Wetwork, Looking for some help/inspiration Options

[Hound]

So I've never really run a game based on assassination before, and I was considering trying it out. However, I can't quite wrap my head around it, as far as what the players are actually doing. I mean, basically, they accept the job, gather information, and then kill the guy? That just doesn't seem like a lot of stuff to do. So, anyone have ideas for how to make wetwork runs more interesting/longer? I'm drawing a blank on good complications to have pop up during the run. Like something that is interesting without making the run too hard. If it helps, for the run I'm considering, the target would be an Incense Master of a Seattle based Triad, who may or may not be a vampire (I haven't decided yet, but I'm leaning towards yes.)

[Megu]

You don't think having to kill a Triad bigshot who's a vampire on top of that is enough of a complication?

[Zyerne]

When they've gunned down his guards you could have the Incense Master act all impressed then offer to double their pay if they kill the guy that hired them instead.

Or have it so that they can't kill him (or at least, majorly difficult, with casualties) without taking care of something first to make him vulnerable.

[ProfGast]

I can actually think of a number of complications off the top of my head. I apologize if I repeat anything someone says, I'm typing this thing up without refreshing. Also I'll title each of them arbitrarily on how I feel at the moment. Remember, these ideas aren't necessarily mutually exclusive.

Mistaken Identity
The team targets the wrong guy. Or the target has a body double. Or something of the like

The Bourne Dilemma
The team encounters the target's young daughter/son/talking dog in the course of the adventure which triggers a knee-jerk emotional response

The Obi-Wan
"If you strike me down now..." the target has the ability to be infinitely more of a problem dead, than alive.

The Race
The target has another group or individual taking a hit out on him, and if THEY get him first, no payday. No matter how much they've invested.

Just Troubleshooting!
The team is set up. They're only being hired to see if the security around the individual is sufficient to repel an organized assassination attempt (may be double blind to actually give PCs a chance.

Compromised!
The target, or someone close to them, catches wind of the plans, IDs at least one PC and then goes and tries to return the favor. Preemptively.

Vengeful (step)Son
Successful removal of target. Unsuccessful at making self scarce. Team gets painted as a target next.

The Doublecross
The Johnson who hired them has second thoughts, and ends up opposing the team.

The Inside Job
Johnson, or rep thereof turn out to be in the same organization. Johnson probably stands to benefit much (inherit position?) Team must make a call if it's the right thing.

In your Best Interest
The target is actually an unknown/unknowing benefactor for a PC. Losing them is detrimental. What to do?

The Mercenary Situation
Someone connected to the target discovers the hit. They attempt to renegotiate a contract/make a better offer to team.

The Schlock Mercenary Situation
Someone connected to the target discovers the hit. They attempt to renegotiate in such a way that the team appears to be pulling off the original hit but is maybe instead faking the target's death! Let's get paid twice!

[capt.pantsless]

I mean, basically, they accept the job, gather information, and then kill the guy? That just doesn't seem like a lot of stuff to do.

Any run can be boiled-down to something this simple. Mr. Johnson wants you to steal a prototype? Break into the research lab, grab it, and leave. Simple right? Its not the type of run that's important, it's how the GM handles it.

ProfGast has the right ideas. There's ALWAYS a million ways to make a run more complicated. Let me add a few:

The target is an international traveler and needs to be killed in a certain country to avoid a diplomatic incident

The security is super-tight and the runners need to bring the 'A' game to get the job done. This one depends on your skills at designing a security-system, and whether or not your players enjoy cracking them.

[Kagetenshi]

"The it's-just-plain-difficult situation": the targets (best if plural) must be killed while on-site, and the security response must never even see you.

Or the target's movements/location aren't public; target is lying low, possibly hunkering down.

Or the target, you know, lives in a corporate compound like a significant fraction of the workforce and never leaves.

Or the target is simply dangerous. "Your target is a UCAS Special Forces Colonel. He's staying in Fort Lewis/is on an operation with his team in Sioux territory".

Or the target is unknown; "find the man responsible for the tainted vitasoy and kill him!"

So on and soforth.

