288 Joined: 4-September 06 From: The Scandinavian Federation Member No.: 9,300 |
Yeah I allowed it without seeing it was awakened only. But as I see them as awakened in everything but skills and magic, it's not too bad. And ty :) Looking forward to next time (friday I think) |
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Apr 11 2007, 02:40 AM
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#13
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 718 Joined: 10-September 05 From: Montevideo, in the elusive shadows of Latin America Member No.: 7,727 |
I like it very much so far, keep us updated!
Cheers, Max |
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Apr 11 2007, 09:03 AM
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#14
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,288 Joined: 4-September 06 From: The Scandinavian Federation Member No.: 9,300 |
Ok, I'll give you some more info on the secret stuff.
Renraku CS has suffered a majot setback in Seattle with losing their arcology and all. In order to compensate, some executives have started certain black projects in the Barrens - secret factories and other facilities. Unfortunately some gangs are in the way. The Blackrock clan is one of them, and they have repeatedly raided the Renraku site in Glow city. Renraku, or should I say "Mr. Johnson" has contacted Vatos for a specific goal: Drive the Blackrocks off the streets. Unfortunately the Vatos doesen't have the numbers or phyisical strength of the Orks, so they need something to compensate: Guns. Mr Johnson has been meeting EL Rey in order to negotate a deal about these weapons, and what other means of payments they should recieve. Present at the meet was the Fence (can't recall name atm), who was going to help evaluate the guns, and organize the traficking. This particlar fence was known t Mr Johnson though, and had a reputation for selling information about even those he did biz with. Johnson belives he recorded the meet for later use, thus wanted the comlink so he could check it and destroy it. Fritz was the shaman also present at the meet, only projecting astrally. El Rey is an adept though, and saw his astral signature clearly, recognizing it before from previous dealings. Rey believe Fritz has told the Blackrocks already about the meet, but he wants to put an end to him anyway to make an example (no one spies on vatos!), and prevent him from spying on them in the future. Of course, it's alot cheaper to send the PCs to do the dirty work than risking his own men. Later on I will tell you about The Blackrock clan and their connections... someone is on to Renraku. BTW I thought of the Renraku story because it fit with their desperate situation, and because i had a hard time thinking of why a corp would support a gang in the middle of the barrens. Later on I found a 2nd ed module called Double Exposure that pretty much deals with the situation (although alot more complex than what I thought of). I think I want to play this as the party is not that familar with Shadowrun metaplot (thinking of Running Queen Euphoria as well). As written however, this module is WAY too hard on my fledling milkrunners, but I plan on using it later. So far they'll only get hints and rumors of corporate presence, dissappearances, maye even throw in the name Renraku somewhere along the line.... The thief is even on the run from Renraku, so that fits very well with the storyline. PS if you have any tips I don't mind at all :) |
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Apr 12 2007, 07:33 AM
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#15
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,288 Joined: 4-September 06 From: The Scandinavian Federation Member No.: 9,300 |
BUMB!
Guys, I'm playing again this friday so any input would be nice. Oh, and the Blackrock clan is approached by the feds... who are investigating these black facilities. Not decided how much the feds know though, or how the PCs can learn about their inquiries. |
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Apr 13 2007, 03:39 AM
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#16
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 718 Joined: 10-September 05 From: Montevideo, in the elusive shadows of Latin America Member No.: 7,727 |
The overall idea is great. I must warn you that when I ran Double exposure -a great module- I ended up having many more player casualties than expected...
Maybe you could have a Fed meet the players and start asking lots questions, being careful not to give away anything. That fed could become a nemesis, a contact... the players could become his undercover snitches or else he just disappears later on until the runners meet him again inside of Hope camp. As I said: The overall idea is great Cheers, Max |
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Apr 13 2007, 09:36 AM
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#17
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,288 Joined: 4-September 06 From: The Scandinavian Federation Member No.: 9,300 |
Cool. ty for answering. I can see a problem with a fed asking questions is that the party might not want to answer them (unless bribed of course, the poor runners ;) ) A fed going to them alone acting all arrogant will probably be attacked, so he'd need some heavy backup (which might make even more resentment). So, hmm yes bribery is the way to go :) As for casualties.... well my players are pretty smart, so if they got necessary karma and stuff I think they could do it (and probably in some genious way I didn't think of). But then I'd have to run alot of adventures before that. I just purchased On the Run. I'll play that before I play the main story in Double Exposure (but the phony jobs are perfect for starting runners). Oh btw I plan to involve Ares as well, as a third party that wants to drive out the unknown corp out of the Barrens facilities in order to use them themselves for weapons research of the less legal kind. |
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Apr 13 2007, 10:38 PM
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#18
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,288 Joined: 4-September 06 From: The Scandinavian Federation Member No.: 9,300 |
Ok, fresh from the game here is the update:
