GMing a run to Chicago, Need help with rules, and inspiration Options

[Tias]

Going to take my tabletop group to a nice working vacation in Chicago, and I'm really stoked about it. However, being none too strong in the Awakened ruleset and as I started playing with 4E, I've never used Insect Spirits before and need some tips for portraying them, as well as answers for concrete rules questions.

1. Hybrid Forms. According to Street Magic, they "exhibit signs of the spirits takeover", which in the case of the Invae are probably a pretty clear giveaway. So, if you were me, would you say they looked human at distance and prove a 2-4 die bonus to notice the insecty off-ness until they got real close, or would you say characters are clearly able to see them as horribly broken, chitinous shapes as soon as they enter proper visual range?

2. Hybrid form rules. I may just be bad at tracking down rules, but I can't seem to get a clear idea of the stats for a hybrid form. Whereas True Forms appear as simple as "take spirit stats, give them Materialize", hybrids are the same as their hosts, but augmenting it with their force! Would this mean that an average F4 hybrid has stats around 6-7? That's pretty harsh, especially with immunity and invae spirit bonuses on top!

3. Seeing as this will probably get real hairy for even the combat-specced runners on the players team, what are the rules, if any, for banishing a hybrid form? Do you just banish as normal, and if the spirit is disrupted, the host dies again?

Probably more questions to come, when I have time to write.

[binarywraith]

As I recall, Hybrid Forms are immune to banishing. That's half of why they make them, rather than just getting more True Form worker spirits in. They are, in fact, incredibly tough and nasty, so those stats sound right. Even a small infestation of bugs is scary as all hell.

As far as detecting them, my call on it was always that they provided bonuses of [spirit's force/2] to perception checks against them to notice the signs of infestation at range, [spirit's force] within 10 feet.

[Tias]

Really? That's all kinds of fucked up. My team is sort of green, so I probably won't spring worse than effective force 5 on them (they move through a lot of mana ebbs, which, while it nerfs the team mage, also makes the bugs a lot weaker) - If you can't banish them, then they're going to be in for some nasty weather.

Your method sounds good, I might give it a spin and see how it works, thanks!

E: Street Magic says they are "under no obligation to return to their metaplane if their services are banished away". Does this mean they both stick around AND stay inside their host body? If so, this means they are permanently free of Evanescense once bound in a hybrid, pretty potent stuff.

[CrystalBlue]

Which is why insect spirits that are IN people are a major pain. This is why Chicago has been shot, burned, bombed, nuked, and finally astrally poisoned. Honestly, any bugs that still hang around Chicago are going to be in for some mean times if you're playing this in the 2070's. I don't remember what that toxin is called, but it's an Ares developed astral toxin that slowly eats away at astral forms. This usually gets rid of your bug problem but good. However, any duel natured beings will also get eaten away. And if you have a mage that tries to astrally perceive around the toxin, that shit's going to burn.

Best case scenario for what your team meets a hive? Run. Run like hell and don't stop. Don't stop until you're on the plane back to Seattle, Denver, New York, or where ever you're from. Keep going until you've put a good body of water beyond you and them. And then, never sleep and never rest.

Practically, however...

If you want to stop a bug spirit, liberal amounts of high-end ammunition. Armor piercing if you have it, high calibur, anything that's going to help you get through armor. Then, crowd control. If you have the drop on them, bring them into a kill zone or choke point. Fire and acid, any type of burning damage. Continue pouring it on even while they're burning. And stay a good 30 meters from your choke point entrance. Then, when they start to funnel in and get third degree burns, hit them with whatever weapons you have. Mounted machines guns, rifles, shotguns as they get in close. Do NOT get in range of them. They might have numbers on you and they will be pissed. Keep shooting until you are sure they won't get back up. In fact, ash them if you can.

If THEY get the drop on YOU, then you have to get out of there fast. They most likely have you well in reach of their hive and, unless you want to become a new drone, you have to get out as fast as you can. Covering fire, explosions, any type of distraction to slow or stop them while you get to ground. Once you can get above ground, most insect spirits aren't dumb enough to chase you into the open where other people can know where they are. Then, just burn them out with fire...or ask Ares for an Astral virus.

[binarywraith]

In short, Chicago as of the 2060's is the definition of my favorite quote.

"I say we lift off and nuke the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure."

It could be fun to run as a an Aliens-style bughunt, with the players being hunted across the wreckage of the city by the bugs, but that is likely to get seriously lethal rather fast unless your players are both high-karma and experienced.

Might be a good thing to build a campaign up to, though. Have one of the 'corps send in a team to snatch one of them, and have it get loose on the way to delivery, and your PCs get to track it down. Build up from there.

