My first created run, courier/escort Options

[Jimson]

Run idea:

Runners are hired on a courier/escort job by Mr. Johnson in Seattle. Mr. Johnson will be having Mr. Larson (for a lack of a better name) carry the package which will be secured to his person. Said package needs to be delivered (via plane) to another city (haven’t decided where yet). A corp learns of this and does not want it to reach its destination, so they have the pilots poisoned prior to take off in an effort to make the crash seem like an accident.

30 or so minutes after take off the pilots start puking blood and will die. The plane will start to go down and the runners will need to find the parachutes aboard and make the jump of their lives. They will land near a town which has been overrun with the HMHVV. The town will be dangerous , but will have abandon vehicles, a static wireless signal (or maybe dead zone), and maybe some food. From here, they can chose to go into town to find transportation, or venture on the road and try another method of reaching their destination.

A few questions that I thought of.

Can any wireless activity occur in a dead zone, even if two devices are within each others signal range?
I haven’t used to many para-critters and would like to throw a few in. Any suggestions? I’m thinking of using devil rats, spirits, ghouls, goblins and Dzoo-Noo-Qua.
Also, how do ghouls fight if they are blind? I know they have enhanced senses for hearing and smell, so do these negate the -6 penalty for “target hidden�?

Does this sound like a good run? This will be my first time running something I created. I’ve ran “On the Run� and two Shadowrun Missions, and that is the extent of me GMing Shadowrun.

[Ophis]

Ghouls see on the astral, all living things show up there. Thus they get round blindness (which is purely physical).

Some general comments the run sounds a little over the top for a team of starting characters. Try an escort across the city, possibly on foot/small vehicles through the Ork underground, where the runners can meet a deadzone, and ghouls etc. You can have another corp send a second group of runners after the team.

My take on Deadzones is that there are no outside signals, comms can talk to each other if in signal range, but can't communicate outside the area.

[Naysayer]

I don't know about your group - what kind of characters they play and what kind of players they are - but you should also keep in mind that they might come up with something that could possibly spoil your plot, e.g. try to hack the planes pilot to keep it flying or stuff like that. At which point you'd have to either railroad them ("no, you can't do anything, that plane is going down!") or try to come up wth a differrent outcome.
Players can be the nastiest deterrent to an otherwise perfectly laid out story... ; )

[DireRadiant]

What if one of the characters is a hot shot techie rigger pilot?

Other then that, dropping a bunch of city runners in the wild is always fun.

[coolgrafix]

Just make sure you flowchart it some. What if they avoid the town? What if they never even see the stuff you're planning. Must have backups. Also, must have a way for them to get out.

Nothing wrong with a little railroading up front. God knows there's precedent in canon. Just make sure they can actually complete their mission. Maybe there's an old plymouth in a barn... make sure there's a hook to get them there. Etc.

[Naysayer]

Oh, I agree. Absolutely nothing wrong with railroading. If it's done elegantly enough, most players won't know the difference.
Just, you know, pointing it out.
Now get this thing back on track.
Heh. See what I did there?
*whinces*

[coolgrafix]

[Method]

I think this is a great intro to a pulpy "night of the living dead" type game. Kudos on that. ;)

Make sure the plane is a standard turbo prop or something they can realistically jump out of. This scenario on a suborbital or semiballistic would basically = death. :vegm:

[Jimson]

Thanks for the help and tips. I totally forgot out the ghouls being dual natured and view astral. I’ve been gaming with these guys for 5+ years, but mostly D&D. We just started Shadowrun not too long ago. Shadowrun has been a great change of pace and a nice breath of fresh air from d20.

So over the course of those 5 years, I am quite familiar with PC’s spoiling the GM’s plot and have learned to roll with it and I have a tentative a flow chart for this run. If someone can fly the plane, then they make it too the drop off just fine, with maybe a few questions asked about the pilots. Also that character can have the “I saved the day� good feeling.

I was thinking the town might be a little cliché, but I think my players are needing to let some aggression out and unleash their automatics, and thought this could possibly work as an idea.

[Ophis]

[Ravor]

Well something to think about is if you have the destination be a small rural town somewhere, even if the runners manage to save the plane you can still spring the zombies on them. :vegm:

[Gothic Rose]

Alright, it sounds good, but there are flaws as have been mentioned. Now, I have a suggestion for you... If the corp wants to make it look like an accident, why would they use a poison? Poisons are easily detected in the bloodstream.

Instead, what if the corp sent some of its deniable assets to set up a hidden bomb - but not an exploding one, a gas bomb. When it goes off, bam, knockout gas is released, pilots go unconcious, and possibly, the PCs too. Have the plane be set up so that the cargo/passenger compartment has extra crash protection, and when the plane crashes, they escape relatively unscathed (Have them soak a large chunk of stun damage, or something)

You could call it railroading, but it's a lot less obvious. Plus, it's possible that the team, if they're smart, may go over the plane with a detector that could detect the bomb.