~J

[klinktastic]

I'm with the guys above, wetwork missions need a twist to spice them up. Things like morale dilemmas, make it look like an accident, or many other of the above suggestions are great ways to add a little variety. Alternatively, if the PCs are begging for wetwork, let it be known that it will impact their street cred and reputation. This could lead to people hiring other runners or sending mooks after the PCs, making their lives a living hell.

[Ascalaphus]

Other possible complications..

* No collateral damage; Johnson wants to inherit the target's assets without damage
* It has to look like an accident
* It has to look like Third Party Corporation was responsible
* They have to kill the target in a specific way (appropriate vengeance, or a signature)
* The target is a dragon who's just become UCAS president
* The target is expecting a hit
* Proof of death required for the media, or the target's boss will just have a clone take his place
* The target is immune to normal attacks like sniper bullets
* The target can read your mind
* The target travels the earth at high speed and unpredictable routes
* The target is on a space station (no magic!)
* The target doesn't actually exist, but you'll have to prove that to Johnson because he doesn't believe that
* The target doesn't exist; is a fictional simstar created by an AI, who decided sales would go up if the simstar "died", leaving behind some "previously unreleased material". Like Michael Jackson selling so well after he died.

[Kagetenshi]

Also, in one of my essays here (/shameless self-promotion) I discuss in passing some of the issues involved in verifying death with Shadowrun-era medical/medimagical techniques. Especially if the target might vanish off into hiding, recovery of a significant portion of the central nervous system might be necessary for verification.

~J

[Kyrel]

As everyone else have already written, there's tons of stuff you can do, with regards to complicating an assassination run. Everything that can complicate any other type of shadowrun, can complicate an assassination.

Your players need to gather information on the target and operation site, in order to perform the run. Getting access to that info can require them to jump through all kinds of hoops. Maybe they need to break into several other facilities, in order to get access to the information they need, concerning floorplans, defense systems, number of security guards and their rotation schedules etc. Maybe they need to kidnap someone from inside the target's circle of friends/employees/associates, in order to get information on the grounds and the target's schedule. Maybe they need to convince a secretary to assist them, in order to get access to the target, some required information, or the secure nodes at the site. Maybe the target turns out to be someone whose death can have severe consequences for the city, the team's friends, the team itself, or an important organisation. Maybe his death will outright cause problems for the team, because he's the reason someone else isn't coming after them.

As for the assassination itself, everything and anything can go wrong. Maybe another team is on site, trying to perform the same mission. Maybe a cat sets off an alarm, causing the players plan, which relies on split timing precision, to be useless, as the guards suddenly don't make their rounds like they normally do. Maybe a key contact on the inside has fallen sick that day, and isn't at work. Maybe the target has had an unexpected visit from his/her family, and turns out to be entertaining their 8 year old kid, right at the time when they are supposed to be killed. Maybe the target's plans for the day are suddenly changed for some reason, forcing the team to change the plan on the fly. There are a million things that can go wrong, once a plan hits reality.

As for getting paid, maybe the Johnson doesn't want to pay the team, and tries to disappear. Maybe he's been playing them for fools, and tries to pin the murder on them in public. Maybe the Johnson's been killed himself, and in order to get paid, the team will then have to find out who did it, provided they want to try and collect their due from their employer's killer.

As someone else said, every run can basically be cooked down to "Accept job, Gather information, Perform run, Get away and get paid". In this respect it makes no difference whether the run involved wetwork, B&E, kidnapping, or something else.


Have fun.

/Kyrel

[Hound]

A lot of great ideas here, thanks a lot guys

Now that I think about it, you're right that any run can be boiled down to a few simple steps. The thing with wetwork is that the steps mainly seem a lot shorter to me. I mean, there's probably one major combat (maybe not even that, if you use a sniper rifle or something) and some info-gathering beforehand. Maybe a bit of sneaking around? I just don't have an easy time coming up with stuff for this particular mission type I guess, and I worry that it'll all be over way too fast. But I guess that's not a huge deal.

I like the idea of the target being impressed and offering the runners extra money to turn around on the Johnson. I'll give serious thought to the other ones as well. I was thinking the Johnson might want them to frame another organization, because his secondary objective is start a conflict with that organization. I dunno who yet, but I'll figure it out. Thanks a lot guys, helpful as always (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Ascalaphus]

IRL, it's hard to professionally assassinate a major politician or corporate figure. They'll have bodyguards and safety procedures; they use the private parking garage and so forth. Spy drones can also be used to protect against snipers, as can spirits. Killing someone AND getting away safely should be difficult, and the players' exit strategy should be as important as their entry strategy.

