Pissing off Great Dragons... Options

[Jason Farlander]

So... I'm getting ready to take my SR group through the Survivial of the Fittest series of runs. The problem is that, well, all of the players' characters are at least moderately sane... and I can't think of any reason a moderately sane person (who doesn't have access to orbital weapons platforms or tactical nukes) would risk entering the lair of a Great Dragon unless the payoff were enough to retire on. I mean, sure, runners risk their lives all the time... but at least with human adversaries they stand a reasonable chance of surviving if the run goes sour and turns into a firefight. They are, afterall, better equipped and more skilled than most cops or sec guards (certainly not all, but most).

Dragons, and, especially, Great Dragons are a completely different thing. The runners are in all ways inferior to them; they have little reason to hope that they could even sneak by, much less escape with their lives if a fight broke out. Who even knows what guardians the dragons have employed...

ANYWAY... to get to the point, I have exactly zero confidence that I could offer the runners sufficient incentive to willingly go on even the first run in the series - they simply have too much of a survival instinct to walk into what they would consider almost certain death for any amount of money. I do think they would enjoy the runs... but telling them this out of character wouldnt really be appropriate.

SO, unfortunately, I feel as if I must blackmail them into going on the runs. Obviously, this would involve a good deal of rewriting the run introductions etc, which isn't a problem by itself. The problem I have with this is that, well, I would like for the runners to recieve some sort of compensation for their actions beyond simply getting to continue living... however, if I arrange for the people hiring them to have sufficient leverage as to be able to blackmail them into doing something they would never willingly agree to do, why would those people bother pay them. (We can make you do X and you will suffer horrible consequences if you fail... but for no particular reason we'll pay you if you succeed!)

So... umm... yeah. I suppose I could simply not use the book with these players... but that would make me sad. :( Also, I see this problem cropping up with just about any group I play with, and I would rather not have spent the money on a book I can't use. Any advice as to how I might deal with this predicament?

[BitBasher]

I agree. That's why we never used that book, the runners said No, and that was the end of the story. I will never, ever blackmail my players into something just because I want to do it. That's railroading.

[Shockwave_IIc]

Why can't just put the data cache somewhere else and have them run on that. Same basic background just need a diferent target. Could use the same basic set up if your wanting a little less work

[Ancient History]

Offer sufficient incentive, and keep the players in the dark as mcuh as possible, and you'll get 'em in. Once they start the runs, getting 'em to finish is a matter of tightening the screws...or calling them on the debated existence of their cojones.

[moosegod]

Or set it up so that they'll piss of a Great Dragon by not taking the run.

[Ancient History]

You catch mroe flies with sugar. Generous sums of nuyen make characters suspicious...but throw in something you know has been on their wishlist, like access to a delta clinic or a couple decagrams worth of orichalcum nuggets or an all-expenses paid trip to an orbital resort, maybe a high up contact...plus, of course, the Johnson has to be both believable and squeaky-clean. At least, as far as the runners can determine.

[Shockwave_IIc]

Side note, hide the book while running it. If they know what survival of the fittest is, then seeing the book might cause more problems.

[Jason Farlander]

BitBasher: Actually, one of my most entertaining campaigns started off with blackmail (for the players as well as myself, in case you were wondering). I don't mind using it on occasion to remind the players that they operate in a system that doesnt particularly mind the use of such tactics... its just that I prefer to keep that sort of a thing to a minimum, as it stops being fun.

AH: cojones?

moosegod: That, I believe, would fall under the heading "blackmail." Incidentally, this was one of the options I was considering... I would use Legacy to do that.

Shockwave: I *could* do that, but it wouldnt solve the problems later in the series of stealing the songbird and the shroud, both of which are also obvious runs against GD's.

Another angle I was considering would be to have Hestaby reveal herself at the end of the first run, personally congratulate them (assuming they succeed), and inform them that she has chosen them as her agents. While this would lessen the impact of having her do so at the very end, I imagine that they would be much less likely to say no to the Great Dragon. The only problem with this angle is that it would involve a great deal of trust being placed on them by Hestaby, which they haven't really earned yet. Additionally, I'm not sure if she would risk having herself revealed before her plans are completed if the PCs blab too much... she might be worried that they would offer that information up to a rival for the right price and guaranteed protection...

[Shockwave_IIc]

Cojones= Balls (generally used as "do you have the cojones do go through with it). I beleive, i might be wrong.