The mage (whos name is Simon, not John) was hurt pretty bad in a fight against Devil Rats last session, so he needed to rest. Despite good first aid skill, he basically blew it and it would take him 4 days to get all well. After the hooding attack on the Orks, the team approached the Vatos and asked for someplace to live (with the 650 :nuyen: to back it up). The vatos chased out the previous occupants of an old 2-story house, with a big hole in the roof going through the floor and down to the cellar. The party attempted varies methods to improve their home, trying to scrounge metal sheets, even paper to fill the wholes and block the front door. Unfortunately since the active players had no survival skill and WP 1, they were not successful (and even brought home fresh human excrements for burning), contaminating the home further. It started raining heavy downpours of acid rain, enough for the local government to issue general warnings. Trog and Uzz bought some acid-resistant ponchos on their trip to the Stuffer Shack for food and beer. While trying to find bigger chunks of concrete, Trog took a walk into Glow city without knowing it and was almost ambushed by 6 human mutants with clubs and daggers. Although he did take damage, he managed to down enough of them to chase them off. The second day, in a few hours of respite from rain, a heavily muscled man with cyberware (a human-looking orc hitman named Jared ".44" Burns) knocked on their door, and came to speak with them. He said he was representing Blackrock, and wanted to hire the PCs to do some spying on the Vatos. He wanted info regarding their possible contacts and allies, and offered 3000 (negotated up to 4500) nuyen for the information. The PCs pretended that they accepted, and later discussed at great length what to do. Betray the Vatos and appease Blackrock, or spill the guts to Vatos and possibly get a reward (and leaking falso info)? In the end they elected to inform the Vatos, but to wait for awhile in case Jared was waiting to see if they went straight to the Vatos to tell them. Behind the scenes: Jared's mission is two-fold, to find out who's supporting the Vatos, and kill the upstarts that robbed the Ork enforcers and killed 3 of their clan. Jared wants to trick them into working for him though, as he can always kill them later. He wanted to check them out anyway, and is not really impressed with their Meta Link comlinks, no cyber and low firepower. He has given them 3 days to find out as much as he can, and when he gets the info he will either kill them right away if they seem unprepared. (he's got a Ruger Warhack with EX-EXammo and a Remington shotgun if needed.) Although his cyberware is rather cheap, he has an impressive skill with guns and blades and can easily outdo any PC there. If they seem ready, he can pay them (he's got 5k from Blackrock) and then later use his Ruger 100 rifle to pick them off at a distance. :cyber: In the night after Jared visited, the PCs were attacked suddenly. Earlier, Uzz had detected a fault in the wall supported by rubble (and left the rubble). Now, this was pushed in, and the wall collapsed partially. Trog on guard noticed them, and actually suprised the Ghouls as they burst in the room. He smacked down the first one easily (but not killing them), and he got him again as he rose to move past him. The remaining 3 ghouls poured into the small cellar and started attacking the until now sleeping PCs, damaging the Mage even further! Although the ghouls were tough, the PCs manged to avoid casualties by liberal use of Edge. After the combat, the PCs discovered a paralell (sp?) tunnel going past their cellar and into the sewers in one end. Near the cellar along this tunnel was a wooden door with a tumbler lock. After checking it out Uzz shot the lock out, and the PCs found a new door 1 meter inside. This time it was a heavily reinforced concrete that met them, with armor steel doors. Inside were also 2 cameras, a rating 6 Maglock (with rating 4 anti-tamper system), and a skeleton with old tattered rentacop uniform, a Fichetti Security 500 (not 600), a key to the door they just broke, and a 30 year old personal credstick. After blocking the view of the cameras (Trog was seen though), Jimmy started working on the blast door. After carefully searching for traps, weapon platforms etc. he tried the Maglock. With his 8 dice he had no difficulty removing the case, disabling the Anti-tamper mechanism using edge, scoring a critical success which enabled him to deactivate instead of destroy it, as well as ensuring no alarm was raised, and cracking the keypad. I didn't intend for them to get in there so easily (I though Maglock rating 6 were good at keeping people out), so I ended the session there. Now the PCs want to explore the secret underground lair, and even make it their new home if they can. But what lurks within? Why is no corp controlling it? What kind of research took place? Stay tuned to - Rumble in the Redmond! |
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Apr 19 2007, 01:19 AM
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#19
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,288 Joined: 4-September 06 From: The Scandinavian Federation Member No.: 9,300 |
Bump!
I'm playing again friday, so if anyone has a comment this is the time to make one. If no one is interested though, I probably won't update this thread anymore. |
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Apr 19 2007, 05:07 AM
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#20
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Cybernetic Blood Mage Group: Members Posts: 3,472 Joined: 11-March 06 From: Northeastern Wyoming Member No.: 8,361 |
I'm interested, just don't really have anything to say yet, it seems l;ike you are running a fun campaign...
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Apr 19 2007, 12:41 PM
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#21
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,288 Joined: 4-September 06 From: The Scandinavian Federation Member No.: 9,300 |
Ok, didn't know anyone was reading it still. OK, I'll keep updating it then :) |
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Apr 19 2007, 04:02 PM
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#22
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 749 Joined: 28-July 05 Member No.: 7,526 |
lots of people love reading about other peoples' campaigns :)
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Apr 20 2007, 02:51 AM
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#23
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Shooting Target Group: Members Posts: 1,696 Joined: 17-February 07 From: Middle Sized City, Ontario, Canada Member No.: 11,025 |
Tis true, I like reading campaign journals for the sheer fun of it. Also you never know when you might inspire someone to run their own campaign. More GMs = more :love: and :vegm:
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Apr 20 2007, 10:42 AM
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#24
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,288 Joined: 4-September 06 From: The Scandinavian Federation Member No.: 9,300 |
Cool I'll definetively be updating then. Now, time to prepare the adventure... damn why do I always wait until the last minute? All I got done yesterday was drawing the damn map of the first level, getting to NCR in Fallout 2, and watching 2 movies on TCM!
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Apr 21 2007, 03:04 AM
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#25
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Shooting Target Group: Members Posts: 1,696 Joined: 17-February 07 From: Middle Sized City, Ontario, Canada Member No.: 11,025 |
Also FriendoftheDork, may I suggest www.roleplayingtips.com it's an excellent news letter and a great website.
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