Guarding against fanatics who don't care about their own survival is a lot harder, but the sixth world will have a lot of those, in the form of drones and bound (abused) spirits, so security people will take the threat seriously.

[crash2029]

The Hitman game series has some good inspiration for making assassinations more interesting. In my opinion one of the best ways to make it more difficult is to make restrictions on how the target dies. You know make it look accidental, no alarm, no witnesses, no obvious wounds, framing someone, the list goes on. I just remembered a quest from Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, it is an assassination of a group of people at a party in a locked mansion a la Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None. Have the runners go to a similar party tasked with killing everybody one by one without raising alarm. That should make for some interesting roleplaying. I just remembered Assassin's Creed. That is another way to go for wetwork. Anyways I think I should stop rambling now.

[KarmaInferno]

The meat of a game is never the job itself, regardless of the exact nature of the job.

It's the complications along the way.



-k

[Chance359]

One of the best wetwork jobs I've read about is that the target is a SWAT cop who abuses his family. The wife's brother is the Mr. Johnson. The cop's life insurance policy pays double if he dies in the line of duty, and triple if he's killed while in a SWAT situation.

So the runners will have to engage a full SWAT team, identify their target, kill him, and get away.

[Kagetenshi]

Now that I think about it, you're right that any run can be boiled down to a few simple steps. The thing with wetwork is that the steps mainly seem a lot shorter to me. I mean, there's probably one major combat (maybe not even that, if you use a sniper rifle or something) and some info-gathering beforehand. Maybe a bit of sneaking around? I just don't have an easy time coming up with stuff for this particular mission type I guess, and I worry that it'll all be over way too fast. But I guess that's not a huge deal.

Again, it really depends on who and where they are. If the latest prototype goes home to non-corp housing at the end of each day stealing it will be pretty straightforward as well. Just make a run to kill an upper-level manager in the Renraku Arcology (assuming you're before the Shutdown in the timeline) or the Aztechnology Pyramid, or if you're really sadistic the Mitsuhama Headquarters. They'll be more or less permanently in the upper levels of a heavily-secured facility.

I like the idea of the target being impressed and offering the runners extra money to turn around on the Johnson.

I'd be careful with that—if they haven't killed the target already, their work probably isn't very impressive.

One of the best wetwork jobs I've read about is that the target is a SWAT cop who abuses his family. The wife's brother is the Mr. Johnson. The cop's life insurance policy pays double if he dies in the line of duty, and triple if he's killed while in a SWAT situation.

So the runners will have to engage a full SWAT team, identify their target, kill him, and get away.

Why do they need to identify their target? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/cyber.gif)

~J

[Teryn180]

One thing that the runners need to remember is to not go back to the Johnson until they're 100% sure that the guy they killed is really the target.
It doesn't look good for the team when the hit goes just like the team planned. Only to find out that the guy they killed, which looked exactly like their target, was a cleverly disguised body guard and the target wasn't even in the city anymore.

[kzt]

Most important (hence wealthy) people who have a rational fear of an organized kidnapping/assassination attempt in the 6th world have security teams. Security teams full of people who are selected to be part of his/her team due to their ability to prevent a successful attack. Security teams who have been doing this stuff every day, for years, and have probably considered and wargamed any attack scenario that the players can come up with.

They will run advance teams, have airborne drone cover, spirits rapidly available, armored and warded vehicles, understand how to use the vehicles to block LOS, understand invisibility spells, have sensors covering areas that look threatening, not leave the vehicles or residence untended, etc.

[Ascalaphus]

They do the run, kill the target after defeating impressive security. But somehow they find a flaw in it.

Then they wake up; it was all a simsense simulation paid for by the target to analyze security loopholes. They get paid handsomely for their (mental) trouble.

A few missions later, they're contracted to hit that target again...

