DocWagon HTR teams Options

[nerf]

What sort of character archetypes are included in a DocWagon HTR team and what sort of 'ware are they packing? I don't imagine your standard Runner team filling this role, but some of the archetypes apply.

You've got the rigger for insertion and extraction, and perhaps fire support. Is he packing an army of drones, or perhaps he's got a back up drone rigger riding shotgun. Your EMTs are probably all packing combat cyber, but how much? Or are they simply chums off the street with a skillwire, wired-2, and a smartlink? Are they using lethal rounds, apds, or gel? What sort of SOP are they working under? Shoot first, resuscitate later? or return fire only?

What about magic support? Every team have a combat mage? or Astral overwatch with spirits?

I'm thinking about GMing some one-shot DocWagon Missions. I think it will be a great way for the group to play around with some big toys we'd normally never get our hands on, and blow off steam between campaigns. It'll be especially fun, once the HTR team starts shooting up some opposition with DocWagon contracts and then has to operate on the bastards they just shot to pieces.

[Crusher Bob]

I'd guess that getting the customer out and alive is most important as he is the one paying the bills.

I'd also guess an emphasis on less-lethal defensive measures to avoid potential liability. So expects a lot of flash and smoke grenades.

Example:
docwagon chopper mounts a multi magaize automatic grenade launcher. If lays out with a burst of flash-bang grenades to supress and confuse the area, lays down a bunch of smoke to provide concealment, then cranks up its loud speakers to provide a painfully loud thumping randomized bass line. The guys who are going out of the chopper see though the smoke with thermo, their cyber ears edit out the sound ofthe base (since they know exactly when it's going to play) and their AR overlay gives them all the info about where the customer is.

Some sniper drones are out to actually paste anyone who is packing a heavy weapon of who looks like he is going to fire on the extraction team, but the main weapons will be dis-orientation via sound and flash and smoke.

If things get too out of hand, then the AGL just switches to teh real explosive grenade magazine and an 5-8 round burst of air timed grenades lands in the offenders pants, thank you for choosing docwagon for all your chunky salsa needs.

[Slump]

I would imagine they also have battle-tak (?) gear. I also agree that flash grenades, smoke and stun rounds are going to be the order of the day. They tend to seriously reduce the combat effectiveness of anyone in the area, and docwagon isn't there to fight, so who cares if nobody can see past 10 feet to shoot.

[Gyro the Greek S...]

Also, I would imagine that in most places DocWagon or similar services operate, most of the time when a DocWagon team sets down, whoever they've come for is more or less off-limits, though that depends on how desperate you are to kill your target right now.

Attacking a DocWagon team is simply asking for trouble. Whatever conflict you're currently experiencing, you just added another well-armed hostile force to the list. Should you get ID'd at all, forget getting any kind of reasonably priced service in the future, and expect a bounty or worse if you manage to injure or kill any of the DocWagon personnel.

If you're really slick (or desperate), you'll still be able to kill whoever they're going for without injuring any of them-that'll piss 'em off still (paying customer, makes them look bad, probably still put a bounty on your head to discourage others from doing likewise), but not nearly as much as attacking them directly.

Now, most of the gangers out of, say, a Z-zone aren't likely going to care about any of the above-they are, in general, crazy and excessively violent. Megacorps will care, but they're smart-they'll wait until after you get picked up to kill you. Makes a lot more sense than pissing off DocWagon.

Hm. Assuming the above is reasonable, it brings up some incentives runners would have for disguising themselves as a DocWagon team...though again, you probably really don't want to piss off DocWagon if you can help it.

[cristomeyers]

I could definitly see the extraction team having gel/stun rounds, but I would also imagine there's a sniper on the chopper or a well armed drone ready to wax anyone that proves to be a hassle.

I seem to remember that back in the day the person being extracted was liable for any loss or injury to the DocWagon team during extraction.

[Crusher Bob]

But then docwagon would have to show that they took 'all due dilligence' to prevent the damage and loss. Much easier on both you and the customers to not lose any lives.

[Demerzel]

[Kagetenshi]

Lethal rounds, no non-lethal munitions anywhere except for maybe a spare magazine in the ambulance that no one ever touches, boosted reflexes and combat drugs, maybe some Smartlinks if you get a particularly well-performing team. Ambulance possibly driven by a VCR-1 Rigger or maybe someone with a datajack, drones are probably outside of the budget.

Of course, if you're super-platinum…

~J

[MITJA3000+]

Neo'A's guide to real life had IIRC a nice section about DocWagon. Probably haven't changed their procedures that much.

I would also think that Lone Star (or the like) would have a symbiotic relationship with DocWagon (or the like), so that when an officer goes down the 'Wagon would do their best to help, and likewise, when DocWagon responds to a call that might be crime related, and thus possibly violent, Lone Star would work with them. This of course depends on the relations of said corporations.

[FlakJacket]

One of the old Missions adventures had the players posing as members of a DocWagon team at the behest of the management to infiltrate and investigate some of their operations. IIRC it stated that the teams had to use non-lethal weapons or ammunition such as gel rounds or narcojet pistols.

[Kagetenshi]

So NAGRL doesn't agree with me entirely. Basic rundown:

Entirely or primarily lethal munitions. Less-lethal isn't mentioned at all.