[DeathStrobe]

Bug spirits don't sound too common in Chicago anymore, after the nuke and the magic eating bacteria. But there should be a lot of warlords and gangs fighting over the rubble of the city. And some ghouls. Which should be able to give you enough hooks to keep things exciting if you think your runners might be too green to fight off bugs. There are some technomancers hiding out in there, but I don't recall if they were doing anything worth wild or hiding, maybe they have a bounty on their heads. I haven't read Feral Cities in a while, so I don't recall.

[Tias]

Well, there at LEAST 3 hives in Chicago left according to FC - I'm running a modified version of one of the adventure seeds, Ares Dragon Down. They have to enter the Unlimitech area, hang around for ten days while the researcher they're escortiing works out what the thing they've uncovered from the dig site is (I'm inclined to say it's a flesh form nymph spirit baby, just for the mindfuck factor), then lift her and the sample out.

When they land, I'm throwing some concealed but nerfed Roach spirits at them, one spirit 3 (F5, but there's a mana ebb in the area) Warrior and four F3 (5) hybrid Workers. As in the scenario outline, I just intend turrets (thinking 2x2 MMGs with some sort of bugkill ammo and narrate it) to pop out and waste the bugs if they're losing.

Then there's lift-off again, where true form wasps pop out of the woodwork and cripple the chopper and kill the pilot, crash landing it. When everyone comes to, the manacoffin with the McGuffin is gone. From there, they have the choice to pursue whoever took it (an insect shaman), or get the hell out of dodge.

That's the gist, but any suggestions are welcome. I intend to let them sample the weirdness of a feral city (scavenger gangs, prides of odd paracritters, and then digging the dude out of his small hive), but probably not a lot more insect spirits than the one in the start.

[PresentPresence]

Sounds like an awesome run, Tias. Chicago sounds like a really cool environment to run in. A lot of the sequences in Borderlands make me think of what Chicago may be like (only with more ruined skyscrapers). Definitely keep an eye out for technomancers or other matrix oddities - it's easy to forget about the Matrix side when there's so little of it maintained there, but it does provide for some potentially cool experiences. Weird matrix cults that have made their own network out of old toasters, ruined office buildings that somehow still have working databases that could lead to sidequests or plot hooks, etc.

[DamienKnight]

Bug spirits don't sound too common in Chicago anymore, after the nuke and the magic eating bacteria. But there should be a lot of warlords and gangs fighting over the rubble of the city. And some ghouls. Which should be able to give you enough hooks to keep things exciting if you think your runners might be too green to fight off bugs. There are some technomancers hiding out in there, but I don't recall if they were doing anything worth wild or hiding, maybe they have a bounty on their heads. I haven't read Feral Cities in a while, so I don't recall.

^This.

Bugs still exist, and you should definitely use a Chicago run as an opportunity to expose the runners to them. If they are green make sure there are other NPC's in the area to assist and/or provide targets to distract the bugs.

But the best part of putting runners in chicago is the people. Being in a Chaotic destroyed city breeds some really tough (and often unhinged) NPCs.

[Vilda]

Run like hell and don't stop. Don't stop until you're on the plane back to Seattle, Denver, New York, or where ever you're from. Keep going until you've put a good body of water beyond you and them. And then, never sleep and never rest.

Can't say if that helps them given how bugs are active in these towns... Information from Conspiracy theories is scary.

Bug spirits don't sound too common in Chicago anymore, after the nuke and the magic eating bacteria.

As Tias said, there are active hives and there is several thousand bugs sleeping in topor under city, courtesy of that nuclear blast..

[Neraph]

As I recall, Hybrid Forms are immune to banishing. That's half of why they make them, rather than just getting more True Form worker spirits in. They are, in fact, incredibly tough and nasty, so those stats sound right. Even a small infestation of bugs is scary as all hell.

As far as detecting them, my call on it was always that they provided bonuses of [spirit's force/2] to perception checks against them to notice the signs of infestation at range, [spirit's force] within 10 feet.

Banishing removes their Favors. If it's a free spirit, it removes their Edge (Street Magic). These may help you with ideas and mechanics: Fun with Free/Ally Spirits! and Blood and Toxic and Insect

If you have any more questions, I consider myself an authority on this matter.

[Tias]

While I'm at it, what would proper payment for a run be?

Let's see:

- Transporting a capable scientist to and from the containment zone.

- Transporting something of high value to a corps R&D dept. back on the second flight.

- Working inside the CCZ - The corps is of course not capable of foreseeing the wasp spirits destroying the chopper, or that the characters having to re-recover the coveted object by tracking and destroying an insect shaman - but they know that the zone is exceedingly dangerous and the adventure seed specifically mentions hazard pay.

