SPOILERS Review of CMP 2011-02 The Prize Of Failure, Spoilers! For really. Options

[UmaroVI]

In case anyone didn't notice the title: spoilers!

[ Spoiler ]

"Do you have any snipers on your team?"

"I have a Gauss rifle, does that count?"
I played this mission as Banshee with John A. Schmidt as GM. There was a slipup with the pay but I enjoyed the game and think John did a great job.

I liked this mission and don't really have much in the way of negative comments. It seemed like the mission assumed that the runners would have refused the job if NeoNet didn't lie to them (which is sensible, because you don't want runners with some level of morals to be stuck with "I am taking this mission because I paid $4 IRL"), but then it assumes we are interested in revenge on NeoNet when in fact we just wanted the money from the second job and we were sort of confused by that. It wasn't really a big issue, though.

I liked the "Twist" of Yajiro dying and the followup mission being unexpected - I didn't see it coming and it didn't feel like a BS twist.

I liked the tense meeting with MacCallister's team - we legitimately weren't sure if we could trust them for most of the mission and were watching our backs for a knife right up to the end of the mission.

Overall this mission had a lot for different characters to do. We didn't have a hacker and there were several places one would have been handy, but no places where the mission stalled because of the lack of one. There was plenty of sneaking around, subtlety, and careful planning and it had a very "hours of planning, minutes of careful execution" vibe to it.

The hit went off smoothly but I felt like it went off well because we were careful and professional rather than because it was easy.

[Mesh]

[ Spoiler ]

I liked this mission and don't really have much in the way of negative comments. It seemed like the mission assumed that the runners would have refused the job if NeoNet didn't lie to them (which is sensible, because you don't want runners with some level of morals to be stuck with "I am taking this mission because I paid $4 IRL"), but then it assumes we are interested in revenge on NeoNet when in fact we just wanted the money from the second job and we were sort of confused by that. It wasn't really a big issue, though.

As the author, I really appreciated your review. It sounds like your version of the run went off just as I planned, only I can't really say that, because...

[ Spoiler ]

...I tried to write for several possible outcomes. Some people have morals. Others don't. Some people take being lied to like being shot at. Others aren't bothered. I wanted there to be coverage for a number of different responses. After all, Yajiro dying and the job falling apart shouldn't make any sense to most shadowrunners, which was intended to instill paranoia and make players question whether there was a connection, was it part of a deeper plot, when was the other shoe going to fall, etc.

Now, perhaps a bigger reason for the possible endings, like being pissed at NeoNET for the lies, is that I wanted to burn teams that didn't act professionally. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/cool.gif) There are lots of zany players out there, and I love them all, but I wanted there to be repercussions for going apeshit. Some teams are so Ace, there's not much chance of dying. That's cool! Well, here's a chance <3

So far I haven't heard of a single group nuking the NeoNET Live'n'Work facility, except... I ran Prize of Failure at a local mini-con here in Raleigh, NC. The group was mostly new players. In fact both tables only had a couple experienced runners, which was the reason I volunteered on an otherwise busy weekend. It was a good opportunity to introduce new players to the game. So, they make it to the final job with enough time to spare, pull it off without too much of a hitch, and just as they're leaving, the girl playing the straight-from-the-book Weapon Specialist (who has been looking for an opportunity to fire her rocket launcher... why does this archetype example have a rocket launcher again???) throws open the door of their van as they're driving away and asks, "NOW can I fire this thing?" Everyone shrugs. There are some comments about NeoNET having been less than honest with them in the past, so go for it... and BOOM, the facility is Nuked, and the seasoned rigger's uber-van is almost completely trashed (thank you, edge). Nobody got paid, but the players were good spirited about it afterwards.

Anyway, thanks for taking the time for the write up! I enjoyed that your table had a good time!

Mesh

[Hida Tsuzua]

I was with Umaro on this one.

[ Spoiler ]

My opinion is basically in line with Umaro's. It's a good adventure with some well-designed twists. It also has tension which is rare for SR Mission games.

The "twist" that the target dies seem to only really matter to ultra-white hats though. If you're amoral or immoral, you don't care. If you're a white hat, you might go "man that sucks and now I feel bad about scaring a guy so much he has a heart attack." You might guess your run was a cover for an assassination attempt or that his employer killed him before he could defect. Only one of those 3 (the cover) really warrants a "must get revenge!" motivation.

The second part really felt like a setup. You are specifically asked for right after a run and the pay is suppose to be huge. We went with it because it's the adventure, but we were totally expecting an ambush by Red Samurai or something.

I am curious to know how difficult the final run is suppose to be. We did without a hitch so it was fairly easy for us. However I'm curious how bad it could have gotten. We were able to oneshot the mage in the final room via spirit right as we attack so that likely made a huge difference.

As for why the facility getting nuked is so rare, it's really obvious that blowing it up is a bad idea. It also seems fairly easy to avoid exploding as you just have to pass on explosives and be careful with fire spirits.

I would make the final reward listed in how much in nuyen and not in NEONet yen. The reason why is to help stop confusion like what I had at my table where we were paid way too much.

I would be curious to look at a full copy of this adventure since I do have the feeling there is a lot more going on behind the scenes. That's a good thing.

[Mesh]

I am curious to know how difficult the final run is suppose to be. We did without a hitch so it was fairly easy for us. However I'm curious how bad it could have gotten.

[ Spoiler ]

We were able to oneshot the mage in the final room via spirit right as we attack so that likely made a huge difference.

How difficult is it "supposed" to be? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[ Spoiler ]

I would say its easiness is in direct proportion to the professionalism and care of the shadowrunners. It's set up to be well-planned, and if it actually is, and the runners are prepared and stay sharp, it typically goes smoothly.

Things that can go wrong to drastically increase the danger and response:

• Guard on roof is missed - If he takes out enough drones, Matrix connectivity to the complex will be restored and hefty reinforcements will come
• Mage overcasts lightning ball - This could be bad.
• Mage remembers he can summon spirit to get help - Mundane forces will scramble, and astral/spirit forces can arrive almost immediately.
• The party beefs with the team that hired them - Does some nutty player want to stop them from stealing what they didn't come for? Does she want to set off the rocket fuel?

I had two themes I wanted to stick to: Professionalism and Choices (no rails if possible). Therefore, ultimately there is no particular way the final heist is supposed to go down. GMs can let it unfold however they need to in order to react to the shadowrunners' professionalism or lack thereof. The messier it's played, the messier things can get. I wanted to cover all the bases of typical zany things players might do and give some ideas to the GM of what he could do to have the mission react.

Did I expect the players to be unprofessional? Nah, not really, but I've been at too many tables with unpro's or whack job runners to expect it to go down any particular way. I wrote in several endings. As a player myself, I love real choices. They're what make the world feel immersive to me. A GM with only 4 hours to get this done should have lots of alternative references to draw upon if need be and keep things rolling.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Mesh

[Hida Tsuzua]

Thanks. That's about what we guessed how it could have gone down.