Assassination run, need ideas and pointers Options

[Jimson]

I am running a follow up run to a previous run I wrote up (see Topic Title: My first created run)

This next run will involve taking an individual out (Assassination). I have never ran, or created a run like this, so I am just looking for pointers and ideas.

In the runners leg work, I am thinking they will come across the gentleman’s home address. Also, they will found out that he leaves his house at “this time� on “this day� to do “this task�. He also likes going to “these places�. Once this has been established, I would leave it up to the runners to determine where and when to take him out.

If they try his home, I will have it pretty well secured. If they try it in public, they will have to deal with potential witnesses and Lone Star.

Any help would be appreciated. Also, what sort of payment do you think will be good? I am think assassination runs probably pay out a lot higher. Would 30,000-50,000 a runner be too much?

[EvilP]

That sounds like a really easy run. Sniping, a hidden bomb, poison, magic... So many ways to take someone out when you're really serious.

Remember life is cheap, and your players will probably be happy killing someone not tooheavily guarded for 5k. For what you're paying them they could just strap some explosives to a drone and just have it run up to the victim and blow itself up.

Why not at least add the "has to look like an accident" requirement or having the mark live in an arcology or somewhere else really tricky to get to? Or possibly having to bring some odd part of the targets body back, like an implanted organ or something so they can't just kill him from far away?

[Gelare]

Yeah, I agree with EvilP. There's an SR4 sample mission, called "Wetwork, Pure and Simple" that I played a while back. (Actually, we wound up getting frustrated and went all Rambo on the target's ass - I don't recommend that.) Anyway, you could look in there for ideas.

Wetwork should be important for the Johnson and should pay a substantial amount, if they're bothering with the mission at all, the trick is to add in some conditions. Time limits, a special, dedicated security team, making it look like an accident, etc., etc. Feel free to use more than one condition.

[flowswithdrek]

Hmmm seems like a lot of money for a simple bit of wet work any ganger could have a go at. But if it’s a high value target like a politician or corp R&D scientist how about the target has a double and the runners have to figure out who is the real target or take them both out to be sure.

[kzt]

"WetWork pure and simple" is an absolutely terrible mission. I'd look at from the point of view as to "how to not bore the GM for 4 hours while they players get totally frustrated".

Unless the guy has a security team, is very security conscious or is somehow very difficult to take down it isn't hard to kill them in SR. You steal a car, drive up to them in traffic and riddle the car with a mag from two alphas, then toss a grenade in through the now missing window and drive away. Good if you don't care about witnesses, secondary damage, etc. You can get a street gang to do this for hundred to a few thousand.

Getting away with is a bit harder, depending on how clever the team is. The note on page 39 "Big Brother is Watching" is true, and if they don't take some care it won't be happy. They can also just shoot him with a rifle when he goes out to get in the car, bring the trash cans in, etc.

To make is harder you put restrictions on it. Making it look like an accident is one, but that's actually pretty hard. Forensics are pretty good. Though the guy hiring them might not know that. Otherwise, the obvious other conditions are that he has to die publicly and obviously from violence or the body needs to be not found.

[Dashifen]

I third (fourth) the "make it look like an accident" concept. Also, depending on the team, throw something moral into the mix. Maybe the Johnson doesn't tell the team that the target has dedicated his life to implanting injured kids with cyberware that he pays for or maybe the target leads a philanthropic effort to help train volunteer fire departments in the barrens.

In other words, make it such that if they take the job and they complete it, other shadowrunners might not like it too much. Put them in a damned if they do, damned if they don't type of scenario and things could be more interesting.

[Jimson]

Thanks. That was a lot of good information and will take it in to consideration.

Just out of curiosity, what type of run would have a really high payout? A few of my runners are looking at some cultured bioware, but it will take a long time for them to purchase these things only making a couple thousand nu-yen a run. (Also, we only get together a few times a year).

[Fortune]

Keep in mind that they could always get the Bioware (or access to a clinic or the like) as actual payment for a job. It would cost the Corporation considerably less than the retail price of the 'ware, after all.

Payment does not always have to be monetary. It could be as I said above, hard-to-get 'wares, or nifty new gear, or even much-desired information. Let your imagination soar. :)

[Slump]

Conditions and hindrances are definitely a must. Just a few on one side or the other will make the run a lot more memorable. A time limit is the easiest.

Maybe the guy is an accountant filing taxes, so you have to kill him before he's done. The company will lose millions filing for extensions because nobody else knows just how the books were cooked.

Maybe he's got a huge life insurance policy with the company that doesn't payout for suicide, so it needs to look like a suicide.

Maybe the Johnson is working for a rival security firm, so it needs to be as messy and public as possible. Of course, that means your mark has a platinum security account, so you either have to get out FAST or deal with HTR teams, and even then, you still have to find some way to deal with the revenge clause, so part of your legwork is setting up fall guys. If you're lucky, maybe you can get hired to take out your own fall guys.

