The Jenner Strain, An excellent run Idea Options Track this topic Email this topic Print this topic Download this topic Subscribe to this forum Display Modes Switch to: Outline Standard Switch to: Linear+

[Joker9125]

Today I collaborated with my GM (Damien Knight) to create this excellent run Idea. If any of you could take the time to read this and let me know what you think, I would appreciate your ideas.

Update:

After hearing some positive feedback, It sounds like some GM's might plan on using this idea. Thats GREAT! I encourage everyone to use and expand this idea (if you could mention joker and Damienknight that would be nice).

Because of this, I ask that if you are part of a static group (one consistant GM) you might want to let your GM read this first and see if he wants to use it. Dont spoil the fun for yourself with player knowledge :D

Anyway, on with the telling:


THE JENNER STRAIN:

A group of scientists working for Shiawase has been researching a cure for the HMHV Virus. They know that if you get any strand of HMHVV, it makes you immune to all strands of HMHVV, so they are trying to create a ‘sterile’ version that has virtually no side effects, but still makes you immune to HMHVV. In order to tackle this task, they have enlisted the aid of a magically gifted Native American Owl Shaman. They have had moderate success in getting many of the traits out of the Vampiric strain of this virus, including eliminating allergy to light, and essence drain. This new strain was named the Jenner Strain (named after the English physician who bravely (and illegally) used a child as a test subject in order to create the first vaccine for Small pox). They thought they had rid themselves of all traits, and decided they wanted to upgrade testing from living fetuses, to actual people. This did not go well.

They quickly found that subjects still suffered from slow essence loss, were still immune to normal weapons, and were still contagious and eventually weakened and killed from essence loss. During the testing, their corporation suffered from an attack by runners on a data steal mission. In the ensuing chaos, the test subject was able to infect one of the runners.

The Owl Shaman was seriously injured, but the rest of the scientists got together and decided to cover the incident up. After pooling their resources, they hired a detective to track down the infected runner, and found that he had retreated to his home village in the Rocky Mountains of Sioux Nations. They want to hire the runners to kill the infected subject, and his entire village (of 6 innocent native American Families).
The scientists will offer the group a modest amount of cash, and access to a Delta Grade cyber ware clinic.

Meanwhile, the Shaman, who was barely saved by his Totem, is trapped in coma. In his coma, his spirit drifted to the Owls plane of existence, where he is trapped until his body recovers. While there, he convinces a low power free owl spirit to go and find out what happened. When he learns of the other scientist’s plans of annihilating the entire village, he sends the spirit to the scientists to beg their reconsideration. The scientists reject the spirit, being more concerned with covering their own jobs and medical licenses, than saving anyone’s life. He then sends the spirit to the runners. The spirit will try and convince the runners to travel with it to the astral plane to speak with the shaman (the spirit itself, being force 2, isn’t intelligent enough to convey the shamans thoughts itself). If the runners agree, the spirit will take them on a short astral quest to speak with the Shaman.

The Shaman will offer an alternate plan to killing all of the villagers. He wants the runners to go to the village, take only the infected villagers (leaving the uninfected alive) and have them cryogenically frozen (and magically put in stasis) until a possible cure can be found. The Shaman however, will offer no reward, except for the honor of doing the right thing.

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Thanks for reading through all of that! Now let the comments flow like a sweet necture of GM inspiration!

[Phaeton]

...I like it.

...I really, really like it.

[k1tsune]

I like the dual options, but I have two questions:

a.) Is it going to be a campaign where you award karma for moral actions, but not immoral ones?

and

b.) If the runners help one party, is the other party going to be pissed and retaliate? I can see how the corp, at least, would. And it might piss of the totem if they went on and killed the villagers. (Never a good thing...)

[Ancient History]

That reminds me, there was a vaccine for HMHVV mentioned in Psychotrope. I should update my Infected page.

[toturi]

For a blood bath of that magnitude approx 20-30 people, your modest sum of :nuyen: had better be in 5 digits for each runner and some free deltaware...

On the other hand, for preventing an HMHVV outbreak and not massacreing so many people, I think it deserves quite some karma (maybe a initaitory Deed equivalent).