[Pollux710]

So I've never really run a game based on assassination before, and I was considering trying it out. However, I can't quite wrap my head around it, as far as what the players are actually doing. I mean, basically, they accept the job, gather information, and then kill the guy? That just doesn't seem like a lot of stuff to do. So, anyone have ideas for how to make wetwork runs more interesting/longer? I'm drawing a blank on good complications to have pop up during the run. Like something that is interesting without making the run too hard. If it helps, for the run I'm considering, the target would be an Incense Master of a Seattle based Triad, who may or may not be a vampire (I haven't decided yet, but I'm leaning towards yes.)

Complications usually come in the way of security and reinforcements. spirits that pop up heavy security with magic aaaand tech, knight errant coming to the resuce. stuff like that wetwork is usually more combat oriented.

[Neurosis]

I was going to make some suggestions from my own adventures but....ProfGast's post REALLY has all you need.

But okay, can't resist the anecdote so:

I very recently ran the part of the Ghost Cartels adventure track called A Stranger In Our House Pt. II (although I retitled it '187 On An Undercover Cop Pt. 1' as I wound up having to create surprisingly a lot of original content to make the published adventure work, and also I have 'plans' for the Ghost Cartels campaign in general, the most immediate of which was making this a street level campaign) which is a long stakeout/recon mission followed by some low level wetwork. The last part was really vague in the written adventure ("the PCs have to kill him or X will happen") so I had to make even more stuff up, which I don't mind.

At the very end, the PCs made a bee-line for the target's safehouse which was the only place they knew they could find him. When they got there, they saw it was all lit up and there were a bunch of First Nations inside having a party. They of course assumed the target was in there and were round back planning on how to storm the place when the First Nations went up to them and cordially invited them inside to have some beers (and some tempo). Basically what followed was a straight lift from the scene in Training Day where the Ethan Hawke character is left at the kitchen table surrounded by half a dozen vatos, drinking and playing cards, gradually being disarmed until it is revealed that Alonzo completely sold him out. Basically, after the awkward, on-the-brink of violence socializing, it came out that the First Nations had been convinced by the target that the PCs were Yakuza muscle; PCs couldn't convince the gangers that the target was an undercover cop, so an incredibly bloody point-blank range gunfight (in a kitchen) ensued. The PCs managed to extract the target's location, at a nearby U-Stor-It. The one PC still conscious, after arranging by the unconscious mage to be evacuated by the other two who have been taken out of the fight, goes to do the job which winds up a tense, one-on-one showdown which, appropriately, features in-character dialogue in initiative order and is over in one or two passes.

Basically, complications aren't really that hard to think of. There are like a billion ideas in this thread alone.

[Doc Chase]

The entire Hitman series is based on this single mission. Go in, kill somebody(or somebodies), get out.

And yet, it's spawned four(soon to be five) wonderful games and a movie that is debatable in its quality, but such is the price we pay for movies based on video games.

Maybe you need to make it look like an accident. Maybe you need to 'disappear' the body. Maybe you need to distract the guards before you can remove the target. Maybe you can't kill the guards because Sunglasses #6 is the Johnson's nephew and Mistuh Jay doesn't want his familia working with this schmutz.

Maybe this is what the players want - Hitman, Shadowrun style.

[Apathy]

Kill [target x] at [specific time t] [with/without] any collateral damage at [specific location l] in such a way that it implicates [person or company z], and has [additional side-effect s] on [bystander b]. Seems pretty complicated to me.

[Eratosthenes]

The job itself could be straightforward, but the aftermath could be hell.

Perhaps the Johnson decides to liquidate the team, instead of paying them, to remove loose ends. This results in the team being hunted by those that guarded the target, and those they thought they were working with.

Or maybe the person they offed resurfaces the next day, apparently unscathed. Mr. J wants to know why, thus turning a simple assassination into more of a mystery.

[sabs]

Or the team ends up doing a couple of side runs as part of setting up for the hit.

they research their target.
Doing face runs to get information on the target, and getting his ittiniary.
Their hacker builds a btl program that they can download into some patsy's brain so that he thinks he's the one who shot the guy.

Their combat sam, with disguises made by the face/con artist kills the target in broad daylight, while wearing a simrig, which is transmiting the event into the patsy's brain.

They need to get the gear, find and kidnap/setup the patsy.

Minor runs are good.