 Seriously Pissed Off Yaks, What is the runner team in for? |
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 Jan 25 2008, 09:46 PM
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#1
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Running Target  Group: Members Posts: 1,180 Joined: 22-January 07 From: Rochester, NY Member No.: 10,737  |
Okay, a little background.
My campaign is currently in Feb/March of 2069, so TMs are not yet public knowledge. However, we have two in the party; one PC and one NPC, who was kidnapped by MCT and accidentally rescued by the PCs several months back (more about that here) So, what happened is that MCT found where she was and subcontracted things out to the Yaks to retrieve her. To make a long story short, the current death toll stands at about 20 Yaks and 25 contacts of varying degrees of loyalty (mostly gang members that got in the way of the hunt). The part that prompted this topic however, was last night, as the PCs kidnapped the leader of the Yak squad that had killed the gangers that protected the team leader's place. Then, heading out to Puyallup, tortured and interrogated him, and, after they got what they wanted out of him (the name of the guy who ordered the strike), said that they would give him an honorable death. After they went through all of the prep for seppuku that they could in the field, and, before they untied him, the team leader said that Yaks have no honor and decapitated him. So now they plan to ship the (ritually disfigured) head to the Yakuza... and broadcast the video of some of the interrogation (mostly the Yak screaming) and the insult across the Matrix. So, before, the Yakuza were going after them because it was business... now it's going to be personal. So, what I was thinking to send after them was: Every high Force kami that the kannushi can summon Every high Magic Kannushi that the Yakuza have on "staff" Putting a bounty on their heads that will have every bounty hunter in the city hunting them down. Every street sam that the Yakuza have, including knasser's Buffalo. A -3 Essence Cyberzombie, borrowed from MCT. Anyone have any other suggestions, comments or critiques? |
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Jan 25 2008, 10:07 PM
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#2
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 993 Joined: 5-December 05 From: Crying in the wilderness Member No.: 8,047 |
I think the cyber zombie is gilding the lily a little but you know your team's strength. You could also add several physad ninja.
If they buy their food from a yakuza backed black market poison their food. Have their contacts avoid them like the marked men they are. Have an open hit bounty so the assassin's as well as bounty hunters are after them. I have more but they are more instant death scenarios where the yak's fight to win and win dirty. Edit Start throwing contracted shadowrunners at them too. |
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Jan 25 2008, 10:36 PM
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#3
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,241 Joined: 10-August 02 Member No.: 3,083 |
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Jan 25 2008, 10:56 PM
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#4
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Technomancer Group: Retired Admins Posts: 4,638 Joined: 2-October 02 From: Champaign, IL Member No.: 3,374 |
ROFL! |
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Jan 25 2008, 11:14 PM
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#5
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,416 Joined: 4-March 06 From: Albuquerque Member No.: 8,334 |
It sounds like your players are intentionally pissing off the Yaks. It's hard to think that they're committing these atrocities out of ignorance. That said, you may want to take a step back and find out *why* they're doing this. If it is intentional, why? What purpose is it serving? The Players can often be just as crafty (if not more so) as the GM. In the end, though, the Yaks are NOT going to take lightly to what's been done, and retaliation is likely to be swift and decisive. Ninja Physads would likely be the first step, and it'd increase from there. Basically the players now have a death-warrant out for them, and unless they either make really powerful friends very quickly, or otherwise make reparations (likely not possible given their actions/planned actions), then they're as good as dead.
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Jan 25 2008, 11:35 PM
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#6
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Immoral Elf Group: Members Posts: 15,247 Joined: 29-March 02 From: Grimy Pete's Bar & Laundromat Member No.: 2,486 |
Beat me to it. That was my first thought as well. :D |
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Jan 25 2008, 11:47 PM
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#7
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,241 Joined: 10-August 02 Member No.: 3,083 |
Truly, my finest moment on Dumpshock.