"[…]major ordinance", if you believe Blacknight. Cybered up, possibly some physads as well.

May, if you believe Manta, indiscriminately fire into crowds when they don't have to. Reason: some of the people in the crowd might have DocWagon contracts, and on most common contracts they make money on HTR calls.

HTR ground vehicles actually replace less-lethal munitions (like the water cannon) with light machine guns. These are apparently loaded with gel rounds some quantity of the time. The air vehicles mount heavy machine guns, and sometimes miniguns or assault cannons. Needless to say, those are not less-lethal.

Long story short, don't expect to be seeing too much less-lethal activity from them.

~J

[2bit]

HRT members are probably wielding SMGs as opposed to ARs because of the ease of use factor.

[Dentris]

Well, I'm currently Gming offline a DocWagon campaign. It's surprising how the team closely ressemble a shadowrun team.

There's the combat medic, the ambulance driver (rigger), the nurse (aka the face), the three tanks (2 streetsam and one mage) and the scout (covert ops specialist)

(Of course, the two streetsams usually use gel rounds during a rescue mission...usually)

[hyzmarca]

I Imagine that Docwagon HTR teams are scarier than the Star. I mean, The Star has to arrest you if you throw down your weapons and surrender in the presence of functioning news cameras that they cannot reasonably confiscate. Doc Wagon can shoot you anyway just to be safe.

[Kagetenshi]

But they'll try to just wing you so if you have a contract there'll be a dispatch.

~J

[hyzmarca]

They'll be a dispatch anyway, if you have a contract. And they'll do everything in their power to try to save you. Heroic medical intervention often costs far more than the stardard, even when it fails. They can, at the very lest, keep your braindead, soul-dead corpse on a ventilator and feeding tube until your bank account runs dry.

[Grinder]

[Wounded Ronin]

I think that for entertainment value and for humor DocWagon needs to always appear with overwhelming force and needs to use methods of attack which are likely to produce collateral damage. They always use grenades, rockets, or mortars to bombard the areas around where their client is to flush out any hostiles who may be waiting and while they're picking the client up they use as much multidirectional suppressive fire from mounted machine guns as is possible. All that is left when they're done is a mountain of hot brass and dozens of moaning injured bystanders.

EDIT: Oh, I know. They also have a pair of snipers with semi automatic scoped rifles in 7.62 who immediately begin sighting targets and picking off anyone who "looks suspicious", meaning anyone with any weapon of any kind. Exploding heads in the distance while all the noisy mayhem is going down at close range.

Because, honestly, that's really funny and a lot more entertaining for the purpose of something happening in a game. It also makes it more believable when they manage to extract client player characters from really terrible situations and helps to justify their high prices.

[hyzmarca]

One of the bigger flavor issues with Docwagon is how they deal with the local authorities.

If say you are one of the North Hollywood bank robbers and your biomoniter registers a gunshot wound after you've just killed a couple of cops on life TV, will the Docwagon HRT swoop in and start killing cops in order to extract you.

Personally, I say yes. Docwagon is a extraterritorial corp its vehicles are sovereign soil and its employees have immunity from prosecution for anything they might do outside of Docwagon territory while acting as a docwagon employee.

But how far does this extend. If you're in a supermax prison for life and you happen to be shivved, will they send in a full team to extract you and get you to a hospital, essentially making docwagon the world's most capable freelance prisonbreakers. Will they respond to your contract if your near-fatal wounds are incurred during a state-sanctioned execution?

Its funny to have prisoners buy the cheapest possible docwagon contract and then stub their toes so that they can be rescued, but it is sort of unrealistic that nations and corps would tollerate that level of intervention.

[jrpigman]

[TonkaTuff]

As DocWagon is a corporation first, and a medical service second, they're subject to the same limits of extraterritoriality as anyone else. Just as Lone Star can't legally persue you onto another corp's property without express permission, DW can't swoop in to MegaCorp's research facility and rescue you - superplatinum or no superplatinum. Though with the nature of their business DocWagon will probably have more standing permissions from other corps than even LS, in all likelihood those permissions are restricted to calls for the property owner's employees (covered under the group contract) and legitimate customers - neither of which applies to runners in the process of committing a crime.


In all probability, whoever's currently trying to kill you is worth more to DocWagon as a customer anyway. DW already has your 100,000 nuyen in the bank, and they don't get any extra money for sending in the big guns for you. If you're pinned down in a Novatech warehouse and your buddy is bleeding out on the floor beside you, the sound of an incoming HTR chopper is probably going to be less-than-comforting.

[Wounded Ronin]

[Kagetenshi]

I don't think it's reasonable at all. What's the point of super-platinum if they won't extract you from places they have no legal right to be?

~J

[eidolon]

It has always seemed to me to be pretty pointless for any runner to have a DW contract. They won't come get you on corp property, they won't come get you if you're obviously in your condition as a result of performing illegal activity.

Basically, my readings of material covering DW have left me with the impression that they exist for the average wage slave (low end contracts, possibly provided by their corp) and executives (high end contracts). That's been my take anyway. It just seems like in 90% of the situations in which a runner could need DW, DW wouldn't come to their aid anyway.

[PBTHHHHT]