I just improvised my characters into taking another Run., What kind of security are the Vory likely to have on something mobile? Options

[ShadowDragon8685]

The vehicle rules in SR4 seem clearly inferior to SR3s. Though the SR3 vehicle descriptions never managed to agree with other parts of the text, the fact that you couldn't fit into the docwagon helos the people that docwagon was supposed to have on the helo was just the most obvious issue. The SR4 "solution" was to not provide any stats for them to screw up.

Do they have appropriate contacts?

My impression is the the military is a bit of joke, considering that they have been either steamrollered or hammered by the Tir (before a dragon helped), the IJM and the Pueblo. Though there used to be an Ares military unit working for CalFree, no idea now. This doesn't mean that they can't show up, but people with severely limited resources usually prioritize.

Someone could also call for KE, since there should be a KE presence in SF, given the Ares involvement in defending the valley from the Japanese. Though range etc might be a big deal.

Remember, it was decades ago that the Californians got steamrolled by Tir Tangire and the IJM and Pueblo. Even then, I find it kind of questionable, since the number of armed fighting forces in California would be huge, and somehow I doubt that UCAS troops who have lived in, and many of whom have grown up in, California, would follow an order to just abandon them.

But hey, Shadowrun. The Native Americans somehow being both numerous enough to seize large tracts of the country, and angry enough to break away to do so, and somehow competent enough to not collapse completely, stretches credulity far more and yet it still stands. Nevertheless, Shadowrun has, on a whole, evolved from the insanity of the earlier editions into something that, well, seems more sane; the insanity still stands and influences things forward, but now things get real.

So, I figure, California has to have a pretty damn good standing military. As previously mentioned, Pueblo, Tir T, Aztechnology and Imperial Japan have their eyes on them. Frankly, even Hestaby liking California and keeping all her stuff there wouldn't stop them if they wanted to take it that bad, and California is large enough and has enough of everything in it that it's pretty much the only U.S. state that actually could stand on its own as a nation.

So I figure their military, especially their maritime patrols, since they'd get so much of their GNP from trade and the sea, are no joke.

[ShadowDragon8685]

Here's my run document, by the way.

I swear to Sol Invictus, Odin and Wolf, (Attorneys at Law), if they pull something ridiculous and harebrained that causes this to be completely invalidated, I will weep and tell them they need to come up with someone who can GM better than I can.

[Raiki]

Here's my run document, by the way.

I swear to Sol Invictus, Odin and Wolf, (Attorneys at Law), if they pull something ridiculous and harebrained that causes this to be completely invalidated, I will weep and tell them they need to come up with someone who can GM better than I can.

I've ran some runs that made me feel like this by the end. My ultimate response was "Fine! You want to play D&D? Fine. Here's a military bunker infested with ghouls. Have fun with your 'dungeon crawl'." Of course they ran in guns blazing, and of course one of them absolutely *had* to charge the troll ghoul with their monofiliment whip. Once that player, 2 rounds later, started working on their new character...things started being handled a bit more seriously/cautiously all around.

Remember, before you throw up your hands and yell "I Quit!", try just handing them a heavy dose of shadowrun reality first. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

~R~

[kzt]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) I'm still convinced that ghouls should be able to shoot guns with iron sights, because the sights block the astral too.

[ShadowDragon8685]

Well, if they manage to tangle with the pirates without killing them all, the pirates will tell the Vory who they are. Then they're going to get to have fun making port in a small dock which just happens to be infested with the same Vory soldiers and drones which were slated to escort the shipment on land.

[Raiki]

Actually, the only one of the ghouls in the barracks (who the runners were, shockingly, smart enough to chat with rather than try to kill) was a gun adept with melee hardened weapon focus pistols. He pretty much just aimed his shiny bit at the shiny bit that represented your head and pulled the trigger. Sure the guns couldn't shoot anyone *on* the astral plane, but if he can see them, and he pulls the trigger, the bullet's still gonna go where it's aimed. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/grinbig.gif)


~R~

[Warlordtheft]

Remember, it was decades ago that the Californians got steamrolled by Tir Tangire and the IJM and Pueblo. Even then, I find it kind of questionable, since the number of armed fighting forces in California would be huge, and somehow I doubt that UCAS troops who have lived in, and many of whom have grown up in, California, would follow an order to just abandon them.

So I figure their military, especially their maritime patrols, since they'd get so much of their GNP from trade and the sea, are no joke.

IIRC most of the UCAS pacific Navy relocated to Seattle prior to the split. Sure some of the soldiers and navy personnel were from CA, they might have stayed. They might have left as well. In any event, the CA national guard has not fared well post split. They lost Sandiego to the Aztechs, Norther CA to the Tir, and LA to the Peublo (eventually). They have no navy to speak of (relied on the now not present Japanese navy), have an entire coast (the Big Sur) infested by a few pirate gangs. The military is split on 3 hostile Nations (2 of which are serious threats and I'm sure the PCC border is a bit contentious now as well. Independence did not treat CA well.

<How I'd play it>

Also most of their trade goes through San Fransisco, so if they have any navy, it would be located there. Most likely patrol boats, and maybe a few destroyers. No submarines or carriers. They may run into one of the patrol craft or more likley one of the pirate gangs in the big sur. Also, you could have a Kraken show up or something just to give the group a little bit of a critter fight. Or some Merrow who have decided that the party might make an interesting dinner guest.

[khirareq]

CalFree is less of a nation than a confederation of 5 states. Not much of a military; if there was a distress call, and it was answered, it would probably be by a Knight Errant patrol. Possibly a Patrol Boat, but just as likely a VTOL. It's also just as likely that pirates will come to the site of a distress call; there are a lot of them off the coast of CalFree, and they monitor the Trix for just that kind of traffic. Also likely that at least one of the scavengers has a DocWagon contract; scavenging off the coast of CalFree is dangerous work, and the government there is notoriously unreliable.