GM looking for advice, One of my PCs has been captured... Options

[Zen Shooter01]

Or, although I think someone mentioned this already, Aztec releases her themselves, but with modifications beneficial to Aztec. Magical manipulation, tracking devices, etc.

Or Aztec might just say to her, hey, you're a hell of an anti-corporate terrorist. Here's some money and an influence spell, go bother our enemies.

[Whipstitch]

[kzt]

My feeling is that I generally agree tht portraying any corp as "evil" is somewhat silly. The management is all very much bottom line oriented, least cost, biggest bang for the buck, keep the budget in line and make the quarter. However, when you get captured by the organization where you just tortured and murdered their friends and co-workers then it's not just business anymore. And provoking a ruthless and powerful organization to anger is BAD. If you want to play "ruthless guerrilla's fighting the azzies" that;s fine, but that wasn't what Christine seems to have signed up for.

However in this case, she isn't really the one they want. They want whoever came up with and carried out the clever plan to kill the azzies, and they want the fixer and johnson who hired them, and they want their kidnapped exec back. If she can give them significant help in doing some or all of these there is the basis for a deal.

And corps are big on the deal. And they will stick to it, as people who get a rep for not sticking to it get a lot less cooperation in the future from the people who learn that you can't trust the azzies to not just screw you.

If she can't or won't give them help in these objectives then something very bad is going to happen to her, as they need to make someone pay....

[Wounded Ronin]

[jklst14]

Thanks for all the suggestions. They've definitely been helpful. Christine's surrender to the Azzies was a pretty poor tactical move but it was a fantastic roleplaying moment and one of the highlights of the campaign. From here, I would like the consequences and subsequent events to be realistic (for the Shadowrun world that is) and let the proverbial dice fall where they may.

So my tentative play is that Aztechnology will start with talking to Christine. Business is business and they don't take it personally. And she has some great skills, so they may even offer her a job... But if she refuses to cooperate, it's Mind Probe time. And if they don't get the information they want with magic, then it's torture time.

Afterwards, they will try either a cortex bomb or carcerands. If she remains unmanageably stubborn, they'll have her disposed.

And simultaneously, we'll have the other PCs working to free her while working against a ticking clock.

Anyhow, I'll see how it plays out and afterwards, I'll update it here on Dumpshock.


-JKL

PS: I have a pair of other PCs (an amnesiac assassin and a crazed cyberpsycho) who would be perfectly suited for televised Aztec death sports, if they were ever to be captured...

[MaxMahem]

I guess its to late, but here is what I would do.

After she gets at the Aztech facility they will get the truth out of her someway, either via magic, torture, or some technological means. The how is not exactly important, except to set the mood you desire for your campaign (ie how bad a bastards are the Azies, and what methods do they favor). At this point they will discover the truth, that she didn't actually kidnap the exec they are looking for. However she is somewhat complicit in the whole affair, and her companions (who tortured and killed their guards) are defiantly on their wanted list. So the coporation is not likely to be forgiving (if they ever are).

The most obvious way to run with it then is to implanting her with Carcarnads and/or a Cranial Bomb and force her to retrieve the exec for them. After all she helped cause this problem. If she is succesful they will disarm the bomb/giver her the antidote/release her friend. This obvious however, so what you need is some kind of hook. Some kind of EXTRA way the corp can betray her. I haven't though of a dynamite way for this to happen yet, but here are some ideas of what they could do to betray her after the run is succesfuly completed.

#1. She secretly has a homing beacon/material link so the Azies show up to ice/capture her after the mission is succesful.
#2. The don't detonate the bomb/deliver the carcarnads, but they do trigger some other kind of revenge device/poison that gives her some sort of negative quality (or maybe stat-lost).
#3. My favorite, they deactivate any poison/bomb and release her friend. HOWEVER her friend has been brainwashed to hate her/secretly betray her/kill her. And has optionaly been given the cyber/bio/magic enhancments to make this possible.
#4. Blood magic something. Don't know what. But the Azies are always using it for something it seems...

[Whipstitch]

Yeah, GMing becomes a bit easier in general once you embrace the power of Mind Probe as a useful tool for powerful NPCs. Suddenly the whole question of "Why should the corps believe a thing that comes out of the runner team's mouthes?" is easily answered with "Because their Security Mage just molded the rigger's mind like it was silly putty."

[kzt]

[Whipstitch]

Hrm, yeah, this isn't that other game you know. The corps aren't drow. At some point a suit is just likely to order some company men to cap her rather then install a bunch of cyberware into her friend for an elaborate betrayal. After all, the last thing they need is another cost overrun on the security budget. :cyber:

[MaxMahem]

[Whipstitch]

Forcing her to do more is smart economics. Inflicting extra harm is a luxury. Besides, I think it'd be a stretch to call what people have been suggesting "making friends".