True, or you could inflate their ego if they think there good enough, along with a promise that hestaby herself won't be on site at the time.

[ Spoiler ]

Just get a pic of there faces when she flies out over them

[Siege]

[Shockwave_IIc]

Oh i agree most runners wouldn't. But then you get these types with cojones bigger then their brains who feel they need to prove something to themselfs.

But i wouldn't unless there was a lot of money, and what i was stealing wasn't actually Hestaby's just in Shasta lodge, like the ring for one of her shamens that was not given to by hestaby. Even then i would have to think about 5-6 times before say no.

[hp_warcraft]

There is always the - you will be testing security for them at this location although no one knows you are coming. Here is the "safety word" - an extra 100,000 nuyen if you don't have to use it. :vegm:

[Kagetenshi]

A dragon giving me safe words would make me run away and get major plastic surgery plus genetic alteration.

~J

[Traks]

[Game2BHappy]

[Kagetenshi]

Riggers/deckers/sammies don't have an astral signature, IIRC.

~J

[Siege]

[Jason Farlander]

So... insofar as I doubt questioning the existence of the runners cajones would sway them to commit what they would see as being suicide (man... you're all such PANSIES for not jumping into that pool of lava) I think I'll alter the timeframe of the run such that it has to be done immediately, leave out any mention in the briefing as to where exactly it will be and whose lair it is, and increase the initial nuyen offer to compensate for the lack of preparation time.

Transit would be provided by the employer, with the understanding that they would be picked up after calling in to confirm the completion of the run... that way they're more likely to proceed with the run even if they do freak out a bit when H flies by (as it would certainly suck to be abandoned in dragon-controlled territory).

Any of the more paranoid players out there see a flaw in this plan that I may have overlooked?

[Siege]

[Ghostly Enigma]

ummm this one would be ummm intresting and would depend on the type of toon I was runing. Now there would be no way in heck you would get me with in 100 Miles of the joint in real life but ummm Trick might have a go at it just to have braging rights but then Trick is odd anyway :P

[snowRaven]

Here is the way I snared my PCs:

For awhile before the run, I had trusted contacts come up and congratulate them - word on the street was that the runners had caught the eye of one of the most influential and powerful fixers in the biz (In my games this is Anson Helm, from the first Harlequin adventure book - choose someone the players have heard of, or make one up)

I made Mr.Radek a frontfigure for this überfixer, offering the first run in the book to the players, telling them that of they performed well, his boss had more jobs for them, and if they did well on thee they would start earning enough money and prestige to become first tier runners and ultimately have the choice of retiring in style or staying in the biz at the very top. He stroked their egos in just the right ways, and ended with 'in order to prove yourselves, you will have to make almost all the arrangements for this first run, to prove that you can. In the future, we will provide as much support as we can when you work for us.'

With the added promise of Hestaby being away in the Tir at the time of the strike, the runners were hooked.

For the Silver Songbird run I simply had the runners flown to Wales, where they realized 'too late' they were entering the lair of a GD, and once you are there, well... which do you want to do? Say 'no' to a GD, or enter another GD's lair with backing from the first GD (kind of). Only problem here was when Radek showed up to exchange birds...

[Siege]

[Jason Farlander]

[Siege]

That's a risky gamble -- if the rigger is out on business or otherwise unreachable, they're flocked.

As for motivating your players, favors from level 2 and 3 contacts, insane amounts of money...relatively rare or unique items...one shot favors and so on. A one-shot pass to a beta or *gasp* Delta-grade clinic (player still has to cough up cash, but it's a phone number and a limited stay pre-paid), introduction and membership dues to an initation group and so on.

Do your characters have any personal motivations? Protecting the earth? Thwarting evil? Acquiring that last piece of Fiestaware?

-Siege

[Jason Farlander]

Their motivations run from "being mildly addicted to the excitement of running the shadows" to "getting revenge on those that fragged up their lives" to "trying to save up enough money to start up a park for paranormal wildlife preservation and study." (yeah... I think the last one is a bit strange myself...) As for promising to fulfill all of their wildest hopes and dreams...well, I would be concerned about offering them *too* much, as that makes it seem like the employer expects the run to be especially dangerous, as opposed to simply being rushed. Blah.

Perhaps I could throw in a little bit about how Mr. Johnson's employer "would like to use this opportunity to determine how well you operate under pressure" and that "significantly more lucrative job offers might find their way to the runners in the future" if they perform adequately...