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Jan 26 2008, 12:06 AM
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#8
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 715 Joined: 4-September 05 From: Metaplane GEPLK136 (The one with the lizards. You remember the lizards, don't you?) Member No.: 7,684 |
There's the trouble right there. If the Yaks see that on tape, or infer it from the seppuku setup in the field, then as they see it there are only two options. 1) They are honor-bound to kill the runners for insulting them in such a lethal way 2) They admit they have no honor and go home. So... yea. Ninja Physads are probably rappelling down the building as we speak. With the open bounty, I see lots of magic, and even a cyber-zombie in the works, but you're forgetting one important possible encounter. Never, ever, underestimate the havoc that can be caused by a skilled decker with dollar signs in his eyes. Every cheap motel the runners try to hide in flags them as terrorists. Every time they park, their car is towed. Every stoplight is red (a real hindrance when running from one of the other bounty hunters no doubt on their trail!) Their bank accounts evaporate. If they so much as try to grab grub from the stuffer shack on their way to their out-of-state hideout, the fry machine will explode while they are boxed in by cars in the drive through, and Lone Star will get a tip off about that crazy awakened serial killer being at that same stuffer shack. Disguised as one of the runners. And let's not forget the permanent spam zone that follows them around everywhere they go. Lastly, since the hacker is probably in Beijing or something, getting rid of him for good will be next to impossible unless he foolishly exposes himself to the team's hacker. Oh, also -- since the body count is so extremely high already, the Yaks will most likely try a different approach than throwing more bodies into combat. The face archetype works great for opponents too -- anywhere the runners eat regularly will probably have some bounty hunter camped out at, waiting to talk his way into being a newly hired waiter and poisoning the runners to death. Then again, I suppose that too could be handled by physad ninjas... |
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Jan 26 2008, 12:30 AM
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#9
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The ShadowComedian Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 14,538 Joined: 3-October 07 From: Hamburg, AGS Member No.: 13,525 |
why something that extensive?
find them, bring in a car full of boomex or something and make stuff go boom . . and then leave a hint as to why that happened to whom and what will happen if somebody else tries something like that EVER again o.O |
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Jan 26 2008, 12:30 AM
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#10
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,241 Joined: 10-August 02 Member No.: 3,083 |
Wouldn't the hacker need to have their identity info to drain their accounts? Aren't most runners using like 2-3 identities?
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Jan 26 2008, 12:32 AM
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#11
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The ShadowComedian Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 14,538 Joined: 3-October 07 From: Hamburg, AGS Member No.: 13,525 |
also remember one thing: if you let one hacker do something like draining acounts . . guess what every character hacker is going to try . .
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Jan 26 2008, 12:42 AM
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#12
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Shooting Target Group: Members Posts: 1,590 Joined: 11-September 04 Member No.: 6,650 |
I see Cyberninja as more likely than Ninja Physads
But yeah, Ninja, in large numbers And remember kiddies, modern and post-modern Ninja use SMGs with sound suppressors and shockdart rounds. or APDS. |
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Jan 26 2008, 12:46 AM
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#13
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CosaNostra Deliverator Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 346 Joined: 29-January 05 From: Philadelphia, PA Member No.: 7,034 |
I agree with the above posters. For the Yakuza, this would be a tremendous insult and I would have them assault the runners with the fury of ten thousand hells.
I like the open bounty and I would make the amount high enough that it would blow the players' collective minds. In addition to pro bounty hunters, every petty criminal and ganger will be interested in collecting as well. Other syndicates, interested in a bargaining chip to trade to the Yaks, might also try to snare the runners. Also, you have to consider the characters' contacts. All the Loyalty 1 guys would either stop returning the characters' phone calls or would actively try to sell them out. At least once, I would have a low Loyalty contact attempt to lure the characters into an ambush. Higher loyalty contacts would probably find themselves targeted by the Yaks. I would have the characters find friends and loved ones tortured to death and killed. Maybe the Street Doc, who all the characters trust, gets a visit from the Yaks. He doesn't want to betray the PCs but then the Yaks kidnap his daughter and blackmail him... Because of all the heat, people will refuse to work with the PCs. Runs should dry up. And anywhere they show their faces, they will attract trouble. Perhaps most important, you have to give the players a way out. It should be hellish and difficult and some (or all) of them will likely die. But there has to be some hope. Maybe the most senior Oyabun can be swayed if the players are contrite enough (and if they agree to hand over their technomancer friend...) |
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Jan 26 2008, 12:56 AM
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#14
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Shooting Target Group: Members Posts: 1,590 Joined: 11-September 04 Member No.: 6,650 |
Admittedly if you want to confuse the PCs, have the Yakuza do absolutely nothing
this can be the basis for all sorts of runs, ideas, and traps PM me if you want more on this, so your players don't get the previews |
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Jan 26 2008, 01:09 AM
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#15
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 573 Joined: 17-September 07 Member No.: 13,319 |
Copying from my post on the Street Violence thread:
In such cases, I recommend dropping out of the usual cycle of "Player declared action, GM declares immediate result", and calling a time out. Ask the player, straight up, what their plan is, for the medium-range time frame; listen; then advise the player that this plan seems reckless and likely to result in PC fatality, and, if applicable, to endanger other PCs. Tell the player that the PC gets a bad feeling about their plan. If you give fair warning and the player sticks to their plan - either because the player wants to test the limits of the game world (like a teenager finding out the limits of their body by going without sleep for a day or three), or because the player decides that the PC would ignore the bad feeling - then if the PC dies, the guilt is not on the GM. If you are thinking "wow, this player is gonna get his PC killed" but you're NOT SAYING SO, then the guilt is on the GM. Can the campaign survive this player choice? I mean, can you plausibly continue a story in which the PCs deliver such a public insult, and remain active in the campaign city? Either the PCs all die, or the local Yakuza eventually goes broke and dissolves after it loses all its main operatives in failed attacks on the PCs, and that's a lot of resources if the local clan can tap other clans and/or MCT. On another hand, if the PCs survive the onslaught for a week, then Vor or Mafia interested in taking over the territory might take this as an opportunity. Meanwhile, what does mainstream law enforcement make of this video - surely they will become aware of it at some point? Alternate ending: the PCs clone themselves, kill the clone bodies, have a friend deliver the corpses to the Yakuza and collect a huge bounty. |
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Jan 26 2008, 01:21 AM
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#16
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,180 Joined: 22-January 07 From: Rochester, NY Member No.: 10,737 |
Well, answering the questions in the thread:
The players know what it is that they've wrought, and all but looked me in the eye and said "Bring it on." So they are willing to get into a pissing match with the Yakuza and accept the consequences. Secondly, they also plan to relocate in the near future, either to Hong Kong or L.A., and set up shop in the new location--after they deal with the Yakuza hunting them down in Seattle. Third, this group is really, really good at disappearing and operational procedures; the only mistakes they've made can only be explained by not being deeply immersed in the setting and rules like I have been. Fourth, it's going to be interesting to see how the other major powers react to this; I imagine that Lone Star will be keeping a weather eye out for any major busts that they can take credit for. |
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Jan 26 2008, 02:06 AM
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#17
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 715 Joined: 4-September 05 From: Metaplane GEPLK136 (The one with the lizards. You remember the lizards, don't you?) Member No.: 7,684 |
Fake ID's have to come from somewhere... most likely hackers. Once you've spotted just one of the runners, a real ghost in the machine could follow them on traffic cameras, ATM cameras, vending machine cameras, whatever, and watch for what IDs are used.
You're not thinking like a hacker. While I'm sure it would be almost impossible to steal money, the NPC hacker doesn't have theft as his goal. All he has to do is tie that money up somehow. Spoof a fake data trail leading to a nefarious terrorist organization, and let the FBI freeze the accounts and investigate. Have it transfered to a bank branch in another country with tight monetary import controls and have it held for a time to be "evaluated." Somehow manage to get it donated to charity -- while the bank will eventually figure out it was in error, they are going to take their time doing it to avoid headlines like "bank bounces 'ork children with cancer' charity check, two children in critical condition after surgery delays." Tie the account to a data trail with suspicious transactions that look like the character is trying to set up an illegal tax shelter for himself, and let the IRS hold the funds until it finds the error. Or just hack the balance sheet so that the numbers don't add up, and when the character makes a withdrawal, the machine's sanity check will flag the account and freeze it. No doubt, all the character has to do is come down to the local branch, and it will all be sorted out in short order... If you can't erase the account, just erase the biometric data for it, and see how long it takes the bank to sort that one out. Meanwhile, the character has access to his money 20 yen at a time... Or, just have the hacker create a high-rating SIN reader, and use it to crack the character's fake SINs that the bank accounts are tied to. Wrap up the relevant info, and mail it to their bank in a manila envelope. Let them deal with the criminal's money however they see fit. I'm sure there are a dozen more delay and deny tactics you could come up with that I haven't even thought of. The important thing is that by tying up the player's money, it prevents them from getting face changes and DNA wipes. It's that much longer that they are on the Yak's radar. Speaking of which, such a hacker would also be furiously searching the Seattle area for any and all surgeons capable of performing such surgeries, and monitoring them for any signs of the characters. (Sure, it may be a discrete business with no cameras. But what about that cab parked next door and it's sensors? Or the ATM at the front of the alleyway? Or the off chance that the characters pay by using an account tied to one of the SINs the hacker has already identified?) *edit* Oh, and don't forget, a high bounty is going to have every wanna-be in a three state area looking for these guys. Every time they take out some two-bit moron that jumps them at the car wash, someone watching the crime reports and other information is going to be that much closer to finding them. |
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Jan 26 2008, 03:11 AM
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#18
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CosaNostra Deliverator Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 346 Joined: 29-January 05 From: Philadelphia, PA Member No.: 7,034 |
The Yakuza bounty should be so high, crooked cops would probably try to grab the characters themselves to collect the reward money... |
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Jan 26 2008, 03:18 AM
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#19
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,180 Joined: 22-January 07 From: Rochester, NY Member No.: 10,737 |
10,000 :nuyen: a head dead, 15,000 :nuyen: a head alive. How's that? |
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Jan 26 2008, 03:31 AM
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#20
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Old Man of the North Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 10,078 Joined: 14-August 03 From: Just north of the Centre of the Universe Member No.: 5,463 |
The head prices aren't enough. The organization is worth tens of millions of nuyen, and the bosses keep it that way through intimidation and worse. Their whole credibility and profits for ever ride on showing that NOONE gets way with this kind of drek. I would offer ten times those prices.