There are lots of ways to spice up a humdrum wetwork mission. Trust me, if the mission can be accomplished with a good sniper rifle, then it's probably going to be boring for everyone except the gunbunny who gets to take the shot.

And if you guys don't get to play very often, I don't think it's wrong to arbitrarily up the mission rewards. The only real reason my most people keep rewards fairly low is because otherwise the cash would pile up very fast. Don't forget to up the karma rewards either, otherwise the mages will be sad.

[kzt]

[Method]

Another interesting twist would be that the hit has to take place at a specific time when the Johnson (or someone else who would otherwise be the prime suspect) is in some other place to establish an alibi.

Or the hit is on a high profile stock holder and has to take place in total secrecy to give his rivals time to take over his share of the company.

[Crusher Bob]

Another option is that they have to insert a dboule (provided by the Johnson) in the guys place. So they have to take the guy out where no one will notice, and leave the double behind.

So, for example, a meeting of the stockholders is comming up. The target controls a crucial block of stock. The Johnson wants it to vote in a particular way. So the team must take the guy out and insert the double before the meeting of stockholders takes place. So, the real job is not killing the guy, which is pretty easy, it's killing the guy so that no one knows it happened, so that the double can vote the guys stocks at the meeting.

If the mission is to just kill a guy, you are better off hiring a gang to do it. Give they a crate full of guns and ammo as payment, they drive up to his car and shoot it full of holes. You are out a few thousand in goods. You only hire a team of runners (with a total cost of 50K+ Y) when the job actually requires a team of runners.

[kzt]

For that one you don't even have to kill him. Just keep him from showing up or interfering while his double does the job.

[DTFarstar]

I currently have my players trying to get into a gang HQ to assassinate a ex-mil colonel who is the current second in command of the gang. Smallish gang 50-ish members. They have been taking territory in the Redmond Barrens and they recently hi-jacked a shipment and some documents from the 405 hellhounds. The Hellhounds have information on a man they need to find and "persuade" to leave a tourist magic shop owner alone so he can continue to facilitate the flow of goods from his friends in a nearby hospital supply company and a Ms. Yare' Gornath who runs a huge public clinic in the Barrens accepting nearly anything in return for treatment. They are all even with her, but barely, and know that it is highly likely her discrete services and medical skills- which are quite powerful- will be required by them in the future. Also she is just a friend of theirs who they like alot.

Oh, did I fail to mention they guy they are currently trying to find to persuade is leading a ritual team to kill the guy they are trying to protect? So far they have kept him alive through a Force 10 Ignite and a Force 8 Ball Lightning.

Chris

[Ryu]

A good way to aquire high-quality ware is going through the Yakuza.

The Yakuza can use its own muscle for easy hits, but would need to contract deniable assets for some other hits. One of the complications of a hit might be that the runners are supposed to frame someone specific for the murder. Spice to taste with additional specifications.

"End the existance of Exec E of Evo Corporation before the end of next week. Imply that upstart vice-exec V into the job, and do it while vice-exec Y is on the phone to the CEO." would be on the higher end of the payscale.

[Raij]

[Backgammon]

On the subject of Assasinations, to add some of my musings -

In the world of Shadowrun, it is extremely easy to a) get serious firepower and b) bring it to bear on someone.

This is why gangs can handle many assassination attempts.

What is NOT easy in Shadowrun is getting away with it and actually killing the target.

Shooting up someone full of bullets and then running away from the scene is pretty easy. But forensic science, already advanced now, will only be more advanced in SR. A strong police investigation will find you in a few days, unless you are exceptionally careful or there are politics at work that block the investigation. For Shadowrunners, politics will often be the key to saving their lives.

As to the second point - actually killing the target. Medical science (for the rich) is really, really advanced. Shooting a guy in the head does not mean he's dead. The easiest way to make sure you foul up an assassination attempt is to do it using a sniper rifle. BOOM, target goes down, runner feels smart and leaves. There is a very, very strong possibility the target is not dead.

So when making your wetwork scenarios, always think "why can't a gang do this?". And the runners, when planning out the hit, should be thinking "how do I guarantee a kill" quickly followed by "how do I escape the police investigation in the following days?"

[hyzmarca]

There are three true measures of an assassin - artistry, subtlety, and fear. Each are absurdly difficult to cultivate, to the point that they are often mutually exclusive. The question is what type of assasination is needed.

To the artist, death is a medium and murder is poetry. The artist doesn't kill his subjects, he just sees the beautiful death that they are capable of having and brings it out. An artist's work can move people emotionally. They are usually unappreciated in their own times and tend to burn out quickly.

The subtle killer is not a murderer. He simply facilitates nature and coincidence. His victims or not killed they have accidents or undiagnosed terminal conditions. His employers don't even know if they're paying him for anything.

The assassin who induces fear is the one who can kill anyone anywhere no matter how well guarded they are. He announces his intentions ahead of time, though his employer remains secret, and he never ever fails. Many people attempt to be this sort of master assassin, most fail.