Now if you have a cyber sam and an Awakened on your team, watch them tear each other apart... :vegm:

[Crusher Bob]

I you're the kind of group that would take the job of wiping out a village full of people for money, you aren't too likely to be interested in doing the right thing for free.

[Joker9125]

DamienKnight: Good observations kitsune (and sweet name, Kitsune was the coolest character on the Shadowrun Nintendo RPG).

We have already discussed this, and decided that there would definately be Big Karma awards for doing moral actions, and big penalties for doing the wrong ones (hopefully balanced out by the delta grade clinic).

Also, the Clinic access was thrown out as a great temptation for party strife. Many Cybered characters will want to say screw the village, i want my delta grade wires 3, while magically active characters would be more enticed by the karma award for doing the right thing.

As a house rule, killing other Characters gets you -3 karma, and assisting gets you -1 karma. (this is aside from penalties for doing the wrong thing). There should also be an all around 1 karma bonus for characters who experience strife but work it out (or a leadership bonus for a peacemaker character).

As for retaliation, its limited. If they blow the lid on the whole thing to the media, the corp may be ticked off, but there is limited value in revenge (its all about dollars and sense they say.)

As for the totem, he may invoke a spirit to fight them, but I think their real threat would be relatives and native american governments who might want to track them down and get revenge.

Great points, thanks for all the quick replies!

[Req]

Hell, I got some players would take the run for cheap, and throw in the civvy kills for free. :P

[k1tsune]

Actually, I used this name before I ever played that... Name of my first Shadowrun character, who I still play in Kagetenshi's online game (SOTSW).

[Joker9125]

[k1tsune]

Though actually... Couldn't helping the Shaman at least win him as a contact for the team, with the potential to get favors in return? Something of the sort?

[Crusher Bob]

Don't forget to sell the bodies to a dog food company as 'raw materials'.

If you don't leave any evidence, how are they going to ID who did the deed? The team goes in at night, kills everyone, then leaves. There may be some camera footage of guys in black body suits with HKs and some spent shell casing and stuff, but the team will ditch all of the gear used. Just having the 'good guys' finds you because you did something really bad always strikes me as poor GMing technique.

If the team has already accepted the offer to wipe out the village, I would assume that the team members were ok with wiping out the village to being with. I will assume that the Johnson for the run just said:
job: wipe out everyone at place X, burn the bodies.
reason for job: they like eminem, so they just plain need killin' (but does it really matter?)
Reward: XXX :nuyen: + the following extra stuff.
And then the team said yes they're pretty far off the Straight Path already.

[Joker9125]

DamienKnight to Kitsune:

Really, thats awesome. I didnt mean to undermine your creativity, only to reminisce on good old times. If you were a fox shaman, I would raise my eyebrow, but being a Cat Shaman lends credit to your originality. Nice signature btw :D

[Austere Emancipa...]

Just slaughtering 20-30 innocents isn't much of a job. If you can handle the Immune to Normal Weapons ex-runner, slaughtering the civvies shouldn't prove a problem.

[k1tsune]

[Joker9125]

[k1tsune]

[Joker9125]

[Austere Emancipa...]

I was mostly commenting to toturi, because I disagree that just killing 20-30 civvies should net you a lot of cash. I know my team could slaughter them without much fuss (the ex-runner excluded).

I personally like the run idea, and it's possible I might plagiarise it. Largely because I haven't introduced any HMHVV-nastiness into my games yet.

[Velocity]

First off, great idea--I only hope my players haven't read this thread. :D

I do have a critical question though: what are the locals doing about this infection, aside from waiting fo the PCs? I mean, surely someone's noticed something going on here. Are there any medical professionals or Awakened in the village? What about a regular person who's reasonably perceptive? Maybe the local spirits notice something's up and manifest to alert the mundane locals...

However it happens, I find it hard to believe that no-one notices anything amiss until the hard-asses from the big city show up to clean house.

Otherwise, I'm really digging the idea--good on ya both. :)

[Crusher Bob]

Isn't HMVV blood borne, I don't expect too many people there to have it.

[toturi]

Well, according to the SRComp, wetwork is 5000:nuyen: so... 20*5000 = 100000:nuyen:.

[DamienKnight]

[Austere Emancipa...]

[DamienKnight]