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Jan 26 2008, 03:42 AM
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#21
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Target Group: Members Posts: 91 Joined: 24-September 07 Member No.: 13,404 |
10k-15k is a bit low, if the body count is 'public' knowledge. Thats only a few months medium life style for targets that are going to take out 95+% of those who come after them. Thats fine if the hunters don't KNOW they are going up against angels of death, but with the notoriety the PCs have engineered, it just isn't worth it for the mid to high range hunters at that level.
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Jan 26 2008, 04:17 AM
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#22
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,180 Joined: 22-January 07 From: Rochester, NY Member No.: 10,737 |
A good portion of the body count is due to one of their contacts, a fellow runner with a grudge against the Yakuza and an attitude that the Yaks are animals, it's hunting season and there's no bag limit. Additionally, all of this has been happening over nearly the past month of game time; this has not been a short, intense war by any standards. But, yeah, I think I'll up the rewards to 60k dead, 75k alive, apiece. |
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Jan 26 2008, 04:21 AM
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#23
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Canon Companion Group: Members Posts: 8,021 Joined: 2-March 03 From: The Morgue, Singapore LTG Member No.: 4,187 |
Assuming that the PCs are as adept at disappearing as bibliophile says they are, I would assume that the PC hacker is better than any Grunt hacker and it is really up to bibliophile if he wishes to create a Equal or better Prime Runner hacker. All you are doing is providing the fluff reasoning for whatever the Hacker does in game. Also all this IC justification does not stop the PC hacker from his own tricks. The PC hacker can spoof the yakuza's accounts to their fake SINs and make it so that the NPC hacker is really a ringer for them. Spoof the data trail to rival criminal organisation. Fake the NPC out by spoofing the data trail into Z-O and let them deal with the NPC's intrusion. Then it would come down to which hacker is more 1337, the NPC or the PC hacker? Also how does the yakuza know it was them? How do they know who was involved? If the PC hacker was smart, they'd remove all traces of their own identity and then send the declaration of war. Now the yakuza knows someone is spitting on their turf, they need to act, but they don't know against who, which means they will try ways and means to find out and crack down on the people involved. If the PCs are good enough, this would be precisely the type of assymetrical warfare that a conventional organisation like the yakuza would be vulnerable to. |
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Jan 26 2008, 04:43 AM
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#24
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 715 Joined: 4-September 05 From: Metaplane GEPLK136 (The one with the lizards. You remember the lizards, don't you?) Member No.: 7,684 |
I assumed if a cyberzombie was an option, so was a prime hacker.
Yes, that was my intent.
Yes, of course. The same way a gun battle comes down to who is better(*), the player sammie or the goons. I did assume the point wasn't just to pummel the PC's into submission and death by the most expedient means possible. I simply wanted to add the viewpoint that powerful and resourceful bad guys aren't always a direct physical threat, and guns and mojo were all I saw on the planned "bad things" list. Just thought I'd suggest some variety from that. Obviously, the PC's are free to fight back using the same tactics! (*) Okay, that's not strictly true. With gun bunnies it often comes down to who wins initiative...
I assumed that since the Yaks were already killing the people who were guarding a team member's residence, that they knew who lived there. |
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Jan 26 2008, 04:46 AM
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#25
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Great Dragon Group: Members Posts: 6,640 Joined: 6-June 04 Member No.: 6,383 |
Ninja with dikoted shuriken. Wheee!
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