[coolgrafix]

I would also add that you may consider altering your method of taking out the plane. The poison idea is a little over the top, and poison historically is an unreliable vector. It may be simpler to sabotage the fuel or some other key component. That way, even if there is a trained pilot on board it makes no difference... the plane is going down.

Edit: Doh! Just saw Gothic Rose's post above. Great minds think alike I guess. =)

This post has been edited by coolgrafix: Jul 12 2007, 03:57 AM

[kzt]

[tweak]

Sounds really over the top and too complicated. Keep it simple.

If you want them to have "encounters" in that village, why not just start them out there? The characters wake up and find themselves in that village. Their clothes smell of an odd chemical.

One character has a new tattoo on his arm that reads:

* deliver package to Mr. Jackson -- dead or alive

tweak

[Jimson]

Yes, I think I will rethink the poison theory. With that, as you mentioned kzt, the autopilot would get them there just fine (and I’m assuming 2070’s autopilot programs can land too).

I like your ideas, Gothic Rose and coolgra fix. It gives them the option to not be railroaded if they think of giving the plane a really good look over. With that idea, I won’t have to figure out how the parachuting rules (or the lack there of) work, and have an explanation as to why there were x number a parachutes. Although it would be a test of their character if I had less parachutes than people and there was a fight over the last one.

As for the package, as mentioned previous, I was going to have it being carried by a “Mr. Larson.� I was thinking it would be contained within a synthetic torso (or other cyberlimb).

[Kerris]

If you go with the "gas bomb planted by runners" idea, it would be pretty easy to believably knock out the auto-pilot as well. Any good runner group is going to have a hacker, and that hacker should be able to plant a databomb which will kill the computer systems on the plane.

Auto-pilot problem solved.

[kzt]

Actually, no. Because if they can attack the flight-control software they can just crash the plane in any of a number of ways. And there are no backup controls in a Fly-by-wire system. And it's a lot easier plan,as it doesn't require smuggling weapons onto an airplane.

[Gothic Rose]

[coolgrafix]

Let us not forget the "Tell It To Them Straight" method that you're sort of avoiding.

[Method]

Well why not have the pilots be in on the plot to destroy the plane? A great scene in a certain Indiana Jones movie comes to mind... 8)

[sunnyside]

My suggestion for downing a plane would be something hard to detect but mechanical. For example adding nanites to the oil to cause catastrophic engine failure.

For placement you might want to cosider dropping the plane somewhere in the native american nations. Anywhere in the UCAS and authorities would probably know about the town already, and deadzones would probably be hard to find. However the NAN is pretty sparse in places, there is good reason to be flying over it, and some tribes are presumably isolated and "back to the way our ancestors did it" leaving them very open to a Wendigo attack or a ghoul infestation.

My general advice would be to allow for a range of outcomes. For example if a hotshot rigger is in the plane let them try to land it. They might be able to come down intact, avoiding the parachute thing, and giving them access to more equipment. Maybe even give them a chance to fix the plane....if they can find the right parts.

Also maybe have some people still be alive in the town. Maybe attractive survivors who will cling onto the PCs. That can be fun.

Also think about what there is availible in the town. Unlike in computer games PCs are known for even taking things that ARE bolted to the ground. I think the option for loot will be plenty of a hook to get your team up to their eyeballs in ghouls.

Can they keep the pilots/stewardess alive? Some team members won't care. But if they go out of their way to keep them alive consider the team to have a couple extra higher loyalty contacts.

As for critters devil rats are more urban. You might enjoy your chance to spring more rural critters on them. Like the Juggernaut. Oh you probably want 4th ed ones. In that case I would suggest thunderbirds and barghests. Have the barghests work in a medium sized pack. First they'll try to use their fear power to break up the PCs and NPCs. Throw in a single paralyzing howl to try and freeze some people (but the howl also affects the rest of the pack so they wouldn't use it multiple times). Then move in for a quick kill on, they hope, a lone paralyzed victim. Or at least a lone target. Start the pack off kind of spread out and their initial fear and howl attacks can be done from good concealment such as by just peeking over a hill or looking out from a cluster of trees.

[Jimson]

Sunnyside, that is a wealth of good information, especially on the dropping the plane in the NAN. Wouldn’t have thought of that. Since the “package� won’t be visible, I’m hoping the runners will do their best to keep Mr. Larson alive. I’ll have him somewhat protected (Actioneer Business Clothes), and proficient in some combat skills, but nothing too great. If so, that can provide them with a good loyalty and possibly high contacts contact. One thing I’m still working on is the who’s who, and what is being delivered. I know it doesn’t matter right away to the runners, since they are hired just to deliver it, but it would be nice to know a back story. I was leaning towards the Mob needed the package delivered, and one of the corps out to stop the delivery.

Any suggestions on the loot options besides the obvious cred sticks and comlinks that the everyday person might have?

As for the critters, I have looked to the 3e Critters book and thought of converting something from there, but had too many options and wasn’t sure what would be a good fit, besides the obvious HMHVV infected critters.

[odinson]

If the package is for the mob it's more likely that it would be another mob that tries to take them out.

[Method]