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> im a noob, would this actually work?
leindienerd
post Jul 26 2011, 03:00 AM
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well i just had an idea for a run where the johnson sends two teams of runners for one job. but you dont know this, one team is the PCs and the other team is like a 'shoot em up' 'guns a blazin' style team and about once the PCs make it into the corp. (A or AA) theres a big shake in the building and all the alarms go off and the PCs would be confused and scared and may make it harder on themselves by thinking the alarm is on them and they start cleanin house. but then theyd have the corp AND the other team of runners against them and depending on what happens they could either figure out they were both employed by the same johnson and team up and find/eliminate that johnson. or they could just kill the other team and collect their money and have something take it from there. im running my first legit shadowrun game tmmro(ive GMd a couple games of D&D before so i have GM experience) and im definitely not planning on using this tommorow but as a future idea.
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Teulisch
post Jul 26 2011, 03:15 AM
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first of all, i would have the other team hired by a different johnson, and drop a hint that someone else may want the same thing.

if the hacker, rigger, and/or mage are doing their job, there should be some warning about whats going on from secruity cameras/drones and/or spirits.

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Cain
post Jul 26 2011, 03:15 AM
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Yeah, that's legit; just make sure the characters realize exactly what happened, so they don't think you screwed them over as a GM.
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PoliteMan
post Jul 26 2011, 03:18 AM
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#1 Yes, I think it would work very well. In fact, some variation of "a Johnson trying to screw over two teams competing for the same prize" is a classic SR scenario. If your players haven't done this yet, it's a blast.

#2 Make the other runners inferior to your players. Think hooped up gangers with big guns, rather than real runners. If your runners get into a firefight with them in the middle of a corp base, you don't want a TPK.

Note, I'm sure someone will say if the team gets into a firefight with the other team in the middle of the run, they deserve a TPK.
#1 TPKs generally aren't fun.
#2 It takes a lot of intelligence or diplomacy to overcome violent stupidity.
#3 Any team that starts a run by bombing the building they're about to run into aren't professionals and shouldn't be treated as such.
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leindienerd
post Jul 26 2011, 03:24 AM
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thanks. and yeah that would be a good idea. but idk about the other johnson thing because i want them to fell either
1. screwed over by the johnson and want to blow his brains all over someones walls(which would give a LOT of room for advancement to continue the story) or
2. have the johnson explain that it was a test of who would come out on top. which knowing my PCs would probably just lead to them wanting his brains on someones wall as explained above. so i think it would allow my PCs to grow and be challenged while adding depth and story to the campaign
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leindienerd
post Jul 26 2011, 03:26 AM
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and i was thinking of making them more guerillas in camo with big guns but little brains. so my PCs could easily outsmart them if they actually were creative ( which i want to force them to do because they never are do to the fact we played D&D 4e for the longest time:P
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Midas
post Jul 26 2011, 04:07 AM
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As noted by others, the two team hit scenario has been used by many a gm in the past. Traditionally the PC's are the decoy, while the more professional stealthy group steal away the gizmo while the security forces go after the PC's, but having the PC's interrupted midrun by a boomtastic shazam-over-subtlety group could be fun.

For me, the most important thing to make the situation resonate is to give the Johnson a logical reason for hiring two teams, especially if he knows the NPC team are going to large it up, set off all the alarms and make it hard for the PC's. Whatever logical reasoning you give him, he should certainly play it suave when the PC's come to him screaming for blood, e.g. "I thought you might need a little help getting out, so I sent in a decoy. You didn't mind, did you?"

The one assumption you are making in this scenario is that the PC's don't trip any alarms themselves before the subtle-as-C4 team arrive, are you going to fudge the rolls so this happens?

The other assumption is that the PC team and NPC team are going to engage with each other. Once the alarms are set off it means the HTRT forces are on their way, and this is usually the cue for runners to grab the gizmo and get the hell out of dodge. Unless the gizmo is a big old prototype that the NPC team spot when the two groups cross paths, neither group really has a reason to engage the other.

Anyway, sounds like a good plan. Hope it goes well! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/twirl.gif)
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leindienerd
post Jul 26 2011, 04:55 AM
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thank you! ill make sure to take all that into account!
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Manunancy
post Jul 26 2011, 08:33 PM
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A classic of the genre is internal rivalry - the Johnson has a rival in his own corp/prganisation/crime syndicate/whatever who wants the run to fail so the Johnson gets removed and hires a bunch of trigger-happy yahoos to disrupt the run. Which the yahoos decides to do by getting in all guns blazing to steal the glory and the mc guffin before the PCs gets it.

you may give hints with the yahoo's hardware - they're bozos, but Santa did an out-of-season delivery run of bangs. Who happens to be from the Johson's camp. (say Ares gear if their Johnson is working for Ares).

Which means that at first glance it will look like the Johnson tried to screw them over, even if he didn't. If they negociate they'll be able to get some extra brownies digging evidences of his rival's misdeeds. If they just play it dumb and nail the Johnson to the wall, the rival will drop on them with his organisation's backing. Which will also conveniently dispose of whatever evidences of his misdeeds they might have uncovered.

In my opinion it makes more sense than having the Johnson doublecrossing the PCs for no good reason.
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Ascalaphus
post Jul 28 2011, 01:20 PM
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You could do it like this:

First, the team's hacker is happily reading some newsgroups, when he stumbles across a newsgroup post by someone in the know, that Target Inc. has a valuable prototype in a facility nearby. Five minutes later, Mr. Johnson, who also read the newsgroup, is moving to hire the runners. To your players, this will probably seem like you're just building a background story.

Then they do the run, and are interrupted as you sketched above. It looks like Johnson 1 betrayed them (but he didn't; Johnson 2 also saw the newsgroup post), and when they confront J1, he's paranoid and evasive. Players might conclude he's trying to set them up.

If you handle it really well, your players will believe that you weren't manipulating them, and that they were the paranoid ones (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)
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