I'm thinking the Johnson will offer a fixed payout of 25,000 plus additional 5,000 per runner in case they have to fight (they do). That would be, in the 25% up front upon accepting the gig, the rest after they get back, at least if they acquire the manacoffin and bring it back along with the scientist.

Too high or too low, you think?

[Neraph]

Maybe a little low.

[Neko Asakami]

I agree with Neraph. 25k total for hanging out and doing protection in the CCZ for 10 days (per your previous post) seems a bit low. I'd do something like 3k-4k per day, a 10k bonus upon delivery the manacoffin, and a 5k combat bonus. I would want the total to be about 50k-55k before negotiations. If you have a good negotiator and can expect him to get more than a hit or two on the negotiation check, I'd start at 2.5k per day and then do either 500 nuyen extra per net hit or an extra 1k per runner (again per net hit) for combat bonus. I'd also argue that paying for 3-4 days up front is a good idea because they're going to need to stock up on gear and stuff to barter while they're there.

Here's how I'd have the Johnson present it to my group, assuming an Ares Johnson (my group consists of 7 runners, with about a year of real life into the characters, so they're a bit more experienced that the average Joe Shadowrunner and make a bit more to reflect that):

"What I need ya to to do is go into the CCZ and babysit a scientist for me. He's going to be bringing back an item we need recovered and you're going to make sure both come back in one piece. It should only take three or four days, so we'll be paying ya by the day. It's 2500 nuyen per day for the team, plus you get an extra 10,000 when you bring me back my scientist and his toy. The area we're headed to is pretty clear of bugs last we checked, but we're still gonna include hazard pay. If you see combat, it's gonna be an extra 5k per head that makes it out. We'll pay ya for four days up front, with the rest when you get back. You'll need to stock up on some basics, since this is the CCZ, and if you need it I can see if I can swing a discount with my boss on the bigger stuff or some FAB if you want it."

Behind the scenes: That looks like it'll be 50% down and 50% on completion (2.5k x 4 days =10k plus the 10k retrieval fee) at first glance. My face will usually net three hits on the negotiations so either they're looking at (using the rates I suggested above) an extra 1.5k per day or an extra 3k combat bonus. My group tends to go for the combat bonus, which is why I'd make it so high. They'd end up usually making about 35,000 as a group for all ten days and retrieving the McGuffin, plus 8,000 each for combat, for a total of 15,000 nuyen per player. If they take the per diem increase instead, they end up making about 12,150 per player (4,000k x 10 days plus 10k retrieval is 50k. 50k divided among 7 runners is 7,142 nuyen each, plus 5k each for combat). A thing to note, however: I'd have them in the field for 10 days, so they'd most likely have to trade a bit as the mission wore on, which would affect how much they would net in profit. I'd also give them a 20% discount on all Ares gear for the initial buy, plus 50% off of FAB; if they went through the Johnson.

Last thing: According to Hazard Pay (pg.29), Feral Cities (pg. 47), and other sources, there are standing bounties from a number of companies and magical foundations on insect shamans, as well as the insect spirts themselves. They range anywhere from 15,000 to 500,000 nuyen and up, payable upon capture or death, for the shamans; and 4,000-25,000 nuyen for insect spirits themselves. It would be very kind of you to drop this information in game, either through the locals they interact with or through a contact, as a way for them to earn extra money (and who doesn't like extra money!?)

[Tias]

Sounds sensible - however, for food and stuff they'll be inside the Unlimitech facility while there, so necessities are taken care of.

[Neko Asakami]

After a quick read through of the adventure seed, I'd still encourage your players to stock up on some barterable goods. Realistically, they're gonna be out in the Zone on their own for at least a day or two after the chopper goes down. They'll want to make friends with some locals to help them out after the chopper goes down (perhaps even before) and that's one of the best ways to do it. Also, the merc team mentioned in the adventure seed would definitely be a good place to drop info about the various bounties.

[Tias]

Cool, thanks for the input.

Another thing, Roach Spirits: Should their +2 to Damage Resistance be considered a form of hardened armor? Because if so then fuck materialized true forms (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

[Snow_Fox]

I throught ther thrain 3 had pretty much flushed the bugs down to a 'neucance level risk

[Tias]

in the quiet words of the virgin mary: Come again? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/indifferent.gif)

I get that you say they were reduced to a nuisance, but where? "ther thrain 3" is what?

[binarywraith]

I throught ther thrain 3 had pretty much flushed the bugs down to a 'neucance level risk

Strain 3 didn't pull it off.

Scary thing about bugs, in general. They're adaptable. Same applies to bug spirits.