As far as sheer vengefulness goes, I'd generally rank the Azzies slightly below MCT, actually. MCT is in bed with the Yakuza and they're not really big on half measures and showing weakness, as their zero zone policy can attest to. As for the Azzies, remember that a lot of their reputation comes from their extreme secrecy and the seriously twisted shit they've had a hand in when it comes to some of the darker regions of the ongoing Sixth World metaplot, but that takes place over the heads of the average runner. Note that I don't really award them any extra "vengeance points" just for using blood magic, though either. Ripping someone's heart out to fuel ritual magic certainly isn't nice, but it doesn't actually render you any more dead than if you get greased by a Renraku Red Samurai detachment. I guess you could say I just think of the ritual slaughter of your worst enemies as being the megacorp equivalent of using every part of the buffalo. :D

[kzt]

The hit squad make sense because they really want the VIP back. Security depts that can't protect VIPs are good targets of budget cuts.

She's useful because she's the only link to the rest of the team (including the ones who came up with and carried out the plan to tourture and kill azzie employees), to the fixer that recruited her team to kidnap an azzie VIP and the johnson who hired them and possibly to the team that actually succeeded.

As she didn't actually kill them it's business. If she won't give the azzies what they want business is likely to require her demise. Somebody has to pay, and she's certainly convenient. Videos of her being eaten alive by devil rats can serve certain useful purposes too.

If she does give them what they want, business is likely to require the demise of a significant part/all of her team. It's also personal with them. So sending out a series of hit teams with very detailed knowledge of the team makes perfect business sense if it's not more important to get the VIP back. Waxing the johnson and fixer is just a general and semi-public "don't screw with us" message, which is good business practices.

It's generally very good to have a rep that you actually keep your word. It means that you have many more options to deal with runners in the future. Captured or desperate runners often have very useful information and contacts.

Of course, the fact that Aztechnology may have made a deal doesn't mean that, ala "Prince of Sparta", certain members of Aztechnology security might not choose to spend a few days on vacation laying on a rooftop with a sniper rifle waiting for the guy who killed their friends to come out...

[Andrew]

Something I mmay try
1. Mindprobe her, Discover she hasn't got what they want and is not the one who actually killed their goons
2. take ritual sample
3. Erase memory of taking ritual sample
4. Release AFTER a good beating aand saying don't cross us again or we rip your heart out
5. SCRY on her
6. She meets up with other PC's including the one who tortured and killed their men
7 . Big Blood spirits manifest and rip the guilty party into tiny pieces
8 Blood spirits deliver a message "She has atoned ,You have not , Bring back our Exec of Join him in eternal torment Bwa Ha Ha"

[Zen Shooter01]

By the way, don't forget that Aztechnology isn't a single entity. It's made up of tens of thousands of individuals, divided into hundreds of different subsidiaries, departments, sections, and so on. So Christine could become the prize in an internal rivalry of some kind.

[Wounded Ronin]

So what happened?

[jklst14]

We're not going to be playing again until after Christmas so nothing has happened as of yet but I'll keep you guys informed.

My plan is to go into it with an open mind and without any particular goal in mind (i.e. The character must live or The character must die) and let the dice fall where they may.

[Siege]

You can make a case either way - mid-level manager intercepts captured runner, installs command software/brainwashes and turns her loose as an "ace in the hole" scenario.

Lacking any other critical input, whether or not the player wants to continue the character may be the deciding factor.

-Siege

[jklst14]

This is an old topic but I thought I would update people with eventually happened. I ended up doing nothing exciting but I did give the player multiple ways to get out Christine out of trouble and when before she refused to back down, I made sure she knew and understood the the likely consequences of her actions.

So the Aztechnology Johnson who was holding Christine is all business and has no personal animosity against the character. Sure, some of his men are dead but he cares more about his mission (which is to recover the kidnapped Aztech exec) than their lives. In fact, he actually tries to recruit Christine to work for him since he is impressed by her strength of will, plus she happens to be magically active and has a good rep in the shadows.

But Christine rejects the offer and refuses to help Aztech. So she is then questioned. It's friendly at first but over several days, it becomes more hostile as Christine refuses to divulge anything. Getting impatient for information, the bad guys eventually Mind Probe her but Christine actually succeeded in resisting initial attempts.

They then resorts to violence and Christine spends a few weeks being tortured and raped. Eventually, her friends manage to win her release by bartering with Aztech. They don't have the VIP but they have valuable data and artifacts which Aztechnology agrees to accept. So Christine is released, but only after being implanted with a cranial bomb...

-jkl

[Fuchs]

Hm... too late to add some hidden "sleeper" personafix, or some deeply-buried psychotrope-ICE induced personality that works for Aztechnology, informing them of anything the team does against them?

[Angelone]

I would have had them at some point threaten her with burning out her magic. Or parade her friend (real or illusory) out infront of her and threatened them with physical harm. She obviously cared about said NPC, so why not use him/her in such a way?